To the Hospital We Go!!!

Ruby Singing

Ruby has been singing lately... usually in her high chair while we are eating. We decided to get out the camera to capture her little 22 month old voice.


She'll be a big sister any day now, and singing is a good talent to have for baby entertainment purposes.

NuThang - dcTalk

So, pretty much I've officially entered the "waiting game" stage of pregnancy, which gives me time to find incredibly awesome things on the internet. I came across this video today of a kid rapping dcTalk's NuThang and it made me think 2 things.

1. The kid in the following video is the exact male version of myself when I was 11. From the "Jesus is Lord" t-shirt to the Zubaz and hitops. If you add some balsamwood dangly earrings and a gigantic side ponytail with just my bangs permed, you would be watching me rapping and roger-rabbiting in this video. 
2. I'm thankful this isn't me, because this video is certain to become an internet sensation at any moment.
3. How many of my friends would admit to knowing all the words to this song, singing and dancing along as they watched?

To all the true dcTalk fans out there - ENJOY!

Papayas, 3rd Place Medals and Great Friends

Yesterday we had our friends Joel & Sarah, and Luke & Lindsay over for a grill out. They drove down to see us one last time before our baby is born and we move to Columbus. It was so much fun, as usual - we spent a lot of time laughing (some of us laughed until we cried) and enjoying amazing cuisine including grilled chicken, papaya fruit salad, and McCluskey Blueberry Crisp filled with actual McClusky blueberries.

Luke with his 3rd place medal from a 5k he ran earlier in the day.

It's always fun to get out the Hope College photo albums. These guys all lived together starting freshman year - so they have nearly 12 years of memories... many of which are not suitable blog material. haha.

The ladies... and the unborn. This was the day we've been waiting for - the day we wanted to make it to before having this baby. From here on out, I'm happy whenever she decides to make her debut.

Guest Blogger - Mark Beeson

I'm so excited - My awesome dad has generously agreed to be my guest blogger again this time around. If you've been reading my blog since June of 2009, you may recall the great job he did as a guest blogger when Ruby was born - I know a lot of you got a kick out of his antics. I am so glad he's going to guest blog again! Yahoo!

Just One Child

This morning I was looking back through my youtube channel at some of the videos I've made since Ruby was born. Watching this one makes me so excited to add another tiny baby to our family soon!



They really do grow up so fast - I know that's such a cliche thing to say, but I also know that I want to live each day to the fullest, I want to be fully engaged in the lives of my daughters, I want to spend quality time with them and I want to laugh and enjoy the ridiculousness and all the shenanigans that come along with being a parent.

I'm feeling very blessed today. Not sure how many more days I'll have to spend with just one child...

Happy Easter!!

Ruby loved hunting for easter eggs and putting them in her basket. I can't believe the difference a year makes! She seemed so little last Easter and so big this one!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Ryan and I have been married for almost 7 years and I can't seem to get it through my thick skull that every single year on Easter morning Ryan says, "He is Risen!" and I reply "Yeah!" and Ryan laughs and says, "No, you're supposed to say, "He is Risen, Indeed!"

Luckily, it's 3:36am and I am wide awake with sleeplessness in these final weeks of pregnancy. I have reminded myself of the correct response to his Easter morning greeting... he is going to be so surprised when I am the one to say, "He is Risen!" first!

haha. I'll let you know how it goes.

Grandparents are the best!

My wonderful mom and dad came up to Grand Rapids on Monday to spend a few hours with us. They have always been so happy to make the drive - even when I was a student at Hope College they would come up, take me to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's then drive home the same day. I've always admired the way they show me that even if they spend more time in the car than they do actually WITH us, it's still worth the drive!

Ruby was SO EXCITED to see her Grammy and Papa. As soon as they got here she started squealing and stomping her feet and running around as if the joy in her heart could not be contained had she been standing still.

We went for a walk (2 blocks) to the playground at the end of our street. It was a good hour and a half ordeal since Ruby's agenda includes stopping to examine every crack in the sidewalk, every ant, every piece of trash, smell every flower, listen to every bird, pet every kitty...

...and walk up and down the "hill" between the edge of the sidewalk and the grass. This gave my photographer dad plenty of time to get some great pictures.

Love you mom and dad! Thanks for making the drive!

SiTE:LAB Grand Rapids

The whole Cox Family met downtown GR on Friday night to check out SiTE:LAB. Ryan's little brother Christopher and a couple of his artist friends from Hope were a few of the 100 local artists who displayed their installation-based art as part of the one-night showcase. The event was in an old, vacant warehouse... It was quite extraordinary to walk through and see what the artists came up with for the space.

Friday's event -- free and open to the public -- will help raise awareness of LaFontsee Galleries' soon-to-be new location, as well as provide local emerging artists, especially installation-based artists, the opportunity to showcase their work to the public and get their work out of the classroom.

"So what this really does, is this is part of an art students' education. This is showing them how you work and live as an artist," said Tom Clinton, SiTE:LAB's exhibition coordinator.

"It basically goes back to the original model and idea of getting the students, the schools. the community, the businesses -- everybody to collaborate and come together and come up with something," said Eric Kuhn, who is helping with the event's technology integration.

SiTE:LAB's mission statement says it "creates temporary art projects aimed at facilitating dynamic collaborations between the art, education, business and cultural communities in Grand Rapids." - MLive

So proud of Chris. He is honing his skills as an artist and a photographer. You can see more of his work on his website chriscoxphotographer.com