A creepy but caring clown....

Nate and I meet my friend, Courtney, every Thursday at McDonald's because Nate spends the afternoon with her. Nate and her son, Owen, were playing as Courtney and I were talking and in comes none other than Ronald McDonald himself!!!! I must say, for a moment I was a little freaked out when I saw the bright red hair and white face. But, scared, Nate was NOT. He ran right up to him and gave him a big hug and a high five. Unfortunately, his friend Owen was not so excited to see the creepy but caring clown as he instantaneously put himself into a fetal position on Courtney's lap! I told Nate that Ronald had houses all over the country that helped little kids that were sick, but I am not sure he really heard all that. He was busy trying to get the clown's attention one more time before he left. Man, I gotta admit...for as old as Ronald is, he looks pretty good for his age...even though he does look a little pale...

Our little actor

Nater is becoming quite the little camera-lover. However, he IS 2, so he doesn't ALWAYS want his picture taken but when he does...look out! You will get quite the CHEESE out of him!!!! His best friend Hudson came over for lunch one day after their class and I made the boys SQUID DOGS. I got my camera out and Nate was happy to show off one of his squid dogs! Then, one night, I snuck upstairs to take a picture of Jeremy reading Nate his Bible and Nate caught my eye. He JUMPED off of Uncle Jeremy's lap, ran over to the steps, got down, posed and proclaimed, "HONEY, take my picture!!!!!"

Last weekend we went to STL to visit my family. Nate was quite the entertainer at my dad's house. He danced, sang, and got excited when he saw the 'pretty girls' (cheerleaders) on T.V.! My grandparents were there as well and they were in AWE of the energy that Nater had. He has such a great personality and I have a feeling that perhaps we will be attending some drama performances in his life at some point??!!!!

Going ORANGE

Well, as the country is in the full swing of going GREEN, the Dulin family is going ORANGE! Our church is now involved in the 'Faith at Home' movement and we are jumping on board. While we are not perfect and we have, and will, make mistakes in parenting, we are excited to implement this new movement in our lives. Instead of relying on the church to teach Nate about faith and God, we recognize that it is our responsibility to teach these morals to him as the church partners with us in support. In turn it has been fun to see the seeds being planted in Nate's life at such a young age and he has already humbled me in my faith walk. I am refreshing up on my Bible stories as we read through his picture book toddler Bible every night and it is so neat to hear his sweet and very sincere prayers. Here was one from this week:

"Hi Jesus, thank you for my best friend Hudson. Aaaaaaaaaaaa-MEN." -Nate

And on the topic of prayers, one night, awhile back, he prayed this prayer:

"Hi Jesus, thank you for my bed, thank you for my clock, thank you for Uncle Jeremy, thank you for Honey..." (he stopped and then ran over to his shelf and grabbed a card I had made for him) "thank you for my card" (and then he flipped it over and said...) "thank you for Frannie.".....Aaaaaaaaa-MEN."

May your day be full of gratitude and may all of us have faith like children.

Time for a TIME-OUT?

So, my very good friend, Gina, brought it to my attention that I really needed to share some daily stories instead of only pictures and captions here on our blog! After some recent happenings with Nate, our sweet bundle of personality, I agreed with her and realized that I really need to take advantage of blogging and share these funny things! So...here are a couple stories to start us off here...

Last week Nate was sitting in his big boy booster and wanted another piece of toast for breakfast. I made him another piece and set it in front of him and turned towards the family room. About that time Nate started crying and I asked him what was wrong. He proceeded to tell me that Maverick had eaten his toast. I asked him if he had given the toast to Maverick and he said that no, he didn't...Maverick had taken it. I turned to Maverick and said, "that was mean Maverick," and Nate agreed with me. "Maverick, that was mean!" and then he said with an angry face and his finger pointing...."TIME-OUT MAVERICK!" In this instant, I let out a little chuckle but Nate was not laughing. He got out of his booster, marched up the stairs and said, "Come on Maverick." I told Maverick that it looked as if he was really getting a time-out and that he should head up the stairs. Sure as nothing, Maverick went into Nate's room, the door was closed, and Nate had officially put Maverick into time-out. Hmmm...I am thinking that Nate knows what a time-out is?! Ya think? Yep, no secret here...our sweet bundle of personality gets A LOT of time-outs.

