Suth-scription

Unbearably Cute

2012-01-08T22:37:00.003-05:00

Micah Thomas Sutherlun

2012-01-04T11:28:00.005-05:00

He missed his first Christmas, but we joyfully welcomed Micah Thomas on December 27, 2011 at 8:44 p.m. He was 19 inches long and 7 lbs, 7 oz. Blue eyes, blond hair. We think he looks like a distinct combination from within our admittedly limited gene pool, but speculate that he looks the most like Asher, minus some of the cheeks :). You can judge for yourself:

With the arrival of your 4th child, you definitely don't get the "life has changed forever" feeling that you get with the first, but life has altered in some recognizable ways in the last week.

1. The males have gained a 2/3 majority in the household. Serena and I are undaunted by this.

2. Our family of 6 officially cannot ride together in our Toyota Corolla. This makes it something of an "escape car" for the parent who gets to drive it :). If you're driving the Toyota for the day, you aren't with the kids, at least not all of them.

3. If Serena and Asher are calling Micah "the new baby," little Josiah must, at 15 months, be "the old baby." And I do find myself less concerned about his general welfare - he seems awfully big and sturdy compared to Micah and he's had over a year to adapt to surviving his siblings' attention/affection/ harassment.

4. Once again, as it's been with each newborn, "I kept the baby fed and the other children alive" is, at the end of the day, a statement of enormous accomplishment.

5. An uninterrupted night's sleep is a distant memory. Oh, wait, that's been true for 5 1/2 years....

In other ways, life hasn't changed at all. We begin 2012 inconceivably blessed by the God who gives life and entrusts us with unbelievably good gifts. I pray we will be faithful stewards.

Blogging with Four, an apology of sorts

2012-01-04T11:11:00.003-05:00

It seems indicative of the current season of my life that the last post on this blog (3 months ago) was an "obligatory one" - by that I mean that you cannot skip the birthday update if you want to feel (or appear) at all like a proud, doting parent :) - and the next blog post will also be an obligatory one (and joyful, Micah, if you happen to be reading this years from now...).
While 3, (now 4: see pending blog post), children do make for busy days, and evenings, and sometimes nights, and allows scarce opportunity for sitting down at the computer to type without small fingers "helping" on the keyboard, I'm not actually sure that busyness is the reason I rarely update the blog. After all, I could give up a little of my facebook voyeurism. I think there's the possibility that I seldom post because I don't have anything to say - at least nothing as witty, entertaining, or brilliant as I would like it to be.
Kind of a sad thought. I'm hoping this too shall pass. And in the meantime, my uninspired self is thoroughly enjoying the laughter, peace, and real joy that comes with this season of my life.
Both of you who are reading this blog will have to endure the mediocrity of the posts. Don't worry, it's only 5 1/2 years until Micah (you'll meet him in a few minutes) goes off to kindergarten.

Josiah at One

2011-09-27T22:01:00.004-04:00

This year has gone by really quickly for us but has undoubtedly been the longest year of Josiah's life :).

It does seem like yesterday that we welcomed Josiah John into our lives but he's experienced quite a bit in 12 months. Since last September, Josiah's taken two long (but fun) family car trips to Texas and back, he's camped in a tent and a cabin, stuck his toes in the Atlantic Ocean and "swam" in rivers, lakes, and pools, flown to Phoenix, and figured out how to roll over, sit up, pull-up, drink from a bottle, crawl, wave, clap, rock on his horse, get our attention, express his dislike, laugh out loud, and smile smile smile. He's gained 12 pounds and grown a lot taller, has 8 teeth and great head of white-blond hair, just long enough to be shaggy around his ears and curl a (very) little in the back. He's a really sweet and very friendly baby with the most open and happy smile for everyone he meets. For each child, and with each child, the family context and parental attention changes some, and we have been blessed that Josiah is pretty independent and easy going, but demanding enough to get our attention and hold his own with his siblings. It's been fun, especially in recent months, to see his unique personality develop.

Josiah doesn't really like:

sleeping - he's gotten better and makes it through most nights without our assitance, but never without a couple almost awake fusses. He's gotten to be a good, regular, two-nap-a- day kid, though.

being alone - he's never real happy about being left in a room to play on his own - though he does play pretty well on his own if he can see you nearby (sadly, he is rarely left alone by his brother and sister...)

too much attention from his siblings - Asher especially, but also Serena, often get carried away in their affection and "playing" with Josiah. Countless times a day I'll hear an angry squawk and not even need to investigate before I say, "Asher, leave your brother alone!" Having said this... he does love his big brother and sister - see the next list

fruit - with the exception of bananas all the time and a few other fruits on occasion, unlike his brother and sister, he prefers his carbs

the tiger mask - cries in real fear when Asher approaches wearing it (this does not keep Asher from doing so)

swimming - we thought he did at first, but that pretty much wore off over the summer

climbing the stairs - he can and does do it, but fusses the whole time

Josiah loves:

human interaction - he really loves to be talked to, smiled at, played with and rewards you (or any random stranger) with a huge grin

bouncing on the trampoline (sitting down) and rocking on the horse

chewing on crayons

pulling tissues out of the box

balloons on strings

the motorized/talking Lightening McQueen car

tomato sauces- on pizza, pasta, etc

his pacifiers - a must-have for sleeping that we're going to start limiting to the bed

music - he really seems to enjoy it, claps along, bounces some

crawling -all my kids do, they're in no hurry to walk anywhere

Some unique Josiah things:

twirls/waves his hands when he wants something or is excited about something- sometimes very insistently

has started "hugging" by laying his head briefly against your shoulder when you pick him up

rubs his eyes often and pretty vigorously, particularly when he's sleepy

prone to respitory crud, seems to get a cold easily

doesn't laugh out loud a ton, but will really get going if you tickle his thighs or his chest

is a great growler - What does a lion say? Raugghh What does a tiger say? Raugghh What does a cow say? Raugghh (we're still working on this)

Waits until the right beat to clap on "If you're happy and you know it"

says/ has said dada and mama and maybe nana and definitely "dis" (this), but not really consistently or often and in respones to prompting but not with evidence of meaning for him - he doesn't talk a whole bunch, which isn't surprising given the two older chatterboxes around all the time (although Serena swears he said "funky" the other day

Josiah still has "crazy toes" - they're really long and flexible, often, when relaxed, he'll be "pointing" with his big toe

he's a pretty busy guy with a mischievous glint in his eye. I'll admit I'm a little bit nervous about the "trouble" year 2 could bring :)

All in all, long year or short, we feel blessed to have Josiah in our family and look forward to watching him grow and change.

Oh yeah! One last thing...

2011-08-19T16:02:00.002-04:00

For anybody reading out there who hasn't heard, read on facebook, or seen me in the last few weeks:

We're having a baby in December!

He/She is due on Christmas Eve, to be exact. And I'll even save you the trouble of doing some math - Josiah will be 15 months old, Asher will be 3 3/4, and Serena will be 5 1/2.
The timing's a bit of a surprise (I was having my babies in even numbered years), but with the 3 wonderful, beloved children we are enjoying so much, how can we feel anything but blessed?(even when we occasionally also feel overwhelmed, crazy, unsure...)
We won't find out again whether it's a boy or girl until s/he's born - so there's that surprise to look forward to!

Serena's Big Week

2011-08-19T15:34:00.004-04:00

Serena had a big week this week! She started Kindergarten at Southside Elementary School. She goes every day, all day (8:00 - 2:40), which is taking some getting used to. She seems to enjoy it while she's there, but in the morning's she'd kind of rather stay home and play. She has an excellent, teacher, Mrs. Taylor, and already knew a number of kids in her class from church and preschool. She makes us proud and it's so fun to hear about the things she does and learns at school - she's not real forthcoming, but gradually the stories come out :).

Serena also began ballet lessons this week. After agonizing over the choice between ballet, soccer, and piano, she chose ballet (which i kind of guessed she'd choose all along). She goes to class on Monday nights and had a good first class. At the end she told me, "The dancing was fun, but the music was boring." It will be fun to see whether she comes to enjoy dance as much as I did, or finds her niche somewhere else. In the meantime, she sure is beautiful in her dance clothes.

Of course, all the adjusting has made a big week for us parents as well - we've got to get up and moving earlier each morning (which we kind of like) and remember to pick her up every day too! Plus, the establishment of a schedule for Serena means that her things are truly beginning to take priority over our things/schedule/plans. Gone are the days of toting our kids along to whatever we have going on. Asher's having to get used to not having is number one playmate around as well, and he's done pretty well adjusting (he doesn't ask if it's time to pick her up more than 4-5 times per day). I've enjoyed getting to have a little more one-on-one time with him. And Josiah... well, he's smiley as always and mostly just gets toted around still.

a GREAT Summer

2011-08-19T14:46:00.003-04:00

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention (briefly and belatedly) what great summer we had. It started off at the beginning of June with Joshua's ordination, which occasioned visits from both sets of grandparents (parents) and our good friend Josh Hubert. We also baptized Josiah the same weekend!

June was mostly filled with summer stuff - swimming, playing in the yard, riding bikes, playgrounds, and popsicles. Joshua began working full time and I backed off to working half-time, and both of us have enjoyed the different pace. Both Serena and Asher got to participate in Vacation Bible School (as did mom and dad!). And Serena had a fun "mermaid" swim party for her 5th birthday. (On a side note, yes, it's hard to believe we've been blessed by our sweet Serena for FIVE years!) Joshua also spent 10 days in Peru with the church mission team. I was flying solo with the kids on July 4th, but we had a great time at a small-town parade and festival, a wave pool, and wonderful fireworks show.

