With a cluck cluck here and cluck cluck there...

William and I got to go to Dewberry Farms today along with some awesome ladies and their children from our church. I think, in Texas at least, October should be renamed Augtober. Seriously, it was HOT! Who knew? Besides having fun with William and our friends, I had another motive for going to Dewberry Farms - get a cute picture of William with pumpkins. I naively believed this would be no problem. William is usually so smiley, especially when you pull out a camera. Here are the best photos I was able to get.

We had just arrived and were standing in line to take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

William is playing with one of his favorite things: rocks. I constantly find rocks all over the house. He's easy to entertain, I'll give him that.

First prime photo opportunity: the "pumpkin patch." Really, this was just a plot of ground that they threw little pumpkins on. Here's how the dialogue went "William, look at Mama! William! Look at Mama! William! Look! at! Mama!" Did he look? Oh no. No he didn't.

So we moved on to the "petting zoo." It was a zoo but there was no petting. William loved the animals anyway.

He is trying to crawl into the pond to get to the ducks. "Duck", by the way, was William's first official word after "Dada."

Goats. Loved the goats. He wasn't the slightest bit afraid.

I love his left hand in this photo. "Whoa! A pig!"

William loved the horse. He was actually beating on this gate trying to get in.

And this led to the second, primo photo opportunity. I mean, this shot had it all, hay, barn, windmill, pumpkins, water, a willow tree, a beautiful sky. What more could I want? A kid that would smile would be nice...

This is the best shot I got. Seriously, the best one.

"Oh, a pumpkin.", he says to himself as I beg him to "Look at Mama!"

William loves the camera. He knows that little pictures show up on the back and that there are a lot of buttons to push. Here he is politely asking to see the camera.

Here, he is asking not so politely to see the camera.

Next, we moved on to a play area. William loves to play, especially if the play things have wheels.

After this our little group decided it would be a good time to cool off and have some lunch. We sat at little tables with umbrellas. After sitting down I decided I really didn't have the energy to go look at another thing so William and I hung out on a cool porch while the group took the kids off to explore some more.

The porch was great. It caught a little breeze and William loved walking up and down it.

Now he smiles...oh well. We had a great time with great friends. I would definitely go again however I think we'll wait until November to go next year.

Happy Birthday, William!

On Saturday we celebrated William's first birthday with family. My baby is growing up too quickly. Wasn't it just a couple months ago we brought him home from the hospital? I'm no Einstein but I really believe the older one gets the faster time moves.

Here's our little man posing on his birthday. He was all dressed up for a Pray and Playdate. This is an awesome group one of my friends started. Moms and kids gather once a month. The kids play while the moms pray for their kids. We both really enjoy it. Our friend Gillian made William some cupcakes and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. He loved the attention.

The next day we had a family party at our house. William enjoying his birthday dinner. We had pizza, his favorite.

And cupcakes. He loved the icing! What kid doesn't? Heck, I love icing. I love it so much we had three different kinds, chocolate, cream cheese and caramel and I tried them all!

Family pic...

After cupcakes the kids got to hit on a pinata. William was not too sure about it. He did enjoy watching the bigger kids take a whack but was freaked out when the pinata actually broke and the kids made a dash for the candy. To be honest, they were like a pack of hyenas chasing a lame gazelle. Who knew the power of candy?

And then the presents! Oh my, the presents! It was like Christmas morning. He got toys and clothes, a tent and a rocker. Here's a snapshot of the haul.

All in all, a very good day. It was great to have all the family together but to be honest, I hope the second birthday doesn't arrive as fast as the first.

We're Moving On Up!

I have about 20 other things I should be doing right now besides updating my blog but this just seemed like more fun. Plus, I realized I haven't blogged in over a month! Whatever are my fans doing?!? ;-)

Anyway...we are finally, officially moved. There is so much to tell you. I don't have time right now but I promise to post deep, meaningful thoughts in the next post (which will not take me a month.)

We are loving all the room. William is loving the stairs and has only had one mishap concerning same so far.

He is also enjoying his own room. At first we were planning on putting his crib in our closet (it is a big closet) so we wouldn't have to heat and cool both up and downstairs. After much deliberation we decided to go ahead and put him upstairs and I think it is working out great. The best part is that he is sleeping in later. He didn't get up this morning until almost 8! That's a huge improvement over the usual 6:30 a.m. I'm usually able to have a cup of coffee before he gets up. Yay!

Well, I had better get to getting. Y'all look forward to a meaningful post soon.

The Great Adventure

Anyone like an adventure? I don't mean on TV but in real life. Anyone like the excitement of getting just a little lost and then the joy and satisfaction (and relief) of finding your way again? I do. I love adventure. I like in movies, I like it in books and I love it in real life!

Jeremy and I are about to embark on a great adventure. Some of you might think we are crazy. That's OK. We are, but we also know we are in great Hands.

Big announcement: We're moving!

This moving involves the end of one season and the beginning of another. If you have a few minutes I'd love to tell you about it.

