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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Apple Festivities

Growing up, the middle of September always meant one thing for our small town in Virginia, the Apple Festival! As a child, there was always a sense of freedom as we rode on the floats in the parade and were allowed to run free through the craft tents without (much) parental supervision. Gyros, blooming onions and funnel cakes filled our tummies and we walked or rode in the parade with our churches, little league football teams or as we grew into middle and high school, marched with the band. It really was an exciting weekend for our little town. 

On Thursday night, my mom told me that the *Fall Festival* (as it's now known, due to the fact that the apple orchards are no longer in existence) was taking place this weekend. They were going to go on Friday afternoon and get hot dogs for lunch at the band boosters booth. I immediately imagined us at the parade with Luke watching the bands march with the drum cadence playing, catching candy from the floats and perusing the hand made crafts (and maybe testing out one of those blooming onions!) 

I asked Dillon if he may want to go to VA this weekend, and he wasn't convinced. There are lots of things to get done at our house, plus some relaxation sounded nice.  On Friday morning, I called again to ask and he said if it meant that much we could go. So I got home Friday afternoon, finished up some work and packed our bags. 

We made our way up I-26 and remembered that we had left Luke's pack n play at our house. We stopped and bought a cheap one to keep at my mom and dad's and didn't get home until almost 9:00. Once we got there, Luke didn't want to sleep and fussed until 10:30 (3 1/2 hours past his bedtime). We woke up the next morning and headed to the parade. 

We stood outside in the cool, September air and waited for the parade to make it's way to our spot. There was a chill in the air, so it slipped my mind for hats and sunscreen. That hour in the sun provided a pretty awful sunburn on little Luke's cheeks. The air quickly lost it's chill, the high school bands have shrunk to a handful of students and once the parade was over, it seemed like the crowd took over. I went to get a lemonade and stood in line for 20 minutes only to have a bee fished out of my drink stinging the gentleman making the drink. Luke started to get fussy and wanted to nap. 

Unfortunately, my idyllic ideas of my childhood Apple Festival didn't quite live up to the grown up ideas of what it's actually like. We had a good time remembering when Dillon and I rode on the same float in elementary school, but didn't really know each other and it was nice catching up with people that we haven't seen in forever, but it wasn't the same as when we were younger. I guess things change and it's hard to go back to your childhood. It was still a good weekend seeing family, I'm just not sure it still lives up to my expectations. Even though it wasn't the same, it was still fun to see Luke get his first sucker and dance to the music going down the street!

*These pictures uploaded in the wrong order, my apologies :) *

Luke blowing bubbles with Glen

Giving the best hugs!






We ran into cousin Janet at the Apple Festival!! :) 



Yumo, suckers!










This was a few weeks ago... a praying mantis paid us a visit!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

17 Months

Luke turned 17 months old last Thursday! It seems like this month has brought lots of changes for him as he's made lots of new developments. He also had a little bit of a rough week with some teething which made him lose lots of sleep and be really grumpy (which in turn makes mom and dad lose sleep and be really grumpy). 

After he passed his growth spurt of sorts, he's returned back to being his sweet, funny self. He's become quite the little helper and helped me put up clean clothes on Sunday and has been helping with feeding the dogs in the morning. I taught him how to hang a shirt on a hanger yesterday and you would have thought that was the best thing ever! 

He had his first dentist visit this month where they determined he is right on schedule and the pacifier can stay at least until he's three (we hope to be done with it by his second birthday!) He got all kinds of goodies at the dentist like a balloon and a tee shirt. They even have a room with iPads attached to the walls so kids could play games while they waited.   
A little extreme in my opinion, but anywho. His teeth are in tip top shape!

His vocabulary is growing rapidly and in addition to doggie he now says "I love you" and "uh oh" whenever he drops anything. He's learned how to give wet, sloppy kisses and when Dillon gives me a hug, Luke comes running and grabs a hold of my leg and squeezes tight.  Uncle Taylor taught him how to toast his sippy cup, so now whenever we all have a drink he holds up his cup and says "Cheers!" 

Gladly, he's started expanding what he eats and will now eat fruits and some veggies. For awhile there, he would only eat potatoes and pasta and I snuck in vegetables in pasta sauce. He's now eating bananas, pears and apples. When we get home in the evening after work, we'll share an apple and go back and forth sharing bites. The other day, I gave him a pear and he liked it so much, he refused to share with me! 

He's now wearing 24 month or 2T clothes. While they're still a little long, I have no doubt they'll fit soon. We stood Luke on the bathroom scale this week and he's almost 25 pounds! It makes it interesting for me to carry him places now and he usually walks around instead of being carried. 

It's hard to believe that next month he'll be a year and a half and in six more months we'll be looking at him turning 2. We do have a costume picked out for Luke for Halloween and thankfully, my mom is helping make it. While I do have the sewing machine, I'm lacking on time and knowledge of how to use it. I'm thankful that she's willing to help me out and make Luke look super cute next month! Fall starts the madness until after the New Year, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to the craziness! 

Halloween Jammies!

Brushing his teeth

   
At his first dentist appointment with Dr. Bill... :)

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Big 2-9

I guess it's here. The perpetual age of most women. The last year of being a "twenty-something."  Even Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother refuses to date a lady who's older than 29. 

I once had someone tell me that they spent their 30th birthday in bed, too depressed to get up and face the reality. And while it's a little scary, jumping into adulthood and middle age, I have to say I don't dread next year's birthday too much. I think the worst part of it is now I don't have the excuse of youth for my mistakes and have to own up to the responsibilities of being an adult (which, let's be honest, sucks just a tiny bit). I'm still a little nervous about growing up, but I refuse to lay in bed blind to the blessings and good fortune of my life. 

The last nine years have brought some pretty significant changes. Graduating college, moving to Asheville, getting married, buying TWO houses, adopting two dogs and having a baby. Sheesh, could we have crammed any more into a decade? 

I'm not quite sure why we dread aging, or maybe I do, another year closer to death which is pretty depressing. But why don't we look at it as another year to experience life, another year we have been gifted? I'll be glad to see 30, and 40 and as many years as the good Lord will give me. 

I've been thinking a lot of the birthdays I've celebrated in my 20's, some of them more memorable than others, but all of them happily. I've celebrated this birthday in the best way, with good food, good family and good friends. So here's to my 29th year, I hope to make it a good one!


This would be my 21st Birthday... spent in Asheville with friends celebrating. I had just gotten Lola a week before. I considered her to be my birthday present to myself! 

This would be my 22nd. Dance parties at Dillon & Rob's house. As you can see, we celebrate differently now in our old age. ;) My 23rd birthday we were getting ready to get married the following month. I must have been too busy planning to take a birthday photo. 
24! Fun dinner with friends... this is where we ate again tonight, and at the same table no less. 
For some reason it was a big deal to be a quarter of a century...
And Dillon bought tickets to see Tom Petty! 


And we meet 26. This was my last ditch effort having a "young birthday". Tequila shots and I couldn't make it out of bed the next day. 

My 27th birthday was quite different... We had lunch with the Wyatts and I tried to keep food down because I was about 10 weeks pregnant. This picture is the closest I have for my 28th birthday celebration. Luke joined our family and we spent the weekend following my birthday in St. Simons,GA with my mom and dad. 






Monday, September 8, 2014

Weddings and Blessings

I love big life changes (of the good kind, that is). Babies, weddings, new homes... they all come with huge happiness, a tinge of scariness and stressful days.  Many of our friends are facing big life changes these days, changes that are turning us into TRUE adults. (Even though we're all entering our 30's, some days I still can't believe that I'm an actual grown up.)

We were able to attend a wedding this weekend for our good friends Rob and Amber. The happiness and love at their wedding was palpable and we had a wonderful time catching up with friends that we seem to lose touch with in the days of raising a little one. 

In the midst of the celebrations, there was also stress. Amber was kind enough to let us bring Luke along to the wedding. At first, I was planning on trying to find a sitter. Dillon and I could enjoy an adult night away with friends, but then I thought it might just be easier to bring him along. Amber assured me that there would be lots of kids there and Luke would fit right in. Around 2:30 on Saturday, I began to regret my decision. 

Luke woke up from his nap fussy. He didn't want to wear the outfit I had bought him specifically for this wedding. I had to plan ahead and pack snacks and drinks. Dillon had left at 11:30 because he was part of the wedding party, so I was trying to wrangle this 17 month old kid who is now a quarter of my own weight. I had spent two hours getting ready while he napped and the makeup was running off my face with sweat while my hair frizzed. 

We arrived early and I let Luke run through the fields of flowers and look at the horses in the meadows. And then it started to rain. Once again, I tried to wrestle this little fellow back into the car, where he didn't want to be and struggled to find grace along the way. It continued to rain and I finally realized we were going to have to get to the ceremony site in the rain. I pulled the stroller out so Luke would have shelter and got my umbrella up, only to find it was broken. The story of my day.

Luke got in the stroller and we bumped along the way over the rocks and bridge to the site where Rob and Amber would become husband and wife. By this time, I'm sure I had sweat rings on my new dress and my shoes were covered in mud and grass. We bumped our way over to a seat under an umbrella and I prayed that Luke would behave for the ceremony. "Please don't fuss and cry and throw a tantrum right as they exchange vows..." 

But then, the sun came out. The wedding party gathered on the other side of the bridge and we all stood to watch the beautiful bride come down the aisle. Luke was able to sit still and listened to the music and played with his dinosaurs while the vows were exchanged.

At the reception we were able to relax a little and Luke could run around. I still felt tense as we were chasing him across the dance floor, trying to keep him from putting his hands that were caked in baked beans on fancy dresses and keep him from eating rocks. 

But then I realized as I sat around the table with a group of people we have known from high school friends to friends we've known for only a few years now, how incredibly blessed we are. We had just watched our friends promise to love each other until the end of their days, we were talking with friends who are expecting their first child, friends who had just purchased their first home and our blessing of little Luke who is able to run and laugh and have fun and be a boisterous boy. 

I then realized that the stress of my day was small potatoes. We are all so fortunate in our lives. Yes, we may not have perfect days. Luke may fuss. It may rain on our wedding day. Our body may be worn out from packing and unpacking boxes and house repairs. We may be sick for the umpteenth time this year because of little baby germs or we may be exhausted and worn down because of the life we are growing, but how blessed are we to have these problems?

I may not have the grace and composure that I would like all the time and my head may hit the pillow of extreme exhaustion at 9 PM most days, but I wouldn't change it for anything. 


Keys to pacify

The beautiful wildflowers! 









In motion!