Laid Back Friday

We had a busy week this past week. A few late nights which meant Co didn't get much sleep since he has to get up early. Since Cody has the day off today we had a laid back kind of day.

I was just saying the other day how Chandler is past the "falling asleep on you" stage and how I miss it. He was getting ready for his nap and we were hanging out together on the couch. He has a thing for laying his head on you so I took advantage of it. He was laying his head down watching tv and after a few minutes we was out.

Cody took a few pictures. Even though they are not good of me at all, I wanted to post them for documentation sake and because they are cute of my sweet boy. :)

Wordless Wednesday

The Latest Trick

Chandler is loving crawling these days.

He has gotten pretty good crawling with a toy in his hand. A lego, a block, squeaking Sophie, you name it if he is holding it he will crawl with it.

Check out his latest trick though.

And for the other hand..

If you have seen Chandler lately you know he is into waving. All day long, we wave. It started with him just raising his hand and slowly over the last week he has started moving his fingers. He thinks waving is the coolest so naturally we do too.

Gunky Nose and Waffle Blocks

Chandler has been feeling yucky the past week or so. 

His nose is all gunky and gross. 

He is usually into his mommy but even more lately. Very clingy. 

So we have been embracing it and praying that he gets over it soon. 

I found these fun waffle blocks last weekend at a garage sale and got them out Little Man today. This is the most he has wanted to play in a few days. 

I tried to get some non-paci pictures but it didn't work out so well, if you know what I mean.  

It lasted for a few minutes and then he decided to try to climb on me and try to get my camera. 

He has almost mastered waving. It's so cute. He was just raising his hand every so often - like he had a question - but now we have started moving our fingers as well. Maybe some waving pic soon. 

April almost MAY goals

Seriously, how is it already the middle of April? I saw 3 in 30 is from this blog and also, my friend Laura uses this for her monthly goals. Since its April 17 and I haven't even realized its a new month I thought I would cut my list of 10 down and really focus on accomplishing three. 

1. Pictures for Blog

Figure out how to store new pictures for my blog. I am out of room with Picasa and need to figure out where to go from here. I promise new pictures of little man soon! :) 

2. Read Exodus and Leviticus 

We are currently taking a Biblical Theology class at church and it has been amazing. For the class we are reading Biblical Theology: A Guide for Ministry by Michael Lawrence but I started also reading The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made by Mark Dever to have better understanding of each book and how they fit together. The book has a chapter on the whole Bible, the Old Testament, and then a chapter on each book of the OT. Each one is a sermon transcribed so it easy to follow and understand. I have read through Genesis. All that to say is my goal is to read through Leviticus by the end of April. We'll see how it goes. 

3. Be a blessing and encouragement

I have been challenged lately to really think of all the things I am blessed with instead of all the negative things that happen or people who are discouraging. With that I want to be an encouragement to others as well. It is so easy for me to feel sorry for myself when hard things happen instead of rejoicing and hoping for growth. I know that I am sinful and will never be able to do this perfectly but I am praying and asking God to change my heart. This isn't a very "measurable" goal but I still wanted to put it so that I will be reminded to strive towards these things. 

I am "putting on" these verses of truth: 

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14

A Quick Trip

Mammy and Pappy came up for the day for a quick trip to see Chandler.

He had a ball climbing all over them and especially loved eating Pappy's glasses.

Gotta love those kisses!

Little Best Friends and a Blog Question

Last week we had our small group fellowship night at the park. Chandler and Oliver (the Apel's newest) got to hangout together for a little bit. How cute are they? 

Oh, and I totally missed Wordless Wednesday yesterday because I have run out of photo space on the blog. Has anyone run into this problem? Did you buy more space, delete old posts, or are there other options? 

So Long Tree

We had a tree that was very close to our garage and even had a slight cut out in the driveway. Cody was always nervous that I would hit it. We think it has been dying for awhile but this spring it didn't come back. So we decided to say so long to the tree on Monday. Cody did some research and found a great company here in town called Just Trees who was recommended by a friend. I couldn't believe how fast they took it down!

(see that guy, WAY up in the top?)

A Little Message

Chandler has been working all morning on the computer. 

Typing up a little message. 

