12 Months of Josiah!

Today our little Josiah Edward turns 1 year old!  Because we didn't do monthly updates on his growth I thought I would take this afternoon to compile some pictures of the way he has grown since last January and highlight the milestones along the way.  Enjoy this short little trip down memory lane!

On January 29th, 2013 Josiah Edward arrived into the world via C-section at Tucson Medical Center weighing 7 lbs 11 ozs and measuring 19.5 inches long.  The one word I remember hearing over and over to describe him was "beautiful" and every time I heard it, I thanked God for His beautiful gift to us.  

At 1 month old, Josiah began to smile for us and not a day goes by that we don't get to see his face light up which lights up our day.  

Josiah celebrated his first Easter shortly before turning 2 months old.  He also rolled over for us a few times at around 2 months but it was a while before we saw any more rolling action again. 

At the end of April, Josiah turned 3 months old and got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time.  He also met his Great-Grandmother Adler and his Great Aunt Susan on that trip.  Around 3 months he started pulling off some nice long sleeping shifts at night which we enjoyed while it lasted.  

4 months began a long stretch of sleeping troubles for us both for naps and night time and was probably one of the roughest months of his life for me to figure out how to take care of him.  Nevertheless, he remained happy and healthy and he loved laying under his play gym to grab at his toys and look in the mirror.    

At 5 months old, Josiah got his first teeth!  That explained many of the sleep difficulties we were having through the month.  At 5 and 1/2 months we began sleep training which was the hardest thing we've had to do thus far as parents for him.  It also, however, has helped everyone in our house to get rest.  

By the end of July, Josiah was rolling both ways and sleeping unswaddled on his tummy.  His sleeping was much improved after 2 weeks of tears from me and him.  Half way through the first year of his life, we packed up our home in Tucson and moved to Beverly, MA so Josiah could now see his grandparents a lot more often.  

7 months = crawling!  At 7 months he also started eating solids like a champ and has never looked back.  There aren't too many foods he wouldn't eat when we offered them.  

By 8 months, Josiah was able to crawl very well on his hands and knees after spending a month doing the army crawl.  Once he was up on his hands and knees, it didn't take him long to figure out how to pull himself up into a standing position.  We also started giving him little cereal puffs for him to pick up and feed himself.  Finger food is so much fun!  

At 9 months old we stopped feeding Josiah before we went to bed and he was able to sleep from 7-7 for us.  He also started clapping his hands when we say "Yay!"

Josiah celebrated his first Thanksgiving at 10 months old and had 4 more teeth to help him eat all that yummy food.  Right after Thanksgiving he started waving when we said "Hi" and "Goodbye".  So cute! 

By 11 months, Josiah could stand on his own without holding on to anything.  He also celebrated his first Christmas with lots of love and kisses from everyone in the family.  

And here he is today at 1 year old!  Whenever he is busy playing he gets so focused that I can't get him to look at me and smile for the camera.  He loves looking at books but that's not all he loves.  At 1 year old, Josiah loves his daddy and gets very excited when he hears him coming through the door.  He also loves his grandparents and his toys.  He loves clementines and eating in general, especially if it came off of our plate.  He loves Cheerios and opening and closing drawers and cupboards.  He is quite a babbler--mostly nonsense but he distinctly says "Uh oh", "Dada", "Mama" and "All done."  He has 8 teeth now and has also developed quite a case of separation anxiety which makes us feel loved that he knows us and also a little weary of constantly holding him.  His most exciting milestone at a year though is that he's walking and getting better and better at it every day!    

After looking over my highlights, I realized that most of them have to do with sleep, food, teeth and how much he moves and yet, there's so much more to watching your baby grow than just those things.  It's amazing to watch his brain put together information and solve little problems or when he recognizes someone he knows and gets excited to see them.  Sleeping, eating and teeth seem so big in the midst of figuring them out and those things have certainly sanctified and challenged us, but after 1 year we can look back and see that God has been faithful and He has sustained us in every month of Josiah's life.  He receives the credit for Josiah's health, happiness, ability to learn and beautiful eyelashes.  We thank Him for Josiah and are looking forward to another year with our handsome son.   

Happy 2014!

Here is our annual Christmas letter in case we missed anyone on our mailing list.  

Greetings to our friends and family from coast to coast!

In this new age of Facebook, Twitter, blogging, e-mail and various other forms of social media, an annual Christmas newsletter seems to be an antiquated relic of the past. We, however, still enjoy this chance to reflect on God's faithfulness and blessings to us and to tell each of you how good He has been. 2013 has been yet another 12 months of witnessing the kind hand of our Heavenly Father working on our behalf.

