JJ, Eli, and Noah

Valeria's four men

2011-12-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

As 2012 is coming to an end, I am feeling a lot of unworthiness to where God has placed me in life. I am thrilled to be the "daddy" to three little boys.

I love being a Father to three boys who will one day soon (faster than I can really grasp- JJ turns 4 in 3 days) be men. I pray that God would use them to do great big brave strong things to tell the world of His Glory in Jesus.

I don't really know how to raise them so that they "turn out" that way. But I do know that Valeria and I pray for them a lot. We love them a lot. We spend a lot of quality time with them. And all 3 of those things are visibly centered around Jesus, His cross, and His word.

And up until this point, I am enjoying it and the three boys are enjoying it. (they seem to be very happy.)

Here is a recent picture of the four of us at the Lousiville Zoo. We climb up on this rock every time we pass it. JJ and Eli can both climb up on it by themselves now. Noah cannot yet. JJ can jump off. Eli and Noah cannot yet. All 3 of them are progressing well.

Valeria loves us all so much.

sometimes we call him... "No-Mo"

2011-08-07T12:53:00.001-07:00

Noah is growing so quickly. He already gets around the house anywhere he wants to go. He doesn't allow JJ & Eli to pick on him without putting up a fight. And he is beginning to pull-up on things.

His name is Noah Morris Greene. So sometimes people call him "No-Mo." I like the nickname.

Flashback... Eli

2011-08-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

While I am at it... here is one of my favorites ever of Eli.

Flashback... JJ

2011-08-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Was looking through some old pictures and found this one. I love it.

NOAH

2011-06-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Noah is growing up quickly! He is definitely no longer our little baby who stays in our arms all the time. In the past couple months he has mastered the art of army crawling. :) He has gotten fast at this, and combined with his rolling skills, he can get anywhere now! We are adjusting again to the life of having a crawling baby in the house...the training is fully underway! His older brothers JJ and Eli love it and laugh and play with him all the time. Even as the youngest of 3 boys in our home, Noah definitely makes himself heard with his developing vocal skills, and his smile and laugh make everyone around him smile and laugh too! The Greene home would not be the same without this little bright blue-eyed boy!

Here are 3 videos of our Noah. The first is his sweet little laugh that is so contagious. The second is so you can see our army crawling baby, and the third is a fun one of Noah splashing in his bath. I think he is getting too big for that tub. We don't usually let our boys splash like crazy in the bath, but this was too cute and too funny that we let it slide this time. :)

the dad life

2011-06-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Father's Day has passed, and I am overwhelmed by God's goodness to me in giving me three sons. I really do not deserve to have Valeria for a wife and JJ, Eli & Noah for sons. I am thankful. I love being a Dad.

Yesterday it was really hot and humid here. So these videos are what the boys and I came up with to do.

Tim Keller posted on Father's Day the following quote:

"Once you become a parent you will never be happier than your unhappiest child. Your heart is tied up with them."

I really connected with that quote. My kids are very young, but I certainly understand my heart being tied up with them. Likewise when they are happy, I am so happy.

Fun times when Papaw and Mamaw are in town!

2011-06-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

We often ponder on how blessed we, and especially our boys, are to have such wonderful grandparents...and yet the distance is difficult as we would love for our boys to be around them so much more! However, being apart makes times that we are together so sweet and important to us. We truly treasure those visits! Recently, during the Memorial Day weekend, we were delighted to have Papaw and Mamaw come up to visit. It was an eventful weekend, and even though JJ got sick and wasn't feeling quite like himself, we enjoyed every moment of the visit. Here are some pictures of our boys enjoying papaw/mamaw-time! :)

A trip to the zoo never grows old! Their slogan is so true- "every day is different!" Papaw and Eli looking on at the pretty African elephant.
Cool daddy and son :)
Glacier Run was new to Papaw and Mamaw. The grizzly bears are so much fun to watch! Mamaw and Eli looking at the grizzly cub playing around on the bed of the truck.
Mamaw and Eli
Papaw with his namesake grandson, Noah Morris
Laughter with Mamaw
Sweet Eli looking for the polar bear...
...and there she is!!
We hope the polar bear will soon adjust to her new home at Glacier Run. Everytime we've been there she has been at that same spot.
Noah got a new zoo hat from Papaw!
JJ and papaw hanging out
JJ loves the zoo maps! He always wants one and wants to show us the way. He is a good tour guide! :)
The Greene men looking for the seals and sea lions.
It was hot!
Mamaw and Eli looking at the turtle
A manly chat
Papaw and Mamaw also treated us to a yummy dinner at Cheddar's (first time for them). Here they are relaxing with Noah.
Mamaw and JJ and Eli (not really wanting to take a picture)
Papaw and Mamaw came with a mission-- to surprise us with a beautiful swing set for our boys! We were overwhelmed by their generosity and know that it is just a small indication of the big love they have for our boys! The weekend was largely devoted to this-- papaw and josh worked long and hard on this...
I think Papaw needed a real vacation after all this :)
Daddy focused on the task
This was really good father-son time! Josh greatly enjoyed tackling this task with his dad :)

We are thankful that Papaw was very detailed in making sure the swingset was built as sturdy and safe as possible for our boys!

THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH, PAPAW AND MAMAW!!

JJ and Eli absolutely love their swingset! Every day they ask to go out to play in it. They have so much fun swinging, sliding, climbing up into their tree house, taking books up there to read, and having picnics on their picnic table! They can't wait for Noah to join in! :)
We love you Papaw and Mamaw! Thank you for giving our boys a fun swing set, taking the time and energy to make a trip up to visit us, and most importantly for your love! We cannot wait to see you again!!

Eli is TWO!!!

2011-05-19T11:13:00.001-07:00

On April 30th, our sweet little Eli turned 2!! This little boy (who is quickly becoming a big boy!) brings SO much joy and happiness to our home! He is a rough, tough, strong boy, yet cuddly, sweet and oh so huggable! :) Not one day goes by without this little boy making us all laugh. What a blessing he is to our home and our lives! God is unfathomably good in giving us Eli Lucio and we praise Him for Eli's 2 years of life.

His actual birthday fell on a Saturday, so we were able to celebrate to the fullest. :) Eli woke up to a yummy pancake breakfast. He had two candles on his birthday pancake, which he blew out all on his own!

That afternoon, we had a birthday party for Eli at our church with our dear Fairdale family or as JJ and Eli like to call them, "all their friends" (the majority of whom are over 15 years older than them). Everyone that attended the party has played such a unique role in the life of our little boy that we just could not have a party to celebrate the life God has given Eli without them being invited. We had a nice crowd and we were humbled and overwhelmed at the love shown to our Eli.
Eli's 2nd birthday party theme-- race cars!! Here he is with a race car tattoo, which all the kids got when they arrived at the party.
Daddy and Eli decorating a race car with stickers, numbers, tires, etc...
Of course, the birthday boy had to get some "juicies" on his special day from Ms. Linda :)
The birthday boy's table.
Eli's race car birthday cake, with a track in the form of a number 2. JJ helped me design the cake, as I wanted to keep it a surprise for the birthday boy, and JJ insisted on having a car crashing off the track :)

Big 2 year old just waiting to blow out his candles!

Special prayer by daddy for the birthday boy.

...I guess it got a little long for Eli :)

Eli's new way of "closing his eyes and bowing for prayer" :) He starts off eyes closed and hands clasped, but it gradually develops into this.

Happy Birthday to Eli....Happy Birthday to Eli....Happy Birthday dear Eeeeliiiii....Happy Birthday to Eli!!
Eli tried really hard to blow out his candles, but unlike that morning with his birthday pancake, he was only blowing through his teeth and no air was getting anywhere close to the candles...but he tried hard! :) I probably should have let him try longer, but JJ was there to back up his little brother and help him out!

Here is a video of the prayer and Happy Birthday song:

Cutting the cake...
...and enjoying the chocolate vanilla with mini M&M's in the middle cake!
Our boys could eat cake for every meal of their day! :)

Josh did a great job of putting together a race track for the kids to race on at the party.

