crash and burn

Well, the whole wearing underwear to bed thing didn't go so well. We did lots of changing of clothes and bedding. For a couple days, Nathan was still on board. However, by Wednesday he was saying he wanted to wear diapers again. I hadn't been getting enough sleep and was a bit stressy so I didn't really want to deal with the difficulty, so Wednesday night he went back to diapers. Oh well...he'll give them up when he's ready.

I'll try to get some pictures up here next week. Things have been absolutely crazy lately. Between trying to move furniture around to prepare the baby room, getting ready for Christmas, and getting ready for Nathan's birthday party, we haven't had time to stop. We also have several Christmas party-type things going on this weekend and the next. I think once we get to next Monday things will be a little calmer, though. Then I can focus full-force on finishing up Christmas shopping and wrapping presents.

the next step

On Sunday, we used the last diaper in our possession for Nathan's nap time. I was about to go do a little shopping, so I asked him if he wanted me to buy some more diapers or if he wanted to start wearing underwear when he sleeps. He said he wanted to wear underwear, so we said "ok." So...we are attempting to take the next step in potty training.

So far, he wet a couple times Sunday night, three times Monday nap, and twice Monday night. He didn't wet before going to sleep today, but we'll see if he's still dry when I get him up. While I don't like changing pee pee clothes or bedding, it's worth it to do it (all the time) for a week or two if we get him out of diapers. Luckily, he hasn't been pooping in his diapers much, so maybe we won't have to clean up too much of that. That is definitely a different animal!!

(As a side note, I did buy more diapers...but he doesn't know.)

food adventures

Today Jennifer told Nathan he could have some Sprite. We were going to let him have it for lunch, but we forgot. So tonight I gave him some at supper. He made a funny face (it was cute and smiley) and he kind of shuddered some. Then he said "It tickles me!". It was very cute.

Also, for the second time this week, Nathan made himself a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Tasty!

Joining the portable computing age

Hi. This is not the usual author of this blog. Just so you know.

Yesterday I bought a laptop from The Company at an old equipment sale that happens every year. The sale runs in an auction format where everyone puts down their bids and can see everyone elses'. I got it for $110 (second cheapest of the four functioning laptops that were auctioned, so I did okay); it's a Dell Latitude C610 -- Pentium M 1.2 GHz, 256 MB RAM, and 20 GB hard drive. Everything is sold "as is", and there was no opporunity to test anything; I was hoping they'd tested my laptop decently, since two of the laptops had notes that things were wrong. It looks like it works fine; I've installed a good bit of software and such, though I haven't played too much. Now I need to put a wireless Internet card on my Christmas list (and maybe some more RAM).

Anyway, I think it's funny that I, being the biggest computer geek in the family, was the last to get a laptop. We do have two other computers, though, so maybe that makes up for it.

this past weekend - Atlanta

Matt and I went to Atlanta for an overnight getaway this past weekend. We had a really good time! Friday night we went to the Atlanta Thrashers vs. New York Rangers game. Matt's team is the Rangers and they won 5-2 so he really enjoyed it. That night we stayed at the Westin. We've never stayed at such a swanky hotel before. The two best things about it (to me) were the location and the view. We were able to park at the hotel and walk everywhere from the time we checked in to the time we checked out. It was nice! We also enjoyed the view of Atlanta from both our room and from the top. Here are two pictures of the view from our room:





In order to really appreciate these pictures, you should definitely click on them so you can see them full size!

our trip to the mountains

At the end of October, we stayed for a few days in the mountains near Helen, GA with my parents. Here are a few pictures from out trip. The first is a picture of where we stayed. We were in the next to last building on the right (down by the lake).



Here is a picture of our view across the lake:



Matt and I went driving around one day looking for leaves to photograph. I didn't really find what I was looking for, but here is a picture of some of the rocks on the side of the road:



We all hiked up to the top of Brasstown Bald one day (well, Nathan didn't actually do much walking on his own). Here's the view of the mountains from the top:



It was such a nice day that the flag looked really pretty flying over the mountains. Here are two of the many shots that I took:

finally...some new content

You can now read an update about Nathan and see new pictures by clicking on the "Nathan's page" link to the right.

statement not quite accurate

We have a local free paper that arrives at our house once a week. This week, there is an article about our church purchasing some property. Here is the first paragraph of that article:

"No one around claims first hand knowledge of what heaven is like. Educated guesses are about as good as it gets before the observer actually makes it past the pearly gates. The most widely held guess is that it is a peaceful, dignified place where those who followed all the right rules stroll golden avenues in quiet wonder."

