My precious son

Life with this little boy is the most amazing I can imagine. At this stage of constant talking and inquiring, our days are so entertaining. This super smile rarely leaves his face, and his joyful and easy going personality makes even going to the grocery store a fun trip for us.

Sure, I could brag about his advanced sports skills. He has Tiger Woods potential in golf, to be honest. He can actually (as pictured above) throw a ball into the air with one hand and hit it with a bat, or racket, with the other. He and Jordan are avid soccer players and he has been seen dribbling his miniature soccer ball from one side of the field to the other. He knows how to "hike", "dunk it", and yell "gooooaaaal" at all the right times. He is amazing.

Or I could brag about his darling good looks.

But what really excites me up about this kid is his insides. We are reaching new levels of comprehension and it is starting to show in our conversations. While we were in Tucson, I asked Silas to come into the bathroom and brush his teeth to which he replied "OK, Mom" and came bouncing to me. I was telling him how much I appreciated his obedience and his happy attitude and that it really makes me happy because when he obeys me he is also obeying Jesus since Jesus says "children obey your mom and dad" (mom's daily bible translation). We started brushing and then the following exchange happened:
Silas: Obey Mom and Dad
Me: That's right, you are doing such a good job obeying Mom and Dad
(more brushing)
Silas: Obey God
Me: Yes, when you obey Mom and Dad you are also obeying God!
(more brushing)
Silas: Or get a spank on the hand.
Me: (trying not to smile and being totally impressed at his conclusion) Yes, sometimes Mom has to give you a spank on your hand to remind you to obey.

I mean seriously! These are now daily conversations we have. This morning I thanked him for obeying quickly in another circumstance, and he replied "I obey Mom and Dad...my parents." Their little minds are so busy thinking and figuring things out it is so amazing!

We have the alphabet down, abc's are memorized and most letters can be recognized and named. Counting from 1-10 is a breeze along with identifying the numbers. He has memorized the "B-I-B-L-E" song and Judges 5:3 which says "I will sing to the Lord", but to get the colors down is just too much for this kid. For months everything has been red, and once he started naming other colors they were totally random and never matched what he was pointing to. Today he wanted to brush his teeth with Jordan's toothbrush (which I of course NEVER let him do...) so he pointed to it on the counter and said "the green one". I about fell over when I saw the toothbrush is indeed green! So I said, "It is green, Silas! Good job!" And he of course replies "I smart Mom"

Silas got several scrapes while playing outside when we were in Arizona. So when Jordan went to get him out of bed after his nap, he was holding his little bear up to all of his owies and making the bear kiss them saying "and kiss it right here, and right here..."

We took him to Toys R Us last night to pick out a toy with his remaining birthday gift card. Of course we ended up playing with the riding toys while we were there. Silas hopped into the first car, got settled into the driver seat, reached over to the radio and said "I turn Psalty on."

His other latest deal is asking who everyone is and then doing his best to remember their names. This was a trick in Arizona as we saw and stayed with a lot of people while we were there and all of them wanted Silas to know exactly who they were. So he frequently asks me "who's that momma?" and I answer. Well, this has now carried over into all areas of our lives. When we drive down the road he points to every person he sees asking me who it is. I am running out of creative things to say! The best is in the grocery store. Every time we check out, as soon as we get up to the register he says "who's that Momma?" while pointing at the clerk. I am at a stinking loss here. Of course they are wearing name tags, do I say their actual name? Do I say, "that is a worker who is helping us get our groceries"? Do I say "I have no idea, ask them?" And then he wants to introduce himself to them by saying "I Silas". When we leave, he says "bye!" to them until we are actually out of the store, as long as he can see them, he is yelling "bye" to them and waving.

I am so excited to see where all of this leads my little boy. Today he is only two, but what will all of this develop into when he is 20? I am so thankful that I can stay home with him and experience all of these priceless moments. Soon we will share our little lives with a baby, so I am soaking up each available moment while it is just the two of us. At dinner earlier this week he said he wanted to pray for the baby in Mommy's tummy, and then he specifically said "to be healthy and strong". Of course those are the words that Jordan I and I frequently use, but to hear him repeat them back was precious. I am so thankful that God is preparing his heart to be a big brother.

