Luke got a package in the mail today from his Oma. See, my dad and stepmom live two hours away so they don’t get to see Luke much. Apparently Oma just can’t contain herself when it comes to lovin’ on her grandson because this is the second special delivery he’s received. The first time it was a cool little monster truck which he loves. Today it was a nifty racing shirt. I think the sunglasses add a nice touch (I still can’t believe he left them on long enough for me to snap the picture).

I have a new nephew!

Zion Alexander
Born 7/3/08, 8 lb. 11 oz.

I can’t believe my little brother, Josh, is a daddy now. He’s only 17 years young. He’s had a rough go of it for the last few years, but I’m hoping this will mark a new chapter in his life. You can see in this picture how proud he is of his little boy. I pray that God will use Zion to breathe a new sense of hope into Josh’s life.

Psalm 50:2 - “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.”

Luke is 1 - count it, 1 - year old now. We are having so much fun with him now that he is starting to do stuff like:

• He dances and sings along to music. He’s a big fan of 70’s rock and he miraculously seems to know all the words.
• He loves to play with balls. He loves to bounce balls and throw balls and put balls in boxes. Give him a ball and he is occupied for dozens of minutes. And I promise, Mike did not force him into this obsession. It’s genetic, obviously.
• He also loves anything with wheels. The walker, the stroller, the wagon, the vacuum. Again, Mike had nothing to do with this other than Luke being the fruit of his loins and all.
• He is starting to cuddle. When he’s sleepy, before or after a nap, I’ll pick him up and he’ll lay his head on my shoulder and drop his arms to the side. Of course my heart turns to mush when he does this and I cannot be expected to put him down. Ever.
• He has learned to give kisses. I’ll say, “Luke, give Momma kisses” and he will lean in, steady his head, hold his mouth open, and look to the side and wait for you to kiss him. Picture it. It’s the sweetest thing ever.
• Oh, and he is becoming more self-sufficient which makes us so proud and also relieved because it’s just less we have to do. He feeds himself most of the time. He usually just uses his fingers but we let him practice with a spoon when we are in the mood for the clean-up.

We are still waiting for certain milestones, such as:

• He still has not uttered my name. He says “Da-da” constantly but not the M-word. I don’t think it’s so much that he can’t, rather he realizes it’s just not necessary. He knows his Momma is always here for him, he doesn’t need to bother with requesting my presence. Besides, my mother’s intuition lets me know when I’m needed.
• He still has no teeth to speak of. His doctor says if none come in within the next three months we should get him in to see a dentist and get x-rays. Seriously? What could be the matter? Crooked teeth? No teeth at all? Have you ever heard of that? We’re not really concerned. We figure he’ll get them eventually. Until then it’s just the running joke at our house every time he’s fussy or drooly or not sleeping well. “Oh, he’s teething.” Uh-huh, sure. I’ll believe it when I see it.

All in all, Luke has been a dream of a child if I ever saw one!

Boy hair long.

Daddy get clippers.

Boy hair short.

Boy still too cute.

It was a great day. A stupendous day, in fact. Saturday was our little boy’s first birthday. Luke is 1 year old now. He can now ride in the car facing forward.

On Sunday morning we had Luke baptized by his Opa (my dad) at our church. In the Methodist church we call it a baptism but because he is just a baby it is more like a dedication - a chance for Luke’s family, friends, and congregation to publicly promise to raise him up in the Christian faith. When he is older, it will be up to Luke to make a decision whether to follow in the faith or not. I was baptized as an infant by my grandfather, so it was extra special to have my dad up there baptizing his own grandson. And to add to the coolness of the whole thing, our pastor baptized his granddaughter at the same time.

