Half a Year

     On December 13th, Titus turned six months old.  What a joyous half a year it's been to have him in our family.  I'm not going to lie...the first two weeks were DIFFICULT.  But since then, he's been a dream baby.  He's so happy!  People comment on it all the time.  We even call him, "Smiley Titus" because of the constant grin on his precious little face. 
     He now has two bottom teeth and literally ATTACKS anything he can get his hands on to chew.  He still has 5 bottles a day, but that is slowly decreasing as we increase solids (baby food).  He still adores Marcus and they have an OBVIOUS bond.  This morning in the bath, they both were laughing the hard, belly-shaking cackles at each other.  It was such a sweet moment. 
     Last night, Mark and Marcus were on the floor putting together a lego car and Titus was near-by on his stomach.  He has yet to get his butt up in the air and get on all fours, so I wasn't worried about him getting too close to the pieces.  Boy, was I wrong!  He grunted and army crawled over to touch them!  It was a very small movement, but definitely was gaining ground.  My time of having an immobile child is fleeting.
     Today at our doctor's appointment, things were great.  He weighs 19 pounds and 8 ounces, is 29 inches long.  Both is head circumferences and height were above the 99th percentile.  His weight was in the 84th percentile, but when paired with his height, it was in the 23rd.  Go figure.  Our sweet Dr. Love reminds us every time that we just, "grow 'em big."  Everything checked out great and all he has is a little big of eczema, but Marcus does, too.  Unfortunately, they both got my dry skin.  Oh well - if that's the worst news we get, we're doing well.... and we are.

*Next Blog: J is for...*

Sometimes in the morning, he'll have a bottle and fall back asleep.

Playing in the floor with his big brother.

"What?  I've been alive half a year?"

"Naa! You must be kidding!"

"Holy Cow! You're serious!?"

"I AM six months old!"

Marcus showing off his car while Titus is safely out of the way.

Great readers start early.

Marcus tracing over the letter J.

Feeding/Holding him is my favorite time of the day.

Our sweet boy got shots today and didn't feel awesome.  So I got some sweet snuggles in before he went to bed early.

Thoughts from this past week

     This week, we FINALLY got the Christmas juices flowing.  The main tree was up, but now Marcus has a tree of his own in his room, there’s a wreath on our door, garland is up, and *MOST* presents are wrapped and under the tree.  I also put out the Christmas books for us to read to and with Marcus that help explain the true Christmas story. 

    But I’ll tell you what.  Satan is the great deceiver and distracter.  He’s good at taking my focus off Jesus and putting it on my “to-do” list.  As a card-carrying member of the type-A club, I struggle with this daily.  I want to have our house in perfect order, clothes clean and put away in their proper place, and a well-balanced, home-cooked meal at least 5 nights a week.  I want to keep Mark’s bread route papers organized and labeled with the correct dates, log the salon receipts each day and keep up with who sold what and how much, and I really need to plan the Christmas luncheons for both Bella Chic and Headlines.  In addition, in an ideal “want” world, I want a clean car, to have next year’s church nursery schedule already made out, volunteers for Kids Kitchen lined up, and have my Son Seekers lessons already printed with coordinating crafts ready to go.  I want so badly to create Christmas cards and send them to all 100 people in both our extended families(if that happens, that’ll only be a miracle from God above).  On TOP of everything, Marcus’ homeschooling lessons need ample time each day, creative ideas to showcase new letters and their sounds, and I want seasonal ideas to synchronize with what I’m teaching him.  Oh, did I mention I try to go to the gym 2-3 times a week?  My metabolism isn’t the same as it used to be in college…

     Why do I say all that?  Because this is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in this crazy head of mine constantly, specifically today.  What does reality look like?  Piles of laundry, heaps of mixed up papers, dishes and bottles overflowing from the sink onto the kitchen counter, exhaustion setting in, children disillusioned and fussy, while NOTHING really getting done. 

