Thanksgiving.

Some highlights and fun memories from Thanksgiving 2013...

George had an explosion of.. well... let's just say an "explosion," on the road down to Houston.  On Thanksgiving day.  The only place open between Fort Worth and Houston on Thanksgiving day is a McDonalds in Buffalo, TX.  The Buffalo, TX McDonalds doesn't happen to have a baby changing station, so George and I made a Thanksgiving memory in the freezing cold McDonalds parking lot.  I'll spare you the picture, though you better believe I took one.

Things calmed down substantially once we arrived.  We were so glad to be in Houston to celebrate our beautiful niece's 2nd birthday.

We love you, Lyla!

 We soaked up all the family time.

All the cousins (except napping George) and Lyla's birthday party

Ben played all by himself with Nana and Papsy's train for hours and hours.  All the other kids were outside, and we couldn't tear him away from that train.

There was dancing...

Drew is always the life of the party.

 Beautiful mothers & daughters...

Some of us napped...

 Most of us relaxed...

I made cranberry sauce.  Like from actual cranberries and orange zest and cinnamon and syrup.

Mostly, we just enjoyed being together...

7.6

You, George David are 7 months old!  Well, technically7.6 months old today, but close enough, right?

I intended to take 7-month pictures about three weeks ago, but I accidentally turned your white onesie pink in the wash.  Then we went to Houston, then you had a cold (which progressed into your first ear infection), then you had a nasty, full-body rash as a result of a new bath soap (sorry about that one), and then we got iced in and I didn't have the heart to strip you down to your skivvies for a photo-shoot.  So, here we are, almost three weeks later.  You didn't seem to mind.

Showing off all four of those teeth!  The top two are recent additions.

In fact, nothing really seems to bother you.  You are one mellow dude.  You have gotten a bit more chatty this month, though, and you've even started yelling when you really want to get your point across.

We all love to make you smile, but especially that brother of yours.  Ben is so proud of himself when you giggle at him.

Every day, Daddy and I see glimpses of your Uncle Dave in you.  We always stop and go, "Whoa!  That's Dave!"  See?

Speaking of Uncle Dave, you got to spend some time with him during our Thanksgiving trip to Houston. Y'all are becoming fast friends.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this was your first!  We had a great trip to Houston and all of your cousins enjoyed holding you.  Papsy couldn't believe how sweet and laid back you are.  

The shirt says "My First Thanksgiving," but those belly rolls distort it just a little.

You're still rejecting table food.  The doctor's not harassing me about it since you're nice a plump, and I'm feeling okay about it, too.  Nursing is much easier and requires much less prep on my part, so we'll go with it until you decide otherwise, mkay?

Bath time remains your favorite part of the day.

This month was big for me because you went from two (sometimes three!) middle-of-the-night wake-ups to mostly just one.  I can totally hang with one wake-up.  I know you'll be sleeping through the night completely before too long, so in the meantime I'm enjoying the quite snuggle time.  You usually wake up right around 3am, and I nurse you and change your diaper and you go right back to sleep without any protest.

We are enjoying the heck out of you, our littlest boy.

All 7.6 months with you.

Halfsies.

Both of our April babies are half a year older!

I can't believe you, little George, are already six months old!

Your interests seem limited to chewing and jumping.  Buddy, you bounce around like a bean.  Even while you're eating, you lay on your side and kick off of the pillow or the rocking chair or the closest surface. It makes things interesting.  Anything within reach lasts about .64 seconds before it gets shoved in your mouth.  Your hands, your feet, your toys, Ben's toys; you don't discriminate.

It's no wonder everything goes straight to your mouth, because your first two teeth popped through this week!  Truthfully, I loved that gummy little smile and am a little sad to lose it so quickly.  No chewing for you, though. We've tried to feed you pureed fruit a few times, but you remain unimpressed.  That's okay.  This go-round, I'm not stressing, I'm just enjoying!

Oh, and we do enjoy you.  My favorite thing about you is the fat rolls on your knees.

And the two little dimples under your bottom lip. And your long eyelashes.

And those cheeks.  Well, really it's just not fair to make me choose, is it?

We just can't get over what an easy-going baby you are, and we laugh because you remind us of your Uncle David (yes, the one you're named after!) in that way.  You just hang out.  That precocious big brother keeps me on my toes, and you seem to get a kick out of watching everything unfold.  You happily accompany us to the library, Bible study, and the park with very little protest.  Grampa says "angelic" is the best word he can find to describe you, and I have to agree.  George David, you are so many answered prayers wrapped up in one sweet, chunky, irresistible little boy!