It had a cool, long tunnel, plastic streamers to ride straight through and everything! Here are the kids waiting for the flag...

Eli-- focused and in position...
"Go, go, go, go, goooooo!!!!"

Eli making it through the plastic streamers
JJ and Lainey having a little chat on the track :)

Eli took a break to keep flagging the drivers on by! It was pretty chaotic, but the kids had a lot of fun! Here is a short video clip to give you all an idea of what our race track looked like:

Noah was a good fan! :)

As part of our latino culture, we cannot leave the pinata out of a birthday party! Our boys looove hitting it and of course the candy that comes out of it! :)

Here is Eli's first shot at the pinata on video (at times we wonder if he is left-handed :)

Both Eli and JJ did a good job hitting the race car pinata, as did all their little friends...but this pinata seemed to be unbreakable! We went through so many rounds and then, finally went on to include some of Eli's older friends. I think it was Dalton who finally broke it! :)

Eli with his cool sunglasses, which make him look tough! :) He got so many fun toys!

Thanks to all!

Here is a funny short video of what opening presents at a kids birthday party looks like!

And our Chuck-E-Cheese birthday trip tradition continues... :)
Noah was somewhere having fun with Ms. Linda
Very telling of our boy's likes, Eli went first to the basketball game!
"Swish!"
Brave brothers-- "no hands" on the roller coaster ride!
Bowling was a game they went looking for. They always have fun with it! There is a lot of movement in this video (sorry!) but here it is for those who don't mind :)

Football pass
Mami loving any moment of having this active little boy sit on her lap!
Dalton and JJ racing Daddy and Eli

One last video of our boys racing:

More basketballBob the builder ride. Eli loves to sing the Bob the Builder song. He has the tune down, but the words is another issue...so cute to listen to him, though! :)
Skee ball fun with Ms. Linda and Michaela-- quite the competition!!!
Big brother JJ is awesome at this game of aiming the water gun to the target. Eli looks up to JJ so much! It really is a joy for us to see our boys so close in age, living life together, experiencing the same things, liking the same things, being challenged by each other and always having each other's back.
Getting ready for the KY Derby!
And of course, counting up his tickets at the end of the night to get some fun prizes!

It was an eventful day and weekend for Eli, who happily responds to the question, "how old are you?" with a loud "TWO!" His vocabulary is growing every day. We are constantly surprised by the things he says and does. He is wanting to do everything on his own now. The doctor, at his 2 year check up, found him to be very healthy and strong. Eli is our chubby little boy, but he is solid. When he was not even one, I remember Josh putting him up to a basketball rim and Eli holding on with both hands so tightly. Josh let go of him and he literally held himself there for 15 seconds! Just recently, he slipped and fell off a playground set, about 5 feet high, and caught himself with one hand, holding on long enough to be 'rescued.' :) We already see the strength in our little boy's sturdy frame. :) When we look at him, we see a growing little boy, who we pray will soon love Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind and body. Please join us in this prayer when you think of our Eli Lucio.

Te queremos, chiquito!

Celebrating the Resurrection 2011

2011-04-25T19:40:00.001-07:00

We had a very eventful Easter weekend. It was full, busy, but so enjoyable! We love Easter and get SO excited at the thought of focusing on the fact that our Lord Jesus conquered sin and death and is alive! Our boys learned to say "Happy Easter! Jesus is Alive!" We never want them to think of Easter outside of the fact that He lives! In all our busyness, we didn't take too many pictures and though these pictures don't fully convey all of our special weekend, they will give you a glimpse...

All week long we constantly shared the Easter story with our boys through Resurrection Eggs. These are a wonderful idea for getting the beautiful Easter story across to little minds. Our boys loved the resurrection eggs I was able to put together and JJ, especially, quickly caught on and could tell me the story as each egg was opened. This was our favorite part of the Easter festivities, as it showed our little boys' minds grasping the true Easter message. We pray that soon they would truly believe and trust in the Risen Christ.

Thursday evening, our church held a special Maundy Thursday service. This was a special time of reading Scripture focused on the cross, singing hymns, and taking part in the Lord's Supper. What made it even more special for our family was that our church encouraged all kids (and babies) to remain in the service. Of course, Josh had to be up leading the service, so it was quite interesting for me to sit with my three boys in a pew, trying to keep them under control :) They did very well...for the most part...we were really proud of them and what I really enjoyed was how they observed the Lord's Supper for the first time ever. During that part of the service, all three were extremely calm, just watching and asking me a couple whispered questions. What a blessing to take part in something like that as a family.

On Saturday, our boys had an Easter Egg Hunt at our church. Unfortunately, we had a very very very rainy Easter weekend (it literally rained all weekend long), so the egg hunt had to be done inside. Our boys enjoyed it, though. There were tons of eggs for the boys. JJ started off slowly, picking which eggs he wanted to pick up (the shiny ones, the big ones...), while Eli went straight into it and stuffed his basket quickly. Either way, our boys ended up with full baskets and waaaay too much candy! :)
Eli with his buddy Jadon
The 1-2 year olds. How cute are they!?
Part of JJ's big boy group, the 3-4 year olds.
My boys too distracted with their eggs to look up for a picture :)
Sweet Noah enjoying the hotdog lunch afterwards with Michaela
That evening, we decided to introduce our boys to egg-dying. This was actually my first experience, also, so Josh was the one coaching us all through it! As he said it was "nerve-racking but very enjoyable!" I loved it and hope to make this a tradition in our home from now on. :)

Proud boys showing off their colored eggs!
After some 20 minutes, a spilled cup of dye, hands submerged in dye, and a couple cracked eggs, this was the boys' finished work! What do you think?
Easter Sunday, or as we like to call it- Resurrection Day- we gave our boys a small easter basket. Some first time candy that they got were Pop Rocks. They were a bit hesitant at first, but quickly loved it. It was so cute to watch them experience the sizzling, popping sensation in their mouths! :)

Our boys got a set of golf clubs, which they quickly wanted to play with, though Eli immediately lifted his club up like a bat and began swinging. It's funny how JJ just looks at Eli sometimes with a "what-are-you-doing-expression" :)
...so daddy had to coach Eli.
Handsome brothers with their baskets
Little Noah also got a little something. He loved his teething book-- something made to be put in his mouth is just perfect for him right now! :)
And off to church to worship our Risen King with our wonderful church family! Here is a balcony shot of our service.
Tough-looking Eli :)
And smiley Noah

JJ does not like pictures, which makes for some interesting family pictures, as you can see below...
Maybe the best one?? Is it even possible to get a good, all eyes on the camera picture with 3 kids 3 and under?? :)
We thoroughly enjoyed our Easter celebration. What joy there is in celebrating the love, life and power in a crucified, yet living King! As the last line in our boys' favorite Easter song says, "Hallelujah, Christ Arose!"

Gatlinburg Winter 2011

2011-04-12T11:48:00.001-07:00

I am finally getting to post pictures from our fun trip to Gatlinburg back in the end of January of this year. Josh was blessed with the opportunity to preach at a youth ski retreat of some dear friends' church from South Carolina. My parents and sister were able to come up and stay with us at our nice cabin for the weekend. This was doubly a blessing to me as I got help with the boys, while Josh was busy with the retreat events and preaching, and any time to get together with our family is such a joy!

Here are a few pictures of us at our cabin...

