Sorely Behind and Welcome to October

Well, I am finally back to the blog after a long break. I have uploaded tons and tons of pics from the last part of the summer and from September. Jared has fully recovered from his surgery and we are glad to have Daddy back to normal. I feel like I have turned a corner with this pregnancy and that I am walking once again among the living. I have energy in the afternoons, I can swallow without wanting to throw-up, and I am overall a nicer person. I am sure those close to me are thrilled. Thank you dear family and friends for your patience with me during this time. 

We are welcoming Fall with open arms and loving the beautiful weather. We are outside most of the day playing and playing. We just got back from Chattanooga last Thursday with a bounty of wonderful gourds and pumpkins and pansies to adorn our house with. Thanks Mom for all of it! It has made the outside look so "harvesty." (I realize that this is not a word, but I love making new words. This is defiantly a Megism. :))

Anyways, I have posted the pictures of us going to the nursery to gather our pumpkins and thought I'd share. October is my favorite month (October and April actually tie).

Happy Wednesday!

Two Randoms: Surgery and Nightgowns...

I have lots of wonderful pictures that I am dying to share of the last couple of weeks, but I have left my camera cord in Chattanooga and I keep forgetting to ask my Mom to send it. Mom, if you are reading this....could you please send me the small white cord that is in the top left drawer of the bar in your kitchen??? I would really appreciate it. We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend spending time with our dear friends, The Browns. I cannot wait to post those pictures, one day when I get my cord back. But, after we arrived home on Monday afternoon we found ourselves in the doctor's office and then up to Tuscaloosa  to a Radiology Clinic because it was quite clear that Jared's appendix was infected. He has been dealing with stomach issues and pain in his abdomen for months and months. We had actually gone to see the same general surgeon around this time last year and he felt like Jared just wasn't "sick enough" to have it removed. On Tuesday afternoon, we had it confirmed after extensive CT scans that Jared's appendix was heavily inflamed. On Wednesday morning, Jared had it removed, stayed two nights in the hospital, and came home Friday. The Doc said his appendix looked to be about 1 or 2 from rupturing and so we are so thankful that it all went well. We have been flying solo here in Demopolis without any family to help (due to their own extenuating circumstances) which has been incredibly frustrating, exhausting, and great all at the same time. I felt like my hands were tied since I could not be up there at the hospital with him to monitor his care and help take care of him. I took the boys a couple of times to see him and so I could see him too AND it was a complete nightmare (made worse that Jared did not have a private room and I would catch Alder or Kingston on the other side of Jared's curtain pushing buttons on the other man's hospital bed. Crazy! Thank goodness he was a sweet man. I just hope my kids don't come down with the plaque after being in the hospital two days in a row. I pretty rubbed their bodies down in hand sanitizer after leaving each time. Did you know the FLU is already going around here?)I am exhausted as I have taken on all duties around the house and I am still feeling yucky with this pregnancy, but it has been a great learning experience for all of us. We are more competent than we thought! We have realized (something I have known for awhile, but became clearer to Jared this week) that we desperately desire to live closer to family. We are taking those active steps and have been for quite some time. It is still survival mode around here and it appears that Jared will not be back at work til Tuesday, can't drive til Thursday, AND can't pick up anything over 10 lbs. or 6 weeks ( I am going to have to have a little come to Jesus meeting with his Doc. about that one :) Hernia Smernia, I say. Haha.) In fact, I am suppose to go to the beach with all my dear friends from high school this coming weekend, a trip we planned back in July and two of the girls have bought plane tickets for it, and it is looking like I won't be able to go! So sad. It was going to be my FIRST time to leave my kids and get a little R&R! I am trying to work it out currently. I am looking for a nanny for next weekend....anyone interested? Ha.

Anyways, I frantically ran to Wal-Mart to get a few essentials during every one's nap time (and suppose to be mine too) yesterday and as I was walking down the main aisle to check-out, I looked over and saw these little nightgowns hanging on a rack.

I realize that this doesn't look like much, but its so soft. It is actually slinky-like, fits great, comfortable, and it only $10. I was in desperate need for a couple of new nightgowns since the ones I have are over 3 years old, pilly (sp?), and bought when I was 8 months pregnant with Alder. Anyways, I bought two. One in black and one in a plum, geometric print. I could not find the plum color to copy and paste in here, but I promise a trip to Wal-Mart for these will not disappoint. They also a navy print and all colors come in a tank top and pant set as well. I just thought I would share. I cannot STAND Wal-Mart, but once in awhile Wal-Mart tires to redeem itself with such finds as these.

Happy Sunday!

