Yardwork

It's nice to have an established yard, but the weeds and shrubs were getting a mind of their own. This morning Nathan mowed the grass, and I started weeding the beds. Next thing you know I had a little helper, who brought his own tools! He didn't get a lot of work done, but he was fun to watch!

Nathan made a Home Depot run this afternoon and came back with a trunk full of flowers. So Mayse, Mayse, & Mayse Landscaping Co. is officially in business. Seth insisted on handing his daddy the flowers, sometimes not as gently as others. (He comes from a long line of gardeners on both sides, so hopefully we're instilling a love of plants by letting him help, even if it means we lose a petunia or two along the way.) His reward was running in the sprinkler afterwards; he LOVES the hose right now! I decided the shrubs pictured above needed to be put in their place...I only got 2 of the 6 done, Seth is going through a daredevil phase, so I had to take many breaks to relocate him. Maybe I'll be productive during naptime tomorrow and get the rest done, because it's going to be a busy week.

By the way, Melissa and I went to a Dream Dinners session Friday, and had a blast putting together our meals. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to add convenient variety to dinner. We ate pulled pork last night, and have five more dinners in the freezer. We've even made our selections for the May menu already!

Great Grandmas are Great

Seth and I went to Cary Sunday to spend the day with my Grandma Meek, and Seth found she was more than willing to tell him what a great artist he was (not to mention an all-around good kid).Tuesday Seth was surprised when "Mama Meek" showed up at his house, and he found he could color even better using his home supplies. They spent hours at the table, either coloring or doing puzzles.

Once he realized she was spending the night, he had to test out her sleeping conditions (note the menagerie on her bed...we are now up to two stuffed animals, a blanket, and four little pillows that make the trip downstairs when bedtime is being boycotted).

Today there was more coloring done, and then Seth went down for a "snappy nap" when his Mama Meek said it was time (who is this kid?). We went to Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, and Seth was on his best behavior. I think he's pulling for top great-grandkid position, although I'm sure it's an eight-way tie for first!

Evan is Four!

Evan turned the big 4 last week, and we went to the ChuckECheese in Hickory Saturday night to celebrate...I think the boys had a big time. Here are a few pics...

WalkAmerica 2007

Seth and I just got back from WalkAmerica. He started the day a little whiney. We even ran into Ashley, his babysitter, and she couldn't get him to liven up. I thought it was going to be a L-O-N-G walk, but once we started moving, Seth did great. He really liked the stickers we got at the end of the walk. He ate a couple bites of hot dog and then started climbing like the big kids at the playground. Hopefully he'll take a good nap, then we'll be off to Hickory for Evan's birthday party!

First letter of the alphabet

Now, I don't know if there's any research out there that points out which letter of the alphabet most toddlers say first, but I was sure surprised at Seth's selection. He has the LeapFrog fridge alphabet in his room (since he has the LeapFrog fridge farm in the kitchen), which teaches the letters and phonics. We were playing with that Thursday afternoon, and when Seth used the letter "R" he said "R" clear as day. I put it back in the pile of letters, and sure enough, the next time he repeated the "R" back, too. He also seems very aware of colors right now, he just hasn't started saying their names. Yesterday Brenners had a March of Dimes carnival. Seth had fun playing with Alden and Landon, but the carnival concept was lost on him (except the eating of cotton candy!) Nathan came and met us there for lunch. It was a little chilly, but a lot of fun! Seth is 22 months old today. Everyone commented on how big he's getting. I weighed him the other night, and best I can tell, he's around 25 lbs. I've been plotting his weight on a CDC printout, and it looks like he is almost 25th percentile right now, and on that particular graph, he is always 10th percentile. He still gets his little potbelly in the evening, but in the bath last night I noticed how strong his arms and legs are getting. Nathan has been getting a milkshake on the nights I work, I guess those few sips Seth gets are starting to make their mark.

Five, six, pick up sticks...

We had two straight days of gusty winds, Sunday accompanied by rain, and last night the news said that Winston-Salem had recorded gusts of 58 mph. It was a good educational experience, because now Seth can make the sound of wind. One tiny dead tree broke in our backyard, so we were very lucky. The first house on our street lost a tree that was over two feet in diameter, pulled up by the roots! Last night while dinner was cooking, Nathan and his little helper did some limb clean-up...

