Sweetest Word I've Ever Heard

After two years it feels pretty darn good to hear a nice loud "Mama!"

Graham has been a little slower to begin verbalizing things, and he seems to just do it in his own way. Most children say "Mama" or "Dada" as their first word. Graham's first word was "yes," which he promptly stopped saying after about a week. He then moved on to "ball" and "Dada." Pretty soon he was saying Dada all the time. Everything reminds him of his dad! He would bring me Chad's shoes with a proud "Dada! Dada!" He would say it while pointing to Chad's coffee mug or his picture. But no Mama. He learned many other words, mostly having to do with his two favorite things: transportation and animals. With a little help from Graham's speech therapist, we got him to start saying "Meme." But he would only rarely say it and with lots of prompting. 

Then, right after Graham's birthday, he started saying "Mama!" Very loud and clear! It's his new buzzword. Now, it seems, everything reminds him of Mama! My water cup, my keys, my clothes, and yes - my picture! Each time he says it is absolute PURE MUSIC to my ears!! I love to hear it. He could say it 1,000 times a day and I wouldn't mind. 

I sure do love my precious boy!

9 weeks

I got this idea from a friend's blog. I hope she won't mind my using it. I thought it would be a good way to keep track of my pregnancy. I had a doctor's appointment today and my due date got changed from November 22nd to November 27th which didn't surprise me much. She did an ultrasound and the baby looked very healthy, with a good strong heartbeat. We got to see the sweet little profile. I will usually include a belly picture with these posts but there isn't much point in taking one now, since there is no baby bump to speak of yet. 

How far along? 9 weeks and 4 days

How big is the baby? Nearly an inch long, about the size of a grape

Are you in maternity clothes? I am wearing some maternity pants, they are just more comfortable. Most of my pants still fit though.

How do you feel physically? Pretty sick and tired...but happy!

Sleep? Yes, too much! I've been taking naps almost daily and sleeping pretty well at night too. 

Miss anything? Blue cheese dressing, having as much caffeine as I want.

Feeling movement of the baby? Not yet.

Food cravings? Fruits and salads, avocado, and Taco Bueno bean burritos!

Gender of the baby? Don't know yet. I'm hoping for a girl. :)

Mood? I feel extremely blessed and happy to have this baby. I love him or her so much already!

Graham Turned Two!

This past Saturday was Graham's 2nd birthday party (even though his birthday was 6 days earlier). We had his party this year at our church, which has a really cool play area for kids. We had lots of family and friends come. We felt so blessed to know how many people love and appreciate our boy. After the kids played for a while, we sang happy birthday and ate pizza and cake. Graham actually blew out his birthday candle! Then Graham opened his presents. Each child came up and sat with Graham when he opened their gift - it was really sweet. Graham LOVES all his new toys. Especially the trucks! It was a great birthday and Graham held it together really well. We are so proud of him. I cannot believe that he is now 2 years old! It's my greatest joy to see him growing and learning every day. We took a TON of pictures, but here a few of my favorites!

 We got a picture of the whole group. Graham sure does have a lot of people who love him!

 Graham's cake was so special! I am still crazy about it. My cousin Lanessa made it for him and did an amazing job!

 One of Graham's favorite gifts was his new tricycle. 

 He's ready! Graham loved opening his gifts. He got some great stuff!

 My dad and Graham got matching scrub shirts from my aunt Rachel. The material is from Africa. 

 Here Graham is opening his gift from his friend Jaxon. They are both nuts about trucks. Thanks Jaxon!

 Sweetest thing ever! Graham's friend Macy gave him several hugs after he opened her gift. He wasn't as into it, but it was so cute!

 Graham with his Mimi:

Thanks for coming everybody! I think it was a big success. 

Things I Like to Read About

I like to read about the Holocaust and World War II. It is both terrifying and fascinating to me. I still cannot believe that such atrocities were committed in recent history. I enjoy reading concentration camp survivor stories. The people who actually survived are definitely worth reading about. Some of my favorites are The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Night by Elie Weisel, and All But My Life by Greta Weissmann Klein. These are all amazing survival stories that I couldn't put down.

I also enjoy books about Jews in hiding. I have always loved Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. I've been to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and in recent years I've read several other books about Anne Frank. I also love to read The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss, about two Jewish girls who survived the entire war in hiding.

I really enjoyed The Counterfeit Traitor by Alexander Klein. It's about an American man who pretended to be a Nazi for years in order to act as an inside spy for the US government. The intelligence he provided was instrumental in locating German synthetic oil plants that were bombed. There is another book called The Berlin Diaries written by Marie Vassiltchikov. She was a German women who lived in Berlin throughout the war. Berlin was practically leveled by allied bombs by the end of the war. She was a "resister" who was intimate friends with many people who were involved in the July 20th plot on Hitler's life (Valkyrie).

Although I mostly like reading about the European side of the war, a word must be said about Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Amazing, amazing story. This story takes place on the pacific side.

About a year ago I actually tried to read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shier. This is a massive piece of nonfiction. I made it about a third of the way through before I started to get really freaked out. The Nazis were so evil!

I guess what I enjoy is the shear shock that evil could have been so powerful to have taken over to such an extent. I also enjoy the fact that evil was eventually systematically extinguished. And all of this happened in a very developed country, and not really that long ago! I can't get enough of the interesting stories of survival. Do you have a favorite you think I should read?

Spring Sing

Whew! What a busy weekend! Traveling with a toddler is NOT for the faint of heart.

This past weekend Chad, Graham, my mom, my brother Jon and I all traveled (in one car) to Searcy, Arkansas. We went to see my Grandparents who live there and to go to Spring Sing at Harding University - where Chad and I went to college.

Chad, G, and I stayed Thursday night with my parents to save driving time on Friday. I was SO happy that Chad had a day off for good Friday! We left early Friday morning. With so many good drivers, I never had to drive at all. But I was busy enough keeping Little Guy happy in his car seat. We arrived early that afternoon.

We went to see Spring Sing that night. Unfortunately, the opening number scared the pants off of Graham. His daddy took him to the lobby and after that he wouldn't come back in for anything. I was disappointed he missed it, but thoroughly enjoyed the show, as always.

Saturday I got to do a little girly shopping with my mom and have lunch with my college roomie - so fun! We had plans to take G to an Easter egg hunt on campus that afternoon. We arrived 5 minutes late and the whole place was picked clean! Those kids work fast. So we decided to have our own Easter egg hunt at my Grandparents' house which was more fun. We went out for a nice dinner that night.

After Easter morning services and a delicious lunch, we made the long drive home. It was harder this time, because we drove through G's nap (he ended up sleeping about 30 min.) and of course it's never as much fun to go home!

I truly enjoyed the time we got to spend with family and friends, especially my Grandparents. Even though traveling with a toddler is difficult I definitely think it's worth it. Sometimes it is just so nice to get out of town.

Big News!!!

If you didn't already figure it out from the pictures of Graham in his "big brother" t-shirt, Chad and I are expecting baby number two!! We are beyond excited and happy! Baby's due in November. Tonight my dad was kind enough to do our first ultrasound for us. You couldn't see much, Baby is very small right now. But, we got to hear his/her heartbeat very clearly. What a blessing it was to hear! We feel incredibly blessed to expect the blessing of a new baby.

Blue Bonnets

Last weekend we decided to attempt a blue bonnet photo shoot. The blue bonnets (the Texas state flower) have been incredible this year thanks to all the rain we've had this spring. Unfortunately, our photo shoot did not go that great. Graham was not interested in getting his photo taken, he was interested in watching the trucks pass by on the street! Well, we tried. He may not be looking and smiling in any of these, but they are still precious.

How do you like the shirt he's wearing? I made it. :) If you like it then you should check out this website.

Recently...

Graham's obsession with trucks continues. He talks about trucks, plays with trucks, and looks at truck books all the time! This morning a friend was babysitting and when I got back she said, "As long as he could stand at the window and watch the construction trucks on our street he was happy!" Here he is in his big truck laughing hysterically:

Graham still really likes books, especially if they are about trucks. He likes to look at books about animals too. Here he is, looking at a book in his favorite spot: under the window:

Graham loves to try on our shoes and wear them around the house. He likes to say, "shoooooooe." He especially likes wearing Chad's shoes, but here's a pic of him trying on my flip flops: