Things I love...

1) When I carry Carver he now (sort of) "holds on."
2) When he stretches his little fists jerk a little, like he is signing the word "yes."
3) He always has something in his mouth these days...his bib, hands, burp cloths, anything.

4) Carver is playing with toys now. He loves his "baby" and is fascinated by the duck rattle hanging from his car seat.

(this is Carver's "baby," and I LOVE pajamas too!)

5) I love it that he scrubs his face into my shoulder when he is sleepy.
6) And that he will grab onto anything he can wrap his little hands around.
7) He found his feet!
8) He closes his eyes when it is too sunny outside.
9) He tries to sit up and l.o.v.e.s. to roll over.
10) Carver kicks and kicks and kicks his little legs. He is always in motion. We are going to be in real trouble once he is truly mobile.
11) When he makes a sound that he particularly likes he does it over and over and over....
12) I love giving him a bottle and he holds onto the bottle or my hands and repeatedly looks up at me.
13) I love it that he will repeatedly stop eating long enough to give me an enormous grin.
14) He squeals, very loudly when he is excited.

15) He tucks his little legs up and puts his bottom up in the air when he sleeps on his tummy. (Note: I HATE it that he sleeps on his tummy and try to get him to sleep on his back. But, since he can roll around now and can choose which position to sleep in I am trying to look at the bright side-- he is awfully cute sleeping on his tummy).

16) I love his pensive look when he furrows his eyebrows.
17) I love it when he giggles
18) Carver now watches us when we walk across the room and gets very sad when we walk out of his line of vision-- which makes us feel much loved :)
19) He notices the dogs now! He even tries to pet them...
20) I love it that he is all boy. No one has ever mistaken him for a girl. He is definitely not one of those babies that you can't tell if they are a boy or girl. And I LOVE buying clothes for him (even when it makes his daddy mad). This is my current favorite shirt , I love orange and brown...

Things I am thankful for...

1) Naptime-- After three and a half long months Carver has finally decided to be like other babies and take naps. This has made my life immeasurably better. Seriously. Not that I don't love spending time with the little one, but I do have a job, and a house to keep somewhat organized and clean. Until about two weeks ago Carver rarely, if ever, took naps. And, definitely not unless he was being held. I am SO SO very thankful for naps.

2) Sleeping unswaddled-- When Carver was tiny, swaddling was a lifesaver. As he got older and bigger it became a nuisance. For one, it's a pain to do it, and I'm not very good at it. But, Daniel was never too fond of being woken up in the middle of the night to swaddle Carver after his middle-of-the-night feedings. Imagine that. Plus, there was the fear that he was getting overheated in his wrappings. Then, two weeks or so ago Carver started rolling over. Seems like rolling over while swaddled would be a safety hazard. I was getting up more than a dozen times a night to check on him. Now he is unswaddled and I still get up a dozen (or more) times a night to check on him. Oh well.

3) Grandparents (both sets) who buy Carver fun stuff, like clothes for upcoming months, a (super cute!) bathing suit, an Easter outfit and diapers. And an aunt who sends him gifts in the mail :)

4) And finally, this... The.Greatest.Invention.Ever.

Crestridge

Camp Crestridge was an important part of my life from age 10 to 24. Five summers as a camper and 7 years on staff. Each one of those summers taught me something new about myself and the people met there have played a huge role in molding me into the person I am today. Not to mention, Daniel and I met there, fell in love there and have now been married five years and are parents to the cutest baby boy ever.

Anyway, I miss camp. I miss the people, and the place, and the job. I miss the smell of the mountains, and every single exhausting moment spent there, especially those five summers as a village director. Some of my most cherished friends were made there and still remain an important part of my life.

Which brings me to the point of this posting. Camp Crestridge is not a part of my life now. Which makes me sad on a number of levels that I will not get into here. However, I think it is incredibly special that at least a dozen of "us" (Crestridgers from my years) have had children recently or are currently pregnant. It is interesting to me that so many of us have entered this new phase in our life at the exact same time.

The point is, I don't know whether my kids will ever attend Ridgecrest Summer Camps. But, if they do I find it unspeakably heartwarming that they will be there with the children of some of my special camp friends. Times change, but maybe one day we will all be parents of campers at the same time, and that will become our new role at Camp Crestridge and Camp Ridgecrest.

Who knows. But, the thought makes me smile...

Standing on my soapbox...

No, I'm not talking politics. I am, however, in need of a good venting session. Or maybe a ranting session is more accurate.

The ability of college students these days to write coherent, formal, academic papers is severely lacking. I mean, severely lacking. Now, I know that in some ways being good at writing is something you inherently have or do not have. Still, to a large degree the ability to write is a learned skill. So, what is happening? Is writing not being taught before college? I distinctly remember a lot of time being spent in my English classes learning how to craft a good paper. Are schools no longer focusing on writing?

After spending 1 year teaching reading and writing at an elementary school in Asheville, I do feel like I have adequate knowledge about standardized testing in schools to complain about it. You see, so much emphasis is placed on particular subjects that others do not get sufficient attention. I know that states do issue writing tests, but maybe their failure to focus on the study of history later hurts college students trying to write history papers...

I have taught multiple classes every semester for the last 7 semesters. And I am so tired of reading terrible papers. Of trying to help lazy (or stupid) students form a coherent sentence. I've become jaded and cynical... but every now and then even I am still surprised by what students submit for a grade.

* No, the Salem witch trials did not occur in the 1950s.
* Jesus did not walk on the earth 200 years ago.
* Texting shorthand is not acceptable in formal papers-- nor are curse words...
* Your feelings do not matter to me. I do not care if the primary sources you read made you feel mad/sad/shocked/horrified, etc. I do not care if you have a cousin who has an aunt whose daughter experienced something similar to the story you read about. I do not want to hear about how you, as a mother, felt so sorry for the children who worked in industrial Europe. I don't care, I really, really, don't.
* Where and were are two different words, they cannot be used interchangeably.
* There/their/they're- you should have learned the difference in grade school.
* Don't start a sentence with a number, it just looks ridiculous. (i.e. "27 years ago...)
* If you use 4 sentences to get your point across when you could have used 1, I will know you are just trying to meet the paper length requirement. I am not stupid.

What really irritates me is 1) students that have no idea how to write a college-level paper but still fail to ask for help or 2) students that submit a rough draft which I painstakingly revise and then resubmit a paper without making the corrections. I give them an even lower grade just for wasting my time.

The frustrating part is that I truly want students to learn how to write papers. But, I appear to be on this mission alone. So many professors these days (and probably secondary teachers also) are no longer assigning paper assignments because they are so much work to grade. The result is students that have no clue. They can't spell, they don't understand even simple rules of grammar, and they have no idea how to craft a logical argument.

Now, I enjoy writing papers, even academic ones. I like to research and go through draft after draft to get that one sentence just right. Writing well is an art form that I am trying and trying to master. I know that not everyone feels this way about writing. However, to succeed in the academic world, despite the area of study, this is an absolutely necessary tool.

So, I am on a mission. I may spend my entire career trying to start a revolution in the writing skills of our college students. But, it will be well worth it.

Stay tuned for more venting sessions. Up next: homeschooling and hunting...

Easter Outfit

Bumbo!

Catching up

Last weekend I had the good fortune to get to spend an afternoon catching up with Jon Magee. I adore Jon and have so missed keeping in touch with him. It was a short visit, but a really good one. Years may pass but Jon will always be the same-- it's one of the things I love about him.

Thanks to Rebecca for having us over for lunch, and for letting me bring all of my kids, not just Carver. One day I hope to be as great a hostess as Rebecca. She has a beautiful house, and always makes great food :) It was a really special day.

So sad...

Carver really misses his Uncle Lyle, Aunt Holly, and cousins Bailey, Will, and Tommy...

We wish we could see them more often.

