Luke's Baptism

Luke was baptized on August 22nd. Our church (Ridge Point Community Church)does baptisms on Saturday nights after the Saturday night service in a separate baptism service. We had the pleasure of having my parents,grandparents, and Kirk and Kathy and the boys. Chris' parents were there as well as Nana and Grandad and we were excited to have Ma II (Chris' grandmother) there from Atlanta.




It was awesome to have all of the great-grandparents there because chances are we will never have all of them in one place again.



As part of baptism preparation we were asked to choose a life verse for Luke. Here is the verse we chose:

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:3-4

We chose this verse for Luke because our hearts desire for our son is for him to be a loving and faithful man with a good reputation among man and God.

Luke did fantastic during the baptism. While we were on the stage and Jim (our pastor) was talking Luke was looking up at him and smiling the biggest, cutest smile. In fact Jim laughed and said that he lost his train of thought because of Luke's smiling. It was so awesome!

As parents we recognize and accept the responsibility to lead and guide our sons so that someday they will have a relationship with the Lord. We are so thankful to have a wonderful church and MANY family members and friends who will support us in this awesome responsibility.

Two years old!

We are now officially into the terrible two's, which thankfully are not that terrible. Simon turned two on August 3. It is amazing how quickly time flies. I look at him and I have a hard time even seeing a toddler. He is very much a busy little boy. Simon continues to be a big boy. At his two year appointment he weighed 32.5 lbs and is 38 1/2 inches tall. He is off the charts for height!
Everyday his vocabulary seems to expand by leaps and bounds. This morning we were watching the Today Show and Barack Obama came on, Simon said "Barack Obama" without even hearing the name. Needless to say I was shocked. He also has amazing manners. He uses please, thank you, and excuse me quite regularly. He even said "God bless you" to me when I sneezed. The thing that amazes me the most is that I can carry on a conversation with him! It is awesome to be able to communicate with him.
Much like his dad at this age Simon is obsessed with all types of vehicles that move- trains, cars, trucks, fire trucks, etc. He has an extensive collection of Matchbox cars, tractors ("tracties" according to him), and larger cars and trucks. It is not uncommon to see him carrying around at least 2 Matchbox cars and usually more. We can not leave the house without him carrying several cars.
Some of Simon's favorite things to do are feed the duckies, play at the park, play with his cousins (Andrew and Matthew), and to swim in his pool.
We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful and loving little boy and we thank God for the two awesome years we have had and look forward to many more!

Introducing... Luke David Arendshorst

Chris and I welcomed a new member to our family on June 3, 2009. Luke David was born in Holland Hospital weighing 8lbs. 5ozs. and 21 inches long. The first thing I noticed about him when I saw him was he was not huge! This was quite a concern for me considering I had gestational diabetes. Second, I noticed he had hair! Simon did not have a lick of hair on his head when he was born. Granted Luke did not have a ton, but certainly more than Simon.
Luke is now almost 3 months old. At his two month appointment he weighed 14lbs. 5ozs. and was 25 inches long. A very healthy boy! He is also such a joy. He is a very happy baby and always quick with the smiles. He loves to talk. If you smile at him and talk to him he coos and talks back! Super cute!
Simon is an awesome big brother. He loves Luke very much and asks where Luke is as soon as he wakes up in the morning and kisses him goodnight every night.
We are so very thankful that Luke is here. We are truly very blessed.

What a difference a year makes!

Well it is official I am a blog slacker. That's not exactly true, I am learning as I go so bear with me.
Last year at this time I had a little one year boy who wasn't even walking yet and saying a few words. Now look at where we are. We have a VERY busy two year old who runs rather than walks and talks a mile a minute. It is amazing how you can actually carry on a conversation with Simon.
The biggest change of all is we now have an awesome 11 week old baby boy. Luke is such a joy and blessing to our family. He is quick with the smiles and he coos and talks a lot (I think he gets that from his dad - the talking not the cooing).
It is truly amazing to think back to our life a year ago and realize that I would not change a thing!