Ansel's First Trip to the Zoo

On Sunday we took Ansel to the Buffalo Zoo. We were impressed that our local zoo had so many exciting animals to see. We loved sharing the experience with Ansel. He was entertained by the animals. Here are some of the sights Travis captured.

A Walk Through Our Village

On Friday night Ansel and Travis went on a walk together through our village. Here are some photos Travis took on their outing.

10 months old

We are a bit more settled into our house. Summer is flying by, but we are loving the gatherings with friends and watching Ansel transition from a sweet baby to a determined little boy. He is standing, cruising around objects, and loving finger-foods.

9 months old

Ansel turned 9 months old on Sunday! He has been busy making his way all over our house, crawling (modified army-style) and is now pushing himself up to a sitting position from a crawl. A few days ago, when Ansel woke up from his nap, he pulled himself up to standing. He is a big boy. We just took him to the doctor and he is already 18 pounds. Above he is pictured right after his bath.

As Father's Day Approaches...

Travis, you are an amazing father.
I watch your gentle, patient, loving spirit with our son and I see that he is blessed to have you for a dad. He resembles you physically, but I hope that he will also resemble you in his leadership ability, his readiness to serve others, and, most importantly, his desire to be a follower of Christ. You are a blessing to our family.
A better "dada" for Ansel I could not find.

Update on Travis

Travis' shoulder is no longer separated, as confirmed by x-ray results yesterday. He is no longer in a sling and feeling much better.

Travis leaving the ER

Getting ready to move...here is a sleepy morning shot of our boy.

8 months old!

Ansel is 8 months old...and he doesn't have a single tooth yet. He is actually a very good eater and at the moment he is diggin' bananas and peas. He is a very curious boy, getting into things multiple times a day. Soon enough we will have to glue everything to the ceiling. Good thing we are moving next week. We can childproof things a bit more from the start. Ansel is clapping frequently. He is thrilled when he is jumping in his jumperoo. Ansel is doing some scooting, but no crawling quite yet. He lights up when you smile at him. He loves his daddy's fun-loving, silly, playful nature. He usually is all laughs when Travis is near.

Speaking of Travis, he is away camping with college buddies this weekend and he flew off of his bike on Saturday and ended up in the ER. Apparently he "disrupted the joint between his collar bone and shoulder." We are so grateful that it wasn't more serious, but also would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery and safe travels home.

A visit with Aunt Alissa

Mother's Day at the Botanical Gardens

Veggies

Ansel is teething. He is drooling more and having difficulty settling down for naps. He is eating butternut squash, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce and cereal. To my disappointment he dislikes green beans. He made the worst face of all, though, when we gave him applesauce.

We have a wonderful friend who doesn't eat any fruit or vegetables except for corn and potatoes.

I am sure that for Ansel having a dietitian for a mom raises the stakes. I guess we will have to wait and see how his taste develops with time.

We're Moving

This will be our place of residence in about a month! We are excited to have four walls that we don't share with anyone. God blessed us with great neighbors in our apartment building, but it will be nice to be able to have a space of our own. It is somewhat troubling when Ansel kicks and plays on the floor loudly. I wonder how much of what he does is disruptive to the couple living below us. It is crazy that the house is nearly the same size as the garage, but we are up for the challenge of living in a small space. It is a beautiful little house with hardwood floors. The whole house only has one closet, but I'm sure we can figure out some way to store our belongings. If nothing else we will become selective about which items we will keep in our house. Space will become prime real estate that we won't want to occupy with useless items. My husband can attest to the fact that I am a packrat to the core. Since our wedding day, Travis has been gracious and allowed me to be refined in my own time, but seriously there are many items that need to make their way out of our home. I am hoping we will be transformed and better stewards of the items we possess. Praise God for the blessing of being able to rent a house with a garage! It will be wonderful to have for winter in Buffalo.

The Theme for Our Next Dinner Party?

