Smile!

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart"

Proverbs 15:30a

My baby boy has started smiling! I've yet to capture it with the camera, but all in due time.

I'd like to thank my sponsor...

...I mean, my sister-in-law, Evey, who is so graciously giving my blog a makeover for me! Stay tuned, as it is a work in progress, due to my perfectionism. (Is that a word? Like I always say, "It is now!") Thank you, Evey!

Sleeping with Daddy

Welcome to Blogland!

My mom has finally decided to join the land of blog! Go check her out (and leave some nice comments) at www.dianasworld.wordpress.com. (One of these days, I promise, I will learn how to add links to my sidebar!) Welcome, Mom!

A Day at the Lake

My mom took Friday off work to spend the day with us, so we decided to go to the water! As you can see, she brought her inflatable kayak. The boys had a blast! Avery and I just sat on the sidelines and watched. (Well, Avery slept and I took pictures!) It turned out to be a beautiful, fun day! Thanks, Mom!

Baby Dedication

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

My little angel slept through the entire service! "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 4

So Sweet!

"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession."

James 1:17-18

Yesterday, Trevor said to me,

"Mom, you got a perfect baby! He really is perfect!"

It's My Birthday...Happy Birthday...

Bryan and I ran across this show when we were in the hospital flipping channels. I just had to post it!

More cute pics...

How could I resist?

Precious

Brotherly Love

Beautiful Baby Boy

Welcome to the world,

Avery Richard!

July 5th at 4:59 am

8 lbs., 5 oz., 19 in.

Here we go!

I know I said I wasn't going to post again until I had pictures of the new babe, but I thought I should take this last opportunity to post a belly picture! So, here is the "before", taken just today! And now we are off to the hospital to have a baby!

Where's the cat?

Sorry kitty...You're not going to be the baby any more!

39 Weeks!

Sorry I've been such a blogging slacker! This post is going to be short and sweet, though, as I am hot and big and swollen and uncomfortable sitting at the computer! (I think I'll post before and after pictures of my ankles in a week or so!) I just figured that I should probably post some baby shower pictures real quick since my next post will be new baby pictures! (Yea!) Thank you, Kim, for throwing me such a nice shower! You're the best! And thank you to everyone else who came! It was such a blessing to be surrounded by so many great friends! Love you all!

A Post for Chris and Evey (and Bryan)...

Great Wolf Lodge

We spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge for Mother's Day. It was so much fun! (Two days of playing at the water park!) It combined a few of my favorite things: being in the water, spending time with my family, and watching my kids have fun! I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day! (Except maybe if I had had time to go to the spa, too...ha!) Enjoy the pics!

Basketball

In honor of the Final Four... Just kidding! I really don't care! Ha! Seriously, though... I figured since baseball season is now in full swing, I should get the basketball pictures posted! I wasn't able to get any good action shots, but here are a couple pictures from the end of season awards assembly. (They always get a fun, practical "award" like a basketball or sport bag, instead of a trophy.)

Snack Time

I was flipping through a Woman's Day magazine and ran across this article (written by Paula Spencer) that cracked me up! This is how the article begins...

I'm standing in one of those parent-meeting clusters listening to my daughter's new soccer coach go over uniforms, practice times and contact info. "Is there anything else?" she asks, looking around...

"What about the snack schedule?" a mom pipes up. Heads nod in agreement.

My heart sinks. Ten-year-old girls can't run around for an hour without needing a juice box and crackers? I spend enough money feeding my own kids. And it's just one more thing I have to remember! No wonder obesity is a problem, when kids can't do an activity without the inevitable snack at the end of it!"

I'm not quite that extreme, but I did find it funny to see this in print when I have had similar thoughts! I don't mind having a schedule and bringing snacks. For those of you with kids in sports, you can probably attest to the fact that the kids do look forward to the snack almost more than playing the sport itself! Ha! Where I do agree that it gets a little ridiculous, though, is when the snack person isn't there or forgets to bring it and all the other parents FREAK OUT because there is no snack! And inevitably one of them volunteers to run to the store real quick to get something! Good grief! How about letting the kids (gasp) deal with a minor disappointment and wait five minutes until they can get a snack at home! (I realize that, since I'm saying this, it will probably be one of my children that throws the biggest fit the next time there's no snack... Ha!)

Happy snacking!