Family of Four

MORE BIG NEWS: We are going to have another precious baby due on November 26! (We keep having November babies!) We found out the big news on St. Patrick's Day and couldn't believe it! It was much different finding out about this baby since we kind of know what to expect.

Big Brother George with baby #2's sonogram photos

David and I are so excited about our growing family. We called our families as soon as we found out and haven't been able to stop telling people. We are so grateful for this little blessing growing in my belly. God has truly blessed us.

We're Moving!

BIG NEWS: We're moving to Valparaiso, Indiana!

Earlville, NY to Valparaiso, IN

David has accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Lilly Fellow at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN. His position will begin in August so we plan to move this summer. His fellowship at Colgate was fixed for 1 year, so we knew we would be moving this summer. David has been interviewing tirelessly all spring and it's great to finally know where we're going! Unfortunately, the Lilly Fellowship only lasts 2 years so we'll have to move again. This transient way of life is certainly an adventure! 

Valparaiso is only an hour from Chicago so it will be fun to be so close to friends and the big city! David is thrilled about this fellowship because he will have lots of time to write and even be able to create his "dream course" and teach it while at Valparaiso. I'll also be able to continue to stay at home with George for the next two years. They have MOPS, Chick-fil-a, and a Target in "Valpo" so I'm all set! 

We are so grateful to God for His continued provision in our life. 

Our Chicago Vacation/George's NY Staycation

As I previously mentioned, David and I had the opportunity to represent 32 Poems at AWP in Chicago this year. David's parents came to stay at our house and watch George while we were away. This was our first time away from him and it could not have gone more smoothly! George didn't seem to miss us at all. He had a grand time with his grandparents. They built forts, went for walks, built a snowman, etc. Here are a few photos from his "staycation":

Meanwhile in Chicago...

View of Lake Michigan from our hotel room

 Our exhibit table

32 Poems/Smartish Pace Reading

Some of the amazing food we ate and my handsome date!

Chicago was so fun! We ate at some amazing restaurants including Blackbird, The Bristol, and Big Star Tacos. We enjoyed trying foie gras, bone marrow (photo top right), rabbit saddle/confit leg (photo top left), sturgeon belly, and lamb belly (lower right) among other incredible dishes. How fun it was to go out and get dressed up every night!

We also enjoyed catching up with some of our oldest, dearest friends including Lauri and Aaron (friends from Lubbock), Heather (Lubansky) Garrett (friend from high school in Little Rock), and Toria Edwards (friend from Union) and her precious son Duncan.

George at 15-16 Months

15-16 Months

• The big event last month was weaning. His last feeding was on 2/17 and he hasn't seemed to miss it. I can't believe it was so easy. He still doesn't like whole milk, but we make up for calcium in yogurt and cheese.
• He has become increasingly more verbal. He tries to mimic us when we talk and it's so sweet to see him discover language. Favorite words are still hi, bye, mama, dada, papa, dog, ball, book, banana, sock, shoe, duck, cat, hat, heart, oval, sit, yuck, yum, and owl. 
• He's climbing on EVERYTHING! It's a little maddening trying to get him to sit once he climbs on furniture! We constantly tell him to sit on his bottom and that he may hit his head if he stands up. So he walks around the house chanting "sit-sit-sit" while patting his head. 
• He still loves books, which definitely pleases his daddy. He will sit in his room surrounded by books and just thumb through them for the longest time. He brings me books to read all day long, often the same ones. Favorites include Dr. Seuss's ABC, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!, Runaway Bunny, and, of course, Goodnight Moon.
• He uses some sign language still including more, please, I don't know, and finished/alldone.
• He loves to squint his eyes and stick out his tongue.
• We moved to one nap a day on Feb. 25. He started fighting bedtime a little and we didn't want David's parents to have difficulty with his sleep when they watched him. The first couple of days he was pretty sleepy, but he quickly adjusted! He goes to sleep at 1 and usually wakes up at 4 or 4:30! He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up at 8am. 
• What an affectionate boy he is! I love how he he hugs my leg while I cook! He initiates lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day. Melts my heart. 
• Molars... he now has 3 out of 4! He's been a champ through each one. 
• George recognizes shapes now. He will even point them out when we're away from home!
• He loves somersaulting (with help). He will put his head and hands on the floor and stick his booty in the air. 
• I haven't been too great about encouraging him to feed himself. I need to get better about that. He does pretty well, but always makes a big mess!
• We've experimented with coloring. He isn't too interested, but he does try. He just loses interest and want to play with his ball!

