Announcement

For those of you who have not heard via facebook or word of mouth, I have announced that Josh and I are expecting a baby early next June.

Micah says he wants another brother, and he first thought we should name it Eli, but since we already have an Eli, he changed his mind to Ella. Not sure naming a son Ella is such a good idea, but we have several months to talk Micah out of that name.

We asked Eli what we should name the new baby, and he said, "Micah." It was so cute, because he really hasn't said Micah's name before.

The kids might be rooting for a boy, but I think Josh and I (and pretty much everyone else I've talked to) are hoping for a girl this time. It's good for boys to have a sister. And, back at the ultrasound when we found out Eli would be a boy, the first thing Josh said was, "Well, that just means we'll have to have another baby so we can have a girl." We'll see how it turns out.

Quick 5 #6

1. I subbed twice this week. Once was a half Day for the public school district, and the other was a full day at Cornerstone. Cornerstone is much more enjoyable, mostly because I know the kids, but also because I don't have to teach the same grade more than once a day. I like variety.

2. While I subbed today, I got to teach beginning trombone--as in, the second time they'd ever had class. It was loud and awful-sounding, but oh, so fun!

3. The cookie project from last week went well. We ended up with 99 plates of cookies, and when they passed them out, there were plenty left over. Glad we didn't make up 120 plates, as we originally planned!

4. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Jenny, I have a temporary camera. She sent me her old one to use until I get my new one. It works pretty well, although they replaced it because it was on its last leg, so it won't last forever. I have wasted no time in taking pictures, though! I don't want to forget to capture all the beautiful, mundane moments that happen every day.

5. We're going to take a mini-vacation in a couple of weeks. It's a long story, and we'll have to listen to a time-share presentation while we're there, but we'll spend two nights at Wisconsin Dells followed by a day or so at Camp Forest Springs, where Josh's brother Matt is currently living. I'm getting excited! Usually, our "vacation" days are spent visiting family (which we love), so it's a rare treat to just go someplace as a family.

Josh's Sermons

Thanks to the amazing technology of the internet, our youth ministry has begun posting its sermons online. Which means that anyone can listen to my amazing, Godly, wise husband's preaching, if they so desire. Just thought I'd post the link to the page (which will be updated regularly as new messages are given) in case any of you long-lost relatives and friends would care to hear Josh preach.

http://www.lifespringchurch.com/media.php?pageID=79

Quick 5 #5

1. Tonight, I'm leaving my family to spend the night with a bunch of high school girls. Our church is hosting a youth retreat, and the kids are all spending the night in their small group leader's home. Since I'm a small group leader this year, I'm heading to my co-leader's house to debrief the girls and spend the night with them.

2. Another part of this retreat is the cookie project I mentioned in my last Quick 5. Well, I've baked cookies 4 out of 5 days this week, and I have roughly 16 dozen cookies to show for it. It's pretty agonizing for my family to not eat the cookies I'm making, but I think we'll all survive. I'm not sure what our group total will be, but I'll keep you posted.

3. When I was at the doctor with Micah on Wednesday, I stuck Eli on the baby scale. 25 pounds. He weighed 22-23 from the time he was 9 months through his 15-month check-up, so I'm glad to see he's putting on a little weight.

4. Today, I gave Eli a piece of celery. He wasn't a big fan, so I put a little veggie dip on his plate to encourage him to eat it. He dipped it for a while, but then I looked over, and he was just eating a handful of dip. Mothering Fail.

5. I was looking at the calendar for October, and I couldn't believe how little was on it. After a super busy August and September, I'm glad our family will have a little down time.

The Three-Year-Old Facts

Micah had his three-year-old well check yesterday. This was the first time that he didn't have any scheduled immunizations, the first time that he got to use the "big kid" scale, and the first time his height was measured standing up instead of lying down. Here are the facts:

Height: 38.7 inches (73rd percentile)
Weight: 39 lbs. 3 oz. (96th perentile)

So, I have a big preschooler! He's in 4T clothes, mostly, although most of his height is in his torso, so some of the pants are too long and some of the shirts are too short. :)

The rest of the checkup was good, too. He's healthy and well-developed in every way, despite the fact that he's a picky eater. :)

We did find out one thing that's kind of a bummer. Micah has some white patches on his skin, mostly on his legs and thumbs, and I wondered if it might be vitiligo. The doctor thought that it almost certainly is. Basically, vitiligo just means that for an unknown reason, skin will lose its pigment. It's permanent, and it spreads over time.

On the one hand, vitiligo is no big deal. It doesn't affect anything but the way he looks, and I'd much rather he have vitiligo than cancer or brittle bone disease or even a food allergy. But I feel a little bummed out that it's permanent, so those little spots on his skin will always be there. And since he's only three, there's a lot of his life left for the spots to grow and spread. I can imagine that it could be a cause for others to tease him as he gets older, especially if it spreads to his face or neck.

