Spring

I feel alive again. This winter was cold and dark. Spring has now sprung around here. Yippee!

chow and a vow

J+J

My friends Jennifer and Jason were married last weekend. They took off to Jamaica for a week long honeymoon. I offered to babysit Nora for a few days and boy was it an eye opening experience. Two kids are hard! I constantly felt like I was neglecting one of them but I'm probably the only one that was having a hard time. My sister dyed a piece of Nora's hair pink, when she saw it she said that it was "amazing". She has the best vocab for a three year old. We also went to Chuck E. Cheese. When I was a kid, I thought that place was crazy expensive but it was pretty reasonably priced. Now I know that was just an excuse my Mama used so that she didn't have to take us there. She sure didn't mind going with Lucas :-) I feel like superwoman since Nora's been gone. I'm getting all kinds of things done around here but I do kind of miss her.

Wedding Party

Alex, Me, and Lucas

Nora

Chuck, Lucas, and Gangy


Lucas and Gangy

Alex won't let a short air hockey table stop him

the perfect hockey table for Nora

busy busy

I am working very hard to organize a trip to Washington DC for my Nana's birthday in April. She has told us for years that she wants to go see the cherry blossoms and my mom and I are beginning to feel like we are racing against the dementia to get things like this accomplished. She tells me the same stories over and over. The other day she started to tell me a story, that I already knew, and she began by saying that she just wanted to share as many memories as possible before she forgets them all. I know that I will regret it forever if we don't take this trip. Now I just have to figure out the best way to travel with a not-so-mobile senior citizen and a five month old. We are thinking about taking the Amtrak up there and taking the metro to get around. I picked up this pocket posh sodoku at Costco yesterday. I figured I could work the puzzles on the trip up but now I am wondering how on earth I will have the time for that. I'm starting to stress a little. I also got this Ergo baby carrier last week at a consignment sale for $25! It is still in the box and it was never used! I was about to buy a used one on Ebay for $80. I have a cheapo baby carrier that just isn't doing the trick anymore. This one will be perfect for touristy activities. Child consignment sales are totally the way to go.

hiking

Since our martial arts fitness class is taking a break this week, Mama, Julie, and I are searching for alternate ways to get moving. I was happy that Mama decided to join us on a hike last Sunday after she made us a giant breakfast. It was cold and we got lost a couple of times but we had a great day. Mama killed it on the trail and reached the top before either one of us. I'm not sure if she was just that motivated or if she didn't want to pee in the woods. Either way, I was proud of her. We finished off the evening by gorging ourselves on Red Robin burgers and fries before heading home to stare at my cute baby. It was a nice day.

swap

I've always wanted to participate in a swap of some kind. I knit a little and I can sew but I can't get far enough ahead on my project list to complete an item for someone I don't know. I came across Postcrossing and I figure I won't have too much trouble sending a postcard even if I don't get one in return. Now, I am on the lookout for some kitschy South Carolina postcards. Maybe I will send one of the Gaffney peach.

#103

I started a fitness class this week at Spartanburg Martial Arts
I'm really not very good at it now. I am looking forward to improving. My favorite part was kicking and punching the bags. My arms are so sore.

We had dinner with the Allens last night. It's great to have them home again even if it's for a short time.

Lucas had an EEG on Tuesday. He's been shaking a little when he falls asleep. It scared me so I mentioned it to the doctor. She thinks that it's probably just an immature nervous system but we did the test just to be sure. Lucas is four months old now and we celebrated by having rice cereal from a spoon. He loves to eat. I don't know where he gets that from. The video reminded me that the window sill in the kitchen is all scratched up from the pups looking outside. I really need to fix that.

books

A strange thing happened to me recently.
Since before Lucas was born, I've been on a mission to read to him everyday and hopefully instill in him a love for reading. Some of my favorite memories are our trips to the library when I was a kid. I would come home with a giant stack and an ambitious goal to finish them all before the due date.
I kept going back to the catalina magazine rack from Pottery Barn when I was planning the nursery space but it was out of my price range. Jeff made me this awesome reproduction as a gift at our baby shower and I'm filling it with my childhood favorites and any Little Golden Books and Dr Seuss that I can find at thrift stores and yard sales.


















Not so long ago, I went to a used book store near my Nana's house and hit the jackpot. I went a little overboard and I ended up leaving with a whole box. I bought several Dr. Seuss books, a Backyard Ballistics book and even some of the Sword of Truth and Wheel of Time series. The guy that ran the store was super nice and I spoke with him about returning to trade books that we no longer need. He was very helpful, he even gave my Mom, Sister, and me little incense boxes as a free gifts. He had a sweet cat named Booker. I was getting organized and preparing to trade my books when my Mom called to tell me a man was shot by the police after robbing a convenience store and she thought it was the book store guy. I looked it up and it was the man from the little used book store. That made me so sad. You never can tell what people are capable of. I'm going to think of that guy every time I read The Cat in the Hat.