Our boys loved spending time with tia, who spoils them by allowing them to play all sorts of games on her Iphone. It's amazing how JJ can do it all by himself!
Noah had his first bath in the big tub in our cabin...
...and of course the brothers had to help out :)
This is the crowd Josh preached to this weekend
The last day before heading back home, we were able to go to the Gatlinburg Ripley's Aquarium. It was the highlight of our boys' time in Gatlinburg and it was oh so much fun for the rest of us (parents and grandparents) just to see our boys having so much fun! As soon as they walked in, they started squealing with delight and saying, "Loook! Looook!" It still makes us smile today as we recall these precious memories.
This aquarium was possibly the best one we have been to so far. It just seemed to have so many different things (at least that we hadn't seen before) and fun things for the kids to explore. Here is Pika joining in on the fun...
Lito and JJ learning about some of the many fish
Mami trying to get in on a picture, while JJ's eye caught something else...
Daddy joining in on the fun, petting the stingrays
The following pictures show just how much fun we all had at these cute aquariums filled with pretty colorful fish. You could actually crawl into the aquarium so you were in a little tunnel looking at the fish all around you! Here is JJ finding Nemo from the outside of the aquarium...
And here we all are, beginning with cute little Eli's face, exploring the fish from the inside of the aquarium...

Noah took a good long nap for the first part of our aquarium trip and then woke up to be fascinated by the lighting and shadows in the aquarium :)
Lito and Eli on the moving walkway heading into the Shark and Fish Tunnels. This was JJ's favorite part of the visit. In the picture, he is behind Lito just staring up at the big big fish :)
We took 2 little videos in the fish tunnel. Here they are:

A really dark part of the aquarium had giant crabs, and our boys loved watching them. It was really cute to hear them, especially Eli, talking to the crabs. Here is a pic and another short little video...

The penguin habitat was one of the aquarium's main attractions. I think since we went late in the afternoon, we didn't see as much penguin interaction, but it was a lot of fun to watch them. Their habitat had tunnels for kids (and adults) to crawl through in order to observe the penguins from different angles. It was so much fun for our boys...and daddy! :)
All the penguins had their names on them. Our boys especially liked Norman. Here is a close up of him and JJ watching him...

Brothers racing through the penguin tunnels
Eli being introduced to Norman :)
The stingrays were also so much fun to watch

Our firstborn, JJ, is growing up sooo fast. It amazes us especially when we see pictures of him and realize how big he is getting!
Lito with Noah at the end of our visit
Eli watching a jumping toy daddy got for them
Sorpresa para Lito y Pika...a little reminder of our fun time at the aquarium...the boys are more interested in what Pika has for them in that little bag :)
Aquarium animal Gummies!!!!
This was such a fun trip for us! Of course, traveling with 3 little ones, taking them away from their home, their beds, their schedules throws everything off and is quite difficult, but the memories we make during our travels make it all worthwhile! Can't wait for our next adventure! :)

prioritizing and proverbs 1:7

2011-03-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Over on the pastor blog that I have for the church, I have written a post about time with my kids and us memorizing a Bible verse.

It is at fairdalepastor.fbcfairdale.org

You can click on this http://fairdalepastor.fbcfairdale.org/archives/954

Snow Days!

2011-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

We have had several good snow days so far here in Fairdale this winter...and we love it! We always make cookies on snow days and if it's not too cold out, we go out to enjoy it a little. Sometimes the weather is a bit unbearable to enjoy the outdoors, and those days we just enjoy the beauty of the snow from the inside. Having not grown up even seeing snow, I personally have learned to do many things in the snow with my boys-- making snow angels, making snow cream, having a snowball fight and sledding. It has been a lot of fun! Enjoy these few pics...maybe more will come if we get hit again! :)

JJ absolutely loved the sled ride daddy took them on around our house! Eli enjoyed it too...even though his expression doesn't show it too well. In all his efforts to hold on, he did tell me he liked it and even wanted more-- I promise! :)

I think daddy got a good workout in the midst of our fun!

Daddy has a way of making even the simplest things fun...like sledding around our house with all the little "hills" in our backyard :) Next time we get a good snow, we hope to find a good hill to take our boys to, but they enjoyed this ride around our house very much! The sun setting made the landscape even more beautiful! Watch...

Mami had to join in the sledding fun, too! :)

Happy Birthday sweet THREE-year-old JJ!!!

2011-01-26T20:48:00.001-08:00

What a blessing the life of JJ Greene has been to our home!! We can't imagine our home, our days, our lives without him now! On January 2nd our 'little' boy turned 3!!! So hard to believe how fast he is growing. His 3-year doctor check up went great! He is growing and developing in many ways. For the first time in the office, it was fun to see our JJ have a conversation with the nurse and doctor and follow instructions on several things (drawing, jumping, counting, etc.) We praise God for a healthy 3-year old! JJ's birthday celebration was a lot of fun. We had a full weekend. On the first day of the year we held a special birthday party for him at our church with dear friends who have become our family here in KY. We did miss our family in NC and NY, but we are thankful for those that are our family here in KY. You all gave JJ a very memorable party!

Here is the birthday boy at his party.

Baby Noah fully awake and alert to take in all the fun, too!
JJ at his special table with his special friends: Lainey, Russell, David, Eli and Adrianne (Selena escaped the pic)
Three buddies growing up together so fast!
Brothers enjoying some party food! Upon JJ's request we threw him a Dinosaur Train birthday party. We had a few episodes of this fun cartoon projected onto the wall for the kids to watch while they ate.
Noah loves "Ms. Linda time" :)
Sarah, Michaela and LJ-- JJ couldn't have a party without these girls!
The cake table-- my attempt to make a Dinosaur Train birthday cake. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. The night before the party was a loooong night and though it didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned it, the look of delight on my little boy's face when he saw his cake in the morning made it all worthwhile! He loooved his dinosaur train! :)
View from a different angle of the birthday cake
JJ and Lainey listening intently to directions to a game
Daddy explaining how to play "Hot Lava Rock"
JJ now understands pretend play so he had a lot of fun passing the hot lava rock and trying to keep his hands from getting burnt! :)
Eli, on the other hand, did not understand this quite well, so mami had to step in and help him out.
Sweet Lainey
We also played a "pop-the-balloons-to -find-the-hidden-dinosaurs" game. This was a lot of fun to watch. We had all ranges of reactions to this game. JJ enjoyed it and found several little dinosaurs. Eli just looked on.
Big girls Adrianne and Selena, some of JJ's good friends.
Can't believe how big our boy is!
I don't know what he was doing in this picture....stretching before playing pin-the-tail-on-the-dino?!? :)
For the first time in our birthday parties, we introduced the blindfold.
"But daddy, how am I supposed to do this if I can't see anything!?" :)
JJ getting a hang of it...
Good job, JJ! (he wasn't the closest though!)
Eli wasn't his usual bubbly energetic self at this party. He just observed and observed all that was going on around him.
Finally wanting a turn.
"Now how does this work?" :)
"Not bad...not bad"
Even baby Asher had a turn!
Russell's turn to pin the tail on the dino
Getting ready to cut the cake (mami explaining a little bit of "birthday ettiquette" to JJ)
Sonrisa de picaro :)
The cake up close- Engine
The dinosaur car (birthday candles)... someone had already had a quick taste of the icing :)
Coal car
Caboose
And cupcakes (though JJ loves cake, nothing beats having a cupcake for some reason! I think he had some of both at his party, though)
"Happy Birthday to JJ...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday dear JJ...Happy Birthday to you!"
First time that he had multiple little candle flames to blow out. It took him a little while, but he did great and blew out all three candles all by himself!
Here is a video of daddy leading all of us in a special prayer for JJ and the singing and blowing out of the candles...

