Happy Birthday, Grandpa Steve!

Grandpa Steve, We hope you've had a wonderful birthday. You probably worked. Now you're probably going to watch some TV after you cook Mom some dinner because she's probably working late even though she said she's not going to work as late anymore. Whatever you're doing, we hope it's happy and we love you!

No One Warned Me About This One...

Cash is Baptized

Last weekend was one of the best weekends of my life, I have to say. Both of our families gathered in Brownwood to witness Cash's baptism at St. John's Episcopal Church. Mom and Steve are members there and it is where Derrek and I got married. We really like Fr. Nelson and wanted him to do the baptism. It was a private family ceremony on Saturday. I was very excited about it but it was just so much more than I imagined. It was relaxed and Cash was well-behaved. The kids got to all gather around close to the baptismal font and watch. When Cash started to fuss a bit, Fr. Nelson took him and let him hold (and chew on!) the silver scoop he was going to use to pour water on his head. Then used his bare hand to scoop water for the baptism instead.He also did a very special family blessing and anointed all 5 of us with oil. I feel I almost always have a thankful heart but I was vividly reminded how blessed I am.

All the cousins, except Ruby...

All of the cousins, except Rance!

That picture posing is traumatic!

Cole & Blake

The ceremony begins

Here we go...

This is right before we were all anointed. Yes, I'm crying.

Thank you, Fr. Nelson!

Cash & his great-aunts, J'Lyn and Kay.

Ashley & Alice

Our crew at lunch.

The kids tables

At Mimi's at last to play! This is the same day he started sitting up AND crawling.

Happy .5!

Every mom says it, I know, I know. But where DID the time go? He's growing and learning so fast! I'm pretty sure he's already smarter than me. I'm a puppet! He's found his voice and, at times, uses it in context. Like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH give me what I want now." And then I do. He cannot sit in my lap anymore when I eat or work because in fractions of milliseconds he can snag anything from the table and get it in his mouth. He is still mesmerized by his brother and sister. Ashley can tough out his painful hair and face pulling but Blake steers clear. On his 6 month birthday he was trying to sit up a little bit but mostly just scooting and rolling around. A short week later, he sat up on his own and crawled all in the same day! So today he's been sitting up for a week and his quality of life has improved 10 fold. He still smiles & laughs easily. He still thinks he is very handsome when he sees himself in the mirror. When I hold him on my hip, he grasps me with his arms and feet, much like a monkey. He is being EXTREMELY difficult on the cereal/solid foods front. So not interested. It is killing me! Now I'm supposed to be feeding him solids three times a day and that is just three times a day I get really frustrated. I feel like a circus clown pulling out all of my best tricks to a stone cold audience. He does giggle at me but he's gotten good at keeping his mouth fairly closed through his giggle. Little punk.


Fun with Rosie.