A couple months ago, Jeremy and I both began to sense that our times as a CARES Team was coming to an end. In the beginning we had committed to serve two years. At the two year mark we decided to just keep on keeping on. Soon after, God began working in both of us but we didn't know what the next step should be. We didn't feel like we were ready to buy a house, we didn't want to lease a house and we (I) really didn't want to move into another apartment. Quite the conundrum to be sure...

And then the phone rang (insert dramatic music here.) It was my ex-boss. I had done quite a bit of house/dog/kid sitting for him in the past. They were moving out of state but their house here hadn't sold. They didn't want it to just sit vacant and so he wanted to know if Jeremy and I would be willing to live in it until it sold. They didn't want to lease it out and take a chance on getting bad tenants. He said they knew us, trusted us and wanted us to live in their house. Our "rent" would be taking care of the house and yard and being willing to make the home available to show.

Now let me tell you friends, this is a beautiful house. From the first moment I stepped foot into this house I loved, loved, loved it! It is a dream house. A dream so big that it was/is completely out of reach for Jeremy and me. In our entire lives we would never be able to afford such a house. Every time I stayed there I would always say to myself and sometimes to others, "This house was meant for ministry." I would often tell Jeremy, "Do you know how many ways we could serve the LORD in this house?"

And lo and behold if the LORD has not landed this house in our lap.

Jeremy and I were stunned by the goodness of the LORD. What a blessing! What lovingkindness! What benevolence! What a sense of humor! If this is house is any indication of the grandeur of our forever homes we have a treat in store for us!

Now, we fully realize that we're also taking a chance here. This home is still for sale. We could be there for 2 months or 12 months. Only GOD knows. But this I do know, we'll be serving HIM diligently for as long as we are there using this blessing to bless as many people as we possibly can.

Always, Sometimes, Never

I stole this idea from numerous friends' blogs (Callie, Lesly, Wendy...) It just seemed like the thing to do so here's my list.

I always:

Sleep with makeup on (mainly from laziness rather than vanity)

Drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon

Do a whole week's worth of laundry in one day

Love rocking my baby

Kiss my husband goodbye in the morning

Hate putting gas in the car

I sometimes:

Procrastinate (this should really be, "I usually")

Wear my clothes more than once before washing them

Cook dinner

Nap in the afternoon when the baby naps

Wish I was more disciplined in exercise, eating healthy and studying

I never:

Have the house as clean as I would like it to be

Read all the books I aspire to read

Can read Jane Eyre too often

Read Jane Eyre as often as I like

Get enough of Jesus, chocolate or sleep

Potty time!

William LOVES the bathroom! What man doesn't? He loves everything about it. He loves the tub, the bath toys, the mirror, the commode, the toilet paper, the cabinets and drawers, in short, everything. Here are a few photos of William enjoying his favorite room.

William had thrown his first toy into the commode.

And he was really happy about it.

And here he is getting into the cabinet. Did you notice the child-proofing device on the cabinet door? Yeah, not so effective... Also, be sure to notice the pile of toilet tissue on the floor. Wheee!

I hesitate to post this next set of photos. One is sometimes just unsure when momma pride crosses the line into TMI (too much information.) This may be one of those occasions but I'm going to post anyway.

Over the past few weeks, on several occasions William has awoken in the morning with a completely dry diaper. I had always heard that you know your child is ready to potty train when they go through the night without wetting their diaper. So, just for funsies, I decided to pull out our little potty and see how William reacted. The first time I put him on the potty he went number one. Now he goes potty on his potty about once a day usually in the morning.

I love this face. Its like he's saying, "Really, Mom? You're taking my picture?" His poor little feet don't even touch the floor.

"Okay, you can take my picture but I'm a little embarrassed."

"Yay! I did it!"

I'll save everyone the photographic evidence of the tee tee in the potty. :)

William De Jour

I thought I would post a few of William's favorite things. He is growing and learning so fast. I can hardly believe he will be 10 months old in about a week. He is crawling all over the house. Pulling up on everything. Standing alone for a few seconds and just generally getting into everything. I'm loving that his personality is starting to come out. He loves to play and plays well alone and with friends. He really enjoyed VBS a couple weeks ago where he got to play all morning long and skip his morning nap. He is very curious and loves to explore.

Pictured below William is playing with a few of his favorite things.

His car. Best $4 I ever spent at Walmart.
His remote. Yes, he has his own. This kid will melt down over control of the remote control. "Seriously, God? Did you hard wire this into guys or what?"

His laptop. I think William is going to be a nerd. I say that in the most affectionate way possible. William will throw a fit over a computer and really anything electronic for that matter. It became such an issue every time I got on the computer that we pulled an old, broke-down laptop out of the closet. He loves it. He really likes to "type."

So, on this day William was a little grumpy. He had already had his nap but was just having a hard day. I'm loving my friends having Chinese students and have enjoyed cooking meals for a few of them. In this photo, I was in the process of making a pie and William was "helping" aka "watching and crying." So, I did what every mother does when her child is whiney and just generally disagreeable. I gave him sweets.