And for almost all of July (2 1/2 weeks) we were on vacation to Texas and Arkansas. We drove over 2600 miles for back-to-back family reunions! First, my family met up in central Texas (lake LBJ) for a week. Mom and Dad, our 5, Elisa, Stephen, Ava, Corbin, and Sienna, and Paul and Veronica and Dillon, and my grandparents (the "great" grandparents) all gathered for a WONDERFUL time. It was as crazy at times (as you might imagine it would be with 17 people, 7 of whom are 5 years ols and younger), but mostly it was pretty relaxing and good to be together. The only low point of the week was at the very beginning, when Josiah had to ahve emergency hernia surgery at the children's hosptial in Austin, but he received great care and sailed right through! Altogether, the whole episode lasted about 30 hours.

The second week of our vacation was spent in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas with Joshua's family - his parents, the five of us, Jodi, Ruben, Tomas, Isaac and Alison, Jacob, Jonah and Lydia (and 4 members of Lydia's family for part of the time). Yep - that's another week with 15 people. Again, we had a great time - relaxing, eating, playing games, eating, swimming in the river, and eating. We feel so blessed by our families and the opportunity we had to spend some time with them this summer. The distance and rarity make it so special - and the kids really enjoyed the time with their cousins.

The travel days as a family were good - really. We spent a lot of time in the car, but also stopped to play and picnic and, of course, swim in the hotel pools. The kids were champion travelers. They read books, played games, watched movies, played with toys, colored, and ate snacks all the way across 10 different states. And the minivan with 160,000 miles on it deserves a big thank you for a perfect trip! All of this has just encouraged us to do it again sometime....

We had just 2 weeks in August once we got back before school started, so we swam as much as possible, spent time with friends, and enjoyed some good lazy days. Serena and Asher have a wonderful time playing together, this summer had made Serena an incredible swimmer (and Asher much more comfortable in the water), and Josiah's gotten the hang of crawling everywhere and getting into things. So, I guess it's been time well-spent. It's definitely been a lot of fun!

Do you call them fireflies or lightning bugs?

2011-07-03T22:48:00.004-04:00

rising up out of the summertime grass
with that tempting, erratic flash,
they drifted like the firecracker haze
in the heavy evening air

up past their bedtime, they hunted,
neon-orange net in hand,
but frustration flickered fast
until mama tupperwared two

to serve as nightlight
on the dresser in the dark

Josiah at 3/4 of a year!

2011-06-28T15:16:00.004-04:00

I think it's definitely a sign that I am not keeping up with the blog very well when the last post is a picture of Asher's haircut and he just got another one yesterday! In my meager defense, though, his hair does grow really fast.

I am LONG overdue for an update on our sweet Josiah, though. He's really come into his own personality-wise in the last couple of months. Most notably, he is VERY happy. Smiles almost non-stop, especially if he gets the chance to smile at another person. He makes every older person at church feel like a rock star. They are always telling me, "He gives me the biggest smile every time he sees me!" And he does - every single one of them - and his family, even his crazy sister and brother. He has only recently become a somewhat better sleeper (and by this I mean that he has finally managed to sleep through a few entire nights and take some decent naps), but I can't complain to much up because, if he's awake, he's cheerful.

He's sitting up, of course, and has been crawling for about a month and gets around pretty well. This of course, opens a whole new realm of dangers (see the picture below :)) but there haven't been too many accidents so far. He doesn't do a ton of standing of cruising, but I'm still betting he walks earlier than his sister and brother did (14 and 15 months respectively :)). And he's got 4 teeth he loves to eat with. He's eating pretty much anything we let him eat these days and getting better and better at self-feeding.

Josiah's can be both very quiet and really talkative. He often crawls around silently, exploring things. But with the right toy in his hand, he will jabber and jabber. He loves his big sister (except when she's moving him away from somewhere he wants to be) and the feeling is mutual - Serena is very sweet to her baby brother and often makes him laugh and laugh. He's usually pretty excited to see Asher too, which is a little surprising given that Asher very often ends up being, either intentionally of unintentionally, a little too rough with him. Someday, though, I imagine they're going to be great playmates.
Our Josiah really is a lovely and sweet baby boy and we feel so blessed to enjoy watching him grow.

Haircut!

2011-05-02T18:17:00.003-04:00

Before:

After:

As you can tell, it had been quite a while since Asher's last haircut (and his hair grows pretty quickly). We love his hair shaggy, but it's fun to get to see his whole face too :) I'm not really sure I like him looking so grown up, though!

Luckily, he told me today that he's still my "squishy boy."

A Spring Break

2011-04-15T09:58:00.002-04:00

Just a few pictures from our WONDERFUL trip to Myrtle Beach. We were so blessed to have our friends Don and Martha O'Dell let us use their beach condo for the week, and to have our friends the Richardsons join us! It was a great week of relaxing inside the condo and on the beach, diggin in the sand (found some perfect shells) swimming in the "hot pool" (Serena officially learned to swim underwater), sharing meals, and playing plenty of boardgames. We also repeated our annual beach photo shoot - here are a few samples:

Asher Update

2011-04-11T21:23:00.004-04:00

And just like that - he's more boy than baby. It seems like all of the sudden, Asher's shaken off the last bit of babyness and is now a little boy - in speech, attention, reasoning, and coordination. He turned three a couple weeks ago and we celebrated with a construction-themed party that fit his interest in trucks, "worker men," and dirt :). Someone definitely programmed this little guy to love all things "boy." He loves to throw, kick, bounce, and bump every ball he can get his hands on, will climb anything he can just for the pleasure of jumping off, and proudly demonstrates how fast he can run to anyone who will watch.

In between his rowdiness and activity, he keeps up well with his older sister - "reading" books aloud to himself, pretending (happily assuming any role Serena assigns him), and vying for Josiah's attention (sometimes with a little more enthusiasm (force) than we or Josiah would like). Asher has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh - and it's pretty hard not to with the glint of mischief in his eyes. He's also becoming quite the negotiator, frequently trying to talk his way into or out of something. Other skills include: pedaling a bike, singing songs, rhyming, playing Uno, dribbling a ball, and telling jokes.

Asher has always been a very lovable little guy - mostly because he's so loving. He's sweet and very sensitive to others' feelings, eager to help. He loves to cuddle, gives great hugs, rushes to kiss you goodbye or welcome you home. He's friendly and cheerful the vast majority of the time.

Asher keeps us laughing and is truly a joy to be around - how blessed we are to have him in our family!

Serena Update

2011-03-18T22:10:00.002-04:00

Serena's 4 3/4 years old and impresses us daily. She's everything a big sister should be - both helpful and bossy. She adores her baby brother and is always willing to entertain him, soothe him, and help with him (usually with much better results than she's getting in this picture!).
Serena will go to kindergarten next year and she's definitely ready. She's got incredible fine motor skills, which make her a great colorer as well as letter-writer. She can recognize all her letters and write them as well. She's even begun reading a few sight words and getting the hang of phonics. It's so much fun to watch her master new things.

Serena is confident and independent. She has definite opinions about how she wants things, still enjoys playing alone (although she very often includes Asher in her imaginative play as well), has an impressive memory, and is a pretty deep thinker. Some of the questions she asks and the connnections she makes truly amaze us.

Overall, Serena is growing up into a really neat little girl. She's creative and smart and though she can sometimes be stubborn, she increasingly can reason and compromise well and deals well with disappointment. And, hey! - we've got her doing some chores!

Dinner table lessons

2011-03-10T21:41:00.002-05:00

Many a dinnertime in the Poling household when I was growing up involved reading the dictionary or referencing the Encyclopedia Brittanica. We (the whole family - don't try to deny it, Elisa) did this for fun.
My kids are still a little young, and not reading yet, but that doesn't keep our meals from containing a solid educational element. Tonight Serena asked how to make water. This naturally led to a lesson on evaporation, precipitation, etc, complete with hand motions. (Joshua's sole contribution was, "that (my sweeping, circular hand motions) looks like ballet.") Serena was paying attention, at least.
"And that," I summarized, "is called the water cycle."
Asher: "Not a watercycle... a motorcycle."
Turns out he was listening after all.

Getting in Touch with Our Feelings

2011-01-13T10:44:00.003-05:00

Serena sweetly expressed her "feelings" to me the other day:

Serena: Do you know how I feel?

Me: How do you feel?

Serena: I feel a dream in my heart that someday I will be a princess.

Me: Wow, that's a nice dream, honey.

Asher didn't want to be left out of the feeling/dream sharing...

Asher: I feel... I feel like a truck is in my tummy.

Hmmm. Usually the little guy's emotional intelligence is pretty high.

2011, ready or not...

2011-01-04T22:43:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year already?! Have yet to send out our "Christmas" letter, have had no time to post any photos to this blog or anywhere else, and the new year's "to do" list keeps growing. Funny how hard it is to get a free moment these days.
BUT, we had a great Christmas, filled with all due wonder and joy. Loved having my brother and his wife here to visit with their new baby (pics of "twin cousins" to follow... maybe). We're excited for what 2011 has in store for our family and just hoping for the wisdom to take the time to enjoy it.
Here's a picture of each kid - just to prove they're still alive :)

Serena, 4 1/2 years old

Asher, 2 3/4 years old

Josiah, 3 months old

My middle child

2010-12-07T15:13:00.002-05:00

They say a middle child is a mother's comfort.
Asher fits that (most of the time... he is 2, after all!).
Thanks, Elisa, for this sweet photo - from last spring in Phoenix, we've got snow on the ground here now.

