The Loustalot Family

First Overnight Camping Trip!

2011-08-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer, we took the kids camping at Stone Mountain Park campground. The first couple of pictures are of their new sleeping bags. They wanted to try them out in the middle of the kitchen floor first. We decided to stay close to home on this first over-nighter in case we needed to pack up the car and head home! Stone Mt. is about 20min. from home. The kids did great and really enjoyed the experience. We did alright also having never done this sort of thing with small children before. We did make a few mental notes like, don't forget paper towels or the syrup for the pancakes:) We also decided to bring the earplugs again if we choose to camp in the middle of a big city! Oh yes, and the last thing, don't over boil the coffee and burn the top of your son's precious little head. That is sure to ruin the beginning of your day. Thankfully the campground saved breakfast with donuts and coffee.

About this picture..I think Logan was really excited to be here. She posed unprompted and said, "Take my picture!" This was even before smores!

So, here's my current dilemma and update...I can't find my camera bag. It has our charger and downloading cord in it. It's driving me crazy. All that to say, hope you aren't staring too long at these pics. I have some great ones from our summer days at home and the things the kids are into right now. Logan loves playing with her babies and jumping off everything. Fleetwood is walking around and loves to push things. I gave him his first haircut. Um, let's just say...I hope it grows out and my mom can fix it when my parents arrive this weekend. Fleetwood is doing well at work. He was supposed to be deployed for hurricane relief this weekend, but isn't going to have to go anymore. I just got my wisdom teeth taken out a week and a half ago. I've just been given the "all looks well, go on with life" from the doc, SO as soon as I find my camera case I'll get some new pics uploaded!

Dancing Queen

2011-07-20T14:36:00.000-04:00

In June, Logan had her 1st dance recital. It was so sweet. The theme was the Name Game. She performed a ballet and a tap number. Fleetwood and I couldn't help but tear up as our little girl walked on the stage. I think we were the proudest parents there. She was the youngest in her class, but you would never know it because she danced beautifully. She tapped and twirled right to her routine! We fixed her hair and makeup which was a lot of fun and a bit challenging since nowadays she definitely has an opinion about what she will wear and how she'd like her hair done!

She is on the left in the back. This "tap" song was to Lollipop!

Logan (back) and Eden (front) seemed to know what was coming up in routine before the teacher did it for them.

Logan and Diya

Logan's flowers from family and medal

Logan and Eden

Logan and her teacher, Miss Shannon

Logan and cousin Addyson

She loved "dance class" so much! It was money well invested and she continues to dance and twirl around the house. Even plies every once in awhile!

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

2011-07-08T14:28:00.000-04:00

After leaving Denver, we headed to our friends house, Neil and Heidi. They live outside of Boulder, so these pictures are from walking around Boulder one day. It was great to see them. They are welcoming a baby girl in October, and we're so excited for them! We also got to spend time with some friends we met in MS that now live in CO. We had dinner and dessert with them our last night in Denver. It was really good to catch up with them. I love those friends that you haven't seen in a while, but can instantly and comfortably pick back up where you left off. Thanks Michael and Jennifer! You're always welcome in Atlanta!

As you can see from the photos, we have little hikers in our family! We were so proud of Logan. She did amazing and enjoyed herself thoroughly. Especially the photo opps on the big rocks! After leaving Neil and Heidi's house, we traveled up to Estes Park for a couple of nights. We wanted to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park, do some hiking, have a picnic, and enjoy a sunset on top of a mountain! Neil and Heidi joined us the first day for a day hike. It was really great to spend time with them!

Not a bad way to end day 1, although we weren't exactly dressed for snow and cold wind. Oh well, just snuggled up and dreamed of a fireplace and warm bed!

Final day in Estes Park! We saw so much wildlife. A snake, a moose (shown above), tons of elk, chipmunks, a badger, deer... The kids probably thought elk were like squirrels since we saw so many of them. There are also a couple of pics of us on a big slide. What an unexpected fun surprise! Who cares if it was kinda "touristy?" We loved it and it was only $1! The final picture is the kids first smore. We roasted the marshmallows outside our hotel over a campfire. Fleetwood liked it. Logan was a little unsure of the stickyness and somewhat burnt marshmallow (which she doesn't really care for to begin with). She preferred to just eat the graham cracker and chocolate separately. Good memories!

