Ready, set...CATCH UP

It's been a while...I know. Thanks to those of you who have queried the whereabouts of my non-existant posts. I feel loved! I guess y'all really ARE interested in what's going on with us...or maybe reading my posts brings comfort that you aren't the only one feeling or going through the stuff of life! Ah...the sisterhood of stay-at-home-moms!

So, the last two and a half months have been a blur. Lots going on. We had a visit with some friends from VA, The Snader's. Mindi and Neal's birthdays are on the same day so it was fun to catch up, celebrate with them and have our kids play together. Good times...

[Awww...aren't Jeff and Mindi cute?! And awww...isn't that cute that Olivia planted a big fat kiss right on Gabriel's kisser?! That probably won't be cute in 10 years...Neal would be on his way to get his shotgun...so I guess we enjoy stuff like this now, right? Mindi and I laughed about it when it happened.]

Then, of course, we've had a couple visits from Grammy & Granddaddy, which are always very fruitful. :) This last visit just a couple weekends ago caused a pergola to appear over our patio in the backyard. (Poof!) Voila! :) (Thanks Neal and Big Neal!) And even if landscape architecture didn't materialize out of thin air, we still love it when they come. Now that Olivia is older, she understands what it means that Grammy & Granddaddy are coming. These visits are greatly anticipated...we count down the days, there are many phone calls to VA leading up to their arrival, and then of course when they finally get here...she acts like most children do when they see "Santa Claus" at the mall during the Christmas season...crying, playing shy...you know the drill. But she soon warms up...especially when she remembers that these are the people who not only bring her things when they come to visit but also have fun snacks, a DVD player in their "truck" and laugh at just about everything she does. The other day we were at Harris Teeter and Olivia saw a penguin costume for Halloween. She wanted it. And I said "But, honey, you're going to be a princess with your special Snow White shoes, remember?" To which she replied, "I don't want to be a princess. I want to be a penguin. It will make Grammy laugh!" I just looked at her and smiled in agreement.

So, Grammy & Granddaddy came...and...OH...of course we can't forget the "Bad Attitude Trolls" that hitchhike their way here with the unsuspecting grandparents. It always takes us a few days to get rid of them.

Ummm...I got to go to Blacksburg for a girls' weekend with an old college friend of mine. We had a BLAST! We both left our babies (hubbies included) and enjoyed a weekend with no agendas, no meal making, diaper changing, schedule keeping, bath giving...it was all about us. It was nice. Ahhh...

A couple weekends after that, Neal and I scooted away to the NC mountains with another couple for some much needed, long-overdue time away. Actually it was an early anniversary trip. We booked a little carriage house that was so cute, went to the Biltmore (which was awesome!) and went to the most ghetto flea market I could have ever imagined. A few times my friend Eileen and I thought we might be kidnapped, smuggled to Mexico and sold on the black market. It was scary. And they didn't even have any good stuff there! Plus, the funnel cake trailer (or whatever that little camper thing is called) closed at like 1:30 or something. Is that normal? Well, it certainly was an education for me (note to self: NO FLEA MARKETS...ever.) Here are a few shots for you to enjoy.

Ahhh...the happy couple...

...didn't look like I was really ready for that picture...

Here...I was ready for this one...

And here's another one of the front of the house. Neal was patiently waiting for me as I played tourist...So, that was fun. But not as fun as our doctors' visits! None of which we have been deprived of...the chiropractor, our "witch doctor" and pediatrician are still seeing us...probably more than they want to, but too bad. They are stuck with us for now. The latest with Emerson is he's still allergic to everything, but he is gaining weight! Miracles of miracles! He has gained 4.5 lbs over the last month and a half or so. PRAISE GOD! I was worried about his weight dropping off a bit (he went from the 50th percentile to the 5th over the summer)...but he finally hit that growth spurt and I am so relieved. We are working on getting rid of a bout of pneumonia and then it will probably be time for some hard core time in the...oh, what did I call it before? Oh yes, the chamber of training and discipline. That cold dank place where chains hang from the walls and rats scramble by when the door is opened. (Just kidding!) But Emerson has arrived...he is in need of some direction. How do I know? Well...let just say when he hears the word "No", he either gets down on the floor into a position that makes him look like a break dancer in the middle of doing "the flare"...or if I'm holding him, he likes to fling himself back as if doing a reverse swan dive. It is quite amazing. Here's a facial expression we see a lot from him these days...

He was told he couldn't play with all the glass vases the furniture store had on display on the floor. WHAT? Those weren't there for me to "play" with?!?! WAAAAHHHH!

Well, there's so much more to write about. I will let you all go for now with this "brief" update. Hope you are all well. Keep posted...I might have something else up before the end of the month. Well...we'll see...:)