Six of Me!

I am 15 lbs! Mommy said that means that to equal my weight now, she would have to hold six of me when I was first born. I guess that means I was really small or now I'm really big. I like to say really big!

Since there's not much news, Mommy and I will just put up a few recent pictures.

Daddy and Mommy are funny - I laugh at them a lot.
















My air-Jordan outfit is from Mr. Dan Sutton. It finally fits! I liked looking at my reflection on the hood of the car.
















Happy happy happy, happy all the time.






















Well, most of the time. Daddy wanted a funny picture, but I wasn't too happy about it.






















Do I have to pose again? Can we do this photo shoot some other time? Please?






















Oh - one more thing. Daddy got some of his pictures published in a couple books! I'm proud of him. You can go to his website to see one of the pictures in a book. Just click on "Andy's Blog" under links at the top of this page.

7 Months

Hey, Everybody. Guess what? I'm 7 months old today!
Here I am sitting on a rock in front of Babu and Nana's house.






















I like to help Mommy with the laundry. The clothes feel warm.
















Aunt SaraBeth just had knee surgery - I was trying to help her feel better.
















This weekend I met Papa and Gramma in Knoxville and spent the night with them in a hotel. We had a lot of fun.

Here I am with Daddy, playing with his hair.
















I went swimming for the first time in the hotel pool.






















At first, I wasn't too sure about it. The water was kind of cold. But after about 10 minutes, I started copying Daddy and Mommy when they splashed in the water. I thought that was a lot of fun.






















On Sunday, Babu and Nana took me, Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Tony, Auntie Meg, Auntie Anna, Papa and Gramma up to Lake Watauga. I had never been on a boat before. Mommy and Daddy made me wear a big orange thing. I didn't like it when they were putting it on, but after it was on, it wasn't so bad. I love to be outside, so I had fun on the lake.






















Daddy, Uncle Tony and Auntie Anna were "committed." At least, that's what they called putting on their bathing suits...


















...and jumping into REALLY COLD water. Auntie Anna said she could hardly breathe when she hit the water. I'm glad I stayed on the boat. Maybe I'll go swimming in the lake this summer, but for now, I think I'll stick to hotel pools.






















I looked around at everything new for awhile, but then I felt pretty tired, so I took a nap in Gramma's arms. We matched!


















When it started to get dark, we had to go home. I hope I'll get to go back soon because I had fun.

















Let's see...what else...

I like to sit in my highchair and eat rice cereal at breakfast and supper when everybody else gets to eat too.

I weigh 14 lbs 11 oz and I'm 2 feet tall. Daddy says I also have a big head.

I know how to give Daddy high five...it's fun sometimes, but he likes that game more than I do. Sometimes I do it just to make him laugh.

I love to laugh...a couple nights ago I laughed just because Daddy was laughing.

I'm learning sign languauge. I can sign "more" when Mommy's feeding me cereal and I want another bite.

I'm hot all the time - Mommy says I got Daddy's body temperature because she's usually cold.

I LOVE to talk! I learn new sounds every day. A couple mornings ago, Mommy heard me moving around in my crib...I wanted to get up, so I said "hi." It's my first word. Mommy says she doesn't think I know what it means yet or when to say it, but maybe she's underestimating me. I also like to say hi to my animals. Cell phones are fun too - I like it when Daddy calls me from work. I try to talk back to him by putting the phone in my mouth.

I think that's all for now. Have a good week!

Love,
Christopher

No, it's not Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Hey, Christopher, guess what!
What, Daddy?
















I'm listening, Daddy...tell me.
Well, Son, there's something unusual going on that I think you might find interesting. So put on some clothes and come outside with me.
















See, Son, it's snowing!
Whoa, what is Daddy showing me, Mommy?
















Cold!
















That's a lot of snow, Daddy. It's so pretty. Is it Christmas time again?
No, Son, it's actually only April. Kind of silly, isn't it? But a good silly. I love snow anytime of the year.
I think I do too, Daddy.
















But I don't think the Dogwoods like it very much, do they, Daddy? They look kind of sad.
I think you're right, Son. They do look sad.
















Yes, it snowed again. We had a light, beautiful dusting on Sunday. The snow on the mountain tops was gorgeous this morning in the sunrise - pink!

I PASSED!

It's official...I passed my nursing boards. Praise the Lord! Thank you so much to all of you for your prayers, encouragement and support. I definitely couldn't have done it without God's help through you, my family and friends. Now to start looking for a fun job!

Love,
Rachel, RN

Nap-time with Auntie Anna.





















Springtime in TN - look at the beautiful Dogwood flowers. The funny thing is, we had snow three days later.
















Where's Christopher? Peek-a-boo!
















Out for a walk in the stroller. It was almost 80 the day before!!
















Christopher loves to play in his walker. He's figured out almost all the toys - we're still working on the ones with buttons to press. He will sit for almost an hour turning in circles and spinning and turning all the different toys, babbling as he spins. He's a fast learner. The first time we put him in the walker and showed him how to turn one of the toys, he copied us and by the next day was quite proficient at it.
















Andy's first week of work went well. I'm still studying for my boards. I take them on Wednesday at 11 am, so as many prayers as you have time for between now and then will be welcomed with open arms!

We love you all. Enjoy your week.

Love,
Rachel

The Move

After a week of packing and painting our red bedroom toasted almond, and our yellow and orange bathrooms off-white (boring!) =) , we finally managed to get everything loaded up and ready to go by Monday morning, on March 26. Without the help of magnificent Auntie Meg, who painted, packed, ran errands, cleaned, changed diapers, played with Christopher, and ran in circles blowing on Christopher's face when he was in hysterics, we'd still be in Kentucky. So many thanks to her and our wonderful friends, the Greisners, Hunters and Whipples who helped us pack/paint/care for the baby and provided a place for us to stay once our stuff was loaded on the truck. We are truly blessed.

Auntie Meg - Christopher's bud and Daddy and Mommy's "savior."





















From red...
















...to toasted almond.















Packed and ready to go.














Goodbye, home. We loved you.















On the road again...
















...into the mountains! Yeah!















Andy drove the truck and towed the van, and Rachel and Christopher followed in the Subaru. We arrived in our new home-town, Johnson City, TN, around 9 pm on Monday evening. Tuesday, we unloaded the truck into a storage unit. Wednesday and Thursday we spent unpacking clothes, etc. into our "new home," the guest bedroom at Rachel's parents' house. We plan on living here for almost 8 weeks, in which time we hope to sell our house in KY and find a new one here. Saturday, Andy went canoeing with Silas. They had a great time. Sunday, we started our "church-hopping" in search of a new church home.

Today is Andy's first day of work at n*tara. Christopher and Mommy are anxiously waiting at home to see how it went.

Thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray that Christopher will be able to quickly settle back into a good routine. He's been pretty upset by the move, though he has showed improvement during the last two days. Hopefully we'll have our happy baby that sleeps through the night back very soon! =)