I'm strong!

No real stories to tell, just got a cute picture of Seth making his muscles. Tonight he was showing them off to my coworkers, he's usually pretty shy!

Geography Lesson

I just finished reading an online article my dad sent me about Hockeytown, USA, also known as Warroad, Minnesota, my parents' hometown. This is also where my grandparents live, and hence where Lisa is residing until spring. I thought you might want to see it on a map: As Nathan said at our rehearsal dinner, if you stand on a skateboard and sneeze, you'll end up in Canada...

I have worked several short shifts this week, so Seth and I have been homebodies this week. Seth had a speech evaluation Tuesday and though he is behind on speech, he is up to eight months ahead of the curve in some areas, so we are not pursuing therapy at this time. He has become a puzzle fanatic and went from needing help with single-piece puzzles to being able to put together an eight piece train puzzle with minimal assistance in less than 2 weeks. (Anyone interested in taking a puzzle shift or two please inquire to Nathan or myself.) We did make our monthly Walmart run yesterday and had a lunch date with Nathan...Seth sat in a booster for the first time and thought he was the biggest kid ever!

On a more somber note, my Grandpa Meek had a mild heart attack on Wednesday and is recuperating in the hospital. Lisa and Grandma spent all day Thursday playing cards with him. He is expected to come home early next week.

And on a happier note, Lisa and Michael both have been nominated for a new scholarship at Southern Seminary, technically they are competing against each other, but they see it as a win-win situation. We're so excited for them!

Why didn't I think of this before?

...if you can't get them quiet with one bink, just stick another in there! Seth used these binks last year as teethers, now they are playthings. He was throwing them across the hardwoods watching them spin, and next thing you know he popped up with both in his mouth! Silly! Now really Seth, don't you think you're too big for the bink when you can fit two in your mouth?

TA-DA!

Our mattress and boxspring came Saturday right before I had to leave for work and voila! we have a master bedroom now! Nathan and I made up the bed, and I made a stop to get pillows on my way into work. When I got home from work, my kid was upstairs, the dog was in her bed, and my husband was in dreamland in our new bed. He even brought my booklight down and put it on my nightstand! How nice! You know me, I like to pinch pennies, but I got a great deal on sheets and Nathan and I had found the comforter at an after-Christmas sale. I felt like I was staying at a nice hotel, everything was so comfy. (Mind you we've had the same set of sheets for our now guest-bed for over 5 years, and our comforter has been without stuffing for at least 3, possibly 4 years....I told you I pinch pennies!) And Seth slept all night, so no treks upstairs. Flash forward to last night...I come up the stairs to find the dimmer lights on in our room, Nathan snoring, and Seth asleep on my side in the bed with his butt up in the air at a seemingly uncomfortable position. I did not choose to see how roomy our new king was with Seth in the middle and carried him back upstairs. Hope this doesn't become part of the nightly routine!

First snow of 2007!

Last night the news said we were supposed to get snow this morning turning into a wintery mix (in NC that means stay off the roads) by lunchtime. By 7 am snow was sticking to the deck. Seth and I went to the grocery store (picture is of him taking the snow off of my car after shopping). By 9:30 the big flakes had stopped, and we tromped around the backyard for 20 minutes. Seth thought getting ready was hilarious...he doesn't have snow pants or boots, so he wore an extra shirt over his turtleneck, and extra pair of socks, and a pair of sweats over his overalls. He thought it was SO FUNNY that I was putting more clothes on him! He loved running around in the backyard. I wanted to show you how chunky the winter weather wear made him look, because we all know he's really half that size!

Ryan's party

Yesterday our nephew, Ryan, turned 2, and today was his party. The boys had a blast playing in the church gym and on the playground. Seth's favorite part of the day was when he convinced his Granddad (more than once) to push him around the gym in Ryan's Diego car (hey, that's progress...last week Seth would have wanted Granddad to take a spin in the car, too!). Here is a picture of the birthday boy, and a whole bunch of scavengers sneaking chips before the pizza was delivered!

Twelve hours later...

I mean, really, people. Back before I had Seth I could have worked a whole 12 hour shift in the amount of time it took my new furniture to be delivered yesterday. Around 11 I called to check on the status of my delivery, because I was never given any sort of window, and I prefer to get Seth out a little bit each day. During my inquiry I found that due to a transcription in our zip code, my bedroom suite and kitchen table were on a truck going to Winston-Salem (27102) instead of Clemmons (27012). Now I looked up our address using that zip, and no such place exists. Brain surgeons they are not. I am told by a man using broken English that he is sorry but my stuff will have to go back to the warehouse and Saturday it would be released for a new delivery date TBD. I have a couch coming Wed, but he couldn't guarantee everything on the same truck. I thought that was ridiculous and asked to speak to a manager. No one was available so I was referred back to the local store. The associate I talked to thought the whole thing was nonsense and assured me our furniture would get to us that day. The truck rolled up at 7:50 last night, and it took them until 9:20 to get it assembled. Here is a picture of the new kitchen table. Bedroom is still in disarray, so no pictures of that yet!

