Attempt #2

DID YOU KNOW . . .
Yeah, so I'm probably the only one on the planet who didn't know this, but you can click on any picture to see it close up (then click the back button).

Lots of pics to share since last time!!!

Here we are in San Antonio this summer visiting my parents...

Here is Emma in her 4th of July outfit. Also, July 4th was her first day

ever to go swimming, so here's a picture of her in her swimsuit by the pool.
Here is Emma with her Aunt Carrie and Uncle Sloan.
Here's Emma having her first driving lesson.
(Don't worry, Brett was controling the pedals)Oh, yeah! She loves those toes in her mouth!
(And anything else for that matter)We only gave her a bath this way one time, but we love the way
she kept trying to hold the water as it came out.She loves her "bouncy thing."This picture sure makes my dad proud! Too cute for words!!
Just another family picWhat were you thinking?!?!?! First time to wear shoes!
(actually, she only had them on for about 10 minutes or so)At this point, she hadn't really mastered eating with the spoon.
By now, she's pretty much a pro (well, kinda)Here's my mom, Aunt Leslie and cousin Amy.Here's Emma meeting my good friend from high
school, Sarah Beth, and her husband, Collin.Here's my sweet friend Sharee.This is our friend Elizabeth, who came and stayed with us from "Jubilee." Okay, I think I 'm done for now. Still have more pics I want to share, but I'm a little worried about posting too many at once. I sure hope this works and this time isn't a waste!!!
Hope you all are doing well! Until next time.....who knows when that might be!! :o)

Tuesday, September 19th

I am so discouraged right now!! I have been needing to and wanting to update our blog for some time now, but I always have to wait until I know I have a big chunk of time so that I can get it all finished in one sitting. Well, FINALLY I had that time today, and I CANNOT DOWNLOAD ANY PICTURES!!! I don't know if it is our computer, the Internet, our picture files, or what--but for some reason, I can't get it to work. I have wasted nearly an hour and a half and have nothing to show for it. Better luck next time, I guess. GRRRR...so frustrating!!!
I'll hopefully try again later today after Brett gets home to help me or tomorrow.
Check again soon!! :o)

"Night" by Elie Wiesel

Julz is going to update the blog in a few minutes with some pics and info about Emma so that let me off the hook and able to send some info about a book I just finished. Story: I do crosswords. In the course of this one of the names that I constantly see is Elie Wiesel. I was in the Baylor bookstore the other day and saw this book that he had written and became curious enough to begin checking it out. At the time I didn't know anything about him other than he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner in literature, however, through looking at the jacket of the book I found out that he is a holocaust survivor. "Night" is the first book that he wrote about his experiences as a Jew from modern day Hungary that was transported in late 1944 to Auschwitz. It is a difficult read, but an important one. I have seen movies and heard about things that took place during that time, but never from a first-hand perspective in such a provactive way. I was shocked and moved. Through his writing it is easy (and impossible) to put oneself into the experiences he relates in this book. He writes with the passion and from the perspective that he cannot be silent when humans commit such atrocities against another. He must tell the story or he joins the oppressors. He has a foundation (click on the title above or visit http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/) that speaks to his committment to raise awareness for the oppressed in many areas of the world today. I guess my reason for mentioning things like this (as well as things like Invisible Children) is that I do not want to join the oppressors and remain silent as I hear about things that are real and that we can do something about. Elie's website calls awareness to such issues as well. Check it out and join those who will speak aloud about what is going on around us and ask what we can do about it.

Saturday, July 1st

Hi everyone!
Brett wrote a little about the documentary we watched recently, called "Invisible Children." Like he said, it's a "must see"...it's so eye-opening. If you haven't seen it, take a few minutes and get online to look at their website. The DVD is not available yet at Blockbuster or other video stores, but I'm sure it will be soon.


Our baby girl is growing so much! We're amazed at how big she is and how quickly she is learning new things. Here's a few pictures...

Here's one of Emma's favorite games to play with daddy. He tugs on her legs one at a time and makes some funny sounds with it. Then he tickles her. She loves it, as you can tell by the look on her face.

Here is the COOLEST thing ever, which we recently discovered....it's BUMBO!!! (that's the name of the little purple chair she's sitting in). It's awesome! It helps her learn how to sit up. She loves it!! We just bring the chair wherever we are....on the counter as I do things in the kitchen, on the table with us as we eat...she just wants to be right in the middle of all the action. We (Brett and I) actually get to eat meals together now, instead of taking turns. As long as she is able to see what's going on, she's a happy camper. (In this picture, she is on a picnic table watching us eat at a church picnic at Cameron Park).


