Happy Birthday Papa Dock!

We want to wish Papa Dock a very happy ____th birthday :)! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you. You are a wonderful person and we are so happy that David has YOU as a granddad. Have a wonderful day, Papa Dock!

We love you so much,
Trey, Dani, and David

Western Day

Thursday was Western Day at David's school. I don't think I've really blogged about how much I LOVE his school (also my work). His teachers are amazing and David absolutely loves going there. When we pass the church where we go to school, he says "skoo" and "babwa". His teachers are Ms. Barbara and Ms. Sandi. They organize arts and crafts for the little ones, they have music time, story time, and outside play time everyday. I believe they truly love each of the children and Barbara also says she just treats them like she does her own grandchildren... what more could a parent ask for? We praise God for them every night when we say our prayers!

David was modeling his western gear, what a stud!

Our director (my boss) who I think is AMAZING, organized a room full of fun activities for the kiddos. They even had live minature ponies on the scene. The children loved riding the friendly animals.

David was one of the only "babies" that would agree to sit on the horse. I think he really like it!

Feelilng better...

Well, we are finally starting to feel better! Turns out David's left ear is infected... so we are on some meds and he also gave us drops to help num his ears, yeah! This is a picture of David playing PS2 with his dad. He really likes to try to play football! He looks so big to me sitting on the couch and cheering when the "crowd" cheers. It won't be long and he'll be beating his dad at games like this, ha!

Sick baby!

Well, I was expecting this... we've been stuck inside for weeks now due to rainy, icy, snowy weather and of course David picked something up. He has had a fever since Saturday night and we've been nursing him ever since.

The funny thing about young kids is that they don't know to "act" sick. If the Motrin lowers his fever, he is ready to play for about 30 minutes. Then when he starts feeling bad again all he wants to do is to lay on the couch and watch The Wiggles.

Since we are not going anywhere today (or tomorrow probably) we sure are enjoying all the Christmas presents David received! I love that he will actually play for small amounts of time now without me having to wonder what he is doing (famous last words)!

Finally!

David got a hair cut today. I really like it long, but it was so long he couldn't see which can be a problem. I always think they cut it too short, but David needs haircuts so often, I'm thinking it is better for our wallets that she cuts it a little short!

It is still really hard for me to get him to sit still for a picture, so these are some action shots.

David is crazy about The Wiggles. Here he is saying "shhh" with them.

The boy can dance, dance, dance!

Snow Day!

We did wake up to snow on Wednesday morning and once it stopped, David and I went out to play!

At first, he loved it!

Then, he was a little confused! He didn't want to wear his mittens because he couldn't pick anything up or feel anything. BUT, the snow hurt his hands after a while. Poor baby, he wanted to play with the snow so bad!

The sweet big kids in our neighborhood stopped their massive snowball fight and walked over to show David how to throw them. David was in heaven! This little boy, Hunter, pretended to fall down when David hit him with a snowball, David just laughed and laughed!

"Baby, it's COLD outside!"

We have had really cold weather since Saturday and even though the ice is gone, it is still too cold to go outside. The little guy hates this... he was really liking his wagon ride every afternoon when we got home from school!

They are calling for snowflurries tonight and in the morning. Maybe it will warm up by the end of the week. David loves to play outside and I'm sure he wouldn't mind the cold, however his momma doesn't really love it!

Keystone's Grand Opening

One of the reasons Trey, David and I are living in Texas is because of our church, Keystone. We are what you call a church "plant", which is a church that starts from scratch. We began a little over 2 years ago with a small number of people in a home. We then graduated to a middle school which required setting up and tearing down each week. And now, we have offically moved into our first building! Trey has been on staff from the first days of Keystone and it would take me all night to name the ways God has blessed us as a family and a church since we began this journey. This is such an exciting time for our church and even though we are in the middle of an ICE STORM, attendance was incredible this morning. We had so many people hear a wonderful message about how AMAZING GOD is and we continue to pray that Keystone be a place where people learn to "Love God, Love Others, and Love Life"!

This is the front of the building, which used to be a furniture store. Our staff and volunteers spent MONTHS working day and night to complete the transformation. *Most of these pictures were taken a few weeks ago and even more "details" have been added since!

The front lobby.

Sitting area just inside the lobby.

Our kid's check-in stations.

The baby suite.

Another cool part for babies, this is our mother's lounge. It is a really neat room especially for mother's who need to feed their babies while at church.

Little Camper's area. This space is for toddlers-5 year olds. The different age groups come together to watch a video curriculum around a fire place and then go into their seperate areas to have their individual class time.

This is Camp Keystone. This area is for 1st-6th graders.

Worship room.

Papa Dock makes me laugh...

Papa Dock made a really quick trip this weekend to see Keystone's grand opening. He arrived on Saturday and left this afternoon. We are glad he made the trip out here!

David had a great time playing with his Papa. He was glad to have another playmate in the house!

I love this picture. I think it shows pure joy! David was laughing so hard. Thanks for coming to see us Papa Dock!

