Dinner, Hair, Happy Birthday, Baseball, Goggles & more

Why did God create family. I think it is because He knew that it is not good for man to be alone and that family will bring you happiness, encouragement, & support. My family is no different, but I also have to add that my family is fun... and last night was no different.

We started the evening with an amazing summer meal. My brother and dad grilled steak, chicken, and talapia then we had garden green beans with red potatoes, garden tomatoes, fresh fruit, homemade ice cream, and more. Then after dinner the make overs started.

The lil girls decided to do Gampa and Mr. G's hair and I personally think it turned out great.

This lil one was really proud of her work. The best part is she told Mr. G that he was not allowed to take it off. I don't think he listened.

Then came Gampa's turn.

Boy oh boy...she sure is hard at work....

And it turned out PERFECT. I don't think she could've captured Gampa's personality any better.

This actually brings back memories because 20 years ago or so that was me doing my dad's hair. Where does the time go?

During all this my nephew was walking around singing the "Happy Birthday Song." I finally was able to get a bit of it on video along with his baseball swing. Unfortunately, Rudy the dog, gets whacked....but he gets some lovin' from Nana and is okay.

Video

After his baseball practice my nephew hung out with his Nana.

She couldn't help but hug the future prodigy.This is my sister-in-law rocking Baby G. He was asleep most of the evening, but it won't be long before he is up playing ball with my nephew. Speaking of nephew...

How do you like his shades?

Finally, we ended with some basketball drills. One of my niece's even wore the basketball goggles while she dribbled to help her not look down. Pretty impressive and pretty cute.

The oldest one gave me an action shot of her dribbling with her little bro following close behind hoping he can get the ball when she is done.

All in all it was very fun night full of lots of memories.

Tummy Time

Most of the time Baby G gets in his required tummy time by laying on either Mr. G or I. He will use his arms and lift his head up really high. He is getting so strong. Mr. G will usually call each time Baby G pushes himself up a push up and he will count out 5 reps....It's the personal trainer in him. When Baby G lays on his tummy by himself he usually starts to cry after about 1 minute. Yesterday I was able to snap a few pictures of him before he got mad.

It looks like he is searching for that thumb of his.
There is just something about those eyes that makes me want to stare at them forever.
Ok...back to trying to find his thumb.

Later that day Mr. G came home early and surprised us. I had just put Baby G in his outfit for the day and Mr. G was loving it. He is a big Illini fan.
It is so cute to see how much these two are bonding. I could ask for no better daddy for our child. Praise God!!!

Cooling Off

Every morning (just about) Baby G and I go for a walk. He usually gets up anywhere from 5:30-7:30 just depending on how he did through out the night. Even though he may wake up really around 5:00 he will usually lay there and talk to himself for awhile. Then when I hear the first cry I hurry to pick him up and we set off on our daily routine. We start with a diaper change which is usually the time I get the most smiles out of Baby G. He must be a morning person. Then we will play for a while until he is ready to eat. After his breakfast I will usually give him about 20 minutes to just sit and cuddly with me so that he can digest all that he has just eaten then we take off for our morning walk. It is Baby G, Marley, and me and it is quite a site to watch us trying to make our way up and down our streets....but we make do.

Today we got out to walk before 7am but it was still very humid. By the time we were done we both were warm so I undressed Baby G down to his diaper and laid him down on a palet on the floor under our ceiling fan. He absolutely loved it. I got a video of him laying there playing with his monkey. You will notice in the video that it is driving Marley crazy that he can't get his hands on the monkey....but Baby G is loving it.

Baby G starts off a bit camera shy but eventually warms up.

Video

After this Baby G laid down for a nap so he could be rested up to eat his next meal around 9:30. I absolutely love our mornings together!!! And by the look of his face I think Baby G does too.

Whoops.....it's 9:25 and it looks like Baby G is ready to eat....Gotta Go!!!!

Youth Falling Away

It is one of those things that doesn't get talked about very often. There are many different statistics but all show that a LARGE number of christian youth are falling away from the faith. Why is this? I recently watched a video that definitely made me think about how we are teaching our youth in our churches. It is an hour long documentary movie but it is definitely worth the time if you are concerned about what is happening to our youth. It is a very controversial video and has upset many people, but brings up a lot of good points. I know I now am personally questioning a few things because of the information in this video. I hope you have the time to watch it. I attached the link below to watch the full movie online. It is only online for a limited time though.

Divided The Movie

Weekend Full of Family

Friday we had my family over and Saturday we had Mr. G's family over (except for his parents - they were vacationing in Sarasota, FL).

Friday was also special because it was Baby G's first time in a swimming pool. He looked absolutely adorable in his swimsuit.

