The Beitz Family

Parties, Parties Everywhere

2011-03-22T16:08:00.001-05:00

The birthday parties have begun!! We started in February with Matthew's 1st birthday and haven't stopped since. Although we were out of town for Owen Darby (Matthew's friend) and Will Walker's (Lauren's friend) parties (BTW- LG and Elicia I have the boys presents I just keep forgetting to bring them to church). We are now moving on to Ryan (Lauren's cousin who is 4) whose party is this Saturday. He is only 6 weeks older than Lauren and they have the best time playing together. This year Matthew will get to join in the mix and hopefully they will leave Brayden (3 months) alone :) Next is Harper Crowder. Lauren LOVES Harper!! We even had to name our Elf on the Shelf after Harper (I think Lauren gets tired of all the boys) Ha! I hear Harper is having a Tea Party for her 1st birthday. Lauren will be thrilled!! After Harper comes Lauren's 4th birthday - a Butterfly Birthday to be exact!! Thankfully I was able to find butterfly party supplies at the dollar store! That was such a God thing. Steve and I were wondering where in the world we would find some that wouldn't cost a fortune and decided to wander into the dollar store one night and JACKPOT!! Planning parties on a budget isn't easy especially when you start seeing other kids parties! I already have some cute ideas and hope they work out. I will do another post with pictures after her birthday in May. At the rate I'm going it will be a long while after her birthday since Matthew's was in February and I still don't have pictures or anything up. Be watching for Matthew's birthday (John Deere) blog post some time soon. Until then Happy Birthday to all the kiddos!!

Recipe Follow Up

2011-02-07T11:07:00.000-06:00

Ok, so the Potato Soup Recipe was great!! I did the same as LG for the diced onions, but I added garlic salt and shredded cheese! YUMMY!! My family loved it too! I'm thinking about adding some chicken next time kinda a spin off of chicken and dumplins'. I'll let you know if I try it!

Catching Up

2011-02-03T13:57:00.004-06:00

Well it looks as if I am blogging about every 6 months or so. :) I will try to get better, but it's really difficult with 2 children and a husband at home plus working full time. Also I read so many great blogs that I feel like no one would want to read what I have to write about. Lately I have been reading some blogs with some great sounding recipes and fun ideas for the kids. I am trying LG's Potato Soup recipe tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Since the last time I blogged so many things have changed. The kids have grown so much and Matthew will be 1 on the 15th of this month (where has the time gone?). I have decided to do a John Deere theme and believe me it has not been easy to find him an outfit to wear (I got started on my planning a little late). I finally found a onesie at Cracker Barrel of all places! I can't wait to see how everything turns out. Since I am on the Matthew I will just continue with him. He had several double ear infections over the last few months (starting in Sept. '10) and finally had tubes put in on December 14th. He has responded so well to the tubes and has not had any more ear trouble, congestion is another story!! He has crawled and even started walking already!! He walked all the way across the living room last night. I can't believe he is growing up so fast. He definitely knows what he wants and can throw a major fit if he doesn't get it (I'm trying to break him of this). He is all boy for sure. He is so destructive compared to Lauren. He is into everything. Lauren never bothered the things on tables and Matthew has pulled all the picture frames off and reached for anything he can grab!! He is going to be the one that really tests me! He is eating table food now and drinking whole milk (which he loves). I am still trying to get him to switch to hard spout sippy cups, but not having much luck so far. He hates when we go out to eat because he can't get down on the floor to play (YUCK!!) He loves his big sister and anything she does is hilarious to him. He is moving out of the infant room at daycare and into the toddler room. They are sad to see him go and so am I (He had Lauren's teacher from last year).

Lauren is growing up way too fast!! She will be 4 in May and can't wait. She is my independent one and loves to do things on her own. She loves to play with her baby dolls and take care of her babies "just like you do for Matthew". She is such a big helper with Matthew and can entertain him like no one else. She knows how to climb into his crib with him and I find her in there often just talking and playing with "Mafhew" in the mornings. She started AWANA this year and loves it. She is a Cubbie and had memorized so many verses. I love to see her so excited about going to church and learning about Jesus. When I pick her up from daycare every night she gets in the car and asks to listen to Jesus music and of course the Cubbies song. She is still very clingy to me when I have to drop her off at her class, and asks on a regular basis if I can stay home with her (that is my goal). Lauren is growing up to be such a polite little lady. She has started saying "yes ma'am", "no sir" etc on her own now (thanks to a lot of coaching from us). There are days that she says something and I am just amazed at how grown up she sounds! She has just discovered the old Tom and Jerry cartoons and has to watch at least one every night before bed. She still loves her chocolate milk and oreos and of course still takes bunny everywhere with her.

