Daddy's Birthday and Calvin 10 months

Today we celebrated David's birthday with a few surprises.  We have been wanting to get him a new grill as his old one was in bad shape from much use.  He has been trying to repair it, but it was just time to upgrade.  The kids and I took a field trip and came home successful with the grill he had been eyeing for a while.  J.Michael put it together for him (quite quickly with only Andrew's help).
We then took Daddy to his favorite restaurant for dinner--Babins.

Instead of a traditional birthday cake we made Daddy's favorite--cheesecake.  Everyone pitched in to make the cake.  Andrew helped get the eggs as well as washed the strawberries, Emily helped make the crust, Kathlena ran the mixer and J.Michael dipped the strawberries in chocolate and make the chocolate topping.  Daddy said it was better than cheesecake factory!  We all had fun making it together which made a special memory for us all.

We are so thankful for Daddy and how he leads his family well.  Pointing us to Christ in his words and deeds.  How blessed I am to have a husband who disciples me and his children with conviction and grace.  The Lord has been working mightily in our home this past year.  David submitting to the call of the Lord to ministry as a church planter/Pastor and stepping out in faith last March to begin a church with a fellow elder and church planter Greg Parker.  We are blessed to have a growing fellowship of families who love the Lord and have caught the vision for planting new churches to the Glory of God.

Today we also celebrate 10months of our precious gift--little Calvin who is growing so quickly.  He is about to walk any day now.  He has begun to let go and stand briefly on his own.  He says "Momma" to me in the morning when I get him out of bed.  He is also beginning to "feed" himself.  His favorite foods are ham, bananas, blueberries, yogurt, chicken, fish and roast...well meat of any kind really!  He has just started waving "bye-bye" too.  So cute!  He crawls at the speed of light and really likes to see what happens when he drops things...over and over again.  He seems to never tire of this game while Mommy does. ;)  What fun and laughter we have over watching him grow and change.  As infant hood is succumbing quickly to toddler hood we are trying to basque in these last moments as often as we can.

Calvin 1 Month Old Today...

It is so hard to believe Calvin is already one month old, the time has just flown right by. He is getting bigger every day, and has already passed the 12 lb marker. Calvin, a typical Shiflet looks much older than he actually is, most people don't believe us when we say he's a month old. He's already begun to hold his head up for short periods of time, has rolled over, and is increasingly aware of his surroundings. Meanwhile the rest of are trying to get things back to "normal" (whatever that is) :) and trying to resume some sort of schedule.

...and here's Calvin sucking his thumb for the first time...

Calvin's First Car Ride

First Car-Ride

First Chiropractor Adjustment

And...oh yes, it's Squirrel Season. :)


Oh, and don't worry, it's just a pellet gun-no noise. :)