Beach Trip

We got to go to Seagrove, FL over Labor Day weekend with some other families. It was a great trip and a nice time with friends. The beach was so perfect. The sand was as white as can be and the water was crystal clear. All the kids had a blast playing in the sand and in the water. While we were there Everett learned how to climb out of the pack-n-play and now he is climbing out of the crib. I'm shocked because he's never really been a climber at all and seems to be not the most physically adept kid in the world. It really hasn't been too big of a deal though. We're hoping to get him into a real bed soon. I'm trying to find a twin over full wooden bunk bed set on Craig's List. So far no luck!

Here are some photos from our beach trip:

First Day of School

Everett's first day at Mother's Day Out was last Monday. He had a blast! He ran right into the room without looking back. I was so relieved. His teachers said he was happy and talkative. I can't believe that I have four hours to myself each Monday! It's wonderful and I almost don't know what to do with myself. It's amazing how quickly things go without a toddler to run after. He's at a wonderful school and every Monday he gets to do art and music, along with all the usual stuff. It's been such a treat for me and I think he really looks forward to it too.

Isn't this cooler weather in Atlanta wonderful? I love the changing of seasons. We've had our windows open since Saturday night and our air conditioning hasn't run once!

Everett's 2!

Everett turned 2 on August 9...okay so I'm a little behind. August was a busy month! We had a small get together at the Peachtree DeKalb Airport. Of course it was the hottest week on record, but we still had a lovely time!

Here are a few photos:

Family Photos

Here are some special photos of our family that my sister took while we were out in California. She's just starting to develop her own photography business and I think she's going to be great!

Going back to Cali

We've been so busy I haven't had time to blog and half the time I don't have much creative to say. I wish I had one of those blogs that 87 people left comments on, but at least I have a few faithful readers. Sorry my writing and graphics aren't more creative. I probably should branch out more than just talking about my family and our experiences but most of the time I'm worn out out after just blogging about that.

Anyways, here is the latest update on our California trip we took the first week in August: We went out there to visit my sister and her family. It was over 5 hours on a plane with Everett in our laps. He did pretty well though...thanks to our friend, Jeanne, for letting us borrow her DVD player. We snuck in the trip just before E turned 2 so we wouldn't have to buy him a seat. There is definitely a plus side and a negative side to that.

We were so blessed to spend time with my sister's family and Everett fit right in with his 4 cousins! It was was pretty wild at times with 5 kids in one house, but it was fun to see them all playing together. One day while we were there we went to an amusement park called Gilroy Gardens. It's built for younger kids and it was so much fun. The next day we went to the beach and then on Sunday, Elliot got baptized. The other days we stayed closer to home. They live in Mountain View, about 45 minutes south of San Francisco. The weather was beautiful there...highs in the 70's. I was bragging to a guy at the park there that the weather in Atlanta is pretty nice too...so far we had a pretty mild summer. Little did I know we'd come home to a heat wave and unbearable temperatures.

I'm so thankful for my wonderful sister, who is so fun to be with. I'm glad Everett knows his cousins, even though they live on the other side of the country.

Here are some photos from our time there:

Gilroy Gardens






















Half Moon Bay






Elliot's Baptism

Happy 4th of July!

We went to Buckhead last night with some friends to hang out and watch the Lenox fireworks. It was a great time. The weather was wonderful. The only bad part was getting home in all the traffic. Everett was a little bit scared of the fireworks, but he didn't take his eyes off them the entire time and when they were over he kept asking for more. It was definitely a 4th of July to remember.

What a day!

We survived a second round of eye surgery for Everett today. He's dealt with blocked tear ducts in both eyes since he was an infant. We had his first surgery about a year ago but it was not effective. That's normal in about 5% of cases. The first surgery is just a probe that goes in and opens the tear ducts. Today he had small balloon-like instruments inserted into his tear ducts and they were inflated for a few minutes to make sure the tear ducts would no longer be clogged. Hopefully this will work. In 1% of cases they have to do a third procedure which involves the installation of tubes in the tear ducts that stay in for 3 months. Hopefully we won't have to go there.

Today's procedure maybe lasted about 15 minutes but he had to undergo anesthesia which meant he couldn't eat anything 4 hours before his surgery. Since his surgery was at 12:30pm, he couldn't eat anything after midnight and only water or clear liquids up until 8:30am. After that nothing. I was so worried about keeping him happy all morning without anything to eat or drink. He really did great though. We started off watching Sesame Street, but the theme of the day was "eating", so we didn't stay home for long. We went to the park for about an hour but it started raining. Then we drove around I-285 for awhile until it was almost time for the appointment. He took it all really well. When we got home he ate and drank a ton and has been sleeping for the past hour.

I'll be so glad not to have to constantly wipe his tears anymore. Or have people constantly ask if he's crying. It's definitely a small thing, but I'll be glad to have it be "normal".

We went to the beach with Allen's family last week. It was a great time. There are tons of new photos on our Flickr page.

Here is a photo we took of Everett after church on Sunday:

Blog Backlog

Things have just been so busy lately, especially on the weekends...it's been crazy. I just posted a ton of photos on our Flickr site. Usually I'm so good about keeping up with that at least, but it's been over a month since I had posted any pictures. We went to Augusta for Mother's Day Weekend and we've pretty much been busy since and it doesn't seem to be slowing down much. We went to the beach for Memorial Day Weekend with our dear friends Trevor & Sam. My uncle was here from Indiana for my mom's 60th birthday in the end of May. Then we went camping with our Young Couples Sunday School Class last weekend. This weekend we're heading to Augusta on Saturday to see Allen's uncle. And we've got other things planned the next couple of weekends after that! I guess it's great to have all these fun things going on though.

We're all doing really well. Everett is changing so much. He's growing up, saying new words and doing new things every day. He's also becoming somewhat of a challenge with sleeping and with his temper now though. For the past month or so his wake up time changed from 8am to around 6am. The past two mornings he's done better though so I'm hoping it's changing in the right direction. His naps have been shorter and less consistent too, but yesterday he took a great nap, so who knows? I'm thinking because we've been traveling so much it's just kind of thrown him off a little bit. He's still such a joy...he's got this huge smile now that just lights up the room and makes my heart melt. He always wants to sing the itsy bitsy spider and do patty cake. He does the motions so well, but sometimes he confuses the two songs, which is funny. He's really enjoyed swimming and he's so brave in the water. He jumps off the side to anyone in the water and he's not afraid to go under water either. I'm hoping to take him swimming a lot this summer. The best thing ever is to watch him when we pray at dinner time. He holds our hands and bows his head and says, "Amen" at the end. It's so sweet and we didn't even really teach him to do it. He just learns so much from watching us. Exciting but also kind of scary. :)

Here's a photo of Everett on his first boat ride over Memorial Day Weekend. He loved it:

Everett's Organizational Skills

Everett decided to rearrange our cabinets the yesterday. It was pretty cute. I think he believes in sorting into piles when organizing. :)

Lynwood Park Parade

Last weekend Allen was out of town for Intown's men's retreat. On Saturday Everett & I went to Beth & Logan's neighborhood for a parade and festival. Tracey & Landon met us there too. It was a lot of fun, especially for the kids. We watched the parade and then the kids jumped in the inflatable castle and rode a ride. Everett liked the ride at first, but after a few minutes he started to cry. It was so cute though. They each ate popcorn and cotton candy and all sorts of other treats. It was very fun and a good way to spend our time with Allen out of town. We were all worn out when it was over.