Turning Two

So, Josiah is two! At my mom's group this morning, I went to pick him up from the toddler room. As I approached, I heard shrieking, and saw lots of toddlers running up and down the hall with one poor worker trying to chase them all back into the room. Apparently Josiah had sprung them all free while she wasn't looking!

On that note, I thought I'd post a few pictures of Josiah's birthday party. It was a very informal, low-key party with family and a couple of close friends. Although the space is small, the kids played really well together so I thought it turned out well. Here are a few random pictures of the party:



















Thankfully, my mom came up to help me out. She and I worked on Josiah's train cake until way too late the night before. It was fun having someone to make it with, as it took a long time to put together. Josiah loved it, and he still asks for Thomas cake, even though it is no longer with us. At the party, he kept climbing up on the chairs to get a closer look.









I tried to have a lot of Josiah's favorite snacks to serve at the party...I think he went back for thirds on everything!



And Josiah got a lot of really nice gifts. It was kind of overwhelming. He has been loving the new stuff. He got a really nice variety, from new books, bath toys, cars/trucks, blocks, Thomas train accessories (to go with his wooden track), and more.



And here are a couple of pictures of his actual birthday, which fell on the day after the party.



My mom was here, and Josiah shares the same birthday with her. We decided to go to a local orchard and pick apples. Josiah loved the tractor ride we had to take to get to the orchard. The apple picking...may be more appreciated as he gets a little older! He did enjoy helping me make a big batch of apple butter from the apples 'we' picked. He's been quite proud every time he has eaten some or we have given it to people.





And those are just a few highlights.

(PS- If you attended the party and your picture is not seen here, it is either because you avoided the camera- you know who you are- or because the pictures were not so flattering so you should be thanking me for not posting them:)!!)

It's Time...

...for change!

...for catching up on blogging.

...to say good-bye to my job (wish I could finish up those reports!).

...for a new job (nothing yet, but I am waiting on a new lead).

...to get a new pair of shoes for my kid after I squeezed his feet into a pair, and he whimpered around on his tip toes saying, "ouch, mommy carry me..." How does this happen so fast?

...for cleaning my house, especially the kitchen!

...to take care of way too many projects that have been put on the back burner.

...to say good-bye to my one-year-old and hello to the 'twos'. (I'm trying to not think of the 'terrible twos'...but we may have started already!).

...for taking down the decorations from the aforementioned birthday party.

...to return to my mom's group, and Josiah's music classes, and a new small group at church.

...to prepare for Chris' fund raising banquet at work.

...to pause and evaluate some priorities and goals.

...for planning a trip in December :)!

You never know what you'll find in a pocket...black beans anyone?



I caught him in the act!

We have been very blessed to receive a lot of clothes and other useful baby/kid things from Chris' family, who are presumably done with the baby phase. Every once in a while, I come across something to put on Josiah that makes me smile. This little coat is one of those things:





I can still picture my little nephew wearing this coat. Here he is in the same coat that Josiah is wearing when we took them all to the zoo (over five years ago):



The most alarming thing that we realized is that Josiah is not even two yet, and our nephew is four in this picture (although I feel like he did wear it for quite a while)...what size will Josiah be wearing when he starts kindergarten?!

In other backyard news, this bird (in a pair) has been lingering in our pond the past couple of days. We don't think that we have seen these here before, although we did see them on our trip to Cape Breton. Does anyone know what they are called?

Lately...

...We were stranded in NS for several days! Our truck broke down on the long weekend and nobody was opened to fix it. Thankfully, it was just a wire that had come unhooked (that took the mechanic an hour to find because it was so buried).

...Josiah has been stringing a lot of funny sentences together. My favorite was, "The bear is touching Mommy's neeeeeeeck," as he made the bear tap on my neck. The way he said neck was very long and funny.

...I am searching and waiting and hunting for a new job with no luck. This is getting to be a very frustrating process. I really hate not knowing what I am doing after the next two weeks.

...We have had a lot of very frustrating experiences. We are wondering what God's plan is, and are having a tough time waiting on Him.

...I have been trying to make the space I need to write again, and am on the verge of a new song that I have really connected with.

...We are excited about fall and all of the fun new things that start up again.

...I am feeling alone and am having a hard time dealing with the reality of this day after day. Also feeling a bit disconnected.

...We are anticipating Josiah's birthday, yet I still have nothing planned. Need to get on that really soon!

