Andalusia and The Wilson's

A few weekends ago we drove to Andalusia to visit our good friends the Wilson's.  I think I wrote about them around Christmas time when they allowed us to look at their ultrasound before they did.  They gave birth to their 3rd son May 17th and we were just dying to meet him and of course hang out with the rest of the family. 

Luke meeting Pate for the first time.

Josh was my friend in high school and then played baseball and lived with Derek in college.  He is responsible for Derek and I knowing one another ;) Him and his wife Tamara are so very precious!  Previously, they lived in Little Rock, Arkansas where Josh was the Youth Minister of Geyer Springs Baptist Church.  A few months ago they moved to Andalusia where Josh is serving as the Senior Pastor at Bethany Baptist Church.  We are thrilled that they live so close.

Me holding sweet baby Pate.

Luke in the swimming pool.

Ridge and Luke

We had so much fun and can't wait until we get to see them again!

Sleep Training

Thursday night we embarked on our "cry it out" journey with Luke to try and teach him the skill of putting himself to sleep in his crib. Since I stay home with him, I have rocked him to sleep from day one. This was really never a problem to me except that recently when I put him in a rocking position he freaks out. He's not interested in sleeping...he wants to go, go, go. It started Thursday night while I was at Bible study and Derek put Luke in his crib and he cried 25 minutes and then fell asleep. I had prepared myself for an hour, so this wasn't so bad, plus, I wasn't here to listen to it. The next night was 13 minutes. I had been dreading it all day so I had plans to clean the bathroom while he was crying. You know, keep myself preoccupied so I didn't have to listen to him. Well, after about 3 minutes I couldn't concentrate so I got on my knees beside my bed and prayed for the Lord to quiet him and put him to sleep. As I was praying the Holy Spirit took over and totally changed my attitude about this whole thing. He gave me a heart of thanksgiving for a healthy, sweet baby boy. How blessed am I that the thing bringing me to my knees regarding Luke is sleep when there are parents in hospitals on their knees praying for life.

After 4 nights of sleep training, yesterday he went down for his morning nap without a peep. His afternoon nap was a different story but we are making progress. Yesterday afternoon I put him down late because of church and he was exhausted. I think that is why he cried so much but after about 20 minutes he finally got quiet so I went in to check on him. He was sitting up and his head was resting on the bumper. He just collapsed from pure exhaustion. If not for fear that I would wake him up and have to go through the whole process again, I would have definitely taken a picture.

Before I knew anything about parenting (not to say that I do now) I was confident that I would never let my child 'cry it out.'  However, after wrestling an 8 month old for 3 weeks, my heart changed. The Lord has been so sweet to give me a peace about this whole situation. I also find it not so humorous that He would design Luke's 'cry it out' cry to sound like he is saying momma.

Drum Roll Please....

We have actually found a food that my "fatso" (per a lady at walmart today) baby will NOT eat....

I wish I had a video of him attempting to eat it. I would spoon it in his mouth and he would make a horrible face, shake and then spit it out. I can't say I blame him. Processed meat in a jar...no thanks.

As a side note: I happen to love all of his baby rolls and especially those chubby cheeks.

8 Months

Yep, 8 months. He has changed SO much over the past month. He is getting into everything and bumping his head a lot! This month he has learned to go from lying down to sitting up to standing up on his own. The problem with the standing part is that he doesn't really know how to get down other than fall. This means I am chasing him around the house making sure he doesn't fall and knock his head on something. Tuesday on our way home from Crossville we stopped in Gardendale to see The Hauber's. Luke enjoyed hanging out and sharing toys with little miss Leah.

Mrs. Jessica reading him and Leah a book

Riding in his new car that Leah is letting him borrow:

Attempting to climb the stairs:
This is the first time he pulled himself up to a standing position:

Guntersville Getaway

Monday Derek and I headed to Lake Guntersville and spent the night at the lodge. Luke stayed back in Crossville with Grana and Papa. I don't think he even noticed we were gone. It was really nice to get away for a night and spend some time together without worrying about dirty diapers and bottles. We spent some time at the pool, ate dinner and rented a movie. You really appreciate the little things when you have a baby. This was the view from our room:

Thanks Grana for taking such good care of Luke and giving us a much needed break!

Father's Day Weekend

We traveled to Crossville on Saturday to celebrate Father's Day. We also celebrated Derek's dad's 30th anniversary of pastoral ministry. We ate lunch Sunday at this beautiful house and just enjoyed being with family.
Luke got Derek a weekend-o-fun in Atlanta in October. The Braves are playing Friday and the 49ers Sunday. Luke also worked it out so that he gets to stay with Grana and Papa that weekend ;)

Derek, you are more than I could have ever imagined you would be as a father. You are patient, loving and wise when it comes to our little man. He thinks you hung the moon. Each time Luke looks at you with that big ol' proud grin it makes me giddy. I could not be more grateful to our Father in heaven for allowing me to share in parenthood with such an amazing, godly man.

Getting up

Luke can now (with no assistance) get from this position...


...to this position:


We found him like this a few times this week after leaving him on his tummy. We both witnessed the actual transition today.

If you will notice the second picture is grainy. Luke's second favorite chew toy is my iPhone (coming in right behind a flip-flop). The other day I couldn't hear very well and now all of my pictures turn out like this. I'm guessing his slobber has done a number on my phone. I am going to have to keep him away from the new one when it arrives!

Road Trip: Houston, Texas

Tuesday we arrived in Houston, Texas to visit my family. Luke is used to being the center of attention but with his 2 first-cousins and 10 second-cousins he had to watch out for little feet running around him.

Luke finally got to meet my sister's kids, Jackson and Julia, for the first time:

Brogan, Julia and Brock watching a movie:

Mean faces with Uncle Derek:

Julia in the ice cream maker:

Luke being cute ;)
Luke and his cousin Emma (who he LOVES):


Angie, Aunt Renee, Tracy, Mom

7 of the 12 kids swimming:

Luke and his 85 yr old great-grandfather (my Paw Paw):

Jackson and I making mean faces:

Julia and Angie:

We had a wonderful trip visiting with my huge family. While in Texas we crammed as much as possible in:

1. Took Jackson and Julia to Chuck E. Cheese,

2. Went to see my Paw Paw in Santa Fe, Texas

3. Ate a lot of good food

4. Shopped until we dropped

5. Derek played golf with my great-uncle Henry at a very nice course

6. Visited a great church called Bear Creek Baptist church

7. Spent Sunday at Aunt Barbara and Uncle Bob's with most of the family which included 12 adults and 10 kids,

8. Derek and I had a date night to see the Astros vs Cubs at Minute Maid Park.

Of course we hated to leave but it is always good to be home.