A Reunion Weekend

We were down in Florida this weekend for Clay's 20th year high school reunion...yes, that's Class of 1988! Jack stayed with Grammy and Grampa while Clay and I shacked up at the Hilton on the beach. As much, a I loved a "mini" vacation, it was hard to be away from Jack knowing he was right over the bridge, less than 5 miles away. (that's why I had to go visit him often, in between reunion functions) The reunion was great, especially for Clay, and the fabulous part of it all, being from the same home town, I got to visit with some of my friends too. Although our 20th reunion isn't for another 7 years, (just had to throw that in), the two Stephanies, Amy, Evan and Jack and I met for lunch at my favorite beach restaurant. I was anticipating this meeting because I got to see TWO baby bumps...Amy and Stephanie Bell. How exciting, and of course, they both looked beautiful! Jack was in great spirits, but unfortunately little Evan was feeling some molars push through. I do think they enjoyed each others company though. The boys stared at one another, shared toy cars, and Jack showed Evan how to run around getting attention from fellow costumers. Jack even sported his sand pail that his kids meal came in as he stopped at each and every table to socialize. Stephanie said he looked like he was begging for money. He didn't collect much though! One last stop before we left lunch....a picture with Pirate Pete. Now, keep in mind we were locals at one time and this is a very tourist like thing to do. But, I couldn't resist getting one for the blog, not to mention Jack was fascinated with good Ol' Pete. So two pictures later, we said our goodbyes and I patted the baby bumps farewell. I only hope Jack's surge of energy didn't scare the Mommies to be. I returned Jack to Grammy and Grampa and settled him in to a much deserved nap. That evening I was on the way to Clay's reunion. Unfortunately, per Clay's request, I have no pictures of his event...boo! But, I will paint a picture for you....a hotel banquet room filled with gold and blue balloons and a lot of guys in their thirties rocking out to 80's music on the dance floor. It was very entertaining to say the least. I did get to see a slide show of the class of '88 back in the day, which was very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the hairdos....got to love the 80's! It was great to meet Clay's classmates and hear stories from long ago. The most important part was the Clay had a 'totally awesome' time. I know this because he was paying for it the next day.

What Is This?

Excuse me for being a paranoid first time Mommy, but has anyone ever seen this before? (refer to picture--click to enlarge if necessary) Clay and I took Jack to the park today between naps. It was very hot and Jack's face and body was flushed red (as it always is in the heat). After about half an hour of swinging, sliding, and chasing Jack around, we decided to make our way to the car for some much needed AC. We were doing great with no falls or injuries during our park visit-- until we made our exit. Jack was cruising right along on two legs when he spotted a group of young girls heading to play. They oohed and awed over him and that's when Jack decided to follow them instead of his Mommy and Daddy. Taking quick steps to keep up with his new fans, he tripped right over a brick and went head first into the wood chips. Jack normally brushes his stumbles off with an animated "uh-oh". But this time he wailed, it only lasted until I could get him in my arms and calm him down. When he calmed so quickly, I assumed all was okay. I looked at his forehead and he had a batch of wood chips implanted in his head. I wiped them off and the picture above shows what we found under them...an odd shaped red abrasion with a blue bruise underneath it. No broken skin, no blood, no bump, just this wood chip shaped mark on his forehead. It almost looks like a flat birth mark and it doesn't seem to be bothering him a bit. However, I am quite puzzled by the injury. Clay and I even considered googling it, but what would we even type in? Like I mentioned earlier his face was flushed before it happened, so maybe the blood was so close to the skin that this was his reaction to the fall. We did ice it down when we got home, hoping we could prevent a bump from joining the peculiar mark. Clay assures me that it will heal, but I can't help but wonder if it's a new permanent feature on Jack's handsome face. (There goes that paranoid first time Mommy thing again!) So I thought I would solicit some advice from anyone who might have seen this before and if and when it will heal. I know injuries are bound to happen with a toddling boy, but I would just like to know what they are!

Happy Birthday To Me

Another year, another birthday. Somehow they just don't seem as important as they use to, my focus in life has changed dramatically. Although, I must admit, my 30th year was amazing. With the addition of Jack and all of the good stuff that came with him it has been by far my best year yet. I can only imagine what "31" has in store for me. Here are 30 of my favorite memories from this past year...