Beegee was our photographer. She did great and we are so thankful for all the memories she caught on camera! She is also one of JJ's favorite people!
Digging into his birthday cupcake...icing first!
Mmmmm....sooo yummy!
Evidence that it was good and all gone! :)

Russell enjoying a cupcake
Eli enjoying a cupcake...
He got sooo dirty...but he is at the stage of not wanting any help :)
David enjoying a cupcake
Noah enjoying a bottle :)
Kristy helping us with our little boy
Pinata time!!...again for the first time with a blindfold...here he is feeling it...feeling it...
...and going for a hit (the blindfold caused him to not hit as hard as he usually can and does!)
So we decided to get rid of the blindfold so the kids could go at the pinata harder...and break it quicker!
Three-year-old waiting to open presents.
Opening a transformer from Jon! He loves these but still asks daddy and mami to help him do the transforming part (which we have had to learn...but will soon be experts in!)
Dino Lollipops-- the party favors beegee and I made.
The next day, Sunday, was JJ's actual birthday. Our Sundays are usually quite busy with church and all, but daddy surprised JJ...and his Sunday School class...by getting up early to get fresh Krispy Kreme donuts with sprinkles on top! Here is a video of JJ's SS class singing to him and him blowing out the candles on his donut :)

We have a family tradition of taking the birthday boy (and the whole family) to celebrate at Chuck-E-Cheese. Our boys absolutely love this treat! I think it will be a tradition we will have to hold on to for a good while! :)

Here is our family with JJ's cookie cake.
Sweet little Noah taking in all the craziness of Chuck-E-Cheese
Pizza!-- It is so great to see how much Eli enjoys his food! :)
Ms. Linda showing JJ how to bowl...
Good job, JJ!
Eli found a way to play the older kid games :)
He loved being able to throw a ball!
JJ and mami racing a car. I absolutely treasure and love any opportunity to have my firstborn sit on my lap!

God had been soooo good to us in giving us JJ for 3 wonderful years!! We pray that He will continue to bless our boy with life, health and very soon, a heart to know and follow Jesus.

Feliz Cumpleanios preciosito JJ!!!

Christmas 2010 in North Carolina!

2011-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Being with our families at Christmas time, who we don't get to see often enough during the year, is a special special highlight for us! Our boys do very well during our 8-hour drive, though the last hour or so, you can really tell that they are just ready to get out of the car! Celebrating Christmas with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins makes it all worthwhile though! :) Here are several pictures of our time in North Carolina.

One of the first things we love to do when we get to NC with Lito, Pika and tia is to go see the beautiful lights in McAdenville! Christmas lights never get boring and McAdenville seems to just get better and better each year!
We drove for the most part, but we did get out to walk some and enjoy the light displays closer. It was veeeery cold. Here is Eli trying to stay warm with daddy.

Here is a video of part of our drive around McAdenville with JJ yelling Merry Christmas to passers-by and trying to get a reply :)

Great grandpa and great grandma (Josh's grandparents) met Noah for the first time, since they live and stay in Florida year-round. We were delighted to introduce our little blessing to them.
Smiles for the greatgrandparents!
Our boys love interacting with their cousin Lilly. We are thankful for any moment where we can have the cousins play together since we really want them to know and love each other in spite of the distance between our homes.
Chick and Dixie by the Christmas tree.
Lilly loved taking care of Noah (I think she thought he was her babydoll :)
Noah slept peacefully with Uncle Vinnie.
...and with cousin Amanda :)
Eli loved being with Papaw...playing and reading books.

Here is a short video showing our boys having fun with Papaw and Mamaw and Lightning McQueen :)

My three little men...wishing I had an extra arm to scoop Eli up too! :)
Watching daddy about to blow out the candles on his birthday cake
Happy Birthday dear husband and daddy! We love you more than words can express!!
Fun with my little Eli
December 23 (Josh's birthday) was the Reed Family Christmas. Since we had the whole extended family there, we decided to get a group shot. This is attempt #1.
...and attempt #2 (probably our best...not too bad for using the self-timer!)
Christmas Eve is always our big celebration with the Valenzuelas. We had a very fun and full evening, preparing a delicious meal, hearing Lito and Pika share the Christmas story with our boys, opening presents, going to tia Natalia's church for a beautiful Christmas Eve service, and going back home for dessert. Here is JJ opening up a gift with Pika's help.
Tia Kim opening up Ana Sofia's Jesus Storybook Bible! I'm sure she will love it as much as our boys do!
Josh and I with our youngest at the Christmas Eve Service.
Feliz Navidad de los Valenzuela!
Playing in the water fountains with tio....I think Eli is about to fall in this pic :)
Tio always makes even the simplest things fun!
Happy JJ playing with water and getting splashed!
Little brother Eli trying to participate too :)
One of JJ's favorite gifts-- a play-doh creativity table!
I think tio Andres had just as much fun with it as JJ....and JJ was delighted to have a playmate that was as much into his toy as he was! :)
Heart to heart talk between father and son over yummy pear and cranberry crumble pie! mmmm
More play-doh time!

This video shows JJ playing with his play-doh with Pika (this is before tio realized we had opened the box:) and making spaghetti. I thought it was so cute how JJ tried to say that word! :)

Tia Kim enjoying her dessert...can't wait to meet Ana Sofia!
We moved over to the Greene's on the 25th. Here is Papaw helping JJ put together his percy jumbo puzzle.
Fun with Uncle Terry (Eli was waiting for his PJs :)
Mami trying to hold JJ still for a pic
Amanda and Devon
Papaw rocking with sweet Noah
JJ showing Papaw "Talking Santa" on daddy's phone
Charlotte got a white Christmas (the first in years...since the 40s!!), so of course we had to get out in it and have some fun! Eli still was a little unsure about the whole idea of walking in the snow. It was so funny because as soon as we set him down in it, he planted his feet firmly and would not move...at all! His eyes were the only thing that moved for the first half hour even! :)
Deciding what to do with all this strange white stuff
JJ loves to put his hands in his pockets and everytime its cold outside that is automatically where his hands go...and they don't come out! :)
Getting snowballs from Mamaw. I think JJ refused to take his hands out of his pockets even for his snowball and even though he did have mittens on.
Lilly and Eli (who had just watched his snowball fall)
Papaw and Mamaw having fun in the snow
Mamaw getting Josh with a snowball
Daddy was focused on making this snowman a good one! :)
Cousins wondering what Dixie was going to do in all the snow
Eli and Dixie...both probably wondering why in the world they were out in this cold!
Mami with my two big boys
Cousins and mamas
Lilly helping Papaw out
Bringing sticks to papaw for the snowman's arms...waiting to see if their sticks passed papaw's inspection :)
My precious "always-up-to-something" JJ
My precious happy Eli
JJ putting the finishing touch on the snowman
And the finished product! (I don't know what happened with the head of the snowman! Somehow it turned out looking more like a robot-snowman! :) They worked hard at it, though, and had fun!
Winter wonderland

Tickle fun with cousin Patrick.

Thanks to all our family in NC for making our Christmas so much fun! It is a blessing to be able to spend Christmas with you all and celebrate the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ together-- we love you and miss you already! Come visit us in KY!!! :)

