Remember that time we went on vacation and I left...

Don't you love those stories that start with "Remember that time?"

Tim and I arrived back in Georgia late last night. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then went to pick up LJ. Just as we were pulling up to the house, LJ awoke from a night terror. By the time we got back to our house he was still awake enough to call out, "Daddy!" to Tim (no "Mommy" of course:) and then finally fall back asleep as we put him to bed. I'd been stressing about going back to work and so Tim told me to get ready for bed and then have some chill time while he started some laundry.

My goal was to arise early (5AM) to get a head start on the day. I rolled out of bed around 5:30 - I wasn't too stressed because I could still make it to work by 7:30. Ha! At about 6:15 I'm grabbing my stuff and heading out to the car. Opening the car door let out a waft of nasty smells to which I attributed leaving LJ's diaper bag with a full sippy cup of milk in the car, festering for 7 days...

I should stop hear and tell you that when we left last Sunday, I totally got sidetracked and left LJ's daycare diaper bag in the car. This lead me to call my neighbor, DeAnna (who was watching our dogs) and ask her to double check and make sure that my car was locked. It wasn't so thankfully she locked it for me....so Sunday was a harried day of rushing around and I guess I got a little sidetracked - back to the nasty smell.

I grab the diaper bag with the full sippy cup of milk and run it into the house. Back to the car and the smell is still there. I toss my bags on the front passenger seat (figuring I'll drive with the windows down and let the car air out) and my hand grazes the seat. Um wait a sec, it's really cold. At a closer glance, it wasn't just cold, it was sopping wet. After tossing my bags out of the front seat, my initial reaction is to double check the windows...I unlocked the car with a key, so the door definately wasn't left open. A second look at the window and, nope, it's sealed shut. My eyes wander to the sun roof. Yup, the darn sunroof was partially open.

My sunroof was open during the torrential downpours that hit my house while we were out of town for an ENTIRE WEEK!!! Tornados passed over our area and the rain dumped into my car. There is a drought in Georgia and my guess is that my car could be wrung out and solve our county's water issues - ok, I'm exaggerating - but seriously, it was not a great way to start off the day.

So now Tim and I will be the proud owner of a super clean car as it is currently sitting in a warehouse after being taken apart and scrubbed down by a fabulous detailing company.

Note to self, always check the sunroof before leaving on vacation...Kind of reminds me of a Kalvin/Maguire rule - always check your pockets first when looking for keys:) I guess we all live and learn, right???

It's been almost a year!!

Wow! I can't believe it has been 6 months since I updated this site! Things have been crazy around here so I don't doubt that it has taken this long...

Since this is a blog dedicated to our Peanut Maybean, LJ, I guess I should start with him! We have entered the pre-"Big Boy" stage. Yes, our little one has learned how to climb out of his crib. Tim and I were sitting on the couch while LJ was sleeping (or so we wished) and suddenly we heard a "Ooooweee!" Tim and I looked at each other and then since there were no cries, no large thumps we figured it was just LJ playing. A few minutes later we heard some tap, tap, tapping...after a few minutes I looked at Tim and said, "Um, honey, there are no toys in LJ's crib that will make those noises." I crept to the door, peaked in and found LJ happily drumming on his window. Nice:)

LJ's favorite words right now are "Fooball", "Ball", "More", "Puhweah" (which works for please), "Daddy" (of course), "Papa" (for grandpas), "Mama" (only when he is upset or mad), "Sit" (Thankfully it sounds less and less like a certain other 4 letter word - fabulous story about that and a burning fireplace) which leads into "Hot" (for things he can't touch)...and a number of other various words...oh, and how can I forget "Dogee" (a word for dogs, and stuffed animals that have 4 legs!:) 

LJ is growing and I can't believe were going to embark on potty training by the end of the summer (or attempt it). His daycare is still doing great and we've been trying to get a little more involved in his room - attending parties when we can. We were a little nervous early in the year because there were rumors that they might close due to so many parents losing their jobs and having to pull their kids from the school. Thankfully nothing like that has happened thus far! Below is a recent pic of LJ that a friend of mine took when I brought LJ to work with me. I had a few things to finish on a very hectic day. Thankfully my friend Bill had some basketballs in his office to help keep LJ occupied:) 

Tim & I are in California right now, visiting wineries and enjoying a week of vacation. We miss LJ, but are loving this time to ourselves! We'll post some pics when I get back into town. 

Yay! A New Post!

