Spring Loaded

This Sunday we brought Micah to Spring Loaded which is an Easter celebration that First does every year including inflatables, a petting zoo, egg hunts, etc. Well, Micah loved bouncing with Daddy on the inflatable obstacle course....



He wasn't so sure about the egg hunt.......


He didn't seem to mind having them plopped into his lap though :)....

Breakin Up is Hard to Do

Nate and I made the decision about two weeks ago that it was time for us to leave First Baptist. This was not a decision that we reached lightly and it is certainly not easy. Our main reasons for leaving are that~

~ We want to be at a church closer to home. It is difficult going to a city-wide church... our Sunday school has events in Pearland, the Heights, Missouri City... all over. Sometimes with a baby, it's just too difficult to drive an hour for dinner. Even the "close" events in town take us a minimum of 30 minutes to get there. It makes it so hard to stay connected! Also, when Micah is older and wants to go to church events during the week, it will just get plain old to be driving that far every time and eventually we will stop taking him to everything.

~ We don't feel connected to our Sunday school class anymore. There are a few couples in there that we are really close to, but for the most part we are outsiders. We decided that we either needed to reinvest in the class or move on... since we knew we wanted to move on before Micah got older anyway, we decided that this was as good a time as any :)

It is going to be a difficult couple of months (we've limited it to 2) while we are without a regular church body. I almost cried yesterday during the service when Roger started singing... I am going to miss the music at First for sure. I also almost cried as Gregg really brought it during the service.... I have been blessed by Gregg's teaching since I was a freshman in college and he was leading Breakaway. It is so difficult to leave him as well. I am going to miss running into my friends from singles in the hallways. It is so hard to keep up with everybody, and we have loved seeing people and catching up with them on Sundays. First is where I made all of my friends in Houston, I found a home in Lighthouse... I found Nate in Lighthouse. I have been forever blessed by participating in Houston Project, the Christmas Store, and many other ways in which First serves Houston. I never thought that I would feel so at home at such a large church, that I would see friends everywhere I turned. Anyways, I'm rambling :) Thank you Houston's First Baptist, you have been and will remain so dear to me always.

Trauma?

I bought a new post-child friendly swimsuit yesterday and I have to say that it wasn't nearly as traumatic as I expected it to be! Somewhere along the way I became a hunter in the swimsuit department. Instead of trying on different options and spending a month to find my suit, I spent about 2.5 minutes at Target (including try on time) and I'm totally happy. I think I can contribute my new found expedience to tankinis (which are so much easier to fit than 1 pieces!), Micah and the constant threat of him losing it randomly, the ability to know by looking what will fit and flatter me, and a total lack of caring whether I look super cute anymore :P Anyhoo, I have included a picture for all those with a curious nature... I got this top with solid brown bottoms. Oh, and that is definitely not me modeling :P

Micah in the Bluebonnets

My trusty helper (mom) went with me to the park to get pictures of Micah in the bluebonnets. A helper is VERY important when shooting pictures of a baby in flowers as they keep them from a) rolling down the hill, and b) eating flowers by the handful :P We did a pretty good job, and to our knowledge, only 3 flowers were minorly injured in the pursuit of cuteness. I HATE when people trample bluebonnets or sit down on them and squish them while taking pictures and therefore ruin them for the people that follow, so I try to be really careful. This is why my heart broke a little when, while changing Micah's diaper a few hours later, a large piece of bluebonnet fell out of his overalls. I guess he was saving it for a nap time snack :)

Play!

Yesterday, Kelli, Devon, Corinne, Amanda and myself all took the babies to the newly renovated Children's Museum...... it is SO COOL!!! I have no desire for Micah to grow up faster, but I can't wait until he is old enough to enjoy all of the different exhibits. It is hands down the best children's museum I have ever seen... seriously :) As it was, we spent most of our time there in the TotSpot which is a special area just for babies and toddlers with everything on their level and no sharp edges. It was crowded, but fun.

Micah discovers just how a mirror works~


Kaitlyn had a great time, proving that you don't have to be mobile to appreciate the TotSpot~

Abby, Micah, and Caroline share a xylophone~

Sweet Caroline :) ~

Micah, Caroline and Abby at the giant Light Bright wall~

He LOVED it ~

My sweet boy ~

Caroline, Micah and Abby share the ball pit with an unknown child who climbed in on top of Micah :P... the ball pit was REALLY popular ~

Family Pics

Love them... thanks Aunt Ray!

Micah has officially pulled up.... and I am proud, terrified and exhausted already just thinking about it :P

A good day for the Elkins

For those non-basketball people out there (I prefer to call them "totally insane") the first round of the tourney started yesterday! Both LSU and A&M were in 8-9 matchups against solid teams in the first games of the whole tournament. The Tigers pulled out a hard fought victory over Butler to advance to the second round against UNC. Geaux Tigers!!


The Ags had a definitive 13 point victory over BYU whom they led the entire game by an average of 12-14 points. They are now queued up to play UConn on Saturday. Gig 'em Ags!!

Oh, and on a personal note, when I went to get Micah out of his crib this morning, he was sitting up and watching for me. Uh-oh... this is new. He is just now able to pull himself into a sitting position and that means trouble (with a capitol T and that rhymes with P.... and I digress). I guess we'll be lowering the mattress sooner than expected :P

This One is For the Ladies....