Leading up to Christmas 2010

2011-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

Our boys' Abuelitos, Pika and Lito, came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us in Kentucky and all three of our boys had such a great time kicking off the Christmas season with them! We love Christmas and the advent season leading up to Christmas. We always want to highlight this time in our home and make it memorable. Here are some pics...Pika cuddling with a sleeping Noah.
Lito happy with his third grandson.
Eli loves to sit and read books.
JJ playing hide and seek under the laundry basket :)
Feliz Navidad!!-- Merry Christmas from the Greene Valenzuela Family!!!
Our precious little Noah outside in the snow for the first time!
This was also Eli's first time out walking in the snow and he wasn't too convinced with it! It was actually veeerrry cold, so I can't blame him. :)
Much better, headed inside with Lito.
Warming up on the couch with Lito and watching Chuggington.
Pika showing Eli how to draw. It is such a joy to sit and teach Eli how to do so many things...he is so intent about learning.
A Christmas tradition from my childhood- baking and decorating Christmas-shaped sugar cookies- being passed on to my boys :)
They were very helpful...got very flour-y...and Eli kept sneaking dough into his mouth!
"You have to wait Eli!"
Just the start of Pika's creations...yuuuummmy!!!
Finally eating a cookie!
JJ finished his cookie sooo fast! mmmm...
Another Christmas tradition in which Lito and Pika joined in-- picking out our real Christmas tree.
Our tree-- all lighted and trimmed-- with our Ecuadorian nativity. Our house looked so empty when we took this down and JJ did not like it...he kept saying he wanted his Christmas tree back.
Since we don't have a fireplace or mantle, this became our new decoration for our stockings this year.
Bright-eyed, long-haired JJ :)
Smiling Noah
Yet another Christmas tradition we enjoyed with Abuelitos-- going to Lights Under Louisville. It is so much fun driving in our car, windows down, through the MegaCavern, listening to Christmas music and looking at a wonderful display of Christmas lights!
The Friday before heading to North Carolina, on the spur of the moment, we decided to take our boys to get haircuts. We loved our boys with long hair, but now we love our boys in their sharp short hair cuts! :) Here they are having fun in the tub after their cuts.
JJ's smile is so contagious!
The Saturday before we go to North Carolina for Christmas, we choose to celebrate Christmas in our home with our little family. This year, our boys woke up to this sight under their tree.
Eli loved his tricycle! He kept going back to it, sitting down and saying "bike!" "bike!"
JJ was happy with his big boy bike but, of course, his attention was mainly on his new Thomas the Train track.
Helping daddy open his fire pit. We can't wait to use this outside, have people over, sit by the fire and make smores! :)
Daddy with his three sons (JJ showing Noah his new toy)
Trying to get Noah interested in his Skwish...he is grabbing onto it now, but still not at the playing stages yet :)
Our boys on their bikes (sorry for the blurry pic!). We can't wait til the weather gets a little better for us to go outside and have fun with these!
Our boys got slinkies in their stockings. These are them after just a few hours of play...can you guess which is which?! :)
Our best Christmas present this year!!
Our growing baby Noah
First Christmas
Intent look from our precious son
This is a pic from one of our services leading up to Christmas at First Baptist Church Fairdale. We had a wonderful season of Advent, culminating in a beautiful candlelight Christmas service.

Just a shot of our handsome big boy JJ :)

Our favorite tradition which begins December 1st in the Greene home is Advent. We have a wooden advent calendar, which Josh made several Christmases ago, and every night before bed we gather together on the couch, read a portion of the Christmas story, pray, sing a Christmas carol and our boys get to lift a flap on the calendar to discover a little treat. Our boys looooved this time and always got so excited when we told them it was "advent time"...they still ask for it even now! As parents, perhaps the best part of this time and even the whole Christmas season, was singing "O Come Let us Adore Him" with our boys and hearing JJ sing with a huge smile on his face, and Eli finish off the song responding to mami's question by saying the sweet name of JESUS! Here is a video of the song portion of one of our advent times:

Our family Christmas celebration was topped off with a big treat for our boys-- Christmas Krispy Kreme donuts!!! Here is a video of our two oldest enjoying their Christmas treats!

Whats in a name?

2010-11-12T05:57:00.001-08:00

Names have the potential to mean a lot. Not everyone puts a lot of thought into naming a child, but some do. Most parts of the world place great emphasis on what and why someone is named what they are named. In America not so much. Often in America, people choose a name mostly by whether it sounds good or not. Or whether the child's name would cause them to be made fun of in elementary school. These are good concerns, but in my opinion the meaning of the name should be of greater importance.

This picture to the right is of my father, Morris Carl Greene, Jr. He is in so many ways 'a true man'. I never hear him complain (even though I often think he has legitimate things to complain about). He has his priorities in order, and others recognize that in him. He is committed to church. He loves gardening. He provides for his family. He works hard. He also is an excellent grandfather.

Our third son, Noah Morris, is named after him. This is especially meaningful because my dad is named after his father. There is a lot of significance to the name Morris for our family. Valeria and I are so proud to have named our third son after my father.

His first name Noah comes from the Bible. Noah means "rest". In Genesis 6, when God sees the whole world as wicked. Noah is the only person on earth who found favor in the eyes of God. Hebrews 11 calls Noah "an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

So, Noah's first name comes from the Bible, and his middle name comes from my family. And both of those names have great significance to us.

This picture to the left is of Lucio Valenzuela and his wife. They are Valeria's grandparents. They are the mother and father of Valeria's father, Edgar. Unfortunately, I was unable to meet him before the Lord called him home. But from all that I hear and see, he was one awesome man. A man of true conviction and leadership. Valeria's family is full of commitment to the Lord Jesus and the Word of God. This wonderful, admirable commitment is due to the way God used Lucio in the leading of his family.

Our second son, Eli Lucio, is named after this Lucio. Valeria and I are so proud to name our son after him.

Our son's first name is Eli after the high priest in 1 Samuel of the Bible. Eli means "exalted is the Lord". Eli is the priest that Hannah gives her son Samuel to to be brought up in the Lord.

So, Eli's first name is from the Bible and his middle name is from Valeria's family. And both of those names have great significance to us.

Our first son, JJ, is named after his father... me. My full name is Joshua Carl Greene. Carl, as I wrote earlier, is a long time family name that comes from my father and his father. JJ is a Jr and has my exact name.

Joshua comes from the Bible and means "the Lord is salvation". Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Joshua is the one who God used to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

Then again, Carl is a family name.

JJ's first name is from the Bible and his middle name is from the family. Both of these names have great meaning and significance to me and Valeria.

I must say that in us naming JJ after me we are not trying to limit him. We know God has plans for him. And it is our deep desire, our daily prayer, and our continual parenting goal to see JJ become a faithful follower of our King Jesus.

Finally, that last sentence is not just for JJ either. Valeria and I love our sons. Their names have real meaning to us. And we pray that God would grow the three of them into humble disciples of the one worthy of following, namely Jesus.

So what's in a name? I say everything. Remember, Jesus's name had to be Jesus. Matthew 1:21 says "and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Noah Morris Greene-- our third little blessing!!

2010-10-27T13:35:00.001-07:00

These first several pictures were taken just a week or two before we welcomed little Noah into our lives! Our dear friend Emily took these pictures of us up at Jefferson Memorial Forest. Even in the womb, we knew our little Noah was going to be a good-sized baby and we were delighted to feel and see him move and squirm so much...just eager to get out and meet his expectant family! :)

On Sunday, October 10th, 2010 (10/10/10) at 10:51am, Noah Morris Greene was born. He weighed a surprising 8lbs 15oz (we knew he was going to be pretty big, but we didn't expect him to be that big!:). Noah went through a rough first several days...similar to his big brother Eli. Noah had fluid in his lungs which gave him a little difficulty in breathing. Therefore, he had to be given a little oxygen, antibiotics and he had to be well monitored for several days. This of course is never easy to accept, but we look back now and only have gratitude in our hearts for how the Lord brought him through it all and our little Noah is now a strong, healthy boy with good reports from the doctors. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!
Above is mami's first kiss to her little boy. Below is an overjoyed mami to see her sweet son doing so much better and close to going home!
Abuelita, Mami and Noah. What a blessing it has been to have my mom by my side on all three of my deliveries and a week after! She, like the rest of our families, is always such a help, which just makes it so difficult to say good-bye. We all can't wait for Pika to come back!
Proud grandparents- abuelitos for the third time! (Papaw and Mamaw were with us for the delivery and to take special care of the two big brothers during the hospital days. We are thankful for them, and ready for them to come back and really enjoy some Noah-time now! :)
Noah in Abuelito's arms...
Tia Natalia was able to make a quick trip to meet her nephew Noah. Though quick, it made such a difference to have her around then!
A happy and proud daddy with his third little "arrow" :)
Big brothers JJ and Eli waiting to meet their new little brother...
Always having fun...even in the hospital hallways!
Sweet baby boy ready to go home!
First introduction-- JJ and Eli are wonderful big brothers. They always ask for baby Noah, tell each other to be quiet because he's sleeping, always want to kiss him and hold him, and get so excited when Noah comes into the same room they are in! We are blessed beyond words with these 3 little boys!
Grateful family of 5 heading home sweet home!
Asleep on the ride home
Big brothers interacting with little brother :)
Baby face
Cute little mouth
Noah has long fingers and feet!
Biiig yawn
Wide awake...rare moment these first several days/weeks.
Sweet slumber
Mami kissing her little man, while enjoying a beautiful fall day.
Noah in mami's arms.
The 4 Greene men-- my boys! :)
Our fall baby
Sweet little sleeping face
More of sleeping Noah
Big eyes...curious to see if he will keep the light eyes (like our other two boys) or if they will change and get dark (as most would expect with the Ecuadorian genes involved:)
Our new, growing family. God is good! Thank you for all your prayers and for rejoicing with us on the arrival of our third little blessing. We can't wait to introduce him to you all soon!