He was so excited that he could hardly contain himself.

Actually, it seemed like he could care less...

Unfortunately, the sun made it hard to see these pictures. Baby G seemed to love the water, in fact he probably could've fallen asleep in there. Granted, it felt like 120 degrees outside and the water was like bath water.

Afterwords we got a picture of all of mom & dad's grandchildren.

The 1 year old had just switched from his swimsuit to his diaper and he was enjoying walking around just in his diaper singing the Happy Birthday song. The girls were waiting for dinner to get over so they could get back in the pool. You can tell by their red cheeks that they love the pool.

Then Saturday rolled around and we had Mr. G's sister's family over. They are the ones who had a lil boy just 8 weeks before us.

His aunt absolutely loves holding him. It is neat to see him developing and knowing that Baby G will be doing that soon.

He has big gorgeous eyes just like his Mama.

Here he is with his daddy. That is one proud dad.

Unfortunately, this lil guy has been battling acid reflex and colic and it has made for an unhappy baby.

This was him last time he was over at our house. Fortunately, the doctors have figured out a good medicine for him and he is doing much better.

Now he is a happy lil boy.

Monkey & Me

It just happened. I had no idea introducing the two of them would bring a lifelong friendship. It was one evening when Mr. G and I had just finished up eating supper when I got out Baby G's bin of toys. We played with a few toys that didn't seem to interest Baby G too much, then I pulled out the monkey. It wasn't love at first sight. No...it definitely took Baby G a long time to look him over but then he started running his fingers through the monkey's fur. After a few minutes of this I thought it would be good to bring out a different toy....maybe one that made noise or sparkled, but as soon as I took monkey away Baby G screamed. Let me verify that Baby G rarely screams so this caught me off guard. I quickly brought the monkey back and Baby G smiled and continued feeling his fur.

Now Monkey goes with us everywhere and if you are ever wanting to make Baby G smile just pull out Monkey.

They even enjoy sleeping together.

Best Buds!

Unfortunately, again Marley is jealous. He will often try to take Monkey away from Baby G when we aren't looking. Maybe someday they all can be friends.

Bath Time

Giving Baby G a bath is always special, but it is usually more special when he is not screaming his head off. For the past month or so we have been giving Baby G a bath in the big bath tub with Mr. G in there holding him. Because Mr. G has to be gone all day at work we thought it would be nice for him and Baby G to have bath time be their time.

Sometimes Baby G doesn't like bath time and sometimes he seems to enjoy it, giving us lots of goofy faces. Just recently I was able to get a picture of Baby G during bath time and you can see what I mean by a "goofy face."

Hold me, Daddy

Hold me, Daddy

And never let go.

I need you, Daddy

More than you could ever know.

You are my hero, Daddy

There is nothing you can't do.

That is why when I grow up, Daddy

I want to be just like you.

Because you take the time to hold me, Daddy

I will never question in my mind

That you truly love me, Daddy

'Cause you were never hard to find.

When you hold me close to you, Daddy

I feel safe in your strong arms.

And I know, Daddy

You will keep me from all harm

Sometimes when you hold me, Daddy

You read me the Bible too.

Since I can't read yet, Daddy

I am learning about God through you.

I may be small now, Daddy

But someday that won't be true.

And I will be able to do great things, Daddy

Because of everything I learned from you.

I will have a strong faith, Daddy

Plus confidence, love, and sincerity.

And it all started, Daddy

That first day you held me.

Marley & Baby G

I am sure that there are many of you who are wondering how Marley is doing. Well, it has been a long, hard road for Marley, but I believe he has adjusted quite nicely.

Marley actually was my only sign that I was about to go into labor...if only I had noticed it then. For two days before my labor started Marley started acting really strange. He was constantly wanting to sit next to me (more than usual) and he did not like it if Mr. G came near me or him. He would actually growl and snap at Mr. G. At the time we thought that Marley was acting really strange, but then a few days later I went into labor and I truly believe that Marley had a sense that was going to happen.

Then the morning that I was in labor Marley became even more protective of me. He had to be laying on top of me, especially during contractions. He was even trying to lay on my head at times. It was a really nice gesture, but not the thing I was wanting at the time. Then when Mr. G and I took the drive to my mom and dads to drop Marley off we forced him to sit in the back seat so I could concentrate a little better. He laid there and literally just stared at me. Amazing enough, this dog knew what was going on and it was really bothering him.

The three days that we were gone from Marley because we were in the hospital having Baby G, my mom told me that Marley was a wreck. He didn't want to play with the other dogs, which is very unusual, and he even lost his appetite. If I ever questioned whether Marley loved me or not, now I know for sure that he does.

