Ivy's Baby Dedication

A few weeks ago we did Ivy's baby dedication.  Ivy was blessed to have all of her grandparents in one place for this special occasion!    Here is a picture of her while standing at the front of the congregation.  I'm not sure what she is thinking but she sure has a pensive look on her face.

  Ivy wants to take a min to introduce you to some of her family members that were there.....

So these pep's below holding me are my Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jeff. As you can see I am having a good time. That's because these two are very funny and like to make me laugh.  Jeff is a youth pastor so as you can imagine he knows how to make a kid have fun.  Jeff is my daddy's brother and he is also very hairy.  

Below is my Pappy Joe. He is mommy's daddy. He is hyper and a busy man.  I think I have a good shot at getting him to build me a doll house one day!

These two below are my Grandmommy Bledsoe and I'm not sure what to call the other one.  He wants to wait until I am old enough to give him a name of my own.  But this is my mommy's mommy and step dad. I love going to the beach with them and playing with their little doggies.
The last two grandparents are my Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  They are hard to keep up with. (heehehe... get it.. Keeping up with the Joneses.)  They are my daddy's parents.  They live just a few miles away so I see them a good bit but not as much as I would like to. 
 I am such a lucky little girl. I have the most wonderful bunches of grandparents a girl could ask for. They are all so good to me and have done so much for me in my first few months of life.

I am now 8 months old and I just cut my first two bottom teeth.  I also got a runny nose that gave me two ear connfections and a sore throat.  I have meds now so I'm getting better.  I hope you enjoyed meeting my family.  

California or Bust ... Beach Trip #4

A few weeks ago we took a family vacation to California.  We split our time between visiting Josh's family in near LA and hanging out with some of my college friends in San Diego.  We had a wonderful trip!  We went to the beach and ate Inn N Out Burger everyday!  We decided that one day Ivy is going to be really sad when she finds out she doesn't live at the beach.  She has been going so much she probably thinks we live near one.

Notice our shirts in this picture.   

Below is our family rash guard picture.  YES!  We all have one.  Even Ivy!  Thanks to Aunt Gail. 
I think our favorite day on the trip was the day we got to spend on the Del Mar beach.  Josh would surf for a living if that would pay the bills.  These are some pics of that day.  His Uncle Jim and Aunt Cindy happen to be there that day so we hung out with them and caught some waves too!

This picture above is Laguna Beach.  This was the last picture we took on our camera before I dropped it in the ocean.
The picture above is from a night out with my college buddies.
This is a pic of Aunt Gail and Uncle Bruce with Chelsea's horse (Josh's cousin).  His grandparents live in the coolest neighborhood.  It's in the city but they have horse trails and stables right in the front yard.  This horse is part of the family and Ivy really liked him. 
This is Ivy's great grandparents.  Her only living great grandpa!
If you notice the flag in the pic above you will see that we are in Balboa Island.  Such a neat little place.  
I could live here!  This is Laguna Beach.  Isn't it beautiful!!

To the left is a pic of Ashley and Sam (college roommates) being goofy and making Ivy laugh.  These girls are SILLY with a capital S.

Here is a pic of Ivy on the plane.  This would be her 8th flight.  She did so great on the plane.  No complaints from mom and dad or any passengers.

YES!  We did it!  We got on the Price is Right!   A show I have been watching since I was 10.  I would watch it all the time with my grandmother and on the days I played hookie in grade school.   Josh watched Ivy all day and I waited in line with new and old friends trying to make it on.  We had the best seats in the house but sadly none of us made it to contestants row.  Bummer!  Our show will air on Oct 27th so watch for us.  Look for the bright orange Clemson shirt about 10 rows back in the middle. 

Speaking of Orange.  This picture is Ivy's great Grandma Jones.  She has an orange tree in the back yard and they were yummy!  

What's so Amazing about Grace?

Josh and I flew to California to visit with his side of the family. ( I will blog more about the trip later and post pictures too.)   While we were there I managed to drop our brand new digital camera in the ocean at the beginning of the week.  Thus preventing us from capturing the memories of our wonderful family vacation.  So there goes a couple hundred dallor loss.

Now if this would have been Josh dunking the camera I would have for sure told him how stupid that was and ridiculed him for being clumsy.  I also was tempted to let it ruin my day. But my sweet husband had the opposite reaction.  He just shrugged it off and said it was no big deal.  WHAT?  Isn't he suppose to like get mad and frustrated???   It's not like we have extra money laying around to purchase a new one.  And it's not like we can come back to Laguna Beach and San Diego to retake the pictures next week.   

I pretty much felt I deserved for him to at least be mad at me.  But nope... He extended me so much grace and just kept smiling and having a good time and let it roll off his back.  He also kept me from getting mad at myself.

