Every Boy's Dream...

ahh...to ride a tractor! Our nephew, Will, was intrigued with Uncle Ben's tractors and actually got to go for a ride after spending lots of time watching Uncle Ben cut the grass. He so badly tried to sneak off the deck to get to him and then climbed back up after his ride was over. Boys and tractors...looking at Ben you can see they never outgrow the dream! : ) I have to admit, I always have to give the tractors a try too and am willing to bet Emma will be just as enthralled!

Rolling Machine!

Yes, Emma is now a "rolling machine!" She rolled over from her back to her tummy last Thursday and hasn't quit since! She loves to get to her duck toys...which is what she was after when she first did it! This picture was right after she rolled and got her hands free. I caught it on video yesterday, and hopefully Rick will be able to get it on the website in the near future. Emma's laughing like crazy these days too and talking up a storm. We're starting to hear many more squeals too! I am so thankful to be home and see so much change in our baby! We have to call Daddy and bother him at work everytime we do something new, too...I don't think he minds, though! : )

Baby Land

This is a group shot of some of my friends and I with our babies...we've had a lot going on lately! : ) Hopefully our kids will grow up loving each other's company as much as ther parents!! We had to get a girl picture too! Poor Kayleigh can't wait until the other babies are more fun!

Meet Jonathan!

We had to go meet Jonathan as soon as we could! He was delivered about 7 hours before we got a call from the Hares that we could come visit. He's a precious little thing, and he made us miss the so quickly gone newborn times...even Ben said he sorta' wouldn't mind another already! We're looney, and I'm sure that itch will somewhat diminish as Emma's mobility picks up! Jonathan and Emma got off to a good start on their friendship, and we are so excited about watching them grow up together!

Pampered Parents

We had a "Pampered Parents" shower for our friends Adam and Jamie. It was lots of fun to celebrate the coming of their firstborn son with food, games and fellowship. One of the games we played was "pin the paci on the baby"...the girls did much better than the guys! Our Bible study group gave them a coupon book of things we will do to pamper them as they need once Jonathan arrived. Hopefully they'll start redeeming them soon as he is nearing a week old now!

Growing up...

Emma is growing up so quickly! She is "talking" a good bit more and definitely getting more mobile! She rolled over from her tummy to her back last Friday, April 6. Hasn't done it again yet, but she frequently tries to roll over to her tummy and her back. I think she enjoys the change in scenery! : ) You can see her in the top picture on her way back done from almost making it over. She tries hard to crawl and scoots a good bit. She grips the carpet with her fingers and pulls and pushes hard to try to move! It is the cutest thing! She's playing with her Kick 'n Drive in the bottom picture. She LOVES it and gets quite loud with it when it won't move for her. Maybe not quite got the cause and effect thing down??? She does try to kick and swat at it, but sometimes she has scooted so much she can't reach it anymore.

I am FINALLY done posting now!! Rick has done a GREAT job updating our website, www.benandelizabethhowell.com if you have time to check it out! The baptism video is on there as well as a compilation of Mommy trying to talk and make noises with Emma!

Emma's first Easter

I had to add this picture of us with Aunt DJ...I missed it on the baptism post, and I am not into editing. The others are of Emma after church at my parent's house...as you can see, she just layed around and got passed around. Maybe next year she'll be able to hunt eggs...if not, I'm sure she still won't be passed around much for moving on her own! We didn't think to get the pictures of Emma with my parents and grandparents after Ben's parents left...we'll have to get one of her with them to post soon.

Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg Hunt at my parents after lunch for Mikayla, Matthew, and Will. They all loved running around finding eggs and didn't seem phased by the unseasonably cool weather!

Butterflies!

After church Easter Sunday, we had a butterfly release--what another special way to celebrate new life! It was so fun to see so many church families on the grounds celebrating new life by releasing butterflies! Mikayla and Matthew (our niece and nephew) helped me with Emma's. Her butterfly decided to rest on her before flying away.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

~ II Corinthians 5:17

Baptism

We had Emma baptized on Easter Sunday. It was such a special day, and we were so happy to be able to include Emma in the Covenant family of the Lord on a day when we celebrate the ressurected life of Jesus Christ so that we may also live eternal life! We pray God's guidance for us as we strive to teach and lead Emma to commit her life to the Lord on her own at an early age...and his grace upon us of all our mistakes I'm sure we'll make! I love the picture of Emma and her Daddy--I can just see this one coming back out one day when she's ready to be "given away"...won't that be a HARD day for Daddy!

Blooms with a promise

The Legend of the Dogwood Tree

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew To a stately size and a lovely hue.
'Twas strong & firm it's branches interwoven For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood Christ made a promise which still holds good:
"Never again shall the dogwood grow Large enough to be used so
Slender & twisted, it shall be With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember me Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected this tree shall be A reminder to all of my agony."

~ author unknown

(This is just a "legend"; there is no Biblical basis to it. The legend of the dogwood tree is very likely not accurate.)

Just some pictures of life for us these days...I took this one of me and Emma because she was screaming mad at me for putting a hat on her, but then she got intrigued with the camera. Quite a different expression from the one of agony right before the picture. Ben is working hard with Precision Plumbing's newest piece of equipment in our yard (it is actually well used at work, though it comes in handy for personal use when you're trying to work in a yard that's needing LOTS of work!), and Emma is reading a book in the other picture. Yes, she is gifted! : ) Mommy was trying to read to her, and she took the book right out of my hands to read herself!

Go Tigers!!

Yes, Mommy put a bow in Emma's hair! I thought she was too adorable to not take a picture, and we had to have her photographed sporting the Tiger gear!

Wedding

So, I have a lot of updating to do, and my work on this thing does not look nice like all the rest...But I am keeping up better now! Computers are not my thing! Anyway, these are pictures from my cousin's wedding the last week-end of March. It was a beautiful wedding and reception, and it is hard to believe my little cousin is old enough to be married now! We are happy to have Morgan officially in the family now, too!