Welcome to Denver, CO!

2011-07-08T12:48:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of June, we headed out to CO for about 10 days. Fleetwood attended a conference in downtown Denver while the kids and I explored the aquarium and Firefighters Museum storytime. Fleetwood joined us on our last day for the children's museum where the kids attended a very special storytime with Curious George. The tv crew was there, so who knows, we may have been on the news that evening. They also enjoyed the famous "Mermaid Show," at the aquarium.

Welcome me back to blog!

2011-05-29T21:04:00.002-04:00

Following are several much awaited pictures. Be sure and scroll through about 5 posts. Thanks to all you loyal friends and family members for your patience and understanding as I try and figure out how to fit blog time into life lately. I think that instead of trying to capture every single detail and stressing about needing to post, I have allowed some much needed freedom about this mentality into the mix and decided to set a goal of blogging once a month. I think that will energize my enthusiasm in doing so and be more realistic with our current schedules!

So, we are back and hopefully won't go so many months before revisiting!! I know yall have been wondering how these awesome kiddos have been growing. We are headed to CO for a week and a half, so more adventures for the Loustalot's as the summer begins!!

Happy Memorial Day!

Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa

2011-05-29T20:56:00.000-04:00

Fleetwood and I went to the mountains of North Georgia for a night away at a resort. We had a great mini vacate and ate some good food, slept in and took a 2 hour trail ride. Our horses were the best, although "Topper" (my horse), didn't really care for "Cherokee" (Fleet's horse) whenever he got behind me. Yes, I have on 4 layers in May in GA. We still get little cold spurts every once and a while, and this was one of those times where you had to pull back out your layers. This was a great place and only 2 hrs from home. Not bad!

Disney Vacation!!

2011-05-29T20:46:00.000-04:00

Easter 2011

2011-05-27T21:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks Alexa, Olivia and Jack for my bunny barrettes!

Easter morning digging into our baskets!

Logan holding her new baby cousin, Brady.

Addyson and Logan dying Easter eggs at our house.

Now let's go hunt them in my yard!

Logan and Addyson playing on an inflatable slide at a church Easter egg hunt. Below Logan is holding a baby chick.

Logan didn't want to have her picture taken with the Easter bunny, but Fleetwood thought it was hysterical! Below Logan made the funniest faces sliding down this big slide. We videoed it because it was so funny to watch her. She had a blast!

Gotta Start Somewhere!

2011-05-27T16:01:00.000-04:00

Fleetwood's 1st Birthday was a wonderful day spent in Mississippi with friends and family! Above "Mimi" celebrates with us, and below is Fleet and "Babs."

Troy and his daughter, Mary Brooke

And a big day for the whole family when on the way home, Fleetwood got to face forward in the car seat.

Logan and cousin Addyson eating all the cupcakes. I think they thought that if they tried different colors they would taste different :)

Fleetwood LOVED his "smash cake" and then settled for some milk with my Aunt Liz and Uncle Jerry below.

We rented a jumpy jump for the whole weekend. Logan talked about it the whole week. Above are some of my cousins children, Addyson, and Logan. Below, Granny takes a boat ride with us!

My dad, "Pappy," did a great job working the jumpy jump! I think he just enjoyed being with the kids as much as possible.

The birthday boy!!!

The cake table. The party was a monkey theme. The monkey in the center is a cupcake cake that matched sock monkey decorations.

Riley, Fleetwood's cousin, in the jumpy above. Logan and my cousin's little boy, Jobi jumping away below.

Three generations of Fleetwood's!

Stephanie Mayfield with her daughter, Maddy and friend Mary Brooke.

Two friends of mine from college came for the day and I was overjoyed to see them. Jessica is on the left and college roomie, Megan on right. This was a deja vu picture for us because it was the same pose that we had taken back in school when I was crowned Homecoming Queen. And finally, a pontoon boat ride the kids enjoyed. It was the most special day for Fleetwood's 1st birthday!! We are so blessed and thankful for the family and friends in our life! Thanks for celebrating with us!!!!

New Baby in the family!

2011-03-20T12:54:00.002-04:00

My sister had her 3rd baby last Thurs. morning on St. Patrick's Day! We welcome with love, Brady Lee Holcomb. I haven't gotten any pics to share yet, but will get some :)

2011-01-15T22:11:00.000-05:00

To all of you wondering if we've disappeared this winter, I will be updating soon! You would think after being snowed in this past week I would have had time, but not so much. I've got to upload lots of Christmas pictures and such. We traveled all through the holidays this year spending time in MS, TX, and NM.

Mr. Burt's Pumpkin Farm

2010-10-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

Destin 2010

2010-10-12T14:27:00.000-04:00

Chattanooga Choo-Choo

2010-08-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we headed up to Chattanooga, TN for a night. We rode up the incline railway as part of our "tourist" ventures, then mingled with the locals downtown by the river. They host free weekend concerts next to the water on weekends during the summer. It was really nice to just chill out and watch Logan run around barefooted on the grassy hill. She quickly made a friend that was 3 years old, and the girl was showing Logan how to roll down the hill. She was quite entertained, and of course, my little adventurer dove right in. We headed back to our hotel and tried to make it to bed at a decent hour! The next morning we headed over to the Children's museum downtown, which was really awesome. Logan is seen driving the red car around, but that was only part of the fun she had there. It was a really great museum.

We Run Around With a Hall Of Famer...so says our shirts!

2010-08-03T22:13:00.000-04:00

Is this what college life is like?

Good times in SC. We visited Big Fleet's alma mater over the past weekend, as he was inducted into the Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame (no word on the academic hall of fame nomination). Big Fleet was quite the hurdler back in the day - 7 Southern Conference titles and still holds a school record today. He did have a victory lap, and finished in 5 years. I remember him giving Melissa a hard time about wanted to 'change her major' (which would demand another year at Ole Miss). Congrats to Big Fleet on his major honor. We were blessed to be able to share the time with him, and were proud to be sitting at his table.

Who let the dog's out?

2010-08-03T21:28:00.000-04:00

On July 14th, my niece, Addyson, turned 3. She LOVES dogs, so we celebrated with a dog-themed party. It was a lot of fun. This is Uncle Justin holding Fleetwood

My sister and Addyson So, Lisa borrowed this dog costume from a friend and her brother-in-law, Derek dressed up as the special guest...Puppy dog! Let's just say that Riley, the 7th month old, was the only one not scared of him!Logan's definitely learned to say cheese for the camera now. She may not always be looking, but she says cheese and poses. Our other niece, Riley is 7 months old already! And so the party ends with the whole family "in the doghouse!"

Jupiter, FL

2010-08-03T06:52:00.002-04:00

Little Fleet's first plane trip was to West Palm Beach, Florida. We visited Fleetwood's Aunt Diana and cousin Dana for a long weekend. We had a great time! Dana and Dee Dee showed us around town, got us all set up at their place, took Logan to see the sea turtles and to a park to play, gave great recommendations on places to eat, and kept the kids while we went to dinner two nights! That was so nice of them, and I'm pretty sure that Dana and Little Fleet got into some pretty lengthy conversations, seeing that my little man loves to talk and socialize! It was a great get-away for us as a family, and we couldn't have been more grateful for the hospitality and the warm Florida sunshine! This was the first time for Logan to see the ocean, which she excitedly called, "the pool!" It was a joy to see her enjoy the beach so much, but scary as well since she has absolutely no fear of the water. This child is going to swim lessons ASAP! I must say that it was a lot of fun to travel with our kids, and it made me look forward to future trips where we can share with them all sorts of exciting things.

Mississippi

2010-07-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

At the end of June, we made a quick trip to MS to see family. Fleetwood's sister's kids were in town, and Little Fleet had yet to meet some Great-Grandmother's and Aunts! We were only there a day and a half, so there's more family to see. We'll be back later in the year. Here are some pics of the girl cousins: Olivia, Alexa, and Logan. Peace Alexa!Linds (Fleetwood's mom) and Fleetwood. Mimi (Fleetwood's grandmother) and Fleetwood.

