Aden and Wiley's Big Announcement

Well, if you didn't guess from the title of this post, and haven't already heard the news, Aden and Wiley are expecting a little brother or sister in early October.

Aden in particular seems to be preparing for the many changes this will bring to our lives. He has brought his blankets to Mommy in the living room, wanting to share them with the baby; he's offered to share his room with Wiley so that the Baby can sleep in the crib in Wiley's room (a change we were already planning to make); he continually offers to help Mommy and Daddy, at dinnertime, diaper-change time for Wiley, and anytime Mommy and Daddy seem to be busy. We're hoping he will be just as eager to help after the new baby arrives. Aden has also been eager to share his preference for a baby sister.

The "official" due date is October 5; both Aden and Wiley were about a week early, so we will see. As we wait and prepare, one of the dilemmas we have encountered is what to do with the blog. It will need to include a third child, and if we follow our pattern, we won't be ready to announce the name until the baby is born. So, as you can see in the sidebar, we would like your input into the official Renaming Of The Blog. To write in your own idea, simply leave a comment on this post. Once we make a decision, we will announce what the new blog name will be, and we will also change the URL. Be sure to change the bookmark in your web browser, as we know that the boys' blog is at the top of your bookmarks list.

The Great Nap Time Dilemma

Each afternoon, after lunch, the boys take naps. Some days, this comes easy. Mommy and/or Daddy read a book, turn on some soft music and they are out. Other days are not so easy. Aden has had a few days where he just can't fall asleep. He actually does well to get some books and read in his bed for awhile until he is told that he can get up. There are still times though, when being out of bed seems a lot more fun than being in bed. Here is a recent story from one of those times:

Aden had been in bed for about thirty minutes but was not falling asleep. Finally, a soft voice could be heard from his bedroom.

Aden: Daddy....Daddy....Daddy....
Daddy: Yes, Aden.
Aden: I need to go potty.

They go to the bathroom and after five minutes, nothing has happened. Aden has a slight smile on his face as they get settled back in bed (as if to say that he has found a naptime 'loophole'). Ten minutes later...

Aden: Daddy...Daddy...Daddy... (in a soft whisper again)
Daddy: Yes, Aden.
Aden: I need to go potty.

Fresh off the potty training, we certainly didn't want to deny him of the need and have him not tell us when he needed to go anymore, so we made our way to the bathroom once again. After five minutes and nothing happening...

Aden: Daddy, my body can't be quiet.
Daddy: Why not?
Aden: It can only be loud, and wants to wake up Wiley.
Daddy: Can you tell your body that it would be good for it to get some rest on your bed? Your body doesn't have to sleep, but just needs to rest.
Aden: (pulling up his shirt and looking down at his belly at this point) Body, can you just rest and not go to sleep? (short pause as if he is listening to the response) Daddy, my body said it could try.

Oh, the mind of a three year old. Watch for a Volume II of the "Kids say the 'darndest' things" coming soon once we can compile them together and get them written down.

I Want to Wear. . .

Aden has recently started picking out his own clothes to wear some days. It is often times the motivation needed to make getting dressed a big enough event so that he will do it. He has his favorite play clothes like his basketball shorts, Solomon Islands shirt, Third Day shirt, and Shark shirt (as he refers to them). He also has his favorite 'non-play' clothes though too. Recently, he kept asking Mommy to let him wear them to play in. He tried for several days. Well, finally Mommy gave into his persistence. After all, he generally does not like to be too dirty, (although that doesn't always stop him). So, included here are some pictures of what Aden picked out for himself to wear, (along with some of the "faces of Aden.")

The shirt and shorts that he is wearing, are affectionately referred to by Aden as "Bubu Jim shorts" and Bubu Jim shirt." The reason for that is because Bubu Jim has some shorts like this (not exactly, but plaid) and he used to have a shirt like this (same style and colors).  He was pretty excited about being 'Little Bubu Jim' for a day.
Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago the MK High School students had their Spirit Week. Each day was a different theme in which they would dress accordingly (e.g. Nerd Day, Mafia Day, Mis-match Day, etc.) In honor of this and because of the clothes Aden picked out, we decided to declare a Spirit Week of our own and this day as "Bubu Jim Day!" The rain boots are optional.

Aden, on Marriage and Handedness

Apparently, the two go "hand in hand." I'm not sure if Aden heard the phrase "giving your hand in marriage," or where he developed his concept of marriage, but over the last week, when we go for a walk, he asks Wiley to hold his hand and then explains, "so that we can be married." And as Wiley reaches for Aden's outstretched hand, he repeats, "Marriage." It is a little hard to explain where this may have come from, since handholding is not culturally accepted in PNG by married couples, so Aden does not see his parents, or anyone married really, holding hands.

Today as we walked, he gave a bit of insight on the question of handedness. He took Wiley's hand and pronounced themselves married, and then said, "Now I'm going to hold Wiley's left hand." (Amazingly, he had identified correctly.) He then declared, "I'm left-handed." Incidentally, this has been hard for us to distinguish, as Aden appears to be ambidextrous, often switching between hands for just about everything he does. We haven't wondered too much about Wiley yet, but are guessing he'll be righthanded since he tends to use his right hand for just about everything. But Aden cleared up any doubts we may have, as he stated confidently, "And Wiley is front-handed." . . . Then again, just as we thought Aden had cleared things up, he changed his mind again later this afternoon when he said, "I'm backhanded."