The Third Child

2010-10-12T08:57:00.002-04:00

Joshua and I often felt like we were not anxious enough about the welfare of our first child for future children to survive, given the predicted deterioration of our vigilvance with each successive child.
And, well, Asher has made it past his second birthday (I hold him responsible for all accidents that befall him from this point on :)), but he's made of pretty tough stuff. Josiah may be the real test case...
First, let me confess that I did leave him, at 2 weeks old, on the changing table while I went into the bathroom to wash my hands. But he wasn't unattended - his 2 1/2 year old brother was standing next to the changing table. And I did say, in a casual, make-him-feel-included kind of way, "Watch your brother." I heard a little bit of mild fussing from Josiah when I was washing my hands, but that in no way prepared me for what I would find when I returned to the bedroom (about 1.5 minutes later).
Asher was standing on top of the changing table (having scaled the side), arms wrapped in a tight hug around the baby so that Josiah was dangling from his embrace, about 5 feet above the floor. "Here, mommy," Asher said, turning toward me, "I pick Josiah up for you!"
Josiah was fine. Asher got a little reminder not to ever pick up the baby. And I'll make sure Joshua's awake before I leave the room next time.

2010-09-29T09:17:00.001-04:00

thank you card

2010-07-24T16:38:00.002-04:00

Serena was writing some thank you cards earlier in the day today, and then his afternoon she spent quite a while making, with stickers and crayons, a card that she told me would be for the new baby when it was born.

When she had finished her masterpiece, she wanted me to write on it for her:

For Baby,

Thank you for coming out of Mommy's tummy. I love you.

Love,

Serena

I think we'll all be thankful and excited, come October.

Fairy "Four"est Party

2010-07-05T22:24:00.006-04:00

We celebrated Serena's 4th birthday with a fairy picnic in the park with a few of her friends. Everybody got wings and glittery fairy dust, a picnic fit for a princess, and fairy-sized finger foods.

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful, cool afternoon at the park - perfect for flying around!

It's hard to beleive there are 4 candles on that cake!

Asher had a great time, too, of course :). Here he is with his favorite little fairy, Audrey. Serena's dollhouse has been a huge hit - and she even lets Asher play with her sometimes.

At four years old, Serena is a lot of fun - she has a great imagination, plenty of vocabulary for good conversations, and an infectious laugh. She's definitely strong-willed and determined to get her way, but learning to compromise and reason some. She plays well with her little brother, and is glad to include him in her imaginary play. They seem more and more like friends as they giggle and converse together. Serena still loves books and has quick letter recognition but not much patience for learning more yet. Recently, we've noticed that she's become really good at coloring, which she also enjoys.

We feel blessed to be her parents, to watch her grow and learn, and to laugh and learn with her.

The Danger of a Nickname

2010-06-14T14:37:00.005-04:00

While I call my kids a variety of cute or silly little names on a regular basis, I really have one main nickname for each of them. Serena is "Bean" (a simplifying of "Serena - Beana"), and I've called her that (not exclusively) most of her life. Asher didn't get a rhyming nickname - "smasher," "basher," "crasher," etc, didn't seem like good values to promote. Instead, early on, mostly because of his sweet newborn roundness, I started calling him "Squish." I will admit my mother warned me from the beginning that this might not be appreciated by Asher later in life. In spite of the warning, I've kept calling him Squish, enough that he answers, if I ask "Who's Squish?", "Me!"

Now, 2 years alter, Asher's still a pretty sturdy guy but he's thinned out a lot on his way to kid-dom from toddlerhood. He's long lost his baby rolls and developed tough little toddler toes - though he does still have pretty sweet little cheeks and fun to pinch, ticklish thighs. Still, entirely squishy or not, I call him Squish.

Last night after dinner the kids were enjoying a little bit of ice cream and I remarked to them, "Ice cream twice in one day! You'll get chubby." Serena's response was, "Asher's already chubby, I might get chubby."

"Asher's not chubby," I quickly corrected.

"Uh huh. He's Squish." Serena responded.

Maybe it's not a great nickname choice. And he's definitely not going to like it later in life.

Squish - beach pose

Favorite Floss Flavors

2010-06-12T15:17:00.002-04:00

Serena was flossing her teeth with flavored floss this morning.

Serena: What kind is this, mint?
Daddy: (seeing that is was red) It might be cinnamon.
Serena: I think it's mint.
[pause]... Is yours broccoli?

Broccoli-flavored dental floss. It's an idea.

Baby makes Five

2010-05-30T22:37:00.003-04:00

She/He looks so innocent... and yet by the third time around we're fully aware of how much disruption one little life can cause. We're still four months away (we hope) from the arrival of our third child, but today is one of those days that I'm not entirely sure we're up for it.
Just arrived home from a fun but exhausting weekend away at a friend's wedding. Mostly exhausting for the kids - lots of late nights and missed naps makes for kids a little more high-maintenance than usual. Which translates into exhausting for mom and dad too. They are, thankfully, sleeping peacefully at the moment. And it only takes me a few seconds to remember all the reasons I adore them, to recall all the times they made me smile or laugh out loud today, and to feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of two healthy, happy children.
But still... 3?

Asher's 2!

2010-03-30T22:44:00.004-04:00

We celebrated Asher's 2nd Birthday in the park.

Enjoying cupcakes - the icing at least.

The theme was "puppies in the park" - so we had "pupcakes" :)

and hotdogs, of course...

Asher at two is as fun as ever - laughs with absolute delight, loves to be "gickled," eats everything, especially fruit, LOVES puppies, throws, kicks and catches balls, rides a tricycle, chases his sister, has the cutest smile, still has his raspy little voice, can throw a great fit but is usually easy-going, agreeable, and peace-making and a great cuddler. We've been so blessed to have him in our lives and look forward to watching him grow and learn in the years to come!

Baby Moses

2010-02-08T21:00:00.004-05:00

Serena came out of her Sunday School class carrying a picture she had made of Baby Moses in a basket.

"Oh, did you learn about Moses today?"

Serena answered, "Yeah, Mary put him in a basket in the river to keep him safe from the mean fairy."

Pretty close. I heard from her teacher that she was pretty concerned that the alligators might eat Moses when he was in the river. Her father talked to her about the fact that crocodiles, not alligators live in the nile.

21 months old

2010-01-07T11:42:00.002-05:00

Asher's closing in on 2 years old, and I really think there is no cuter age. He's even cute when he says "no," no matter what you ask him. He's finally decided to talk more, although that doesn't mean he's real chatty. Mostly still a quiet kid, but he is saying more and more words, and we are trying to learn to understand them all. "Up" "cup" and "help" all sound an awful lot alike, as do "cookie" and "dirty." He loves to smile for the camera and say "cheese" (food words are some of his clearest) - as you can see above. This is the position he assumed when I told the kids they could watch a movie. It didn't last past the opneing credits, though, before the pillow was on the floor so he could jump off the couch onto it.

We Survived Christmas

2010-01-03T22:14:00.004-05:00

We expected the last two weeks of 2009 to be a little bit crazy. All of Joshua's family came for a Christmas visit - 14 people all together! But that kind of crazy is a good kind of crazy - the fun, the crowd, the kids, the noise. And it was as wonderful as we thought it would be; we're so glad they came!

However, the was also a significant amount of not-so-good kind of crazy that filled our holiday as well. Broken microwave, leaking (through the second floor) washing machine, broken refrigerator (as in not functioning, have to keep holiday food for a dozen people in ice chests on the porch), broken heater (but rigged to function after one VERY cold night), Christmas tree fell over... twice, sinus infection, ear infection, respiratory infection, stomach virus passed around, and all-night travel delays for multiple parties.

We're just hoping 2010 brings a new trend. (I'm counting Joshua's mom's bout wiht food poisoning in the '09 casualty tally... after all, the food came from 2009, which was precisely the problem, in addition to inconsistent refrigeration temperatures - see above).

This family "Christmas" photo was taken 4 days after Christmas, when the little ones were done puking and some sanity had returned.

2009-11-09T22:16:00.001-05:00

Serena starts school!

2009-09-01T21:45:00.005-04:00

Serena started pre-school today! She was a little nervous.

And a little excited.

Her teachers were wonderful and welcoming and, as far as we can tell, Serena had a great first day. She painted and played on the playground and pottied. When we arrived to pick her up, she was reading books to the stuffed animals (no surprise!). And by the time we got home for lunch she was singing the new song she learned. We are so proud of her and so glad she enjoyed herself!

Perhaps the funniest thing about the day was that after we dropped Serena off at school, Asher, to begin his alone time with Dad, immediately climbed up in Serena's chair. He'd never even attempted such a take-over before. I guess he figured he'd take full advantage of his sister's absence.

16 months old

2009-08-06T18:01:00.003-04:00

Asher's pretty darn cute at 16 months. Into everything, running and climbing, jabbering, signing, coloring, using utensils (selectively), hugging, looking at books, pointing to his body parts when asked, and throwing balls. He loves to swim, be chased by his sister, take her things, pet Bishop, eat (just about anything), and play in the sandbox. Hates being thwarted, hearing "no," going to bed, getting out of the bath, his parents leaving.

It's pretty hard to get him to sit still for a picture - harder than I remember it being with Serena, which is my excuse for less pictures. Got some good ones the other day though...

