Follow the Leader

Have you ever had something happen during the day that in and of itself is very insignificant but through the work of the Holy Spirit, leaves a huge impact on your life?  That happened to me today. . .

This morning, while in a different room, I heard Jakob crying.  Since I was doing something super important (definitely not checking my email and facebook to find out the status of Kaleb's play date) I ignored him.  Now before you judge me as worst mom ever, you have to understand that Jakob has been extra whiny lately and a momma can only come running at the first sign of distress so many times before she's ready to rename her youngest "the boy who cried wolf".  That, and the fact that I've known this child for 2 years and have learned to decipher his cries, I could confidently say this one was no big deal.  So anyway, there I am sitting on the couch trying to figure out if I had to go back out for a play date doing something of utmost importance, listening to Jakob whine.  I keep saying over and over "Come here Jakey.  Walk over to Mommy and tell me what's wrong so I can help you".  After 3 or 4 minutes of this, he's still not coming so I went over to investigate further and found him sitting in our shoe bin.  He had tried to use it as a stool to turn on/off the light (his new obsession) and got stuck.  I walked over, picked him up, gave him some snuggles and reminded him that we don't climb in the shoe bin and that the light switch is not a toy.  He ran off, virtually unaffected by the whole thing, playing legos with his brother.  

So, what's the point?  Throughout this whole interaction, I kept thinking how God is just waiting for us to come to Him.  "If you would just come to Me and tell Me what's wrong, I would help you!"  Far too often, we try to do things on our own instead of asking for help (Proverbs 3:5-6 anyone?)  When we get ourselves stuck in our own proverbial shoe bins, our Heavenly Father is there, just waiting to scoop us up for some snuggles and a gentle reminder of His presence.  Another thing I kept thinking?  How helpless my little Jakey was and how that was probably for the better.  Had he tried to fix the situation himself and climb out, he most likely would have fallen on his face and hurt himself.  Instead, he relied 100% on me to get him out of the situation.  I'm an efficient "doer" (or at least that's how I like to think of myself) and usually I think that's a positive quality.  However, if I stopped to think how many times I have fallen on my face because I refused to ask for help, it would be down right embarrassing.  Rather than being embarrassed by the past, I'm choosing to allow this situation change my future.  May my eyes be ever on the Lord and seek his guidance before moving forward alone - because that never ends well!!

All the way my Savior leads me
Who have I to ask beside
How could I doubt His tender mercy
Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me
Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me grace for every trial
Feeds me with the living Bread

You lead me and keep me from falling
You carry me close to Your heart
And surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me

All the way my Savior leads me
O, the fullness of His love
O, the sureness of His promise
In the triumph of His blood

And when my spirit clothed immortal
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages
Jesus led me all the way
Jesus led me all the way

All the way my Savior leads me
All the way my Savior leads me 

All the Way My Savior Leads Me by Chris Tomlin

Kaleb and Jakob, BFF since 2011

Shortly after meeting Kaleb, there is one thing about him you will know for certain. . .he LOVES Jakob and fully embraces his role as big brother.  He takes care of him, tries to teach him the right things to do and is so good at playing games Jakob can participate in as well.  Similarly, if you were to encounter my boys for any length of time, you would soon notice that Kaleb has a little mini-me, a parrot who will copy anything and everything he does.  Jakob looks up to Kaleb and wants to be just like him (even if that means sitting in time out just like Kaleb).  For the past 2 years, they have truly been the best of friends and I pray every day that that never changes!

Kaleb meeting Jakob for the first time.  He's showing him how to play cars. . .

. . .and how to play legos.

Smooch!

 Such a good big brother helping to feed Jakob.

 Big/Little Brother shirts.

I was getting ready in the morning and when I came out to the living room, Kaleb had covered Jakob with his night night and laid with him while they watched a show.

 Kaleb loves to climb in Jakob's crib in the morning when it's time to get him up.

 Teaching him how to play dress up.  Kaleb as Spiderman and Jakob as Bumblebee.  

 Best Buds!!

 Kaleb showing a very chubby Jakey how to play a game.

 "Most Awesome Big/Little Brother"

 Kaleb can make Jakob laugh like no one else is able to.

 Enjoying a graham cracker snack. 

Mommy and the boys getting ready to do some shopping at the mall.

Playing in the McDonald's play place. . .and so thrilled Mommy brought her camera!

 "I'm on my brother's team"

 Thor and Jakey ready for a football game.

