Best Homecoming Ever

October 20, 2001 - the date Dave and I officially became engaged. Since yesterday was the 8-year "anniversary" of that special date, and since I doubt Dave even remembers it's significance, I thought I'd post a little picture to commemorate it. This was taken by a passer-by right after the big moment.
We met each other in Atlanta for Georgia Tech's homecoming festivities that weekend. At the time, Dave was working in Texas and I was in North Carolina. We had been long distance dating since he graduated in June of 99 except for a few short months when we both worked in Charlotte.

On that beautiful Saturday morning, we joined my parents and brother\sis-in-law\new nephew at the Ramblin Wreck parade on campus. Then we had breakfast at the Silver Skillet right next to campus (featured in a Travis Tritt video as well as a classic episode of Good Eats) and walked around for a bit.

Before the game started that afternoon, we stopped by "our bench" next to the Tech Tower where we used to go when we were dating. It is a very nice courtyard area right next to the football stadium. Once upon a time, Dave carved our initials in that bench, but when we sat down, we saw they had recently replaced it (due probably in part to our vandalism). And that's where he popped the question. I knew it was coming and of course I said yes. (After all, I had been ready to say yes for the last four years.)

Then we went to the game and shared our news with the family. Mom and Dad already knew since Dave had called them ahead of time. After the game (in which Tech beat NC State - the tickets are displayed in our playroom) they surprised us with a little champagne celebration at our hotel.

It was really hard going our separate ways the next day, but we would soon be together again. I moved to Texas a couple of months later, and the rest as they say is history.

One Year Update

Since Lauren turned one yesterday, I was obligated to take her for her one-year well-child visit at the doctor's office this morning. Originally, I had it scheduled for her birthday, and I'm so glad I changed it to today. Poor girl shouldn't have to be subjected to needles on her birthday. Here are her stats:

Height: 29.5in (50-75th%)
Weight: 20lbs, 13oz (50th%)
Head Circ: 46cm (75-90th%)

After Dr. Smoak declared her perfectly healthy, the nurse came back in to give her the shots. She also snuck in an anemia check - the finger prick test I always dreaded as a kid. At least now they don't use the equivalent of a thumb tack. Instead they use a little contraption that punches the little needle down on the finger to draw the blood. That part didn't seem to be a problem with Lauren. It was the way the nurse was holding her arm and squeezing her poked finger while she got the blood to go in the tiny vial. This went on for at least two minutes while Lauren screamed and cried the whole time. My poor baby made me want to scream and cry with her. And when the nurse came at her finger with a Bandaid, that really put her over the edge.

And what was worse, the finger test was followed up with not one but two shots. (We usually only do one at a time with the exception of the IPV and HIB which we do together and happened to fall on this visit.)

Needless to say, Lauren was not a happy camper when we left. She was so worn out from crying, she fell asleep in the car on the way home (after unsuccessfully trying to take off her finger bandage). I got her in bed and she slept for another hour and a half until I had to wake her up to go pick up Mason from school. (I always hate having to wake her up for that.)

When we got home from school pick-up, she had some pizza and milk (which she started drinking yesterday!) and she was once again her bubbly self. Hopefully, she won't remember these doctor's office visits as she gets older.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

She may be a year old now, but she'll always be my little baby! Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!

Photo album of Lauren with her favorite Pooh Bear taken the 13th of each month of her life...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Beach Vacation

It's been a couple of weeks, but I finally got a slideshow together of our recent trip to North Myrtle Beach. Thanks to Grandmama and Pooh Pa for always letting us come crash at the condo with them twice a year! We always have a great time.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

She Walks!

September 8, a few days before she turned 11 months old, Lauren took her first steps. She walked three paces from the ottoman in the living room to me sitting on the floor. She didn't walk more than one or two steps for another few days, but it didn't take her long after that to really get moving.


Here's the first walking shots I got on camera, taken on the day she turned 11th months.


Over the last week, she's gotten better and better every day. This past weekend we spent a few days with my parents at the beach, and she went from walking 5 or 6 steps at a time to walking across the room by the end of the trip.

By yesterday, she's walking more than she's crawling and even turning corners without falling.

I don't really remember Mason picking it up so quickly. And it wasn't until his first birthday that he took his first steps. I guess it's true that girls really do walk faster than boys - in this family it is anyway.

