Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Squirmy Worm

Hello All!

I’m super duper (how long has it been since you’ve said super duper together?!) excited for Amber’s upcoming visit! She flies in tomorrow morning (Thursday) and I am so looking forward to it! We both may have a hilarious experience to report back about navigating through the airport in Atlanta – it’s huge! It’s been years since either of us has been there, and we can’t remember how it’s set up. It’ll be fun though – an adventure. =) We plan to relax and enjoy these next few days. I’m sure there will be a little bit of shopping and a lot of catching up. We’re also going to meet Scott and Shelly and the girls at the South Carolina Zoo on Saturday and we’re all really looking forward to seeing each other again – I can’t wait! I’ll definitely blog about our fun experiences and post lots of pictures.

Chris is on the mend from his cold – and other then the occasional evening when his allergies flare up, he’s doing well. He’s been working hard the last few days on a big paper for school, so that’s consumed much of his time. We still have nothing to report on where we’ll be heading after this, but when we know something, we’ll post it.

I managed to catch the cold over the weekend, but it seems to have quickly cleared up (Praise God!) I thought I was going to get out of getting this one, but apparently this was a different strain from the 5 others I’ve contracted since moving here. =) I am much better though, so I won’t complain too much. =)

Luke is still slowly recovering. I’m thinking he might be getting an ear infection, so I’m trying to keep a close watch on that. He’s also got a rattley cough. He seems to have an appetite though – and for the most part seems to be feeling fine, so I think it’s just going to take some time for this cold to clear his system.

In other Luke news, he’s growing and changing on a daily basis. It’s becoming more apparent that he’s learning to do things on his own – and we’re seeing a very defiant, independent, strong willed, active little boy emerge.

He’s doing a great job at self-feeding and I’m about ready to strip him down to his diaper, put a drop cloth on the floor and hand him the spoon and let him dish out his baby food. I’ve put this part off because of the huge mess I know that will follow, but he’s getting to the point where he wants to do things for himself…now if only he was able to change his own diaper and get dressed on his own! =)

He has become the squirmiest of fellows and it takes 5 times as long to change his diaper and clothes as it used to. He twists and turns and kicks and squirms. I’ll get one pant leg on and while I’m quickly trying to get the other one on, he’s kicked his leg out of the first one! The worst times are when he’s got a dirty diaper and he pulls his squirming and twisting tricks – that’s when things get really complicated! I won’t go into details, but let’s just say it’s not a pretty sight. =)

He’s definitely figuring out the concept of cause-and-effect and he’s mimicking our actions more and more. If we push a car around the floor, he’ll do it too. If we make a clicking noise, he’ll try it too. It’s so cute! It’s been a really gradual process, but it’s really apparent now how much he takes cues and learns from what we show him. It’s just amazing to see how far a baby comes in 9 months time. They start out as completely helpless and within a few months, they’ve developed into a little person –with a unique personality and all!

Let’s see, what else about Luke can I fill you in on…He’s standing for longer periods of time. He LOVES holding on to the couch and trying to jump up and down on his own. He doesn’t really clear any height, but it’s great exercise for his leg muscles as he lunges up and down. Oh yeah, and he’s giving hugs now! It’s the cutest most adorable thing! He’ll squeeze your neck, and then if you squeeze back, he’ll give you another big squeeze. It makes your heart melt, that’s for sure! He still isn’t sleeping through the night. I’m beginning to take one night feeding away – I know he doesn’t need it; he’s just in the habit of getting it. So I’m weaning him off of his 2am feeding. I’m sure our neighbor’s aren’t excited about it, but I think Luke and I both need to start sleeping through the night. So my plan of action is to gradually lessen the night feedings. Once he’s use to not getting his 2am feeding, I’ll start to wean him off his 4am one…and so on so forth.

The weather here has been fantastic! Not to rub it in to anyone who has been having bad weather, but it has been perfect here. It’s warm, but not humid and most days there’s a nice cool breeze. I know this won’t last long, so I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Pretty soon I’ll be blogging about how humid it is, and how our air conditioner won’t keep up with the heat – but until then, I just want to say it’s really really nice here. =)

Before I sign off, I’d love to get some recipes from ya’ll. I’ve started cooking (I know this will come as a shock to a lot of you) a lot of new recipes of late – and would love to get recipes of some of your favorite dishes to add to my growing recipe book. I got a great start in Manhattan and would love to keep adding to it. So if you have a good dish or a favorite recipe, please share!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! I’ll blog more next week!

