Jake's Playdate with the triplets

Yesterday, Jake and I went over to the Mathews' house to visit Misty and the girls, Emery, Harper, and Addison. Misty is the first person I met at Harding back several years ago--12 now I guess (time goes by fast!) Who would have thought years later we would both live in Houston and have kids the same age? I was with her when she met Greg at the Harding bowling alley and through him met Chris and Jeremy Shelby which eventually would be why I ended up moving to Houston to teach at Northland where I soon met and married Ty and 4 1/2 years later had Jake...how's that for a chain of events?!? Anyway, its a blessing to still be friends with Greg and Misty years later and now know their 4 precious children. I'm sure Jake will have many adventures with the girls in years to come. He is greatly outnumbered by the girls at church these days! I'm sure he won't mind in about 15 years or so :)

At the Drive-in

We discovered a fun activity this weekend--the Drive-in Theater. There's a Drive-in called "The Showboat Drive-In" a few miles west of Tomball on 2920(http://www.theshowboatdrivein.com/index.html). We had a delightful experience and I would highly recommend this...tickets are only $5 each (Jake was free of course) and their snack bar was rather reasonable as well. It was a great way to take Jake to the movies without having to worry about him making too much noise. Heck, I even fed him in the car during the movie. We saw Even Almighty which we had wanted to see since we're such big fans of Steve Carell from The Office. It was a cute movie, very family friendly with a definite spiritual message (obviously it IS an adaptation of Noah's Ark). Our friends Steve and Michelle joined us with their little ones, Sean and Maddie.

Jake and I are going to have a "Mommy and me" night tonight because Ty just left for Dallas for a guy's night with his brothers. They are seeing The Police on their reunion tour and are just a tad bit excited about it. Ty, Jason, and Eric have been calling each other about this for months and Ty has gone a bit crazy with making me listen to a constant stream of The Police on his IPOD.

The black and white picture above was taken by my brother when we were in Oklahoma--I love the way it turned out.

Summer Reading

I've realized this week that for the past eight summers my summer reading has consisted of whatever novels I had assigned to my classes for the upcoming school year. This summer I have a new found freedom to read whatever I want. I find this simply overwhelming. Yesterday, Jake and I ventured to the library and I honestly couldn't find anything to read. I came home with, I'm sad to say, a Danielle Steele book which I read last night and then soon realized why I don't read those anymore. I believe after teaching for 8 years I may have become a literary snob of sorts. I did just finish a wonderful book our Bible Study group is reading called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This book has really made me think. It consists of various thoughts on Christianity today. I loved his thoughts on what the Chrisitian community SHOULD look like as well as his thoughts on materialism. He calls for Christians to really be about one thing: love--just as Jesus was. I really wish I would have journaled a bit as a I read the book to write some of his more profound thoughts down and my feelings as well. I would definitely recommend this book. Ty read it before me and also enjoyed it. He's working really hard now to avoid reading Harry Potter...I've tried so hard to convince him, but to no avail. He doesn't know what he's missing!

Aunt Sallie--Jake was thinking of you when he got dressed this morning!!! He sends his love :)

Mmm...good?

I'm sitting here listening to the rain and watching Jake sleep--I must say I'm thoroughly enjoying myself today. Jake has had a big week so far. We introduced him to rice cereal on Tuesday night and his facial expressions were priceless. He wasn't too sure what to think of this strange substance or the fact it was coming from a spoon and not me. He enjoyed chewing on his bib much more than eating! We'll keep trying--supposedly, it is supposed to help him sleep through the night although ironically he has been up more the past two nights since we started.

He got to meet more fun new friends last night. Randi (one of my college roommates and DEAR friends) and Lloyd were in town sponsoring their youth group at a work camp in Sugarland. Ty, Jake, and I had dinner with them and then went to see their worship time. It is always a breath of fresh air to be around Randi and be with a friend I'm just so comfortable with.


Tomorrow we're headed to the Children's Museum in the museum district in Houston with some friends--I'm sure Jake will just be enamored by that...he'll probably get a really great nap!

Jake at four months

We're back from Oklahoma and Ty, Jake, and I are beginning to get in somewhat of a routine. At four months, Jake is changing so quickly and is definitely the love of our lives. He smiles incessantly and is quick to laugh, especially for his dad. His favorite new toy is his Exersaucer...trying to be a good mother, I don't want to just leave him in it too much, but he will cry when I take him out :) Ty has been excited to introduce him to the pool and last week Jake had his inaugural "swim." We got him a big floating blow-up toy to sit in and a big hat to shade him from the sun and away he went! His first reaction was shock and he screamed...but he soon warmed up to the water and was laughing before long.

Today I took him for his four month checkup with Dr. Chandler. Our big health concern this week is having Jake gain weight. As of last week he hadn't gained in 4 weeks, leaving his cardiologist concerned. We met with his surgeon about three weeks ago and he wants to wait until Jake is 2 for surgery because of the delicate nature of the valve repair Jake will have. The conditions for waiting are he remaining healthy and gaining weight steadily. When we discovered last week he wasn't gaining, everyone got a little scared. We did a chest x-ray which was clear and the doctor decided the lack of weight gain could be due to his medications. We've changed the dosage of his medicine and today we had great news--Jake had gained half a pound since last week!

We are so continually thankful for all of the prayers from our family and friends. We believe that God is constantly healing Jake and keeping him well. He truly is the Great Physician!

First Trip to Oklahoma

When school got out, Jake and I flew to Oklahoma for his first trip to the Sooner State. I made sure he had his OU pacifier for the trip :) He did so well on the airplane--on the way back an older man behind us remarked that he couldn't believe a baby was on the plane since he hadn't heard him cry once. It was wonderful to be home and get to see all of my family and spend time together (although we really missed Ty while we were gone). Jake met many more family members: Sunday, he met Les, Kathy, Disney, and Ky for the first time. Later in the week he got to meet my uncleGary and Aunt Jeannette as well as my uncle David and his girls. My cousin Lacey had a baby, a girl named London, just 5 days after Jake was born. We had a big adventure on Tuesday as I babysat my nephew Hendrix (who just turned one) and Jake all day. They did wonderfully until lunchtime when both were hungry at the same time. Hendrix is just adorable and is exploring everything as he learns to walk. Wednesday, Jake had his first date! My oldest friend JoDee and I took Jake and her little girl Georgia to the zoo. Georgia is a beautiful girl and I keep telling Jake he will need to watch out for her :) JoDee and I have always lived somewhat "parallel" lives and its wonderful to have children around the same age. We also were blessed to be in town the same week as one of my great friends from high school, Alicia. Thursday evening we got to spend time with my other dear friend, Amber, and her little boy, Finn. We got some great pictures of Jake, Finn, and Hendrix in my parent's backyard. Mom and Dad got to spend some good quality time with Jake, and I loved spending time with Ryan's son, Hendrix and getting to know him better. Its hard living away from my family, but it was a blessing to spend a week with them. I plan on showing Jake many pictures so he'll remember who's who and know them each time we visit.

Jake and his Poppy sharing a sweet moment

Jake and London's first meeting

Jake and Georgia's date to the Oklahoma City Zoo

Finn, Jake, and Hendrix