Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tickled pink, er...I mean, orange.

I promise you, I am such a lucky mommy. I think I have one of the happiest babies in the world. I don't know what I did to have such a smiley, happy, content child. Praise the Lord! That's about all I can say!!

Today we ate some squash, and Micah was so super excited about the squash he flailed those hands every which away....
IMG_3707
Which lead to squash getting absolutely everywhere.
IMG_3706
Mommy's first thought wasn't to clean it up. Nope. In true blogging style, I felt the need to document it instead.
IMG_3704
I mean, who would not want this cute little boy's life---every single moment--caught on film then blogged for the world to see? I mean, can you resist those big ole baby blues?
IMG_3698
Even when they are staring you directly in the face saying, "Mommy, please don't blog about the squash in my eye. Could you get it out of my eye, instead?"
IMG_3697
Thankfully, he's so happy with anything I do, he was a great picture model despite his mom's desire to take so many pictures!
IMG_3694
Mommy & Daddy may be crazy, Micah! But we love you!! We're tickled pink you are in our family now!!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, we didn't do that much super exciting bit of anything. Since I'm off work, we've put our vacation on hold. This is very hard for me because we've been somewhere each and every summer for our anniversary in July. This year? We've decided to wait until I go back to work in the fall to go on vacation during my fall break. But, dang! Gas is super high. I don't care if the price has fallen, it is ridiculous.

Ok, onto the weekend.

We spent Saturday and part of Sunday at the lake with Mr. C's parents. Mr. C did not force me to camp this time, so we just drove down to Arkabutla to meet his parents at the campground on Saturday. Afterwards, we drove back home Saturday night to sleep in our own comfy beds. We went to church on Sunday morning, and then our little family drove back down to the lake for late Sunday afternoon & evening. Micah's grandparents who live about and hour and a half away from us were glad to have some extended time with the grandchild, of course.

Micah looking out at the campgrounds through the window of his grandparents' RV.

IMG_3671

Daddy holding Micah.

IMG_3673
On Monday, which is Mr. C's usual day off anyway, we headed to Jackson, Tennessee, to get out of town again! :) Jackson is the home of my college, so we thought we'd also take a walk around my alma mater while doing some other Jacksonian things.

First, we went to Casey Jones Village. Now I am not really sure what Casey Jones is famous for, but it has something to do with being a train conductor. We also wanted to enjoy a huge buffet meal, but I didn't feel like paying $7 per person to go into the Casey Jones museum in addition to our meal. Maybe one day when Micah is old enough to care about trains we'll go through the museum. I realized on today's trip that I am about to be knee deep in all things boys for the rest of my life. At any point, one day when we feel like paying to learn about Casey Jones, we will. Until then, I'll just google him. Today, we just walked around the village, took random pictures, and ate at the Old Country Store.

This is the house Casey Jones was living in when he died.

IMG_3675

At this point, we are realizing just how hot it is outside. Our plans are quickly changing as I have come to learn happens with children.

IMG_3676

Here is the sign outside the wonderful Casey Jones Museum. We did go inside the train store, and that would be a really awesome place if Micah had a clue what was going on or loved trains. One day he will, probably way too soon!

IMG_3677

Here's the cutie of the day: Mr. Half Year Old.
Today is his six month birthday!
IMG_3686

Here's where we ate our lovely buffet meal today. Oh, it was heaven. I forgot how much I loved food from Old Country Store. Think Cracker Barrel but more like Grandma's cooking.

IMG_3679

Inside the train store there was this display of letters. Notice anything in the background?

IMG_3687

A lawyer works in this train. It is his office! How much fun is that?

IMG_3689

Not a great shot of Micah, but here we are on the train.

IMG_3691


Afterwards, we drove around my college campus. A tornado destroyed a major section of the school in 2008 (I think?), so the campus had to be rebuilt. Major sadness that a big majority of the campus does not look the same as when I went there. Union is awesome, and it looks better for sure. It was just amazing to see it change!

