Candice & Todd's blog

oh the times are a changing...

2012-02-02T21:30:00.012-05:00

It seems that we are starting to lose our good eater. We knew it would happen one day, but it's hard to watch (and it's hard to deal with at dinner time).

Pretty much every meal begins with "I don't like that."
We have to remind him that he's had the meal before... he likes it... and/or it's new & he has to try it. For the most part it works. It's tough to not give in, though.

He's been refusing to get out of bed in the mornings too. "I don't want to get up. I'm still tired." ugh! FLASH FORWARD 10 YEARS... bet those words will be spoken then too!
We are hoping that Mercer is going through a phase and that these negative phrases will be eliminated from his vocabulary soon!!

We've found something that motivates him: earning pennies on a behaviour chart that we have. He gets a penny taken away when he does something bad. We add a penny when he does something good. Thank goodness he doesn't really know what the value of a penny is. It seems to work (much like stickers did when he was potty training). Ahhh... it is refreshing that simple things like this work to encourage him to do good things.

On a separate note, Mercer has learned how to snap now and will walk around totally impressed that he can do it. He's learning the days of the week and learning his seasons of the year.

Here are a couple of cute photos of Mercer and "his gang" in the upstairs play room during Soup Night last week. Six kids snug on a couch. They all fit! (Mercer is pictured here (L to R) with Jackson, Jude, August, Glady, and Skyla) We really LOVE our neighborhood, LOVE these kids, and LOVE hanging out with their parents! We look forward to bringing another child into our home and into this neighborhood. Blog-readers, please keep us in your thoughts & prayers. Let us know if you hear of any opportunities that we can pursue / research / etc.

We have been diligently working on our homestudy process. Our social worker has made some suggestions for us in terms of paths to pursue - but none of them are the clear choice at this point in time. We're hoping that the RIGHT opportunity presents itself, as we know we cannot use the same consultant we used for Mercer's adoption due to her fee + the agency cost.

It really stinks that this is a barrier. There are so many children that need homes. But in doing research, this is not just our barrier -- it's pretty commonly cited as the reason why people who want to adopt cannot.

Here's a nice way to end the blog: Mercer trying to make us laugh. Here, he is taking -- rather, "faking" -- a nap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppWPgLUzlzk&context=C35341d0ADOEgsToPDskIELcF6tnu6M7wP5LvjaQjn

Have a great week~

a great thing about children...

2012-01-16T22:49:00.016-05:00

In the past several weeks, Mercer has exhibited a wonderful quality a number of times -- inclusiveness.

When we were in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, Mercer did something cute and unexpected: he asked my mothers parents (his GREAT grandparents), Melvin & Inez, to play catch! Granted -- he had a very soft object that he was throwing around -- it seemed to have startled them both. They did end up playing and I think it made them feel young and happy to get some play-time in. Later that evening, Mercer also wanted my aunt to play "hall ball" kicking a ball down a long narrow hallway over and over again. He loves involving everyone in his activities. This is a wonderful quality that he possesses!

Most recently, Mercer asked some neighbors (in their 50s) to play ring-around-the rosie... "and they all fall down!" (I think he was a bit bummed that they didn't fall to the floor like he did, but he still enjoyed including them in this childhood game -- and I've heard from each of them -- the neighbors also enjoyed it / made a unique memory at coming to one of our Soup Night events!)

We have been hosting Soup Night again this year. It's a lot of work, but we are still enjoying catching up with long-lost friends who seem to only come-together each January... watching their children grow up... and meeting new additions to their families.

Speaking of new additions to families -- we are well underway on completing our adoption Homestudy. If anyone hears of any opportunities -- please let us know! We will be "ready" soon~

This post was begun on MLK holiday. Unfortunately, it was not completed for some time afterwards. But - I did want to mention that this is the first year that we have discussed Martin Luther King Jr. We attended the tail end of the parade + a little bit of the party on the square after the parade in his honor. Mercer is definitely too young to understand why this man has earned a place in history -- but he did enjoy the parade, the cheerleaders, the bands, and the old cars that brought up the rear. Next year, we'll try to make sure he gets a little more out of it and starts to develop a greater level of understanding.

Happy New Year!

last blog post for 2011

2012-01-01T22:56:00.025-05:00

I've been having a hard time writing the last blog post for 2011. We spent Christmas at home. We incorporated some new traditions focusing on doing things together as a family unit such as observing Advent & doing some small community service projects (suitable for a 3 year old). We made gingerbread houses (3 different ways). We made bird seed ornaments for our tree and for neighbor's trees. Mercer also visited Santa on Christmas Eve. We went to several different church services focused on the birth of Christ. We put up a tree and a train underneath it on Christmas morning -- a "real" Lionel train with whistles, smoke, and a controller which changed speed and direction. It was quite nice.

Unfortunately my dad's mother, "Grandma Moore," passed away the day after Christmas. She lived a very full life, however, until the age of 88. Grandpa - "Poppy" as I always called him - passed away just over 5 years ago. We were unable to attend his funeral because we were in Italy. Attending Grandma's funeral last week (at least for me) was like attending a service for both Grandma and Poppy. Their relationship and marriage was very strong. It was evident how much the two of them loved and respected one another. It seemed that they really did "complete" each other and were one. Poppy was a very tall, broad, and intimidating man (to most)... but honestly he was a softie. I learned last week that Grandma, however, really set things straight in the family; she was the tough cookie!

Personally - I don't recall her being too tough. She was a very loving and caring grandmother.

It was nice to learn things about her as a girl, as a young married woman, and as a mother to my dad, Uncle David & Aunt Becky. As an adult, I admired the values that I was just learning that they possessed. They were very accepting of other people. They were Quakers (simple and pacifists) and they participated in activities around a village called Snow Camp. I thought they were even adventurous, as they took a driving tour across the United States after Poppy retired. One thing I would have liked to have seen was them in their prime as young parents -- and running their flower business harvesting 11 acres of dahlias. In their later years, they raised an acre of peonies. For ever... when seeing a peony... I will think of them.

Many of the photos enclosed have not been published on the blog before. My absolute favorite is this one of Grandma and Poppy laughing. They helped bring beauty to this world. Now they are together again.

Pictures... as promised

2011-12-23T06:31:00.012-05:00

As mentioned in the previous post - there were so many pictures of Mercer that were great... too many to cram into the last entry. Now, they are here for your viewing pleasure... Enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Another milestone birthday

2011-12-11T22:25:00.027-05:00

For my 40th, we took a weekend trip to the panhandle of Florida. For years, we've talked about checking out a place called Seaside. It was developed 30 years ago +/- as a "New Urbanist" community. The design of the town promotes density, open space (public green space), and walkability. It's semi-circular in design and it should take no more than 5 minutes to get from the most remote residential area to the center of the town by foot.

We stayed in the center of town - above a retail corridor. It was a great spot and if we ever venture back - I would recommend staying in a similar area...well... if it were a quiet time of year like now. I heard that the first couple of weeks of December are the slowest weeks of the year in this upscale rental community. (This is the reason we could come... it was "off-season" pricing... and even with that it was a splurge) From our porch, you look one way and you can see the public green (complete with lighted Christmas tree) with the beach beyond. Looking the other way, we could see a criss-cross of strung-up lights which created a "ceiling" to the pedestrians below walking through the retail area down to another park.

There is a charter school located on the site. There's all sorts of retail (shops, yoga studios, salons, and galleries.) We've seen a couple of architecture offices located within the development as well. There are several pools, tennis courts, and a playground. Mercer really seemed taken with the tether ball area, as you get to whack stuff there. (BTW - it's very hard to get an action shot when in the reach of the swinging ball!)

We actually liked how quiet it was. We attended a quaint church service with only a dozen other people at the Seaside Interfaith Chapel - a beautifully simplistic chapel. We rode bicycles through the streets with rarely a worry about cars. We walked along the beach and only encountered a handful of people. Speaking of the beaches... they were beautiful. The water is clear blue and the sand is powdery white. A cold front moved through before we came down, but we still walked barefoot in the sand... we just tried to stay away from the water! It did make for a gorgeous sky, though, as seen in the pics that Todd took! We have a lot of good pictures of Mercer on the beach. We will have to post those on the next blog entry!

Pretty much everywhere you turn - there is attention to detail and thoughtful architectural design. The community is very artsy as well, as there are some fantastic galleries and shops here. We probably wandered through all of them at some point as well as attending the local farmer's market. We participated in a number of art activities (several of which were geared towards Mercer). Here, he's making "reindeer food" to sprinkle in our lawn at home at a children's store after reading Olive, the Other Reindeer book at story time. They even treated him to a nutter butter reindeer cookie after all of the fun!

Santa and Mrs. Claus were walking around the shops as well. Mercer blew Mrs. Claus a kiss & I think Santa was a little jealous. Mercer has been singing Jingle Bells pretty much constantly throughout the weekend.

Almost forgot to mention: Mercer said he wanted to get me something for my birthday. When I asked him what, he said "roller skates" then he changed his answer to "Legos."

It was a nice, relaxing family weekend & a gift to spend it with both Todd and Mercer. I'm so glad we took this opportunity to come.

Post-Thanksgving Post

2011-12-01T21:10:00.034-05:00

We went to Orlando last week to spend Thanksgiving with my dad and family. The long drive down & back went much better than we anticipated. Once there, it did not take long for Mercer to spot dad's fire truck collection & start pushing all of the buttons / pulling on all of the ladders / and driving them around.... at least the ones he could get to. He also got to try on his grandpa's fire-fighter hat -- which is very heavy, so it's being held up on his head in this pic.

It took awhile longer for Mercer to warm up to their dog, Kinsie, but once he was not afraid to be around her, they became great play mates! Mercer would dance around, kick his legs up, and giggle if the dog would catch a toy that he tossed her way. The leg kicking thing was hilarious.... perhaps this is a new thing he's doing when he gets really excited?

On Thanksgiving day, we ate good food and caught up with most of the extended family.... step siblings , nieces, and nephews. Mercer was pretty outgoing, but got a little shy around Michelle's daughter, Katie. Hmmm.... It was really great to see how Charlie, dad, and the cousins interacted with Mercer and how he interacted with them.

The day after Thanksgiving, the three of us (Todd, Mercer, and me) took a little drive south of Orlando to LEGOLAND. The park opened in October & I think that the word was out about it - as it was very crowded. This is the first time that Mercer has been to a theme park... and... he had a blast. The park was built on the site of a previous botanical garden from what we've heard. There was a section of the park that looked lush - but most of it had been transformed into what images follow. The first thing we did was go on a double-decker carousel... probably let over from the previous park. The rest of the park looked like an iconic lego blue, red, and yellow plastic explosion. Being a new park, it seemed that there are some kinks to work out (mainly with the timing of the rides and the lines) Commentary from people in line behind us was that they could learn from Disney in that regard.

But - we had a good time. There are lego-related things of course, but there are roller coasters, boat rides, jeep rides, and even cars that the kids can drive by themselves. Yes - at 3 - there are cars that they can drive. Notice that Mercer is looking at a girl and ended up running onto the curb. An early lesson he can hopefully remedy before he's driving a real car! The park is ideal for children from 2 - 12. Mercer could ride most of the rides there. Because of the lines, we only got through about 1/2 of what we wanted to try out. (Mercer, of course wanted to ride the giant roller coasters for the older kids, but those had the longest lines of over an hour.)

The park also has an area with rides that are interactive. One ride that Mercer & I did... you go high when you pedal fast. Another "ride" was for the whole family where you have to pump an air-driven fire truck or police car to one end of a short road. Everyone hops out & runs to a water pump where you have to pump and shoot to put out a fire or knock down a burglar. When that's done each family hops in their vehicles & pumps their way back to the beginning. It was actually a lot of fun.

Finally, it is amazing what all can be made out of legos~ there were life-sized animals in the safari area, cool dinosaurs built that stood in front of a roller coaster, and the comprehensive mini cities that are extremely intricate. I don't know when/if we'll be back to that park or explore a different one when we're back down there - but we're very glad we went.

Running behind. I'll have to post soon about some advent activities that we've started. Have a great week~

Mercer at school

2011-11-20T20:28:00.013-05:00

Three weeks ago, I got to spend the morning with Mercer at school - helping out at his class making Halloween crafts. It was fun - and actually he did really well sitting at other tables doing things with other people's parents. In fact, he never did make it over to the table I was sitting at. He did ask me to come sit next to him on the rug, though, when one of the teachers was reading a book. (smile)

This past week, Todd went to Mercer's school to have Thanksgiving lunch with him. In their class earlier in the week, the kids made headbands and decorated t-shirts with symbols. They also strung beads to make bracelets and necklaces. Mercer is pretty happy with his jewelry that he made, but doesn't like the headband because it is scratchy. Todd snapped some photos on his phone. This one captures an image of both of his teachers - Ms. Tiffany (in back) and Ms. Neda (at left). He had Ms. Tiffany last year in the toddler room, but she moved up to the 3 - 4 year old class. I think that made for an easier transition.

There are a couple of (free) fundraisers that we're coordinating for his school - basically turning things in and earning points so the school owner can "buy" things with their points. So - if anyone has Labels for Education UPC codes (from Campbell's Soup, Pepridge Farms products, Post Cereal, Emerald Nuts, Bic Pens, etc)... clip them if you don't mind. Likewise if you've got old cell phones or MP3 players that don't work anymore or empty ink cartridges... save them. His school can use the points on supplies and equipment. Thanks!

This weekend, Mercer got a new baseball glove. He and Todd pitched a baseball around a little today. He's got a pretty good arm when he steps into his throw. (Todd's words) He's a little afraid of the ball when catching - but that's to be expected. He's not afraid of many things ater he tries them - so he'll overcome this quickly.

A funny thing little guy is saying: "oh yeah." He crashes some cars together and he yells "oh yeah oh yeah!" He wins a game and he blurts out "oh yeah!"

11.11.11 was yesterday.

2011-11-12T22:54:00.022-05:00

Meant to post to the blog on 11.11.11 but didn't make it. Oh well!

We recently checked out a new park called Chattahoochee Bend State Park. We went on a green building & site tour with the designers. It said kids welcome. We were the only ones who jumped on that. Mercer was bored during the building tour, but he stood out when showing all of the adults how the playground equipment worked. We want to go back to this state park this spring to camp.

There are platform camp sites, the river nearby, and bath houses ~~ it's not roughing it, but it would be a big step to camp away from home.

This last picture is really over exposed, but still captures typical Mercer... walking along the wall - then jumping off & loving every second of the descent back to the ground!

Last week, we had our first parent-teacher conference. Mercer is having a hard time concentrating and focusing on "sit down" activities nor will he take naps after lunch with everyone else. He is, however, doing very well academically-speaking. This week, I popped in during day to watch him play sports with a guy who comes to teach classes at the school. He brings equipment from different sports. When I was there, he had them doing some sort of balance exercise and later throwing around a ball with a lacrosse stick.

We've noticed that Mercer gets pretty frustrated and will burst into crying. (We've heard this from other parent of boys of the same age. Maybe they don't know how to cope??) We are thinking that a sport may help him with control, focus, and getting some physical energy out. We've talked about signing him up for a sport (soccer or t-ball) in the spring when he's 4.

Mercer is very into Mercer Mayer books right now that feature the character Little Critter. We have a ton of the books ~ partially because we like the author's name : - ) but Mercer is actually really into them & the stories. I don't think this made it to the blog previously, but after we brought Mercer home - months later - I was going through some things and found one of my favorite books as a kid... it was a Mercer Mayer book! There must be something appealing to children in the drawings and stories!

He's also getting into Dr. Seuss & Cat in the Hat a bit. This is good b/c I'm a huge fan of Dr. Seuss as well and enjoy reading it to him. Some nights, Mercer reads his books to me. It's pretty cute to hear him make up lines that go with the images and/or recite part of the storyline of the book that he remembers from the times that we've read them over and over again. He's really starting to show a lot of imagination!

Several days ago, Mercer played as if he was taking Todd to school. He did this over and over and over again for at least 15 - 20 minutes. He has also been "making" us food out of thin air and having us eat it. He usually makes pizza or sandwiches. And- he does things that is "all boy" - turning almost any object into a sword, an airplane, or a car & flying it through the air.

He also thinks it's hilarious to say the word poop and to burp (which is usually followed by an excuse me). Yes... he "all boy!"

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T22:02:00.014-04:00

This year, Mercer chose what he wanted to dress up for Halloween: a red car. He was not just any ol' red car -- he was Lightning McQueen from the Cars movie. Well, Mercer "gets" trick-or-treating now. After a neighborhood party that we had, Todd took him to some houses along the street. I'm happy to report that when he got to our house & I held out the bowl of candy, pencils, and raisins... he grabbed a box of raisins. ("Good Choice" I told him -- but he had a lot of candy already, so I don't know that the one box of raisins will counter-act the other sugary treats.) Oh well!

These pictures are actually from the week before Halloween. We went to our church's "trunk or treat" event. Mercer tried out the costume for the first time here. He had to take it off to participate in the bouncy-houses & slides, though. (Yes - he's going head first). He got to wear his costume for a few minutes at school at their fall festival. (I took it up to his school during the event, but his teacher asked me to take it off of because he couldn't sit on the floor with the rest of the kids. Oh well!)

He seemed pretty proud of his costume, though. ~Whew~ it took awhile to make, so glad he likes it! And - now that Halloween is over, I hope he plays in it a lot.

Mercer and I decorated a pumpkin with Mr. Potato Head sort of attachments. (He picked out the pieces that he wanted to use & I helped shoving them into the flesh of the pumpkin - so it really was his creativity that pulled it together.) Todd went old-school and carved a pumpkin for a competition at his office. Happy to say that he won. But - we were even happier that Mercer drew Todd's pumpkin (from memory) the next day at school. I'm sure that when Mercer told his teachers that he was drawing a pumpkin & it only had one eye, they were probably thinking, "um... kid... jack-o-lanterns have two eyes." But - Todd & I both were REALLY impressed. Brilliant!

Have to close with this photo. We were snapping a bunch of photos to get some good ones of him & his costume. Maybe we caught him mid-stream doing something?? (or - he was posing) It's definitely a keeper!

