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| Sharing a graham cracker |
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| Evan directing Elmo how to play "Old MacDonald's Farm" |
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| Elmo is clearly enthralled. |
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| Apparently Elmo wanted to play with Levi, too! |
Friday, April 29, 2011
Evan's BFF
So Evan has a new BFF around these parts, and no, I'm not referring to his new little brother Levi. It seems that Evan has entered the pretending stage of play because his stuffed Elmo is officially his new best friend! Coincidentally, he received this little Elmo the same day he met Levi at the hospital, so at least he's warmed up to one of them (just kidding, he loves Levi too!). At our house, whatever Evan does, Elmo does: eat a snack, play a game, ride in the car, watch a video, get his nails trimmed, etc. Here's some documentation (Disclaimer: none of the following were staged, except by Evan himself):
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter 2011
We celebrated the Lord's resurrection at Redeemer Sunday morning, then in the afternoon we had friends over for an egg hunt and cook out. It was a blast! Here's some pics from the day:
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| A very happy Levi & Daddy |
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| Mommy & her boys |
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| Evan insisted on wearing his Bob the Builder hat for the hunt. |
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| Pure joy! |
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| Evan chillin' with his buds! |
Thursday, April 14, 2011
One Month Old
It's hard to believe that Levi is already a month old! Here are some recent pics. He really is a little chunk!
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| Levi's "playtime" |
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| Big brother Evan getting some snuggle time |
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| Levi & Ellie the Elephant |
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| His best pirate impression |
Friday, March 25, 2011
Levi's Arrival
Levi Matthew Dean made his grand appearance into the world last week, Monday, March 14th at 9:12 AM. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. Pretty big compared to his older brother's birth weight of 6 lbs. 2 oz.!
So here's how it all unfolded...
In case you didn't know, my due date was March 7th, which came and went without much fanfare. The plan was that my doctor would let me go a week past my due date and if nothing happened, she would induce me on Tuesday, the 15th. With Evan I had a planned c-section because he was breech, but Levi was not, so I was hoping to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearan). Statistically, these are most successful when labor is not induced. So...come Sunday evening before my doctor's appointment, I was getting desperate for labor to happen naturally. I decided it was time to listen to the old wives' tales. What did I have to lose?
Ryan and I went on an hour long, fairly brisk walk, and then the whole family went out for some Italian because so many folks had said that eggplant parmesean can induce labor. I order the eggplant and ate every last drop! The next step was supposed to be a foot massage by my lovely husband, but by 9:00 Sunday night, I started having labor contractions. Was it the walk? The eggplant? Or just the fact that I was a week past my due date? Who knows, but I was just so thankful that labor had come on it's own.
I labored at home for 6 hours till those contractions got to the "magic number" (5 minutes apart), and then Ryan and I headed to the hospital at about 3 am while my mom stayed home with Evan. Once I was checked by the doctor, I was already 5 cm, and by the time I was admitted to the labor room and checked at 6 am, I was 8 cm! I did have an epidural at that point (my dr's recommendation due to prior c-section), BUT it didn't quite take all the way, which made for an exciting, and quite painful birth (if that's a 3rd of the pain, bless those natural birth mamas!!). Thankfully everything about the labor went as smoothly as I could have wished for and Levi is completely healthy! Praise the Lord! And I must say that recovery from this delivery is much smoother, especially since I have a two year old to chase after, too!
In case you didn't know, my due date was March 7th, which came and went without much fanfare. The plan was that my doctor would let me go a week past my due date and if nothing happened, she would induce me on Tuesday, the 15th. With Evan I had a planned c-section because he was breech, but Levi was not, so I was hoping to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearan). Statistically, these are most successful when labor is not induced. So...come Sunday evening before my doctor's appointment, I was getting desperate for labor to happen naturally. I decided it was time to listen to the old wives' tales. What did I have to lose?
