Valentine's Day & The Easter Bunny

For Valentine's Day, Clay and George started to build us some end tables for our porch.  After a lot of work, they were finished last weekend.  I was totally blown away by how great they turned out!  Now we have a place for you to set down your plate or drink while you're sitting on our porch- so come on over!

Last Sunday at church, our pastor read parts of the book The Runaway Bunny.  I thought it was such a sweet story of a parent's love for a child, but even more so, of the love of our Savior for me.  I was almost beside myself when the Easter Bunny dropped a copy of this book by our house for me!  

Thanks Clay!

(quote below taken from the first few pages of The Runaway Bunny)

"Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.  So he said to his mother, "I am running away."  

"If you run away," said his mother, "I will run after you.  For you are my little bunny."

"If you run after me," said the little bunny, "I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you."

"If you become a fish in a trout stream," said his mother, "I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you." 

 

What a picture of the Gospel that we celebrate today!  Our God did become a Fisherman and fish for us through Jesus, and we celebrate His resurrection today.

 I am so excited to read this book to George over and over throughout the coming years.  

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Luke 19:10

I'll do an Easter-Family-Fun-Time re-cap soon, but wanted to share this first.

Happy Easter!

 

    

Rumpshaker 2012

Saturday was the annual Rumpshaker 5K that we do in honor of my aunt, Marianne.

This year was so much fun!  This was also mine and Clay's first year with a stroller, and we quickly found that you definitely can't weave in and out of the crowds as quickly or easily as you can without a stroller.  Overall- it was a great morning for a run to raise money and awareness about Colon Cancer.

My cousin, Mary Alice, came in Friday night with her little boy, Jack.  Once they got on the floor and got playing they had so much fun!

 First glimpse of each other.

 George needed to get a little closer to see his new friend.

 Then the daycare survival skills kicked in for both of them as they went straight for the other one's face.

 In the end, they were friends.

We got up bright and early Saturday morning for the race!

 This picture is classic Saty.  This is the poster we've used in each of the Rumpshaker races we've done.  My mom was tired of it falling apart, so she got it laminated.  She was also tired of having to hold the poster, so she punched two holes and tied a string through it and wore it around her neck.  Classic.

 Some of the over 3,500 participants.

 George and me post-race!  Sorry for the red face...looks like I'll be finding my way to a treadmill more often.

(Clay pinned his race number on George and it was a big hit with the other people in the race)

 The whole crew after the race.

 Then we got to run in to some fun friends!  

 and Great Aunt Gina was there too!

 We all went to grab brunch afterwards and we had a lot of tired babies on our hands.

Marianne, we missed you on Saturday, but we do this for you!  Thank you for the way you inspire us in everything that you do.  Your life is a testament that a positive attitude (and a few pictures) can cure anything.  I will be forever thankful for the impact you have on my life.

Hank's Dedication

Last Sunday we got together with the Cochran's and the Stanley's to celebrate Hank's dedication.  It was such a beautiful day, and an exciting time to see Hank be dedicated to the Lord.

 Baby Hank being dedicated

 Mama Zo and Pops with their grandsons.

 The whole Cochran family!

 George and Pops

Such a fun day!

Sweet Moments

The weather has been absolutely incredible, and after reading a friend's blog, I was really encouraged to take advantage of the downtime with Clay and George.  The other night after dinner, we went on a walk and then played in the front yard together.  Harper was just beside herself with excitement!

There are few things sweeter to me right now than watching the joy in Clay's face mirrored in George's face.  I realized lately that I tend to share the exciting occasions, trips, and family get-togethers.  While these events are so special to us, it's the in-between, non-exciting moments that make me feel like a family.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God."  Colossians 3:17

Seaside for Spring Break

If you live in the Birmingham area and have kids in school, you were probably in Seaside, or somewhere close, for Spring Break.  On Tuesday, we headed down to Seaside for the week.

Here are a few things that happened every day while we were there:

 George loved to be on the porch swing, and Saty loved to swing him out there.  It usually took about 30 seconds for Rogers to shimmy his way up into the one-seater swing, but Saty always made room for her boys!

George loved this little walker, and Rogers would push him around everytime he got in it.

Every morning when Rogers would get up, the whole way down the stairs you could hear, "Saty affles! Saty affles!"  Needless to say, Saty and Rogers made waffles every morning.

George loved time in the pool.

 ...until he got too tired.

 Rogers would eat gelato.

 George liked swinging by himself...

 and swinging with us too.

 He loved going down the slide with Dad.

And then would collapse in our arms from exhaustion.

Day 2:

 More waffles.

 Then the boys opened their Easter baskets from Saty and the big hit were their sunglasses!

Does this picture even need a caption?

 More of this...

More of that.

More swimming in the pool.

Friday night Saty kept the boys and let us go out to dinner!

 The last night we got to see this beautiful sunset over Seaside.

...and then it was time to go home.

George was absolutely pitiful on the car ride home.  This face makes me completely powerless, and I worry that one day he will use this to his advantage.  We would stop to try to change/feed/see what was wrong with him.  As soon as we would pick him up he would start laughing and smiling.

I think he was just sad to leave Seaside.

It has been such a great week with family.

Happy Spring Break!

Six Months

One-half of a year has passed since George came into our lives, and started our family of three.  

When I look back at this little nugget:

It's hard to believe that he has changed into this boy:

Judge as you will, but we tried a Baby Einstein DVD today.  Let's just say...it was amazing.  George usually gets a little fussy around 5-5:30, which is when I am typically getting dinner ready.  Today I popped in one of those DVDs, and this was all George could do:

As a disclaimer, we rarely let George watch TV of any kind.  But I am totally okay with this.

There is so much to say about the past six months, but there would never be enough time to say it all.  

George, the Lord has used you to shape and mold your dad and me into closer followers of Him.  We have learned truly what it means to die to self through the love we have for you.  To say we are thankful for you would be the ultimate understatement, but we are.  We have a love for you that runs deeper than ourselves, and we pray that our love points you to the Lord one day.

Happy Six Months, George!