Of course, Ben is two-and-a-half!

Ben, you are Toy Story.  All the time.  Every day.  "Woody and Buzz" go with us everywhere, and you are constantly losing either Woody or Woody's hat (or both) and recruiting friends and family to help you find him.  "Yet's yook for Woody..."

You love to sing.  You shout "Yes Sir!!!" when we sing "The Lord's Army," and "1-2-3 strikes you're out!" when it's "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and "Jingle Bell Rock" are current favorites, too (thank you, Daddy).

You love that little brother of yours, as evidenced by today's photo-bombing.

You like looking at George on the "monatour" and as soon as you hear him cry, your eyes get really big and you say, "Huuu! Yet's go check on Georgey David!"  We put a chair next to his crib so you can climb up and look in on him, and you love to greet him with songs in the morning.  "It's okay, Georgey David, I'm heeya!"  He just beams up at you.  I stand there and watch you smiling at each other and marvel at how rich we are.  I know that's just disgusting, but honestly, how much sweeter does it get?

I sing a little song to George to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree."  It's "George David, George David, I love you, love you, love you."  You sing him you're own version quite often. "Georgey David, Georgey, David, I wuv you wuv you wuv you wuv you wuv you..."  Melts me.

You just talk up a storm.  We get such a kick out of it.  When you wake up in the morning, you'll say, "It's a pretty day!  Good morning, sun!  I'm so happy to see you, Mommy."  You have the sweetest little spirit about you- just pure joy!

When we ask you questions, you answer with full sentences.   "Yes, I would yike to go at de park, Mommy!" "No fanks, I don't wanta eat dat, Daddy."

With Daddy at your first Ranger's game!

Of course, the funniest thing is when you use phrases and expressions correctly without having any idea what you're saying.  Your timing can be so impeccable.  We walked over to Gramma's house the other day and you wore your Buzz Lightyear Halloween costume.  When Gramma opened the door, she said, "Oh my!  Did Buzz Lightyear come to see me?"  You walked right past her and said, "I come in peace!"  We died.

"Boppa" is your best buddy.  (You can make all the individual sounds in the word "Gr-am-pa," but when I ask you to string them all together, it just comes out "Boppa.")  You two just can't get enough of each other. Boppa is so busy, but he always makes time for his "little buddy".  You ask to "facetime" him every day that he is traveling.  "Hew-woah, Boppa!" When he's home, he loves to lay in bed with you at night and tell you stories.  He is an "explorer" at heart, and so are you.  Much of your vocabulary and many of your questions stem from your time with him.

Boppa joins us for story time at the "yibee" whenever he can.

You are so obedient.  95% of the time, you come when we ask you to, stop when we ask you to, and do what we ask without us having to ask again.  I take no credit for this.  When I pray with you at night, I ask God to give you an obedient heart that will listen to Him and listen to us, and I see that answered prayer each day!  We can walk through stores with "no touchin', ownyee yookin'" and you stay right with me in parking lots and busy places.  I keep hearing that "terrible twos" is really a misnomer, and "three" is what we need to watch out for.  We shall see!

We are so thankful for both of our guys.  You make life sweeter in every way.  Happy half-birthdays, boys!

Baby Love.

Before George was even here, our friends and family began showering us with baby love.  I didn't have any expectations as far as gifts or showers since George was my second boy in less than two years, and I truly didn't need anything other than diapers.

Our sweet friends wouldn't hear of it.  I lead a group of 15 ladies at Bible Study Fellowship last year, and those sneaky ladies hijacked our very last fellowship and surprised me with the most lovely, thoughtful little celebration.  It was a cold, rainy April morning, and one by one those ladies trudged in through the parking lot- juggling children, carrying fruit salads, juice, coffee, flowers, decorations, delicious breakfast casseroles,and lots and lots and lots of diapers (and wipes)!  Hallelujah.

Words cannot describe how moved I was by their kindness.  That was just the week before George joined us, and it made his impending arrival so much more real to me!

Later that week, a few of my closest friends took me out to dinner for one last baby-less hurrah.  It was the perfect "un-shower."  We had great food and fun conversation.  They surprised me by bringing decorations and sweet gifts, including a new diaper bag I'd been eyeing for a while but was much too practical to purchase for myself.  Their love and generosity was extravagant. I drove home from my "un-shower," and told Tim how humbled and grateful I was for the people God has given us.

