My name is Carly, and I'm a Christian

I realize that this isn't my typical, "hey look, my kids are cute and I love them" kind of post, but I just feel a need to shout this at the top of my lungs right now.

Living in the south, I've never been so frustrated about what others have to say about this subject (whether or not I'm a Christian) than the last 6 years! I remember the first time I was ever introduced to the idea that other people claimed the right to say who is and who is not a Christian.  I remember it was like somebody stabbed me in the gut to suggest that because I am a Mormon I'm not a Christian.  How could anybody think I'm not Christian?  It makes me so sad to think that even one person might not know that I know and love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and that he lives.  And that I know that he atoned for my sins, and that following him is the reason for all of my happiness.  I recently read an article that I love which addresses this topic, by Daniel C. Peterson. This is the last few paragraphs from it and it is exactly what I've been feeling and trying to figure out how to say (especially the last line): 

"Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints easily meet the definition of a Christian as implicitly defined in the New Testament: they believe that ancient prophets foretold Christ's coming, that Jesus Christ suffered for our transgressions, that he was put to death but rose from the dead, that through him we may obtain forgiveness of our sins, and that he will come again in glory.

"The doctrinal reasons some Christians give for excluding the Latter-day Saints from Christianity make little sense, because many of the doctrines used by traditional Christianity are late developments, reflective of creeds formulated in the fourth and fifth century or developed during the Reformation.

"Given the wide variety of beliefs among the various Christian churches, it is better to take persons claiming to be Christians at their word and to let the Lord be the judge."

(Emphasis added)  The link below leads to the full article, which addresses some of these reasons that some Christians use to try to exlude me from Christianity. (Yes, me.  I take it quite personally.)
 http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=93

Smiles:)

Um...my baby smiles.  And it's cute.  Based on the last post you wouldn't know it, because it's hard to get a picture of since the camera distracts him.  But he does do it...

See?  I told you.  Cute.  

(Also a cute nephew.)  That's all I really had to say.  Thanks for listening.

Jaxon's Blessing

So....I wrote this 3 weeks ago, seriously like 20 minutes after my family left.  Then I thought to myself, "I'll have to wait until I put my pictures on the computer to put it up."  And here we are 3 weeks later.  Oops.  Here it is:

Well my family that was here just left us (tear)  We had a really fun and completely exhausting week with them.  So we were very very sad to see them go, and then had a giant nap.

We were outside all week, most days in 107 degree weather, so we were wasted.  The first day we went to Dallas to meet them, and went swimming outside in our hotel.  Then the next day we went and spent the entire day at Six Flags (best roller coasters ever by the way).  It was a good day for it, there were almost no lines, because it was a weekday and probably because it was ridiculously hot and everybody else had the good sense to stay home.  But you don't come from Canada to go to Six Flags and then let a little heat get you down (107 is about 41 degrees Celsius, for all of my Canadians out there.)

TJ didn't want to leave that bunny.

Isn't my mom super cute?

Then on Friday we went to Splash Kingdom in Canton, Texas, and it again was crazy hot.  I know for sure at least Lily and her cousin Champ had a lot of fun there.  TJ had fun for a little while, but he was in desperate need of a nap, so he was pretty grumpy.  Jaxon had his first swim (for the 15 minutes that we dared take him out from under a giant umbrella.)  I think he enjoyed it. 

At Chuck E. Cheese's that night.

We had planned to go to Natchidoches on Saturday but we were all totally wasted, so we just relaxed in the hotel in the morning, went shopping a bit in the afternoon, and headed home.  On Sunday we blessed Jaxon, which was awesome, and it was so nice to have his Uncle Ryan be able to join in the circle for the blessing.  Jaxon looked so handsome in his little blessing clothes.  We had a nice family dinner that afternoon.

Blessing Morning (July 17) TJ. and Jaxon had matching suits.

Auntie Lanni

Grandma and Grandpa D.

We said, "Smile Mike".  Awesome.

Uncle Ryan

Nana & Papa

Then on Monday we went to Natchidoches to the Alligator Park, and to a plantation, which were kind of cool to see.

I was a little worried that it would be a hard week with Jaxon, but he did really well.  He was very patient at Six Flags as we tried to keep him in his hat, and always under something to keep the sun off of him.  We were so blessed to have things go as smoothly as they did, and it was so nice to have family here for his blessing!  This was definetely the highlight of our summer!

What a Guy:)

I just wanted to take a minute to wish the sweet love of my life a happy 5th anniversary!  I can't believe it's been that long, but Tony, I love your freakin guts.  You're sweet, you're patient, you wake up with the baby when I sleep through his cries, you get up early to work or play with kids, you let me boss you around (for the most part) and quite frankly, you're ridiculously good looking.  I'm so glad I found you and get to spend forever with you!

Happy Anniversary!!!!

