Zeke is THREE!

Ezekiel Dekker, you turn 3 years old today! Before we start, let's do a birthday interview, to make note of some of your favorite things at this point in life.

Favorite food: "I don't know."
Song: "Zacchaeus" 
Color: Blue
Drink: "Umm... this!" (pointing to the ginger ale on the table) This is not going as well as I'd hoped.
Movie: "George and the Elephant" (He watched this for the first time last night.)
Things to do: "Watch a movie. How about... legos! Paint and color."

Here are some of the things you've been doing/learning over the past 6 months.

- You ask for a fork and a spoon at EVERY meal. It doesn't matter if we're having soup, or cereal, or whatever. You need both. Before you can start eating. And then you proceed to eat with your fingers.

You like the fruity concoctions, just like Daddy 

- You pick up on so much of what we're saying! Somedays you pull a brand new word out of nowhere and I have to think really hard as to where you've heard it before :)

Taking your new wagon out for it's maiden voyage! 

- Your favorite show is Curious George. Always, always George. Every night we ask you what you want to watch and you say, "Regular Curious One" because you don't want to watch the Christmas movie, "A Very Monkey Christmas." I'm pretty sure we've watched the tv series all the way through, 6? 7 times?

Your Halloween costume -- Curious George

- You took 2 sessions of Kindermusik class this year. You loved it! You got a harmonica the first semester and a rain stick and jingle bells the second. You like to break out in song every once in a while and sang along to a bunch of Christmas songs with me throughout the season. "Glo-ooooo-ooooo-ooooria!" and "Joy to the WOOOORLD!" Precious, precious music to my ears!

First day back to Kindermusik in the Fall. You kept trying to get me to take a picture of your backpack. 

We made a rainstick 

- You are a loving child. Not that you don't have your moments of crazy and learning to vent your frustrations. But you do like to cuddle (which I obviously very much love!!) and give kisses and hugs. At the Christmas Eve service, I mentioned that we needed to get going, so you started walking around to everyone, even the people you'd never seen before (you were basically looking at pants) and giving them hugs goodbye. So sweet, buddy! And then this morphed into you taking the candles out of their hands and putting them away on the front table. You can be such a big helper, when you want to be!

- One day in December I was making lunch, I heard a "cssshk" sound and looked down to see this:

It was pretty funny to me, so I didn't make you stop :o) 

- We're starting to buy you some 3T pants. The 2Ts still fit around your waist, but you're getting too tall and during these winter months I don't want those little ankles to get cold! I've been having to roll the pants over once in order for them to stay up better, but at least they're long enough.

- We got a pretty good snow over Christmas. You enjoyed playing outside with me shoveling, sweeping, making snow angels, and even riding around a bit in your bright red/orange sled. Although you actually prefer just pulling it around, with no one in it. But that's ok. Still a vast improvement over the past years when you cried when we were out in the snow.

A little snow in New Castle (December 2014)

- You potty trained SO WELL in August! I was pretty nervous about the whole process and instead you totally blew it out of the water! We talked it up for a couple of weeks, then went out together and bought your underwear. The morning of potty training we called several family members and asked them if they wore underwear too. We bagged up all of your diapers and said "bye-bye." Then we changed you into your big boy underwear and went for it! The first day there were lots of accidents; the second day, a few. By the next week you had it down through the day and just a couple of weeks later you stopped wearing pull-ups at night and were wearing underwear exclusively! Sure, there's the occasional accident, but, by golly, you've got this, Son! So proud of you! I keep finding unused pull-ups while we've been unpacking. You didn't even use up one package!

A hike with Daddy at Devil's Backbone 

Devil's Backbone 

Special time with Mommy at Grandpa's Cafe (August 2014) 

September 2014 

Getting brave and climbing the jungle gym

At the top! 

Picking out pumpkins!

- We started doing "special time" with you once a month in August. We know sometimes it can be hard to feel like we're giving Levi more attention since he's so little and needs more help. We wanted to make sure you are feeling loved and valued and heard. You have really enjoyed the times you've shared with Mommy and Daddy!

Special time with Mommy -- making chocolate cupcakes 

Being careful to get the batter in the holes 

- Today (1/19) you caught Levi when he was falling down the stairs. I'm always so paranoid about you pushing him down the stairs, but I heard a bump and a cry and I ran out and there you were halfway down the stairs with Levi in the your arms. I was surprised, for one, because he's only like 5-6 pounds lighter than you. For two, because it was your reaction to help out your little brother. I love that, buddy! I hope that will always be your first response.

Visiting the Fire Station in New Castle

- We are starting to do a little learning time with you every day. We bought you a tracing book for Christmas, so you're learning how to hold your pencil correctly and I've been surprised at how well you're picking up drawing zig-zags and loops. I'm excited to continue teaching you. I'm hoping to get started on some letters and numbers soon. I'm also starting a cooking/baking day with you on Fridays. Last week (1/16) we made One-Eyed Pirates from Daddy's "Kid's Cook" book.

