Making Faces (part two)

Johnny had us cracking up at dinner tonight. He gets in these moods where he knows he's being funny and starts making all these ridiculous faces to makes us laugh. We do enjoy it. By the way, part two refers to a post I did in the early days of my blog. You can check out those silly faces under the January archive.

a precious moment ( no, not the cheesy doll)

Have a great weekend, friends! Take some time to sit and read, pray, think.

A Year of John Henry

I can't believe my baby boy's first birthday has come and gone. He is almost 14 mos. old and seems to do something new and be less of a baby everyday. But I still see that sweet newborn in when I look at his beautiful face. He is a VERY active one year old. Most of the day is spent running around the house. All play is in motion and because of that my entire downstairs is covered with toys by the end of the day. Books are the only that will get him to sit still. He loves to be read to and loves to just sit on his own and flip through the pages. Animal books are his favorite and he can make more animal sounds than there are words in his vocabulary. But he does say, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, book, cup, bath (bap), ball, dog and cat,oh yes and "GAWK". Gawk is his all purpose word. If he wants to nurse, "gawk". If he wants to read a book, "gawk bawk". Whatever it is, it's cute.
Johnny and Evan have entered a new relationship now that he is older and less dependant on me alone. He just loves his Papa. Runs to the window saying Papa when he hears a car pull up in front of our house. Johnny especially likes it when I sing him songs about Papa, which has required me to get creative and either make up some songs, or insert the papa into songs I already know. "Johnny's Papa had a farm.." Silly, but he loves it.
One of the new things Johnny has begun to do, which almost made me cry (happy cry) the first time, is cross himself. We never worked too hard at getting him to do it but he started when we would pray at meals or in the evening. Now he walks around the house crossing himself, or if I mention church he crosses himself. Sometimes rather dramatically. He also loves the icons. This thrills us, considering he is named after St. John of Damascus who defended the icons when the church was accused of idolatry. It's just great to see him interacting and learning his faith even at such a young age. Which makes having him in church, even on the Sundays where he is especially squirmy or loud, so worth it.
It's really good for me to write all of this right now. We've have been having a really rough week with Johnny cutting four teeth and fighting a cold. Motherhood has been demanding a lot of patience and selflessness and it's been hard. I feel like a lousy mom and wife some days. It's good for me to think about what I love and ofcourse, I could say more, but I think I'll just put up some pictures instead. Some old and new, so you can see how much he's changed and what hasn't.

Chop, Chop!

I cut it all off today! It feels great and what feels even better is that I had enough hair to make two seperate pony tails to donate to Locks of Love. Sheesh, that's a lot of hair!

Read on, I want your input!

It's about time I post something. First, I want to thank so many of you for your prayers, kind words and sympathy. We are doing a lot better. I still can't bring myself to throw away my positive pregnancy test and every now and then I find myself sobbing, espcecially at night, lying in bed,when I used to think a lot about what it was going to be like with two babies and I would come up with all sorts of fun scenarios. It was especially encouraging to hear from other women who have miscarried. It actually helped me to know that so many have gone through this and go on to have large families. Not to say, it isn't painful, though. I appreciate you all, and feel I have made new friends through this blog. I feel like my last post was my most personal. I guess my relationship with this blog is growing. Like with any relationship it takes time to build trust and I have to come to trust my friends here. I hope to be more open and honest and not just blog about the sugary happy stuff. Because, Lord knows, there's more to my life than that.
I've really had a hard time coming up with something to blog about. Then last night I was doing the dishes thinking about better ways I can help Johnny when we are in church. In the Orthodox Church the babies and children stay for the Liturgy. In our church the older children go to Sunday School after communion. Our church is very tolerating of the babies and we have quite a few of them now. Johnny is the oldest of the baby bunch and the first to be walking. I feel like all eyes are on me when he cries because he wants to run around or starts babbling and talking really loud. Anyways, as I was thinking about all this, I realized what better place to bring this up than my blog. I would LOVE to know what ways you take care of your children while in Liturgy. What boundaries you set, do you let them bring books, toys..? Do you let them walk around? What has worked and what hasn't?? I just think we can learn so much from other moms. Even if we don't take the advice it gives us ideas to ponder and sometimes I just need a different angle on things.
Okay, now I need to post a picture of my son, because, although, I feel this blog has evolved into something else, originally it was set up for his grandparents and a few other admirers. Like I said, he is walking all over the place these days and such a silly kid. He absolutely loves to be read to and when we aren't reading to him he sits at his bookshelf and flips through all the books. Animals are also a favorite. He makes the sound for elephants, fish, dogs, cats, cows, rhinos ( we guessed on that one) and ducks. He loves water, and whether it be a in the tub or the pool he calls it "baf" (bath) I met up with my sister and her family at the beach recently and Johnny had so much fun in the "baf". So, here he is at the beach with his cousin and looking cool in his hat, right before he took it off.

