July Round-up

After I was concerned that I had too many activities packed into this day, we woke up to find a crying Hamilton who fell back asleep while waiting the remaining ten minutes for his alarm-clock light to turn green. The second time he awoke crying I asked him if he felt OK, and he said his throat hurt. So this morning has been drawn out with lots of TV watching, some throwing up--mostly in the toilet, feeling revived and heartily eating breakfast, and finally back to TV watching with his feet covered up by the blankies that normally must stay in his bed.

I found him like this when I walked back downstairs after checking on Collier: Hamilton was fast asleep on the hard floor on top of the dirty towels. Yes, that's a barf bucket in the bathroom--just in case.

Since our many activities have been postponed or canceled due to Hamilton's sickness, I now have a more open day which in some ways makes me feel good. And I'm having time to sit down and blog. I still have some pictures left to post from our trip over the July Fourth holiday.

Swimming Lessons
Hamilton's been in swim lessons this week and last week, and he's learned so much. While he used to be tentative around the water--sometimes taking up to ten minutes to even get wet--he now jumps right in. He puts his head underwater, kicks his feet, jumps in from the side, and tries to swim. I'm thrilled with his progress.

Here's a picture from our trip to Mountville when we spent a late afternoon at some friends' pool. It took Hamilton several seconds of encouraging to jump into the water into Pops's arms--and he definitely didn't want his head to go under.

Now he confidently jumps into the water by himself and then swims toward the adult catching him. Sadly, I planned to wait until his last day of swim lessons (today) to take my camera. So I have no pictures of his cute little class, which included Grady and West.

The Pacifier

The "paci fairy" came to visit Hamilton--and take his pacifier--on his third birthday while we were at the farm. We opened the special prize that she brought just before bedtime.

I started talking about her visit the week before, and Hamilton really obsessed over her coming, her taking away his pacifier, and her bringing him a special prize. Once I'd encouraged him that the paci fairy would bring a special prize, I had to actually think of something to bring him. I thought I had a great idea: A Thomas the train pillow. My thinking was that he could have something in his bed with him that he'd love and would help ease him through pacifier withdrawals. While he did like the Pillow Pet at first, he turned a little hostile toward him after asking repeatedly for his pacifier but not getting it. He told me, "Take Thomas downstairs. I don't want him."

Those first few nights without the pacifier proved hard for Hamilton to calm himself down and go to sleep. But after a week or so, he went back to his old habit of going to sleep within minutes of my telling him goodnight. (The pacifier was a wonderful crutch for helping him sleep these past three years, but I was thankful it didn't take long for him to adjust to going to sleep without it.)

Greenville Day Trip

During our stay in Mountville, Mom and I took the kids one day to the Children's Museum and to Falls Park on the Reedy. We'd read on Aubrey's blog about how fun the Children's Museum was, and it was indeed fantastic. Claire loved the museum, and so did the boys. This climb-able sculpture was super cool, and Claire was much braver than Hamilton as she climbed through tighter spaces and closer to the skylight above.

Then Hamilton discovered these mirrors, and he loved jumping and running on them.

We perused the shelves at the "local Bilo." I'm so proud that my son mostly filled his cart with fruits and veggies first.

Mimi helped the boys with the climbing wall.

The farm exhibit was such fun for the boys, since it was for kids under five. Mimi and Claire explored other floors, while I watched the boys play in the farm.

After a rejuvenating lunch, we walked to Falls Park, so we could see the cool bridge and play in the sprinklers. And the sprinklers even had a train--much to Hamilton's delight. We had neglected to bring a swimsuit, so we pretended Hamilton was a little European boy with small swimming trunks.

It was a beautiful area of the park, and the best part was the shaded benches for the parents.

Our Students

We've spent every Sunday this summer with our adopted college students, and Hamilton has grown attached to Alex and Trevor. Last Sunday he literally cried tears after they left. They're so sweet and wonderful to him, and he loves for them to come play each week. We talk about them a lot during the week, and nearly every night Hamilton thanks God for Trevor and Alex.

Grady's Birthday
Hamilton loved Monkey Joe's for Grady's third birthday. Amanda planned well because not only was it military night and we all got in free, but tearing the boys away would not have been easy unless we were headed somewhere equally fun like "Chik-ih-lay."

Collier even joined in the fun.

Hamilton (in red) and Grady (in orange) climbed up the big wall before sliding down the other side.

At Chick-fil-A the big boys sat by themselves in a booth, and they looked so old.

Amanda made the cutest cupcakes with grass, asphalt, and cars on them; and the boys picked their favorite color car.

