Hey! I'm back!

Took long enough, didn't it? I barely manage to get my kids bathed, dressed and out the door, and then get myself to work to prosecute all the criminals out there, so let's just say blogging has been at the bottom of the list. I'm sorry! As Mary Carole said, it's a travesty that my kids stopped growing in February. : ) But, here they are, still growing MC.






We had a little incident involving David's truck last week. It was totaled sitting parked in front of our office! A lady was driving too fast down the street and we're still not sure what happened..she says a car was coming from the other direction in her lane...anyway, she hit David's truck (the brown one) and knocked it into the vehicle parked beside it (the green Explorer). David's truck ended up "parked" straight, but the spaces in front of our office are in fact slanted. Check out how close the truck came to rest from our front glass.





In other news, I took Seth to see a pediatric allergist on Friday. They tested him for food allergies, and confirmed what I've known all along. He indeed has some: milk, eggs, peanuts, and (oddly) pork. Makes that first birthday cake a challenge, huh? I found a recipe just a minute ago on the Food Allergy and Anaphalyxsis Network website. So, we're good to go. He has to have an epi-pen with him wherever he goes. I just got that prescription filled, and let's just say those things are expensive! And insurance does not cover them apparently. But, small price to pay if it could save his life at some point.
A few more pictures, for good measure, since we've been MIA for so long....

Finally! Pictures!

Whoa! Almost two months!

Do I still have any readers?? Well, if so, I don't have any pictures to post, as I am on the computer at my office, but I do have updates:

Adeline: Talks A LOT, about everything. She'll even ask you, "What am I doing?", just to get a response from you/start a conversation. We are still working on potty training, but she's not the least bit cooperative. She's obsessed with Seth. Has to know where he is at all times. I had to take them to two different sitters one day last week (because Adeline was sick) and she was so upset that Seth wasn't going to be there with her. After I dropped him off, she asked, "Where did Seth go?" and when I told her she said, "I want him back!". She can count to 20 and has learned to identify several shapes (triangle, square, etc.) She's been sleeping in her own bed, in her own room, since we moved. And she's into "pretending," this morning Seth was "Ken" and she was "Barbie." She dictates a new role for me or David or Seth every day. The most interesting character always being her of course.

Seth: He started eating solid food this week. Because he seems as if he's going to have serious allergies, I had tried to postpone it as long as possible, but he's 20 lbs. or better and has started pulling food off my plate. We've tried rice cereal, pears and prunes (yuck). Yesterday morning he was eating prunes and Adeline was interrogating me about the whole process. She knows it's baby food, but this was extra interesting, because she said, "That's baby food? It looks like chocolate...to me." We convinced her that Seth was not getting chocolate pudding for breakfast, (while she was having to eat eggs), and offered to let her try some if she wanted. She sniffed the stuff, then declined. I just moved Seth up to size 4 diapers. Adeline is only in a size 5. We are still working on being able to roll from back to front. I'm told boys hit the milestones later than girls, and that's proving to be true so far. Though he is a really smiley little guy, so much more so than Adeline was at this age. If you even look his direction, you get a big, open-mouth grin.

David and I are going to Nashville this weekend for an engagement party, I guess that's the proper term, for his friend Sam. I think this will be the first time I've been away from both of them since Seth was born. My mom and Aunt Hazel will be on baby duty all weekend. Say a prayer for them!

Oh my goodness!

(That's one of Adeline's new favorite phrases) and I didn't realize my last post was at the end of October. Needless to say, we are all moved, and we don't yet have internet access. So, bear with us for the next month or so. I promise regular posts again after the beginning of the year!

I think I've broken my camera.

I've been trying to take more pictures of Seth lately, because my Mom's always telling me that you end up having tons more pictures of your first child than of your second. Something to do with just how busy you are taking care of two. Imagine that. Anyway, I took a few pictures the last couple of days, and then my camera started doing something really strange. The color is all messed up. Compare this picture to the others, particularly the very last one of Seth:

Any ideas on what's happened? I checked for all the obvious setting problems, couldn't find anything. I'm happy Christmas is around the corner, looks like I may already know what's on my list.

