Harvest Family Visit

My hubby's entire family came for a visit this Harvest. We were so excite to all be together as it has been a long time since we were able to connect.

Here Grandma and Grandpa greet L. for the first time!

Here Daddy is opening his birthday present from his sister et al, a WONDERFUL handcrafted baby bag filled to the brim with goodies for little L.

Cousin J. especially loved L. He would often point at him and say 'bebe?' or more certainly 'bebe!' He's such a little boy!


We tried to keep the kids entertained by spending time outside each day. Here Uncle S. and Cousin C are enjoying the Harbison State Forest outing. Fresh air is great!

What a special time together! We are sad that we are not able to see our family more often. It's always a hoot when we get together. The Harvest Meal was WONDERFUL, kudos to C. and D. for the turkey and fixins!


Lastly, The little man himself... though he didn't enjoy the food, didn't partake in the conversation or laugh at any jokes he was there and the life of the party.
One more 'First' to add to the list.

Pictures from the weekend...

Cuddling with Mama in the hotel...


Cuddling with mama at the Battery in Charleston...

Cuddling with Aunt M. in the coffeehouse...

My Favorite Things

Although raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens rank rather high on my list of favorite things, there are currently a few other things that top the roses and kittens.

1. L. sleeping peacefully on top of me. This sounds odd to anyone who doesn't have a child. But as I am typing this precious little angel is balled up in the cutest way on my chest. I can feel and hear him breathing, kiss his forehead, and gaze at his face all I want in this position. It's heaven on earth.

2. When L. sleeps he must be dreaming of his Mama and Papa because sweet little smiles flitter across his face leaving both of his parents in awe. We also are anticipating the day when he looks us in the eye and smiles. As of right now he has a look that says, "Yeah, I see you but MAN that shadow over there on the wall is captivating."

3. I love that I make him happy. I provide comfort, warmth, security, protection, fulfillment of his needs, food and playtime... all the good things in life. To say it in one word- I am his Mama!

4. I love the moment after a long day at home alone, my husband relieves me so that I can take a shower. Again, you pre-child women out there won't fully understand but days... we're talking days without a shower... sigh. Then to pass a crying (or maybe contented) child off to S., saunter to the bathroom and shut the door. I'm describing moments of joy and freedom. But about halfway through the shower ritual, my ears are peaked and I'm straining to hear if my little man is in need of me.

5. Knowing my husband is madly in love with our son. This brings me such joy. He's such a great dad and each day we are growing and learning more of what it means to parent.

6. And as of this morning, Starbucks Peppermint Mocha :-)

Not too shabby...

This weekend is a first for L.... We will be going with Daddy to Charleston for his Reserve weekend. We're staying at the Wingate... not too shabby for a first vacation. We shall see how he does. His luggage is not very extensive.. lots of changes of clothes, lots of disposable diapers (I doubt there is a laundry service available for the cloth diapers), his 'inclined to sleep bed', and the all important baby wrap carrier. I think it will be a great success. I hope that he doesn't see fit to be unhappy on the 2 hour drive down or at night for the sake of our sanity and for the neighboring guests at the hotel. He's been a happy baby lately. I'm hoping to go visit my sister, Sunday morning. It will be great to see her. There may be some other weekend highlites that are unforeseen... perhaps a coffee break? or perhaps a stroll around the battery? Who knows?? We will have fun though and report back here to fill you in. And hopefully we'll have some pictures to share.

Favorite Childrens songs: The Hunt is on...

My son is 4 weeks old. I'm obviously enjoying every moment we share together, cuddling, nursing, crying and observing the big world together. I find that each day he seems slightly different than the day before. He seems to track with his eyes more and his awake hours in general are quite fun. Although running in a close second place are the silly little chuckles and big goofy grins he displays while contentedly snoozing. I find that I don't want to put him down and I feel compelled to begin teaching him in the most simplistic way,singing, talking and exploring the baby in the mirror together. I don't want to miss a beat. I know, I know.. it sounds like I have the first time mom anxiety of doing it wrong.. but really I just want to be a good mother. I totally get that it's a trial and error thing. I love my son and want to be the best mom I possibly can.

So, Steve and I have wracked our brains trying to think of songs to sing and sadly we're quite understudied in this department. I mean we remember titles or first lines but then look quizically at each other as we hum the next bar and fade out. "Hush little baby don't say a word mama's gonna.. hum hum hu-humm mmm mmm..." It's definitly a sad state. To remedy this, Steve sent me on a mission to find baby song lyrics online. There is a wonderful site called The Teachers Guide that I think will become a good friend of mine. There are many songs with lyrics to choose from. To my glee, I ran across one of my favorite grade school songs of all times.
"Sing it if you know it..."


Apples and Bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to eat, eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to ate, ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

I like to eat, eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees

I like to ite, ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys
I like to ite, ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys

I like to ote, ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos

I like to oot, oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos

Exclusive Insider Look

For Granna:

Sleep... Eat... Poop...

It is such the life... Needs are all met, sleep all day long, hot meals prepared upon demand. Well, I guess even though these things are precipitated by crying and screaming it can't be too bad. Now that I'm analyizing it.. I really do value the ability to use the toilet. Sigh.

Oh well! On to more fun, exciting things. More pictures of course!
This is what I call the "getting dressed" series:

And the Final Result?
Cute, no?

Granddad's Visit at 2 weeks

General Update on Life!

Life is generally good!


We've been blessed since L. arrived to have family visiting and helping around the house! First my mom was here, then my sister Michelle and her hubby Bobby were up from Charleston for a night. My dad and Tara arrived Wednesday night and also my sister Christy was up from Atlanta for a night. We're sad that they'll be leaving Monday morning.


L. is doing great. He met his Great Grandmother Beulah and Great Uncle Jim last Thursday. It was a treat to have them down for a little while.


He is stretching and trying to hold his head up. He's gaining weight like a champ- eating often and well. S. weighed him a few days ago and he was already up to 10 lbs. We all cheered when his cord fell off last week. And we gave him his first 'real' bath Saturday.



His sleeping pattern is starting to become evident: he sleeps 3 hour stretches at night and usually takes a long nap in the morning and a long nap in the afternoon. Unfortunately for him the Baby Acne has begun. And although he'll hate me for it later...