beach trip 2010

wow...are you sure that june is almost over? i can't believe this month flew by as quickly as it has. just a little recap: youth camp. 40 baseball games. yes, i said 40! yes, in one month.. beach trip. fl. ga. sc. nc. i think the car ride to and from the beach was the first good convos chris and i have had in a long while. it was much needed.

these are pics from this past bluster beach trip. everyone, all 21 of us blusters, were there at some point during the week. that is the first time since 1999 that we have all vacationed together. we had a blast and enjoyed each other's company all week. i hated to see it come and go so quickly. poor eli didn't get any attention at all. i hated it for him! here are my favorite pics from the week.

eli heading for the beach. day 1.

sensory overload.

seashells. which he couldn't keep out of his mouth.

heading for the waves.

best seat at low country.
boys at provision company.
girls and eli at provision company. yes, we have a baby at a bar, but with
a two hour wait we opted for eating at the bar.
bare bottom.
first sucker from papa. and he loved it. sucked it to the tootsie roll.

white and khaki. nana's request.fam pic.
i love josh's face in this pic.
loved rocking on front porch.

fun at NeNe and Boo's

chris spent the better part of this week in birmingham, al at samford univ's baseball camp. i decided i would go hang out with my parents while he was away. that way i could have some help with the little one. eli had lots of fun getting into everything. he spent lots of time climbing onto the fireplace and climbing up onto couches, chairs, stools, rocking chairs, and the window in the pic above. he is getting pretty brave and has a new bump on his head daily because his little body isn't quite ready for some of the tasks he attempts! we go to the beach twice in the next two weeks. once with the youth group to pcb and once with the fam to north carolina. i hope eli likes the sand and water.

something i have learned about eli over the past few weeks...he only likes to poop at home. seriously! we have been out of twon three times over the past three weeks and he hasn't pooped once while we are away. he always saves his #2 for the morning after he's slept his first night back at home! and believe me, it is always a mess.i hope he gets over this next week while we are at youth camp. i'm sure his stomach will start to hate him after 5 days without a #2. (sorry if that is too much info. i just think it is funny.)

looking outside

checking out the tv and holding on for dear life

taking a bath in the sink

eli loves to swing. dad said he wouldn't put his bed on his shoulder so he just held his head like this until he fell asleep.

he loves to bathe! thank goodness

pulling the window frame off the window. i'm sure this is where one of his bumps came from!

trying to crawl away from the scene.

first fruits

the garden is coming along well. i'm sure the week we are at the beach will be when everything is ready to pick. there is tons of squash almost ready and the tomatoes are coming along. just waiting on the okra and peppers to start blooming. i can't wait for fresh salsa and fried squash and okra! yum, yum.

will he ever eat again?

last week eli started protesting baby food and wouldn't eat table food either. all he would eat were puffs (aka, these little junk food "things" that melt in your mouth). we have tried just about everything...

pancakes...no

pancakes, take two...no

spaghetti...no

he picks up anything i put on his plate and then delicately tosses it down onto the ground. and then when puffs are put on his plate, he shoves them in his mouth, five at a time!
any pointers for me? i'm up for anything.

E's Favorite Toys

chacos...cords...

water bottles...

and electrical sockets. judge me if you want. i don't let him chew on my chacos, or electrical cords, and i only let him put his finger in sockets every once and a while for a nice quick jolt of energy...just kidding, jus kiddin, jus kiddin, jus kiddin, jus kiddin. actually, i have started popping his hand if he goes near one but he only laughs and goes right back for it. bless me, eli is going to be just like his daddy...stubborn! :) just kidding again. his mommy is just as stubborn as his daddy...so we are in for it!

Lake Burton Fun

Over Memorial Day weekend, we shared time with some close family friends at Lake Burton. I think I have spent every major summer holiday there since I was in middle school, at least. The Barrys' always open their home to us and we are forever grateful! We spent the weekend eating, laughing, watching the rain, and got in a little sun bathing. Here is the overview of our weekend...

eat. sleep. eat. nap. eat. sit in sun. read. nap. laugh. get burned (on accident). eat. laugh. sit on porch. rain. sleep. eat. rain. take walk in rain with baby (chris). nap. eat. watch more rain. star wars. eat. baseball. sleep. boat church. sing i'll fly away. eat. nap. rain some more. sit on porch. world domination. sleep. eat. rain even more. pack up. leave.

i think i showered in there a couple of times...maybe. we had lots of fun with the Barrys' and Kafskys'. thanks for letting us tag along with you guys.

a passing of the omlette torch.
thanks dad for teaching chris his way around the kitchen.

chris took over the world.

eli and laurel blake(a.k.a. lbk, warwel bwake, baby girl, etc)

we pooped him out.

When God Writes Your Story

In November of 1999 the Lord took my four year old cousin, Ben Harden, from our family in a tragic accident. It was during the Thanksgiving holidays so I was able to travel with my mom to Macon to help take care of Ben's two older siblings while he was fighting to make it in the hospital. He died 4 days after his accident. This horrible moment took our family by surprise, but not the Lord. He knew this was Ben's time to go home.

Psalm 139:16
"All the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be."

I never would have written that heartbreaking Thanksgiving morning into anyone's life story but the Lord allowed it to happen in our family for many reasons. For one thing, it played a huge part in my coming to salvation in the Lord.

Baseball was Ben's favorite sport. One of my most favorite memories of the two of us was playing baseball out in front of his house. He loved to steals bases and we played until we were pooped, just the two of us and lots of "ghost men". :)

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Lord gave us our family a sweet moment in Ben's memory. Taylor, Ben's older brother, played for a baseball state championship on his high school field which just happens to be named "Ben Harden Memorial Field". I was there the day the field was dedicated in Ben's memory. Ben would have been a freshman this past year and might have even played on this same varsity baseball team. This championship game just happened to be the last game a Harden child would play on this field, three years too early. I know the Lord could feel the sorrow in Ben's mom's heart as she watched Taylor play his last games of his senior year. But she couldn't be sad for long because Taylor's team ended up winning the GISA state championship right there on Ben Harden Memorial Field. I don't think it was a coincident that Taylor's team won this championship on Memorial Day weekend and I don't think it was by chance that they won during Taylor's senior year. I think the Lord knew what he was doing when He wrote this into my family's story. I know beyond a shadow of doubt. I think this was His way of easing the pain and bringing joy to this moment in time.

Taylor Harden with his family. What a sweet memory.

*To read a sweet article from macon.com, click here.