One Year of Matthew!

On the 23rd of May, Matthew turned one. One whole year old! Where has my baby gone? More and more, he's making it clear that the days of little babyhood are gone.

He's currently about 18 pounds and 30 inches tall, still the same little string bean he's always been. He'll eat just about anything, although he loves fruit and would eat it exclusively if I let him. He says dada and something sort of like mama. He can understand simple commands, and will clap his hands or give a kiss if I tell him to in Chinese.

Matthew's got a sweet temperament. Most of the time he's pretty easygoing and happy go lucky. But lately there have been some days of testing boundaries that remind me that he's got a will and like everyone, he wants things his way. It's been challenging to say the least!

Lately he enjoys reading books and popping bubbles. He loves other kids, and he's been known to lay a kiss on any little friends he meets.

We love our little boy and are excited to see all the things he learns next!

Matthew at 8 Months

Matthew turned 8 months! 2/3rds of a year! How is time flying so quickly? I've really enjoyed watching him develop in the past month. His personality is starting to come through.

He's starting to gain weight. He's at least 14 and a half pounds! That may not sound like much, but for a little peanut like our kid, it's impressive growth. He's about 27 inches long, but he wiggles too much for me to get an accurate measurement.

This month's big accomplishment is mobility! Matthew is officially a crawler! He's still pretty slow and better at going backward than forward, but he's getting it. Now we have to keep an eye on him all the time!

He's always been pretty easygoing, but his joy is becoming more an more apparent. Big smiles and belly laughs come out on a regular basis. He also is learning how to make me laugh (just by laughing himself), and he'll laugh at me laughing at him.

He's also becoming more verbal these days, although his favorite sound has been a scream recently. He also seems to enjoy blowing raspberries and saying "dadada". I'm hoping that some "mamama"s come soon.

   

On his way to 8 months, Matthew celebrated his first Christmas. He enjoyed staring at the lights on the tree, and I'm grateful he wasn't fully mobile by then, because I'm sure he would've grabbed them. He got some clothes and new toys, which he has been enjoying.

He's also starting to get a little clingy and have some separation anxiety. If I'm out of sight and he's surrounded by strange faces, he starts to cry (with the cutest, bottom lip quivering, sad face ever). Mommy has clearly become the favorite, much to Jeremiah's dismay. I figure it's just a phase. Give it a year and it'll be all about Dad.

I'm looking forward to what 9 months will bring!

Living on Purpose

After several Sundays of church hopping and seeking where fit, we have finally found a place what we can call home during our time here in Fort Collins. Several of Jeremiah's coworkers directed us to The Town Church, and the first Sunday we attended happened to be at the beginning of a 2 week series about the church and what their church's vision was. After week 1, we definitely knew we had to come back for week 2. After week 2, we knew we had found our home.

This week we went to a township group (aka small group) that discussed how to live out the sermon. The church's mission are all things we agree with: worship God in community, love others, engage the culture and make disciples. These are all things that are near to our hearts. Now we're trying to figure out what that looks like here in Fort Collins. If you had asked me in China how to do those 4 things, I could've given you a few reasonable suggestions or ideas. But here in FoCo I have no idea. How do we get more involved in the community that the Lord has put us in? What are practical ways to love others here? How do I engage a culture that I don't yet understand? And what does discipleship look like in this stage of life?

I trust that in time the Lord will reveal answers to all these things. I have to remember to have patience and grace as we adapt to our new situation. We're not going to know it all yet and we're not supposed to. But if we keep walking faithfully, He will make things clear in due time.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! This is where we will keep people informed about our lives together as we live in Fort Collins and prepare to go back to China. Check back regularly for more updates!