fearfully and wonderfully made...: william is 4!!!

Still can't believe William is 4... Although he will always be my baby, it really makes my heart ache to see how quickly William is growing. On the one hand, I love seeing how the Lord is revealing more and more of his personality and giftings, but on the other hand, I wish I could stop time and just breathe him in a little more... to really take in all that he is at this stage in his life, especially since he'll be starting preschool next fall... PRESCHOOL!!!!! SCHOOL!!!!! Goodness... I know I'll cry like a big baby on his first day... and then cry some more after I leave him at school (assuming we don't homeschool... would love your prayers for that). Ok, maybe we'll just homeschool. Anyway, enough about me.

I think one of the things I love most about William is his teachable heart. It really doesn't take much for him to learn and take in what we say to him. Ok, well most of the time. Getting along and learning to play/share with Josiah probably has been his hardest challenge this year. But he has grown in leaps and bounds and is slowly learning to enjoy, play with, and be a big brother to Josiah. Sometimes he likes to just hold Josiah's hand, ask Josiah to play with him, or chase him around the house. They definitely do have their days when they just fight, especially since Josiah is such a little instigator. But it warms my heart when I hear the both of them laughing and enjoying each other's company. Those times were rare, but are slowly becoming more frequent.

William continues to be my big helper. He still likes to help me cook, so I'm trying to start letting him be a part of the process when I can (i.e. putting food in the pot, stirring, taste-testing, etc.). He tells me often that he can't wait until he can wash the dishes. I can't wait either. =) William also helps us keep an eye on his rascal-ly little brother. He often will tell us when Josiah is doing something he's not supposed to be doing... not to get him in trouble, but to protect him and keep him from getting hurt. William is VERY protective of Josiah, especially when he thinks Josiah may be in danger (i.e. from random neighborhood pets). A side story: When we were looking for places to rent during the bankruptcy, there was a cat on the sidewalk outside one of the homes. Josiah was standing near it and William screamed, very upset, "Josiah's going to get the cat! Josiah's going to get the cat!!" I was confused because I was wondering what the big deal was if he did, but William was totally flipping out (in front of the realtor). After calming him down and asking a few questions, he finally said he was afraid the cat was going to hurt Josiah. We think what he meant to say was that the cat was going to get Josiah. William has done that a few times since then and will just scream, "Momma, can you get Josiah please?!"

William also loves greeting people, especially when they come over. He will take the initiative on his own to go to the door and say hi. I love how welcoming and hospitable he likes to be. And we are just blown away that he just does this on his own without any prompting from us.

William loves to pray. He may not always understand what is being prayed for, and in those cases, we give him the words to say. But if people are sick or there's something to thank God for, he very willingly will pray. This is something I want to learn to take better advantage of, for both of us to be in the habit of praying continually.

Our big boy is potty-trained for the most part now. He only wears his pull-ups during naps and bedtime. And he's sleeping in a regular bed. We have a body pillow which acts as a guard, but he is doing well since the transition a few months ago.

William has also been learning to dress himself. He can put on his underwear, pull-ups, socks, and sweatpants on all on his own! And he has even learned to button buttons! Still working on the zippers, but he will soon not need my help anymore to get dressed. =(

Some of William's favorite foods are pretzels, any kind of chips he can eat, soy ice cream, corn, grape tomatoes (which I can't believe), french fries, pepper chicken (as he likes to call it), and oreos.

William, we can't believe how fast you are growing, but we are doing our best to treasure every moment with you because every moment is indeed such a gift from the Lord. You have been such a joy to raise and have taught us so much about gospel love. We love you more than you will ever know, and you are more than we deserve. So, so, so grateful for you!

William wanted to spend his birthday at Mema's house, so we headed over there for the afternoon: