My favorite toy

These days Demani's favorite thing to play with are measuring spoons! He clinks them together and sucks on them and waves them in the air! We came up with a new nickname for him yesterday, Happy Handful! He is busy and a handful, but he is HAPPY! Little man is sleeping at the moment :) Here's a pic of him with his spoons! He acts like he is so proud of himself :) I think he likes sitting up and playing.

Dedication

Demani's dedication was today. It was a beautiful ceremony and was full of meaning. I will send a link soon of a friend who took some pictures for us of the dedication itself. Burrill is a professional photographer and I am sure he got some good shots.

It was a nice day out too which was good because Tom and Louise hosted a farewell party for us at their house. Our church friends came out in full force to send us on our way to NY. We will miss these sweet people. The house is officially on the market and the packing and the "see you soon's" have begun. It is a bittersweet time in our lives as a chapter ends and a new one begins.

The pics are of us, some of my girlfriends (Vickie, Abbie, Me, Angel), and of us and Tom and Louise.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend spent with friends and family and dedicating our son to God. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Moving, moving, moving

Demani is a rolling machine! He is pretty quick at getting from one side of the room to the other. He is in seemingly perpetual motion!

Demani's newest thing parallels our lives as we prepare to move to Binghamton, New York. Mathwon will be working at Binghamton University as the Assistant Vice President for Development. So life has hit a new point of frenetic...with packing, preparing for a garage sale, saying "See you soon" to friends, chasing a baby, all while trying to keep your eyes focused on the big picture. Pray for us!

Nanan Howard's visit was wonderful. She just ate up Demani and called him the sun :) He does make me smile no matter what! She called me the day after she left because she misses him. She was a big help and I was able to do some work in the basement while she was here.

I had better get back to packing, here are some recent pics. I call the first pic, "The Thinker"

Babble Babble Babble

Demani is babbling away these days. It's almost rare for him to be quiet in recent days! I wish I knew what he was saying! Last weekend Mathwon was in Chicago and Demani and I hung with family. We went to Demani's Great Aunt Nene's house for the first time and Karen, Uncle Jim's daughter, took a great shot of us on the hammock. It looks like Demani really wants to say something in the picture. It was a fun weekend.

This next week Nanan Howard is coming to visit for the week. We are looking forward to her visit!

Other new thing I've realized about motherhood is that the concern never fades and the stress will never abate. At each stage, each moment, there is something new to be concerned about. Did he eat enough? He hasn't gone to the bathroom in a few days, should I be concerned? Why is he coughing? Am I doing enough for him? Is he getting enough sleep? I've realized this will go on forever. I'm not an excessive worrier or anything, and I try to take everything to God in prayer. But I have resigned myself to this new state of being, of being consumed with love for this little man God gave us.

Busy weekend for Demani

Whew! What a whirlwind its been! Last weekend was my sister Kendra's graduation. Demani went to graduation two weeks in a row! Kendra got her masters from Huntington University. We drove down early Saturday morning to spend as much of the day with her as we could. She just ate Demani up!

Sunday was the reunion for the show choir I was in when i was in high school. Tiff was in it too. We missed the Saturday rehearsals but made it for the concert. It was a lot of fun. Demani hung with daddy and grammy and grampy while I sang. He ended up falling asleep on grammy. It was strange but fun to sing on risers with my old choir director and high school buddies but have a husband and baby in the audience!

So the week continued to be busy from there....and I am just now posting!

Demani is babbling away and is just so active and interactive. He notices everything and everyone. He seems to love people and will give perfect strangers great big smiles. He is such a sweetie! I am so proud of him; he just ate half a jar of squash! I was so excited that I called Mathwon at work to tell him! Demani bear will be 7 months old tomorrow...already! I can't believe May is done...onward to June!

Graduation and Mother's Day...and my sick baby badge

Whew, what a whirlwind! Its been a few since I posted...been busy here! Last Saturday was my sister's graduation from college. Demani was a gem and we had a great time. I nursed him right there in our seats twice and he feel asleep on Grammy, he hardly made a peep. Tiffany got the department honors for Social Work - I am so proud of who she is! Tiff just kept saying I can't believe it's over and I just kept saying I can't believe we are all out of college...where did the time go? I have a feeling I will be saying this for the rest of my life..."where did the time go?"

Mother's Day was sooo amazing. Two young ladies from our church sent me flowers celebrating my first Mother's Day...I was so surprised and blessed and honored that they thought of me and sent flowers. How sweet is that?! Mom and Dad got me sweet cards and gifts too. I got calls from family wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.

Mathwon and Demani made my first Mother's Day very special. Demani picked out a hanging basket and Mathwon picked out some flowers for the back deck - I really enjoy hanging out on the deck. We went out for a leisurely lunch and enjoyed some great food! We ate outside and enjoyed the warm, pleasant day and just relaxed. Mathwon and Demani gave me cards, a book, and coupons. Demani gave me a coupon for an afternoon nap. I asked Mathwon if it was for me to take a nap or for Demani to take a nap and he said I can use it how ever I want :) I got to spend some time on the deck with my book and flowers when we got home and then we went and got dessert with some friends. The day was just perfect. I felt loved. Here's a pic of mom and son on Mother's Day.

Monday began the hardest two days of motherhood to date. At the end of Stroller Strides he started really fussing and usually we get through exercising just fine. I reached in the stroller to check on him and he felt warm. I said to a friend, I don't think he feels well. So I rushed us home and took his temp and he had a fever. We ended up going to ER later that afternoon because his temp had gone up and he wasn't nursing. They told us he has a virus and to keep up with the Tylenol. My heart would break again and again with each cry, whimper, and cough. None of us slept well Monday night. So I earned my sick baby badge...I could have done without it....I feel like now I know what motherhood is really all about....your heart truly changes once you're a mom.

So yesterday we had a follow up visit with the Dr's office and Demani is recovering well. Praise the Lord! Right now he is laying across my lap and I am bouncing him and typing at the same time. Perhaps he is interested in another nap :)

Spring has sprung!

The trees are budding and the flowers are bursting forth; spring is here! The warm sun is still hit or miss these days but it is still reassuring to see the flowers. I am ready for the warm weather to be here to stay!

Last Saturday we spent sometime outside to enjoy the pretty day and went on a date, the 3 of us! Demani was a gem at the restaurant and we had a wonderful time together. We got all the way through the meal and Demani was finally successful in grabbing a handful of green beans! He was quite proud of himself. He is such a good baby and we feel so blessed.

Here is a picture of Demani and I - I am introducing him to flowers! Mathwon took a great shot of us! My sisters told me that if you click on a picture it will enlarge for you to see details better. You may need to enlarge the picture to see Demani's fistful of flowers.

Enjoy spring!