Easter

Egg Extravaganza

Yesterday Grace Church (our church plant) put on an Easter egg hunt. Jess headed it up and he did an amazing job! I am so proud of him! There was a small glitch in the plans about 5 days before it happened. The venue had overbooked. We were going to be sharing the venue with a dog show. Jess had a great attitude about and embraced the situation. The event was wonderful with around 1,000 people in attendance.

Canon had a wonderful time looking at all the dogs, hunting Easter eggs, and jumping in the kiddie jump house. I wasn't sure if Canon would know what to do during the egg hunt, but he caught on quickly. I just stood back and watched him do his thing. After his small basket was filled up he started handing eggs to other kids. It was so cute and I was very proud of him. Some momma bears out there were scooping up the eggs as fast as they could for their children, but a lot of the kids just wanted to give their eggs away.

Here's Canon jumping

The eggs for Canon's age

Starting to give eggs to other children

Proud of Jess's hard work

We had a great service at Grace Church today. A lot of new time guests! The nursery and kid's areas were packed. I ended up working in the nursery since there were lots of kids. Whew! Wore me OUT! Canon of course looked adorable in his Easter outfit that my mom bought him. I love dressing him!

After lunch and a nap we went out to Will's "garden" and put out flowers, a stuffed bunny, and a pinwheel. It was so beautiful out there today. It looked stormy, but there was a cool breeze out and they had just recently cut the grass. I meant to take my camera to snap a picture, but I forgot.

The story about the stuffed bunny we took out to the grave is - We were in Khols last week and they had this rack full of Easter stuffed animals. Canon immediately grabbed the bunny and wouldn't let go. Normally we don't give into that, but they were cheap and I thought he could take it to Will's gravesite. So we bought it. He has loved on that bunny ever since, but we told him everyday it was to go to Will. In the car on the way to the cemetery Canon held onto it. He sat it on Will's grave and gave it a kiss. He was totally fine to leave it there. ;) Such a good brother he is!

Here is Canon all dressed up and ready for church!

I of course think he is the cutest thing on earth with such a sweet personality!

Canon's Easter basket from Jess and me. He didn't get them until late this evening due to Jess already being gone when Canon woke up, lunch, naps, and going out to the cemetery.

He also had one from my parents he "opened" today.

We skyped with my parents and grandparents while Canon got his Easter basket from them.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of Christ!

Rachel

Update on Canon

18 Months

Long post. Just enjoy the pics and feel free to skip over the details. Very detailed for my records since this is my journal.

I think Canon really favors my dad in this picture! So sweet!

One afternoon I was making our bed and Canon just laid on our bed pillows and started being a ham. Luckily my camera was sitting on our dresser, so I snapped a few pictures. He really has become such a sweet heart. He is just so cuddly and such a charmer. He LOVES to hug Jess and me at the same time while one of us is holding him. He gives us kisses and blows kisses multiple times a day. He will even walk by and hug and kiss our legs.

Canon continues to be a very active child.

He loves to eat. His favorites right now are watermelon, grapes, blueberries, green beans, cheese, yogurt, and turkey sandwiches.

He has completely cut a molar on his left side and the right one is coming through, that makes 9 teeth completely in.

He is taking one nap. Usually around an hour and fifteen minutes. Occasionally will surprise us with a longer one. On average sleeping 12 hours at night.

He loves the outdoors. Cries when you bring him in. He likes to get dirty and play with sticks, rocks, and leaves.

He loves bubbles and tries to blow them himself.

Makes a brmm brmm sound when he sees any type of truck.

Can point to almost every body part, has been able to for a while now

Can do the motions to lots of songs - deep and wide, wheels on the bus, where is thumbkin, itsy bitsy spider, if your happy and you know it

Can get down off the bed or couch by himself

Loves to be chased and scared.

Really eating well with a fork and doing much better with a spoon

Tells you when he needs a diaper change. Not all the time, but often.

Loves to take things out of our bathroom and bed side table drawers. Our bathroom and room are a mess most of the time.

Wearing mostly 18 month clothes, some 24/2T shirts, size 6 shoes, size 4 diapers

Can point to lots of pictures when you ask him where they are

Still loves dogs and ducks. ha!

Saying so many more words. Repeats what we say constantly. I love it!

Throws tantrums... ;)

Follows commands very well. i.e. go get me a diaper, can you take that to your room, shut the door, ect.

Is still very much attached to his blanket and Mr. E. Mr. E now has a baby, so he is becoming attached to him too. Don't have a name yet. Will take suggestions. Must start with an "E".

Will bow his head, put his hands together, and start praying (in his own words)

When we ask him where baby Will is he will point to his heart. He was never taught to do this, but it is very sweet. We also tell him that Will is with Jesus in heaven. He also waves every time we take him to Will's grave site.

18 Month Pictures with Big Al the Elephant

Rachel

Rock a bye baby

When Canon was born I loved rocking or nursing Canon to sleep at bedtime. It was such a sweet sweet time with him. Canon had a hard time settling down for bed. He also had horrible reflux, so we were told to keep him upright for 30 minutes before laying him in bed for the night. It took a long time to get Canon to sleep. Long nurser + reflux + a hard time settling = long bed time! It seemed like all my friends had kids that you could just lay down in their crib and they would fall fast asleep in a heart beat. I started to think maybe I was doing something wrong with Canon. Why wouldn't he fall fast asleep when putting him in the crib instead of crying. Some nights I just wanted to be able to lay him down and walk away. I wanted the easy route. So I started having conflicting thoughts about how we should put Canon to sleep. We tried the cry it out method, we started a bedtime routine, we patted the back, ect. I agonized on how to get Canon to be a better sleeper. I read books, blogs, went to various websites, but all I really wanted to do was just rock him to sleep if he needed it. That is what felt right and natural.

