Family pictures

With the addition of another little Upton due in August, we had our sweet friend Erin Cole take some family pictures of the four of us in downtown Bryan. I could include the entire album (yes, they are that good), but rather than crash your computer or mine, I'll just share a few. One of our favorite family pictures is now the profile picture on blogger so I won't include that one again.

Isn't she just beautiful? Where did all the gray hair come from on me though? Oh, I think their names are Maxwell and Miller!

Uh-oh, pedi-go

This one will be short, but we don't want to forget this one! Miller has been verbal for quite some time now and as his speech gets even better, we see that we are "losing" many of the really cute things he says. One that he still says though is his version of "uh-oh, spaghetti-o". Instead he says, "uh-oh, pedi-go".

A few days ago, I was in the room with him, but not actively involved in whatever he was doing and I heard him, after dropping a toy, whisper to himself, "pedi-go". That is one memory I'll be replaying quite a bit, I do believe!

Kid's Day?

This morning for Father's Day my dear wife let me sleep in a little later than normal and when it was time to get up, she and the boys came in bearing gifts and cards. After I opened my two gifts and cards, Maxwell, in all seriousness, looked at me and asked, "Daddy, is there a Kid's Day?!" Nothing gets by kids, does it?! After I quit laughing, we reminded him that every day is a Kid's Day...when we go to the pool, when we go to the movies, when we go to Sea World for vacation...and especially when he has food and clean clothes to wear every day!

The truther movement

In an effort to not put shame on our oldest son, let's just say we've been having quite a few conversations about telling the truth in our home lately. Today we got in the car after church and I had the radio on KSBJ (the local Christian radio station for you non-Houston area folks) and someone was preaching and said something about being a hypocrite.

For those of you who have experience with kids, you know that you never can predict when they are listening and picking up on things. I must admit, I was a little surprised that Maxwell piped up and asked me what a hypocrite was. Here is the conversation that followed:

Matt: "Well, a hypocrite is someone who says one thing and then does another."

Maxwell: "Oh, like if Jackson (a friend of his) said he was going to come to my house and then he went to Blake's (another friend) house instead."

Matt: "Well, sort of...it would be more like if someone said they loved Jesus to you and then turned around and said something bad about Jesus to someone else." (don't judge the correctness of my description here!)

Maxwell: "Oh, so that would be lying, right?"

Matt: "That's right, he would be lying about Jesus and Jesus isn't a liar just like God didn't create you to be a liar."

Maxwell: "That's right, because God is a truther! (pause) Well, God is THE truth!"

Matt: "That's right Maxwell, God is THE truth."

Anyone want to join the truther movement we are starting at our home? :)

P.S. I had a great Father's Day with my family working in the yard and helping a friend out. What a blessed man I am...and I'm so thankful for my father, father-in-law, grandfather, and brothers-in law who are leading their families, too.

The power of the father/son relationship

Anyone who knows me knows that I love being a daddy. My two boys and the baby on the way bring many more smiles to my life than they do tears and fatigue, but I am also guilty of not recognizing just how powerful the father/son relationship is (and I'm sure father/daughter relationship, but I don't have one of those...yet). After you watch the video below I think you will be reminded and challenged to remember just like I was.

All Pro Dad Soldier Surprises His Son

I hope the video below not only makes you thank our heavenly Father for the men and women who protect us daily through the military (and other wonderful service careers), but also for the love He showed us in reaching down from heaven, through His Son, to give us life. Oh, the power of the Father/son relationship...I'm glad I get to experience this, too.