Take Me to the River...

We haven't spent much time at the family river property the past few years, and we were able to make a trip down to the Shenandoah on Saturday to spend the day with the Frank Family. The kids had so much fun in the water (Grampa had fun too)...

Brody and his cousin Conlin

The man.

Doing the silly face contest with Daddy

A leap of faith to Grampa

So much fun

Man to man on the dock

Skyla's second fish! She was so proud and kept throwing it back in

and reeling it back again and again

Praise Baby

One of the best things we've ever purchased for our kids is the Praise Baby DVD collection - I think there are four or five of them now, and they're basically Baby Einstein format, but with worship music and a mix of patterns, pictures and real people/animals. Grady has now discovered them and will sit and watch them for a half hour or more! I love listening to the music and feeling that my baby is learning about Jesus even at two months old...

Summer Fun

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a homebody. I love spending time at home and have no problem going an entire week just hanging out in our yard and in our home. But I do have two social butterflies who love to go out and do stuff with their friends! So we've been doing some fun summer activities. Last week we went to a free Veggie Tales Pirates movie, then played in the fountain afterwards. And another day we went to Burke Lake Park and rode the train, the merry-go-round and had lunch & ice cream. I love seeing the joy on the kids' faces while they have a blast, and I love that they usually walk around holding hands while they do stuff.

Yes, fully clothed - trying to keep the water from popping up

Brody had no problem getting right in the water spray!

Skyla, Brody and Elena getting up their courage to join the "big kids"

I love this picture. My little man.

Burke Lake Park - riding the train

On the merry-go-round. This is the first time Brody wasn't scared.

Give Me a V - Give Me a B - Give Me an S!

We did VBS this year for the very first time, and we are SO glad that we did. We loved that the kids were learning about Jesus and having a blast with their friends at the same time. All the families in our small group did the same VBS at a small local church (our church doesn't do VBS), and each night while the kids did their program, the adults either sat outside and had dinner and played board games, or went out to dinner. We had fun too!

Brody LOVED dancing to all the worship songs. "I will not be afraid!"

Skyla with her friend Jacob from small group

An impromptu game of ring around the rosy

Guy Time

Kevin & Brody have been spending lots of "guy time" together this summer, with lots of trips to Home Depot, working on projects together and going for runs in the morning... Brody LOVES hanging out with his daddy! And I just love watching the special things that each kid does with Kevin - they both absolutely adore him. Last night during her prayer at dinner, Skyla thanked God for Grady and Brody and "my very special daddy who I love" (no mention of Mom). Thanks.

Dad's Birthday

Today Dad would have been turning 60 years old. It's so crazy for me to think that it's been almost four years since we lost him. He only knew Skyla for nine months, and I will never forget the look on his face when he walked into the hospital room and met his first granddaughter for the first time. She melted him. It's really hard for me every time Skyla talks about how she can't wait to see Grampy in heaven (we always say, Yes you can wait honey!)... and that Dad never met my two boys. He was such a wonderful grampa in the short time he got to be one, and I do feel really blessed that Kevin knew him for several years and we can both share lots of stories with the kids about their grampa. But I still really miss him. Our family has always made a really big deal out of birthdays, so growing up we would always ask Dad what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday - he never wanted anything more than to spend time together as a family - usually doing a picnic at the beach or at the canal.

So while I can't believe he missed out on his 60th birthday, I also am SO thankful we had such a rich 56 years with him and that he did get to experience being a grampa even if it was for a short time. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Out and About

Before Grady joined us, I was a little nervous about how I would do taking three little ones to the grocery store, the playground, parking lots and all that stuff. It's actually been working out really well, especially since both Skyla & Brody have been so helpful with the baby. My friend Jess took this picture of me walking up to her at the playground up the street from our house... Grady has been very portable and cooperative with all our outings. :-)

Grady's Baby Dedication

We celebrated Father's Day this year in a special way, by dedicating Grady at church. We're so thankful for family and friends who we know will walk with us in raising Grady to follow Jesus and to become the man of God we know God wants him to be.

