Our Sweet Baby Boy

I'm getting ready...

...to come to MICHIGAN! (Although right now I'm sweating in my big snowsuit because of this 80 degree South Carolina weather!)

I'm already 8 weeks old!

Baby Brock is 8 weeks old today! We are still loving every day together and are thanking the Lord for this darling baby boy!

I'm 6 weeks old!

Here is Brock at 6 weeks old...it is still pure joy to have him! We praise God continually!

Thanks for coming to visit recently, Elizabeth and Daniel & Candice!

Baby Brock

These past three weeks have been absolutely joyous for us! We have spent every spare moment with our new Brock Benjamin. Thank you all for praying for us; the labor and delivery went wonderfully, and I would do it all again in a second! We are praising God for our Blessing and are just amazed at His goodness. We love being Mom and Dad!

The Time is Coming...

We went to see our doctor this past Monday and had an ultrasound done on the baby. It looks like he weighs anywhere from 7 - 7 1/2 pounds already! Isn't that incredible?! We are soooo thankful to the Lord! As a result, if Baby Godfrey doesn't come this week, he is going to be induced on Tuesday, September 19th! We'll finally get to see his face and hold him! We are ecstatic! God has been so good throughout this whole pregnancy and we continually thank him for each good report. Thank you so much for your prayers, friends. Keep praying!

Final Belly Picture

Here is the belly that carries our precious baby boy...we're only three weeks away from seeing his darling face! We are so excited!

After seeing this picture of myself, I decided that this was about the last one that I would allow to be taken. Yikes!

Like Father, Like Son

Baby Godfrey's shoe collection is already looking much like his father's!

"Friends Don't Let Friends..."

...Buy Grocery Store Ice Cream." Yes, we went to Cold Stone Creamery this weekend and tried their new shakes. I had Cherry Cheesecake and Ben had Coffee Latte. They were typical Cold Stone delights! Thanks, Brother, for the gift card!

Special Weekend Visitors

On Sunday, Daniel and Candice came down from Charlotte to visit for the afternoon and evening. How fun it was to see them again! We had Joel and Lisa and Christy and Fabio over, also, and we all went to a Japanese Restaurant called SUMO. It was great food, and our cook put on quite a show at the grill.

We're Off To School...

Ben started teaching this past week at Lexington Intermediate School. The school only has 5th and 6th grade; Ben is teaching 6th grade Science. We tried our first experiment at home -- dropping 3 mint Mentos into diet Coke -- what an explosion it made! (You'll have to try it! Just make sure you're outside!) Ben's students LOVED it the next day! I wish I would have had a teacher like Mr. Godfrey! :) Good thing I've got him for a husband!

Weekend Luau

This past weekend we were graciously given a baby shower by our friends. This wasn't the typical female-only shower....no, this was a couples' shower, so Ben finally got to experience the oohing and ahhing that accompanies the opening of the most darling baby boy clothes :) We all had such a fun time at the "luau" and we can't thank our friends enough for their thoughtfulness, generosity, and continuing friendship.

Pregnant Girls

How fun it is to be pregnant at the same time as a friend! Lisa and I are about 4 months apart and have so much to talk about each time we get together! We both are so thankful for the gift of life that God has given to us and our husbands :) Fun times are ahead!

Visiting the Korpaks!

While in Michigan, we stopped to see the Korpaks. It is always so fun to visit with them! We look forward to seeing how much Colson and Ashlyn have grown and what they're up to! (I used to babysit Colson when he was just over 1 year old! Now he's going into 3rd grade! Yikes! Have I gotten that many years older, too?)

It's your turn for the next visit, Kimberly! I know you won't mind heading south for a few days :)

Aren't they cute?!

Our time was greatly enriched at Gull Lake by the presence of Daniel's girlfriend. She is wonderful!

Gull Lake

What FUN it was to be together as a family at Gull Lake for a week! Every member (as well as Brother's significant other) was able to make it for at least a day. We had such a great time seeing all our friends, listening to the speaker, being at the beach, and relaxing. We all made sure to sign up for next year!

