Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve.
My son is napping.
My husband is playing a wise man in our church's live nativity for their Christmas Eve services.
And I finally have a moment to sit.

I have been reflecting this holiday season on all of the things I am grateful for at this point in my life.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful family...immediate and extended.

I am blessed to have a husband who loves me and who I have a great deal of respect for. Who provides for our family, and who will go out of his way to help anyone in need. Who will tell me when I need to be more patient, who will make me laugh, and who will sit with me when I need to cry.

I am blessed to have a son, who I love so much! Who is healthy, happy, independent, and full of the "fire of the Lord" his little name gives him.

I am blessed to be able to stay at home and raise my son. Trying though it can be many days, I wouldn't change it for anything in the whole world.

And most of all, this Christmas, I am grateful beyond measure for Jesus Christ! For His willingness to leave His kingdom in heaven and walk on this earth, so that each and every one of us have the opportunity to find Him, fall at His feet, and accept the greatest gift He could ever give to us - His life!

As wonderful as I consider my life to be, I know it would all be nothing without Him!

As you celebrate Christmas and time with loved ones, and as you open the gifts others have given to you...don't forget to open the best gift of all....a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!

The Gardezys

A is for Apple!

A friend invited our mommy play group out to her parents' apple orchard today to play, go on tractor rides and pick apples!

Our tractor ride out into the orchard!



Josiah had a great time picking apples. He LOVES apples! It's one of his favorite words to say. He kept picking up apples off the ground, taking bites and then throwing them down when he came upon the next apple...doing it all over again. I think he was in apple heaven!



Our apples! I am thinking some yummy apple crisps are in our immediate future! Maybe some caramel apples...yum!



Munching on apples and playing!





The dirty face of one happy boy!



Needless to say, after running through the orchard and playing, Josiah fell asleep on the way home! :)

Oh mommy...that's an Elephant!

Yesterday I was reading a book to Josiah about animals and their feet. It shows a picture of an animal foot, you lift the flap, and there is the animal. As we were going along, I came to the elephant foot. I said "whose foot is this?", opened the flap, and my son said "elephant"!

It was clear as day and I sat there and thought, even if he was making random noises, there's no way he could pop that one out coincidentally. I was telling Ben about it later and he said to Josiah, "can you say 'elephant'?", and again, my son said "elephant"!

I don't know about other kids, but I wouldn't think that is the easiest word to say. Way to go Josiah! Not only does he recognize the picture, but knows what its called. He is continually blowing me away with his little brain full of knowledge. :)

Seriously, one of these days I half expect him to just come out with "Oh mommy...that's an elephant!"

Here are some other words in his repetoire (mind you, some of them are in baby speak):

Dada
Mama
Hot (one of his favorites; he says this with a cute little wrinkle of his nose....and usually right before he touches something he knows he isn't supposed to touch)
All Done
Bye-bye
Green
Yellow
Pink (sort of)
Please (which sounds like "peeea")
Baba (bottle)
Criss and Appa (from criss-cross applesauce; a game his grandma plays with him)
Booo (what a cow says)
ha ha ha ha (what a sheep says)
hi (this he mostly says to girls...hmmm)
keys
baby
nana (banana)
this
good (usually sounds like "that's good")
umbrella (usually this is mmmm brella rella rella)
elephant!!

and our newest addition: "no". Or as he was saying yesterday "no-no-no". Lovely.

I love my smart boy! He's definitely going to be a talker. :)

Josiah's 1st Birthday party at the park!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this blog entry should count as a novel!

Here are some photos from Josiah's 1st birthday party at the park a couple of weeks ago.

I think it was seriously the nicest day, sandwiched in between weeks of rain!

My little man fell asleep as soon as people started arriving to his party!

Marc, Rachel and Josiah's current bff, Leah!

Daddy and Sean grilling!

Carissa and Caeden (Josiah's buddy) and Denise.

We get together during the week and go to the park with our kiddos! :)

Time for cake!

Daddy made Josiah his very own miniature cheesecake!

Going for it!

I think he likes it!

One satisfied customer!

"Playing" with his friends.

On an adventure with Grandma!

The shirt says it all!

Josiah's party gave this mommy incredible joy!

It felt wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who love our little man!

Bedtime!

Today was apparently a busy day for Josiah.

He went with daddy to San Rafael to pick up Ben's work boots
(a good 45 minute drive each way).
Then he played and played and played some more.
Then daddy took him to the park while mommy taught piano.

Then we had dinner and.....

Going......

.....going......

.....gone!

My sweet boy!

Josiah's 1st Birthday!

Today is my little man's 1st birthday!

We had a good day, in spite of Josiah being sick with day three of a yucky fever and cold.

We went to the store this morning and picked out a birthday balloon, which made him giggle.

This afternoon he opened a fun musical juke box from my parents.

This evening we had a birthday party with Ben's family.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Fam!

Opening presents!

His first baseball and bat!

Silly daddy!

Josiah wasn't too sure why we were all staring at him,
so Ben was trying to entice him over to the present from his Gigi.

His first truck from Cousin Susan! I think its a winner!

Loot! His Gigi got him the couch and blanket.

Playing with Susan!

Auntie Jessie in the tunnel mommy and daddy got for him!

Josiah wouldn't go through it. He's still not sure what he thinks about that one.

1st birthday cake!

Make a wish!

Yummmm!

We had a nice relaxing day with Josiah and a fun time celebrating his 1st birthday!!!

I can't believe he is already one year old and how much he has grown and changed in that time.

Mommy loves you to the moon and back Siah....always!!!

Baby

In December we were at a Christmas party and our friend's daughter wanted to give Josiah her little cabbage patch doll. We brought the doll home and put him in a little outfit we had for Josiah as a newborn that he never got to wear. The first few days Josiah would look at the baby and smile and pat it on the head.

Now that he's had the baby for a month or so, if we ask him, "Josiah, where's your baby?" He will scan the room, locate the baby and go over to him. Then he will lean down and give the baby "loves" - an open mouth kiss on the face or tummy. Then he pats the baby on the head. He is such a sweet boy.

Here he is with his baby...who oddly doesn't have a name yet.