Our Little Aquaman

We took Rex swimming for the first time this weekend and he loves it so much that we've been twice more since. He loves the water and just kicks and coos and chews on his little water toys. I know where we will be spending most of the summer. Here are some pictures of his first trip to the pool.Chillin' out, catching some raysHe loves his crab floatDrying off with Pops

New Dinning Room

Since Ben and my birthdays are only a week a part we tend to just ask for money and buy something big. This year we bought a dinning room suite and it was delivered today (the dining room is also our gifts to each other for all celebrations for a long time). If you have never checked out Amish furniture, you must. They make high quality, solid wood pieces for not much more than other furniture stores. Plus every piece is made to order so you can pick your wood, stain, and all other finishes.

First Foods

We gave Rex his first rice cereal on Friday. I think that he liked it, but he couldn't quite get it in fast enough and that frustrated him a little. I had to hold his hands down while I fed him because he wanted to "help" by sticking them in his mouth with the spoon. Here are some pictures and a video of this momentous occasion.

Rex Laughing

Rex started really laughing a couple of weeks ago. We have been trying to get on camera since the first time that he did it but have been unable to because he stops every time he sees the video camera. However, last night I finally got it. I was by myself so the video is a little shakey because I was trying to hold the camera and make him laugh at the same time.
Enjoy!

A friend of ours from church blessed us one Sunday with a flip video...it is so cool. It's little so I can carry it around with me in the diaper bag and it has a flip out usb that plugs directly into the computer. I love it. I couldn't have gotten this video without it. Thanks!

Happy Late Easter

Then and Now

My sophomore year in college I lived in a suite with 7 of my friends. It was a fun year and Stacey still gets us all together once or twice a year. I have had to miss the past two times so it was especially good for me yesterday to catch up with these girls and hear what the Lord is doing in their lives and see their beautiful families. We had a great day reliving some of our UTM antics and reminiscing about the good ol' days.

Us Then:Right to Left: Me, Stacey, Crystal, Katie Swarthout, Katie Cagle, Marijo, Regina, KathrynMarijo's Bachelorette PartyBarn Party 2003 My Bachelorette Party

Us Now:

Play Date with Story

We've had a busy weekend so far my mom (Nana) came up last night to get some Rex time in... I'd love to say that she came to see us, but really Rex was the object of her attention. We don't mind, we've learned to live with the fact that we are upstaged.

Rachael and Story Vaden came by this afternoon for a play date. Rex and Story were so cute together. They just talked to one another and smiled at each other. Story is so dainty and sweet and makes cute little girl squeal and yodels we aren't used to hearing (Rex is a grunter). Here are some pictures of our day.Rex and Story getting re-aquainted with each other. I think they will be friends! (Yes, cut all my hair off, not sure what I was thinking at the time.)Sometimes Rex wasn't quite sure what to do with Story and her emotions... he'll likely never figure it out.Story pointing her dainty little feet...already so girly... I love it!

Mom2Mom

I was hired by the Hope Pregnancy Center in August to start a mentoring program for teen moms. I worked on developing it before Rex was born and the plan was to launch the program November 12... well, we all know Rex came 4 weeks early and I started maternity leave at the end of October. I went back to work in January with a new plan of launching our program March 12 (last Thursday) which I had to cancel because of snow... well, finally, after it's long journey, Mom2Mom has finally launched! We had a great night of fellowship and getting to know one another. We have teen moms and mentors who are excited about being apart of this program... the Lord is moving in this ministry.

Please pray for the girls in the Mom2Mom program, that the Lord will call them to Himself and continue to shape them into the mothers He wants them to be. For the mentors, that they will be open to the Holy Spirit in their relationships with these young moms-to-be. Please pray for the girls who have been given information about the program, but have not yet committed, that God would show them their need for Him and for a mentor. And finally please pray for me and my leadership team as we oversee and run this ministry.

We still have needs for mentors, groups/individuals to provide meals for monthly meetings, volunteers to lead life-skill lessons, funds, and some new baby gear for our store. Please pray about how you might fit into this ministry.

Catching Up

I have gotten so behind...some of our recent accomplishments are: Celebrated Carson's 4th birthday, Ben and I celebrated our 6th V-day together...but more excitingly our 1st with Rex, Rex's baby dedication at church, we officially switched to cloth diapers (a whole world of possibilities I didn't really know existed and honestly would have made fun of pre-Rex), Ben and I both turned 27 (that sounds so close to 30, but I was reminded that it's still 3 whole years away), and Rex rolled over from his back to his belly (the cheering in our house rivaled that of winning the big game, tummy time has paid off), Rex also has begun to cut his first teeth (I can't believe my little guy is old enough to have teeth... 4 months have gone by so quickly).

Here are some pictures...I know that's what you really want to see. There are a lot...get ready to spend some time scrolling down.Yea! Unc is turning 4!London loved Rex and wanted to rock him and pat his headGetting ready to go to our first Valentine's PartyRex's dedication dinner (Carson was watching Franklin in the background)Cloth Diaper CutieAngel Baby (He loves looking at himself in the mirror)

Recipe Wednesday- Sausage and Tortellini Chowder

This is my grandmother's recipe and is great for the cold weather we are having. It makes a lot of soup so it's good to share. I actually made it last week, had Ben's parents over, and we are still eating on it.