Ryan and I went on an hour long, fairly brisk walk, and then the whole family went out for some Italian because so many folks had said that eggplant parmesean can induce labor. I order the eggplant and ate every last drop! The next step was supposed to be a foot massage by my lovely husband, but by 9:00 Sunday night, I started having labor contractions. Was it the walk? The eggplant? Or just the fact that I was a week past my due date? Who knows, but I was just so thankful that labor had come on it's own.
I labored at home for 6 hours till those contractions got to the "magic number" (5 minutes apart), and then Ryan and I headed to the hospital at about 3 am while my mom stayed home with Evan. Once I was checked by the doctor, I was already 5 cm, and by the time I was admitted to the labor room and checked at 6 am, I was 8 cm! I did have an epidural at that point (my dr's recommendation due to prior c-section), BUT it didn't quite take all the way, which made for an exciting, and quite painful birth (if that's a 3rd of the pain, bless those natural birth mamas!!). Thankfully everything about the labor went as smoothly as I could have wished for and Levi is completely healthy! Praise the Lord! And I must say that recovery from this delivery is much smoother, especially since I have a two year old to chase after, too!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Ministry Amidst Tragedy
Last week, Ryan and I were awakened by an early morning phone call from our pastor informing us that one of our church members, Michael Barranco, had died suddenly in a tragic car accident over night. It's the news no one ever wants to hear and our hearts were broken, not just because our church lost a truly Godly 48 year old man, but also because his family-his wife and three teenage children-lost their loving husband and father. Mr. Barranco's children are all active in our youth group, comprising most of our youth group's Wednesday night band, and Mia, the oldest, is Evan's favorite babysitter. In the short time that we have been in Mississippi, we have come to know and love the whole family.
This tragedy tremendously affected our entire congregation. You see, Michael was involved in many areas of our church. He was the scout leader for our boy scouts troup that ministers to teenage boys both in our church and our neighborhood. Several of the boys from our neighborhood saw Michael as a father figure in their lives and were devastated by the news. He was also very involved in Redeemer's music ministry. That man had soul and could sing so well! He was one of my favorite song leaders on Sundays not only because he was majorly talented (he's been in several blues bands and has even sung jingles for local commercials), but mostly because his love for the Lord was evident in the way he led worship.
Ryan and I had the amazing opportunity to sing at Michael's funeral. The family asked for Ryan to sing the last song Michael had sung at Redeemer Church just two weeks prior. Ryan and Michael had sung it as a duet, so this time, Ryan sang the lead and I harmonized with the choir backing us up as well.
Michael Barranco's funeral had to have been the most amazing one I've ever attended. At the visitation, there was a line wrapping around the block for people waiting to pay their respects to the family. A total of over 1,800 people came that night! His funeral was standing room only in an auditorium that seats 800, and they had to turn people away because there was no more room. His career as an architect in Jackson had earned the respect of many in the city, and he was deeply loved by many people. After hearing all the loved ones and friends share stories of Michael, it was apparent that he never wasted a second of his life and lived it fully for the glory of God.
Please keep the Barranco family in your prayers as they mourn their incredible loss. I know that the Lord will comfort them and hold them close during this difficult time.
If you have a moment, check out the links below:
The first one is of Ryan & Michael singing "All My Praise" together. If you can hear the words, it might give you chills as it did me--"Even in the shadow of death, I will praise you...".
The second post is of the same song performed at his funeral just two weeks later.
This tragedy tremendously affected our entire congregation. You see, Michael was involved in many areas of our church. He was the scout leader for our boy scouts troup that ministers to teenage boys both in our church and our neighborhood. Several of the boys from our neighborhood saw Michael as a father figure in their lives and were devastated by the news. He was also very involved in Redeemer's music ministry. That man had soul and could sing so well! He was one of my favorite song leaders on Sundays not only because he was majorly talented (he's been in several blues bands and has even sung jingles for local commercials), but mostly because his love for the Lord was evident in the way he led worship.