1. My 30th surprise birthday lunch hosted by Clay

2. Taking Jon to his college orientation

3. Jack hitting the 4 month mark...no more acid reflux which equaled no more screaming!

4. Clay and my first date after the birth of Jack...dinner at Aqua Blue

5. GG healing from her nasty fall at my house

6. Jack's first invitation to a birthday party...Ansley turned one!

7. Thanksgiving in Florida at the Cibula's

8. The births of Patterson, Wesley Kate, and Nate...Jack's baby buddies

9. Hosting our first Christmas in our new house

10. Jack celebrating his first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter

11. New Years Eve in Nashville at a FSU game with Clay

12. Hosting fun play dates in our new playroom

13. Gymboree class with Sophia

14. Jack's first plane ride to Florida

15. Meeting Karen and Donna for lunch while we waited for Wesley Kate's arrival

16. Music class with Sophia

17. Mommies Night Out with the girls

18. Family coming to visit and finally having enough room for them

19. Clay's birthday dinner at Eclipse de Luna

20. Jack's first birthday party...yee haw!

21. Watching Jack crawl for the first time

22. Watching Jack walk for the first time

23. Play dates in the Park

24. Going to Braves games with my hubby

25. Swim lessons with Miller and Sophia

26. Our trip to Kentucky

27. Meeting Abby and hiring her as our Wednesday nanny...she is the best and J LOVES her!

28. Walks in the neighborhood with Jack and Cosby

29. Jack saying "mama" and meaning it

30. My birthday dinner with the girls

Okay, I could have made another list of '30', but I'll save that until I'm sixty. Needless to say, it has been a wonderful year and I owe all of my happy memories to my loving family and my fantastic friends. Here are some pictures of #30...dinner with the girls.

Thanks to everyone who made my day so special and we missed those of you who couldn't make it.

Yum! Look what we got to eat! I should say 'I'...I think most of it ended up on my fork!

Sleepless In Kentucky

We spent a long weekend family vacation at my Grandma's/Jack's GG's lake house in Kentucky. We filled our days with family fun, boat rides, swimming, a petting zoo, miniature golf, and good food. Unfortunately, in Jack's mind there was no time for sleep. Which if you know Jack, that is very rare. He loves good long naps and 12 hours of ZZZZ's at night. I'm debating if his sleep strike was due to all of the excitement or the possibility of yet another ear infection. During the day he enjoyed the fun between bouts of whining which makes me believe we may be dealing with the ears again. Ahhhh...the saga continues. Tomorrow we are off to the Dr to get the answer. However, in between semi-naps and restless nights, we were very busy. Jack found the energy to enjoy his first boat ride, feed goats, and swim in his new froggy baby pool. Here are some pictures of the family fun.... Jack's first boat ride--I think he has boatin' blood in him from my side of the family.


Jack, Daddy, & Cosby checking out the geese at GG's dock.

Uncle Jon showing off his skiing skills....although he said my action shots were only "okay". (That's a teenager for you)



Birthday Dinner....Mommy and GG have Birthdays only 1 day apart...how fun!

4 tries and $2 later, Daddy won Jack this stuffed cow from one of those machines with the silver claw. I didn't think anyone ever won anything out of those.

Grandma (my Mom) introduced Jack to his first camel. He got over the trauma about 10 minutes later.

Something more Jack's size...a pony.

We took golf carts around the petting zoo. My Mom and I wanted to walk, but the boys insisted. Good thing, because we had to make a quick get away from that camel!

Hey, there are real ducks down there, wow!

Daddy feeding the Emu is way too funny! Maybe we should get one for home.

I don't know who was more fascinated with the Peacock...Jack or Grandma?

Uncle Jon even got in on the action. I didn't bother to ask him if these pictures were to his liking.

Playing chase with Daddy at bedtime in PJ's and with Lovey in hand. Like I said, "sleepless in KY".

At least someone got some ZZZZ's.

Birthday girl, GG, showing off her gifts.

A little Frog Pool action.

More pool fun!

Jack got a ride on the lawn mower with Uncle Jon. Or as Jack called it "the vroom vroom".

Two of those specks up there are Daddy and Uncle Jon. Only one way down, so they jumped. I think I got some good video footage.

Captain Jim at the wheel...we owe all of our boat fun to him.

Swimming 101

Jack started swimming lessons at the beginning of June with his friends, Miller and Sophia. The objectives: (1) kick feet in the water (2) blow bubbles in the water. So far, three lessons later, we have accomplished neither. While clinging on for dear life to Mommy's neck, Jack is suppose to move his feet back and forth in a kicking motion while I repeat the phrase "kick, kick, kick". So far, no luck. However, I decided to alter the phrase to "kick your feet", since Jack knows what his feet are, and since then, there has actually been a little motion down under. I still wouldn't call it a kick though. As for objective number 2...I really thought we could get this one. Jack can blow a whistle and blow bubbles at home. So it should be no problem, right? Well, he can't quite make the transfer to the water. I lower his lips to the water and instead of blowing he purses his mouth shut in between rants of "na, na, na, na", which in Jack language means "no, no, no, no". Although we haven't met the course requirements just yet, I find Jack getting more and more comfortable in the water each time we go. Which is ultimately, my main objective. As a matter of fact, Jack went down the slide into the pool twice today and actually liked it! I couldn't have said that 2 lessons ago. One big splash and a huge smile later made me realize that he really is getting something out of his weekly swim lesson. Not to mention, we get to splash around with our buddies too! Speaking of buddies, we attempted to get some photos of the little ones decked out in their swim attire today and the photo shoot was quite challenging. Between avoiding any of them taking an unnecessary dip in the water and trying to get the three of them to look at the camera at the same time, the pictures just don't do our 'pool fun' justice. But, you know I have to share them regardless. Enjoy the shots of our water babies!

Spaghetti Supper

Jack had his first spaghetti supper tonight. Now in the past, we have done the whole pasta and marinara sauce, but this was different. It was real spaghetti noodles. I rarely cook spaghetti, it's just not my favorite food, but when given dinner options for tonight, that is what Clay chose. So I prepared Jack's plate with tiny cut up noodles, a little sauce, Lima beans , and peaches. We stripped him down to a diaper and were ready for dinner. Jack took one look at the spaghetti and snubbed it (it just didn't look like his regular penne pasta). So he devoured his peaches, then scarfed down his Lima beans, and lastly chugged his milk. Once that was complete, he watched intently as Daddy and I ate our long spaghetti noodles. Particularly entranced with the way Daddy slurped one noodle at a time (for Jack's entertainment, of course). Within 3 minutes, he was pointing, moaning, and signing for 'more'...anything to get food off of our plate. We tried to explain that he had the same exact meal on his tray, but he would not take 'no' for an answer. In hopes of a peaceful dinner, I gave Jack two or three of the long noodles off of my plate and just like magic he LOVED spaghetti. At that point he began to eat the cut spaghetti off of his tray, but he made it very clear that he preferred the long noodles off of our plates. One messy baby later, Daddy offered to take Jack up for his nightly bath if I cleaned the kitchen. Sure, I thought...that's a deal. Considering Jack's face was stained red from sauce and he had noodles wedged in every roll on his body....even between his toes. So off they went to the tub and I was left to the dishes. It didn't take long before I realized I got the raw end of the deal...one look at the high chair and I knew why Clay opted for the baby.

For Sale

My house is for sale. Yes, the same house we just moved into less than two years ago. The same house that I put blood, sweat, and tears into to remodel (well, not physically, but definitely mentally). The same house I lugged my huge pregnant body around in. The same house my water broke in before the birth of our first baby. And the same house that we brought Jack home to for the first time. We've lived here such a short while and have created so many memories already. The reason for this sale...so Clay can be 10 or so miles closer to the interstate. I can't say that I blame him. 10 miles in Atlanta, even the suburbs, can mean 20-30 minutes. Multiply that by two and you've got yourself an extra hour a day in the car. His business can take him all over town...from the North end to the South end in just one day. So after a few comments eluding to the fact that he wished we had bought closer "in", I suggested we put the house up for sale and see what would happen. Initially, he didn't go for the idea. But after a few days of thinking on it...well, here we are. I don't think I knew exactly what I was getting myself into or I wasn't expecting to really go through with it. But, I'm knee deep in it now. Between looking at other houses, which by the way are a major downsize (being closer "in" and all), and trying to keep my house spotless in the off chance that there may be showing, I'm realizing that this is really happening. I don't think either of us ever planned on being in this house forever, but wow, this all happened fast. We spread word to our neighbors, friends, and family and the common reaction was surprise and shock. After explaining our reasoning , most people found themselves more on our side of the issue. Though, with this housing market, we may not being going anywhere for a while. Right now, my life is on hold, waiting for the next big change. I have always said that I don't care too much for change, yet I always find myself right in the middle of it. I think I may secretly like it, who knows. What I do know, is if we move, I will have a happy husband whom is home more often...and what else could I ask for? It makes it all worth it!