Ok, so fast forward a couple of days to our last day on the beach.  This was a day we had both been waiting for.  We were in San Diego with his Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jim who provided us with great company and a surf board.   Josh LOVES to surf and couldn't even eat breakfast because he was so excited.  Before he went into catch the big waves he handed me his wedding ring and said he was scared he would lose it so he wanted me to hang on to it.   So I put the ring on my thumb.

A few hours later I looked at my thumb and there was no ring!   Inside I was freaking out but was trying to remain calm.   So we frantically being looking in the sand and walking the beach.  After searching for a while we called it quits and determined that the ring was lost.  

Again, if Josh lost my wedding ring then that may have been the start of  world war 3. But Josh was totally calm and composed.  He never even attempted to get mad.  He never so much as asked me how I could loose it.  He just told me not to worry and that it was only material things that could be replaced.  He said as long as he had me and Ivy then we were all good.  

I can not express how amazing my husband is to extend me so much grace when I definately felt I deserved to at least see him get frustrated.  Josh is such a picture of Christ to me and I wish I could be more like him.   I am so grateful to have a husband to set such a good example to me of how I should extend others grace when they make mistakes.  

This also served as a reminder to me of the grace Christ extends to each one of us.  Before I became a Christian I lived some pretty wild days.  For the longest time I felt like I couldn't follow Christ because I had messed up so bad.  But just as Josh forgave me for loosing some pretty precious items, Christ also forgave me for my wilder days.  It's so amazing to have a God that just forgives regardless of our past.  It's also the most wonderful feeling to be married to godly man who forgives me even when I feel I don't deserve it. 

I love him so much!  Ivy is also so blessed to have a daddy like Josh! 

Beach Trip #3

That's right!  Ivy has been to the beach 3 times in her short 6 months of life.   My grandmother said that Ivy has flown more in her life time than my grandmother has in her 80 something years of life.   

Speaking of the flight.... It was LONG.  We had a 3 hour delay which feels like 30 when you have a baby and are traveling alone.  But Ivy was a trooper and did great!  Josh isn't with us because he is using his vacation days for our family vacation next month to California.

The picture above is of Grandmommy.  This is at her B-day celebration.  

These are just some random pictures of us at the beach.  The other little girl is her cousin Isabel.  For those of you who know my brother in-law you will agree that she is a carbon copy of him.  Just a smaller female version. 

Fun Times - Fun Pictures

This blog is just a random mix of the fun we have been having this summer.   Below is a picture of Ivy at Panama City Beach Florida.  We were there a month ago for Beach Camp with the highschool students.  Our friend Kathryn Aylor took this picture of Ivy and I thought it was so good!

She also took this family picture below.  This was one of the few moments that I got to see Josh that week. 

 

Can you guess who Ivy is imitating in this picture?

Did you guess Ray Charles?  

Ok, I know this looks a little weird.  So a few nights ago I got a cut on my ankle.  Before we went to bed I asked Josh to get me a bandaid.  Josh looked at it and said that it didn't need a bandaid and that I needed to get tough.  I disagreed and tried to convince him that I really needed one and I was too tired to get it.  So I begged and he finally went to get one.  He came back apologizing for not realizing how serious the injury was.  He put on the latex gloves, brought the first aid kit and began bandaging me up.  He was just mocking me!  But it was funny!

Ivy is a little water baby!  She loves the tub and the pool.  Especially when she is with her friend Lauden.

Why is it that Ivy always laugh's more with her daddy??  Maybe it's because he can open his mouth really big!  His features are more dramatic than mine.  It can't be because he is more fun!

In Sickness and Health

Josh and I were reminded of our vows this past week.  Josh brought home a terrible stomach virus that hit him at 5am on Tuesday.  It involved 6 hours of violent throwing up and fluids coming out of the other end too!  Then he broke with a fever.  

Now we all know that men are big babies when they are sick.  So it's hard to tell when they are serious when they say they feel like they are dying.  I really thought that Josh was being over dramatic.  When we took him to the doctor he actually had them wheel him back to the car in a wheel chair!  I couldn't believe it and told him that it wasn't that bad.  He disagreed of course.

Well, I found out the hard way that he was right!  Two days later I came down with the exact some thing.  I too threw up for 6 hours and then broke a fever!  I finally just laid on the

 bathroom floor because their was no point in heading back to the bed.  I was throwing up every 15 mins so it was closer to just stay on the floor.  At one point I told Josh that I would seriously rather die than to keep this up. 

So far Ivy has not caught it.  I am still holding my breath.  I can't imagine how she will feel if a 17 lb baby girl were to experience such a terrible sickness.  We shipped her off to grandma and grandpa's house to get away from the germs.  She back now and acting normal.

And to make Grandmommy is SC happy we have to post some new pics of little chubber.  

The dress Ivy is wearing above is a personal favorite.  And the crazy thing is that the tag in the dress says  "SWEET IVY".  HAHA!  It was ment to be hers.  I didn't even know there was a brand of children's cloths called Sweet Ivy.  We will have to find more.