heartache and happy birthdays

It's been a hell of a week. On Tuesday I began to miscarry, actually, it was probably a week before that the horrible process began, but on Tuesday my hopes for this baby to be in my arms were definitely lost. It really was awful, physically and emotionally. The physical pain has subsided, I am still sorting through the emotions. Sometimes I feel like I am really okay, and other times I actually feel very distant from the whole situation. There are also times when I feel like my body let me down, failed me and my baby. Mostly I just feel sad that I won't meet this little one and experience the joy I know that baby would have brought. She/he had already brought us so much happiness just in anticipation of meeting the little one. I do have peace in all this, though. Peace in knowing he or she is a child of God and we pray that our babe rests "where there is neither pain, grief, nor sighing but life everlasting." Memory eternal.
In the middle of all this, we've been celebrating our sweet John Henry's first year of life. I am more thankful than ever for him. He turned one on Friday but we had a party for him last Saturday. It was at a beautiful old park with enormous trees and a train that runs around it. It was a fun day, but it was also almost unbearably hot. 113 degrees!! The hottest day on record in San Diego. Sheesh. The kids didn't seem to mind, we kept everyone well hydrated and in the shade. I felt so bad for the adults. But Johnny had a great time, and boy, is that kid popular! I'll put up some party pictures soon and a one year update of my boy, so I can brag about all the cute and fun things he's up to these days.
God grant you many,many years, Johnny boy!

My name in lights!

With free tickets in hand, and some good friends we made our way to the San Diego County Fair last night. Of course, we sampled lots of gross, greasy food. Some was quite good, like the fried zuchini. We all agreed that the fried twinkies were disgusting, not sure why that came as a surprise, though. I love the fair, I love the lights and all the people. It's definately different going with a baby but we still had so much fun and it was great to see Johnny pointing and staring and so entertained by all the chaos. The highlight of our night was riding the huge ferris wheel. The kids weren't terribly impressed, but we were, and it was a great way to view the beautiful night sky. After fighting the crowds, waiting for the shuttle and the drive home, we didn't get Johnny to bed until almost 10:30. He loved it though, and he was blowing kisses to the crowds from the shuttle bus window as we left.

+ 1

Well, my suspicions were confirmed a week ago, our family is growing, and my belly will be too! We are pregnant! It doesn't entirely feel real yet, but of course we are thrilled. Evan and I have found so much joy and purpose in raising our son, and we are excited to have a new life enter our family. I will have plenty more to write about all this in the weeks and months to come but I just wanted to get the word out and ask for your prayers for this little one.
In the meantime, here's a picture of my other baby. I haven't posted one of him in awhile, and just look at that sweet face!

Ainsley and Ava...

..have put on Christ, Alleluia!

These precious baby girls were baptized,christmated and churched last Sunday. Evan and I were honored to be a part of it all, we look forward to seeing our sweet little goddaughters grow up in the Church. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.

These just make me happy...

One of my favorite things about our new place is the giant front window that has shelves accross it. Perfect place to display some of the pretty flowers from our yard. Happy weekend to all!

At last....

