Merry Christmas!!!

We are currently in Tennessee enjoying the cool sunny weather while warming up inside by the fire. Ah, it's very peaceful at the moment, but there have been lots of crying spells recently. It's been a long break so far due to the kid's health. A few days before Christmas Josh got a cold, then a fever, and is finally getting better a week later. Rachel on the other hand has never been so discontent. She has the same cold as Josh and had a fever for two days but is slowly getting better. She's never cried this much; ever. Thankfully Daddy is around to help and is doing a great job. We are just praying that the kids get better soon and that we won't get sick as well.

Back to more positive thoughts though. The holidays have been a lot of fun! We've had a chance to visit family in SC, had family come and visit us, and now visit family in TN. My recent distractions from blogging have been family and house shopping. Over Thanksgiving we decided that we plan to rent our house and more somewhere hopefully closer to Jason's office. We are looking into a certain area and know what we want in the house (a bigger kitchen and some other things) but are having trouble finding one within our price range. So the search is still on. I'm trying not to have it consume my life, but there are SO many homes, so many neighborhoods, and so many things to consider. Just praying for the right one to come along... hopefully soon.

Hope you are well and enjoying this special season with family and friends!

Thanksgiving at the beach!

This Thanksgiving our destination was Myrtle Beach for two reasons. Jason's parents had a place to stay there and his Uncle Russell would be able to come and visit from NC after just getting back from Afghanistan. This visit with family was a huge answer to pray.

We took several family photos but could not get one decent one with both kids looking at the camera. (Urgh) I still haven't gotten the Christmas cards together but was hoping we would get a picture from this trip. I guess it might just have to be one of Jason and I then insert the kids beside us. Below were some of my favorites though that I had to post. Josh enjoyed pretending to be a pirate and put seashells on his eyes like Daddy. Such boys.

For those of you that don't know. The day after Thanksgiving is important for shopping but also for the Carolina Clemson Game. As you can see from our sweaters, I am a Gamecock fan and Jason is a Clemson fan. In case you're not a football fan, it's still important to know that the Gamecocks won this year. Go Gamecocks!

Thank you God for bringing us all safely together.

A Fall trip

I'm playing catch up tonight on old pictures and blog posts. Here are a few pictures from a trip to Oma and Opa's house when Daddy was in Israel and it was still fall.

Rachel loving on Gentoo, our dog.

Josh enjoying the great outdoors and everyday sticks;
something a boy can't live without.

Exploring the rainforest at a children's museum.

I love Rachel's face in this shot. So cute!

Potty Training has begun...

I decided to be GUNG-HO about potty-training today. So what does that mean? It means that I am letting my child wear underwear and going to the bathroom about every 15-30 minutes in hopes that he won't have an accident. So far Josh has gone pee in the potty about eight times today, poo-poo once, and had three accidents. The accidents were a bit my fault b/c I lost track of time and was just about to take him. Another accident occurred upstairs in our bathroom when I was getting ready and Rachel turned some water one. I guess that triggered him to go. He's currently napping so I have no idea what going on with his bodily functions at the moment, but hopefully they are on hold til he wakes up.

Preceding today's events have been some potty-training moments such as: going pee-pee in the potty, of course, but the most important, Josh told me twice this past week that he needed to go, and then went. This comment and response is what I'm praying for and hoping will happen ever time. Although, it hasn't happened much today...

I still have hope and will stick with it! Right now he is enjoying the Elmo cover that goes on the seat and receiving a treat every time he goes. We have a potty that some friends loaned us that we will start using too especially when we go out of town. Please pray for us- specifically that Josh will learn to have control and will willingly go in the potty and of course, pray for patience for us.

What are you up too? Probably the same thing we are... getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! Can you believe it's time already? We haven't made Christmas plans yet, but are praying that we will all be able to make it to the beach for Thanksgiving. Please pray for Jason's brother, Russell, that his commanding officer will allow him out of state leave when he returns from Afghanistan. If he does, he will get to come see us for Thanksgiving!

Today we went to Josh's preschool to enjoy a Thanksgiving Feast. We meet in the sanctuary where the kids paraded in wearing their tee-pee stenciled Indian shirts and hats. They were too cute! Then we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving meal. I think my favorite part about Josh's preschool is all the arts and crafts projects they do. I couldn't nearly do that many at home. I would feel overwhelmed and would get tired of cleaning more things. Needless to say, I am very thankful for this as well as getting to run errands on Thursdays with only one baby, my darling Miss Rachel. I guess I should actually call her a toddler now since she does toddle around very well!

Random tidbits on the kids

• Josh (2 yrs, 8 mns.) is getting better at sharing and showing compassion for others. I'm really amazed at everything her can say to us now. The other day he told Jason everything he had for lunch and it was true! There are some words and phrases that he is confused with. He calls sheep, "baa-baa." He knows they are sheep, but when I ask him, "What's that?" He says,"Baa-baa Mommy. Baa-baa." Also, he says, "Mommy turn the light off," but when asks this, the light is off. He has the off and on parts confused. Oh well. Did I even mention one of his cutest phrases? He calls me honey! I love it! He picked it up from me when I called down to Jason in the basement. I was saying, "Jason, Honey? Can you come up please." Ever since then, he started calling me honey. I haven't asked his school teachers if they have been called honey, but I wouldn't be surprised!

• Rachel (17 mns.) has a growing vocabulary too. A few weeks ago when we were at Oma and Opa's house, she identified a teddy bear on a coffee mug by saying "Bear." I couldn't believe it! She's been successfully going up and down stairs for a while now. She loves to go down slides and climb ladders at playgrounds. She's a bit fearless like her brother., but I would say she's a better listener. She went on her first walk down a big hill in our neighborhood and held my hand the entire way. Although on the way back, she disobeyed and had to go in the stroller. But, I was very happy with how long she walked and obeyed. We are constantly working on obedience with both kids and I'm sure it will never end. Maybe when they are 21? Lastly, she's the best sleeper ever and I am so thankful for this as Josh wavers with being put down for bed (A few weeks ago he was struggling with this, but is doing much better now). The secret is her blanket. Give her the blanket and in her thumb goes. She had her first cold a few weeks ago and this did cause her to wake up in the middle of the night and not put herself back to sleep b/c of her stuffy nose she couldn't suck her thumb. Poor girl. But she's all better now. Praise God for healthy kids in this difficult flu season and more.
  

Go Gamecocks!

This weekend we (Rachel, Josh, and I) went tailgating to USC's Homecoming Game.

We had a great time and got lots of practice cheering for the Gamecocks!

Getting ready for Halloween

As you might notice from the pictures, the kids have more than one costume. No, we are not going trick-or-treating twice in two different outfits. We just ended up with this many from a friend. So, we decided to try them on to see which ones fit best for Halloween. Josh had his Preschool Halloween Party on Tuesday and they got to dress-up for this as well. I think Rachel will wear the pumpkin on Saturday and the monkey costume is long gone. It was way too small for Josh so we loaned it to someone else. Hope you have a fun Halloween!

Rachel enjoying the pumpkin costume,
but not the hat

Josh and his ripped muscles

Our little fairy

Brother and sisterly love

At Josh's school