 

26!! A Fun Birthday Week

We had a really fun time the week of my birthday, so I thought I'd share (and write it down so I can remember it.)  My birthday was on a Tuesday, so Monday night Tony took the kids shopping so that they could plan my party.  He let them decide everything.  On the way there, Lily told Tony she wanted to get me a dolphin.  So she found a cute little stuffed dolphin, that she informed me was a river dolphin when I opened it.  I guess TJ had a really hard time deciding what to get me, so they went over to get the food for the party.  They decided on pink cake (Lily's choice) and white icing with sprinkles (TJ's choice), and hot dogs.  It was while picking up the hot dogs that TJ decided that he wanted to buy me bananas for my birthday.  Apparently Tony then convinced him that a watermelon would be even better.  When they got home, they baked the cake, and we decided to go ahead and have our party (they were excited, why wait?)  The cake was delicious, and I loved the presents. 

      Jaxon wasn't lovin' the party hat.

The next day we went to Lincoln Parish Park to "the beach", and had a blast swimming in the lake and playing at the playground.  That afternoon I got to have a giant nap while Tony took care of the kids.  Tony also got me a massage that I look forward to using as soon as I have worked out a few more days in a row and am good and sore (so that it's totally worth it). 


I was trying to get Jaxon to smile for the first time all day, and he finally did 3 days later, on the 10th, which totally counts as my present because it was still my birthday week.  He is, by the way, already almost 6 weeks old.  Here are some of the pictures I took of him at  one month.

That weekend we were invited to a birthday party for one of my kids little 2-year-old friends, Kyle.  It was fun to spend time with so many of our friends who have little ones, and the kids had a blast on a slip 'n' slide and a kiddie pool.  (And so did some of the adults.)

It was a very fun and relaxing week!

Happy Daddy's Mothers Day!

This is my dad. 

Just so you know, he's the best.  He's kind and sweet, and such a good example.  He is always concerned with making sure that his kids are happy.  He has always been a very hard worker and taught us the importance of work by example.  I loved it the most, though, when he was done working.  He would play with us, give us piggy-back rides, and take us for long bike rides (and then pull our bikes when we got too tired to make it home).  And I never even noticed if he was exhausted, which he probably was.  Now that I'm a "grown-up" and live far away, I love to talk to him on the phone, and he's a great listener.  He's also an awesome grandpa.  We love to visit our Papa, and wish we could come more often.  Thank you, Dad, so much for being so awesome and dedicating so much of your life to being an awesome dad and grandfather.  I love you!!

And then there is my sweet husband, and father of my children.  I have to say, he is an amazing daddy.  He plays with our kids in a way that amazes me (especially when castles and knights are involved).  He is patient, and loving.  He wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes several times a night, to comfort after nightmares, fix accidents, and feed babies.  He also wakes up with the kids when I'm too tired, and loves and snuggles them or gets them breakfast and helps them get dressed if we're going to church.  And he works hard the rest of the time with his two jobs to make sure that we are all taken care of.  We love his guts.  Happy Father's Day Tony!

The kids and Daddy in one of his new father's day presents.

And last but not least, Grandpa Dunlop.  You are a very fun and caring grandpa, and we love you very much.

 Happy Father's Day Everybody!! 

Or as Lily put it, happy Daddy's Mothers Day!!


He's Here!

So some of you may have heard already...because it happened a full three weeks ago.  I'm sorry this is a little late, but we've been a little preoccupied over here... counting tiny little toes...

and snuggling ...

 and making faces...

giving kisses...

and just generally adoring...

this perfect little guy...

Jaxon Connor.

     Jaxon joined our family on May 16, 2011 at 4:57pm.  He weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz., and was 21 inches long.  He has very light brown hair, and dark blue eyes.  He loves to snuggle on shoulders, and is a good sleeper (during the day).  He has long toes and fingers that we love to hold and play with.  He also has a long body and long, skinny arms and legs.  He's enjoys baths, and nurses like a champ.

     His big sister, Lily, and big brother, TJ, love his guts.  We worry sometimes that he may not survive it.  They can't get enough snuggling, kissing, and "tickling" in.  They call him their "little buddy", or "little fella", and both of them love to sing lullabies to him.  Lily likes to talk to him in a really high pitched voice (half of the words can only be heard by dogs.)  They're both very concerned if he ever fusses at all, and run over to sing a song, or rub his head and say "it's okay little buddy".

    

     

      We also got to have a fun visit with Nana the week after Jaxon arrived.  She helped us stay sane that first week of no sleep, and kept Lily and TJ very happy with all of her attention.  It was the first time we got to have her stay with us so soon after a baby was born.  And now we all miss her.  A lot.

      We're all doing really well.  Tony got off for the summer a day after my mom left, and since teaching summer school fell through this year, he's been home with us which is kind of awesome.  So far I haven't had any problems with  "baby blues", which is way better (than having them).  I think it definitely helps to be in a house, with a yard where we can all go outside, and having so much help is amazing.  I think it's looking up to be a really fun summer.  We can't wait until July, when so much of my family gets to come and meet Jaxon!!

Until then, pictures will have to do...

P.S.- A special thank you to our friend Christine Glassford for taking these pictures!  We love them!!!  If you'd like to see a little more of her work, she has a blog: christineglassford.blogspot.com