Shortly after church was over, we had a big old bash back at the house. Our friend Frank grilled carne asada, hot dogs, and polish sausage. The carne asada tacos were a huge hit! We also ate some other stuff. Fruit, pasta salad, chips and salsa, carrot sticks. I made sweet tea, southern style. And of course we had cake! My sister made an awesome cake for Luke - cherry chip with cool whip frosting and a baseball and bat on top! After cake and ice cream we opened presents. Actually, I opened presents while Luke crawled around and inspected the wrapping paper and bows.

It was totally worth all the work it took to put it together. We were surrounded by family and friends whom we love dearly. Luke had a blast. We ate, we played, we laughed. I cried four times. It was a great day.

… is that he sends emails to tell me things like this:

your son was showing me how the piggies eat (with grilled cheese sammichez of all things)

Last week he fell asleep in his high chair while drinking his milk. You know Mike got pictures. I’ll try to add them to the post later. They are Super. Cute.

Here we go!

Cute, right? I thought so.

This post is a little belated, but I wanted to tell you about the super fun weekend I had. Last Saturday I went to Grand Rapids to visit my friends Heidi and Rondi. The three of us have been friends for 20 years. Twenty years, people. That’s a long time, especially considering I moved away from them 19 years ago. Fortunately, Heidi and Rondi never gave up on me. We have been a part of each other’s weddings and baby showers and now we all have these super cute sons who I hope will grow up to be friends as well. (Seriously, I am loving the word “super”. I could not stop saying it on Saturday.) We walked down to the park and took some fantastic pictures (not to mention we and the kids had a lot of fun!).

Heidi’s “little” guy, Nolan:

Heidi’s oldest son, Jack, wouldn’t stay still so Rondi had to hold him down:

Rondi’s son Shane loved loved loved the slide:

Heidi helped Luke ride down the slide too:

Jack and Luke played a game I like to call “Stick out your tongue just a little bit.”

Luke was pretty content to just sit and play with sticks:

Had to get a shot of Mom and Baby, we don’t get a lot of those:

While Nolan napped, the older boys played. I couldn’t believe how well they got along!

We have a million of these self-portraits, where Rondi holds the camera out and we all lean back to be sure we’re in the picture. We call it the double chin shot. I actually think this is the best one yet!

I can’t describe how much fun it was to think of all the history we have shared in twenty years, and then to watch our sons playing together. Our sons! My gosh, we’re mothers! To see the range in ages (Jack-4, Shane-2, Luke-11 months, Nolan-5 months) was interesting to me. Seeing Jack is especially surreal - has it really been 4 years? I don’t know if I believe it.

It was great to reconnect with Heidi and Rondi, as it always is. Every time we do, it seems as if no time has passed (only now we have four rambunctious reminders that time has indeed passed). I love these girls, and I love their boys. I look forward to the next two decades!

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. These last nine years of marriage have been better than I could have imagined and then some. Marriage is hard work - super hard work - but extremely rewarding. You mix the blood, sweat, and tears with a lot of laughter and love and you have a beautiful thing.

My husband is one of a kind. I am convinced he was created just for me. How lucky am I?! No one can make me laugh the way Mike can, and no one understands me the way he does. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I do. He is honest. He is loyal. He doesn’t freak out anymore when I cry. He is generous and caring. He is an extremely devoted father. Despite the number of times I’ve told him he doesn’t need to, he often asks for permission to spend one on one time with our son. He is smart. He is wise. He works hard, but he knows how to rest when it’s time to rest. He cleans the bathroom because I hate to. When I’m upset he buys me chocolate ice cream. He still thinks I’m hot stuff.

I love him for all these reasons and a million more.

Mike,
Happy Anniversary! You are still my favorite person ever. I don’t deserve you.
Love,
Mel

Another year of Financial Peace University is in the books. We had a fantastic class! It was such a privilege to get to know everyone and hear their stories. Nineteen families made it all the way to the end. All together they cut up more than 20 credit cards and paid off over $216,000 in debt! I am so proud of this class and I know they are well on their way to financial peace.

It was a rewarding experience as usual and I look forward to the next one!