Royal Ranger Council of Achievement!

Tonight was the Winter 2013 Royal Rangers Council of Achievement at church!

Josiah, of course, did amazing!  He got 10 certificates & 4 achievement badges.  Congratulations, Josiah! We are so proud of how hard you have been working & how much you love the Lord!  The night ended with trading in earned beads for prizes.  Josiah walked away with a whistle that is also a compass, thermometer & magnifying glass...pretty cool!  We then ate cake & left the Royal Ranger Council of Achievement!

The Vacuum!

Ethan is obsessed with our vacuum cleaner.  When he was small, he was terrified of it.  Now I think he may love it.  It's kind of a love/hate relationship.  Today, I left the laundry room door open for only a few minutes & he took the vacuum cleaner out of the laundry room & pushed it all the way down the hallway into our kitchen.  When he noticed me watching him, he got a huge smile on his face because he had "the vacuum!"

Knoxville Ice Bears Hockey Game!

Tonight, Dustin took a group of Floodline students to a Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game.  He also took Josiah along with them.  Josiah was so excited that he got to go!

The game was fun & exciting.  There was even a fight.  There was a clown at the game who made balloon animals for the kids.  Josiah even came home with a hockey puck!

My guys had a wonderful time at the Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game!

Chicken!

Today Ethan had his very first taste of chicken.  His GI doctor has finally approved him to start trying meats.  Since Ethan has a major gag reflux, we started him off with a pureed vegetable chicken.  It smelled terrible!  Ethan must have thought it tasted terrible as well.  After the first bite, he told us he was "all done!"  Hopefully one day he'll like the really good chicken!

Josiah Cooked Dinner!

Tonight was a very special night because Josiah cooked dinner for us!  He is working on his Cooking & Money Helper badges for Ranger Kids at church.  He created the menu for our dinner, helped budget the money for dinner, went grocery shopping (with me) for the items needed, cooked & served the meal.

I was so surprised at how well he did & the fact that he really did most of it on his own.  I had to help lift the heavy pots & pans, but he mostly did everything else.  Josiah made the Spaghetti Sauce,

Salad,

Toast & even served our plates.

He added grapes & peaches to the table & we were ready to eat!  The dinner was delicious!!  I am so proud of how well he did!  He never complained or even got frustrated.  He just cooked his little heart out & then asked when he could do it again.  Congratulations, Josiah, on earning your badges & for cooking the most amazing Spaghetti we've ever had.  We loved that Josiah cooked dinner!

Saturday Mornings!

All four of us look forward to Saturday mornings!  I know everyone does because it's their day off, but we have a special reason why.  After breakfast each week, our boys go upstairs to their bathroom for some brother bath time.  It is so much fun for them & we love it because the sound of laughter fills our home.  It is the sweetest sound in the world to actually hear how much these two love each other.  We are so blessed!  We love Saturday mornings!

Fun times with the Grandparents!

We had a great weekend spending time with Granddaddy & Grandma Moody!

On Sunday, Grandma took Ethan outside to ride in his new little car.

Before she knew it, Josiah & his friends were outside joining in on the fun.

Grandma chased all the children by pushing Ethan to chase them.  What fun!

Josiah spent today playing Wii with Granddaddy.  Tonight, once everything had calmed down, Josiah read a story from his new book to Grandma & Granddaddy.  We had such a nice visit with them.  We love having fun times with the Grandparents!

Ethan's 1st Birthday!

Today was a very special day!  Today was Ethan's 1st Birthday!

We began the day by walking in the room & singing "Happy Birthday" to Ethan.

Ethan always makes this cute little face when he's getting some head-on attention.  :)

Granddaddy & Grandma Moody came in for the weekend to help us celebrate.  Granddaddy & Josiah spent quite a bit of time talking & playing Star Wars together.

Josiah also spent time playing chase with his little brother.  Every few minutes, he would stop, give Ethan a hug & say, "Happy Birthday, Bubba!"  So sweet!