IMG_3692

It was so different that the layout had me confused. I have to say this is when our plan of walking the campus became scrapped. From Old Country Store to Union (you alums realize how far that is--not far), Micah had fallen asleep. It was 94 degrees outside. Yes, 94!! We gave up and just drove around. Maybe one day soon.

IMG_3693

In other great news, the coveted Union University Alumni car sticker that I have tried to buy from the book store for TEN YEARS was in stock. I am not kidding you. Every time I am in Jackson I stop at the college bookstore. Each time I look for a Union University Alumni sticker for my car. I would even settle for a Union University sticker for my car. I don't know why but they are always out of them!!! Pure torture. I mean, I just want to offer free advertising for them as I drive around Memphis! What am I saying? You pay to buy the sticker to put on your car. So, I simply want to pay them to advertise for them? Is this so hard?

You know what I did when I found them? I bought two. Because I might need another one in the future, and who wants to wait ten more years?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8


I also picked up this cute t-shirt because I guess I've finally admitted to myself that I am old enough to wear alumni gear. Sigh. Where does the time go?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Tornadic activity pictures of Memphis.

So I got this new app for my Android phone in hopes that it would help me be a little better of a blogger. At least, it would give me a way to blog some pictures that I take with my phone. Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure out how to blog more than one picture per post. If I blew up your Google reader with four separate posts that have disappeared...I do apologize.

So last night this major cloud was seen on our local weather station, and even my husband (who is Mr. I Wanna Watch My Show This is Not a Big Deal Please Stop Wall to Wall Coverage) sat down on the couch when we saw this on our tv. He even said, "Whoa. I have never seen anything like this in my life."

As the major clouds came towards us, the weatherman (Dave Brown--my hero) followed the cloud with every possible camera angle he could find. He kept naming exits, and he kept talking about the location of the crazy cloud. About that time, I get a text message from my sister.

"That wall cloud is moving towards you. You can probably see it. It just passed over us." She was taking pictures of it from the upstairs bedroom at her house. My sister lives about five minutes away, so I started going outside taking (super poor quality) pics with my phone. Here are a few things I saw. Again, nothing near as impressive as this picture, but...

Clouds rolling in.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

The start of that crazy cloud moving into my neighborhood. At this point, I go across the street to talk to my neighbor about the cloud. All the while, Micah's asleep in the closet, and C is all, "Get back in here! What if that thing decides to rotate and touch down?"

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

You can see the regular sky on the right, the twisting low clouds on the left. This was from my backyard.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

And yes, I hate the telephone pole, but what ya gonna do?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

How about you? Did you have some crazy weather last night?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

On the move.

::Insert my commentary on the bathroom. I hate those pickled cabinets. Abhor. Hubs won't let me paint them, but I think I could do it with great improvement & success. Floors are new, though. Love my floors. We ripped out carpet (yes, carpet!) in our bathroom a year ago, and Mr. C put down new tile.::

Ok, now that I've complained for a second, it's time to start the actual blog post. I know you are so very happy, aren't you? Especially when I post 89 times in one day instead of posting leisurely as life really happens.

Oh, well. C'est la vie.

I've gotten in the habit of making a pallet in the floor of the bathroom when I want to get ready so that I can keep an eye on Micah. We have a pack-n-play that would probably be better, but why lug it all over the house? This has worked for us. Usually I take a bath (yes, bath, I love to soak in my big jacuzzi tub), Micah plays with whatever, and then I can get ready. He stays happy because I'm in his line of sight, we "talk", and I stay happy because I can keep an eye on him. I realize I could get Mr. C to watch him, but his hours at work are so crazy. I have to get a shower when I can which is often when Mr. C isn't at home or is asleep.

So today, I set up his normal play area with his piano.