I'm in my room getting dressed and I hear Kaleb yell "Mommy, come here.  You have to see this!"  Jakob LOVES to tackle his big brother.

Kaleb got a quad for his birthday.  Since Jakob is too little to drive on

his own, Kaleb gives him rides.  We got the best smiles out of them when they were trying to run over Daddy :)

 My boys love a good hide out and the dryer is proving to be one of

their favorite spots. 

Yankee shirts!

"Daddy, don't tickle us!"

 My little superheroes!

Kaleb was sitting like this and Jakob looked over and tried to mimicked him.  This picture really captures how Jakob tires to do EVERYTHING Kaleb does.

November-December 2012

The little ol blog kind of got forgotten about in 2012.  However, in an effort to have everything documented, here are November and December through pictures.  

In November, I took a photography class to learn how to better use my dslr.  I still struggle a lot of the time but when I saw how vibrant the colors were on this particular night, I knew I had to try and capture at least a little bit of it.  Sunsets have always been one of my favorite ways God displays His glory and the colors in this one are crazy awesome.  

When the boys were smaller, I got a pretty great picture of them in the dryer and now they love to play in there.  I've yet to get one that's as good but it's fun to try.

In December, we took the boys on the New Hope Ivyland steam engine.  Jakob really loves trains but both of the boys had a fun time on our ride.  After the train ride was over, we walked around New Hope for a little bit and found a cute little Mexican place to eat.  It was a fun memory that they still talk about. 
   

My boys waiting to board the train.

The train weaved through some beautiful scenery.  Even Jakey
was taking it all in!  

Kaleb and Daddy

Dave had zipped Jakob up in his sweatshirt to distract him towards the end of the ride when he was getting restless and Kaleb wanted to try as well.  

It was fun to decorate for Christmas this year with both of the boys being old enough to help out at least a little bit.  

Kaleb put our stockings on his feet and hands and was walking
around as if he were some sort of robot.  He loves dress up, even if it's
with Christmas decorations.  

 Early Christmas presents :)

One of Kaleb's favorite good behavior rewards is a sleep over with Daddy.  We try and make it super special: order Chinese food, let him choose a special snack and movie and stay up a little bit late.  This particular time took a few attempts because he kept loosing it but when we were finally able to do it, he was pretty excited.

Bath time!   When the weather gets a little too cold and yucky, the boys love to take an unplanned bath during the day to just play for a while.  It's a nice distraction from being stuck inside for weeks.  Bonus: Mommy can get some cleaning done in the bathroom while they play.

 Jakey being super brave and washing his own hair.

 Kaleb always says he likes the way things sound when his ears are under water.

 Cheese!

 Aaaaand. . .he's ready to get out!

We took the boys to a drive through Christmas light display called Lights in the Parkway in Allentown.  It took about 30 minutes to drive through and the boys had a lot of fun walking around the van so they could see everything.  

 Unbuckled = super exiciting!

 

Kaleb got a shaving kit in his stocking and he absolutely loves it! Every time he gets a shower or bath, he asked me to get his stuff down for him so he can shave :)

We didn't get much snow but when we do, Kaleb is so anxious to go out and play.  We dressed Jakob up and took him out as well but he didn't love it as much as his big brother.  He refused to keep gloves on while dragging his hands in the snow so after about 10 minutes, Mommy and Jakob went inside and watched from the window. 

Daddy and Kaleb built this cool snowman!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jakey!!

Sweet little Jakob Olaf was born March 3, 2011.  I can't believe it's been two years already!!

 

Jakob had a really fun time at his Mickey birthday party!  It's so cute to see him with his little friends :)  We thought about having his party at a fun place but ultimately decided that he's only 2 and we'll wait to do that until he's a little older and will remember it.  At this point, he just loves to run around and play with his friends and his new toys. 

Kaleb loves to help Jakob open his presents.  He's such a good big brother!  You can also kind of see the Mickey shirts that they're both wearing. 

Jakob wanted nothing to do with his smash cake at his first birthday but he dug right into his cake this year. . .

 

. . .and then he got mad that his hands were messy.

Daddy helped Jakey open his presents from his friends. And, it's hard to tell but Daddy is wearing a Mickey shirt too.  What a good sport!

And now, a little birthday photo shoot.

He loved posing with his new Thomas train.  He wanted Daddy to tickle him. . .and then he wanted him to tickle Thomas too.