Jack, Kim, Logan and Alexa Aunt Barbara (Babs) holding Fleetwood on the boat. Logan driving with Big Fleet

The boy cousins: Fleetwood and Jack. My Granny and Fleetwood. 2 months old!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

We celebrated the 4th of July weekend at our neighborhood pool, the annual Peachtree Road Race, and a wonderful fireworks show at Keswick Park.

Much Anticipated Pictures!

2010-06-24T15:29:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite Easter pictures of our princess!

Opening day at the Braves game. (Mon. night before Fleetwood's Wed. birth)

Bedtime Story!

Neil visits Atlanta from Colorado 1 month old

My little man at 2 months old!

Our newest addition!

2010-04-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

Well, seems like a post one post, promise pictures to come, then several days later get tied up with something else. This time, during the interim, we welcomed our sweet little boy into the world! Fleetwood Vincent Loustalot IV was born on April 7 at 6:21am. He weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20.5 in long. He's 2 weeks old today. We feel extremely blessed and want to thank all of you for your prayers and blessings on our family.

Baby Update

2010-04-01T09:59:00.000-04:00

I have lots to post and will hopefully get to some pics this weekend! Just like to give you a quick update on baby Loustalot. I went to the doctor this past Mon. and I've already dilated 3 cm. This doesn't mean he's coming today, just that it probably will be soon! I'm feeling fine. Just big and uncomfortable. I'm sure Fleetwood will be glad when I get rid of the million pillows in our bed, but I "prop" up everywhere in order to relieve pressure to my legs!

I have been studying the book of Acts and am reminded of the "good news" we have in Jesus. I pray for our spiritual leaders in this country to speak boldly of the Hope Jesus gives us, and am thankful of his sacrifice so long ago on the cross. I'm so glad He loves us so much and hope you'll be reminded of that this coming Easter weekend!

Pics to come.

Baby Shower and first words!

2010-03-22T14:45:00.000-04:00

Still trying to figure out how to add my text back by photos, so for now, it just comes all at the end. I'm not sure what happened with the formatting of our blog, but some changes were made that I don't care for, and then we can't add some that we wish we could. Anyway, we might have to switch pages or something in the future! I know it'd be easier to tell you names of people next to photos, but just bare with me for now.

This weekend my neighbor and friend, Missy, through me a baby shower. She said I needed some blue stuff! She's really great and I'm so blessed to have had that special time to focus on the baby. She had some yummy food and drinks and adorable little cakes. The decorations were great, balloons and bows! It was a lot of fun. My mom, grandmother, and aunt came from MS. On Fri. we all went to the GA aquarium and then they went on to explore the World of Coke. They had a great, long day. Sat. was the shower and my bro-in-law brought Addyson and Riley to hang out with Fleetwood and Logan for the morning. The pictures at the end were an attempt at getting the 3 of them in some matching Easter shirts. We'll try for some more later :)

My small group friends and neighbor friends attended the shower as well as one of Fleetwood's EIS pals. It was so good to hang out with all of them. Everyone has kiddos now, so we swapped stories and I took notes on having little boys! Won't be long now until the baby comes. I am having dreams about it, and definitely feeling the nesting coming on stronger. There's a strong need to get ready. This weekend we will get the car seat out and in the car and pack the bag. Last min. organizing is kicking in, as well as multiple trips to the restroom in the middle of the night and a little insomnia! Everyone's encouraging words have turned from "congratulations" to "good luck," so also a sign of won't be much longer!!

Oh yeah, can't leave without telling you that Logan has said her first words this weekend. First - Baby! and today she said Daddy! She has long conversations with us in her own language and speaks in sentences, but these 2 words we recognize! I'm sure we're about to discover more!!

Catching up!

2010-03-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the long break from blogging. Got a little impatient with the amount of time it was taking our computer to upload photos, but I think it's gotten better now. So much has been taking place with the Loustalot family. We are getting ready for baby #2 next month (a BOY for those whom haven't heard yet), we sold and bought another vehicle (a mini-van!), we've had 3 snow falls in Atlanta, painted some rooms in the house, and Fleetwood is getting prepared to transition into a new job at the end of June. SO, here are a few photos to catch you up and get us started back.