Ryan and I had the amazing opportunity to sing at Michael's funeral. The family asked for Ryan to sing the last song Michael had sung at Redeemer Church just two weeks prior. Ryan and Michael had sung it as a duet, so this time, Ryan sang the lead and I harmonized with the choir backing us up as well.
Michael Barranco's funeral had to have been the most amazing one I've ever attended. At the visitation, there was a line wrapping around the block for people waiting to pay their respects to the family. A total of over 1,800 people came that night! His funeral was standing room only in an auditorium that seats 800, and they had to turn people away because there was no more room. His career as an architect in Jackson had earned the respect of many in the city, and he was deeply loved by many people. After hearing all the loved ones and friends share stories of Michael, it was apparent that he never wasted a second of his life and lived it fully for the glory of God.
Please keep the Barranco family in your prayers as they mourn their incredible loss. I know that the Lord will comfort them and hold them close during this difficult time.
If you have a moment, check out the links below:
The first one is of Ryan & Michael singing "All My Praise" together. If you can hear the words, it might give you chills as it did me--"Even in the shadow of death, I will praise you...".
The second post is of the same song performed at his funeral just two weeks later.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Ames Day?
When I walked in Evan's room this morning, the first thing out of his mouth was "ames day", which he repeated continuously with a big smile on his face. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was saying until we walked into the living room and he pointed at the TV saying "ames day". Then it hit me! He was talking about James Taylor, whom he and Ryan had watched on DVD last night playing guitar at an Eric Clapton guitar festival. Later we turned it back on and below you can see him studying James Taylor's skills (note the folded arms!). Maybe we have a future guitar player on our hands?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
And It Was All "Lellow"
Thought you might want to see the newest addition to the Dean family. No, not Baby Levi (he's not made his appearance yet, although I am 37 weeks, technically full term now!). I'm talking about our "new to us" car that replaced the Honda I wrecked (& totalled) over the holidays. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt--just the cars didn't fair too well.
Well, since then, Ryan and I had been on the search to replace our trustworthy Honda Accord. We were getting discouraged by too many encounters with sketchy used car dealers and misleading Craigslist ads. We're cash-only car folk (thanks to Dave Ramsey!) so we had limited options. Thankfully, Ryan posted on Facebook that he was looking to buy a car if anyone had one to sell, to which our good friend Jason Harwell responded.
Turns out his car was just what Ryan was looking for (he's a sucker for a sporty hatch-back). It's a 2002 Mazda Protege5. The only catch (at first) was that it is yellow, and I do mean very yellow as you can tell. I must admit, it grows on you, and really, it is a perfect youth pastor car! Ryan had to make the treck to his old stomping ground (Athens, GA) to purchase it, but we think it was worth the drive.
Perhaps the best thing about purchasing this car is that Evan learned to recognize his first color-"lellow" as he calls it. He begs to ride in it each time we leave the house, and he calls out every yellow vehicle he sees when we're out and about. Who knew our new car would be a teaching tool!
Well, since then, Ryan and I had been on the search to replace our trustworthy Honda Accord. We were getting discouraged by too many encounters with sketchy used car dealers and misleading Craigslist ads. We're cash-only car folk (thanks to Dave Ramsey!) so we had limited options. Thankfully, Ryan posted on Facebook that he was looking to buy a car if anyone had one to sell, to which our good friend Jason Harwell responded.
Turns out his car was just what Ryan was looking for (he's a sucker for a sporty hatch-back). It's a 2002 Mazda Protege5. The only catch (at first) was that it is yellow, and I do mean very yellow as you can tell. I must admit, it grows on you, and really, it is a perfect youth pastor car! Ryan had to make the treck to his old stomping ground (Athens, GA) to purchase it, but we think it was worth the drive.
Perhaps the best thing about purchasing this car is that Evan learned to recognize his first color-"lellow" as he calls it. He begs to ride in it each time we leave the house, and he calls out every yellow vehicle he sees when we're out and about. Who knew our new car would be a teaching tool!
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