Apple picking in the mountains

2011-10-19T21:17:00.013-04:00

We went apple picking last weekend. This year, we went to a town called Blue Ridge (about 1/2 an hour north of where we went before in Ellijay). Previously, we went to a small orchard that had a few varieties of apples available for picking. This year, our visit to Mercier Orchards was quite a bit different -- good and bad.

- good: lots of apples to choose from + beautiful grounds + extensive store with apple-related products, toys, and kitchen accessories.
- bad: inside the store, it felt as if 1,000 people were bustling through there -- it was hectic and crazy.

Here's a "souvenir photo" of the visit with our friends Mike, Sara, Aaron, and Alex. Alex is 4 and any time we hang out with these friends, Mercer talks about Alex for days and days.

The variety of apples was broad. We rode in a trailer pulled by a tractor through the orchard and they talk about the varieties of fruit that they have and the various seasons in which you can pick strawberries or blueberries. They also described the different flavors and varieties of apples that are were currently in season. The farm is large (200 acres) and boasts to have 100,000 trees. There were probably a dozen different varieties available for the picking while we were there. Each family picked a couple of different types that we were interested in and set out for lots of tasting and picking. Mercer - in seeing others pick from the tops of trees - wanted to try to climb on Todd's shoulders and pick the apples high on the branches.

We had hoped to spend more time in the north Georgia mountains this year - but after apple picking and grabbing lunch in the cafe on site was about the limit with a 3 year old (and for us as well).

Mercer is saying a lot of things now like "excuse me" when he interrupts mine / Todd's conversations. Of course - we have to stop! He says "bless you" when we sneeze. He does that thing where he repeats what you say right after you say it so that he's sort of talking over you. He gargles now and will talk or sing while doing it. So far, he's learned to swallow what he's gargling when he bursts out laughing (thankfully) but I'm sure the day will come when he can't control his laughter and he'll send the liquid spewing! He also thinks it's funny to burp (but thankfully he'll say "excuse me" afterwards).

He's becoming a big, big boy...
.... riding his tricycle all by himself
.... dressing himself (when he wants to)
.... and even starting to entertain himself by pulling out his toys and playing or even coloring pictures on his own.

We'll end the post on a funny note (sort of). About a year ago we posted a picture of Mercer "sneaking" a juice box and crawling under a table to drink it. He's doing this again with some regularity now -- so we'll have to watch it!

He sneaks his potty treats / fruit snacks (which we've pretty much stopped giving him as he's growing out of it). He has also snuck some candy from a bag that he got at a recent church event. He hides under a different table now while he's savoring his "forbidden" treat. Sometimes we think he wants to get caught... he'll come into the room, cock his head to one side and look at us with a big grin on his face. We ask - what he's doing and he says "nuff-ing" and runs away with his hands behind his back. Most of the time it's something random that he's picked up - but sometimes it's something that he knows he's not supposed to have. This changes some things... can't just leave stuff laying around the house & "trust" that he won't get it without our help. He's figured out how to get what he wants (within reason) by himself~

This is going to be an intersesting phase!

Oh Canada!

2011-10-11T22:18:00.021-04:00

I had to travel to Canada for work this past week. A few of my co-workers and I were kicking off a green building project in Toronto + we were attending a large green building conference in the same city (along with about 60 other people from my newly acquired / merged company). It was really pretty crazy as the new company - SCIenergy - was having events a couple of the evenings + there was event that the conference had one evening - a series o speakers followed by a concert in the Air Canada hockey arena. Between the events, the conference, juggling the site visits and kick-off meetings....all told - for 6 days of travel, we had about 4 hours of "free time" so we made the most of it~

There is a system of underground tunnels that connect buildings in Toronto because of the extreme weather in the winter. There is also a network of above-ground enclosed walkways and glass structures between buildings. We stumbled across a structure designed by my favorite architect: Santiago Calatrava. He specializes in bridges, public infrastructure projects, and buildings that have some sort of kinetic (movable) feature to them. He is a very talented architect / engineer. His structures comprise of sinuous lines and are all very elegant. It was refreshing to walk through this project of his! This one in particular connected a couple of more modern buildings as well as one historic building. The differences between the historic and the crisp, clean white metal and glass structure is really quite nice~

Afterwards, we rented bicycles from a bike-share program that has 1000 bikes "locked up" at 80 different stations throughout Toronto. You pay at a kiosk & it unlocks the bike. You ride around however long you want then you return at any of the stations. It made our sight-seeing go much quicker and more fun than hopping on a cable car or open-air bus to get around.

In downtown, there is a mix of modern buildings and preservation of historic structures. The variety makes sight-seeing interesting. We went to an area to the east of the downtown business district was very hip: the Distillery District. This area was comprised of brick warehouse structures that have been converted into a village of trendy restaurants, shops, and galleries. The streets are blocked off from automobiles, they are lined with cobblestones, and public sculpture is scattered throughout -- making it ideal for public gathering and socializing. We spent the majority of our time there rather than the touristy area around the CN tower (which has an observation deck near the top of a spire) in which to see the city from above. That's the first image shown on this blog post - for it's iconic of Toronto.

Toronto is an interesting city -- clean, good infrastructure, diverse & international population, and seems progressive in a number of ways. I liked it as a city. I wish that there was more down-time on the trip in which to have explored more. But it was also great coming home!

This was the first work trip I have taken in close to half a year. I used to take a lot of short 1 - 2 - 3 day trips to places within a drive of Atlanta for my previous job. At this new job (5+ months), the travels are going to be much less frequent but they will all be far away. This is definitely a better arrangement for our little family unit~

When arriving home on Saturday night, Mercer was actually excited to see me. In the past, it doesn't seem that he would care so much - but as he's getting older - he recognizes our absence when we're gone -- even a short absence such as Todd going into work early -- Mercer will inquire about where he is.

There is an entire blog worth of things to write about that Mercer is saying and doing now. That will come shortly. 'Til then, here's some pictures of Mercer at one of our favorite places to hike: Sope Creek and the paper mill ruins that straddle both sides. We took this hike and had a little picnic on the rocks the day before I had to go out of town for the week. It was a beautiful day and it was also the first time that Mercer did this mile +/- hike down to the water all by himself (we helped him navigate over the rocks in the creek - of course). Todd ended up carrying Mercer for only a couple of minutes as we were walking back to the car -- but this is a vast improvement over previous hikes.

Oh, there's nothing "baby" about Mercer anymore! I've had a bit of a hard time this season while changing out summer clothes for bigger fall/winter clothes. Each season is tough, but this season, we put away everything that also deals with potty-training, diapers, etc. It is a great milestone, but also makes us realize that he's not even a toddler anymore. He's a little boy now (or in his firey words - I'm a "big" boy).

Edisto 2011 (Part 2)

2011-10-02T06:07:00.023-04:00

We took a different "day trip" this year from Edisto. Last year, we went to Charleston for the day. This year, we stuck to experiencing nature - going on an ecological journey through the ACE Basin. (ACE stands or Ashepoo, Combahee, Edisto Rivers) The ACE Basin is the largest estuary on the east coast - where fresh and salt water come together - supporting a variety of wildlife in a unique habitat.

The boat tour dock was outside of Beaufort, SC and "claims to fame" by being the Bubba Gump Shrimp dock in the movie Forrest Gump. Sorry - we didn't take any pictures of the dock - but we did take a lot of pictures of the various birds that we saw. We saw orange-billed oyster catchers, yellow leg gulls, herons, egrets, ibis, and a pair of mating _____ (something) that we forgot the name of - but was somewhat rare to see. Unfortunately, Mercer started to throw a fit on the boat / screamed / and they flew away. We caught a glimpse of one of those rare birds after it landed just around the bend in the river... thankfully for the others on the boat tour.

We had dolphins playing in front of us and swimming up to meet the boat. Mercer was interested in seeing the dolphins the first few times (but about after seeing them a dozen or more times the excitement faded). He was interested in eating lunch on the boat. He was interested in the (gross) little potty on the boat. He was interested in my hat. The birds - not so much. Oh well. The fresh air was great for all of us.

The next stop that day was to some nearby ruins that Todd and I have been to before of the Old Sheldon Church. Mercer wasn't as impressed as we are by them, but he seemed to have a good time running through the remains of the structure and trying to swing on the tree that was low to the ground.

Another place that we went that was "further afield" from our post at the beach is called Bottany Bay. I blogged about it last year. I went by myself because Mercer was sick & had fallen asleep on Todd's lap on our last day at the beach on our trip in 2010. This year - happy to say - no one fell ill.... so we went out to this former 4000+ acre plantation. The state of SC manages the property now and it is free to visit. There is a variety of wildlife here as well. The marsh didn't seem as fascinating this year as last -- but probably b/c we were immersed in it during our boat tour. The highlight of the visit was the naturalized beach and the shore full of shells.

There's a strange tradition there of placing the conch shells found on the trees. You are not allowed to take shells from the property, so perhaps people wanted to display their finds? Mercer caught right on and joined in with the same tradition.

We decided that next year, we will take a picnic lunch and spend more time on that beach.
Yes - we decided that we would like to go back again. There's not a great deal of things to do there, but that's the allure. And - 'til we have exhausted all interested in this place - we may be calling this "our" beach spot.

Edisto 2011 (part 1)

2011-09-25T22:09:00.018-04:00

Our vacation has come and gone - but we have made some fantastic memories. The trip to Edisto Island Beach was very different this year than last. There were things that we discovered by happenstance (such as an inner-island bike trail) and there were things that we sought out that would provide unique experiences.

Instead of being 2 years old, Mercer was 3 on this trip and was able to do additional things such as swim in a pool (with the aid of a Safety Seal swimmer) and he was more interested in building then decorating sand castles. He was also more curious about and active in flying a kite this year. We had to get it up in the air, but once there he wanted to hold it and control it / see if he could make it dance in the sky.

We knew the island much better this trip than last as well. We were in the same complex of buildings, but in a different unit. We were right next to the swimming pool and we had a view of a park with a river beyond - as seen in the previous blog entry. This change actually elevated our experience quite a bit, for it offered additional scenery and ease of access to a couple of amenities. We've discussed going back next year and trying to get the same unit if possible.

I also jumped on a history tour one afternoon while Mercer was napping. It went inland of the island and visited the old churches that line the main road. There is also a history center which we popped into. The island settlers went to grow rice, but instead, ended up growing indigo and became very wealthy because of it. The tour was interesting - however - it didn't paint as complete a picture as I was hoping for. I am interested in learning about the Gullah heritage and traditions. I will have to dig deeper on the next trip for that.

Instead of renting bicycles for a few days like last year, we brought our bikes from home so we had them all week. This is how we travelled on the island except when needing to get groceries from the other side of the island. We rented a "toter" - which it's official use is to transport children - however we used ours like a wagon behind my bike to transport beach gear. Mercer rode in a carrier on Todd's bike - which he is just about grown out of . We can probably cram him in there through this fall... but next spring... we'll have to figure something else out.

One evening after playing on the beach, we ended up riding our bikes past the western tip of the island right around sun set. We hopped off the bikes to take in the colors in the sky. We had hoped to see the beautiful red and orange hues, but to our surprise, we also had a perfect view of the full moon that was rising. Standing in one spot, we could see the sun set AND catch glimpses of dolphins playing and small fish jumping out of the water just under the moonlight that was rippling on top. It was a beautiful spot. All of this was happening at the point where the mouth of the wide marsh-lined creek met the Atlantic.

One morning, we made it to the beach fairly early. Our reward: watching groups of dolphins swim by. Some of them would leap high out of the water. Of course it was impossible to catch on film, although we tried! We were actually lucky, too, in finding a few nice (whole) sea shells as well as quite a number of sharks teeth. Of the three things just mentioned - none of those occurred on our first trip here.

The weather was quite nice for the trip, but took a little turn close to the end of our week. We brought activities to do inside in case of rain - which did not threaten any of our beach-going. It was actually chilly for about 1 1/2 days. We had some board games to play inside, brought some arts & crafts projects to do with Mercer, and baked cookies as well. We also decided to explore the S.C. state park that straddles across the eastern portion of the island as well as a nature / interpretive center that is adjacent to the inland part of the state park. We rode our bikes through the park and sought out a letterbox stamp to add to our book as well.

These pics are actually on a stretch of the beach that borders the state park. The beach where we go (because of the cabana & bathrooms) has not been too busy - although we've gone "after season" both years. This stretch of the beach is quite isolated and the shells seem to be nicer in this area. One thing that we haven't been able to do yet is to complete the 3 mile hike to the end of the park's border and look for shells at the mouth of another creek. Ssupposedly this is the best place on the island to look for the jewels that come from the sea. Maybe next year Mercer will be up for it??

I've got to run for now. Edisto 2011(part 2) will follow shortly. Included will be details of our mid-week day trip to the Beaufort area as well as our quick visit to Bottany Bay.

Early September

2011-09-15T08:10:00.010-04:00

Last week, Mercer began wearing his "official" Montessori School uniform -- a shirt with the school's logo + khakis. (This was his idea to take a picture and pose here in the hall just outside of his room.) He has been so proud of this shirt -- so much so that one night when we went out to eat for dinner, he had to show the waiter his shirt. I don't think the guy had any clue what he was talking about "new shirt new shirt" but we thought it was funny. The week before, he was the same way about the new tennis shoes he's wearing in the photo. He said they're fast and would actually be upset if we tried to get him to wear a different pair. He has stopped and showed at least a dozen people those shoes.

Kids are funny that way. However, with the good comes the not-so-good. Mercer has become very whiney when he wants something. He gets frustrated easily and cries a lot if something goes wrong. We're hoping he grows out of this quickly!! We're working on it -- trying to explain that he shouldn't express himself like that. If he drops something.. go pick it up instead of cry about it. Wish us luck as there are ever-changing "tests" on our parenting approach!

On Sept 10, we headed to our friends house (Tana & Charles) in Augusta to stay the night. We visited them last year when we were en route to Edisto Island Beach. 2 years in a row... are we beginning a new tradition? Mercer enjoyed playing with their children -- especially their daughter Phoebe (age 8) and her best friend who also stayed the night. He followed those two girls around all night & did what they did -- including doing cartwheels across the back yard and splashing around in their pool.

The next day was the 10 year anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attack. We were travelling, so we did not get to participate in any memorial services, but it's been very heavy on our heads lately leading up to that date. We have been watching some heart-breaking testimonials that family members would lay out on t.v. The most memorable for us was a series done on the people who were on the 4th plane... where the passengers stormed the terrorists and managed to divert the plane from it's original destination such as hitting another US building or monument. Knowing that they were destined to crash and take down another building and additional lives, taking over the situation was - indeed - heroic. We went to church with our friends in Augusta that morning before we continued down the road and they talked about how much it has changed the world in which we live / the perception of the world. This is true; Mercer will not have as much freedom to explore & be a kid as Todd and I did when we were growing up. (This is part of the allure for our little vacation spot on Edisto. It's much safer than many other vacation destinations and it has a lot of room for exploration... natural exploration.)

We made it to Edisto Island and checked into the condo for the week. Mercer kept saying that his new friends (from Augusta) were coming over to swim in our pool. He was so apprehensive at first to play with them & after 1 day of hanging out... he wanted to then entertain them! We made it onto the beach for a little while that evening.

The following morning, I found the perfect spot in which to hang out early in the AM. From the side porch of the condo is a sliver of a view to the Bay Creek which lies at the mouth of the South Edisto River and the Atlantic Ocean. There have been a variety of birds hanging out in the marsh these past few mornings as well as a few fishers who trawl down the creek wanting to make an early catch. I've been sitting in this spot every morning before anyone else wakes up. Also - in the afternoon - I will sometimes go down to the Bay Creek Park beyond the white fence and sit on a park bench or even the fishing dock just barely visible from our porch view.

One day while Mercer was napping, I went down to the dock to read & a handful of boats passed by. There are no wake signs posted in this area, so they all putted along quietly. There was one boat I was certain had fish or crabs on it, as there were no less than 30 sea gulls squawking and flying in circles around the boat. It was quite a site to coming towards me... passing by at a snail's pace... then continuing on down the otherwise peaceful creek.

There will be another vacation post with lots of photos once we get home. But - for now - we're hanging out, enjoying the time together with our little family unit, and relaxing!

3 years ago today....

2011-09-05T21:56:00.036-04:00

Mercer's adoption was finalized!

We had the day off today. Today is the Labor Day holiday. We wanted to go somewhere / do something to have fun with Mercer and honor "his day" but mother nature had different plans. There was a tropical storm in the gulf that moved up to Georgia and rained all day. Instead of travelling today, we stayed in all day. We played with marbles, blocks, games and watched some movies. Mercer seemed to be happy. (especially with this new balance game - ChickyBoom - that we got yesterday when we travelled to Greenville) ~wink~ instead of cancelling our trip, we pushed our trip up a day instead.

We went to Greenville, SC to visit my college roommate + her family and to check out their awesome children's museum. Mercer and I stopped at that museum once on our way home from NC. He was just under 2 years old. At that time, there were only a handful of things that he could do, but it was still a lot of fun then. This time -- it was even more fun because he was into a lot more of the activities. Admittedly, Todd and I had a great time too!!

Last time we went, the majority of time was spent playing in the water area. Mercer got some play time in it this trip, but found many other things to do too. (Note - although wearing a water-proof smock - he still got soaked / had to change. You'll notice he's sporting 2 different looks on this trip. That's why - no other reason!)

There's a sculpture that you can climb that spans the top two floors of the museum. I wanted to climb it the first time we came to the museum, but the kids have to be 3 and up. Mercer was a little apprehensive at first, but he did go back through it a couple of times during our visit. It's constructed mostly of clear Plexiglas shells and cables to hold them up and to create "walls" so you don't fall off of the thing. The way that they're organized, it's like a 3-dimensional maze.

He really enjoyed riding in the Indy race car simulators and playing in the music room - where they had a musical pinball machine that you could customize. He - of course - enjoyed running around and playing with Cindy's kids, Trevor (3) and Daniel (5). I think we have a similar picture to this one with Mercer chasing Trevor (Apr 20, 2010 post). Deja vu~

Quick note: Cindy said that this is the photo (on the steps) that depicts what the boys were doing before they all had to be rushed to the ER. Luckily / amazingly... no one was hurt. There are all sorts of great things to do at the museum, but they'll still climb on things that weren't intended for them to do so!

After the museum, we went in search for a letterbox that was hidden on Main Street in downtown Greenville. This letterbox was based on some micro-sculptures that have been placed throughout town called "Mice on Main." http://www.miceonmain.com/mousehunthints.html Afterwards, we headed south on foot and via a short trolley ride in efforts to make it to Falls Park -- a public space that is graced by one of the most beautiful bridges I've ever seen: Liberty Bridge. http://www.fallspark.com/LibertyBridge.aspx We made our way down to the bottom and crossed (no worries - where we crossed was far away from the falls). If we didn't have the drive home ahead of us, it would've been an excellent day to picnic by the water and explore the greenspace and public art more.

It was a long day and little guy was worn out. He slept pretty much the whole way home (2 hours +), went to bed pretty much straight away when we got home, and slept in today. But, we think he felt special overall & know that he is a MUCH loved member of our family!!

getting back into the swing of things... for a little while

2011-09-01T21:25:00.010-04:00

It took about a week of detox (maybe a bit more) to get back to normal after staying up late every night for a week... eating donuts every day... and watching lots and lots of Curious George.

There are some more pictures to add from that week at the beach. (The pics are of him eating his first donut ever... "what's that feeling in my head - a sugar headache?" / squirting great-aunt Nin / and checking out cousin Ryan's dirt bike.) Oh - a good time was had.

There was a historic hurricane (Irene) that moved up the east coast and then moved inland. The New Jersey coast where we were was ok. But, New York City and areas north were subjected to a lot of rain and flooding. Todd's parents and brothers were without power, but thankfully all o.k.

The weekend before the storm, we had company. My mom came for a visit. We mostly hung out here, but one day we went across town to see some of her friends and to visit a green building that was being featured on a tour. It was a public library and - thankfully - they had some stellar kids books and interactive computer setup that kept mom (grandma) and Mercer busy for well over an hour while Todd and I were on tour.

One thing that we learned that day: Mercer really learned quickly how to use a computer and a mouse. Wow.

One thing that he did that was cute that weekend: mom, Mercer and I were playing with a magnetized puzzle. We then grabbed a bunch of paper clips and showed him how he could pick them up with the magnetic stick. He was pretty fascinated for awhile and when Todd came home later, Mercer had to show him and teach him about magnets (as if he knew something that Todd did not).

One thing that he's started that is sweet: saying "bless you" when sneezing.

Another thing that he has started: he is officially in the montessori portion of the daycare. Because he's potty-trained, he was able to transition out of the toddler room. The owner / directress of the school, Mrs Roya, is his teacher. She is really firm, but also very loving to the children. We can't wait to see how this goes.

He will try it for another week before we pull him out for a full week. (The three of us are going to the beach - our family trip to Edisto Island.) This trip will be more calm, but I'm sure we'll be going through detox all over again~~

it's official: mercer loves the beach.

2011-08-16T21:25:00.015-04:00

Todd and I haven't ever really been beach people (except for that trip to Cumberland Island a few years ago which was more about camping & hiking than playing in the sun). But... it looks like we need to learn to love the beach too because Mercer is really REALLY into it!

We went up in honor of Todd's parents 50th wedding anniversary. His siblings and cousins all rented a beach house for the week at Sea Isle City beach - about 1/2 an hour from Atlantic City. I stayed for a few days (because of the new job) but Todd and Mercer stayed all week. Mercer grew more and more comfortable each day and by the end of the week was wanting to go deeper and deeper into the water. He followed his cousin Marley around & doing what she did when on the beach. Most of the time spent at the beach, however, was spent digging in the sand, throwing a (soft) Frisbee, kicking a soccer ball, playing paddle ball, and "riding" the waves.

We would generally spend only a few hours in the late morning on the beach and Mercer would take an afternoon nap after coming in for lunch... however... close to the end of the trip - the group "ordered" lunch on the beach - as they have pizza delivery there - and he stayed out all day with the rest of the family.

When Todd and Mercer came home, they were both exhausted. I was actually exhausted too. As it turned out, I had plans each day after work with different friends. I did a lot of socializing in the evenings and tried to tackle (mini) projects here at the house while the boys were away. I did pack away everything related to diapers / cleared out the potty seat / took down the changing table / got rid of the diaper bag. It was actually a little sad -- not becuase we don't have to change diapers anymore -- but because he's not a baby anymore. He's a 3 1/2 year old "big boy." *sniff sniff* I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but were - of course - so glad when they both came home.

Mercer kept saying something about going back "our other house." I figured out that he was saying that he liked the other house better (the one on the N.J. shore). Yeah - the beach was steps away. He got to stay up late, watch a lot of cartoons on his DVD player, and eat junk food. He had lots of older playmates (his cousins, aunt and uncles). What's not to like? (Here, his uncle Jim is tossing him around. Thanks for all of the pictures, Becki!)

It was hard for him to go back to school on Monday.

Have to mention one thing he's doing that is cracking us up: he's very into "favorite" colors. Todd's is green. Mine is blue. Mercer's favorite is red. SO... he walks around saying "that's YOUR color!" "that's MY color!" pointing at various objects as we walk along. Todd said that his walk through the airport terminal on their way back home was color overload and he kept on and on and on with his observations.

Mr. Daredevil

2011-08-06T00:01:00.015-04:00

oh.... we are going to be in trouble. It was completely evident this past weekend that Mercer has no fear. We went to a birthday party for a neighbor who was just turning 4. They had a big inflatable water slide that was in the front yard during the party. The guest of honor went down a few times, but mostly played in the pool at the bottom of the slide. Some other children - a little bit older than Mercer too went down once, but hung out in the pool.

Not Mercer. He kept going down over and over again. He was completely exhilarated. He was definitely keeping up with the 7 and 8 year old kids. He had a blast. We had fun watching him. But..... we realized then that we are going to have to keep an eye on him and speed!

There are a couple of videos that Todd snagged:

http://youtu.be/vAbnpHU2Agk friends "Jacken" (Jackson) and Glady are in this one playing in the pool.

http://youtu.be/hd8vMZFl_5c the birthday boy, Graham, is in this one... the one Mercer plows into. oops!

Some cute things that he's doing:

at night when we are singing songs before bed, he will change his voice to a really deep voice. He starts laughing so hard that he can no longer sing. He tries to sing again, then busts out laughing again.

As mentioned before, he's really into his ABC's. Anytime he sees the letter M he blurts out "M is for Mercer." (He even says this about the golden arches... another funny thing thing he says about the golden arches, is "that food is sick. that food is sick.") whoops - guess we over-did that one telling him that the food there doesn't make people feel good.

He plays a little game now too but he's not very good at it yet.... "I spy with my little eye" he says while he's looking directly at the object he's describing. I've spied them playing this game at school. It's funny to watch & his current teacher, Ms. Tiffany gets a kick out of it too.

We've officially found out that Mercer is moving up to the next grade... he's moving to Mrs. Roya's class soon. (Main reason - his age + he's officially potty trained - YAY!) He has had 3 accidents in the past 3 weeks, but none at school yet. He's doing really well overall! We are thrilled. And - we are happy he's moving to the next class. It will be interesting to see how he grows and develops, as Mrs. Roya is the Montessori Directress of the school. This is her school. She's strict but she's really gentle and loving to the children as well.

Before signing off - I have to mention these activities that they're doing at the school. They have numbers dotted out on pieces of paper (I think Mrs. Roya has her teenage daughters who have been there this summer hand draw pages and pages of these dotted numbers). Mercer is supposedly "writing" his numbers. He's tracing - with pretty good accuracy - over the dots. I don't know about what's good for his age or not, but I am really impressed with the tracings. It really looks like he's writing!

had a "brag."

Here's a photo that Todd & I just received yesterday. We went to a Cars 2 movie event where the hosts provided balloons, pop corn, and family photos. (No idea what Mercer & I are looking at, but Todd's photo-ready.)

We're going to be packing & flying up to NJ a little later today. There is a family gathering at a shore house in honor of Todd's parents 50th anniversary. Way to go, Bob & Rose Marie! Congratulations!

One week and going strong...

2011-07-24T15:40:00.003-04:00

Mercer has been going to the potty exclusively for a solid week now! We "upped" the ante.

On this - our third and hopefully final attempt - we have been giving him stickers on a calendar and more lately also giving him "fruit candy" (fruit juice chews). It had been working and getting him in the habit of going, but not all the time.

Todd thought - since a wrapped present worked in getting rid of the pacifier earlier this year - that another one might work to seal the deal on potty-training. The deal on this one: make it 5 straight days without "going" in his diaper and he would get a present.

He made it 4 1/2 days last week.

Happy to say that he made it 5 days straight as of this past Friday... and that he's been wearing thick cotton training pants ever since! And - he's been enjoying his prize...a Cars 2 video game. (Todd's having fun with this gift more so than the matchbox car prize from earlier in the year!)

Because of the potty training, we decided to stay home this weekend. I ended up cooking a lot of our seasonal / local fruits & veggies. Earlier this week -- making several different kinds of veggie lasagnas & later in the week -- canning Georgia peach & local strawberry jam as well as canning three pepper jelly (one of the three varieties from our own garden). It's SO much work canning... but I've really enjoyed "researching" unique recipes on foodie blogs.

Mercer asked if I was making the peach & strawberry jam for him. Yes. "Thank you mommy." He's been saying that phrase a lot lately to Todd and me both... (Well, for him it's "thank you daddy." WE LOVE IT!

We'll have a more eventful post next time, as there are already a couple of things on the calendar for next weekend.

the past two weekends, we didn't have plans but...

2011-07-17T21:11:00.013-04:00

...we ended up doing some great stuff!

Last weekend, my friend Susan was passing through town and gave us a call. She and her kids stopped by the house for awhile then we all went bowling. We have been wanting to give this a try. We thought -- rolling a ball & crashing things -- Mercer would love it!

And - he did enjoy it for the most part. The hardest thing for him, however, was waiting his turn. But - all of the kids did great... and Todd bowled a really good game too (probably because the gutters were blocked by the bumpers!)

This weekend, we had an impromptu offer to go for a boat ride... which we gladly accepted. Our neighbors Pam & Orie have a pontoon boat which is perfect for cruising around the lake just north of where we all live. We tooled around the lake for a couple of hours 'til the sun set. Orie let Mercer "drive" the boat a couple of times -- adjusting the throttle, steering the wheel, and honking the boat's horn. He's giving the experience a thumbs up!

Mercer enjoyed it so much that this morning, he put on that coy smile... squinted his eyes and said "I have to tell you something, Mommy." Usually he wants something... a treat. Well, this time he wanted a different sort of treat: "I want to drive Orie's boat again!"

Mercer's language is really pretty good for a 3 year old. There are a couple of things that he says that are really adorable, though, that I don't want to forget. "Shosslate" translated is chocolate. "Lellow" is yellow. We'll have to take a video of him singing his ABC's and singing You are my Sunshine. Kids have the most adorable high-pitched voices that make these songs absolutely priceless. We'll see about trying to post some video of that sometime soon.

We don't have plans next weekend either. Who knows what we'll end up doing?! Have a great week.

Some things don't go so well... some do.

2011-07-03T16:17:00.023-04:00

Meant to post these Father's Day pics in the last post. I changed that blog post title and put in this title that some things don't go so well:

We went for a hike, however, Mercer didn't do too much walking on his own. He seems too distracted to stay on the trail and move forward. Much of the walk, Todd ended up having to carry Mercer. We reached a new bridge that was recently built that was under construction (with a big crane) the last time we went hiking on that trail.

Better than making it to the new bridge -- was watching Todd teach Mercer how to skip rocks under the bridge. Little guy was more interested in throwing rocks in an making big splashes, however.

It was hard to pull him away from the water, but it was late and time for lunch / a nap for Mercer when we got done with the hike. One problem with trying to get a tired & hungry toddler to walk back is that tiredness and hunger override listening & moving. Once again - Todd ended up carrying Mercer almost the whole way back. It was a tough hike on father's day, but we did see a deer along the way which was pretty cool. Amazingly, he was not that afraid of us and took his time eating leaves.

On a more positive note, this weekend, we camped out in the back yard -- and -- Mercer slept in the tent all night!! Yay.... it went really well!

When Mercer was 1 - we went to a friend's mountain house. He was too distracted by all of the noises to sleep, so we moved him inside (in his pack-and-play) under the watchful eye of our friends who were inside.

When Mercer was 2 - we tried to camp in the back yard of one of our neighbors. It didn't go so well because there was still a lot of activity around the camp fire and a lot of noise -- he cried and cried so I brought him home not to distract the others trying to sleep in the tents around us.

But now that Mercer is 3 - he did it! It probably helped that we have the white noise from the pond to drown out most noises... but also that his friends who came to camp out with us also went to bed around the same time.

I think the kids wore each other out... Jumping on the air mattresses (although they kept saying that they weren't jumping)... catching fire flies (and each other)... and running around. Earlier in the evening, they also participated in a little artistic project -- which I borrowed the idea of doing from the lady who has the company Nerdy Baby. We weren't sure if the kids would like it... THEY LOVED IT. (basically mixing primary colors of water in ice cube trays with other primary colors to make greens, oranges, purples, and browns) it was messy - but perfect activity for outdoors.

I think that we're going to give "real" camping a try soon. (It would - of course - be fabulous if he were 100% potty trained. We'll keep working on that!) He is very concerned that we are happy. If he goes poop in the potty - he asks "are you happy mommy?" Yes I am. "Is daddy happy?" Yes, Mercer, he is happy. "Is everyone happy?"

Another phrase: Mercer will do something bad so we get onto him. Next he'll say "sorry. I not mean to." or "sorry. I not do it again." Which - unfortunately - we know that he did "mean to" do that thing... and he will do it again. But it is funny that he thinks this is what we want to hear.

One final anecdote: Mercer is very into his ABC's now. Loves singing ABC song, but really loves reading books (over and over) about ABC's. We've bought a few, but have also checked out ABC counting books, ABC car books, ABC alligator & animal books, ABC spider books. Interesting what a voracious learner he is!

And - we'll wrap with a post about something that took place this week: Mercer took an "intensive" series of swim lessons. Over the past couple of years, we've been taking him to group swim lessons. We thought things were going well... he became unafraid of the water when he was young... he learned to blow bubbles... he can climb out of a pool... he can pretty much float on his back by himself. He would sometimes jump in the water unassisted, but mostly not. He was progressing, however, he was still not swimming.

This "intensive" series taught by a woman with a pool in her back yard was half-hour lessons 4 days in a row. It was basically one-on-one (sometimes she had a helper so it was two instructors for the one kid). After his 1st half-hour lesson, Mercer jumped in by himself into the arms of the helper. Then he swam from that guy over to the woman unassisted... about 8-10 feet. WHAT? after 1 half-hour lesson?! By the end of day 4, he can jump into the pool and start swimming... and can swim across the short end of the pool!

She recommends that he come back next year for a refresher and to learn some more skills. SOLD! We liked the other place, but he was so distracted and not getting that personal attention -- which he apparently needed & thrived from! Cool~~

Tomorrow - for the 4th of July - we're going to watch some fireworks up at Marietta Square with a group from church. If there are some good pics / good stories to share, we'll post again soon. Have a safe & happy holiday! (No blowing off any fingers!)

Happy Anniversary... Happy Birthday

2011-06-17T06:34:00.028-04:00

This past week has been full of milestones: on June 10th, Todd's parents rang in their 50th wedding anniversary. Two days later, Todd welcomed his 40th year of life. We will celebrate his parents anniversary later this summer when the whole family gets together in NJ, but we did go ahead and celebrate Todd's birthday in a unique way this past weekend.

We rented a 3 bedroom timber-frame house up in the NC mountains and invited some friends and their kids to join us. We ate and drank a lot of good food and wine including several of Todd's favorite foods. We went to the nearby downtown of Bryson City to see what it was all about. We were there on a Sunday and most everything was closed. But - the area around the train station was hopping... and apparently this is a big thing for Bryson City - train rides for kids and adults through the Smoky Mountains.

We went for a hike in the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On this relatively short hike (1 mile +/- each way), we came across two waterfalls - including a spot in front of one of them where there was a shallow pool. The kids - Lily, Mercer, Alex, and Aaron - had a great time dipping their toes in the cool mountain water. This particular area was very populated with a lot of people walking up the trail with inner tubes and floating down the river. Perhaps one day we will partake in this, as it looked like a lot of fun. The kids also spotted different kinds of bugs along the way - interestingly - there were a lot of little purple butterflies there.

The following day, as everyone was leaving the rental house, Todd and I were preparing for another adventure to tackle on our way home: to go on a hunt for a letterbox hidden in the nearby Nantahala Village. (Here, Mercer is sporting his letterbox bag, hat, and sunglasses in hand. The sunscreen & bug spray have been applied.) He is officially ready for "the hunt" which led us through a complex of cabins and by an old working farm-turned day spa. Then we continued toward some horse stables and into the woods. It was a nice walk at first, but as the hike continued, we started to wonder how much longer the journey would take. The trails were walking / horse trails. Unfortunately, we never got to see any horses - but we saw lots and lots... and lots of horse poop along the way. Because of that, Todd carried Mercer for much of the hike so he would not hit any of the targets. Finally (after 1 1/2 hours of walking) we followed the last clue to the hidden letterbox. After so many paces... there is a large vine-covered tree on the left. Look across the path from the tree to a group of rocks knee-high and the box is under the rock on top. Well, there were several vine-covered trees and groupings of rocks, but we did it... we found it! It was pretty rewarding because we weren't even sure if it was there -- it had been several years since anyone else had logged its find. Mercer had fun exchanging stamps in the stamp book.

The clue also said there was a nice picnic spot, so bring a lunch. Well, it wasn't obvious at first. We were surrounded by tall trees, lots of foliage, lots of vines climbing ever upward. It was actually dark in the woods, but about 20 yards further down the path we could see a clearing... and... it was gorgeous. We had our own little private picnic spot in a cove off of the beautiful blue-green waters of Lake Fontana. We watched little fish swim by at the clear waters beneath us and dragon flies playing and flitting around us. There were some spiders on the rock where we perched, but Mercer didn't notice those thankfully. In the distance, we could hear a woodpecker. Above us, a hawk was flying. It was absolutely stunning. It made up for the dark, damp, horse-poop-filled trail!

Once we were finished eating our lunch and taking it all in, we decided to make our way back to the car. Thankfully, the directions to get back took us a different way -- a much shorter route to the lodge where we parked. And - as a bonus, it took us by this beautiful weeping tree and stone ruins.

It was a tough hike. It was one of our most challenging letterbox adventures, but perhaps our most rewarding? We persevered. We didn't give up. We found the stamp, a gorgeous picnic spot, the tree and stone ruin... as well as a part of the NC mountains that we want to go back and explore more!

Reflecting on how rich our lives are...

2011-05-30T21:48:00.012-04:00

It's been awhile since posting. We've spent a lot of really really good time together as a family. In fact, I was just reflecting on how rich our lives are.... all 3 of our lives.

Since posting, we've attended our annual neighborhood putt-putt golf tournament and had a great time with our friends; luckily, they have children that Mercer adores. It's a win-win for all of us. We spent Memorial day weekend together as a family. Intentionally, we stayed at home so that we could complete a project: build a sandbox for Mercer. We love our back yard... it's a wonderful space for the three of us to play in, to entertain friends, and to relax. Mercer has learned to enjoy the things that we do back there - tinkering in the garden, interacting with the fish in the pond, watching the water move through the stream, and the stone wall (he climbs & jumps off of it). Likewise, we have learned to enjoy the thing that he does back there - playing chase, hide and seek, and kicking a ball around.

But, the sandbox is the first "fixture" that we've incorporated into our back yard specifically for him. He knows that it is HIS space.

And with that in mind, he was thrilled when we suggested that we host a play date in the back yard. For days before hand, he kept saying "friends coming over? to play in my sandbox?" He would go through a list of friends that he wanted to have over. (This list started with some neighborhood kids, then went into a list of kids from daycare, but we "cut it off" at just the neighborhood gang... which he was still really excited about.) The same group of neighborhood friends we played with at the putt-putt golf outing were back at our house in order for Mercer to host & entertain. After several of the kids played in the sandbox, they all cooled off on a water slide we set up in the back yard. Then, they moved onto playing with sidewalk chalk and sidewalk paint (mostly by jumping on the bottle of paint & seeing how far it would squirt out). It was a fun evening for all of us - adults and children alike.

This sandbox is a unique one, of course. It is made of cedar and has a lid that keeps neighborhood cats out, but the lid folds to form benches on either side of the box. We saw one online that was smaller, so decided to build here instead - and make some modifications to the design. Overall, we're very happy with it... and seeing that Mercer has played in it almost every day since we built it last week... he seems happy with it too.

Later Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Chattahoochee Nature Center for some hiking, exploring, and a picnic. I was most fascinated by our happening upon a group of geese eating flowers and leaves off of some tall grassy plants. For awhile, we lurked behind some bushes in order to watch, then Mercer's attention was turned elsewhere, so we moved on. The geese munched from the tops of the flora... and eventually we walked right past them. They did not move. Apparently, they are used to people.

After eating our picnic lunch, we played a little frisbee out in an open field. We thought this was Mercer's favorite part because he got to run and throw something... but when asking him about what the highlight of his day was, he said he liked hiding in the bushes. And eating blueberries (we had just finished some angel food cake and berries).

I think he must really love blueberries. Earlier in the week - we were praying. He goes through his normal "thank you for mommy... daddy... and Mercer" then he names a friend or a family member. One night, he said thank you for blueberries and strawberries. CUTE!

Some other cute things he's doing: he seems to be very concerned with our happiness and pleasing us. We're still working on his potty training... and when / if he goes, he immediately asks "are you happy?" Sometimes randomly he'll ask if we're happy too. When we say yes, and hug him, he smiles really big. LOVE that!

He's been able to count in order to 20 (with a little bit of help around 13, 14, 15, 16). Just like his ABC's... it's memorization of how things go in order. But - he's starting to recognize objects and groups of objects and associate a number with them. There are 4 geese. There are 2 motorcycles. I have no idea if that's normal at this age -- he's moved past rattling off numbers in order, but we're fascinated by his comprehension and development. Seems simple, but I love how he is relating things with others by a similar trait. "Mommy, the sky is blue like your car and daddy's car is the same color as the trees."

It's a cool thing to watch. Yes, indeed, our lives are rich!

this is the first time in 20 years...

2011-05-17T22:37:00.015-04:00

that we are without a pet in our house. Earlier this week, we had to put our cat, Pigg, down. He was suffering from kidney failure. He lived a long time -- 15 years. Todd adopted him before he was weaned from his mother... a stray cat that was living under my mother's house.

He got his funny name not from the puffy nose he ended up developing (some sort of allergy he had did this to his nose and also made the pads on the bottoms of his feet puffy too). He got his name because when he was a tiny kitten, he wallowed in his food like a pig. Todd used to feed him baby food on a plate and milk in a little bowl. He would lay down on the plate and suckle his food and milk. He used to have the stuff crusted all over his belly and face. Todd used to have to bathe him... and - for awhile - he was a cat that actually liked water. He would even jump in the shower!

We had a funny name for our first cat together too. There is history behind his name as well.

My freshman year in college, my roommates and I smuggled a cat into our dorm room. I ended up with the cat, Haley, after school let out. Sophomore year, she lived in and out of the rowhouse I was renting in Savannah... and while out, got pregnant. She gave birth to several kittens: one solid gray - one black / white - one stillborn - and one gray / white. The gray and white one was tiny and had problems breathing and walking. The rowhouse had hardwood floors and this small "runt" would drag his back legs behind him while pulling himself forward with his front legs. When he would stop and sit, his back legs would flop out to the side of him -- like a frog.

Eventually, the condition improved and he grew (and grew and grew). He was a big lump.... a big loving and easy-going cat who passed when he was 14. I took it pretty hard when he passed.

Todd and I adopted another cat while in Savannah. We were going to name her Tadpole (like a little baby frog) but we thought that was silly. We were calling her Kitty while we tried to figure out a suitable name, but we never could. Kitty - a very original name - stuck. We wrote about Kitty a couple of years ago on the blog when she passed at the ripe ol' age of 14. Mercer was too young to remember her though.

Pigg - on the other hand - Mercer knew quite well. So far (two days later) he's doing ok. He pretty easily accepted that Pigg wasn't coming back. Every now & then Mercer asks about the cat - but we tell him that he's gone / he was really sick / he died and went to kitty heaven. Mercer says "ok" and moves onto something else.
We all had a nice weekend together. Sitting together a lot. Giving hugs. Giving treats. All of our animals will be missed.

just found an application to associate with the blog...

2011-05-14T22:18:00.002-04:00

By posting this "badge," brighter planet will offset 350 pounds of carbon - which is like turning off 100 light bulbs for a day..... or going 2 weeks without a car

Pretty cool.

strawberries and a monastery

2011-05-09T22:25:00.011-04:00

While the weather is nice, we are trying to spend as much time outdoors as we can. We are having a blast running around the back yard, kicking balls, chasing each other while Mercer yells "I'm going to get you", swinging on the hammock, and peddling the tricycle on the sidewalk.

Last weekend, we took some of Mercer's friends along as we tried out a new experience: picking strawberries. All of the kids did really well, each picking red berries instead of those that were unripe. (It kind of looks like we're really putting them to work?!) They made sure not to pick the squishy ones. Todd & I told the kids that they were not allowed to eat any berries while out there -- that we had to take them home & wash them first. They complied, so they were rewarded with strawberries and angel food cake when we got back. (followed by a little t.v. on the couch.)

I plan to put the canning skills to use that I learned last summer... making strawberry jam & maybe even one with a little kick to it too?

Yesterday (on Mother's Day), we went to a monastery that we've talked about visiting for some time - the Monastery of the Holy Spirit (http://www.trappist.net/). The church was open air when we went. It was cool inside and through the open windows, you could hear birds chirping outside. It is definitely a serene place, but we could not stay long... with an active 3 year old in tow. We spent the majority of our time outdoors - watching geese, ducks, and bugs that we happened across. We had a picnic lunch under a tree then played kick-ball for awhile. Here, I'm giving Mercer a kiss and getting a slobbery wet smooch in return.

Also as luck would have it, they just opened a series of new buildings last week which added a lot to our experience because we like to look at interesting architecture. The monks practice the art of bonsai. They also produce stained glass and make some edible products to sell too in order to support their order.

Afterwards - while in a different part of the state (1 hour from our house) - we sought out a letterbox that was planted in nearby historic downtown Conyers. The place where the letterbox was originally hidden was a gem... a garden with rock out-croppings, stone walls, and a flowing series of koi ponds. Unfortunately, the letterbox was not planted where the clues led us to (we looked around for quite sometime) but we're still glad we went, for we discovered a lovely little spot that - if in the area again - would be worth another visit.

We don't have anymore adventures planned anytime soon, but who knows what the weekend will bring?!

Since our visit to North Carolina....

2011-04-25T22:09:00.011-04:00

I started my new job. And the past few weekends we have filled the calendar with lots of "fun things."

"fun thing" - we checked out some Habitat for Humanity playhouses that were on display at Decatur Square (I designed one that was loosely constructed as drawn for my old office - who sponsored a build with our state energy office.) In taking the term "playhouse" literally, the idea is that the doors (painted with chalkboard paint) could swing open & extend the stage as well as serve as the set for the play. As built - because of the modifications that the team building it made - it's not really what I had in my head, but that's ok... it was for a good cause... and it's prompted us to start thinking about a design for one for our back yard. Mercer picked his favorite that he kept going back to - the bubble house. (If interested in checking out the others, they can be seen here: https://dekalbhabitat.org/Playhouse_Collection_A.html)

After leaving Decatur Square, we headed to a playground at a small airport. Mercer has been fascinated by airplanes lately, so he really enjoyed this spot!

"fun thing" - We were paid a visit from our friends Susan, Chad, and their 4 kids. We all had breakfast in the back yard then the kids ran around & played ball, played on the hammock, played in the pond (well, not literally IN the pond), and concluded with a round of stomp rocket in the front yard. We hardly get to see them, but love every visit we get to have with them! Their very active family was no match for Mercer. He hung right in there with the bigger kids!

"fun thing" - We went to a baseball game - Braves vs Mets, of course. Mercer did a much better job of running the bases in the kids zone. Mercer & I went to a couple of different areas for kids while Todd tried to send good vibes to his team from the stands. Mercer & I ran back up to our nosebleed seats just in the nick-of-time to catch the 7th inning stretch where we all sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." This is a song that Mercer has learned recently and wants to sing just about every day... if not several times throughout the day. It's really cute. (ps - he learned about cracker jacks - and loves them - no doubt!)

"fun thing" - The weather has been fabulous lately, so we've been taking advantage of eating breakfast and dinner out on the back deck. From there, we watch clouds and airplanes overhead, birds taking baths in the stream, and watch the progress of our mulberry tree ripening / birds starting to peck at the fruit. Breakfast (on the weekends) or dinner is usually followed by playing chase in the back yard, jumping off the deck or rock wall, playing ball, playing on the hammock, playing in the pond (well, not literally IN the pond), etc.

"fun thing" - Mercer got to participate in several Easter egg hunts in the course of a week. One was held at the home of our church's young pastor / his wife... one at his daycare... and six more (yes six more) in our neighborhood at a progressive (traveling) egg hunt. The group stopped for a photo-op in our back yard. The adorable baby wearing the fluffy bunny ears stole the show while the older kids played and joked around with each other. Overall, Mercer got way too much candy - which we're doling out as treats for his potty training to slow down his consumption / hopefully encourage his progress.

"fun thing" - We walked up to church yesterday for the Easter service and on our way home, stopped by & saw friends that we haven't seen in awhile. Later that day, we hosted other friends at our house for an nontraditional Easter dinner. Dinner was followed by more playing in the back yard: kids running around & playing ball, playing on the hammock, paying in the pond (well, not literally IN the pond)... etc etc. : - )

Good times with friends. Good times with our wonderful little family unit.

Have a great week ahead!

between jobs

2011-04-08T21:00:00.007-04:00

I'm officially unemployed.
(I've been off from my last job for a week. I start the new job on Monday.)

In the mean time, Mercer and I took a trip to North Carolina to visit family. We actually had the chance to visit folks that we did not get to see while up at Christmas: Aunt Becky, Uncle Tony, Uncle David, and Aunt Francis. We visited the zoo where my mom works... it's been at least a year since we have been. Mercer's favorite thing still seems to be the playground there. He said he also liked riding the carousel. This carousel ride was much better than the one we took about 1 1/2 years ago at Central Park in New York City. He's the right age for it now.

We also visited my mom and my grandparents - Mercer's great-grandparents.

My grandpa Nunn was celebrating a birthday... aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces & nephews all gathered to celebrate with him. In his 86 years of life, this may be his first birthday party with silly-string. (Mercer was scared of it for quite awhile, but the other nieces & nephews had a good time spraying grandpa with it!)

We also got a chance to see some friends on our way home that we didn't get to see last time. My girlfriend Cindy has two boys - ages 5 & 3 - and they have some really great toys that Mercer enjoys pulling out & playing with. It helps to break up the drive home. I assume he had a good time - as he was talking about Daniel & Trevor all the way home.

On this road trip, he sang a lot of songs. He likes Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song. "A-B-C-D-E-eh-G... H-I-J-K-el-la-lamo-P... cue-R-S... T-U-V... W-X-Y and Z... now I know my A-B-C's...D-E-eh-G... H-I-J-K-el-la-lamo-P... cue-R-S...T-U-V...W-X-Y and Z...now I know my A-B-C's...D-E-eh-G...." etc.

He gets caught up on the "now I know my A-B-C's part & starts back over!" It's adorable.

Another thing that makes us smile: when he sees a truck or a car with a picture on the side, he lets out a big laugh and says "That's Funny!~"
When we got home, Mercer got to check out his new "big boy" bed. Awhile back, we converted his crib to a toddler bed (by taking off the side rail & installing a roll-guard). But - Mercer is so tall that he has pretty much outgrown his toddler bed.. it was imminent that we move him to the next phase - a full-sized bed with roll-guards on either side. He LOVES his new bed!

He's going to the potty (sometimes) all by himself... sleeping in a "big-boy" bed... and can dress himself when he puts his mind to it. He's definitely growing out of his baby / toddler stage. (so sad)

Mr. Independent

2011-03-26T06:26:00.009-04:00

We are trying to work on Mercer's potty-training again. He did it last fall for awhile, then decided he was done with it. It's been more of a struggle this time around, but he hit a pretty good mark this week & "earned" a new toy because of it. We've been rewarding Mercer with raisins for going #1 in the potty for weeks & weeks now... seems like he's mastered that, but would not go #2 in the potty. We had to step up our game & make the stakes a little higher - for each #2, he would get a little box of raisins PLUS a sticker on his potty chart. After a certain number of stickers, he earned a toy. (We pasted a picture of this toy on the back of his potty chart for motivation.) It worked! He's been pooping in the potty every now & then the past couple of weeks. He brought a note home from his teacher at daycare yesterday saying that he was in he same diaper we put him in earlier in the morning. He pooped in the potty at school, then asked to do it again last night. That was the last #2 he needed to earn his toy & he was THRILLED!

The past couple of days, while trying to go potty, he wants us to leave the bathroom. He's starting to want his privacy already! He wants to pull his diaper & pants down by himself to go to the bathroom. He wants to take off his shirt at night & put on his own pajamas... and he's getting better and better at it. He doesn't want us to help brush his teeth anymore. He's been saying - for a long time "I do it first." Usually, we have to let him take a crack at something before we offer to help - otherwise - he gets mad.

One more potty story:

Last weekend, we went hiking in the woods. We were about a mile away from the car - and he tells us that he has to go. So.... Todd takes him off of the path into the woods a little bit... and he pees on the tree! Later, as we were making our way back to the entrance of the park, we passed a field where we had seen some horses earlier. "Where did they go?" "I don't know - they went into the woods," I replied. "They went to the potty?"

Also last weekend, we went back to an event we attended last year: Touch-A-Truck. Mercer loves utility vehicles - has for quite some time. Last year, however, he didn't seem that interested in climbing on them, rather watching them from afar. This year, he enjoyed climbing on the vehicles more - but standing in the long lines was pretty tough for the little guy. When he did, he was rewarded with sitting in the driver's seat of a fire truck and a huge bulldozer.

Todd & Mercer came down to my office yesterday afternoon. My company was throwing a little going away party for me up on our green roof. 6 years at the non-profit is a pretty long run! Most people that come through are only at Southface for 2 - 3 years. I still have 4 more days to work, technically, but it was a nice little event. I will miss that job, but am looking forward to a little time off, a change in my work-life, but am especially looking forward to being much closer to home each day!

a couple of medical visits as of late, but it's all good

2011-03-18T05:39:00.006-04:00

Last week, Mercer had his first dentist's appointment. The appointment was excruciatingly long, but he did really well. I kept popping in & checking on him w/out him seeing me... he was glued to the cartoons on the t.v. playing above his head. And, he got a coin at the end of his visit in which to put into a big gumball machine which released a cheap plastic toy. Amazing... he has played with this toy for a week now. He also got plus half-a-dozen stickers to wear and to stick on a goody bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few other dental-hygiene related accouterments.

Great smile, huh?

A couple days later, he went in for his 3 year old appointment. He said "I not go to the doctor. I not sick." But, we went anyways for his check-up. He got a clean bill of health, more stickers, and a "made-the-grade report card." His report card said that he was in the 97th percentile for height... 40.5" (3'-6 1/2") and he's in the 90th percentile for weight (36 lbs). He's going to be a tall one, but we already knew that!

