And We're Mobile!

Life as we have known it for the past 8 months is over! Max followed me all over the house yesterday. He's still not quite crawling, but whatever it is he's doing, it gets him where he wants to be. There's a video from today at the bottom of the pictures.


Bath time is one of our new favorite times of the day. He's gone through spells where he either loves it or hates it, and right now he loves it.

Playing in his room. He hasn't quite learned how to pull up yet, but he's working on it and he tries.

A Few Pictures

I forgot to take 8 month pictures until the very end of the day, so this is about the best I got on the 22nd. More to come later.


We caught him happily playing all by himself and had to take a picture of this rare moment! In the bottom picture he really looks like some of John's pictures from when he was little. I also don't think Max looks like a baby in this picture, but more like a little boy.


On our way back to AR we happened to be at the same exit in Memphis as my friend Amanda as she was headed to Nashville so we visited for a little while. I think the kids look like they could pass as brother and sister in this picture. Amanda got some really good pictures of our kids from a few weeks ago, I'll post those soon.

A Few "Firsts"

Sorry, no picture or video, I'll try and get some up later this week. Max and I have been in TN for a wedding I was in this weekend. Today he had a few "firsts" that I wanted to be sure and write down so I wouldn't forget. Earlier in the week, he said "da da" for the first time. Not necessarily directed at John, but it was the first time he had made that sound. This morning, he said "ma ma" and 2x it REALLY seemed directed at me! I was so excited I teared up. He was sitting on the floor in my parents living room and he was crying and I was sitting on the couch and he looked right at me and said, "ma ma" and he did it again before we left for church. Not so sure that he connects that when he says that he's saying my name, but it was neat anyways. Then tonight, he was sitting on a pallet in the living room with toys all around him. Mom was beside him and I had just walked in the living room and sat about 3 or 4 feet behind him on the couch and he started crying (yet again) when he saw me. He turned his body around and kind of belly-flopped onto the floor and did something in between a crawl and a scoot and made his way all the way to me. Now, he has used his arms to pull himself across a slick, tile floor, but today he was using arms and legs together and was going across blankets and a rug, both of which he's never done! I would like to thank all of you who have continued to pray for his development and that he would suffer no deficits, because from what I can tell, he is pretty on track with other kids his age.

What was I thinking...

when I said I had a laid back and happy baby most of the time??? I should have known to never, never, never let words like those come from my mouth. Here lately, it seems that our happy times are quickly turning into...

UNHAPPY TIMES!!!

Eating lunch




Having a super fun photo shoot with mom :) (okay, maybe I understand why he was crying)





Playing after bath time...





Is he going through a yucky phase???


Is he getting more of these...

his gums do look red and swollen.

Or is it simply because...

and I don't want her to get out of my sight! I do seem to be his all-time favorite person right now, which is understandable since we are together 24/7. But he would prefer for me to hold him all the time, which I can't and won't do, and he certainly doesn't want me leaving the room, which at times I just have to.

We do get the occasional happy and sweet moment...



as long as mom and/or dad are nearby.

We are thankful for the few and far between sweet moments that we get. I don't know if this is just a clingy phase that some kids go through, but I think it is safe to say that John and I will not miss it a lot!

***Please say a special prayer for Bill and Lisa as they are meeting with the pediatric cardiologist at Vanderbilt tomorrow. Please pray specifically that God will completely heal their baby's heart before he is born. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:20-21, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3***

Happy Easter

Max had a pretty good Easter. He got to spend the day Saturday with his Gran Gran and Aunt Kristin. Unfortunately, Gran Gran had to leave Saturday night to go be with her other grandbabies, but she and Papow will be back next weekend, and possibly Max's cousins, Annie and Daniel and his Aunt Karie and Uncle Kelly will be in town too. Sunday morning before church he got to see what the Easter Bunny brought him and he had a lot of fun pulling things out of his basket. Most everything went straight to his mouth. Good thing the Easter Bunny was thinking and got him some Gerber Puffs. I really wish I had a picture of his face when he put his first one in his mouth. He's had 1 cheerio once before, so this was pretty new to him. His face was hilarious. After church we went to Max's Nanny's and Pa Pa's house where he got a 2nd Easter Basket. We enjoyed a really good lunch, Max took an unusually long (3 1/2 hour) nap, we got to see the Cardinal's finally win a game, and we had a great visit.

Harper

Sweet little Harper passed away this morning. I've been reading about her since November, when her illness began, and I feel like I know her and her parents, much like many of you, some of who I've never met, feel so close to Max. My heart breaks for her parents. These are her dad's words from this morning, "It was time for her to stop suffering and go be with God and when we think about it that way, its hard not to be jealous." I know God is giving them the strength right now to be able to think that way during such a time of deep sadness. Please pray for Zach and Haley and the rest of their family as they continue to live here on earth without Harper.

Prayers Needed

**I just read Harper's latest entry. (Those of you from Maple Hill, she is Steve Hawley's niece.) She is in very critical condition. You can click on her link for the specific prayer requests her parents have listed and for more detailed info.


I wanted to post real quick about 2 families that need prayers. The first one is a woman I recently found out about, I think in her 20's, named Amy. She was diagnosed with Leukemia last summer. She was doing much better for awhile, but it recently came back and on Feb. 23 her doctors gave her 2 months to live. She is married and has a son, I think around the age of 1. I have added a link to her blog on the right side of my blog. She has an unwavering faith and an incredible amount of strength. The other is a family from my parents church. The parents are named Bill and Lisa. They are pregnant and recently had their 20 week ultrasound. They found out their baby has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (the same condition baby Gavin has). Their blog has not been created yet, but I added their name under the children needing prayer. I believe they will be creating a blog and I will add the link as soon as I get it. Thanks!


Amy, her husband and son