11 months

Griffin will be 11 months old on Friday. I never posted any pictures of Griffin only a few minutes old. I didn't have any for awhile until our friend that volunteer to take pictures that day gave them to me later. This is one of my favorites. Only minutes old and now 11 months old. It has been such a sweet 11 months that I will treasure in my heart always.
-Griffin is crawling like a wild man.
-He loves to walk while holding onto to our fingers and gets upset when we stop.
-His hair keeps getting thicker and blonder.
-He has enjoyed being outside and will soon get to swim in a blow up pool we're gonna get him for the first time.
-He held his first pine cone today and tried to eat it.
-He likes to sit and turn himself around and around moving his legs.

Happy 11 months, Griffin!

Hurtlocker #2

Ok so we watched it and we both liked it. I can def see why it won the oscar and why Bigelow (the director/producer) won one too. Tyler and I didn't want it to end. We hope they make a Band of Brothers Iraq version someday. It is just so interesting, yet painful to watch as well, realizing what our troops go through day in and day out. I loved it too because it causes you to think about what you are doing every day and what others are doing every day. It also caused us to remember to appreciate our troops and pray for them all over the world.
So here's those who dismantle bombs in our military and all our troops. THANK YOU!

Hurtlocker

About to watch the Hurtlocker with Tyler. A review may come tomorrow. We love war movies. Hoping it will be worth our time. I find that movies that win oscars usually end up to be disappointing to me. We shall see.

The Zoo, baby jeans, and drinking from a cup

It's always better when we're together.....having fun at the zoo...
Staring at the raven...
Big bird
I like to look at animals....
giraffe.
I love my dad!!!!!
Whoa! Peacocks are so cool! Come over here please peacock...

Checking out the monkeys...
This is an extra pic that I just really love....
I know this is how to do it, but there's no water coming out...
Griffin will be a jeans model someday....maybe....ok probably not, but ya never know.

We took Griffin to the Clovis Zoo Friday afternoon. It's a pretty decent zoo for Clovis. We were always surprised when we would turn around and see another animal we didn't expect them to have. Like the giraffe. They have a humongous giraffe! Most giraffes are humongous I suppose, but I guess it just seemed so big since we never see them in real life ever.
Griffin had a good time. His favorite animals were the peacock, monkeys, and the raven.
Some friends of ours had gone to the zoo last week and bought yearly passes. So Tyler and I bought some since we will use them quite a bit, we think, since there's not much else to do with a baby in Clovis. And I can take Griffin during the week with friends too.

Also, I sometimes let Griffin drink out of a real cup with me holding it, and so now he loves to play with cups. He knows you're suppose to hold it to your mouth, which he will do with the cup he plays with.

And finally, today he had on a pair of jeans he's had since Oct. that still fit him (6months size) and they just now fit him perfectly and are so cute on him that I had to take a picture. I just love little baby jeans. They are one of my favorite baby things.
Hope everyone has a splendid weekend. :)

Sticks, grass, and warmer weather....

Crawling over to this almost green stuff...
This is fun...
Having fun with my mom..
Made it off the blanket....
Not so sure I like this stuff...
Kinda prickly...
Hmmm..what have I found???
Mom says it's a stick.
Can I eat it?
It's fun to hold on to....
I love this stick!
Inspecting some more...

Today was so nice that Griffin and I spent some time outdoors in our backyard. He was fairly excited about it and loved being out in the open, fresh air. He has much to explore and I think I enjoyed watching him more than he did exploring.

1st birthday

Not much to blog about today, I am, however, about to give Griffin his first birthday soon and I have a favor to ask any mothers who read this that have ever given a first birthday for their baby. Do y'all have any tips, suggestions, or advice to give from y'all's experience? Anything would be appreciated! Thanks!

What is Big? What is Small? (Mark 9:30-41)

How Big? How Small? from Central Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Student Pastor Tyler Hicks explores what Jesus teaches about being great in the Kingdom of God

Be The Bridge

Be The Bridge from Tyler Hicks on Vimeo.

This is pt.3 of The Bridge Series. This message discusses how we are charged by God to be ministers of reconciliation... in other words, we should be the bridge reaching out to others and pointing them to Christ.

GREAT SERMON!

Finally

Oh yes, the time finally came this week! Griffin is crawling! My aunt practically taught him I think. (Thanks Aunt Nese) Guess I haven't been a very good teacher. But we are so happy for Griffin's achievement!

Spring Break

My Naunie loves to hold me...
Having a great grandmother is so cool...
getting sugar from my Nana...
Saying goodbye...
Griffin was such a trooper when we went to Santa Fe...
Leaving Sante Fe...beautiful mountains...
Having fun with my Naunie...
We were parked and waiting somewhere by the way....we weren't driving...
Man, my Naunie is the best!

My mom has come to Clovis to visit us during her Spring Break (she's a teacher) for the past 3 years. The first year to help us decorate our house after just buying it, last year to help decorate Griffin's nursery before his birth, and this year (no decorating!) to bring my Aunt and Great-grandmother to see Clovis and Santa Fe (we went for two days) and to just see us (Griffin especially). We had such a sweet time and laughed so much. My mom, aunt, and nana are so much fun to be around. Thank you Mom, Aunt Nese, and Nana for spending y'all spring break with us! Griffin misses y'all already and so do I. :) oh Tyler too! ;)

Mom's bible reading

Tyler found this blog post last night and read it to me. Thought some of you mom's out there would appreciate it and it might minister to you as it did me.

http://www.desertspringschurch.org/blog/?p=119

1 Samuel 12:21

"And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty."
I have had this verse sitting in my window seal for awhile now trying to memorize it. I wanted to share it and what it has meant to me.

There are so many empty things I turn to day in and day out, and not just things that are seen, sometimes it's all just in my heart. God commands us to not run after these things for they cannot profit us. But it "feels" like they are profiting us, huh? They are sneaky. But then sometimes they are things that just weigh us down and make us terribly unhappy, yet we keep holding on to them and entertaining them. Our hearts are idol factories as John Calvin once said. Our hearts can deceive us. My prayer daily is that God will continually change my heart into the place where He is worshiped alone, the place where He satisfies all my deepest longings. It is good to turn aside from empty unsatisfying things and turn your heart, mind, and soul into loving the Lord. Please, Lord, rid my heart of sin, for everything starts in my heart. As Watermark writes, "Come and make my heart Your home."

Sick baby

Please say a prayer for Griffin. He woke up last night at 2am with slight fever (first time to ever have fever. I wanted to take him to the emergency room and Tyler consoled me and was like "Haley, he will be ok. Calm down. If need be, you can take him to the doc tomorrow." Of course he was right.) and his runny nose started Sunday. It's crazy, I feel like we just got over his last sickness and here it comes again. The Lord is good though and I know He will get us through however many weeks of sickness may come. It's remarkable how much energy you can all of a sudden have at 2 in the morning when you here your baby crying. You jolt out of bed and rush to comfort them as if you had just drank ten Red Bulls. That energy def comes from the Lord I know. It also brings back memories of the first 8 weeks of Griffin's life when he wasn't sleeping through the night yet. How I got through those eight weeks was only by the grace of God. Thankful for his sustaining strength. But as I held Griffin today and he cuddled up against me as I rocked him ALOT, I thought each time how thankful I am for this job God has given to me and how I was born to be a mother. Its the best job in the universe.

Thank you for your prayers. Hopefully he will be well before the weekend when Tyler's parents come and before Sunday when my mom, aunt, and grandmother come. Can't wait to spend time with family. It's way over due.

Season 7

We just started the very first episode of the 7th season of 24. We have found that the first episode of each season is usually the most intense episode of the whole season. Here we go....again....

Tyler's party

sweet friends Joseph & Amy

Having fun at Daddy's party....

Sitting in Momma's lap...

MMA magazine

Playing with my friend, Steve.

Friends, Daniel, Abbie, and Lauren

24 CTU manual

Ali

So Tyler's party was so much fun! Thanks everyone who came for coming and making it so amazing. Tyler was very thankful for everyone coming and he even got come pretty cool gifts that he did not expect. Everyone that came knows him pretty well due to the gifts they gave him. We enjoyed everyone's company so much and Griffin did too. :)

Preppy Baby + Teeth + Balloons

If you click on this picture it will inlarge it and you can see Griffin's two lower teeth perfectly well.


This is what Griffin wore to church last Sunday. The shoes were given to him as hami-downs from our friends, the Azams, and the outfit my mom and dad had given him way back in Oct.
These balloons were for Tyler's bday party but I think Griffin enjoyed them the most. We went up to the church to blown them up and Griffin was so afraid of the helium thing. Every time Tyler pushed it Griffin would cry, stuff his thumb in his mouth, and then dive his head into my neck and snuggle. He finally got used to it after awhile.