Peru-nion

2009-07-14T21:56:00.003-04:00

Asher and Serena (and Grandma, we think) had a great time in Huntington last week.

Joshua and I, 9 other church members, and 40 Peruvian children had a great time in the village of Gallito on the banks of the Amazon last week.

But smiles were huge and hugs were long on Saturday afternoon.

We'll likely travel without them other times in the future, but kind of feel like we'd rather not. It felt weird - we missed them, wished they could expereince all the new things, could imagine their reactions, would've loved to see their faces. Maybe next time.

In the meantime, it's good to be home.

Predicament de Parmesan

2009-06-08T22:44:00.010-04:00

Today, I was sitting talking to my insurance agent about all things auto and home, when my pocket buzzed. I of course ignored it, I was in a meeting after all. But the second time it rang in 20 seconds I knew something was up. The conversation went something like this . . .

Hey, what's up?

How soon are you going to be home?

I don't know I am just sitting here talking. We are just wrapping it up?

Okay, well Serena got her finger stuck in the parmesan lid and we will be waiting until you get here.

Oh, okay, I am on my way.

After saying my goodbyes, I hopped in the van and headed home, mostly laughing at the predicament. I arrived home to see Serena sitting on the counter eating cookie dough with a red finger through the center hole of the lid. Amy was video taping her and I was laughing out loud as I went downstairs for some tools.

It turns out the answer to the predicament was a pair of wire clippers and two well placed snips. Her little finger was swelled up (my wife made me change this) and a bit red by the time all was said and done, but all fingers are still attached and we avoided the trip to the hospital for such weirdness and embarassment. Not bad for our first marble up the nose-like experience.

Where's Jesus now?

2009-05-24T21:41:00.003-04:00

We told Serena that Jesus is always with her. (This was partly in response to some monster concerns and the need to offer her some reassurance so we could go downstairs to finish watchng the next episode of 24) So she asked, of course, looking around, “Where is he?” and we told her he lives in her heart. She accepted this for the most part but we can tell she's trying to make sense of it. Some conversations along those lines:
Staring intently across the dinner table – “Look, there’s Jesus! Right there. Do you see him? He has a green shirt!” I agreed with her– whom am I to argue?
Another dinner time, “Jesus is in my belly.”
And once after dinner, standing on her chair, Serena had her shirt pulled up and chest bared. I asked her why she had her shirt up. “Jesus is coming out!” Apparently he could get through flesh and bone, no problem, but the shirt fabric would have been tricky – good thinking.

Asher Charles, Child of God

2009-04-23T22:01:00.007-04:00

Asher was baptized last Sunday. Both sets of Grandparents came to town for the occasion and Amy's Dad performed the baptism. It was a great worship service and celebration with our families and our church family. The gown he wore was made from Amy's grandmother's wedding dress. Asher looked just like a little boy in a dress :).

Easter Fun

2009-04-13T12:28:00.003-04:00

We had a great Easter. Church egg hunt on Saturday, a great sunrise service, more worship later, egg hunt and feast at our good friends' house, then home for Sunday naps! Serena had a great time hunting eggs (and eating the candy) and Asher mostly just looked cute, although he did shake a few eggs. We're looking forward to grandparents coming to visit for the next 2 weeks! Amy's parents will be here tomorrow, then Joshua's parents will arrive on Saturday and stay through the next week. That allows everybody to be here over the weekend, when we'll celebrate Asher's baptism!

A Happy 1st Birthday!

2009-03-28T21:07:00.002-04:00

As hard as it is to believe, Asher turned 1 this week! We had a lot of fun celebrating - cake and homemade ice cream, as well as good friends. Thanks to all those who came over, and to thsoe who sent their well wishes from far away. We feel so blessed as parents to have Asher in our lives and thank God that he's so happy and healthy.

A Little Bit Like Her Mother

2009-03-13T22:24:00.006-04:00

Serena, among other things, has her father's fine blonde hair, slowness to wake up, and general friendliness. In other ways she's a little like me, too, though:

she loves to read

enjoys a good milkshake

and dances "bal-yay" (After discovering the calluses I carry from a couple decades of ballet, she informed me that the tiny blister on her foot was there because she "dances a lot").

2009-03-13T21:59:00.006-04:00

With Spring trying to arrive and a little lightening of the schedule coming soon, we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of a cold and busy winter. We've been going pretty much non-stop the past couple months. Joshua's working a couple of jobs besides being a full-time stay-at home dad and Amy's work doesn't always make the juggling real easy.
The kids are doing great. Serena seems so grown up some days and continues to entertain us with her vebalized stream of consciousness. Asher's closing in on walking, will eat anything (except asparagus it turns out), and doesn't really care to talk but makes plenty of noise - most of it happy. They're at an age where they're really beginning to enjoy each other, which is fun to watch. Here are a few pictures...

Hiccups

2009-01-18T20:56:00.003-05:00

When I was reading Serena a bedtime story, she had some pretty insistent hiccups so, midsentence, I turned to her and said,
"Aagghh!"
She jumped, and cried.
Immediately sorry, I hugged her, comforted her, and tried to explain that I didn't mean to upset her, I was just trying to scare her hiccups away. She didn't look very grateful. More... distrustful. But she stopped crying.
And, for the record, she also stopped hiccupping. So I continued reading the story.
A few pages later, Serena interrupted. "Where are my hiccups?"
"I scared them away. Sometimes we can get rid of hiccups by scaring them away," I said, rather pleased with myself.
Serena was not so pleased, "No, you can't scare my hiccups. My grandma will get me some new ones and they will be mine. And you can't scare them. I will have them. Okay, Mommy?"
"Okay. I'm sorry. I thought you didn't want to have hiccups. I won't scare them away again."
We finished reading the book in peace. No more hiccups and no more reprimands from my 2 1/2 year-old.

That's my boy

2009-01-16T21:57:00.002-05:00

Here's Asher at 9 months old. See any resemblance? My hair was lighter at his age, but our hair's almost exactly the same color now, and our eyes. I don't have the cute gap between my front teeth, though :).

Back to Reality

2009-01-08T23:23:00.003-05:00

Asher, Grandma (Joshua's mom), Alison, Isaac, Serena, and Tomas

Tomorrow we'll travel from 80 degrees and sunny to 30 degrees and snowy/slushy. It'll be a hard transition for many reasons. There's plenty of work awaiting both Joshua and I so we'll have to hit the ground running.

Still, it's been a great vacation, so relaxing and fun at boht of our parents' houses. Time with family is rare enough to be recognized as such a blessing, especially as our kids grow and change so fast. They've vacationed pretty well. Serena's been a little more disagreeable from time to time than she usually is, but she may just be a little stressed by continually dealing with cousins, which she's not used to. Or maybe she's just 2 1/2. Asher's been cheerful as always, even through illness. It seems like he's gotten tons older in the past two weeks - but maybe I've just had more time to focus on him. At a 9 1/2 months, he's chewing up all kinds of new foods, pulling to a stand all the time, crawling for real, playing peek-a-boo (pretty agressively), throwing things, chasing things, and doing the pre-talk social grunting thing. I'm gonna miss spending all day with them. But, back to reality...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T10:19:00.003-05:00

The first half of our Christmas vacation is winding down. We've been at Amy's parents' house in Arizona for the past week. 11 of us all together under one roof is a rare occurrence, so it's been fun (and a little crazy). Unfortunately, Asher and Serena have both had a pretty yucky cold the whole time, but I'm hopeful they're getting over it as we head to Texas for a week.

Among other things, we had a surprisingly painless family photo shoot:

Joshua, Amy, Asher and Serena Sutherlun; John and Jackie Poling (Amy's parents); Paul and Veronica Jordan Poling (Amy's brother); Elisa (+Corbin), Stephen and Ava Hood (Amy's sister)

Serena's staring at her grandpa becasue he was saying "epiphany" instead of "cheese." Kids recognize weird early on.

Tis the Season

2008-12-21T21:56:00.004-05:00

"Look! Christmas Socks!"

8 months old

We picked the perfect tree.

(okay, it was actually a little big once we got it inside.)

I thought I'd post a few pictures from the last month, just to reassure you we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. December has been as busy for us as we expected, but a lot of it is self-selected and pretty fun. A few of the things we've done in the last month include: cutting down our tree at the tree farm and decorating it, putting up lights and decorations all around the house, going to the Huntington Christmas parade, arranging and rearranging the nativity sets countless times, and shopping on a busy Saturday with two cranky kids and one cranky mommy (ok, this last one wasn't much fun). And just last week we went to Nashville for 3 days with our good friends Wes and Martha, and their baby, Audrey, to go to the most amazing Christmas concert ever, put on by Andrew Peterson. It was a fun trip and good practice for our big trip in 4 days, when we go to Phoenix and San Antonio for 2 weeks to visit both our families. Which reminds me that I have LOTS to get done in the next 3 days so I better stop blogging.

We hope you've been enjoying the season as much as we have - have a wonderful Christmas!

Climbing on the house

2008-11-20T10:24:00.002-05:00

When I walked into Serena's room the other morning, I found her already awake, staring out the window.

Serena: Mommy! It's swowing!
Me: Yes, isn't it pretty (maybe a slight exaggeration, given the small accumulation)
S: I will wear my boots... (she has been wanting to wear these rain boots all summer and I've put her off by saying we need to save them for when it snows)... and go outside and climb on the house! (She evidently observe that the snow had only accumulated with any significance on the porch roof)
Me: Well, I don't think...
S: Maybe that will be a bad choice.
Me: Yeah, maybe we better not climb on the hosue. It's a little dangerous.

