God's Water

This was the weekend of Thomas Eric Collins's baptism.  Nanna & Grandpa, and Bee & Doc made the trip, and it was good to all be together.  Thomas was pretty chill and sweet through the whole thing.  His hair felt soft and wet, as I once again took in the physicality of the sacrament.  I want to recall the feel of this day as we pray for him years from now, when he's a teenager, and we are reminded of our dependence on God alone for his salvation.  Is God faithful?  Can he handle sinners in need of grace?  Yes.  We didn't initiate this call to come and engage in God's promises in baptism; God did.  We can rest in His promises today when he's a chunky monkey baby, and later when he is a tall and lanky teenager. 

This is what I want to remember.  We can't presume upon his baptism for salvation today, because baptism doesn't save.  But we can move forward expecting God to act on His behalf, expecting our boy, and all of our boys, will surely be saved.  We will look to Him to provide salvation - what only He can do.  God please give us faith to move forward in this way, not in fear that God might not save, but in hopeful expectation.  Hand in hand in that is the promise we made today to raise them in the church - with not only us as their parents, but the church as God's community, teaching them what the Bible says about who they are and, more importantly, who God is and what He's done.

Who got baptized today?  This guy!

There were a couple more references to water today, apart from the baptism.  Jack and Rowan's lesson from Children's church was on Moses hitting the rock, and water flowing out.  And today's Episcopalian lectionary reading featured 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, which Galen pointed out talks about the Israelites in the wilderness drinking from the spiritual Rock that followed them, "and the Rock was Christ".

Jack's K1 Teacher

This from Jack's K1 teacher this year (K1 = the year before traditional Kindergarten starts), taken from the weekly news letter:

"In a recent conversation that included the benefits of inclusive settings, I found myself referencing our [school's] statement of purpose. We discussed that though the process may look/be challenging at times, it's worth while if our goal is to help mold future citizens who are accepting and accommodating to the needs and challenges of others.  While at times we may desire that the world mainly consist of people most like ourselves, the reality is everyone has something to give, something to teach and we all can learn from each other.  I wonder what we will be taught this year."

I love this school!

First Day of School

Jack, age 4, K0

Rowan, age 3, K1

Will, age 2, home

(Thomas, 8 weeks, not pictured)

It was the second day of school at Mission Hill School, and the first day Rowan got to ride the bus.  He has been asking to do this since Jack started taking the bus a really long time ago.  

I think Jack had a good summer at home, but he seems to thrive with a more set schedule, so I think school is going to be really good for him.  We got started again this morning on learing our words via whole-word recognition, and he got 3/6 right (word to word matching) off the bat, which I thought was great after the break. 

Rowan is so excited to go to school.  He has Geralyn this year, so I know he's in a good classroom.  

Will doesn't seem that effected so far, in losing his daytime playmates.  He got to build some Duplos uninterrupted today, which seemed so suit him well.  He made the statement, "Rowan is at school", but otherwise seems really Ok with the sitution.

And of course, Thomas is added to the mix now. He also is not phased by his brothers going to school today :) though I have been more relaxed to let Will play nearby on the floor while he kicks around on a blanket.  It is nice.

So, with the older 2 boys at school, and Will and Thomas napping right now, this is very different from my usual.  It is so peaceful right now! I might even get laundry from last week finished!  Woo hoo!

In other news, J and R both have made progress with potty training, though it feels like 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  We have not been doing so well with using quiet, inside voices at church, though we are using a social story now, and between that and practice at school, I hope we improve soon.  I recently felt convicted via John Piper's Desiring God (see http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-children-sit-through-big-church) that we need to keep them in church with us as much as possible - which seems hugely daunting and hard - but I think we'll aim for that direction.  Rowan and Jack are so loud and they like to run off away from us during the service. 

On that note, we have also been recently convicted about having regular family devotions (see this one:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EHJVkzybQs).  I've finally fixed that broken string on my guitar also, so we are singing too. 

So, at this point in our lives, things are pretty busy.  It will be a while before things are back to normal, as I am sleeping downstairs on the Areobed with Thomas in his rock-and-play, and we are up every 3 hours or so.  For Galen's part, he is upstairs in the bed, but the LO's upstairs are up during the night quite a bit.  It is a remarkable thing when he gets through the night without a child to console or help in some way.  We are tired.  But we are happy right now, too.  God has blessed us in so many ways.

Here's one more picture of Thomas and Will hanging out together today.  

Will: "I sitting with Thomas".

Big Day

Rowan had a really big day today. His daddy took him in to work with him this morning, and they rode the purple train, onto the Orange line, onto the green line. They saw our beloved conductor Bryan, as well as several construction vehicles, including an impact hammer.  They rode up and down elevators, Rowan had an M&M cookie, and then they met up with me at the ice cream cow (aka JP Licks). It was awesome.

He was so happy.  And as he and Jack were in bed tonight with lights out, Rowan must have been imagining a happy parade.  This was his monologue:

Hurray for impact hammer!

Hurray for cement mixer!  

Hurray for big rig!

Hurray for food truck!

Hurray for grader!

Life is beautiful.

Toddler Rush Hour

And now, I give you (drumroll...) Rush Hour d' People Petit:

A Rowan and Jack original.

And then there's this:

just 'cause.

Destin 2015

We spent July 1-8 in Destin with my family, and had a marvelous time.  It was alot of work with the little ones, but we had so many wonderful moments together. And the beauty of the ocean and beach was remarkable.

Rowan keeps me in stitches.  We have found, as mentioned on earlier posts, that he loves to come up with songs about stuff he is excited about.  And he was excited about the beach!  He composed the "Here Comes the Water" song, and one night when we were out on the beach taking pictures, he lay his little blonde head on the sand and exclaimed, "Ah, beach."

Jack and Rowan slept on inflated toddler matresses in the master bedroom with us.  It was their first time not sleeping in a crib or pack-n'-play.  They did pretty well for such an exciting, new experience, though a couple of times I woke up to find Jack face down on the carpet.

One morning Galen arose early with Will (who slept in a pack n' play in the closet) and went downstairs while the rest of us slept.  Rowan was first to awaken, sitting up and exclaiming "Aww done!" when he was all done sleeping, thank you very much.  Stitches.

Back Pack

Our backpacks are a big deal these days.  When Will came along, one of my mom's sweet friends, Mrs. Cope, sent all three boys brown gingham backpacks with their names sewn across the back.  So cute.  The boys like to put their Sandra Boyntons in them and wear them around the living room.

BTW, Jack's first day of school is almost here.  He will be riding the bus soon, backpack in tow.  Baby Jack is growing up!  We are excited about this!  And a little sentimental.

Here is one of Rowan, as Galen put it, "The perfect mix of big boy and our sweet Row-baby."

BTW, notice the choice board at the bottom of the picture.  For the first time, a couple of days ago, Jack brought the board to me, totally on his own initiative, and requested a toy.  Let me remember a couple of things about this - I have not been 100% consistent in using this board, although I have used it more in the past few months since organizing the toys into separate boxes.  Also, I want to remember that it took a few months to work for Jack.  So, future self, don't get discouraged when AAC strategies don't immediately work.  Sometimes it just takes (imperfect) repetition and time.