He woke up a little early this morning, so instead of putting him back in his bed or letting him get up, I wrapped him up in his blanket and we rocked for a while in the quiet darkness of his room. He loves to listen to music or to hear us sing to him so he asked for a song. I started singing "Jesus, lover of my soul" and got to the part where is says "I will worship you until the very end" and I could tell he was really listening to the words. He repeated that line to me so we started talking about worshipping Jesus to tell him that we love him. And that is what Psalty does (it really all comes back to Psalty), he sings songs to tell Jesus how much he loves him. Then we sang "I love you Lord" as another example. He asked for more songs so I told him that we also sing songs to tell Jesus thank you for loving us, and we sang "Jesus loves me". I reminded him of our verse and that the Bible tells us to sing songs to Jesus. So he said "I will sing to the Lord".

Seeing these things sinking in with him gives me such passion for the task of motherhood. I am thankful for the grace God gives me in that I do not have to be perfect, but I feel challenged to take hold of this impressionable time and train him up in the way he should go, so that when he is old he will not depart from it. What an amazing gift I have.

Grandpa and Beppe's house

And to wrap up the trip, we spent 4 sunny days at my parents house. At first I was surprised as I looked through my pictures to see that the only ones I really had were of Silas with the family inside the house. He played outside so much I don't know how I missed that. And then I remembered that while he was playing I was working on my tan and not at all thinking about my camera.

Silas LOVED his time with Everett and Adeline. They looked at books with him, jumped on the trampoline with him, and loved all over him. Shockingly he was a fan of all the attention. :)

As a family we also had an incredible time of sharing, prayer and communion together. I am so thankful for the foundation set by my grandparents (Pake and Beppe were there with us as well), carried on by my parents, and now established in the families of my siblings. It was such a blessing to share our lives which are generally spread out across the country, and then surround each other in prayer.

It is good and bad being in Arizona all at the same time. Of course we love to be together as a family, and we love to see ALL the kids playing together, and all the pregnant mommas together, but with so much activity sometimes there is a remaining desire for quality time with individuals. One long walk with my mom didn't seem like enough. Short conversations with Shad and Sheila in the sunshine between meals and just great big hugs for Pake and Beppe in passing were great but left me wishing for more time with them. I guess we are going to have to start sending invites for time at my house this summer when the Arizona heat is too much for everyone to handle. I will lure them here with promises of a coastal trip and sunshine at 75 degrees :)

Silas and Audrey

Following our time at the Bury house, Silas and I spent two nights at Hessel and Heather's house. Our time there was refreshing and relaxing. We were spoiled with delicious food and spectacular company. Most of activities included watching Silas and Audrey play together while Heather and I soaked up much needed conversation over banana bread and coffee. It is hard for me to even write about my experience there because I feel like attempting to describe it with words limits the true feelings of thankfulness and joy I had while I was there. Some people have the gift of making their company feel loved and wanted...Heather is one of those people. She serves while still being engaged, she spoils and gives treats without making it seem like it is out of the ordinary at all, she listens and connects effortlessly in an expression of love that is precious. I am so thankful that God made her my sister and that he gave us babies so close in age. This trip would not have been the same without this special peice.

The Arizona Sky

Now this is what we miss about Arizona when we are in Oregon. Sure, we love the feeling of the warm sun, we like playing outside all day in the month of March, we enjoy flip flops more than rain boots. There are days when the rain feels ending here, when we wonder if the sun forgot about Hillsboro, when wearing layers to go to the zoo gets a little old. But we love the summers here, and the long days make up for the rain and darkness of winter. But, no matter how great a day here...they never end quite like this.