Okay...so we've taken some time off from blogging, but we're back and with lots to share! First off, LJ is now walking, which is quite priceless! He is also clapping and can (somewhat) do the "Touchdown!" on prompt - it basically consists of raising his arms when we yell "Touchdown!" and then he grabs his hair. His birthday party is on Sunday (the 16th is the actual date) and we are doing a "Prince" theme. I'll try to upload an image of the invitation b/c I made them myself and I'm super excited about them. It's a small party at some friends house and they're letting us use their pool - so lets hope it doesn't rain!

Anyways, other news - Revolution's second campus, Holly Springs, launched on Sunday. Tim oversaw the buildout of the campus and with a huge team of volunteers they made it happen. I am extremely proud of Tim and the work he's done over the last three months. He has withstood extreme stress and pressure - all while dealing with a shoulder issue that's been keeping him in pain. (He received an epideral (sp) today)...I am attending the HS campus to help with the pre-k class. We had 225 (kids and adults) on the first Sunday which was really exciting! I'll post pics soon...or a link to pics...

Hope everyone is doing well!

Below are some fun videos from LJ eating his first "real dinner" at home and bath time:)

New Sights & Sounds!

As LJ continues to explore new sounds...yesterday the "K" sound and today "F" (those are going to be dangerous combinations!) he also has developed a new skill! He can now clap! We've been working with him a little at a time to try and get him to clap his hands. Up until now, he will wrap his hands around your hands, balls, toys and clap them together, but never his hands. Usually when I attempt to show him how to clap he holds his hands in a fist. Today he kept his hands open and allowed me to clap his hands together. I started clapping in front of him and suddenly he started to do it too! Very cool!

Yesterday I got to meet Bob Blue, the winemaker for Bonterra which grows organic grapes and makes organic wine. They use biodynamic practices which seems a little crazy (one of the things they do is bury - and I'm not making this up! - bury a cow's horn filled with cow manure (and some other things) at the fall equinox for six months. When they pull it out of the ground it is compost. They take the compost, store it in a jar with water and then spray it on the floor of the vineyard twice a year at night. This is seen as a bio-regulator. )

Anyways, you can't argue with good wine! They also use cover crop to help with pest control. It was really inspiring to hear all they are doing to make great wine while trying to work with the earth. It inspires me to be greener for sure! They wines are phenomenal so if you're at the store, grab a bottle and see what you think. 

Summertime Photos

Check out some of the summer pictures...

Olympic Fever!

So, I along with many other Americans watched the opening ceremonies last night. I have always loved the Olympics and hearing the stories that come out of it. Watching the Chinese flag come in and hearing the story of the little boy who was able to walk next Yao Ming. From what I understand (I thought this is what I heard the NBC commentators recall) Lin Hao is 9 years old and was in his school when the earthquake hit. He was buried under rubble, but was able to escape. Once he escaped he helped another student out and then went back to find more. When he was asked why he went back, he said, "It's my job. I'm the hall monitor." Totally broke my heart. How amazing children are, so selfless!

So anyways, I love the Olympics, always have - I'll be watching the gymnastics competitions and swimming for sure. I think I like the idea that we all come together at one moment to celebrate something other than selfish ambition - yes, we want our own countries to wine, but at the same time, we routing for the underdogs, cheering for the stories and passion these athletes compete with and all for the same goal - a medal.

Linkin Park

So tonight we got to see Linkin Park thanks to our friends Aaron and JD. Linkin Park were awesome. The concert reaffirmed why we are at revolution church (at leat to me). I loved watching the concert, but as I did I thought about many of the words to these songs and how everyone around me was singing along...songs about putting them out of their misery. They played my favorite songs - a few that could totally be worshipful. It made me see once again how everyone is searching for something and makes me thankful that my relationship with Christ began at such an early age. I'm thankful that throughout my life when things took a turn for the worse (dad's death, shelby's death a month later, gma kalvin, friends turning on me -the list could go on; like anyone else's list) through all these things I had the hope/knowledge that God was in control and that a better day would come. I pray that LJ will have an outlook like that and that he'll be able to turn to God during his traumatic experiences.

My favorite concert experience-seeing Chester's (of Linkin Park) son (age 4-5) with his huge headphones jamming to chris cornell. Even better was after Chester came out on stage to play 1 song with chris cornell, he went off stage and picked up the little boy and held him to his chest, almost like he was comforting him. It was so sweet.

Digging Linkin Park...does it make me want to change the spelling of LJ's Lincoln? No! And yes, someone did suggest that spelling when I was pregnant, I said the choice was Linkin or Jagger - pick one bc you can't have both...you see who won that argument:)