(Before I get crazy comments, I know it is concrete. But I put him on the bath mats with multiple blankets to keep him nice and safe.)
When I looked over, I saw this had happened. Seriously, five seconds earlier he had been right beside the piano banging away.
Suddenly, he was all, "I'm freeeeeeeeee at laaaaaast!" He totally wanted to play with the wall. Yes, the wall. Micah is really into running his fingernails on all different kinds of textures right now to see what sound they make. He likes to scratch my jeans, my shirts, the wall (look where his hand is in the picture above.)
I guess our life as we know it is officially over.

You know people tell you that about the baby being born, but our life (while changed) hasn't been so bad with a newborn. Now that he is going towards mobile bound? I think that is when life really changes.

Micah, you are growing up way, way, way too fast!

Tornadoes. Go away.

This is what we are seeing on our tv screen. Fun, huh?

Even scarier? This passed BY MY HOUSE. Literally, I watched it move past our house and somehow this thing didn't ever touch down. How is that even possible?

Edit: Day After

If you want to see some amazing links, check this out:

This was on the front page of the newspaper this morning. I found this to be an absolutely incredible photo. It amazes me how just the right conditions at the right time can change things. Our weatherman kept showing this cloud on the news, and it reminded me of the weathermen in Alabama. They were able to watch the tornado coming at them, too. In our case, while a tornado (closest I've ever seen to a real one anyway) like cloud never touched down here, but it could have. All it would have taken was a little more rotation.

Last night, another news station caught this video. You'll have to actually click on the video in the box. Not the one with the reporter man standing there, but the video of the semi-rotation in the cloud. This was a close up of the cloud heading through downtown Memphis.

Why does the Lord do what he does? Why does he decide here, but not there? Why are so many dead in so many places, but we're still here?

There were no near death experiences here, and I'd never trivialize our little "beaver tail" cloud in the wake of tragedy across the USA. However, if you saw that thing travel by your house yesterday like I did (pics to follow), you would be standing in awe of an awesome, all knowing, powerful God. I can't explain Him. I don't know His ways, but thankfully that is what my faith allows me to do. Have faith. He knows what is best even when it makes no sense to me.

What amazed me even more? That thing moved across the river looking like that. It was holding together all the way out to where I live. I'm a good 35 plus minutes outside of Memphis. It was an amazing sight to behold.

The Lord is in control, and I am thankful today for His provision and protection.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Bad weather again.

Here we go again. A night of tornadoes and warnings.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Because there is nothing cuter...

...than a baby's booty.

Dear Micah-at-35,
I'm sorry. It was just too cute to not post. Don't hate me.
Love, Mama

This weekend was very uneventful and laid back. There were no raccoons or five stray dogs. No one (that'd be me) was forced to do any unwanted camping. Basically we spent Friday night packing up my classroom. I know that sounds like, "Wait, Mrs. C...did you say packing? Does that mean you're leaving your job?"

Um. No. That is another post for another day.

I have to pack up all my stuff and move every last bit to the gym each year. Major yuck, but every time I go up to school I am attacked by children wanting to see the baby. Since my stuff has to be gone, I figured while Mr. C worked double shifts I would go clean out my room. Thankfully, Micah's KayKay went to help us out. Saturday, while Mr. C recovered from two days of double shifts, Micah & I headed back to school for more packing. Yes, I packed on Saturday, too. KayKay also came to help me pack on Saturday which was so helpful.

Saturday night consisted of movies at home and bathtime for church for Micah. That's when I snapped this adorable picture. Isn't he a cutie? Sunday, it was super rainy, but we headed to church. We enjoyed church, and then spent Sunday night with our friends eating dinner at their home. It was so nice to enjoy a low-key weekend!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Fun times with Ms. J

Internet---I mean, five blog readers---meet Ms. J. (Since I never know how people feel about being on the blog with their real name, I always use some initial or fake name until I know. Ms. J if you would like to be "unveiled" let me know.)