I had just whipped up some whipped topping and gave him the beater just to see what he would do with it. This must be something else God hardwires into the brain because William took to the beater like a moth to a bug zapper.

End result? Happy baby and a new favorite thing.

Hail? Yes!

The weather...in Houston...unpredictable? Hail yes!

So Saturday we went to a class party at the beautiful home of Garth and Brandy Belue. A great time was being had by all. It was hot, as usual. Everyone was enjoying the pool. Then, all of a sudden, a huge storm cloud rolls in right on top of their house and down from the sky falls...hail. In the middle of the summer. Hail.

I quickly surveyed the skyline for Christ's triumphant return but He obviously wasn't coming back on this day.

William, however, loved the weather! Surprisingly, he was not afraid at all. He loved the rain and enjoyed playing in it.

Just after this photo was taken the thunder and lightening began and the party was quickly moved inside and the feasting began. We had so much delicious food! I'm still full.

With My Little Eye I Spy SPI

Over the Fourth of July weekend, our little family made a circuit to see both my family and Jeremy's. Our first stop was in the piney woods of East Texas visiting my family. We enjoyed pool time, hanging out with the fam and, of course, eating. If there is one thing my family knows how to do, that is eat! My mother loves to fill and empty plate and she loves a healthy eater (aka Jeremy and William.) I am ashamed as a mother to tell you what I permitted William to be fed. He had copious amounts of fruit. He had a cup of vanilla ice cream, a Drumstick (sans the nuts), pancakes, donuts and I can't even remember what all else. Oh well, what are grandparents for but to spoil and ruin appetites.

On the Monday following, we drove down to SPI (South Padre Island) to spend some time with Jeremy's parents and our niece and nephew, Kendall and Kolton. Again, a good time was had by all. Photos are attached for your viewing pleasure. If you're a Facebook friend, you've already seen them..

But seriously, can I ask you a question? Do you find my use of 'SPI' annoying? To be honest, I am a bit amused/curious about folks who have stickers on the back of their car of the places they've been or bands they love (Jeremy) that only have the initials of the thing. Do people put those stickers on their cars thinking that everyone knows what they mean or is it like an undercover fanship (word? if not, I'm making it one. Kinda like worship but not quite as devout and definitely doesn't qualify as breaking one of the big 10.) Is it their way of saying,

I really like this place, this thing, or this band (Jeremy) and I want to shout it to the world but only if no one really knows what I'm talking about? Or, maybe its their way of secretly connecting with other fans. They think to themselves as they interpret the secret code "I'm so cool because not only do I also fanship this thing, but I know you fanship it too."

(this is an example in case you didn't know what I was talking about...)

Oh well, that's just another one of life's mysteries. Probably won't be taking that one to heaven with me though. Its just not that serious. I'll be saving my questions for the BIG mysteries like "What happened to the dinosaurs anyway?"

Maiden Blog

Hello fellow bloggers and/or blog perusers! I'm so glad you stopped by and that you've stayed long enough to read this!

The path that lead to this blog has been long. I've started no less than three blogs that have never seen the light of another's computer screen. But, due to the overwhelming cuteness of my only son, and my momma pride regarding same, I have finally, officially kicked off my blog.

If you're reading this you probably already know me, Jeremy and William so I'll dispense with a long history/back story, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc...and get right to the overwhelming cuteness of William (aka Baby of the World) who, by the way, is still sleeping at 7:48 a.m. That. Is. AMAZING! This little dude is usually up with the sun - 6:30 ish every morning regardless of his bedtime.

But I digress...I have to share the most recent funny story about William. I'm going to try to post pictures because, well, pictures really tell the story and we're a visual society and who wants to read all this anyway. I'm new at this blogging thing so if they don't post right please apply copious amounts of grace.

Here's the story on William.

William started crawling backwards in May. I just knew he would crawl forwards just moments or days later. Nope. Not my kid. He crawled backwards for over a month without kicking it into forward gear. Jeremy and I would call him. We'd offer him toys, food, paper (he has an obsession), whatever we thought would get his attention and coerce him into crawling forward to no avail. So, the other day I'm cooking in the kitchen and Wm is sitting just at the edge of the kitchen floor playing. He is straining to reach for the dog food bowl and the dog's water. I just slide them both out of reach and go back to cooking. I look over to check on him and what is he doing? Crawling! Forward! Towards what? Towards the stinkin' dog food bowl! He loves it. And apparently he loves dog food.

Now, I want you to know that these photos are not of the first time he crawled. This is an ongoing issue in our house. This kid just will not leave the dog food alone. If you look at the last picture, in the right hand corner of his mouth, you will see a piece of dog food. You'll all be happy, and perhaps a bit relieved, to know that once I got my photographic evidence I did remove the baby from the dog food and the dog food from the baby. :)

Well, that's enough for now. If you're still with me, I'm impressed. Heck, I might have you over for dinner. I have a few more stories I can share ;)