Crickets.

I used to think we were brilliant parents conditioning our child to sleep to the sound machine Auntie Snags sent us.  Unfortunately, we chose one of the rather loud noises to condition him--the crickets...

Recently, I have noticed, the droning, high-pitched sound blasting through our monitor is disturbing my sleep because I am waking up feeling more lethargic than ever. {or maybe thats the jet lag}

Van naps to the "thunderstorm" which is more pleasant, but once you get a baby sleeping through the night--you are scared to alter anything.

Naturally, I am blogging when I should be reading.  Van attempts real food tomorrow--funny pictures to come!!

Carmel, CA

I hate it when I'm looking at someone's photos from a wedding and there are no pictures of the bride & groom! But it is difficult to get a picture of them since there is usually a photographer following them around already. So I'll start with Wynne & Francis:

And where they were married (notice the beautiful flowers!):

My three favorite parts about the wedding were:

1. The artist who painted the reception as it occured. (My husband decided he wanted to prove that it was being painted as it occured, so he stood in the very front with his friend, Jamie)

2. The "catch the moment" photo booth.

3. The location:

Now here is where this post probably gets boring, so stop reading. Other than the wedding, the highlight of our trip was touring Robinson Jeffers's home.  

The foundation doesn't allow photos inside the gates (but our tour guide cheated and took one of Evans & I...probably because I may have known more about Jeffers than he did from my poetry class).

 If they had allowed photos, perhaps you would understand why I am so intrigued by Jeffers and his wife Una......or maybe not.  Una was very drawn to unicorns (her name is pronounced "uni") and all things Irish. (weird, right?)  Jeffers knew French, Latin, Greek, and a few other languages and learned stone-masonry.  So he subtlely inscripted poetic verse in the above mentioned languages throughout the house that he built.  (In the beams of the ceiling, over the fireplace, on random walls) and you had to look for them around the house. 

I WISH I could have taken pictures of all of these inscriptions and translate them because our guide didn't even know what all of them meant!!...boo) Some of the verses he knew were something like "be quick to enter, quick to leave" which was in French over their bathroom door... "Live your life, let them gossip" over their bedroom door, and "Live the dreams you imagine" over the fireplace.  {Hopefully more eloquently stated than that}...

 Their house was so cozy and all of the furtiture was preserved. (Including the bed Jeffers passed away in). The views were spectacular and in each room we visited, the tour guide read an applicable verse of poetry.  After touring the house, we climbed hawk tower (which Jeffers built for his wife, Una. It took him 5 years!)

Flowers, apple trees, and rose bushes were blooming everywhere and the sea blew salty air over them which was refreshing to inhale. 

Lastly, here is where Evans & I stayed. There was a bakery attached to our Inn which allowed for some delicious jet-lagged a.m. coffee and frittatas.

Such a great trip! Now its back to Van, Sophie, and thesis. :)

I passed!!

The spanish competency exam. What a relief. Now I am all scheduled to finish my Masters August 4th. What a crazy summer this will be!

I also passed at successfully leaving my 5 month old sweet heart for an entire weekend to travel across the country.

The wedding was amazing, pictures to come soon. Here is Francis's and Wynne's announcement in the N&O in case you are searching for some eye candy. Francis was a beautiful bride!

Also--Robinson Jeffers's house was more fantastic than I could have imagined. I have never experienced fulfilling such a big literary fantasy of mine...the Tor House was more beautiful than any of the photos. Jeffers + his wife, Una were officially the quirkiest people ever. You know thats my style! Major props to Evans for touring the property with me (which came with our own jean-shorted tour guide...)

Sorry this was supposed to be a short post. More to come!

How to pack a baby, dog, husband, and yourself:

One of these:

(I have never denied my starbucks addiction)

Lots of these:

And these:

(Yes I am a 26 year old mother who still has a blankie)

Van discovered Curious George.

{Did I mention we are only going away for a weekend?? Van does not travel lightly}

Owning a Suburban now makes sense to me.

I prepared a rough schedule for mom & dad {who are babysitting Van} and I thought it might be interesting to post to look back on. So here it is:

- 6:30 am—7:00 am—Van gets up; 6 oz. bottle {play}

-9:15 am—4 oz. Bottle; book; down for nap

-10:30 am—6 oz. Bottle {play}

-12:45 pm—4 oz. Bottle; book; down for nap

-3:00 pm—6 oz. Bottle {go for walk}

-5:15 pm—4 oz. Bottle; book {maaaaybe short nap}

-6:00 pm—Attempt Oatmeal

-6:15 pm—Bath

-6:30 pm—6 oz. Bottle; book

-6:45-7:00 pm—Bed

My mom will tell you I left lots of the "details" off of the post {so not to bore you.} And yes I am mildly OCD.

These are staying home:

This is getting paid:

...And away we go!!!

California Excitement

Seriously? Why am I blogging? I have a Spanish Competency Exam at 2pm. That is 4.5 hrs away. Very unprepared. Instead I am thinking about getting to go HERE on Saturday!!!!:

Obviously I am excited about Wynne and Francis's wedding, but I never in a million years imagined I'd get to visit the home of my favorite poet, Robinson Jeffers (well on the blog I claim William Blake to be my favorite poet, but who says you have to have just one favorite??) in Carmel, California.

We have reservations for Saturday morning and I am so thrilled. Here is my favorite sample:

To-night, dear,

Let’s forget all that, that and the war,

And enisle ourselves a little beyond time,

You with this Irish whiskey, I with red wine

While the stars go over the sleepless ocean,

And sometime after midnight I’ll pluck you a wreath

Of chosen ones; we’ll talk about love and death,

Rock-solid themes, old and deep as the sea,

Admit nothing more timely, nothing less real

While the stars go over the timeless ocean,

And when they vanish we’ll have spent the night well.

...To me--the most beautiful words ever written! Have a great day!

Happy Easter!

Completely in love with the above-photographed fella. He really is a precious little guy. His personality just hit with a bang over the weekend and I want to play with him 24/7.  Making him giggle is my new full-time job. We did tons this weekend. If you know us, you will be not be surprised to know we repainted another room last night. It looks great! But still...

The Easter egg hunt/pancake breakfast was so fun! Van met some little toddlers and got {one} egg in his basket. {We felt badly about taking too many eggs from the kids actually able to hunt}

(See his cute basket from G-Mommy? It says "Van's Basket")

We went to delicious dinner at our friend's house Saturday and celebrated Grandpa's birthday on Sunday:

Mom made pot roast...so you know I was a happy camper!

Rest of the weekend we were pretty much outside the entire time. Loving this weather!!

This weekend we are going to California. I am hoping it will just re-fuel my mommy enthusiasm (even though Van's silly giggles did a pretty good job of that over the weekend!)

Happy Birthdays In Order!

Sarah, Van wanted to show you what he's been up to on your birthday! Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow is Grandpa's and Uncle Bo's birthday:

 

AND Van is 5 mos old today! We celebrated being outside and throwing lots of balls to Sophie and I finally planted the roses for Van's baptism. Everything in our yard is in bloom! So pretty. 

I am ashamed to admit that upon discovering a huge hole in Van's pants:

My first thought was to throw them away.  What kind of thinking is that? I mean--I have a sewing machine and it is just a teeny little hole. It took me barely one minute to throw them through the machine and stitch it right up...good as new.  Guess he will be getting a little more wear out of these!

We are gearing up for the big Easter egg hunt and pancake breakfast tomorrow. Van is going to wear his cute easter outfit from Granny Rhombus and G-Mommy Lackey is dropping off his easter basket this evening!! :) Stay tuned--more pictures to come.

Maybe I am desperate for humor...

And I won't confess how long we did this. {Lets just say I have a blister on my finger from winding this thing up!} :)

Ready for Summer!!

I think I am already on cruise control for the spring/summer time. So is Van. I spent yesterday between NCSU library and Borders writing my thesis proposal. I checked out so many books I felt like a crazy woman--diapers falling out of my bag and books tumbling out of my arms.  Three coffees and one parking ticket later, luckily finished and got advisor's approval to officially register.

Now there is a wrench in my plan--I can potentially finish everything over the summer. (Instead of December, as I had planned).  But the thought of writing a thesis all summer long makes me already miss those mornings and afternoons by the pool with little Van I had been daydreaming about!! On the other hand, it would be nice to finally have grad school out of the way and focus on mommyhood and finding a part-time editing career!

Van's g-mommy gave him a little wind up bunny that hops around in circles. We have been very entertained by it this morning. (I say 'we' meaning Van, myself and sophie). [Will try to video that soon.] He is propping himself up on his arms really well and rolling over front to back. Still a little wobbly on the sitting up but can hold on for a couple seconds before toppling over.

Our little Angel!

Welcome, precious little Van

So fresh from God above

Baptized today in Jesus’ name

Held in His arms of love.

May angels guide your tiny feet

And bring you smiles to wear,

And may our Heavenly Father

Always keep you in His care.

Such a perfect day! I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. But one story first. After Van had been baptized, Clark, the minister, was walking him back up the aisle of the church, explaining how the congregation would support Van as he grows up.  The congregation was silent and just watching sweet little Van as he went up and down the aisle.  Towards the end of the walk, Van's dear, sweet cousin Oliver:

Says "Oh Wow!!" in the sweetest voice I have ever heard. It was darling. Clark said "Yeah--its pretty cool isn't it?" We all laughed!

After the service, we headed to Grandma Lackey's for a delicious lunch. I wish I had gotten a picture of the food--it was so yummy!!

Evans's sister, Mary Beth, was our elder for the service. Evans is apparently trying to steal a bite of her cake.

Van's sweet godmother, Sarah, who spoils him so!! She and Ned gave him his "Hungry Caterpillar" baby china :)

Photogenic, soon-to-be-wed Routhie & Matt (who changed her schedule just so she could be here and drove from Winston on a practially empty tank of gas!) Love you troodie:

Ben and Ashley (who hit up two baby parties in one day)

Jamie and Ned escaped unpictured. Evans and I are so grateful for everyone who was able to attend and had Van in their thoughts yesterday. We love and miss our sweet northern fam who was definitely there in spirit!!

Our goal was to plant our rose-beds yesterday so that we could always remember they were planted on Van's baptism as we watched them bloom. Unfortunately we didn't make it, but maybe we'll tackle that next weekend. Van was showered with gifts and goodies, and attended his friend Bailes' first birthday party!(Happy 1 year Bailes!) What a great weekend.