Developmentally, everything else is also going well:

- Can he count to 3? (yes, he can count to 11).
- Is he climbing and active? (yes, as he was climbing up on the exam stool - moving to the exam table - down to the chair in the room, back up on the stool so he could reach the sink)
- Does he know his colors? (yes)
- Does he talk in sentences? (yes, as described above)
- Is he trying to potty train (yes... grumble... um yes)

It was interesting. They had a questionnaire they had me fill out on his diet (fruit / veggies / milk consumption per day). They asked a question about # of fast-food meals in a week. (happy to report zero - yay!). There were questions about frequency of candy and treats. They asked questions about video games & tv in the kids room. How much video games & t.v. is there each day? Questions about second hand smoke and exposure to t.b. Questions about social interaction / sports / daycare.

I thought that was kind of cool that they're asking about things other than his health -- things that would have an indirect affect on his health. We're happy to say that we're doing everything that we can to keep little guy healthy.

Don't have to go back 'til next year (well, at least for a "well" visit / annual check-up).

Have a great weekend. It is supposed to be beautiful here.

Spring has sprung as seen in these pics in the back yard... Mercer has been interested in the fish for more than a year, but he's starting to notice other things in the back yard and out in nature. This past weekend, he been asking me to help him jump across rocks in the stream... he likes me to pick up slimy algae and squish it around. He's playing with some cool red moss growing on a rock in the water. And - he's figuring out how to navigate the hammock. (Also, these 4 robins bathing in our stream are enjoying the season as well.)

Enjoy~

what a week it has been!

2011-03-05T12:09:00.011-05:00

Last week we went through sooooooo much~

The weekend started with us watching over Mercer to see if we needed to take him to the emergency Children's Healthcare center for some breathing issues. After talking to the nurse hot-line and doing some breathing treatments here, he improved overnight, however, we noticed he had thrush in his mouth & needed to take him in to get something to take care of that. (We learned that the breathing treatment medicine made thrush more common.) When the doctor was looking in his mouth, he noticed that his tonsils were swollen and his throat was red... he did a strep throat test... and it was positive! While there, we asked the doctor about a couple of skin infections which he said was a couple of different kinds of fungus! He had 5 different things going on -- his immunity system was completely knocked down. He had a fever off and on for days. He only wanted to lay around. He wouldn't eat or drink because his mouth and throat hurt too much. It was a rough few days until the medicine he got kicked in.

Thankfully, the medicine took effect on Tuesday afternoon. Mercer's 3rd birthday was on Wednesday!! He was able to go back to daycare on Wednesday, so I took up some muffins and snacks. When I arrived, Mercer and his classmates were all wearing plastic fireman hats and stickers on their shirts that looked like gold badges. The daycare had a fire truck there earlier in the day and all of the kids got to climb on the truck! Between the truck and my visit with snacks, he was definitely having a great day at school!

Later in the week, Todd's mom and my mom both came into town for Mercer's birthday party. We had kids from the neighborhood come over for a big play-doh throw-down. Colors, cutters, extractors, shapes, and presses everywhere... it was a lot of fun for them all. But they may have actually had more fun decorating their own cupcakes and eating them or playing outside (thank good for the nice weather). Mercer definitely enjoyed having friends and "grandma" and "other grandma" over to the house. ("grandma" and "other grandma" changed depending on who was closest to him at the time!)

After all of the festivities, it would seem that things would get back to normal, however, when I got back to work after the weekend, I quit my job of the past 6 years! I have found another that also works with building owners to make them more sustainable... but job is much closer to home. I'll be working through the end of the month before making the change.

I think - now - things are finally going to get back to normal. I don't know that we could have another week like this past one?!

whirlwind road trip

2011-02-20T21:53:00.014-05:00

We decided somewhat last minute to take a quick weekend trip to the Low Country. It was SO NICE to get away from home and soak in some warm weather for a change.

We went down to attend a birthday celebration for some of our college buddies. Three of them were celebrating a milestone birthday by throwing a big party (kids invited) and hiring a guitarist/singer who we all used to go see a lot down in Savannah. It was held in a private park on the east side of Savannah. It was pretty laid back. We all had a good time -- Mercer really really enjoyed playing the African gongon bell (cow bell). And - he did a pretty good job keeping rhythm as seen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5xjoGam_14 The guitarist, Jude, had a big bag of percussion instruments. Mercer definitely found the one that made the most noise!

We were not in Savannah long - mainly just for the party. We ended up staying out on Hilton Head Island to try to take in a little bit of the beach while we were that close. It wasn't warm enough to get into the water, but it was definitely nice enough to play on the beach, sit with a picnic lunch, kick off the shoes, and get sand between our toes. We packed sandwiches and sun chips, but did not pack enough for our lunch guests - about 30 seagulls and a crow who ended up joining us -- well really surrounding us -- squawking for food. It was sort of funny. It was definitely a unique experience. (No - we never gave in... we did not feed them any of our food.) They did, however, get a little brazen when we all got up to play ball. Several of them kept going near our blanket on the sand... then on the blanket... and then very close to where our out-of-sight (but not out-of-mind) food containers were. Mercer saw them and ran to chase them away. He was very protective of our stuff!

The following morning, we went hiking with (and carrying) Mercer along a trail that went through a wildlife preserve. Many parts of it (vistas across the marsh) reminded me of the trip that I took to Bottany Bay in Edisto last fall. Makes sense - both places are off of the South Carolina coast. We went in search of various "treasures" hidden throughout the preserve. We have a family hobby called letterboxing -- finding hidden stamps in public places. Mercer is seen here with his stamp book in hand. He likes to help push the letterbox stamp on the paper in his book... He likes to scribble a little message in letterboxer's book which is stored with the "treasure"... and he likes looking through his book at the various images we've collected over the past year. He's still too young to solve the clues and find the boxes, but I think he'll grow into it. One nice thing about this hobby - it leads us to places we may not have explored on our own.

As mentioned, it was a whirlwind trip -- but was restorative and just what we needed!

Imaginary Things

2011-02-06T17:44:00.009-05:00

I've been spending some time "observing" Mercer. Lately, when I'm putting him down for his nap, I've also been laying down for a nap of my own in the bed next to his crib. I have a habit of waking up 10 - 15 minutes after I fall asleep (sometimes, the power-nap is annoying, but for the most part it's a good thing). After I wake up, I lay there - pretending to still be asleep & get to listen to him talk, play, and sing as he's trying to wind down for his own slumber. It seems that I need that mid-day nap with him on the weekends for the benefit of the quick refresher and i "need" to be around to see these cute things that he's doing. It's really been a pleasure observing him!

- He talks to his toys or stuffed animals that are in his bed. He talks to the froggy. Here, drink water.

- He drives cars along the side-rail like it's a road.

- He has even put some of his toys in time out! (I didn't catch what they did to deserve their punishment.)

- He sings little songs.... most of which I don't recognize. Either he's making them up or he's learning new songs at school.

Outside of nap-time, he uses a bumble-bee rattle and shoots it like a gun, making shooting sounds. He has a olive-wood cross that a dear friend gave him for his baptism. He flies it around like an airplane and makes flying sounds. He "feeds" Todd and myself fake food and makes chomping sounds.

LOVE seeing his imagination coming out! It's something that's been developing over the past several weeks... and I'm excited to see what else comes to life.

Mercer is sporting a new haircut - as seen in these photos. Some of the pictures are random shots around the house and others are at his friend Jackson & Glady's house making valentine sugar cookies.

Yesterday, we went to a movie at the dollar theater called "Despicable Me."

*SPOILER ALERT* if you intend to see it, skip the next paragraph.

It's an animated cartoon about a villain who adopts three girls to help him with one of his evil ploys. They get sent back to the orphanage after he pulls off his feat, but his heart is softened. He misses the girls, so he goes back for them and they live happily ever after as a 'unique' family.

This is the first time that Mercer sat through an entire movie at the theater. (We tried a free movie last summer - Toy Story 3 - but he didn't quite make it all the way through that one.)

He got scared a few times during this movie over the weekend... the cartoon dog on screen would growl at characters in the film... or there would be an action scene or two... but nothing really violent. He would cover his eyes and hide his head in my shoulder. I got to spend a part of the film cuddling and comforting. (yay!)

Overall he liked going. Proof: this morning when he woke up, he asked to eat popcorn and watch a movie on the really big t.v. again : - )

Have a great week ahead~ Candice, Todd, and Mercer

kids say the darndest things...

2011-01-28T20:08:00.016-05:00

"The sun crashed our snowman. That NOT NICE!"

On the way to school one day after telling Mercer that Daddy was at work... "Mommy, you not work. You stay home. You stay home and clean my stuff."

And the final one which is a "doozie" - as he was looking through an advertisement in the Sunday paper, he came to an ad with women in bikinis. He said "they need to put clothes on" and he covered them up with something. Then he took the covering off and pointed at the bikini top of one of the women "boobies."

Todd and I about lost it at the breakfast table! We tried not to laugh, but it was hard!!

Tonight, we were playing with Play-Doh as a family. As we were opening the package & unwrapping all of the car / truck / airplane / helicopter / dune buggy parts that stick into the squishy dough... he kept saying "wow" "wow" "woooowwww"

After squishing around and making some jumbled-up creations, he would make airplane noises and car noises. "Nrrrrrrrrooooolllllllll.........Brrrrrrmmmmmmm....."

He would also grab whatever Todd or I had in our hands and say "here, I need to do something" or "I need to show you something." Then you could see the wheels turning inside of his head as he was trying to think of what to show us or what to do once he held the dough & pieces in his hands.

This doesn't flow with the story - but it should be on the record that Todd was holding back some anxiety at the colors being mixed & smooshed together. I think they look kinda cool & swirly.... until at some point we end up with this homogeneous grey color... but kinda fun right now!

We have been holding our annual soup night event. Tomorrow night is the 4th in the series -- the last soup night for the year. So far, the first three events have been smaller than usual, but it's been nice to catch up with some people that we haven't talked to in awhile and really wanted to catch up with - so that's been great - getting to spend some one-on-one time with folks. This is why we hold the event.

Mercer thinks it's pretty great to have a party at our house every Saturday night. He's enjoying the event.

We're still continuing his swimming class (because of our concern with life safety/ the pond in our back yard). We'll keep that one up. He's doing well and can float on his own for a little bit... and is able to pretty much climb out of the pool now.

We also enrolled him in a parent-tot tumbling class for this winter quarter. Don't know how long we'll do this one, but right now it's great because he's getting to blow off some energy on Saturday mornings and is learning to do flips, walk on a balance beam, even do a backwards flip on the uneven bars with the teacher's help & my "spotting" him. He's enjoying it for the most part, but is having a hard time waiting his turn to do the activity / standing in line. Hopefully the class will work on his patience a little bit??

That's about all that's going on. Have a great week.

'Til next time...

(This is Mercer trying out his first chocolate-covered strawberry... and another pic of Todd & Mercer watching football together. The J-E-T-S gave it a good run this season~ maybe next year Todd will go to the superbowl to support his team??)

It's a new year~

2011-01-12T19:25:00.016-05:00

Just before the new year, we got to visit with some of our friends from the west coast - Bob, Jen and their baby girl Zoe (who is almost 1 1/2 years old and we were just meeting for the first time). We were ALL shameless & kept prodding Mercer and Zoe to hug. She seemed to be more interested in his "big kid" toys, though. Oh well. Hopefully it won't be another 1 1/2 years 'til they see each other again!

Mercer almost made it to midnight on new year's eve... he & his friends were up 'til after 11... we finally heard the last peep come out of their room around 11:45. The following morning, he hit a milestone: he gave up his pacifier. (we prodded him on this too... "throw away your pacifier and you get this big new toy." he really had no choice~) Here he is enjoying his criss-cross matchbox car set & he's been enjoying it ever since. I don't think he regrets his decision. The first few nights, he asked for the pacifier, but we reminded him that HE threw it away in exchange for the car set. He seemed ok with that. So - we're closing in on 2 weeks without it. Woo hoo! Now... to work again on the potty training...

The big news around here -- SNOW -- and lots of it for Atlanta & the metropolitan area. 5" + ice on top. (This picture is taken from a weird angle - the snow is not all the way up to the stop sign!) The snow has pretty much shut down the whole area for quite some time... and 4 days later... there's still most of it around. The city is not equipped to handle it. We went sledding the first day. All was good for awhile 'til he started to bawl "I want to go home I want to go home." Once home - we discovered that his little gloves were not keeping his hands warm & they were bright red and freezing cold to the touch. Poor guy!

The next day, we went out & put 2 sets of gloves on his hands... and this seemed to do the trick. He was out for a couple of hours building a snowman with Todd and helping him to shovel the driveway.

Inside, he got to play with more white stuff... icing! It was the perfect time to make cupcakes and practice icing them. This was his first time practicing this new skill - dipping the knife into the tub & slathering it onto the cupcake. I only had to smooth it out for him - he really did pretty well - until we caught him licking his finger and made him wash his hands.

We saw snow while driving at Christmas, but didn't get to stop & play in it. I'm glad he got to experience snow this season. Now... we are all ready for the next thing!

Home Sweet Home

2011-01-02T21:37:00.019-05:00

our travels looked something like this: GA --> NC --> DC --> NJ --> VA --> GA

(all in about a week)

We had a great time at each of our destinations, but packing & unpacking, sleeping in different beds, and riding in the car for 1800 miles is hard on all of us... especially when mother nature throws us a curve ball such as a major snow storm!!

Our trip started in North Carolina - visiting my mother's family. Literally, as soon as we go out of the car & inside, Mercer spotted a "low-rider" car that played music and immediately went into dance. We haven't posted a video in quite awhile - but enjoy this one & notice Mercer's signature moves: a cartwheel... him going into a wind-up with his arm... and a kick over the car! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N4KayeiTo0

Mercer "got it" this year and enjoyed opening presents more than playing with the bows and boxes. We didn't take any group photos at this family gathering. Uncle Eddie's son, Michael, posed for the only picture while others who I won't mention (Uncle Mel) hid behind stuff to avoid the camera. Shout-out to Michael !!

We also got to see my dad's mother, Edith, while in town. Mercer is always a star at her nursing home as the residents and workers there enjoy watching him. He brings energy there and makes lots of people smile. Notice grandma is smiling at Mercer as he is "digging for gold." Ha! Near grandma's nursing home is an interesting development called Fearrington Village. Mercer & I paid a visit there last year and he ran around these sculptures in the field. This year, he was a little more interactive with the sculptures that were decked out for the holidays.

We continued our journey up the road - stopping in D.C. to visit Todd's brother and family. While there, Mercer's cousin, Marley, doted on him and played with him 'til it was time for him to go to sleep. She even read him his bedtime stories! Check out their awesome hats!!

The following morning, we continued our journey up the highway to New Jersey. At one point, we got off of the highway to avoid some holiday traffic. We ended up driving through the town and campus of Princeton - which is really beautiful. This was a nice diversion for us while Mercer was in the back seat napping. The following day, Todd's sister and Mercer's cousins arrived. More arrived on Christmas day & the house was full (9 adults + 9 kids under one roof). Mercer had an absolute blast playing with his cousins. At some point, a full-blown game of Nerf gun war was "on" and everyone was running around the house shooting nerf pellets at one another. Mercer hung right in there with them!!

We got a little bit of a later start on journey southward after Christmas. Overnight, New Jersey was to have gotten hit by snow - so we waited 'til daylight to see what the conditions were. Things were fine & we made it out. Later that day, however, NJ and many other states got buried by the white stuff. We drove through some beautiful postcard-like farms with a dusting of snow covering the rolling hills. Some farms had silos attached to stone farm buildings. Some farms had dilapidated wood structures that added a lot of character to the drive. If not in a hurry, it would've been great to stop and shoot some pictures. (Maybe we can explore that part of the country at some point in the future??)

We had to stop in Virginia to stay the night because as the sun set, the roads were getting slick. We were only a couple of hours from my mom's house in North Carolina, but we called it a night, then drove to her place in the morning - encountering some rough roads. Unfortunately, we lost about 1/2 a day, so we couldn't stay for a visit with my mom. We headed back to our house & when we made it home. When my head finally hit my own pillow that night... it was pure bliss!

Merry Christmas to All

2010-12-25T11:55:00.009-05:00

Here are some pics I meant to post before we left town, but didn't have time.

Mercer and I tried making a gingerbread house this year. Unfortunately the little staunches that were to hold up the roof fell right off & the whole thing collapsed. Mercer had fun anyhow. He discovered that red hots are actually hot. He ate one and it took him several drinks from his bottle before his mouth wasn't burning any longer. Also, he discovered that he enjoyed eating gum drops more than sticking them in the icing on the house. Here, he is acting like he's about to put it on his house, then last minute pops it in his mouth. He thinks it's funny to trick us now. (Is this devious or cute?)

A week ago we had a little Christmas celebration at our house. Mercer's grandparents sent an art easel down & he enjoyed playing with this. He ran right to it and drew all over it. Later, he opened a Toy Story toy that we had gotten him and a little nativity set we got him as well. We're now on our trip to NC and NJ. I'll blog about that later, but wanted to get these pre-holiday pictures posted.

Merry Chirstmas to All.......

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-12-18T23:45:00.009-05:00

We are in the thick of baking, packing, wrapping, and sending cards. Yes - Christmas is upon us. Don't have a lot of time to write, but mainly here to post some seasonal pictures. Enjoy!

We made it to the lighting of the tree up on the square. Santa and Mrs. Claus come to this event every year and stick around for a little while afterwards to talk to little boys & girls. Since we were having a slice of pizza with friends (as seen on the previous blog) the line to see Santa was short by the time we made it to the square. He actually got to spend a little time with him Mercer didn't say anything to him because he was being shy, but did sit with the big guy for a minute.

finally done with the turkey & stuffing

2010-12-04T20:36:00.020-05:00

Well, technically, some of our turkey & extra turkey stock is now stored in the freezer, but we are DONE with it for awhile! We had a nice Thanksgiving and we have A LOT to be thankful for. My mom came down for a visit. We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal... shopped on black Friday... and ate left-overs for days on end (even found some creative ways to re-make leftovers). Here, "grandma Gloria" & Mercer pose for a pic before we dive into dinner.

