Bye Honda!

 

We said "Goodbye" to our Honda this week.  We have fond memories of this car throughout Southern Seminary.  For a few years in our marriage, we only had 1 car.  Our dear friends from Cedarville and at Southern with us gave us this car.  It was such a sweet gift and one we have never forgotten.  As we have gotten our van now, we had to say goodbye to our Honda.  We will never forget the generosity of these friends or how the Lord provided for us through them!

 

Josiah Patrick Lyons- 1 Month Old!

 

 Josiah is 1 month old today already!  He is a sweet calm little guy so far! 

Since we were so busy with Josiah's birth- I wanted to give you a further background of the little guy and how we chose his name.

 

Josiah
"Josiah" is named for two different reasons. First, his name is a Hebrew "Yahwehistic" name, that is, his name includes the divine name of God (Yahweh) in the Bible. In Hebrew it is pronounced Yoshiyahu- Daddy wants to call his nickname- "Yoshi" but the kids have been calling him- Siah.  We desire all of our children to have a Yahwehistic name that reminds them they belong to Yahweh God.

The second reason is that Josiah is named after King Josiah found in 2 Kings 22-23. Josiah was the boy king (8 years old!) and was one of the few kings who led the people to repent and return to Yahweh. He brought religious reform to the land and renewed the right worship of God. 2 Kings 23:25 summarizes his reign this way, "There was no king like him before who had turned back to Yahweh with all his heart and soul and might, according to all the teaching of Moses; and after him no one like him arose." We pray Josiah will be a man who is marked by repentance and leading others to return to Yahweh, the true God.

PatrickJosiah's middle name is Patrick, named for one of our great missionary heroes of the faith, Patrick of Ireland. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the last decades of the 4th century and died somewhere around 461 A.D. It was a time when the Roman empire was declining and soon fell apart. He was born in a wealthy family, but was kidnapped by (pre-)Irish bandits when he was 16. After being enslaved for 6-7 years, Patrick escaped and returned to Britain. At some point later he believed God wanted him to return to Ireland and evangelize the people group who had taken him captive. Despite much pressure from others to resist, Patrick went and never returned to Britain. He suffered great hardship, persecutions, and even personal betrayal--yet Patrick stayed focused on spreading the glory of God to the people of Ireland. What allowed Patrick to persevere? In his Confessions, section 34, he states, "God taught me to trust in him always without hesitation." We pray that our Josiah Patrick will spread the fame of God to the nations no matter what happens, that he too would learn to trust Yahweh God without hesitation.

 

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

 

Josiah's Hymn: 

We have chosen a hymn for each of our children to sing to them at bedtime that also becomes our prayer for them!

 

All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name

All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ Name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all!

 

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all!

 

Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all!

 

Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all!

 

 

 



Some Visitors...

 We miss having Mom-Mom here this week.  She read lots of books to the kids and held Josiah a lot!  I think he is going through withdrawal this week as he is not being held much!

 My good friend Sara Fillmann came to visit us with her sweet family last week!

Sarah Brown joined us as well- it was a fun visit with my two sweet friends! 

Wish we all got together more often!

 Sara's sweet kiddos- Eric and Kirsten- they were so sweet with Jeremiah and Lydia.

I think Lydia has found a buddy!  :)

The First Few Weeks...

 A few pictures from Josiah's first few days and few weeks at home with us! 

 Lydia is my little  helper- wanting to hold him and more importantly help change his diaper all the time while she changes her babies diapers.  She is a good little helper! :)

 The boys- wanting to roar- Josiah does not know what to think about this yet. :) 

Those crazy Lyons' boys.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week is my first week on my own after my mom left.  Yesterday, things were crazy but it went ok and we even managed to get the laundry done and put away.  Today was a little bit crazier.  We went to the Library story time which actually went pretty well and then we wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by going to IHOP to get free pancakes if we wore green.  We all got dressed in our green- we made it there and I nursed Josiah while we waited for a seat.  He then pooped all over his green outfit and me and I tried to change him while we were waiting.  The kids were jumping all over the place.  A dear couple saw us and said "hi" and talked with the kids.  We made it to our seats- the waitress said the pancakes were not free at this particular IHOP- I almost burst into tears but made it ok.  We ordered and Lydia literally cried the whole time we were waiting for our pancakes.  I was hoping to meet a friend to talk a little and she couldn't come which was fine just disappointing.  At some point while we were waiting- that dear little old World War II veteran pushed his little walker and found where I was seated- asked where my husband was and I told him he was at work, then he told me that I was a good little mama and said he was going to pay for my meal!  I literally burst into tears and told him he didn't have to but thank you.  We later found that dear man and his wife and I just thanked them and tried not to cry!  The Lord's kindness was evident today and I am so thankful!  It was just the kindness that I needed on a particularly hard and discouraging day. 