Steve and I have just started new Bible studies at church (mine on Sunday afternoons and his on Thursday mornings). I have to say I am learning so much through this study of a Godly wife and mother. I look forward to this time with other moms and wives every week. We are growing so much in and with our church. Steve is still working from home for U.S. NetworX. I am still at Trinity and have started a home business with the help of a good friend. I can honestly say I love these products and feel that my family has benefited from my switching cleaning products. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll be glad to tell you about it.

Over the New Year holiday Steve and I went with a group of the college students from church to the Passion Conference in Atlanta. It was an amazing 4 days!! 22,000 college students worshipping the Lord together and raising money to make a difference in the lives of others through different ministries. These "poor college kids" raised over $1,000,000 to support different groups around the world. WOW!! was all I could say! These students are our future and we need to support and encourage them to continue their walk with Christ. We have a great group of college students at Trinity!!

Well that has just about got us caught up with the happenings of the Beitz household recently. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post next time from Matthew's birthday!

Growing In Many Ways

2010-08-16T10:16:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it has been six months since Matthew was born!! He is now up on all fours trying to crawl! I'm going to have my hands full once he gets mobile. He now has 2 bottom teeth and can eat like there is no tomorrow. He is such a happy baby and LOVES his big sister. He lights up any time she walks into the room. Of course Lauren thinks he is a big baby doll and just has to help change his diapers and clothes and bring him his blankie. She loves to get in his crib with him and turn his mobile on. I usually have more help than I need but it is so much fun!!

They are both doing great at "school". Matthew is just as happy as he can be (especially since it seems like he gets most of the attention). Lauren is learning new things everyday. Most importantly she is learning of the love of Jesus Christ! She is coming home and talking about how Jesus died for us but he is still alive and naming the Fruits of the Spirit! I love Faith Preschool Academy! I love that while I am away from my children they are still learning biblical truths and hearing the gospel.

Things are changing at church as well. Steve has now joined the orchestra (playing tuba of course) and will be joining their class on Sunday mornings and I get to go to my class with all the people I love to be around. Lauren is signed up for AWANA this year on Wednesday nights so I get to join choir since Steve will be in orchestra practice. Lauren will also be singing in Lil KidzPraise on Sunday nights. She is so excited and cant wait to sing on the stage. For now Matthew is just along for the ride, but he will participating before we know it. I LOVE our church and the staff I get to work with everyday. I feel that I have grown so much being around all these wonderful Godly people and I am so grateful that my children get to grow up at Trinity!

Matthew James Beitz

2010-02-23T10:06:00.002-06:00

I am finally here!! I arrived 10 days early due to mommy getting a stomach virus that put her into labor. She arrived at the hospital around 3:30 pm on Valentine's Day and the doctor decided that she needed to stay since she was in very early labor. She was finally moved to a labor room and given an epidural,which never worked on the right side of her body (I really started to be a little pain). By 4:30 am she was really struggling with the pain and they came in to try to help her as best they could. By the time the dr decided to redo the epidural, it was too late. I was on my way into the world. Mommy started pushing around 6 am and I was born at 7:03 am. I weighed 6lbs. and 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. Since mommy spiked a fever of 103 while laboring with me I had to go to the nursery for some antibiotics after a quick cuddle. I was fine but the dr. just wanted to make sure. I have my first dr appointment on March 1 with Dr. Lacy. I will be very upset when I have to get my shots but mommy will cuddle with me and make it all better. My first week home has been pretty good. My daddy makes my bottles and my mommy feeds me while we snuggle together. I have a great big sister, Lauren, that always wants to help with all my needs. So far life is good!! I will keep you updated as I continue to grow.

Love,
Matthew

Exciting Times

2009-12-02T16:07:00.002-06:00

I am so excited that we have decided on a name for our little boy, Matthew James. We are getting closer to the due date and I'm getting a little nervous. We still have not put his nursery together and are waiting until after the hoildays to get everything done. This is starting to stress me a little. I know we will get it finished, but just the thought of waiting is killing me. I know it will be easier once all the Christmas decorations are down though. We have decided to go with Buttons bedding by Cocalo and design a nursery around it.