Noah's Lullaby

2010-10-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

When JJ was born (January 2, 2008), I wrote him a lullaby. I have memorized it, and I sing it now to all of our sons. I had thought that I would be able to write each of them a lullaby, but I have just adapted this one to fit them. It is pretty much the same lullaby. Either way, it expresses my heart in life and fatherhood.

**NOAH’S LULLABY**

Hush little Noah don’t you cry

Daddy’s gonna sing you a lullaby

I hate to see you crying red-faced with tears

Let me tell you ‘bout us in the coming years

The joy of rearing you can make this grown man weap

Right here in my arms you can fall asleep

& I’ll stare at your face & kiss your chubby cheeks

Watch you start to grow in the coming weeks

God gave you a great mother who takes care of you

In love together we will teach you what’s true

two big brothers J & E you can look up to

You become like them, yes I hope you do

It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life

Like trusting in God & faithfully loving your wife

Like serving other people & devotion to the sword

The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior & Lord

Son, I wanna teach you to throw and catch a ball

& I can hardly wait until you learn to crawl

We can walk to the park & I can push you on the swings

Raise you up right so you’ll appreciate things

I wanna teach you about pets like cats and dogs

And how to catch lizards, turtles, & frogs

I’ll show ya how to catch fish & how to bait a hook

And how to treat a girl and how to read a book

And how to play with kids and not be weak

Playing outdoor games like hide and seek

I wanna teach you about bruises, scars, and scabs

And how to play wrestle and throw left-hand jabs

I’ll teach how to ride a bike & how to climb trees

I‘ll teach you about caterpillars, birds, & bees

I wanna pick you up when you fall & scrape your knees

Teach you how to pray, and say “yes ma’am” & “Please”

& we can walk to the creek, I’ll show you how to skip a rock

I’ll show you how to play sports & how to wear a jock

I wanna teach you how to not get upset by jokes

& how to be grateful & respect your folks

Noah, I wanna teach you how to love your mom

& how to read the Bible, a daily Proverb & Psalm

It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life

Like trusting in God & faithfully loving your wife

Like serving other people & devotion to the sword

The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior & Lord

Son, I wanna teach you how to be a man

How to look ‘em in the eye & firmly shake their hand

How to keep your word & always work real hard

How to pay your bills on time & how to mow the yard

I’ll teach you how to keep a job & not be lazy

How to speak the truth in love and not be hazy

I wanna show you how to love & how to be a friend

And when to compromise and when to take a stand

And how to apologize and also how to forgive

Son, these are simple lessons on how to live

And life is not easy, it can be quite hard

Keep your eyes on Christ & don’t be caught off guard

It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life

Like trusting in God & faithfully loving your wife

Like serving other people & devotion to the sword

The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior & Lord

the five of us

2010-10-22T20:57:00.001-07:00

We are a family of five now. Noah came home from the hospital this past week. Valeria and Noah are doing great. JJ & Eli are doing well transitioning to the changes at home.

Today we went on a walk for the first time as a family of five. It was our first time using the triple stroller.

family worship time

2010-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

We do this every night, unless it just gets too late. We read the Bible, we explain it, we pray, and then we sing. The boys are really beginning to learn a lot from it. We cannot wait until all five of us are together.

not feeling well

2010-08-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

We are 2 months away from the birth of JJ & Eli's little brother. They are so excited. As a family, we daily discuss what we all want to name him. It is a hard decision.

Last week, Eli had a fever for 2 days. This week JJ has the fever for 2 days. And now Momma has it. On top of that, JJ and Valeria both have pink eye. It has been some rough days around here.

Be praying for us all to heal up.

Lake pictures coming soon.

Ecuador

2010-06-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

JJ & Eli are in Quito, Ecuador.

This is their first trip to their Momma's homeland.

They are really enjoying it.

The first week was a mission trip, and the second week is vacation time with Momma's family in Quito.

If anyone is interested in getting updates of the trip, Daddy will be sending updates daily from the Pastor blog at fbcfairdale.org

that is fairdalepastor.fbcfairdale.org

Muchas Gracias!

a big step toward growing up

2010-06-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today on our Family Day Friday, Valeria and I took the boys to Bass Pro Shops to pick out their first fishing pole. All of us were so excited.

Tomorrow our church is having a picnic out by the lake and everyone is going to be fishing. In order for JJ & Eli to be true boys and become real men, they must learn to fish.

JJ chose the rod & reel for them. He chose the Cars Lightning McQueen fishing pole. It is made by Shakespeare and the man said it would be great for us to begin with. So we got it.

JJ & Eli are going to share it until the two of them know how to fish well enough on their own.

They are both under two & a half years old, but #3 is coming soon. So they need to grow up. Although Valeria and I do not like to see them growing up so quickly, this outing today was evidence that we cannot stop it. They have a fishing pole now, and they are growing up.

Valeria and I have one desire as they grow up... that they would be young men who fear and love Jesus. Help us pray for that.

Resurrection Celebration with Visit from Abuelitos (finally!)

2010-05-19T10:14:00.001-07:00

April was a busy month for us. We had the joy of having our family and other guests all throughout the month...and it all began with Easter weekend and the wonderful visit of JJ and Eli's Abuelitos, also known as Lito and Pika :)
Our weekend began with an Easter Egg Hunt at the church, which both our boys thoroughly enjoyed. Eli just playing with the plastic eggs and opening and closing them, and JJ by eating all the good stuff that was found inside! Josh had the privilege of sharing the Gospel to all the children that came to this event at our church. Here are some pictures and some videos of our kids at the hunt...

JJ did a good job searching for eggs and putting them in his basket, though at first he slowed down trying to open every egg and put every piece of candy in his mouth before continuing. I had to explain to him that he could have them "all" eventually and he just needed to keep hunting. :)

Here is a short video of Eli trying to grasp the idea that the eggs go in the bucket! :) Our sweet boy is growing and advancing in so many ways lately (he now places things neatly inside of a box or basket, stacks rings, etc.) Praise the Lord for that!

We shared the Easter story (one of our family favorites) from the Bible several times leading up to Resurrection Sunday, stressing to JJ in particular (who understands more) how Jesus had to come and die on the cross, but he rose again in victory! JJ has learned to say, every time he sees a cross, that "Jesus died on the cross for sin." And if you ask him if he stayed dead, he'll firmly say "no, he rose again!" Praise God for these words coming from our boy's mouth! One of his favorite songs during this season was the hymn-- "He arose...He arose....Hallelujah, Christ arose!" It is so sweet to hear his voice singing this throughout the day in our home.

Abuelitos arrived on Saturday and were able to celebrate the Resurrection with us at church and then with a potluck lunch at home with several other friends. Lito and Pika ended up staying until Thursday, which was such a nice long visit! The rest of the pictures are of their time with us, playing with their grandsons, going to the zoo, playing at the park, treating them to some ice cream and even teaching them some Ecuadorian geography! :) We love Lito and Pika!

THE BEACH!...our boys' first time seeing the ocean!

2010-04-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

We were so happy to take a trip to Florida in late March. We traveled to Jacksonville (a veeery long drive!) for Woody's wedding. Josh was a groomsman at his childhood friend's wedding, and JJ was the little ring bearer. The location of the wedding was really close to our boys' great grandparents' home in Ormond Beach, so we were delighted to spend several days visiting with them and relaxing at the beach- one of the most relaxing places we know! Here are several pictures (and videos at the end) of our mini family vacation.

