Summer Time!

It is HOT this summer! We spent a lot of time in the pool during the end of May and beginning of June. The temps have been consistently in the 100's lately so we don't go outside nearly as much. Give Deven a couple of cups and put him in a pool and he'll be entertained for hours!

Deven loves to read these days. He regularly brings a book to someone and climbs into their lap to hear them read. It's pretty cute until he brings "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" for the tenth time. I have a quiet Bible that we save for Sundays, but he manages to find it every week and bring it to me saying, "Baba". So, of course we sit down and look at it. He also loves to take all the bookmarks out of the books Lee and I are reading. I have started memorizing what chapter I'm on - good exercise for my brain :) He also has more words. He says "ba-ba" and waves to daddy every morning when he goes to work. "Ba-ba" is also the word for Bible and his sippy cup. "Caw-caw" is his word for dog, duck, chicken, cookie, cracker. I know he has more words but I have not figured them out yet.

Deven is very good at drinking from a cup and he loves to practice whenever he can.

"More, please!"

Deven is also getting better at using the spoon. He'll at least try everything once if he can use his spoon. If he doesn't like it, he stirs it.

catch up time

Deven has been lots of fun lately. His hair is very curly and we get more comments about his hair than anything else. Deven still loves to be outside, take baths, go for bike rides/walks, and climb on things. Here are some pictures of our fun times.

The petting zoo at OKC zoo. Deven loved the goats and got very close to a couple of them fighting.



There is an area where kids can play in the water.

Looking at the flamingos

Baby on a mission.

Deven following Grandpa and Uncle James.

Family Easter pic 2011

Where did the eggs go? It took Deven about 3 minutes to figure out they were on his ears.

Yay! I'm on the stairs

Every morning and after every nap, Deven hands us his stuffed animal before we can get him out of the crib. Lately, he has been in the habit of handing us every item in his crib (blankets, socks, animals) then he's ready to get out.

Hard-working Daddy

Deven LOVES to play outside. However, our backyard has not been a safe place for him to play. It has this unusable in-ground hot tub that fills up with water every time it rains - lots of possible accidents. The backyard has been Lee's priority so that Deven has a place to play. Here are some pictures of the process. My Father-in-law and our friend Keegan Terry also helped get rid of the hot tub. Thanks for your help!

Here is Deven watching his daddy and Keegan destroy the hot tub. This was happening right outside Deven's bedroom window. Amazingly, Deven took two naps with the jack-hammer running outside his window.

Here is a picture of the in-ground hot tub prior to the destruction. Lee siphoned the water out with a garden hose (brillian!) and then used a pump to get the rest out.

Looks like they had fun destroying it.

I'll post more pictures once we get it filled in. Lee worked really hard to bust up that cement. The cement was like four inches thick. His arms were sore for many days. Deven is so lucky to have a Dad who works so hard to provide for him.

Deven Walks!

Deven is learning to walk! He looks like a little zombie the way he wobbles around. He also graduated to a forward facing carseat (thanks to Nonna and Papa). He seems to love it. He is consistently feeding himself now and he's actually a pretty clean eater. He is obeying very well lately, too. Deven loves to stand up in the tub but he got a black eye last week from falling. So, now he obeys me when I tell him to sit on his bottom.

Deven is also a big helper. He always likes to play in the dishwasher when it is open. One day I was unloading it and he handed me the silverware one peice at a time. What a helper! He is also very social. He points to other kids and babies and I can tell he really wants to interact with them. His newest form of entertainment is climbing on things. He likes to climb in/out of his car, climb off our bed (he can't get on it by himself), climb steps, etc. I took him to the zoo and they have a wood fort and he LOVED that. He cried and threw a tantrum when it was time to leave the fort. Thankfully, he hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib.

His favorite foods are pancakes, sandwiches (esp grilled cheese), applesauce, any kind of bread, bananas, orange juice (only for special occasions), and yogurt. Sandwiches are probably his very favorite. Lately, I've been noticing that he'll smack his lips while I'm getting his meal ready. Really cute! Well, enjoy the videos.

