Dad's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads we know (including our own dads)!   Being a husband and a dad is such a huge responsibility... You all have to provide financially, think for your family's needs: spiritually, family decisions, etc and usually are the ultimate decision makers.  It is a huge responsibility, its an amazing one I know, but I always tell Matt that being the husband and father (as I see it) is not easy!  You all are the leaders of future family generations and your love specifically will shape and encourage your children both male and females.  The love and affection you have for your children and for your wife creates SUCH a security and safety net for them.
We always joke around and I tell Matt "gosh I am SO HAPPY I'm not the male... I would be soo over whelmed, nervous and stressed!" haha funny but it's so true.  The Lord knew what He was doing when He decided to make me a female :), especially the one to be married to Matt because we fill in what the other lacks, etc.

And lastly, thank you Matt for being an awesome dad!  Thank you for all you do for us and especially what you don't know you are doing for Samuel already.  I have never seen a man (grow to) love the Lord so much... by that I mean see his true need for a Savior because of an understanding of his sinfulness.  He is constantly thinking on the gospel by always talking to me about the Lord,  singing hymns at home and work (in the shower, while getting dressed, playing with Samuel, etc... it's very sweet to hear), asking me hard questions that challenge my thought life, always reading books (fun ones and challenging ones), reading the scriptures, etc.

4 months old!

It's encouraging to see the Lord's promise to His people as He says in Philippians, "..being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."   Such a promise that is FULL of grace.   This is the greatest jewel to pass down to our children and for them to see.  And of course love your silliness, randomness, talents, etc.



We had a great weekend swimming, relaxing, and kicking the soccer ball around at the park

Father's Day morning! (11 months old)

Catching up

We have been staying very busy this past month!  The weather has been amazing which I think has a lot to do with it :)   We've been going to parks, walking the lakes, visiting with friends, visiting family, and cooking.  We are having so much fun with Samuel right now.  He makes us laugh so much!!  Every stage has been very enjoyable and sweet but this one particularly has been so much fun, he's so interactive!

HAPPY 8 MONTHS!

 Today, Samuel Blake is 8 months old........ MY GOSH time is FLYING by, its crazy!  My sweet baby is almost not a baby anymore!

  After 6 months they change so much.  Start eating more, personalities flourish etc.   I just read that at 8 months he can start having some water, he can eat so much more food.  Today, I made baby food for the first time!  It was so easy and I loved doing it... a bag of frozen peas is less than $2.00, and 2 pack of baby food stage 1 is $0.99 if it's on sale- that lasts me maybe 2 days if I decide to do that veggie or fruit once a day.  Can't wait to play more with different foods!

I used our blender, and when I pulled it out I saw that it had a setting for baby food!  I was not going to buy anything special to make baby food, was going to use the blender regardless.  But saw that and got very happy!  :)

2 great sites for out of the box ideas and when you're done doing the basics are:

homemade-baby-food-recipes.com
and
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

Soon-to-be new addition to our family!...

We will be having some baby chicks soon!   Matt has been wanting for the past year and half or so to have fresh chicken eggs and a garden!  He is definitely a farmer at heart!   If he lived in another life or time, he'd be a farmer with plants and animals and a carpenter! Love that about him

This past weekend he started building the chicken coop, should be completed soon!   Not sure how many we'll have yet but excited to have baby chicks and to have fresh eggs!
This should be interesting  :)

Everyone has helped a little bit, even if holding a piece of wood for him...

   

Happy sick Boy!

Samuel has had RSV (think and hope we are at the very end of it)...  We've been busy doing breathing treatments 3 times a day and I've been sick as well but finally got some antibiotics from the doctor yesterday!   He's been so happy still while being sick, it amazes me haha!  I'm so grumpy when I'm sick... fever, cough, snot and all and he still screams and laughs in his jumparoo! 
He's been running fever every night for about a week... but he's back to his happy self and we're down to 1 treatment a day :)
We had to take some pictures of him doing his treatments... the more we did them the more laid back he got.. it was so cute.  We started off with the mask you put over mouth and nose which with tv on, he would sit and watch it calmly but luckily a friend had the pacifier attachment, which is so much better!

Hopefully soon, we'll be getting out more again!  Just in time with this beautiful weather!

Thought I'd Share...

Tim Keller and his wife, Kathy, share a small bit on the book they wrote on marriage, and well, on marriage itself... this is such a good, rich, Truth based book

http://www.faithfamilyfoundation.org/?p=720

Mi Samuelito!

The past 2 weeks I have been making it a goal to speak only in Spanish for at least an hour to Samuel!  We do it in the mornings after his first nap.   This is mainly for me right now, to get me used to thinking and speaking in Spanish.   Even though I know it fluently, its hard to turn that switch on and say everything in Spanish (to think in Spanish)... I mean everything! Even all that baby talk we do with them like they understand us haha!  Just in everything I do I'm telling him what I'm doing.  Like wiping his mouth after he eats, being silly with him, changing his diaper, playing with toys, body parts, etc.  Its been sooo good for me!  I'm noticing the more I do it the more it becomes natural.  My goal is that as he gets older, I'd speak as much Spanish to him as I can, hopefully majority of the day!  When he learns his first few words, we'll teach them to him in Spanish as well.
That is how I know Spanish... my parents never sat me down and gave me lessons, I just heard it all the time!  We learned English by going to school.  It is amazing how the brain works, how a child can absorb, learn, and retain two different languages with out even knowing it!   I remember going to a small after school program my mom worked at, I'd sit in there while she taught the kids.  I remember them doing their alphabet and I did not even know them in Spanish.  One day I just tried saying them in bed over and over because I remembered most of them or over heard her.  The ones I did not know, I'd ask my dad and re say them.  I taught myself how to write and read as well and growing up we'd write our grandparents letters and my dad would mail them.  Spanish is so easy to write and read, its spelled and pronounced the way it sounds, unlike English. 

I definitely want to pass this language down to our children.  It's part of my family!  Also, I don't want it to end with me and years later when my children have children, here my grandchildren say "yeah my mom's parents spoke Spanish but..."  And it's SO useful in today's world!