From the top: Logan delights in Christmas morning at Kim's parent's house in TX. It was fun watching her point to new things and take it all in. It was also fun to share in the experiences of our niece, Addyson. The two of them had so much fun playing together. The baby lounging peacefully at the top is Riley, our newest niece who arrived 2 days before Thanksgiving. She was not taking in the excitement of Christmas morning with us. She was catching some zzzz's!

There is a photo of me at 30 weeks up there. Our "news" story is this in short....We decided not to find out the sex at our 20 week ultrasound. Instead we got the tech to put the photos in a box that I took with me. I wrapped it up and we opened it Christmas morning in TX with family. What a great gift! The ultrasound photo said, "Merry Christmas! I'm a boy!" and it had 3 arrows pointing at his you know :)! Yep, it's framed. Anyway, my life changed at that moment when I realized all of the new adventures that were coming our way. I'm just so comfortable with girls, having a little man to raise is a little foreign and scary, but I couldn't feel more blessed and up for the challenge! We are looking forward to sharing him with you guys!

The next photos are of snowfalls 1 and 2, I think. We have definitely had a cold, wet winter in Atlanta, and thankful that spring is starting to arrive. But, I must say it was beautiful watching the snowfalls and having a few days to enjoy it.

Oh yeah, there's also a cupcake playdate picture in there with Logan and Addyson. I love that they didn't even wait until we iced them before they started eating them. And then, Addy proceeded to enjoy her sugar sprinkles with a little cake, if you know what I mean. Logan didn't stop eating long enough to sprinkle anything on hers.

The last photo is Lolo hanging out with Hollie. I couldn't get Hollie to raise her lazy head for the pic, but am excited that Logan finally is starting to get the camera thing. She still doesn't smile or completely understand what you want her to do, but showing her the pic afterwards seems to encourage repeats. She is 17 mo. old now and very into baby dolls, pushing things around, books, music (the Wiggles cd and any song with motions), and Mickey Mouse clubhouse. She's still talking in her own language, not really English, but her understanding is amazing. She does chores. Simple things like throwing things in the trash and feeding Hollie. She loves being outside and thinks I'm evil for making her come in at times. She has adjusted in typical easy Logan style to the transition into her new "pink" room. It's like she's been there all along. She does some sign language. Her favorite hands down is the "baby" motion. She'll do it anytime she sees one and sometimes when she doesn't see one. She knows now when we are leaving her behind with a sitter, and although she'll cling to my neck, she adjusts well. Spiritually she's starting to grasp the idea of saying the blessing before our meals. We've always cupped our hands together and she's starting to do that. She remains my little observer for sure!!

Haiti Crisis

2010-01-14T14:52:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! Got lots of new pictures and things to post, but thought that while I had a minute I'd pass along a phone number to you in case you felt moved to give. Our local Christian radio station has been taking donations today for "Food For the Poor", an organization that is active in Haiti. Their buildings were damaged during the earthquakes, but the good news is that they are still managing to function. However, as you can imagine, the need is great right now.

I also noticed while working out that nationally, talk show hosts and news reporters are sharing ways in which we can help, or organizations in which to donate to. I felt like we could give a little to food for the poor, so I called and it only takes a minute. It's super easy to do.

Here's the number if you're interested. 1-866-433-HOPE

We can't always go, but we can give!

Holiday Fun!

2009-12-19T11:43:00.000-05:00

The pictures at the top are from a holiday festival at a preschool close to my house. My mom and I took Addyson and Logan to enjoy the fun. They decorated a cookie, made an apple jack cereal necklace, and made snow globes! We did see Santa, however, Addy decided that she wouldn't sit on his knee this time. She did give him the letter she made. Logan sat, but not too happily. I was able to capture somewhat of a picture.

The latter photos are from a couple of Sunday's ago. We drove up to Blue Ridge, GA to catch the Santa Express ride on the Blue Ridge Railway! There was a visit from the gingerbread man, Frosty, Santa, Rudolph, etc. They gave out jingle bells and we all sang the infamous song! After the train ride we strolled the historic downtown and browsed in and out of shops. What a great family day, and so much fun to enjoy this Christmas while it's just Logan and us because next year it'll be the 4 of us!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

New Baby in Town!