Oh, and here is your favorite part- pictures! =)


These are two pictures of Luke in his not-so-sweet moments...





Luke likes to get out of his cage once in awhile and get into things...he seems to know we'll clean up after him!









Bath time! We bought some bubble bath and Luke seems to like it a lot, although he can't figure out exactly what the bubbles are. He wants to eat them, just like everything else!









Daddy and Luke playing together. Luke crawled into the laundry basket and got to go for a ride.







This is Luke jumping on the edge of the couch. He LOVES jumping, either in Daddy's lap or on the couch or bed. He's going to be a handful when he starts walking!



And the parting shot!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Haircuts, Flip-Flops and Colds

Can you believe it – 2 posts in 2 days! Don’t get used to this – I won’t be this efficient on a normal basis. =) However, everyone other than myself for now (knock on wood,) is sick with a miserable cold, so the computer was left free with Luke in bed and Chris on the couch.

Luke has been working on it for quite some time now. He’s got a nasty runny nose and now it’s moved to his chest. He goes from being cranky to playful to tired to cranky – well you get the picture. Chris has a sore throat, stuffy head, exhaustion – the list goes on. It’s just a down right miserable cold. I’m convinced that during our stay here one of us will always be sick. So far that’s been the story since we’ve moved here at least. I don’t know if it’s adjusting to a new environment/climate or if it’s because we’ve been going non-stop for the last year or so and our bodies are just telling us we need to slow down. All I know, is that by the time we leave Georgia this summer, we’ll be immune to every virus that’s floating around here. =)

On to other news – Yesterday it was warm enough to wear flip-flops! This is outrageously exciting to me, so I thought I would share. Growing up and living in the Midwest all my life, flip-flops at the beginning of March just doesn’t happen. But in the south I guess it does! So I dug out my flip-flops and wore them with utter excitement. The weather has been amazing lately. I think it got up to 86 or so today. That’s the one thing I’m really enjoying here.



So I finally got my haircut…then had to get it cut again. Let me fill you in on the story:

So, before we headed out to Maryland, I wanted to get my hair cut since it was out of control. I decided to go with haircut #2 that I posted awhile back. I printed out a picture and made an appointment. I was nervous because I had no idea where to go and I don’t really know anyone here to find out who is a good beautician in the area. So I decided to just take the risk and made an appt. at a salon. I got there for my appt. and waited and waited and waited. At some point my gut told me that I should just leave and get it cut another time, but I told myself I was being silly and to stay. Finally 45 minutes later, I was sitting in the chair. I noticed the beautician was eyeing my hair funny as well as the picture. It was then I knew she didn’t know how to cut my hair like the picture. I still told myself not to panic; just to take the risk and everything would be fine. Well, let’s just say the cut I came out with looked nothing like the picture I took in. She asked if it was fine and I said it was – I wasn’t going to ask her to fix it since I knew it would only make matters worse if she did. So I quickly paid and got out as fast as I could. Chris was sweet about it and said it wasn’t the best hair cut, but also not the worst. I knew it was bad, but I thought I might be able to go home and style it in a somewhat presentable way. But when I looked in the mirror I pretty much knew it was a lost cause. So I dial mom Scott as fast as I can since I knew she had a good beautician, and we’d be there in a few days. She said she’d get me an appointment, so I knew there was hope. After I hung up the phone, I did attempt to style it, but it really wouldn’t do anything. It was uneven and cut horribly. So I lived with the horrible cut for a few days and Friday morning, I finally got the haircut I wanted. It wasn’t exactly like the picture because too much had been cut off the first time, but it was close enough. The second time around, I felt completely comfortable with the beautician and she did a fantastic job.

So here are the pictures!
Bad Haircut - back

Bad Haircut - side and back


Bad Haircut - front - I tried to hide what I really thought! =)

New Haircut - front


New Haircut - back




New Haircut - side

As you can see - it dosen't look exactly like the example I had picked out, but it looks much better the the first cut I came away with!!


Here are some more pictures to enjoy!