So fun to watch the wheels turn in her head.

Pumpkins

2008-10-26T21:39:00.003-04:00

I could be biased. Okay, I am biased, but these kids are seriously cute. I guess pretty much any kid would be cute in a pumpkin patch. But this is my blog, so I get to talk about these particular cute kids in a pumpkin patch.

Another milestone

2008-10-16T09:37:00.002-04:00

Asher fell off our bed today. Which means he hit that milestone a couple months later than Serena. Maybe our parenting skills are improving.
Lukcily, he seemed to forget it pretty quickly and was back to smiling in no time. He's doing a lot of creative scooting and inching these days. I'm pretty sure we're not ready to keep the floor that clean.

Asher turns point 5

2008-09-30T21:54:00.005-04:00

At six months, Asher's hitting all kinds of milestones:
Sitting Up!

Eating Cereal!

TWO Teeth! (look really close)

And he continues to be such a joy. Cuddly and cheerful, alert, easy-going, friendly. It's so much fun watching him grow and change. The distraction of another child in addition to a baby means that I keep being surprised that he's already doing certain things. As Serena says, "Asher growing more and more. He going to learn to walk."

Cute Cousins

2008-09-30T21:43:00.004-04:00

Amy's sister, Elisa, along with her husband Stephen and daughter Ava, came to visit from Utah. It was so much fun to have them. We camped and swam and picnicked and played... and refereed, and watched some tantrums and plenty of Nemo, and hoped for simultaneous naps. Serena is jsut 5 months older than Ava, which made it lots of fun to see them together, but also a little challenging at times. They were kind of getting the hang of sharing by the end of the 10 days, though. And both learned a little from the other - Serena's a better jumper now and Ava picked up a few words. We were glad that the adult-child ratio was still in our favor, but that will change in about 5 months when Elisa and Stephen have their baby (a boy we think!). Before we know it, we'll be watching 4 kids born within 33 months play together.

5 and 26 months, respectively

2008-09-02T22:01:00.003-04:00

A few family pics

2008-09-02T21:50:00.003-04:00

Amy's parents came out to visit a couple weeks ago and we took a trip together to Pennsylvania. Sort of our last hurrah of summer, since the fall's been coming on fast ever since. It was great to get away with them, though, and fun for Asher and Serena to get to spend time with them.

2008-07-21T16:52:00.001-04:00

The Great Haircutting Party

2008-07-18T21:45:00.000-04:00

After extended premeditation, Joshua cut his hair. Well, he didn't actually cut it - he invited his good friends over to do that. Mostly, I think they were disappointed. As someone put it, "I was hoping you'd look really strange or awkward, but you just look like Joshua with short hair"
For those of you who live too far away to make it to the party, here are some photos...

4th of July

2008-07-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

How cute is he??? Asher is such a cheerful guy - full of smiles these days and laughing all the time. He's a little over 3 months and weighs in at 2/3 of Serena's 2 year old weight. We figure he'll catch up to her soon. Just for some perspective - this outfit he's wearing at 3 months was worn by Serena at 11 months!

We had a pretty low-key 4th of July. I did get the kids to to sit for some pictures, though, which is a pretty signficant accomplishment given that one won't sit still and one can't sit up.

Serena's 2nd Birthday

2008-07-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Serena's 2nd birthday last week - had a few good friends over for a dinner of Serena's favorite foods, opened some gifts, and ate birthday cake. It was fun, and I've now coached her enough that she'll answer "two" if you ask her how old she is. You wouldn't have to ask, though, if you saw her in the nursery at church where almost anything another kid touches is "mine." In all fairness, she spends enough time there to make a common law claim.

Turning 2 meant a move into a "big girl bed." Since we plan to move Asher into the same room in a bit, this meant some creative furniture moving on our part to fit the crib, twin bed, changing table, 2 dressers, book shelf, and rocking chair all in one room. We're happy with the result, though, and think they'll do well in there together. Serena only fell out of bed a couple times and seems to have the hang of it now.

Serena is wonderful at 2 years old and we are so proud of all she can do and say and how much more she learns every day. We feel so blessed to have the privilege of being her parents.

Asher at 12 weeks old

2008-06-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting new pictures of Asher. He's still happy and healthy. Sleeping great, laughing and gurgling all the time. He loves having your undivided attention, but if he can't have that, he'll settle for staring at his fist. Starting to really get some personality now, which is lots of fun. Here's a picture we took in Florida last week -

Vacation to Florida

2008-06-25T22:33:00.000-04:00

We spent last week in Florida with Joshua's family, doing the Disneyworld and Beach thing. It was wonderful - fun and tiring, just like vacation should be. Joshua's working on getting some kind of cool slideshow posted on here, but in the meantime... here are a few pictures for all you fans out there.

You ain't ever gonna keep me down

2008-06-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

I can't promise that the kids won't fall down a few times with Daddy on watch but I will promise to be there to hold them as they cry the pain away. As a matter of fact, I have done both just today. A freak accident caused Asher's basinet to dump him into the bottom of the playpen, and while that was only 2 feet to the bottom, it scared the little boy into not sleeping again for a while. He is now sound asleep in the other playpen, hopefully for the night.

While Mommy was bouncing Asher this evening at a friend's house, Daddy was on Serena duty. So, there were various Daddy-like things going on, flipping, running, tickling, and such. She was climbing around in a lazy-boy chair standing, most likely when she shouldn't have been, when she must have reached for something and flipped out of the chair and onto the floor narrowly missing an end table. Thus for the second time, I was consoling a child for invisible wounds born more from fear than physical injury. Though Mommy got to kiss her knee, and the other one. She too, is soundly asleep in her crib and we hopefully won't hear from her until morning.

There is much to tell ya'll about, these two children are growing and learning and teaching us how to be parents, but since the children are in both in bed, I shouldn't be up anymore either. So maybe tomorrow. But for now, I am reminded of a song that I sing to Serena when she sleeps, and one day I will long for days when I can hold my children as I did today. "I know that moons rise, and time flies and sweet little girls get older, and then when your tooth aches, or your heart breaks,will you still cry on my shoulder?" Check out Slugs, Bugs, and Lullabies for more.

A New Look

2008-05-14T08:47:00.000-04:00

No matter how long I wait to get dressed, Asher will wait longer to spit up. So the spot on my shoulder is a given. Today, though, I developed a new look. When I glanced down on my drive to work, I discovered half-digested eggs Serena had puked up this morning, clinging to the cuff of my pants.
Motherhood is great.

And 5 weeks...

2008-05-02T22:30:00.000-04:00

If Asher is 5 weeks old already, then I've only got a week of maternity leave left! Have already been back to work some, of course. It's hard to stay away entirely. Luckily, I'll have a couple weeks of partial maternity leave to get used the schedule again - or for Asher to get used to the schedule. He's seems much more agreeable to taking the bottle than Serena was, though, so that should make things a little easier for all of us.

In any case, I haven't gotten much checked off my maternity leave to-do list. Guess I should have put "make happy, healthy baby heavier" on there, just for the satisfaction of checking it off. At 4 weeks, Asher was about 11 1/2 pounds, so he's probably somewhere around 12 pounds at this point. Sleeping pretty well, too.

Made it to One Month

2008-05-02T22:25:00.000-04:00

Here's Asher at 4 weeks old - so peaceful.

2008-04-19T14:59:00.000-04:00

We don't want you to think we've forgotten Serena. She's been enjoying many springtime activities - flying a kite with Dad, playing in the yard with her pants falling off, and reading books on the deck. At 21 months, she's a lot of fun - working on ABCs, counting, speaking in sentences, reading/memorizing Dr. Seuss, picking flowers, blowing bubbles, drawing with chalk, singing, putting on her own clothes, expresing opinions, hugging Bishop, thinking about using the potty, fishing leaves out of the pond, squealing, laughing, and generally delighting folks.

**By the way, as I'm writing this, Asher is screaming because he'd like to be eating right now. Guess he's learning to share the parental attention, too.

Three Weeks Old

2008-04-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

We're just a bit past the three-week mark already. Things are going pretty smoothly, but we're spoiled by the presence of Joshua's parents right now. Four adults for two kids is a good ratio, it turns out.

Two Weeks Old

2008-04-18T21:06:00.000-04:00

Asher enjoys some time outside on a spring day. Serena's very interested in Asher... some of the time.

One Week Old

2008-04-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

We've been a little delinquent in updating the blog, in spite of promises to supply new pictures. It's amazing how quickly babies change at this age. Asher's doing great - eating, sleeping, and going through diapers at an amazing rate. He does all three really well.

Sutherlun Siblings

2008-03-30T22:09:00.000-04:00

Asher sneezes alot. Which means Serena says, "Bless you, Asher" alot. I think that's a good thing. Probably better than some of the things she'll say to him alot later on.
Here are a couple of more recent pictures.

Asher at 3 days old

Serena, 21 months and Asher, 4 days old

Happy and Blessed

2008-03-26T16:56:00.000-04:00

here has been much joy entering into our life recently. At 8:57 AM this morning, Asher Charles entered into this world with 8 and 9 apgar scores. At 8 lbs 11 oz, he is a little chunk, weighing 3 pounds more than Serena did at birth. We knew that Amy was measuring larger this time around but we were still surprised at the weight. He is 20 1/2 inches long which means for 1 extra inch, he has 3 extra pounds.

