She's on the move!

Well, after a couple of weeks of trying really hard, Anna Kate can finally get from point A to point B. I'm not sure you would really call it crawling, but she is definitely scooting! Now, she has to be really motivated, and sometimes she gives up, but she did it on camera this afternoon! Enjoy the video!

My little cowgirl!

How could I not play dress-up when she's this cute!

A lazy summer afternoon on the porch...

Now if only Mommy would put some sweet tea in this sippy cup, I'd be a true Southern lady!

Lake Day!

We had a wonderful day yesterday with our new church family at the lake! There were over 80 people there (including lots of kids!) and we had a great time swimming, lounging, and of course, eating! Here are a few pictures of Anna Kate's first time swimming in a lake!

The little girls LOVE Anna Kate!

All dry!

P.S. Of course, Daddy was there too, but he spent most of the day out in the deep water with the big kids!

Sitting up!

Just this past weekend, Anna Kate started really sitting up without any support. She's sometimes still a little wobbly, but she can sit on her own for good long stretches! We always sit right there with her, though, just in case! I caught her on camera yesterday morning during some early morning playtime...she likes to lounge in her jammies for a little while each day!

So proud...

And a video, so you can see her in action =)

Love handles...

Now this is what I call love handles...

5 of them to be exact!

Storytime at the Library!

One of the things we absolutely love about our new home is that it is within walking distance of the center of town. This means we get to walk to the library every Thursday morning for Mommy/Baby storytime! This is a special storytime just for babies from birth to two years, and to say that Anna Kate loves it would be an understatement. She gets wide-eyed when the children's librarian reads the stories, she loves to listen to the songs and rhymes, and she gets the biggest smiles on her face whenever we do anything with motions! She is definitely one of the youngest babies there, but she has a great time! Here is the one picture that I was able to take before my camera battery died. Anna Kate is in the bottom left corner with the pink hairbow...she's sitting in my lap while I tried to take a picture!

Anna Kate loves her Mommy!

One of the big bywords in child development is "attachment". You know, it's important for babies to form attachments with their parents so that they know that they are loved, cared for, provided for, etc. Well, just in the past few days we have really seen Anna Kate showing us that she is definitely attached to us! She loves playing or snuggling with Mommy and Daddy and gets quite upset when one of us leaves the room. I managed to catch this on video this afternoon, so you can see it! Also, I didn't realize it until afterward, but she's wearing a onesie that says "I love Mommy!" Pretty appropriate!

5 months old today!

Happy 5-month birthday, Anna Kate!

This month has been filled with new things for you! We moved to a new state, you have a new room in a new house, and you have met lots of new friends! One of Mommy's favorite new things that has happened this month is that she is now spending all day, every day, with you! We have had so much fun this past month having lots of special time together. Here are some ways you have changed this month.

~You have gotten VERY good at rolling from your back to your tummy. In fact, you now hate to stay on your back as much as you used to hate tummy time! You love to be on your tummy and have your toys right there in front of you.
~You are really starting to move a lot more this month. You are not crawling, but you are definitely scooting and turning around on your playmat. I guess we better get this house baby-proof!
~You are a very giggly baby now. There are a number of things that Mommy and Daddy do that you think are just hilarious! A few of these are the SuperGirl game, the Bubblegum song, Wibbleton Wobbleton, and peekaboo with your lovey-bear.
~You have become very ticklish this month. Your best ticklespots are the tops of your chubby thighs, and your ribs right under your arms!
~You love to go to the playground and swing in the baby swings. I was a little nervous to put you in them at first, but you figured it right out. You hold on just like you're supposed to, and you have so much fun!
~I think that you have just started really teething in the past few days. You've been a little fussier than usual, you've been drooling A LOT, and you keep chewing on your index finger. Maybe you'll have a new tooth by next month's update.
~You really enjoy reading stories with Mommy and Daddy. You really like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, The Cat in the Hat, The Belly Button Book, your 100 Ways to Know God Loves Me, and your new Big Storybook Bible. You and Mommy have even been going to Mommy/Baby storytime at our new library and you LOVE it!
~Your favorite toys now are your seahorse rattle, your pink and green bug pull-toy, your ladybug (which has been one of your favorites since you were first born), and of course, your pink bear lovey that you can't sleep without.
~You have a nickname that I am afraid is going to stick - Lunky! It's a derivative of what your Grandpa calls your Mommy. I think it comes from Pumpkin...


Anna Kate, you are our treasure and we love you so much! We thank God for you every day and pray that you will grow up to worship Him with all your heart.

And now for the pictures...oh, and as a disclaimer...Daddy had the camera charger with him at work today, so we couldn't take this picture until right before your bedtime. You're not normally this floppy...

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old!
(And yes, you do have a hairbow in, but it was late and it was falling behind your head...oh well!)

4th of July with Stephen, Rachael, and Leah

My brother Stephen, his wife Rachael, and their little girl Leah came to visit us for the long weekend and we had a wonderful time! The last time we got these two little girls together was when Anna Kate was only 4 days old, so they had a lot more fun this time! We had a great time going to the park, swimming in our friends' pool, showing them all around our town (which is still new to us!), watching fireworks (on TV so the babies could go to bed), and doing sparklers and pop-its in the backyard! Here are some pictures of our weekend!

We spent Saturday morning at our neighborhood park. The girls loved the swings and slides! Anna Kate was a little jealous of how high Leah got to swing though...we told her that maybe when she's older she can swing that high!

Stephen pushing both girls

These dads love their baby girls!

After church on Sunday, we had a 4th of July cookout with some friends from our new church and had a great time swimming in their pool!

Anna Kate is quite the rockstar with her sunglasses

Leah LOVED flying in the air and splashing in the pool!

The two little cousins enjoyed getting acquainted with one another!

Anna Kate thinks Leah is funny!
Leah thinks Anna Kate is funny too!
Fireworks are not allowed in the city limits of Camden, but we did have some fun with sparklers after the babies went to bed!

And, last but not least, we tried to get some posed pictures of Leah and Anna Kate in their patriotic 4th of July outfits. It was hard to get a good shot of both girls, but we had a lot of fun trying!

AK: "Leah, why do you have to sneeze during the picture?"

Leah: "Anna Kate, don't you even know how to sit up?"
We did get a couple of decent ones!

We sure loved having you three...come again soon!

Reverend Daddy!

This past weekend we headed to Luke's hometown of Greenwood, SC, to worship with his home church, North Side Baptist. They spent some time during the service to ordain Luke into the ministry, since he passed the council's examination a few weeks ago. It was such a special time for Luke to be prayed over by a number of men who have been very influential in his call to the ministry. The one in the front in the picture praying is Luke's senior pastor, Jeff, and the one right behind him is our very good friend Travis, who actually is the minister who married us.

After the service we went over to Luke's Grannie's retirement home to have a celebration lunch. We had all the family together except Allison (she is doing an internship in West Virginia this summer). Here is a picture of all of us! Grannie sure loves holding Anna Kate!