pearly whites

stelly went almost a whole year with no teeth. now she has EIGHT that have popped

thru just in the past month and 1/2! here she is brushing away so she won't need

crest white strips down the road.

if i weren't a mom...

i would still think my favorite dessert in a springform pan is cheesecake,

and that strainers were used only to drain pasta.

The Big 1

Everybody loves a birthday party. We celebrated Stella's this past July 28 (put that in your calendars and send cash in the coming years; we'll see that she gets it...) Erica had a ladybug theme (I mean if we did her nursery in ladybugs then we simply MUST carry the theme into the first birthday party, right?) and we celebrated in Ohio with both of our families together. Seriously, though, we recognize that children are a gift from God and we are grateful to him for blessing us in this way. Below are some pictures with little commentary, but then again you aren't on this particular blog to read anyway, are you?

You can't have a birthday without mass quantities of cake. Not bad for Erica's first attempt. I, assuming I could decorate a cake having watched it done once, thought I would tell Erica the best way to ice it. She rolled her eyes but handed me the icing-bag-decorator-thingy (those of you in the cake biz know what I'm talking about). Not only was I completely incapable of creating a dot of icing, but I also managed to smear black icing all over my shirt is I leaned over the cake. Leave it to the experts.
Here is a moment of great anticipation.

And this would be a moment of great satisfaction. You can't see her other hand but she has two fistfuls of cake. She seemed genuinely shocked when we finally took the cake away from her before she had finished the entire thing.

Of course she had a little version of the ladybug for herself but still, it was a pretty large piece. This shot captures the calm before the storm. She has just now realized that she can bury her entire hand in the cake and we're actually letting her do it.
Last but not least, no first birthday is complete without a cabbage patch kid.

Next Stop - Greenville

in may we got to see jenny (matt's sister) graduate with honors and receive her BA in english from bj. she is going to be a dorm counselor in the fall and pursue her MA in counseling. it has been so neat to see her follow the Lord in her college years and watch Him work in her life. we love you, jenny, and are so proud of you!
stelly is having her own version of "opportunity days" - she's getting a "taste" of what the school is like.
this pic isn't the best quality, but it was so good to see cheryl, jen, bec and jonas.
the party girls at jenny's graduation dinner at the tipton's house.
the owen clan (minus matt who is taking the picture).

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

Today, June 15, is our 4th wedding anniversary. I know that Erica has been handling the blogging load lately, but I wanted to jump in and share something with you...


I graduated from seminary about a month ago, and as I sat there during the commencement proceedings, I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering back to a campfire five years ago and a conversation with a beautiful woman who would later become my wife. We were having a campout with the youth group of our church in Ohio, and most everyone had gone to their tents for the night. That was when I first told Erica that I wanted to attend seminary in Detroit. I didn’t think it would be well-received since we were both planning on attending BJ that fall, and going to Detroit would put many miles between us. However, without hesitating, Erica told me that if I perceived God to be directing my steps down that path, she was in favor. Its just a small thing, and I don’t think I really realized it at the time, but it would only be the beginning of many times that she would support the best decision over what she personally would have chosen.

I continued during that commencement service to reflect on the last four years of seminary (the married years) and have marveled at God’s gracious gift to me in her. Though I would be leaning toward hyperbole if I said that I couldn’t have done it without her, I also know I wouldn’t have strayed too far from the truth. Sometimes God gifts us with people who are always there, who lift us up when we’re tired, tell us to keep going, and help along the away. Erica is that person for me. Right away Erica bought into the reality that we were going to serve in the gospel together, that it would mean different responsibilities for each of us, and that it would take both of us cooperating. That spirit has evidenced itself in the way she has handled without complaining everything from having the roof of our apartment ripped off after a month of marriage and rain literally drench almost everything we owned, to work/school schedules that conflicted so much that we could literally go whole days without seeing each other, to simply being alone while I was holed up in my office studying. Today, I want to thank her for encouraging me to press on when I felt like quitting, for pushing me out of bed no matter how strongly I protested when the alarm went off, for making me a pot of coffee at night, and then for bringing me antacid tablets for the heartburn I got from drinking the coffee she made. I want to thank her for reading my papers and telling me they were good when they weren’t, for pulling me back from the precipice of despair just a few times, and for being a godly mother to the girl who happens to star in this blog.