Here's a cute picture of Miss Emma Joy wearing a sweet little outfit that Brett's cousin, David John, gave her. They are the cutest little capri pants with matching top!

I've got to go....just had a few minutes and wanted to share a couple of pictures. Hopefully, soon, we'll be able to write (update) more on what's going on in our lives. Hope you all are having a great summer!!

Invisible Children

Okay, so yeah, it's been forever since I have made an appearance on the site. And I know, before any of you even say it that I am going to be in trouble for not blogging about Emma. So, before I get to the reason for this entry I will. This will answer all of your questions: She is amazing, I love being a dad, and yes, I'm tired, but somehow I cope with it. I think that God does something to us chemically that allows for us to be able to function in this new way on little sleep! Emma has her quirks and she is spoiled in some ways already, but she is also one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met. I also am very thankful that she only has a 7 second memory! haha!



So, we had some friends over tonight and watched the dvd "Invisible Children." This is now on my must-see list for everyone we know. We have been aware of some of the issues going on in Africa for some time. Through movies like, "The Constant Gardener," "Hotel Rwanda," "Tears of the Sun," and from hearing about the Aids epidemic from friends that have seen its effects in Africa first hand. The question is often asked why help there when there are so many problems here. We certainly do have our problems here in America, but there is absolutely no way to compare what is going on in Africa to what is going on here. It is possible to do both. The movie is only about one little city in one small country in Africa, but there are millions of other human beings in Africa that are being affected in some way and dying in some way that is very much like what is going on in Gulu, Uganda. We really feel like we must respond. We have no choice. So, this is our first step. We are beginning our response by telling people that we love who read our blog. Go to the website (the link is to the right on the sidebar.) Order the media kit. Show the dvd to everyone who will watch it. Ask them what are they going to do about it. The problem is huge, but we can have great impact because a small resource to us is a huge asset to them. I wrote that last sentence and realized another step that probably has to be made. There cannot be anymore "us" and "them". It has to be only us. The Africans are us. It could be us. It is us. One of the accusations against the Western response to the problems in Africa is one of racism. Another is the vastness of the problem and the overwhelming population numbers. We cannot be accused anymore. They are us and we are them. Somehow get involved in helping each other out. Send money or clothes. Get involved with an organization that is passionate about helping our friends in Africa. Go there and see it for yourself. But, do something. Help somewhere.

Tuesday, June 13

Yes, Yes, I know....it's been WAY too long since we've updated our BLOG. Many of you have been asking us to for weeks (even months, I think)...Sorry! Even though I'm home for the summer, somehow I've still been having trouble finding the time. I actually got online one day to do it, and the BLOG website was "under construction," so I ended up checking email (another thing that I'm not good at doing on a regular basis).

Anyway, we have SO MANY new pictures!!!! There's no possible way to include them all today, so y'all will just have to look forward to the next post--which will hopefully come a lot quicker this time! :o)

Here's Emma at her 2 month check-up. This is Emma's Doc....she is wonderful--We love her!! She has a baby that just turned one recently, so we love knowing that all this "baby stuff" is new and fresh to her (vs. some doctors who's "babies" have babies of their own already, if you know what I mean).





Here's our good friend, Steene, who was being silly (as he often is), and wouldn't stop hiding behind Emma. Steene is such an awesome guy! He's been a great friend of Brett 's since before college. And he is always so encouraging to us....calling regularly and leaving the BEST messages on our answering machine. He is always full of encouraging words and shares specific ways that he has been praying for us. He is a blessing to us both!!


This was my "after Emma" baby shower that my Connally friends had for me at Ninfa's one Friday after school. They all pitched in and gave us a Target gift card together. We have used it MANY times already, and we'll be able use it MANY more times in the future! They were all so generous, and we are really grateful!! It really blessed us a lot! I'm really going to miss my friends at Connally. I know I'll be able to visit and see them here and there, but it just won't be the same as getting to spend time with them on a daily basis! I've really enjoyed my time there!!



As many of you know, I'm changing schools next year. It's always so hard to start all over at a new place, but at the same time I'm really excited about a lot of different things! The BEST part about this change is that I'm going to get to spend a lot more time with Emma during the day. I got a job at Waco Baptist Academy as a half day kindergarten teacher. I'll have students from 8:00-noon. Then I can go home and be with Emma!! There's tons of other neat little things about this new job too....

• I can now get to my school in under a minute, literally (instead of the 40 minutes I spent before getting to and from school).
• I will have approx. 8 students instead of 22.
• We are expected to teach Bible lessons in class, help students memorize scripture, and pray daily with them. I am so excited about this part!!!
• A friend of mine from Connally, D, will be right across the hall from me teaching 1st grade.