- We've been singing "Happy Birthday" to lots of other people the past 3 months. I think you were excited it was finally your turn! We had a fun birthday party for you and it was a "Construction" theme which I think you enjoyed. You got some paints, paint brushes, and a book, a big dump truck for playing outside, a learning book, tennis shoes, a dj music toy, and a djembe! It was a great party!

Your 3rd Birthday Party (1/24)

Blowing out the candle! 

Zeke, Mommy and Daddy love you so much! You make our days brighter and our nights longer ;) You are getting better at the whole sleeping thing though! You still take a nap every afternoon which is nice. You are an intense little boy and have a good attention span. You enjoy dancing/spinning in the living room and music in general. We look forward to the coming year and all the things you will learn and conquer. You have changed our lives for the better and we are thankful!
Love, Mommy

It's Movin' Time

Packing up and moving out! And taking care of our dental hygiene in matching outfits as we do so :) 

A Special Day

Jeremiah and I took Ezekiel out for an early birthday present before the move. Grandma watched Levi for us since it was her Christmas break. 

First, we took him to lunch at Red Robin. He actually picked the hamburger from the kids' menu and some fruit salad and apple juice. 

For his special dessert he got a nana-nana-moo-moo. A chocolate and banana milkshake. It was surprisingly good!! 

Then we took him to his first movie at a theater. He has a great attention span so we thought he'd do ok. 

We watched "Penguins of Madagascar." 

He seemed to really enjoy it. As well as all the tiny lights that illuminate the steps and hands railing. 

Such a great picture of him! 

We asked him to give a thumbs up... GOAL! 

We asked him to show us '3'. Not bad. 

A fun time had by all! We look forward to future dates like this! 

Adventures in New Castle

If you had told me 8 years ago that I would move 7.5 times in the next 8.5 years, I would have laughed at you and said, "You're crazy!" See, I lived in the same house for the first 16 years of my life. I went to one school. I did the same thing for Christmas every year. I loved the traditions and consistency and had every intention of carrying on the rest of my life in the exact same way. I mean, if something's not broken, why fix it?

Then this guy came into my life...

 He said, "I love God and I'm going to follow Him wherever he takes me. Want to join me?" And apparently I had fallen for him because I said, "Yes."

 So here we are, on the brink of our 8th move. Why are we moving this time? I'm glad you asked! As we've been married and serving in various ministries, we've discovered that we like to start things. Well, maybe not like it as much as we've been given opportunities to start things, so we're beginning to find out what works and what doesn't. In learning this, Jeremiah decided that he wants to help with church planting. NAMB -- North American Mission Board -- has asked us to do a year long internship with a friend of Jeremiah's over in New Castle, CO. When the idea was first being mulled over, I was not super excited. Traveling back and forth? Maybe living there for 3-6 months? I mean, we just got here. But then Jeremiah came back from a meeting one day and asked, tentatively, "What if we move over there for a year?" And, to my own surprise, it sounded like a great idea. I felt peace and confidence about it and Jeremiah was pumped that I was on board because he was expecting I'd put up a fight. (Does that really sound like me? Um, yes. But anyway...) Just a couple of months later we've finished up our MOPS group, celebrated a 1 year old's birthday, found a place to live, signed a lease, celebrated Christmas, and told most people where we're headed. We've started to get a good collection of boxes and even packed a few.

When we started putting a few boxes together I began to feel the typical stress rise as I thought about all the work that would be required in the next couple of weeks. Especially with 2 little ones unpacking the boxes behind me. How will they adjust to the move? Are they going to regress in their sleeping, when we've finally been making some great progress? Will we be able to get everything done in time? How are we going to afford to live somewhere that is more expensive? Will there be people willing to help us pack and unpack? Many, legitimate questions. But somehow, the peace remains, and for me, that is enough. Even just a few years ago I may have responded with frustration or bitterness or anger over another move. But my perspective is changing and with each move comes adventure; new people to meet, a new place I can say I lived, different experiences, a chance to explore and discover more of this world, a chance to see God move and answer prayers and accomplish His purpose. How can I say "no" to that? What if by saying "no" I miss a miracle? A chance to witness something truly meaningful and irreplaceable. My life might not be playing out the way I anticipated at 14, 17, or even 20 years of age, but that's ok. Every day that I'm living within the will of God, surrendered to Him, I can find peace, hope, and even joy. Every day that I let go I have the opportunity to do something I might have missed had I held on. So here we go, on another adventure, and this time I'm excited because you never know what life will bring, but I'm not going to miss out by trying to hold on to the past and how I thought things would be. I'm stepping out, arms open wide, taking the next step, and finding joy.

Home is wherever I'm with these three <3 

To life... full of Adventures in New Castle! 