I am really excited about Christmas this year. Lauren has a pink tree and her own ornaments in her room and loves to turn it it on every night. We were out of town for Thanksgiving and the weekend after, so we are still working on getting our tree, mantle, outdoor wreaths and lights, etc. put up. I'm moving a little slower this year being pregnant and all. Lauren is loving looking at the lights that the neighbors have up, so that means we get to do something like that to our house. I am hoping the lighted wreath and garland on the porch will suffice this year. :) Lauren also has an Elf on the Shelf that sits in her room to watch over her and report back to Santa. It seems to be working pretty well. She has also seen commercials and keeps telling me what she wants for Christmas. It's kinda funny since she wants everything she sees. We will see what Santa brings her and what she actually decides to play with.

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and not to get caught up in everything and to remember the real reason we celebrate. Jesus was the first Christmas gift and should always be first in our lives.

It's a BOY!!

2009-09-28T11:41:00.002-05:00

We had a dr. appointment on Friday and were able to find out we are having a little boy!! I can't wait for this experience. Lauren wasn't all that thrilled though. When we told her that she was going to have little brother she said "I want a girl!" She has come around though. Lauren will be a wonderful big sister and has already told me that she is going to help with the baby and help clean :) I love that little girl so much and cant wait for this little boy to get here. I am so excited to be a mommy again and Steve can't wait to have his little boy. Although our little girl loves to play in the dirt with Daddy. We haven't decided on a name yet, but we are working on it. I have already been looking online for boy bedding and trying to decide how to decorate his room. Our family will be complete with the arrival of this precious gift from God and we couldn't be more thrilled at the prospect of being Mommy and Daddy to a beautiful little girl and precious little boy!!

And Baby Makes 4

2009-07-27T11:40:00.003-05:00

I know I haven't posted anything in so long that I bet you thought I forgot how!! We have been so blessed recently. We found out several weeks ago that we are going to have another baby!! This is something that we have prayed about for sometime now. Not necessarily to concieve but to bless us with the child that we have wanted in His time. I guess that time is now. We will be 10 weeks on Thursday. We have our first pre-natal appointment on Friday and had an ultrasound. Everything looked good and the Dr. is pleased with the pregnancy so far. Having another baby brings on a whole new list of things to do. Mainly to sell our house and get a bigger one!! Which is going to require getting a storage unit because our house simply can't hold all of our stuff along with Lauren's toys and Steve's office. 1300 square feet is not alot of space. The next problem we run into are the dogs. They need a new home. We dont have the space or time for them that they need. We have found a home for our lab with some wonderful friends of ours on the coast, but our sheltie still needs a new place to live. We have to do all of this in the next 6 months. It is a huge undertaking, but it is what's best for our growing family. We will get there and God will provide all our needs at the time He sees fit for us. That is such a comfort when things seem to be out of control.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!

2009-02-18T13:53:00.003-06:00

Yes that's right folks we went to the circus. The Shrine Circus was in town last weekend and my Dad and Mary got tickets for us all. Lauren decided to not take a nap that day so I wasn't sure how the afternoon would go. She had a blast despite being tired. The circus started and she was hooked. She loved the tigers jumping around on pedistals. The dogs were probably her favorite act. They were amazing climbing ladders and walking on wires. She also liked the elephants, but not enough to ride one once she got close. She loved the ladies spinning on ropes because she thought they were butterflies. She even said "be careful butterfly". We left at intermission since she was so tired, but we had been there for about 2 hours. We went to eat at the Germantown Commissary. Which was wonderful!! We had a great time and Lauren got to see her first circus.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T11:12:00.002-06:00