For a very special lady. 

We love you Ashley Hicks! The first year in many we didn't take off work and go shopping in the Woodlands to celebrate you. You are such a beautiful woman of God. I am so thankful for you. We can't wait until you come home to Texas!

Update {8 months}

Oh sweet boy you are so precious! I know I say this every month but you are growing and changing so fast. You are a blessing to us and we enjoy everyday with you. This month has been a little challenging for mommy because you are very clingy and often no one else will do. This in turn has lead you to cry often. We are seeing more of your personality everyday, lots of faces and laughs. You are very curious and always want to know about everything that is going on around you. We love you! 


At 8 months old, Chandler... 

-is sleeping about 12 hours a night, from 8:30pm to 8:30 am, and two (2 hour naps, 10-12 and 2-4) and a 30 minute power nap in the evening

-is breastfeeding (4x a day), solids (2-3 a day) 

-just starting to learn how to eat finger foods (has only tried stick pretzels and crackers and we think it its what cause a rash so we are eliminating it for now)

-weighs 16.8 pounds, 26 inches (we subtracted him with our weight so its probably not completely accurate)

-wearing cloth diapers (medium setting)

-is finally growing out of most of his 3 month clothes and mostly wearing 6 month clothes now

-has a little more hair

-is become quite a fast crawler

-is pulling up 

-can move from sitting position to crawling

-is very vocal during eating, mostly the -mmm- sound

-is responding to his name

-has two bottom teeth

-is loving splashing water in the bath

-likes drinking water out of a regular cup
-JUST recently started saying mama 

Likes:
-pulling up on anything

-to fake cough

-exploring

-his pacifier (he likes to take it out and suck on the plastic parts as well)

-becomes stuck on one toy that can fit in his hand; his little red ball, red lego, straw, etc. 

-taking baths

-jumping in his Jumparoo

-bananas and pears

-looking at himself in the mirror

-being tickled

-grabbing your face and nose

-putting things in his mouth (of course)

-being outside

-looking at books

-music

-trying to get all "non" baby toys 

Let's Have Some Feedback:

1. Favorite children's scripture memory cd's? 
2. Favorite Easter traditions for your little ones?
3. Favorite finger foods?

Run for Compassion:Family Weekend

We decided to make Run for Compassion a family event this year. 

Ami, Jacob, and D (their new foster son!) came from Austin and Cody's parents came down from Dallas for the weekend.

We had lots of fun playing with toys,

Hanging with grandparents,

Participating in the race, 

(I do have to brag on my man and say that he did AWESOME and won 2nd place!)

And of course standing at the window.

How adorable are they? 

Daycation to Houston

Cody had some time off work last week so we decided to take a two day trip to Houston. Both of us have been to Houston for this or that but have never visited any of the tourist attractions. 

First up, Houston Zoo

(the juice tubes the monkeys drink out of with their bamboo sticks)

I have to say I was a little disappointed in the Zoo. It is always fun to see animals but there was lots of construction and sleepy animals during our visit. 

Next we went to one of our favorite stores...

We weren't looking for anything in particular so we had fun just walking through and dreaming about all the home projects we could do. We did get a couple of odds and ends but nothing big. 

Later that evening we headed to...

We went to the Galleria that night and it is so huge. We are used to the good ol Post Oak Mall. We were very tired trying to find stores all over that mall. The best part of the evening though was that we ate dinner and dessert at Cheesecake Factory. It was Cody's first time! We had Tiramisu cheesecake that was amazing. 

The next day we went to the Houston Aquarium. 

We didn't have the camera inside the aquarium. It was really neat to see all the different fish, sharks, octopus, etc. Who knew they had a tiger at the aquarium? We went on a Tuesday because it was buy one get one free day. I thought it was really neat and Chandler liked looking at all the colors and lights but we would have probably been disappointed if we would have paid full price for both of us. We also did the train ride that takes you through the shark tanks because it was included in our day pass but I wouldn't recommend paying the regular fee to see it. 

We headed home after the Aquarium. We stopped by the 290 Outlet mall and had lunch and shopped at a couple favorite stores. Overall, we had such great family time and got to visit some fun attractions fairly close to home.