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.