Gosh, it's hard to know where to begin. My absence from blogging has been because there is just a whole lot going on these days. All good ( except for some minor illnesses that have slowed me down a bit), but busy. One of the exciting changes is that we have moved. It is our eighth move in our six years of marriage. Sheesh, you would think we would be used to it by now, or atleast really good at it, we are neither. For the last six months we were living with some family friends of my husband. Evan had his college degree but finding the job that goes with it was a 18 month. struggle. Finally, he got a job in the northern part of San Diego county. After a few weeks of a nightmare commute, we decided to move up closer to his work, which also happens to be closer to our church. We found a lovely duplex and we are settling in nicely. It is walking distance to Evans' job, the farmers market, and the cute old dowtown. It is also walking distance to one of my close friends. God is good. We are very grateful for the job and our home. Here are a few pictures from around the house.



Johnny and I just returned from our roadtrip with my sister up north. She came down south for a relatives baby shower and I rode back home with her. We spent the week together and it was so good to get to watch our children play and see her new house and visit good ol' Chico, where I lived before I got married. She even let me borrow her car and drive down to Davis to visit Johnny's godparents and their daughter Grace. I just realized how great it is that we have so many different places to go where we are welcomed with open arms. We flew home on Sunday, I actually found the hour and half flight with the baby more stressful than the nine hour drive with three kids. It's good to be home and with Evan. He was sorely missed.

Last, but not at all least, we found out this week we are going to be godparents to beautiful twin sisters. We have also been asked to be sponsors for the parents. We feel so privileged and are excited about the upcoming ceremonies and celebrations. Here are my precious goddaughters to be.

Well, the pause in my day is over and my sweet son has awakened. Sharing all this news has left me with a refreshed perspective and a very thankful heart. Gotta go!

Celebrate Evan!

Happy Birthday, Ev and many years!!
I love you, all 29 years of you.

Nine whole months!

My John Henry was nine months old yesterday. For some reason this month stands out to me. I guess because for nine months I carried him in my womb, and he's been in my arms, in this big world for the last nine. I just thought I'd let everyone know what he's up to.
His biggest accomplishment lately is crawling. I actually thought he might skip crawling all together because he just loves to stand, but about two weeks ago I left Johnny in the living room and headed into the kitchen. I wasn't alone for long when Johnny comes cruising in with a big proud smile on his face. He is everywhere and into everything, but it's a lot of fun to see him choose who he wants to go to or what toys (or household objects) he wants to play with.

He is just growing like crazy and has a great head of hair, with little curls around his ears. Makes me wonder if he will have the ringlets I did as a toddler. He has also sprouted 4 new teeth giving him a very toothy grin and allowing him to enjoy things like cheerios and whole peas. Aside from the curls, he is pretty much an mini version of his Papa.

Johnny is also developing quite the personality. He loves to fake laugh, and fake cough and fake cry. Funny thing is, they kind of all sound the same, they are just accompanied by different expressions. He especially likes to fake cough during the really quiet parts of Liturgy, like right before the Great Entrance. He loves people and will show off when he has an audience. By show off, I mean, he yells and laughs and rolls around, jumps and makes ridiculous faces. He is definitely providing plenty of entertainment these days and we are so thankful and blessed to have him.
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CHRIST IS RISEN!

We celebrated Pascha(Orthodox Easter) this weekend. The service is a nocturne service, so it begins at 11:30 at night and is followed by a Liturgy which ends around 2:30 am. After that we have break fast, everyone brings a basket of food and drink which they have been fasting from during the Lenten period, it is blessed and around 3 am we feast. I was a little nervous about how Johnny would handle Church at such wee hours of morning. He was actually awake for quite a bit of the services, and was passed around by his numerous admirers, so I was able to pay close attention to the beautiful celebration. Here are a few images from our weekend.

Kids (plural)

I have started taking care of a little boy a couple times a week. It's really been a blessing because it has provided me a chance to make a little extra money with my sweet Johnny in tow. And he just loves his new buddy. We've been spending a lot of time at the park. Seeing the boys play really a makes me excited about having more children, I just love the interaction between them.

What do you do to cheer up a baby who is teething,has a runny nose and big tears in his eyes? Put him in front of a window and let him watch the cars, the crows in the grass and the neighbor boys on their skateboards. He especially liked the skateboarders.

Say Cheese!

I swore, I would never pay to have a cheesy studio portrait of my kid, but Johnny's Gigi ( great grandma) wanted an 8x10, so with a coupon in hand I marched into JC Penney and let the silliness begin. They do make me smile.