After Ethan's nap we went outside to take some birthday pictures!

We are so thankful to be the parents of two of the sweetest, most loving

boys in the whole world.  We are truly blessed.

We can't believe this sweetheart is one already.  In some ways this year seems like it's been so long, since he's been so sick.  But in some ways it feels like it has just flown by.

Our sweet family of four!

When you attempt to get a good family photo around here, it doesn't usually happen.  Look at our crazy monkeys on the left.  Whenever Josiah starts to get silly, Ethan follows.  It is so nice to have Granddaddy & Grandma with us today to celebrate.

After pictures, it was time for Ethan's birthday party.  We decided to keep it simple this year since Ethan likes small crowds.  So, it was just our family at home.

This party turned out to be just perfect.  It was just right for Baby E!

We decorated the fireplace with pictures of Ethan & balloons.  We bought party supplies that had a blue cupcake on it that said "First Birthday Boy!"

We even had blue cupcakes as the centerpiece to match his party supplies.  Ethan was so excited to be sung "Happy Birthday" to again.  I had originally planned for Josiah to help Ethan blow out his birthday candle, but instead, Ethan smacked the flame out before he could help.  We were not expecting that at all!  It was absolutely hilarious & a little nerve wracking at the same time.  I was afraid he was burnt.  He wasn't.

He then began carefully touching, then smacking, then tasting his cupcake.

He was not a fan of the cupcake!  We all enjoyed the rest of the party, though.

After the cupcakes were eaten, we moved to the carpet for present time.

Papa & Meme sent Ethan some money for his birthday.

Josiah wanted Ethan to get the first present from him.  He spent so much time making a very special birthday card for Ethan.  He drew pictures of them together on the inside & wrote a beautiful message to him on the back of the card.  We are so thankful these boys love each other as much as they do.

Last week, I took Josiah shopping for Ethan's birthday.  He used the money I gave him to buy four "ZooTalker" animals to add to the zoo toy he got for Christmas.

Uncle Chris sent a HUGE present from Washington D.C.

He sent Ethan his very own indoor/outdoor slide.  Ethan was so excited when we just sat him on the slide.  We hadn't even put it together yet & he was thrilled.  Later, once the slide was put together, both boys had a blast sliding on this!

Granddaddy & Grandma gave Ethan money & Little People Super Heroes!  Awesome!

Ethan then opened a few presents from us.

We gave him a Little People Animal Sounds Farm, a Dump Truck & a Vacuum Cleaner.  Both of our boys have been obsessed with & terrified with our vacuum cleaner.  It is a love/hate relationship.  Josiah got over his fear when we bought him his own.  He would then vacuum with me.  We hope Ethan will do the same.

Ethan then spent a little time before his nap playing with his new toys.

Granddaddy & Grandma even brought Josiah a present so he wouldn't feel left out.  They bought him "The Karate Kid" movie & a "5 Minute Disney Pixar Story" book.

After nap time, we put Ethan in his forward facing car seat for the very first time.

We all went to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate.

Ethan was in shock & mesmerized as they sang "Happy Happy Birthday" to him!

When we arrived back home, we took Ethan to his room for his final & most important gift.  We gave Ethan his very first Bible.  Every year, Josiah has received a brand new Bible for his birthday.  Each night before bed we read a story to him so he'll go to sleep on the Word of God.  It has been such a special tradition for our family & were so excited to start this tradition with Ethan.

Dustin & I each wrote a special message to Ethan in the back.  We each sat down with him & read those messages to him.  One day, he might really enjoy these.

We then allowed big brother to read the very first story from Ethan's Bible.

Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan Andrew!  We have so loved raising & getting to know you over this past year.  You are a very precious little boy who loves his family with his whole heart.  You bring so much joy & laughter into our home & we are forever grateful to God for sending you to us.  We love you, sugar bear!