Happy Half Birthday Frazier!

Dear Sweet Little Man,


Like last month, I am a few days late, but it's only because we've been frolicking in Texas with family and creating family memories (that unfortunately, you will be too young to remember)! Now that we are home, we are celebrating your first 6 months of life with baby oatmeal. You have made it pretty clear (see pictures below) that it's not all that good, so we'll try a veggie in the next day or so. We have peas, carrots and potatoes from the garden waiting for you!

You continue to be incredibly happy and full of smiles. You have definitely found your voice as was evident on the plane ride where you just screamed to scream, and you were perfectly fine! You have 2 baby teeth on the bottom now, and they are sharp! You bite everything, including the woman who gave you life! But I still love you. You are also army crawling all over the place to get your hands on anything you can put in your mouth.

Your sister is definitely your favorite person, and I don't think anyone else can make you belly laugh like she does, especially when she dances or sings. It makes me incredibly happy to see how much you already love each other.

I am proud to be your momma, and I know I can speak for your daddy on that, too. You are such a joy my sweet baby boy!

Love,
Momma

 Look how big I am!

All smiles.

This really isn't that good...can I please have a donut or something better?

Momma thinks smiling will trick me into thinking it tastes good. 

All I really want is the spoon. 

Texas Fun

Last night we returned from a very fun trip to Tyler and Dallas, TX. Most of the trip was full of cousin fun as you can see in the pictures below. We went to a great zoo (Caldwell Zoo), a very fun children's museum, 2 lakes where Mary-Michael experienced her first time tubing and Frazier experienced the "joys" of wearing a life vest, and the Alexander's very own salt water backyard pool. Jon and Melissa (Geoff's oldest sister) were great hosts and made sure we ate well, too. We had a lot of yummy food, which makes a trip go from good to great for me! At the end of the trip we stayed with our friends Jen and Books (Ron who will forever be known as Books from softball), who was in our wedding almost 7 years ago! We hadn't seen them since our wedding, so it was great to spend some time with them and see their home. I also finished a book while there, which meant I was able to relax a bit - I am so grateful!

This was our first plane ride with both kids, which had its ups (Frazier sleeping almost 2.5 hours on the longer ride home) and downs (pacis on the gross airplane floor that still had to be used to quiet a crying baby, Mary-Michael throwing fits and backtalking, literally running in the Newark airport when our 4 hour layover turned to 20 minutes and the flights were in 2 different terminals, and the list goes on). Ok, so there were more downs than ups, but we managed and could laugh through most of it. 

Hope your summer is off to a great start!

Rock climbing in the children's museum (Yes, Geoff has no issues playing the kid role!). 

 The cousins - M&M, Makenzie, Jace and Frazier.

The boys - Jace was a great helper with Frazier.

Petting the goats at the zoo. 

Family portrait with the giraffes.

Daddy and son - such a sweet picture. 

Had to a get a picture of my girl with the flamingos - my mom and her close girlfriends are kind of obsessed with this odd looking bird, so this is for you Desperates!

Feeding birds (see green thing in Geoff's hand). 

Pool time!

This girl LOVES the water. While she'll probably be wearing all these floats for a while, we are doing swimming lessons this summer...

Taking a dip in the lake with Uncle Jon. 

Geoff kneeboarding and attempting a backflip. Amazing!

Our sweet children. 

Another cousin shot (Frazier had kind of adjusted to the life vest at this point, or either I had just fed him, so he was momentarily content). 

Mary-Michael tubing! I love that she was willing to do this at 2 years old. 

My preferred water sport since I'm not coordinated enough for skiing, kneeboarding, wakeboarding, etc. 

Aunt Melissa and the girls at their pool. 

Frazier-man with a baby mohawk. 