West and Hamilton stuffed their faces with cupcakes.

Grady and his cousin Tyler did the same.

My Hiatus

Though the party brings my pictures up to date, it's hard to believe I haven't posted anything in three weeks. I'm sorry, dear readers. I'm hoping to pick back up with my beloved writers' group this fall, which was a great source of inspiration and accountability for writing and blogging. Lately I've felt so busy with other things--two active boys and extra church duties as we fundraise--that blogging has taken a serious backseat. Even when I have a snippet of time, I sometimes don't feel motivated. I'm hoping to work through this "writer's block" and be back to posting regularly soon.

Catch-Up List

Yes, we're still sad about Phoebe; but contrary to the blog's previous front-page post, life continues. I have much to share from the last two weeks. And I have pictures, especially for those wonderful grandparents.

1. My women's conference over two weeks ago was fabulous--no kids, no cooking, no chores! We heard awesome teaching, and I got to hang out with some cool chickies! We ran into lots of friends from other churches, despite nearly 2000 women in attendance. I was surprised and delighted to see my high school chum one morning at breakfast.

2. I've weaned Collier, so he's now fully drinking formula. I was eager to wean because--to me--breast-feeding gets old. I was ready to have my body (and time) back to myself. As I type, I think this all sounds selfish, but I was really ready to be finished with pumping. I weaned Hamilton between five and six months, too.

3. Hamilton does lots of new things now, like saying, "I wuv you!" He loves giving and asking for "high fives." He sings many of his familiar songs in distinguishable words and tunes; I'm really hoping for a video of his rendition of "ABC" soon.

4. We celebrated Mr. Morgan's birthday with Claire on Thursday night. She made him a brightly colored card, and because she had extra clay on hand from social studies class, created a sculpture of herself for him. What father wouldn't love a clay figurine of his daughter? Nevermind that Hamilton points and says, "poop" every time he sees it.

I thought it improved from far away. Something about the tilt of the head and ponytail, I think, is what I like.

5. My blogging has been so light this month, and my other writing is non-existent. I'm not sure why I'm feeling so uninspired these days, but not meeting with my writers' group every few weeks has not helped. Our coffee-fueled discussions helped hold me accountable to writing and blogging, inspiring me with ideas and reaffirming my purpose. Christy and Patty, I miss you! I know there were excellent reasons why we took a break from writers' group, but let's start again soon.

6. Mr. Morgan and I started a cleanse this morning. I'll probably post about our three days without solid food once we're closer to the end.

7. I found a fantastic food blog last week with delicious sounding recipes. I tried the pumpkin spice bars and cookies. The bars were delicious but crumbly because I added raisins and pecans. Sadly, I burned the cookies, but they would have been great without the scald.

Since this post is already long, I'll create another with pictures of the boys from our weekend in the mountains.

A Recent List

1. I have not fallen off the face of the earth as my mother so sweetly asked me this morning over email. Keeping up with two active boys has proven problematic for my blogging. When I have help with the kids, I usualy find more time to blog. Good thing you're coming for a short visit soon, Mom.

2. Mr. Morgan and I tag-team the boys' baths and dinner cleanup each night; so by the time our little ones are in bed, my brain is a little fried which doesn't make for a good blogging environment. We usually enjoy our new favorite show on Netflix streaming and go to bed early.

3. Yesterday I went to the library with both boys because Amanda and Grady had invited us to go to a toddler reading event. I knew Hamilton would love to see Grady and get out of the house (plus, who can resist Amanda?), so I loaded everybody into the Freestyle for the morning outing. Now Hamilton is a handful by himself, but with Grady's mischievous encouragement he's wilder than normal. Add in an infant who needs to be fed at the exact time we're enjoying storytime. Feeding Collier is a two-hand job, so I had no free arm to keep Hamilton in line. Disaster ensued when Collier spit up way more than usual. He was covered, his bib was soaked through, and the one burp cloth I had was soiled on all sides. Then I stood up to help Hamilton at the craft table after storytime only to discover my shorts were wet with the familiar liquid. As I longed for the comfort of home, Hamilton relished coloring his hands with the only marker in the pile of crayons. I've decided that feeding Collier cannot be done just anywhere if I also am responsible for Hamilton at the same time. I think we'll stay home for most feedings after that experience.