Mother's Day

Mommy decided to make a guest appearance on the blog just for Mother's Day, though you may not realize that Daddy is the one who writes most of the blog posts. Aden was thrilled to wish me a Happy Mother's Day many times as we ate breakfast and got ready for church. After I finished teaching Sunday School, I came home and Wiley greeted me wearing only a diaper. I commented, "Wiley, look at you in just your diaper!" "Diaper. Tummy," he responded, patting his diaper and then his bare tummy. Apparently Wiley took a spill on the way home and had to leave his clothes at the door. Aden proudly told me how he was sharing his cars with Wiley (and also how Daddy had taken the cars away for a while to help him remember to share). Then Aden asked how he could help me and quoted his Bible verse for me, "Honor your father and mother." As I was preparing for dinner, I heard Aden in the next room, announcing the things the boys were doing to help get ready for dinner. "Mommy, we got you a gift! . . . Mommy we made you a card! . . . Let's put the gift here on the table . . ." Aden and Wiley had each made me a homemade card, and I also got tea lights and a beautiful bamboo table runner. It was a wonderful day, and I am so thankful for the blessing of my children.


A few of the things I love as Aden and Wiley's Mommy:

I love to hear Wiley whisper when he is excited
I love to hear Aden learning Pidgin
I love to hear the boys laugh
I love to watch them imitate each other trying to get attention
I love to watch them grow
I love to hear Wiley learning to talk and put words together
I love to hear Aden's speech "growing up"
I love tight squeezes from Wiley
I love to see Aden's love of books and reading
I love to hear Aden pray
I love to see Wiley stretch out his arms to pray before meals
I love to watch them sleep
I love to see their love for each other
I love Wiley's curls (and can't cut them off!)
I love to hear Aden learning Bible verses
I love to see their unique personalities and how they are different

It is my prayer as their Mommy that they can see Jesus' love in me, and want to be like him because they see Him in me.

The Things We Will Do For Fun...

... and the people who help us to do them!
This past Friday night, the MK High School had been planning to have a bonfire and invited all of the families to join them. The plan was to cook hobo dinners over the fire and watch a skit that they had all come up with to cap off their Spirit Week. Sounded like fun. Aden has had a couple of accidents this week, so Mommy and Daddy used this event to get him to be more careful and alert when "nature calls." It worked, and he was excited for the bonfire with everyone. Well, the weather was not so cooperative and it rained Friday night. The bonfire was postponed to Saturday. It is still not the easiest thing to explain to a three year old, but he was finally convinced that Saturday would be OK. The anticipation began to build as the afternoon wore on, but also as the clouds began to roll in. We maintained hope. The bonfire was scheduled to start at 6pm, but at 5pm the call was made to cancel once again and move the party to the High School (with no bonfire). This did not go over to well with Aden who had been looking forward to this, for what must have seemed like an eternity to him. It was still not raining at 5:15 so Daddy went out to inspect the fire site. He coerced a security guard who was nearby and seemed to have plans of a fire for himself (for warmth), to help get a fire going. We called around to tell everyone that we were going to go ahead with our own bonfire if they wanted to come as we were convinced that the rain was going to roll past us. Aden was excited and we were determined to make it happen.
Well, in the end, Bubu Jim was the only one who came up and the rain eventually came. It was going to take a lot more than rain though to keep us from having this highly anticipated bonfire. Aden and Wiley got bundled up in their raincoats. Bubu Jim and Daddy worked tirelessly to keep the fire going (not easy to do when you start out with wet wood) by holding banana leaves over the fire to protect it from the rain. They eventually sheltered themselves as well under an umbrella. Meanwhile, Mommy was inside getting the hot dogs and bread ready for roasting. The rain did not seem to be letting up and everyone was quite wet, so Bubu Jim and Daddy decided that their fire skills had been proven enough and it was OK to let the fire go out... but not before they roasted something edible to make it a true bonfire for Aden. Mommy brought out enough hot dogs for each of us to have one, but after roasting one over what was left of the fire, it was decided that we could all share that one and call it a success. We were all soaked, but Aden and Wiley loved it. A hot dog never tasted so good, and the memory was priceless.

Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread...

At the beginning of each meal (or should I say when the boys believe it should be time to eat), the boys find their places around the table. Aden's first assigned chore, now that he is three, is to help set the table with plates and silverware. He is quite good at it, and it buys mommy a little more time on getting dinner to the table. Sometimes if the meal is not quite ready yet, they may get something to start with to 'keep them happy,' an appetizer if you will. By the time all of the food has been brought to the table and everyone is gathered around, mommy or daddy asks the boys if they are ready to pray. Without the slightest hesitation, and sometimes even before the words are said, Wiley throws his arms out in each direction (sticky fingers and all by this point depending on the appetizer) to hold hands, Aden offers up the blessing, "Thank you Jesus for this food. A(pause)Men!" Wiley then concludes with his emphatic "Amen!"



