Our sweet Archer Man is two years old now. I can't even process that. Jonathan and I are completely smitten and wrapped around his finger. This guy melts us into syrup puddles, we just end up being sweeter from being around him. The way that he says yes and no, his action noises, the songs he makes up, his fat cheeks and rumpled hair, and roly poly bear cub self. We call him the Jolliest Bubsen, or Jolly B. for short and it just seems to suit him. He's a curious combination of tough and strong as well as tender and gentle.

He's really into tools and fine motor activities. He'll happily play just about anything though. He also loves bikes and climbing. The report we get from children's ministry workers is that he creates a happy vibe in class and the other kids like to follow him around. He's developed a pretty sweet basketball shot. He's getting really into pointing out letters. He has been a pro at colors for a while and as his communication was blossoming would make us play I Spy to figure out what he was wanting. For example, he'd want a particular book and say, "yellow yellow" because the cover is yellow and we would just guess what yellow thing he was wanting until we found it. He also describes anything chewy as "mango" so raisins, pepperoni, etc. are called mango. He's an adjective guy I guess. He has a pretty good music sense, he will sing the tunes of songs and I can pick up what he's singing. I thought it was pretty sweet, when Jonathan and Quinn ran an errand the other day, I told Archer we could do anything he wanted. He picked to sit on the couch together and have me read/sing the Away in a Manger book ten times in a row. I feel like he has a real soft spot for Jesus at whatever level he can understand. 

We went to Eugene for Abraham's party and had a little family lunch to celebrate Archer's birthday. On his actual birthday, Quinn was very excited to wake him up with balloons and presents and cinnamon rolls. We also had growth group that night so made it a fellowship time with pizza and cake. He had a doctor check up that day and is in the 80th percentile for everything and doing great. The day after we went to Pip's donuts with friends and went on a fun nature walk. 

He graduated from his crib a couple weeks ago and we made him a little tent over his mattress on the floor. He is loving it and how much room he has for all the things he wants to cuddle when he sleeps. I've started keeping a list of all his cuddle choices because they are just too funny. 

We love you Archer! You add so much joy and life to our days and warmth to our hearts! 

 

We've been so busy since I last wrote. All good things, just a very fast pace. 

The kids are both in gymnastics class. They are loving it! Archer's class requires parent participation and it's fun getting to share that with him. Quinn has gained so much confidence through it as well.

Jonathan took Quinn to our church's Father Daughter dance. Second year that she's come back talking in a really loud voice, with wide eyes, and rosy cheeks. They have a blast dancing together.

We had our old neighbors over for a brunch. It was so great to catch up with them. And our new house hosts bigger groups pretty well. Our growth group is continuing too and the house is working out well for that.

My parents and sister's family came up for a Winterhawks hockey game. Archer's favorite part was running full speed through the stadium. 

We got out for our church's date night and have kept the monthly date night swaps with the Iras going. 

We had the Case family over for a Valentine's Day brunch. Quinn asked me if we could have a Valentine's party this year so that worked out. We made lots of decorations, had some crafts, and some food was on the festive side. My mom also came up and watched the kids while Jonathan and I spent eight hours working on the backyard. We have found lots of, um, treasures, back there and yardwork keeps us laughing. 

I went on the church women's retreat at Cannon Beach. Sooo good! I roomed with three other friends and enjoyed the teaching, socializing, and break from cooking. It was a real blessing.

Jonathan had his birthday last week. His parents came up for a visit. Quinn and Archer helped me bake a cake. He took the day off from work, all in all a pretty good birthday. 

Last weekend my parents came up to give us another yardwork day. With my dad's help we spent three more hours getting the backyard in order. I'll have to do a big house post because it's crazy how many projects we've completed already.

I'm hoping to regain my blogging mojo. So much is happening with the kids and I'm just trying to savor it. Quinn requested to learn how to "really read" a month or so ago. What she was getting at is something more than memorizing, which she does really well. I picked up the book, "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and it's working out well. She's also doing her own laundry every Monday and getting very helpful with things around the house. There is so much new with Archer too, but I'll save that for a birthday post. I can't believe he'll be two in just a couple weeks!

