At the Lake!

Just this past weekend, we had our first trip to the lake! Mark's parents bought a mobile home on Crooked Lake in Angola, IN... they used to go up there as a family when Mark was little- so many fond memories. :) Now, Mark get's to make new memories with his own little boy! Here are some pics...

Showing off his crawling skills to Grandma and Grandpa Hammond! Notice... Christian and Sophie going in opposited directions. :)
It looked big... but it fits!! And he didn't cry! He smiled!! We were hoping to try out the boat later that day, but Christian decided to take a nice long nap instead... maybe next time. :)
...a scrunchy nose smile. :)

I have a tooth!

Yes it's true... last Sunday (June 1)... Christian grabbed my finger and pulled it into his mouth. Nothing new there! Everything's been going in his mouth for the last few months! Anyway, this time, there was something different... his bottom left tooth was barely poking through! Big news in the Hammond household. :) Christian's been pretty good so far... we'll keep you posted!
Finally- three months of drool has produced a tooth! :) What a little drool baby...

Trip to Florida!

I can't believe it's been a month since our trip! Time is just flying by! As promised, here are some of the pics from our trip down to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa Strubhar! SO much fun! And lots of firsts... first trip on an airplane (he did great!), first time in the pool, first visit to the beach, first sleep-over (again- great! He even slept in!)... and my first Mother's Day! Most of the week, Mark and I just hung out at my parents' house and their pool- Christian loved it. Here are some highlights...

He seemed to think the fountain was a "drinking" fountain. :) He kept sticking out his tongue for a lick! Sunscreen mohawk!
Loved his little boat so much, he drifted off to sleep. :)

All wrapped up- snuggly cuddly!
We also took a couple trips to the beach... one time for brunch! Yummy!

And then we went back to the beach where Mark proposed (4 years ago!)... and dipped in our toes for the first time. :)

Mother's Day! We were so excited to have my dad (Grandpa Strubhar) dedicate Christian on this day... just like my Grandpa Strubhar dedicated me 30 years ago! This meant so much to us! And check out the duds that Daddy bought for Christian... my Mother's Day surprise- 2 handsome men. :)

My little man. :)

Moms!!

And the ride home... Christian was a good little traveler. :)

Our little crawler!

Major updates in the Hammond household! Not so much with Mark and I... but here's a little scoop! He's been VERY busy with stuff at Sonrise, but doing a great job! I can't believe how much has happened and how much he's accomplished in the past 4 months... planned a ton of events, helped research and buy a charter bus, "themed" the youth room "The Garage"- complete with cool vintage garage stuff (he's spent lots of time on eBay lately!), and Sunday nights are going really well too... you can check out more at http://www.sonrisechurch.info/... look under ministries- student ministries.

As for me, I'm still really enjoying my time at home with Christian. I wrapped up most of the design work I was doing for TUFW and have been blessed with a few other projects for a lady in our church. That has been a great experience and so reassuring as my first real "project" outside of Taylor... everything has gone so well. :) I'm still hunting around for some other things to do for $$, but just praying the Lord will open some of the doors I'm pushing on. I've also been getting to know other moms at the church through MOPS- that's been such a great blessing for me to make some connections and have some "adult" time. :)

Well, enough about us- who's the little twinkling star of our lives?! I can't believe my baby boy is 8 months old! And quite the changes... he's been rolling and sitting well for the past month... now he's moved on to pulling up on things and crawling!!! He's all over the place now... probably wondering where all this house has been hiding! Christian truly does brighten my days... he's always smiling and laughing and now moving all the time. We've also started some fussing when mom leaves the room... now he can just crawl after me, reach out for me, cling to my leg... I have to admit it's a little endearing, but could get old soon. :) He does have happy moments with other people- I just have to hide. :) We'll get through it! Below are some highlights from the last month or so... enjoy!

Practicing for the big crawl... rocking and scooching!

All tuckered out. :)Watch me... here I go! (First crawls... following the video camera around the family room!)

Pink knees!
What's this? Hmmm... looks like a fun toy!
Look what I found Mom!! (baby gates anyone?!)Sweet face. :)
Our little b-baller...
A couple weeks ago we had a garage sale... and made enough to cover our purchases. :) One of those things was this little rocket that Daddy found...
LOVES the doggies- and they love him too! Sadie and Caylee will endure ear pulling and the "boxing"- they're so gentle with him. Sophie on the other hand... (notice she is NOT on the pillow!)
Here he goes! His first pull-up!
I'm up from my nap Mom! (this is what I find after every nap and in the AM- wakes up happy!)
I love making this kid smile- his little sqeals crack me up!

Flying high with Daddy! He even has his tongue out like Jordan! A couple days ago, Christian was actually "dribbling" the ball... he likes to "box" things with his little fist! Daddy's proud.
Just about wrapped up our "food testing!" I guess we're a little slow, but he's loved everything... he was even smacking his lips with prunes, but I didn't give those more than I had to!
This was funny- we got back from a walk and he wouldn't stop smiling... guess he had fun! :)

More to come soon- really! We took a trip to FL to see my parents over mother's day and had such a great time. I'll post some pics soon. :) Hope you all are doing well!