 So maybe the afternoon did not go any better- I didn't nap hardly at all as Josiah was up and Lydia cried and then by the time they settled down, Jeremiah was up- but God's gracious kindness was evident today!

Mother/Son Date Night

So the Thursday night before I was going to deliver Josiah- I took Jeremiah to Chick-fil-A for a Mother/Son Date Knight- the theme was Knights and Castles.  It was perfect timing and we had a lot of fun- little did I know I was going to be delivering the next day.  Jeremiah had a lot of fun and Chick-fil-A even gave us questions to talk about being brave, knights and all kinds of things! 

Sleepy Days...

Pop-Pop & Mom-Mom to the Rescue...

 This week Mom-Mom is here helping us out!  We are thankful for an extra hand around here!

My dad came for the weekend and left early Monday morning- now mom is here to help until Saturday.

Josiah is sleeping and eating and doing lots of Newborn things- he is the least active one around here.

Jeremiah and Lydia have lots of energy! 

The First Week... In a Nutshell...

It has been a whirlwind of a week here...  we are thankful for so many things- thankful for God's perfect timing of this little one as this week Michael has spring break from Xavier and he has been GREAT- truly Mr. Mom- though he is ready for me to take my role back. :)  He has been getting the kids up and dressed and fed in the morning so I can go back to sleep for a few more winks and he has been doing laundry, folding, dishes, cleaning- lots of help!  We could not have done this first week without the help of SO many dear people from church who have been taking the kids some each morning to give me and Michael a break- it has truly been a blessing!  :)  Now my parents are on their way to help with Week #2 or at least my mom will stay for a little bit.

 

We ended up coming home from the hospital on Monday morning.  I got discharged before midnight on Sunday night and was able to sleep in the room while they waited to make sure Josiah was nursing well through the night and that he was having enough wet diapers.  In the morning, the pediatrician said he was free to go home.  A sweet lady at our church took to the kids for the whole day so Michael's parents could go to work!  We arrived home and my dear sister-in-law made us dinner that night- she made a feast- so sweet!  When the kids arrived- I admit- I had a slight breakdown. I was and still am a bit overwhelmed by the change of a new baby with the other two and the post-partum hormones.  Michael has been sleeping across the hall to get some rest to take care of the other two.  I think our biggest struggle this week has been Jeremiah & Lydia- they seem to love the new babe but their routine is off and I think they miss mommy being around more and able to do things.  Lydia wants to sit on my lap when I nurse Josiah but she does pretty well sitting beside me.  Jeremiah has been acting out some.  We are praying that in the next couple weeks- they will adjust to this new addition to the family. 

Josiah on the other hand has been such a mellow little guy so far- we know this could change.  But so far he has been the easiest one to get to sleep at night after I nurse him and seems to be pretty content little guy and so far seems to be eating well too.  Now I know this could all change but thankful for a relatively calm first week with the little guy. 

The interesting fact from the hospital:  They no longer want you to swaddle your babies in Cincinnati- apparently a nurse was telling us that Cincinnati has the highest infant death rate- now that will scare ya- and so they use the swaddle sleep sacks instead now.  We are still swaddling our babe at home thought. :)  Just an interesting fact- times are always changing. :)

The Penguin March...

 So two days before delivering Josiah- we headed to the zoo on a warmer sunny day to see the penguin march.  The kids loved following the penguins to their pen.  We had a lot of fun with the cousins!  :)  And then of course, the boys had to play in all the snow mounds too!  Who wouldn't want to eat the zoo's snow and play on all the snow piles!

Seeing the Siblings...

Last night, Michael's parents brought in the siblings- Jeremiah and Lydia to see their little brother.  They were super excited and hyper to see Daddy & Mommy.  Lydia kept tapping on little brother saying "Baby" and Jeremiah kept saying he was going to name him- Grandpa... Grandpa instead of Josiah.  They both, of course, wanted to play on the bed having it go up and down- those crazy kids!  After seeing their energy- Michael and I both realized that we needed to have more energy for the kids this week- so I sent Michael home to get a good night's sleep at home.  My parents are hoping to come by Friday and we some sweet friends lined up to help this week with the kids during the day and some people signing up to bring meals from our church- so thankful for this blessing!  Other than that- we are enjoying our little "vacation" in the hospital.  Most likely- I will stay one more night and be released in the morning.