Enjoying the mild weather on the village green.

George practicing some of his words.

George kicking the ball in the park.

Georgie giggling

Kids and TV: We Gotta Get the Word Out

I don't stand on a soapbox much, but this is such an important issue. We gotta get the word out.

Early experiences condition the mind. Media influences our children and programs their brains for stimulation that the real world cannot provide.

Watch this compelling video:

Link also on this wonderful blog by Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson: 

http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org/what-does-tv-do-to-my-kids-brain/

Tumultuous Twenty-Twelve

January:

• We welcomed the new year in Little Rock with my family. My dad and his friends have a Beatles Party every year to celebrate New Year's. It was so fun to bring David and George to sing along with Beatles songs. George even wore his Beatles t-shirt! We also had Christmas with my family where George was showered with even more gifts! It was nourishing to the soul to see my family. Little Rock always feels like home.

A common scene throughout our entire trip...

 Playing piano at Papa's house on NYE

 Enjoying the mild weather at my dad's house

 Beatles Party

Visiting George's great-grandparents in Mtn. View, AR

 Playing at Grandma's house in Little Rock

Opening Christmas presents

Visiting great-grandparents in Little Rock

Fun at the Zoo

• Friday, January 13 (aka Friday the 13th!) was supposed to be our last night in Little Rock before heading back North. David had a Skype interview with a university that night, so George, my dad, and I left for dinner to give David some privacy for his interview. While I was driving our (only) car along Chenal Parkway, we were hit by a car turning across our lane. Immediately after impact, I jumped out to grab George from the backseat. The only problem was that I didn't put the car in "park" first and the car, with my dad and George inside, began to roll forward. I had to chase the car down (not far) to put the car in park. Meanwhile, we were in the middle of an intersection and all I could think about was getting George out of the middle of traffic. So I scooped him up and ran with him into a grassy area as far from the road as I could go. George was screaming, but he looked okay. My dad came over to us and his head and hands were bleeding pretty bad. It was terrifying. It was incredible to see the number of Good Samaritans who stopped to bring us blankets (it was pretty cold) and ask if we needed anything. One woman even prayed with me and George. My right knee hit the steering column and it felt like it was stiffening up to where I couldn't move it easily. It turns out that my knee was fine, just badly bruised (and still hurting now because of fluid trapped under the knee cap). We all rode to the hospital with my dad in the ambulance since he had a head injury. Turns out he was fine too, needing only stitches and pain medicine.  The woman who hit us wasn't injured. The whole experience was quite surreal. We are so grateful to God for our lives and that no one was seriously injured. Our car was totaled, but we were able to buy another car in Chattanooga on our way back to NY. Our "new" car is actually just like our old car, but with fewer miles and white instead of tan. Praise God for watching over us during this terrifying experience!

 

