Trip to Naples

We went to Naples last weekend for a wedding. When you read that we drove to Naples, you will realize that I'm referring to Naples, FL. Not quite as exotic as Naples, Italy, but it was a nice trip anyway. We drove down on Friday and back on Monday, which is too quick of a trip, but that's all the time we had. My Mother-in-Law went with us, so John David was entertained the whole time and did really well traveling. We went for Cara and Andrew's wedding. It was great to see Debbie, Scott and Sarah, and for it was nice for me to meet Andrew and Cara. For those of you reading who aren't family, Debbie is a life long friend of John's family. Andrew is her son and I had not yet met him since joining John's family in 2004. Sarah looked stunning. I couldn't believe how much she had grown! She was in our wedding just 2 1/2 years ago when she was 8 and now she's about to be 11.


On Sunday, we went to Debbie and Scott's house and watched Cara and Andrew open some of their wedding presents. Debbie and Scott have a beautiful house in a neighborhood in Naples with a swimming pool in their back yard. John took John David swimming and they had a ball. The first time John David was ever in a pool I let him "jump" off the side into the water. He loved it! Of course he wasn't really "jumping" since he can't even stand by himself yet. As soon as his feet hit the water he was reaching for the side to do it again. Notice the houses in the background of the picture - they are all on a lake that has risen really high with recent rain. Most of the houses in the neighborhood have swimming pools and they are all enclosed in a screened in porch. Such a great idea! Keeps the mosquitos and neighborhood children out of your pool.

We pray for all the best for Cara and Andrew as they begin their new life together as a married couple!

John David Turns One!

It is so hard to believe that John and I are the parents of a one year old! John David turned one on Sunday, September 3rd, and we celebrated with a party on Saturday night. John's dad and step-mom were in town for the big event so the whole weekend was like a party with John's brother and his family spending a lot of time at our house. John David was so happy the whole weekend being surrounded by so many people who love him. In most of the pictures from his party he looks like a deer in headlights, but he really did enjoy himself!

He is growing so much and changing every day. This weekend he started saying a new word - dog. He got a new book with some doggies on it and he repeated the word several times. Although he correctly identifies dogs as dogs, there are several other small animals that he refers to "dog". He said the word "duck" a few times too, but not consistently. I think he is just practicing new sounds to go with the "d" sound that he mastered a long time ago. And he has started babbling with "m" sounds, but hasn't yet called me by name (Mama). Hopefully that's just around the corner!



We went today for his 1-year check-up and everything was great! He's still on the small side - weighs 19 lbs 5 oz (5th percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (10th percentile), but everything is right on track. I always get nervous when he has to get his shots, but as we were leaving the doctor's office John made a good point...at least we are blessed enough to live in a country where we can get good health care and that immunizations are routine. Thank you, Lord!

Meredith's Baby Shower

Around about October 19th Meredith, Mark and Cole will be welcoming a new addition to their family. In preparation for the big event, Kimberly and I hosted a baby shower for Meredith. We had a great time visiting with everyone and Meredith received some nice gifts. Harrison (Kimberly's baby), got his first taste of what being at a baby shower is all about. John David has already been to a baby shower and decided to sit this one out (thanks to Grandma Karen for making that possible and giving mommy a chance to get everything ready without little hands helping her!) He did join us at the end for some photo opps.

John David's First Day of "School"

Today was John David's first day of school...well, it's really just a Mother's Morning Out program two days a week, but it is part of the Pre-school at our church so we're calling it school for him. He did great. When we first arrived, the other little boy in his class had been crying for 30 minutes, ever since his mother left. John David kept looking at him and holding on tighter to me. But after a few minutes we all got down on the floor and got the boys interested in some blocks and the crying stopped. I blew kisses to John David and left the room and he never shed a tear.

When I picked him up, he was just as happy as ever. His teacher said he did great except for nap time. John and I have been curious about how that was going to work. John David has never been a real easy sleeper. At home it takes a rocking chair, room darkening curtains and a sound machine to bring on sleep. So when they put him on his nap mat today, she said he got up and headed straight for the toys. We can't imagine that he will ever lay still on a mat in the middle of the floor and fall asleep, but we will see!

Uncle David's Birthday

We all live such busy lives that we only found time to celebrate David's birthday last Sunday, August 5. His actual birthday is July 25th. But it's good to get together no matter how belated! We enjoyed hanging out together, ate a good meal prepared by Mama (Granny, Mama C, Pat, etc.) and then John David had his first taste of a cupcake. We are just gearing up for his 1st birthday which is just around the corner.
Hmmm...this is yummy!!

Going back for more....