So, we left the doctor's office with a referral to a dermatologist, who can let us know if there are any new treatments that will slow the spread (if we feel that's necessary) and will answer any questions that I can come up with.

I'm so thankful for a happy, healthy, smart little boy. Today, he wrote his name for the first time (with sidewalk chalk), and he's super excited that he gets to go to a Jr. High football game this afternoon.

Micah's Third Birthday

Micah's birthday was Friday, September 23rd, so the boys and I decided to do some of Micah's favorite things during the day. We started out by going to the zoo, and Micah got to choose which animals we went to see. He also really wanted to "ride the alligator." Okay, it wasn't an alligator we rode. Here's Micah's description, and I'll see if you can figure out what "alligator" means:

"First we pushed the button, then we go inside and push the number '2,' and then we ride it and go out."

Then we went to Target to get a "blue," otherwise known as an Icee. Micah is forever asking to get one whenever we go there, but it's a rare treat. And I let him eat the whole thing himself. Of course, I paid for that when he couldn't fall asleep at naptime, but hey, a kid only turns three once in his life. :)

We went home for naps and I finished up some cleaning before Josh's parents, sister, and brother-in-law arrived around 5 p.m. Micah had a great time playing outside with all of them. Playing outside is one of his favorite things to do, especially on the swingset.

On Saturday, we all went downtown to the Farmer's Market and the parks down there. We started out on the slides, which both Micah and Eli loved!

I thought the Farmer's Market was pretty cool, although I'm not sure Micah was as excited about it. I tried to get him to pick out a balloon animal, but he was too scared. Eli got one though, and loved it. Micah really wanted an apple, so that's what he got.

Then we headed home to eat Chinese food for lunch. My mom and dad joined us, and the guys went golfing while the ladies relaxed at home during the boys' naps.

Then it was party time! We grilled burgers and hot dogs, and Micah had his first taste of Jell-o, which he called "jealoust." Then it was present time.

Micah did better at opening presents than ever before. When he turned 1, he didn't know how to open them. When he was 2, he would open one present and then he lost all interest in continuing because he wanted to play with the thing he'd just opened. But this year, he would open one, look at it briefly (and excitedly), and then move right on to the next one.

He got some puzzles, a Lightning McQueen pillow, a Penguin Pillow Pet, clothes, sidewalk chalk, and an awesome Hot Wheels track that mounts on the wall. So cool. Oh, and a couple of things for his room, including a personalized pillow sham.

Grandma Brown couldn't resist buying a couple things for Eli, too. He got a stuffed Angry Bird and a cute little t-shirt. Here he is with the bird up his shirt and a bow bustle (he's unfortunate to have the relatives he has, ha ha!).

Grandpa Brown was a party animal. :)

Then it was cake time. Let me tell you, Micah has no idea how to (and no desire to) pose for a picture. In this lucky shot, he was just imitating the face I was making to try to get him to laugh.

Micah wanted a puzzle cake. Did I mention he's into puzzles? I had fun making it.

We had a good time. Eli and Travis were pretty tuckered out by the time it was all done. I think this picture is hilarious!

Sunday morning, I tried to take a good 3-year-old picture of Micah, but he basically ran in circles on the driveway for 15 minutes. Then Eli came out and joined in the fun. After a while, they both sat down on the driveway for a rest. Cuties.

Here's the best picture I got of my big guy. What a blessing he is!

Happy Birthday, big guy! We love you and can't imagine life without you!

Quick 5 #4

1. It's Micah's birthday! Time flies--my firstborn is three years old. Whoa. And he's such a great kid. I'm blessed. It's also my brother-in-law's birthday today, and his and my sister's tenth wedding anniversary tomorrow. Can't believe they've been married ten years, either.

2. I lost my camera, and I'm pretty sure it's gone for good. So, there haven't been any pictures lately, and since I won't be able to replace it for a while, there aren't likely to be pictures on this blog anytime soon. I'm not too upset that the camera itself is gone (it was oldish and on its last leg), but I'm very, very sad at the thought that I might miss capturing some cute moments in my boys' lives. Sheesh, what would I have done in the days before cameras existed?

3. Last Friday, I did not do a quick 5 because I was at a women's retreat. It was a good conference, and it was great to get away for a couple of days. I think every mom should be allowed to leave the house for the weekend every six months or so, just for sanity's sake.

4. Josh's parents and sister and brother-in-law are on their way here from Rapid City right now, getting ready to P-A-R-T-Y for Micah's birthday. (I plan on borrowing their cameras to get pictures of everything, so at least I won't miss this big milestone in my lack-of-camera days. And I'll do a separate "Micah is Three" post sometime next week.)

5. Our youth are having a retreat next weekend that involves a service project with an inner-city ministry. My high school girls small group is going to make and wrap 120 plates of cookies that we can hand out to the neighbors that live near the ministry. So, that's like 1400 cookies! Should be a fun, though large, endeavor. I'll let you know how that one goes!

Okay, off to some more preparations before the family gets here. Happy Friday, everyone!