Lake Avalon

After church on Sunday, we went to Grandma Godfrey's cottage on Lake Avalon...one of the clearest and cleanest lakes in Michigan. The water was so refreshing in the heat! All of our cousins and their cute kids came over...there are seven of them ages seven and under, including a darling 4-month-old girl. What a joy it was to hold her!

Lee's Mini Golf...Alpena's famous course

What would a visit to Alpena be without a trip to Lee's Mini Golf? This course is definitely the hardest one any of us has ever played. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing Kyle's hole-in- one while watching our backs for the three huge German Shepherd dogs wandering around and keeping everyone in line. Yikes!

Food in Mackinaw...Mmmmm...

For dinner, we went to the Pink Pony and had a view of the water... howlovely! Then, we had HUGE ice cream cones at Micky's in Mackinaw City. Afterall, what would the day have been without ice cream to top it off?

Mackinaw Island Adventures

We walked through all the shops, sampled the famous fudge, and played Putt-Putt golf on a course that had real grass. It was like an 18 hole putting green! How fun!



We also walked to the Grand Hotel; what an incredible place!

Our Trip to Mackinaw!

What a fun day we had at Mackinaw Island yesterday with Missy (Ben's sister) and Kyle (Missy's boyfriend). We had a great 16-minute ferry ride over to the Island on the Arnold Line.

Seeing Friends

Before going all the way to Alpena, we stopped on Orchard Lake and 12 mile to have lunch with our dear friends from Kensington Community Church -- Cindy and Michael. It is always so good to see them each time we come up on vacation. Thanks for a great time!

My Dream Has Come True

Yesterday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I had real, pizzaria pizza for the first time in 3 years! We had heard of a place called Stadium Market that sells Gluten-Free pizza hot from the oven so we stopped on our way up to Alpena. It was amazing! I'll be eating the entire pizza by myself, of course! :)

Baby's Wardrobe is Growing!

Our dear neighbor, Susie, threw a shower for our baby boy this past Sunday afternoon. What a joy it was to celebrate something so exciting! Susie will definitely be our baby's grandma away from home!

Our Third Anniversary!

Our 3rd Anniversary has come and gone! We had a wonderful day! We got to see our baby boy in the afternoon, so that was a joy. In the evening, we went golfing at the course where Ben works. Of course, I didn't golf...I just walked along and cheered Ben on. The picture is a self-portrait.

Fourth of July celebration!

We spent July 4th with our dear friends -- the Menezes and Costas. It was so nice of them to have us over! We had a great meal and then shot off some fireworks...we have Mark to thank for that. He was the brave one who lit all of them! His four kids loved the sparklers!

Welcome to Mr. Godfrey's Classroom

On Monday, we moved Ben into his new classroom! He'll be teaching 6th grade science at Lexington Intermediate School in the fall. We are praising God for providing the job for him! He is really excited to get started.

The Belly Picture

Yikes! Is my belly that big?! We're at 7 months, 1 week right now.

We are daily praising God for a great pregnancy and are trusting that the last months will be just as wonderful! We are excited to see our baby boy!

What would summertime be without watermelons?

On Sunday night we had our 4th of July celebration at our church. We had a "covered dish" and I brought this watermelon cake. I had seen a picture of one and decided to try it for myself. I was thinking of you, Rach, and all of your creations!

Anniversary Shopping!

We are joyously approaching our 3rd anniversary on July 5th, so this past weekend we celebrated it by going to Charlotte to shop! We had so much fun and found a lot of great stuff. We also did some birthday shopping for two specific sisters...you're going to love what we found, Rach and Eliz!

Proud Future Parents

We have received a few gifts for Baby Godfrey already... here's Ben's favorite!

He'll be playing with it just as much (if not more!) than Baby! We already have quite a collection of Hot Wheels started; Baby will be able to name all the cars before he can say his alphabet!

Let's see...

I thought I'd better get started on blogging now that half the family is in on it! Great job, Rach and Brother! You've inspired me!

This is a recent picture of us riding the ferry over to Fort Sumter in Charleston. Fun, fun!