4. Since I spend lots of time feeding Collier and pumping, I watch several shows on Netflix streaming. Hamilton enjoys some of them more than others when he's around to watch with me. I only watch things that don't require all my attention, are entertaining in short snippets, and are not riveting--so I'm not tempted to keep watching once I'm done feeding Collier or pumping. I'm enjoying Clean House, Dress My Nest, and Bones these days. Hamilton likes the opening credits and closing music for Bones, so he asks for it by name throughout the day. I'm not sure when Bones will be inappropriate for him to watch even as sporadically as he does, as sometimes the images are gruesome. But I love to hear him say, "Wah Booh-wensth" (with his cute lisp), and he gets so excited when I turn it on.

5. Though we're one July boy short, Amanda and I are planning a small birthday party for Hamilton and Grady next weekend. I'm hoping they'll enjoy our efforts to make their firetruck-themed party fun. I'm on the hook for another cake, and Amanda found instructions for making what I hope will be a simple firetruck cake.

6. I'm so glad to have composed most of this post from Panera this morning while I waited for Christy. We're attempting to have a writers' group meeting after a two-month hiatus. Obviously, I need the encouragement to write and blog, since my last post was over a week ago. I have much to post including stats from Collier's latest appointment, cute pictures from camp last week, and a growing list of Hamilton's daily-expanding vocabulary.

Writing Assignment

This afternoon while Hamilton slept I began my fictional-character writing assignment. I think I'd been putting off even starting the assignment because fiction writing is not what I feel comfortable doing. I probably haven't written "creatively" since middle school. Our writers' group decided we'd stretch ourselves, since none of us are fiction writers. We are each creating a fictional character, and we're bringing our descriptions back to the group to incorporate our characters into a scene.

Once I opened up a blank Word document, my first thought was to describe someone I know because that would be easier for me. Since the purpose was to stretch my writing skills, I forced myself to get creative and actually imagine a new character. I started by visualizing what my character would look like. Then I answered some character-building questions about how my character would act in certain situations. Once I started, I found that the process got easier. I'm not sure what my fellow writers will think of my character, but I'm beginning to like her.

Grateful

Part of January Reflections '11

I like to think I’m a grateful person; however, I know I’m not thankful enough for all the blessings that God has given to me in my life. As for a list of 50 things for which I could thank God, I chose to make a specific list of sometimes-small-seeming things that affect my daily life. Everybody’s thankful for their spouses, their kids, and health. And, as Christians we are thankful for Jesus, the cross, salvation, God’s sovereignty, etc. But my list would have been MUCH longer if I’d included all those big, substantial, world-altering things.

Here’s my list of things to thank God for—in no particular order:

1. Cute maternity clothes that allow me to enjoy being pregnant.
2. Delightful, talented ladies in my writers’ group who encourage me in my writing.
3. Fellow bloggers who inspire new ideas for my blog.
4. Chocolate ice cream in a tumbler with milk that ends my day in a sweet way.
5. Dark-chocolate-covered pretzels which serve as an afternoon snack.
6. Fioona our robotic vacuum cleaner that helps keep the Fatty hair to a minimum.
7. A comfy, new recliner which replaced the eyesore.
8. Friday morning women’s Bible study that keeps me studying God’s Word during the week.
9. Sweet, caring babysitters at Bible study who give me time away from Hamilton.
10. Hamilton’s love for “school” which makes me happy to drop him off.
11. My pink BlackBerry that allows me to send emails away from my laptop.
12. My handy husband who keeps our cars and house in tip-top shape.
13. Kids Place Live on XM radio that keeps Hamilton content in the car.
14. A mother-in-law who’s been so encouraging regarding my blog.
15. Helpful, talented parents who love to visit and work on household projects.
16. Delicious, frozen pizzas that make a quick meal easy.
17. Panera Bread’s sausage-egg-and-cheese breakfast-sandwiches on ciabatta bread.
18. Arby’s Beef ‘n’ Cheddar sandwiches for those early pregnancy days when nothing else tastes good.
19. Instant, friendly connections with moms of other one-year-olds.
20. Claire’s love for the piano and her increasing desire to practice.
21. My newly resoled, brown boots that make me feel warm and fashionable.
22. Free wireless access at Atlanta Bread Company and Panera Bread, two places I frequent regularly.
23. My husband's uncanny knack for researching and learning about any and all topics.
24. A good-paying job that my husband not only excels in but also loves.
25. Chai lattes with soy milk from Starbucks.
26. A high-capacity washer and dryer that help shorten laundry day.
27. Hamilton’s love of music and penchant for dancing that makes me smile every time.
28. My new camera that makes taking pictures fun and more worthwhile.
29. Tomato soup from just about anywhere.
30. Dining out without the kids.
31. Facebook’s keeping me informed about friends’ lives almost immediately.
32. My husband's unparalleled help in the kitchen with food prep and dirty dishes.
33. Appreciative, hungry bellies in my family that eat and enjoy just about anything I attempt to cook.
34. Refreshing, delicious water straight from the tap of our kitchen.
35. A fenced-in backyard where Hamilton can play with minimal supervision.
36. My mom’s celebrating of all holidays with small, cutely wrapped gifts, which now my children get to enjoy.
37. My brother’s incredible knack for finding a perfect gift for anybody on any occasion.
38. Community Thrift Store’s ever-rotating stock of gently used clothing and furniture.
39. A capable husband to watch the kiddos when I’m enjoying girl time.
40. Top-notch music at church that aids my worship each Sunday.
41. Cute bed-and-breakfast inns that make vacations seem cozy and wonderful.
42. Netflix streaming in HD and Blu-ray discs that conveniently come in the mail.
43. Bonding and laughing hysterically with my family while playing board games.
44. Timely advice and funny stories from other moms of toddlers.
45. A comfortable bed with clean sheets and a warm down comorter.
46. Hoodies with zippers, front pockets, and deep hoods.
47. Comforting presence of the dogs on nights when I’m home alone.
48. Tiny hands and feet that bump my belly from the inside especially in the evenings.
49. Trendy, comfortable shoes without heels.
50. Free, picked-up-on-the-side-of-the- road furniture that only needs imagination, elbow grease, and a little investment.