But was I going to create a bad habit? Was I doing Canon a disservice?

Fast forward to now.

We still rock Canon to sleep. Not every night, but every night that he needs to be rocked to sleep. Most nights he will go down on his own after cuddling and singing with mom or dad in the rocking chair for 5 to 10 minutes. Almost always he goes down on his own for naps unless he needs to be rocked to sleep. We have not corrupted him. He sleeps for 12 hours almost every night. Even if he didn't sleep 12 hours I don't believe it would be because we rocked him to sleep often.

I LOVE the way we have gone about putting Canon to sleep. I wouldn't have it any other way. I have come to appreciate how Canon needs lots of down time before going to sleep. He needs lots of TLC and I am more than willing and happy to give that to him. Yes, it takes longer some nights and days, but I don't ever want to look back and wish I would have rocked and cuddled with him more. We have the most precious moments with him while rocking, whether he falls asleep or not on us. Canon has been rocked every night and day of his life, maybe not to sleep, but at least held and loved on before every nap or bed time.

I wish I wouldn't have agonized over if I was doing the right thing or not. I wish I would have been confident enough to go with my instincts and do what I was comfortable with instead of what other people told me was "right".

Jess and I are thankful for the time we get to cuddle with Canon, we know the day will come when he doesn't want to be cuddled before bed time. We are thankful we got to hold and rock Will for that short hour he was with us. I am so beyond thankful Will was in our arms when he went to go be in the arms of Jesus.

The Lord is good.

Rachel

These are a few of my least favorite things...

Just a few minutes ago I was thinking about how I dislike brushing my hair out after I shower. I started thinking about how weird that is and then started listing things in my head that are my least favorite things to do.

So I am going to write the most random blog post ever. It's not to complain, just to write out my weird quirks.

A few of my least favorite things

• Putting in my contacts in. I don't like touching my eyes or having anything else touch my eyes
• Unloading the dishwasher
• Putting away folded clothes
• Closed blinds during the day
• Brushing my hair after a shower
• Blowing my nose - for all those that really know me, I am very afraid of boogers. They make me gag.
• Going to bed with a messy kitchen - Stresses me OUT!
• Not having chocolate in the house
• Buffets - The thought of everyone touching the same serving spoon freaks me out. I will go occasionally to get my chinese fix, but you better believe I have hand sanitizer out on the table.
• Mail sitting out on the kitchen counter.
• Going to bed alone.
• Not having enough hot water to take a long shower.
• Putting lotion on - too greasy.
• The shower curtain being bunched up. I like it to be pulled out.
• Ironing - Yuck! Getting a steamer.
• Clocks ticking when I am trying to sleep.

Wow that is a lot. Didn't expect to be able to spit those out so quickly.

Anyway, Jess and I had a good laugh about these and I smiled while I wrote all these down.

What are a few of your least favorite things? Only your quirks, not about what drives you bonkers in other people.

Love,

Rachel

Psalm 23

Today was launch Sunday for Grace Church. For those that don't know Jess and I moved to TN to join a church plant where Jess serves as the administrative pastor. We started interviewing I believe in October. We moved in December/January and have been working towards launch for months now and today was the day! We had a great service!

It is 1:00 a.m. on Monday morning and I can't sleep. This isn't unusual. I usually lay in bed awake thinking about Will, worrying, wondering about the "what ifs", what's in the future, blah blah blah... Tonight was no different. But tonight instead of continuing to let satan feed me lies I was reminded of the message given this morning at church.

The series we have started is "Sleepless: What keeps you up at night". This mornings message, "Does God Care, Psalm 23". Psalm 23 was read at Will's funeral service, so I was very interested in hearing more about Psalm 23. This sermon spoke to me. I needed to hear what was spoken.

Ed (our lead pastor) broke down the text into 5 sections. 1. His Provision (verses 1-2) 2. His Path (vs. 3) 3. His Presence (vs. 4) 4. His Protection (vs. 5) 5. His Plan (vs. 6)

Verse 4 says, " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me" Psalm 23:4

"The Lord is there". Ezekiel 48:35

Ed reminded us that as a christian you don't get exempt from evil or "bad", but the Lord promises to be in your presence when you do go through tough situations. He is there!

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever". Psalm 23:6 His faithfulness and goodness pursues us. How comforting!

This message gives me comfort and I am so thankful I serve a God that does care. Will I chose to follow His provision, His path, presence, and plan? Will I live under his protection? I pray that I do and I will seek Him more and more every day.

Rachel

Blah...

That would explain my mood the last 3 days - blah and weepy. There has been so much going on this week, even fun stuff, so I don't really understand why I haven't snapped out of it. I have had no motivation to do anything. It's been a struggle every morning to get out of bed and get ready for the day. I know the weather hasn't helped the last 2 days with my mood.

The reality is I miss Will. I yearn to see him again. I wish things could have been different.

As May 1st is near (his expected due date) I find myself thinking about getting his room perfect, washing clothes and blankets, packing our bags, nesting, going out and getting those last minute things.... I also find myself thinking about what it would have been like to have two sweet little boys so close in age. I have said this before, but I also hurt for Canon. I see him with other children and he would have been such a sweet sweet big brother.

**********************

On to brighter things

Our church is launching this Sunday. We are so excited! We have had 3 preview services, but they have been spread out. Now we will be meeting every week. It's what we have been working towards, praying for, and talking about for months! The team has been working really hard. I am so proud of Jess for all of his hard work (and the rest of the team).

http://gracechurchlife.wordpress.com

Canon turned 18 months on Thursday. I will post about that really soon. Just need to upload some pictures I took of him.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Rachel

Wordless Wednesday

Well Almost...

This was Canon at 2 months. Ha! This has got to be one of my favorite pictures!

Rachel