Aden has often times prayed longer prayers that include helping everyone who is sick and being thankful for everything he is going to do. He also sometimes confuses his asking for help and giving thanks. For instance, this week when daddy was not feeling well one evening, Aden said, "thank you that daddy is not feeling well." I think he meant to say help daddy who is not feeling well. We can only hope anyway. He also had quite an extensive prayer last Friday when he was thankful that mommy and daddy were going to have a date night with Uncle Ben and Aunt Katherine at our house, and Aden and Wiley were going to have a 'date night' at Bubu Jim and Kah-tee's house. (And that sentence was his prayer moreless.) What an incredible thing it is to hear your kids pray, but also to hear them pray about what is on their hearts and minds without any hesitation or care. Priceless!

Boys Will Be Boys

The boys have found a new place to play. It is within the limits of the yard, out of the sun and rain, on the ground and within earshot of mommy and daddy. Here is how it happened.
Recently, daddy went outside on the back porch to check on the boys who had been playing with their toy cars, dump trucks, backhoes and loaders on the nice covered patio. When daddy came outside, the boys were nowhere in sight.
"Boys, where are you?"
Aden's response came, "we are under here."
"Under where," daddy asked.
And then he saw some movement between the deck boards and realized they were under the porch. Of course! There is dirt under there and how can you play with dump trucks on cement?
"Wiley, are you under there too?"
No response.
"Wiley, if you are under there, say 'Hi, Daddy!'"
"Hi, Daddy" came in a soft voice.
We let them play for awhile, as they were just under the steps and not back under the part of the porch where there are lots of spider webs (although I am sure a day is coming when that part will be explored as well).
Finally, it was getting close to dinnertime so daddy went out to call the boys out from under the porch to get cleaned up. "Jill!" came the call as he watched the boys crawl out. Wiley was covered from head to toe, literally, after he apparently had been dumping the dirt over the top of his head several times. Aden was deserving of a bath, but not nearly as dirty. He seems to stay clean through all of this and it makes you wonder who is dumping the dirt, although he has always been pretty particular about being dirty. Needless to say, we had bath time before dinner. It took one tub of bath water to rinse them off and get the dirt and grime out of Wiley's hair. It took a second tub of bath water to get them clean.
I wish we could say that this 'not so delightful' head and body scrubbing was enough to discourage them from wanting to do it again anytime soon, but just today we had to have (two) baths before lunch. Boys will be boys....

Easter

To help the boys celebrate Easter this year, we colored eggs on Saturday. Last year Mommy ended up coloring the half dozen eggs she had boiled, since Aden was more interested in playing. This year, however, Aden and Wiley both enjoyed the activity and thought that a dozen boiled eggs wasn't quite enough. On Sunday morning we got up early for a sunrise service on the McCoys' deck. Wiley got up early with Mommy and Daddy, and Aden was carried to the service in his pajamas, straight out of bed. After a late, interesting lunch (sorry, Uncle Bill and Aunt Marsha!), we were invited to go to the Radcliffes' house to hunt for Easter eggs. Just as Wiley would find an egg, Aden was there to pick it up and put it in his own basket. Wiley did find a few on his own and would not-so-gently toss the "ball" into his Easter basket. Needless to say, Wiley's eggs were quickly consumed shortly after the hunt. We enjoyed a (much better) Easter dinner with the Radcliffes that evening.

We have realized that Aden does not yet understand the significance of the Easter story. While he knows the story, he often stops at the crucifixion and is quite sad. We continue to prompt him about what happened on the third day, hoping that he will soon realize the joy of the Resurrection. He did enjoy the Seder meal we shared with the Radcliffes later in the week.

Madang!

Last Thursday, we left for a few days' of much-needed vacation in the PNG coastal town of Madang. Aden, Wiley, and Mommy flew with the other ladies and children on our trip (Radcliffes and some volunteers), and the trip was only 30 minutes; Daddy drove with the men and split a rough 10-hour drive into two days. As we boarded the airplane, Aden started talking, and he didn't stop until we got off the airplane in Madang. His initial question (of many) for Mommy was, "When are we going back to PNG?" And so the trip began.

We enjoyed pizza we didn't make ourselves, watched the sunrise, visited the ocean and swam in swimming pools (Mommy and Daddy went snorkeling, but the boys were still a bit overwhelmed by the ocean), waited in the car while Mommy shopped at the market and bought lots of pottery, enjoyed many meals in restaurants and a few at the guesthouse where we stayed, and went to a new church. Although Wiley did not seem too excited about swimming, Aden quickly overcame any past fears of the water and was soon jumping into the kiddie pools. He even learned how to say the name of the hotel with his favorite pool, "Jais Aben."

The boys enjoyed the time away, though a lack of routine was quite taxing by the end of five days, and we were all happy to be back home again by Tuesday evening. We recently discovered a new way to get multiple pictures onto a blog fairly easily (thanks, Meghan, for letting us steal your idea) . . . So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, Madang in pictures looks like this:


If you click on the image, you can take a closer look at the individual photos in the collage.