6.28.09 sam's baptism

as I went down to the river to pray, studying about that good ole way and who shall wear the robe and crown, good Lord show me the way


oh sinners lets go down, lets go down, come on down, oh sinners lets go down, down in the river to pray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1FQqSGxBso

matthew 16: 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.in his kingdom."

Ava's new feats:
1. out of all her stuffed animals & toys, it's really the boudreaux's butt paste that she's after.


2. child prodigy at an early age with her piano skills...or she just has an uncontrollable twitch in her left hand, I can't tell which yet.

3. she is so close to crawling, and yet, she refuses. but she can stand on all four with her butt way in the air and seems to love that. so, we'll celebrate it!

and I have a fantastic video of her laughing her head off, but I can't get it to load. so while she practices her piano skills, I'm practicing my computer skills and trying to get this to share her laughter with the world...stay tuned

and to get back to the idea of being responsible enough for another human being. this has been on my mind a lot lately for some reason. and it's not because I wouldn't do anything for her on the planet, I would. I would lay down my life for her if that's what it takes.

my concern is keeping her teeth clean. We don't brush our dog's teeth EVER. and I know he's a dog, and she's our baby, so there is an ENORMOUS difference there. I just don't want to let her down.

but is it really necessary to brush their two teeth and gums daily? that's my question.

I don't have a link to this song because I can't access youtube from work. but if you have it, take a sec. this is called "My Sweet, My Lovely" by Plumb. They also have another song called "In My Arms". I'm thinking she might be a new mom. These both are going on the cd I'm making for Ava's baby book. and for me & sam to listen to in the car. Among those songs will also be Darius Rucker's "It won't be like this for long", Taylor Swift's "The Best Day" and Carrie Underwood's "All American Girl".

here's My Sweet, My Lovely:
I tip toe, hush, hush
Pitter pat goes my heart
Your beauty, your innocence
Joy is found with every kiss

My sweet, my lovely
My sweet, my lovely
So sweet, so lovely
Close your eyes, close your eyes
Close your eyes, close your eyes

I stare into the bluest eyes
Time stands still in your smile
You aren’t there, now you’re here
I dreamed of you but I never knew

How sweet and lovely
My sweet, my lovely
So sweet, so lovely.
Close your eyes, close your eyes
Close your eyes, close your eyes

My sweet, my lovely
My sweet, my lovely
So sweet, so lovely
Close your eyes, close your eyes
Close your eyes, close your eyes

are we really responsible enough for a baby? I mean REALLY? Is anyone ever responsible enough for another human being? as it turns out, now that ava has teeth, and seeing as how we are her parents, we are the ones responsible for brushing them. all 2 of her precious, pearly whites. and don't get me wrong. I do hope that she has good dental hygiene. I just don't know if she's going to get that from either of her parents...but here's to hoping! (we do brush our teeth, just in case you're wondering...) We at least got her the tools to set her on the road to success. Target got the best of me again. Good for them and their dang good marketing skills.

here's to hoping!

looking forward to show this world a thing or two...

on the note of not keeping up with the baby book, I should also say that right around 6 months she started sitting up on her own, and pulling up to her hands and knees. no crawling forward still, but much backing-up and doing 360's. and somehow ALWAYS ending up OFF of the blanket we put her on, no matter how big or small the blanket.

she jabbers a ton, which I could listen to all day long instead of the radio because it's so cute. sometimes I think she's trying to sing along with the songs. she just goes and goes. one of these times we'll get it on video.

and she is getting more and more bashful. if sam or I are holding her and someone comes up to talk to her, she'll turn and bury her face into our chest. It's just priceless. Other times she charms them with her smile and dimple. and when she gets REALLY excited she starts jumping in our arms, with her legs and arms flailing every which way and she can't really contain her excitement. It just has to get out.

yeah, she's pretty darn cool.

2 teeth and the pictures to prove it

FINALLY! one that shows she really does have teeth! she has 2. both on bottom. one more that is trying to poke thru but hasn't succeeded yet.

