McKye meets his cousin Kenna

McKye hanging out with his uncle at the Hospital
McKye meet his cousin Kenna Elizabeth Mackey last Thursday, June 18th.  Kenna was born on June 17th to Jared and Jennifer Mackey.  It is crazy to think about how big their head grows in eight months.

Thoughts on being a Dad

Charles Dickens opens up his classic 'A Tale of Two Cities' with the memorable line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope..."  I really don't know exactly what Dickens meant, maybe it was because I only got half way through the book but if anything I would say that being a dad has been a season of extremes.  Watching his birth and especially watching Angie fall in love with him and turning into a mom has been absolutely magical.  And then there are days, a little like today where I don't seem to be able to calm him down and he is a constant fuss bomb.  The funny thing is that he might be fussy all day and then we will go hang out with friends and he is all chill and looking around smiling at people and they are like, "wow, your son is so calm."  If they only knew.  Actually, considering all things McKye has been a great baby and now at eight months it is neat to see the new things he does and the little boy he is turning into.  I think that when he starts crawling he is going to be a handful.

Spiritually, I would say that this season has been different for me.  I am used to having discretionary time to read a bunch of books and spend time in the word and journaling.  But there are some mornings where I am barely able to get up because I have already been up several times through the night.  And then as I try to read my bible in the morning I will get so far and then McKye needs something.  Ministry wise, I am now home a lot more.  It is not that it is necessarily bad, it is just different.  I try to remind myself that in this season I have the opportunity to minister to my son's soul...  And right now he is looking at me from his exersaucer like, "won't you play with me".   

Let's go swimming

McKye is in his first swim trunks ever.  We need to get him used to the water for our Lake Powell trip in late July.

I think he is learning how to chill out in his little pool.  

McKye being dedicated

On May 17, 2009 we dedicated McKye Benjamin Long at Lookout Mountain Community Church.  In this momentous occasion, if you look closely I think you can see that as we are praying for McKye, he is blowing a bubble.  That would be our son.  Seriously, this was a great time and I believe a moment where there was a divine ripple in the cosmos declaring that McKye is God's child.  Now we as parents just need to live out His presence.    

Uncle Ivan playing with McKye

McKye Playing in his pac and play

McKye Playing

Six Month Update: Great shots of McKye

I am trying to figure out if he is working on something here or if it is just a funny smile.

Super Baby is our favorite activity.  I don't think he will have a fear of heights considering I sometimes put him up against the ceiling, I just need to watch that he does not drool or spit up on me.

McKye is all about drooling.

Angie sure knows how to dress up our GQ boy.

McKye just started eating baby food and it is incredible how fast he is learning.  But he sure does not like mushed carrots and peas...I wouldn't blame him.