Steven's Room: All about Bugs!

Brrrr....it's cold outside, so we are spending a lot of time indoors. Steven is able to play by himself more now that he can grab and interact with his toys. He spent some time playing in his room this morning. Several of you have asked for pictures of it, so this is for you. The wait is finally over! Exciting, I know.


His room (and the above outfit) are all about bugs. It might seem like a strange choice, but if you know us very well, you know that we are not really into sports all that much. And in case you haven't noticed before, a large portion of baby boy things are sports related. When we were decorating his room, we really wanted something that reflected us but weren't sure how that translated into a baby's room. Charlton collected bugs when he was little and so when we saw this crib bedding set we thought it was the answer. Plus, it was different from everything else we had seen (and we like being different).

Charlton painted the blue and green

stripes, and very patiently stuck each wallpaper bug along the wall. His hard work paid off because those bugs were the first thing that Steven focused on. He first discovered them while laying on the changing table; by 8 weeks he was totally in love with the little guys and "talked" to them like they were old friends. He now talk to us instead of the bugs, but the changing table still remains one his favorite places to hang out. My mom says that she's never seen a baby so happy to be on his changing table!

Our blog has a new look for a new year. Check out the right hand side as there are many new items that have been added. Thanks for reading our blog- we love your comments! - Laura

A New Era

Steven's hair started laying down last week. Charlton says it's the beginning of a new era. We had his 4 month check-up yesterday. He is 14 lbs. 15 oz. and 25 inches. He is in the 50th percentile for everything (including head circumference). Our doctor said that his top gums are a little swollen but that we probably have at least a few more months before we see any teeth. I was starting to wonder since he is drooling uncontrollably and biting down pretty hard on everything (and I mean everything!).

Steven is growing up so much; he has dropped his late afternoon nap. I was anxious for this to happen so that we could get out of the house more, but once it actually did I wasn't so sure. He's never been awake for longer than an hour and a half, and he gets cranky later in the day because he's tired but doesn't want to sleep. So, this week we've been going outside a lot- we've had beautiful weather! Today we walked down to the park and watched the "big kids" play on the playground. Steven was fascinated. He can't wait to join them! I couldn't resist taking this picture of him in his stroller when we got home.

New Year's

Steven went on his first road trip New Year's weekend. We drove to Stephenville, Texas (about 5 hours) to have Christmas with Charlton's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.





Papa & Mama






Charlton & I












Steven, cousin Saige,
& second cousin Billy







The Wimberlys

Steven's Second 1st Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas day with the Thurman side of our family. Steven started to get a little more interested in the wrapping paper and presents (or anything that he thought he might could get in his mouth).

Christmas Morning

Opening my stocking with Dad


Opening my presents with Mom

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth?

The Week Before Christmas

Mom had the most wonderful time dressing me up....

Help our good friends in Peru!

During this Christmas season, if you happen to have money lying around and you’re wondering where you can send it (where it will actually make a difference), please consider supporting the ministry of our good friends in Peru. John Ferguson was our college minister at Texas A&M (he also officiated at our wedding). Last summer, he, his wonderful wife Heather, and their 5 great kids picked up and moved to Peru. They now work full-time training Peruvian pastors to minister to college students there. John & Heather have to raise all of their own support, which as you can imagine is no easy task. Please consider supporting their ministry to the people of Peru.

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Gifts can be sent to:

Christian Missionary Society

P.O. box 2051

Statesboro, GA 30459

(memo: “Ferguson Family Support”)

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And you can find out more about the Fergusons and their ministry here:

http://rufinperu.blogspot.com/

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. . . and here: http://perumission.org/content/posts/ferguson-family4.php

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Merry Christmas!

Steven's First 1st Christmas

We had Christmas with the Wimberlys last Sunday, December 17, so that we could all have Christmas together as a family. We had so much fun with it being Steven and Saige's first Christmas- I think we had more fun than they did! Steven was very calm for pictures in Santa Popo's lap, but soon after was a little overwhelmed by all the commotion. He sat very contently in Popo's lap (minus the Santa suit) while Mommy and Daddy opened his presents. He did like his chair; although, he kept looking around like he didn't know what all the fuss was about. He was not at all interested in the wrapping paper or bows but that just left more presents for Mommy to open! Yea! I'll enjoy while I can.

