20-8..........

Happy Birthday to the best daddy & hubbers!!

A year ago this was our life......
Now it is this!!!!!!!!!!!!
It will always be this...........

And this..........

Can't wait for our big night out tonight (thanks to a wonderful sitter!)

One more week........

till the big day! We had a $5 coupon for pics at Sears, so we thought, why not?! He was fed, napped, & healthy, so I knew we were good to go. What I didn't anticipate was him not staying still! He hasn't sat still for 3 months, so I don't know why I didn't think of this?!! But he still did a pretty great job.
I know I'm his mother, but I could just eat him up in some of these shots. :)

This little bench kills me!

Love............

SUH-PRISE.............

Andrew has a way of figuring out my gifts for him, secret plans, everything! So I pulled a real fast one on him and threw him a birthday party a week early. He was totally suprised!!!

Graham & I usually pick him up from work around 6, on friday I showed up alone! Then we had a looooooong discussion about his wearing a blind-fold or not........... :) So we arrived back at our house (though he didn't know where we were!) and suh-prise - a party!

Good eats! I made 4 homemade pizzas and other ladies contributed some great sides!

Graham had his friend, Ali, to play with so he was happy!

These kiddos had a great time together too!

Let's eat cake!

I made a chocolate cake, topped with 2 cans of no sugar cherry pie filling, topped with cool whip.

first Steelers wear!




somebody is getting very sleepy at 8:30 pm........!!

got'cha good! Happy early birthday!

Redeemer is Home!

This Sunday, Redeemer Community Church officially moved into their permanent home at 5515 Penn Avenue. What a work of God this is! So many obstacles, hurdles, & setbacks, but for every one of those there was also blessings and kindnesses from our God!


We had 45 people attend our first service!

Both rows here were first time visitors!

If you were a child, wouldn't you want to come and play in our nursery?!
The initial start-up group

Taken a couple of weeks ago, this picture is already outdated as we've had more families join us since then!

It's good to be home!

5 years of I Love You's...........

5 years ago this week.......Andrew told me he loved me for the first time.......and asked me to marry him!

Some of our engagement pics that were "practice" for our wedding pics that were done in the same location.

It seems like a very long time ago!
Much has transpired in a short five years from living in 3 states, going through seminary, 3 different churches, 6 different jobs (between us), a BABY........
but I couldn't ask for a better person to be by my side, thanks for asking me. :)

Happy engagement anniversary, my love.

All in a word........

So this morning I say to Graham, "where's your sock?" (he had his back to me) He immediately looks down at his bare feet and shows me his toes. Then I say, "go get your sock". He immediately takes off, finds & brings me his sock. (all this is done without any gestures from me at all). oh. my. goodness. And yet, somehow, he can't quite remember what "no" means????????? when he hears it quite. a. few. times. a. day. :) oh yeah, momma is on to you buddy!
Somebody is definitely learning a few things!!
Last week I said, "say momma" he repeated "momma". I am totally counting it as his first word!!!!!!!!
He definitely talks. a lot. and yells. he likes to yell. nothing is too distuingishable, but there is hope that day is not too far away!

Just a few new pics of the obvious star of our home. :)
Another tooth is in there somewhere, because the drool-fest has started again!

loving a good bubble bath!
how could a face this sweet ever be naughty?
the big party plans are in the works.......
only 3 weeks till the big day!

THE HAND OF THE DIVINE....IN 2009

2009 brought many changes! As always, the hand of God was always faithful. We praise him for his much undeserved kindness to us this past year.

THE BIG ONES
>Feb. - our most precious boy was born
>April - Andrew graduated from seminary
>July - moved to Pittsburgh and our landlord rented to us without having a job
>August - Andrew got a job! only had to go one month without income, praise the Lord.
>October - Andrew got a better job! a much better fit for our needs & desires.
>November - survived this month being between insurances with no medical expenses!
>Not one, not two, but five amazing neighbors who have showered us with everything from vegetables from their gardens, to clothes for Graham, baked goodies, & Christmas presents for Graham as well. We love Little Italy. :)
>a new church family and new friends in our new home city


MATERIAL BLESSINGS
>given a dryer, stove, and refrigerator for our new home!
>given almost a complete wardrobe for graham's 12-18 month stage!
>over $50 worth of free Happy Baby organic baby food through a special coupon!
>recently found a $50 grocery gift card that someone had slipped in our diaper bag IN JULY! (I guess the Lord felt it would be more beneficial to us now!)



Unanswered Prayers
We praise God for His sovereignty here as well!
>Still looking for some piano students
>not been able to have a regular date night without a big swap pool :)
> that Andrew can get off at 5 pm to give us a little more family time each day
________________________________
We are so thankful for God's kindness every day. Not one day this year did we go without food, clothing, or shelter. That in itself is enough to praise God for. We thank Him for giving us an abundance of grace & blessings every day. We are thankful for the gift of God's son who took our wrath on His head that we might stand in righteousness before a holy God. ________________________________


I talked about my idea of goals in this post, but here are:


Some goals I have for 2010............


>have devotions before Graham gets up in the morning
I have not been very consistent with this as those with young kids know what a roller coaster that first year can be and so unpredictable from month to month sometimes! And sometimes you just want to sleep.............! But especially now that Graham is sleeping till almost 8, this is making it much easier to attain!
>limit computer time to specified, written-down times.
a "quick check" on the computer too often turns into an "extended stay".
>continue regular meetings with an older, godly woman
>talk Scripture & prayers to Graham (and not just when he's in trouble) :)
>Scripture memorization with my sister
>make regular visits to our 5 neighbors
>continue to grow our Momtourage group

ELEVEN....

We've hit our last milestone before the big one! Unfortunately someone was kind enough to give him pink eye in celebration. :) Though it's a different kind of pink eye than I've ever seen. The area around his eye is red and not the white of his eye. He also doesn't have any drainage except for between 4-7 pm. Weird, huh? So I am not convinced that it's the real thing, but we're keeping him away just in case. The dr. said they're going away from giving them antibiotics so quickly, so she wanted it just to work out of his system. I appreciate that direction. However, it does mean much longer quarantine time! But it's alright, it will pass soon enough!
This past month he started having an 8 am wake-up time instead of 7. That was a very nice surprise!
He has also started to develop some funny quirks!
GRUNTING! He grunts when he's excited, when he's happy, when he's enjoying his food, when he wants us to look at something, when he's confused....you get the picture!
He is also starting to point at what foods he wants. Which is quite helpful! But we're working harder at signing "please"!
He also likes to throw his passy & nite-nite over the side of the crib to signify he's done sleeping!

He loves to put stuff in other things. If there is a box, bowl, or space he feels the need to put something in it! He also loves to carry things when he's "driving".

The shoes get a ride on his car....The ring gets a ride on the turtle....Trying out the scarf that used to be his daddy's!

It's hard to believe he's still only walking when holding on to things as we're going on about 2 months of this now. But I guess they do it on their own timetable! He did stand by himself for about 15 seconds one time, but apparently decided that's he's more comfortable with a handhold.

GOAL this month: to wean away the passy (which he uses for sleeptimes)...ANY TIPS?!!
Happy 11 months Gman! We're loving each day that we get to play, laugh & learn with you!