Our little chatterbox is back from Disney. (Thanks grandma and grandpa!) Here are a few things he's been saying:
Grant: the snake told Eve to take the apple
Mom: Why did he do that?
Grant: He was hungry.

Mom: Did you know that I have a mom, too, just like you? Who is my mommy?
Grant: Derme.

Mom: Grant, you'll do it right now because I said so and I'm the boss.
Grant: You're not the boss. Dad's the boss.

Where's Grant?

I was wondering how Kate would do without her sidekick around. She's surprisingly joyful. She now calls me "mom" instead of "mama," so our days have been filled with her yelling, "mom," and running over to me with a big wet kiss on the lips! I think she is really loving all this attention. I hate to admit it but Grant often takes center stage because of his larger-than-life personality. It is great to get to know Kate in a whole new way!

Hello Disney

Grant left for Disney World this morning with Grandma and Grandpa Koss. I'm not sure who is more excited. I'm pretty sure the grandparents since Grant has no clue what Disney World is. However, he had a huge grin this morning when we woke him up early and told him he was leaving for Disney World.

Jim is working a lot this week so that leaves Kate and I with a lot of alone time. To be honest, it started out kind of rocky. She woke up several times in the night screaming. She would quiet down as long as we were holding her but whenever we put her back in the crib she would scream. I thought something serious must be wrong with my sweet child so I took her to the doctor's this morning. The culprit: 6 new teeth, including 2 molars. Thankfully, after a dose of Tylenol things got better and Kate and I had a great day. We went shopping, watched Beth Moore on tv and went out to dinner. Daughters are great, even at one year old!

Dot

Kate has a name for Grant. It's Dot. Kinda funny, but it's what she came up with. In the above picture Jim is walking out of church with Kate and Grant. It is so much fun to be able to go to church now with the kids. Kate is not sure whether or not she likes it yet, but if they stuff her with graham crackers she usually stops crying. Grant loves his classroom and equally enjoys playing on the band's drums after church. Whenever he sees a cross he says, "Do you know what the cross means? It means Jesus loves you."

Haircut

Yesterday Kate got her first haircut! When Grant was little and couldn't leave the house because of germs we had a hairdresser come to our house to cut his hair. She has been gracious enough to continue doing this. It is so much easier than a salon because the kids can watch movies. Last night they actually ate dinner while watching tv and getting their haircuts..until Grant told me he didn't want to eat his chicken because it was hairy! Whoops!

Scrapes

My active children keep getting bumps and bruises. On Grant's face there is a cut from falling face first onto his guitar, and a bloody lip from tripping over a tree root at the park. Kate is in tears from slipping on the bathroom floor. Hopefully this is just a stage.

Question of the Day

Grant is into asking "why?" Today he asked, "Mom, why can't we eat poop?"

On the way home from the park...

Grant: Where are we going?
Mom: Home, to eat lunch.
Grant: I want to go to a restaurant.
Mom: I didn't bring any money with me.
Grant: Check your wallet.
Mom: We're not going to a restaurant.
(long pause)
Grant: I miss Grandma and Grandpa.
Mom: You do honey?
Grant: Yes. They would take me to a restaurant.

Close Call

We've had a couple of close calls lately. Last night Derme found Kate in her crib with her stretchy blanket wrapped around her neck and over her face. Thankfully, Kate didn't seem to mind and was breathing fine, but we did take the blanket away.

This morning I was at the park with Grant and he was climbing up this 6-7ft "corkscrew" thing when his foot slipped. He was right at the top so it was quite a fall. He landed on his back and sort of bounced back on to his head. I think it knocked the wind out of him but that was it. What a miracle. When we got in the car I called Jim and told him the story. At some point in our conversation I said, "thank you, Jesus." Grant heard me and asked, "mom, are you on the phone?" I nodded. "Can I talk to Jesus?" :)

Naked Baby

I have been praying for God to enable Kate to sleep in later. Since she was born Kate has woken up around 6:00/6:15am for the day. Grant doesn't wake up until 7:30ish. I feel like I'm a much better mom if I can just sleep until 6:30am. :) So, I've been asking. And guess what? He answered. Now, I don't think Kate is actually sleeping much later (maybe a little), but she has a new way of entertaining herself when she wakes up. She takes off her pajama shirt. Yes, it is a struggle. It is hard work. She grunts and groans, but she finishes the job. It takes about 30 minutes. I love walking into my naked baby every morning.

Fun with words

Kate is starting to talk. A lot. Might I have two chatterboxes? She can say doctor, dragon, up, down, in, mama, dada, hat, all done, dog, duck, ball, milk, sock. It is funny what they pick up isn't it? Despite her large vocabulary most everyone is doctor or mama.

Grant's latest phrase is, "you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.." Spoken as he runs away from me. It is a very convenient phrase to use to avoid diaper changes, bedtime and mealtimes.

