Whispers

Jed crept up on the sofa and while kissing Zane's forehead quietly murmured:

"Zane, the world is beautiful.
You were born from Heavenly Father, Zany."

They gazed at each other.

"And...  ACK ZANE DON'T PICK MY NOSE!"

Jed screeched and wiped his face furiously.

Then he caressed Zane's arm and softly sang,
"I love you a bushel and a peck,
Oh I love you my Zany maney-weck!"

Happy Birthday to Jed!

Five years old!

He asked for a heart shaped banana cake with blue frosting. I took care of the creation. The kids and Dad decorated it.

We were glad that Papa Steve was there to share the feast with us.

Matching hats for Jed and Zoe!

I created this particularly ugly pillow under Jed's direction.  He picked out the fabric, I tried to learn a new quilting technique. Michael informed me I violated every design rule in the universe. (The next project is turning out much more, uh, polished, promise.)  Jed is THRILLED with it and carries it around half the day so far. At night it is his "mom hug" that he squeezes tight.

Zoe loves birthdays!

Jed's truck he got from Dad.  The night before we went "basement shopping" which involves digging through the bags of toys I've squirreled away from various Take It or Leave Its at church and garage sales the last couple years  .  Seriously, best shopping ever.  We spent a whole 99c on Jed's birthday this year, and it was an excellent birthday if I do say so myself.

Birth-day

Today is a special day. February 2nd, 2007, will forever be marked in our family as our little Jed's birthday. But to me, it will always be far more than that. I always think of February 2nd as MY birth-day - the day I became a mother. That morning I felt a new birth, into a new life of motherhood and service to my children. The birth of a new family. Where there had only been a couple before, now there was a full circle of father/mother/child. A home, where before there had been but a house with two people inside. With the arrival of that small, wise-eyed, sober and sweet little boy, our home, our marriage, our lives became holy and consecrated.

Thank you, sweet little Jed, for making our lives holy!

Giggling

Jed Dances

We've been watching that Justin Bieber movie* on Netflix. Prepare to be amazed.



*"Never Say Never." Yes, I can hear your thoughts. Don't judge me, there aren't that many tolerable-for-Mom and not-scary-for-Jed G rated movies out there, ya know? Besides. We have dance parties at our house nearly every day and, as Jed puts it, "Mom, I need some new moves."

A few things to be grateful for

Zoe has been fully pottytrained without an accident for about two weeks now. Yee hah! Now we make a lot more trips to public restrooms, but at least I get lots of kisses while we're there. Yesterday she spent nearly two hours on the pot -- I think about 5 minutes to do her business and another 115 spent perusing the steady supply of picture books Jed carted in for her.

Zane is rolling! And smiling! And laughing! And eating a little big of solid food! It's a miracle seeing his coordination improve day by day. The rule of thumb around here is if you can get it in your mouth, you can eat it. So every meal we've been giving him a little something and he is trying, aiming, clenching... but not quite getting it in for a week now.

One day he couldn't figure out how to get his hand to his face. The next day I gave him an apple slice. I let him taste it first so then he really wanted it. With a fat, determined expression he grabbed that apple tight as he could, wound up, and jabbed himself right in the cheek, quite hard. He threw the apple on the floor and wailed in pain and frustration. The next day he could get it more gently up to his face, but still not in his mouth. Then two days ago, he grabbed the carrot stick and victoriously inserted it into his starving little orifice. Then he made a face and threw it on the floor because it tasted weird. We all cheered nonetheless! The next evening he was happily sucking on rib bones when I went out to dinner with some friends. Nothing like a BBQ smeared baby face - yum.

Jed has learned to read in the last few months. We're taking it slow, just a little bit every day, but he is constantly improving. I am so, so excited for him to discover the world of reading on his own. We may never see his face again after that (well, he'll probably fit some legos in between books) but I just know he will take after his momma and be a "bookie" child. Today I was chatting with my mom on the phone and spelling out a few words (don't want to ruin the birthday surprises!) I spelled "K-I-D-S" at one point, and a moment later Jed looked over at me with a triumphant, glowing face and shouted "KIDS! YOU SAID KIDS!" I couldn't decide who was more pleased, the mother or the speller.

Silly Snapshots

Still blue!

My Boys

Morning Men

Um, is it just me or is one of these boys very clearly mine and the other two very clearly Stanfill? Check out that round Dowdle face!

Gettin' some exersaucer

Look at those big blue eyes!

Father and Son

Having Zane fall asleep on your shoulder is one of the great joys in life.

(Thank heavens for tylenol!  We're full swing in teething mode around here.)

Helping Daddy

Zane hanged out with Dad in his office for a few hours.

Such a happy boy!

Goals for 2012

I've made a few goals for 2012.  I only set goals for myself that I actually think I'll achieve, so they aren't especially spectacular but I'm excited about each one of them.

Spiritual:
Write down something I am grateful for each day.
 Like this.

Mental:
Track 180 days of homeschooling this year.  
I don't have to do this until Jed turns 7, but I want to start now so I can figure out how to do it before I am required to by law... I think this will also help me focus on doing some educational experience with Jed each day.  He really flourishes with a focused, constructive "just me and mom" activity every afternoon.

Physical:
Measure myself every Monday
Because I don't own a scale.  I already do quite well at exercising regularly, but I think this will keep me motivated to progress in my health and fitness.

Couple Goal:
Work on an experience for Personal Progress each week.
Michael and I are going to work on this together, but he is doing Duty to God.
Since we both work in the youth program now, this seemed like it would dovetail nicely with our callings.  I also read through the program and was impressed at how much it would help ME develop my spirituality!  I'm actually really excited to dive in.