A woman of noble character

Jason's Grandma Ruby Smith passed away last Monday, at the age of 91. She had suffered from Alzheimer's the last bit of her life. We were able to fly back on Wednesday to be with family and attend the funeral services. These pictures were taken Memorial weekend and was the last time we saw her.

I have had the honor to know Grandma Ruby for the past nine years. I have heard many, many stories about this woman and when the Proverbs ask, "A wife of noble character who can find?", it speaks of Grandma Ruby. She was a Godly woman who took care of her family. She was a hard worker with a servant's heart. She has seen so many things and has experienced so many things. She put others before herself, she was gentle, faithful and strong. She will be missed.



"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Proverbs 31

Milk Already?

My little girl is growing up. Today was her first day to try milk for the first time. We have begun the weaning process. She hasn't been nursing much at all the past couple of weeks and is for the most part uninterested. She has always been a little lady that moves on to the next progressive step with ease, so I shouldn't be surprised. I didn't think I would get emotional, but it was hard not to. To see my little girl with her milk made me tear up. To think that soon, that part of our connection will be over, wow.

Here are a few pics of this experience. Of course she loved it!

Our little pumpkin!

Our little pumpkin will be turning one in a few weeks! That is so hard to believe. She is going to have her first costume party with all of her friends. These fall pictures were taken in Harpers Ferry.

2 months to plan - over in 3 hours!

I had the opportunity to plan Harvest Fest this year for our church and community. We held it at a local park. For those of you from Firewheel, it was similar to the Easter thing and for those of you at Hill Country it was similar to Summer Fest. We had free food, live music, bounce houses and carnival games. The kids loved it. Everything went great! Eliana got a tattoo. She wasn't a huge fan of the process. So her "princess" said "prince".




She also got an opportunity to bounce in the bounce house. She laughed so hard.

One day he will be in a dress!

The cat has warmed up to Eliana. It took him about 11 months, but now we think he loves her. Or at least he tolerates her and realizes someday she will be bigger than him because she is growing at a faster rate than he is (yes, the cat walks taller than the baby). I must admit these are not the most exciting videos. Eliana had just been playing in the kitchen with a kick ball and the cat walked in. She got really excited and started chasing him, she chased him all around the kitchen and then back into the living room, before I got the camera. Both were probably a little bored of the game. But, I promised my mom more videos, so here goes. Also, before anyone gives me the bad mom award for 2008, we don't let Eliana go down the hall towards the stairs. She can climb the steps (crazy enough, she just did it one day like she had been doing it forever), but she can't get started on that bottom step because the floor is slippery. Yes, it is time to buy a gate.

We are now live!

After a lot of sweat and tears, okay, neither of those really, but a lot of work and creativity, we have a new website! With the help of church plant media (building the site), Jason (adding all the content) and myself (handling the graphics) we created a great site, that is now live! We are excited to unveil our new site tomorrow to the church body. What an exciting process! All we need to do now is take staff and elders pictures and get those up. But for now, we would love for you to take a look at www.hpcc.com.

For the Grandparents...

and the daddy. Eliana has learned to stand up. And seems to do it at least once a day in her crib. Although, when we aren't looking, she is probably in there bustin' out some pretty sweet moves in front of her stuffed toys. Anyway, Jason still hasn't seen it! She was awake from her nap and I found her standing up. Layed her back down and before I knew it... up again. I got the camera and decided to shoot some video for daddy. She has also been covering her mouth to giggle. I would love to get that on video!

So Big!

This past week, Eliana has learned to clap. She claps at everything. She claps when her movies start. She claps whenever you say "Yeah!". She loves to clap. She has also learned to push you away if she doesn't want you messing with her. What is that about? She reaches for people more and more and even crawled up under my legs while I was doing dishes and tugged at my pants. When I looked down, she reached her arms up. She has also pulled up to stand. I had her in her pack n play last week while I was on the computer and I look back and she was standing. She couldn't see me through the border while on her knees, so I guess she decided to pull up to get a better view. She hasn't done it for Jason yet, although has come close. She didn't want to take her nap, so I went to check on her and this is what I found...


Don't let the smile fool you. She has been sick this past week. A really bad runny nose, so it has been hard for her to lay down. So, her naps haven't been as smooth. She had been crying, so if you look close, you can see a face full of tears and snot.



And this was Eliana almost a year ago in that same bed. Boy does time fly!

Back In Time at Harper's Ferry

Today we had the opportunity to see Harper's Ferry with Jason's family. No matter how many times we go there, I love it! We got to see more of it this time around. It is like you step back in time. As you step in each building it looks like it did then. Each, its own museum, preserved in time. The general store, the boarding house, the old tavern... It is amazing. Of course many beautiful places to take pictures. So many textures for backgrounds! Love it! I can't wait to take Eliana there in the Spring for pictures. Here are a few we got today.


Jason, Eliana, Great Grandma Hayes and Grandma Judy: Four generations



Eliana Grace and her PaPa Smith. She sure does love her PaPa and loves to reach for him.

Thank You Aunt Cindy!

