Thursday, May 21, 2009

procrastination street

I've never thought of myself as a procrastinator since I'm not the type to pull an all-nighter before a paper is due. Sleep has always been too important to me, so I usually finish around 9pm the night before. I do have a tendency to let projects pile up and then crank them out at one sitting. Since I haven't blogged in such a long time, I actually have a lot to share. It's been an eventful month!

doggie kisses



Did I mention we have a new dog? We adopted her from our friend, Nicole, who is moving to Chile. She's approximately two years old and is a mix of beagle and yellow lab. CJ is wonderful with the kids and is as sweet as she can be. We are lucky to have her join our family.

Jonathan is walking!



Sunday night, on his grandmother's birthday, Jonathan took his first steps. He had spent the day acting very needy, wanting to be held more than usual. It's as if he knew he was about to walk away from me. Unlike Lillian, who didn't take a single step until 13 months old and then waited another month to try again, Jonathan is looking to run a marathon at 10 months old. He has always preferred standing to sitting and was much happier once he could crawl. He looks longingly at toddlers like he's studying their every move. He's so very proud.

Dining room table


As if the dollhouse weren't enough, Aunt Helen and Uncle Jim gave us their 'old' dining room table. It's gorgeous, functional, and easy to clean. We don't have an eat-in kitchen so we eat every meal in our dining room and our old table and benches were small and awkward. I love, love, love the new table and now have plenty of room to make artwork and create scrapbooks with Lil. Check out my beautiful Aunts sitting around my beautiful dining room table.

the dollhouse in all its glory



Last week, my mom, Aunt Helen, Aunt Jessica, and Uncle Jim came for a lovely visit and they came bearing gifts. Uncle Jim has been working on this dollhouse for Lillian for over 2 years and it looks JUST like our house, inside and out. He and Helen made most of the accessories by hand, including a piano, a crib, a tv (with a picture of orphan Annie on the screen) and a grandfather clock. There are even photographs of our family hanging on the walls. Hardwood floors, real wood siding, and sandpaper that looks exactly like roof shingles. You've never seen anything like it. When it's lit up at night, it looks absolutely magnificent. I imagine our grandchildren will treasure this dollhouse as much as we do. Thank you Aunt Helen and Uncle Jim!

St. George Island


We went on our first vacation in 6 years (Lil just turned 5, so you do the math). She was a terrible traveler for the first couple of years of her life and would scream for hours on end - even on short trips to the mountains. We also went from 2 salaries to 1 and didn't feel we had the cash for any big trips. Before you feel too sorry for us, I should point out that we spend a lot of time in the mountains and at Lake Chatuge with Alan's family, which is always lovely. But, as for a vacation to a new place that we plan and save money for, we haven't been on one since our trip to Scotland and England in 2003. 

So, we went to St. George Island, which is near Apalachicola, Florida in the gulf. It's a barrier island, 28 miles long and 2 miles wide, with a beautiful state park on one end. The beach was clean, the water clear, and the island quite private. We rented a house on the beach and got off-season rates because we went the last week in April and stayed Sunday through Thursday instead of a weekend. We spent hours walking up and down the beach and watching Lil build sandcastles. 

Alan's sister, Teresa, and her boyfriend, John, were able to join us for 3 nights. This allowed Alan and I to take a walk on the beach at night while they watched the sleeping kids. 
That's something I miss very much and completely took for granted before having kids - going on long walks together, without having to hire a babysitter. Teresa and John also helped cook, clean, and play with the kids, which made me feel like I was on vacation. Together we cooked a delicious seafood boil and also enjoyed fresh grouper one night. 

St. George Island has turned me into a beach person. I came back a more calm, joyful, and well-balanced person. I like this new person and I want her to stay.