Todder belts

I'm thinking about needing to get Daniel a few belts for this winter.  After going through the clothes I have for this winter I've realized that the pants for some reason run extremely large!  I'm returning several outfits because the pants are so large that there's no way they will fit him this year and maybe not even next year. 

Since we've been potty training Daniel he doesn't need all that extra space in the pants for a diaper.  And then there's also no diaper to hold up the pants.  Our skinny little boy still has plenty of room at the waist in 12 month size pants!  He'll probably need 18 month this winter for the length, but there's no way they're going to stay up.  Hence the need for belts!

Have you ever tried to make belts for your children?  It seems super easy according to these instructions.  But I've got to say that I'm partial to the velcro style of belt, much easier for a young child to get on and off.  The one brand that I've found that looks really user friendly is Myself Belts.  They look pretty easy to make as well.  If I manage to make one I'll post pics with instructions...

UPDATE: Trying to setup FeedBurner

So I guess that FeedBurner only works if your blog is public.  Since our blog is private it cannot pull the feed.  I'm looking into whether there are any other systems out there that will let me do something similar with a private blog.  If you know of one please let me know!

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Just wanted to let you all know that I'm trying to setup a FeedBurner option with this blog.  FeedBurner will allow you to use a reader to follow our blog.  I'm also looking into an option for notification by email about new posts.  I'll let you all know once I'm able to set that up.

Just part of the daily morning routine!

Daniel helps Daddy get ready for work every morning.  This gives him quality time with Daddy, learning how to be a man.  And it also gives Mommy some time to get Daddy's lunch ready :-)  Here's a little glimpse into the morning routine.



Daniel putting on cologne with Daddy.

Lesson:  Smell nice for your lady, or in this case, your Mommy!

TRACTOR!!!

Daniel wouldn't be a boy if he didn't love tractors!  Recently we were blessed to find a little scooter tractor for him on craigslist.  He is officially obsessed!  Unfortunately I can't keep it upstairs because of our wood floor so he can only ride it downstairs, in the basement, or outside.  Whenever he happens to glimpse it downstairs he always insists to go down and ride it.  However, he hasn't quite figured out how to scoot forward on it yet, and so he scoots backwards or climbs on and off it and honks the horn.  So cute how much he enjoys it!

Honking the horn!

How could this delighted laugh not bring joy to your heart!?

Here's Daniel playing with Daddy with his tractor!

Turkey Point

So any of you who live in MD are familiar with Turkey Point.  For those of you who do not, Turkey Point is  a land preserve where there are hiking trails, a lighthouse on the point, places to go fishing and a place where all sorts of adventures to be had.  A couple weeks ago the mom's club from our church took some time to hike out there with the kiddos.  Only 3 mom's were able to go, but we still had a good time.  Daniel didn't mind the backpack too much (I carried him in our hiking backpack).  It was a bit uncomfortable for me though because I have a monkey for a son and he was always leaning to one side to see what was going on around him.  But I couldn't let him walk either because he was too pokey and always wanted to go in the opposite direction!  Oh well, here are some pictures.

Daniel is happy to be on the ground again :)

Quick picture with Mommy before he runs off.

Daniel with Aevyn and Will on the bench by the lighthouse.

And a pic with Mommy by the cliff. 

It really is beautiful out there.  The view is amazing especially when it is a clear day. 

Moving up...

Well, my boy is growing up fast! I'm moving him up into some of his 18-24 month clothes now. With cooler weather approaching it can get pretty chilly in the mornings.


Here's a picture of him in one of his new jammies, just for cuteness' sake.

Today we had to go shopping for pants for Daniel because since he is potty training and wearing undies more and more the 18-24 month size is simply humongous in the waist, not to mention too long. I'm not sure what size child they are designed for, but certainly not for thin little boys!

GBC new property dedication

Check out this cutie bootie:

This picture was taken at the Grace Bible Chapel new property dedication yesterday.

The foundation is laid now and progress is being quickly made.  It's really exciting to see how the Lord had moved us in this direction.  During the dedication, leaders from the various ministries shared their vision of how the new building will change their ministries and glorify God.  We are really anticipating great things!

Daniel enjoyed sitting in his chair and eating his lunch during the testimony time and prayers:

If you are unaware, this is a picture of the future home of Grace Bible Chapel:

After the dedication Daniel enjoyed the opportunity to drive some tractors and enjoy the construction site.  Truely a little boy's paradise.

How I love seeing this joy on my little boy's face!

Have we become "Oblivious to Grandeur"?

I love reading Dr. Del Tackett's blog. Josue and I had the privilege of sitting under his teaching while at the Focus on the Family Institute (now called Focus Leadership Institute). And to be able to still share in what God is showing him through his blog is a true blessing. His most recent post is about how easily we miss the grandeur that God has placed before us in creation, the world, and people. We were created to glorify God; let us not miss the opportunities God gives us to do so, nor miss the opportunity to view it around us and thus praise our God!

You can read Dr. Tackett's post here. To whet your appetite...

