It’s been a while.

Micah has been growing.  We’ve been doing life.  Life is good.  We are so blessed.

One of the (many) reasons that I haven’t posted much recently is that I hadn’t taken as many pictures in the past few months as I used to.  Micah is completely in love with anything involving a screen or buttons, so the moment a camera comes out he stops doing whatever cute, picture-worthy thing he was doing, and tries to grab the camera.  Let’s just say we have a lot of pictures that look like this:

Don’t worry, we’re still getting lots of cute ones.

Also, Micah has been so busy lately that I barely spend any time on the computer. (This is partially because all he wants to do is push the buttons, and also because he takes so much more of my attention now. Gone are the days when I could give him some toys and sit on the computer for 10 or 20 minutes and actually get something done!)  I plan to try and put up some short little posts instead of trying to have long updates that take me forever to write (and just don’t end up happening most of the time).

Bottom line is… I’m not a person who loves writing.  Blogging isn’t particularly my favorite thing to do, but I like to keep friends and family updated, and I enjoy looking back on the posts when they are done.  Realistically, I’m not going to be blogging every day or maybe even every week, but I’ll try to do a little better than every 3 months. 🙂

Well, I am hearing sounds that tell me my little napper is waking up.  I”ll leave you with this:

Have a great day!

Remember last Halloween?  Our little peapod slept through the whole night, including two different parties.

Amazing how things have changed in a year.  This year, our little monkey was running around like crazy.

A couple weeks ago, we were invited to a few Halloween parties, so I figured Matt and I should have costumes, too.  I set out to find costumes for us that were 1)appropriate  2)comfortable  3)inexpensive  4)fun… and didn’t find anything.  So, I decided to make them.

For myself, I made some monarch butterfly wings.  They ended up being a lot more work than I had originally anticipated, but they turned out kind of fun.

With the extra fabric from the wings, I whipped up a penguin costume for Matt.

What a good looking guy!

We had a fun night.  I didn’t get any great pictures of the evening festivities, but we had fun flitting/waddling/toddling around at Elim AND Calvary.  Pretty sure we picked up about 3 pieces of candy total.

I wonder what Halloween 2013 will be like…

Until then, here’s a picture of Micah’s backup costume for this year.  (Some friends lent it to us with a bunch of clothes after we already had the monkey costume.)

Today is a Joy Day.

My sister and her friends started having Joy Days in college, and they still continue to declare them every once in a while and invite others to participate with them.  It’s nothing elaborate, but just a day when we can be reminded to CHOOSE JOY in whatever we are doing.  (Or at least that is how I have used them… I think everyone participates in Joy Day a bit differently.)

Sometimes, Joy Days fall on days when I don’t FEEL like being joyful.  Back in college, I remember a few Joy Days fell on days during finals (ug!).  Sometimes I’m just not having a “good” day and I don’t really feel like they picked a good day for a Joy Day.  But, those days are precisely the days that I NEED to be reminded to be filled with joy.

A quick Google search for the definition of “joy” came up with:

joy /joi/

 1. A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

2. A thing that causes joy.

I don’t like either one of those definitions.  To me, joy isn’t all about pleasure and happiness, because those are both just feelings that come and go, and I think that joy is more than that.  (And, as for the second definition, didn’t we learn in 5th grade that you aren’t supposed to use a word in the definition of that same word?)

With a bit more searching, I found a definition that I like much better.  It is a definition written by Kay Warren (who must be related to Rick Warren, because it’s on the Purpose Driven website).  She says:

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

That is what Joy Day is all about.  Not just a day to be happy (or pretend to be happy just because we’re supposed to be having a Joy Day) but a day to be reminded that God is in control of every situation, good or bad, that we encounter throughout a day.  We can CHOOSE to praise Him through the ups and downs because we know He is is going to take care of things.

Ideally, every day should be a Joy Day, but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded (and remind others) to choose Joy throughout the day.

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This morning, we had Micah’s 12 month well-child doctor’s appointment.

They measured him at 30lb 8oz, and 32inches tall.  He is still over 98th percentile in all categories, but the doc said he is growing proportionately and right on track.

He had to get FOUR shots today and a finger prick… poor kid.  When we got ready for the first shot, I was all geared up for the tears, but strangely enough he didn’t make a peep or even squirm.  He just watched the nurse and sat there.

The finger prick (and subsequent squeezing to fill up the little straw thing)  wasn’t as easy.  He cried for the next three shots, but it was all over pretty quickly. After a few tears and cuddles, he started to feel a bit better.  I was so glad that Matt was there to help me re-clothe the squirmy little guy.

This morning, instead of feeling sad that Micah needed to get shots, and frustrated about sitting in a little room and waiting for doctors and nurses, I chose to find joy in the fact that we go to an awesome pediatrician, and that our little boy is healthy.

After the appointment, Matt graciously stopped by a Caribou for me to run in and get a vanilla latte.  Mmmmm!  I get one of those MAYBE a few times a year, so each sip was greatly relished and enjoyed.  Thank you, Joy Day!

After we got home, Matt had to head off to work, so Micah and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood in the gorgeous fall weather.  Now, if you know my feelings for my neighborhood, you will know that this was also a moment where I was CHOOSING joy instead of just feeling happy.

Instead of feeling angry about the broken glass all over the sidewalk, we looked up at the pretty colors on the trees and felt the cool breeze and warm sun on our faces.  Instead of feeling uncomfortable at the people glaring at me from their cars or whipping around the corners WAY too fast, we watched the school kids playing on the playground.

Instead of feeling sad about the houses in ill-repair with tarps still on the roofs, we chose to stop and watch the bumblebees buzzing around a pretty flower in the boulevard.

After a while, Micah wanted to get out and practice his walking.  Instead of being impatient at the painfully slow speed we were going (approximately .0143mph), I chose to marvel at how amazing it is that our little boy is WALKING, and enjoy the feel of his hand gripping my finger as we walked together.

He was interested in EVERYTHING – especially all the little things (leaves, sticks, ants, garbage) on the sidewalk.  Instead of plopping him back in his stroller so we could continue our walk, I chose share his curiosity and sit on the sidewalk with him as we looked at whatever little thing he found. Instead of getting upset at the dirt on his pants, scuffs on his brand new shoes, and the “icky” stuff in his hands, I chose to remember that clothes (and bodies) are washable.

Instead of sighing as Micah tipped over the stroller, spilling out the contents of the basket, I congratulated him on his good effort in pushing such a large contraption.

Once Micah got back in the stroller, we enjoyed the weather as we strolled home – singing the Mr Roger’s song (“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”) as we went.  Truly, a joyful experience.

This afternoon, it has been harder to “choose joy” as I think Micah’s shots have been making him irritable and whiny.  It’s hard to be joyful (and make dinner) when you have a whimpering 1 year old hanging on your legs everywhere you go.  But, I chose to find joy in the music on the radio, and our yummy dinner plans (Bubble Up Enchiladas – yum!).  When all he wanted me to do was hold him, I tried my hardest not to be irritated at the half-made dinner, but to be joyful that I have a wonderful little person who comes to me for comfort.

With the day about to come to an end, I can look back and see what a good day it has been.  There have been good times and hard times, but I’m glad that today was a Joy Day.  It’s one of those days that could have been rough at times, but I can definitely see how choosing to find joy in whatever the day brought really made it better than it could have been.

I would like to live every day as a Joy Day.  It’s a choice that I don’t make as often as I would like to.  Today was a good reminder.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  ~James 1:2-3

You can buy stickers sets that are specifically designed for monthly baby pictures.  I didn’t have any, so I made my own.  I cut them out of paper and taped them on, which worked great when he was a little guy, but after about 6 or 7 months all he wanted to do was pull them off (see month 8 above).  There were several things that I learned from this experience:

1. Red paper + white onesie + drool = pink onesie

2. Once he learned how to turn from his back to his tummy, taking the floor pictures was nearly impossible .  There were several months I really didn’t think I was going to get one where he wasn’t crawling off the side of the picture.  This kid is fast!

