cute boys

happy baby

don't be alarmed if you see my sons with goggles and we aren't going swimming - its their thing lately. malachi almost walked into preschool last week with his on.

poop

just because this is kind of a classic poop story. as a mom i have gotten used to poop and usually i am ok with this part of being a parent, you just deal. well the same day as our great hike i experienced my limit.
we were watching our friends kids for a little bit so we have 5 kids 4 and under at our house. first ezekiel has a full poopy diaper, now that he eats food its gross. butt wiped, all clean. i return to the backyard and pick up josiah to put him into the swing, and touch the bottom of his shoe, oh! dog poop on the shoe and now on my fingers. so bring him inside and take the shoe off and scrub the shoe to get all the #%?!/ out of the little cracks. realize i still smell poop and can't figure out where it is coming from. oh josiah has a poopy diaper and it has leaked through, yes poop can leak. find some new shorts, new diaper. clean butt #2. still smells. oh, my shirt got leaked on; change my shirt. go back outside and ely tells me malachi had an accident. what - this kid has been potty trained for how long?! i'll spare the details but he isn't wet and there in the lawn is big pile of poop. yup. at this point i yell for ryan who takes this kid to the bath. i tell the kids were going inside because abram has just informed me he has poop in his diaper too. one more butt to clean. i look at ely and just ask because we have a trend going here - and she tells me no she doesn't have to poop. four poopy butts, one poopy shoe, one poopy hand and shirt. as angie walked up to get her kids i excused myself to go scoop the poo and it wasn't my dogs. this all happened within an hour time span - never again. sorry i took no pictures, thought i would spare you.

presidents day hike

i survived ryan's trip to chicago the week before president's day and we were all thankful that he had monday off so we could hang out. it was a beautiful day and we decided to go on a hike with all 3 boys. our first family of 5 hike. we ventured down to south orange county and attempted to get to our first hike which was off the beaten path a little - well about .5 miles into the 5 mile dirt road to get to the hike we turned around. the big monster truck ahead of us that splashed through the "puddle" in the road, sending a 5 foot spray into the air, was our final clue that our minivan was not built for off roading. hmmm. so we turned around and went to a park/campground down the paved road a couple miles. we then chose the very family friendly hike which didn't require being cautious for mountain lions. it ended up being a great hike with the boys down to a stream where we all had a blast playing in the water.

ezekiel's first solid foods

ezekiel loves eating solid foods. he started with rice cereal and hasn't looked back. so long are the "sweet" smelling diapers.... he loves eating all the foods i have pureed for him: squash, sweet potato, avocado, banana, peas. if we take a little break in the middle of the meal he protests quite loudly. he also has discovered the verwys open mouth excited look with his little hands waving on the side. all three boys have done this when they started eating food, just like their dad when he was a baby.

immiration reform

we attended a press release on the ways immigrants contribute to our economy in california with the boys. they wanted to march around the church courtyard too. immigration is part of our story as a family - my great grandparents were immigrants in california and my grandparents were immigrants in michigan. today we have friends who have suffered because of immigration laws that are outdated and need reforming. a friend of mine is going back to mexico soon with her son and will be separated from her husband for months because there is no way for her paperwork to be worked out and keep the family together. her husband is a citizen yet our immigration laws require her to leave the country in order for her documents to get processed. so in the next couple months immigration reform will be an issue in Washington dc and i hope christians are leading the movement to ask for new laws that keep families together and make paths for people to get the right documentation with dignity and justice. the link below shows pictures from the event:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/immigrant-231108-immigrants-immigration.html

Ezekiel is 6 months old

he is such a happy little guy. he loves giving smiles to everyone and is pretty sure that people need to pay attention to him all the time. he has started reeving his hands just like his big brothers did when they were babies and got excited. he drools all the time, no teeth, but his fingers a getting sucked on all the time. he is rolling over, loves the exersaucer and likes rice cereal. and he took a bottle this past weekend, yes! i have heard a couple moms share that their babies who are younger than ezekiel are sleeping through the night, we are a long way from that. i think he has slept a stretch of 5 hours twice in his life! he seems like such a big baby now that we have 4 new little baby girls in our community. a 18lb baby and a 4.5 lb baby are really different. we are now half way to one, oh my!

malachi is 4 years old

malachi is 4

i am realizing each day how much of a boy malachi is - not a little boy, but a boy. i look at his face and see a boyish grin, not a toddler. today we were playing "chess" together and he kept on telling me, "actually mom..." the phrases he uses and the way he negotiates makes me realize how old he is.
we love everything about our oldest boy. we love that he can be quite shy around new people and also very wild and crazy when he is in a familiar setting. he has a great imagination and enjoys helping us tell stories the way he wants them to go with the theme he chooses and the outcome he desires. sometimes i ask him if he just wants to tell the story but of course he doesn't...he loves to snuggle still and lately wiggles his way into our bed each night with some excuse about why he needs to be there and not in his own bed. he loves to sing although not with a lot of people or when asked by someone else, like the teacher. preschool has taught him to listen to instructions from his teacher and be agreeable about following those instructions. he loves doing puzzles and playing with legos. did i mention he loves legos and looking a legos, being on the lego website, watching lego movies, reminding me that he needs the next lego set of whatever he doesn't have and in general thinking about legos all the time. he also loves riding his bike or scooter.
we have also enjoyed seeing him grow in his understanding of jesus love and care for him. malachi was having a lot of "scary" dreams this past fall, especially about clowns?! so we prayed with him about this and he asked jesus to take away the dreams and God answered his prayers. as malachi learned to trust Jesus to take care of him we also learned to trust that Jesus would take care of our little boy. when malachi had a seizure this past spring i experienced such an intense fear of losing him and was reminded that he is jesus little boy and a gift to us. we are so thankful he has remained healthy and not had another episode after that one.

tomorrow morning i look forward to malachi waking up and finding his way in to snuggle and then enjoying our morning together. usually reading books, playing with his brother and of course asking if he can play on the computer (a day doesn't go by). we love our 4 year old little (kind of tall) buddy.

10 years

we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on a beautiful warm day. we dropped off the boys with friends and headed out to a park overlooking the ocean and shared our gifts. ryan made a movie of pictures and our wedding vows for me. i put together old letters and pictures from the last 10 years. amazing to look back over 10 years and remember how much we life we have lived together, how we have truly lived out our vows we made with one another 10 years ago. so this is what we said 10 years ago:
"By God's grace and love I enter into a marriage covenant with you, Ryan Jay VerWys. I promise to be your loving and faithful wife before God and all that are present. I will love and submit to you as the church loves and submits to Christ. I will encourage you to develop the many gifts and abilities that God has given you. I will daily lift you up in prayer as you strive to become more like Christ. I promise to communicate with you openly and honestly, seeking to understand before being understood. In easy and difficult times I will walk beside you. I will share in your laughter and your tears. I promise to build with you a spirit filled home where Christ is honored and glorified. I praise and thank God for the gift I have in you. I am honored to be your wife."

So in 10 years we have failed to always listen well and communicate openly or be truly loving. But we started these vows with the words love and grace and that is what has allowed us to love and respect one another to walk together in really difficult circumstances and share in laughter and tears. I know today I am more holy because of my marriage and what I have learned from it each day. I am thankful for my husband and our marriage. Thankful to all those who continue to help us make it work from day to day, with 3 boys, life away from a lot of family, serving in Bellflower, and seeking to love God and love our neighbors. I look forward to the next 10 years!