"My Need to Get Strong!"

Quote of the day:

Tait Jr. (3): "Mommy, my have my egg now, please?"

Me: "Oh, I'm so sorry honey! You said you didn't want it, so I ate it."

Tait Jr.: "But my need my egg! My need to get strong! My need to grow up!"

I assured him that he'd grow up just fine without that egg.

Especially since he'd already had 

a whole big waffle 

and three other eggs.... :D

Showing me his strong muscles : )

- Posted using BlogPress from my Super Handy iPhone

Brothers, Best Friends...

(...and sometimes worst enemies.

But that's not what this post is about.)

After pretending to feed his brother dinner in the high chair (with imaginary food), Tait Jr. (3) pretends to put his little brother Miles (2) to sleep in the rocker.

"Yours ting a tong."

"What song?"

"Yours ting a Jesus God tong. No, yours ting a David tong.

'Bout David kill da bad duy."

Then I heard a soft sing-songy (or is it "ting-tongy"?) voice from a little boy, singing his brother to sleep:

"David kill da bad duy.

David kill da bad duy! 

David kill da bad duy...."

These little guys melt my heart at least fifty times a day!

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I won't even mention how long it's been since I posted last. (And don't you dare look back to see.) There are a million and one things to post ... which is probably why I haven't posted at all. :D There are four posts in the works right now, and now that I feel like I have a handle (more or less) on all of my wifely and motherly duties, you'll hopefully be seeing more of me. : )

- Posted using BlogPress from my Super Handy iPhone

From Mommy to Her 3-Year-Old on His Birthday

Today is always a special day for me, full of special memories surrounding Little Tait's birth. While it's sometimes difficult looking back at his rough start...

...really, what I mainly remember are all of the precious moments of early motherhood.

Little Tait's 1st Birthday
If I look tired, it's because I also had a 5-week-old. :D

Dear Little Tait,

You have grown into such a big boy overnight! It seems like just yesterday you couldn't even put your own shoes on, and now not only are you slipping into your boots yourself, but you're even helping your little brother with his!

Yes, you are certainly my little helper. And what a wonderful helper you are! You're always ready to run an errand or do a job for Mommy ... throwing away the baby's dirty diapers, fetching the wipes, searching for a lost pacifier, comforting Matthew when he cries, cleaning up the toys, wiping up a spill on the floor, putting away the clean silverware in the drawer, setting the table, emptying the waste baskets ... and the list grows longer every day.

It melts my heart to see you interact with your baby brother. You are so gentle, sweet, and loving; and when you talk to Matthew in that high-pitched voice that you reserve only for babies, it always makes me smile.

Your fascination with snow, airplanes, tools, hymnbooks, computers, and all "workin' trucks" is so much fun, and we enjoy seeing everyday events transformed into exciting new experiences as we watch them through your young 3-year-old eyes.

I feel like Daddy and I have gotten to know you on a whole new level recently. It's so exciting to actually be able to carry on conversations with you, and your constant chatter brightens every second (yes, every second) of every day. You are like a little sponge, absorbing every detail of what goes on around you, even when we think you aren't paying attention. This was never more evident than the other day, when we were talking about God's creation.

Me: "Taiter, God made Mommy and Daddy, and you and Miles and Matthew. What are some other things God made?"
You, looking out the window: "God made the trees..... My not eat apples from there."

It had been months since Daddy read Genesis to us during evening devotions, and we had no idea you even grasped what Daddy was saying. What a good lesson for Daddy and me, reminding us how much you pick up on!

We look forward to seeing what God has in store for you in your fourth year of life! Daddy plans to take you to work with him more, as you're getting to be such a big boy now, and Mommy looks forward to helping you learn more colors, letters, and numbers! I think potty training would be a good thing to wrap up sometime soon too. :D

We love you, and constantly pray that God would give us the wisdom, patience, and perseverance to train you up to serve Him!

~Mommy

With his brothers and great-grandfather,
who was a bomber pilot in WWII,
flying more missions
than nearly any other pilot

Head over to the Little Tait Foundation for Preemie Aid for another blog post in honor of Little Tait's birthday, and some thoughts from my hubby!

Tait Jr.: Builder, Big Brother, and All Boy

He asked me to "build tower" with him. He said he wanted a "big tower." And he wanted the Lego man on it too. And he wanted to use all the "Wego's."

So, even though I'm desperately trying to clean the house and fold the laundry in between toddler meals and snacks, diapers changes and potty training, baby feedings, husband helpmeeting, work on one of our new ministry projects, and a million and one other things...

... we did.

And he was proud. So we took a picture to show Daddy, with the tower we built together and the tower he built all by himself.

