"I Love Pink!"

The Pembertons sent our kids the book "Pinkalicious" in December and it has been a favorite ever since.  Hannah asks to read it almost every night and just recently has asked me if we can make our own pink cupcakes.  The only thing better than making the pink cupcakes was watching HG eat one.  She loves pink and she loves cupcakes...

Blaine's First Bike

After just a few tries on his new bike (with training wheels) Blaine figured it out.  Here he is cruising around at GG and Papa's house.

And She's Off!

Just one day shy of her official 11th month here with us, Hannah Grace took her first steps - only about four (but who's counting) - and she was so proud of herself.  She smiled ear to ear and laughed with us as we clapped and cheered for her.  Later in the day I got a quick video of her taking just a few steps.  I think within a week we'll see a lot more action from this girl.

Then I went back to see if I had a video of Blaine's first steps.  I didn't but I did have a video of him walking at 10 months old.  In this video he was 10 months 2 weeks old and he has got it down.  It is so cute to watch and made me tear up thinking about that first year with him.

Take a look here.  (Refresh the page when you get there before scrolling down to the video.)

Hannah

Nothing particularly special about this video except that Hannah is the star!

Hannah is 9 Months old!

We have a lot to celebrate this week - mainly because Hannah Grace turned 9 months old on Monday.  She had her well-check on Tuesday.  Unfortunately it wasn't a 100% well-check because Hannah has another, her third this year alone, ear infection.  She hasn't been sleeping well and has been pretty crabby (which is not her style) so I knew something was up.  She is on more antibiotics and a nose spray this time so hopefully we can knock it out and get on with some warmer weather - away from all this sickness.

Here are her digits:

Weight: 18 pounds, 1 ounce (37th percentile)
Height: 26.5 inches (17th percentile)
Head Circumference (44.5 cm)

Dr. Howard said Hannah was very healthy and on-track developmentally, so that's good.  Not much has changed, she's a happy and content baby (when she doesn't have an ear infection).

Hannah is still eating food that is pureed and slightly runny - she has some issues eating foods with chunks or unfamiliar textures.  She has no interest in table food and the only thing she'll feed herself are rice biscuits and sometimes Cheerios.  Really, all she does is suck on them, realize she doesn't like the texture and then spits them out.  Dr. Howard said we need to keep pushing different textures and thicker food so she gets used to eating different things.  If she continues to refuse we'll have to see a speech pathologist.  It's weird because she is not obsessed with food like Blaine was when he was a baby.  She could take it or leave it.  She must have joined Weight Watchers when I did.  She's clearly not having as many problems going over in points every day like me.  I digress...

HG loves everyone and she loves to cuddle and be held.  She can entertain herself pretty well but would prefer that someone was with her.  Her smile lights up the room and it seems like she always has something to smile about.  The following video is nothing special but it does show a bit of H.G's personality. 

Blaine loves to monitor (shocking, I know) what Hannah plays with.  But actually he knows what she likes.  Every morning and throughout the day he brings her an armful of plush toys and dolls and dumps them in front of her all the while saying repeatedly (in a high pitched shriek, meant to be sweet and gentle sounding): "Heeere you goooo baaaabbyyy! Here are some toys for you baaaabbyyy."  It's really sweet and funny at the same time.

Hannah has two games that she loves to play.  The first involves crawling away from us.  She'll be in the seated position looking at us all innocent with those big blue eyes and then we'll say, "I'm gonna get you, Hanny! I'm gonna get you..." and we stomp our feet really fast.  She shrieks with laughter, throws herself down into the crawl position, head down (better aerodynamics, I guess) and takes off as fast as she can.  She'll sometimes stop, glance back, laugh and then take off again.  She also loves to share - which has to do with her second favorite game.  She'll be holding on to something (sippy cup, rice biscuit, toy) and she'll offer it to us with a big smile.  We smile and say thank you and then she'll either let you have it and she will smile really big or she'll rip it away from you in protest, then laugh. 

This girl loves her bath time.  She crawls, falls, splashes, laughs and has a big ol' time in the bath tub.  The few times that she and Blaine have bathed together she sits quietly, chewing a bath toy, and watches his many antics.  Fun times.

Hannah is a great sleeper.  She goes down around 7:30 pm and sleeps through the night until around 5:00 am when she gets up for a feeding and then is back sleeping again until 6:30.  She takes a long nap in the morning - at least two hours - and when she can squeeze one in in the afternoon she does that too.  We are always running errands in the afternoon and then we pick Brother up from school around 3:00 so she doesn't always get a good afternoon nap, but she's flexible and understanding (and not cranky) so I don't mind.

The moral of this whole story is: Our little Angel Bug is growing up too fast!  I can't stand it!!

Love you, Hannah Grace.

Blaine Entertaining Himself (and I have proof!)

It's not very often that Blaine is totally engrossed in an activity - so much that he pays no-one else any mind and I can actually get a few things done.  Really there are probably only four or five times in his whole life that I can remember him playing by himself.

Tonight while making dinner I caught him in one of his special alone times.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to record this.