These first pictures are of the very first time we took a walk on the beach. We were so excited to introduce our boys to one of God's most magnificent creations! They are testing out the wet sand and clinging to daddy for support. :)

It wasn't all that warm...actually, it was quite chilly and the water, of course, was still very very cold. Our boys didn't know quite what to think of it all at first...

Eli didn't seem to mind sitting on the wet sand from the beginning. He quickly found some seashells and of course, the rest of the trip was spent trying to keep them out of his mouth!

Both JJ and Eli greatly enjoyed playing the sand, digging and making castles with daddy. The picture above is one of our favorites-- huge, happy smiles, in spite of the windy, chilly conditions.

Woody and Kristi's wedding was beautiful and we were so happy to be a part of their special day! We just wish we lived closer to each other now! JJ looked so cute and loved playing with his little partner, the flower girl. It was great to see Josh's childhood friends and best buddies at the wedding, too.

The day before we had to leave to head back home, God gave us a beautiful, sunny day (after chilly, rainy days), so we quickly headed to the beach. JJ and Eli absolutely loved it this time!

Watching daddy about to fall

Like father, like son :)

It was still not hot hot and the water was still cold cold...I was surprised at our little JJ and how he bravely just took off towards the water

The only picture I was able to get of Eli with his sunglasses

Such wonderful memories to treasure, seeing my husband playing with his boys in the sand and all three of them having sooo much fun!

JJ's excited little yell! He really fell in love with the ocean and wanted to go to "la playa" all the time. The cold water was not intimidating to him at all. He kept telling daddy he wanted more and go further in, and everytime the water hit him he would yell, "COLD WATER!" and laugh and laugh. It was the cutest thing!

Eli went in the water with daddy, but definitely preferred crawling around the sand, finding seashells, digging and putting seashells and sand in his little mouth! :)

We were also able to enjoy some time by the pool. The water here wasn't warm either, but JJ especially did not mind, again. He still wanted to put his feet/legs in it and splash happily.

Brothers playing with Buzz Lightyear by the pool

Eli deciding to test the water :)

Such a happy boy!

Mami having fun with her boys by the pool

Serious faces

We went for a walk along the beach after our eventful beach day and got this great picture of the men in my life!

These were all attempts to get a good shot of our boys together at the beach with their cute outfits sent from Papaw and Mamaw in Charlotte.

JJ following the footsteps of a speedwalker on our walk...look at his little arms go!

Another attempt...

JJ smiling big now that he's free!

Eli left behind

Finally a decent shot!

We waited too late to try for a picture with mami.

This was the first time Eli met his great grandparents...and he absolutely loved them!

Our boys enjoyed their great grandparents sooo much...from sitting on their laps, being chased by them, being fed bananas and animal crackers by them, playing with the toys they got them, playing in their car, playing with their musical stuffed animals on their bed, etc...

We love Papaw and Mamaw and are so thankful for all their love towards us and our boys! We miss you both already!!!

JJ, visiting great grandma's friends and neighbors :)

We were able to stop by the Jacksonville Zoo on our way back to Louisville. Our boys absolutely love animals and the zoo is one of their favorite places to go, so we were excited to take them to a different zoo.

This zoo was beautiful! It was really neat how everything was elevated and you could see the animals from all different angles. The elephants are always a favorite of our boys.

We were all introduced to Bonobos. We had never heard of these monkeys, but they were so much fun to watch!

The highlight of this zoo trip for JJ was getting to feed the giraffes. He bravely walked up with his little branches and fed the giraffe all by himself! He was proud of himself, too! :)

JJ trying to navigate us around the zoo

Eli just waiting for us to get going

JJ didn't seem too scared at the big snake, but he kept pointing and saying, "look mami, that's scary!"

The following are 2 videos of our boys in the water. The first is just of JJ and his first experience ever with the ocean. He ran towards it, excited, but when the water (which was freezing, by the way!) hit him, I made the mistake of telling him to run and that caused him to fall in the freezing water, which made him cry...

JJ's next experience in the water was much better. It was a warmer day and he could not get enough of it. He kept yelling, "mas, mas, daddy!" and "cold water! with a big laugh"...he did not mind the coldness and just wanted to go deeper. Eli didn't mind it for a while. He didn't show much expression at first, but he was all smiles when he got to play in the sand. (This second video cuts off, so we apologize for that, but we had our hands full with two little boys in the water)

Sacos de la Abuelita...Sweaters made by Abuelita

2010-03-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

We were soooo excited to recieve these beautiful sweaters in the mail this past week! Abuelita worked hard to make her grandsons such comfy, soft, good-looking sweaters! JJ and Eli wore them proudly to church today and we had a little photo shoot outside since the weather was so nice. I find it so difficult to take a good picture of the boys together, so the only one I have is the one above of JJ giving his little brother a kiss (Eli had fallen and hurt his head a little while earlier). Gracias Pika for the sweaters which are sooo special and meaningful to us. It is like the boys are wearing your love! :) Te queremos, Pika!!!

Eeeewy! :)

2010-02-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

JJ started calling Eli what sounded like "E-i" at first, but it gradually evolved into what has stuck now for months and months- "Eeewy." It sounds so cute coming from JJ's mouth and we have all adopted the same name to call Eli...at least for now! :) Eli is such a sweet, happy baby. He is becoming more and more mobile, crawling fast, pulling up, cruising...always following his big brother around the house. The picture above is what I find when I go get Eli in the mornings or after naptime. I took a picture just like this of JJ in his crib when he was about the same age. My boys' smiles make my day everyday!

Eli loves bathtime! Our boys have been taking a bath together for quite sometime now. Eli still just wants to drink the water and ends up with a cute bubbble goatee :)

Often, when JJ is in the bath with him and daddy is being silly playing with his boys, Eli gets an "uh-oh, help me!" kind of look...

...but it always turns into a smile!

Praise God for a house full of happy, fun boys!!!

Presentando a JJ cantando "Cristo Me Ama" ("Jesus Loves Me" in Spanish...featuring JJ!)

2010-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Le cantamos a JJ la cancion "Cristo Me Ama" cada noche antes de ponerle a dormir. Hace varias semanas, comenzaron a cantarla en ingles en su escuela dominical. Por un tiempo el la cantaba en Spanglish, diciendo, "Cristo me ama, this I know..." :) Ultimamente le he oido cantarla completamente en espaniol, solito, mientras juega por la casa. Este no es el mejor video, ya que JJ nota cuando saco la camara y no "coopera" :) Pero creo que si pueden oir casi toda la cancion. Se que los abuelitos en especial estaran orgullosos. Esperamos que muy pronto nuestra casa se llene de dos vocecitas cantando esta linda cancion acerca del amor de Jesus.

We sing "Jesus Love Me" in Spanish to JJ every night before bed. Several weeks ago, they started singing it in English, of course, in JJ's Sunday School class. For a while there, he was a little confused and sang the song in Spanglish, saying, "Cristo me ama, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..." :) Lately, we have heard him singing this song entirely in Spanish at random times, as he plays throughout the house. It is such a joy to hear these words coming out of our little boy's mouth! JJ knows when I bring out the camera to film, and he doesn't always cooperate with me, but I think you can hear his sweet voice singing this well-known song in this short video. We can't wait til our home is filled with two little voices singing out this song!

Brothers at Play

2010-02-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

Seeing how our two boys gradually play with each other more and more just makes our days so much brighter! Now that Eli is crawling, they spend a good amount of time together playing in any room of the house. I hear JJ talking, Eli laughing and my heart fills with contentment at those sounds! God is so good in giving us two sweet boys and we pray that they will grow up loving each other, taking care of eachother, and having fun with eachother for the years to come. Here is a short video of our two boys busy at play in Eli's room...