This Morning's Conversation

Grant: Mama, who are you singing to?
Me: God
Grant: We can't see God, but he lives in our howt. (heart)
Me: That's right, but one day we'll see God.
Grant: Will he play with me?
Me: Sure.
Grant: I will throw him down the stairs.
Me: Hmmmm...that sounds pretty mean.
Grant: I just jokin' mama!

Good Times with G & G Ned

Happy 1st Birthday, Kate

Dear Kate,
The first year of your life has flown by. I'm excited by the sweet personality that we see developing. You are observant, determined, obedient and curious. I love to watch you squeal with delight when you go down the slide at swimming class or when dad pulls you in the wagon. I am so thankful for the way you and Grant get along. It melts my heart when you reach out and kiss him. May you two always be the best of friends. I'm so impressed by the fierce determination I see when you climb the stairs or get back on your feet after Grant accidentally knocks you over. I pray you would use that determination to fight for the down-and-out in years to come. You are a true early bird! Use that time wisely in years to come, spending time with God each morning before you start your day. There is nothing I pray more often for you than for you to know God and make Him known. Let His love settle over you tonight as you sleep and may you receive all the good things He has in store for you.

A beautiful bar

Today I took Grant to a new park. While we were there we got hungry so I decided to take him to a pub that I spotted down the street for a quick bite to eat. When we walked in Grant said really loudly, "Mom, this place is soooo beautiful!" Is that embarressing or what?! Everyone looked at us and started laughing. When the hostess came up to us Grant looked her in the face and said, "I really like this place." This kid needs to get out more. :)

Jesus is hiding

Yesterday Grant, Kate and I had band practice in the basement. I was the singer and lead guitar player, Grant was the drummer and Kate was on the xylophone. I was singing the song, "Lord, I lift your name on High" when I realized that Grant might not know who "Lord" was. So, here's how our conversation went:

Mom: Grant, did you know that Lord is the same person as God and Jesus?
Grant: Where is Jesus?
Mom: He is in heaven. Well, he's here too. He's all around us. Does that make sense?
Grant: I know where he is. He's hiding. I'll find him!
Mom: Grant, it doesn't really work like that. We can't see him.
Grant: Don't worry, I'll find him. Jesus, where are you??? (then, he proceeded to open all the doors and drawers)

Wow, teaching my kids about Jesus is going to be more of a challenge than I ever realized! :)

Well trained

Grant has Kate so well trained. Yesterday I caught him playing doctor on her. She did everything he asked of her including when he held a flashlight to her mouth and prompted her she said, "ahhhhh." Earlier today Grant took Jim's sock and hid it in the dining room. Jim asked Grant to go get it. Grant turned to Kate and said, "Kate, go find dad's sock." Kate then left the room that all of us were in, headed to the dining room by herself and retrieved the sock, all the while running back to us with a giant toothy grin.

He's not always so bossy. He obviously cares so much about her and shows it by saying things like, "close the door so Kate doesn't fall down the stairs," sharing his toys and always slobbering her with kisses. Tonight after we tucked the kids in I could hear Grant whispering through the monitor, "mom, mom, mom...you forgot my pacifier." It took me a while to get up there, but he never spoke above a whisper because he said he didn't want to wake Kate. What a sweetie!

Sassy Kate

Mr.Wiggles

It was 2:30pm. Grant had not eaten, napped or moved over moved for a very long time.It wasn't even so much that Grant wanted to move, but that he wanted to talk. And, when he talks he is very animated. So after the nurse "shhhhhed" us several times she finally concluded that Grant needed to be sedated to finish the echo. But, in questioning me it came out that I gave him a protein bar that morning. (The nurse whom I talked to the night before said he could have a "light snack." Protein bars are light snacks, right?) They disapprovingly told me that that is considered a solid meal. So, it was not possible to sedate Grant. :) It was an accident, I swear. So, the doctor told the tech exactly what pictures HAD to be taken and between sucking on a lollipop and me singing show tunes (much to my humilation) we got the job done.

The conclusion after the echo and EKG was that his veins and heart looked great. They were specifically looking for no narrowing of any veins and from what pictures they did get there was not any. Doctor was encouraged that Grant never seems out of breath and has no trouble keeping up with other kids. He was a little concerned about Grant's recent pneumonia, so he sent us up to x-ray to get pictures of his chest. But, since we had such a long day already he said he'd call us with the results.

Grant did great today. He didn't cry once. For the first time ever I let him play with the gross, dirty toys in the corner of the cardiac waiting room. I remember last year at our appointment thinking I would never let my kid touch those toys even if he was 100% healthy. We've come a long way.

Big Day

Thursday is Grant's annual cardiology visit at U of M. This is the day that they do an EKG, Echo etc. Up until this point they have always had to sedate Grant to do the tests. This year I have requested to do the tests unsedated. If you know Grant then you know that he is a very active guy, so this could be challenging. They will give it one try and if he is not cooperating then they will have to put him out. We know that with God all things are possible. Would you please join us in praying that he will not have to be sedated? We don't expect them to find anything wrong with his heart, but we'd appreciate your continued prayers for a healthy heart!