Saturday, May 14, 2011

JEREMIAH DANIEL IS 3 YEARS OLD!!!


Today, Jeremiah turns 3 years old! WOW! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday that we were rushing to the hospital, when my water broke two weeks before Jeremiah's due date! How was that 3 years ago, already?!

When Jeremiah came into my life 3 years ago, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine: to be a mommy. I am SO blessed to his mom and I praise the Lord for giving Jeremiah to me! He is SO precious to me! It's been such a joy to watch him grow, learn, and develop during these past 3 years and I am very excited to watch him become the young man that God wants him to be someday. I pray daily that he will choose Jesus to be the Lord of his life and will walk in the truth!

Jeremiah has been through TONS of changes in these first 3 years of his life. Praise the Lord for resilience in children! Jeremiah spent his first year of life in day care while I taught first grade for the third year in a row. He was well-loved and taken care of there, but I definitely missed out on some precious moments and am SO glad we made the decision for me to stay home after that. What an adventure we've had together these past two years, traveling for Jeremy's job, 2 times to Washington, and once to California. Just recently, I realized that in Jeremiah's 3 years of life so far, he has had SIX different addresses! WOW! That's A LOT of changes for one little guy! But he sure has done well, considering all of that! We all look forward to "settling down" soon, as God closes this "traveling" chapter of our lives.

Speaking of changes for Jeremiah, one of the biggest changes in his life occurred when we welcomed his baby brother, Josiah, into our lives this past October. What a precious time for all of us! I'll never forget the first night that we came home from the hospital with Josiah, after a day of LOTS of brotherly hugs/pictures/moments, and I looked at Jeremy, right before we went to sleep and said, "Our family feels complete. I love this feeling." Truly, I LOVE my husband, our boys, and our life together. God has blessed us tremendously. Yes, there are moments where I feel overwhelmed and struggle with with certain issues such as potty training, discipline, etc. But overall, life is GOOD! The boys and I always find ways to have fun together, whether it be through play dates, play areas, parks, toddler classes, etc. I really enjoy watching my boys interact. Josiah has the cutest little baby laugh, and Jeremiah is the one who is able to get him to laugh the hardest! It's so precious! Josiah loves to watch big brother Jeremiah play, dance, sing, etc. His face lights up the minute he sees his brother! I am really looking forward to watching their brotherly bond form over the years. Also, what fun it has been to put the boys in matching outfits! SO FUN for a mama!! :)

One of the most precious things to watch is Jeremiah's growing love and interest in God. During the past year, he's become quite the little prayer warrior, and LOVES praying for his friends, family, and those in need. I've heard it said that God finds children's prayers especially precious. I'm sure God is smiling when little ones are praying! I just know it! Jeremiah enjoys going to Sunday school, listening to his "Bible songs" (Cedarmont Kids), and hearing Bible stories. His two favorite Bible stories, which he can help "tell," are of Jesus's Birth, and Jesus' Crucifixion/Resurrection. Soon, we hope to start working on Bible verses together. He still LOVES to sing and dance. His favorite "Jesus songs" (in his words) are Jesus Loves Me, I Love You Lord, Down in my Heart, and Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord. When I hear him singing these songs on his own, my heart swells with joy and I feel like dancing!

Jeremiah also has started independently singing other "kid songs" such as Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ring Around the Rosie, Head/Shoulders/Knees/Toes, ABCs, and many others. One of these days, I need to record his precious little voice singing these songs! Speaking of his ABCs, he's starting to be able to identify some letters and their sounds. This makes the "teacher" in me VERY happy! He knows most of his colors, animals/sounds, can count to 20, is starting to learn some of his shapes, and even knows a few Spanish words. SO proud of my big boy! We are very excited about sending him to Greenbrier Baptist Weekday Preschool in the Fall on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. There, he'll enjoy daily Bible songs, Bible stories, crafts, Chapel, field trips, and will solidify many of the emerging skills mentioned above.

While we've been here in Bremerton, Washington for Jeremy's short term job transfer, Jeremiah has especially enjoyed going to toddler classes at the YMCA. On Tuesday/Thursday mornings, we go to a class called "1-2-3 Grow With Me" where the kids have "free play" with TONS of toys for about 45 minutes (any toddler's dream!), then the clean up the toys, and sit down on the carpet for a few stories, a snack, and songs. What fun! On Wednesdays, we attend a "Tiny Tots" class, which is a toddler tumbling class with mats, obstacle courses, a trampoline, ribbons to dance with, scarves to wave, and more! SO much fun! This past Thursday, while at Jeremiah's "1-2-3 Grow With Me" class, we celebrated his birthday, by bringing in goody bags and cookies for all of his friends! They all sang Happy Birthday to him and he was beaming! What special memories!

In today's post, I'll include the collage I made from Jeremiah's little party at the Y. Today, we are taking Jeremiah to Chuck E Cheese and Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate his birthday! We are all SO excited! So, sometime next week, I'll post other collages of our weekend birthday activities, along with Jeremiah's (and Josiah's) professional photos that we had taken recently.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jeremiah Daniel Gerdes! We love you and praise the Lord for you every day! We are so proud of you for the big boy you are becoming, the great big brother you are to Josiah, your growing love for the Lord, and the love you show us and others around you! We hope you have the most wonderful day today, as we celebrate YOU!!! :)