"Happy Camper"

When I picked Forrest up from the nursery tonight, one of the workers commented, "He's just a happy camper, isn't he?"

It's very true... this is one happy boy!

Here are a few smiles for you...

Just a spoonful of sugar...

helps the medicine go down!

Andrew has taken so much medicine lately that we've had to become creative in the ways to give it. Some of it just smells terrible so we're sure it tastes terrible, too! He had to take what Dr. Clay called the worst-tasting antibiotic 3x a day for 2 weeks earlier this summer. Anyway... like I said, we've had to spice it up a little. Well, his favorite way to take medicine now is to have a squirt of whipped cream (like Redi-whip in a can) on the end of the medicine dropper - it works every time! Afterwards he usually wants more "cream", too. How can we resist a boy so cute and sweet who has felt so crummy lately?? I took a little film tonight of this... Sorry it's a little wiggly - I was holding Forrest, the camera, and squirting the whipped cream! Oh, and as you can see from the video, our little boy is finally starting to feel better! :)

Forrest's Baptism

Sunday, August 10th was a special day for our family... the baptism of Forrest Hastings Shirley... at our church, Highlands Pres. We praise God for his covenant promises to bless not just individuals but families (Gen. 17: 7 & Acts 2: 38-39 - see below), and we are thankful to have Forrest come into this blessing. We pray that God will bring Forrest and Andrew to Himself at an early age and that they will grow into Godly young men - leaders among their friends, in their community, and one day even of their own families.

Forrest was baptized by our pastor, Joseph Wheat, but my dad, an elder at First Pres., said the prayer for Forrest following his baptism (Forrest is Dad's namesake). He prayed for Andrew in his baptism, too, and this made the baptisms extra-special! Thank you, Dad, for taking part in their baptisms and for praying for our boys and for Wilson and me as we endeavor to raise our boys "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". One thing that I love that Joseph does in baptisms is he asks the congregation, as they vow to help the parents raise their child being baptized, to say a prayer for that child sometime that day. How wonderful to think that Forrest was lifted up in prayer by so many members of our church that day!

We felt so blessed and loved to have our families with us for Forrest's baptism. It was special to have them with us at church and then for lunch afterwards at our home.

Forrest and I in the nursery before church - dressed and ready. He wore the same gown that Andrew wore, and we had it monogrammed with an "S" in the center of the top section. Then, we had Andrew and Forrest's full names and dates of baptisms monogrammed on the slip of the gown. How special to think of starting a family gown for our children, and hopefully one day, their children, to wear for baptism - it's kind of a symbol of how God does bless us thru families.

Me and my boys after church.

Andrew was so sweet during the baptism. Wilson went and got him from the nursery just before the baptism so he didn't realize that all of our family was there. When we went to the front, Andrew looked out to see all of his grandparents and aunts and uncles! He went down the row and waved to every single person! He actually did this very quietly because I didn't even know he was doing it... they told me after church!

The Bratley Family - Andrew, Dad, Wilson, Forrest, Me, Rebecca, Bryan, Elizabeth, and Mom

The Shirley Family - Debbie, Andrew, Ricky, us, Tory & Michael with their girls, Elizabeth & Alexa, and David & Kim

Our friends, Scott & Maggie Jones, had their cute Lucy baptized the same day as Forrest. Notice how Forrest is sleeping in this picture!

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." Genesis 17:7

"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Acts 2:38-39

Bye-bye, See ya...

Today Andrew said, "Bye-Bye" and "See ya" (if you know Andrew you've heard him say this) to his tonsils and adenoids! Thank you to everyone for your prayers. The surgery went well and Andrew is doing great so far. Praise the Lord! Dr. Clay said Andrew had "whopper adenoids" and that they were the hidden culprit to blame for a lot of his troubles. We are now praying for a quick, easy recovery and that the surgery will give our little one relief from his sinus and sleep troubles. We feel so blessed and thankful for our sweet families and friends. What wonderful love and support you have shown Andrew and our family! Andrew is sleeping soundly right now... hopefully he'll get a good night's rest. The main goal is to keep Andrew drinking and to keep him hydrated. I think that if we can do that and keep him comfy then we'll be on the road to recovery! Here is a picture of him recovering today at home. I imagine he'll spend a lot more time like this in the next few days.... in his chair with his "blankie" and "cars" watching "Einstein" or "Baby Praise".


Check out that top ticker... our baby will be 2 in just one month!

Happy 4 month birthday, big boy!

Time is going by too fast - Forrest is 4 months old today!! He's as sweet and cute as ever, and on top of that, he's setting the curve for the growth charts! Today at his 4 month check-up he weighed 19 pounds and was 27 inches long - that put him off the chart for weight (greater than 100%) and right at 100% for height. Oh my goodness... we knew he was big, but 100% and greater in both!?! I didn't expect that... no wonder this little guy has been waking up at night again... he's hungry. We'll be starting cereal this week and getting some food in that little belly of his. Stay tuned for pics!

Here he is today post-doctor's visit. Wilson's getting pretty excited about his future athletic career. :) No, I'm kidding... or maybe not! We sure do love our big boys!

Andrew & Luke

We had a fun time with Matt, Katie, and Luke Humphreys last Saturday! Wilson and Matt roomed together 3 years at State. We always love seeing them, and it's especially fun since our boys, Andrew and Luke, are just about 2 weeks apart in age! Here are a couple of pictures of our playtime at the park on Saturday...

Future MSU Roommates??!!

Looking forward to hanging out with the Humphreys again soon!!

Sweet Andrew

After my last post about Forrest, I wanted to dedicate one to Andrew! What fun we are having with this little one - not so much a baby anymore, he's definitely becoming a little boy.

He's everything you hear about little boys being... curious (what makes this work? what happens if I push this button? what's in this drawer? etc!), stubborn (or is this just a toddler? - we often say he gets this honestly... I'll let you guess who from?!!), active (he's on the go all the time! we'd spend our whole day outside if he was in charge, pushing cars up and down the sidewalk), car/truck/train lover (really any type of transportation vehicle is very cool to him right now), and oh so sweet (he gives hugs, kisses, and little pats on the shoulders, and says "mama" with the sweetest inflection in his voice). I'm sure there are lots of things to add to that list... the main thing is that we love this fellow so much! It's been amazing to watch him grow and change.


He's really added lots of words to his vocabulary in the last couple of months - and we notice a new word almost every day. One of his new favorites is to say "Look, Mama" "Look, Dada". He's also started sleeping in a big bed. And, he's really learning to play well by himself - trains, cars, and legos are his favorites.


He's been a very sweet big brother to "Torrest", as he calls him. They play at the exersaucer together and he always gives Forrest hugs and kisses before bedtime. We love watching the 2 of them interact together. We feel so blessed!