Sunday Afternoons? Find us at the lake.

On the way. It's so far from our house...all the way across the highway.

Little one screamed when Daddy tried to put her in her float. So we held her.

At one point, me holding her, while J.R. held me. I think she likes the water more and more.
J.R. is already thinking about when she is big enough to tube.

Drying out!

After our lake trip, we came home and cleaned up.

We promptly went to dinner at El Rancho (surprise, surprise!)

Then we met the Giles to watch Fort God, I mean Temple's firework show.

RG didn't do much watching, she just squirmed herself to sleep inside her snugli.
Ty was really into the fireworks.
The science geeks, I mean husbands, were in deep conversation about the speed of sound as opposed to their normal conversation having to do with anything mechanical involving a motor or engine or something else they can take apart and put back together.

Watching the finale.

Dedication

Getting down to business in KaKa's office.
Our "little" family 3 generations. We had intentions of snapping a 4 generation shot with Grandmother, but things got hectic when people starting leaving.Rebekah and her Mamie
With GREAT Grandddaddy and Grandmother (GDGM)

They just like to pretend they aren't "baby people".

I'm positive they ARE quite smitten with our baby.

GM and RG with the best friend a girl could ask for and her husband.

Us and them. Them being our friends, the Giles (Bryan, Crystal, and Ty)

(Crystal, if this picture turned out better on your camera, email it to me and I'll change it here.

I just think you're way cuter than this picture shows.)

Two afternoons with Oma and KaKa

Rebekah likes her KaKa to sing to her.

All three of them are in love.

A Baby Bekah and her Momma's Dog

And Gravy does it again.

Wonderful Wednesday

Sweet moments with Mommy!

Look at what Kristin and Tracy let us borrow!

Now, she can sit up without rubbing her hair off!
She's loving it.
Still happy.
And she can still eat her hands.
And she can wiggle without collapsing into a jumbled pile o'baby.We love the BUMBO!

Since Rebekah has been so hungry for her hands lately and she also finds it appropriate to nurse for 532 minutes several times a day, I decided to let her try some cereal. Well one tablespoon of cereal mixed with four tablespoons of milk. I think she liked it. She did swallow some. At the end, she was opening her mouth for the spoon. So we'll keep on keeping on with the cereal.

Big Thoughts

Sunday is the day we will "dedicate" Rebekah at church. This is awkward to me since I attended churches that practiced "infant baptism" my entire life up until 2006. I've felt really weird about it. Mostly because I'm not super sure why we "dedicate" babies, since I've never ever ever heard it explained before or if I heard it, I wasn't listening. It seems that many churches just do their thing and don't explain why. Explanations are good. They help visitors and new Christians understand what is happening. More than that explanations remind us why we do things so that we don't get stuck just going through the motions and forget what the motions symbolize.

As a child, I was in and out of Episcopal and Presbyterian (P.C.A.) churches never consistently attending either until my highschool years. I missed learning bible stories and verses. I didn't know the church as a community of believers or as family or as a group of people that loved me until I joined a church during college . I wouldn't change anything about my childhood church experiences. It is because of them that I can embrace my faith as my own and not as something my parents pushed on me or something I followed my parents or others into. It is mine. I believe what I believe because I asked God to show me things and He did. Matthew 6:33. James 4:8...It's all true!

Obviously, Episcopal and Presbyterian churches believe in infant baptism. I know why they do it. And I'm beginning to accept why my current church doesn't. I've been puzzled. And when you've been criticized by numerous people for asking "theological" questions before, you sometimes hesitate before asking questions again. I emailed my "most perfect as a FIL can be" FIL and he made me feel that my ideas are on target, so I'm not ashamed or embarassed to share them here (or there, or everywhere) At the end of time, what truly matters is we are all batting for the same team. I know on this earth I cannot know or understand all the ways of God, but I do find contemplating them and learning why different denominations do what they do brings me closer to my God and makes my faith stronger.


To me, dedicating Rebekah is a symbol of our faith and therefore her inclusion(Acts 2:38-39) in the Covenant family (until she is old enough to claim this right for herself through her own profession of faith/baptism. It is us saying "here is our child and we want to raise her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), will you as a church make this committment to her and to God with us..." It is us recognizing we can't do it without help. And also recognizing that it would be better for us to tie a millstone around our necks than to cause Rebekah to stumble/sin (Luke17:1-2). It is us, claiming Christ on her behalf with hope that she will later claim Christ for herself.

All that said, please join me in my prayers for our Rebekah's heart, for us as her parents and for all the other people in this big world that will influence her. My prayer for her is that she will be a warrior for our God; that she would always know Him, love Him, serve Him; and that God would include her in and use her for the goodness of His kingdom. My constant prayer for J.R. and myself is that we would set a good example in all we do, that we lean on God and not our own understandings, and that God would guide us as we raise this child of His.

I live with two really cute people.

If you can drown out the Sweet Peppers background noise, you might hear RG make a few baby raspberry sounds.

If you can't hear her, you can at least watch her be mesmerized by her hands.

ATROCITY!!!

Can you see what I'm holding? No? I'll put it down and see if you can see it then. Is this better? No? How about a closer close up?
This is as close as it gets. Can you see the atrocity?
You see it now, all those little hairs, that the horrible mean cruel sheet pulled out of Rebekah's head. They were just laying there waiting for me to find them. Laying there, mocking me and enjoying Rebekah's natural mohawk.

Also, in case you wondered, my hair has started falling out again too. I must say I didn't miss wiping my hair out of my sink, sweeping it off the bathroom floor or gathering it from the bathroom drain. That is one of my favorite things about being pregnant...my body refusing to let any hairs go.

Look who Daddy and Rebekah went to see!

Sleeping Beauties
So sweet.

A Typical Mommy Blogger Post

With a child this cute, you can't blame me for loading most every post with picture after picture! Bath time in her little tub with 2 of our 805 rubber duckies

Stylin' with her "mohawk"
Pretty sure she wants me to get the camera out of her face
Chilling out at Mamie's

Rebekah and I went to Jackson for two nights to escape J.R.'s cold germs.

She didn't want us to hold her at all. She just wanted to be alone with her hands.



She liked hanging out with Joy. I love this picture of two of my favoritest people. I can only hope that Rebekah will grow up to have a friend as good to her as Joy is to me.
Rebekah loves morning time with her Mamie.
On our way to meet Amberly for lunch at Newk's.
Saturday at Home
My little angel watching me do laundry, wishing she could help (I'm sure!)

On the Lake
We did have a short stint in the water involving the entire family, which of course includes the dogs. Gravy likes the water. Delta is not much of a water fan.
I'm surprised she even drinks water.
Our view
J.R. in his element!!!