_: May 2010

30 May 2010

sweet cousin e

is this not one of the most adorable babies ever?!? really, ever.

this is our newest niece, cousin elizabeth, who is one month younger than owen.

we finally get to meet and hold her this week! counting down the days ... yes, we are.

grace

last sunday we had owen baptized at our church, followed by brunch at our home. it was truly a special day. what this act means to our family:

As members of the United Methodist Church, we believe that baptism is a gift from God. It is God’s action, not our action. This gift of love and grace is offered to us with no strings attached. No human response or price is needed to receive this gift. Because the redeeming love of God revealed in Jesus Christ extends to all persons, and because Jesus explicitly included the children in his kingdom, we present our son for baptism as an infant. We all need God’s gift of grace, regardless of age (Acts 2:39). Baptism is not an individual act; rather it is a solemn act of worship and commitment by a congregation. We believe that children are to be nurtured by a covenant community until they come to their own profession of faith.

Owen’s baptism represents:
• incorporation into the Body of Christ.
• a promise as his parents, to teach him about God’s love and nurture his faith so that he will later be ready to profess his own faith.
• forgiveness of sin.
• doorway to holy living . . . the beginning of Owen’s growth in this gift of grace, through which he will come closer to Christ, deepen his love for God and neighbor, and approach holiness of heart and life.

enjoy a few photos of this touching event ...

owen's christening gown was made by my college friend Catherine, who is so very talented. Henry also wore this same gown at his baptism. should we be blessed with any more children, they will also don this meaningful heirloom piece.

stacy & family were in town - and molly is now a high school graduate!

congrats molly, we are so proud of you!

the bentleys

grandmother and owen

I wasn't able to get photos of everything and everyone, but we had a really nice family gathering. again ... what a special, special day.

26 May 2010

bath time cuteness

17 May 2010

this is a post about owen ... owen, owen, owen

owen is thriving. really thriving I tell you. it is a constant weeding out of clothes that no longer fit and bringing in the next sizes. owen is sweet. owen smiles a lot. owen can now giggle. owen is very ticklish, maybe the most ticklish of the vaughans. owen is strong. owen can hold his head up very well. owen loves to kick his feet and legs. owen has found his hands and likes to chew on them. owen eats well. owen sleeps well. owen does most things well, except one. owen does not poo poo well and that's all I'll say about that.

his gown says, "God loves me to the moon ... and back." we are big fans of the book "Guess How Much I Love You," so when my Mom gave Owen this gown, I was very excited.

he is usually always this pleasant (knock on wood) ... except when the pooping/gas issues come into play and when he has to take a break during his feedings.

we hope his pleasant-ness continues!

13 May 2010

dear to our family ...

... is our wonderful babysitter, jordan lee. she has been keeping henry off and on since he was 4 months old. she is such a good christian young lady and we are so blessed that our paths crossed. words can not express how highly I think of her and how much henry adores her (and how much she adores him!). truly, she is incredible.

we went to see her AU Singers Spring concert a couple of weeks ago and here is a picture of the sky the night of the concert. gorgeous!

her two biggest fans ... we asked henry before the concert what he thought she was going to sing and he said, "shoo fly." ha! after the concert we asked him what she sang and he said, "not shoo fly!" ha ha!

she is heading out of town this summer for an internship and we will miss her greatly.

but she will be back and we will eagerly be waiting to see her again soon!

brothers silly and brothers sweet

silly fun in the tub! henry loves bath tints. he always requests the color orange!

I wanted to get a pic of the two of them and henry wanted so badly to hold owen. it was really cute. this was the best we could do ... and then at this point, all he wanted to do was hug him because he thought that was the closest thing to holding him on his own. this was also particularly cute. (he isn't always so cute around owen, but most of the time he is)

owen looks less than thrilled

the water mountain

we met a friend to walk this past week at towne creek and on our way out henry wanted to see the "water mountain" as he called it (water fountain). there were so many lovely irises in bloom I couldn't resist a little photo op ...

strawberry pickin'

last week, henry, owen and I, journeyed to lafayette to pick a bucket of fresh strawberries. it was a warm day, warmer so with a 14 pound child affixed to you via the baby bjorn meanwhile keeping track of a two year old, but it was a lot of fun!

henry liked carrying the bucket the most of all.

katherine and alex joined in on the fun. alex gave us a big grin! as you can see, henry inherited the edmondson "sweat" gene ... whew!

support these folks!

so ... back to my prayer request list ... please continue to keep supporting the previously mentioned folks in prayer and in the following ways:

An upcoming fundraiser for our friend Sarah Roberts ..."Stacks for Sarah" Pancake Fundraiser ... at Loco’s Grill and Pub next to J & M Bookstore on South College. Saturday, June 5th from 7AM-10AM. $10 a ticket, kids ages 3 and under are free. Tickets will be sold at the door or buy them early at Loco’s, Craftmaster, Kathy Powell, State Farm and Auburn Network. Silent auction, Half & Half drawing at 9:30AM. Bouncy Castle for the kids provided by Space Walk of Auburn.
Run for LIFE to benefit the Garner family. Click here for more details. This Saturday at 8am.
http://www.auburnrunning.org/RaceApplications/Current%20races/run%20for%20LIFE.pdf
Run for Ross to benefit the Folmar family. Click here for more details. Next Saturday, May 22nd.
http://www.auburnrunning.org/RaceApplications/Current%20races/RunforRossApplication.pdf
Our friend John Bowles underwent his first round of chemo today for his Hodgkins. Please comtinue to pray for his complete healing and strength for his wife, Crystal, and daughter, Ella.