Deven's First Birthday!

Deven loved being the star of the afternoon for his first birthday party. Here are some pictures of the afternoon. I thought I would also update you on what Deven is doing nowadays. He has taken a couple of steps here and there but still prefers to crawl. He started feeding himself on Friday, just in time for his birthday, but he hasn't done it since. He's babbling all sorts of sounds. He loves to play with cups, puzzles, stuffed animals, and his car. He loves looking at pictures of people that are on the fridge. His favorite foods are yogurt, grilled cheese sandwiches, bananas, pancakes, applesauce, vegetable soup. He really loves his OJ in the morning. The little rascal won't drink milk so I give him OJ with calcium, yogurt and cheese instead. Deven is lots and lots of fun and I'm so thankful God gave him to us. I am especially thankful that I don't have to work during the week. Being a stay-at-home-mom is the best job I've ever had!

Me and Deven with Flat Chelsea. Chelsea is on the World Race with the AIM program and is currently in Cambodia. Meagan made a flat Chelsea to bring to family events.


Here is Deven eating his birthday cupcake. I don't think he likes to get messy. He got frosting on his hand and kept trying to shake it off. He LOVED the cake.

A new puzzle he got from Granny and Grandpa.

The Lion from Nonna and Papa.

Family picture!

Deven's new car from his aunts and uncles.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Dec 2010 - Jan 2011

Here are some pictures from December and January.

We took Deven outside on the first day of this snow storm. He did not like it. We bundled him up pretty good and set him on a plastic bag so his pants wouldn't get wet.

Deven loves to watch Daddy build a fire.

Deven playing in his bedroom. He likes to throw everything off the bookshelves.

The weekend before the current snowstorm, it was in the 80's. Deven loved the bike ride. He was bouncing in his seat, kicking his legs, and squealing.

Happy Boy!

Deven is pointing to the equipment he's not supposed to touch.

"Can I touch it today?"

Matching ACU sweatshirts. This is in my Mom and Dad's backyard in Shreveport, LA.

Reading time with Daddy right before bed.

Sitting inside his race car track. He has way too many toys.

This is from Christmas. Deven enjoyed licking the snow globe.

Ready for church!

Answered prayers

Deven is such a good baby but there have been a few challenges that were not overcome until I prayed about them. He has never taken the bottle well. It has been a worry of mine the last couple of months because I'm trying to wean him and he needs to get liquid somehow. We introduced the sippy cup to him around 6 or 7 months. He mostly played with it. I asked a lot of people for advice on how to help him drink from a sippy cup. Finally I prayed about it for a few days and, lo and behold, he now drinks from the sippy cup really well. He can even hold it himself! I've also had difficulty getting him to eat veggies but I prayed about that as well and he eats them as if he enjoys them. Yay!

Lately, the challenge is telling him "no". My goal in the past was to tell him "no" and then redirect. However, he now crawls right back to the spot. He knows he's not supposed to touch the electrical equipment in the living room. He'll crawl beside it and then look back at me and smile. Then he'll stare for a while at the equipment deciding whether to touch it or not. He sometimes crawls away but lately he's been inching his pointer finger toward it waiting for my reaction. I tell him "no" and he pulls his hand back. Then he points closer and waits for my reaction. Sometimes he'll look at me with his finger on the equipment. I'll tell him "no" and pull him away from it, which usually causes tears. Then he crawls right back over. Today I had to move him to another room to get his mind off of it. Plus I was having a hard time disciplining without laughing, which made him think it was a game. We have to go to another room when that happens. Anyway, I hope I don't mess him up with this whole discipline thing. That's something else I pray about.

Things Deven is doing:

• he eats pretty much what we eat: pancakes, any sort of bread or pasta, veggies, soups, fruits, meatballs
• he still loves cups, any kind of cup
• he loves to bang on things and drop things
• he is standing by himself
• he loves looking out the windows
• he loves cuddling with pretty much anyone
• he loves to read books
• he can say mama and I think he knows what it means.

He's a fun little boy and I'm thankful Lee and I get to take care of him.