Since Baby G has been home Marley has gone back and forth from being protective of Baby G to jealous. Mr. G and I have been trying our best to still find time to play around with Marley and I will try and pet him as much as possible, but I am sure that he still feels replaced. However, anytime that Baby G is sprawled out either on the bed or the couch, Marley has to be laying right next to him, usually touching him. We have to watch Marley really closely, but he seems to know to be careful. Here is a picture of the two boys sleeping on the couch together.

I really believe that they will be best friends someday.
So for those of you who were worried about Marley you can rest assured that he is doing very well and likes his new baby brother.

Picture or Video???

Have you ever been put in the awkward situation where you thought someone was taking a picture of you and they were actually taking a video instead. It happened once to Mr. G and I on our honeymoon when we were out swimming with sting rays. One of the workers was holding what we thought was a water camera and she told us to look in her direction. So we stood together and smiled. After about 5 seconds she had to tell us that it was a video and to act normal. I could show you that video but instead I am going to show you my brother when he got caught in the same situation.

I had just taken his picture holding Baby G because they both looked so uncomfortable...especially Baby G.

Then I decided to take a video of them but forgot to inform my brother of this. Of course, he handles it with class because his fiance is sitting right there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3M_CH_qwZ4

Smiles

Baby G gave me his first real smile when he was about 4 weeks old. Ever since then I have been doing all I can to get the lil guy to smile. He doesn't do it all the time, but it seems that if I make myself sound silly enough then I can get a smile or two. Well, today I must've been really silly because I was getting smiles left and right and luckily, I was able to get a few pictures of it. Sorry to say that some of the pictures are blurry. It isn't easy trying to make your infant smile when there is a camera right in front of my face. At least you can still see how cute he is.

In this picture he is smiling so big that he can't keep his eyes open.

This one looks more like he is posing, but you can get a glimpse of those darling dimples. Boy is he a charmer.
This is more of a smirk with those beautiful blue eyes wide open. And, oh my word, that crazy hair. Will it every stop sticking straight up? It is cute now....but what about when he is 30.
This one he actually giggled a little with it. Mama really must've been acting silly here.
So he isn't really smiling in this one. He looks more like he is wanting me to stop trying so hard to make him smile.
He went ahead and gave me one more good smile. This one is my favorite. It cracks me up.
It is always special when your baby looks up at you and smiles. I am going to do my best to give this little boy a lot to smile about through out his life.

Hanging with my cousin

Mr. G and I made the trip recently up to see his parents.
While we were there Baby G had a chance to play with his older cousin. His cousin was born just 8 weeks before him and this was really the first chance they had to hang out.
They did what most boys do...just laid around. It was adorable to see them looking at each other and getting upset if they accidentally hit each other. Mr. G was able to video tape some of it, but by this time Baby G had had enough. It is still cute to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzriR1lpNmA

Road Trip

Over July 4th weekend Baby G went on his first road trip. It was a 6-7 hour drive to Springdale, Arkansas where we were meeting some friends, not counting stops and I had no idea how he would do. He wasn't quite 4 weeks old and is breastfeeding every 2 hours or so, but he is a very good baby so I had high hopes.

Baby G did absolutely wonderful. We went through a lot of rain and so he enjoyed watching the rain drops slide across the window. He also enjoyed staring at Mr. G and I, and he took many naps. We made it to our destination on July 3rd at the exact time everyone was shooting off fireworks. It was an amazing site.

When we made it to the hotel Baby G just wanted to stretch out so we propped him up in the bed. He ended up loving their bed.

The bed was so much bigger than him, but it made for a cute picture. I must admit that their beds were really comfy.
He was out like a light from his long day of traveling.
The next morning Baby G got caught up on his reading, made a few calls on his cell phone, and had a few cups of coffee.

Then we hit the town and met up with our friends who just happened to have a baby boy 8 days after us.
We ate at an amazing restaurant and had great fellowship.
We were blessed that my folks got to go with us. Technically, the trip was for them to check out a few vehicles from our friends. It was a whirlwind trip that Baby G won't remember, but I will. We are so blessed to have such a good baby who is a joy to take on even a 7 hour trip.

On our way back home we stopped by and saw some of the devastation in Joplin, Missouri.
We were amazed at how buildings were completed gutted. You couldn't even tell what had been there before.
I can't even imagine how scary it was to be in these buildings when the tornado went through.
We assume this was a restaurant but all that is left is the playground. Absolutely no sign of the building that once stood next to this playground.
It was a humbling experience to see what could happen in a blink of an eye.

Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe on our trip and may you bless all those still recovering in Joplin.