Thank you!

09 May 2010

mother's day meanings

a quick "what I love about being a mother" ... in no order ...

that googly eyes make their way onto my shoes and I walk around with them stuck on there.
the words, "mommy you are sweet. I love you." from my two year old
2,000+ loads of laundry ... not always a love/love relationship there, but having laundry means I am surrounded by loved ones to care for ...
the daily presence of dog toys, cars and trucks in our living room/kitchen
the dimpled and toothless grin of my three month old
seeing my husband transform the role of a father ... this always makes me strive to be, (hopefully), as kind and loving as I can possibly be
finding matchbox cars in my rain boots, laundry hamper, kitchen cabinets, and who knows what other hiding places!
hearing henry say, "hey owen! hey smiley boy! want to come play with me?" followed by a kiss and a hug
how becoming a mother totally changes your perspective on so many things ... and for the better.
re-living the simplest pleasures in life and through the eyes of a child. but not just any child. the one that you are daily helping shape, mold, and grow.
becoming a mother makes you a morning person. I never used to be a morning person. but I now am and I have to say I like it.
all the valuable lessons you learn each day of being a mother ... too many to list and many more to learn.
becoming a mother enriches and brings new meaning to your relationship with your own mother. wow, our mothers are amazing.
helping, serving, loving, giving, smiling, playing, reading, talking, snuggling, singing ... what's not to love about all these things?

There are countless more but that's all for this year's mother's day meanings ...

05 May 2010

thursday chuckles

owen likes to take naps on his tummy. he tucks his knees underneath him and sticks his little booty in the air. too cute.

henry saw owen the other morning and said:

"Owen Snowen (Snowen = one of Owen's nicknames) ... you are growin'!" ha!

03 May 2010

prayer requests

seems like the last two weeks have brought several unexpected happenings ... please keep these families in your prayers:

1.) The Bowles Family ... Crystal and I met 8 years ago when I started working at our Bham office and have stayed friends since. Her husband, John, who played "The Rain Song" at our wedding, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Good news is that it is a very curable type of cancer so everyone is hopeful. They have an adorable 3 year old, Ella.

2.) Sarah Roberts ... friend from Auburn who experienced a blot clot in her brain. She is now home, is stable and is undergoing therapy for her speech and has made a lot of progress in the last week. It was extremely unexpected and so scary for her and her family. She has a sweet little girl as well.

3.) The Herring Family ... my uncle has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is undergoing surgery this week. His outlook is positive too, so pray for complete removal of the cancer.

4.) The Folmar Family ... this is a local Auburn family that we don't personally know, but Auburn is so much a small town and one big family during situations like these. Their youngest son was hit in the chest by a baseball and his heart/brain activity was stopped for several minutes and he is at UAB. I can't even imagine what they are going through ... it was such a freak accident.

hodge podge

catching some zzzz's

we had special visitors - my grandmother and my uncle dan (not pictured).

granny's first time to meet owen!

relaxing with savannah

throwing rocks at the park (new favorite activity)

playing in our makeshift sandbox at home

and learning all about using the potty. we started potty training henry a couple of weeks ago and he is doing really well, both at home and at school. only wearing a diaper at night and during his nap-big boy underwear the rest of the time. so far I've been pleasantly surprised by the whole experience from the parental side of things. here's hoping I'm not jinxing anything!

speaking of underwear, how cute is this tiny heiny? I'm sure he'll appreciate these photos down the road :)

the first time I saw him in underwear I was sad ... my little baby in underwear, really? was it that time yet? wasn't he just starting to giggle and coo and eat baby foods the other day? surely this was a dream ... after I got over being sentimental about it, I couldn't stop smiling at how adorable he looked in them. he was calling them "underwears," but for some reason he has stopped that and now its just plain old singular underwear. :(

at cityfest the other weekend ... no longer afraid of Aubie, woo hoo! as Aubie was holding him, henry was saying, "I Love Him, I Love Him" over and over. precious.

first pony ride - at cityfest. I thought he would be a little afraid, but he wasn't and wanted to ride again and again. he said "my horse is nice. he's soft. he has a long tail. I love him." apparently he loves everything and everyone right now ... which is fine by me.

on an inflatable at cityfest - which he kept saying "tackle the elephant!" or "tackle the giraffe!" his daddy is going to have to give him some pointers on tackling ...