Now transmitting from Clemmons, NC

Okay we are officially moved in. I spent most of last week here at the house, cleaning cleaning cleaning. The whirlwind started Friday with TV delivery and cable set-up. Nathan took a half-day to supervise that, and I made my first Clemmons grocery run. My parents came over that evening and the guys brought Seth's crib over. He was one happy boy. Saturday started early (as it always does when Seth's excited) so the guys went to pick up the truck and the girls went to start packing more boxes at the condo. Thank goodness our cable had been accidentally turned back on so Seth could watch Noggin online. Nathan's parents and Marie and her family came to help load up, and we got almost everything in a 10 ft truck, the pickup, and Eric's trailer. I brought another trunkful yesterday, and probably one more remains. Seth napped through the whole moving-in process, and his cousins tested out the playroom. I am slowly unpacking boxes and organizing as I go. Seth is wearing himself out climbing all the stairs, and he is the official tour guide for whoever comes to visit. The pictures are of Seth "helping" me mop the floors, Colette and her new cousin Addie, and how Seth likes to eat in the new kitchen (this meal consisted almost solely of hushpuppies...note the beggar dog)

It's Official!

We bought a house! Nathan saw the house online 4 weeks ago today, we drove by on Sunday, called the realtor Tuesday, saw the house that Friday...etc etc etc. Anyways, the house is in an established neighborhood with a great yard, and we love the house, even though we know it's going to need some TLC in places (the house was built in 1994). Closing was orginally scheduled for Jan 10th, but since Nathan works for a company that happened to do the underwriting, we were rushed through. I have to work 4 of the next 5 days, so we have a truck rented for next Saturday. The house has been empty for 4 months, it is DUSTY. Yesterday afternoon I went over by myself and cleaned the upstairs, and it wasn't nearly as ovewhelming as I thought it would be. This morning we're going back over so I can clean the playroom so the boys can bring over some stuff while I'm at work. Nathan's big project is to put 19 latches on the kitchen/bathroom cabinets...good thing I got him a cordless drill/driver for Christmas!

I know his feet have been growing lately...

...but this is ridiculous! I can't say I wasn't prepared for the fact that he'd have big feet...his daddy wears size 13s! Yesterday he decided to put on his daddy's shoes, he was slightly disappointed he couldn't move in them!

I forgot to tell a funny story from the holidays: we had a glimpse at Seth's college years on Christmas Day. Due to Bryan being on meds for his knee, we had sparkling cider with our meal. We were drinking out of Mom's fancy depression glass. I let Seth have a sip, and he started delegating who else should sip their glass. Pretty much Bryan and Seth alternated drinks, with the rest of us sipping every once in awhile to switch it up. He honestly looked like he was president in that good ol' reliable drinking game. But I guess he came by that honest!

Holiday Recap

The holidays have been a whirlwind, but we thoroughly enjoyed them. We drove to Kings Mountain Friday and spent the weekend with Nathan's parents and Marie and her family. We made a trip Saturday to Rutherford County to see the Mayse extended family, and drove home Christmas Eve in time to watch the Panthers game. The plan was to go to Christmas Eve church, but Nathan was a little sick and Seth was WAY too cranky (he has a bad habit of trying to not sleep AT ALL in Kings Mtn). Christmas morning started at 6:30. Seth was really good at opening presents, and he loved all his new stuff. We left for Cary after lunch, and spent two nights there. Bryan flew home recuperating from his knee surgery, but he was still able to get on the floor and play with Seth (which was good, because Seth wanted EVERYONE to try out his toys). We got home yesterday afternoon, and it has been non-stop chaos...did I mention they have moved our closing up to tomorrow now! We bought the W/D with delivery tomorrow, and I am currently on hold on the phone setting up utilities. I have to work 4 of 5 days starting Saturday, so official move day is next Saturday. Whew! I'll be glad when it's February and life has slowed down a little bit!

Check-Up Time

This morning we had Seth's 18 month check-up. He had fun playing in the lobby with a 16month old girl, and walked back like a big boy when they called him name. Everything was fine until I took his clothes off, then he acted like we were going to torture him getting his weight and measurements. His appetite has been non-existent this week, and it showed, he's back to 10th percentile for weight. He is 32 inches tall, making him 50th percentile still for height. The crying stopped as soon as we got in the exam room, and he sat in my lap and ate an entire box of raisins. He was fine for his check-up, although they do want us to go for a speech evaluation in January for the "uhuh"s. Only one shot this time, Hepatitis A. He hated it, but once again was forgiving after being given a DumDum. So if we can stay away from the germs, next check up is in June! I thought this picture was funny...this morning Seth wanted a banana at 6:30, and he wanted to eat it like a big boy...

