Blueberries, sunflowers, and cheese straws

This past weekend our family took our first trip together. All four (of course Amos is included) of us and seemingly 3/4th's of our household items were packed tightly into the car for a short trip to Bliss, USA. We traveled to a place where everything is perfectly slow. We traveled to a place where every true Southern lady has her own recipe for cheese straws. We traveled to a place where picking blueberries on a Sunday afternoon before a thunderstorm is as normal as going to get the mail. We needed this little first getaway as a family. Even the little guy knew he was somewhere different but somewhere so good.

There is just something about those South Georgia back roads that tickles at my heart every time we make the trek back to Brad's home town. Once you pull off the interstate in Perry the cars disappear and the sunflowers or seasonal crop takes the place. We always roll the windows down about half way and open the sunroof just to let the fresh, un-Atlanta air sneak into our lungs. Slowly but surely we both relax and for a short while we are even eerily quiet. In our short 18 months of marriage a majority of our best conversations (the fun ones and the challenging ones) have taken place on these back roads....it's something about the lack of billboards and Range Rovers that just makes my thoughts and my heart swell. I am much more able to figure out who I am and where I am going when I am en route to Brad's home town. Thank goodness for a haven to sneak away to when the city life starts to cramp us. Brad and I can't wait for Brooks to truly experience the South Georgia lifestyle too. We may be biased but we agree that he will surely be the coolest kid on the block when he can name the buildings in the Atlanta skyline just as fast as he can start a fire in the woods or point out the different crops among acres and acres of vegetation (sidenote: though I may love my trips to South Georgia I can't quite claim that I know the best activity that is analogous to" naming the buildings in a skyline." You can certainly make fun of my analogy if you choose but in my perfect world "huntin", starting fires, and knowing crops is quite the southern boy thing to do. Sidenote end.)

And going home to Plains sure makes me fall for Mr. Brad a little more each time. I love to see him at home both physically and in his heart. His face seems a little brighter the moment we turn in the gravel driveway. We picked blueberries in mema's yard Sunday afternoon just as a big, bad thunderstorm began to invade the sky. You have never seen someone more unphased by a daunting, black sky than a Southern boy who knows the ways of a good South Georgia thunderstorm.I could tell he had seen many of those in his younger years. I loved the thrill that came as we tried to pick as many plump balls of goodness as we could before the bottom fell out of the sky. Secretly, I think we both didn't really care if we had been caught in the middle of the magnificent thunderstorm.

I love the stories, too, that I hear each trip we make. Just when you think you know someone I hear another tale from an old neighbor or better yet, Brad tells me about selling IBC rootbeer with his best buddy for some pocket change. He always seems to tell his childhood stories with much more color and detail and I just love it! Honestly, I learn more about my husband a few times a year when I get to meet more of his childhood friends than with living with him on a daily basis.....like I said, there is just something that takes over all norm when we travel south of Macon.

Anyway, I feel a little lighter as I always do after our quick trip to Plains. Brooks hasn't stopped talking about it either....he just loved our little getaway too! What a lucky girl I am to have married a good ole south Georgia charmer! Here are a few pictures from our adventure.....

New camera!

3-4 weeks

Me and my friends at our first "social"


I love bath time just like mama!


My dad lets me sit on the porch and listen to the traffic when nothing else makes me happy.


Thank you Uncle Matt for my fun towel! I hate getting out of the bath though....


Bottom line....I am cute.

One month milestones

Once upon a time I was the best record keeper I knew. The husband would probably attest to this fact. I can remember if he brushed his teeth four nights ago and exactly how much we spent at dinner the night of our anniversary. Therefore, he would agree (with a snarl) that I am the worlds best mental record keeper. I wish I wouldn't keep such good notes on people and myself. I'd give everyone more of a break if I could just forget things!
I am talking about written records though. I have had a locked journal since I was 6. Literally. I wrote about my favorite friend and color and when I wanted to go to Disney World. In 3rd grade my cousin and I wrote secrets in a journal we made and we hid them in the Whitney Houston record album cover in dad's box of records in his office. It was fun to forget about them and find them years later and laugh about the things that I thought needed to be secret at the mischievous age of 10. And as many of you know, I have loved writing on a blog for several years now thanks to Charlsie - she got me into this whole gig and I love it!

