All Hail Our Old Purdue

Phoebe is all ready for tonight's game. Go Boilers!

Nine Months Old and 24 Hours without Mommy!

Phoebe turned 9 months old last Thursday! She is crawling like a champ, pulling up, and babbling. She also started sticking her tongue out yesterday and does a super cute razzing sound. She had her check-up at the doctor's today and is getting taller, but the doctor says she needs to put on a little weight...so more food! I've been making her food, thanks to great input from my neighbor and other friends, and she'll try anything. Her newest food is tofu.

Phoebe also spent the night with Mimi and Deeda Friday night so Mommy could go with Aunt Wendy to the Hearts at Home conference in Normal, Illinois. They had a great time, and Mommy was very refreshed by the thoughtful sessions and speakers she heard and the sweet girl time! Thank you, Aunt Wendy!

Phoebe also had a visit from JADE, Great-Grandma Vi and 3 of the 5 Stolls, who loved on her so much she's overflowing! Thank you, family!

My Trip to Nonnie and Papa's

I had a great adventure last week! Daddy drove Mommy and me to Nashville last Saturday, and my Nonnie met us at the Grand Ol' Opry Mall. It was so good to see her! I hadn't seen her since Christmas. Then we went the rest of the way to her house in Olive Branch, Mississippi, and I got to see Papa, too. He seemed pretty excited to see me, and I couldn't wait to show him how I could now crawl and pull up.

They took me to the church where Papa and Nonnie go, and where Papa works, Longview Heights Baptist Church, where I met lots of very sweet people. I even got a ride in the nursery's Bye-Bye Buggy!

Nonnie and I had lots of time to play. She fed me my solid foods, changed my diaper, and put me down for my naps alot, since Mommy and Papa got sick during the week.

I had a great week with Nonnie and Papa! When I woke up today they weren't there...I'm not sure why, but I'm sure I'll see them again soon!

New Adventures

Here's Phoebe showing off some of her new skills: feeding herself little bits of bread, holding the spoon and aiming for her mouth (which, as you can see, she sometimes misses), standing in her crib (the mattress is now at the lowest setting) and crawling! And cute as ever.

A Visit from Mimi and Deeda

Mimi and Deeda came to visit today! I talked to them a lot about what's been going on, I ate my first meat (Mommy said it was beef), I stood without holding on to anything, I crawled a little (I officially started crawling yesterday!), played with my new ball from Deeda, and just had fun. Mimi also helped me do "up down", something she taught me last week. Love you, Mimi and Deeda!

Our Little Valentine

There was a whole lotta love this Valentine's Day in our family. What a little bundle of loveable cuteness our little girl is! It will be hard to top this year's V-Day...roses for Mommy from Daddy, time with our baby girl, time for Mommy and Daddy to have a meal together while cousins Bruce and Charlene watched Phoebe, Valentines cards, and just a fun day together. We're so thankful for the love on our marriage, our love for Phoebe, but most of all, for God's everlasting love.

NIV Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

Our Teenage Daughters

Last week's ice and snow storm left around 200,000 Louisvillians without electricity. Among them were families from our church, including our friends the Melton's. So, as of Thursday night, we had two teenage daughters, Katie (19) and Emily (15). Fortunately for them, they received power today, after almost a full week of being without it. But, fortunately for us, we got to have some great guests. They asked if I needed help with dinner and with dishes, picked up their air mattress bed everyday, and helped with laundry. While Katie was off volunteering and working, Emily also helped me bake and make sweet potatoes with carrots for Phoebe. And, of course, they volunteered to help watch Phoebe pretty much the whole time. Katie is becoming more and more fluent in sign language, and would sign the songs we sang to Phoebe at bedtime, and Emily helped Phoebe perfect her "bouncy bouncy" skills. Thank you for being such great guests, ladies! We love you!