Piper's Baby Dedication

On Mothers Day our church (Trinity Grace Church) had a baby dedication for all the babies born in the last year.  We went up front for a blessing from the church and they showed a slide show of each child's pictures.  They gave the moms bouquets of flowers (it being Mother's Day and all) and each baby received a Jesus Storybook Bible and a certificate.  This is one of the many ways our church has showered blessings on us and others and we were so proud to be able to dedicate Piper!

10 months

Piper turned 10 months old on July 7th.  She is so much fun and keeps us busy and entertained.

-You love dogs and like to say "Wuff" when you see them.
-You still love to read books and you are into playing with them by yourself and turning the pages.
-You love it when we sing songs to you, it always produces a smile.
-You are cruising more and more and love to push your walker toy.
-You are staring to say uh-oh.
-You say "mmmm" after you eat something very tasty.
-You now have 8 teeth.
-You sometimes say "yea" when you clap.
-You are becoming a little more picky with what you like to eat.  You will not eat avocados but you love guacamole.
-You are expressing yourself very notably these days when we take you away from something you shouldn't be playing with or make you do something you don't want to.

 

You are growing and learning so fast we just can't believe it!  Where did our baby go?? 

Erica and Jack come to visit

We have been so blessed by people coming to visit and in April one of my favorite people, Erica came to stay with us.  She brought along her sweet 10 month old, Jack.  We had a great time!

They flew in on a Tuesday and were supposed to arrive in the afternoon but their plane was delayed for so long that they didn't arrive until 8:00 that night!  They walked in exhausted and hungry but we were ready for them with dinner and a bed for Jack!  After we put the kids to bed Erica and I stayed up talking, of course!  Jack and Piper got along great!  They are both so easy going and had fun playing together but I think Jack was a little confused at why Piper was always laughing at him.  She just loves other kids!  We were able to borrow a stroller from my friend Sara for Jack and on Wednesday we walked around the Upper West Side and previewed places to eat.  Then we went to Central Park and sat in Strawberry Fields (Beatles anyone?) and gave the kids some snacks.  We then met up my friend Katie (from Ft. Worth) for lunch.  She was here shortly on a business trip and wanted to meet see us.  We ate at a great Asian/Sushi restaurant called Tenzan.  The weather was a little cool but we still ate outside.  We said goodbye to Katie and went back to the apartment so the babies could take their naps.  We talked some more, our favorite pastime, and figured out what to make for dinner and what to do the next day. Then we took a long walk in Central Park with the kiddos in tow.  On Thursday we hiked down to Chelsea market to shop around and find a cool place for lunch.  It was not at all what we were expecting.  We thought it was a big open market with tons of food options and people selling food all over the place.  Turns out it's a big warehouse with a few individual restaurants (expensive restaurants) and stores.  We still had fun but I probably won't go back unless someone requests it.  A place I did love was the restaurant we ate lunch at in Chelsea.  It was called The Park because they had built the restaurant around trees so you felt like you were eating outside.  We shared a delicious pizza that had a meat called sopressata.  It was a cross between pepperoni and canadian bacon and it was glorious!  We then went back home for naps and playtime.  After dinner that night and bedtime for the kids, we left Brett at home and went to look in a few shops and grab dessert.  We looked around for a yummy treat and ended up at Magnolia Bakery where we ordered their mini cheesecakes.  It was a good decision!  The next morning Erica and Jack had to leave around 11 but we went to a store to buy her kids at home some souvenirs and return the stroller to Sara.  We had so much fun with Erica and Jack and hope it's not the last of their visits!  Here are some pics of our fun times!

Random Acts

I am so behind on blogging (stay tuned for a lot of new posts) but I wanted to share this story that happened two Sundays ago.

Brett and I were on our way to church Sunday morning and when we finally made our way down to the subway, the screen read 20 minutes until the next train.  Ugh.  We could not wait 20 minutes because we would be really late!  So we decided to take our chances with the bus, even though the one we needed had just left as we were walking to the subway.  I started to complain about public transportation and how much easier it would be to be on time if the city ran more smoothly or if we were back in Texas with our car.  My sweet husband was quick to point out that it was beyond our control and we should not worry about these little details.  We waited at the bus stop where a little old lady happened to be sitting.  She was probably in her 80s.  Piper, of course, started smiling at her and entertaining her and the lady engaged us in some small talk.  I told her about the 20 minute wait and she was waiting on the same bus as us.  She had been waiting a while and asked us where we were going.  All of the sudden she walked out in the street and hailed a cab and said "Come on get in.  I'll get us to 82nd street and then you can take the cab to 97th."  We were so surprised and decided to take her up on it because we were so late. ( Cabs are a bit of luxury for us and usually only used for airport trips when we bring along half of our belongings!)  On the cab ride I was thinking how nice it was for her to pay for us till 82nd street.  I figured that meant we still have to pay for 15 blocks which was going to be around $10.  She even told the cab driver to stay on the street we would need to be let out on and she would just walk one avenue over.  When we started to protest she insisted saying her doctor told her she needed to walk more.  Then when the cab driver stopped to let her out she reached back and handed Brett a 20 dollar bill saying, "This is for the baby."  Then she got out of the cab and started walking down the street.  We of course thanked her quickly but she has no idea how she made us feel.  Random acts of kindness are rare in this city and she showed love so simply to two lonely Texans and it meant so much.  It immediately made me repent of my complaining about the city and humbled my attitude.  If the subway had not been delayed we would never have met such a kind old woman that blessed our whole day and filled our hearts with the knowledge that their are nice people in NYC.

Because I was told that every post needs some pictures......