Family of Four

We're richly blessed!

Sidenote: this is our 600th blog post!

Micah's First Smiles

Jonathan was getting some good baby smiles the other day, and I managed to snap a few.

Just sweet.

Brother Love

Josiah has been really sweet to his little brother. He loves giving him kisses and hugs. He asks about Baby Micah quite a bit.

Sometimes Micah comes to wake Josiah up in the morning.

Or play in the sandbox with him.

Gentle kisses.

Josiah says cute things like "Baby Micah, you're so silly" or "It's OK Baby Micah." He's doing great as a big brother so far.

Home Sweet Hickory

We finally made it to our new home in Hickory! Even with the help of professional movers, it's been a hectic week. Josiah stayed with Nana and Pa during the packing up. We all stayed with them for one night and then Josiah went to Mimi and Granddaddy's for two nights while we unpacked. I'm so grateful for their help; it would have been insane packing with a toddler running around. We love our new house, and hopefully we'll post some pictures soon.

When Mimi, Granddaddy and Anna brought Josiah back, they stayed a few days and were a huge help to us. Anna snuggled Micah for one of his naps - not the most productive thing she did, but very sweet. She also was really helpful with Josiah, unpacking and painting.

Granddaddy took a break from mowing, edging, and weeding our lawn to chill with Josiah.

Here is Josiah's new favorite place: his new sandbox. We hadn't even noticed it when we bought the house, and Mimi did some work on the sides and added new sand. She also primarily painted two full rooms; she's an awesome, detail-oriented painter. We are so grateful for all of their help and their servant-hearts. Next time we'll let them just snuggle their grandchildren!

Josiah has spent hours and hours here each day. I'm not exaggerating. It's the first thing he asks for in the morning; we have to convince him to come inside and eat. With so much to do, this might be Mommy and Daddy's favorite feature of the house too - something to occupy our toddler for hours is priceless!

But my other unexpected, exciting find was this: a full-grown strawberry patch, thriving blackberry bushes, and supposedly a blueberry bush too, though we haven't seen fruit from that one yet. The strawberries and blackberries have been delicious; I didn't know fruit could taste that much better fresh!

They also had an awesome herb garden with oregano, lavender, rosemary and sage.

Micah's Meet and Greet

Our friends Erin and Aaron hosted a party for people to come meet Micah and say goodbye to us.

Ella Ruth checking out Micah

Seema, a JCRMA friend, and Rohan came by (Rohan politely declined a picture).

Cutie Montana and Josiah smiling

With Jamie, a friend from my medical wives' Bible study, and Montana

Ella Ruth close up

With Christi, who has been in our small group from the beginning

With the Grubbs. They really have been like family to us the past two years - I've spent the last three major holidays with them! They live just a few blocks away, so we stop by for visit when out on walks. We've had so many fun game and dinner nights with these two, and we'll miss them so, so much.

Josiah doesn't care for most of Ella Ruth's toys, but he's a big fan of all her books.

Micah at 2 Weeks

Here are a few of my observations about Micah at 2 weeks, along with some adorable pictures.

He's been really easy so far - eating great, napping well. His night times are fairly good too, if anything I've been a slack about keeping him awake to eat (aka, I've been dozing through the night feedings and so has he!). I know we also have a few more tricks up our sleeves as parents this time around. He likes both the paci and swaddle to fall asleep, but doesn't need either yet to stay there.

He's does still look a lot like Josiah did, but I can see a lot more differences now. To name a few, his toes and fingers are super long and thin, he hasn't got as chubby cheeks yet, his cry is different. His eyes are still deep blue/gray, so they may stick around.

At his doctor's appointment, he weighed 8 lbs,, 15 oz.

Micah Meets His Great-Grands

Micah got to meet his Moseley great-grandparents on Thursday.

With Great-Grandmother

Aunt Joyce was so sweet to drive them up. We're so glad they made the trip before we move further away. Even the short trip from Montgomery is not an easy drive for them, so we really appreciated their effort.

With Great-Granddaddy

Micah's First Bath

Micah finally got his first bath - only week after birth - yikes! We couldn't do it in the NICU, so this is what we've got.

I decided not to even bring up the baby bath since we're only here for a few more days. Towels will suffice until after we move.

This is cold!

Jonathan went in for a close-up of the misery.

This kid is STRONG, especially when he's mad! It's really difficult to get him dressed when he's unhappy.

Big brother checking out the situation

Finally, he's warm! I didn't realize how greasy his hair had gotten. It's so soft and downy now.

Micah Is Home

We finally got to bring Micah home on Monday, just in time for Daddy's birthday. Here's his coming home outfit.

Josiah's been really sweet to Micah. He likes kissing his head and then fake laughing really loud about it. When Micah cries, he says, "It's OK Baby Micah." So he's really sweet to his brother, but he's definitely been more on-edge emotionally the past week or so. First Mama was gone a lot, then there was a baby brother in the house, and now lots of talk about moving...it's a lot of change for a toddler!

Erin came over to get some Micah sugar.

Josiah putting the moves on Ella Ruth.

He brought out his bunnies to match the one Ella brought with her.

Just some sweet pictures of the little man.

Pretty handsome!

A little swing action

While Mommy's Away...

While family was in town, I got to download some pictures of Josiah from the past month.
Here are some cute ones from Josiah's time with the Moseley grandparents while we were house-shopping in Hickory.

Chalk drawing with Anna

Fishing with Granddaddy

Playing piano with Anna

Mimi got him an ice cream cone at McDonald's on the way to meet Mama and Daddy at the airport.

And they stopped to see the fish at Bass Pro.

While the Moseleys were in town for the week of Micah's due date, they took Josiah to the Moseley great-grandparents (and Mama enjoyed some great toddler-free time!)
He helped Great-Granddaddy pick some of his tomatoes.

He plants 40-50 plants a year!

Peek-a-boo

A bountiful crop!

Josiah had lots of fun!

For my 39-week appointment, the Olive great-grandparents took Josiah for a fun outing to the farmer's market and the Amtrak station to see the trains.

His favorite - watermelon!

A little scared by the loud trains.

Hands over the ears - so loud - but wonderful at the same time!