Paden's Dedication

On February 8th we were able to participate in Journey's Baby Dedication Sunday. For John and I we just saw this as a "formality" and a "coming out" for Paden. One of the sweet things that we have done with both boys is give them to the Lord within hours after they were born as we were in the hospital. John and I both know that we are so incredibly blessed to be parents to these little boys that there is no way we can do this on our own without the Lord. So, within mere hours of their birth we surrender our babies and ourselves to the Lord.

As for our church's baby dedication...standing before our church family and asking for their prayer support and making the vow to raise our child to love and serve our God, is not just a "formality" -- it's a step of faith. I believe all parents can attest the fact that it is not easy to raise children, as many of us know we weren't easy children to raise. We can only hope that we're doing the best for our little ones, but the best way we can do that is to surrender all to God and rely on Him alone.

So on the 8th we, along with our friends the Mills, made that step of faith. Of course it came with a lot of laughs (especially towards Luke whom the pastor said will be a "lively" preacher one day!).

Pastor Glen, Paden, Kristen, John and Grandma Mimi (I think Luke was off flirting with Bailey at the time)

Paden and Pastor Glen Martin

Jonny, Denise, Bailey and Laken Mills

Luke was more interested in "flirting" with his friend Bailey and making cool "thud" noises as he jumped up and down on the stage. Oy!

And He Keeps On Running And Running And Running...

A few weeks ago we made a trip down the coast to Carlsbad for a half-marathon. We can mark this as John's first for the year. Before the big run we took the boys down early on Saturday to the New Children's Museum in San Diego. It was a rare rainy day in L.A. so we opted to avoid the zoo as planned and find an outlet for Luke. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day in San Diego but the museum was really cool and blast! It turned out to be an art museum geared towards kids, bright, colorful and crazy cool! There was space to run, bubbles to be blown, blocks to build with, textures to feel with your hands and feet, walls to climb and a tent city to explore (and that was just Daddy!).




Besides John's big run and visiting the museum, this was the Mizell's first sleepover in a hotel with the boys! Yowzie! I will admit it went a lot smoother than I anticipated. I guess we wore those little boys out that sleep overcame their little bodies.



John did really well on the run Sunday morning. I believe all parties (Phil Lauri, Kim Lauri, Tyler and Denise Norden) are pleased with their times. It was fun to support them all (and easy since all we had to do was step out of our hotel and we were at the 5 and 7 mile marker)! Now we get to look forward to rooting on our traveling band of runners in Lo Jolla in April!

Mommy's Big Helper

So many friends talk about what "big helpers" their daughters are...always wanting to be like their Mommy. I can say the same about my Luke. He is definitely a big "help" for Mommy. My precious son loves to "help" me around the house with various "chores" and of course with his little brother (and as we know, with my make-up too!). Here are just some of the things Luke likes to "help" with...sweeping the floors (the kid has his own Swiffer!), emptying the dishwasher (I have even found dirty utensils in the drawer), taking out the trash (he "helps" Daddy by pushing the trash bag down the stairs), etc.

This week he hit a whole new level of "helping" with Paden. I have seen him want to (and try to) pick Paden up from wherever he is hanging out at. Recently he announced that Paden had a stinky and started to change his diaper. Yes, you read that right, Luke attempted to change Paden's diaper. Before I knew it the baby's outfit was unzipped and he had a diaper hanging halfway off his little bottom! Thank goodness he was only wet (I can't imagine what it would have looked like if it was a stinky diaper)!!

So for all those moms out there who brag up and down about how physical/athletic/coordinated their little boys are -- all I can say is I've got one well-rounded, precious little boy. So there!

From Toilet Bowl to Kitchen Sink

Surprise, Surprise...Paden loves baths!!! This kid is becoming a baby of routine, and one of those "routine moments" in his day is the evening bath. We threw out the plastic baby tub and tossed the kid into the kitchen sink (with a little padding of course!) and he couldn't be happier than when he's in there. He quickly becomes unhappy with us when the water is turned off. All I can say is "water baby much?"! So for all you wise-cracks out there, those early jokes of the kid being born and falling into the toilet...add this to your plumber jokes!


By the way -- the kiddo started cereal last Saturday. He is our big eater in the family without a doubt! So far an easy transition -- accompanied with a big mess! Followed with a bath -- of course!

They were both fascinated with Elmo! How cute?!

Going to the airport!

Bailey and Luke were more interested in the books than the OU football game.
(Luke had a sweatshirt to wear, but Thomas won out.)

Boomer Sooners! Okay, so they didn't win but Laken Mills and Paden sure had the spirit going!

Can I take a bite?

Lookin' good! Showing his "style" with Bailey's hair clips.

Post-bath babies

Luke's own "zoo" experience.

Our Chunky Monkey!

Catching Up

I've been wanting to sit down and catch up but it always seems that time slips by and my e-mails and blogs are ignored or postponed for "another time." Another time? What the heck is that? My days don't know time, just "time to wake up" (usually because one of the boys has decided to wake up before the world does), "time to eat" (Luke pilfering the snack basket), "play time", "nap time" (oh please, oh please go to sleep!), "bath time", "dinner time", and "bed time" (you're tired, please go to sleep!). Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy don't have much time for "fun" things let alone time to catch up on the computer.

So a few things to catch up on:
1. John is home! You may ask "what and why?" -- but John seems to travel non-stop these days...now he's home for 5 weeks! Yes, 5 weeks peeps! He's taking a class out here (Air Force style) so no travels for 5 weeks! Yeah!
2. Cranky, cranky, cranky -- that seems to be the theme both boys pull on us! I would believe with the amount of drool coming out of both of their mouths means we should be expecting some teeth soon.
3. Sleep? What's that? -- we've had some rough sleep spots. The biggie being both boys seem to know when Daddy is gone, therefore they wake up during the night, a lot! Luke wants to join Mommy in bed and Paden, well let's just say he wakes up a lot! We're currently working on Lil P...we'll see if we can make some changes in his sleep -- we can only hope!
4. New friends and good-byes -- we made some new friends this past summer (all of our kids are the same ages!) and some of them we've had to say "good bye" to. The Barfields packed up their family and household and moved on to Colorado. Luke often mentions Sydney and Miss Trisha, but always follows with a pensive look and "Colorado" -- he knows! Thankfully we've filled our time and play with the Mills family -- often with Luke in tears as he has to leave Bailey and Miss Denise for nap time.

That's about it. I'll follow this diatribe with some pics of our fun!