Little Tait has grown up before my eyes! He's learned to talk (and utilizes his new-found skill quite often), learned to dress himself, learned to somersault.... And yet, it seems like almost yesterday he was in the hospital, struggling just to breathe. On the other hand, somehow it seems like he's always been here with us, that there was never life without him. I guess that's almost true, since we'd only had 6 months of married life before he surprised us 3 months earlier than expected. It's hard to believe that, come November, he'll be 3 years old already!

Just in the last 7 weeks, he's learned to be a big brother, too.

It was note quite 8 months after his due date that his first little brother arrived, and Little Tait and Miles have grown up more like twins than big and little brothers. So, in a way, this is his first experience big-brothering a baby.

Little Tait loves Matthew. Devotedly. He brings him toys, tries to comfort him when he cries ("Happy! Happy, baby!" or a gentle "shhhhh"), and asks to "holdum" at every opportunity. He's learned how to be gentle (well, most of the time)....

He thought the flash in his eyes was "punny" [funny].

He suggests reasons why his little brother might be crying - "Miss Papa? Miss Papa, baby?" (when Papa was out of town recently), "Tummy hurt, Mom?" "Eat, Mom? Wants milk?"

He's fascinated when I lay Matthew on a blanket on the floor and set up books for him to look at; he even recreates the setup for himself later to lie on the blanket and look at books. And he reads books to Matthew, showing him his favorite objects in the Richard Scarry books. "Pickle car, baby?"


He's becoming a wonderful little helper, running lots of little errands for me throughout the day and helping with the care of his younger brothers.

I look forward to what God has in store for this young man as he continues to grow and learn! And I thank Lord that He has entrusted us with the daunting and humbling task of raising and training little arrows for His kingdom!

Why, hello there!

Note the dirt and grime on that grubby, boyish face. : )

Happy Father's Day to Our Daddy!!!

Hi, this is Tait Jr., Miles, and Matthew. We want to tell you about our daddy.

He's the best daddy in the whole world! He takes us exploring outside and teaches us how to fix things with our tools and stuff like that. He even lets us help him sometimes!

On Thursdays, we go to work with Daddy. When he's working at home, our job is to get papers out of the printer for him. That's fun!

Daddy's job is to raise us up to serve God and accomplish great things for Him. We are very thankful for a Daddy who loves us, loves God, and loves our Mommy.

We love you, Daddy!

On This Day in Our First Pregnancy...

...Little Tait was born!

27 weeks and 1 day today!!!

It adds a whole new dimension to this pregnancy, being able to visualize exactly what this little guy is like at this point - approximately 2 1/2 pounds, 14 inches long, fully formed with transparent skin, able to cry, able to survive, able to grow up, able to bring immeasurable joy to his parents! He looks something like this ...

...just, minus all of the cords, wires, sensors, goofy goggles, tape, diaper, and IV's. Instead, thankfully this little guy is snuggled safely inside of Mommy right now, right where he should be! : )

And this is what little preemies look like at 2 years old, helping Mommy make peanut butter honey cookies when they should be in bed, but instead get up with a messy diaper and are just too cute for Mommy to resist.... ;D

(Yes, that cookie in the front row is missing part of itself. Apparently a whole sheet of cookie dough within easy reach is too much for 2-year-old little boys to resist.) ;D

It is so exciting to make it past this point in this pregnancy for me! It means that we will not have an exact - or worse - repeat of our first pregnancy and delivery. Every week - every day! - this little one gets stronger and stronger, better able to survive outside of Mommy!

We are now 2 weeks past the point when we started having issues with pregnancy #2 and had to go on semi-bedrest. Everything looks good, and our hope is growing stronger and stronger for a full-term baby this time around, by God's grace!

I'll upload a tummy picture tomorrow (we don't do bare tummies here, so don't worry ;D)! Today was strictly a day for housecleaning and preparation for a restful Sabbath tomorrow (and, of course, any random things Tait needed help with throughout the day)! So yeah ... you don't want to see a picture today. ;P

Today Was Little Tait's Due Date!

Yes, our first little guy was due on February 4, 2 years ago (9 months and 1 day after our wedding :D). But of course, he came a little earlier than that. It's hard to believe that we spent the entire time from November 6 (just 6 months and 3 days after our wedding) until a few days from now in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with him that year!

I'm reminded every February 4 just how long that time in the hospital was, and just how thankful we were to be nearing the time when we could bring him home!

November 6, the day he was born

February 6, 2 days after his due date, the day we brought him home!

Just about two years later, sampling Mommy's

ginger molasses cookie dough

The website for the Little Tait Foundation for Preemie Aid will be coming soon! Visit the LTFPA on facebook, and be sure to "like" the page! An anonymous donor is donating $1 for every "like" until the end of the month, up to $500! (You can also "like" the LTFPA facebook page on the right sidebar of this blog!)

Blessings to all of you from the Zimmerman Family!

Happy Birthday Tait!

