A Christening and a cookout

Have you ever had a day where you just felt God was smiling down on you from start to finish?

Sunday was one of those days.

That morning, we baptized Keatyn at our church. There is nothing more special than dedicating your baby to the Lord and taking the oath as her parents to raise her in the faith.

After Randy sprinkled her head, he carried her out into the congregation to "show her off." While he walked, the entire church sang the hymn, God Claims You, which makes me cry every time a baby is baptised...Keatyn Lynn, God claim you,

He helps you, protects you and loves you too.

We this day do all agree, a child of God you'll always be.
We your family love you so, we vow to help your faith to grow.
And if you should tire or cry, then we will sing this lullaby.

Keatyn Lynn, God claims you,
He helps you, protects you and loves you too.

Penny and Lynda taught Sunday School at their church that morning, and then they, along with Lynda's husband and Penny's nephew, came to our church for the baptism. They are so special.
They gave her a precious bear with a Jesus Loves Me ribbon on it and a picture frame that says "Dedicated to the Lord". The verse at the bottom is 1 Samuel 1:27. I didn't recognize it immediately (I should know my bible better than that!) but when I looked it up it was the one that said...

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."

So fitting and SO true! The beautiful thing is, I know how much they prayed for her too. That means the world to me.

And then, a little later in the service, my in-laws joined the church. They have been coming since not long after Jimmy and I got married, but officially joined today! I bet the congregation was so sick of the Cofer clan by the end of the morning. ha!
It was such a wonderful service and such a blessing!

After we left church, everyone went home, changed clothes and headed to the marina for a cookout. I need to say a HUGE thank you to my dad who worked countless hours to make this happen and to my brother and Uncle Tommy for manning the grills.

Meet the newest love of Papaw's life, it's like his 3rd grandbaby...
I had been watching the weather for a week... and praying. Each day, the forecast got worse and worse. It was supposed to be a washout. There was no Plan B. (Well, except to all come back to my house and eat... YIKES!) As I was rushing out the door for church, I looked around my house and saw the dirty dishes in the sink, the cluttered countertops, the toys laying all over the living room floor, and thought to myself... Lord, PLEASE don't let it rain!!!!
At best, I was just praying for an hour of no storms. Enough to choke down a burger or two and let the kids get wet. But according to weather reports, that wasn't likely.










Nalin announced that her mom and dad were expecting a baby!!! And, Nalin will (hopefully) officially be Nalin LOSEY by the end of this month! Adoption hearings are almost complete... I'm so happy for them!

Getting a little practice...






It's so hard to say goodbye...

We all got there at 1:30 and pulled out of the parking lot at 5, just as the storm clouds rolled in. By then, all the food was gone, the kids had each had turns on the tube and had done more flips off the boat than we could count and everyone was burnt and exhausted. We practically had the lake to ourselves because the weather report was so bad.

It turned out to be the perfect day!

Thank you Lord for my baby girl, my amazing family, and blue skies.

Soggy Toes 2

Well, she may not look a THING like her brother, but Keatyn seems to be taking after him in more ways than one.

It's hard to outdo the original Soggy Toes...
Trace rightfully earned his nickname for Abram's pirate themed 2nd birthday party in July of 07. My extremely creative cousin, Carrie, made every child a du rag for the occasion.
That's probably my all time favorite baby picture of him.

Those cheeks, oh, those sweet cheeks! I could just slurp them right off his little face.

Fast forward 4 years...

Little sister has found her feet and takes every opportunity to take a nibble.

Is flexibility hereditary?
She even managed to get them in her mouth while eating green beans sitting upright in her high chair, which resulted in both of us needing a bath after dinner.

Of course, what do you expect from children whose mother's claim to fame is her ability to do the splits on the wall?

Correction... USED to. I feel after birthing 2 babies, I should probably retire that little trick.

I owe my flexibility to my brother who used me as his personal wrestling dummy as a child. He would contort me into a pretzel every afternoon as a warm-up before wrestling practice while my mom stood in the corner yelling, "DON'T HURT HIM HEIDI, REMEMBER YOU'RE BIGGER THAN HE IS!"

Really mom, really?

So maybe they got it from me, or maybe they both have a foot fetish.

Either way, if my toes were that cute, I'd probably munch on them too.

Firsts...

Baby girl has had a busy few weeks. Seems like she is growing up at warp speed and I can't believe she is already 4 months old. She loves sucking on her hands and middle fingers, being outside, lifting her legs in the sleep sack and BANGING them on her bed all night long (do you hear me yawning as I type this?) and is completely mesmerized by her big brother.

Just of few of her firsts...

First "lap sit" with Great Frank on Memorial Day...
Someone's awfully cozy at the old folks home.
First bite of rice cereal...
Oh, this isn't so bad...
This guy is too funny...
Trace eating his first bite of cereal on June 12, 2007...
Keatyn's first bite on June 9, 2011...
Could they look any different??? Wow!

Time for the bumbo seat...
She wasn't quite stable enough to sit for long and kept leaning over on the little white ball, which pushes against her full tummy. So it was lean to the left... spit up on the carpet. Lean to the right... spit up on the carpet. Fall to the middle... spit up on her feet.
So we moved her to the counter so she could spit up at will, and watch mommy cook dinner. Appetizing, isn't it!

Trace giving her a bottle for the first time. That we've seen anyway :)

She got to meet her cousin Marilyn from Washington D.C. last weekend. They became instant buddies!
The tradition goes... when Marilyn comes to visit, we all meet at the Krystal. She grew up here and longs for a gut bomb when she comes home.

Lunching ladies...

She is growing up so fast. I wish I could find a pause button and just soak up every minute of her. She had her 4 month checkup last week and Dr. Coffman said "Special K" (Trace is "Big T") is off the charts for height and weighs 13 lb. 10 oz. She is developing such a personality and is already "hyper social" (another Dr. C term) just like her brother.

Lord help me... I've got 2 of them!