Eliana Grace would like to give a shout out to her Aunt Cindy for sending her this pretty dress. She was able to wear it today for Grandparents Day! Jason's mom, dad, grandma and uncle Joe are here this week and Eliana couldn't be more excited to see them, so much so that she felt like she didn't need a nap all day!

10 months old today!

I love this picture. Just chillin' by the back door. She kept crossing her legs when she would look out. I love it!

Where did my little baby go?

I have asked this question a million times already. It is so true that time goes so fast with a little one. I knew it would, but I had know idea that I would feel like time was slipping through my fingers. Eliana has went through so many changes so far that everyday she is doing something new. I love the little girl she is becoming, but miss my itty-bitty baby I brought home from the hospital almost 10 months ago.




After chasing the cat, she noticed the back window. She moved the blinds to take a look out.

Good Friends and a Little Rain

This past week was awesome! Two of our best friends, Jason and Allison, from Dallas came to visit us, with little Charlotte of course. It was wonderful to see them again. And I loved seeing Charlotte and Eliana play together. Eliana doesn't get much play time with other babies, so this was a treat. The other one would smile as big as can be when they saw the other one. Allison and I were pregnant at the same time. Our little girls are a little over two months apart. But don't let that fool you. Eliana towers over little Charlotte. Both, blessed with parents of completely different heights. We picked them up in Baltimore and headed to the harbor for lunch.



We had to do a little shopping the next day and decided to let the girls share the cart. Charlotte had to sit on Eliana a bit, but neither seemed to mind. It looks kind of funny though to only see Eliana's legs.


Bath time has been fun for these too. This was the first time Eliana has shared a tub. Charlotte was sweet and bought Eliana her very own duck tub. It was so sweet to see the two of them.


Thursday night it was off to the races! A friend of ours, Eddie is a horse trainer there and was gracious enough to let us sit in his box. It is a good thing I am not a gambler. I tend to just pick a number, without seeing the horse. Not a good betting strategy. Not that I know anything about horses. We also went outside to get a closer look. Eliana loved to watch them, although got a little spooked when the horses crossed the finish line right in front of us.


We were off to DC on Friday. This was our first trip on a subway. The weather forecast said that there was a chance of rain all day. Since it wasn't raining when we got off the subway we decided to start our day walking to the monuments.


First stop, Abe Lincoln way on the other side. The walk started out pretty, although a little overcast. And then a light mist. Still not bad, we can handle this. And then a little harder. Still bearable. And finally a down pour. We got out the umbrellas, covered the strollers and walked rather quickly past everything cool to see on the way to Lincoln. And if you have ever been there, there are A LOT of steps to see him. So here are two couples, lifting strollers up these steps. And did I mention, that our friend Jason, just had back surgery! Side note, we found the handicap ramp on the way down. We make it inside and are completely soaked. The babies seemed dry, but Eliana's pants were soaked on her bottom where the water pooled up. We decided to take a break. We changed the babies, fed the babies and tried to mentally prepare for the walk back. This is a happy Eliana and a very soaked daddy!


On the way back to the museums, we were able to get some rain ponchos to cover ourselves and the strollers. Both babies fell asleep! We were getting soaked and the babies apparently comfy cozy. Perfect! Although we later found out that the rain found its way through the top of our stroller, so Eliana's head and back were now wet. The rain soon stopped and the rest of the day was dry and fun for all!




"I'm going to eat your face." "Oh yeah, well I'm going to pull that frilly little bow off your head."


No, really these girls are BFFs! We wanted to get a cute picture of them together, but the bench was way more exciting. And for being out ALL day with food coming when we could get it, no naps, and wet blankets, these girls did great. Smiles on their faces all day. That is until we got into the car to head home. That is when you re-think having your baby out until 9:30pm.

The Smith Family goes to the Fair

The Jefferson County Fair was this week. Our church was handing out free sports bottles filled with water, along with free new testaments. There were countless people surprised by such a generous act, with no strings attached. Jason and I had the opportunity to hand bottles out tonight, with Eliana chillin' in her stroller. We also got to eat fair food. Gotta love fair food. Funnel cakes, yummy!



Eliana wasn't tall enough for any rides, even if we held her, so before handing out bottles, we took her to see the bunnies, chickens and roosters. It was like she was Snow White. The minute we walked over, the little bunny put its paws up to see Eliana.



Then it was off to see some cows. I actually expected her to be a little more excited to see all the animals. She was like "Yeah, whatever dad. I mean it's cool and all, but it's not a puppy. I like puppies."



"I have a dream. A dream for a brighter future for cows everywhere. Yes, some day... some day."

On the Move

Eliana Grace is on the move. She has went from rolling all over the room, rather quickly, to an army crawl and now she is up on all fours. I even find her in her crib now on hands and knees. Yesterday, the cat came into the living room and walked by her. With his back to her, she got up on hands and knees and with a look of excitement and determination, she went after him. It takes her a while, so he had time to run away. I call this picture, "I must eat my mommy!"


And this one is just because she is so pretty! Even with food all over her face!