After eating leftovers for a week, we went up to the square to grab a slice of pizza at the local pizza joint and ran into our friends, the Ragan's. Of course, we had to grab chairs and all crowd around a table so that we could all eat together. These are Mercer's best buddies right now, as he always talks about Glady and Jackson. they like him a lot too -- especially Glady!

Mercer is doing some cute things....

I took a trip for work to Chicago the week before Thanksgiving. Mercer hugged me and said, "your my friend mommy." He also likes to pull up his chair at dinner over to sit next to Todd or me... or asks one of us to come sit next to him. He says, "come, play with me." Todd and I feel like he really enjoys our company.

There's another side of him too - as mentioned on previous blog posts - he's also independent. He "demands" sometimes that he does things FIRST. (Don't know why "first" but we know it's a way for him to exhibit control.) He is also adamant about trying to put on his own clothes. Here, he is insisting that this red shirt goes on his legs. The next week, he is insisting that these blue & white striped pajama pants go over his head. (I think on this one, he was actually stalling at bed-time while also trying to be funny.) But, we enjoy it none-the-less.

We're starting to move now into the holiday season. Right after Thanksgiving, we set up a tree and only got the lights on it. The next morning, he was amazed. The following day, I added ribbon and Mercer was amazed that something new appeared on the tree while he was asleep. The following day, he & I hung up shatter-proof ornaments.

Todd put up some lights on the outside of the house & he is amazed / excited by them every time we drive home at night.

This is, indeed, a great age!

We had a really great weekend!

2010-11-16T08:22:00.022-05:00

Saturday, we went up to a local farm that turns into a tourist attraction each fall. They have a pumpkin patch (which we visited a couple of years ago for some nice photos of Mercer amongst the orange backdrop)... and they have a corn maze. We didn't realize that they now have "bouncy pillows" -- sort of like a bouncy house, but instead, it's a giant inflated pillow that comes out of the ground.

Mercer needed help to get up on the big bouncy pillow, as it was quite steep (here he's coming off of it as a slide). The small one - Mercer could run up to on his own.

The pumpkin patch was quite small, so we didn't get any good fall pics, but Mercer instead got to play on a tractor next to the pumpkins - which he was much happier about, I'm sure! We set him up on the pumpkin scale. He clocked in at a whopping 35 lbs (with shoes & clothes)!!

We also let him "direct" us through the corn maze. He loves giving directions now when we're driving (he knows alternate routes to his daycare in the morning: "go this way (he points to the left) i want to see the crane." There's a construction site at the hospital near our house. So - he was in his element at the corn maze. We let him go for it. He didn't go too far into the maze before turning around, so we did not get lost.

After leaving the farm, we stopped by a neighborhood arts festival. I did not participate in it this year as an artist with a booth or managing the children's art tent. Instead, a woman who started a business called nerdybaby.com managed the children's tent. She had science experiment stations set up. One was color mixing with dyed waters. Another had soluble materials that would expand upon hitting the water. Another station had a box of dyed water and translucent colored paddles that - when used together to scoop things out of the water - would appear to change colors. Mercer had fun playing at all stations, but when he was "scooping" (or really stirring) the contents of the box of dyed water, he was tagged by the local newspaper photographer. 2 years ago, Mercer was in the newspaper at this same event playing with chalk in the street. There are some of the other kids on the street captured in the article including a feature about an adopted girl whose mother wrote a book about their adoption story. She was selling the book there, but I didn't purchase one as Mercer's adoption story is so different. Maybe it will inspire me to continue working on the coloring book pages I had started years ago and make a series featuring Mercer?? Who knows!!

Here are some additional photos at the farm. Mercer likes to tackle & wrestle now. It's great on a bouncy pillow... but at home on the hardwood floor... that's a different story! He also likes to tumble now & likes for us to tumble with him. (NICE JOB, TODD!!) As you can see, Todd & I had a great time too jumping and playing on the bouncy pillow!!

The weeks after our vacation

2010-11-07T09:50:00.013-05:00

Unfortunately, I went right back to work as soon as we rolled into town (well, a few hours after we got back, I had to be downtown for an event).... then travelled out of town for a work trip.... then came back home to some crazy crazy stuff:

A few of our neighbor's houses were selected for a Georgia Lottery commercial. The crew transformed part of our street into a winter wonderland and the kids got to play in the snow (as they were setting up) then watch later as they were filming the shoot. They had big blocks of ice that they ran through a wood chipper then sprayed on the yards & roof. The premise of the commercial (we think) is that a snowman had a winning lottery ticket, ran away with it, then got hit by a truck. That's all we could put together as they filmed this sequence from about 8 pm - 11 pm. Then they moved down the street and filmed a different segment into the night (and around 6 am when I woke up & was checking on them, they were filming yet a different segment down the street just a little bit more! They wrapped everything up around 7:30 am, were packing up the trucks and left by day break!

That last picture you can see our house in the background - undecorated - and see where the action started next door. Pretty cool!! The snow stayed on the ground for that day, but afterwards - it was pretty much gone. (LOTS of excitement- and we can't wait to see how the commercial turns out! Don't know if that means that we'll be buying a ticket, though.)

Here, one of our neighbors put the scene together & you can see the fake snowman running and the real snowman getting hit by the truck / ice splattering everywhere: http://www.vimeo.com/16080879

The next day, we headed to NJ for Todd's class reunion. It was a very short trip, but we got to see Todd's parents, one of his brothers, his sister, and several of Mercer's cousins. Todd got to take a tour of his old high school and see what has changed and what has not (some of the same furniture and finishes are still there *twenty* years later! Todd enjoyed catching up with people from his class (except there was one who didn't come he had hoped to see) & overall, he is glad we went. There were some events one day (meeting on the playground behind the elementary school) and going to the homecoming football game that we all went to as well. I have wanted to go to his hometown in the fall - so this was great timing!

Mercer's been saying some funny things. (It's interesting to see his vocabulary grow and him trying to put sentences together.) When he wants help, he says "I help you" or when he wants one of us to pick him up he says "I carry you." Obviously, we know it's the opposite of that, but it's sort of impressive to see him try to put that together, I suppose! And - I would be remiss if I didn't mention that his favorite number is 5. He wants to take 5 cars to bed with him. He would normally eat a whole bowl of grapes before dinner, but if you offer him 5, he is content with that. (It sounds like a lot, I suppose?) When asking him how many of almost anything - his answer of course - is 5!

The following weekend was Halloween. Mercer has really been into monkeys lately (thanks to Curious George) so we dressed him in a monkey costume & tried to get him to say "ooh ooh ahh ahh" but he kept roaring like a lion! oh well. You can see here his "banana bag" that we made for him to collect treats (yes, a little bit of candy, but mostly raisins, fruit snacks, and granola bars thanks to our willing neighbors). And - Todd & I dressed up a little bit - here I'm donning bug eyes & antenna... which Mercer ultimately ended up with.

He was NOT happy about being in his costume at first, as he kept tugging at the ears trying to get the hat part off of his head - but once we went up the street to a neighborhood party and saw that his friends were dressed up, he seemed ok with it. The neighbors who host every year have a playground in their back yard - and a good "rolling" hill in the front yard. Mercer and his buddies went down the hill over and over again. Here's a good shot of Mercer his good friends (buzz) Holden, (bumble bee) Glady, and (crazy chicken) Jackson. It looks like he may be making monkey noises in this last one, but who knows?!

A couple of weeks have passed

2010-10-26T22:19:00.018-04:00

Our beach vacation sadly came to an end - but we knew it would. Thankfully, Todd snapped some really beautiful shots at sunset on one of our last days there that we will certainly cherish. We tried to walk the mile-and-a-half to an inlet at the opposite side of the island to collect shells... but with a 2 1/2 year old... that was a pretty lofty goal. We did snag some shells along the way. (Mercer was mainly interested in throwing them in the ocean, however, so if we saw something we wanted to keep - we had to hide it or else it was destined to swim!)

While we were on the coast of South Carolina, we took a trip into Charleston -- about an hour away. Todd & I haven't spent much time there, even though we lived fairly close when we lived in Savannah. We played "tourist" and did things we thought Mercer would enjoy. We think he had a good time. He saw dolphins in the water, boats, horses, and roosters. (There were some chickens & roosters wandering around the street in one part of town where the horse stables were. Mercer tried to say cock-a-doodle-doo. To our amusement, he said "ca-ca-doo-doo." : - )

We rented bicycles one day. We rode to the beach in the morning... to a playground on the other side of the island... to eat ice cream at one of the few retailers on the other side of the island... and continued on to the SC State Park beach to look for sea shells before wearily riding back to the condo. When asking Mercer what his favorite part of the day was -- he said the ice cream. What?!!? We can do that anywhere! Oh well!

The last day there, Mercer wasn't feeling well. He laid on the couch with Todd all morning, so I went to a part of the island that's been turned into a nature preserve. Botany Bay Plantation is now owned by the state and open to the public. It is a unique undeveloped parcel of land approximately 4700 acres which spans marshes, farm land, and beaches that look the way that the coast looked before the other area shore-lines were cleared for beach-goers 70 years ago. It boasts one of the most diverse array of wildlife of any other place in existence (according to some educational information on site). I saw several dozens species as small as sand crabs... as large as heron in the sky... to dolphins in the water. Most of the plantation structures are no longer there, but there are a couple which are interesting: A Gothic ice house & gardener's shed.

I can imagine that sunrises at the plantation would be AMAZING. We will have to make it a point to get up early and go out there sometime, as we have already decided that we want to go back to the island, as it's one of the last non-commercial beaches left on the east coast.... nothing to do but play in the sand.

Couldn't resist posting these real quick

2010-10-14T06:44:00.010-04:00

We're on our way to Charleston this morning & I need to get our things ready, but this was a funny series & I wanted to post quickly:

We're sure that many a men have been defeated by the ocean....
We promise... he IS having fun on this trip

(with the occasional *blip* from the sea)

mid-vacation post

2010-10-12T16:51:00.014-04:00

We're on Edisto Island beach on the coast of South Carolina right now. (We'll, right now, Mercer is napping / Todd's playing golf / I'm here at the condo.) We have worn the little guy out & we're not even half-way through our vacation! I don't know what it is about the sun, but it has zapped Mercer every day & he takes monumentally long naps.

Here, he's sporting his car pj's while laying on his car sheets. They almost look the same. We brought a twin-sized blow-up mattress for him to sleep on & brought his bed rail so he wouldn't roll off the 4" to the ground. The first few times he was to go to sleep on the mattress, he used it like a bouncy house while holding onto the rail -- but he eventually goes to sleep on it. (yes, he just drank... and is drooling milk)

Here are a few shots from yesterday's visit to the beach. The place we're staying is not on the beach, but they have a tram that takes you there... there's a cabana with bathrooms and (most importantly) a wash-off station. It's amazing how much sand a little swim diaper can hold!! After getting back to our condo, we ended up stripping Mercer & hosing him off before coming back inside -- but there was still a ton of sand that appeared mysteriously during his shower afterwards.

He enjoyed playing in the sand with his shovel, bucket, bulldozer, and dump truck. He made tracks. He buried his feet. He was very creative with the various toys around.

It seemed that his play area was a little too close to the water, however!
coming...
and in a flash...
it was gone!

We introduced him to "frisbee" although he didn't need much introduction to throwing / slinging things! (the frisbee would go behind his back much of the time) Today, we all flew kites (sort of).

We watched pelicans along the water, lots of butterflies along the dunes, and even a heron that would fly & perch... fly & perch... fly & perch. We haven't seen any alligators, although there are supposedly plenty of them (the island is surrounded mainly by a marsh... which moves to an inlet on either side... that encompass the shore line along the Atlantic). I am hoping that we can move a little inland later in the week and explore some of the nature areas on the island. We'll see.

Here, he's running from waves -- which we did for quite awhile. Eventually, he became more comfortable with the water and ventured close to the edge. (Today, he wanted to actually go further in - so his comfort level is growing still yet).
I will try to post again in the next week or so -- but I know that when I get back home, I have a heavy week lined up for work. Let me put this out of my mind, though, and get back to the beach for now!!

every weekend, we try to do something fun...

2010-10-02T21:53:00.015-04:00

It's been just over 2 weeks since the last post. I've been VERY busy at work lately. i had a big grant proposal that was due this week as well as was coordinating / leading a week-long green building training for Dominican Republic & Colombian architects, architecture students, and professors. It was a very unique experience as we had our material translated in print and verbally. This group, too, was - by far - the "warmest" group of students that we've ever taught. It was a lot of fun touring them around the city, too, and visiting local green buildings.

2 weekends ago, we checked out a "safari" that i scored some 50% off tickets to. A co-worker told me about it & it sounded intriguing, but..... it was a little bizarre. You have the option to drive your own car through the safari or rent zebra-striped mini-vans that have been modified (glass out of the windows & bars across the openings). We opted for the van. You buy bags of food & drive through a several-hundred acre preserve. The animals come up to the car & want you to give them the food. Some of them can get their snouts all the way into the car... some of them -- especially the cows and the giraffes -- have really long tongues that they stick out at you too trying to grab the food from you. (That part freaked me out, actually.) Mercer stayed smack in the middle of the van -- very smart.... it was the furthest point away he could get from the animals at a very safe distance! Here in this pic -- he's checking out one of the animals & looks a little concerned. We can't tell if he enjoyed himself or if he was a little freaked out too!?!

Last weekend it was rainy, so we went to the Georgia Aquarium. I snapped a shot of him in front of some of Todd's favorite fish - Lion Fish. My favorite fish - the Weedy Sea Dragon - Mercer was actually interested in. Luckily, we got to spend a couple of minutes watching the odd-looking fish. We have a membership at the aquarium this year (thanks Grandma Gloria!) so we go occasionally; this time, however, we discovered an area that we haven't been to before -- the upstairs section of the kid's area. Here we found a tunnel that Mercer climbed through over and over again as well as a slide that he & I went down to get back to the main level. Another thing that he discovered (although we've seen it before) is how in one of the areas, there is a wave machine that periodically moves across the glass above your head. He was more fascinated by this than before. Love that excitement of discovery! There's a common theme... mouth WIDE open!

This past weekend, we cashed in some passes we had for the Atlanta Botanical gardens... they built a new bridge that weaves through some woods as well as built new fountains and garden areas. A subtle water feature next to a "living wall" became one of Mercer's favorite things to play with there.... I bet many people may pass by without noticing the water feature. Mercer learned that he could break the flow of water that otherwise disappears in grooves cut into the wall and that he could also "paint" his hand-prints on the slate surface with his wet palms & fingers.

One of the things that Todd & I love about going to the botanical gardens is that they try to incorporate art into the garden. Here in this new fountain, they had some blown glass flowers "floating" on the surface. Also, they have multi-colored blown glass pumpkins & gourds which are really stunning in the clusters (of dozens & dozens of hand-made pieces) that they had arranged throughout the new garden areas.

Mercer had a good time playing with the pumpkins that were on display too. Yay - fall is officially here!

Mercer is doing some new things... he "announces" EVERYTHING. If I give him a cup of water with ice, he has to go tell Todd about it. If Todd puts together his Lego train set, Mercer has to have me come look at it and says "daddy did it." A minute later: "daddy did it." At first I thought he was telling on us... if I spilled something "Mommy made a mess" -- but now I've learned he just wants to tell us things -- wants to announce things. Wants our acknowledgement.

Guess we have to be a little careful about what we say & do -- because little guy will certainly openly talk about our every move!

Last week, Mercer counted to 12 by himself & shocked us both. He's also filling in some of the letters when singing ABC song. He's really getting more into wanting to hear kids songs and singing along / clapping / bopping around. (Much to our chagrin - we're not always "allowed" to listen to what we want to on the radio. We new it was coming at some point, though.)

Mercer has gotten into kicking & saying "Hi-ya" like he's in karate. Wonder if a kid at his daycare does this? He also has a hard time expressing his frustration... kind of like a puppy -- when he gets excited -- he bites. (This is something that we're working on having him stop doing!) He's also honing his skills for stalling going to bed... he wants water... he wants to wash his hands... he wants to "fix" my hair. he wants to read just one more book... he wants to go to the potty... he wants to go say good-night to the kitty. This we knew would come too -- we just didn't count on it coming so soon!

I started this post on Saturday, but finished it on Sunday night. I thought that I would make a quick mention about the sermon today at our church. Today was World Communion Day... so they sang some songs in Spanish and in Swahili. They also said a blessing for the bread and the wine in Spanish, French, German. It was interesting. Later, they went into talking about not wanting for "stuff" -- how people are caught up in wanting more and more materialistic things... and how this doesn't bring happiness. They also played a U2 song - "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Never thought so much about the words to that song. It was an interesting sermon and communion -- I'm really glad we went today!

Todd & I don't feel like we're as materialistic as we used to be... we're seeking more quality-of-life and more experiential things. I've been thinking a lot lately about "what's next" for my career / our family... and as a part of that I am constantly thinking about simplifying life when I do make my next career transition and (hopefully in the near future) our next adoption adventure. This drove the point home for me today to re-focus on what's important. I'm wanting to "push the reset" button. Next week we go on a week-long vacation and hope that we ALL push the reset button and steer towards a more simple, fulfilling life!

Mercer's personality is coming through

2010-09-13T21:34:00.015-04:00

Mercer did something that was SO funny the other day:

We were grabbing a slice of pizza up on the square & someone we knew stopped by our table to talk. The woman, Joan, asked Mercer a question, but he had just shoved a piece of pizza in his mouth, so that when he replied he let out an un-interpretable mumble. She asked him the question again and he replied with the same mumble. I told him not to talk with his mouth full -- intending for him to finish chewing and THEN reply with his answer. Instead, he grabbed the chewed up pizza out of his mouth & stuck it in my hand, then answered the question!!

