More videos, by popular demand

A budding musician. Notice his poise, character and "Ray Charles" type moves...and brotherly love.

A view of Mac's Birthday

Just found his new scooter!!
Eating Miso soup at Japanese/Korean Steakhouse. We took him to a hibachi grill for his 2nd birthday too. Scared him to death, so we thought it would be a good idea to do it again. :)
A true sportsman. (New soccer ball)
Riding the scooter

Dad on Mac's scooter and friends playing.

Eli's Milestones

So after I wrote the previous post, Eli started amazing me! We hit 3 milestones all today.
1. He started using his pinchers. (pointer finger to thumb motion)
2. He sat up from laying down position
3. Stood up in his crib.
The standing trick didn't make him happy. Why? you ask. Well, Mac and I had gone outside to see if we could actually melt from the heat and humidity (we came close.) I had put Eli to bed for a catnap before dinner. I left his room and he was crying. I came back in the house about 15 minutes later to check on him, and all was quiet. Then about 30 minutes later, we came back in because we were turning into molten humans, and Eli was screaming! I went into his room, and there he was, standing in the corner of his bed. Kind of wedged in there between the railing and a lullaby toy hanging on the end. His eyes told me the story. He was ticked off, scared, exhausted...I felt horrible. I scooped him up, and he buried his head in my shoulder. Then, he took my face in his hands, pulled his head back so he could look at me (to make sure it was really me, I think.) Then he buried his head again. He did that a few times. I felt like dirt. But, the bright side is, he is fine and now can pull himself up! Thankfully, I had lifted the gate on his railing today. I hadn't done that before! That was God working, or else he would have fallen right out of his bed! But, as I said, all is well. :)

3 years ago today...

I was an hour into some pretty hard contractions induced by Pitocin. They were steady and strong, and I was feeling EVERY SINGLE ONE! Today was supposed to be Mac's birthday, but he came just after 3am tomorrow morning. I can't believe I am the Mother of a 3 year old.

Today was orientation for his new preschool, Sharing Tree. He'll be attending every Tuesday and Thursday from 9am-noon. He seemed pretty OK with everything today. We met his teacher, Mrs. Stovall, and she had him seated next to a little boy named Eli. How appropriate. There is an Elijah in his class too. I found out his name is Elijah Joseph, just like our little Eli.

After the orientation, we had to go out and buy a new bigboy backpack. Why is it they only have a few options for boys, and a million for girls? We could choose from SpongeBob (uh, no.), Cars and Spiderman. Of course Mac picked out SpongeBob. After I directed him to his 2 other choices, he proceeded to go to the other rack with the pink backpacks and said, "I want this one." Now, I am all about letting boys wear pink and play with dolls if they want, but I figured his Dad would not appreciate me bringing home a brand new, pink backpack for him to carry everyday to school. So I told him it was WAY TOO expensive, and he could choose from Spidey or Speed. We came home with Spidey, to my surprise. ( I just knew it was going to be Speed. What do I know?)

For your viewing pleasure:



Mac and Eli in the morning.


Mac at his new preschool.mac

Singin' in the rain...

TS Fay has been a thorn in our side for over a day now with no end in sight. This storm is moving at a blistering pace of 5mph!!! So that means the 50-60mph wind gusts keep coming. So far, we have no damage, and we have had some breaks in the rain (as you can see from the video.) One strange thing that I noticed tonight as Mac was brushing his teeth was our toilet water was swaying back and forth. It was happening in all toilets, so I called my neighbor and their's was doing it too. Wierd.

Truly, the storm hasn't been all that bad. No tornadoes (yet), no thunder and lightening (yet), no damaging wind (yet.) Now, we still have the backside of the cyclone to come through, so all that could change.

There was a fatality at Neptune beach today. A couple from Indiana and their friend from Jaxville decided to swim in the torrential ocean today. The guys made it out, but she didn't. The news said the men were so exhausted that even though they knew she was in trouble, they didn't have the strength or energy to go save her. They reported the waves were 15 feet high today. They haven't released her name yet or exactly where she is from, so stay tuned.

On a lighter note, Mac did enjoy playing out in the rain today. He rode his big wheel and did belly flops in the wet grass. He is all boy! I've been trying to upload a video of him for two days of him playing in the rain, but "no go." I'll keep trying.

Today, Friday, has been the heaviest rain and wind so far. But we are surviving. :)

Storm update

Well, now Fay is changing her mind. She doesn't want to become a Hurricane, rather a nasty Tropical Storm. The storm is creeping up the coast at 3mph and Not going out into the ocean as once projected. So that could be good and bad for us. Good in that we won't have a hurricane hit us, but bad in that the storm is going to turn quicker and have the front, right quadrant hit us (more than likely). That is bad because that is where the tornadoes and strongest winds are. So, we really are in a "wait and see" position until we know exactly where and when she makes her turn westard.

Trying to beat the rains, PaBob and I decided to take a quick trip to "sight-see". So here you go.