Luke playing with his new Easter Bunny Stuffed Animal from Gary and Phyllis (Thank you so much! He loves it!)



Luke standing on his own! This is actually hard to get on film. The minute I pull out the camera, he's off his feet crawling as fast as he can to nab the camera!



Luke LOVES his Cheerios! He's doing a great job at self-feeding himself these days.


Just a comparison - Luke at 7 weeks...


Luke at 39 weeks...


I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Back Home

Well, we got home safely from our quick trip to Maryland late last night – praise God for safe traveling mercies that everyone was blessed with. Most of the families have returned home and those who have not yet will be on their way in the next few days.

It was definitely a bittersweet weekend. Bitter because mourning and grieving the loss of a loved one is one of the hardest things you experience in life. Sweet because we all knew that Grandma Doris Scott was rejoicing with her Savior in heaven and that this farewell would not be permanent – we will all meet again.

We headed out at about 3:30pm on Thursday. Chris was able to leave class a little early, so that was a blessing. It was a long drive and we were both exhausted, but with God’s help, we made it with no problems or issues. I had packed a little bag that had Trivial Pursuit questions, NFL challenge trivia questions, a crossword puzzle book, small flashlight, etc – so that helped us out a lot. Chris’s favorite was the NFL trivia questions, so in turn, I learned a lot I didn’t know about football. =) Luke did awesome – only fussing a few times during the trip and sleeping the rest. We had to stop more often to feed and change him and that kind of stuff, but he’s pretty easy going about long road trips. I know that won’t last long, but we’ll enjoy it while it does!

We got to Mom and Dad Scott's house at about 2:00am and spent some time winding down and visiting with family and letting Luke play and stretch his legs. Riley was loving the fenced in backyard as well! We did bring the cats in addition to all of us and Riley. We don’t really know anyone here, and with their age, I’m afraid to leave them without anyone to check on them. Tiger is 19 yrs old and Little One is 17 yrs old. Anyway, they were happy to be out of the car and roaming around our room. We finally got to bed sometime between 3:00-4:00am.

Friday morning we were finally able to see Grandpa Scott. We also were able to visit with family. It’s always good to see family that you haven’t seen for such a long time – but it’s always sad when it’s under these circumstances. The day was spent running errands, putting out food, putting up food, visiting with family, pulling food back out, putting it back up, visiting with family, and then attending the viewing. It was an emotionally hard day on everyone.

Saturday morning was the funeral. Everyone did a really great job at sharing their memories and the life of Doris May Scott. It was a God-filled service. We were all reminded of the importance of passing on the legacy that has so faithfully been passed on to us. As those before us have shown us the way, so we are to show the way to those who come behind us. Following the funeral, we all went to the graveside service. Dad Scott had brought dirt that had been from Prince Edward Island (where Grandma Scott grew up) and we all threw some on the grave. After the graveside, we went back to the church and had a meal and fellowship. I must pause here and say a HUGE thank you to Pam and Jennifer Thompson who tag-teamed watching Luke through the whole funeral and graveside service. Thank you so much!
Later that evening we went back home to visit and fellowship more with family.

It was a tough day, especially for Grandpa Scott. Please continue to keep him and the family in prayer as the next few weeks and months will be especially hard in dealing with this great loss.

Sunday morning, we packed up and headed out. We got on the road around noon. I continued quizzing Chris on the NFL =) as well as on his school work. He had a test to come home to today (Monday.) Although we would have liked to stay longer – especially to show our continued support, we unfortunately had to come back.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:


This is at the graveside - you can see the specks of Prince Edward Island dust in the air...


Grandpa Scott with his sons and their wives:
John and Marsha, Pete and Amy, Steve and Judy and Alan and Beth


Grandpa Scott with the grandchildren and their spouses that could attend:
Bottom Row - Randy, Grandpa Scott, Jordan
Middle Row - Mindy, Jamie, Steph, Jeff, Ryan and Katelynn
Front Row - Chris, Phillip, Dave and Jeremy


Grandpa Scott and Luke

Our little family


Luke hanging out on the dining room floor...


Grammy and Grandpa Scott


Bath Time!


Here are some pictures of Grandma Scott. I could have just kept putting more and more on, but I thought I better stop so I could post the blog: