Thursday, July 31, 2008

A Visit to Harrisonburg

After a fun time in Asheville, we stopped in Harrisonburg for a visit with Laura and Myers Carpenter (our very very VERY gracious hosts) Lisi and Jeremiah Forshey, and everyone's respective children! Here are some pictures:

Learning about sharing...


And giving up...


Many Mommies:

Matt said it was harder to get the mommies to smile than the kids!



Joey meets a pretty younger woman!


Lisi in the ultra-important role of happy-child-maintainer-in-charge-of-handing-out-Cheeze-It's.


An all-important trip to Kline's.





We had a great time and did so much more than I have pictures to prove, with 3 babies and 1 older child (Sofi is so grown up now!) we had our hands full juggling meals, naps and outings, but managed to make it, in a day and a half, to the pool, the Green Valley Book Fair :-), have a BBQ and stay up talking until the wee hours of the morning, play some Wii, and go to Kline's. I also visited the dayschool that I taught at until Matt and I were married. Laura and Myers were such great hosts and I can't wait to go back!! This trip was a great encouragement to me, full of lots of laughter and some great female bonding. I miss you guys!!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

"Boating"

While visiting at the Towe house, Matt and Aaron decided to take a spin on the pond....and I do mean "spin".

Friends in North Carolina

Here are some pictures of our visits with friends in Asheville:

Aaron and Sarah and John with Joey. We spent an afternoon walking around downtown Asheville. Aside from a sudden downpour... we had a great time!


Joey never quite knows what to do with Aaron's hair...


We were able to visit with the Springers, at least, Olivia, Jessica and Momma Springer. We saw Mr. Springer at church and missed Savannah all together :-( Next time babe! :-)



Joey asked Aaron to feed him dinner...

And we had a nice visit with the Towe's (Aaron's parents):


We had dinner with our/the Beardsley's friends, Summer and Sherri. Joey really enjoyed all the extra attention!


One day we visited Lake Toxaway and lots of Matt's extended family, cousins, 2nd cousins and we went on a little hike with the kids... This is Matt and his cousin John and some of his second cousins.

More Cousins...

Joey in his borrowed backpack. This thing was great! Matt really loved using it!


And of course we had a great time with Matt's parents! Joey loves spending time with his grandparents!




This is one of my favorite pictures:

Friday, July 25, 2008

Moving

Unfortunately this morning on the news, we saw we had woken up to this:

Suspect killed by police in Oakland after traffic stop

and this: Two men die in separate East Oakland street shootings

The Newscaster said it made the murder toll for the week, 5. whew.

Today we were thrilled (with much much help and support!! :-) to make an offer on a house we really like in Oakland. Please help us keep this city and it's residents in your prayers. It is a battlefield in every sense of the word.

Remembering When...

Since our friends Ryan and Sarah are having their baby now (exciting exciting!!) we've been getting news throughout the day of how things are progressing. It's made me think alot about the end of my pregnancy with Josiah and the excitement and nervousness of labor and delivery.

It's truly amazing that at the end of the whole process you come out with this beautiful baby that the Lord created to be in His image and for you and your spouse to love and cherish and raise. I know our friends will be terrific parents and I can't wait to meet their little boy. I can't wait to hug them and congratulate them on the birth and the heroic process of coming through it all.


Here are a few pictures that I was looking at in my nostalgia ;-)


Joey in the oven.




It's hard to even believe that he was this small!


This was Matt's favorite wee baby gown (above). We just passed it on to Ryan and Sarah a few days ago! Hopefully it will bring them lots of happy memories/pictures too ;-)



I know I say it all the time...but in a blink, it was just a blink, and we were here:

I know this time next year, I won't even be able to believe how much he will have grown.

My Goal

So I am awfully, terribly, blogging-backed up. :-(

I have so many pictures and things to talk about, that I have fallen completely behind.

Right now, Matt is off taking pictures of a wedding in San Luis Obispo. This is an exciting and (a wee bit) sad weekend for us. Exciting because we have lots and lots of weddings in the next few months, and he is getting more requests for fall, winter and spring weddings, everyday. Yesterday he had 2 client meetings in 1 day! That's great! And sad because in (almost) 2 years of marriage, we haven't ever spent a night apart. I'm so glad that the business is successful and so, SO proud of my hard-working husband.... BUT I miss him! I know some of you will have to "pooh pooh" a couple nights apart, but I love having him around and Joey and I can't wait until Sunday afternoon when we can see him again.