One of our biggest concerns was how Serena would react to having a new sibling taking up our attention. Thus far she has taken to Asher quite well. For instance, she loves peeking at his small body parts, particularly those tiny toes. She keeps calling him Ava however, so we are not quite sure she understands what is going on. But we are sure that she will be helpful over the next couple of months because she has already shown him much affection.

We are hanging out in the hospital now doing the obligatory 48 hour stay with cafeteria food. The surprise this time around is that if you pay an extra $100, a guest gets "free" meals for the entire stay as well. It is amazing what you can get for free when you pay for it. Amy is really doing well and had had an even easier time than she did the first time thus far. We are hoping that this trend continues. All of this has indeed made us feel happy and blessed, and just in case you didn't know it, those are the two meanings for the name Asher. God has truly blessed this family.

Hoping for a Sis-ther

2008-03-14T17:23:00.001-04:00

Amy looks like she going to Pop! Or so says everyone she meets these days. It might still be better than Joshua's fat comments, but not nearly as funny. There has recently been some unsolicited belly patting from a local caterer as well as an "Oh my gosh!" Besides the urge to punch someone, no negative repercussions of these actions have occurred. If this baby doesn't find its way out soon however someone may find a very surprising response to the next socially inappropriate gesture. My advice, stand clear!

Since the weather has begun to turn, Joshua is playing disc golf as much as he can. This is a little bit harder than one might think when he has to carry Serena through the course with him. Luckily she is cute, or the friends mightnot help with the process. The stroller has been a blessing, though Serena has fallen out of it once (I strap her in now!). While his tan is improving, slightly, his scores are not. At least it doesn't cost us anything.

Enough about us, you showed up to find out about our toddler we're sure. She is still pretty tiny, but that just makes her cuter of course. Her language skills just keep getting more amusing and she is able to recall more words than we remember teaching her. She still loves to "read" and will spend amazing lengths of time either reading with us or reading aloud to herself. She's also started bossing Bishop around (although he seldom responds). Whatever she's doing, she brings an incredible amount of joy and laughter to our lives. Here are a couple examples - a video of Serena getting in touch with her Texas roots and another that shows her swinging from glee to despair as only a toddler can (Is it mean that we can't stop laughing when we watch this one?).

Monthly Milestone Markers

2008-02-13T10:55:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since we have posted an update on our lives, so without further ado. We recently had Serena's 18 month check-up with our doctor (for those of you who are already doing the math in your head, yes, it came a month late!). But everytime we go in for a well check-up, our doctor has a list of milestone markers that Serena should be able to do. Now most of them were forgettable, since I have already forgotten them, but one in particular got us thinking. It seems that at 18 months a child should know and be able to use between 7-20 words. Now we realized quickly that Serena certainly uses more than 7 so we were safe, yet this got us thinking about just how many words she does know. Now of course we are not boasting perfect pronunciation here, but we know she is over 50. How do we know you ask? Because we, and by we I mean Amy, made a list. Wanna see it? Here it goes!

eat, Mommy, Daddy, Bishop, fork, eggs, apple, banana, seat, salad, hotdog, orange, cheese, bread, juice, milk, water, hi, bye, yea, no, bless you, amen, book, read, ready, baby, belly, nose, ears, hand, toes, duck, quack, doggy, music, dance, Wes, Martha, bunny, rabbit, bed, bounce, teeth, brush, bath, bubbles, picture, me, more, please, running, walk, two, box, three, balloon, snow, down, sit, socks, shoes, pants, cute, hair, head, cold, hot, stretch, jump, cup, jacket, bear, cooking, blocks, sucker, pretty, guitar, chair, seat, monster, cookie, Elmo, Ernie . . .

We are sure there are more, we just can't understand them yet :).

In other news, we are officially 43 days from the dute date of baby #2. We have had our boy name picked out for 2 years, and we are scrambling to find a girl name we can both agree on. Soon, one of us will either concede to the other or we will just walk out of the hospital with baby girl Sutherlun on the birth certificate. Only time will tell. We do think that Serena has figured out there is something different about Mommy's belly. Which brings us to perhaps the most exciting part of this posting. I have figured out how to post videos, and more important than figuring it out, I have taken the time to get it done. So, without further back patting for my own edification here is proof that our daughter is smarter than yours :).

Oh yeah, and so you can see the joy that Serena brings to our life and that she might pass a little of that joy onto you, I have added some other videos on the right side of this page. Just click play and off you go.

Poetry Break

2008-01-16T12:31:00.000-05:00

Because I was just reminded again of one of my favorite poems as I was preparing for a class I'm teaching, I thought I'd post the poem here, just for fun. It's by a Persian mystic named Hafiz.

The God Who Only Knows Four Words
Every
Child
Has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of dont's
Not the God who ever does
Anything weird,

But
The God who only knows four words
And keeps repeating them, saying:

"Come dance with me.
Come
Dance."

Pa Rump Bum Bum Bum

2007-12-29T11:12:00.000-05:00

Looking back on 2007 reminds us of how we’ve been busy and how we’ve been blessed.

Seats on planes have been numerous — the whole family flew to California for Amy’s brother’s wedding, to a family reunion in Colorado, and to Texas for work, as well as relaxation with Joshua’s family. Not to mention Joshua and Serena flying to Texas for a week in September and Amy and Serena taking their turn in Arizona in December. (Hey, she’s free ‘til she’s 2!)

And the keys ter the car have fired up the engine for quick trips to New Jersey where we caught up with friends, to the hills of West Virginia for a retreat, to a conference at Montreat, and to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

But we haven’t done all the traveling. Both sets of Serena’s grandparents came for her baptism. Her Aunt Elisa and new cousin Ava visited from Utah so the girls could meet. And her Uncle Jonah and Aunt Lydia, the newlyiest-weds in Joshua’s family, came in from Oklahoma.

Rearing Serena is an adventure and a pleasure. She celebrated her 1st birthday halfway through a year in which she learned to walk, talk, “read” books, sign words, dance, chase the dog, stack blocks, climb stairs (and lots of other things), take a bath, use a fork, and baa like a sheep. Luckily, it wasn’t all in the same day, but almost– we’re lucky to stay a close step behind her. And as anyone who’s had a toddler knows, she’s brought new joy to small things like bare feet in fresh spring grass, summer wading in the creek, the dairy-air at a fall festival, and the enticing twinkle of Christmas lights.

The tail of Joshua’s life includes lots of daddying, spurts of housework, surprising organization, increasingly skilled home remodeling, hours of soccer refereeing, and occasional rounds of disc golf. He volunteers a ton at the church as a valuable partner in Amy’s ministry, youth Sunday school teacher, and inquirer in the ordination process. And he’s even taken a crack, quite successfully, at worship band leadership.

The bottom line in Amy’s life has been a challenging and enjoyable ministry focused on young adults and alternative worship leadership. She’s also become adept at juggling mommying and meetings and is pleased to provide valuable moral support in the old-house remodeling process.

Speaking of buns,* most of you know there’s another one in the oven, due to arrive around the end March. The gender will remain a surprise again, but we do know that both Amy and baby are healthy.

*In hindsight, you may notice some barely veiled references. Obviously, you've found your way here to our blog to check your powers of perception - you'll find the intentional references in green.

We hope your Christmas and the coming New Year are filled with the peace of Christ.

Whew!

2007-12-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

In the last month, we've been in Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona - and in West Virginia long enough to do laundry and repack, rake leaves, and cut down a Christmas tree. Even with the busyness of December and the holidays, it's nice to be home for a while.

In San Antonio - with the Sutherlun grandparents and Uncle Jacob.

Thanksgiving dinner in North Carolina at Hubert's house. (Yes, we served her dinner on a piece of (nonbreakable) foil. But the rest of us had real plates.)

Hiking in Arizona with the Poling grandparents and Uncle Paul.

Photographs

2007-11-26T11:09:00.000-05:00

We seem to be having a bit of a photo-losing problem around our place these days. The big loss is all our digital photos from 2007 (unless some technological miracle recovers them from an explained computer deletion incident). This is sad, of course, as many fun momentos, particularly of Serena's growth and changes, were lost. However, some pictures have been saved, thanks to the wonders of internet photo sights, so we do have proof that we loved her enough to attempt to archive the past 10 months of her life, and enough photos to keep us entertained in our old age.
And in some ways, this will alleviate the pressure to make sure we take as many photos of our second child as we did of Serena. I'm suspecting that might be a problem since we had an ultrasound a few weeks ago (okay, almost a month) and promptly left town the next day. On the plane I found myself wondering... "Huh, where did I put those ultrasound pictures from yesterday? Did I leave them at the doctor's office? In the car?" Not only were they not with me, so I could show them to everyone I met, I didn't even know where they were. Luckily, though, I did leave them, securily stored in the car (where I'm sure I intended them to be safe from all the packing/leaving town madness). So, here are some pictures of Baby #2. We have once again decided to leave the gender a mystery until his/her arrival. Something has to be a surprise, since modern technology assures us he/she has a spine, ears, overbite, and such.

Halloween in Texas

2007-11-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

Serena was a chick for Halloween. Had a great time walking in circles at a carnival at her grandparents' church - something about the costume threw her off...

More Expected to Come

2007-10-25T13:19:00.000-04:00

Our recent months have been fairly busy. I have spent at least five days a week refereeing soccer games for the middle schools and high schools around here. We have decided to put all of the money I make towards vacation. If I only had a better job we could go somewhere exotic. I have recently found out that my brothers both have full time jobs, which means that I am the last in the family to hold down a real job. It is truly a proud moment. I'd like to thank all the examples of laziness and underachievement in my life, especially my dog Bishop, who could have been a show dog if he wasn't a eunuch and a mutt. My parents are so proud!