18 Months Old

Seth has the big half-birthday today. We celebrated by going to get holiday/18 month pictures taken. DISASTER. Seth wouldn't sit where we wanted him to sit, and would just jump out of the chair and run out of the studio. They even had a floppy dog, but it didn't smell like his so he wanted nothing to do with it! They were very patient with us, and took 81 pictures, although there was a lot of no good ones in the bunch. Luckily, two nurses I know were waiting while I was selecting the pics, so they kept an eye on him so I could focus on getting the order done as fast as possible. I was physically exhausted by the time our pictures were ready for pick-up. He has at least one eye tooth that is trying to make an appearance in time for Santa, so I'll cut the wild man some slack. One good picture, and one so you can see how it really was....

Christmas Silliness

We went to Newton yesterday to see Nathan's sisters and their families. The boys were very lucky and got to open their presents from Auntie E and Uncle Chad, since they will be in Missouri when we are in Kings Mountain. Seth got a moose stuffed animal, a board book, and a My First Barrel of Monkeys. He was pooped last night and didn't seem too interested, but he loves them today! We have made up all sorts of new games. The monkeys are being tossed out of the barrel and put back in, hung from the edge of the barrel, hung from mommy and daddy's fingers, hung on other toys...you get the idea. The picture is of the monkeys hanging on a chair. Good choice, Elise! The other picture is of what happens if you go to work and leave you silly husband and child together for an evening...our Christmas tree now has eyes! (And I don't dare take them off, or Seth will notice!)

Just ship me to Minnesota

Yesterday I started putting Christmas presents for Lisa and my grandparents in a box, and of course Seth needed to help. As we were putting squiggles in the box, I told him that the box was going to Auntie Lisa. After we were finished, he took out all the presents and climbed in the box, kinda like "send me to Auntie Lisa instead!" It was pretty cute. I hear my little helper waking up from his nap, time to go mail that package!

PS-I have taken over 90 pictures in the past two weeks trying to get one for the Christmas card!

Botched Holiday Photos

I have TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to get a Christmas picture of Seth. This age is not conducive for smiling on demand. Here are some of the blooper reel. As some may know, we are officially househunting. Don't want to jinx it, so I'll just let you know our new address once we figure out what it's going to be. The realtor came by this morning, so I frantically cleaned rather than played with Seth this morning. I felt guilty after naptime, so after we ran a couple errands, we stopped at the mall playground, and guess who we saw there? Bennett! What a great surprise! Sunday we went to the Panthers game with Marie and Eric, and Seth got to play with his cousins and his grandparents. He ate a LOT of seven layer dip and slept on an air mattress for the first time.

Sugar High!

Today Nathan has his department Christmas party at a nice restaurant in town, and he came home with a gigantic piece of chocolate cake. We let Seth have about 4 bites after his spaghetti tonight. An hour later, two shelves of books were unloaded on the floor, his two buckets of toys were out, and he was methodically putting every toy in his crib. Every 5 minutes or so he'd ask to get in his crib to take inventory, then he'd want out and be back at it again. Luckily I was able to put the books away while he was doing that, and then it wasn't too bad cleaning out the crib for bedtime.

Holiday Decorations Up!

Our home is officially decorated, I have a lot of shopping done, so now we can just enjoy the holidays. (Cards are going to be a last minute endeavor, I'm keeping those in the back of my mind for now.) Anyways, Seth is working on his eye teeth, and it has wreaked havoc on our sleeping. Yesterday morning he took a nap from 9am-noon, then he was done for the day! When he woke up, we went to buy our Christmas tree. The first picture is us staking out the tree while Nathan went to pay. Seth LOVES his Santa hat, but I can't get him to sit still to get a Christmas picture. My little elf has been eating a lot of popsicles this week. Then Nathan requested cookies. I've done a lot of baking for others this week, none for us, so my little helper has gotten quite proficient in the kitchen, and he's figured out the exact moment that it's okay to steal the utensils for licking! The last picture is of Seth putting tinsel on the tree. We thought the lights were going to be a problem, but I guess he's gotten used to having a tree in the house. No breakable ornaments are on the tree this year, and only wrapped presents are under the tree (unless he decides it's time to make a tower in the middle of the room!)

Visiting Santa!

Friday we went to the mall (actually only Old Navy) and we were both in good spirits so we stopped by to visit Santa. Seth was really friendly, but did start to freak out when I put him in Santa's lap. The photographer held up an Elmo doll, and this was the end result!

All Turkey'ed Out

After a quick couple days at home to recover from a weekend in Kings Mountain, we left Thursday morning to celebrate Thanksgiving in Cary for the first time since college. I thought it might be weird, since this is the first time Bryan AND Lisa weren't there. But it wasn't. We had brunch when we got there, and then a nice dinner with all the fixings for supper. And Seth slept this time! The down side to that is that he was into EVERYTHING by Friday morning. Nathan and I drove to SouthPoint and braved the Black Friday shopping to take Seth to the playground, which was the best thing we could have done. Nathan got a bunch of work clothes shopping done. We even went back Saturday morning on our way home because it was such a hit! One picture is from the playground, the other is of Seth in his big boy chair in Cary, and the third is Seth O-U-T Saturday night, notice the bink is in the hand, not the mouth!