We had a great Christmas!! Lauren was so excited for days before hand. She didn't want to go to sleep at night. We started off the Sunday afternoon before Christmas with my Mom's extended family. Then we had Christmas with my Dad and Mary on Tuesday night. Lauren has absolutely loved playing with everything my dad and Mary got her, especially her doll house and Archie puppy. She also loves the puppets that her cousins, Cayden and Cobe, sent her. We then move on to Christmas Eve Morning with Jerry's side of the family. We had a great time seeing Jeremy and Ashleigh again. Lauren decided to take a nap instead of opening most of her presents that morning. She did open her purse from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Ashleigh and had to take it shopping with her on the 26th. Christmas Eve Night we went to my Aunt Ronna's (my dad's sister) to have Christmas with my Dad's family. Lauren had a blast with her princess couch and Ryan's car. Once we got home and got her castle open, I didn't think we would get her out. She also loves the lucky duck game from Granny and Poppy and the mixer from the Marcantels. The next morning was Santa had come and her reaction was great!! She walked around the corner and looked under the tree and said "OOOOHHH!!!" She found her Little Einsteins Rocket first and loved it. Santa also brought her the little people learning village, bristle blocks, crayons and sticker books, aquadoodle, smartville alphabet train, a cabbage patch and doll bed. Santa was good to her! I think that is why she peeked around the corner the next morning to see if he had come back. That afternoon she finally finished opening presents from my Mom and Jerry. She has played with her kids tupperware so much already. Steve and I are already tired of her cooking and pouring us drinks. Friday night we exchanged presents with my Mom's brother, Paul and his family. Lauren got puzzles and books and money. We had breakfast Saturday morning with my Mom's dad and opened presents again. Lauren got more money. At this point I think the kid has more money in her savings account then we do. :) As you can tell we had a busy holiday season and that is only my family. We still have yet to have Christmas with Steve's family. I had to come back to work to get a break :) It was fun though!!

Christmas Time is Here!!

2008-12-16T15:10:00.002-06:00

We have finally finished decorating the house and Lauren is so excited. She has an advent calendar where each day is a miniature book that doubles as an ornament. She loves to put them on the tree and then take them off to "read" them. She helped decorate the tree this year, so many of our ornaments around the bottom are on the same branch. I love watching her every morning when we get up and turn the tree lights on. She is just amazed that they come on by themselves (we have a remote!). She just stares at the lights and says "oooohh!". She is also thrilled with her daddy's stocking (it is a penguin). She thinks it is so funny. We have several ornaments that she loves to look at, but knows not to touch. She goes up the tree, points to the ornament as close as she can without touching it and says "choo choo" (a train) and Mickey (Mickey Mouse ball). She is also recently enamored with my Snowbaby collection, to the point where she hits her head on the glass in the curio cabinet trying to look at them. She is growing so fast and learning so much. It is hard to believe that she is 19 months old already. I can't wait until Christmas morning to see the look on her face when she realizes Santa came to see her. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Wisdom Teeth

2008-11-05T10:01:00.002-06:00

I am not sure why we have wisdom teeth, but it would make sense that they should not have to be removed. Anyway, I had mine out last Thursday. All four were taken out at one time, which I think is probably better than doing it in stages. Needless to say I was out of it for a few days. I did manage to take Lauren to the Fall Festival at church on Halloween for about 30 minutes. More on that later. I thought I might starve to death after having these teeth out. A liquid diet is not great after 2 days. I need more substance. I finally moved up to mashed potatoes and then chicken and dumplings. I managed to eat pasta with meat sauce last night and garlic bread. It looks like everything is on track with the healing and hopefully I will be back to normal soon. I must say that I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for my mom and stepmom. They took care of Lauren for several days while I was on some great pain meds. I am looking forward to moving on and putting this all behind me.

Tatti's Wedding

2008-10-21T10:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we traveled to Atlanta, GA for my sister, Tatti's, wedding. Lauren was a flower girl and did a great job I must say. We arrived late Wednesday night to get the weekend started. Thursday night I went to the bachlorette party with all my sisters and Tatti's friends to a tapas restaurant. We had a great time catching up with each other (since we never get to see each other). Friday we all went to Chris' house (the groom) to make flower arrangements and to finish up last minute items. Saturday at 2 was the big event. Everything was perfect. The flowers, decorations, bridal party couldn't have looked better. Especially Lauren (I may be a little biased). Tatti was walked down the aisle by her father and looked gorgeous in her white gown with red sash. The ceremony was really sweet and touching with the fathers saying a pray of blessing over the couple and my brother-in-law officiating. With the vows spoken and rings exchanged it was time to party. The reception was at a community center not too far from the church. Chris did an amazing job with the lighting and Mary, Paula, and Ronna did a wonderful job decorating the tables and such. I don't know if this reception would have happened if it hadn't been for Paula. She is such a wonderful person and good friend to Mary. The bride and groom left and went to Florida on their honeymoon. All in all it was a great but tiring weekend. We miss you guys already!!

Lauren in the white dress not wanting to take pictures!

Branson Vacation

2008-09-22T16:17:00.006-05:00

We traveled to Branson with my Dad and Mary in their motorhome. They have a class A bus type motorhome which is very nice to travel in. We arrived on Thursday, set up camp and went to get our rental car. That night we drove around town to see what all there was to do the next day. We ate dinner at Outback (Not the chain) which was very good. The next morning Dad and Steve went fishing while Mary, Lauren and I had a leisurely morning eating breakfast, playing and getting ready for the afternoon of girl adventures.