Slippin' and Slidin'

We've been spending lots of time in our own backyard this month, and since we haven't made it out to the store to get a bigger backyard pool than the baby pool we have, we've been doing lots of slip n sliding! Daddy has even gotten in on the action to show the kids how it's done... Typical to their personalities, Brody goes all out, running and sliding, many times right off the end into the mud! And Skyla of course is more concerned about technique, carefully sliding on her knees or tummy and coming to a stop before the end. Grady & I have been hanging out on the sidelines cheering everyone on. :-)

Getting to Know Grady

We've spent lots of time the past few weeks getting to know this new little member of our family, and falling in love with him. He is our "chill baby" - just very laid-back and easy. Both Skyla & Brody are fascinated by him and just love to hang out with him, watching every little face movement and "helping" to change diapers and give baths. We've got lots of new family routines, with Kevin hanging a lot more with the older kids while I take care of Grady and squeeze in a little mommy time. The kids LOVE spending extra time with daddy... :-)

Three Kids, One Week

When we pictured our first few weeks as a family of five, we pictured some chaos, lots of adjustment and being overwhelmed. Instead, with the support of our families and friends, we've had a week of treasured family moments and getting to know little Grady.

We came home last Sunday to a houseful of family and spent a few days just getting settled and hanging out with everyone... then when everyone left by Tuesday night, Kevin was off the whole week so we've continued the "honeymoon" and things have been really special and really quiet. Jess & Jen from our small group put together a rotation of friends who are bringing us meals every night for a couple of weeks - yay! Yummy meals and getting to see good friends.

Skyla & Brody have been so sweet with their brother, and each night he goes in to say goodnight to them, and snuggles with each of them in their bed for a few minutes. And Kevin has been amazing - getting up early with the older kids, making breakfast, bringing me coffee. I love having him home! :-) Grady has been such a "chill" baby so far - sleeping great, grunting when he's ready to eat, and just super laid-back. We're in love...

Skyla takes possession of the Moses basket for her babies whenever Grady isn't in it.

Sammy reading some last books to the kids before she leaves.

This is how we spent our first few mornings on our own - kids playing in the yard, us relaxing on the deck with coffee and laptops and Baby Moses. :-) Pretty dreamy.

Daddy getting in some snuggle time.

Nothing too exciting, just a sweet sleepy baby.

Our friends Jen & Jody brought us dinner one night last week with their two boys, and Trey decided he wants to "buy this baby" to take home with him. :-)

Our three kids. Grady looks so tiny!

First bath - he loved having his head run under the faucet!

And week one is complete. Not sure if the honeymoon will last, but we are loving it so far!

The Rest of the Story

Wow, I can't believe we have already been home with Grady for more than a week. I've posted a few pictures below to cap off the story of Grady's birth... it was a longer day than we had expected, but of course ended perfectly with our little boy's arrival. :-)

Exhausted but so happy... snuggling with our boy.

Gramma & Grampa made it to the hospital as the first visitors, and Gramma got to meet her namesake (Pearson is her maiden name)

Our good friend Lucille has now delivered all three of our kids -
we LOVE having her share in our babies!

Skyla holding her baby brother for the first time. After some initial disappointment that she didn't get a sister this time around, she has settled right into her big sister/mommy role and is constantly helping take care of Grady.

The family of five.

I love these newborn pics.

We are so blessed to have amazing grandparents as part of our kids' lives.

(And I really miss Dad.)

Brody has been saying "I love our baby the bestest" for the past ten days.

Grammy (aka "Sammy") with three of her grandkids. Doesn't she look pretty happy?

Saturday morning photo shoot at the hospital after a good first night's sleep.

I LOVE how tiny he looks in his big carseat.

This time we couldn't wait to get home and be a family.

Inspecting Baby Grady - ten fingers, ten tiny toes, lots of love.