Frazier's Baby Dedication

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 4

Yesterday, not only did we celebrate Father's Day with Geoff and all the grandfathers, we were also able to dedicate sweet Frazier to God at our church and celebrate his life and God's purpose for Him as he grows. It was really a special day to be able to commit to raising him up in a home centered around serving others and Christ in front of both our family and church family. Frazier, who can't even walk or talk yet, is already touching lives through his smile and endless joy. I mean, this boy is almost always happy!

Lieutenant William G. Boykin spoke at our church's men's event on Saturday and was able to stay to preach the sermon on Sunday. He did an awesome job sharing about the 4 roles a father should play: Protector, Provider, Professor and Priest. I'll admit I can get a little antsy when we have family come to church that either don't go to church any more or are used to a more conservative service. God always times it appropriately though and yesterday was certainly no different. I think everyone took away something from the service.

We had a beautiful afternoon to enjoy a meal together at our house with a small group of family. Tomorrow we head to Dallas to visit Geoff's oldest sister, Melissa and family. We are excited!

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Pastor Dwayne introducing our family.

Giving Frazier a chance to talk in the microphone since a few seconds earlier he squealed. He got shy once he was put on the spot.

My favorite part - prayer with our familes surrounding us.

Mary-Michael, Frazier and all the grandparents. How special!

Plus the proud parents.

 Grandpa and Frazier sharing a laugh.

The star of the day.

 This picture reminds me that I'm a lucky lady.

Insects Beware

The fly killing fairy is on the loose!

I couldn't have put this outfit together if I tried. Notice the pink wraparound sunglasses, dance costume over the hot pink leggings and the cow slippers. She has her own sense of style!

5 Months Old (belated)!

Dearest Frazier,

The fact that our nursery workers fight over who gets to hold you is just one of the many testaments to how sweet, happy and overall, wonderful you are. You are an incredibly good baby! You smile at just about anyone (or anything - you love animals like your sister). You giggle when your sister dances, the dogs wrestle or when we tickle you. You are flexible and are often eating your feet. It pains Daddy to watch this because he can't imagine being that flexible! You are rolling all over the place and are showing signs of army crawling in your future. You sit up for a second, but you really still need support. You love your exersaucer, and we just pulled out a borrowed high chair so that you can join us at dinner like a gentleman instead of as the centerpiece in your Bumbo (which we put in the middle of the table). You are finally on a good schedule. Hallelujah! You are generally sleeping from 8pm to 6-7am, and then you eat 5 times during the day (still breast milk only) and take 3 good naps around 8:30, 12:30 and 4:30. You have discovered your thumb (since I took your paci away), and as long as you have that and your soft lovey you are good about settling down on your own. You are in 6-9 month cloths and your diapers are almost as big as your sister's. You are still a chunker, and I love it! I think you're showing signs of high energy like your daddy, so I can't wait to see what the next few months hold for us. You are such a special addition to our family, and we love you Bubba!

Momma and Daddy

Playing with your feet, like usual.

That big old smile that can turn anyone's day around.

Your sister giving you a headlock (it's all in love, I promise!).

Discovering yourself in the mirror.

Beach Bums

From a lovely beach house in Corolla, NC with the Lee's to the Rappahannock River with the Hickman families for Memorial Day, I love that we are getting to play in the sand and water before summer has officially begun! The beach has always been one of my favorite places on earth, and I hope our kids will feel the same as they grow up. So far, they are loving it! Here are a few too many pictures of our days of fun in the sun.

Playing at the beach with Daddy.

Me attempting to keep little man out of the sun and sand.

Digging in the sand with Brayden.

Football with Daddy.

A family shot! I'm such a blessed lady!
 

Me and my little man.

The Lee's - our fun beach companions!

My sweet girl at the pool.

Flexible Frazier who loves to eat his feet.

Me and my girl.

Lounging poolside.

Daddy and Frazier at the river.

Sherry Lee and Mary-Michael.

The big kid and the three little kids playing with squirt guns.

Micah and Frazier.

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you veterans for our freedom - we live a full life because of you!