Exactly 24 years ago today, an amazing man was born. The Lord has done such an incredible work in my husband's life, and I am so blessed to be his helpmeet! He is passionate about actively serving the Lord, completely devoted to his family, and firmly committed to furthering the cause of Christ! I can't wait to see how God uses Tait to advance His kingdom in the years to come!

Using the word visionary to describe my husband would be a severe understatement. He is constantly (and yes, I mean constantly!) thinking of new ideas - new business ventures to provide for his family, new methods to encourage other men to serve the Lord, new ways to advance God's kingdom, and new ministry ideas to meet needs and glorify God.

As many of you know, our first baby, Little Tait, was born very early at 27 weeks along, weighing 2 1/2 pounds. I think that any parent who faces a situation like this with their own child has, from then on, a very special place in their heart for other families in similar situations. We were incredibly blessed, and witnessed the beauty of the body of Christ as fellow Christians stepped up to support us both financially and spiritually.

We are in the process of launching a non-profit organization to minister financially to Christian families of preemies. Stay tuned to see how you can help other families who are facing the financial burdens which accompany their early new blessing!

For more information, visit the
Little Tait Foundation for Preemie Aid
on facebook, and be sure to "Like" our page!

Official website coming soon!!!

Happy birthday Tait! I love you, and look forward to serving you as you serve the Lord for many years to come!

As They Always Are...

Miles ... happy, adorable, and "S'miling"

Don't take me too seriously on that; even he has his moments. ;D

But he is, in general, a very smiley and happy boy! He's always jolly, though a little subdued, when he wakes up - even on those rare occasions when I have to wake him up from his long, 4-hour afternoon naps. : )

_____________________________________________

Little Tait ... as he always is...

...fixing something.

And, not so much as he always is (intense) - but adorable, just the same! :D His mouth is always messy when he's at Grandma's house though, as he is here. : )

I know they won't always be this way - small ... snuggly ... young ... demanding.... ;D

But I do hope they will always be curious, exploring, learning, and growing!

One of Tait's (and my!) huge passions is creating a lifelong love of learning in our children. We want them to understand that their learning won't end once their "formal schooling" is completed! We want them to constantly be studying new things, learning new things, and exploring new things ... just like they do now!

I'm realizing that my little guys are growing up - Little Tait graduated to a toddler bed last night (*tear*); he sorts silverware into the appropriate dividers when we empty the drainer, transfers laundry from the washer to the dryer (if I help him open the door, and if he doesn't get distracted with the light toggle button), and is learning to set the table. Miles has finally decided that maybe walking isn't such a dumb idea after all. And he's finally learning that his favorite pastime of pulling all of the tissues out of the box and stuffing them back in again ... isn't such a great idea.

I'm cherishing this time when they're small, and looking forward to a few months from now, when I'll be snuggling a newborn in addition to these two little monkeys!

A Boy and His Boots

For some reason, he wanted to take his shirt off and put his boots on this afternoon. That boy's got style! He's pretty good at posing for the camera too. : )

Thank you for the awesome bear boots, Grandma Z!

Sorry about the wadded up tissue in the background. We all have colds now. Oops!

Are They Boys or Monkeys?

They spent the afternoon climbing up the back the couch to watch the moths (they're the new fascination around here). The Big One also enjoyed crashing down onto the cushions as soon as the top was reached. But Mommy soon put a stop to that, since it definitely seemed to qualify as Furniture Abuse.

And when that ugly old green couch gets replaced with nice "new" leather Craigslist couches, Furniture Abuse will be a very serious offense around here.

Little Tait modeling his new "Camera Smile"

Hmmm ... I Knew Things Were too Quiet!

This is a first. (Not that our bathroom doesn't usually look at least a little messy, but that's the first time an entire roll of toilet paper has been unrolled.)

The weird thing is that his big brother helped him with this one. Little Tait knows that unrolling the toilet paper is off limits, and is very obedient, but sometime when his little brother starts on something, the peer pressure is just too hard to resist.

Might there be a little bit of guilt on that face? : )

Pajamas, Dog-Dogs, and the Outdoors

The Pajama Boy brought me his shoes early this morning, wanting to play outside with his "dog-dog." Such a cutie!



Please excuse our yard. Our property was abandoned for 40 years before I we got it, and we're still working on cleaning it up! : )

Life Happens, Time Flies, and They Keep Growing

Yes, we're still here! We didn't give up on this poor blog right after we started it. Between working until 5am many nights to finish up the house, moving in (yahoo! ... more on that later), and helping Ashley (Tait's sister) with her wedding, there just hasn't been much blogging time! We have high hopes that we'll have more time soon (we both tend to be hopeless optimists). :D

For now, here are a few pictures to hold you over....

Best Buds

Such a sweet big brother!

Just playin'

Goofball

"Adventure, here I come!"





"Um, I think that's my key right there."
"No, actually, that one's mine."

"Help! Mom?"

"Never mind. I'll take care of it myself."