You may not know this, but Travis and I are into sushi. This week we decided to take our sushi experience to a whole new level. We made some of our very own! We used tofu (pan-seared in sesame oil), avocado, and carrots. It was delicious! We will certainly experiment with other ingredients. It was tasty. Travis is not only great at shooting sushi (see above), but he is also pro-style at rolling the rice in the nori! Nice job, Trav :)

A Sunday Afternoon Walk and SHE Event

On Sunday it was a bit warmer than it has been in a while and we had a couple of hours to spare together between lunch and the SHE Event with Rebecca St. James. We had the perfect opportunity to get out of doors and experience something new. The Careys bought us this wonderful external frame backpack carrier for a baby shower gift, and so we had to take Ansel out for a test-run in it. Next time we hope to take him for a long hike because...he loved it! We had been talking about how we still want to have some adventures with Ansel this summer, even if it can't be a three day weekend kayaking with our 4 pound backpacker's tent to islands. We are still trying to figure out just how daring we can be with our little Ansel and keep him warm, dry, happy, and most of all, safe! His dad was excited at the prospect of spending numerous hours this summer with the sun shining and Ansel on his back! Overall great fun had by all (I liked photographing my handsome guys!)

Ansel and Travis had a guys' night together while I went out to the SHE Event. The style of the event was super laid back, Rebecca St. James wanted the ladies in attendence to feel as though it was just having coffee one on one. Her heart to our hearts. It was nearly exactly like that and it was easy to forget that 500 plus other women were there. The vibe was even more intimate than a Jennifer Knapp concert I attended back in the day at the Pioneer in Reno. Perhaps that was due to the fact that it was at our own little Amherst Baptist Church, where I would guess there were no more than 700 women (including the handful of very sneaky men who somehow got in--crashing our mother/daughter night! ;) My friends and I were only about 5 rows from the stage.

Rebecca is so genuine, so true to the character that a Christian woman should have (gotta love that Aussie accent as well.) I am thankful that little girls have a role model to look up to in such a disappointing, sex-crazed, immodest world. Rebecca's younger brothers, Joel and Luke, sang backup and those boys are blessed with some voices! What a talented family! It is apparent that Rebecca longs for fellow believers and a lost world to delve into a deeper relationship with Christ. Among the topics were modesty, purity, and raising godly children. I was encouraged in my walk with Jesus and it was fabulous to spend a night worshipping with my girlfriends.

Six Months and Counting!

I can hardly believe it! The time has passed quickly. Ansel is growing fast. He is nearly 17 pounds and a strong little guy. Travis shot some six month photos and these happen to be my favorites. :)

Three Milestones, One Week

On Sunday Ansel rolled for the first time from back to tummy just after waking up from his nap. Travis and I were so excited! We congratulated him and he turned his head toward our voices, subsequently bumping his head on the side of his crib. I don't know if we are ready for the toddler stage that seems far off at the moment but is rapidly approaching. We hear he will be bumping into almost every surface.

Ansel is rolling...today Ansel rolled from his back to his tummy to his back again. This baby boy is surely going to be crawling in no time!

Today Ansel sat up on his own for the first time! He had his hands free and sat up unassisted for about 15 or maybe even 20 seconds. Amazing!

A day at home with Ansel

Ansel is changing quickly. His hair is getting thicker. He continues to make new sounds and puts different syllables together. He plays independently and babbles. Ansel enjoys scratching different fabrics and surfaces. He seems to like the noises it makes. His hands mesmerize him. Frequently, he will stare at them and seems fascinated with their movement. Ansel is truly a joy to watch.

Travis is in beautiful Redondo Beach, CA this week. Please pray for safe travels as he is away.

Ansel and Keys

Ansel is more than 16 pounds these days. He is laughing more each day. We are having a blast getting him to chuckle and crack smiles for us. We are truly blessed that God has entrusted Ansel to us.

Travis & Ansel

Do you see a resemblance?