More Crunchies Please.......

This is a common saying by Silas. You ask, what are crunchies? They are his favorite food. They are basically dried fruit with nothing else added to them. They are actually quite tasty! Silas is a very picky eater and it is like pulling teeth to get him to eat (I'm sure many can relate). But he absolutely loves crunchies and if that is all he could eat, he would. The nice thing is that they are healthy and he is getting his fruit intake, but wish he would eat other things. His favorite kind of crunchies are strawberries and mixed. We get them at our Target store and are usually seen buying at least 10 at a time! They are $3.99 a bag, so not real cheap, but I guess you do what you gotta do. We have found if we mix the crunchies into yogurt or applesauce, he'll eat it all, so we have become very creative.

Anyways, check out their website if you'd like or if you are intrigued. Believe it or not, they are cheaper at our Target then online, but there are more variety online. http://crunchiesfood.com/index.htm

Here are some pictures of Silas eating them. He loves when the bag gets empty, because then there are crumbs and he has found if he licks his fingers he can eat the crumbs and become very messy! I think he should be on a crunchy commercial.

The Yucky Story and More...

Silas is now at the age where I can leave him in the bathtub for a little bit and let him play while I do some quick tasks. He enjoys playing with his toys and you can usually hear him wherever you are. Well, the other day I was in our bedroom folding a few clothes which is the next room over. All of a sudden I hear this distraught MOMMY call. I run in and Silas is scooting himself in the bathtub away from something and as soon as he saw me, he was trying to stand up to grab me. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but soon I realized he was saying Yucky. Yep, you guessed it, he pooped in the bathtub. Poor guy felt so bad and couldn't get out of there quick enough. So I cleaned it up, recleaned him and disinfected our bathtub!!! The rest of the day, everytime he would walk by the bathroom, he would say Yucky...Silas did yucky. I hope that is the last time that happens!

Now yesterday, Silas was playing with Haven in our den area and I told him I'd be right back. I needed to check on Nathan who was sleeping upstairs. While I was upstairs I heard Silas start crying. I thought it was sort of wierd, but it didn't sound like a loud cry nor did it sound like an emergency. Sometimes he cries when Haven won't give him a toy or play w/ him, so I didn't hurry too much to check. I got downstairs and all I see is Silas's behind hanging out of our entertainment system. (I wish I had a picture!) Well, he got his head caught and couldn't get out. Thankfully it wasn't too hard to maneuver him out of it and he was pretty scared after that, so I doubt he'll do that again either. The rest of the day he would say, Silas stuck and point to his head. I had to explain to Kurt what happened, because it was kind of confusing. Oh the joys!

Here are a few pictures of Silas and the boys together.

Silas loves to chase Haven around our slide in the basement. It is a wonderful workout for both!

Here is Silas being a goofball. He's big into hats and so he wore this around for awhile.

Silas holding onto Nathan. I think Silas was more amused than Nathan, but it didn't take long for Silas to realize how heavy Nathan is!

Silas and Nathan's songs

I have struggled for awhile about having a life verse for my children. There are so many verses I like and would love for my children to live by that to choose one would be very difficult. Then, if I choose one and later on, that doesn't fit them at all, they end up with multiple verses, which is perfectly fine, I know, but then I'm back to still trying to choose one right now. So, I had heard about a Christian family that instead of life verses does life songs. Ahhh, now that hit me. There is constantly music in our house, whether it be Kurt playing piano, us singing, cd's, radio, etc. I absolutely love hymns (and I think Kurt is starting to!). They are so rich in content and easy to remember since they are with music, that it was so much easier for me to pick a life hymn for my children. So, I'd like to share them.

For Silas, I think Kurt basically picked this one and it has stuck. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I remember him singing this song to Silas as he put him to bed right from the very beginning. I still enjoy hearing Kurt through the baby monitor singing Silas to sleep with this song every night. Any given day when Kurt sits down at the piano, this song will be played. Silas knows it is his song and gets a grin on his face when it is played. Although he doesn't know the words and doesn't understand them yet, I think he will cherish it in the future.

Here are the words if you haven't heard the song.

Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace,
Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, Mount of God's unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by they help I come.
And I hope by they good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God (how true that is!)
He to rescue me from danger interposed his precious blood.

Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! (that's us!)
Let thy grace Lord like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. (I can relate!)
Here's my heart, Lord take and seal it, seal it for they courts above (that is our prayer for Silas!)

Now Nathan's song, I think I basically picked it out. I remember singing this song as a child but I hadn't heard it in such a long time. Then, I heard it on the radio while I was pregnant with Nathan, because Bart Millard came out with a cd (Hymned Again, highly recommend it if you like hymns redone) and it was on there. The song is just so simple, yet so deep that the truth of the gospel is so clear in it. It truly really speaks to me and I'm hoping that Nathan will grasp the understanding of it and hold it close to his heart. Kurt also enjoys playing this on the piano and I can't wait for the day that we can sing it as a family in one voice.

Here are the words.

Vs. 1
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.
And wonder how He could love me, A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Chorus

How marvelous,
How wonderful.
And my song shall ever be,
How marvelous,
How wonderful
Is my Savior's love for me.

Vs. 2
He took my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own.
He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone.

chorus

Vs. 3
When with the ransomed in glory, His face I at last shall see.
It will be my joy through the ages, to sing of His love for me

Chorus

So this is what we've done as a family and I think it fits us really good since we are really into music here. Hymns just amaze me, because they span many centuries and so many people know them. How many songs can you think of outside of the church that so many people know? So, our prayer for our children is that they will come to know the Lord at an early age and we can rejoice over them by singing with these life songs.

God's sense of humor

I am going to blog this basically for me to remember what happened tonight, because it was very funny! I don't think this blog will even portray how funny the situation was, but these are memories I don't want to forget.

We were all at supper and Silas was continuously asking for his water, his milk, crunchies, you name it. However, he wasn't saying "please" which is something we've been working on constantly. I tell Kurt all of the time that I feel like a broken record asking him "how to ask" in which he immediately says "please". So I know he can do it. Also, anytime he really wants something (ie. cookie) you never have to ask him to say please....hmmmm.

So after numerous attempts, I was at my wits end with him. So, after he asked for crunchies w/o saying please, I proceeded to say out loud, "Lord, when is this child going to learn how to ask?" No more than a second later w/o any promptings, Silas immediately started repeating 'please, please, please," numerous times. He has never done that before. Normally when we tell him to say please he only does it once, so it was so funny to have him do that. Kurt and I looked at each other and just laughed. That was the quickest answer to prayer ever and boy does God have a sense of humor with us.

Boy has this child already taught me so much about myself. I had to stop and think about how many times God is so patient with me when he blesses me beyond what I can even imagine in both big and small ways, and I don't take the time to thank him. How many times do I demand something or ask for something and expect it without truly seeking the Lord and praying about it. What an amazing, gracious, forgiving and patient God we have as a heavenly Father. I pray I can even just show a glimpse of that love to my children, so that they may see Jesus through me.

Brotherly Love......

It has been neat for me to see the change in Silas since we have had Nathan. At first, he was very protective of him, but scared of him in way. He didn't want anyone to hold him, but when Nathan would cry, it would scare Silas and oftentimes make Silas cry also. Then, as time progressed, I think he realized Nathan wasn't going anywhere and there was some jealousy. He would sometimes tell me "Nathan down" when I was holding Nathan and Silas would want me to do something. Well, now that Nathan is up more during the day and can sit in his "seat" or be held more upright, Silas is paying more attention to him. I sometimes find him bringing Nathan a toy or trying to get him to smile or laugh. However, there have been times that he has intentionally pushed Nathan or taken a toy away from him, so hence....brotherly love. I think maybe Silas realizes that this might be the only time he is bigger than Nathan at the rate Nathan is growing!

Here are few pictures of the boys....

The boys hanging out on the new chair. Silas likes to hold Nathan's hand, so if you can see it, he's holding it.

Here's the "big guy" himself. Yes, we are approaching 3 chins, but doesn't he look so happy! Once you get him giggling, there is no stopping that guy. It is so funny!

Silas holding Nathan's hand again. He loves that Nathan grips his fingers.

There is the brotherly love that I caught on camera.

Daddy and Silas playing our new game, Hungry, hungry Hippos. Silas sometimes wakes up saying "play hippos" at 6:00 am.......

