The JM Family Adventures exploring the beauty and wonders of Creation with inquisitive minds and open hearts, seeking Shalom in all we do.
Yesterday was a big day for the big brother, Sebastian. This was the day’s events for a growing 21 month old:
1. Woke up asking for kefir… yes, kefir! How many 21 month olds ask for kefir first thing in the morning?
2. Went pee pee in the potty STANDING UP for the first time!
3. Climbed into his highchair all by himself (see video):
4. Finished the day by eating way more Ethiopian food than I did, all the while insisting that he pull off his own pieces of injera and scoop up his food properly.
We welcomed Regina from Radiant Images into our home again to capture images of our newborn baby girl, Maya. She had also done Sebastian’s newborn photos, and as always, she did a fantastic job! Click on the photo above to go to Regina’s blog, where you can catch a glimpse of some of the photos she took. We’re anxious to see how they all turned out! Maya was a mere five days old when these pictures were taken. She’s changing so fast, right before our eyes!
Approaching the 35th week of pregnancy… we finally got some belly shots this afternoon. This time around was a very different experience from our last pregnancy photo shoot, as we we trying to corral Sebastian, engage him and get some photos of the two or three (or four!) of us! At least we’re able to document the fact that I am pregnant with this baby…
The holidays have come and gone in the blink of an eye and are done for the year… unless you count my upcoming big-ish birthday. It seemed like such a whirlwind between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but we enjoyed some great times together as a family. We’re blessed to have most of our family nearby, and we’re thankful for the opportunity to see those that don’t live so close around this time of year.
I don’t recall ever making a gingerbread house as a child, and it was great fun to do that on Thanksgiving Day at Tim’s parents’ home. All the kids – big and small – gathered at the kitchen table to create their masterpieces. It was quite the contest! This is our “green” house that adorns the buffet in our dining room now.
And the winner was:
We all put money in a pot to participate in the contest, and the winner got to choose which charitable organization he or she wanted to donate the money to. I’m not sure what organization Angel decided upon, but it was a great way to share our blessings with others at Thanksgiving.
While on the ginger bread theme, we had another grand time making ginger bread cookies with our niece and nephew (my brother’s kids). A lesson learned, however: ginger bread cookie batter should not be made with whole wheat flour. It just-so-happened to be the only flour I had in the house, but now I know it’s worth a jaunt to the grocery store!
We took the annual excursion to get a Christmas Tree with my parents and my brother and his family the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Frysville Farms is a family-owned business that has great trees and good prices, plus the largest selection of poinsettias I’ve ever seen and a horse-drawn hay ride, with hot apple cider to warm you up at the end. Unfortunately this year during our hay ride, we were taken right past the incinerator, which was full of plastic that they seemingly are burning. Blech! Not only is this a huge disappointment for us, but may be cause for change of location next year. Tim’s planning to write a letter to the company conveying our sadness and impetus for no longer being customers. So here’s a series of photos from what may have been our last trip to this particular farm…
Despite the less-than-eco-friendly encounter, we enjoyed ourselves, and it helped us to get a little more into the spirit of things this season. Never mind the fact that our tree, wreaths and swags sat on our front porch for several weeks afterwards… our house sure looks beautiful with it’s holiday touch now!
One of Sebastian’s favorite past-times is bath time. Before bed each night, Sebbie signs “bath time” indicating it’s time to get the evening routine underway (and for some reason we always say “bath time, bath time” as part of the cue. During his bath, he plays and plays and plays in the water, splashing, giggling, smiling and helping to wet and rinse his own hair. It’s usually difficult to convince him that bath time is over and that it’s time to go to bed. But he knows that when the water runs out, it’s time to get out of the tub. One of his favorite Christmas toys was this addition – the red tug boat - to his bath time toy collection… thanks to Aunt Traci, Uncle Steve and cousins, Isaac and Lauryn.
I’m pretty certain they don’t come much cuter than this little guy! And, Sebastian gained big points and lots of hugs, kisses and high-fives this week when he peed on his new potty – TWICE! Tim might get his wish after all – only one child in diapers at a time! I’m not holding my breath, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing!
Just a little bit of photo editing and look what we have – a lovely family, all bundled for the wintry, snowy (huh?) weather… hats included! It really was cold, people!
It seems a bit odd to be posting these photos now, when we were at the beach over 2 1/2 months ago, and it’s now getting blistery cold… but in an effort to forget about the temperature outside and my winter garb, as well as catch up a bit on posting, I thought I’d post away…!
We spent a weekend in Ocean City, MD with our dear friends, Marvin & Dori. It was beautiful mid-September weather, the temperature was in the 70’s, and we were thrilled to be hanging out in OC during “bike week!” We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it was a cultural experience, nonetheless.
Two preggers, two daddies, a super adorable toddler, lots of fantastic food, great company… what more could we ask for?!?
Take a peak at some of my favorites from the get-away:
Evening stroll on the boardwalk…
And after it was all said and done, I think we might go back for “bike week” again! The price was right, and never mind the roaring motorcycle engines and too much leather for beach attire…! It was a blessing to have a little escape and share a wonderful time with our friends!
Saturdays are often the perfect time for a family breakfast of high fiber, whole grain pancakes. We start with a recipe in More With Less cookbook (p.74 – Apple Walnut pancakes) and then edit from there. Replace the white flower with spelt, oat bran & wheat germ. Use flaxseed oil for the oil or use 3 T of flax per 1 T of oil if you want extra fiber!
This particular day Kirsten had a hankerin’ for something sweet (not uncommon for the Johnsen Martins). So we added some chocolate chunks. I (daddy Tim) was trying to limit the chocolate in Seb’s pancakes --- b/c of the sugar & messyness---but some leaked thru. That’s why they make bibs :)
It’s been forever and a day since I posted the stats for Sebastian’s well child visits. Fortunately, now that he’s older, they are more spaced out, so I’m not that far behind in number of visits, just the number of months that have gone by. Sebbie continues to love to visit his Dr. Donna and nurse Acnery (expert shot-giver), and he always does so well!
This is Mr. Cutie Pie’s 1 year visit, where he weighed 21 lbs, 5 oz. He apparently wanted to have his eyes checked, because he wouldn’t let go of the eye shield for the visual acuity exam.
Here’s the 15 month visit, where he checked in at 23 lbs, 12 ozs.
This time around he wasn’t willing to give up the snack cup, so we might have to calculate a couple of ounces less to account for the goldfish!
I’m beginning to feel like one of those moms who does a fantastic baby book for their 1st child, but all the others lose out on all the details of growth and development, because the daily ins and outs of life get in the way… except that it started happening around the time my 1st baby was just 9 months old! There’s always the need to balance living life and writing about it, but since I don’t have a baby book, this blog is my record of all things Sebastian.
A few other details about Sebbie:
We continue to count it such a joy and a blessing to parent this little charmer of a guy! He has definitely begun to have his moments of terrible twos (who said it was OK for this to happen early?… temper tantrums at 16 months, really?!?), but he is still a happy camper for the most part, smiling and waving at all, flirting with the ladies all the time, and making our lives more complete.
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