Serendipity

(I really like how Carver is desperately trying to grab Courtney's hand in this pic)

One of the best things to come out of the extra time spent in Bartow was that we got to see Courtney, Julia, and Michael for a (very) brief visit. But, we'll take what we can get! Court and Jules had just returned from a cruise so they drove up, with Michael, from South Florida just to see us. Well, I have my suspicions that it was primarily to see Carver, but who can blame them?

Carver l.o.v.e.s. his Aunt Courtney and cousin Julia. (See above picture for proof). Courtney gets the lucky job of babysitting him every time she is around. First when he was about three days old, and then again at three months old. I love it that not only does she like keeping him, but I can leave him with her and be completely stress free while I am away.

Though I am glad we got to see them, I am sad that Courtney now doesn't feel as pressured to come visit us in Georgia this month. Carver and I think she should just come anyway :) I guess it will be another three months before Carver gets to see his favorite aunt again. In June I'm planning to be brave and travel with Carver up to Baltimore to visit them. Luckily mom will be with me or I'd never survive the car trip. Visiting them in Baltimore is one of my favorite things-- great restaurants, shopping, etc. We'll see how different the experience is once I have a six-month old along. I'm sure it will still be one of my favorite destinations.

Yay for Grandparents!

One of the absolute perks of parenthood is getting to watch my parents play with my son. They both just radiate love for him and it feeds my soul to watch their interactions. I love getting to visit with them. It is such a blessing to have extra sets if hands to hold Carver (his favorite thing), but they also spoil us terribly while we are there. Which never gets old.

This visit worked out well because it fell over my parent's Spring Break. This meant that we were able to do even more fun things than usual. The week held the usual shopping and eating out (yay!), but we also did a few new things.

First, Carver had his first outing at a "theme park" of sorts-- we spent one morning at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. I love the zoo and hadn't been back in years. Though Carver might not have been able to thoroughly appreciate the experience at 3 months old I do think he had fun riding in his stroller and wearing his fun new hat. Plus he got souvenirs :)

After the zoo we went to lunch at Bubba Gumps over at the beach. Possibly my favorite restaurant-- at least in my top 10. After lunch we ventured out to the beach for some photo opportunities. This unfortunately did not go so well. Apparently Florida was having some really weird weather that day-- sunny, but cold with hurricane force winds. Sadly, no good beach pictures, but, all in all a really fun day.

This visit to Bartow was longer than most but still too short. It's always hard to leave. I love it that Carver has grandparents (on both sides) that absolutely adore him. Of course, he's pretty easy to love :)

I wish my mama and daddy would think about moving closer to our neck of the woods. Or, maybe we could all move to NC? Maybe in the vicinity of Asheville? No harm in hoping.

Visiting

My week in Bartow allowed for a lot of fun visiting with family and friends. One of the best parts of having a new baby is introducing him around. I may not want to live in Florida again (I like snow too much), but I do love to go back and visit. It will always be home to me :)
Dillon is like a brother to me, so I consider him like an uncle to Carver. I am so thankful that Dillon and his sweet girlfriend Allison returned safely from their year in South America. It was fabulous to finally get to see him after a year out of the country. I love Dillon. He is a cherished friend. He is thoughtful, encouraging, brilliant, and often provoking. Which I love about him. He has been one of my best friends for a long time now. It was a fun moment for me to get to see him with my child.
Courtney and Darin also finally were introduced to Carver. It was particularly exciting to see Courtney because she is pregnant and due very soon. It was fitting that we were pregnant at the same time. Of all my friends, Court and I are probably the most similar in many ways. I can't wait to meet her sweet baby and especially to find out if we are welcoming a boy or girl! I'm torn-- a boy so close in age to Carver would be fun, but I would LOVE to have a little girl to buy fun clothes for... We had a really fun, but too short visit, with Court and Darin. Now, if only we can get them to move closer-- we do have houses for sale in our neighborhood....Just a thought :)


It was such a pleasure to be able to introduce my son to his great-grandparents. I wish we were able to see my Grandpa more. He is one of the sweetest and most interesting people I have ever met. He has thousands of stories to tell and I love to listen them. They seemed especially pleased with the name we chose for our son :)

Laura

In high school one of my very best friends was Laura Ball. We were friendly in middle school but became very close after making the junior varsity cheerleading squad together. Our friendship was really cemented our sophomore year when we were dealt the injustice of a second year on the JV squad and were made captain and co-captain.