Ms. J met Mrs. Confident when we were five in Mrs. Coombs class. (I left off the s apostrophe back there for Ms. J's benefit. She's somewhat of a grammar guru.) Jussssst kidding about Mrs. Coombs because she doesn't exist. At least not in this story. Seriously, though, I do not know when I met Ms. J because we grew up at the same church our entire lives. I do know she followed me to UU after spending a wonderful week in NYC singing songs to Al Roker the summer after my senior year of high school. I mean, who wouldn't want to follow me after that?

(Sorry, but that's a story for another day. And we did sing for Al Roker. It's true.)

Suffice to say, I've known her a long time, and I love her to death. Ms. J is one of those good friends who you may not get to see that often, but you can pick right up where you left off. She also lives in the same city with me, but you'd never know it because getting together with her is like pinning a feather in the wind down. High powered career woman extraordinaire, that Ms. J. Finally we got together so that she could meet Micah. I think she approved of her hot lunch date.


Micah, as always, just wanted to eat his fingers and/or hands.

We had Chick-fil-a.

It was great to see you and catch up with you, Ms. J! Love ya, girl! Let's do it again sometime sooner rather than later.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Camping, raccoons, & wild dogs.

So this weekend, I got coaxed--I mean hoodwinked--into camping out. Now, I went camping one time in college. I went with my friend Laura to Savannah, Tennessee, with some random boys. Laura & I stayed in some tiny tent on the edge of the Tennessee River (with boys in the other, of course), and it was November. I distinctly remember never being so cold in my whole entire life. In addition, I did not get one wink of sleep plus my back was out of alignment for a month after that night on the ground. The next morning after torturing ourselves we went 4-wheeler riding in true Tennessee style. I did enjoy 4-wheeler riding in the borrowed camouflage coveralls over some hilly wooded terrain down the Tennessee River. The camping part? SUCKED. I hate camping. Laura, if you are reading this...we should have taken pictures. I don't have one picture from that weekend. Why did we subject ourselves to that?

At any rate, Mr. C & I have discussed (um, more like come to a stalemate) camping in our almost eight years together. His parents own an RV, and he always wants to go camping with them. Every summer he wants to go. Every season, we go down to visit them at a campsite and then drive back to Memphis. Maybe I should have given in years ago for the love of my husband because I have been selfish about this camping thing. But on the other hand, who are we kidding? He knew I'd never be a camper when he married me. Holiday Inn is roughing it in my book. However, I have been convicted over my blatant selfishness lately. What would mean more to him than taking his son camping? So...I gave in.

Shoulda never taken him to Chickasaw last week
. That's what started this whole long to camp thing.

In a moment of compromise this week, I reluctantly agreed to one night of camping. With a five month old. In the cold. Because for some reason it is May and in Tennessee? It was 46 degrees. What in the world?


So camping with his family we went. Complete with his parents' RV in a campground in Mississippi. The compromise was this:

1. We will not stay for 87 nights like they are. (Read: all weekend long. I can handle a night of it at first. Maybe more later on if I'm not too miserable being surrounded by wilderness for more than 24 hours.)

2. I will not in any circumstance be sleeping on the ground. (Read: I get a bed in the RV, a cot, or something elevated.)

3. I am trying this in the spirit of compromise, but no promises will be made that I will do this regularly. (Read: I really don't wanna, but I'm going to suck it up and try for our family. My exact words were, "You have a boy now, so in a few years feel free to do these boy things without me. I'll enjoy my weekend of quiet while you scamper in the woods.")
So, I'm glad that some of our compromise was made because of what happened that night. Let me refer you to point #2. I was staying in the RV with my in laws, while Mr. C decided to "do it right" in the tent with our almost five year old nephew. The next morning (after sleeping peacefully all night long except for awaking to some weird noises Micah was making in the pack-n-play), I looked out the window to see trash strewn about the ground.