....just to name a few. :o)




Here's my good friend Julie Turner (my roommate all through college). She came to meet Emma about a month ago or so....She was a natural at "this baby thing." She knew exactly what to do to keep Emma happy.
Julz is another one of those people in my life that is so encouraging. Everytime we talk, I always hang up the phone feeling so loved and uplifted!







Here's some random pictures of our sweet Emma Joy!!!






















































Well, I'm calling it quits for tonight. I have lots more I want to share with y'all, but I'll have to save it for another time because it's late and I'm tired. Goodnight! :o)

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This is kinda random, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I have a new email address (since I'm no longer at Connally, I had to change it). I'll try to send out an email to everyone as well, but here it is while I'm thinking about it. jspivey03@hotmail.com

Thursday April 13

Well, I could hardly wait until I had a chance to sit down today and add to the blog....I'm hooked! :o) Miss Emma Joy kept me pretty busy today. She is finally asleep for the night (hopefully) so I wanted to post a few more pictures.

Speaking of sleeping....the theme of this post is just that--SLEEPING! And lots of it! Our baby girl is a good sleeper! She sleeps anywhere between 2-6 hours at a time during the night (averaging about 3 or 4 hours), so I have been getting lots of good rest. Plus she naps during the day quite a bit, so I'm usually able to get some stuff done during the day. I have always heard that all babies do is EAT, SLEEP, CRY, and POOP! Boy, is that true! At any given moment in the day, she is undoubtably doing one of these 4 things.

Anyway, as I looked over all of our pictures of our sweet baby girl, it's hard not to notice how many pictues we take of her when she is asleep. It's so hard to resist; she sleeps in the cutest positions and just looks so sweet! :o)
Here's just a few...

Okay, so that was more than "just a few"....sorry, I can't help it! Really, I resisted...there were lots more to choose from, but I figured nobody else adores our baby quite like we do, so 5 pictures of her sleeping is probably plenty for y'all! :o)

Sorry, real quick -- I just can't resist....Here she is waking up (or trying to anyway)

You know, there is one more thing that babies do during the day besides eat, sleep, cry, and poop. I'm not sure what word best describes it...maybe "ABSORBS" or "LEARNS" or something like that. In the books I read, it's called the "quiet, alert stage." This is the time when Emma is looking around, staring at lights and bright colors, studying our faces, etc. This is actually our favorite time because this is when she smiles, coos, & interacts with us. Here are a couple pictures of her taken during the "quiet, alert stage."


Okay, I'll have to do some more later. Miss Emma is calling my name. Probably hungry! :o)

Wednesday April 12

Hey everyone!! Sorry it's been so long since we've added anything to the blog. Lots has happened since our last entry and our baby girl has grown so much since then! We have lots of new, fun pics to share! This whole blog thing is new to me, but Brett just gave me the quick run-down on how to make a new entry, so we'll see how I do :o)

Here is our very first family photo. We are standing in Emma's room, which we decorated with sheep stuff (imagine that!! ;-) This is where Emma and I spend most of our time...eating, changing diapers, sitting in the rocking chair, etc.






Here's our sweet baby getting a bath. She seems to like it a lot more now....except when it's time to get out! Let's just say that she has an extremely healthy set of lungs!! She hates to be even a little bit cold. During her bath, we usually keep a warm washcloth across her chest so that she stays warm. We have fun seeing her smile and lick her lips as we pour water over her.



Here is Miss Emma Joy having some "tummy time." We try to have a few minutes of tummy time every day. She likes to suck on her fingers as she watches the little flowers light up. The entire time that she lays there, she is kicking her legs and squirming around. It is incredible to us how strong she is already!!



Are these not the cutest little feet you've ever seen? Perfect for munching on....but Emma doesn't quite understand this yet. Whenever Brett pretends he's munching on her toes, she just stares at him with big, bright eyes. We look forward to the time when she laughs and plays back with us!






Here's 2 pictures of our sweet, baby girl SMILING!! These pictures were taken when she was 4 weeks old. (She is 6 weeks old now). She has definitely started to respond and interact with us...mainly when we make funny noises and faces. She even mimics us sometimes when we make certain noises. And she makes the CUTEST little cooing sounds!! WE ARE SO IN LOVE!!! :o)

Well, I guess I'll quit for now. We have tons more recent pictures, but I'll have to post them when I have more time....this has taken me HOURS to learn and figure out. :o) I'm not very computer savvy, but oh well....I'm learning!! :o)