Todd, Joan, and I BUSTED out in laughter. I don't even remember what the question or the answer was because I was in shock! He resolved the problem in a much different way than we had intended, but... he DID resolve it!

Mercer's also starting to think and reason for things he wants -- even things that are not tangibly in front of him. We were watching some neighbor kids one day after work / after school. I wanted him to behave well / not be cranky, so I brought a cheese stick so he could eat it on the way home & carry him through 'til he ate dinner later that evening. He's eating the cheese stick -- and after awhile he says "this is not a treat, mommy" "this is not a treat, ok?" I suppose he was afraid he wouldn't get a goodie at some point later if he gobbled up the cheese stick?!

Hmmm..... smart!

This past weekend, we went for a bike ride on a converted "Rails-to-Trails" path called the Silver Comet. We had a nice ride & even stopped at one of the pull-off areas to hike a little bit. We knew there was a nature preserve and walking trails that backed up to the Silver Comet, but. little did we know that there were some old ruins on a creek at the end of the trail. The ruins were supported by a steel sub-structre which added even more interest to the site from our perspective.

We were so pleasantly surprised -- as ruins and water are 2 of the things Todd & I like to see along our hikes, in fact we sometimes plan trips to specific places because of them!! For us, this was a hidden treasure & we will definitely be back!

Todd took some photos of Mercer in front of the ruins while Mercer was climbing up an elevated manhole structure not too far from the stone ruins. At first, he needed our help climbing up the 2' tall structure, but after a few times, he was able to do it himself. He was also a little apprehensive of jumping off the structure, but quickly got over his fear and did it over and over again all by himself. He's definitely becoming more independent.

Speaking of independence, we've enrolled him again into semi-private swim lessons. They're more expensive & further away from where we live, but we really didn't think he was getting life-safety skills at the place he's been going for the past year. He's no longer afraid of the water, but we want him to roll over & float on his back - most importantly - when he does get in the water. Hopefully these new lessons will provide these fundamentals & others. He had one lesson last week & the instructor said he needed to move up to the next level. This new level is the first class where the kids are in the water on their own with the instructor.... none of the parents go in the water with the kids.

He was the youngest kid in the class and was clingy & apprehensive, but we passed him to the instructor. She carried him into the water & set him on the step where the other few kids were waiting. Mercer actually sat in one place on the step for the most part. He went to her when she came to get him for his one-on-one instruction. He got his head & ears wet. He floated on his back with her. He kicked. He (sort-of) blew bubbles. And - he jumped into the pool upon her instruction where she caught him. He kept looking over to us to make sure we were there -- or to see if we were watching & applauding him on his achievements. All night long he kept saying "I did it." He was definitely proud. I was a little sad -- this is a new step for him, but we were both proud of him too.

Finally, Mercer has begun a couple of new things that ALL kids do / we knew to expect at some point. He does the constant "Mommy, mommy, mommy...." "Daddy, daddy, daddy...." until you look at him. Just acknowledging him doesn't work to cease this constant name-calling. He's also began the continuous "Why?" He hasn't done this too often, but several times he's asked when I wake him up in the morning: "Where's Daddy?" I reply, "he's at work." "Why?" "Because he has to pay for the house and the groceries." "Why?" So that we have a place to live and food to eat." Why? I think at that point, I distracted him with something so it ended!! I know that there will be ever more and more "why's" added to the end of the string.

Good times!

2 years ago today, we celebrated Mercer's adoption

2010-09-05T21:59:00.022-04:00

It was his official adoption day. We went to court in the morning for the judge's review of our paperwork, social worker's recommendation, and and ruling. We had a big party that evening. Two years has passed quickly in one sense when thinking about his development and growth. But, it feels like "forever" that we've had Mercer -- it feels like he's always been a part of our family.

Today, we hung out as a family -- going out to breakfast, playing here at the house, then going to an annual picnic that our church was having. It was at a historic "meeting camp" site nearby. (It's a place where many denominations of churches gathered starting in the 1800s. There's a large open-air heavy-timber church which is pretty cool.) After eating, Mercer was drawn a few times to the open-air structure where there was singing, but the highlight was definitely the playground. Here's a pic... this is something I started & still think is sort of funny... but I know one day will haunt me -- him opening his mouth & showing me what's inside. He ate a blue cookie & wanted to show me.

Now - things may seem a little confusing if looking at hair style. In the pics above (from this weekend) Mercer's hair is shorter. He got a haircut a couple of days ago. The pics below are from last week. There's one pic that has an adorable long curl going right down his forehead. oh... I hated to see those long curls go!!

Last weekend, we went for a hike at a spot that Todd & I like (there is water and building ruins along the way). Mercer actually did a great job on the hike. Todd & I had to carry him a little bit, but he moved along the trail for the most part. Well, until he'd get distracted by a tiny worm.... or river viewing platforms that he would have to dance around and explore every inch of. The thing that kept him moving the most, however, was logs buried in the ground. He would see one and run to it. Then, he would jump off of it. He'd see another & take off again. We took a number of breaks along the way -- once for a picnic lunch, once to explore the rocks in the water, and once to get another stamp in Mercer's letterboxing book (someone had buried a box in the park & left description enough for us to find it).

Mercer has had some "eating" firsts this week. He ate his first hotdog (well, really it was a veggie dog) at a Braves / Mets baseball game earlier this week. He ate his first piece of fried chicken at the church picnic earlier tonight. He had his first "kids meal" at a fast-food restaurant... ate 2 chicken bites from chick-fil-a, a few fries, and an apple juice (this one, I'm not proud of, but we were on the run & were both getting cranky because we hadn't eaten lunch). And, he had his first piece of bacon at breakfast today. It was turkey bacon and to him this flat piece of meat looked odd. Once he tasted it, he gobbled it up quickly, though.

Mercer has picked up a new habit - not a good one - where he's grabbing and scratching when he dosen't get his way. Todd & I are trying to work on nipping this in the bud and hopefully this is a short-lived phase that he's going through. He's been getting frustrated really easily too. And he also squeals "stoooooppppp" when we're trying to help him do things. Very independent... and doesn't want our help! (He kind of sounds like a whiny teenager when he does this.) It's a little bit funny -- for now.

Another picture from our hike... This is the face he makes when he wants a treat. I can't imagine what he wanted while we were out there, but had to post. We're SO onto him, although he thinks he's being cute & sweet.

One final thing, Mercer is starting to show that he's scared of things. He'll put his hand over his mouth & gasp or he'll cover his eyes. One thing that is interesting, though, is that he's not afraid of the dark. He likes to run into his closet in his room & shut the door. In the bathroom, he'll cut off the light and say dark. You ask him to turn the light on and he doesn't want to.

He's always keeping things lively here!

big news...

2010-08-28T08:25:00.014-04:00

We think that Mercer is on his way to being potty-trained!

I've been out of town for work a lot lately... in West Virginia last week and in Alabama this week. While I was gone most recently, Todd was giving Mercer a bath & he pooped in the tub. Todd drained the tub / put Mercer on the toilet / and told him that this is where he is supposed to poop. And... Mercer did! Todd said he made a big deal about it, let him flush & wash it down, and gave him a fruit juice popsicle afterward to encourage him to poop in the toilet more often.

The next day, Mercer had to stay home sick (croup-y cough & wheezing). Todd stayed home with him and Mercer said he had to go to the potty. Todd put him on the toilet... and he pooped in there again! Woo hoo!

A couple of weekends ago, we took a trip to middle Georgia where we hopped on a train. We thought that Mercer would like the experience. He wasn't terribly excited about riding the train - rather - related activities like handing the attendant his ticket and getting a train sticker in return... or seeing the other trains that we would pass along the way. The train took us to a small historic town called Americus (with the BEAUTIFUL historic Windsor Hotel in the center of town). Just outside of town is Habitat for Humanity's corporate office and their Global Village - with examples of houses, huts, and shacks from around the world. The next stop was in Plains, GA where former President Jimmy Carter now lives. There, we stopped for peanut butter ice cream and a "smiling peanut" stamp to put in Mercer's letterboxing book. This pic is of our train and Carter's presidential campaign HQ -- a pretty small building! You can't go to Carter's home, as it's supposedly a heavily guarded compound. We passed through some industrial areas, farms, a Georgia DNR park, and over a large body of water where these really weird bugs with wings and long tails attached themselves to the train (here Mercer is trying to blow it off the window). Our final stop in Archery, GA where Jimmy Carter grew up. His family's house and farm are now run as a National Park Service site. Behind Mercer is a windmill that powers a water pump. I was really amazed -- looking at his roots -- that he made it as far as he did. Pretty impressive! After this stop, we took the slow (and thus long) train ride back to the city where we started. EVERYONE else's kids on the train fell asleep... but not Mercer! He remained wide awake - that is 'til we got off the train & loaded back up into the car. Within 2 minutes, he was fast asleep for the 2 hour ride back home!

A couple of other things to note - Mercer is counting now very well to 5. He's also becoming interested in letters. While scribbling one day he kept saying "T" "letter T." (but it was just scribbles). He picked up a puzzle piece in the shape of a "d" and identified the correct letter, amazingly. (He also said "d" when we picked up other letters too, so we're not quite sure what he's getting / what he's not... but it's still interesting.)

Finally - we were having some people over to the house for a pizza party. Before the party, Mercer saw the juice boxes that we had out for the children of the guests. We let him have one. During the party, he "snuck" a drink box and went to hide under the chair to drink it without us seeing (or so he thought). He "snuck" another one, but we were able to grab it before he got it open. He did not need 3 juice boxes in one night!! It cracked us up!

Mercer is 2 1/2 years old today!

2010-08-23T19:49:00.002-04:00

I don't have time to post a blog with pics tonight (that will come later in the week), but there are some interesting things that we're noticing about him and his personality.

- First of all, he is a pistol. He is a very active kid -- constantly on the go.
- He is a very loving kid. He likes to hug us and the cat. He now likes to give me big slobbery kisses and sometimes he likes to cuddle.
- He is a daredevil (climbing to the top of an inflatable slide that's 20' tall over and over again.
- At the same time, he is a little apprehensive of doing things... after successfully sliding 5 or 6 times on his own... he then "needed" to have his daddy go down the 20' slide with him.
- He is extremely independent. "I do it" he says all the time.
- He likes to have us around (he wants us to play with him & be in the same room as he is most of the time)
- He doesn't listen to us (he thinks it's a game when we tell him to stop running from us in public places.
- He listens to every word we say -- he is extremely perceptive and repeats things -- even really big words.
- He loves to be the center of attention
- He gets shy sometimes

It's been an amazing 2 1/2 years. Exhausting, but at the same time... wonderful!

2010-08-12T20:29:00.012-04:00

This past weekend, I had another mini-reunion with some girls I grew up with & went to church with. All three of us girls (and sometimes husbands) get together maybe once a year? Amy is someone who I didn't think was going to have children, but she has a cute baby girl now! (the one in the middle with the chubby little cheeks). Our friend Allison's girl with bright red hair is adorable too. Mercer liked looking at and talking about the babies, but they're too young for much interaction at this point.

The next day Todd, Mercer, and I went to the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA. Bank of America has free museum admission days for some museums in our area (www.bankofamerica.com/museums). Mercer is honestly too young at this point for the science museum - but at least we didn't have to pay anything to find this out. He wanted to run around the exhibits, but didn't even look at many them. Several of the exhibits that he did like, however, were interactive. One was panning for minerals in water and an excavation play area where kids get to find things by brushing away small rocks. He also liked the kids discovery zone as well. Overall, it was a pretty cool place. I'm sure we'll be back. They have dinosaur exhibits, a zero-energy house, a big minerals exhibit, and a planetarium. Also, outside, they have a HUGE dump truck on site as well as other utility vehicles.

A final photo of little guy for the week: Mercer decided to put on his fireman boots and life vest one night before going to bed & march around. He's pretty proud that he can put these boots on by himself. Thankfully, he was content with taking both the boots and the life vest off before laying down for the night.

Reunions

2010-08-01T21:27:00.004-04:00

This past week, some of us girls from college had a mini-reunion. It's been 8 years since my friend Cindy, Ali, and I have gotten together. Since we've all been together, Ali had her second son, Cindy has had 2 sons, and we - of course - have one. There was lots of talk about boys. Sounds like Mercer's going to be wound up for another 5 or 6 years!!!!!!! (We're all exhausted, but having a blast.)

I had a high school reunion this week as well. There was a group of people that I didn't recognize, as we had a large graduating class. There are only a few people that I regularly keep in touch with -- two of which were there. Todd knew them and their spouses at least, so he had someone to talk to while I was catching up with others who I haven't seen since graduation. A few good connections were made from some of my classmates who I've lost touch with - one who lives very close to us, one who is interested in adoption, and one who seems to have similar values on living lightly on the earth. All-in-all, I'm glad we went.

Mercer stayed with his friends Glady & Jackson while we had a night out. All afternoon, he talked about seeing Glady. So cute. Other cute stuff he's doing is being really sweet lately. He will often run back into the house to give me a hug before Todd takes him to daycare in the morning. Oftentimes, too, when I am putting him to bed - he will "order" me to lay down on the floor & he drapes a blanket over me then pats me (really hard, actually) and tries to put me to sleep. Then the sweetness fades and he jumps on me and yells "Got you!" He's started to banter back-and forth with us. If he does something funny, we tell him he's silly - he'll retort "no, you're silly." This usually goes on and on 'til we stop the banter.

The above picture is of Mercer eating his first ice cream sundae / first banana split complete with whipped cream and sprinkles. He seems to be enjoying it very much. And - the next couple of pictures are of Mercer at a pool party. A 5-year old boy at his daycare was having a birthday party & his younger brother, Cameron, is in Mercer's class. Cameron asked his mom if Mercer could come -- that he's his best friend. When we asked Mercer, he said no - Cameron is not his friend. He doesn't have any friends. Another boy from Mercer's class was there - George. George was biting a couple of months ago & got Mercer twice. Since then, Mercer is constantly saying "George bites. He's BAD!" They were buddies at the pool party, though. Oh.... I guess daycare parties are just beginning. Good bye weekends~!

Speaking of loss of weekend... this is how Todd spent a couple of days off from work & all day Saturday / all day Sunday last weekend. The contractors who built the addition to the back of the house 7 years ago failed to close up a connection of the sheathing at the roof and the wall. Water had been slowly migrating in / getting between the exterior siding and the interior wall until it came rushing INSIDE the house. Unfortunately, there are other spots around the house that Todd is planning to tackle that look like they can be potential problems - but hopefully when it's not 95 degrees +/- outside. It's been a scorcher of a summer this year!

Stay cool ~ Candice & Todd

mr. independent

2010-07-22T23:15:00.013-04:00

My mom came down for a visit, but we were so busy doing stuff that we didn't get any photos!

Possibly the highlight of the visit was the three of us (Todd, mom, and me) going to the beautiful, historic Fox Theater to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was an excellent performance & we are all glad we saw it / got a little culture in our lives.

While mom was in town, we all went to a pancake breakfast fund-raiser for a "friend-of-a-friend" who is in the process of adopting two girls from Latvia. We took an adoption class earlier this spring to learn more about additional avenues for adoption. It was there that we even learned that people did fund-raising for adoption. We're not sure the direction we're pursuing / if we would need to go down that road, but it was interesting to meet this family (who already has 5 or 6 kids, two of which are adopted) and talk about ideas with them.

Also, we provided mom & Mercer some one-on-one time while Todd and I were "forced" to go out to a movie. : - ) I think we wore her out, but we know she enjoyed seeing the little guy.

A couple of pics just before & just after the weekend capture two things that Mercer LOVES doing now. He likes to "drive" my car and play with the buttons on the dash, the mirror, the overhead light, the seat belts, opening the console, etc. There's also a sunglass holder above the driver's seat. His glasses were in it, so he put them on - upside down - but he's pretty cool with his shades on. (Oh yeah - I take the keys inside the house because I have a proximity sensor for my car & don't want him to accidentally turn the car on while he's playing!)

The other thing he is really into: playing with cars. He recently got a pack of matchbox vehicles (thanks grandma & grandpa groves). He is so enamored with them that he takes them to daycare with him... rushes to the car-park as soon as he gets home so he can play with them... and even takes them to bed with him. I can't recall if I've written about this, but Mercer is becoming quite demanding. He wants Todd or myself to come play cars with him. He'll run & grab us, "come" "come" as he's pulling on our hand. "Play" "sit" "sit on bottom" (if you're squatting or not really sitting down he can tell).

He's also becoming very independent. Most anything he says "I do it" (sometimes screaming and wailing 'til we un-do what we did so that HE can do it). He doesn't want to sit in his booster seat anymore. He takes his dishes to the sink sometimes. He carries his (almost as big as he) daycare bag into school. He's starting to TRY to pull his shirt over his head. Take off his own shoes. He is becoming very independent about most things - but still wants us around to play with (which is ok, as we like playing with him!)

His speech is really pretty good for his age (we think). He seems to try to repeat almost anything we tell him. Recently, he tried to repeat ridiculous / he slowly said "re-dic-us" with a slight inflection at the end - as he's a little unsure. That's a big word for a little kid. There are dozens of others like that which he at least takes a stab at saying. The development is AMAZING to watch.

We heard from his birthmother, Danielle, last night via email. It's been maybe 4 or 5 months since we've heard from her? We don't know too much about what she's up to because there's not much in the email - mostly how is Mercer doing? We gave her a full update right away & hope she is doing well. We'll send a scrapbook page in the coming month as Mercer will be turning 2 1/2. YIKES!

Have a great weekend.

busy busy weekends.

2010-07-11T18:03:00.015-04:00

Two weekends have passed since the last post. Mercer is ALL BETTER. (so am I)

We delayed our 4th of July trip by one day to make sure neither of us were contagious any longer. We're really glad we went on our trip instead of cancelling. We went to Tennessee to visit my childhood friend, Susan, and her family.