2009-11-24T15:11:00.000-05:00

Just a note to let you know my sister had her baby today at 1:15! Justin said that Riley Kate Holcomb weighed 7lbs. 9oz. and was 21 in. long! I would like to add that the picture he texted me showed she had cute little chubby cheeks! So exciting and we're all very thankful for a safe arrival!

Lots to post about!

2009-11-24T10:30:00.003-05:00

Blogger changed their layout a little, and I haven't played with it enough to figure out how to work the text under the photos. Sorry, but I'll explain in order from top to bottom. There's so much that's been going on that I decided to just add a couple of pics from some recent events we've experienced! Here goes...

The photos at the top are of the Pete Sampras/Todd Martin tennis match. Fleetwood and I dropped Logan off to play with her cousin, then headed over to the Atlanta Athletic Club to see the featured match. I've always wanted to see Pete play because he was my favorite before retiring. It was really casual and a lot of fun. I couldn't believe all the gray hair Todd Martin had at 40! The first picture is of Chris Tomlin, the Christian recording artist, singing the National Anthem.

Next up is our visit to the Aquarium, which was Logan's first visit. She loved looking at all the fish! She was a blessing to watch!

A trip to Jackson!! My bestest, Allison, had a baby shower that I helped to host, and she got lots of goods for her new baby daughter, Bailey. She's due in Jan. and we're so excited for her. Sticking with the news of babies, another great friend, Jill, had her twins and I got to see them while I was there as well. They've settled into a new house and are doing great. The babies names are Campbell (Jill's holding him in a pic) and the little girl is Avery. The picture of just me is a 16 week belly shot for all you bump lovers (Rebecca:)

Next up is Logan and her dad on the first day of "school!" AKA - Mother's Day Out! We enrolled into a church preschool program within walking distance from our house. Logan's not in preschool yet, but will go to the infant class 1 morning a week to play and hang out. Fleetwood asked if he got to dress her for that day and grabbed a camera! I told him sure as long as she matched! She did soooooo good that day, I was very proud, don't know why I worried if she'd make it 3 hrs.! Guess it's a mom thing :)

Finally there are 3 photos of our sweet little neighbor's 2nd birthday party. Ella, her brother Nate, and Logan all take walks together and play. We had a blast celebrating with her at her musical get together. Logan watched all the kids, played the drum, and swayed to the music. I took a pick of her styling outfit so you can see her designer hand-me-down wear! She's sporting a pink Polo dress with UGG boots.

It's that time of year again

2009-11-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

The never ending leaf blowing, raking, and bagging season is upon us again! It's a weekly project around here so that we don't get invaded by the piles of leaves and sticks from all our huge trees! Logan thinks it's fun to help out. As long as she's outside, she's content. Our neighbor's dog, Sydney, actually fetches the ball when you throw it for her which is a trait our "retriever" failed to inherit. Logan thinks it's the greatest thing that she can throw the ball to the dog, and the dog brings it back and drops it at her feet to do it again.

Fall Festival and Trick or Treating

2009-11-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

We went to FBC Alpharetta where my sister goes to church for their fall festival. It was a lot of fun! There were little carnival type games for the kids, big inflatables, a choo-choo train, and pony rides. I got some video of Logan on the pony, so I thought, but turns out that it didn't turn out! Sorry.

Logan buzzed around and ate a whole hot dog! Addyson, our neice, is the little hot dog beside her in the photos. She has an obsession with doggies, so of course, that's what she wanted to be for Halloween!

The latter photos (in the drizzle rain) are from our annual neighborhood Halloween parade. The whole fire department shows up and leads the kids down the street to the clubhouse. They love the big red fire truck and the firemen love the free food! Logan was a hit with the neighbors. Everyone thought she was the cutest little bee. I might add as well that we held up the end of the parade because she walked some of it. Hollie, our dog, wore Logan's bee ears because Logan didn't want to have anything to do with those! Later that night we went to a few houses trick or treating. Logan liked putting the candy in her jack-o-lantern. I'm just thankful that she's not into eating it yet :) Her daddy and I made sure she grabbed the chocolate stuff.

Baby Dedication

2009-10-26T13:36:00.000-04:00

We had a great Baby Dediation service at our church last Sunday. We enjoyed having family in town and the opportunity to share in this special occasion with friends. Above are our friends from small group, Jeff and Reagan, and their daughter Mary Palin. Not sure where my picture is of my sis and bro-in-law, but they were there as well. Also hiding from the camera was another small group friend, Akilah. We got to share with our table some of the homework we did in preparation for the event. We told them the values we wanted to instill into Logan's life and our home, we shared 3 habits we wanted to commit to as a family, and we read to them letters we had written to Logan. It was really special and a great time to have people prayer for us as a family! I can't wait to see the photographer's pictures from the event.

Party Time

2009-10-22T11:22:00.000-04:00

Guests!Pinata fun!Yummy cake!

Thanks everyone for celebrating with me for my 1 year birthday party! I had a blast! Let's do it again next year!

1 year old

2009-10-07T10:38:00.001-04:00

Logan likes to crawl up on Hollie's bed.Logan's 1st Birthday was yesterday, the 6th!! It's still a little rainy here, but we were able to play outside for a little while. Here's a picture of her in her big girl carseat. You here of how all babies like to face forward for the first time. Logan liked it as well, but was a little tired for her first ride.

Last night we met the Holcomb's at Dreamland BBQ for a celebratory birthday dinner! Addy sang to her a few times, and they got to run around a bit. Then we walked around the Forum which is a nice outdoor mall. Her party is in about a week and a half! Can't wait!! We go to the Dr. today for her 1 yr. wellness visit.

Pumpkin mania!

2009-10-07T10:25:00.000-04:00

Here's more of the pictures from our day at the Pumpkin Patch, which is really a family farm. As you can see in the background they also have Christmas trees. It was a lot of fun. Fleetwood is home after a 3 week adventure/epi-aid. He'll report on that later. We are so glad to have him home!! He wasn't here for these pics, so Logan and I went with Lisa, Justin and Addy. We went on a hayride, fed some catfish, and picked out some pumpkins for the house.

I will say that Fleetwood surprised me when he came home earlier than I expected. I woke up last Fri. morning to a baby crying, Hollie barking at "something" and wanting to go outside, and my phone ringing. It was him and I told him to hold on while I let Hollie out. He was standing outside! He had been airlifted from the Navy ship into a helicopter out in the Pacific. He spent the night in Hawaii, surfed the next morning, then got on his flight home! How about that for a story?

Not MIA, just busy!

2009-09-29T15:51:00.001-04:00

Here's a couple of pictures of Logan at 11 mo. She's surpassed walking now and into climbing! She's also still trying out new foods, like spagetti, which from the photo you can see she thoroughly enjoyed! 2 days ago, I gave her beets and she liked those as well. She's had eggs and muffins, biscuits, grits, yogurt. There still hasn't been anything she's rejected to this point. Guess that's good!

Some of you know that Fleetwood has been gone for 2 1/2 weeks doing an EpiAid on a Swine Flu outbreak on a Navy Ship. We've really missed him and are looking forward to his return. I've been taking a nap sometimes when Logan's napping for energy. I have a new appreciation for single moms and I don't even work! We were blessed to have my mom come over not last weekend, but the last. She was an extra pair of hands and it was nice to get to have a little break. She put Logan to bed while I showered and got her up in the mornings while I slept in. It was helpful to me. We didn't get to do much of anything outdoors because of all of the rain. I'm sure you've all heard of the floods in Atlanta. It's been crazy and a lot of streets were closed and schools. Luckily we weren't really affected. We did have some leakage on our ceiling from a new roof. Hopefully, that will be fixed! Besides just being couped up all day indoors, we survived. Now, it's blue skies and fall weather. It's cool here. Time to get out the fall decorations and put your shorts away!

I will post some pictures from our day at the pumpkin patch later. We went yesterday with Lisa, Justin and Addy. We had the place to ourselves, so we got special treatment with a hayride and everything!