But I have found a way that my brother cannot compete with me (at least thus far). While my sister has 3 children and was certainly the first to give my parents grandchildren, I have properly and orderly been the second in the family to have a child. And while the job prospects are looking no better for me, the prospects of yet another child are looking up. To tell you the truth, we are 1/3 of the way there. It turns out, unlike my dog, I am not a eunuch. So, for those of you who have been confused by my sharp intellect and delightful will, I am going to spell it out for you. We are pregnant!

There, I've said it. You now know it, because you have read it. Unless you have a temporary loss of short term memory. So, in planning for all scenarios, I will repeat myself' We are pregnant!

God Bless,
Joshua

Fall Farm Festival

2007-10-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

We took Serena to the Bob Evans Farm Festival in Ohio last weekend. It was a really pretty day and Serena got to pet her first sheep, horse, and llama. She's not real good at the sheep and horse sound, but she's got the llama down. Oh yeah, we can't forget the Angora Rabbit as well. Nice Bunny!

On the whole it was too old for her and too young for us. But we did run into a couple of groups of friends who took the plunge with us. It was a cheap outing and a nice Saturday drive through the backroads of Ohio. But a couple of years from now, Serena will really enjoy the farm and who knows maybe she will even be a part of the tractor square dance.

Talking

2007-09-24T09:32:00.001-04:00

If we ever get advanced enough to add video, I may enhance this post. Serena talking is a lot of fun. Her repertoire thus far includes:

Mama and Dadda - though the current favorite is the Da sound
Bah bah - complete with waving
Whazz-at? (accompanied by pointing)
Whazz-is? (accompanied by grabbing)
Ish-ah - this is clearly "Bishop," which he may even figure out soon.
Uh-ew - this one requires a lot of concentration and still the second syllable is a little off, but it's my favorite... not too mention useful with all the falling she does
ow! - often accompanied by self-inflicted pain to give a reason for the exclamation

All the rest of the things she says we have, as yet, failed to translate successfully. She's been patient, though.

Home Alone

2007-09-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

Well, Joshua and Serena are in Texas visiting his family and I finishing up day 3 of 5 days home alone. There are some nice things about it, I'll admit.

1. I can eat (or not eat) what I want when I want and I don't have to pick up bits of food off the ground after the meal.

2. I can go shoe shopping in between the office and an evening meeting without anyone wondering where I am.

3. I can work on my day off tomorrow and not feel bad about missing out on any time with my daughter.

4. My magazines are still sitting where I left them on the coffeetable.

5. I can hop in and out of the car without wrestling a sweaty, squirmy body into or out of a carseat.

6. I get the whole bed to myself and no little baby voice wakes me up before the alarm in the morning.

Of course, there's a negative side to this solitary existence as well.

1. It's hardly worth cooking for one person, and, evidently, sometimes the Wendy's is out of potatoes.

2. It's hard to figure out which size shoes to get Serena when I can't hold them up to her little foot.

3. I can work on my day off tomorrow... and am going to.

4. My dirty dishes are also still sitting where I left them in the sink, and I don't think Joshua's going to do them.

5. I keep walking around to other side of the car first anyway, and no one's smiling or waving through the window.

6. I make Bishop sleep in the bed with me so the creaky house sounds don't freak me out, so I don't really have the bed all to myself. And I'd rather have a little baby voice wake me up, even there's no snooze button.

So the final assessment is that I miss my two favorite people. How could I not?

Walking and Wiring

2007-08-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

As we watch our child slowly and unassuredly release her arms from the stationary objects that have before now kept her standing, we can't help but count those little wobbly steps with glee. Thus far she has made it all the way to eleven, at least that we have been in the room to catch. Today Amy walked back into the living room when Serena was squealing and found her standing in the middle of the room. Not sure if she walked herself there or simply stood up in place, either way it was exciting to her. It is amazing what you can do when you stop fearing what you are unsure of and just go for it.

Today was also a momentus day as I finally finished wiring the back room of the house, something that I have been doing for at least six months. The best part of it all is that everything worked the first time. Perhaps the most gleeful part for me was the fact that I actually did the whole room without the hands on help of someone more expert than myself. Scary I know, but it all works and perfectly as far as I know. I know that it took me too long, but I am still amazed that I could do it alone. I still believe that construction is not about what you know, it is just about being willing to get yourself in a mess and working your way out of it. It is allowing yourself to stop fearing what you are unsure of and to just go for it.

Maybe that is what growth is about. As long as we only allow ourselves to walk with our hands securely attached to the coffee table we can certainly have fun, but we can only circle around to where we started. And once the coffee table is cleared of all the debris your parents keep putting on it despite the overwhelming evidence that it will end up on the floor, there is nothing more to accomplish. You must take your hands away from the table and learn to balance yourself before you can learn to get yourself in real trouble when the parents aren't looking. Here's to baby gates!

We're Weaning

2007-08-23T14:57:00.000-04:00

This Monday began Serena's passage into toddlerhood. Though we did not hold an official ceremony or celebrate with party hats, Serena has taken an important step towards her future. On Monday morning, Joshua rose from bed at approximately 7:30 AM and took her downstairs and no longer to bed with us for her morning breakfast. As we slowly cut mommy meals out of her schedule this one was the last to go, and we must admit that we are making her go cold turkey. Maybe this will give her an inner strength and will power, or maybe it will mess her up too early, we will not know until she is 30. But we are under a bit of pressure to have this accomplished before Tuesday the 3rd. Joshua and Serena will be taking the first trip without the momma to visit Joshua's parents, and though it will upset Amy a bit she has been kind enough to let us go. 5 days without mom means that she must be able to survive without that small comfort, so the mark has been set and we are doing well.

Serena has now made it 4 days without breast milk and is hardly complaining about it at all. Though this morning she woke up so hungry that she wouldn't quit crying until I has scrambled and fed her two eggs. But that was least because of the absence of breast milk than the absence of food in her belly from not eating well the day before. Though we do still have to do some advance planning for her meals, she eats almost anything we eat and she seems to love the freedom of feeding herself. She is growing up fast and the first time she walks will be the end of me leaving her sitting and playing in the living room. Someday soon she will break me of my selfishness. You know, I set out to type this blog like it was could have been written by either of us, oops. So you now get half-n-half. God Bless.

Joshua

Progress

2007-08-11T13:58:00.000-04:00

Serena is growing and learning in leaps and bounds. In the past weeks since we blogged, she has cut her 7th tooth, can stand on her own without falling down to hurt herself, she topped 16 lbs and while she is still below the growth charts she is perfectly healthy. She also beat her first major virus last week and is eating more than her body weight every couple of days. It is highly impressive. And while just like her mother she has taken no affection for beans, she did eat a small pickle today, so there is still hope.

Amy and I have discovered that we really need to curb on our ability to ignore small inconviences. As we walk up our stairs six or more times a day ignoring the things we have piled there to carry the rest of the way, having to walk in a tight line up the right hand side as not to trip. As we pile dishes in our kitchen thinking we will get to it later soaking them in the sink, having to push them aside to fill our glasses with water. As we walk carefully through our room stepping over and around shoes and clothes, having to search through our suitcases from the recent trip for clean socks. The answer to this problem seems to be to get more annoyed, to be more easily put out by such things. So, from now on, watch out household items that stand in our way, for you are going to get on our nerves much too easily and we are going to put you in your places. Watch out you food spotted dishes, for we will not put up with your rubbish nearly as long and you will be made clean. Watch out you clothes that form the challenging obstacle course in our bedroom, for our closests and drawers will be made full and you will not see the light of day until you are upon our backs or backsides. We will not be overrun, for we are the HUMANS!

Joshua

working on walking

2007-07-23T22:24:00.000-04:00

Serena's still working on walking. It's mostly a nerve thing now. She spends a lot of time pushing various things around and we spend a lot of time slightly stooped over to hold her hands as she walks.

Baby Meets Concrete

2007-07-09T21:29:00.000-04:00

Yeah, Serena fell on the concrete. On my watch. Turns out she's pretty tough, though. - Amy

One Year Old!

2007-07-06T10:05:00.000-04:00

It's been a big week for Serena. She turned one year-old last Saturday - at Montreat, where we had a great time at the Christian Life Conference. Then we had her first birthday party when we got back on July 4th. All her friends - well, all our friends - came and played along with the bean-themed games (picked for my nickname for Serena). They generously brought packages of diapers that we'll donate to TEAM of WV in celebration of Serena's first year of life - TEAM help strugging moms give their babies a good start. Since Serena's been blessed in so many ways, especially by the love and care of so many people, it seemed fitting that she share a little of that blessing with some other babies.

Thanks to all of you who love our baby so well. Joshua and I are incredibly blessed by wonderful friends and family who have enjoyed this first year with us. We look forward to seeing who sticks it out through the terrible twos :).

Baby in the River

2007-06-19T22:41:00.000-04:00

We took a day trip today with Uncle Jonah and Aunt Lydia, to the New River Gorge. Very pretty - "Wild and Wonderful" West Virginia generally lives up to its claim. We ended up cutting our hike short to swim in the river. It was really cold water, but Serena loved it. Life is incredibly good for this little family.

