Walking With You~ Naming My Children

All of our children have at least one "J" name and a Bible name, as well as a family name. As crazy as it sounds, Janie Beth, doesn't actually fit every requirement. Her name was originally going to be Janie Elizabeth, and we would call her Janie Beth. Janie, of course, is her "J" name. Elizabeth was the Bible name, and was Joey's grandmother's name. After finding out that she wouldn't live after birth, we decided to make her name Janie Beth since that is what we had been calling her. We figured that she had quite a story already, and I didn't want to have to say her name is Janie Elizabeth, but we call her Janie Beth when she wasn't going to be here. 

Janie means God is gracious. I LOVE this!!! I really thought it was neat when we were coming up with her name because Katie Jo's middle name, JoAnn, also means God is gracious. :) I was reserved about using Janie because that was the name we had been throwing around for my second miscarriage and that is how I referred to that baby. (I have to say that looking back there were many ways God prepared me and warned my spirit that Janie wasn't going to stay this side of heaven. This is one of those ways.)

Beth means consecrated to God. How precious is that!?! :)

I will admit that the requirements for names has changed as we have gone along. I am a lot more picky now than I was with the first few. I look at the name meanings before deciding if it has a chance. LOL I am also more picky about which family names I will use. I want to use names of people that I want my children to look up to and aspire to be like.

Josiah Mark
Josiah is the Bible and "J" name. Mark is Joey's middle name.
Josiah: fire of the Lord (I pray that he will be on fire for the Lord!)
Mark: warlike (hmmmm... LOL)

Kathryn JoAnn "Katie Jo"
She is named after both of her grandmothers. Joan, pronounced JoAnn, was Joey's mother's name, but she went by "Jo". My mom's name is Kathryn, but she goes by "Kathy". JoAnna is in the Bible. Katie Jo technically doesn't fit all our current criteria either since neither of her names is really in the Bible.
Kathryn: Beloved (How sweet!)
JoAnn: God is gracious

Elisha James "Eli"
I actually took a little time to say ok to Elisha. LOL I prefered Elijah, but Joey likes the prophet Elisha and thinks he is pretty cool. I finally said ok, if we call him Eli. :) James is Joey's dad's name and both of his grandfather's names.
Elisha: God is my salvation (Amen!)
James: one who supplants/ to replace (After reading Kelly's post I find this meaning neat. Eli came after 2 miscarriages.)

Joy Michelle "Joy Schelle"
Joy was named Joy because she would bring Joy to our family after losing Janie Beth. Michelle is obviously my name. LOL It took me a while to warm up to Joey's suggestion that she have my name as her middle name. She has indeed brought Joy to her mommy, Michelle. :)
Joy: joy :)
Michelle: who is like the Lord (I need to begin praying this over her!)

Timothy Joseph "TJ" or Timothy
Joseph is Joey's name. We just like Timothy! He was an amazing man in the Bible! I can only pray that our Timothy with have a love for the Lord like the Timothy in the Bible!
Timothy: honoring God
Joseph: God shall add (another son) (I find this pretty cool!!! God definitely added Timothy. :))

It is funny how all the boys have ended up having both names be Biblical. This was not at all done on purpose! It just so happened that their family names were Biblical. If God decides to give us another baby, and the baby is a girl, then her family name will either be Jane or Beth after her big sister. :) That was also the plan this time, but I don't think Timothy would appreciate having either of those names. ;)

This has been a neat post for me to write! In looking up the meanings of their names, God has shown me ways that I can be praying for each of my children.

Katie Jo = 7 Years Old

Katie Jo, I must admit that I have just begun, in the last couple weeks, to love you fully . It is nothing that I have done of myself, but rather the work of God in my heart, as I pray that He will perfect His love for you in my heart. I look at you through new eyes now. This all started when I went into my bathroom one night after you were already in bed and you had turned on the LED candle. My heart swelled with love for you like it never has before. I realized that I haven't been loving you fully; that I had been holding myself back. You have become such a sweet compassionate young lady. You are constantly doing things for others. You love fully! I am learning from you. Since that night I have found myself in you. You have a very vivid imgination, and you are often found playing in your world. :) I see you run to the door to talk to a "friend" and watch you interact and settle your things with such care and love as you play. Outside you run with glee. You ride like the wind on your scooter and bike, all the while your mouth is often times moving as you are playing. You park down by the ditch and watch over the side as your imagination soars. I am transferred back 20 years as I recall playing in the same way. I spent many wonderful hours in my imaginary world, especially outside at my grandparents with the sun shining down upon me. It brings a smile to my face as I know that I am seeing just what my mom and grandparents saw as they watched me (unbeknownst to me!) through the window. But, you let me watch you. Your siblings are often times invited into your world. You are open and loving, without reserve and fear. WOW! That is something I was not. I am learning from you, Katie Jo. You are a special little girl that I love more now than the day I gave birth to you. You are a blessing every day!

You are my crafty one! You could spend hours making things, and they are more often than not made out of your love to give to others. Your heart is pure! You are doing very well in school. You have finished your math and are about to move into the next book. Your reading is coming along. You still love mud! You wanted to play outside the other day instead of have your screentime. :) If only that sentiment would overflow to your brothers. You have enjoyed Joy Schelle getting older where she follows you around. Of course you would love for her to allow you to do more with her!

You still plan on being a missionary and having kids. I pray that God is molding your husband into a godly young man who follows after Him with his whole heart! Yesterday you said you were going to be an artist before you have kids though, and a missionary while you have kids. I am excited to see what God has in store for your life!

This year has been fun! You are coming into your own. I love watching you get it! You love to try new things, and you are very eager to learn the art of homemaking! You are very ready to learn how to sew, and now that the sewing machine is hooked up I hope to get to that soon! You also love to help me cook and bake. You have come along side me without me even realizing it, and for that I am thankful. God is guiding you already.

Father God, thank You for Katie Jo! May You continue to grow her in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. May You continue to plant Your seeds in her heart and water them. Thank You for all that she is teaching me. Thank You for the beautiful young lady You are making! I am blessed to be her mother. Thank You for that calling! May You continue to perfect Your love for Katie Jo in my heart. Draw us closer together in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

My, how you have grown!!
5 lb 14 oz, 19 in

Completely and totally in your element!!!

 You drew a cow with utters!

 You love your picture taken with Joy!

 Once again in your element!

 Love to climb

 You went to New Orleans after the April tornadoes.

 You graduated Kindergarten!

 Watch me jump!

 You usually love Eli. ;)

 You absolutely LOVE water!!!

 Where else would you be!?! :)

 You yelled your loudest in Upward Cheerleading!

 You are just a little bit crazy! :)

 Love that look!

 Precious Moments Noah's Ark tea set you got for Christmas. You love collectibles! All my porcelean dolls are now in your room.

 Your Janie Bear is never far away! She often times accompanies us. It warms my heart. You still love to visit Janie Beth too.

My Girls

The TP Queen!!! She is into everything! She is full of personality! She loves to sing and dance. She warms my heart! :) She is a little pistol, and I believe she will be in the same pea pod as her big brother Eli. She loves Josiah and goes to him to pick her up. She gets right in there with the big 3 with no problem!

Miss Imagination! She will quickly try new things, like skating. She is always crafting and making something to give to someone else. She loves to be outside! When outside she is often times in her own world. She has a whole nother world that she imagines. She does it outside mainly, but it comes inside too. She reminds me of me!!! Although, I didn't play with sticks and grass like she does. She is always making something with the onion grass, or cooking it. :) She has gotten into pulling lots of food out of the pantry and spices out of the drawer in order to "make" something. She has a soft compassionate heart, with a fire hidden under it! She is my helper, and I am excited to train her as a young lady!

We do the flowers at church on the Sunday closest to Janie Beth's birthday. This year it was New Year's Day. There are 22 pink flowers for the 22 hours that she lived, and 2 red roses because she would have been 2 years old. :)


It overwhelms me to think that I have been entrusted with raising these girls to be godly young women who follow after God with all their hearts. The world contradicts almost everything that God wants them to be! I am just an ordinary woman that is trying to climb this steep cliff. I pray that God will be extraordinary through me and that He will work around my faults and shortcomings and work wonders in their lives and hearts! I am blessed!

Puzzles

We love puzzles around here! We have been able to pull out our big 1000 piece puzzles since we moved because we have a place to leave them set up. It has been fun to work on them again. The last time Joey and I did them was in our first year and a half of marriage! :O The kids have also been working on their own puzzles.

Josiah has proven himself to be quite the puzzle genius!

Katie Jo does fairly well, but she doesn't last long. :) This is her newest puzzle.

Eli brings in smaller puzzles to work on at the same table because he makes pieces fit. LOL  This is his newest puzzle that he worked on with Dad. :)

When we started doing the puzzles, we knew there was one with a piece a missing. I was pretty sure I remembered which one, so we started with the other one. Then, we moved on to the one with the missing piece. Joey said we would throw it away once we were done. Then, we finished; and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. The missing piece...

It is so much like our lives! We have a missing piece.

The puzzle looks perfect and then you notice the missing piece.

