Henry is 3!

Two weeks ago we celebrated Henry's 3rd birthday. We can't believe how much he has grown and learned since last year. Our sweetest memories were hearing Henry say, "I love you!" and "I missed you!" for the first times. It is such a joy to see more and more of his personality and abilities. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has planned for him and are praying that Henry will have a tender heart for Jesus. Here are a few highlights from his birthday party with Nate's side of the family at George Lake. Henry has become quite the little swimmer and loved spending the day in the water with his daddy and going on a pontoon ride.


OK, so this was at our house. He opened his presents before church and was very excited to tell our pastor that he got a fork for his birthday...we did give him some other things, too!


Trying to steal some frosting off the cake.

Henry discovered his cousin Charlotte's goggles on the pontoon and had fun trying to wear them. You can tell from the chocolate on his face that he was also snacking on a cookie.

Pool Fun

On a hot day last week, the pool was closed for supper and it was really hot, so Henry and I drove to the local hardware store and bought a (way over-priced) plastic pool. Henry was so excited that he took off his clothes in the front yard while we filled the up the pool and jumped in! He kept asking Nate to take his shirt off and jump in, "Daddy, (sun)glasses off, shirt off, pop down (Nate had a Coke in his hand."







Megan came over and played with Henry last week. She brought her fun sprinkler along, too!

Family

Henry loved having Cousin Megan spend the day with us a few weeks ago. Megan came with some special Kool-Aid which they enjoyed on the porch together.


Cheers!


I couldn't resist taking these pictures - you can tell it was getting close to bedtime for both of them.

Playing with Water

Henry loves playing the garden hose. A few weeks ago he helped Nate wash the car and ended up chasing his mom and dad with the hose! I got drenched when Henry was helping me plant flowers - it was more fun to surprise Mom with a cold spray from the hose.


Doesn't he look dangerous?



Nate hiding from Henry.


Keep away...


He didn't even think twice about trying to spray me and the camera!

Fishing

I'm catching up so these pictures are from a few weekends ago at Mama and Bapa A's place. Henry caught his first fish, which he thought was very exciting (we did, too).


Excited to head down to the dock - Dad has the fishing gear.


Our little fisherman.



Reeling in a fish.


There's another fish.


Posing with Uncle Jeff and the fish.


Getting ready to say goodbye to Mr. Fish - Henry preferred just to watch.

Walter's Birthday

We celebrated the April and May birthdays with Nate's family at the lake a few weekends ago. We wish we could have celebrated with him in person, but we know he had a special day with his foster family.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

Henry does and says funny little things and I want to make sure I don't forget them.


The three of us were hanging out in the family room when Henry left to go into the kitchen. He came back wearing my sunglasses and holding my keys, "Okay, bye guys."


Nate bought 2 Nerf guns for the two of them to play with together. Henry discovered that they stick to your forehead and thought it was pretty funny.

Yesterday, Henry and I sat on the front steps eating Popsicles. As we walked up the stairs to go inside, he lost his balance. I dropped the stuff in my hands to grab him and then stopped to pick up everything. He ran ahead of me, closed the storm door and locked the latch! He looked up and smiled at me through the window.

"Henry, you need to unlock the door and open it right now." Instead of opening the door, he turned and closed the front door too!

Thankfully, I could get in through the garage door. "Oh, hi Mom. Come in," was his greeting!!

And there's more...every morning, Henry comes into our room when he wakes up and climbs into bed with us. This morning I got up and found his bedroom door open and his bed empty! I went downstairs and found him in the family room. "Hi, Mom. This one," he said, holding up a DVD he wanted to watch. I told him we could do that later.

"More cookies." After Henry went to bed last night, I made chocolate chip cookies and put the dough in the freezer. I walked into the kitchen ahead of him and found the freezer door open. "How many of these cookie dough balls have you had?" I asked him. He held up his fingers one at a time (which is a first)and counted off, "One. Two. Three. Four." Sure enough - there were 4 missing.

A few minutes later, I went out the kitchen door and through the garage to let Kenda out and get the paper. I made it to the garage door and heard a click. Yep, he had locked me out again! Thankfully, I managed to talk him into opening the door this time. I guess I'll have to carry my keys and cell phone at all times now!