Gentle Baby: Why I'm Using It

     When I bought my first bottle of Gentle Baby, I was not a fan of the smell. (I think I feel that way about quite a few of the oils. It takes me a while to warm up to them!) It contains geranium, rosewood, lemon, lavender, jasmine, roman chamomile, bergamot, ylang ylang, palmarose, and rose oils. But it grew on me and I'm enjoying it more now. I didn't use it much when I first got it, but once the weather turned cool, it has been wonderful for my boys' skin!
     First up, I noticed Zeke was getting some red skin on his back and when I would put his pjs on after his bath, it almost felt like sandpaper! I felt so bad! I started using some coconut oil and 1 drop of Gentle Baby after his bath each night and it healed it up nicely. It took about 10 days, but now his skin is nice and smooth. I try to remember to use it every night to maintain the healthy skin, especially in these dry winter months!
     I've also been using it on Levi. For awhile I was having a really tough time with him getting diaper rash. I felt guilty because I was using cloth diapers this time and thought maybe that was the reason. I would switch to disposables and use a medicine and get rid of it, then back to cloth and he'd get red fast and have sores before I knew it. I wanted to just use disposables, but I thought I'd try something before I gave up. Every night after his bath I apply coconut oil and 1 drop of Gentle Baby (not too much coconut oil because I try to make sure it is completely rubbed in so I don't get a build up on the diapers). Since doing this, I have had next to zero problems with diaper rash, except if *ahem* Jeremiah gets him dressed and forgets to put it on.

      I am thankful for this gem, Gentle Baby. My kids have much healthier, smooth skin because of it! This oil is a calming oil and some people have had success getting rid of stretch marks when they used it. I need to get on the ball and try that next!

Our Little 1 Year Old!

On Tuesday morning, December 17, 2013, we decided it was time for you to make your appearance in the world. Mommy's body was not doing very well, so we decided it was safest for all of us. After calling in to the hospital, asking if we could come in, they said no. Mommy was a little disappointed. But after very little time they called back and said to come in, and then I started second guessing our decision to see this through :) Grandma came over to watch big brother Zeke for the day and Mommy and Daddy headed to the hospital.

We got checked in to our room and most of the day was pretty uneventful and boring. Apparently you were happy to stay warm in my tummy. But around 4 pm I talked to my midwife and we decided on a plan of action. #1. Epidural. #2. Break my water. And then there you were, born at 6:39 pm. It felt like way too many minutes before you finally gave your first squeal, and you were soooo purple! They had to cut the umbilical cord early because you were all wrapped up in it. But after the shock of that and once you were snuggled in my arms you were safe and your place in our family was settled.

Bundled Burrito Baby

In month number one you had your first Christmas and your first New Year's Eve

you ate, you slept, you pooped, you cried, you stretched, you grew, you peed. 

January 17

In your second month you celebrated as big brother Zeke, turned two

You gave us big smiles, you slept like a champ, and for Grandma Pam you cooed! 

February 17 

In your third month of life you thought it was fun to always stick out your tongue! 

You focused on Zeke as he played around you and were wishing you knew how to run. 

March 17

By month four you were already on the move, rolling and pushing with your feet.
You liked to laugh, enjoyed your baths, and sat in your Bumbo seat. 

April 17

Month number five came and we decided to let you try solid food, 

we dedicated you at church on Mother's Day and you did really good. 

May 17

You jumped in the jumperoo and patted our faces in month number six, 

you rolled and lunged forward, nothing was safe, your legs gave quite strong kicks! 

June 17

We traveled to Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas and had family pictures made, 

you went to the zoo, liked to swing at the park, and enjoyed your first Independence Day.

July 17

Then lickety split you were pulling up, standing and crawling away. 

You put things in your mouth, got 2 bottom teeth, and it was only month number eight?

  

August 17

Two more teeth broke through this month so you were up to four, 

you started to stand, you played at the park, and gave the bike trailer a whirl.

September 17

In month number ten you started to walk and make little fish lips -- cute!  

You learned to clap your hands to the music and did some dancing too. 

October 17

Enjoying the sandbox with big brother

You saw your first snow in month eleven and were walking everywhere

you dressed up as a giraffe for Halloween and liked the outdoor air! 

November 17

Exploring at Jax

This past month you got more teeth so now you're up to eight

We had a party just for you; you liked your chocolate cupcake. 

Getting ready for your first birthday party, 12/13/14

Your puppy cupcake

Post-cupcake happiness

You have really started to enjoy reading! 

You can drink out of a juice box all by yourself! 

Enjoying your dinner at ChickFilA (12/16/14)

Levi Olin, what a blessing you are to our family! I love making you laugh because you have such a wonderful giggle! You have a darling smile and walk around like a little man, so proud of yourself. You are very strong and can climb up on the couch all by yourself! I'm pretty sure you have now said both "Hi" and "Bye." And you imitate a lot of sounds we make, like "Zzz" for Zeke, and other words that sound like "that", "this", "trash" and more! You are also grunting and pointing at things you want or if Dora's in a place she doesn't belong. There have been several instances where you've said, "Mama" and "Dada" too; not entirely TO us, but in our general direction :) What a year it has been with you in our lives. I am thankful that you are our son and look forward to the year ahead!
 Love, Mommy