Acts of Service

If you have been anywhere near an Evangelical church in the past 10 years, you have (at some point) heard of the idea of love languages. A love language is the way that a person best gives or receives love. Nate is a words of encouragement guy, for example. After the past couple of days with my in laws here, I realized something; They are acts of service all the way. They show their love by helping out around the house and trying to make themselves useful. Now that I think about it, this was incredibly obvious before and I just didn't see it. It makes me appreciate them so much more! I am so thankful for the efforts that they put in while they are visiting us... Micah now has a swing on our back porch (as do we), three rooms have new ceiling fans, our guest bathroom has a new light fixture, and our yard has a lot less weeds. Thanks so much guys!!

The Aggies are Dancing :)

1st Partner ~ BYU
Date ~ 3/19/09
Time ~ 12:30

Go Ags!!!

8 Months Old!

As of today, Micah is officially 8 months old! It totally freaks me out :) He has been changing so much and is starting to do some "big boy" things that on the one hand are really exciting to see and on the other hand they make me a little sad that he is growing up so quickly. So let's get to our 8 month list!

Micah is~
~ a total ham :) He loves to be the center of attention and when anybody does that (even a complete stranger) he with smile and laugh and put on a show.

~ Waving. He won't do it consistently, but we were in Ann Taylor Loft and the sales lady was talking to him while I was looking at some shirts and I heard her say, "Oh, you can wave!". I turned back saying, "No, he doesn't wave yet" and before I could get the "yet" out, I saw that he was waving at her. When she waved again, he copied her again... so cute!

~ in constant motion. He does these funny little ankle circles CONSTANTLY. As he sits and plays, he continuously makes little circles with both feet.

~ Mobile! That is Nate's way of describing it, since we don't think it can be characterized as "crawling" exactly. He can (very quickly) make his way across the floor now by literally dragging himself with his hands as his legs flail wildly. It can be best described by saying that it looks like he is swimming across the carpet :) He will rock on all fours and then drop to his stomach and take off.... it's pretty funny!

Shoe Jaded?

I went with some friends last night (after the babies were in bed) to go see "Confessions of a Shopaholic"..... it was so cute!! It may be the first time in my life that I saw a movie based on a book that I liked and when the movie was completely different from the book, I wasn't angry! It had it's own merit and it was so much fun! The moral of the movie is that you need to be responsible with money and only buy what you need. Good, right? Except as the credits began to roll, Kelli said "Is it bad that I REALLY want to go shopping now?". Unfortunately, Devon and I were thinking the same thing :P

This got us talking, and I found out that both girls were shoe people. I am not.... at all. I typically buy an average of 1 pair a year, if that. I HATE shoe shopping, which may explain why shoe shopping for Micah is also not my favorite activity :P Kelli explained her love of shoes by noting that no matter what happens to your body, your shoes and jewelry always fit.... Not so!! During my third trimester, every single pair of shoes I had (save one) betrayed me. That's right... I spent 3 MONTHS in one pair of seriously old flip flops. Maybe that's why I am much more cynical towards shoes than I used to be :P

Seriously?

Recently, I have been looking at baby shoes thinking that I should buy Micah some for when he starts walking (in 4-5 months... crazy!). The first pair I found that I liked were $30... yikes!!! I figured this was a fluke and made it a quest to find cool, cheap shoes. Ummmm... yeah, they don't exist. In fact, baby shoes often cost more than what I would pay for my own shoes! Because of this I have made a decision.... Micah will not wear shoes. I will get him a tetanus shot and let him run around Houston barefoot like a village child :P

Seriously though, if you know where to get cheap kids shoes, let me know :)

I went to Ann Taylor Loft yesterday.....

....and I'm pretty sure a rainbow threw up in my shopping bag~ :)

Spring Forward...Gaining Ground

Before Micah, I had a pretty straightforward (and traditional) view on Daylight Savings..... Fall Back = extra hour of sleep = GOOD; Spring Forward = lost hour of sleep = BAD. Well, I have to admit, I've been feeling guilty the past two days about my hasty judgement of spring forward. Now that I have a baby, Spring forward ROCKS!! Micah had been getting up earlier and earlier the past couple of weeks until he was routinely up at 6:30. Not TOO early, but annoying when I was used to 7:15. Well, thanks to the help of my new friend Spring Forward, Micah is sleeping until 7:30!!! HA, take that Fall Back!! I do have to say that I am not looking forward to his cycle shifting earlier by an hour in the fall.... that one will have to be corrected when the time comes :P

So, Ben and Amy came into town this weekend with the kiddos and we headed off for the Rodeo on Friday with my parents. I majorly heart the Rodeo :) It was so much fun!! I enjoy the kiddie stuff even without kids, but it was so much more fun with three little ones in toe. Elena and Evan had a great time seeing all of the animals and partaking in the free farm themed activities.... Micah was just excited that there was a breeze :) Here are a few pics from before we left to go in town...

Micah was an expert tractor driver... who knew?! Oh, and we got such a HUGE reaction from his cowboy hat. Several people told us that he was officially the cutest baby at the Rodeo (I humbly agree :P) and heads turned as we passed pretty much the whole day. My mom and I were highly entertained by people's reactions!

Elena got to ride Dr Pepper at the pony ride~

Micah decided to go with no hands (daredevil :) while Evan took him for a ride~

We had a great time, and I can't wait to go again this Sunday! Did you guys know that Freebirds is in the food tents this year?? My brother was more than a little excited about that :)

Swing, it's not just a dance anymore....

Our playgroup had a picnic yesterday at the park and the kids had such a good time! We took them on the swings and sat in the shade and played on blankets. Micah LOVED his first baby swing experience~

Lindy figured they were so skinny that Cade and Micah could fit into the swing together... woo hoo for sharing!~


Micah likes to "taste the wind"... I finally got a picture of it :) ~



And this pic is just fun~

Have a great weekend Ya'll!!