Scene: Blaine is in his make-shift tent, in his whitey-tighties, reading If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  (It was dark in there so I couldn't get a perfect video, but his little voice and the "reading" he's doing is just too precious.)

P.S. The banging the background is Sister tearing up the kitchen.

Pseudo Birthday

Today is Blaine's Pseudo-Birthday.  His real birthday is in 6 days but we celebrated tonight.  Look at my boy.  Isn't he handsome?  (Feisty and a little high-strung... but handsome and sweet too.)

The hand in the pocket just makes this picture perfect.

When I say we "celebrated" I mean that we partied down hard.  Until 7:15 pm.  Then we remembered that it was a school/work night and that lots of sugar was consumed and we had lots of kids to put to bed.

Blaine had few requests for his birthday party.  They were:

1. That Siri be the only one invited.
2. That we have black cupcakes with blue frosting.
3. That we go to a bounce house.

How simple is that?

We had a great afternoon.  The Pembertons met us at Jason's Deli for "Linner" (Lunch/Dinner - thanks to Kari for that sweet definition) then we made our way to a new bounce house in Cedar Park and the evening wrapped up with cupcakes and singing (lots of singing) at the Pembertons.  Siri even wore her "3" shirt in honor off all the 3-year olds (well, almost three) at the party.

Blaine had a blast and if I had more energy I'd write more .  But I think you'll be able to tell from the pictures that my boy's 3rd birthday party was a hit.

Love you Mister!

Hyper Hannah

I never thought I'd see it, or say it - - but Hannah is down right hyper tonight!  She is crawling and squealing and smiling and laughing and it's 5 minutes past her bedtime.  She is usually passed out exhausted by 7:45 pm.  The video is pretty dark, but you can still hear her.

Soccer

You don't want to know how this ends. It starts out cute but then enters the blanket...

Blaine's First Fish Lie... I mean Story

Hannah is crawling!!!

Just days shy of her 7 month birthday, our little girl is crawling...

So Stupid

This is so stupid, but made me smile.

Santa's got it goin' on.

Video Too!

My new camera acts as a sweet video recorder too.



Nothing special... but it has several special people in it.

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words... and So Much More

When I checked Facebook this morning the first thing that caught my eye was a post by my friend Molly.  It was a link to a photo montage they did to remember their son Aidan and his beautiful life.  You can read about this family's loss here and here.

Since the time of Aidan's departure to Heaven, I have thought about Molly, her husband Jason, and their family daily.  I have prayed for them and to be honest, most days, I have cried with them.  The loss of a child is something that I cannot conceive of.  Not even one fiber of my being can comprehend the grief that they must be enduring, but as a mother, and more specifically the mother of a boy only a month older than Aidan, my empathy is overwhelming.

The girls and I are doing what we can to rally around our dear friend, support her and love her through this time.  From my contact with Molly she is doing as well as one can expect.  I am sure that the grief comes in waves, but with Aidan's little brother or sister growing carefully in Molly's womb, she is being careful to stay healthy.  I know this woman and she's a fighter.  She's not one to back down or let her grief get the best of her.  She's smart and I trust that she's taking care of her mind, body and soul as she faces each day.

So many of you have prayed for this family and almost daily someone asks me "How's your friend?"  And so, it is with Molly's permission that I am posting this photo montage on my blog.  I know that this will help so many of you put a face with a prayer.  Thank you for your support, love and prayers and join me in celebrating the life of a young man that has changed my life for the better, and I've never even met him.  And to my dear friend, Molly -  You are loved so much by so many and if I could hug you right now, I would.  I am praying for your health, joyous memories of your son, and more peace with each new sunrise.

Aidan McCormick Shane 

Burned

David and I come from very different faith-backgrounds. He grew up in the Pentecostal Church and I in the Catholic Church. We had our questions, as do many children and teenagers and both entered periods of avoidance. I don't know that we consciously did this, but it felt better to be in charge of our own lives rather than follow the rules and regulations of our respective backgrounds and as a young impressionable teen I often found myself wondering why this adult or that adult, who professed faith, could act so cruelly or unjust to others. I, personally, got burned and wondered 'Why' all too often.

Fast forward through our lives and the many ups and downs and here we are, both Christians - by choice. The most beautiful and fulfilling choice (and difficult some days) I've ever made and David and I want our faith in God to be center of our lives so that we don't have to be in the driver's seat, messing everything up.

What's the point?

There isn't one, except the fact that I wanted to share the series that our church is doing.

Some of us may have been burned by church yet some haven't and all is hunky-dory. And then others just don't want any part of "that religious stuff." Gateway Church is addressing the concerns of many in their series: Burned By Church.

I just had to post this because if I am keeping this journal as a way to chronicle our lives, then this is pretty important stuff to us.

Two weeks ago Rick Shurtz talked about a personal betrayal that led him to question Christianity (a mentor-teacher turned out to be a child molester) in his sermon Preachers, Meth and Prostitutes.

And last week John Burke addressed the view that many have of those "church-folk" who are not living examples of Christ, but are rather judgmental, pious and exclusive in his sermon Club Jesus. I especially enjoyed this sermon because John told the story of Evel Knievel and his amazing conversion. Also, to be honest, I was pretty convicted by this sermon thinking back to the times when I have been an embarrassing and terrible example of the God I serve. I'm thankful for His Grace.

The videos are only 30 minutes long... if that. I invite you to take some time and watch them. If nothing else, the pastors are funny guys and are quite entertaining. You can see the videos or listen to the podcast here.

Don't worry, you won't get the cooties if you watch and God won't strike you with lightning if you don't.

Also, it's ironic that one of our favorite authors just released a new book on this topic: Has Christianity Failed You?

I'll read this after I read the nine... no, wait... ten parenting books I have started and not finished.

Video-less

Blaine broke our camera before Hannah was born so the video feature doesn't work anymore, which is why we have no videos of Angel Bug. I did capture some last night on David's phone. Here is some "live" footage of our baby girl (in her straight jacket).

(A More Real) Love Story: A Parody

And her name shall be...

D and I have gone back and forth for months trying to find the right name for "Sister". You may remember the post where I wrote about the meanings and origins of our three names so it is no surprise that we don't taking naming lightly but we've also had had a lot of fun with it this go around.

Today when I went to work, Andrea asked me how things were going and I made a prayer request: that we find a name for "Sister" - a name that we were both happy with and felt fit with our family. I wanted certain names and David wanted other names and we really just needed prayer for discernment, guidance, and agreement. As is usual, Andrea and Keith discussed my prayer request and (as is usual) they jumped on the chance to pray with me further and offer their insight, if I wanted it. I never turn this down.

I gave Keith several of the names we were considering and he was able to give me a lot of biblical and etymological information on the names. He also referred me to a book called The Naming of Persons by Paul Tournier. In this book Tournier discusses the importance of names and why/how names are chosen, or should be chosen for children. Two things stuck out as I read:

1. Tournier stated: "But I soon realized that what was involved (regarding the naming of a child) was the person of the child, his individual identity and the respect due to him even before birth."

and

2. "It is through the naming (of a child) that he becomes aware that he is person, a unique being. He alone answers to that name, is called upon to answer; and it is what awakens in him the feeling of his personal identity and his personal responsibility."

After Keith told me how two of the names in particular (my favorite and David's favorite) were both beautiful, biblical and meaningful, I did a little of my own research, talked with David and we both knew that we had arrived at Sister's name. Before I go further, I suppose I should mention what Sister's real name will be (drum roll please):

Hannah Grace Lyon

Hannah means "Woman of Grace" or "Gracious Woman". Hannah was Samuel's mother. Samuel was a leader of ancient Israel in the Book(s) of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. His status, as viewed by rabbinical literature, is that he was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus at the cusp between two eras. According to the text of the Book(s) of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel: Saul and David. (Source: Wikipedia.com) Now back to his mama...

"Hannah had what many would call 'a raw deal in life'. She was childless in a society that considered not having a child the ultimate failure. A longing of the heart denied can cause much pain. Rather than allow her pain to cause bitterness towards God Hannah used the pain in her heart as a catalyst to pray. (1 Samuel 1:12-20). Hannah developed a more intimate relationship with the God of Israel than the priest of Israel had. Eli was a man who watched lips instead of perceiving hearts (1 Samuel 1:12-24). How often today do we applaud those who 'talk the talk' at the expense of those who are quietly 'walking the walk'. Eli was the priest, yet even when God spoke he heard nothing (1 Samuel 3:4-6). On the other hand, Hannah, a childless woman conversed freely with God and received her request. God honoured the most despised in the society with the favour of his blessings. The perception that God in the Old Testament did not treat women well is not true. It was the culture of the time that detested women not God. After Hannah's encounter with God her attitude changed before her condition did. She started to live a normal life again prior to having a child (1 Samuel 1:18). Contentment comes with believing God and finding rest in him. Contentment starts in the heart not with possessions. Hannah soon gave birth to Samuel. When the child was weaned she gave him back to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:24-28). From what we know of the culture of those days Samuel would have been about three years old at this time... If anyone cherished her child Hannah did. Yet even she knew that children are a gift from God. We are given the privilege to care, guide and train them and later release them into life. Hannah's story ends with her giving praise and glory to God (1 Samuel 2:1-11). She had a fulfilled life. The fact that she had to wait for some things did not mean she was doomed. Waiting for things is not a curse. In fact God always uses it to produce a blessing if we remain faithful to Him. Keep your trust in God. That is what Hannah's life is telling you." (Source: Living Word Library)

Grace: David's favorite definition of Grace is "the active expression of God's love" and Keith said Grace was "unearned love without limits" and it was what Jesus came to give us. He (Jesus) came to bring us God's Grace.

I don't think much more needs to be said about that!

We look forward to welcoming Hannah Grace Lyon on June 10th, 2010.

Blaine at "Pump It Up" Dos

Sorry this video is sideways... just turn your computer the right way - it's worth it!

Blaine at Pump It Up