Hellllooo Houston

We headed to Houston again-- this time for a wedding shower for our soon-to-be Sister in law, Christy (Chris's bride). We always love getting together for family, fun and food!
We played games--

The Judges ruled a tie, but we were pretty sure Jamie won-- "No contest"!

Some of the wedding party:

Christy cleaned up!

Mexican Food!

More teeth? Surely not!

Luke met Bailey (the biggest dog he has ever seen)! This is right before Bailey licked Luke's entire face... Luke wasn't sure what to think!

Trying yoga poses while playing on his new toy from Grandma and Granddaddy:

Uncle Chris trying hard for a smile out of grumpy Luke (we had a LONG ride down, so Luke was not his peppy self for most of the weekend).

Reading the newspaper with Granddaddy- well, kicking it to hear it crinckle while Granddaddy read:

Luke had a bath in the sink... I think he liked it! (See the coffee cup in the left sink? His little monkey arms got hold of that shortly after this picture):

On a side note, we played a rousing game of clue and Chris and Abbey WON BIG!!! We were the only two of the group not writing novels about what everyone was guessing. It is a rare occasion that I win in this group, so it had to be said!!!

Buggy Rides

Luke had his first ride on the buggy at daycare today! I walked through the door and saw this sweet baby beaming!

B-I-N-G-Oh no.

My witty husband came up with this Bingo card last night to get us through Obama's health care speech.

I got the FIRST kiss!!!

This morning after Luke finished his bottle, I was kissing his cheek- he would pull it away and give it back to let me peck like a little bird... I turned him toward me and kissed his cheek again, then HE KISSED MEEEE!!!! No pucker, but a wide open mouth, slobbery deliberate response to my kisses! After his bottle, everyday, we both choose to start the day-- I think we both knew today would be a good one!

Busy Body

Luke is officially on the move... he is into EVERYTHING and we are quickly learning to think like an almost 9 month old... staying ahead of him is a new task! He loves to explore, but sometimes he will stop mid-crawl and sit on his side to take in the sights.

Then, he is back at it.

He pulls up on some things.

His favorite toy is his rattle-- his Grandma started singing the song "Shake, shake, shake... shake, shake, shake... shake your RATTLE... this always gets a smile! Luke's daycare made every kid tie die on Friday! He rocked the tie die!

Luke "bonked" his head on Friday... you can see his little shiner if you look closely on his left cheek. That marked his last day in Infants 1 and daycare moved him into Infants 2 on Monday. He is still adjusting to the new teachers, but all of his buddies are in there. (WHAT kind of parents let their child crawl about without pants???)!

Luke also moved out of his infant carseat to his new one-- now he can see out of the windows!

And finally, after a tiring day of exploration, he still loves to kick back after a bath for a good read and a bottle (in his new PJs from Aunt Melody)

Changed

Has anyone ever come into your life and forever changed it? Beyond new babies, wonderful friends, a family who is like no other family... beyond that? A special teacher, a stranger who showed up in your time of need, or someone living their life that encourages you to be better? Someone has for me and she doesn't even know it, she doesn't even know me. She is vulnerable before God, willing to go where He takes her, and open about her struggles. She hangs on special moments with her family and embraces looks, touches, words- she lives in the moment and soaks up God's blessings in the midst of trials. She deeply loves her husband and child and challenges me to hug a little tighter, try a little harder, dig a little deeper to be the best wife, mother, daughter, and friend that I can be. She shows no fear when she trusts in God with all her heart. I must admit- I fear surrendering wholly to God and his will. In my twisted way of thinking that allows him to mold me (into something better, I might add), I am scared of the process of how he will mold-- there are always growing pains associated with refinement, right? I sit here at this stage of life looking at my beautiful almost 9 month old baby in awe, loving my husband and the man God has transformed from great to wonderful, challenged in my job, happy in our church family, and I fear the time when something changes and hard times begin. But really, why should I fear my Maker-- who knows what I need before I ask it, who loves me enough to die for me, who counts the very hairs on my head- Oh me of little faith. So, my prayer is that God give me boldness to trust Him more in my life, to understand that He is the Author and Perfecter of life, not me. If the goal is to be more like Christ, I guess I'd better start letting Him in and stop missing the blessings He wants to give me. I have learned a lot from this wonderful woman and pray she continues to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord as He holds her closely-- to her, I know he would say "Well done, my good and faithful servant". And isn't THAT the goal in this life-- to please our Lord, not hang on to the fleeting things of this world.

Parents FIGHT before it is too late!

ACLU Pressures Congress, Launches Nationwide Effort to Eliminate Abstinence Education — Ignoring the fact that parents prefer their child receive abstinence programs 2:1 over comprehensive sex education, the American Civil Liberties Union is aggressively pressuring congress to end funding for abstinence education and to increase funding for comprehensive sex education. Further, since September 2005, the ACLU has pursued a “Not in My State” campaign, a nationwide action aimed at eliminating abstinence education from all public schools. In a coordinated effort, ACLU affiliates across the county have sent letters to local school officials demanding that they discontinue abstinence programs and replace them with comprehensive sex ed programs. In attempts to further intimidate school officials, some ACLU affiliates even falsely claimed that schools were violating state law by using abstinence programs instead of comprehensive sex education!

Call the Hill today and tell your Congressman enough is enough-- they need to reinstate abstenance education funding back into school programs. The number is 202-224-3121. They are slowly picking away at any morals and values left in public schools- funding for this program is 13X less than contraceptive education and 1/3 of Planned Parenthood's funding already comes from you and me, the taxpayer. The voting begins in Congress tomorrow, Friday.

For more info., click here.

Hanging in Houston!

On the way down, we stopped to get gas and I saw this... cracked me up with the McDonald's sign in the background!

We drove up to hot Chick Fil A... a Melody request since they do not have one.

No visit to Houston is complete without fajitas from Lupe's! Luke was a trooper to make it so long after bedtime with the 45 minute wait we endured.

Matchy-Matchy!

We were in the Safari room, I guess!

Our washer champion:

A fun pool experience! Luke was kicking the whole time!

Aunt Melody making Luke happy:

Luke making music:

Luke's first Astro's Game!

A Mid Week Pick Me Up

Honey was in town this week, so we had a nice little visit.
My Cousin, Lindsay/ My Aunt, Holly/ Me/ My Grandmother, Honey:

Here was the real reason for the visit :)

Honey came bearing gifts... she walked into a shop and saw this baseball plackard with Luke's name on it-- I think I see a theme developing for a Big Boy room?!!!

"Here is the church, Here is the Steeple, Open the doors, And see all the people!"

Thanks Holly and Lindsay for driving over in rush hour... it was short, but sweet! Love ya'll.

Momma's Little Helper

Now that Luke is officially not happy sitting still, he was eager to see what was in the basket... I gave him a close up view and contained him while I got a little folding done...

Snowcones and Teething Wafers!

These pictures are too funny not to post! Luke is not a fan of cold ice, but he loves a messy, messy teething cookie!

July 4th

Our Firecracker:

As soon as the fireworks started, sleepy Luke was wide eyed looking at the pretty colors.

July the 4th Has Never Tasted So Good!

In honor of July 4th, I decided we should have snow cones- red white and blue snow cones! Brent did not branch out beyond his SUGAR FREE cherry snow cone (so wrong!), but I went with a patriotic strawberry, white coconut, blue coconut blend and it was fabulous! So fabulous, the Snow Cone Guy is adding it to his list next year in my honor... so when you go by the Red Barn Snow Cone Shack, you just think of your famous friend who made it ALL possible!

(A little melt-y, but you get the idea!)