There are a couple things in this paragraph that strike me as not quite accurate. Before giving more of my opinion, though, I would like to get a few opinions and first impressions from those of you who read this blog.

interview with Nathan

Back on the 13th, I interviewed Nathan for posting here. I figured some of you would like to hear what he sounds like these days. Unfortunately, I just haven't gotten around to putting it up. Anyway, you can now hear the interview by clicking on this link. The file is kinda big, so be patient. Also, let me know if I need to translate anything for you. Enjoy!

first family portrait

Nathan drew his first family portrait yesterday. Here it is:



He also drew William:

update on Nathan's page

For those of you who regularly check this blog but not Nathan's page, I wanted to let you know that I have written an update. You can click on the link to the right to read it. Enjoy!

here's a few Nathan things...

I went into Nathan's room back in July and this is what I found:


I was pretty impressed that he could stack up his animals like that without making them fall in the process.

About two and a half weeks ago, Nathan all the sudden went from singing his abc's "abcd, abc, abcd, abc..." to actually singing the song. Click here to listen to a recording from about a week later. You will notice that he abruptly stops with "z." He has since added "Now I say my...ab song" to the end. :)

bolo

I have a couple cute Nathan things coming. I'm not going to put them up today, but be on the lookout!

more normal life...

The other regular even that happens in my life (other than aerobics) is playgroup. Every Thursday, a group of ladies from our church get together to let our kids play. Acutally, it's really more for us to get to talk to other ladies who are in similar place in life...but don't tell the kids. :) We do different things from week to week. Some examples are: playing at a local park, hanging out at one of our houses, eating at a fast food restaurant with a playground. We have a good time. It's nice to have that time to stop and talk to other people about what we're doing...what our kids are doing...and receive more than a smile and a nod in return. We all have similar stories to share. So...that's about it. If you'd like to know more, you can check out our Playgroup Blog. It's not seeing a ton of use at the moment, but hopefully we'll get back going strong as soon as school starts back and everyone gets back to "normal" life.

Sean and Lisa at the beach

Here's a picture of Sean and Lisa from a walkway near Fripp:

what a slacker, huh

For those of you who actually check my blogs on a regular basis, sorry for the 2.5 week delay in posting. I feel like saying things have been crazy, but I think I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write.

Last weekend (the 13th-15th), Michelle and Jay Simmons (my best friend from college and her son) came to visit us. It was nice to get to hang out and just chat. It was also nice for Jay and Nathan to get to play together. Here's a picture from the weekend:



That Saturday, Jason (my brother) and his wife Jenn came to visit. They live in Wake Forest, so we don't see them too often. They're starting to look for a job for Jason down here, though, so they can move back to this area. Personally, I think they just want to be close to family so they can start having kids! :)

to the beach and back

Last week, we spent five days (or so) at the beach (Fripp Island, SC). We had a nice time hanging out with family and friends. We were there with Matt's parents and brother and sister-in-law and family friends. It was a crowd, but we had plenty of room. We didn't do too much except hang out. On Sunday, we went to church and on Monday we went to lunch for Matt and Sean's birthday (and Erin's but she wasn't there). Otherwise, we didn't leave the island. Oh wait...we went just across to the next island to walk out across the marsh on a walkway. We took Nathan down to the beach I think every day. He enjoyed playing in the sand. He's not a big fan of the moving water, though. He did get in the water a couple times, but generally he was holding tight to somebody's hand.

I think Nathan's favorite part of the beach was the dogs. He's definitely a dog fan! My favorite part was my middle of the night walk. I couldn't sleep one night so I went to walk on the beach at about 3:30 in the morning. It was really neat! The water was out a really long way so I explored a little. I saw live starfish...something I've never seen before. I also found a live sand dollar...again...something I've never seen before. If I were a fan of crabs, I would have been in heaven. They were everywhere!! The biggest ones were probably 5 or 6 inches across with their legs, but most of them were small. It was a little creepy on occasion when I could hear them snapping their claws. I don't think Matt had a favorite part of the beach. He's not a fan (nor am I really...during the day). I'd say his favorite part was playing his new Nintendo DS Lite with Sean.

If you're interested in seeing some pictures, there should be some up on Nathan's page in the next couple days (see the link on the right side of the page).

exercise pays

Since right after we moved to Warner Robins, I have been working with the aerobics ministry at our church. It's been almost two years now. Originally I was only in charge of the nursery. We have two classes - one at 9:15 for "normal" people and one at 10:30 for senior ladies. They are both Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Anyway, I am in charge of scheduling the workers for the nursery and making sure everything else is running ok in general. Of course, that also means that I have to fill in when somebody doesn't show up like they're supposed to.

At the beginning of 2005, I also took on half of the director job for the aerobics ministry. That meant that I had more responsibility for the ministry. It also meant that I get paid a little bit. Specifically, I am in charge of keeping up with the money - who has paid, how much people need to pay, etc. Originally, I had lots of paperwork as well. We would send out a monthly newsletter that I was in charge of printing and mailing. I also printed all of our materials as needed. In addition, I keep up with our database. That means putting in new people as they join and removing people from the active list when they haven't been in a while.