Who Needs Sleep?

Apparently the people around here think that I don't. Let me just describe to you my night last night for example...

Got the kids in bed at 7:30 and made a late dinner for Dave and I to quickly enjoy before he started doing work. (He works several hours every night after the kids go to bed - even weekends these days - since he can't get everything done in the 10-12 hours he spends at the office during the week. Our "quality" time is sitting next to each other on the couch with our laptops. Exciting Saturday night, huh?)

I went to bed at 10:00. Lauren woke me up at 1:00. Nap #1: 3 hours. This one turned out to be the longest of the evening. After a couple of minutes of praying for her to go back to sleep, I went in to give her a quick snuggle (and rule out the usual reasons a baby wakes up in the middle of the night) and put her back in the bed. Of course she laid down so nicely and quietly until I left the room and then she screamed. This has become a nightly routine over the last few weeks.

So since there's no sleeping with a crying baby in the room next to yours (unless you're my husband), I went downstairs to wait it out. Dave was still on the couch working, so I laid down on the couch and watched some more football until the tear-fest subsided. I finally deemed it safe to go back to bed at 2:00.

I laid down and started feeling kind of queasy with a headache. Dave came to bed about 2:15 just as I got up to go downstairs to get come crackers and a little Coke to try to make myself feel a little better.

At 3:00 I finally felt good enough to go lay back down. It took me another half an hour to get back to sleep thanks to my headache and Dave's snoring.

At 4:30, Mason called me to take him to the bathroom. Nap #2: 1 hour. I helped Mason and went back to sleep pretty quickly.

At 5:20, I heard the dreaded call of the baby. Nap #3: 50 minutes. Since it had been 10 hours since she last ate, I figured she was just hungry and if I went in and fed her a bit, she'd go back to sleep. She ate, but she didn't sleep.

So we came downstairs and had breakfast and played together. At 7:30 she was sleepy so I put her down for a nap just in time for Mason to wake up for the morning.

Finally, Dave came downstairs at 8:30 and I was able to go back to bed until 10:30. Nap #4: 2 hours.

Total sleep for Mommy: 4 naps of 6 hours, 50 minutes.

One night like this wouldn't be so bad, but I've had a string of them for about 3 or 4 weeks now. I'm not sure what's going on with Lauren, but she's been getting up every night lately. I think it's a combination of teething, just learning new walking skills, and the fact my dreaded monthly cycle just returned causing a wave of new hormones infiltrating my milk supply.

I just keep telling myself that she will eventually sleep through the night. I'm hoping that one night soon, she actually will and I will get to too.

Back to School

Year two of preschool has begun!

We had a bit of a rough start today. Just as Dave walked out the door to head to the airport for a two day business trip, and just as I started nursing Lauren, Mason woke up an hour early and was very upset after wetting the bed. I should have predicted this would happen since I changed his sheets yesterday. He only has accidents on fresh sheets. I'm tempted never to change his sheets again.

So I had to put the hungry, crying baby down to help Mason clean up and get the sheets in the laundry room. Then I tried to get Mason in the bath so he wouldn't smell like a potty on his first day of school, but he wouldn't have it. I had to settle for wiping him down with a wet cloth. Finally, I got everything done and was able to nurse Lauren.

After eating Mason's favorite pumpkin muffins we made yesterday for back-to-school breakfast, and a few pictures, we were off.

For the first two days of school, parents are to walk in with their child, so once we arrived, we all headed inside. Mason is definitely familiar with his school since it's at our church and he was in the 2-year-old room last year. We also visited the classroom during open house last week, so he had no problem this morning. We hung up his bookbag in his cubby, I let him work a puzzle with Lauren, and after a quick kiss for Mommy and sister, I left my 'baby' at school.

Last year, I made it back to the car and proceeded to blubber like a little girl. Since I was pregnant at the time, I blamed it on that. This year, no tears whatsoever. I'm excited about the fun Mason is going to have and all the one-on-one time I get to spend with Lauren.

Not long after I got home from dropping Mason off though, Lauren decided to take a morning nap. So much for one-on-one time with her. No matter - I enjoyed my first quiet morning since the last school year instead. Well, as quiet as it can be with wet bed sheets in the washing machine that is.