Brothers at Play, Plasma Cars, and Organ Music

Alder and Kingston seem to play well together but the two of them certainly have their moments. Like this past week, for example, when we were at the park. I was talking to a couple other moms and I looked over when I heard my boys fussing. I looked over just in time to see Alder and Kingston completely gripped onto each other in anger and frustration and then the two of them proceeded to tackle each other to the ground. They landed in dirty, water fountain, run-off, covered in mud, and tears. I could not help but laugh to myself as I realized that this will happen over and over again in their relationship as they grow up...I just did not think it would happen this soon. Boys will be boys. I think the other mothers looked on in horror. Horror at the sheer anger and wrestling that took place between my 2 year old and my 1 year old OR horror at my very relaxed response, I am not sure. 

Anyways, we took this video tonight of Alder pushing Kingston on the plasma car and the two of them enjoying it immensely. The plasma cars are great and if you are looking for a toy for any child under the age of 8 the plasma car is where it is at. Check here for more info. We had just gone on a hike, eaten take-out, and listening to our weekly Sunday organ music (yes, my husband is kind of dorky in this way) so you'll hear that in the background of the video. If you are dorky too, then you can click here and stream incredible organ music anytime. We do love listening to it as a family and it brings back so many memories for Jared and I from our time of living in England. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Baby News Part 2....

A fun part of the baby news were these pictures. I had figured that I was pregnant for awhile, but because Jared loves surprises and particularly surprising me we did something a little unique. I took a pregnancy test the night before these pictures were taken, left it in the bathroom for Jared to read, and then if I was pregnant, I let him "surprise" me. Of course this being the 3rd pregnancy and given how rotten I felt, I was going to be surprised if I WASN'T pregnant. So, he made up these t-shirts that said "I'm a the biggest brother" for Alder and "I'm a big brother" for Kingston (just wrote on some of his white shirts with chalk so that's why you can't read them) and put them on the boys. The boys came into the kitchen after baths with Daddy wearing the shirts and we all celebrated. Alder was thrilled and for being just 2 1/2 yrs. old, he seems to have gotten this whole "baby in mommy's tummy" thing right from the beginning. I love his expression in the picture above. At this point in the evening (7:30) Kingston was just done and ready for bed and so not so happy to get his picture taken....or maybe he was sad he was no longer going to be the baby. Haha. I have added a wiget to the blog of baby #3 and its growth which is fun for Alder to get on a see. Right now I am just counting down until the 2nd trimester in hopes I will start feeling better when I reach that point. 

Happy Saturday!

A little hiatus AND some news....

We took off to Chattanooga at the first of the month with the intention of staying just one week, but we stayed two instead. We love visiting and yearn to maybe live there one day. All of our family is there and we think they are pretty cool. Shortly after arriving on Lookout Mtn. my camera battery died and I made no further effort to charge it. So I have no pictures of the time there, but my very camera savvy sister-n-law took a few pictures of various time spent with cousins and family. Below you should be able to see some sweet pictures of the boys and cousins. We swam, ate chicken finger basket after chicken finger basket by the pool, stayed in pjs for hours on end, rode the golf cart around the mtn., explored the aquarium, enjoyed the Creative Discovery Museum, ate lunch with grandparents, Alder ventured to the "Barn" (as we all call it) til' the late hours of the night feeding horses, chicken, and monstrous fish in the stream. The boys basked in the love of their uncles and my parents and so enjoyed seeing cousins. Sadly, I do not think they missed Daddy at all. Ooops! It is wonderful to visit and have a nice long visit like that. It was our last summer hoorrah. I mourn the end of summer each year. I wish I could live in a perpetual summer season, however; this south Alabama heat is pretty dad-gum miserable. 125 heat index everyday for weeks before we left at the beginning of August may have had something to do with us staying for 2 weeks in the cool mountain air. 

I am posting links to Beth's pictures of all the cousins. It is so fun to have so many little ones all so close in age.

Beth, Joseph, Teddy & Wilder: Aquarium with Alder & Kingston- 8.16.10

Beth, Joseph, Teddy & Wilder: Wingfield lunch at Guthrie's- 8.7.10: 

"Entertaining the other Guthrie's patrons :-) Yaya & Papa with all 11 grandkids- 3 more on the way! sweet brothers Papa & Yaya & the littles..."

Beth, Joseph, Teddy & Wilder: Summer pool time with cousins: 

"Josie & Wilder Shaw, Alder & Teddy Stoney & Teddy on Jackie & Joe Joe's shoulders Wilder, Shaw & Teddy"

I was able to get one picture though that is probably more interesting than all the others......

It's a picture of Baby #3. 

Coming mid-March.

I am 11 weeks Wednesday and feel pretty rotten. 

Maybe its a girl? 

We would be thrilled to have 3 boys though.

Alder cannot stop talking about the "baby in mama's tummy that is soooo tiny" as he says as he holds his thumb and forefinger spaced apart. It is very sweet.

 I feel richly blessed to be carrying another little one. 

