11 Month Pumpkin

Joshua is 11 months old. His first birthday is just around the corner. He can stand up without holing onto anything. He has taken a few steps independently and is really good with a walker, or a laundry basket, or the kitchen bench turned upside down. He is fast! He has learned to go down stairs properly (with supervision of corse)!
He is a had full, but so much fun! Love him!

Pumpkin Patch

 



The kids had a field trip at Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch today. It was lots of fun! Got some cute pictures of Joshua too which I will share next in an 11 month post.

First Day of School 2015

Today is the first day of school for David (Grade 4), Angeline (Grade 1), and Samara (Kindergarten). David will be attending class once a week as well as Nature School once a month. He attended his first Nature School last week and spent a whole day in the woods. Angeline and Samara will be attending twice a week together in a K/1 split class. We have already began our school work at home with much enthusiasm but today is their first day in class.

10 Months

As predicted these 10 month pictures were even more difficult to capture then the 9 month ones. At his last check up (about 4 weeks ago) Joshua weighed 20 lbs 2 oz and is charted at 50th percentile for hight and weight. As you can tell from the pictures he is growing a lot each month. His hair has gotten lighter, though not as light as David's was at 10 months. He LOVES driving cars. He LOVES buttons. He also LOVES his sock monkey from Oma and Opa. He does not LOVE nap time, being fed, or having his diaper changed. But he does finally LOVE baths! And we LOVE our little man.

Last few weeks of Summer Fun

We had a really enjoyable time at the cabin as our summer vacation neared its end. The weather was good and the mosquitos weren't bad so what more can you ask for in 100 Mile? David enjoyed riding his new quad as well as doing tricks on his dirt bike. Angeline made a caterpillar friend and enjoyed helping in the garden. We discovered Samara is part puzzle master and part animal whisperer... I think Daddy might have to take her on his next hunting trip as she seems to have a knack for spotting animals. Rebekah enjoyed all the extra outdoor time, making (pretend) tea for everyone and playing cards with her grandmas and sisters. Joshua, well he really enjoyed the pine cones... there was no shortage of things to put in his mouth. Jonathan and I enjoyed watching our children enjoy themselves and we snuck in a few board games and quad rides ourselves.

We spent 2 days at home and then headed to Port Alberni for 1 week. We took in the fireworks and the kids fished at the bullhead derby. Samara got skunked but entered one of her siblings extra fish and won a prize. Rebekah caught the biggest fish out of our four with no prize to be had and David who was convinced he wouldn't win anything got the very last prize.
We enjoyed a lot of visiting time during the week and then had one last adventure at the Fall Fair. Enjoy the pictures and if you want to see more just click on one and it will bring you to our flickr page.

Joshua 9 months

This was the most challenging set of monthly pictures to capture so far. Joshua won't sit still! I was actually amazed to see how much he has changed in appearance this last month. Now that he has started his 10th month he is finally saying "Mom"... he has been saying "Dada" for a long time. His 5th tooth also recently poked through. As summer draws closer to its end these next few weeks are going to go by really fast and I will soon be updating with his 10 month pics. Soaking up all his baby love while I can.

Rebekah

Rebekah JUST turned 3 and hasn't finished celebrating yet (family party postponed since mommy got sick). She did share some "Frozen" cupcakes with her Sunday School class who sang her happy birthday.
3 weeks before her Birthday she tripped and did a header. Instant goose egg, two black eyes and 3 weeks later she is fully recovered. Not much stops her or slows her down.
She is a good mix of stubborn, funny, determined, sensitive and adorable (of course).

David

David turned 9 at the end of June and celebrated with a handful of friends in early July. This Birthday was one of the hardest for me knowing that my Baby will hit double digits next year and that he is 1/2 way though to graduating high school (though he still currently claims that he wants to live with me even after he grows up).
He is currently reading through the Star Wars series and also continues to enjoy lego, bionicles, pokemon, minecraft, and board games. He is also continuing in Karate though his attendance has been more sporadic during the summer months.
If I could have a birthday wish granted and his behalf it would be that he wouldn't take life so seriously (sometimes) and that he would just enjoy being a kid... but alas, he is a first born.

Angeline

In March we celebrated Angeline's 6th birthday but we only recently added her party pictures to the computer. Even though she is nearly 6 1/2 I had to share an update and some pictures of our oldest daughter. Mature beyond her age (most of the time) she in an amazing helper with Joshua and her other siblings. She loves having a baby brother and if she had her way would have a bay sister next! (Tried explaining to her that she already has 2 baby sisters but "they aren't little anymore"). She does plan to grow up, get married and have five kids of her own. David has nicknamed her "second mom" and she carries that title proudly. She thoroughly enjoyed her first year of school (attending 2 days/week of class at HomeQuest) and is eagerly waiting to start Grade 1 in September.

