Josiah's 1st Birthday

On November 16, Josiah turned 1 year old.  Where in the world is the time going?  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly our kids are changing and growing right before our eyes.

We celebrated Josiah's birthday on Saturday (Nov 19) with a Sesame Beginnings bash.  Josiah is a big fan of the Sesame Street babies so the theme was a no-brainer.  I had so much fun with all of the decorations and bringing everything together.  Jenetta pointed me to a etsy.com where I was able to get the invitation and other decorations designed for a great price.  Then I just got to work printing, cutting, glueing and stapling and before I knew it, everything came together.

We had little gift bags for the kids who attended and some special Sesame Beginnings books in gift bags for the babies that joined us as well.  I loved the gift bag tags!

All of the water bottles said "Happy Birthday Josiah" with pictures of the Sesame Street babies.

 
The Elmo Walker Balloon was a big hit!  I was worried that Josiah might be scared of it, but he absolutely loved it!

One of our friends, Erin Pillsbury, made Josiah a Sesame Street shirt with the #1 on it.  I need to get a better picture of it.  But it was the perfect finishing touch.  Thank you Erin!!

 

 

  

Watching a child experience cake for the first time is usually quite fun.  Josiah's initial reaction, however, wasn't quite was we were expecting...

 

But once he got over his hands being so dirty and actually tasted the cake, he was all smiles once again. :)

Trick or Treat and other fun stuff

I was able to take Priya trick or treating for the first time this year (Ami took her last year as I wasn't able to go because of my pregnancy concerns).  Josiah experienced it for the first time this year too (although he slept through the 1st half of it).  Ami joined us and we went around their apartment complex.  The kids, of course, had a wonderful time (and they got quite the haul in a very short period of time).

Josiah continues to fall asleep in random places/positions.  I have got quite the collection of funny poses and places that he's fallen asleep.  Here's another one to add to the growing collection.

Josiah continues to develop new skills rapidly these days.  He's been pulling himself up to a standing position...

And is becoming quite the speedy and skilled crawler...

His top teeth have been coming in (he proudly shows off his top middle 2).  And he's working on 2 more upper teeth that have popped through recently - for a grand total of 6 teeth.

He loves opening and closing doors and is very much into using his hands to accomplish tasks lately (fitting objects through holes of various shapes and sizes, feeding himself, putting objects in and out of things).  His tactile skills just seem to be taking off right now.  It's so much fun to watch!

 

Priya's Big Decison

November 1, 2011 was a very special day for Priya.  She asked Jesus to come I'm to her heart! She came to me that morning asking questions about where Jesus is and how she can go to heaven. We had a good talk about salvation at the kid level (which we have done many times) and for the first time she really seemed to understand what it all meant. She asked if she could ask Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart! It was one of the most precious moments of my life and something I will never forget!  

It's been so sweet to watch her grow since that day and to hear her pray.  She is so excited about the fact that Jesus is always with her and that she can talk to him any time she wants to. :)  I pray that God will give us wisdom and strength to help nurture her youth faith.