I've realized that even though I'm not GREAT at updating this blog, I'm much better at it than I am at her baby book. so my plan is to (someday) go thru this and update her baby book by this. and probably publish this blog out as an addendum to her baby book. I don't know of what better way to do it.

happy father's day, dear.

you're the best dad ava could ever ask for and I'm so proud to call you my husband and the love of my life.

she hugged me before I left her at meg's house today. then darius rucker's song played, it won't be like this for long, and I cried. I called sam and told him I thought I had listened to that enough times that I was over it. but really, I don't actually think that day will come. and I don't think I want it to. I want to always feel that appreciation that she has for me, and that I have for her, even when she decides she wants to snuggle instead of sleep in her pack n play. that's okay by me.

here are more of her sweet, sweet face

ava's friend rowan

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY FRIEND!

see party pictures here

getting caught up a bit:
her first trip to the pool (we'll call it LESS than a success...) but first trip nonetheless lasted maybe 15 minutes, including walk time.

this is her and her m-o-m-m-y on her 6 month birthday (though we are not big on 1/2 birthdays, the 6 month one is a big milestone, look how enthused she is...)

this is her at the doctor's office for her 6 month check-up, which she did brilliantly at.

our most recent family photo:

and the little feet that don't know how to walk or run away from us yet

I've GOT to figure out a more effective way to get pictures on my computer. It's very simple on our laptop - just put the memory card in the side. but I don't want them saved on our laptop, I want them on our PC so I can burn them to a CD eventually. but on our PC we have to plug it in to our scanner/printer and save them that way. and that would be fine, except the printer aspect on that durn machiene doesn't work. so every time we want to print something there is much-ado with cords and plugging to a separate printer and I don't know how to make it work. and to top it all of, I don't know if I have the cord to do so, but I THINK I could upload them at work if I could find the stinkin cord. but for now, I have no pictures to put up. SO - click here: http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=ffc722cd-7651-4c2d-bc72-ce77c4c5edb1

I absolutely love these pictures of ava. She was 1 day old, maybe 2 at the most. these were taken after we were already in love with her, and probably why these very first few hospital pictures mean so much to me. her squinty eyes and super-puffed up cheeks. her tender hands. her dimple that showed from the get-go. her hair-line that glows right around the edges. the way her head was so cutely shaped (maybe only a mom can appreciate this) but she looks perfect to me. her feet, so tiny, soft and gently wrinkled. her contentment of being in her daddy's hands. her going home outfit we put her in even though it was too big because it was too cute I couldn't imagine bringing her home in anything else, even if it was baggy. and her piercing dark eyes that melt my heart to it's core. yes, that's when we fell in love with her. immediately.

along with attempting to de-junk our house, I came across this website: http://www.powells.com/sellonline that buys books back based on the ISBN # on the back. obviously you will not get as much, not nearly as much, as what you paid for them. but it's a bookstore out of Portland, OR, they pay for shipping, and so far out of the ones I got prices from they accepted the most # of books, which = the most money. However, they only either accept pay pal or they give you credit to their store. so here goes!

http://www.lakelandcommunitychurch.org/Default.aspx?tabid=865&EntryID=22

I'm pretty inspired by this. Especially by the part where he says in the last paragraph: "parents MUST sit at the feet of Jesus first. Every parent is pouring something into the empty cup of a child. May it be the heart of god, the life of Jesus, the real presence of the Spirit."

this is from Pastor Dan's blog at Lakeland. He's in China right now with my brother. God speed for them. before them, after them, and with them.

http://www.auctionforcarol.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend everyone visit this site and take the 5 minutes it takes to read about this family's life, and take into stock your own and count your blessings. I know I have. I'm not going to tell you about it, so that you have to go read it. It is so riviting and tear-jerking. That's all I will say.

happy 6 months old baby girl!

decisions, decisions, decisions.

though work things are up in the air, there are a few things that stand firm.
1. Jesus
2. my love for my family
3. their love for me.

these 3 things hold me together. everything else could fall apart. but these things keep me balanced and for that I'm so thankful.
(more picture posts to come hopefully this evening.)

and this is an email I got from megan who's watching aves today:
So apparently Ava has learned a new game :) halfway through eating her
squash, she decided to start blowing raspberries with food in her
mouth...... :D I would give her a bite, she would stick out her tongue and
lower lip and start spitting, and I would say "Ava Mae...." all
serious-like, and she would open her eyes really wide, and then grin and
look away like "I have no idea of which you are speaking......"
;-D great kid!

agh! I can't wait to get home and hang out with her and sammy tonight!!!