When I was working in Washington DC, the Metro was my frequent choice of transportation. DC has its share of urban homeless, but the streets also contained those who were performing for tips. This was especially true in the corridors of the Metro, where one would often pass a soloist, with a hat or musical instrument case opened before them awaiting some token of gratitude from those rushing by.

Most of us have seen them. Playing guitars, or trumpets, or strange home-made instruments.

Earlier this year, a man quietly took his place up against a Metro wall, pulled out his violin, placed his hat on the ground and began to play. For this day, he had chosen six selections from Bach. During his “performance”, several thousand people walked by. A few stopped to listen briefly, some slowed their pace, but most of his money came from those who didn’t slow down at all, they just dropped something in his hat as they rushed by—sympathy money, I suppose—certainly not an appreciative tip for the music.

On several occasions, little children would stop to listen, but every time they did, the parent would pull them on, much like one does with a dog that keeps stopping to sniff at something.

Maybe it was just child-like curiosity…or maybe, like dogs, the children sensed something.

Because it was something.

http://www.thetruthproject.org/

Adding to the Family

Haha! I bet you all thought I had an announcement to make! Sorry!

I am so super excited to announce the birth of my niece! Emily Joy was born to my brother Bronson and his wife Jenny yesterday evening. She weighed 6 lbs. 9.6oz., was 19 in. long, and arrived at 8:26pm. I love being an aunt and I am so excited about having a little girl in the family!

My niece, Emily Joy Hokuf. Isn't she so sweet!?

Proud Daddy - and it would appear Emily Joy is hungry!

Emily meets her big brother David!

She's so precious I'm not sure that I can wait until December to meet her!!

More old videos of baby Daniel

Here is one of him sticking his tongue out.



And here is a clip the day Uncle Ryan taught him how to walk.

Growing up fast!

We were looking through old Facebook videos and came across this one. It is amazing what a big difference a few months (ok,...maybe a year) has made -- he's grown up so much!

I love being a dad, and consider it my most important role!




~ Josue

Daniel's Workshop

For quite some time now I have been wanting to find some sort of pretend play set for Daniel.  I scoured Craigslist hoping to find some deals there, but was only able to find play kitchens, and they were all more than I wanted to pay.  Josue said that would be "ok", but he'd really rather not get a kitchen for his boy.  Hint, hint. 

So I took it and started looking for tool benches etc.  But again with no luck.  After an afternoon at the playground with my Mom, we went to Rita's for italian water ice and then dropped into Goodwill to see if they had anything worthwhile.

Now, this particular Goodwill is typically more expensive than the other's in our area and so I really don't bother stopping there often.  But, low and behold, that day they had two Little Tykes Workshop sets!  And I was able to get one for Daniel.

The Workshop after Mommy spent an hour dousing it with antibacterial cleaner!

Now, it may not seem like a big deal.  But kid's toys cost a lot new, and they grow so quickly that they soon move on to other things.  I really count it as a blessing from God that he provided this for Daniel.  What an amazing thing it is for me to see how God provides the simplest things for his children and deeply blesses my heart as a mother at the same time! 

Here are some pics of Daniel playing with his new Workshop!

The phone is probably his favorite part of the set right now. 

He always brings it to me or Josue and INSISTS that we talk to Grammie! 

Taking pictures of Daniel is getting to be really hard b/c before we can even snap the picture he insists to "SEE!" - to see the screen.  It's pretty hard to get smiling pictures now.  He is exclaiming "See!" here :)

  

If I can I'll upload a video of him playing with it too....

"Poooo...."

At the end of August it finally connected with Daniel that pee is supposed to go in the potty and that he has complete control over this action.  Woo hoo!  We've been trying for months to help him make that connection but with little success other than to get him to the point of being comfortable sitting on the potty.

We have been giving him lots of diaper free time lately now to help reinforce peeing in the potty because when he wears training pants he feels covered and thus still feels comfortable going in his pants.  We're super excited about the progress that he has made and are so proud of him! 

Our next challenge in this is to teach him to wear training pants without wetting them, to tell us when he has to go (which he already does very well), and to teach him to poo in the potty.

Today I'm starting to think that he's getting the poo in the potty concept.  Since he started going pee in the potty he has mostly held #2 in and gone during naps etc. when he has a diaper on.  However, today during nap I was in the kitchen and I heard the sound of velcro coming undone - meaning that he managed to unzip his sleepsack and is taking his diaper off.  I jumped up to go to his room and as I walked down the hall I heard his solomn announcement "Pooooo...".

Oh my.

That is really an ominous announcement for a Mommy to hear!  I walked into his room to find him out of the diaper and looking at his work.  HAHA!  I couldn't help but laugh!  Probably not the best response, but really, he was so serious about it! 

I cleaned him up and put him back to bed.  But was summoned two more times by the removal of his diaper (without the gift thankfully!).  After that I put him in bed with a training pant on! 

Perhaps he is getting the point that poo belongs in the potty and he's too big for diapers?  We will see :).