Lauren watching Little Einsteins not wanting to be disturbed.

We went to the Butterfly Palace where they have thousands of butterflies in a big open room with trees and plants. It was so neat to walk through and have them land on you. Lauren LOVED it. She wanted to touch them all.

Lauren loving the butterfly chair.

After the butterflies we went to the outlet mall and shopped for a while. Then we went to Rocky's Italian Restaurant for dinner. It was very good, except they could use a little help with making sweet tea. Saturday the guys fished again and afterwards we went to historic downtown Branson. The new mall, Branson Landing, is right on the Lake Taneycomo (which is really a river) and is very nice. Lauren loved walking around and running from flower to flower smelling them. We went back to the motorhome for a steak dinner. It was wonderful. We had a great time and can I just say that this is the only way to camp!!

Lauren with her Papaw and Mimi.

Gatlinburg Vacation

2008-08-26T15:20:00.003-05:00

Lauren petting horses for the first time

Well we just got back from the first of our 3 trips. Gatlinburg was wonderful. We had a great cabin that was just off the main drag right as you come into Gatlinburg. I must say that Aunt Bugs is a great place to rent cabins. Our first day was Thursday and Steve and I went to the Smoky Mountain National Park and hiked part of a trail until we got to the river. We climbed out on the rocks to take pictures and really enjoyed just having some time to ourselves. (Lauren stayed at the cabin with Nana and Poppaw).

Once we got back to the cabin Lauren had just woken up from her nap so we could go shopping. After a long afternoon of shopping we ate dinner at The Peddler (a wonderful steak house on the river in the heart of Gatlinburg). Friday was more shopping and Steve went fly fishing all morning. Friday evening we drove through Cades Cove and saw several animals including 2 black bears, several bucks & does, and wild turkey. Saturday we spent most of the day at the big Bass Pro store and then on to The Christmas Place. I could spend hours in The Christmas Place just looking around. Sunday we drove home, but stopped in Nashville to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. Lauren loved it!! I don't think I have ever seen her smile and laugh so much. Our table just happened to be right beside a big monkey that moved and made noise every 15 minutes. Every 30 minutes a thunderstorm would move through the restaurant. I thought she might not like that, but I was wrong. She thought that was the greatest thing with the lights flashing and the thunder sounding. We will definitely have to stop there again. Once we got home I needed another few days just to recover, but it was back to work on Monday. We had a great time and can't wait for our next trip next week.

Vacation/Visitors

2008-08-05T11:28:00.005-05:00

We are really looking forward to going on several vacations in the next few months. We leave for Gatlinburg at the end of August with my mom and stepdad. I can't wait to hit the outlet malls and hopefully have some cooler temperatures. Our next adventure will be in my dad and stepmom's motorhome to Branson. I can't wait to camp (a 37 ft. class A is camping to me). We are going to take in some shows and do some shopping and just relax. The next trip that we have will be to Atlanta in October for my sister, Tatti's, wedding. Lauren gets to be a flower girl. I just hope she will walk down the aisle and not eat the flowers or stop to pick up the ones that she has dropped already. I am so ready to start these vacations, but I think I may need to come back to work to rest. I'll try to post pictures and news from our trips after we return.

We also have one of my other sisters, Tonee, coming into town at the end of August right after we get back from Gatlinburg. Tonee and her husband, Kyle, have 3 boys, Grant, Pierce, and Sawyer. Sawyer is the newest addition born in May of this year. Tonee, Kyle, and Sawyer are coming to visit for a few days and I can't wait to meet my new nephew. They will get to meet Lauren too for the first time (they live in Michigan). I will try to post pictures of their visit.

Making Room

2008-07-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

We are currently trying to make room in our house for all of Lauren's Stuff. Steve and I have been cleaning and reorganizing the office to make half of it a playroom for Lauren. We are slowly but surely reclaiming the rest of the house. This little project has taken longer than I would have ever thought. We have so much junk to sort through. I have about decided to just back a dump truck up the house and throw everything in it. We are trying to decide what stuff we need to keep and what we need to sell or throw away. I really hate having to organize and price stuff for a garage sale, but I know we could make some money off of it. So far Lauren is loving the new space we have created so far. I am hoping that we can make a great office space for Steve that he can use to keep up with both businesses. I will be so glad when this whole process is over and we can have the house in order again. Then maybe we can sell and move to a bigger house so we can collect more junk. :) Isn't that how it always happens. I'll keep you posted on the progress and maybe post some pictures when we are done.

