Joshua's Very First Steps!

Enjoy Joshua's very first steps!  We are blessed to see our son go through his stages of life!

(Note: The blanket in the background is covering all the clothes that Joshua has grown out of! )

Joshua Playing

This video was taken this evening.  Joshua was in such a playful mood, so we decided to video tape him!!  He is so cute playing with his ball!    

Joshua 's Gift From Grandpa and Grandma McDonald

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for the gift!!  Joshua loves playing with it!

Joshua and His Cake

Daniel and I thought that Joshua would dig right into his cake, but to our surprise...Joshua really did not want to touch it!  Enjoy the video! 

Our Home

Enjoy the walk through!

I (Christa) Am Blessed!

God had laid on my heart this past week/weekend of how blessed I am to have two such wonderful parents!  They have been through my tough times and my happy times.  My Dad has always been there when I needed him the most, and encouraged me in anyway and backed up his word/teaching with scripture!  My Mom has always been an example of a submissive wife, and through her, God has taught me to be submissive to my husband!  My Mom has also been there for me, even if it was really late at night, she would sit and listen to me pour my heart out to her.  Together, they have showed me the ways of the Lord.  Yes, I am blessed to have James and Stacy McDonald for my parents!

Thank you Dad and Mom for being there for me!  I love you two!!

Joshua's Cake

This is Joshua's personal cake. 

And this is the "BIG" version!!

We will have more birthday photo's up soon!

Happy 1st Birthday Joshua!!

It was a year ago today, that we enter into our very first labor.  We had waited nine months for that day, and it is hard to believe that it has been a year!  After a wonderful birth experience, we were able to look on the face of our child,  Joshua James Gregory for the first time!  Since then, Joshua has been a joy to our family, and adds plenty of laughter!  We continue to pray, that God would bless our son, and may he one day come to know our Lord!  

Happy 1st Birthday Joshua!  Daddy and Mommy love you!

We are are officially settled into our new home/apartment!  We are adjusting to this place very well.  Now that everything seems to be in its place and all the boxes have been out of the house for two weeks now, I am trying to get pictures, but I can not remember where I put the camera cable to download the pictures!  So, once I remember, I will post the pictures up soon! 

 Joshua really like this place!  So many new things to explore!  He likes the balcony, and the stairs.  Even though we have a gate, he just like to stand holding on the to the gate, and just look at the stairs!  So far, he has not been interested in the fireplace just yet!  It is hard to think, my little guy will be a year old next weekend! :-(   Here are the things he is doing:

   Army Crawling

   He LOVES baths!  Anytime of the day, he goes into the bathroom and heads straight for the tub, and talks to the the tub, and jumps up and down wanting to get in.  He does not like it when Mommy says "Not right now, but later tonight"

   Says "Dada" and "Nana" (I am "Nana" and only when he is crying!)

   Loves reading a book, and he likes reading to himself too!

   He talks a lot and holds a nice conversation with Daddy and Mommy (although, you really do not understand what he says, but he is so cute!)

   He laughs, giggles, and claps often

   He likes to take the couch pillows and pulls them on the floor and crawl over them!

   He is not walking just yet.  He does not seem too interested in it.  He likes to hold your hands and walk, but after a few seconds he wants to crawl.

   He still loves to cuddle too!

We will get the pictures up soon!  The picture above was taken off of Daniel's phone on the day of our move!

  

I know, I said that we would probably not be blogging until we moved, but my mind is too busy thinking of everything at one time, that I am not able to sleep.

We are almost done packing.  I think I would be done, if I did not have a little one crawling everywhere, or pulling things that I have just packed out of boxes!  Ah, the joys of packing with a little one.

Speaking of the little one...Joshua has been content with crawling to get from one place to another, despite the carpet burns, and has had no interest in walking.  Yes, he enjoys pulling himself up, but he will not try to walk to Daddy or Mommy.  He is also still figuring out how to stand on his own(even if we stand him up)  But, he has found a new interest.  Grandpa and Grandma McDonald gave him a walking toy.  He has just figured out what this toy is meant for, and now he knows how to use it.  You just might find him walking into walls, the piano, and the trash can!  Below is a video that was taking last night.  "Thank you" Dad and Mom for this gift!

Just a Quick Note

We will be taking a little time away from our blog, so that we may concentrate on our upcoming move.  We will be moving into a new apartment next week.  For those who would like our new address please email me at: crucifiedwithchrist84@gmail.com.

Things Joshua is Doing

This is a video of everything that Joshua is doing lately.

Our New Year's Letter

Greetings from the Daniel Blanchard household! Seems like yesterday we where celebrating the new year of 2008 with the McDonald clan in IL, and now we are in 2009!

Where do we start with regards to this past year and all of the blessings that we have enjoyed?

