This guy is five months old today!!! He celebrated with oatmeal and pears for breakfast, followed by a rousing game of "chew on Freddy the Firefly toy," one of his all-time favorites. :)
This past week or two we've seen some big changes in Knox. First of all, he ROLLED OVER for the first time on New Year's Day...and twice more since then!! It's our primary goal in life right now to catch this amazing feat on video camera, but so far we haven't been there fast enough.
He also started smiling even when there's a camera around...instead of stopping whatever he is doing to stare at the camera. So there is a whole new world of Knox photos out there ready to be discovered...
And this guy started a new semester of classes today. I thought it would be great to take a photo of him heading out the door this morning with his book bag in tow...but he was running late so I didn't think he would really appreciate it at that point if I stopped him for a "back to school" photo for my blog. :)
(For those of you who missed the Facebook hoopla over this shirt, it's not made out of boxers and it's not from a 70's costume store...it is a genuine Indonesian shirt straight from Indonesia and he wore it all day on Saturday. I think he looks hot in it.) :)
Anyway, this is the first semester Josh has done full-time work and full-time and school...plus being husband and dad. It's going to be crazy. Today is his heaviest class day...he works from home from 5:00-9:00 in the morning then has classes from 10:00-12:45, 1:00-3:40 and 6:45-9:30. Yeah, insane. The rest of the week is little lighter on classes but heavier on work and homework.
I am SO proud of him and thankful that he's willing to take on this kind of schedule to finish seminary and so I can stay home with Knox!!! He is an amazing husband and daddy...the best. I love him so much.
I woke up this morning trying to think of some little things I can do for him this semester that might encourage him when things get tough...you know, besides the obvious, which is baking him lots of cookies and keeping the fridge well-stocked with Pepsi Max. :) :) I need some more fun ideas...
Is there something you've found that really encourages your husband, or boyfriend, or dad when they are tired and have a lot on their plate? Or - even better - encourages you, if you're a man? Please comment below (or on Facebook or email or wherever) if you have any cool ideas I can try.
And Josh, try not to read the suggestions. :)
I think that it is GREAT to be encouraging to our husbands! This past semester we took "study breaks" together, and would choose and hour to do something fun. Sometimes it would be playing bocce ball at the park for an hour, or running to get a 50 cent Quick Trip drink and during those times try to give encouragments to eachother (quality time and words of encouragement ;-) Also, "face time". Sounds silly, but when we are feeling really stressed, and not being able to see eachother, when one of us requests "face time" we get 1 min of undivided attention. LOL! These are just some little ideas that are encouragements to us...and of course a surprise of a baked good never hurt. LOL!
ReplyDeleteDrats...I was hoping to see lots of suggestions that I could steal. I have things I try to do, but I'm not sure if they're more for me or for Jon. A good friend once told me that "keeping a man's castle in order" will help him be a better king, so I attempt that. You know, feeling like his home is a safe haven or refuge--clean, organized, welcoming. Granted, with the addition of #3, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep that up. My other go-to is what you already said: the food/snacks that he likes.
ReplyDeleteClarification: Kristyn posted right when I did, so I didn't know there was a comment. I didn't mean to sound like hers didn't count!!
ReplyDeleteLEAH!!! It just makes my day to see that you're a blogging woman now. AND a woman who wants to support her husband! You are just awesome.
ReplyDeleteDuring seminary, (let me see if I can remember back that far!) I always strived to have the apt. clean, my man well fed, and bills taken care of so he could just focus on school stuff. We also did alot of frisbee, nerf, and walks around seminary which always led to good talks and more peace of mind. TCBY treats were also a big thing. We loved to go grab frozen yogurt just for something fun and cheap to do. Does Josh love surprises? I know most people do. Think of what he would love to be surprised with after a long day.
This is encouraging ME to do something encouraging for my man. Love you Leah!!!!!
how could i forget wrestling. that's always a good idea. :)
ReplyDeleteHmm...I started to post yesterday but must have gotten distracted from finishing!
ReplyDeleteLeah, I love that you are thinking like this! What a blessing you are to your husband! Kristyn's got a lot of great suggestions - which might work well for you since you and Josh have the potential to be at home at the same time during the day. I absolutely love and have been feeling convicted about Chris' "keeping a man's castle in order" suggestion! I am generally good about initiating quality time with my hubby, but I tend to slack on the keeping my house clean and meals on the table part! I generally find myself exhausted at the end of a day at work, or on the weekends, so I recently realized I haven't been doing a good job of those traditional wife duties. And maybe because I've been seeing them as "duties" - not as ways to serve my husband. So that's going to be one of my goals for 2011! We're also reading the book Sheet Music right now about sexual intimacy (o-hio!), and the book was written because of the intrinsic value of sex in a marriage. So, making sure these "special times" are a part of your regular schedule is vastly important - especially for a man who is incredibly busy. To know that his wife desires him is worth far more than anything else! So get a babysitter and plan a romantic night with just you and your man :)