Lazy "Beach" Fun

 The boys have adored going on the boat this summer. They love the engine, trimming the motor up and down, the wind in their hair, the water, swimming, and the "beach" we visit. I love watching them play, discover, explore, and this past Sunday catch a fish with Dada for the first time. Alder and Kingston could not get enough of the fish. They touched its eyes, skin, fins, and were saddened when Daddy released it back to "his family." I have found that to make boys happy just give them sticks, water, and mud. Oh, and something with a motor is pretty cool too.

Happy, Happy!

We have been without Internet for days and days and days. Literally it has felt like eternity and does that just sound pitiful? I have not posted in awhile because of it, but I thought I would post a couple of videos of us celebrating Jared's 29 years.

I have also included a video of the dance party that took place on Jared's birthday. We have dance parties almost every night so Jared's birthday was nothing out of the ordinary. We listen to so much music around here at night that Alder recently thanked God for Tom Petty when he prayed before dinner the other night. Alder's favorite right now is the "EveBillerBand" aka the Steve Miller Band and listening for the harmonica in the background of Bob Dylan songs. 

Funniest thing.

By the way, Kingston is just my love. He loves music as much as his brother Alder. You know, he may have red hair but at least he has got the moves going for him. 

***I posted this last night and then went into tell Jared so he could look at it and watch the videos. He thought this was halirious but pointed out that Kingston looks, well, a little special. I tend to agree, but that is what makes him so funny to me in the first place. He does like a low swaying back and forth when he dances...always. So odd.***

boy, oh boy...

Don't let these sweet and innocent boys fool you! 

They have run circles around me this week in such a way that I have limped slowly into my bed at night from such exhaustion. 

I will share with you an a part of email to my dear sister-n-law I wrote earlier today,

 "beth, sorry i am just now getting back with you. i assure its not b/c we have been out and about doing fun exciting things rather just trying to get through the days with two crazy boys. yesterday, i found kingston chewing on a roach (seriously i was removing pieces of roach out of his mouth with my finger) and alder peed all over the bathroom wall/corner (not even hitting the toilet) and came to tell me so proudly that he had "pee peed on the roll!" i am guessing he had been aiming for the toilet roll?!?!?! on monday, i lost my keys at wal-mart, had dinner guests last night, and kingston continues to be the master mess maker around the house. i just cleaned up 250+ beads he knocked off the steps on to the playroom floor. ahhhhh!!!! its been chaotic! i still love them to bits and pretty much could just kiss their faces off though. its just boys being boys i guess!"

It is funny though. I can be with friends who are mothers only to little, sweet, and quiet girls and I'll catch them starring at my boys blankly. "Yes, I know," I think to myself, "I cannot believe that they are that loud and unruly either. I do try, really. I discipline, try to teach them to eat with silverware, and bath them every night yet they are smelly 12 hours later. Trust me, I do."  Oh, I love boys though. There is never a dull moment.

Speaking of boys.

My boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE books. Specifically books about "boy" things. However, Alder's favorite movies right now are Snow White and Cinderella. So....hmmm. Anyways, if you are looking for some great books for your own little ones or some great gifts these books are the best.

We received our first Ant Parker book from our beloved friends, the Branfoots who live in England, as a birthday present for Alder. There are like 10 books in the series. Each book is filled with pages full of rhyming sentences and perfect description of the vehicle/train/rocket/etc. At the back of the book, there is a page of "vocabulary words" from the story. This is Alder's favorite part. In fact, yesterday when I went to go get him out of his crib after nap time, he kept saying, "Mama, what is that noise?" "It sounds like a boat propeller." Yes, he was right. I could hear ski doos far off in the distance, but he was using one of the vocabulary words from the Busy Boats books.

 We received Dazzling Diggers from the Branfoots and it came with a read-along CD chocked full of great "digger sounds" in the background. You can find all of them on Amazon, but the ones with the CD are harder to find. Good luck hunting!

wedding bells 6 years ago....

This is obviously me. I was 20. Yep, 20 when I married. I was 19 when I got engaged. And I would do it all over again tomorrow. I was 16 when I fell in love with Jared and he is the one who took this picture. We had just left our reception in his family's Jeep covered in bouquets and donned in torches of blazing fire. I was so excited to be starting a life with him. It has been a wonderful 6 years. We have traveled, lived abroad, gone through real difficulties and survived them, owned 3 different houses, remodeled two of them, laughed a lot and have been blessed with 2 wonderful boys.

Here we are on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. It was our own house at the edge of a cliff. I'll never forget that on the first night of our honeymoon Jared was rally racing our rental car up the mountainous terrain in the darkness of the "jungle" and WRECKED it into the "jungle." We laughed so hard. Good thing for rental insurance. The main part of the house was opened aired and it came with its own housekeeper, Letti. I miss Letti. My 2 wonderful boys are wonderful, but oh how I would love to go on a 2nd honeymoon!

