On the Move

Taking a stroll on the beach

Hanging out in the back yard

"Just my size"

Sliding at the Stumps'

• Olive is growing up. Just recently she took her first steps--pretty amazing. She got her ears pierced. I'm told she only cried for like 20 seconds; she is a tough cookie. But the most significant thing that Olive accomplished this summer was saying, "Dada."
• We have been laboring away on our new place; just a couple of projects to finish up before winter weather rolls in.
• Kelsey has started working part-time selling Mary Kay make-up. So far, so good. I think she'll do great.
• The church is doing well. God is faithful. I think we have positioned ourselves to maximize our effectiveness this fall. It's an honor to serve the Lord's church. Keep praying.
• We took a trip to Newport, Oregon (on the coast). We stayed for 5 days! It was a great getaway. What made it especially memorable for us was the generosity that was showed to us by a group of guys at Gresham Bible Church. They paid for the entire trip! Our lodging, food, and even our gas was covered by their gift to us. There are some incredible men of God at GBC.

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while. I will make an effort to do better.

Olive's New Adventure

Kelsey and Olive headed off to Austin, Texas on Friday morning to visit Timi, Kelsey's sister. I guess Olive really enjoyed the window seat on the plane : ) I told Kelsey that next time Olive has to stay home with me--I really miss her. But I'm glad they're having fun. I will start some small remodeling projects today so that will keep me pretty busy while the ladies are away. They will return on Wednesday night, so that means I'll spend a good portion of Wednesday evening: washing dirty dishes, picking up dirty laundry, and straightening up the bedroom and living room. My appreciation for what Kelsey does around the house has grown over the past couple of days.

On the home front, I'll keep y'all posted on how all of the home improvement projects are going. Next week I'll post some 'before' pictures and as time passes, I will start posting 'after' pictures.

Our New Addition!

Freeman Brown joined our family just 4 days ago and is settling in quite well. We named him Freeman in honor of my African-American heritage. When slaves were freed from the grip of their masters, they were released into society without an identity; no name and no lineage. Many slaves took the names of their masters, some took the names of famous abolitionist (my last name Brown was taken from the great abolitionist John Brown), while others took the name Freeman. They were no longer bound to plantations, no longer forced to endure the hardships of working in cotton fields under the thumb of cruel task masters; they were free!

My mother's family is one of the many African-American families that proudly bear the name Freeman. On a lighter note, we thought Freeman was a fitting name because he will soon be freed from the restrictions of an apartment and able to frolic freely in a large back yard. We'll keep you updated on his progress.

Watch Me Grow

Since Olive turned 7 months old on Friday, I thought it would be cool to list off all the new things she has learned in the past month:

1.) Olive is a big time roller. She doesn't crawl yet, so if she sees something she wants, she just rolls to it; pretty cute.

2.) She is eating big girl food now like: mashed potatoes and rice puffs. But her favorite by far is pureed zucchini.

3.) She is a musical genius. We got Olive a baby piano and drum set and she loves it.

4.) She has a total of 4 teeth now. The two teeth that are coming in on top look like fangs. We gave her a new nickname, Snagapuss.

5.) Olive is a break dancer. She can spin a full 360 degrees on her belly. Pretty amazing huh?

6.) Olive has turned into a little ninja. She is so stealth. If I put her on the floor and turn my head for a second, shes tangled up in the electrical cords. We have to watch her.

7.) Olive's Harris genes have finally kicked in. She can sleep for 9 hours straight. Praise Jesus!

Our New House!

After months of searching, we've finally found the perfect place. We are scheduled to close on June 6th and we can't wait! Apartment living has its perks but we're ready to stretch out. The house has 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms, a huge 2 car garage, and great big back yard. When we started looking for a house, we made a list of everything that we wanted in our ideal house. Guess what? This one has everything we wanted. So, mad props to the Big Man upstairs, our real estate agent Jeremy Heath, and my pops for putting up the down payment.

Oh, and Olive is doing great! She is sleeping through the night now.

It has been a long time coming

First, my sincere apologies for taking so long to update our blog, but I'm back on track. A lot has happened since our last update. Olive is developing rapidly, and that means our lives are rapidly changing. She is becoming more and more independent. She is starting to grab at her toys, she can endure tummy time for longer than 30 seconds, she takes naps by herself, and she is doing much better in her car seat. Oh yea, and she is sleeping for longer periods of time. The other night she slept for 5 hours straight!

Last month, my parents got to meet Olive for the first time. They fell in love immediately, and who wouldn't; she is the best baby ever. I can't wait to introduce her to the rest of my family.

Olive has certainly become a "church baby." On Sundays people will ask me, "Where is Olive?" and I say, "I have no clue."

On Saturday, Olive will be 4 months old. Time flys when you're having fun. Kelsey and I (mostly me) came to the decision that we're ready for another one. As soon as Kelsey drops the baby weight, we're going to get to work on #2. Stay tuned.

The Experience of a Lifetime

Olive is absolutely beautiful. Kelsey did such an amazing job. She started pushing at 3:00pm and Olive was born at 4:58pm. Dr. Drake is the man! It was truly a divine experience.

Since I know that most of you have been waiting to see the pictures, I'll let them do the talking.