Our week in pictures

Everywhere I go, people are sure Canaan is teething because he always has his fist/fingers/blanket/YOUR fingers in his mouth, and he really chomps down. He's been a little out of sorts this week anyway since we were at VBS every morning and baseball every night, so I didn't think much of it when he woke up to eat at 2:35 am last night (unusual for him). Today I checked his gums to see if they looked swollen or anything . . .

And look what I found! Two white bumps under the gums, one a lot bigger than the other. Poor baby, he really is going to cut teeth!

We were at VBS all week long. I was in the music center and a good, though tiring, time. I love to sing, the dances are fun though they stretch me in more ways than one, and the look on the kids' faces when they obviously get the message in the music is amazing. Seven children made a decision for Jesus this week. I get goosebumps just thinking of how the Word was planted in their hearts this week! All that hard work was so worth it!!

Canaan, 21 weeks

-Two white bumps on bottom gums, then on July 1 the first tooth broke through!

-Went to his first VBS with Mommy. Mostly hung out with me in the music center but went to the nursery a few times too, for about 30 minutes each time. Once they brought him to me screaming. Wah!

Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman!

We had our last day of Vacation Bible School today! What a fun week we've had. Anyway, we got home and had some things to unload, and we could see the mailman walking up, too. I said hello to the mailman and then turned around to ask Malachi to put a big box in the trash on the side of the house. The mailman turned to leave our porch just as I was saying to Malachi, "thank you, honey," and the mailman said, "you're welcome". AAACK! ROFL!!

Happy Surprise!

So I saw that dumb Home Depot commercial where the lady is raving about her "Home Depot Guys" in the gardening department, and as intended, it made me rush over to see what they could teach me. I started by asking them if they had any strawberry pots in stock. One lady said, "strawberry pots?" I explained to her what they are and she wasn't sure at all if they had anything like that, so she asked another garden employee who was walking by and without even looking up, this other lady muttered, "nope." Gaaaa.

Well! In comes Target! I was in a big rush with a pair of pants, a bottle of Robitussin and Canaan in the sling, and thought I'd exit through the garden area and pick up another 6-pack of alyssum to fill in my little front beds. I saw a Gardenia and nearly purchased it but wasn't sure if it would work well in the area I had in mind. I asked the guy at the checkout what he thought and SURPRISE! He knew ALL about whether it would work or not and why! I am so happy! Do I actually have a department-store garden guy who *knows his stuff*?? Woo HOO!

P.S. I never did plant a strawberry pot. The gorgeous one pictured above belongs to someone else and was found through Google.

Picture Time - yet again.

Gotta protect those little peepers! He was sitting in his Bumbo on the porch while I watered my flowers.

Canaan has taken an interest in this car seat toy Juanita got for him and he really likes to play with it!

Caris is so cute in her new sunglasses. We were watching (I use that term loosely) Malachi's game here.

Don't you love the look on my face here? I was asking Alif to take a pic of Canaan because I thought it was cute how he fell asleep with his arm straight up.

Canaan & Graham having some brotherly bonding time.

Canaan checking out the animals on this blanket - this kept him occupied for like 20 minutes.

Miscellaneous Pictures

We made corny shirts for the Grandpas for Father's Day. Here's Grandpa Moore's . . .
and here's Grandpa Payne's.

I ordered Caris a bunch of bows to match her very first t-ball uniform. Isn't this so cute?

Canaan was pretty impressed with the waffles & berries Malachi was eating! Only a month and a half until he can take his own first bites of solids!

Felicia and Canaan at the church picnic. Felicia was born in December '06.

At our church picnic there were two VERY HUGE slip & slides set up. The kids absolutely loved it!

Graham zooming down!

Caris on the slip & slide, having tons of fun!

Little Mister, quite curious and also very drooly.

Canaan enjoying his "new" exersaucer

Canaan, 20 weeks

-Had his 4-month checkup. Weighs 20 lbs 3 oz (over 95%) and is 28" long (over 95%). Really enjoyed kicking the crinkly paper on Dr. Kaye's examining table.

-Got another cold.

-Likes to "scritchy scratch" in his pack n play. He's learned what a neat noise his fingernails make against the nylon side of it and he practices it when he wakes up - and last night he practiced for a good 5-10 minutes in the middle of the night. LOL

Canaan, 19 weeks

It's really hitting me how much Canaan has changed. I can't BELIEVE four whole months have gone by. It's so much fun watching his personality really emerge now and seeing him learn to actually DO things, but boy I can't believe he's not a newborn any more.



We got him an exersaucer at a yard sale for $5 and he really likes it! I say, "bounce!" and he jumps, and he can turn himself around and play with all the toys.



