6 month pictures of caroline

while we were in marco island, we thought we'd take advantage of the beautiful scenery and attempt some 6 month portraits of caroline. i don't know if any of these will be able to be enlarged to a 10x13, but i was pretty happy with how they turned out. she's still a little wobbly sitting up by herself, so anytime she got excited and smiled, she toppled right over! since we didn't get any really smiley ones, i might try to capture her sweet smile on another day. i changed most of these to b&w because the white balance was a little off with the sand. i'd love to know your vote for her portrait!








(this last one isn't portrait material, i know, but it was her first time in a highchair, and i just had to share it!)

go out and buy this today!

this is the best bible storybook i have seen yet... my mom read about it on somebody's blog, and she couldn't help but order a copy for ethan. and now i know why! the jesus storybook bible is full of truths that christian parents long to pass on to their children, not just facts about commonly heard bible stories. from the beginning, you read of our need for a Savior and God's amazing grace! starting with creation, the person of Jesus Christ is presented in every story, and this book includes "unlikely bible story book stories" like genesis 3 and revelation. brian was so happy to see that it did not go from the garden of eden straight to noah's ark and skip right over the truth of the fall of man...ethan's typical toddler bible story book does just that! here is my favorite excerpt from the book so far....

(from the story of genesis 3)
"you see, God knew if they ate the fruit, they would think they didn't need Him. and they would try to make themselves happy without Him. but God knew there was no such thing as happiness without Him, and life without Him wouldn't be life at all."

isn't that great? i love it. i haven't read through the whole book yet, but i'm confident in my recommendation. go out and buy this book...even if you don't have kids. you'll be so glad you did.

(ok, after i wrote this post, i visited girl talk, only to find that they had just reviewed this story book! so see, i'm not the only one who loves this book! check out their review, too.)

c'mon in- the water's great!

we have surely gotten our money's worth out of this spring float. i love that it has the canopy-- i don't have to worry about the kids getting too much sun. the pool at the marriott had several sprinklers for the kids to run and play under, and ethan was very disturbed by these! it took him about 30 minutes to warm up to the idea of getting in the pool because of these pesky sprinklers, and then of course, he got so upset when it was time to leave! the pool also had a slide (see picture on last post), and ethan loved watching the kids slide down into the water.




our last evening in marco island, we decided to take a picnic dinner down to the beach. ethan loved looking for shells once he got used to walking in the sand! he hasn't really walked in much sand because i was a pregnant lazy woman last summer and we didn't make it to the beach much... so i am determined for my child to get used to the sand and to NOT have sensory issues about sand and dirt!! (especially after just attending 2 conference sessions on sensory issues!!) so, as soon as we got to the beach, ethan and i threw the football. i intentionally threw it where he had to walk to go get it, and he stood in one place, asking, "football please" over and over (what 2 year old boy stands in one place at the beach?!!!!?! only mine!). i took his hand and made him walk over to the football. he didn't protest, but it was so hilarious to watch him make each step so slowly and deliberately! (i was imagining him saying to himself, "it's just sand. you can do it, ethan!") he actually didn't mind walking in the sand the rest of the evening, but we ended up putting his crocs on so he could walk on the shell-filled part of the beach without hurting his feet. what can i say? he's just like his daddy and he doesn't like to get dirty. caroline, on the other hand, will probably be eating sand next month... here's a couple of pictures of our family and caroline's first visit to the beach. she loved watching all the people and feeling the wind in her face.

finding shells with daddy
one wind-blown family!
"look! i found a little man in my shell!
hello, little man!"
"i can't wait to come back to the beach!"

waaaaaaaay down south

brian and i loaded up the kids in the van last week and decided to drive to the very southern tip of florida (at least on the west coast).... "why?" you might ask?? 1) because our van needed some permanent lovebug skidmarks? 2) because gas is so cheap? nooo... actually, i attended a great speech pathology conference at a beautiful resort. brian watched the kids during the day while i learned so much more about autism and sensory issues, asperger's syndrome, phonological disorders, and bilingualism in children.... and then after my sessions, we relaxed! here are some views we enjoyed... the last 2 shots were taken from our hotel balcony. ethan loved going out on the balcony to "see pool! see pool!" more pictures to come...

bye, na-eee!

well, nana is on her way across the world to uganda... we said our goodbyes at the airport yesterday morning as she and the rest of the team from our church began their journey. she's going to be busy helping with music and teaching conferences over there, and i can't wait to hear how things are going. she emailed today to say that they'd made it to london, so hopefully we'll hear about their arrival to uganda soon. our family would appreciate prayers on glenda's (and the team's) behalf.... for safety and good health, as well as effective work for the Lord.

it's gonna be a long month around here without nana! ethan woke up this morning, and the first thing he said was, "na-eee's plane go round and round!" and then he said it allllllllllll day!!!! we sure will miss our nana....