     So I had an epiphany today.  Why not prioritize and do one thing well.  Even if it’s just ONE thing.  I took the boys to the gym and had a long list of places to go and things to do afterwards.  I decided to just come home.  After all, I’m a “home-maker,” right?  Since we’re studying the letter I this week, I got out the play-doh and helped Marcus make blocks so we could build an igloo.  I ripped up my Type-A Club card and even let him mix the play-doh colors.  Eek!  After I put Titus down for a nap we played a game of farm animal memory and it was as if I had a new child.  He was joyous, polite, and content.  Not whinny, fussy, and complaining. 

     I’m starting today to get my act together, but only where it really counts.  Earthly speaking, I’m going to put my immediate family first and the rest will fall into place.  And if it doesn’t – oh well.  The looks of disappointment and dismay from others doesn’t compare to the sweetness I see in the eyes of the man I love or our two boys.  I need to properly care for Mark, Marcus, and Titus, teach and be The Gospel to them, and work on the rest with whatever is left over.  I’ve never been so disorganized, messy, and late for appointments in all my life.  Yet, I’ve not ever been filled with such joy from the Holy Spirit, had a heart overflowing with love for my three boys, and I’ve never let myself have this much fun.  Christmas can be stressful for many.  But for me and my house, it’s a fun time to point back to the birth of our Savior!  Merry Christmas, y’all!

I got a new app on my phone and it's way fun!

Sweetest, most precious smile around.

Good Morning, Mr. Snowman.

Look who has two bottom teeth!!!

We enjoyed time with Granddad Bolen yesterday.

I is for ice cream.

Who needs a spoon?

This morning, cuddling in Big Brother's bed. 

Waking up quietly, while looking at the colorful Christmas lights.

Making an igloo.

If there ever was a "right" way to make cookies - this is it.

Titus, Granddad, and Marcus

Me and my two boys!

Marcus took this picture.

I is for igloo, too!

Goofy face.

Ta-daa!

Grandpa, Thanksgiving, and a whole lot more

     My apologies, dear friends, for the tardiness of this blog.  I didn't know how many of you followed it until I got multiple calls, e-mails, and texts saying, "hey! Where's the blog?" and "are you okay?"  Yes, we're doing amazingly well here in the Schuurman household.  But my same excuse as always is how BUSY we are.  Between 2 boys, 2 bread routes, 2 salons, and a whole slew of church ministries that we're a part of, there's hardly any down time.  We have to MAKE time to rest.  In fact, my man planned out a date and took me out last night, in fact.  It was incredible.  As much as I LOVE our children, I need time away from them and alone with their father, too.  Anyhow, back to the blog...
     To keep this from being too long, I'll tell the story of our past few weeks in the form of pictures.  It can be categorized into a few groups: 1) Our time with the ever amazing Grandpa  2) Thanksgiving  3) Crazy Asheville weather  4) Weaverville Christmas parade.  I hope to keep up better in the next few weeks, but if not, you'll know the excuse I'm going to use. :)

Good-bye purple and blue.  Hello tan and black.

Grandpa was a HUGE help whether it was painting or taking care of the boys.

Who's who?

Making a turkey out of his foot-print.

Putting his turkey numbers in numerical order.

Smiley Titus popped two teeth out at the same time.

Marcus was all over Grandpa when he and Daddy got home from work.

Titus enjoyed time with Grandpa as well. 

Grandpa and his two Southern grandsons.

On November 27th, it SNOWED!  It wasn't much, but Marcus was still excited.

Who doesn't love a naked baby?

Marcus and his "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.

Our last night with Grandpa, we all went out to eat, despite the blustery weather.

Putting decorations on our tree.

Titus fell over but was happy to be down.

Sweet little fella

Notice the windows are open.  It was 65 and 70 degrees two days in a row!

Seriously?  Blowing bubbles in your underwear in December?  Yep, sure did.

We were outside a LOT these two days.

Even Titus got out there and played, too.

The Weaverville Christmas Parade is always so fun.  Marcus got a TON of candy.

It was good and cold today, but we were fine since we bundled up.

You gotta love the South.  Racing lawn mowers.

Couldn't stop laughing.  This guy had maybe half his teeth.

Titus slept through it all.  Even when the fire trucks sounded their horns right beside us.

Marcus loved the horses, too.

He woke up when the parade was over, ready to eat.  Look ma!  Both hands!