How odd, I thought, as I drifted back off to sleep. A couple hours later, Mr. C comes into the RV to explain the night they had out in the tent. At some point, Mr. C had been awakened by a crazy huge raccoon who had decided to climb up to where the trash was hanging off the ground. He proceeded to rip the garbage bag to shreds, and the racket awoke C. So he comes out of the tent to chase off the raccoon as my nephew peers through the zipper at his uncle madly, frantically chasing the varmint away. I almost wish I could have seen that moment in time, however...I would have freaked out screaming in front of a small child. Probably not a good situation.

Just as Mr. C & Nephew were getting settled back to sleep in the tent, something else arouses them from their light slumber. This time a pack of stray dogs have descended upon the trash that was strewn about by the raccoon a couple hours earlier. Of course, it was so dark that Mr. C didn't really have time to completely clean the trash up, but he woke up this time to barking dogs chomping on chicken bones from the garbage.

Did I mention I slept by a window directly above this? Not sure how I missed both things happening overnight. I think if my nephew hadn't talked so much about it, I would have thought Mr. C made the whole thing up.
At any rate, I turned to Mr. C and said, "You actually call that fun? Seriously?"

He just smiled and said, "Think of the memories I have from Micah's first camping trip that can never be replaced. That is the point of camping, Mrs. C. Now you've got a good story for your blog."

That I do. That I do.

Memories do abound indeed, and it wasn't quite as awful as I envisioned from college camping flashbacks. I did thoroughly enjoy the company, the bonfire, the fall-like weather, and the s'mores. The raccoons and wild dogs? Yeah, I could live without them, but all in all, I got to come home and take a shower. I didn't see the raccoons and wild dogs so I guess I'll chalk that up to a half win. But don't think I'm getting ready to pitch a tent every weekend, either!













Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Micah's finally really rolling.

I have discovered something about mothers. It is a disease we all suffer from. Comparitis. You know that, "What's your child doing? Really mine has/has not done that yet. I wonder when ______ will finally _______."

Telling ya. It's a disease. You don't mean to get sucked in. You say you are going to be laid back and let your child do things in his time. Then suddenly you find yourself in a conversation wondering if your child is meeting his milestones properly because he is two days behind everyone else's child the exact same age.

Well, Micah hasn't really been rolling over very much. It's so infrequent we've documented a few attempts, and we've never actually seen him do it. I did. Once. Mr. C still jokes that I made it up, but I did see it.

Anyway, I was getting worried. Because. You know. I need to give myself something to worry about. Micah won't really do tummy time all that great, and I try to make him. However, it just becomes an unpleasant event for all involved. Yet, I keep pushing him thinking, "He needs to develop those abdomen muscles!" When Micah was born, he refused to move his neck in both directions because of how he sat in the womb breech. This has caused me to worry about other things that could happen if all his exercises weren't done.

Then all my friends are posting pics of their child rolling on facebook.

(Facebook, sometimes you are my nemesis.)

All the while, we've got a few back arches out of Micah, a sideways glance, some finger sucking, and two rolls that happened Lord knows how because we didn't even see them. We just laid him down in the pack-n-play then suddenly he had flipped at some point.

Until today's tummy time excursion. Instead of complaining or baby cussing at me (read: screaming at the top of his lungs), Micah flipped over and laughed at me. Almost as if to say, "I'm not doing tummy time any more, Mama. You can't make me. Look at what I can do."

So I turned him back on his stomach again.

Two seconds later, he had flopped back onto his back.

So...I turned him back on his stomach yet again. This time I called for Mr. C thinking we might see something.

In five seconds flat, he had flopped over. Again.

We repeated this process a weary seven times with much the same results. Needless to say, I think Micah has finally "learned" how to roll over. The whole entire time looking at me, smiling, and laughing as if to say, "I told you no more tummy time!"

In one magical day, we've taken to a sippy cup and rolled over repeatedly. My little boy is growing up way, way, way too fast!

Just a reminder to enjoy what you have, keep your eyes focused on your life, and treasure what the Lord has given you.