Clemmons Azalea Festival

I took these pictures Good Friday, prior to our unseasonably cold temperatures that have since made the azaleas shrivel up. They were pretty while they lasted!

This is why I do what I do...

I meant to put in my "misc." post that although the babies in the NICU are wearing me out this week, I've had a really great week. After working there almost seven (yes, SEVEN!) years, I must admit I have had favorites over the years. And this week I was lucky enough to hear from my top three...Annie's mom has a blog, and I am amazed at the things she is learning to do. Jonathan (a dad), stopped by Monday just to say hello since he was in Winston (he lives about two hours away...although it was a little disconcerting at first to get a message that there was a man asking for me at the front desk!), and yesterday I got a picture of Jenna riding her pony. For every time I complain about ungrateful families, I'm thankful that I've met these people and they have stayed in my life. I just saw this clip on cnn.com...I've never had a patient stay this long, I think close to a year is the longest I've seen so far. But I won't deny that I teared up watching this... BEST part of the job, by far.

Misc., Spring 2007 edition

We spent Easter weekend in Kings Mountain, and Seth delighted his Auntie Elise by calling her "E" when he wanted her attention. The best is when he would say "E" and then sign "more""please" after she'd give him a raspberry on the belly. I actually had to work Friday, Sunday, and Monday, so the boys went down a day ahead of me, and Seth did great sleeping on the air mattress next to daddy's side of the bed. Yesterday the carpet was replaced at the condo, so Seth went over to Case's so I could supervise that, and then we went to the mall playground so I could watch Jake and Cami while their parents did their taxes. (Jakey gem: Cami, see that big "S" up there (the SEARS sign)? Mommy and Daddy are behind that. In TEXAS (or doing taxes...). I thought it was cute!)


Seth has been able to undress his bottom half for a while now. He's been trying to figure out the top half this week...not quite there yet....

Most of you know I like to be a crafty mouse every once in awhile...this is my latest project, a diaper cake for baby Blair (her room is pink with dragonflies). It was a lot of fun, I plan to make many more the next time a baby boom hits work (which inevitably will happen)!

Spoiled Rotten

Yes, that would be Seth. Seth got not one, but two baskets full of goodies yesterday, and the Easter bunny isn't supposed to come until Sunday morning! Ashley had brought him a bunch of new toys, and then Seth got a big box in the mail from his Grandpa and Grandma B. Grandma B requested pictures, so here they are.

Colette had to see if there was anything for her in there....

Loves to color...

Seth decided the Curious George washcloth was a great place to store crayons...

Seth's first egg hunt...

Seth's version of an egg hunt (we did his version and our version all evening...)

Hop Hop

Here is Seth's first encounter with a live bunny. The photographer was not very toddler-friendly, and this was not the best picture of Seth taken during his seven minute photo session, but it was the best picture of him with the bunny. Seth said "hop hop hop" the whole time the bunny was sitting by him. The photographer really didn't like that, but I did! Happy Easter, everyone!

An Announcement

I got an unexpected phone call from Lisa last night at work. She wanted to tell me that they found out yesterday that Michael received the big scholarship at Southern Seminary. I guess they had already decided to go to Southern, but this was the icing on the cake. Very excited for them, and also excited that they will be living less than 3 hours away!

Dog Tired

No, he didn't fall asleep with his head on the toilet seat, but he was pretty darn close. It all started with one of his late night shout-outs Friday night when I told him to go back to sleep because he needed lots of rest to play with his cousins the next day. He woke up ready to go to Hickory, and it took a lot of entertaining to keep him happy all morning. His nap barely lasted a hour, and then we hit the road. I was hoping he'd fall back to sleep on the car ride, but no such luck. Seth had a couple hours of playtime with his cousins before we went to Mary Margaret and Wes's baby shower. Seth made it until 8, but then we had to put on pj's and head back this way. He had a very restless night last night, and fell asleep before 10 am on our way home from early church. He did not nap long enough, and then was busy helping his daddy with yardwork most of the afternoon, so he was ready for bed at about 5. This picture was from 6pm, as I was running a bath so we could get all the pollen off. He made it until 7:30, but it wasn't pretty. Hopefully he sleeps like a rock so we all can get a good night's rest.