Joshua 8 Months

As of yesterday Joshua is 9 months old! I am hoping to take his 9 month sticker photo's today but since I haven't posted some 8 month pictures yet I decided to do that first! The last day of his 7th month he pulled himself up to stand for the first time and there has been no stoping him since. He's not that motivated to cruise furniture but he does occasionally take a few steps. He crawls everywhere at full speed including up stairs. Baby proofing is now in full swing. He naps in his crib but continues to co-sleep with us once he wakes up during the night. His hair is getting thicker and seems to have some curl to it. He likes to wrestle and play peek-a-boo with David and he has his sisters wrapped around his little finger. As always he is growing up too fast. Love, love, loving our littlest man.

Joshua 7 Months

Joshua is 7 months old! I caught a picture of his new trick... clapping! He is very proud of this accomplishment. He often claps to show he is happy about something. When we had him dedicated on Sunday he clapped when we got up in front of everyone. In his smilie picture you can see his two bottom teeth which have come in nicely. He is working every day on the next ones but for the most part  isn't overly bothered by them.
He is continuing to try new foods and also new means of transportation. I was trying to coax him to crawl for the camera earlier today but no such luck.
I'm sure these summer months will all go by in a blur as he starts to crawl, gains speed, starts cruising furniture and learns more words. We are just trying to take it all in and we are certainly enjoying our littlest man and his older brother and sisters too. Feeling very blessed!

Joshua's Dedication

 

Joshua,
your name has been a favourite of ours since we first started choosing baby names more then 10 years ago. Along with the significance of its meaning we are also reminded of Joshua's declaration found in Joshua 24:15 which is the very same declaration we are making today "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
We thank God for the gift you are to us and the joy you bring to our family. We pray that your knowledge of the scriptures, your faith and you love for God will grow as you grow. That when the time comes and you find yourself at a crossroad your declaration would also be "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
The scripture we have chosen for your dedication is God's commissioning of Joshua (Joshua 1:7-9).
 
"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
 
Be Strong and Courageous son, and may the Lord your God be with you wherever you go.

Love,
Mom & Dad

Joshua 6 months

While we were away at Tad Lake earlier this month Joshua hit the 1/2 year mark. He is continuing to do well, weighing 17 lbs 8 oz. He is in the 50% for weight and 60% for hight which is the same as David at that age. His ability to sit on his own is improving everyday. On Saturday he got his first tooth and I am sure the second is close behind. He is wriggling everywhere but not quite crawling. He likes to babble... especially "Dadadadadadda." We are looking forward to having him Dedicated on June 14th. We love you little man!

10 years ago...

10 years ago (yesterday) Jonathan and I were celebrating out 6 month anniversary when he proposed at White Rock Beach. We decided it would be fun to go back with the kids and show them the spot where it all took place. The tide was in so we couldn't exactly replicate it and neither one of us could really remember his exact speech but it was nice to reminisce. So, here we are 10 years later!

Joshua 5 months

Lots of firsts between 4 and 5 months old. We have started him on solids, mostly rice cereal but he LOVES bits of bread or plain rice from our plates. He got his cereal into his mouth with a spoon on his own so that gives you a bit of an idea how eager he is.
He also likes to spend a bit of time in his exercauser and enjoys longer bouts of playtime on the floor.
Joshua is a full fledged thumb sucker but will humer us by taking his soother once and a while.
It seems like he is always discovering a new voice and has recently started making a car sound when we are in the van.
Joshua is continuing to grow well weighing 17lbs 1oz at his 5 month weigh in (that's exactly 1 pound gained in one month).

Joshua 4 Months

Joshua had his 4 month check up today and weighed in at 16 lbs 1oz. When I compared his 4 month picture to his 3 month picture I could see that he hasn't changed as drastically in the last month as he has from month to month previously. He roles onto his tummy more often (he used to just roll onto his side and lay that way), he takes his soother a bit better (but won't have anything to do with a Nuk), and he is a thumb sucker. He still LOVES his swing and he is starting to go in his exersauser for short amounts of time. We have made it a morning routine to sing him his favorite songs "My God is SO BIG" and "Running Over" and we also like to sing these to him after diaper changes and throughout the day. He has found some new voices and loves to talk... sometimes sounding quite growly. He loves kisses and will kiss you back. We are enjoying him and soaking up all the baby goodness we can get, knowing all to well how soon he will grow up.