Micah's First Sippy Cup

Micah has been showing a lot of interest in our water and green tea bottles around here. We occasionally give him bottles of breastmilk, but not that often. Since he seems so interested in cups, I thought we'd try milk in a sippy cup. At least, I was going to let him play around and try. Much to my amazement, he took to it super fast! He loved it! So I think all our future bottles will be from sippy cups. It just makes for an easier transition for when I go back to work in the fall. Yeah, Micah! Pic is horrid...he kept moving. It is also a phone pic and my new Blogger app!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Micah's Baby Dedication & Mother's Day

Oh, Blogger, sweet Blogger. You just don't seem to want to cooperate with me tonight, and I'm not really in any mood to keep trying. It's already been an hour of me rotating pictures in my software program. I have moved, shuffled, turned off, logged in, logged out, and stood on one foot facing north with my tongue stick out to the south as I closed my eyes and twirled three times.

The magic dance did not work.

So all the pictures my sister took of the baby dedication that are turned up and down/horizontal? Well, they are all sideways when I try to upload them to Blogger. I'm sure you don't want to read this entire post with your head tilted over, so I guess these few pics will have to do. Boo!

This is my first Mother's Day, of course you probably figured that out as Micah is my first child. Today was also the day that baby dedications were happening at our church (as probably many Southern Baptist churches throughout the USA. Ha!) We were so excited to bring Micah before the Lord to dedicate ourselves to raising him in a Godly, Christian home. Man, the thought of the responsibility of his little soul is resting on my shoulders, and that scares me so much! I pray daily that we can live a life that pleases the Lord so that Micah can, in turn, learn to love and live for Jesus.

Before we left for church, we took some pictures. First, I took a picture of Daddy with Micah.

Then, Daddy took a picture of Mommy with Micah.

We left for church veeeerrrrry early this morning (around 8:40AM) so we could arrive in time for our family portrait to be taken in the preschool wing. I can't wait to see those pictures! I'll post them when I get them in from our church. Here's our little family (thanks, Aunt KerKer for taking pictures!) before the service started. We sat way close down front today which was a bit odd.
Our pastor, Bro. Danny Sinquefield, is talking to us about the responsibility of Christian parenting. He's reading several verses of the Bible that refer to loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, & mind.

Micah, of course, is chilling with his two little fingers in his mouth. I wasn't watching myself on the jumbotron (because I'd have a heart attack seeing myself in all my glory that big), but I wonder what his little fingers looked like multiplied by 900?

This is where I tell you to turn your head to the left. I just love this picture so much. I had to include it. Brother Danny is praying over our little family that the Lord will provide guidance as we raise Micah. I'm telling you, I get chills thinking sobering thoughts at the importance of our jobs as Godly parents!

After the prayer, Mrs. Vicki (our preschool "minister") presented us with a blue New Testament and a certificate commemorating this special day.

All the while, Micah was still just chilling with his fingers.
Afterwards, we came back to our house for a barbeque with my entire family and Mr. C's entire family. That's right. We had aunts, uncles, two sets of grandparents, four cousins, two dogs, and a partridge in a pear tree in attendance. Here's my "original" family. Micah was sleeping, and Mr. C. was grilling out!

We continued to celebrate the mothers in our lives with massive gift giving. Seriously, it was insane. We showered both grandmothers with gifts of pictures of the grandchildren. My mom is showing one of her presents. The grandparents showered me (for my first Mother's Day) with presents. They should not have done that! After all, I'm the daughter/daughter-in-law. Although, without me there'd be no Micah. Ok, maybe I did deserve it. I'm so kidding!! :) Keren even got in on the present action from my mom and dad. THANKS, MAMA!! WE LOVE YOU!!

All in all, it was a wonderful, happy, hectic day! Whew! I'm tired! I think my house just exhaled from all the people who were in the tiny quarters today. Thank goodness for sunny days, fenced backyards, and swingsets! :)

And no Mother's Day post would be complete without a picture of me with my own wonderful, amazing, giving, selfless mother.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” 1 Samuel 1:27-28