The missing piece is physically absent (sometimes barely noticable), but the colors that are within the missing piece still run throughout the puzzle! The puzzle needs every piece to look whole, but you can almost picture it there because the colors run thru the rest of the puzzle.

Janie Beth is our missing puzzle piece. (Represented by her pink lamb. :))

She isn't physically here, but her presence it still here.

Her colors run through the rest of our puzzle because without her our lives wouldn't be the same! Her colors are present in the rest of our lives!



Balloons

Where do balloons go that come into our house? Well, they go to Janie Beth, of course. :) Katie Jo went to a birthday party last Friday and she brought a balloon home, so she let it go on Saturday. Sometimes we attach cards or pictures to them, and she debated about sending the bracelet up that she had attached to it, but in the end she kept it. Here some pictures of Janie's latest balloon! It warms my heart that they still remember and talk about her.

Disclaimer: We are an Alabama football household, but Katie Jo has chosen to cheer for LSU because her Nana does. :) Joey tells her she is in rebellion.

Pigtail Girls!!!

It amazes me just how much hair Katie Jo had at a year old!!! The last pictures was when she was just over a year! Gotta love Joy Schelle's hair in the first pic! She pulled her ponytail out.

The 3 Biggin's

Yep, the 3 big ones is what Josiah, Katie Jo, and Eli have become. LOL Here is a little update on them...

Josiah had his first RA race last week. He was so pumped! He and Joey already have ideas for next year. I told Eli that by the time he was in RA they would have it all figured out. ha, ha! We aren't sure what place he was in, but he did pretty good. He also had the Grand Prix in Sparks last Sunday. He won the first heat he was in, but then didn't advance after that. He was still a proud supporter for Katie Jo! 
He is also doing great with his reading! He is getting more confindent which I believe is helping. Still a long way to go, but I am proud! His love is still math, but hopefully reading will become more fun as he learns.
I have a feeling Josiah and Joy Schelle are going to have a special relationship. Josiah has taken to being a big brother again very well, and he really looks after her.

Here is his RA car. You can see that it was damaged before it even got in the race. LOL

The Grand Prix in Sparks

Katie Jo has really been enjoying the warmer weather! She has completely been in her element in the mud.
She also had her first Grand Prix race in AWANA. She came in 3rd out of all the Sparks!!! Words don't do her excitement justice!! She was jumping around and screeching after every race she was in. It was so cute! She wears her medal proudly!
She has been all about GiGi's Cupcakes lately! She plays GiGi's cupcakes. :) She bakes them in her kitchen. I checked out a GiGi, God's Little Princess movie from church and she assumed that it was because she loved GiGi's Cupcakes so much. LOL
She was practicing her swimming in the tub yesterday. She called me to show me how she could go under water and how she will swim under water once Nana's pool is ready. She even asked about swimming lessons. (I will say, that it is ridiculous how expensive they are!) I can see her on a swim team one day.

It isn't shadow on her arms; it is mud!

 She was "painting" a ball with a small broom covered in mud.

 Cake

 There is a huge smile on her face in every picture!

 Pulling Josiah into the celebration when she made the top 4!

 She couldn't be still so she is slightly blurry in most of my pics. LOL

 Happy for the others too!

 The amazing car. :)

And then, there is Eli... LOL Never a dull moment with that boy!
His chore this week is cleaning the table. We had some chocolate cake for dessert on Monday. I told him to go and make sure all the food was cleaned up off the chairs and table before we wiped it. I asked him if he was done and got it all. He said, "yes." I asked if he had thrown it away. He said,"No, I ate the pieces." LOL It is much easier to just eat the crumbs from the cake than to try to scoop them to be thrown away. I asked if he was going to eat the crumbs that got stuck on Katie Jo's pants, and he just laughed.
Eli is loving being back in Cubbies! Every time we go to church, he asks if it is Cubbies time. :) He was slightly upset that he didn't get to watch the Sparks race, but he is talking about when he is in Sparks.
He is pointing to words and asking me what they say, esp when reading a book. But, he is quick to tell you that he isn't doing school yet. LOL
His birthday is in about 6 weeks, and it is very hard for me to accept that he will be 4! He is planning on celebrating at Nana and Poppa's house and having cake, and of course Star Wars will be involved somehow. The boy is in love with Star Wars!
And it wouldn't be Eli if he hadn't done something to his face! Yep, he thought stamps would be a nice touch!

This is his lion pose. There has been a lot of growling around here lately!

 Showing me how white and shiny his teeth were after brushing them.

You can see the stamps go all the way down his chin and onto his neck.

 It reads "He is Risen"

There is a peak at what has been going on around here. I have a couple other blogs I hope to write soon because we have other big changes going on here. A couple last pictures since we have been dancing our calories off. :)