Happy Valentine's Day!

Jackson was luckier this year than his Cupid brother last year and got to wear jeans and flannel instead of puffy bloomers for a Valentine's picture. 

Caedmon heard us saying "Happy Birthday Jesus" a lot over Christmas. He carried that over to his birthday in January and instead of saying "Happy Birthday," said "Happy Jesus!"

This morning when Kristian and I were saying "Happy Valentine's Day!" to him he replied, "Happy Jesus, Mommy! Happy Jesus, Daddy!" 

Can't argue with that!

So Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Jesus from the Rose boys!

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And to my most amazing, patient, loving, thoughtful, and faithful man....

another post coming shortly.

Words Today

Huddled in today for our first snow day of the winter. Love these.

Showin' Some Love

 Ready for the Super Bowl. Cannot stop kissing those cheeks.

(thank you to my wonderful designer friend, Megan, for the adorable fabric)

Caedmon did a little watercoloring the other day, then we cut out hearts and made a banner with words about love...

 An empty frame + a dry erase marker = daily love notes in the bathroom during February :)

Half a Year!

I seriously can't believe this boy is six months old.

Jacksie, Jacksie Boo, Jacksonian, Sugar Bear, Brother, Buddy and Sweet Boy are his common nicknames.

And after some Christmas confusion, Caedmon has started calling him Baby Jesus.

He is such a different baby than Caedmon was. There are many similarities, but I love how they have their own personalities and temperaments.

He is pretty keen on being held always. He's a cuddler and a nuzzler.

Jackson melts our hearts with his smiles. And he smiles all the time.

He smiled at a very young age and doesn't need any coaxing. You just look at him and his face lights up.

He does not sleep through the night, and never has. I take most of the blame. We worked so hard with Caedmon on his sleeping habits and with Jackson I've just fed him when he wakes up about once or twice a night because it's the easiest way to get him back to sleep. My fault. I'd continue to wake up in the night too if I knew someone was going to offer me a delicious meal. We'll work on it.

And maybe all that feeding is why he's such a "healthy" little fellow. He's so big. And by big I mean fat.

We skipped right on over the 6-9 month clothing and now he's in almost all 12 month. Love it.
He wears a larger diaper than his two year old brother.

Jackson has brought such fun and activity to our home. I personally enjoy having two babes much more than one. I like the constant activity.... that is, as long as they will both nap at the same time and give me a few minutes of quiet! Most days that happens, which is really good for my sanity.

This boy truly is a delight and such a treasured addition to our family.

How blessed we've been to parent Jackson Justus for six months.

I pray for many, many more.

I continually pray that these boys of ours would come to know their need of God's saving power through Christ. I pray that they would love both God and people passionately, that they would devote their loves to serving Him no matter what their vocation, and that they would possess Christ-like humility.

We Make Forts

Quite frequently.

The Year of the Wreath

I had to finish what I started with the Wreath Challenge even though I'm a few months late posting this.

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2011 Wreath Challenge

Spend $0 (use all materials I already have in the house)

Spend less than 30 minutes

Create a cheery little greeting at our front door for each season
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Just some simple paper mache stars painted white with the words Joy, Noel, and Peace written in gold for Christmas. Greenery from the yard. Burlap scraps.

Hope you've enjoyed the year of "free" wreathes!

The Lost Island

My husband knows me oh-so-well and emailed this article yesterday with the subject line "You'll Love This."

He was right.

I'm so fascinated by these kinds of stories. You may remember my early obsession with the Titanic, long before Leo and Kate.

It's remarkable to think that this place has been virtually untouched in 50 years, yet sits right offshore one of the busiest and more populated cities in America. I must have seen it from afar a handful of times.

Anyway, if you're interested in history, you will enjoy this too.

Inside the the lost island of New York: Eerie pictures of the abandoned leper colony just 350 yards from the Bronx:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094823/New-York-leper-colony-Eerie-pictures-inside-abandoned-world-lost-island.html#ixzz1lG5YRSIJ

So I had this dream....

.... sometime during high school.

I don't remember most of it, but the part that stands out clearly in my mind is the part where I was walking through some wide open space, kind of like a parking lot, with Kristian Rose, my high school friend, by my side with his arm around my shoulders as we walked and talked.

I remember waking up thinking it was a strange dream, sensing happiness, and feeling it was quite unlikely that would ever happen.

I'm very happy some dreams do come true.

The two of us sat on the couch for a little bit last night listening to songs from the most recent Amos Lee album. We like him.

I glanced over at the page pulled up on the computer and it was an account with our names at the top... "Kristian and Katy Rose"

I thought, as I often do, how very happy I am to have my name linked with his.

The Water Fountain

He kept running back to the water fountain, maybe 30 feet from the indoor jungle gym where we were playing the other day with some friends.

He called, "Mama! Mama!" so I'd come give him a boost.

After the second or third time I was getting a teensy bit annoyed because going to lift him up meant finding a place to set down Jackson and pausing the conversation with my friend for the 40th time.

But, me not going would really just be selfish. He was merely fascinated with the new liquid-producing contraption. I'm always trying to get him to drink more water anyway, so I didn't want to discourage it.

I handed the baby to my friend, walked over and scooped up my little two-year old.

I pressed the button and he let the water splash against his cheek. He actually wasn't too interested in drinking, but more in washing his face with an occasional gulp here and there.

As I stood there hunched over, balancing him on my knee and trying to keep my thumb on the button, I realized how great it is to witness my children experience all their "firsts." I think about this somewhat regularly, but it's fun to try and recognize even the smallest ones.

He will drink from countless water fountains throughout his life, but I am the lucky girl who gets to hold him up for his first sips.

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Sweet baby J  playing on the floor the other day. 

He is such a happy baby with the biggest smiles.