Facial Expressions

It's totally fascinating to me when Kaylee develops a new expression. Right from the get go she had her super concentrated look where she'd draw down her eyebrows, squeeze her lips together, and just concentrate...





But the best expression (and most recent), besides her most famous AUDIO expression, is the smiling. It's funny because whenever she smiles, we're like, "what the heck did we just do to make her smile?" So then we try to do everything we did in the last 30 seconds to try to make her smile again. In actuality I think she's figured out a way to get us to start acting strange...not that we needed a kid for that...

I have no excuse...

I was going to try and think of something to say like, "Oh this is just some random picture that randomly ended up in our pictures" or "here is an 'update' picture"... and even though it's all true, I really just think it's cute. Yes, I'm one of THOSE parents!
-NICK

Feast Night

So this is from July 3rd, when Jeanne-Marie's family was in town from New York. Rick, her dad, mentioned that he'd like to cook for the Home Fellowship (Bible Study Group) that night... even though I said there were like 20 people in the group (there were about 30 at the house that night!!). Nevertheless, Rick pulled off a gourmet meal for 30 people... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! And then, it was perfect, after dinner we heard explosions outside which turned out to be fireworks.

Me Oh My! Milestones!

Kaylee is 8-weeks old and developing more and more everyday. She has been cooing all week and as of yesterday, I can confidently say that we've seen her first "social smile." When laying on her mat for playtime, I get really close to her face and the conversation goes a little bit like this:

"Kaylee, can you say Daaaaddddeeee?"

~Kaylee opens her mouth, moves her tongue around~ (warming up!)

"Kaylee, say Daaaaaddddeeee!" (Good thing nobody can see or hear me doing this! I feel silly!)

~Kaylee "coos" back~ (success!)

Now, just like any Grandma will say that the gas smile was a real smile, I say that the coo in response to me talking to her is Kaylee actually trying to say Daddy! Don't burst my bubble, I really believe she's talking back! :-)

As for smiling, it's still pretty random. But when Nick speaks to Kaylee, that's when the smiles come out the most. I don't know for sure, but it looks like we are experiencing the beginning of a very beautiful Daddy/Daughter relationship. She is SUCH a Daddy's girl already! ~sigh~ I think she actually gets that from her Mommy.

We don't have pictures or video of this yet, but I'll try to get some up soon.

Blessed

The past two days have been a little more tough than usual. My Dad, Smom and the kids went back to NY on Wednesday and Kaylee is either going through a growth spurt or missing them as much as I do. The result of a week long vacation/visit with family is a sweet baby girl that does not want to sleep...at all. She'd rather cry...and cry...and cry...and cry just a little bit more. Short of choosing baby Benadryl to calm her down, I submitted to the swing. And now I'm blessed with this beautiful sleeping baby to my right while the "Praise Baby collection" plays softly on the computer. God bless the people who thought of turning regular worship songs into lullabies and God bless my parents who bought the whole pack of them for us! Anyway, as she sleeps soundly in her swing I had a moment to rejoice in the things that God has blessed me with.

It immediately brought me to last night at Bible Study. Our home was filled with the usual people who make it our "home" and Nick was teaching on Mark 9:30-32. He asked each of us to look at the way we respond to situations that prove to be challenging. As we did that, I couldn't help but see that the Holy Spirit had taken over and now, my husband had willingly allowed the Spirit to use him to speak to our group. By the end of the night, I couldn't help but thank the Lord for all He has given our family. Oh, what a proud wife I was, to see my husband using his gifts as a teacher to help others draw closer to God. ~sigh~

So today, as I am more exhausted, more frusterated and more confused on how to make Kaylee's world more comfortable, at least I can rest in the confidence I have that I am truly blessed!

Thank you, Lord for...

*A husband who seeks You in all he does and who responds to the Spirit's call in his life.

*A beautiful & healthy baby girl who continues to grow everyday!

*A family who supports us in everything we do.

*A group of friends who are more than just good friends...they really are family.

With time to reflect on things that I am thankful for, how could I not share it?

New York meets San Diego

This past week, our New York family came out to meet Kaylee for the first time. We have had a packed week of fun activities! Sea World on the 4th of July, trips to the beach, trips to the pool and the most fun of all...hanging out at home together doing nothing at all. It's been wonderful having family here and we will be sad to say good-bye tonight. Here are a few pictures to recap their stay with us.