After a picnic in the gardens of the Chattanooga Choo Choo & a quick visit to the miniature train muesum, we continued on to our friend's house. They took us to a nearby town for dinner, a walk around the downtown area, and for frozen yogurt. Mercer warmed up immediately to Susan's kids. Here he is seen holding Caeli's hand. It was really cute to see him grab her hand -- he shy about it and kind of brushed her hand a few times before grabbing it. After walking, we spent quite awhile in a church courtyard where Mercer, Hunter, Caeli, Rune, and baby Saber played "tag" with each other. (Yes, the kids are soaking wet!)

The next day, we went to visit a children's museum - but because it's the 4th of July - it was closed. Instead, we played on the grounds of the museum which had a water feature. The highlight of that visit was feeding 5 baby ducks broken-up Goldfish crackers~ We actually had a very relaxing visit.

Afterwards, however, we went on an adventure like none that we had tried before. We have begun a new hobby called letterboxing. It's sort of like geo-caching, but it's all about stamps in books. You look up clues on a website of where people have hidden boxes. Most of the people have hand-carved a stamp to put in their letter box. You take an ink pad and make an impression of their stamp in your own journal. There's also a journal inside the letterbox in which you're supposed to put your stamp in / sign / add a message. Our first letterbox was one in which you had to follow clues (requiring you to go through a small city park / around metal sculptures / by a water feature / then dig to retrieve the box out of a bush next to a bench. There was a man eating a tub of ice cream on the bench... so we couldn't retrieve the box until he left (one of the letterboxing "rules" is to be discrete so no one sees you with the box. People who don't know what it is may take it).

Enclosed is a picture of the journal and the stamp. Mercer likes the stamp we picked out for him (a frog) and he likes looking in his own journal with the stamp impression from Tennessee.

This weekend, we went on another letterboxing journey - this time to a field of sunflowers. Earlier in the day, the three of us got up early and drove to a state park. Todd played a round of golf with a friend of ours - Mike. His sons and Mercer decided to help their daddies with their practice round on the putting green before the first tee. Mike's wife, Sara, and their boys (Aaron & Alex) joined Mercer and me at a park playground, then at the park's beach. We beat the crowds and the heat by going early. By lunch-time the guys were playing golf so we all had a picnic lunch together.

Following lunch, we all parted ways. Todd, Mercer, and I went on our 2nd letterboxing journey. The box and stamp were hidden in an accessible area of the foundation of an old sharecropper's house located at the front of field of sunflowers. It was pretty easy to find -- not as exciting a hunt as our first experience -- but it was a beautiful place & we're really glad we went. The immediate grounds surrounding the house were lush and covered in thousands of blooms of various types. Then there were acres of sunflowers small and large that you could go though & cut. There was a table with plastic vases on it, clippers, and a box for depositing money for the sunflowers on honor system.

This site, as we have learned, hosts an annual sunflower festival every 4th of July. If you're east of Atlanta during the summer, we would certainly recommend a visit! The letterbox stamp - of course - was a sunflower! We think this will be an interesting hobby for the little guy. He likes stamping the impressions in the book... but we think that it will add a level of adventure in his life and create some unique experiences.

We've got to look up a location for a letterbox here in our town so we can go on another journey next weekend~ Have a great week.

sickness in the house

2010-07-01T15:08:00.003-04:00

A quick post to say "WHAT A WEEK!" and it's only Thursday...

Sunday afternoon we noticed a rash on Mercer's face. Sunday night after his bath noticed that it had spread... so began the research on rashes. Sunday - middle of the night when checking on Mercer - the rash had spread more & the original rash had changed to blisters. By Monday morning some of the blisters were crusted over and there was more rash / more blisters appearing.

Middle of the night Sunday / Monday morning we were thinking that Mercer had chicken pox. We called the pediatrician and she told us not to worry about anything... he's contagious... keep him away from others.... but bring him in if he's infected or if it gets on his eyelids.

All right. Here we go.... Chicken Pox. By Monday night, Mercer had one bump on his eye & by Tuesday morning it was bigger. Todd called the pediatrician and off they went for an office visit. But... Mercer didn't have the pox. He had a "really really bad" post-viral infection. Upon further research on his papers from the pediatrician - a bacterial infection called impetigo. The picture here looks way more like c.pox than what I've seen of impetigo (in fact - impetigo pics look way way worse / much grosser than what his rash / what c.pox look like!). I was very suspicious 'til the antibiotic cream for his face actually started working & healing the blisters. Sooo...... Mercer's fine. He's acting his normal self (has been for the past couple of days).

I've been feeling bad the past couple of days, though. I learned after switching my research gears to impetigo that it can come from the streptococcal strain of bacteria. So, I put a call into my doctor after looking up some symptoms I've been having... and I officially have strep throat! I'm on antibiotics now, so hopefully in the next day or so our family is feeling 100% back to normal?!

What a crazy ride it's been~~~~~~

Father's Day & another new experience...

2010-06-27T16:12:00.015-04:00

I think Todd had a good Father's Day. Mercer & I wore him out, but it was an adventure -- much like how Mother's Day turned out -- a little more than we bargained for!

We went hiking in a spot that we like going to - Sope Creek. It's got a nice river and ruins of an old paper mill. In fact, last year, we took some really nice photos of Mercer on the river back in March of last year (blog entry - http://candice-and-todd.blogspot.com/2009/02/got-some-nice-photos-this-week.html ). This year, it was a very different place. We've had a year's worth of rain and this river was quite different. It was a much fuller and faster than before. We hiked through the woods down... down... down to a point in the river; our plan was to "rock hop" back up the river and end at the ruins. Unfortunately, most of the rocks seen in the pics from last year that we were hoping to come back on were under rushing water. It was actually pretty challenging to make it back up the river and at times was a little nerve-wracking. Todd would go ahead / jump down a rock / I'd hand Mercer down to him / jump down. We did this over and over again dozens of times.

When we did reach the ruins, it was a pretty easy hike back to the car, thankfully. Also, we discovered a small waterfall that we hadn't seen before (seen in this pic with Todd & Mercer). All sweaty, dirty, and gross - we stopped for ice cream afterwards. It was a memorable adventure, indeed! Todd said all-in-all he had a good day. I think we both felt a sense of accomplishment and in the end was happy we made it home without anyone getting hurt!

This past weekend, we all had a new experience: we went to a Korean-Christian wedding. 95% of the people at the church were Korean and the majority of the service was in another language, but it seemed to follow the rituals of a typical Christian wedding, so we were able to follow along for the most part. There were a few things that caught us off-guard, though:

- The part where the minister reads a few things and asks the groom a few questions... and the groom responds with "I do"... the groom, Young, yelled "Hi-k" (real loud / real quick). The minister asked another series of questions and Young yelled it even louder! Todd works with the groom and says that he's normally quiet / reserved / often sounds unsure of what he's saying. This -- vowing to love and cherish his wife -- he was definitely sure of!

- at the end of the wedding when the bride and groom walked down the aisle as a newly married couple, people crowded around and set off these paper-filled fire-crackers. We were startled to hear POP POP POP until we saw the streamers being shot out of these paper cylinders.

- how impassioned the two ministers were when they were praying. They became somewhat animated and their voices grew ever louder. It was very interesting.

Overall, Mercer did well. He enjoyed the singing and clapped when the audience clapped. We were glad that we got to be a part of this ceremony and catch a glimpse into their culture... even if we didn't understand a word of it!

After the wedding, we went to a neighbor's house who was having a back yard camp out (there's a national event that they were doing it in conjunction with - the Great American Back Yard Camp Out). Todd set up the tent earlier in the day so it would be ready when we got home from the wedding. We went down, hung out, Mercer played with the other kiddos, we socialized with the other adults... then it was time to try to put Mercer to bed. He admitted he was tired and wanted to go to sleep (it was a couple of hours past his bedtime)... but he fought and fought laying down. Because we were in a tent? Because the older kids were still running around laughing? Because the adults were talking & music was playing? Eventually -after many many many many many attempts to get him to lie down with me - he said he wanted to go HOME and sleep. Argh!! Oh well! There will be another camp out next year. Better to be close to home instead of far from home when learning this lesson. We'll have to keep try again in our back yard 'til he's comfortable falling asleep in a tent before we give it a try for real. Oh yeah - and wait 'til he's potty-trained before we try out in the wilderness.

A few things that he's saying now:

- thank you which actually sounds like "Dit Doo"

- "I'm going to get you" (he likes to run and grab us -- which is really a signal to reciprocate -- us run and grab him)

- "Your turn" (he will do something like pile pillows on top of him and explode out of them... then want us to do it too. sometimes he does things we really can't do -- like sit in his little kid-size rocking chair... say "your turn"... and get frustrated if we won't sit in it too.)

- When accidentally hurting me (bumping heads, for instance) - he will hug and say "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" which is cute because he's sincere. This happened several times in the past week somehow.

- When he wants something we have, his voice gets really soft, he cocks his head a little to the side, he smiles a little and says "can I have some? can I have some?"

- He's also getting better at counting and identifying colors.

The little guy is advancing and growing.

On a non-Mercer-related note:

I am officially an "Ambassador" of a program called the Living Building Challenge (http://ilbi.org/). I went to a training last week and got to know the trainer / a woman who basically runs this program out of Portland. I brought her to our office and gave her a tour of our green building (http://www.southface.org/about/campus) -- the greenest building in the southeast -- and our new Eco Office building doesn't even come close to meeting the Living Building Challenge. The challenge is very "out there" but I'm excited about it because it pushes me outside my box and prompts me to dive deeper. I've got a lot to learn and a lot to do before I start teaching people about this program which promotes zero energy / zero water / etc. (basically off-the-grid)

Speaking of which... I watched a film this weekend that was about the crude oil industry... showing the history of oil & where we get it from... the energy crisis in the 70s... interviews with people from OPEC and professors / researchers from Stanford and Cal Tech who have been watching trends & following technology around finding and producing oil... um... there were some shocking things in the video such as: in about 20 years, scientists predict that there's going to be a major shift in how we as a (global) society function because the oil should be tapped out by then & all we will be working off of is reserves. Worldwide population keeps growing and countries like China are becoming more consumptive like America. This is not predicted to go in reverse (conservation will slow it down - but at the rate that consumption of other countries and general population is increasing - things will still run dry)... it's a little scary.

The research technology to analyze the earth's crust and depths below was fascinating to see. Unfortunately, automotive technology isn't far enough along (nor do they predict that it will be) to react to the shortage. Biofuels can't even come close to meeting the daily or annual demand (nor do folks think it's good to tap our food crops for this). Things such as air travel will cease except for the really rich. That was shocking! Mercer - when in his early 20s - may not be able to travel abroad. WOW. We've always said we wanted our children to study abroad in college because it's so enriching.

Manufacturing, farming, etc will also be affected. The video closed with an off-the-grid family indicating that people would be reliant to farm their land again like they did 50-100 years ago, practice conservation & rely on renewable energy. I am accustomed to think about this at a building scale because of the work I do... and I feel that technology is available to get us there building-wise... but transportation-wise (especially the air travel) really was shocking. I hope that the predictions are wrong... but it was very eye-opening to think about none-the-less!

Cupcakes for who?

2010-06-17T21:56:00.010-04:00

For Todd's birthday, we went to a cupcake shop on the square after we picked up our local milk & our first CSA distribution from the farmer's market. (Community Supported Agriculture)

It appears that Mercer really enjoyed his cupcake! Throughout the day, we kept telling him that it was "daddy's birthday." He kept saying - "NO - it's MY birthday!" Eventually, he did admit that it was Todd's big day. Todd & I hired a babysitter so we could go to dinner & a movie. It was nice feeling like human beings again. It's been a long time since we've been out w/out juggling the little guy.

We, of course, are enjoying him while we juggle. One thing that's cracking us up: how excited he's getting by things that are the same & how excited he gets when he "figures" something out. He has to grab one of us.... "come".... drag us over to the object(s)... and show us what he's discovered. He has so much pure enthusiasm. It's tiring (to be dragged around & having to act enthused each time) but it's also refreshing at the same time.

Mercer had another new experience this past week: it was his first time to wash Todd's truck. Really, he only played in the bucket of water and washed the bumper several times -- but he had fun with it. He also enjoyed getting sprayed with the water and doing some of the spraying.

Some other phrases which are common now are "I'm going to get you" and "I got you" after he crashes into you. His daycare says that his new phrase there is "I'm faster."

I had a good week at work. I got to attend a lecture on Monday. There's a new green building program called the Living Building Challenge. It's pretty exciting and goes way beyond what we're doing at my office currently.

We have a good weekend ahead planned. We hope you do the same.

an interesting week....

2010-06-10T20:48:00.011-04:00

This was an interesting week. I learned a new skill -- canning (putting stuff in jars and sealing it so that it can be stored in the pantry & eaten later). The new term is "preserving," actually. I got a free canning system - a big 21 quart pot, lid, rack, some other supplies, a book with instructions and recipes, 4 cases of jars, and some other smaller items to give away. I was asked to preserve stuff & show other people how to do it. I practiced a few times over the week and then had some girls over to the house to demonstrate. There were 2000 parties across the country the same day (it's called a "house party" and the Ball Canning Jar company sponsored every one of them the same way -- just asking people to expose others to preserving fresh foods).

I made pepper jelly, salsa from a recipe that came in the book, and a peach chipolte salsa I found online. Then, at the party, we made a 3 berry jam. Most of the party was hanging out & socializing with the short demonstration. It was a TON of work, but in the end I'm glad I did it -- and I get to keep the canning system, books, and tools. Hosting the party forced me to learn this skill; I have no excuse to let any of the goods from our garden go to waste this summer!

Todd and Mercer spent pretty much the whole day together, but we hung out as a family the next day. We saw a couple of art exhibits - one on rare automobiles and one on modern art. Little guy didn't have a lot of patience for the cars as we had hoped - so, we ended up taking turns playing with him in the children's area.

The photographs enclosed are of Mercer eating a sandwich. He's had pieces of sandwich before - but tonight at dinner, we put the sandwich fillings (grilled turkey sausage, squash, tomatoes, and basil) in a bowl for him to eat. He protested and pouted. "Samish" "I want samish" -- so Todd put the filling between a piece of bread, folded it over, and wrapped it in foil so the stuff wouldn't fall out the bottom. Mercer was really happy to be included.

Todd took Mercer swimming while I was preparing for the canning party. He's taken a series of lessons twice now. One series when he was about 1 1/2 years old. One series around the time he turned 2. Now, under 2 1/2 -- he's taking another series. He REALLY seemed to like it -- so much that he came home excited. He said "kick" "I kicked" then laid on the floor and kicked. "Bubbles" "blow bubbles" he laid on the floor, stuck his face to the ground, and made a funny sound. so cute.

One other thing that was interesting this week - he comprehends the word "same" now. One night, he went to bed clutching a yellow car. He woke up with it, then saw a picture of a yellow car. He pointed and said "same." He's got a die-cast blue Prius. He holds it up againt my car (a full-sized blue Prius) and proudly says "same!" He's been pointing things out all week that are similar. It's been pretty cool to see the development and recognition.

quick post

2010-06-03T22:52:00.006-04:00

Mercer's feeling back to his normal self. After a trip to the pediatrician (who noticed he had a fiery red throat) and a "treatment" of frozen juice pops and a little pain reliever, Mercer was back to normal in a couple of days. 'Til then, it was really hard on all of us (he was in pain and we felt helpless when he would accept our help). Luckily, he was back to 100% on Monday, Memorial Day - so we took a trip downtown. We went to a green-certified restaurant for breakfast. They were out of high chairs, so Mercer had to sit in a regular chair. He did pretty well - but has asked to sit in a "big" chair several times since. We may be getting rid of his little booster seat soon?

After a hearty breakfast, we went to the zoo. I thought that the flamingos were cool... I've never seen them up close. Mercer liked the bird exhibit, the playground, and swinging on the guard rail as seen in these pics.

at home with a weepy 2 year old today...

2010-05-28T10:54:00.011-04:00

Little guy has a fever and he's gnawing on everything. Maybe getting more teeth in? Don't know, but unfortunately, he doesn't feel well -- lots of things (small things) makes him sad and weepy. Poor guy.

Our plan to get rid of the pacifier may be thwarted this weekend.... we thought we'd tackle it over a long weekend so that we didn't miss out on too much sleep on a school night. We'll see what tonight holds?

Speaking of pacifier -- this is Mercer's first 4 syllable word that he's said plainly. "pac-i-fi-er." His voice gets a little bit softer and a higher pitch when he says it. Also he inflects his voice at the end like he's a little unsure of what he's saying. He does that when he tries to say other 3 & 4 syllable words like helicopter (cop-ter?), cylinder (cyl-cyl-lur?), chiropractor (prac-tor?).

He went to his first chiropractor visit last weekend. It was really cute. The guy we go to doesn't crack bones, so we were not afraid of that. He just looked Mercer over, felt his spine. His legs. His neck. Later that day, we also went to our annual neighborhood putt-putt golf tournament.

There are more and more kids each year at this event. Mercer met & played with a boy 1 month younger than him who lives on the next street over. He also played putt-putt at a house that has a little boy that's a few months older than him that we don't know so well. This is on top of the kids around his age that we already do know. +/- 6 months, there are 6 boys and 1 girl his age! During the golf tourney, we were not able to take many pictures. Todd & I were "tag-teaming" watching Mercer while socializing or playing golf. We caught him trying out a Sit-and-Spin for the first time (he spun off every time he tried it).

The day afterwards, all 3 of us played the hole at our house over and over again. Todd built a ramp and the ball - once hit up the ramp would drop into a pot / determine your score. A total luck of the draw type of hole. As seen here, Mercer really likes taking the golf club and whacking things with it!

Tomorrow starts the 3 day weekend. Thankfully, we didn't have major plans because at this point, our plans now depend on how little guy is feeling. We're hoping to check out another state park -- this one with a marina so we can take a boat ride, ride bikes, and/or hike?

One thing I know for sure that will happen this weekend: I will be learning how to "can" vegetables this weekend. Long story - but I got a free water bath canning kit, cases of a bunch of free jars, and a book on how to do it. I'll blog about canning in a couple of weeks after I host a canning party. Since I have to "teach" I will need to get in some practice in the next few days.

Have a safe, healthy, enjoyable holiday!