10 months?!?

We can't believe that our little boy is now 10 months old! He has been changing so much lately and can now pull up, crawl and clap :-) We continue to praise Christ for a healthy, happy, handsome little boy. Hope you enjoy some recent pics. 4th of July watermelon, Abel LOVED it!

Abel with our friend Hannah
Crawling!
With Great-Grandma
With Great-Grandpa (on the golfcart :-)

For My Dad, Love Abel

Hi Dad! Just wanted you to know mom and I miss you alot and can't wait for you to come home soon. In the mean time, I thought you would enjoy these silly pictures of me. This silly face was just for you!

I love you too, dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Oh My Goodness! My Aunt Georgi is one year older today! (my mom said I shouldn't reveal a lady's true age:-)
Aunt Georgi, I just wanted to say "Happy Birthday," and that I can't wait for you to live close to me soon! I love you!

Beach Vacation!

Last week we went on vacation with the Johnson's to the Outer Banks. We all had a great time of fun and refreshment. We didn't keep James' nose to the grindstone the whole time. (although he was a champ carrying Abel on his back)
We went to see this fun lighthouse. James, Josh, and Silas even climbed to the top.
Abel had his first trip to the beach and he loved it!
He ate a little bit of sand, but that's to be expected right?
Then we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial and Abel got to try on this sweet NASA suit. Maybe we have a future astronaut on our hands??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT BECCA!!

Sorry Aunt Becca, I got pretty hungry during the photo shoot and had to eat some of your card.
I love you! Hope to see you soon!!!

Family Pics

On the Lake

Two weeks ago, James, Abel and I went to Lake Wheeler with James' parents to try out their new canoe. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time at the lake, and no one got wet! Abel however, didn't have as much fun, I guess sitting in a stroller a few hours just isn't that exciting.

New Teeth!

Abel got 2 teeth about two weeks ago. He is growing up too quickly for us :-) We continue to have great joy in our sweet boy and look forward to more "firsts" in the days and weeks to come (he is currently working on crawling!)

New Camera

So, we got a fancy new camera, but we're still figuring out how to use it. Here are two of my favorite pics. (of grady)

26 YEARS!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best dad and husband ever! We love you!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ!"

Food!

Abel is now officially 6 months and has been eating "big boy food" for about 2 weeks. It's not his favorite but we are working on it. The video below is of his first encounter with real food - yuck!

Green Day Pics (by popular demand)

Uncle Trent

We had the joy of hosting our supper club this past Sat. Uncle Trent got to have a little male bonding time with some of the younger men in our group. He did a great job balancing the two of them on his knees without making either cry :-)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I wish weather was always this good.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

A heavy weight

On Tuesday Abel went to the Doctor for his 4 month check up. Our little guy is quite happy and healthy. He weighs 16lb 15oz and is 25.9in long both of these put him in the 75%. He also got 4 shots, which he wasn't too happy about. We continue to enjoy our sweet little man. He is talking laughing and smiling more and more. i have a fun video of his "talking" that i will try to post soon. Praise God for healthy baby.

Tank Update

So, it's been a while since I've posted a tank update. A lot has changed since last time. My tank seems to excel at growing Xenia and Macro Algae. I think this is a sign that I have crappy water. My tank also excels at growing what I consider to be a pest...Vermetid Snails. I do enjoy my tank. It probably needs better lighting a more dispursed flow, but oh well. Here it is. So far I have 3 types of Acropora, some Montipora, some Green star polyps, a ricordia, a trumpet coral, some zoanthids, and some Xenia. I also got a mushroom and some kind of monti in some sand from a friend.

The following pics are just of the pests, the vermetid snails. They aren't like normal snails that crawl around. The fasten themselves to surfaces then create spiraling tubes.

Vermetids (they look like tubes)

more vermetids

and more

Cute!

My Two Favorite Boys

Dad and Abel hugging on Christmas Eve

Dad and Abel playing with great-grandpa

Dad and Abel gaming (gotta teach him early)

Dad and Abel having fun

Growing so quickly!

Well...James is downstairs playing a video game and Abel is sleeping so i thought now might be a good time to finally update the blog. as you can see in the pic Abel continues to grow. he is almost 4 months old, and praise the Lord he is sleeping 8 to 9 hours at night consistently. he loves to smile in the morning and is quite the finger sucker. currently his favorite "toys" are his play mat and bouncy chair. Christ has given us great joy in our sweet son and for this we are infinity grateful.

Mountains!

This past weekend, James took Abel and me on a wonderful mountain getaway. We stayed at the Ridgecrest Conference Center and spent our Sat. hiking around Chimney Rock. The Lord had prepared a beautiful landscape for us to enjoy. Abel was a champ and enjoyed hiking with dad in the Bejorn and the sling. Here are some pics for your viewing enjoyment :-)