Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

I am one of those people that can't make decisions in general. This carries over into choosing pictures to put in this blog, upload to facebook, put in albums, etc. I can look at 20 pictures that vary only slightly and not be able to decide which I like best. It's a problem. I wish I was one of those people that could just choose one perfect picture to document or capture any event or moment. But, I am who I am. And I can't so I don't.

Carver and I just spent a week in Bartow visiting Grandmama and Granddaddy (and Court, Jules, and Michael later in the week). I took an obscene amount of pictures. Maybe because I have a great camera that works so well (thanks Carolyn and Jerry!) or maybe because we were having such a fabulous visit in Florida. Either way here is a sampling of our week in pics. These I am considering the "miscellaneous" photos for the week-- stay tuned for several more posts to document the specific events of our time in Bartow.

Brace yourself, there are a lot of pictures.

Playing with Chloe

New Toy Story PJs...tacky? Yes. But, cute on him.

Jake's crate provided an endless source of entertainment.
"Walking" Kingston through the kitchen.
Notice the death grip he has on Kingston's leg. Delia is just glad it is not her...
Any water source is super fun.

Getting ready for some pool time.
New Pool!

I absolutely live for moments that cause this expression on Carver's face:

Carver LOVES Jake. In the house he would lay on him and hug him and pet him.
Ha!

Me and Jules-- we bonded over Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D

Heading to dinner at Ling's Buffet in Lakeland


Playing with Granddaddy.

This week in Florida was exactly what I needed. Time to hang out with my family and watch them love on Carver while he loved on them. It was perfect. If only it didn't take a 10 hour car ride to get there...

We ate at my favorite restaurants, went to a movie, shopped, and played at the house. There are a lot more pictures and stories to come from last week so stay tuned.

P.S. Yes, my mom was around the whole time and actively involved with me and Carver. She is a little particular about what pictures of her she lets me use (guess that is where I get that from) so that is why she is not in any of the above pics.

Surprise, Surprise

For the most part I like surprises. Not the ones that include awkward surprise parties where you are immediately uncomfortable and didn't get to adequately plan your outfit, etc. But, in general, I like surprises-- especially if they include shiny presents.

In case you do not know, Daniel picked out my engagement ring and wedding band all by himself. He had an idea of what I liked, but he chose the stone and the setting and shopped around until he found the perfect ring. And I love it as much now as I did 6 years ago when we got engaged. It was made all the more perfect because he chose it himself and I was utterly surprised by the proposal, and overwhelmed by the ring.

Well, for the last 5 years or so I have been telling Daniel that "one day" I would love a second wedding band to add to my set. It was always one of those things that I knew I would love but never expected to get because my wedding set was already beautiful and perfect and more than I could have ever hoped for.

Plus, my wedding ring had to be made to fit with my engagement ring. After we got engaged I had to surrender my ring to the jewelry store so that they could make the band to match. Over the years I have always had my rings cleaned at the store where they were purchased-- usually whenever we were visiting Daniel's parents in Winston. Well, in February I sent my rings home with Daniel's parents to get them cleaned for me, knowing I would be without them for over a month. Which is sad, but SO worth it when they come back looking shiny and new.

While they were off getting cleaned my sweet husband called and had them custom make me a second wedding band! He gave it to me last night as a belated 5th anniversary gift/30th bday gift/just because I love you gift. I was stunned. Speechless. Shocked. ELATED. (Kind of makes Daniel's 5th anniversary gift from me seem a little less exciting, but we love Lucy).



Daniel has always been incredible at choosing jewelry for me. He has great taste, and puts a lot of thought into which pieces he chooses. I try, very hard, not to be materialistic or shallow but...I really love jewelry. The kind you will pass down to your kids one day, you know?

I know that I probably did not deserve this incredible piece of jewelry but I adore it. I am so humbled that he went to this trouble and expense to get me an unnecessary gift just because I wanted it and because he loves me enough to want me to have things like this.

Love you Daniel.

17 Months

Another month has come and gone. I'm working to adjust my attitude so that I am not sad that another month has passed but rather I am anxious to see what the next months hold. This is really a fun and precious time in Carver's life. He still changes weekly-- learning new things, understanding more things, and he is just overflowing with personality. This is my favorite "stage" so far, definitely.