Perhaps we can start with the small blessings of Joshua James Gregory Blanchard. We welcomed our first born child into this world on February 28. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and 18 inches. We are amazed at the speed that he is growing, in just the past few months he has been getting around more and of course getting into everything, but we wouldn't trade him for the world, he is our little blessing. God has tried our trust on him by allowing Joshua to experience some seizures, for which the doctors couldn't find anything wrong, for the past few months he has not had any seizures, and God willing will not have them again. Beside those small trials, Joshua continues to add joy and laughter to each day in our home. His favorite thing to do right now is clicking his tongue. He is starting to walk from one thing to another, as long as he has something to hold onto.

Daniel is still working with Hunt Construction on the same Project that he started last year, Collin County Community College. He still has another twelve months to work on this project. They are building four new items for the College, a new parking garage, renovations and additions to the existing campus buildings, the construction of a new library, and also a small clock tower. In addition to working for Hunt, he is also trying to start a CPR/First Aid training business. Nothing has happened at this point, but the Lord is good and hopefully he will bless our endeavors to praise Him in our work.

Christa continues to enjoy keeping house, and delighting that Joshua was added to the family. On top of keeping house, she loves taking care of Daniel and Joshua. Christa spends her days playing with Joshua and fellow-shipping with like-minded women and young ladies in the new church. She just started teaching voice lessons

This new year is already proving to be exciting and busy. Our year starts with a very short move to another apartment at the end of January. We also will be celebrating Joshua's first birthday at the end of February. Another exciting aspect to our lives is some of us are going to be doing some of the Homeschool conferences this year and will be staffing a booth for Greathall Productions for our good friends Jim and Randy Weiss. Hopefully we will see some of y'all at one of the nine conferences we will be attending.

Looking into the new year with earnest expectation of the grace of God. We thankfully acknowledge that the Lord has richly blessed our family in many ways this past year and we pray that He will bless all of our friends in this new year.



Happy New Year!

Blessings
Daniel and Christa Blanchard
(Joshua too!!)

A Few Photos

Joshua is getting bigger each day!  He brings such joy to our family, and we are very blessed by him.

Joshua is getting into EVERYTHING these day.  He brightens up our days with his smile and giggles in the mornings.

Lately Joshua is trying his hand at walking!  He pulls himself up on everything and anything. When he crawls, he does not like crawling on his knees, so he crawls like a crab!!  I have a video of him doing his crab crawling, that I plan on putting up as soon as blogger lets me!

I'm Tagged

I've never been tagged before, but now that my sister-in-law Tiff has tagged me, I'm happy to try my hand at this "tagging" thing.

6 Random things about me:

1. I general hide the fact that I have a motorcycle, not just any bike but a Harley Davidson, and really enjoy riding it.

2. I would rather work hard, then take a vacation. Something about the way I was raised made me love hard work.

3. I enjoy sunsets, and on the same subject I enjoy sunrises.

4. I'd rather have a quite evening with the wife and my young son then doing anything else in the world. 

5. Cold mornings in the winter, when I don't want to get out of bed.

6. Music is the spirit of life.

I tag:

1. My mother (this should be interesting)

2. My younger brother Alex

3. My dad (come on this will be fun....)

4. Brother-in-law Caleb

5. Sister-in-law Abigail

6. Sister-in-law Melissa 

Note for those that don't have blogs, please leave you tag in the "Comment" box. 

THANK FOR TAGGING ME TIFF...

Two Years!

It was two years ago today, that my father, Reverend James McDonald, placed my hand in Mr. Daniel J.K. Blanchard's.  It was on that day that my name became Mrs. Christa Marie McDonald Blanchard.

Within this past year, God has richly blessed the Daniel Blanchard family!  Allow me to share...

1. God has blessed Daniel and I in a way that is hard to explain.  God, has allowed us to trust, honor, and respect each other in times that are not difficult and in times that are difficult, and in times that we come together as a family to worship our Lord.

2. We patiently waited the arrival of our first baby.  Joshua was born into our family on February 28th.  He has been a blessings to Daniel and I as we watch him grow and we pray daily for our "pooh bear" that him might come to know our Lord and Savior and endeavor to follow after Him.

Happy 2nd Anniversary Daniel Dear!!

 

Just A Little Too Big For Him

Joshua in Daddy's shirt.

Playing With Joshua

I took this with my phone!  Sorry it is slightly blurry! :-)

Two Of My Wonderful Sisters!

Today(October 22nd) is Jessica Nicole's birthday!  She is 18 years old, and a beautiful young lady!  Jessica has/is one of my best friends.  For awhile, Jessica and I shared a room.  We had times when we got along great, and we have had times when we were upset with one another and got onto each others nerves, but the most special time I remember with my sister, is those late nights when we could not sleep, we would talk and giggle.  And when the giggling would start, our door would soon be opened and either Mom or Dad would be in the doorway and say "Girl's, lights are out.  It is time to go to bed!".  I miss you Jessica, but I am grateful to the Lord for such a gift as you and to have been able to watch you blossom into a young lady!  May God bless you my Dear Sister!

As for Emma, time flew by, I was not able to wish this little girl a "Happy Birthday"!  Emma turned six on the 2nd of this month.  Emma is also one of my favorite sisters.  Where ever our family went, Emma was my little friend to keep an eye on.  I love you Emma, and Happy belated Birthday!