Another trip - to the Garden State

2007-06-15T13:43:00.000-04:00

We went to New Jersey last weekend so Joshua could ref a soccer tournament and I could visit friends and shop a little. I think Serena enjoyed the trip thoroughly. Here are a few pictures, of course.

Serena watching her Daddy at the soccer tournament.

Serena "swims" for the first time. At first she wondered why the bath water was so cold. Luckily, her older friend Annika helped her adjust.

Serena really enjoyed her fruit at the Thatchers' house. That's how most of us eat when Lois cooks!

Belated Wedding Pictures

2007-06-15T13:28:00.000-04:00

Serena got to hang out with her cousin Ava, who's 6 months old, when we were at her uncle Paul and Aunt Veronica's wedding. Yes, that wedding was almost a month ago, but 2 more trips later, I'm finally having a chance to upload new pictures. We had a WONDERFUL trip to California. Serena didn't really understand the time change, though.

Daddy's Girl Wears a Bow... briefly

2007-05-16T19:32:00.000-04:00

Few things are sweeter than a Daddy and his little girl. Here's Joshua with Serena on the pier in San Diego. And a picture of Serena wearing a bow for the first time. It didn't last long, but we'll keep trying.

San Diego - Visiting Jeff, Melissa, and Sophia!

2007-05-16T19:07:00.000-04:00

"Sharing" toys with Sophia - mostly stealing them.
Playing in the park together.
Daddies and babies over breakfast.

We made it across the country to visit the Burt-Graciks in San Diego on our way to my brother's wedding in San Francisco. We're having a great time, mostly watching the girls, who are, of coures, destined to be great friends. It's wonderful to see good friends after a while and have them be good friends still, with just a couple more of us around.

leaving at lunchtime

2007-05-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

This is how I left Serena when I went back to work after lunch today. Sometimes it's hard for the mom to leave. If I had words of wisdom to give my daughter today I would tell her that she can be anything she wants to be, but it'll be really hard to be everything she wants to be.

Thou burning sun with golden beam . . .

2007-04-21T10:03:00.000-04:00

The last two days have been incredible, well at least the weather has. The sun has finally found its way into the April skys, and while the house is still a bit cool, stepping out of the door enlivens you. As the world around us springs to life and the plants (and weeds) come out of hibernation I simply can't think of anything other than how blessed we are. I can't think of a better weekend for earth day.

Serena loves being outside, yesterday she sat in her swing for an hour and a half listening to the birds and enjoying the breeze. We have been a bit remiss in smathering her new skin with sunscreen but luckily she has not spent all that much time in the sun to date. I will be sure to lube her up before we grill out tonight.

She really doesn't like the grass however. too prickly I guess. It is sort of amusing as she holds her arms with elbows bent tight against her sides and one leg slightly off the ground so that as little of her as possible touches it. But I am sure this will pass and she will love to feel that grass between her toes soon enough.

No important news from the home front here. We are just a family enjoying the beauty of the changing season and glad to finally be past the last freeze of the season. Here's to your spring being sprung as well. Prost!

Bonnets are for girls

2007-04-03T13:56:00.000-04:00

"Bonnets are for girls, Serena," said her daddy. I seem to be developing something of a weakness but Serena is getting pretty adept at taking them off, so Joshua, who thinks they look silly, might win out in the end. Still, when can you get some mileage out of a bonnet if not days before Easter when your little girl is 9 months old and the weather is beautiful (though the temperatures should drop into the 30s just in time for the sunrise service Sunday)? We've been out enjoying the weather the past couple weeks, and Serena's tried helping with the gardening, picking up plenty of dirt and flowers to taste. A visit to the doctor today has her weighing in at just 13 lbs 15 oz, so she's a little one, but that hasn't slowed her down at all.

Laziness, Tardiness, and Dial-up Internet

2007-03-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

Following numerous complaints about us not making a post in over a month (okay maybe it was just 3), We are finally getting around to telling you about the 8th and 9th months of Serena's life, as well as ours mixed up in hers. Yet I feel I must tell you that this cannot be entirely my fault since we still have dial-up internet at the house and it would take 30 minutes for me to load a picture from home. So with no other choice, I will blame it on Amy (hopefully she never reads this). I am reading this, please note the typographical errors I am fixing, in red.

West Virginia is just coming into spring around here, the trees are budding and the grass is going from brown to a little less brown. But the best part is that I no longer fear taking Serena for long walks in frigid temperatures. We are hopefully going to be spending much more time in the sunshine in the upcoming months. But I am sure you did not come to this webpage to find a weather update, so let's talk about Serena.

At 11 days from nine months old, her third tooth has found its way through her gums, and while thrilling for me, mom has embraced this new development with a little trepidation as we try to continue to breast feed until she is 1. On February 18th, Serena was baptized here at First Pres. by Amy's father. She wore my great grandfather's baptismal gown from the 1880's and it fit her perfectly, though we did have to do some repair work on the sleeves (thank you Karen Morrison).

The last bit of information you may be interested in is whether or not this little "doll baby" can crawl. The answer most decidedly is yes. Though she is not as adventurous as some children she now moves about the floor finding anything and everything she can to stick in her mouth. This includes: magazines, dog treats, electrical cords, clothes, toys, Bishop (though she has not figured out how to taste him yet), and of course plastic bags. Nothing potentially fatal has happened yet, but soon (really? maybe we could prevent that...).

Sorry this blog is filled with so much information, but that is what happens when you wait over a month to update it.

God Bless,
Joshua
edited by Amy :)

Cousins

2007-02-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

Serena and Ava hit it off - well, as far as we could tell. The 5 month age difference will be like nothing later, but it sure is a big difference now, between 2 months and 7 months. Serena is so much more mobile and responsive to her environment - things for Elisa to look forward to! We had a great time with Elisa and Ava here for the week and sent them back home in time for Elisa to go back to work. Hope they aren't too worn out.
A snowy trip home from the Louisville airport brought Grandma Poling for a quick 2-day visit before she had to go back to Arizona. Just when Serena was getting used to her... we'll look forward to another visit. Still lots of snow on the ground. Bishop is just waiting for Joshua to get back from North Carolina so they can play in it together. Serena and I are ready for him to come home too. Daddy's the best at putting Serena to sleep... and feeding and bathing and changing diapers and cleaning up (I'm hoping the positive reinforcement will bring big results!)

Lucky Number Slevin

2007-01-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

Already 7 months old - and today she'll get to meet her 2 month old cousin Ava! We're so excited! Now if we can just make it across Kentucky to the airport (and back) without getting frsutrated about being in the carseat...

So Cheerful

2007-01-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

We have been truly blessed with the easiest and most cheerful baby. Serena has had a cold of varying severity for almost a month now. Having a cold makes me pretty cranky. But not Serena - she remains so cheerful. And she continues to put up with a fairly ridiculously busy and irregular schedule without breakdowns or nighttime wakefulness.
We took her for her checkup and shots today - she's weighing in at 12 lbs 11 oz and is 26 1/2 inches. That makes her pretty light but long.

Baby Experimentation

2007-01-11T09:33:00.000-05:00

We have found that not all babies enjoy sweet things. Despite the many stories we hear about children just loving fruit, Serena is already proving to us that she is an individual. Rice cereal has been a mainstay for her for the past couple of months, so for Christmas we thought we would give her a special treat; Bananas!

Nearly 3 weeks later, bananas are still in the experimentation phase along with peas and apple sauce. Not a single one of these items has gone down easily, or at all really, but we will overcome. The bananas showed us her first sour face, and a refusal to eat anything else that evening, the peas helped her to pronounce her first word, Bleeck, and the apple sauce combined the sour face with self-inflicted gagging and subsequent vomit. Thus far only the bananas have made it past her tonsils, but once she learned to gag herself, they have not entered paradise again.

The list of experimental foods grows larger each month, so squash, sweet potatoes, and peaches loom on the horizon and they will have their day soon. But here’s to squishing food into tiny non-chewable, easily digestible, nearly drinkable particles. Cheers!

Joshua

Half a Year!

2006-12-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Half-Birthday, Serena! We've had a great Christmas, and are enjoying relaxing with family in San Antonio. These are some recent pictures of Serena. She's a lot of fun these days, with lots of laughing, grabbing (everything, including the keyboard at the moment), sitting, and jabbering.

Christmastime

2006-12-04T15:12:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house. Serena's too young to care or know what's going on, but it's still a little more fun to get in the holiday spirit with a little one around. And the Christmas pictures are definitely cuter. We went out to the "holler" on Saturday to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree at a tree farm. It looks great and smells good in our entry room. Serena also posed for a few pre-Christmas pictures.

Cozy

2006-12-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

I was trying to think of one word that could describe my life right now and the only word that came to mind was the one that I have decided to title this "piece." I look around the living room and on each of the three mantles is a Christmas themed display, two with a baby Jesus, one with blue balls. The words "BELIEVE" and "JOY" have taken prominence because they go with our color scheme, though you might not notice since our Christmas decorations are decidedly less numerous than when they filled our apartment in Princeton. But the freshly sawn Christmas tree, a "Canaan Fir," adds a seasonal fragrance that marks this place as home.

Growing up in the promised land, I never thought I would call West Virginia home, but that is truly what Amy and I have found here. This is a wonderful place for where we are in our lives right now. While I may be one of the only nestcocks in the entire state, there are not many other places in the U.S. that we could afford to do it. But sitting here with Bishop sleeping on the floor at my feet, my wife lying on the couch behind me and Serena in her crib upstairs, we have indeed found coziness amidst the hills and hollers of West Virginia.

God Bless,
Joshua