Monday, February 28, 2011

6 months



Tripp -

You are six months old! SIX MONTHS OLD!!! Where has the time gone sweet boy? It is hard to believe that you have been with us for half a year.  It's been such a short time, but we can't imagine life without you.

You are a busy little man! We have been amazed at how much energy you already have. If your eyes are open, then your arms and legs are moving. You are determined to be mobile and watching that process unfold has been absolutely incredible. You are rolling over both ways, FINALLY! Boy were we ever so grateful for that development because it rewarded us with a full night's sleep again. Little did we know, however, that this would now become a very efficient mode of transportation. You are rolling all over the place! The sweet girls who keep you in the nursery at church call you their little roller. It's so funny to watch and it already hard to keep up with you. I can't imagine what you'll be like in just a few months. You are able to sit up on your own, but you don't really care to. You would rather be moving! You have figured out how to get up on your hands and knees and we know that it is only a matter of days before you are crawling all over the place.

Su-Su came and spent a week with us this month. She enjoyed spending so much time with you and she just couldn't get over what a happy baby you are. She is so right! You are so full of joy. Your daddy loves to come and get you out of your crib in the morning because of the huge smile and joyful noises you make when you see him. You love to smile and you love to laugh. You also love to talk! It's funny to watch you talk to your toys while you are playing. I wish I could know what is going on in that little brain of yours. You make the funniest noises. You especially love to blow bubbles, sometimes doing it literally for hours on end. You really enjoying when someone reads to you and you love to look at the pictures in the books. It's so sweet and we hope you keep that love for reading!

You are an awesome eater! You love your solid foods and are beginning to prefer them over your milk. I can tell you are really growing by how much you eat! I wonder if that is a boy thing or just a you thing? Either way, you have a big appetite. I have enjoyed watching your expressions as you try new things. Your faces are priceless, and it doesn't take much guesswork to figure out how you feel. We love that about you and hope it never changes.

You had your first real cold this month. Although you were pretty pitiful, I think it was worse on your poor Mama. I think God has many lessons for me to learn through caring for a sick baby. I was a mess for the first few days you were sick!

Each day it seems our relational connection with you grows stronger. We both really enjoy spending time with you, both individually and as a family. You love to touch our faces, grab our lips and noses and smile, smile, smile. When I rock you at night before you go to bed you curl your arm around my neck and play with my hair. It's one of those sweet things about you that I never want to be erased from my memory. I know those little moments won't last for long so I am drinking in every one of them as they come.

You are such a gift to us precious boy. We thank our Heavenly Father, who is the giver of all good things, for blessing us with you. Don't grow up too fast baby!

You are so loved -
Daddy & Mama


Loving on Macy for the first time...she has met her match!

The face says is all!


My two handsome fellas enjoying some book time together! Such a sweet picture.

You finally learned to sleep on your back...and we found you like this!

Pitiful baby with a cold...isn't that enough to make you want to cry???

Playing with your favorite toy, the chubby lion.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

november 2010

I know this is literally MONTHS late, but hey, better late than never, right? November was another fun month of traveling for our family. I'm going to use a lot less words and a lot more pictures to record our adventures from the month.

Family Photos:
The first fun thing we did was take some family pictures with a good friend from our church, Shannon Simoneau. She did a great job! We took them at a horse farm up in Durham and the setting suited our family perfectly. Here are a few of my favorites.


 Could this baby be any stinkin' cuter???


 Love this picture of our shoes...so creative!

 We used this one for our Christmas Card picture and lots of Christmas gifts!

I just had to include this one not because it is a good picture, but because it is such an accurate description of our family...dog included. Ha!

Bender Wedding:
The next weekend in November we got to celebrate the wedding of our friends Bryan & Betsy. Betsy is one of my favorite people in the world. She is like a younger sister to me and I feel like we have truly grown up in the Lord together. It was such a blessing to be a part of her big day. I am so sad to say that I took NO pictures from her wedding...boo! I am trying hard to be better about taking pictures of the things we do. It helps having some motivation from the cutest little man ever. I did find this funny picture of me and DT dancing during "Footloose" at the reception. Sorry for no pictures...but Betsy if you're reading this, it just means I spent so much time loving on you I didn't have time for pictures!!!


Thanksgiving:
We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in Greenville, NC. It was special to be able to celebrate Tripp's first Turkey Day with DT's godparents. Bill and Sandra (also know as Oopsie Daisy) have been like grandparents to DT, so it was really fun to spend this occasion celebrating with them. Oopsie Daisy cooked an incredible meal for us and we spent two full days just eating and relaxing! We are truly thankful for them and for the many blessing God's has showered on us this year! We also we able to spend some time visiting with DT's Aunt Anne. She lives in Bethel, NC, where DT's father was from. This is the small town where DT spent the first few years of his life, so it's always a treat to go there and learn more about my hubby! We had a nice visit with Aunt Anne and she was so tickled to meet Tripp. I did thankfully get a few good pictures from the weekend!

 The most handsome man on the planet :) 

 Can't you tell how excited he was that we were so thankful for him?

 Our sweet, sweet godparents.



 Tripp and Aunt Anne

Tripp, Aunt Anne and DT. 

So thankful to get this one on the books! I'm on a roll folks and I'll be back soon!


Friday, February 4, 2011

playtime

I am having a ball watching our sweet boy actually start playing. Every day is like a new adventure watching him learn new things. I wish I could experience the world through his eyes for a moment. To learn how your hands work, how your fingers work, that you can actually hold things and maneuver them with your hands. Tripp gets so excited when he masters a new skill and he just does it over and over and over again. It's so fun. He relates to the world in true "awe and wonder." DT and I have been watching a parenting DVD series that talks about creating "awe and wonder" for your children so that they see and worship God in everything around them. Tripp is creating awe and wonder for me!!! I am learning to see the Lord in so many things that I normally don't take the time to look for Him. I pray we can begin seeing with wondrous eyes so that we can show Tripp the Lord faithfully. I've taken some really cute pictures that last couple months of him "playing" so I thought I would put them up for everyone to see. Enjoy!


 Feet! He's discovered he can get them all the way to his mouth!

 And he's proud of it!

 The exersaucer has been a source of fun too...and a great occupier of time!

 Could you be any cuter...pretty please???

 Just rolling around on the floor with his soft toys is his favorite thing to do.

 A budding friendship between Tripp and Macy Girl Dog.

 And the "plank"...not sure I'm ready for what comes next!!!


I'm hoping to be better about posting! Thanks for your patience with me.