Rich, Heather and Alana’s Blog

Kellie and I spent all day together yesterday, while Rich busied himself with another wedding. We worked on several wonderful projects, which I will post about very soon on my craft blog!

But for now, I just had to post these photos of Alana’s first time ever in a pool!

Kellie and I took a break after hours of sewing pillows and coasters (again, more on that soon!) to run over to Clark and Maureen’s pool. And of course, we documented this momentous occasion with many a photo and even several video clips

Alana was VERY apprehensive at first. As I waded into the pool, which was a very comfortable temperature, she started to whimper and then just began crying. But we gave it a bit longer, and she gradually acclimated to the whole idea of a much bigger, slightly cooler bathtub!

Ten minutes after the first video of her initial reaction (crying), Kellie grabbed the camera again for another video, because Alana had calmed down and even began to splash the water with her hands. After another ten minutes had passed, she was outright enjoying herself! She let me gently glide her through the water as she cooed and babbled, and she even began to kick her little legs! It was soooo cute. But I’m her mom…so of course I’m smitten with everything she does

I’ll stop rambling and just post the fun pictures!

Before braving the water…

At the beginning: pensive and very concerned!

Then: having fun in the water!

Kellie even used my underwater point and shoot to grab some chubby baby leg pictures! So fun!

Winding down and relaxing. I think she’ll be a little fish when she gets older.

Thank you again for the day of perfection, Kellie!

And thank you to Clark and Maureen for the use of their beautiful pool! We had a blast!

And a side note for everyone who loves Etsy! As my blog readers are aware, Kellie has an Etsy Store called Every Jot and Tittle with amazing, creative paper products. I wanted to announce that she just launched another Etsy store with super cute stuff, so you must go check it out! it’s called 2 Pear, and it will be a fun assortment of goodies, both handmade and not.

I know that I blog a lot, and it’s typically about the everyday aspects of life. I usually don’t use the blog as a venue to share the deeper things that are on my mind.

But tonight my heart is a bit heavy.

I have a confession: I cannot watch the news. I literally cannot handle the trauma and tragedy that is exposed in the news. Primarily what I cannot cope with is the news about babies and/or children being abused or neglected. And it’s all over the nightly headlines. I feel like every time I tune in, there are horrendous stories of babies/children who are physically, emotionally, or sexually abused. Precious, innocent little lives that are being forever altered as a result of sin.

I cringe, I tense up, and I cry.

I have always had a burden for children who don’t have parents to love and nurture them, but something has happened to me since I have become a mom. It’s gotten worse. Much worse. It’s something I don’t really talk about, but it’s always on my mind. I constantly think about this issue.

I remember the heartbreak I have felt while visiting orphanages on mission trips in other countries. Babies are left to cry all day long in their cribs because there aren’t enough adults to care for them. I cry when I think about it. It is such a helpless feeling, because the problem is so big. Nigh untouchable. I simply do not have the time, resources, or opportunity to cuddle all of them. To tell them they are precious.

When I look at my little Alana’s face, I think about the fact that she has a warm, cozy home to live in, a soft crib to sleep in, clean clothes to wear, diapers to keep her comfortable, sanitary water to drink, but most importantly, two parents who are crazy about her and hug and kiss her all day every day. It’s difficult to think about children who grow up without those conveniences, but it’s beyond comprehension those who grow up without love. Without knowing about God’s love, and without knowing the love of a mom and/or dad.

Truly, this has been such a struggle lately. I have been praying that God will give me peace, and remind me that this crazy place is not our home. And that he loves all of the little ones, in the entire world, more than I can imagine. I am just so eager for all of the hurting, unloved children to experience the amazing love of Jesus. Sometimes I am just so eager for heaven.

Rich and I want to adopt a child who would otherwise not be loved, but the hurdles seem so huge. Just the financial aspect of adoption alone is enough to totally overwhelm. I want to have faith that God will honor our desire and our stewardship.

I want to please God with the little one that He has entrusted to us, and to love with reckless abandon.

I love what the International Justice Mission, Gospel For Asia, Compassion International, World Vision, and countless other organizations are doing. I am so inspired and hopeful when I think about all of the wonderful people who are loving, protecting, and nurturing children for Jesus! Rich and I have been honored to sponsor two children through Gospel for Asia for the past few years, and I so strongly encourage everyone to do this!

And until every tear has been dried by their perfect daddy, I will pray for all of the precious children of the world.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27

This little photo shoot was specifically orchestrated for my dad, an incredibly talented construction hero:

And this one goes out to Rich’s dad, a wonderfully talented engineer:

We love you both so much, and hope that you know how much you are appreciated!!!

And to all of the other dads our there, happy, happy Father’s Day!!!

We’ve been walking…despite the nearly intolerable heat that Chattanooga has boasted lately. Truly, I feel like an old person in this weather. It zaps my energy. I’ve seen people running outdoors lately and I seriously do not understand how a person could run in this weather. I can barely stand to walk the 1.2 mile perimeter of our neighborhood. Granted, we have some steeeeep hills, which only escalates one’s body temperature even more in this 100 degree heat.