• We left Chattanooga to return to NY on January 20th. After planning to spend the night in VA, we opted to press on and drive a total of 16 hours to NY, avoiding a big snow storm headed our way. (16 hours is a very long trip with a 14 month old.) Fortunately, George slept most of the way. We pulled in to Earlville around 1am after stopping to get groceries at Wal-Mart and even got pulled over for speeding 4 miles away from home after such a long journey. ANYWAY, we finally arrived at our house and David wanted to go inside to look around before having George and I go in. While we were waiting, I saw David running towards us from the house. He screamed for me to call our landlord and said that the house was flooded!!! Sure enough, the ceiling had fallen in the kitchen, there was probably 6 inches of water in the kitchen and 2 feet in the basement. The pipes had burst while we were away. We have no idea how long the pipes had been hemorrhaging before we arrived. Water was still gushing in. The furnace was off, there was probably 8 inches of snow on the ground, and the outside temperature was 0 degrees. David's beloved book collection appeared to be ruined as all of the pages of every book were warped. The next day they seemed to have straightened out. We really think this was a miracle since the pages were SO bad the night before. The heat allowed the pages to straighten again. Thankfully, only 3 rooms of our house were flooded. George's room was just fine so we put him to bed and stayed up all night cleaning up the mess. When David left the house in mid December, he left the heat set on 55 and the faucets dripping. The pilot light went out on our furnace, however, and caused the house to freeze. We know of at least 4 pipes that burst. We're STILL cleaning up the mess and dealing with mold, mildew, etc. With the car totaling and the house flooding within a week of one another, we are considering these events as a "wake up call." We are trying to focus on the things in life that really matter: our faith, our family, and our health/lives.
  
  "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
  
  
• This past fall, David has been applying for jobs. In fact, he's applied to over 50 around the country. This January and February, he was invited for a few on-campus interviews! I can't go into much detail, but we are grateful for the opportunities and looking forward to the next step in his career. He has worked tirelessly on applications and preparing for interviews. I'm so proud of him and I am confident that his hard work will be rewarded! 

February:

• Well, February has been free of drama (compared to January), but has been unbelievably busy. David has been traveling, teaching, and working on various other projects nonstop. I know he is beyond exhausted.
  
• While Daddy has been away, George and I have been working on weaning. I've been breastfeeding him three times a day for some time now. The past few weeks I've eliminated one feeding a week. Tonight will be his last feeding--ever. My feelings are very conflicted. I know he'll be fine, but I'll miss our special time together, especially since my boy isn't a big cuddler.
  
• David and I are going away to a big writers' conference called AWP in Chicago at the end of the month. We will be representing 32 Poems at the conference in addition to attending readings and social events. This will be our first time away from George together. David's parents are going to stay with George in our house while we're away for 4 days. It will be so fun to have time together again, but I know we'll still miss our baby boy. We're saving our Valentine's date for Chicago, too. It's been too long since I've dressed up for a date. :)

What another lengthy update! I hope to be better about updating the blog again now that we're back in NY and getting settled again. 

Till next time...

2011 Catch Up

My last blog post was in OCTOBER(!), so I'll attempt to wrap up 2011 in this post. 

October:

• George was a dinosaur for Halloween. We enjoyed parties at the library and Earlville fire station.

November:

• George turned 1! We had an intimate celebration with just the three of us. George opened his gifts, ate cake, looked through his baby book, watched videos of him, and we went on an outing to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch was closed and there was not a pumpkin in sight.\! Oh well. He loved the cake and enjoyed ripping the paper off of his gifts. The Earlville girls (and their kids) threw George a surprise party at the library so he could have a party with friends! What a blessing it is to have these women as friends and neighbors!





Earlville Story Time Gang





• Sarah (David's sister) and Aaron got married! We left NY on Nov. 21 to head south for the festivities. It was such a lovely wedding and I'm so glad we got to be apart of it, even if George's babbling forced us to step out early from the ceremony.

George was perfect on the plane. He's definitely prefers window seats!

George and Dada at Sarah and Aaron's rehearsal dinner. 

• We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Chattanooga with David's family. First, let me say that George and I were away from home Nov. 21-Jan. 21. That's TWO MONTHS away from home! It was so great to spend time with our families and for George to get to know his grandparents, aunts, and uncles a little better. I don't think I cooked a single meal for 2 months! Since Sarah's wedding was the weekend before Thanksgiving, it only made sense to stay there until then. After Thanksgiving, David returned to NY to finish teaching his class and drove to rejoin us in mid-December. We decided not to go back with him to spare George the trauma of two long car rides. Below find gratuitous photos from Christmas and our general visit to Chattanooga:

Well, that wraps up 2011!