Butch and I have been working very hard on creating a website for my collages.  We are finally finished and it is up and running.  Feel free to check out my new website at www.PicsForYourDecor.com.

Lucas is crawling so fast. If you turn your head for one second he is gone. The other day I caught him putting the dog bone in his mouth. Everything on the floor and on the couch is now his. He loves to walk around the house while holding our hands. He is starting to cruise a little bit. If you don’t know what cruise is, it means trying to walk while holding on to something, like a table or couch. He can also pull himself up all the way from a sitting position to a standing position. He finally started drinking for a sippy cup. Yeah! I am probably the most excited about this because he has not wanted to drink anything for the past 2 or 3 months. I have tried everything and have gotten very creative in order to make sure he stayed hydrated and got the formula he needed every day. He has said three words so far, Mama, bye bye, and Dada. He loves to dance, clap his hands, give five, and he is starting to wave. He has 6 teeth and one on the way. He still loves for us to read to him. The other day, he pulled out a book and gave it to me, so I opened it up and started reading it to him. The cutest thing, as soon as I started reading, he looked at me and gave me the biggest smile. I think that means he loves for us to read to him. I just gave him his third hair cut. It was a ton of fun, not really. He constantly wants to see the scissors and try to touch them. I had to go so fast, I was just hoping that it would turn out ok. Here are some pictures of Lucas hanging out at the house.

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I just set up an online shop to sale handmade collages.  I have always loved drawing, painting, and creating pictures; and when I was pregnant I got back into it by creating some pictures to go with my son’s nursery.  I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share my talents with everyone.  I am so excited about having art back in my life again.  The pictures are mainly for a baby’s nursery, a kid’s room, or a kid’s bathroom, but I am sure they will look great anywhere. =)  Please feel free to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.  My online shop is www.picsforyourdecor.etsy.com, feel free to check it out.

We were going through some old videos and came across this little gem, the couch race at Lakeview in Auburn, AL. It only took us 6 years to put the video on our computer.

I came across this article on www.babycenter.com and thought it was really cute and so true.

Thirty Things That Change When You Have A Baby, by Rebecca Woolf

What changes when you have a baby? A better question may be: What doesn’t change? Here, writer and mom Rebecca Woolf lists her most notable post-baby observations. Then scroll down to read our favorite comments from readers about how their babies changed their lives.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
4. You respect your body … finally.
5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
6. You find that your baby’s pain feels much worse than your own.
7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
9. Your heart breaks much more easily.
10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.
11. Every day is a surprise.
12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
14. You become a morning person.
15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
And from our readers…
1. “You discover how much there is to say about one tooth.” — Ashley’s mom
2. “You finally realize that true joy doesn’t come from material wealth.” — Anonymous
3. “You now know where the sun comes from.” — Charlotte
4. “You’d rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you’ve been dying to have.” — Sophie’s mom
5. “You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers.” — Roxanne
6. “You don’t mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.” — Kellye
7. “Silence? What’s that?” — Anonymous
8. “You realize that the 15 pounds you can’t seem to get rid of are totally worth having.” — Brenda
9. “You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.” — Ronin and Brookie’s mom
10. “You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule.” — Thomas’ mom
11. “You give parents with a screaming child an ‘I-know-the-feeling’ look instead of a ‘Can’t-they-shut-him-up?’ one.” — Jaidyn’s mom
12. “Your dog — who used to be your ‘baby’ — becomes just a dog.” — Kara
13. “You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you’ll be late.” — Tracey
14. “You learn that taking a shower is a luxury.” — Jayden’s mom
15. “You realize that you can love a complete stranger.” — Dezarae’s mom

Another great article for the parent to be or new parent is Top Ten Surprises of New Parenthood, by Rachel Sarah.

I wanted to share these songs with all of you and hope that they encourage you, like they have encouraged me.

Remedy by David Crowder Band

Remedy

This song reminds me of the fact that God can bring healing, forgiveness, and restoration, if we would just cast all of our hurts, pains, and scars on Him. He can and will renew us. We no longer have to live in bondage. It’s an amazing testimony of the power of Christ to see how He can heal you and make you a new creature.

Safe Place by Enter the Worship Circle- Chair & Microphone, Vol 3

Safe Place

This song reminds me that I should not fear coming to God. He loves us more than I can comprehend, and somehow I still have to be convinced of this. Last week, when there was so many crazy things going on I actually could feel God’s comfort and love surround me. This song made me think of that time. God is our comfort and refuge.

In the past couple of weeks, Lucas has become very interested in books. He actually has been picking to play with books over toys. So, we started to look for some cheap books. The Alabaster Thrift Store is really close to our house, and as I was driving by one day, I decided to go in to see what I could find. I was so impressed with what I found. I found 7 books, gave one to Alice and Brandon for Jonah, and 9 toys, and my total was only $15. I did have to do a lot of digging to find these great buys, but it was definintly worth it. Butch was so proud of me. He loves the thrift store and this gives him another reason to go. Check out the great things we got.

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Lucas is now 10 months old. He is crawling everywhere and is getting into everything. He has already knocked over the dog’s water and food, so we now have to put up a baby gate to keep him out of the kitchen. He is so curious about everything and doesn’t miss a thing. He loves to pick up all the little things on the carpet that the cat and dog bring in. I am now vacuuming the carpet two or three times a week. He also loves books right now, especially touch and feel books, books with flaps, and books that play music. He is getting three new teeth in up top, and already has two teeth on the bottom. Soon he will have five teeth. He is eating mashed up fruits and veggies and soon we are going to try mashed up chicken. Yumm! We have taken Lucas swimming twice and he absolutely loves the water. I am hoping we can take him swimming a couple more times before the summer is over. I already know that his first birthday party is going to have to have water. I have been thinking of some fun things to do for his birthday and I am so excited. I can not believe it is almost here.

Lately, Lucas has been squinting every time we try to take his picture. It is really funny. Here are some pictures of him squinting. Silly little man.

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On June 16, 2008, Lucas walked across the room while holding my hands. We were so excited and surprised. In the past few weeks, he has been standing pretty well, while holding on to something, but he has never taken a step before. He also started crawling on the same day. It looks like he is going to learn how to crawl and walk at the same time. We were able to capture him crawling and walking on the video camera, but our computer has to much stuff on the hard drive to be able to download it from the camera properly. I was able to get a small clip of him walking downloaded to the computer. It is pretty choppy though. Hopefully, we can free up some space on our computer and be able to download video properly. Here is the video clip.

I found this neat website the other day, which will chart your baby’s growth compared to the national average. All you have to do is enter in your baby’s weight and height. The website is http://www.bigfrog.net/growth/ Here is Lucas’ growth chart from a newborn to 9 months old.

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