Christmas was very memorable this year. Outside of the added stress of moving during Christmastime, it was pretty nice. Nothing like stockings and a Christmas tree to make a place feel like home. From the day we moved in, Quinn kept asking about a Christmas tree. Knowing we wouldn't be able to easily make it to a Christmas tree farm this year, we picked one up at Home Depot while we were getting other project necessities. It was actually a decent tree too. We did our Jesse Tree activities again this year. I took Quinn to Grand Central for our annual gingerbread girl cookies and we went to the church Christmas musical. Quinn went to an indoor Christmas doll display with Jonathan's parents. Quinn requested to celebrate St. Luica day so she delivered cinnamon rolls to us all. Jonathan traveled for work, but we made it fun with an old neighborhood friend coming over to decorate gingerbread houses, Charlie Brown Christmas with popcorn,baking cookies for new neighbors, and painting our nails festive colors. We had a growth group Christmas party and went to Reagan's hot cocoa and cookie decorating birthday party. Archer sneakily ate his weight in frosting. 

Christmas Eve we went to our church service and had some cookie and storytime by the fire in new Christmas jammies. There was some last minute sewing after the kids went to bed because I made the kids bean bag chairs this year. I made the decision and bought the supplies before we decided to move - oops! 

Christmas morning, Quinn woke us up for some snuggles. Then Archer woke up and the present opening began. I was really excited to give Jonathan the surprise painting of our old house by Lindsay Gilmore. It turned out so beautifully sentimental and he loves it. 

I was also really excited to give Quinn my old Samantha doll. She was equally excited. 

Archer got a special lion stuffed animal that has received many kisses and hugs. He also got a tool set that he is obsessed with.

Jonathan got me the perfect mug. It has the phrase "I pledge to lead by example, to be true and brave." on it. I saw it on a soap dish and loved it, but I don't need an expensive soap dish. Luckily, my genius husband printed it on a mug for me to see each morning. 

There were many other fun treats from our generous relatives. Seriously, so generous. This was the year of Star Wars and Doc Mcstuffins for Quinn. The kids have also been enjoying their new musical instruments and Archer is often busy with his trains and key toys.

We went to Jonathan's parents' house after breakfast on Christmas for some celebrating. We went to my parents' that night for more celebrating the next morning. It was nice to take a break from house projects and hang out with family. We went to the new Star Wars movie which was a lot of fun. After we returned to Portland, my sister's family came up and we took the kids to the zoo. Jonathan had the rest of the week off so we just tried to keep a slow pace and enjoy some time as a family.

Archer turned 21 months old on Christmas Eve. This guy just continues to melt my heart on a daily basis. He frequently takes breaks from whatever he's doing to give me a hug and say, "Hi Mama." He loves greeting everyone and hugging and sharing. Wrestling is his love language (especially with Jonathan) and he's full of sound effects and action noises. He's particularly interested in baby Jesus. For his update photo he insisted that baby Jesus remain in his hand. We went to a Christmas light display and he kept trying to climb up a muddy hill and pull down a fence to get to the lit up nativity scene saying, "Jee-jus! Jee-jus!" He's also very interested in dip at every meal, especially hummus, salsa, and ketchup. 

The day before we moved, he said, "poop!" and ran to the bathroom and tried opening the toilet. I put him on and he eventually did it!! Same thing the following day. Hasn't done it since, but he is very communicative about bathroom updates so maybe we'll be potty training soon?

He is only happy for car rides if we play the Mary Poppins soundtrack. He requests it by saying, "Cheeky" in reference to Spoonful of Sugar. I'm nearly certain I heard him humming Spoonful of Sugar in the bath the other day too. He loves dancing too. 

He still doesn't have a ton of words, but the ones he has are so sweet. We just love you, Archer man! Such a gentle soul. We are excited to see who you become.

I'm finally emerging from the pile of boxes to say that we are in our new house and loving it. We've already entertained guests and set up Christmas decorations. It was very bittersweet leaving our little cottage though. In our last moments there, Quinn burst into tears saying she didn't want to leave it. We had a long ugly cry together. It's just hard to leave a place you love. I told Archer to say goodbye to the house and he stood in the exact spot where he was born, seriously, and waved and said in his sweet voice, "bye bye." Oh man.

We have already completed a lot of projects at our new place and there are many more to come. I'm excited to document them here. We had almost the whole interior painted before we moved in but left the bathrooms and kitchen because we intend to update those in the future. We painted the front door, built a giant bookcase, and I premade a bunch of curtains. There are many lighting updates ahead too. And we'll be preparing to get Archer's room big kid bed ready.