Speaking of one of Nate's many time-outs...this week Nate and I had just gotten home and he was upset about something and started throwing a little fit. I told him that if he wanted to act that way he needed to go to his room instead of throwing his tantrum in the middle of the family room. He started in with his little 2 1/2 year-old attitude and I told him that he needed a time-out and sent him up to his room. Nate was yelling at me and was not happy and I assumed that he would start the process of destroying his room due to the fact that he was upset about his time-out. I waited for a few minutes and headed upstairs to his room. I was preparing myself to tell him to pick up his room and assumed that toys would be EVERYWHERE. I opened up the room, got ready to yell and I stood in shock as I found Nate sitting on the floor looking through his Bible. Toys were still in their place and Nate had completely calmed down. He said, "Look Honey, my Bible!" as he proudly held it up and showed me what he was looking at.

It is amazing how children can humble us. Parenting can be so frustrating but at the same time, an absolute joy.

It's 2010 already?!!!!

It is crazy to say, but it is already 2010 already! I know I don't keep up with our blog like I used to, but I definitely had time today as we are snowed in! 2010 is turning into a very cold and snowy year! We have already seen several inches of snow and watched all of our movies 3x, but we are happy to be safe and warm inside.

Nate got a TON of gifts for Christmas and we have finally found a place for everything. He got a lot of cool stuff...Uncle Jeremy even likes playing with some of the new toys! We rang in the New Year with several of our friends who have kids around Nate's age and we had a blast! We are very blessed with awesome friends, and Nate is blessed to have friends because of OUR friends!

We have no idea what this new year is going to hold but we are excited for it and I will try my best to keep everyone updated on our life's happenings! Be safe and stay warm!

Love, The Dulins

Christmas time!

Well, I apologize once again that I have procrastinated on updating our blog! I always get on to Jeremy about procrastination, but I admit it...I can be just as bad!

We have really enjoyed this holiday season with Nater. (And, I only say "holiday" because I am grouping Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the upcoming New Year)! It is so fun to have a little one around during this time of year! He has seen Santa (and is so NOT scared of him), we took a trip to Branson to see the lights (there were so many, it was gorgeous!) and we have ALL enjoyed all of the yummy treats that seem to be around right now (cookies for breakfast anyone?)!

For those who have asked, we still do not know anything regarding whether or not we will be able to adopt Nate or not. It seems as though the decision keeps getting pushed back and we are trying our best not to get too impatient. We just cannot imagine life without Nate and we are hoping and praying that he will be able to stay with us. It is crazy how much he has grown in the 11 months we have had him. He came with limited words and now he talks like crazy. He is saying his prayers, eats in his big boy booster seat instead of a high chair, and his balance and coordination are stellar. I am still "Honey" to him and Jeremy is "Uncle". Him and Maverick are still the best of buds and love running the 'track' around our couch. Nate is now out of 'parallel play' and now loves to hang out with his friends like Hudson and Owen. We are so blessed to have friends with children around Nate's age. It has been fun for all of us!

We pray that everyone has an amazing Christmas and a very Happy New Year! May the miraculous gift of Christ fill your home with faith, your heart with hope, and your life with love. Blessings to you all!!!

Jeremy, Stephanie, Nate, and Maverick

Rooms I painted in FL

1st picture: little girl room, ladybug and flowers matched bedding

2nd picture: little boy ROCKSTAR room

3rd picture: little boy ROCKSTAR room; guitar mural matched bedding

4th picture: baby shower gifts I painted for a friend in FL