View from our house looking down onto Margot Bay.

oxford town, a home visit, and the 4th....

***I realize that these pictures are not all aligned and it is DRIVING ME CRAZY! It appears that this is a common problem in blogland according to the forums. Has anyone had this problem themselves and solved it? Please let me know. Thanks!***

A couple of weekends ago I journeyed the back roads of Alabama into the heart of Mississippi to visit with my brother Houston. I traveled alone with only my sweet boys who gorged themselves on gummies and dvd videos for I do not have children that sleep in the car. I could sense their understanding that patience was needed as we drove and drove and I was quite impress with their resilience. The car ride took us into such rural areas that my cell phone hardly worked and I soon comforted myself with the fact that if my car was to break down or worse, I could knock (probably) on any door of any house that I passed and be greeted with a friendly face. I probably would have been helped by the whole family, given newly harvested produce from their garden, and my children would have been loved. Is it silly to think that rural America is still this innocent and charming? My parents and my brother Jes joined us too in Ole Miss. We had arrived to cheer Houston on in the the two plays that he was acting in. He is quite the actor with a lot of natural talent and a real passion for all things theater/entertainment related. I can see him growing up and "making it big" or becoming a producer/screenplay write/director. I feel as though we will soon lose him to world of LA and all the opportunity it offers. Well will see. Houston did a tremendous job in "Hamlet" and the "King and I" and I was wowed with such talent that was displayed by all the actors on the stage. Our family really enjoyed a special time in Oxford. We hung out at Houston's apartment where Alder loved playing his guitar. We toasted to my parents 34 years of marriage, I worried that my sons would contract some sort of disease crawling around the incredibly sketchy floors of Houston's home, played at the pool, ate ridiculously good food, and explored. We explored the wondrous stores of "the Square" and window shopped. The boys, KeeKee, and I lingered forever in a charming children's bookstore and ate some more. Oxford is a very interesting place and I just don't think you can get anymore southern than there.

Doesn't this little boy look just like his uncle???

Alder and Kingston both adore their uncles. As you can tell from the picture from above, Alder was having a thrilling time. Uncle Jes impressed him as well with amazing "skills" and my parents and I stood there watching and saying how blessed we were to have Jes be a so high-functioning. He swims, sleds, skips, runs, and jumps. He laughs at our jokes, carries on conversations with just about anyone, and reads at a 8th grade level. I marvel at him. 

Alder was not convinced that waiting as long as we did at Ajax Restaurant was really worth it, but changed his mind once he tasted the shrimp, green beans, and french fries. 

My sweet Kingston just doesn't care. 

Hallelujah for parents who have loved each other for 34 years. 

Then the best thing happened. My Mom came back with us to visit. It had been 13 months since she had come to visit by herself and we loved it. We had nothing to do, nothing planned, and just laid around enjoying KeeKee. I hate battle trying to find contentment in living so far away from our families. We miss so much time with Grandparents that we adore on both sides, all of our cousins, every birthday celebration, our birthday celebrations (because there is nothing like your Mom/Dad taking you out to lunch on your birthday), and so much more. Not to mention that as I write this I am struggling to find a babysitter so Jared and I can celebrate our anniversary tomorrow. Most likely I will once again be unsuccessful and once again Jared and I will "go without" celebrating ONE more thing. I would love it to have our family lived close by. Oh well, we are here, have never lived close to family since being married, and I try my darnedest to cope with it each day. 

 I love my Mom and I love how my kids love her. One morning I woke up to Alder saying on the monitor, "MOM!" "KEEKEE!" "MOM, WHERE KEEKEE GO?" with a tone that carried with it such panic and distress. We created, picked, read, and celebrated. It was utterly delightful. We miss her dearly, but sent her off with some delicious 4th of July food, boat rides, and fireworks. 

Delicious blueberries have now filled my freezer and we are (I am pretty sure) turning purple.

We kicked off the 4th with an enormous catch and release (or rather escape due to the crickets' freakishly strong legs) of another Chernobyl cricket. I mean what is more American than that? "Hunting," capturing, controlling, and staring at an animal that is unusually large???

We boated all weekend and especially on Sunday. Alder is quite "the Dude" with his sunglasses and both of my boys love being on the boat. We swam on "our beach" as Alder calls it and waved our flags. Speaking of which, my Mom purchased the flag in the before post. I love having a large flag flying in front our house because, damn it, I am proud to be an American. I am one of those that LOVE LOVE LOVE the 4th of July. There are so many reasons why and I will spare you the list. 

We watched fireworks with the Lessmann clan and Alder cannot keep his hands off little Sterrett. Alder may be an intense little boy, but he loves babies. It is a wonderful thing since he is and always will be the big brother. 

Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th to You from Main Street America!

More patriotic pictures to follow....

I am sorely behind on the last few weeks, but stay tuned.