Weekly Gatherings

Every Wednesday a group of new moms from our church get together at one of our houses with our babies. It's pretty funny trying to coordinate naps and waketime and feedings, etc., but we have a blast comparing notes and hopefully encouraging each other. Here are some pics from our last meeting.

Havign a Blast (I wear this ourfit a lot because my mom loves it!)


Playing with Carter who is 5 days younger than I am


Here is me smiling again




This is David and Grace playing...already a couple!

What a Blessing!

Josh and I are marveling at what a blessing we have in Rebekah. She truly is the sweetest baby alive and we are loving seeing more and more of her happy disposition develop almost daily. Rebekah LOVES the movement of ceiling fans and coos at them almost more than at us! She is making new sounds everyday- in fact, I heard in a linguistics class that babies are capable of making every phonetic sound, but they filter out the ones their parents don't repeat back to them...so, since I had such a speech impediment with rolling my r's (yes, I taught Spanish anyway), Josh and I started rolling our r's for her last night...call it coincidence, but she brought her tongue to her lips and kind of tried to do it- twice! Genius, I tell 'ya!

A walk in the Snugli with Mom & Dad- we took a trail not too far from our house and Rebekah could not stop looking around. She delights in being outside. We call it the Bill McCord factor.


Trying to stay awake in Mom's arms...


Well...it didn't last long, but, my, how great sleep (and my mom) are!


Everyone wants to play with me! This was at Nate and Amanda's house on labor Day- Grace loved Rebekah!


I'm still pretty happy! (How could I not be with such great feet?)


Mom makes me smile! (Yes, I am eating up my daughter's smiles at me- and documenting them all!)

Still Smiling...

I'm posting a another pic from Mom's trip, but the others are from yesterday with Daddy Josh going a little crazy on picture taking! We just don't know how Rebekah could be any cuter!! Josh and I sound like idiots when we play with her- every smile, every coo, every babble, every little thing melts our hearts and we imitate it all just to hear her do it again...ah- the joys of parenthood. :) Since the first month was a little rough for me to say the least, it is so wonderful to be enjoying each moment more.

Grandmama's Visit from Dallas

My mom, Gayle, is visiting Rebekah (oh, I mean me!) this week. Rebekah adores her and loves all the cuddling with Grandmama, who plays the role of doting grandmother very well (rivaled only by Nona Phyllis, of course!).

We shopped, walked to downtown, drank coffee, played, laughed, slept, even went to a movie while Rebekah crashed in Mom's arms after studying the lights...Mom even did my middle of the night feedings for me!! Last night was the second time Rebekah slept through the night- the other time was 2 weeks ago...so, we're cautiously hopeful!

Rebekah's hair is starting to turn reddish, as are her eyebrows...Josh and I are seeing a resemblance to Aunt Sarah!

Here are some fun pics we thought you might enjoy! The first pic is just how cute she is, the second is Rebekah enjoying the world her way- she loves to throw her ehad back and just look up- it could be the lack of neck control..who knows? The next one- we weren't aware that Rebekah was familiar with ET...the next 2 are with my mom and the last is another bath...I'll add some more later!

Smiling at Mom

We tried to capture Rebekah's adorable smiles, but of course, it's virtually impossible! These are a few from yesterday. The other one is her asleep in Josh's arms a couple days ago- we were trying to wake her up- she is a good sleeper, I must say!

Shannon & Elizabeth's Visit from TX

My dear friend Shannon and her adorable almost 2-yr-old daughter Elizabeth (aka Baba) visited this past weekend all the way from College Station, TX! Shannon is an amazingly godly woman who has been a constant encourager to me, especially since Rebekah's arrival. I love how intentional Shannon is in her parenting- she is not perfect, but she truly leans upon the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of Scripture to guide her as she gently and graciously rears little Baba. We all need friends who come alongside us like she does, even from 800 miles away!

Some of my favorite memories of the time we spent together: Elizabeth referring to herself as Baba...Baba's delight with the phrase "Bee's Knees"...her pronunciation of our dog's name- Hanhun for Samson...our time at the Amana Colony restaurant where we laughed until we cried with Joe Wilkkomen and when Shannon let Baba fall off her booster seat as a life lesson...our serious talks about parenting...her enjoyment of my new friends here...her instant love for Rebekah...her homemade cherry pie...endless episodes of Law and Order: CI...Elizabeth sitting on the couch with me as I burped Rebekah and she burped Mickey Mouse...the dizzying number of times Mickey was buckled in and out of Rebekah's carrier and/or swing...I could go on for a while!

Berk and Bek

This is one of our favorite babysitters (Berkley) with Rebekah. Obviously, due to Berk's high level of alertness and professionalism, we pay her top dollar!

Actually, she and her parents, Nevin and Janene (who happen to be our surrogate parents here), graciously and lovingly watch our daughter all the time for free! This was Friday, 8/11, for my birthday.

4 Couples...5 Babies...in 6 months!!

These are our closest friends here in Iowa City- in the last 6 months, we have all had our first babies!

Phil & Andrea had David 2/14

Nate & Amanda had Grace 4/1

Andy & Jamie had Josiah & Abigail 5/22


We had Rebekah 7/12


David (5 mos), Grace (4 mos), Josiah & Abigail (3 mos), Rebekah (1 mo)


This is a picture of all 5 babies hanging out after Saturday night church...of course little Rebekah (just a month or so) has difficulty sitting up! They are sitting with the oldest on the left, down to our little precious one!

August Pics

These are some cute pictures we have from the past week. Enjoy!

Original Rebekah Pic

This is one of her first pics and she is a cutie!