Vacation....Part Two!!

This year we purchased a Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens season pass. When this pass came in the mail I noticed that there were some other zoos that we received 50% to free admission to. I glanced at what zoos those were and noticed that the zoo in Tuscon, Arizona was included on the free admission list. So, we made good use of that and spent a few hours at that Reid Park Zoo in Tuscon while on vacation. This zoo is very different from the Cincinnati Zoo. For one, it's a lot smaller. However, the displays of most of the animals were a lot nicer. The zoo felt like you were walking through a park. The animals were very close to you, and you could see them from many different angles. We really enjoyed the giraffes, elephants, white peacock and the chance to spend the day together as a family!

Vacation....Part One!!

This past week, from May 22-29th, we went on our first big vacation with Graham. We headed out to Arizona for the week to spend time visiting with Eric's father and seeing the sights. The flight out was long and Graham didn't sleep much longer than thirty minutes on the plane, however he handled the flight like an old pro! Many passengers around us complimented us on how good he was! We were met in Phoenix by Eric's dad and then traveled to his home in Tuscon. On our first day there we took a short hike at a State Park in the area. The following pictures are from that hike. It was absolutely beautiful!

Notice the lizard in the picture...

Playtime

Graham enjoyed playing with one of his Christmas presents today. He loved opening the box up and spilling out all of the blocks. However, he doesn't quite understand how to put them back in yet! This is the perfect toy to talk about shapes, colors and how to pick up your toys!!

Big Events

This week has been full of big events in the Armstrong household. Graham turned 7 months old, started crawling, added a second meal of solids to his day and also had his crib lowered! He hadn't pulled himself up yet, however he was able reach over the edge of the top of the crib and pull a blanket that I had draped there into his crib. He did that several times in a row and we decided it was time to lower his bed! He had no trouble adjusting to his new sleeping arrangements. Here's a couple of pictures of him testing it out!

7 Months Old + Crawling = TROUBLE!!!

Friday, May 14th, marked Graham's seven month birthday. As of the 13th he can officially get around the house. He's not fast and his crawl is more of an army crawl than a real crawl....but, he manages just fine! The morning of the 14th, I left the room just for a minute. I came back in and found this.....my child getting into the baby wipes!!! Now, he knew how the wipes box worked, which was probably a bad idea on my part...but, it made for the perfect object lesson when explaining 'open & close'! He was pretty proud of himself and I had to capture the moment in a picture before telling him those weren't to be played with!! :) I have the feeling this is the first of many times I catch Graham getting into things!!

Diaper Changes!!

Diaper changes in our home have become quite the event. Graham usually does not want to be on his back...he'd much rather be on his tummy moving around (yes, you heard that right...he is getting around. Not a full blown crawl, more of an army crawl!). So, this is how a typical diaper change goes. Keep in mind though that usually he makes it to the last picture taken while still during the diaper change!

Picture 1: All ready to have his diaper changed


Picture 2: Starting to arch his back to turn over (the boppy is used to encourage against this, but it doesn't always work)



Picture 3: Rolling over has begun...there's usually no stopping him at this point. You can flip him back over to his back repeatedly, but once he gets the idea that he's rolling over in his head he seems to end up there fairly quickly!

Picture 4: He's gone...

Picture 5: Graham's thoughts are "What did I do?? Aren't I cute??".

Graham's Dedication

This past Sunday was Mother's Day and it was a wonderful day for us. Our church was having baby dedications which we took part in. It proved to be a very special time for our family and our church community.

Here's our family ready to head out the door for the big day at church.


The day took place in two parts. We had a 'private' dedication ceremony in our Community (for my Baptist friends that really is just Sunday School). It was a special time for our Community as there were five couples dedicating their babies during this time. Most of us had family attending, and we brought in breakfast treats to make for a special time of fellowship.

Eric and I chose Deuteronomy 6:5 as Graham's life verse. It reads as follows, " Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.". We love this verse and know that if Graham is to follow through with loving God with all his heart, soul and strength, that he will be living his whole life centered around God. He will strive to do right and to give God the glory through every aspect of his life! We also liked this verse due to the challenge that follows in the passage for us, the parents. Vs 6-9 state, " These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." This passage is how Eric and I are desiring to live our lives. We want God to have the authority that is due Him in all areas of our lives....not just at church on Sunday! Another neat side note about this passage is that it is a very special passage in the Jewish culture. It is called the Shema. It is a passage that is memorized at an early age and many devout Jews will quote it every morning and night.

Here are a couple pictures from that private ceremony.

After the private ceremony we headed upstairs to the 2nd service at our church. During that service everyone dedicating babies headed up on stage and did a public dedication. Here's a few pictures from that part of the day:

Here's a picture of all the couples & babies that were dedicated in our Community. It was a very special time for each of these families and it was a joy to be able to dedicate our children on the same day. As we all raise our children and live our lives together, I hope that we can help one another with the commitment we made on that day to raise our children to come to know Christ at an early age and to love the Lord with their whole hearts!

Zoo Babies

This past weekend, Willa's parents came for a visit. We took the opportunity to go to the zoo for the day. It was a bit chilly and windy, but we had a great day in spite of that. Graham enjoyed his first trip to the zoo. He had fun petting the goats and especially watching the little ducks swim and splash in the water. He did great...even took a short nap while everyone else explored the nocturnal house! Since we purchased a zoo pass for the year we look forward to many more fun trips to the zoo.

New Toy??

Graham is becoming more mobile. He is starting to be able to get from point A to point B, slowly, but surely! He can go backwards very well, but he is also now able to move forwards. Thankfully for now the hardwood is still too slippery for him to maneuver, so he sticks to the rug in the living room. He has found a new toy though. His toy box is right next to the heater vent and he finds the vent fascinating! It's funny how he rarely will reach up for the toys when he can play with the vent!

Say Cheese

Graham's personality is coming out more and more. He's such a happy little guy. He loves to play on the floor...practicing his crawling moves. He loves music and can't get enough of the sounds from his exersaucer and piano. His favorite 'person' is Sammy, the cat. He squeals and laughs whenever he is around. Especially when Sam is playing with his toy mice. You can almost always get Graham to smile. He knows when people think he's cute...and he ham's it up for them. He's enjoying books more and more. He loves taking walks or riding in his stroller through a store. He gives his Daddy a big smile as soon as he arrives home from work. You can always tell when he is excited...his little legs start kicking uncontrollably and his eyes get super wide.

Cool Kid

There's a new cool kid on the block...it's Graham! I picked up a pair of sunglasses this week. They were too cute to pass up and we had wondered if he would actually wear them. We're headed to Arizona in a couple of weeks and if he'd keep them on they would be great for that trip. Graham doesn't like sun in his eyes, so this would allow him to enjoy all the beautiful sites we'll be seeing on our trip. He seemed to like his glasses! When I first put them on him he did pull them off, then I put them on again and he kept them on! We took a walk and he kept them on the whole trip. He enjoyed being able to look all around without that pesky sun getting in his eyes!