Krispy Kreeeeme!!! :)

2010-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

We don't live too close to a Krispy Kreme in Fairdale (this is a place where you get delicious hot doughnuts, for those who don't know) and since it has been on our minds these past couple of days, we decided to give our boys a special treat today for breakfast. All of their original doughnuts were heart-shaped for Valentine's Day. We got JJ a special doughnut covered in red and pink sprinkles. Eli did not get to have one, though daddy did give him a bit of the icing. :) (We know that Eli will have his fair share of doughnuts when he gets a little older!) Here is a video of our boys (primarily JJ) enjoying Krispy Kreme:

Meeting up with old dear friends and sisters!

2010-02-08T12:11:00.001-08:00

Over the Christmas holiday, we were able to meet up with some wonderful friends and sisters in Christ, Joy and Tara. These two girls were in my wedding and got married the same year I did. They now have children as well, and it was such a joy to meet their little ones and have our kids interact for a little bit. I miss these girls so much, but thank God for them and their godly influence in my life! I can't wait til we meet again!

Peyton is Joy's oldest girl who is a little older than JJ. Too bad Raegan, Joy's youngest girl, was asleep so unable to be in our pictures.

Such a challenge to get the kids posing for a picture!

Eli did well in this shot, the two oldest were done! :)

Peyton is a pretty girl!

My brother, Andres, caught this candid shot of us visiting with Tara and her 1-year old boy, Stephen. JJ was too entranced with the snow and wanting to play with it that we barely caught his attention with some gadget for this quick second.

Tara and I with our babies

Baby Stephen has some beautiful blue eyes!

Thank you girls for making the effort to meet up with us! I love you and think of you all often!

Golazo!

2010-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

JJ got a soccer goal for Christmas from his tio Andres and tia Kim and he has so much fun with it! This video was from back around Christmas time when we had just put up the goal. He also learned a new word from tio- "golazo!" Eli also had fun with the goal...with abuelito's help. We are getting ready for the World Cup in the Greene home! We just can't wait!

We have a crawling baby!!!!

2010-02-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Our firstborn JJ never crawled, he went straight to walking, having cruised for months. We wondered if our little Eli would do the same. However for several weeks already, he has been showing signs that he is almost there-- almost about to take off! He had been lunging forward, scooting backward and getting around like that...until today. Going after the remote control, which always catches his attention, he took off going forward and started crawling!!! We are so proud of our "big little boy"! :) He's not a speed crawler quite yet, but I think I am thankful for that at the moment!

Fun in the Snow!!

2010-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago, we got a good amount of snow here in Louisville. It was beautiful!! Everything was covered in white, glistening and so peaceful! Of course, we went out to play, and then went inside to make snowmen-shaped decorated sugar cookies. Though JJ has been out in the snow 2 or more times already, this was the first time, I believe he really enjoyed it...Eli still needs a few more doses of it!

JJ did not hesitate as soon as he got outside. He immediately started walking in it, feeling it fall...

...trying to catch it...

...Eli just sat there, wondering what all the fuss was about! :)

Daddy came out to play and of course, the boys always love it when Daddy plays with them!

JJ bravely tried sledding with daddy

On the other hand, Eli seemed to say, "Iiii don't know about this, daddy"

But he was encouraged by his big brother, who he loves and already tries to imitate!

Mami with her boys

Eli was happy when we helped him stand in the snow, rather than sit in it

My sweet big boy

Daddy taking JJ on a sled ride...JJ absolutely loved this! Daddy went around the yard, faster and faster, and JJ just kept asking for more!

This fun had its falls!...JJ didn't mind :)

Mami and JJ's first snow angels!

JJ getting up for more fun

This video is very dark...you actually can't see much at all. I was about to not post it, but Josh encouraged me to add it. I guess it will be mainly for the abuelitos/grandparents. Its cute to hear JJ's little voice laughing, acting like he is on a choo-choo train and asking for more-- mas!

JJ is TWO!!! JJ tiene DOS anios!!!

2010-01-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

Wow! Time has flown by! We have now had our little JJ in our lives and home for 2 whole years! It is so hard to believe, and yet we thank God so much for these 2 years and look forward with anticipation as to what He will do with our little boy's life in the coming years. We pray that very soon he will come to know Jesus as his most prized treasure. JJ fills our home with so much joy and happiness...we cannot imagine life without him! Having now hit the 2-year mark, JJ is talking non-stop, still some "baby talk" but gradually evolving into more and more sentences and full, concentrated conversations. He is such a sweet boy, daddy and mami have to keep themselves from wanting to pick him up and kiss him all the time! :) And he is a wonderful big brother, already helping with Eli and playing with him. Whenever our two boys see eachother, they both immediately start laughing and smiling...it just fills our hearts! JJ continues to love balls; he loves to dunk the basketball, swing his baseball bat, and lately he has gotten very much into kicking his soccer ball into his new goal. He has also started singing all the time, by himself, as he plays, in Spanish and in English...or sometimes in both! :) We could say a lot about our precious 2-year-old, but we will get to the pictures, so you can relive with us JJ's birthday preparations and party. We missed family, but were so glad to have JJ's abuelitos here to celebrate with us. They were very helpful and added even more smiles and laughter to our celebration!

JJ finger-painted his home-made birthday party invitations. Our theme was firefighter/trucks, which have always fascinated JJ. He always runs to the window when he hear a siren and points to the firetrucks everytime we drive by the station.

Painting with "Pika's" help

Soooo concentrated

"oooooohhhh! Mira pika!"

Mami trying to control the messy paint

The finished invitations, ready to be mailed.

We can't have a birthday party without a pinata (something we grew up with no matter where we lived). JJ and Abuelito worked on stuffing the firetruck pinata...

...and of course, they had to taste some of the goodies, while they worked! :)

Happy waking boy the morning of his birthday. Daddy and mami walked in the room singing to him, which started a day full of smiles.

Practicing blowing out a candle on his birthday pancake...daddy had to help.

"Cuantos anios tienes, JJ?" "DOS!" :)

"Que sera, abuelitos?!"..."like it!"

Making this firetruck cake was so much fun! I am starting to get the grasp of this! :)

Singing happy birthday to you... JJ surprised us by blowing out his birthday candle on cue all by himself!!

JJ went straight to picking out all the M&Ms on his birthday cupcake and then the frosting :)

"mmm....this good!"

Sweet Ashley celebrated her 22nd birthday, along with JJ. Here is mami with the birthday boy and girl.

Playing pass the parcel

"pass the parcel, JJ, pass it!"

JJ tearing off a layer and finding a surprise!...Luke was the big winner.

JJ's friend Aiden playing with JJ's new blow up toy. Thanks Papaw and Mamaw and Aunt Ginger and Uncle Vinnie and Patrick and Lilly!

Pinata time!!!

Eye on the target...

back, step, and...

swing it! Yeyyy JJ!

The coloring table was a bit hit with all of JJ's dear youth friends/babysitters! :)

The big surprise of the night was getting a visit from the real Fairdale firefighters in their firetruck!

They dressed up with all their gear to show the kids that they shouldn't be afraid of them and explained to the kids (and adults) what they needed to do in case of a fire. Very informative.

JJ went up to say thank you and immediately verbalized what was really on his mind, "see big firetruck?"

so, in spite of the cold, we spent a good while outside admiring the shiny big firetruck

Our little firefighter!

JJ's friend Luke

JJ got to see all the gadgets in the firetruck, and even hear the loud siren!

JJ's friend Adrianne

JJ knows that being a firefighter is a serious job! :)

I realized we didnt get many pictures at all of baby brother Eli during the party, so I had to take this one at home to show that Eli really did join in the fun with the firefighter/truck birthday party.

Making up songs!

2010-01-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

JJ, Eli & Daddy make up songs on a daily basis. Whatever is on their minds is what comes out in the form of a song. JJ and Eli especially like it when this happens. Here is just one of the many. It is so cute to hear JJ sing it.

Eli gets it goin'
JJ starts a showin'
All o' sudden I'm glowin'
and everybody's knowin' (we usually repeat this several times)

I'm so happy
I'm so proud,
and I'm so glad to be your dad. (this is the chorus)