3. Digital cameras are amazing.  You have no idea how many pictures I took each month just to get these. 🙂

4. Micah does not like to smile for cameras. It’s really hard to catch him even looking, let alone smiling!

5. Even though it was a lot of work, it’s fun to be able to look back and see how Micah has grown throughout the year.  That being said, I’m glad to be done.

6. If I ever do this again (with any future children) there are definitely some things I will do differently. (Matt suggested Duct Tape!)

Yesterday, we celebrated Micah’s first birthday!  I can’t believe that our baby is already one year old!

Before church, we opened Micah’s first birthday present – a package sent from Farmor and Farfar in Michigan.

It was a bulldozer that rattles, plays music and drives around.  Micah LOVED it from the moment we took it out of the box.  It did not even take him 10 seconds to find the button to turn it on!

Unfortunately, we had to leave the bulldozer behind so that we could go to church.  After church, Micah very obediently took a nap so that Matt and I could make some final preparations for the BIRTHDAY PARTY that we were having that afternoon.

Micah loves bathtime, and he has always been our “patito” (which means “little duck” or “duckling” in Spanish) so we had a ducky themed party.

On the menu were some of Micah’s favorite foods: Hull-less caramel corn, goldfish crackers (actually they were chickadees cuz I thought they looked more like duckies), fresh fruit, and vegetables.

Oh, and of course cupcakes.  I even used a special new frosting recipe and made some little duckies to go on top.  They were yummy.

Micah woke up from his nap just as the first people were arriving.

He wasn’t quite sure what to make of all these people in his house.  They were all family members that he knows, but we don’t usually have so many people in our house at one time.  He was a bit shy at first.

Micah took his first steps about a month ago, but never more than 2 or 3 at a time, and with much coaxing.  All of a sudden, 2 days before his birthday, he just started toddling all over on his own.  He showed off his new skill in front of everyone at the party.  He loves to walk to Mom and Dad…

… or others if they have bait! (Toys or food)

He was definitely the center of attention.  There were lots of people cheering him on.

Micah Walking (Here is a short movie of Micah walking.)

A bit later, we opened a few presents that people had brought for Micah.  We tried to teach him that you should always open the card first before the gift, but he didn’t seem to care as much about those.  (Maybe next year…)

When it came to opening the gifts, he didn’t seem to really know what to do with the brightly colored packages, so we helped him out a bit.

He loved what he found inside: BOOKS and TOYS!  Two of his favorite things!

He came away with lots of fun stuff.

He even was given his own Elmo (toy) cell phone.  Maybe now he’ll stop wanting to play with MY (real) phone.

Grace and Daniel nicely helped Micah get things out of packaging and showed him how to use them.

After a while of playing with new toys, it was time for cake!  Everybody sang, and we brought out a special little cake for Micah.

He mostly just wanted to grab the flame on the candle, so I helped him blow it out.

We thought this would be a good opportunity for a family picture.

Then, we let him try out the cake.

He was a bit timid at first and tried out some of the frosting, but he needed some help digging into the actual cake part. I think he enjoyed it.

A few times, he even tried to take a bite out of the cake with no hands.  It was really cute.

Eventually, he did get a few good handfuls shoved in his mouth…

… and then the patting started.  When he starts smashing his food, that usually means he’s done, so we decided he’d had enough cake.

I pulled off his shorts and brought him upstairs for a quick bath as Matt cleaned up the floor.  I’m not sure how much of the cake actually got in his mouth, but he sure did a great job of smushing!

Soon after we came back down, people had to start heading out.

We were SO thankful for everyone who was able to make it to the party, as well as those who weren’t able to be there, but were still thinking of Micah and celebrating with us from other places.

Special thanks to our two wonderful photographers, who happen to also be Micah’s Tía and Tío.  Without them, I would not have had all of these great pictures to share with you.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our little boy, Micah.  We love you.  This first year has been so much fun, and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you in the future.