Monthly Milestones

Annabelle is 16 Months today! Here are somethings she did in her 15th month!

This month would be marked by words, words, words! She tries to say everything! She points, we say it and then she tries! As you will see she's mastered some. Here are a couple that she hasn't mastered but tries real hard...church, rock, flower and bike.

1. New foods: pickles, yogurt, pizza, hamburger, apple and pear juice (for those of you that don't know, up until this month she wouldn't drink anything but milk!), 2% milk (we are gradually switching her from Soy and her tummy is reacting well!)

2. New signs: I love you, cookie, down, obey, cold, stop and wait

3. New words: eat, help, waffle, kitty, go, keys, down, three, bite (when she wants a bite to eat), wheee (while swinging outside), owl and who-who (what the owl says), dog and woof-woof.

4. She picks up a book, and pats the chair she wants you to sit on to read her the book! Or if you are sitting on the floor, she'll hand you the book and then turn around and sit in your lap so you can read it to her!

5. She knows how to play well on her own. She takes care of her baby, by pushing her in her stroller, covering her with a blanket, giving her a pacifier or a toy to play with. She will be a great Mommy! Here she is kissing the bear Granny just sent her!

6. She likes to WALK up the steps, but can only do it if we are holding her hands.

7. She is getting her two upper first molars!! She has been a very easy teether, but we've shed some tears over these coming in.

8. She walks backwards and side to side....I think she is preparing herself for some dance lessons!

9. She went on her first bike ride this month. She loves being outside. Any chance she gets she wants to be outside!

10. She is showing her independence by wanting to hold her nebulizer during treatments.

Tired in the Trooper

This afternoon Annabelle and I took another bike ride, this time in Secor Metropark on the west side of Toledo. We covered a lot of ground; I only got one picture, but it sums up the afternoon pretty well.

-Josh

Biking Buddies

Ok, so I am driving home from work when all of a sudden about a 1/4 of a mile from home I see a man on a bike with a KID on the back, I do a double take and it is Annabelle and Josh!! Lo and behold, Josh bought a seat for Annabelle to ride on the back of his bike! I dashed home to get the camera and video tape them coming back to the house!

Later on Josh told me that he and Annabelle had been biking up and down the sidewalk waiting for me to come home and was hoping I would see them as I drove by!

What a great man and DAD!

The helmet, Josh told me, has a funny story. They were looking at helmets when her eyes saw this one she started signing and saying, "Please!" How could a daddy resist! She loves her Princesses!

Petty Parody

Josh did another parody in youth group, but this time he wrote it himself! This guy never ceases to amaze me! It is to Tom Petty's song "Free Fallin" but it is called, "He's Callin'"

I feel really bad, I cut off the applauds again! But the teens loved it and cheered and applauded at the end!


Here are the Lyrics:

Well I’m a bad boy, I know I’m a sinner,
I love sleeping, and slackin off too,
I’m a bad boy, but I know I need Jesus,
He loves me, and he died for me too.
(John 3:16)

Well it’s a long day, livin here in Jasper,
There’s a freeway, running through the town,
And I’m a bad boy, but I know I need Jesus,
I’m a bad boy, for breakin his heart.

Now it’s me
He’s callin…
Yeah it’s me…
He’s callin…

And all the bad things, livin down inside me,
They come to, they come to my mind,
Yeah the bad things, are hiding in the shadows,
Can’t do good things… even when I try.
(Romans 7:15-25)

Now it’s me
He’s callin…
Yeah it’s me…
He’s callin…

Wanna get my, life right with Jesus,
Wanna find that, home in the sky,
Gonna trust Him, to forgive all the bad things,
Cause He’s the Way the, Truth and the Life.
(John 14:6)

Now it’s me
He’s callin…
Yeah it’s me…
He’s callin…

Baptism Blessings!

Back in September after a month long outreach 3 teens accepted Christ as their Savior one night after youth group. Josh got the honor and priveledge of Baptizing them today!

Baptism is the outward expression of an inward decision to follow Jesus Christ. It is the first step of obedience in one's relationship with Jesus Christ, and is an ordinance of the church by which a person publicly identifies oneself with Jesus Christ. It does not save you nor does it complete your salvation, rather it is a symbolic illustration of the forgiveness and cleansing that Christ provided for you in His death and resurrection. Therefore baptism follows one's profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

These were Josh's first baptisms! I got it all on video of course and I was literally as close as I could be!!

Alex getting baptized

Caleb getting baptized

Corey getting baptized

Daddy Daycare

Posted by Josh

Every Thursday from 10:30 to 12:30 Indoor Play Zone has a 5 yrs. old and under time. It's one of those places with the big blow-up bouncy castle things all over. So Annie and I took the day off to try it out! It was a little loud, and she panicked when I first took her into one of them--there wasn't even anyone in it! So I eased her into it by letting her play in the toddler area for a while and then going into a smaller bouncy thing with her. She still cried, but when we stayed in there and nothing bad happened, she got down and played for a bit on her own, as this vid shows...

Before she got to this point though she kindof wandered around, going wherever the Spirit led. When she saw the orange basketballs she squealed; Grandma just got her one last week and now she's fixated on them wherever she goes. I think it was a security blanket in unfamiliar territory...

Eventually she got really bold and started doing things on her own (sortof)...

She also figured out how to exit each thing by sliding down backwards; I have video of that too but 3 is enough for now!