Snowing, Swimming, and Swinging

We have had A LOT of snow this season and Laura has loved it...

Laura enjoyed actually being able to walk in the snow this time...we only had about 6" and once Shawn and I walked around, it was firm enough for Laura to walk.

Laura and daddy built a little snowman -- once Laura decided to hug and kiss the snowman and then got very upset when her face got covered in snow!

Laura loved to look at the snow on the ground and the snow flakes falling -- every time she noticed the snow (many, many times over the 2 weeks it was on the ground), she would point and say "I see snow!!" in a very excited voice. I'm not sure anyone could understand her but us, though!

We have also started a parent/child swim class on Saturday mornings. Laura is a little fish and doesn't even mind getting her face wet! We are having a really good time together in the pool...

Here we are learning to use our hands and arms to paddle.

And here we are learning to walk along the edge of the pool using our hands.

Laura thought it was great fun to cup water in her hands and then let it out on my head or hers!

Lately, Laura is really into playing with her "babies." She takes them most everywhere, rocks them, puts them in time out, and puts them to bed, telling us "shhh, babies night-night!" These pictures were taken on a Sunday morning on our way out the door to church...

Apparently, we couldn't go any further without the babies getting to spend a few seconds on the swing.

After that, babies and Laura were ready to head off to church!

Fatherly thoughts: searching for 'the formula'

Hey, every parent with a 20-month old can dream, right?

My determined and lovely wife walked into Barnes & Noble today and purchased the book, "Early-Start Potty Training." Now before some of you write in with your thoughts on how Laura is too young, you'll be interested to know that before the 1960s -- when disposable diapers came into the picture -- more than 80 percent of children were potty trained before the age of 2. Get this, before the 1900s, children were potty trained by 3 months. I'm not kidding. It was in the book. Stephanie can fill you in on the details if you are really interested. Anyway, wish we would have known sooner about the 3-month-old program.

So we're still learning about this whole potty training thing, and we'll see where we are in a few months.

I bring all of this up because it seems like moms and dads are always looking for the perfect formula to raise kids and make parenting easier. A week ago, Stephanie and I attended a parenting conference at a local church. The focus was on raising kids in a Godly home. We both enjoyed it. It also was great to see so many parents there. I would imagine that most parents -- whether they believe in God or not -- are looking for ways to master this parenting thing. It must be every parents worst nightmare that their kid would one day show up on Oprah's couch to talk about what horrible parents they have.

There was a recent article in Christianity Today on how there are so many Godly parents who do all the right things -- or at least try to -- and most kids still stop going to church when they leave the home. So what is a parent to do?

Ultimately, what I'm learning is that all we really can do is pray each day for Laura -- and pray with her -- teach her, read the Bible with her and show her to the best of our ability how to trust and follow Christ. Stephanie and I have to accept that Laura belongs to the Lord ... and only the Lord has the perfect formula for raising her. And that's better than a million trips to Barnes & Noble.

Laura playing on the family rocking horse that her PePa made for his grandchildren many years ago. I sure wish he could have met her. They would have had some good times.

Here is Laura hard at work at her Nana's. Stephanie and I could use Laura's vacuuming skills at our house.

Home from Haiti

This past week I traveled with a media team to Haiti. We covered some of the ministry and relief work going on in the country since the earthquake that devastated the city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. It was definitely one of the toughest trips I've ever been assigned. It's difficult to sum up the trip in a few paragraphs. I returned with a mix of emotions. Naturally, I'm thankful to be home with my wife and daughter. I'm also sad for the people of Haiti.

I initially had my reservations about going on this trip, but the Lord took care of the details and watched over our team. I learned a lot about trusting God in tough places. As a parent, I hope to teach Laura that when God leads you to go somewhere He will provide ... maybe not the way you plan for Him to, but He will provide. God is faithful. He is faithful in Haiti. I believe great things are about to happen there, and they will happen in His perfect timing.

If you'd like to read more about my trip, please go to my new blog The side road. It focuses on my travels and experiences as a writer and other areas of interest. Feel free to check it out.

Laura and her hats...

Our daughter absolutely loves accessories...purses, shoes, bracelets, and especially hats!! I've never seen a child so happy to have something on her head. If she finds something that even remotely looks like it can be worn as a hat -- on her head it goes! These are some pictures of the last year with Laura modeling her favorite accessory.

Her red hat is definitely a favorite...she knows she looks cute in it!


This winter hat she likes to wear around the house...but for some reason she didn't like it as much when she actually needed to wear it!

Baseball caps are always fun -- especially backwards!

The hat that went with Shawn's Halloween costume provided days of entertainment.
This visor was borrowed from a friend of my mom's -- and Laura couldn't get enough of it!
Ready to fry up some hamburgers!
Wearing a napkin hat made by Aunt Heidi.

Yes, those are underwear on her head (clean fortunately) -- another favorite head accessory!

And it is always great fun when daddy doesn't take her shirt the whole way off -- I think she would leave it on her head for hours if we would let her!