We have been dragging poor baby all over the place now that baseball has started. Almost every night we are out and about and most of the time he is just so laid back about it all. He'll still sleep out in public if I nurse him.



Lots of times now he wakes up "talking" and looking around instead of crying. When he sees me coming for him he smiles so big!



When he is facing away from me and can't see me, I call his name and he smiles before he can even see me. Aww!

Canaan's Dedication

Today we dedicated Canaan in front of our church body. This is not when he makes his own personal decision to follow Jesus but it is a time when we promise to raise him to know the Lord, and a time when our church dedicates to help us any way they can in raising him up to be a godly man.
Worship team in the back, then in front, Alif, me, Pastor Kenny and baby Canaan. Pastor Kenny spoke kind words thanking Alif for all of the construction he has done on our new church home and me for letting him. Ha ha!
Praying over our precious son!
Praying *forcefully* over our precious son. LOL :*) Canaan was calm and peaceful and quiet as usual and Pastor Kenny asked if he's always this good. I answered, "yes."

Brick Pathway

Finished pathway from an odd angle. Sorry about that. LOL
Graham & Alif on the side of the house, loading up more bricks to take to Malachi.
Malachi in action. He did so great with this! At the very end, Alif kicked a brick into place without realizing that Malachi's finger was in between the two bricks. I heard Alif going, "::::::gasp:::::::: Ow, ow, ow, oh maaaaan oh maaaaan ow ow ow" and went out to see what had happened. Malachi never cried or anything but did come in and we put some aloe and ice on it. It's fine today. :-)

When we were getting ready to move into our new house, there was a lot of work to be done! One day there was a guy that Fred had paid to help Alif for the day, and Alif sorta ran out of work for him to do so he had the guy pull up a brick pathway in the back yard. Little did he know that that very pathway was my favorite thing ABOUT the back yard! I could not believe my eyes when I saw that it was gone. Well, last night Alif was clearing out the side of the house, where he plans to park his Corvette, and he figured that as long as they were going to move the brick they might as well put it all back as a path and patio. With Alif's guidance, Malachi laid the whole thing. Hooray, my cute path is back!!

Caris

Caris just now, after I talked to Graham about eating some of Caris' special snacks: (Hugs me) "I love you Mommy. I love you so much . . . 'cuz you handle every problem." ROFL!

Canaan, 18 weeks

-We had a cold snap (highs in the lower 80s LOL) and I got to put him in snuggly outfits for a couple days. So cute to see him all cozy like that!

-I was holding him in McDonald's one day and it occurred to me how *aware* he suddenly is! Looking all around, holding his head up all the time without breaks now. He was talking his head off to a huge Shrek cutout. LOL

It isn't enough.

I went for a late-night Target run just now, and on my way home I was listening to the Donut Man (Rob Evans) and a group of children singers praising the Lord. Ok, in all honesty, I was praising right along. As I sang the words, "Here we are with our voice we sing, with our hearts and hands up-raised . . . " it occurred to me: it isn't enough to just be an attentive mother. It's not enough to teach my children their academics, give them hugs, read to them, take them on walks, do crafts with them, expose them to new places. If I am to raise children who can stand against the wicked that is so prevalent in this world then I have to actively teach them to love the Lord, to honor Him, to lift their hands to them and praise Him. I thought of sitting in on the little children's worship session on Sunday evenings and hear Miss Marta lovingly, gently guiding the children into worship with Him. She doesn't only model this, she specifically teaches them: "raise your hands, children. This is how we tell the Lord how much we love him." And the children, so willing, do raise their hands to Him. If my kids have any chance to fight off the evil that surrounds them, they have to have a habit of calling on Him in every circumstance. They have to know His word and what it means. Oh Lord, guide me as a mother. Make me aware in every moment what I can be doing to help my children to gird up their hearts against the wicked one.

Lotsa Pics

I converted this picture of Canaan & I to "sketch" and thought it turned out so sweet. I love my baby!!

Canaan's first-ever stroller ride!! We walked all around our neighborhood for about an hour and he did just great! I still sling him pretty much everywhere, but it's getting too hot to sling him during our exercise-walks.

When you've got thighs this chunkylicious, you'd better show them off!

We are working on limiting the pillow/thumb action to nap and bedtime only. We're not doing that well with that.

So Caris is a little beyond the 13-month age "limit" on the Bumbo but she sure likes it anyway.

Canaan enjoying his new Bumbo seat

Alif, Graham and Canaan enjoying the park during Malachi's baseball practice.

Boys circle sparring

First Graham (orange belt) is sparring with another boy and then Malachi gets in on the action! Go boys! This was just for fun on awards night.