Teeth, friends and family

I think it's safe to finally say that Sydney has her first two bottom teeth! She is already chewing like a champ, even though they are still technically only half way up. She loves eating those puffs! Last night wasn't too fun though, she woke up every hour on the hour, I assume from the teething. Poor little thing isn't having a fun time with that!

Carter asked me the other day if he could put on his winter hat. Did someone tell him that it is 100 degrees outside? Thank God for air conditioning! How did I ever survive in Africa?

Sydney's favorite friend is Alex who is 5 years older than her. Fortunately he doesn't mind taking the abuse! Alex came over the other night while his parents went to a wedding.

Here I am with the kids and Alex. He is like family!

Carter's new favorite toy is Daddy's poker chip set. This picture looks like Steve was teaching him to play poker but he really wasn't. Turns out the hand that he had given Carter actually beat him hands down! At least it made for a great photo op!

Carter will spend hours lining up the chips on the table. Anything that keeps him busy and happy, I'm all for it! He doesn't need to know what poker chips are used for right?

Alex and Carter thought it would be fun to cover Sydney up with the big legos. She doesn't seem to mind. Anything she can put into her mouth!

Last night we had Kevin (Steve's brother) and Renee (Kevin's wife) and cousin Emma and Cooper over for dinner. Sydney and Cooper are only three weeks apart. Cooper couldn't keep his hands off of Sydney's ear!

So she finally got him back!

Dada

Sydney has been saying "Dada" an awful lot lately. I don't mind. I know she loves me because she's attached at my hip! Speaking of Daddy, Steve has officially applied to Seminary. He applied to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Please pray for the Lord's direction in our lives with this. We are just waiting to find out if he has been accepted and if it's not too late to start this Fall. We are excited to see what the Lord has planned for us.

4th of July weekend

This was the first of three BBQ's we had over the weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. This was at our friends the Murray's house. We swam, had a Bible study and had dinner together.

Carter and his best pal Alex Murray in their matching bathing suits. Alex is 2 1/2 years older, but they have great fun together!

The kids: Aaron Gish, Chloe Gish, Carter and Alex Murray. Missing from picture: Adam Gish and Audrey van Eck.

Alex and Sydney absolutely adore each other!

On Saturday night we went to Steve's family's house. This is Cooper who is only 3 weeks older than Sydney. They are pretty much the same exact size in height and weight!

Cousin Emma, three years old.

The kids playing with each other.

Sydney is adorable even with spit up and slobber all over her dress!

On Sunday my dear friend Nicole came in town. We hadn't seen her since Carter was 6 months old, so it was a treat to see her! Sydney's middle name is named after Nicole, since Nicole was very instrumental in getting Steve and I together. We had a great time hanging out with her on Sunday night with a visit from our friend Kristin Higginbotham and her boyfriend Mark. On Monday morning, Katie came by to visit Nicole and then Nicole was off to Mississippi again! Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before we see her again.

Steve and his friend Vincent Luttrell. On Monday night we had the Luttrells over for dinner before Vincent heads off to be a chaplain in the Army. He just graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and will be moving to Tennessee where he and his family will be living. Steve is going to miss his Seminary pal. They had many a Theological discussion over the past few years! And speaking of Seminary... Steve is considering going to Seminary, something he has thought and prayed about a lot over the years. He is hoping to start this Fall. Please pray for the Lord's leading with this!

Four years ago today...

It seems like just yesterday, but four years ago today, Steve and I "tied the knot." What fun it has been today, remembering that fun weekend. Our wedding was so fun and really a celebration. July 2nd is not only special because of our anniversary, but six years ago today I moved to Texas and on that very same day, Steve gave his life over to the Lord. God certainly had a special plan for the two of us in how He brought us both together at just the right time.

Tonight we celebrated by going out to a nice dinner. With two little kids, we don't get out too often, so this was quite a treat for us!

Steve being silly with me... what he does best!

Our meal was delicious, but the presentation was quite interesting! Steve had a ribeye with mushrooms. And no, he wasn't playing with his food, it came that way!

I had a delicious pistachio crusted sea bass. Never had sea bass before, but I loved it!

Texas Heat

So after enjoying a couple of days with a "cold front" in the high 80's, we are now back to the high 90's creeping almost to the 100's again. Today we went to cool off with our friend Katie and her son Landen at her Mom's pool. Sydney loved getting in the water at first but then was not too happy about having to wear a hat and didn't enjoy the sun in her eyes either. Needless to say it wasn't a long pool outing but it was still fun to cool off.

My handsome man! He's going to be such a heart breaker one day.

So we recently began introducing solids to Sydney slowly but surely. She still hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. She more enjoys chewing on the spoon than anything, thanks to teething! Yesterday we discovered that she loves green beans! Good news: she loves green beans. Bad news: green beans stain! A little hard to see in the picture below, but she had it all over her PJ's. At least she's smiling!