7 Months

Ari has had quite a few "firsts" this month.


Sucking on toes...What a close up!

Sitting up on his own...

He got so excited he almost fell backwards...
Learning how to dial on the cell...

Talking on the phone...
And just being cute...ok, he knew how to do that already.

Ari has also tasted his first peas and has had his first cold. Poor baby. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad and he seems over it. The cold that is. But he does seem over the peas as well! I don't think I will make him eat those anymore...I can't even stand the smell.

Happy 7 months baby boy!

Mini Vacation

I love the 80's! Ok, let me make that more clear. I love the weather in the 80's, not the decade. Anyway, this weekend we got to spend lots of time enjoying the awesome weather on the lake. AJ took Friday off work so we could spend some time together before heading south. We went to my favorite restaurant for breakfast, Cafe Patachou. I have mentioned it before, but seriously people, if you have not yet visited...you need to! We went to the one downtown this time, instead of going up to 49th and Pennsylvania. A little different atmosphere, but same tasty food.

We walked around downtown for a while until I had to go to work. Only for a few hours though.

There were lots of horses downtown getting ready for the Memorial Day parade. One gentleman asked if Ari wanted to ride the horse! We were so exstatic because we were just talking about how fun it would be to get a picture of Ari with his first horse experience.

You can tell how thrilled he was! Ok, maybe not thrilled but just trying to figure out what he was doing all the way up there.

We then went down to Lake Monroe and spent the rest of the weekend there until Monday evening. It was way too sunny for Ari. But he did enjoy playing in the Kentucky Hot Tub, aka baby pool. That picture must be on a different camera.

Time to nap on top of the boat! Ari had a lot of daddy time this weekend while I layed out and warmed in the sun. Thanks baby for a great birthday! To top it all off we had homemade ice cream. And if you have never had that...you must try that as well. Come on over and I'll make you some!

Thanks Mark and Judy for such a nice and relaxing weekend at the boat!

Dedication and Graduation

Here are some pictures from Ari's dedication. I am so sad to admit that we didn't get a picture of just AJ, me and Ari, or other family members who came. Shame on me. But these are some of the ones we did get. What a blessing to have so much family around to witness and support the dedication. We had a lot of support from family that day: my parents, my sister, my grandparents, AJ's parents, his sister and her husband, AJ's aunt and uncle, and AJ's grandpa.

Deutoronomy 6:5-9
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your mind and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

My grandparents are on the right. They are in town from Florida and this is their first great-grandchild! Great grandchildren #2 and #3 will be here in June and December.

Here we are praying and Ari just so happened to find the camera! AJ's grandpa was also there, another great-grandparent!

My brother also graduated that day from IUPUI. I'm so proud of him!

This is at his party. My grandpa, brother, and my dad.

AJ and I just hanging out. It was pretty cold that day!

My grandparents with Ari at the graduation. Since they live in Florida, this was the first time they got to see him in person. They will be here until the end of June, for when my cousin has her baby. (We are secretly hoping she is late so they will have to stay longer!) Not that I would wish anyone to have to carry a child much longer than their due date, but seriously, we only see them once a year! AJ and I are actually planning a trip to visit them in September, so they will get to see Ari before next year.

I am so happy to have my grandparents around still. Growing up I new my great-grandparents very well, until they passed away when I was in middle school. My grandparents have always been close to us kids and I am so thankful for them spending so much time with us growing up. My hope is that they will always be around, but I know one day they will go to be with the Lord, but until then that my child(ren) will get to enjoy them as much as I have.

Target Photos

We just now got around to doing six month pictures...so here they are folks!

We have had a coupon since before Ari was born, and never got around to using it. Then I found a gift card to Target (while in the midst of doing some organizing) and was able to order our prints and still have leftover money on it. So for getting free pictures these didn't turn out too shabby! I love finding free money...maybe I should organize more often!

Had to get a family photo...


Check out the little man boobies...I think they are too cute! He was so intent on picking up the scrubber brush that was bigger than him.

Mother's Day

I don't even know where to begin about this weekend. Mother's Day was more enjoyable than anticipated, much better than any birthday! Not to say anything about my past birthdays, but it usually isn't that big of deal to me. Being a mother is one of the greatest joys you could ever experience and I dare say that I have completely underestimated what my mother has done for us kids. I can't imagine how life would have been if I didn't have her in my life.

It was such a joy to be able to spend some time with all the mothers in my life. My own mother, my grandmother-who is now a newly great grandmother and is visiting from Florida, my mother-in-law, and also my sister-in-law (Molly) who is just newly pregnant. All of who I am very thankful for!

There was a baby dedication as well on Mother's Day at church, in which we participated. It was such a proud moment to tell everyone how the salvation of our little one is so important to us. We are extremely thankful for the church body to witness our commitment to Ari and to be able to hold us accountable.

During worship, we sang a song that had the lyrics...

Here am I, All of me

and all I was thinking was how, as mothers, it is so instinctual (and we are so willing) to give up everything and anything we have for our children without a second thought. I have noticed that it is not instinctual to do the same for God. We sit in church and sing these songs, but don't really give all of us to Him. Maybe in church we do, but from day to day it is so easy to make excuses as to why we don't have time to spend time in the word, pray without ceasing, etc. It's time to stop with the excuses, the "but's", the second thoughts...and time to really give All of me.

I want to start living my life--a life that is completely given to God--without any excuses or second thoughts. There is no time better than the present to be obedient!

Romans 12:1
"Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."

John 14:21
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Family Time

Spending time with family is something extremely important to us. Ari gets to see Pat every Wednesday but doesn't get to spend much time with his grandpa Jim. This weekend he got to see Jim on Friday and Sunday. What fun! It's a lot to try and balance time between everyone, including my side of the family, but it is totally worth it. I want my kids growing up and knowing the importance of family. And not just any family, but a supportive one. AJ and I are very blessed to have the family we do. We are very thankful for weekly and last minute babysitters too! Thanks mom and Pat!

This last picture is so great. Looks like he stands all by himself!

Clarification

"So I apologize in advance if I don't update as often."

Sorry if my post about the internet was confusing to some...I don't intend to stop blogging.

As a mother it is my responsibility to record what is going on in my children's lives and intend to do so through this blog, as I have a tendency to put-off my scrapbooking. I would hate to disappoint any of you who happen to keep up with our lives through this blog. I know how it is to be sitting at the seat of your pants every morning hoping that other bloggers had already posted for the day. (Hopefully I'm not the only one!)

I still have access to the internet in other ways besides my house. I have managed to update twice since we have not had the internet. However, I have come aware of an opportunity to work out of my house via the internet. So it might not be so long that we are without. God can provide! We'll just have to wait and see how this goes for a while.

Until then...have a great weekend!