4 Months Old

Nathaniel is now 4 months old! He is loads of fun now because he can respond to us talking to him. I also don't feel like I'm going to break him anymore because he has grown so much!

Things Nathaniel can do at 4 months:

- babbles a whole lot!
- mimics the "a" sound a bunch especially when we play a game I taught him.

- bats at his toys and grabs them to put into his mouth

- stares at himself in the mirror and talks

- kicks his legs up and waves his arms "like he just don't care.. hey... ho..."
- laughs and smiles

- rolls over from stomach to back and almost back to stomach. He turns to his side and back. I just don't think he wants to roll onto his stomach yet.

- eats 5.5 oz of milk

- throws mini temper tantrums- give him a toy he loves and he is content, take it away before he is done with it he whimpers/whines, give it back, happy baby! It is pretty funny to see.

- holds his head very nicely

- watches Checkers intently

- takes 3 naps a day and sleeps 10 hours at night! Thank you Jesus!

- And of course he loves his mommy and daddy oh so dearly!

I love Nathaniel more and more each day and I can not thank God enough for blessing us with him! Here is my little love at 4 months.

This is a big boy at 4 months!

He is 26 1/2 inches long and 15lbs. 7oz.

His ear got squished so his face looks a little funny here.

Look at those huge eyes!

Memorial Day

This weekend was a blur! We spent a lot of time out of the house! On Monday we spent time with our families. First we went to my brother's house for a BBQ with my cousin Daniel from Mexico. It was way hot! Then later that evening with Lesh's family, we went out to Fogo de Caou, a delicious protein heaven. We all ate too much, but it was tasty! Here are a few pics. from our weekend.

My nephew Azriel playing in the Sprinkler!

My cousin Daniel with Nathaniel

My First Mother's Day

What joy Nathaniel brings to my heart. I love him more and more each day. I praise God that he blessed me with this sweet holiday- Mother's Day! Every year at our church Dr. Young our pastor asks mothers to stand up. Each year I am a little sad at this time because I don't get to stand. I got to stand up this year! Nathaniel brings out so many emotions out of me and I'm thankful for all of them. I feel love, worry, frustration, sadness, joy, contentment, hope... I could go on and on! I celebrated Mother's Day with two wonderful moms. My mom and my mom-n-love. On Saturday we celebrated Mother's Day with my family at La Centerra. They had a live band and it was a beautiful day to sit outside under the shade. On Sunday we celebrated with my mom-n-love at Saltgrass with the whole Richardson clan. All 10 of us. This weekend was such a wonderful time to be thankful to God. He has rained down his blessings on our family. Here are some pics of our Mother's day weekend.

On a subject other than Mother's Day, our good friend Mark came to town last week! He lives in Alaska with his sweet wife Becky. Mark was our best man in our wedding and a few years ago Mark and Beck got married and Lesh was a groomsman. We appreciate their friendship and wished they lived closer. Lesh and I got to visit Mark and Beck this past summer and had a blast! Here is a picture of Mark and Nathaniel on his visit to Houston and also a picture of Mark in Becky in New Mexico on the weekend of their wedding. Becky was unable to come due to school. We missed you Becky!!

Play Time!

Today my friend Wendy and her two beautiful children came over to play with Nathaniel. Nathaniel and Zachary are only 3 weeks apart and they are so cute together!! Nathaniel just loved Carly and stared at her! It was precious. Wendy and I had a great time catching up. She and I have been friends for almost 10 years now. She and I met in our singles class at Second Baptist church where we both met our husbands. Second sure is the best place to meet your husband. I have tons of friends who met thier spouses there. Here are some pics of the kiddos!

Carly

Zachary

Nathaniel

The gang hanging out!

Nathaniel couldn't keep his eyes off of Carly! It was so cute!

Best Buddies!

3 Months Old!!!

Nathaniel is 3 months old!! Here are his 3 month pics!! He is growing like a weed.

Nathaniel is 25 1/2 inches long and wieghs approximately 13 lbs!

He loves to talk and make funny sounds. He kicks his legs in the air and bats at his toys. He is on the verge of rolling over when he is on his tummy. He holds his head and chest up using his arms. He is just fascinated with Checkers. Nathaniel just stares at him intently. We love him so!

A Promise To God

On Sunday, April 26th, Lesh and I made a promise to God to rear Nathaniel Joseph to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Our church Second Baptist has a parent/child committment service where parents can join with our pastor and congregation to present our children to the Lord. Lesh and I knew we wanted to publicly make this committment in the presence of our family and friends. The Lord has done great things in our lives and we desire for Nathaniel to experience God in His life. God says in his word that we are to have children to multiply and to increase the family of God.

Psalm 78 tells us that our jobs as parents is to teach God's word to our children.

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. 5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Our prayer for Nathaniel is that he will come to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at a young age so that he will glorify God with his life. Nathaniel's name means gift of God and we praise God for this precious gift!! We know God gave him to us and we in turn give his life to God. We know God has a great plan for Nathaniel's life and we will spend time on our knees knowing that God will hear our prayers. Thank you to our family who we know will come along side us to prayer for Nathaniel's life in Christ.

The Richardson Family

Our Pastor Dr. Ed Young telling us that we were blessed.

Did you know that Dr. Young's hands are really soft????

I Hate Cleaning!

This past weekend we cleaned our house from top to bottom and left no crevice behind! I don't really enjoy cleaning. I have always had a little of the messy streak in my blood. Growing up my mom always got after me about cleaning my room. I know some people enjoy cleaning, but I really dislike it! Anyone else feel the same? Even my car, I grew up with my dad telling me that you can tell a lot about a person by the cleanliness of thier car. I'm not good about cleaning it anymore.

Lesh and I decided to take advantage of the low percentage rates being offered to refinance our home. So we retouched paint, swept, mopped, vacuumed, steam cleaned carpets, scrubbed till my hands were raw, dusted, cleaned out the garage, fixed up the yard, organized closets and so much more!!! I can't believe we got it done in two days! Well, we did stay up till 1 AM. Needless to say my allergies are flaring now because of all the dusting and because it's spring. I decided to take pictures of the house because I figured it won't be this spotless until we sell some day. We find out in 5 days how are house was appraised. It better be worth it after all the work we did.

This is our Future formal study. Still lots of decorating and painting to do!

Kitchen

Breakfast room

Living room

Lesh' pride and joy! His TV.

Our guest bedroom

Nathaniel's room

Laundry room

Bathroom

Master bedroom, still needs lots of decorating and painting and furniture!

We have none but our bed.

Master bath- needs paint too!

All the cleaning we did inspired me to make a calendar of chores to help me keep up this cleanliness. So I downloaded a pretty template from Microsoft's website. You know girls, it has to be pretty!

Also, Nathaniel is 12 weeks old today!! He is cooing a whole lot, loves to stare at himself in the mirror, holds his hands on his chest and eats them too. He kicks his legs up in the air and bats at his toys on his mat. He smiles all the time and he loves his mommy and daddy! We LOVE him so much!

This outfit barely fits him. I have already had to put away some of his 0-3 months clothes. :(