I know that all parents, Daniel and I included, spend a lot of time and effort trying to teach their kids things. And it is incredibly rewarding when they catch on and learn new things. But my favorite thing is probably when Carver just randomly does something, surprising us by how perceptive he is-- he missing absolutely nothing. It is a great reminder that children really do learn best by watching the models set by their parents.

Case in point: Several weeks ago Carver started (with no prompting from us) to like to return things to their proper place. Now, when we take his clothes off he immediately picks them up and runs to his room to put them in his clothes basket. The same is true for shoes (that go in his shoe basket) and even used diapers-- which he takes straight to the trash can in his room. He seems immensely proud of himself. All of this he started to do without any prompting from us. Occasionally he'll steal my shoes and put them in his shoe basket, or take off his (dirty) socks and then return them to the basket with his clean socks-- but, for the most part, he puts everything in its place.

He is also really good at entertaining himself. He is incredibly inquisitive and has explored enough around the house to find things that interest him and he keeps going back again and again. He has an impressive memory. He knows that in the second drawer of my desk is a pile of large black paper clips. He loves taking these out to play with and he almost always returns them to that drawer when he is finished. He knows exactly which button to press to turn off the dryer when it is running. As soon as he hears me turn it on he flies into the laundry room to turn it back off. He likes to help Daniel feed the dogs each night. He gathers up their bowls and heads to the garage as soon as Daniel tells him it is time to feed the dogs. He waits for Daniel to open the door and help him down the steps and then he he heads immediately for Winston's large food bag, pulls it open, and looks down into it. Then he heads back in to help Daniel pass out the bowls. Carver is utterly fascinated by the oven. We tell him not to touch because it is hot and you can just see how desperately he wants to touch it anyway. He especially loves it when the oven light is on and he stands and watches through the door.

I really, really, love finding Carver's toys in random places. Something about it is just absurdly cute to me. Lately he has liked pulling out the drawer beneath the stove and placing his "fridge farm" animals in the muffin pans.

He is in a phase where he really likes to "help." He helps us buckle him in his carseat, he helps me transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer and he helps unload the dishwasher. He loves these tasks. It is nice for me to be able to include him in these things now, rather than having to get him out of the way so that I can get a few things done. To say he is truly helping would be a stretch (the jobs take much longer with his version of help), but these jobs are way more fun when he is around.

Helping me with the garden...

He eats very well these days. The highlight of his day is his post-nap cereal bar. He runs to the pantry door and pounds on it, then he laughs and squeals and impatiently waits while I open it. You would think I was giving him drugs or, at the very least, straight sugar.


Bathtime is another particular favorite activity. He has a number of bath toys, but he ignores them all and just holds a large plastic cup under the faucet and repeatedly dumps it on himself. He could do this for hours. You should see the meltdown that comes when bath time is over. Whoa. Scary, crazy, screaming, child.

He definitely has a temper, but in normal child fashion, he usually only shows that side when he is with me or Daniel. He is full-on throwing tantrums-- crying, screaming, going limp when you try to pick him up, etc. It is super fun. I'm in search of great parenting books-- that's number 1 on the "to do" list right now.

He is still getting 2 bottles a day but I am tentatively planning to drop them when we get back from our Florida trip this week. I'm sort of torn about it. I like giving him bottles. I like how much he likes his bottles. But, I know it has to be done so.... I'll keep you posted.


We were doing really well limiting pacifiers to only bedtime and naptime but then he got sick and became seriously obsessed with his pacifiers. The sickness has passed so we are going to attempt to limit them again.

Disclaimer: Yes, I have read all of the info about not letting children watch T.V. until they are older than 2. Yes, I try to limit Carver's T.V. time. Yes, I do feel guilty that I let him watch movies and kid's shows.