As I walked across that platform on graduation night, I realized it wasn’t quite right for me to be alone at this point when she had been with me the whole way. In fact, when I took the diploma and faced the crowd while my name and future plans were read, I locked eyes with her the whole way to tell her thanks, and I think, as always, that she understood.

Happy Anniversary, Erica. Thank you.

first stop

in an effort to fill in some of the gaps of the last month, we'll start with my big 30 on april 22! my sweet friends put together a dee-lish (for all you Rachel Ray fans) brunch for me.

Swinging in the heat

is about as much fun as singing in the rain. We've had a ton going on since our last post. We'll try to update you in the next few weeks. Until then, here are some pics of Stelly from our walks to the park this past week.

permanent damage?

some of you know when i was pregnant i craved strawberries. well, we didn't see the effects this had on young stella until just recently. we hope the damage isn't long-term...

stelly's happy place

sun afternoon october 16th, we went into stelly's nursery to get her up from her nap and found her sucking her little baby thumb. since that time, she and her thumb have been inseparable, especially when she's sleepy or when she gets frustrated. daddy calls it going to her "happy place." it's so cute now, but we'll let you know how we feel about it in a few years! can anyone recommend a good orthodontist?

happy birthday, grandma b!

while we were home in ohio the first weekend in april, we celebrated grandma's birthday coming up this thursday. stelly sends her love and kisses to you grandma! have a happy birthday!

stella gracey face

stelly turns 8 months old today. where has time gone? here are some pics i took of her today before she watched her baby mozart DVD.

instead of a bow

mommy didn't put a bow in my hair today so i was wondering if this looks OK instead?

the neat thing is, it doubles as a bracelet too! how cool is that? i bet daddy wishes mommy was this low maintenance!

A Noble Career

An anonymous writer declared,
"There is no nobler career than that of motherhood at its best...With what diligence then should she prepare herself for such a task. If the mechanic who is to work with "things" must study at technical school, if the doctor into whose skilled hands will be entrusted human lives, must go to medical school...how much more should the mother who is fashioning the souls of the men and women of tomorrow, learn at the highest of all schools and from the Master-Sculptor Himself, God."

getting bigger???

my shirt says "getting bigger everyday" but why am i still wearing 0-3 month jeans? i guess i'm just petite because as you can see from these pictures, i am almost ready to crawl. i must at least be getting stronger everyday! are you ready for this, mom? catch me if you can!

studying with dad

don't let the little fish toy fool you. stelly is really concerned about much deeper things than nemo. in this picture her dad is writing a paper for his non-pauline epistles class and stelly keeps submitting her points about why he shouldn't be studying hebrews in that class since she is convinced of pauline authorship. now where's dory? nemo's getting lonely.

What's up Doc?

Stelly has recovered from the flu and her appetite has returned. She was all smiles when she heard we were resuming her new food explorations with carrots for lunch.




Stelly loved them! (Whole carrot was for picture purposes only! She ate them pureed! ;))

stella's friends

stelly is feeling better today but was still fevered last night. we trust she's on the mend and will be back to her chipper little self soon. she misses her friends, so i thought i'd reminisce and post some pics of her enjoying herself with her friends in the recent past.

sick on valentine's day

our usually smiley sweetheart is a sick little cupid today. she still wants to send love to her family and friends!

Back from Hiatus

Well, for those of you with an RSS feed to this blog, you’re probably quite surprised to see an update appear! And for the rest, you probably won’t discover this post for several months. So, if you’re reading this in August, SURPRISE! Anway, I have a renewed interest in blogging about young Stella, and several things to show you from the last several months. Unfortunately, Stella is sick today-we were up most of the night with her. She and Erica just returned from the doctor and the verdict is that she has the flu. With that said, I’ll post a picture of happier days than today and then get cracking on some video of Stella’s first meal. Stay tuned…

sufficient

psalm 19.7_11
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

"it [the bible] is still the first book which fits the child's mind when he begins to learn religion, and the last to which the old man clings as he leaves the world. in short, it suits all ages, ranks, climates, minds, conditons. it is the one book which suits the world."

-j.c. ryle, "how readest thou?"