Zoo Trip

2008-06-24T16:04:00.001-05:00

Lauren seeing Penguins for the 1st time

We took Lauren to the zoo for the first time on Sunday afternoon. She had a blast!! Her favorite thing to do was walk through the misting stations. She loved looking at the animals and just being outside. We took her stroller of course thinking she would ride around most of the time. This was not the case. She walked almost the entire time. She squealed with excitement when she was walking and saw her shadow moving. Of course she had to give chase and squeal even more. I think we will definitely be getting a zoo membership soon. Although we did not make it through the entire zoo, we had a great time. We managed to stay for about 3 hours before she was ready to go. We were ready to go too (it was hot!!) I can honestly say I can't remember having a better time just relaxing with the family. Stay tuned for more. Our next adventure is going to be the Pink Palace.

She was waving to an airplane.

God is so good!!

2008-06-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

So we finally traded in the volvo and get an Envoy XUV. It is the SUV with the retractable roof that makes a truck bed in the back. I absolutely love it. Don't get me wrong I loved the volvo too, but it was just too small for our needs. We finally agreed on this vehicle after hours of wandering around in the hot sun on City Auto's lot. This is the second vehicle we have purchased from there and will be going back when the time comes for a new one. They people there are great and they have the best prices and selection in town. We had been searching for a new vehicle for a while now. We had just about given up hope when I found our new XUV. We checked it over and took it for a test drive. Everything seemed to be great except for one thing, Steve had found a F150 that he wanted. We kept talking over and still could not decide. I told him I had a bad feeling about the truck (it was more mileage than we were looking for and a few things needed to be fixed). He agreed with me and we bought the Envoy. I couldn't help but know that God had it planned from the beginning for us to find that vehicle. It was everything that we were looking for and in our price range. I know God was looking out for us that day. I am so thankful that God is there to point us in the right direction. All we have to do is turn it over to him.

As for Lauren, she just cut another tooth this week and is about to cut another one. That will make 6 total so far. She is growing so fast. It seems like yesterday that she was born. Lauren is such a water baby. She loves being in the pool or even the bathtub for that matter. I went to start her bath water last night and she ran in the bathroom and hugged me as tight as she could. She knew exactly what she was about to get to do. I think she could play in there for hours if the water wouldn't get too cold. As far as the pool goes, she sits on the steps and plays with her toys for as long as we will let her stay outside. I have never seen a child love to be outdoors as much as she does. That is why we spend most of our time at either my mom's back porch or my dad's.

Steve had a good Father's Day. We went to church and then spent the afternoon with my dad at his pool.

We are loving every minute of being parents and really want to have more children in the future. I will never be able to explain to anyone how you can love someone that much that you just met. All I can say is you have to experience it for yourself. That kind of love can only be from God. Thank you God!!

New at this blogging thing

2008-06-10T16:52:00.001-05:00

I am completely new at this whole blogging thing. I will try to keep this blog updated and see where it takes me. I just want a way to keep friends and family who aren't the myspace or facebook type to have a place to keep up with our lives and mostly see how Lauren is growing.

I can't believe it has already been a year since my sweet angel was born. She is growing so fast and learning so much. I can't wait to get home at night to see what new skill she has mastered or hear a new word that was learned. I may be a little biased, but I think she is the smartest baby.

I am working at Trinity Baptist Church, where we are members, as the receptionist/assistant to the Sr. Adult minister. I love my job because it is so stress free (most of the time). The people I work with are wonderful and have such a passion for the Lord that it is making my walk with the Lord stronger. I am currently reading novels by Karen Kingsbury (Debbie got me hooked) that are simply amazing. These books are more than just a story, they are showing how other people are walking with God and how He is helping them through struggles in life. It makes me want to become a strongerChristian.

Steve is still working for US NetworX designing websites. He works from home everyday and loves not having to get ready to go to an office. His company is based in Jackson, MS and has grown a lot over the past few years. He stays busy with our family, but also loves to fish and hunt. He goes to the park near our house at lunch nearly everyday to fish. He deer hunts during the winter and although he hasn't seen "the big one" yet, I'm sure it is just a matter of time until I get that phone call that he is bringing home a deer head for the wall.

Like I said, I'll try to keep this updated, so bear with me.