Vacation begins at Grammy's house

Silas and I just returned from a 9 day trip to Arizona. Although we are of course glad to be home with Jordan, we had an awesome time with the family! Our trip started out with three days at Grammy and Pops' house. We enjoyed lots of playing outside, a trip to Sabino Canyon, hearing stories from Abbie, swimming in the hot tub, and of course the Bury tradition of making smores. Silas had so much fun with his cousins! It was a treat for me to see him with them. Since we saw everyone at Christmas, there was less time of needing to get reaquainted...and the playing started right away. The kids went camping in Grammy's closet, ran races from one side of the house to the other, the boys let Abbie decorate them with capes and glitter lip gloss, and there were endless hours of playing ball. Grammy and Pops wore themselves out with all the grandkids! We had a great time and were thankful to be able to spend as much time there as we did. We cannot wait to add Ellsie to the mix of kids. Then in September, Jordan and I are adding grandchild number six to the Bury bunch! Now THAT will be a party!

Valentine's Getaway

This was the view I woke up to last Monday morning.
For Valentine's Day this year Jordan surprised me with a night away for just the two of us at Cannon Beach. I was totally shocked, and a little nervous about being away from Silas for more than 24 hours...but also so excited for an opportunity to sleep without listening for potty calls on the monitor and to eat a meal of my own choosing at my own pace. So Sunday afternoon Devon came to our rescue again and took Silas over night and we took off. It was rainy when we got there, so we took a little Sunday afternoon snooze with the fire going in our room so that we could leave the sliding door open and listen to the waves as we rested. We spend the evening strolling through down town and eating a quiet dinner together. The hotel had a heated pool and spa so we soaked, talked and relaxed completely. After a late night walk on the beach we crashed hard and both slept much later than we ever remember being able to do. We left the door open with the heat cranked all night long to be able hear the waves and smell the ocean air. We ate breakfast on the beach in the morning, sipped our coffee to the sun covering the sand and sparkling on the water. I had a surprisingly easy time not worrying about how Silas was doing (mostly because I think he is as comfortable at Devon's house as he is at mine, and I trust her completely with his care...which is good since he had a non pee pee accident at her house...thank you so much Devon) and fully enjoying my time with my Valentine. We of course made the commitment to get away together more often. We talked without interruption about the convictions in our hearts and the thoughts on our minds. We laughed together about silly stories and memories. We grew together, even though sometimes that is hard, and not what we would expect. We challenged each other and prayed for each other. We were reminded why God chose us for one another.

Thank you Jordan for our weekend, thank you God for blessing our time.

A weekend road trip

This last weekend Silas and I drove the 6 hours north to go and
visit my cousins in Lynden. I was a little nervous about the drive, but Silas did outstanding! After the first hour he was saying "Momma, hold you! Momma, out!" which I knew was his way of saying I have been in here long enough. I debated turning around and ditching the whole trip, but instead decided to throw my time table out the window and just stop when he needed to even if it was every hour. So we took a break, got some coffee for me and snacks for him, went to the bathroom and stretched our legs. When we got back in the car he took a little nap, woke up refreshed, and the rest of the trip was filled with "What's that Momma? A CRANE! A DIGGER! A TRACTOR! A AIRPLANE! A TRUCK! Who's that Momma? Psalty on? More Psalty? A break from Psalty Momma? Crackers puleeeeze Momma! POTTY! POTTY! POTTY! I hold it...I tooting...HURRY MOMMA! A treat?" And many, many more
one liners to entertain me. Once we got there, Silas wasted no
time getting to know the six kids Shilo and Jasmine have between them. Soon he was calling them all by name, joining in their games, and even getting on the "stage" to sing our beloved Psalty tunes under the direction of Pearl and Darla. Sadly I don't have any pictures of the youngest two boys (James, 1 and Everett, 9 mos.) mostly because we were policing a zoo of 7 children for most of the time, and fitting in every conversation we have been dying to have in between. By the end of our visit, Silas was dreaming and talking about his cousins in his sleep, and hugging and kissing them all before we left.
This of course brought back so many memories for me of the visits my family made to Carnation, Washington when I was growing up. There are always those few moments at the
beginning that are a little awkward and where you feel a little shy, but family is family and it doesn't take long to realize that you want to connect with these cool kids! Before long you are inseparable and it is hard to believe you lived your life without them by your side. Although the awkward moments are gone now with my cousins, the rest remains the same. I never regret making the trip to reconnect with my girls. I am so blessed with such amazing family.