Odds and Ends

It has been a somewhat rough start to the New Year as we have been battling quite an illness around here. Silas got sick at the end of our Chicago/Iowa trip and hasn't been able to kick it. We were hoping to avoid the dr's office, but we ended up taking him in because the severity of his cough and his breathing. The dr indicated it is only a virus and prescribed some steroids to try and open up his airways to hopefully heal him quicker. Now, of course, Nathan has it also and it is very hard to see such a young baby sneezing and coughing, but I guess that is the nature of the beast! Oh well, this just reminds us of how thankful we should be when we are healthy! This also helps me to be even more thankful that I can be at home with them instead of trying to figure out who has to stay at home and how many days can be missed at work, etc. I'm doing my best to get them healthy with naps, feeding and much rocking.

This brings me to the next topic. We got a new chair! Yeah! I've always wanted a rocker/recliner big enough to hold two kids and comfortable enough to hold a sick child all night if needed. As much as I love hand me downs, garage sales, craiglist, you name it, I really hoped to be able to get a new chair so that I knew who had sat in it, cleanliness, etc. Well, as a late Christmas gift, we purchased one. First of all, we paid all of our January bills all ahead of time (yeah for us!) and then looked at where we were at and then looked at the amazing after Christmas sales and went for it. I don't regret it one bit! It has come at the perfect timing and what a blessing. I have been able to feed Nathan while reading to Silas and we all fit perfectly. Now Silas asks, can we rock and read. I say "anytime!"

I will attach a few pictures of us enjoying some Christmas gifts. Silas got a Thomas the Train puzzle from Grandpa and Amma Shippy and he really enjoys having us help him put it together. My favorite...I mean Nathan's favorite gift...is the Bumbo seat. When we are playing on the floor, he sits right up in it and likes to watch Silas and I play. Aunt Carla introduced us to the tray that goes with it and so if I put toys on it, he enjoys looking at them. It won't be long until he's grabbing for them and playing with them. He's changing by the day!

Silas being goofy and Nathan just hanging out.

Daddy and Silas working on the puzzle.

Daddy trying out the chair.

Mommy w/ her boys.

Nathan enjoying his bumbo seat.

A Recap of Christmas.....

We had a wonderful Christmas, so I'll share a bit. We flew to Chicago on the 23rd to spend some time with Kurt's family. The weather in Chicago included much snow and freezing rain along with temperatures that were frigid!!! After over 3 hours in O'hare airport, we finally got to Grandma Aichele's completely exhausted. We had a wonderful time in Chicago spending much time with family. Silas had a fun time with his cousins and continues to talk about them. Nathan, well...he slept and ate.

On the 26th, we drove to Iowa to surprise my dad along with my two sisters. The weather did not cooperate, as my oldest sister's flight was delayed and driving was tricky at times for us. We met up with my middle sister in Iowa and then headed to my Dad's. We had many different options on how to surprise him, but we ended up meeting at a restaurant nearby his house and with Mary's (my step-mom) help, she convinced him to come there. Surprise! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the look on his face as he saw all of his girls and families there. Anyways, the rest of the time in Iowa was spent hanging out with my sisters, having the cousin's play together (all 9 of them), seeing my grandparents, and one of my cousins was able to come with their children, and we got to see all of my aunts on my mom's side, which was nice. Again, the weather was very cold and snowed, but since we stayed in a lot of the time, it wasn't too bad. The downfall was that we all got sick and are still under the weather, but that happens.

We finally got home Dec 31st after a delay at O'Hare and so we missed our flight in Denver and had to get the next flight, which was also delayed. So we got home later than anticipated. When we arrived, we were still bundled up like it was 10 degrees out only to walk outside to sunny 55 degree weather. Oh how it was nice to be home!

Here are a few pictures. I didn't take too many, but hopefully Kurt will post some also.

Kurt and Nathan hanging out.

Proud Grandpa.
My sister Carla and her twin boys with Grandpa Shippy.

Kurt and Darrell were watching the kids.......

See what they are doing. Here is Ann-Marie.
That was Alec.
Evan in mid air.

Silas taking his turn.

And, the wonderful wait at O'Hare. We were so thrilled!