I know what you might be thinking when you look at this picture above.  It appears that we have stuffed her mouth full of food.  The truth is that she doesn't have any food in her mouth at all. This was taken after she took her last bite.  Yes, Ivy cheeks are just that big!

The shirt Ivy is wearing above is an A&M shirt.  For those who don't know much about the Aggie's, they do a yell at midnight before game day.  

Here is little miss priss helping mommy with the laundry. 

These are just a few pics of what Ivy has been up to the past month.  She hit her 6 month b-day at 17.5 lbs.   She is in the 80% in weight and 83% in head size.  She inherited the big head from her dad.  I think this is part of why she is not sitting up yet.  She is top heavy and that big noggin just weighs her down. 

To see more pics of the last month CLICK HERE.

Beach Camp

A few weeks ago Ivy and I were brave and decided to join the youth group at Beach Camp.  Josh had to go of course because that is his job.  But Ivy and I decided that it would be better to be at Panama City Beach Florida watching daddy work than to stay in hot, flat, landlocked Dallas. 

This time we did not fly.  Ivy got to experience her first road trip!  Josh had to ride the bus so I road with our director of student ministries wife and two kids.   

For those of you who are good at math, YES!  That means we had 3 kids, in a van driving from Panama City Beach Florida!  Here is a picture below of Kathryn, Braxton and Nash.  They were our travel buddies.  

I'm not sure about the ride there but I know on the ride home we were in the car for a total of 16 hours and made 9 stops.  Between all the dirty diapers, hungry babies, and mommies that needed refreshing what would you expect?  The kids did pretty good expect for the occasional temper tantrum from Nash or Ivy.  Those little ones don't like to be in a car seat for that long. 

Below is a pic of Josh being Mr. Ref.  We really didn't spend much time with him that week. Just an occasional meal in the cafeteria or a hello on the beach.

Ivy made up for a lack of daddy time by getting some of her favorite high school boys to entertain her.   These are two guys in the 10th grade.  The one holding her is Spencer and he really loves babies!  He has two younger siblings so he is good with the little ones and Ivy loves his attention. 

If Ivy wasn't with me or being passed around by high school students, then she was in the arms of one of the leaders on the trip.  There were several older women that loved taking over mommy duty so I could play with the kids during rec time.  Here is a pic of Ivy taking a nap with Sandra on the beach.  

My most embarassing moment as a mom happend towards the end of the week.  Check out this pic of me below and pay close attention to my outfit and the sleeves.  Yes, it's silly and that is because our last night at camp we had a thrift store prom.  Our room was down the road from the other campers so I had to get dressed and then walk down the street by myself to the prom with Ivy in her stroller.   Just as I walk out the front door a church let their kids out of worship.  So there was some 200 plus kids and leaders from another church.  And here I come walking down the road looking like a hooker with a baby!!  It was like the red sea parted as I came strolling by.  Every one stopped and stared at me.  I won't repeat some of the choice words I heard but most kids screamed  "GO GET THE CAMERA"  " WHAT IS THAT??"   I was quite a site to see.  It was SOOO embarassing!!

If you want to see more pictures from Panama City Beach then CLICK HERE.

 

Lake Keowee

Ivy has been quite the traveler in her short 5 months of life.  Three weeks ago Ivy and I went again to South Carolina.  Why?  Because Grandmommy just had to see little Miss Ivy.

While we were at home my mom rented a house on Lake Keowee.  Keowee is a beautiful lake in the mountains just past Clemson.  The water is the most beautiful shade of greenish blue and the mountains wrap around the entire lake.  It's georgeous!  I so wish Josh could have been there.  Everyone always ask me why Josh isn't with me every time I go to SC.  My answer is... Do you know of a job that would give him that many days vacation???  

Above is a pic of Keowee.  I'm trying to show off my photography skills.  Do you like?
The lake house my mom rented was in the Cliffs.  There are several and we were in the Vineyards.  You can see the Vineyards in the back ground of this picture past my sister, brother in-law and niece Isabel.  
Above is a picture of "Ivy's favorite Uncle Fletcher".  

While we were home we got to see lots of friends and family.  Below is a picture of Ivy meeting Ms. Jessica Dean.

For those of you who don't know I actually do have a job.  Thanks to my 2nd cousin Jane Herlong I am able to work from home and plan my own hours.  Jane is a motivational speaker and I book her events.  She is SOOO amazing at what she does and is a wonderful boss.  If your company/organization ever needs someone to entertain and make a crowd laugh then Jane is your woman. You can check out her website at www.janeherlong.com

For those of you who know my dad you might think you are looking at him.  But no... this guy below is my Uncle Ben.  He is my dad's brother and yes, they look like twins. 

This is just a cute picture of Ivy and Isabel.  Isabel loves her cousin Ivy and loves to give her hugs.
This are just a few of the pictures of places and people we got to see on our trip. CLICK HERE to see the rest of the pics.