As of the beginning of this year, I no longer do most of the paperwork portion. We no longer have a newsletter, and one of our secretaries is printing our materials when we need them. Oh yeah...I also have some responsibility for keeping up with people when they're not there and making general ministry decisions. One thing that I do not do is take care of the instructors. I don't schedule them or tell them what to do. I had that responsibility for about two months and I DO NOT want it again! :)

Well, I guess that's all about what I do. I'll tell you a little more about the classes themselves. On Mondays and Fridays, we do step aerobics. For those of you who have no clue, each person has their own little step and we do different moves to step up and down on it. This is a cardiovascular workout. Each person can also adjust the height of their step...higher is harder. We use only Christian music. At the end of these classes, we usually do a little with weights and also some abdominal work. On Wednesdays, we do all strength training. That means that we use weights, do squats, lunges, leg lifts, etc. We also have some bands that we use for resistence. We get in a good bit of abs in these classes as well.

The 10:30 class is structured similarly, but since it's for senior ladies, things are toned down. They don't use steps (we wouldn't want any of them falling and breaking something). They also use some different music. I think their favorites are swing and big band. These classes are really great for them!

I think that's about it. I'll post about some other normal part of my life soon. :)

Yay for Matt!!

Once again, Matt has received a big pat on the back from his work. Today he found out that he is getting a mid-year raise. Yay Matt!! It's not completely abnormal (at least in the past) to get a raise at the beginning of the year, but getting one mid-year is definitely different and a big reward! It's not about the money...though it's always nice to get a little more...but the appreciation of a job well done. Matt continues to impress those around him. Keep up the good work, Matt! (as if you wouldn't)

When you have to go...you have to go...

When I picked up Nathan from the nursery at church tonight, I asked if he had gone to the bathroom. One of the workers said "yes, and he almost went on the playground." She proceeded to tell me that they had turned around and Nathan had his pants down getting ready to pee. She said he had kicked off his pants by the time they got there. He used the bathroom inside, but he had already bared himself to the crowd on the playground. I guess when you have to go...you have to go... I'm just glad he didn't decide to go in his clothes!!

It all seems to be pregnancy related

I keep thinking "I need to add something to my blog." However, I can't ever think of much to write about other than pregnancy related things...and they're to be found elsewhere.

I think I'll start trying to write a little about the "normal" things in my life. They don't seem very interesting to me, but for those of you who don't experience my "normal" life, they may. If you want to know about anything in particular, let me know and I'll try to add it.

So...in order to keep you coming back, I think I'll save any actual information for the next post. :)

I'm pregnant!!

For those of you who don't already know, I'm pregnant. We got a positive pregnancy test a couple weeks ago. We don't go to the doctor for two more weeks, though. If you're interested in keeping up with my pregnancy, you can check out my pregnancy blog:

The Pregnancy Blog

More Flower Pictures

I'd love to have lots of feedback on these - positive or negative!

The Bed is Here

Nathan's bed arrived on Tuesday. He was very excited about it and has done well sleeping in it. He hasn't even fallen out! Here are some before and after pictures from his room (there will be more on his page when I update it):

Big Boy Bed

We just got back from purchasing Nathan a bed from Cadwell Furniture in Cadwell, GA. It was actually a nice drive from here. Anyway...we hope they'll be able to deliver it sometime next week. Only a few more days of baby bed left! I think Nathan will like his new bed. I'm interested to see how he does with the covers, though. Right now, he moves all around and ends up sleeping sideways in the bed. He may do the same in his new bed for a while. We'll see. I made him a blue jean quilt to go on his bed earlier in the year, so now we're going to have to find a few more things to go with it...no more baby decorations!

Nathan in Natural Light

This is a picture of Nathan that I took last week. I was taking some random pictures and then downloaded them onto the computer. After looking at some of Nathan similar to this one, I realized that I really liked the location/light. However, in the original pictures, Nathan had dried snot in several places on his face (you moms can certainly understand). So, I decided to take some more. Unfortunately, Nathan didn't want to cooperate. So...I bribed him. I told him he could have chocolate if he'd let me take some pictures. Since I like this picture so much, I think the bribe was definitely worth it!

Weekend Pictures

Here are two pictures from our weekend. The first is a picture of us (in case you couldn't tell). It's not the best, but it's the best we've got. The second is a random abandoned house that was close to where we stayed.

Anniversary

Today is our anniversary! Matt and I have been married 5 years. We're headed up to North Georgia for the weekend. We're going to stay at a bed & breakfast and just relax. I'll probably put a picture or two from the weekend up here next week.

Nathan is staying with his great-grandparents today and his grandparents the rest of the weekend. Grandma and Granddad (aka Ma and Pa) are going to take him to the air show at the base tomorrow. I'm sure he'll enjoy it! (Actually, I'm a little jealous that I don't get to take him.)

That's it! Until next time...

Macro Flower Picture

Let me know what you think about this picture!