The boys and me at Lost BeachPaBob and Eli @ Lost BeachPaBob and the Boys @ Lost Beach

Hurricane Fay

When we interviewed for the job here in Jax, Nathan's new boss said, and I quote, "Jacksonville is great, and we haven't had a hurricane since 1964." Well, lucky us! We get to make history (maybe.) They are forcasting that sometime early Thursday morning, Fay will hit the "First Coast" as a historically unusual storm. Fay actually STRENGTHENED over land yesterday. That is NOT supposed to happen. And, she keeps dodging and weaving all around the state. Bizarre. Anyway, we feel like we are ready for her. Even though I didn't really take too seriously (until about a week ago) the suggestions of the meteorologists on TV that we needed a hurricane "kit," (You know, water, canned food, dog food, flash lights, batteries, weather radio, candles, etc.) it was in the back of mind that I probably should get some of these things together. Well, my neighbor Tara and her husband Jeremy, who have lived in FL their entire lives, gave me the "real deal" if you will. And I learned that yes, in fact, I should get some supplies. So we are now ready. Luckily we have a gas stove, so if we do lose power, we can always cook. :) I am kind of looking forward to the "hurricane parties" that I have heard so much about. :)
Did I mention that Mac and Eli's grandpa, PaBob (Nathan's Dad), drove down yesterday to visit. He came down on his Harley over a 2 day trip. Perfect timing. ;) So no beach trips for ol' PaBob, but maybe we can sneak in a trip to the pool in the morning.

Future Olympian

Playing Memory together.
A view of our neighborhood slide and pool. That's Mac swimming!!!
Mac, again, swimming ALL BY HIMSELF!
On your mark, Get set, GO!

When we moved here, Mac was afraid to get into the water and would not let go of Nathan. Now he a little fish swimming all over the place and even diving in. The girl pictured with him is Maggie, his instructor. She will be off to college in a few weeks, and I know he will miss her terribly.

Eli hastarted to scoot around more. I caught him rocking back and forth on his knees the other day, and since then he has really become resourceful in his mobility. He isn't quite army crawling yet, but it will be happening soon. Oy! Get out the baby gates!

The Secret is...

I just finished watching The Secret with my friend (and neighbor) Tara and a new friend (and neighbor) Illusion. It has been years since I have watched it, and I am amazed at what I remembered, what I had forgotten, what I have implemented and what I haven't. Basically, it says "What you think about, you bring about." So stop saying "I don't want to be late." Because, you will BE LATE. Instead, think "I want to be On Time." And so it will be.
Besides the movie, we had a good time just chatting. I feel like The Secret is at work with Tara and me...that we were brought together somehow by the Law of Attraction. She reminds me so much of several people from home. She just manifests so many traits of so many different people I know in Indiana that I feel like I am talking to all of them when I am talking with her. It is a little freaky.

Now, on to the Boys, Mac is swimming like a fish all around the pool. He has had 3 formal lessons, and he now swims all the way across the pool with no floatie. He is doing this with his face in the water and coming up for air. I am amazed. I think he is love with his instructor Maggie. He talks about her A LOT!
Eli is now eating blueberries. We added that to his menu. They are pureed of course. :) I took him with me over to Tara's to watch the movie, and she has a baby who is 10 months old. It is so cute to watch him watching her. He really is soaking in all of her movements.

I felt like a kid again last night. Why? you ask. Well, I'll tell you. At our fitness class, we were lying on the ground for an ab workout and I was looking up at the Florida sky. I found myself getting lost in the cloud shapes. And then I saw it, the first star of the night sky. I made a wish on it...of course. :)

Feast or Famine

Chillin' with my homie. :)

See. I can sit up.

Howdy-do!

He actually sips out of the cup! A view of our messy L'room.

A view of our kitchen.

So Feast or Famine...I hope that is not how my blog posts are going to be entered, but that seems to be my pattern. Enjoy the Feast (while it lasts.) :)

PS: Mac was drawing with sidewalk chalk last night with a neighbor friend, and he drew a face for the first time. He explained it as he drew it. "These are your eyes, here is your nose and now your mouth." I could really make out all of those features. He is SO advanced! ;)

Grilling with neighbors

Nathan has found a neighbor who likes ethnic food as much, or more, than he does. We have a new friend, Jeffrey, who has Korean in-laws. They came to visit last week and brought a bucket of a Korean "salad" called Kimchi, which is fermented cabbage and peppers. It has a pickled yet really spicy flavor. Believe it or not, Nathan and I both really liked it. We grilled salmon on a cedar plank and also made a rib eye. It was a yummy and healthy meal. I was so proud of us until I counted how many beers and margaritas we had. Kinda canceled out the healthiness of the food.
Mac had his first swim lesson today. He was very apprehensive at first, partly because the lesson was scheduled at 11:30am, which is really close to lunch/nap time. He has been getting tired around 11am, so I was a bit nervous about the timing. Anywho, walking up to the lesson, he got his 3rd bloody nose of the morning (on an antihistamine that is drying him out!), then he didn't want me to leave. I ended up just doing the old "stop, drop, and run" routine, and went to the other side of the pool. Next thing I know, he is throwing dinosaurs into the pool and swimming after them. He had a great time. So great, in fact, that he wore himself out completely. Maggie, the instructor, walked him over to me, and he was crying out of pure exhaustion. He actually said, "I wanna go home." Needless to say, we changed our lesson time. :) So tonight, during prayers, we were going through the "God Bless's..." and he turned to me and said, "...and what's her name...oh yeah, Maggie too."
Right now, Dutchie is transfixed on a frog just outside our patio door and she is pacing back and forth following its every move! So she is now a "frog dog" instead of a "Bird dog."

Drumroll, please...

At the roach-y apartment.

Yes, that's a potty seat.

Gene Simmon's love child.

Safety first (visiting B'ton)

Aunt Heather, Eli & Cousin Libby

Silly string at Bogg's Creek

Look at them holding hands!

Vacationing in Hilton Head.

MeMe and Poppy @ Paris Landing

Brothers in arms

Making cookies for neighbors.

Long overdue. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! I am the luckiest Mom ever. I know you all say that, but sorry, I AM!!!