Sausage and Tortellini Chowder

One lb bulk Italian sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 T butter and 1 T olive oil

2 cups broccoli florets

1 32 oz carton of chicken broth

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

9 oz cheese tortellini, cooked and drained

½ t. pepper

½ t. dried basil

½ t dried thyme

2 qts half and half

1\2 cup grated Romano cheese

In skillet, cook and crumble sausage until no longer pink. Drain. Set aside.

In same skillet, sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms in butter and olive oil until tender. Set aside.

In Dutch oven or equivalent cook the broccoli and carrots in chicken broth until tender.

Stir in sausage mixture. Add soup, tortellini, pepper, basil and thyme.

Heat through. Stir in cream and Romano cheese: heat through.

Yield 12-16 servings. (Four Quarts).

Note: I had cauliflower and zucchini that I needed to use so I used that instead of the carrots and broccoli and it was great. I also only had half the called for amount of half and half so I supplemented with milk...this did not work so great. It seems like a lot of cream, but it makes to soup REALLY good. Also, you can use whole wheat tortellini to make it South Beach friendly.

Enjoy!

Football Fan and Bedtime Man

One of our sweet friends from Taylorsville made Rex a blanket and TN burp cloth. We set him up with them to get some pictures to send in the thank you note and discovered he is a true UT fan!Go Big Orange!

Rex spent his first night in his room last night... I think it was a more monumental event for me than for him. Up to this point he has been in our room in the pack and play where just hearing him breath and stir around gives me comfort and peace of mind. However, it was time for him to move down the hall to his very own room. He has consistantly been sleeping through the night and Ben's alarm wakes him up every morning. It's fun to watch him grow and develop, but sometimes it can be a little sad too. He looks so much smaller in his big boy crib than his does on his pack and play.Sleeping soundly in he sleep sack thanks to Brent and Cortney!

Sweet Pictures of Our Sweet Boy

I thought you all might enjoy some pictures we have taken over the past few weeks. Rex is doing great. Is little incision does not seem to bother him at all, and other than all of us having a little cold we are wonderful.Almost got that sweet smile that we have yet to been able to capture on camera. He never seems to want to flash it when we get the camera out.Enjoying some Tummy Time... which is not currently one of Rex's favorite pastimes, but we try as long as he tolerates it so he can grow strong. Chilling before bathtime. He's getting to be a chubby little thing.Our babies...they get along so well... until the day Rex starts chasing Chloe around trying to pull her tail.

Thanks For Your Prayers

Thanks to everyone who prayed for our little Rex yesterday. He did such a good job and did not even fuss much before or after his surgery (which makes us thankful for what a good, easy-going baby he is). Everything went fine during his surgery, when they got in there they realized they only had to repair one side which is a huge blessing. He woke up without any complications, and besides being hungry and tried was a happy baby. He was even smiling and flirting with the nurses when he was moved to a room. He is a tough little guy and we praise the Lord that there were no complications. I will say, one of the hardest things I have ever done was handing him over to the nurse before his surgery.

Here's some pictures from yesterday:

They gave Rex little Vanderbilt PJs to wear before his surgery. He was so cute in them and so hungry. We couldn't feed him past 7am and it was after 1pm before they came and got him. We've never seen his belly to empty.
Gigi (Cindy) got him a seahorse that lights up and plays music and ocean sounds. He really likes it and it lulled him to sleep last night each time the nurses woke him up to check on him.

Making Up for Lost Time

I got a new camera for Christmas (Canon PowerShot A1000IS in blue) and it has made it so much fun to take pictures of Rex. Don't get me wrong, I love taking pictures with my D50, but it's not always convenient. I love that I can throw this little point and shoot in my diaper bag and have it at hand whenever a photo-op pops up. Here are some current pics of our little guy.

A couple of weeks ago he started smiling when you talk to him and cooing. When we sit him in his bouncy seat he just stares and the cow and bird and smiles at them and talks to them. We haven't been able to get his full smile on camera, but here are some cute grins.

Fun relaxing with Daddy... one of Rex's favorite pastimes.
We took him for his 2 month check up Friday. He is growing and progressing wonderfully! He was 9.8 lbs which still just puts him in the 3% for weight and is 21 inches long which puts him in the 1% for height, but his growth curve looks really good and is actually steeper than average. He's just making up for lost time and should be caught up with his peer size wise by the time he is about 5 or 6 months.

Ben's Graduation

I know I start every blog out like this, but once again I am behind the times when it comes to posting blogs. Ben graduated from Southern Seminary with his MDiv on Friday, December 12. It was a very cold day and I ended up having to walk quite some distance alone with Rex, so needless to say my camera didn't make the journey. We had a wonderful time with friends and family. I am so proud of Ben for this accomplishment. I got these pictures from my friend Rachael's facebook page. We're proud of both accomplishments, the babies and the grads!Rex and Story's first date (Rex was actually not very happy for the pictures, we later discovered it was because he had pooped up his back... I think he was upset because he was embarrassed in front on his date.)

Me and Rachael Before and After: