Swing, swing...

Dan decided that Luke needed a swing. I think that Dan needed Luke to have a swing! :) Dan is so much more excited about Luke's toys than Luke.

Luke LOVES this toy! Loves, loves, loves this swing. It is our go-to when he is being kinda fussy or antsy.

The heat has been almost unbearable lately! So I can only stand to be out there for about 20 minutes until I turn into a total GROUCH...

It's totally my father's fault! I promise.

This has been one of favorite toy 'investments'.

By investment, I do not mean that this was at all expensive...try about $20. I mean that we are of the mindset that we should borrow as much as possible, as far as baby gadgets go!

We would be broke if we bought everything we have been able to borrow from friends/family! So Thank You friends and family! :)

Looks like naptime!

Swimming!

Luke's first swim was at Nana's pool.

Which is so appropriate! I had countless birthday parties at this pool. Spent many, many summers here...

He loved every minute of it! I can't wait for Luke to be able to have his own memories at Nana and Papa's pool!

We bought him this crab floatie. You know, in honor of Maryland...?

 I'm not quite ready for the whole bathing suit thing, so Dan got in there with him!

Look at that smile! :)

Luke has an awesome dad and I have an amazing husband! We are so incredibly blessed by him!

What better way to finish a fun afternoon!

I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer! We are!

REALITY...

Warning...do not be eating while you read this post!

It is extremely gross...

So why do I post it?

Because, reality isn't always pretty.

The reality of being a mom...

...it isn't all cute! :)

You're welcome!

Luke's Baptism

Little Man was baptized this past weekend!

I realized how truly blessed I am to have the family that I have! As far as our physical families go, we had about 20 + people at church on Sunday morning.

This is the Swiger side of the family...

This is the Emmons side...

The 'gown' that Luke wore was the dress that Nana (my grandmother) made for my baptism 27 years ago!

It was the first gown that she made and I think she ended up making around 14!

I love watching babies be baptized, in general. I especially loved watching mine! It is such an awesome reminder of the family we have in our own church and in the invisible church.

At Uptown, our church, the fathers will write and read a blessing for their child. Dan's was beautiful! When he started to read it, he got choked up. That's a big deal...he didn't even cry at our wedding!!

This is Dan's blessing:

John 12:46-47
46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

47"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

Luke,


You nor I, nor anyone here today deserves what you have been given. The Lord your God came not to give you what you deserve. He came to pull you from the darkness by giving the perfect gift; by giving his life for you.
Today we bring you before the covenant family of those who have seen the light and know the hope that Jesus has brought. Although we vow to speak truth into your life, we cannot bring you to the father.
I do believe in the power of the One that loves you so perfectly. I have faith in Our Savior who offers hope and salvation. My desire for you is that you would trust in The God of love who came not to condemn but to save his children. My hope for you Luke, my first born son, is that you would know the greatest blessing you could ever know, you would know Jesus.

We are so grateful to be a part of a church that loves us so well and that loves our child so well! I am also grateful to serve a God that includes children in the covenant blessing.

And I am oh so grateful for our friends and family who came over for lunch to celebrate our little one!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Becoming a Big Boy!

Little Man has hit some milestones in the recent past! Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all of them...

Luke has started eating baby food. He loves his fruits and orange veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potatoes). But he HATES peas and green beans! I always send those with the babysitter! She has a magically ability to get him to eat those!

*It could be that she has 4 kiddos of her own* 

**By the way, Lori is an angel! I couldn't have made it through the past 3 months without her!**

We also went on our first family of 3 camping trip!

Dan and I had to put our compromising skills to the test with this one. He wanted to backpack into a campsite. I wanted to have the flexibility to leave in the middle of the night (in case of any emergencies) without hiking in the dark...with a baby...and the dogs...and our stuff!

We found some pretty cool drive-up campsites in Pisgah National Forest in Brevard, NC thanks to the recommendation of a friend of Dan's from work!

It was beautiful and perfect!

Little Man slept better than we did!

Isn't he adorable?!?!

Luke has also started squealing in a pterodactyl sort of way! I love it!

He also rolls over...front to back and back to front. My boy is so multi-talented.

And the lastest milestone....

HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!

Thankfully he hasn't been too fussy! :) He is good to his momma!

I'll put pics up of the tooth as soon as I can get that skilled!

Bye-Bye Working World...

I am about 2 weeks away from becoming a stay-at-home momma! I'm excited and scared all within the same moment!

Wow! Who wouldn't want to stare at this face all day?

For reals though...I want to become the best mom, wife, homemaker possible...

Here are a few tangible goals:

1. Have weekly playdates (for me and for Luke)

2. Try out at least one new recipe a week

3. Never go grocery shopping without a coupon (this is going to be hard for me!)

4. SERVE, SERVE, SERVE...I want to use my more flexible schedule to love and serve the people that God has put in my life!

More to come...

Happy Groundhogs Day!

This is Luke's babysitter...her name is Gammy. When she babysitts Luke he never gets put down. I don't even think she goes to the bathroom when she is with him!

This weekend Dan and I are signed to go to Barnabas Training (http://www.thebarnabascenter.org/) at our church. I signed us up because Gammy (my mom) was planning on coming up on Friday night for the first session and staying through the day Saturday. Then tragedy struck...

Not really, it just turns out that my future sister-in-law, Meredith, has her first bridal shower on Saturday. So we lost our babysitter.

I have never experienced having to find a babysitter...I have always been the babysitter! It is also complicated when the baby that is being sitted (that doesn't sound quite right) is only 5 weeks old. There is childcare at the training, but not for those who have only been in this world for less than 6 months...

What to do? It might be easier if this was only for a few hours on Saturday, but this was a 8:30 to 5 job for someone! I wasn't sure if I was ready to ask anybody who wasn't family to commit to this...I actually wasn't sure if I was ready to let anybody who wasn't family watch him for so long! Not that I don't love or trust my friends! It is just a tiring job. There is a reason I get a maternity leave! (Besides recovering from giving birth to my HUGE baby)

Well, we didn't have to give up this training thankfully. Dan and I are really looking forward to going through it! We decided to make Gammy's heart sing. She is sacrificing herself (yeah right) and taking Luke back to Greenville with her. Dan and I will just drive down after our training.

What a big hassle this little munchkin is...

But he is so darn cute, isn't he?

Okay, more about this training...

Barnabas Training Basic -a weekend seminar (Friday night and Saturday) designed to provide participants with greater confidence and capacity to love and care for those around them. Includes teaching on a Biblical model of people and an interactive small group experience.

I am so stoked to get some tools to help me develop the relationships that I have and to start new ones!

I let you know how it goes!

On a side note, I type this blog like there are a billion people reading it. When, really, the only readers that I have are my husband and my momma...who else do I need! :)