...I have been clothes shopping, as we are starting a new season and Josiah is heading into size 4T.

...We are trying to make the best of our space, sorting and simplifying, and feeling a little frustrated by it all. Keeping baby stuff when you plan to have more children and don't want to get rid of it all and start again is a very difficult task to accomplish in a very small space with no storage options! It is also hard to turn a baby nursery into a toddler room with no place to put all of the baby stuff. I think the hardest thing for me lately is that I see no end in sight. I need to find a way to deal with this better than the way I have been!

And that's a little bit of what's been happening with us.

Park Adventures

We frequent parks with Josiah. I often like to go first thing in the morning, or later in the afternoon. I am really quite a snob when it comes to parks. I don't want to be, and it's hard to admit, but I am. I generally only pick parks in certain areas of town.

However, Chris had an errand to do downtown a couple of weeks ago, so he dropped us off at a park for about 15 minutes. It was not a park I would ever choose to visit, but it seemed like a better solution than waiting in the truck for Chris to finish.

So we began to play. The background noise was two smoking mothers screaming at their kids (Not that these two characteristics have to go together! I know some wonderful mothers who smoke and don't yell at their kids, as well as some wonderfully healthy, smoke-free mothers who scream frequently). This frightened Josiah a lot! He stayed pretty close to me. Their children were fighting, as children do, with no intervention other than the occasional scream. Josiah started mimicking their behaviors. I quickly snatched him up and we relocated to the other side of the playground. On the way there, he tried to eat a cigarette off the ground. On the way back to the truck (and after the longest 15 minutes of my life) Josiah ran towards the children (through the smoke clouds) and yelled, "fight too, fight too!" He still says those words, even though we have been hoping that he would forget.

Today, at a nicer park of my choice, Josiah picked up a couple of fleas. He was bitten several times before I realized what was happening. Someone had let their dog up on the structure. So I guess it really doesn't matter where we go sometimes!

As a parent, I am often conflicted about my attitudes towards others/places. Although I feel that I model respect for others regardless of their appearance, status, etc...I have a protectiveness now. I don't frequent certain types of places anymore. Obviously I am not talking about endangering myself or my child, but sometimes I can't help but wonder where Jesus would have taken children if he had chosen to be a father while on earth. This is a struggle that I continue to sort through!

But for now, I will have to choose between fighting or fleas :)!!

This is the little character that accompanied me on an errand to Canadian Tire this morning in search of 2 new laundry baskets. No luck with the baskets; however, we did manage to entertain some of the staff. Josiah loves his glasses so much that he often wears them inside. Not really sure how he can see much! In addition to the look, he also loves to chat with everyone we pass. He also randomly yells, "Hi people...hi everybody!"







In other news...it is so hot here right now!! We may be heading out to a water park a bit later this morning...or maybe the mall. Unfortunately, there is no new job on the horizon for me yet, so maybe I should stick with the water park!

Toddler on a Bus

We took another bus ride this morning to the park and back.

Josiah really loves it. He asks to go on it all the time.

Here are some of my own observations:

- It is very difficult waiting for the bus to arrive. Josiah is so anxious and excited that I can hardly keep him off the street.

- There are big steps, which sometimes are lowered and sometimes aren't. This can be problematic since Josiah is still short and insists on doing everything on his own.

- Even though I pay to put gas in the car all the time, it makes me more aware of the cost of transportation when I put my money into the slot!

- There are so many seats to choose from once you get onto the bus.

- Toddlers have no awareness of the disgusting germs lurking in every corner. Josiah has even eaten things off of the bus floor (don't think about it!).

- It is difficult to explain to a toddler that not everyone shares their excitement in taking the bus.

- Due to the enthusiasm, it is sometimes tough to implement the 'indoor voice' policy.

- It is also difficult to explain that just because you are sitting close to people, it does not mean that they want to be touched or have toy phones held up to their ears.

- I always wonder...if someone falls asleep on the bus (and your toddler starts snoring very loudly to imitate them) do you have a moral obligation to wake them up? What if they miss their stop? How many times would a bus driver circle the city with that passenger continuing to sleep?

After using the bus a few times with a toddler, I am so thankful to have a car! I am, however, glad to give Josiah the opportunity to use the bus, and I really don't mind taking it myself (by myself it just seems easier!!).

I wonder what will happen next time...I really hope the word 'stinky' doesn't come up. It has been a favorite one lately!