But with the expansion of our family I can't seem to remember the boy's name - I constantly call him the dog's name - much less, I can hardly remember what happened this morning enough to write about it....but alot has happened. So, for our own sake and that of our families here are a few milestones that come to mind. I hope I can do a better job in the future remembering even the little things that happen throughout the day......
A few of Brooks' most admirable accomplishments:
*Lifting his head on his own when he lays on his tummy
*Gaining over 2 lbs since he left the hospital!
*Turning atleast one corner of his mouth up continuously to work on his smile AND he has given us a rare first smile in the last few days (this makes me so excited for the day when he truly smiles at us because he is happy. I know I said I wouldn't wish the days away but I would love to know that he is happy sometime.)
*Growing out of his newborn pajamas because his feet are so stinkin long
*Blowing up his diaper all the way to his shoulders (this was fun)
*Making his first starts of sounds other than crying (It sounded like he said "Beer"....uh oh!)
*Catching his own gaze in the mirror that I hung on the changing table
*Enjoying nightly baths
*Peeing on his daddy nearly every time he changes him
*Sleeping about 4.5 hours at a time at night (this is truly a good thing compared to his initital 3 hour intervals)
*Coughing, sneezing, burping, and tooting all at one time!
*Sleeping in his own crib
*Enjoying the bouncy seat or the crib for longer than 5 minutes
*Spending some time awake after he eats rather than passing out drunk right away from a good feeding

And a few of our most admirable (or not so admirable but memorable) accomplishments:
*Forgetting Brooks was in the car as we went in and out of the car last week looking at houses
*Taking Brooks on walks nearly every night....he loves the bumps!
*Learning to let him cry a little in the crib in order to put himself to sleep (this has truly paid off already)
*Changing diapers and clothes from a "Blow-out-up-the-back-to-the-shoulders" type of stinky diaper
*Getting peed on nearly every diaper change. You would think that we would learn.
*Towing Brooks around Atlanta like we would a tourist....the pool, Marietta, Brookhaven, midtown, Alpharetta and everywhere in between has been visited. We want him to love his city!
*Leaving the babe with a generous babysitter already......my mom
*Discovering the best soothing technique by sitting on the porch and letting the sound of the traffic hush the babe (this accomplishment is all thanks to Brad. This is his best kept secret and he plans to write a book for dads on how to properly soothe the baby that cries right when the husband walks in the door.)


More to come next month. I know the list will only continue to grow daily and probably at a more rapid pace. I can't take all of the change so quickly. Where did our newborn go?

Happy Birthday Brooks!

Brooks is one month old today! Everyone eat a cupcake at lunch for him. I can't believe one month has already gone by and I can't believe the little guy is over 10lbs already!
I received this book in the mail yesterday, the Wonder Weeks. A friend suggested I find it because it talked about all the growth stages babies go through in the first year. They claim there are 8 "wonder weeks" in a babies life. Well, last night I was reading to Brad about the 5th weeks' developments. Fussiness is common because babies senses are heightened during this time and everything around them is becoming more vivid - sights, sounds, touch, and even tastes. The book also said that during this time you will notice that a baby is more clingy. Well clingy and fussy are the two words I would use to describe the little man as of late.....until today! This morning the little bug has been working on his goofy smile all morning. I never thought a little person could be so entertaining! Who needs the beach....this is good stuff! The book says that as the baby comes out of this first wonder week you will notice that he seems a little more grown up (true), he won't burp as much (true true), and you will start to see more of a smile in response to things (true true true!) Thank you, Melissa, for suggesting this book! 8 weeks is the next big transition so stay tuned.
In the meantime, eat a cupcake and say a prayer of thanks for the sweet little guy. Hopefully we'll have a camera some time today and can post some updated pictures. He is a little Brad if you ask me. Yay for 1 month!

camera=broken

I am camera researching constantly these days. As I A) have no tv to occupy anytime but per the post below - this is a good thing and B) Broke my camera last week at the baby's first play date. I know that many of you are checking this blog only to see pictures of the little booger grow (rather than to read about my mindless posts) so we need a new camera asap! HELP! Do you have a camera you love? I want one with a really good zoom. What are mega pixels? Do I really care about them. I know I do if I am going to blow pictures up and stretch them out. I have now spent nearly 2 days looking at every camera on the market. I am not a good decision maker though so until someone that I admire tells me that I should buy a certain camera I will continue to scour the internet for advise from strangers and Ashton Kutcher.