Amanda, Brooke, Ann, Mandy, Laura and I were the major players in our group throughout high school. We did most everything together. We were in the same classes and the same clubs, and socialized together on the weekends. We went on church trips together and Laura, Ann and I cheered together every year. We were inseparable in a lot of ways.

After high school, Laura, Brooke and Jenny would come to visit me (and sometimes Ann) in Gainesville. We had some of the craziest experiences-- all harmless but we were thrilled with the freedoms of college life. During my sophomore year at UF Laura got engaged and asked us to be her bridesmaids. She was the first of us to have a beautiful daughter and get married.

From there we drifted in our own separate worlds. Never losing touch but life goes through changes that are unavoidable. As the years passed the visits got more infrequent. Dinner every year at Christmas, wedding showers, and baby showers, weddings and bachelorette parties. Though we didn't talk all the time, Laura was at all of the major moments of our lives.

Laura died last week in both a sudden and terrible way. I feel so much overwhelming grief and such a sense of loss in her death. I knew that Laura was dealing with some medical problems, but I did not know that she was struggling so greatly in other ways. The fact that I did not know will always be difficult to accept.

The Laura I knew had an infectious laugh and zeal for life. She was honest, caring, compassionate, Godly, loyal, affectionate, and funny. She was one of my very closest friends and she will be greatly missed.

I am shocked by her death. One that was both sudden and violent. I am sad that her life was reduced to this. But, I know that for those of us that loved her she has always been, and will be, so much more than the sum of her death.

Laura was married to a husband that loved her. Their marriage was, to me, a great love story. A story of lasting love, and thriving against the odds. Watching Mike at the funeral grieve for his wife was beyond heartbreaking. Laura was also the member of an incredible family, her mother and sister are both amazingly strong, Godly women. Laura was also the mother of three beautiful girls-- these girls will be her legacy.

I can't wrap my head around this loss. I can't stop thinking of her and how she must have struggled these last years, and struggled at the end. She was loved, much-loved, and she will be sorely missed. I know that she is at peace now, but I am still overwhelmingly sad over how burdened she must have been over many months.

Laura was a cherished daughter, sister, mother, wife, and friend. She taught me what true friendship was. She showed me that even if days or weeks went by without contact we were still there for the "big" moments.

I can speak for all of us "girlfriends"-- Laura was a unique and much-loved friend. Our world is a little less bright now that she is not in it. But, we'll see her again. I have faith in that.

Spoiled

While visiting Bartow, I left the room to take care of my little boy one night and came back to find this big boy in my spot...

Seriously?

It's a good thing he's cute.

Chubbiness

Yeah, you and me both.

Aunt Jenny meets baby Carver

Last week aunt Jenny came to meet baby Carver for the very first time. Carver and I were both SO excited to have her come and play for a few days.

One thing that I love about visits from Jenny is that they are totally laid back. We sleep late, lounge around the house, take naps, read books, etc. It is totally a visit without any kind of pressure to keep her entertained. Nice and relaxing. Not that we don't do fun stuff, we do. For example, Jenny was here for a very important day in Carver's young life-- his first ever professional photo session! Carver celebrated his 3 month "birthday" while Jenny was visiting so we got his pictures taken. The real fun was trying on all of his outfit options the night before and then doing laundry after he spit up on each and every option...

Too bad Jenny couldn't stay longer but it was oh so fun to have her and Ansley come for a few days. Of course, Jenny thought Carver was pretty darn cute and she liked holding him and even changed a few diapers. What a pal :)