David at Seventeen Months

I can't believe my baby is already 17 months old! It amazes me how fast the time goes. The biggest development lately is that David seems to have become a toddler in every way now! He talks, talks, talks (actually I have been really slack on documenting all the things the little guy can say, so I will probably do so below). He can throw tantrums like a champ when he doesn't get his way. He is Mr. Independent and wants to feed himself at all times. He is a champion dancer thanks to The Wiggles (which he loves). And he loves routine! He is still pretty go with the flow and wants to be around if anything is happening, but if I forget a part of our daily routine he reminds me. He is such a joy and I love seeing his personality grow. Here are some things I want to rememer about David at 17 months:

*He says EVERYTHING you say. He can and will repeat anything. If you tell him we are going to church, he says "dada". If you tell him we are going to school, he says "go at-side", "ca", "bab-wa" and "faif" (go outside, car, Barbara/teacher and Faith/friend). He can say all family member's name (except Claudia and Bridges, which are kinda hard). He can say most of his colors and most of the food items he likes to eat (cereal, toast, milk, grapes, the list could go on...).
*He uses his signs for "peaz" (please) and "tank ou" (thank you) while saying the words. It was really funny to me that he didn't use the signs until he could say the word... go figure!
*He LOVES to fold his hands and say his prayers. If I plan to read two books instead of one before bed, he pushes the second book away and folds his hands and then says "AAAAA-Men!", very cute!
*He likes to whisper in the mornings while we eat breakfast (PRICELESS moments). His favorite breakfast is scambled eggs and fruit.
*He is on somewhat of a veggie strike, which is hard for me. He was such a champion vegetable eater for so long, but now he really only likes green beans and broccoli. He still eats SO MUCH FOOD!
*When he pouts, he sticks out his bottom and top lip (yes, like a fish face). It is really hard not to laugh!
*He dances to any/every song and continues to like all types of music.
*He knows most of the motions to at least 4 or 5 of The Wiggles songs.
*He loves M&M's.
*He still loves to read, especially in the big chair in his room.
*He won't tell you a bit of these words, sayings, or do the actions if we see you in public. However, if he knows your name he will probably say it really loud!


He also finally likes spaghetti. However, I'm not sure I like the mess (any suggestions on how to get the red out of plastic bibs?)

We love you so much baby boy! You are a joy to have as a son and we cherish every minute we have with you!

What happens when daddy gives David a bath...

... fun, fun, fun! Now that we are in our building at Keystone, Trey actually makes it home most nights by 6:00ish. We have started a new routine that we all love. We eat dinner together as a family at the table (David is no longer in the highchair) and when we are done Trey does the bath while I clean the kitchen. David loves the time he spends with his daddy and I love sitting down with Trey after all is done!

Trey is great at bath time. David just laughs and laughs at him.

I love the crazy hair (and yes, I think he needs ANOTHER hair cut)!

More T-R-O-U-B-L-E !!!

Yes, this is how I find David at least once a day! I am happy to report that The Wiggles are now entertaining enough to keep him occupied for a while... so I think David is quietly, contently watching t.v. But instead he is dancing on the coffee table!

He really gets in trouble for this, but I had to get it on film!

Typo... and a late birthday wish!

So, I guess I could blame it on post-holiday brain... but regardless, my husband's birthday is not January 31st. It is December 31st! And I didn't get a chance to offically wish him a happy birthday on the blog.
Trey is the best dad to David and David absolutely ADORES him. When we returned from Memphis, David couldn't stop saying "dada" over and over. His favorite thing to do with is daddy is listen to "moo-sck" (music). When he watches Trey get ready int he morning, he copies his every move (shaving cream on the face, product in the hair, and brushing his teeth). Everytime we pull into the driveway David says "dada?' repeatedly and then searches the house for him when we come inside. He listens for the garage door to open every evening and then runs to the door giggling, ready to play with his best buddy. Thank you for being so wonderful to both of us, Trey. We love you the most!

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve at Keystone's bash again this year. It is always lots of fun to have a place to go and have all your friends there as well. This year was very exciting because we were able to have it in our building (I have a post about that too!). They transformed the worship room into a fun dance floor with tables and a yummy buffet. I think a great time was had by all!

I hardly took any pictures, but I did get Trey to take a picture of my closest friends, Kelli and Anne (I don't know what we are laughing at!). God has blessed us with great friends and we are thankful for all of them!

*January 31st was Trey's birthday, so Happy Birthday to the best daddy in the world!!!

Parents ONLY!

Trey and I took our first overnight trip without David last week. Papa Dock was very generous to send us to Memphis, TN to watch the Gamecocks play in the Liberty Bowl. I know it sounds a little strange that we would want to go to a football game as a vacation, but we both LOVE Carolina football and we never get to attend games anymore. We had a blast! It is amazing how much you need the time together after you have children. We ate great sushi, bbq, and burgers. We slept in really late and read books. We were also very glad the Gamecocks pulled off a win. Go Gamecocks!!!

Althought it was a short trip (2 nights) we missed the little guy. This is a picture of Trey trying to put David in our suitcase :)! Thank you Mimi for staying with David while we were relaxing!

More Christmas Pictures

Congrats to Courtney and Ryan who are newly engaged!!! Actually, they have been engaged for a few weeks, but I didn't have a picture of the couple together. We are so excited for you and really enjoyed spending a little time with Ryan last week. David can say his name very well!

The Kelly's came to see us this Christmas (or right after) and we had a wonderful time! David and his Mimi... he still won't sit still for pictures.

Courtney was a good aunt and climbed in the Thomas tent to play with David and all his toys!

I am sad to say that none of the pictures I got of David and his Papa Dock turned out (a lot of the pictures from this past week were blurry). That means he'll just have to visit again soon :)! This is David "helping" us take down the tree yesterday... yes, he climbed all the way to the top by himself. He seriously has NO FEAR! I feel like our house is so empty with out all the decorations. However, we are looking forward to this new year and can't wait to see how God works in our lives!