John David and Aiden "wrasslin'" with Papa

David, Lara, Lexi and Austin

Three Generations of Friends

When I was little, we lived in a neighborhood full of kids. To this day we are still friends with many of the families we knew from that neighborhood. It has been so fun to gather over the years from time to time to see how everyone has grown and to catch up on life. Last Friday was one of those times. Kim and Kim lived one street over from me in the "old neighborhood" as we call it now. It was always a treat to get to play with them because they were a couple of years older than me and had what I thought were the coolest toys. The one I envied was a Cher barbie doll with long hair. Funny what we remember from our childhood! Anyway, we are all grown up now and have children of our own. One of the Kims now lives in New Jersey, so we took the opportunity while she was in town to get together for a play date. John David loved meeting Aaron, Eliza, Katherine, Logan and Ryan. All of the grandmas were there and enjoyed adoring each other's grandkids. And just like old times, it was a treat to be with Kim and Kim again!

Bath Time

It's so hard to believe how fast John David is growing up. We took this picture after his bath Sunday night and it reminded me of a couple of others that we had taken a few months back. I'll post those so that you can see how he is growing. On Thursday, August 3rd, he will be 11 months old.


Amost 4 months old


Almost 8 months old

Uncle Travis' Birthday

Today is Uncle Travis' birthday so we went to dinner to celebrate. (Uncle Travis is John's brother.)

John David had fun playing with his cousins, Michael and Malachi, before the food arrived. They were so sweet to share their toys with him. Malachi is very nurturing and loves to help "take care" of John David. Michael and Malachi are twins and they are 3 1/2 years old.

Just John David... 

Daddy and John David 

Future gymnast? 

Our Little Sport

John David loves life. He is such a happy baby and he is very content much of the time. His latest showing of his love for something is to squeal with his eyes squinted. I caught him doing this while he was playing with a volleyball the other day. He would get the ball, throw it, squeal and then crawl towards it to do it all over again. It's amazing to me that we never had to show him what to do with a ball. He got a ball from the Easter Bunny (one of the $1.49 ones from Kroger/K-Mart/Walmart, etc.) and immediately knew to throw it. And that was when he was just 7 months old.



He loves to hang from the bar on his play set out back. Of course he can't yet hold himself on it, but loves for John or me to let him hang from it and then swing as if he were a gymnast in training.






On a recent shopping trip to IKEA, we discoverd his love for tunnels. They had one on display and he must've crawled through it 10 times. They were out of ones to purchase, but I found one about a week later at Target. It's in our playroom now and he loves to be chased in or out of it.

Whether he is throwing balls, hanging from the swing set, or crawling through tunnels, our little sport is always on the go!

Apple of God's Eye

Harrison Charles Springs was born in the wee hours of April 25, 2006 to Kimberly and Jason Springs. A few weeks ago we got to meet the little blessing when he and Kimberly came for a visit. He is such a good baby and really cute too! Meredith and Cole came to see him as did Lara, Lexi, Austin, Aiden and Granny (my mom). It was a full house! He did great with all of the kids running around him, just hanging out in the swing. I have to say Kimberly did quite well too - don't know if I would've been that calm! But it was such a blessing to have everyone together.

You see, Kimberly, Meredith and I are living the lives we dreamed about as young girls - to be married to the man of our dreams and to be blessed with children. I think we all imagined that the children would include some girls, but so far, that hasn't been God's plan. Meredith and Mark are expecting a baby boy in October and that will be their 2nd boy. We have discussed it and decided that it was part of God's plan to bring us closer together and closer to Him - having boys increases your prayer life!

Harrison has a bib that boasts: "Apple of God's Eye". Isn't it great as a believer, to rest in the fact that we are the Apple of God's Eye? He knitted us together in our mother's womb and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 139. In the New International Version it reads:
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Catching up over the last 10 months

John David Lindsey - born September 3, 2005 at 10:38 a.m. Weighed 7 lbs., 3 oz and was 19 inches long.

John David at 3 months old 

Our first family photo, taken December 5th, 2005. John David was 3 months old. 

John David's first Easter Egg Hunt - he didn't actually hunt any eggs but enjoyed the fruits of his cousins' labor. (April 10, 2006, 7 months old) 

My Lil' Rapper...we had gone to the grocery store and the sun was shining so bright that mommy put this hat on me in the parking lot. She forgot to take it off and when we got home, it had made it's way to the side of my head, making me look like a little rapper! (April 21, 2006, 7 months old)

John David's first trip to the Game Ranch

John David's first trip to the Game Ranch/Petting Zoo May 27, 2006

He loved feeding the animals (and eating a few crackers himself) and wasn't scared of any of them. He is 8 months old in these pictures.

About to Walk?

John David pulled up to a standing position on his own this week! We had a house full of visitors and I had glanced away from him for a second (maybe two!) and all of a sudden he was standing up, leaning on a big Rubbermaid container. I didn't get a photo of that, but I did catch him on his first time up the steps by himself. That happened the same day. And now he is on the move. He gets everywhere he wants to go by doing a military type crawl - he can crawl on his hands and knees, but he gets where he is going much faster on his tummy. It kind of looks like he is swimming out of water. He will be 10 months old on July 3rd. I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how the time flies.