About 2 weeks ago, we were able to again spend some time with dear friends of ours. Rob and Taunya Lanham moved to Alaska back in February of last year to pastor King Cove Bible Chapel. They came back to the lower 48 for a missions conference in Georgia and took a few weeks as well to visit with friends and family before heading back. I am so glad we were able to make it on that list, even if it was just over dinner. The kids had a blast with Kelsie and Whitnie. Faith got spoiled by Chan quite a bit! Charis was silly as usual and Matthew decided to crawl into the highchair after Andrew finished eating. Andrew ate so much he nearly "busted a gut!" He sat with his mouth filled like a chipmunk and then complained: "Hurts!" while rubbing his tummy. I wish I had taken a picture of it to show you WHY his tummy would hurt! LOL! Bro. Rob and Dennis enjoyed discussing numerous topics while the rest of us just relaxed and had fun at our all-time favorite place to eat: CiCi's Pizza parlor.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

Today is a special day for someone I love very much! I won't say how old she is, but Mom knows.

She is now taking care of Papa Elbert 24/7 as he has metastatic melanoma which has affected his stomach, right lung and his brain. At this point, he no longer has function of his motor skills to walk around. Things have become difficult for both him and her, but God gives grace in time of need.

I don't know what Mom is going through, but I know that she was a wonderful mom to me and my brothers. And I know that she loves her daddy enough to do the right thing for him. And I admire her for that. So, I want to tell her today, "I love you, Mom and I hope you have a very special and wonderful birthday. I pray for God's blessings on you today and always."

3 Months Already?!!

This past Tuesday, Faith turned 3 months old. I can hardly believe the time has just flown by! I don't take her for a checkup any time real soon, but I think she is weighing about 16 lbs. now. Definitely a chubby little baby. But, the more rolls they have, the more adorable they are, I think!
She is laughing alot, but not quite giggling just yet. She loves the ceiling fans, and the deer head mounted on our living room wall. She also love a teddy bear that sits atop my dresser mirror. Many times she has been irritable and fussy and I have taken her to my bedroom and stood in front of the mirror. She always looks up and sees that bear. Her tears disappear and she starts smiling and laughing; "talking" to the bear.

She is also looking more and more like her big sister, don't you think?

The quilt she is laying on was made by a new friend I recently made. She lives in Canada and I met her online through a chat forum I am part of. I have known her for close to a year, if I recall correctly. Anyway, she makes quilts and does a beautiful job. I commented on her handiwork one day, shortly before the birth of my baby girl. She offered to make a quilt for Faith. I was stunned! She did it as a gift for her, although I offered to pay for it. I have no idea how much it costs to get started on a quilt, much less the time and materials and thought and love that goes into its shape. I accepted her offer and was surprised to find that the quilt was complete and ready to be delivered to me about 2 weeks ago. A few days later, I got a knock on the door. The mail lady was standing at the door with a package for me. Seeing who it was from, I ripped into it like a child at Christmas time. I found wrapping like a birthday present. Pulling that off, I found a black garbage back which was squished like shrink wrap and tied off with a rubber band. I unwound the band and pulled out this beautiful quilt.

Faith seems to enjoy it as well:

Updated!

School continues for Charis as she is learning more and more. I am trying to teach Matthew a bit, since he wants to be right with Charis during school hours. I don't want to cause him to have disinterest when it is time for him to do school, so we go over a page or two and I just sort of test him to see what he knows and then teach him something new. He loves it.

Andrew just loves attention, and he will do almost anything he can to get it. When Matthew's done with his "school" they play together. As you can see, they are bestest buddies, most of the time anyway!

Faith is growing so quickly and everything is new and interesting to her. She has the brightest eyes and smiles often!


She has also found her thumb and feels she no longer needs her pacifier. Which is nice because I don't have to keep up with where her paci is anymore. But, she hasn't quite figured out yet how to get her thumb to her mouth when she is on her back or in her carseat. And that also means another child I will have to break of thumbsucking. But that's a few years away. Right now, it's just adorable, don't you think?






She is scooting around (literally!) when she is awak and on her tummy, which is alot! I can place her in the playpen facing one way and when I return to her a few minutes later, she is facing the opposite direction. She loves the ceiling fans and also a teddy bear I have hanging on my dresser mirror in our bedroom. If I can get a picture of that somehow, I will post it as well.
Having four kids certainly keeps me busy, but I thoroughly enjoy it!

Here's a recent video of Faith as she was learning to coo. I have entitled this video: "A Coo, Achoo! and A Smile"