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas! We decided to post our Christmas letter on our blog this year. This way, the people who want to read it can, and those who don’t won’t feel guilty for throwing the letter away without looking at it.

This year has been rich with blessings. We started the year with a bang by finding out that we were pregnant on New Year’s Day. We only waited until the next weekend to tell our families and a few weeks to announce the news to everyone else. We had started “just looking” at houses in late fall, but now began looking with new interest imagining ourselves as a family of three. This made it an especially busy month with Charlton’s litigation training, which culminated in a week-long mock trial during the last week of January.

We found the perfect house and moved in mid-April. I was finally in the second trimester and feeling much better with the morning sickness behind me. I acted as the supervisor while Charlton and our families worked hard to move us in. Charlton took a week of vacation to help us get settled in. We have loved being in our first home, and continually talk about how much God has blessed us.

Summer began, and of course, it just got hotter by the day, and I followed suit. I’ve always been very cold-natured; one of the biggest daily adjustments to married life for me was feeling like I was living in an igloo so that Charlton wasn’t sweating. I knew I was “really pregnant” the morning I woke up to find that my husband had the sheet AND comforter pulled up to his chin. June brought much joy to my heart as I watched my little sister become a beautiful blushing bride. I was her matron of honor, and being the only pregnant attendant, I wore a "special" gown. The neatest part about it was that Steven actually got to be a part of the big family event. Charlton was busy at work throughout most of the summer. I kept myself busy at home preparing for the little guy and enjoying my free time. We did, however, make time for a “babymoon” over July 4th weekend; we went back to Philadelphia and had a wonderful time catching up with our friends there.

By the time August and September rolled around, I was feeling very uncomfortable and HUGE! Steven Mark was born on September 2nd at 9:10 pm. He weighed 8 pounds and was 20 ½ inches long (for more details, scroll down and read the post from that week). My doctor held him up for me to see and all I saw was a much shorter Charlton. Steven has been such a joy to both of us. Work slowed down for Charlton at just the right time, and he was able to spend 8 days with us to help us transition into life at home. It was great to have him all to ourselves. He is so amazing with Steven, and never hesitated during those early days but just jumped right into whatever the situation called for. He has always been the rock to my roller coaster and this time was no exception.

The last three months have been a challenge (to say the least) but a wonderful blessing to our family. Steven has grown so much and is doing so many things that it is hard for us to remember that it’s ONLY been 3 ½ months since he was born. He has been such a good and happy baby that it makes me a little nervous to think about what our next child might have in store for us. But for now we’re basking in the glow of our beautiful baby boy. Please continue to check our blog to see what 2007 holds for our family.

May God bless you in the coming year. Merry Christmas to All!

3 Months Old

I'm three and a half months old now, and look what I can do....

I can blow bubbles,

bring my hands together and play with them,

hold and shake my rattle,

practice sitting up,

and look cute (oh, wait, I already did that!).

Daddy's birthday

Happy (late) birthday to Daddy who turned 29 on November 30. He still had to go to work that day, but I managed to get a picture with him in my pjs before he left. Next year's the BIG 3-0!

Giving Thanks

I bet you can guess what we are thankful for....our beautiful baby boy! We spent Thanksgiving with our families. On Thursday, we were with the Thurmans, and Friday with the Wimberlys. I want to send a special thank you out to my mom and Brenda for what a big help they have been since Steven was born. Thank you, thank you for all the food you've brought, clothes you've washed and folded, and sleep you helped me get. We could not have survived the first three months without you!

Here are some pictures with my family that I've been slow to post.

End of a long, but fun, holiday!

Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Kyle couldn't be with us on Thanksgiving Day (we missed you!) but they came to celebrate Lindsay's birthday and Steven's baptism the weekend before. Lindsay didn't even mind that Steven stole a little of the limelight (ok, a lot of it)- she's such a great Aunt! These are pictures from her family birthday party.