If you were to enter the Reinhold home this Christmas you would notice two significant things that were not here last year. The first is crawling around my feet babbling about all the items he can put in his mouth and the second is the icy snow threatening to enter our home. The first we are excited to have around and the second has no place in our hearts. So how did we go from two Reinholds to three and from the warm sunny desert to the snow-laden lands of New England? Sit back, relax, and we'll tell you!

On January 29^th, 2013, little Josiah Edward was born into our family. Josiah means “God has heard” or “God has healed” and we are thankful that God heard our prayers and healed us after 18 months of trying to get pregnant. We have a happy, healthy, little boy whose curiosity keeps him and us busy every day. After 10 months of watching him grow and change we can honestly say that he just keeps getting cuter and becoming more and more fun! Visit http://bereinhold.blogspot.com for pics!

The arrival of Josiah brought a wave of Adlers and Reinholds out to Tucson to care for us and our new baby and we were so blessed by their help. His arrival also prompted us to begin thinking about our return to the east coast so that he could grow up near his grandparents and we could live closer to our families. The idea of moving was intimidating and sad because of the work involved as well as saying good-bye to many beloved friends. Tucson had been our home for the past five years and our whole married lives. We miss you all!

We could fill a page with all the details that had to be worked out in order to get us across the country but instead we will just highlight one of the incredible ways that God provided for us. We decided to move into Eric's Nana's house in Beverly, MA and were hoping to be there shortly after our lease ended in May. The ever-looming question, however, was where Eric would work and how soon he would be able to find a job. In June, Bethany began looking online before we moved and found a position as a system's administrator at Gordon College which was a perfect fit for Eric's skills. It would also mean working in a Christian environment, ten minutes from the house and they would even pay for our moving expenses. It was the ideal job! It was also the only job Eric applied for.

After doing an interview over Skype, Gordon called and asked to fly Eric out for a final interview in the beginning of July. He returned to Tucson without a job but they called and offered him the position within the week. We had one month to pack up our stuff and move east! God was so gracious and provided so many things including hands to help us pack while we had a five-month old to care for. In August, Bethany flew with Josiah while Eric drove across the country in our little Echo to meet them in Massachusetts. We now live in Eric's Nana's house and Eric has an awesome position that he loves with great co-workers and wonderful benefits.

Beverly is a town north of Boston right on the water and is one hour from the Reinholds and three hours from the Adlers. We have already been to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox beat the Yankees and we lost a week of sleep with the rest of New England when the Red Sox went on to win the World Series. We love being able to walk to the ocean and easily drive to see both of our families. We also just joined a church in the area and are so blessed by the new friendships we are forming. This letter would not be complete, however, without mentioning again how much we love and miss our dear friends in Arizona and how much we want all of you to come visit us soon!

Taking care of a baby boy is hard work and settling into a new area is challenging but through all of these life transitions, God has been faithful. He is a Great Provider and has sent a Great Savior! We pray you can celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ this Christmas.

The Big Move

Our last blog post was in June of this year and a lot has happened since then. Instead of boring you with all the details here is a short summary of the months that have followed since we last wrote.

June

At the end of June we celebrated our 5^th anniversary and Josiah turned 5 months old. He was passed around to different baby-sitters on the day of our anniversary and we were able to hang out together sans baby. We enjoyed breakfast in downtown Tucson, a swim in the pool, a viewing of our wedding video and then a great dinner at night. It was a much needed break from our son who, at that time, was teething and leaving us rather sleep deprived. June was also the month that we began our journey back to our homeland in New England. Eric applied to work as a server administrator at Gordon College in Wenham, MA in hopes that we would be able to secure some income before making a move across the country. It was the only job he applied for.

Reinhold family at Truett's birthday! Great photo courtesy of our friend Sam! 

Eric eating a flower made out of salmon.  Soooo good! 

Bethany eating duck bruschetta. 

The birth of little miss Carmen! 

July

Once July came, our lives started to take a turn for the busy and crazy. Bethany was diagnosed with post-partum hypothyroidism and put on some medication to help level out her hormones. Meanwhile, Eric had an interview with Gordon over Skype and then they called to ask if they could fly him out for a final interview the first weekend in July. We were hoping he would come back with a yes or no but it wasn't until a few days later that they called and offered him the job. They also wanted him to start as soon as he could because they were in the process of getting ready for the new school year. Eric put in his two weeks notice at intelliTECH and we began the process of selling one of our cars, our furniture and packing everything up for a move to Massachusetts. During the two weeks of packing, we also started sleep training Josiah because it was obvious that he needed to learn how to go to sleep on his own and stay asleep. Bethany was convinced after two days that he would never get it but after two weeks of training and praying and crying from both mom and baby, he took his naps without crying and started sleeping for longer periods of time at night and during the day.

A cute picture courtesy of Amy! 

A very precious photo reminder of God's kindness

We call him "little tootey pants"

August

At the beginning of August we said good-bye to all our beloved friends in Tucson and watched as a moving truck came and took all of our stuff to ship it across the country. Bethany and Josiah flew to her parents in Vermont and stayed with them for a week while Eric drove across the country in the Echo. He was very thankful to have his brother, Dan, join him in Houston for the rest of the trip. We moved into Eric's Nana's house in Beverly, MA and a few days later, Eric started his new job at Gordon College. Phew! The Lord provided in so many wonderful ways for us during the transition and we are thankful for His care. One adventure down and another one beginning!

Josiah finished packing his room with some help from Mom and Dad

Our lonely empty apartment

Karen and Dan!  Thanks so much for everything! 

Eric is excited to not be in the driver's seat.  Really excited. 

Four generations of Reinholds

September

As mentioned above, we moved into Eric's Nana's house in Beverly, MA. The location is ideal for us in so many ways: 10 minutes from the college, easy walking distance to the beach, easy drives to see family, and the home of the American League Champion Boston Red Sox is just a short train trip away. We got to go to our first Red Sox game together and see the Red Sox destroy the Yankees!  It was amazing. The house is currently owned by Eric's mom and uncle and we moved in knowing that the circumstances could be a little challenging for us. It is a beautiful 4 bedroom home but also has accumulated lots and lots of stuff over the years and needs some work because it is almost 100 years old. As old as the last city we lived in, Tucson! Eric's family worked hard to clean out the master bedroom, a room for Josiah, the bathrooms, and the kitchen so that we could comfortably settle in. Each week they continue to make the drive down to work on cleaning out the remaining stuff and it is quite a process. By God's grace, we are content and thankful for a place to live and we are excited about the possibilities for the house once it is cleaned out. Being new to the area also meant looking for a church, doctors, dentists, etc. and so the busyness of our lives has increased upon our arrival here in Beverly. Josiah transitioned to the new time zone with only minor bumps in the road and also learned to crawl in his new backyard.

This old house after getting yard work done on 50% of the front yard

Our first Red Sox game together. Red Sox stomped the Yankees!  I never thought I would see the day. =) 

October

Here we are almost at the end of October. The leaves are changing to beautiful colors and falling all over the sidewalks and lawns. The cooler temperatures remind us that winter is coming and we feel like we have to prepare for it like the first pilgrims that landed here a few centuries ago. Our year round sandals and t-shirts from AZ will probably not be sufficient in the snow. The Lord has been kind to us and blessed us with a church that we will probably call home and some wonderful new friendships although we continue to miss our Tucson friends every day. Eric finds his job challenging and rewarding and loves working with his boss and other believers. Bethany spends her days watching Josiah sprout like a weed before her eyes (figuratively speaking because he is still pretty small for his age!). He crawls all over the place, pulls himself up to a standing position, eats solid food 3 times a day and seems to be always filled with energy and joy. His naps are still often the rockiest part of the day but he sleeps well at night and babbles and plays by himself quite happily for long periods of time during the day. Bethany is also looking for ways to make some extra money because we have the opportunity to possibly purchase this house and make it our own home. She already has a tutoring student and is also considering giving piano lessons to bring in some extra cash. We would appreciate your prayers as we approach the end of the year and wonder how the Lord is going to work out our budget if we purchase the house. We also give praise and thanks to God for all the ways He has blessed us in our new location and look forward to telling more stories of His kindness to us! We would also appreciate your prayers for Bethany's health as she continues to be treated for her thyroid issues. A recent ultra sound showed that it is inflamed so she is hoping to see a specialist soon. The nurse did say not to worry about it though so we are hoping it is only a minor thing.

Josiah learning about 4 seasons, Fall is one of the good ones

Praises: As you can hopefully tell from these pictures we have much to be thankful for!
Prayers: Bethany's thyroid and prayers for our housing situation. 

If you need our new mailing address, don't hesitate to give us a call, send an e-mail or PM in Facebook. We would love to hear from you! Love, Eric and Bethany