That being said, Carver adores Toy Story 3. Seriously. It is his very favorite thing. He would probably watch it every day (maybe even all day) if I would let him. My biggest complaint is that he likes to watch his movie like this:



So, this is a summary of month 17. And, I say I am sad that he is one month older, but seriously, I can't wait to see what month 18 will bring. I feel like my life really started 17 months ago-- I am tired, stressed, and often overwhelmed. But, I wouldn't change a thing. The joy Carver has brought to our lives is worth any sacrifice, any stress, any fear, any headache.

May-- Part 1

At this rate I may only have two blog postings for this entire month, so I thought it appropriate to title this blog "Part 1." The first half of this month has been crazy busy but I will endeavor to do a better job at blogging in the coming weeks.

Early May always brings the welcome end to the Spring semester. By May I am always extremely grateful to be getting rid of my current students and looking forward to a break before the next classes start. Teaching online can be frustrating, boring, stressful, and occasionally, rewarding. I've been teaching for about 4 years now and, I admit, I'm already getting a little burned out with online classes. It is an ideal situation for me, being able to stay at home with Carver and still work in my chosen profession, but often I get really anxious to be back on campus. We'll see if that works out for the coming semesters.

The end of the semester always brings some crazy situations with students. Every semester I get a handful of students who (finally) realize they are failing the class and, at the very last minute, want to know what they can do to pass the class. The answer is nothing. Too late, dear students. Completing exams, quizzes, assignments, and essays are requirements for passing the class, not suggestions. If you can't be bothered to do the work then I can't be bothered to bail you out at the end.

This semester also brought two fun plagiarism cases. The first plagiarized 85% of her assignment and stated that she didn't realize you had to use citations when "paraphrasing and summarizing facts." Well, word-for-word copying/pasting paragraphs into your essay and then presenting it as your own work does not constitute paraphrasing OR summarizing. Look it up in the dictionary.

Then, another student spent days trying to convince me that the fact that she included a paragraph in her paper that had previously been published in 2003 by a Ph.D from Cambridge was merely a coincidence. She had never read those words before so, clearly, they were "her words." Besides, she got her information from the t.v. show Charmed...

So very, very, annoying.

But, alas, the semester is over. Those students are no longer my problem and I can spend the next couple of weeks frantically trying to get ready for the next ones.

Moving on to much more fun and exciting things, here are some pics to recap the first part of this lovely month of May.

Mother's Day

New blue chair-- he mostly likes to climb on it or carry/push it throughout the house.

Carver has (sort of) embraced the wearing of sunglasses.

(Early morning walk with Daddy and the girls. Don't worry, he doesn't normally wear pajamas in public.)

Building a tent in the living room.

Trying to climb on top...

If Carver had a favorite outfit, this would probably be it.

The back deck is ready for Spring/Summer usage. Flowers plus some potted herbs (dill, parsley, and basil. Not pictured: Rosemary)


Hummingbirds are probably my very favorite thing about summers in GA-- see the little red feeder? It attracts a lot of sweet, tiny, birds :)

Current favorite flower: Lemon Zest Petunias

Awkward aerial view of my (small) vegetable garden. Tomatoes, zucchini and squash (hopefully--long story), cucumber, Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper)

I promise to update my blog more regularly so check back soon. I can't afford to lose any of my readers :)

Easter Sunday

Getting ready to celebrate Easter this year with Carver was super fun. The differences between a 4 month old and a 16 month old are enormous :)

We went to church in the morning and our church was having a musical-of-sorts. Typically not my favorite thing. Maybe the professor/perpetual student in me really likes to listen to sermons that are more lecture-ish. However, the service was great and I was extraordinarily blessed by the music and the message.

Before leaving for church we gave Carver his Easter basket and attempted to take a few family pictures. Thank God for cameras with timers. So, the results weren't great but getting a squirmy boy to be still for a picture session is near impossible.

That night Daniel's parents (Nana and Papa) came over for our Easter dinner and we let the little man hunt for some Easter eggs. As I've noted before, Carver is a "collector" so while the full concept of finding eggs and filling up the basket wasn't totally understood, he clearly loved roaming around the yard and finding the colored eggs.

Easter Sunday was a really fun family day for us and I really think Carver enjoyed himself. Clearly, the basket itself was the big winner of the day :) I really could have left it empty and I think he would have been equally excited about it.