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!

Splish Splash (I'm not taking a bath)

Mommy and I went to swimming lessons today for the third time. Daddy came along and took these pictures. I like the water. Mommy counts to three, blows in my face and puts me under the water. It surprises me, but I don't mind it. She's always there when I come back up. I'm learning to kick, to grab onto the wall, to move my arms, and to float on my back. I can tell Mommy feels comfortable in the water. I like to put my head on her shoulder and just relax in the warm pool. There are also other babies learning with me, and that makes it even more fun.

Our Branch

Two days after our ice and snow storm, "our branch" is still hanging in there. On Wednesday we noticed that the branch, which is resting on 4 power lines outside our bedroom window (see first picture), was gradually breaking from it's trunk. We learned throughout the day that our downstairs neighbors had been praying with us that the branch would not break and take out our power. After having gone without power for 8 days after the Ike wind storm, and finding out which transformer and lines were ours (because the transformer blew up), we were able to pray specifically.

Last night, when we heard that the winds were picking up, and this morning, when we saw the additional snow falling and saw our lights flicker one more time, we wondered if our branch could handle it. But, thank the Lord, it's still attached. Some of the ice is starting to melt...it will be interesting to see how our branch is removed from the power lines so that our mail carrier can once again visit our mailboxes downstairs.

Family Day

Yesterday I had a special treat...Daddy was home! Because of the 6 inches of snow and an inch of ice we had, his car was stuck. But that was okay with me, because I had lots of time to play with him. We like to sit or lay on the family room floor and talk or play with my toys. He made me laugh when he tossed a sock back and forth in front of me. He took this picture of Mommy and me when I was on her shoulders. He also helped neighbors get their cars out of the snow...I hope I am as eager to help people as he is when I grow up. He's back at work today, but I'm so glad he was here yesterday. And Mommy says we should be very thankful for electricity, because many people in Louisville don't have it, and it's cold outside.