Kim, Brooke, Kara, Lauren and Kendal are part of my "tribe."

The girls also gave me twelve notes- one to open each time George turns another month older.  It's been fun to open them these last five months.

Good thing we didn't wait much longer to get together- George was born six days later!

On top of gifts and diapers, we've received help in practical ways.  When I was too pregnant to climb a ladder (safely), Ainsley helped me paint Ben's big boy room so it would be ready to transition him out of the nursery.

Kyle and Nancy did lots of driving to see us in April. They came up to celebrate Ben's birthday, then turned around and drove back only a week later so they could see George on his birthday.

George and Papsy bonding at the hospital.

Kyle and Nancy got up at 3am and left Houston as soon as we confirmed that I was really in labor.  It meant the world to me that they dropped everything and rushed to be there to share in our excitement. They could only stay the day, but I loved the fact that the trip was so worth-it to them.

As soon as Tim's "paternity leave" ended the week after George was born, Nancy drove up again to stay for several days. On top of just helping with the boys, Nancy cooked and cleaned for me.  One of the best things she did was keep George in her room a couple of those first nights. She brought him to me when he needed to eat, then took him back to burp him, change him, and settle him back down. I hated that George was even just a room away, but I was able to eek out as much sleep as possible, and I felt less like a zombie those next few days!

I'm not sure if it was harder for Nana to leave, or for us to watch Nana leave!

Friends flooded our house with love and hugs and delicious meals. They brought coffee and muffins, dinners and desserts.  Our house seemed to have a revolving door, and I loved every bit of it. My girlfriend Stephanie, who has four children of her own, brought dinner and a beautiful blanket she crocheted for George (in her plethora of free time).  Another wonderful lady from BSF cross-stitched an intricate wall-hanging with all of George's birth stats and simply left it sitting on our porch so she wouldn't interrupt us.

Right away, George witnessed how all of these people are an extension of God's care for us.

Courtney, from our church's "Blessed Expectations" ministry, prayed earnestly for me and George throughout my pregnancy.  I spoke to her at length about my desire to have a natural birth, and she encouraged and affirmed me on that journey.  After George was born (naturally!), she brought over a cute yard sign to announce his arrival.

Packages from friends and family all over the country arrived in the mail.  Wonderful, all-natural baby soaps and lotions that smell like orange and vanilla. Books and tiny blue clothes. Picture frames and keepsakes. One of Tim's childhood friends, Courtney, made and sent custom goodies just for George!

Why, oh why, can I not get this picture to turn?

Ainsley took family pictures and newborn pictures of George.

My incredible Mom, who already has the gift of servant-hood, went into hyper-drive with the arrival of our little baby.

Mom thought of everything- she supported me physically, mentally, and emotionally. She pre-cooked food and stocked our freezer. She arranged to have my house cleaned the week before George arrived and a handful of times after.  Truly, what on this earth is better than a clean home you haven't cleaned yourself?  I'm convinced this service is the nicest thing one can give a new mom.

Can we please have a moment of silence for those vacuum lines?

Mom wanted so much to move-in and help me, but when George was born she still had a month left of teaching at school.  Her solution?  Bring me Sarah.  Sarah, my sweet teenage cousin from Denver, flew in like some sort of Mary Poppins/Martha Stewart hybrid and did pretty much everything other than nurse my baby (though I'm convinced she would have, if she could).  For a month.  A. Month.  Don't hate me.

Sarah spent hours and hours snuggling my little guy so I could play with my big guy. And shower.  She also played with my big guy so I could snuggle my little guy.

She cooked.  Scones and souffles and french toast with homemade berry compote, just to name a few of the items.  I needed all those calories for the breastfeeding, I tell ya.

Sarah's gave up a month of her summer, and that sacrifice was priceless to me.  Sarah cleaned my house. She folded my laundry and washed my dishes.  She watched Ben so I could take George to doctors appointments. She watched both boys so Tim and I could go out on a date.  She stood in the back of our church and bounced George to sleep so I could listen to the sermon. She got up with Ben in the middle of the nights so I only had to get up with George. She helped me juggle boys and bags at the store, the library, and the zoo.  It was just like having a sister wife, with all the benefits and none of the yucky parts.

I was so, so sad to see Sarah go, but after a month of tirelessly serving our family, I knew she was more than ready to go home to her family (and enjoy some much-deserved solid sleep).

April through June were a bit of a blur, but they were filled with so much goodness.  God gave us George, and the embarrassment of riches that came along with him.