No games of Peek-a-boo for Caleb. He must conquer the tree. *insert manly grunts*

Determination. I will conquer the tree.

Almost there. You got it, Caleb. The tree is yours! (Please note his little sister picking her nose. How could I crop that out?)

I’m the man. I conquered the tree. Thank you very much. Bring. It. On.

Caleb. I love this boy!

I know I just did a whole post on her hair. But can you really have enough of her cuteness? I think not! She is too cute to skip!

No shoes. No socks. Our fall weather. Love it! So does Lydia as she is one of my shoe haters. She hates things sticking in her feet even more. She went back inside and put on her shoes. No socks. Sunday shoes, lol.

Thankfully, our pile of leaves hide her sockless, Sunday shoes feet. She loves the leaves, just like me!

Lookie there. Sunday shoes, no socks. Fashion diva.

It is often difficult to get this girlie to cooperate for photos. She doesn’t mind having her picture taken; she just wants to make a silly face! She is such a beautiful, sweet girl.

I told her to play peek-a-boo like Hannah. Can you tell she was thrilled at playing? She really wanted to be on her bike, but she loves me. Therefore, she humors me.

I might like the black and white better….tough call!

Ah, Mary. So calm and serene…despite the craziness of life. Or the craziness of a brother and sister who are goofy beyond belief. And Lydia..what exactly is she doing back there? I can handle the tossing of shoes, but her dress???

I edited out the distractions in this one. And then I made them go back to their bikes.

I adore this one! Flower in the hair. She has always done that. She is my flower child in so many ways.

Another one to print out and frame!

She thought this game of peek-a-boo with the camera was hilarious. I wish you could hear her giggles.

I was laughing so hard I could barely keep the camera steady.

She plays peek-a-boo very well. With a talent like this, who knows what her future holds.

Then she decided to challenge herself to new heights….

I felt her pain. There is never a stool around when you need one.

Have you played peek-a-boo, lately? I suggest you find an almost 3yr old and have some fun. The giggles are priceless.

This hair loss caused her hair to look in a constant state of disaster. So yesterday we had a girls’ evening at the beauty salon and had our hair “done”. She loved it! We had a wonderful lady, Julie, that helped me come up with a plan for Lydia’s hair.

Above is how her hair was….then it became this…..

Huge difference, isn’t it? She didn’t even seem to notice!

This was just a few days ago; you can see that it had grown quite a bit in the past few months.

Her hair is growing back in straight. The top of her head toward the back was long and is still curly underneath. Sides and very front were all different lengths and thin. You can’t tell it in this picture but the back was thin and scraggly looking. (Is that a word, lol?)

So we have the after pics!

We are going to give it a couple of months to grow some more and then shape it up some more. With the texture and partial curl/wave she has going on cutting it any shorter in the back would have been bad. She had about an inch or so cut off the back.

Lydia must have felt like a princess afterwards. She sure acted like one, lol. She is precious! And hopefully we have her hair back on track!

For days I have been thinking about this post. How could I share Joshua’s short life with you? How could I show how much we love and miss him?

No matter how many ideas came to mind, none of them seemed right. Or to express what I wanted to share.

So I will say this…

We loved him. He was prayed for even before he was conceived. He is loved by his siblings. He is missed. There is a hole forever in our family. I long for one more minute to hold him. I long to see him running to keep up with his brother. I long to hear him say “I love you, mommy.”

I ache for my daughter who was in her room crying because she missed Joshua and wishes he were here. I cry for my son who wants to see his brother; who imagines that Jesus is holding him in His arms.

I pray for dear, sweet friends who understand my pain too well.

Joshua Aaron.

November 1, 2004

Cute, huh? Eddie and the kiddos were busy with that lovely yard work. They moved a few stones so Eddie could mow up by the patio. Lookie, there. Two little friends. Special, isn’t it?

Mary. That’s her finger. She loved the little snakies. She wanted to keep them. Pets, you know. Um, no way, little lady. Daddy, however, loves to encourage hands on learning. Great dad. Wonderful dad. Hero. They were able to keep the little guys overnight. OUTSIDE.

Mary, releasing the snakes into their natural habitat. Yes, the were enclosed by the might power of aluminum foil.

Please note: I am thankful for a zoom lens. Seriously. Distance is a good thing. Science = check.

*I am having issues with my photos sizing properly; my apologies!