I am a wuss. No, really, I am. I love pushing myself physically, but only in air conditioned places. That is why I have a gym membership. That may also pertain to why my favorite sport - and the one I played in high school and college - was volleyball. Let me clarify: indoor volleyball.

And so, here is my sweetheart with my sweetheart. I wish I’d been the one to invent the Baby Bjorn. It’s brilliant.

Change of subject…little Alana decided just yesterday that she wanted to try something new: sleeping on her stomach! She has only ever slept on her back, and although she’s been able to roll over for a couple of months, has never done it in her crib.

But, I went to check on her during a nap yesterday, and this is what I found: sleeping on her stomach for the first time ever! You better believe that this nerd of a first time mom ran to grab her camera, and followed this photo with a brief video. Of a sleeping baby. Okay, so not much goes on in the video, but still! Wouldn’t you be entertained by a video of yourself sleeping on your stomach for the first time?

My friend Kellie has great taste, and she bought this adorable shirt for Alana. It’s a 3 month shirt, but finally, it fits her! We love it, Kellie! Thank you so much!

Bathtime has been such fun lately. Alana has learned to splash. When I get done bathing her, it looks as if I jumped right into the tub along with her. I remind myself to change into something I care nothing about before I give Alana her bath now!

And this cute little pink toy that is attached to the bathtub is now the bain of my existence. Alana loves it so much that she wants to chew on it the entire duration of her bath…all while I attempt to wash her hands, arms, and neck. Let’s just say it’s a power struggle

Leaning on the ottoman…

In order to apprehend the remote control…

For eating purposes…

The two of us today:

Then we headed off to the office to visit grand mama and grand papa! They were happy to see us, and took a little break to enjoy Alana!

Alana got a little treat while grand mama let her play with an old IBM typewriter! She pounded away and had a great time

And Rich’s mom grabbed this shot of the three of us outside! Thank you, mom! It was great to see you two today! We love you!

Rich and Alana.

Wow, I love these two.

One of the highlights from the past couple of weeks was going to visit Jeff and Jackie and their new little Adeline. Alana was particularly intrigued by this creature who was smaller than her. I set her down so she could see the baby, and in keeping with her habitual mentality of everything-exists-so-that-I-can-put-it in-my-mouth, we caught her trying to eat Adeline feet!

What, mom? I can’t eat my cousin’s feet? What’s up with that?

Jeff and Jackie, we are so thankful that you are all doing well, and it was great to see you guys!

On Tuesday, Alana and I spent all day with Kellie, as usual, and had enormous fun. More on that soon! We are working on all kinds of fun projects that I will post about!

A little Kellie time!

Does anyone interpret baby faces? What on earth does this one mean??? She’s been doing this lately; biting her bottom lip and making her cheeks puff out. It’s hilarious, and I love it.

Playtime! Alana is getting much better at independent play. For a while there (and still intermittently) she cried every time I left the room and was pretty attention-addicted. This is the prerogative of the firstborn, I guess! There are no other siblings to compete for mom and dad’s attention, so they tend to be a bit more egocentric than subsequent kiddos! I can critique firstborns because I am one! I also have tons of positive insights about firstborns, but we’ll save that for another post!

I haven’t grabbed too many sleeping babe shots lately, so I thought I’d share one:

Ladies and gentlemen, she has found her feet!

And found them to be rather tasty:

{yuck}

This little bouncy seat is where I put Alana in the mornings after I’ve fed her, and then I go into the kitchen to get my own breakfast. Last weekend, Rich and I walked back into the living room from the kitchen and found Alana totally sideways in her seat. It’s the first time she has completely reoriented herself, and I thought it was super cute and rather comical!

sweet little face…

So, recently while on the changing table, Alana noticed the tube of Balmex. Not only did she notice it, but now she wants to play with it every time I change her diaper. So, when I need it, I have to fight her for it! I took it away from her after taking the photo below, and she had a little fit!

So, what in the world do you do with a six-and-a-half-month-old when they scream because they want something? She doesn’t understand the word “no” yet (though believe me, I will keep trying!), and you can’t spank when they don’t know what they are doing wrong yet, but we certainly want to nip temper tantrums in the bud!

For now, it’s just so funny and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

This is Alana’s first ride in the stroller like a BIG girl! No carseat, just sitting on the main stroller seat, all strapped in! She reclined a bit, stuck her feet on the front bar, and smiled. Our neighborhood is so full of hills that I kept thinking she would just topple out while we were going downhill. She was just fine, of course, and seemed to love every second!

holy cow, I think she’s snarling!

Also this week, Alana and I got to visit the Posey’s and their new, precious baby Madelyn. They are doing great, and the baby is absolutely adorable with a head full of hair. Alana actually looked big to me sitting right near a newborn!

Congratulations, Kyle and Heidi! She is perfect! We are so happy for you! And thank you for letting us come hang out…we had a wonderful time!