On Writing

Sweet Mr. Morgan surprised me tonight with a little, impromptu gift. He can be so sneaky and sly sometimes, wrapping this thoughtful present at work today and leaving it casually on the coffee table for me to find after Hamilton went to bed. Since I've been spending so much time blogging and writing lately, he researched to find me a highly reviewed book on writing. I'm so excited to dive into this "ultimate guide to writing well," and then share my discoveries with my writers' group.

Live Nativity

We took Hamilton to the live nativity at First Presbyterian Church in Clinton last night. He was "memorized," as Claire would say, by the braying donkey. The night was also way too cold for him to want to be anywhere else but Mimi's warm lap during the program.

After the short production, Hamilton got to view the donkey up close. After a few seconds, he tentatively reached out to pet him.

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I wrote a vignette about Christmas Eve with the Taylors, which includes a reference to the same live nativity we took Hamilton to last night.

Christmas Eve Then and Now

Though the physical manifestations of Christmas Eve’s excitement have lessened as I’ve gotten older—the fluttery stomach and too-fast chatting, I’m reminded by the chilly air, the layers of warm clothing, the early arrival of night’s darkness, and the time together with friends and family of my childhood anticipation for the holiday.

Our family has attended a Christmas Eve service most years. How exciting it was a child to hold the small, white candle surrounded by the wax-catching, paper ring as Dad lit my wick from his flame. We’d sing Silent Night, Holy Night as everyone’s candle was lit illuminating the whole church. I still enjoy the candlelight portion of the service; however, holding fire in my hands is not the most exciting thing I do now as it was when I was nine.

After the service, we usually head to the live nativity production at the local Presbyterian church where the youth group tells the Christmas story in costume while the audience freezes on cold, metal bleachers. I never paid much attention to the requisite sheep or donkey at the live nativity, but I knew live animals were somewhere.

As a child, on the way home was when I’d usually ask if we could open just one present. Dad would always say, “Open as many as you want tonight. But then you won’t have any left to open tomorrow.” We never did open any presents on Christmas Eve. After pondering the alternatives of opening gifts now or anticipating opening them later, we always saved them all for Christmas Day. Nowadays Dad’s the one who jokes about opening all our presents on Christmas Eve and “getting it over with.”

As children Travis and I would wake up on Christmas morning and discuss how much longer we needed to wait before we could go wake up Mom and Dad. As the minutes slowly ticked by, we’d finally hear them stirring; or Dad’s preapproved time for wake-up would arrive, and we’d run in their room to greet them. With the pretense of Santa, Travis and I would wait upstairs before Dad would holler up to us, giving us the all-clear to come down and see what Santa brought. We’d rush to our stockings and other unwrapped gifts, exploring the bounty and exclaiming over everything.

Now we wake to Mom and Dad’s banging around in the kitchen as they prepare a delicious Christmas-morning brunch served on Mom’s best china. We enjoy a big brunch of eggs, cheese grits, and sausage, cleaning up before the first stocking is even opened. We spend lots of time opening presents one by one, and we spend the afternoon napping, watching TV, or playing games.