Birthdays

Change. I have decided that is what birthdays are about. A lot has changed for us. I honestly can say I don't even feel like the same person I was 3 birthdays ago. There has been a lot of water under this bridge. Not in a bad way. Just different. I am now the big 30 thanks to my most recent birthday. That is officially "old" in my child's mind. People call me maam. I don't know a lick about the current pop culture (and it doesn't bother me.) I have to pluck gray eye brows.

Today my baby turned one year old. Time seems to move so slow when you haven't left the house in 3 days but yet you look back, and that baby has changed so very much in a short amount of time. Grant is not the same baby he was 3 mos ago. He is still very cute and cudley but only if you can catch him. He is very mobile - crawling everywhere. He is pulling up on furniture. He is communicating more with some words - ball, bye bye, da (dog), and the usual mama and dada (sometimes.) I have heard him say hey, bubba (brother), and will imitate sounds regularly. You can growl at him and he will growl back. We were at the park and a dog barked. He barked back. Its a very fun game. Sometimes he hears the last word you said, and will repeat what sounds like the same thing. Bizarre actually.

To celebrate all this changing we had a party in Searcy. Mr. Jesse (my step-father) and Grant share a birthday. Also, some of Jesse's family was in town for the big races in Batesville. It was summer themed and we had a kiddie pool, sand box, lunch and cake. It was fun times for all.

Fun times in the backyard pool. We had set up a smaller pool for the youngest ones so they wouldn't be trampled by the older ones. You see how that turned out.

This is Grant's future girlfriend, Amelia. Isn't she the cutest little thing ever?
And her parents are pretty swell too. They would make great In-Laws :0)

Allison was the only one who played in my homemade sandbox. And she even built a sandcastle.

This is the edible sandcastle I built. It has its very own story here.

Testing the cake's texture.

Testing its taste. Double fisted.

Approving the cake!!

He opened a few gifts.

This one is from Mamaw and Papaw.

Grant had a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen and we are so happy and blessed to have such a great family to share it with.

Baby (Parent) Dedication

Grant had his baby dedication a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure why they call it BABY dedication because it is more like PARENT dedication. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is comparable to a Christening because it involves babies, but has NOTHING to do with the child's eternal salvation. During it, the parents pledge to raise the child in a way to point him/her to Christ. That is why I think calling it BABY dedication is somewhat deceptive to those outside our denomination. For those of you who could not attend, here is a video. ( You will need to turn your volume up quite high in order to hear it. Sorry.)