Here are the pictures that turned out normal:
Adeline playing with her new kitchen after her bath. It's her early birthday present from us. It got here last week and we had no place to hide it! I guess she's cooking elephant and polar bear.

Still a little young for this....

Below are Adeline and David decorating sugar cookies for Halloween. Well, really just David decorating cookies. Adeline was busy eating the M&Ms. I thought she would like making pumpkin faces on them, but she's still just a little too young.





She's constant entertainment now, and sometimes constant frustration, but we won't go there. She's really good about telling me what Seth needs. "Seth's really hungry!" "Seth spilled (spit) up!" "Seth needs clothes!" Bossy, too. Poor Seth is in for it. She's been speaking in full sentences to us for awhile now, and some days she seems to talk all day long. Seth started sleeping all night earlier this week. Hallelujah! I can function normally again. He's back to exclusive nursing too. After the staph and the dehydration of the stomach virus, it's a miracle that I even had any milk left.

Speaking of the staph, the strain I had in my hand has been in the news this week. Scary. I watched the segments on the Today Show, and I gotta say, it shook me when they started talking about how MRSA kills 1 in 5 people. Made me stop and thank God that I'm okay.

Do they make Big & Tall for babies?

Because that's what Seth needs. His check-up went well, but he is really a big guy! Two ounces shy of 15 lbs. and 24 inches long. That puts him above the 95th % for weight and in the 90th % for height (head circumference in the 75th). I'll have to get Adeline's baby book out, but we thought she was sooo big at this age, and she weighed about 12.5 lbs (I think) at her 2 month check-up. Speaking of Adeline at this age, I searched my iPhoto until I found a picture of her at about 9 weeks. People keep telling me they look exactly alike, but according to these pics, they look absolutely nothing alike.

I have begun packing up the house (yay!) Well, really just the china cabinet, since that takes for-evah to do. I think I have only used our china once since we've been married. Once we move into the bigger house -where we can entertain- I'm going to use that stuff! We are anxiously awaiting a call from the couple we bought the house from (saying they are out), so we can begin the official move. I bought a table and chairs for the breakfast area today. The store is nice enough to hold it there for up to 3 weeks...I REALLY hope we are moved by then.

So beautiful!

Melissa just emailed that the photographer had posted some of her pics on his page. They are amazing! Eric and Laressa did such a great job! If you want to see a beautiful wedding captured in beautiful pictures, go check it out at their photojournal blog.

For you fellow Corinthians, the wife of the husband/wife team, Laressa, is Nicole Crum's sister-in-law! Talk about a small world....

My impromptu toast got spotlighted in Eric's recount of the event. I'm happy that my intended message came across - Melissa really is a treasure and God certainly used those two years with her to transform my life.

My Smallest Supporters

How about Adeline's campaign shirt? She helped me at the bake sales and fish frys on Saturday while Seth stayed home with David. Seth will be two months old tomorrow! We go for a check-up on Wednesday.

Melissa's Wedding

was beautiful! I didn't get very many pictures though. Liz, if you don't care, I would love some of the pictures Trevor took. These were the two best pictures I got. Does it look like I'd been throwing up for 12 hours the day before? Oh yes, our whole house, well, with the exception of David, caught Adeline's stomach bug. Before all was said and done, my mom and dad caught it too, because they kept Adeline and Seth for David and I to make a mad dash to Nashville for the wedding. It really was so pretty, I wish I had taken my camera to the reception. Melissa really impressed me with the amount of detail she put into everything. Once you've planned a wedding yourself, you appreciate all those little touches.

This weekend will be lots of campaigning. I do have another election in November, so, before then, at least two more fish frys and a bake sale : )