And all that leads me to...some serious blogging catching up. Joey and I did have some plans. We were going to hang out with our friend (and fellow new-mommy) Sarah. But alas, Sarah and her husband Ryan are bringing little baby Notch into the world tonight or tomorrow so they are now at the hospital. Very exciting also!

I'm hoping to catch up on:
Our trip back to the East Coast
Our CA visitors
What Joey is doing now
Lots of Fun old/new pictures
And maybe introduce....our new friend BBNotch (whose name we might know soon :-)

So stay tuned.....

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Come and Get your UGLY!!!

I don't know why I put these links up, because they never work in the archives, but here is another just for fun.

We always like to see what we can find in the FREE section of craigslist. And whadduyaknow, today you can get UGLY! :-)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/zip/768830248.html

Sunday, July 20, 2008

In a Blink

I've been wanting to write this post for a while. As Joey has gotten older we have slowly been replacing all of our "young-baby" stuff with older baby things. We let friends borrow our swing, (extra) crib-mattress, play mat, bumbo, and bassinet. Just before we left to visit the east coast we gave away our last baby-baby thing.... our bouncy seat. I think that one was the most meaningful to me. Our bouncy seat was basically all we used for the first 3 months. Actually for the majority of the first 2 1/2 months, Joey did all his sleeping in it....even at night.

In my new mommies-devotional book there is an entry called "In a Blink"...

Oh Lord,
She grows so fast! It seems like we just brought Anna Grace home from the hospital yesterday. Now she is rolling all over the floor. She holds her head up high to survey the world. She can reach for anything and eventually find a way to get it in her mouth. She's just about to outgrow the infant carrier. We skipped right past the nine-month-sized clothing. Where have the days gone?
When I was a child, time seemed to drag by so slowly. I remember thinking the fourth grade was the longest year of my life. It felt like I wore a size 6X forever. Birthdays took a whole lifetime to come again. Christmas arrived even slower. The days seemed longer, because there was only me to think about and few responsibilities.
Now the days sail by. There is so much to do. The little sweetie who used to sleep all the time now needs one and a half naps a day. The baby who once sat and leisurely watched the world go by now wants--no, demands--some interaction. I feel like I turned around twice and my newborn became an infant.
In a blink, she'll be grown. It rips my heart out to think about it. Lord, if there's any way I can hold these days in my mind, please let it happen. Let me linger at her bedside. Let me hug a little longer. Let me sing one more song. Let me rock long past her falling asleep. By Your mercy, I will remember all of these days and give You praise. Amen.

"The child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Luke 2:40

Amen and Amen and Amen.












Although it's a small step - (lending out some baby things, until we need them again, and borrowing others - thanks friends for the exersaucer and high chair!) it's another step that leads us closer to clothes that don't end in "months" and first steps, first friends, new carseats, walking, talking....the list could go on and on. It's hard not to think ahead to the birthday parties, reading books, playing on playgrounds, and fun family trips. Right now though, I am eternally grateful that I can sneak into his room at night and pick him up from his crib, and hold my baby, and he is still...my baby, in every sense of the word.


Mocha would like his faithful readers to know, that he too, is growing up! He barely misses his bouncy chair at all, and if he needs a fix, he can visit Ryan and Sarah Notch's house, where BBN (Baby Boy Notch) will be using it, in a mere matter of days!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

What We've Been Up To

We have been so busy since we got back from the east coast. Here is a little preview...



This is mostly how Joey gets around. He has, and can get up on his knees and move more smoothly, but it doesn't seem fast enough for him because eventually he'll give up and belly-down again for some army crawling.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Bye Bye!

This is for all our friends and family back east, and here in California, particularly our parents (Joey's grandparents) who have been so patient and said so many sweet "bye-bye's" to Joey in the past few weeks. We have been working hard and this is for you!




Looking foward to the "hello's" that will follow all of those "bye-bye's" ! :-)