Gym Humor

2009-09-16T22:04:00.000-04:00

We joined the YMCA a few weeks ago. Today when I finished riding the bike, I got off and got the cleaning stuff to wipe down the seat. There was an old man that passed me and said, "It's good to see teenagers using the gym." Not sure how to process that since I'm nearing 32, but I guess I'll take it as a compliment. I'm pretty sure he had on some glasses, maybe not.

Labor Day Weekend in MS

2009-09-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

While Fleetwood was off fly-fishing with buddy Neil in Montana, the girls took a road trip to MS to meet my parents half way. We had a great weekend as you can see from the pics! We stayed at my Granny's. She, of course, loved hosting all of us. She has a golf cart and we took lots of rides "through the woods" and around Sumrall to find the doggies in people's yards! About the 5th pic up is my Uncle Mike. We are all playing our family game of Dominoes. Logan really liked him and grabbed at his beard. She also threw all our dominoes around.

Sat. night we went to the "Rock" to see the Golden Eagles play. The girls really enjoyed the band and sky divers at the beginning of the game. There's also a pic of Ray Guy who played in the NFL. The game plan was to make it to halftime to watch the battle of the bands, but the girls made it until about 4min. left in the 2nd half. We left and boom, boomed the way back to our car where we put them into pj's for bedtime.

The top pics are from our eating out experience at "Magnolia Sisters." It's in the middle of nowhere, close to Black Creek waterpark where we spent time as kids. Logan ate everything off her 2 plates and everyone was so amused by the enthusiasm she gets while eating. She also loves to eat out. She'll socialize with everyone around her. After dinner, we provided the restaurant with a little musical entertainment. They have karaoke, and I was impressed by how many people volunteered throughout the night. First off from our clan was Addyson Holcomb with her rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle." She actually does know all of the song. She sang it at least 2x. Then next up was the Troublesome Trio, me, my sis, and cousin, with Tiffany's song, "I Think We're Alone Now." Yeah, we still got the groove! Then, I wrapped it up with Debbie Gibson's song, "Lost in Your Eyes." It was that since they didn't have the Little Mermaid song.

Logan's latest thing is climbing. She's climbing our stairs, her chair, the bookcase, whatever is close to her level. Her confidence level at walking has migrated past holding our fingers now, and she's taking more initiative to move through rooms on her own. A couple of days ago she started hugging me with both arms wrapped around my neck. Gotta say that'll make you want to never put her down! She also enjoys wearing my underwear on her head. Everytime I'm folding laundry, that's what she unfolds and totes around the room. You look up, and it's on her head. She's giggly and ticklish right behind the back of her arm. She has 3 teeth with a load lined up to come in anytime. You can see them under her gums. She still likes everything I give her to eat. I've yet to find something she doesn't care too much for. Her independence in eating is full forced. She loves to feed herself and she talks while she eats. She also smacks which I'm sure her dad hates! Can't believe she's turning one soon. Less than a month away now! I can't wait till her party!!

Play date at the park

2009-08-26T09:20:00.003-04:00

It's getting to be a little sad since my neighbor who has triplets is moving at the end of this week. Her husband took a two year job in Jackson, MS, so she's moving off to our old stumping grounds! We will miss Henry, Sophia, and Lucy on all our play dates. I've yet to get everyone together for a group picture, but I've got a few more days. The little girl swinging beside Logan is her friend Ella from down the street. Thought I'd share these pics so you can see how my little girl looks less and less like a baby these days. She's almost walking! Takes about 4-5 steps on her own. It's been fun to watch her work up the courage to take off without holding on to any "safety nets." She gets real excited after about step 2 and starts to giggle. Then she tries to run! Go figure. We've successfully got one gate up, but are still slow at baby proofing because there hasn't been a need yet. That's about to change the closer we near this one year mark.

Girl weekend in MS

2009-08-24T09:24:00.005-04:00

These are two of my bestest friends, above is Allison and below is Jill. Last weekend I traveled to Jackson for Jill's baby shower. (They are both expecting!) Jill's having twins, a boy and a girl. They will be named Campbell and Avery. It was a really sweet time to get to see them.

Below is the diaper cake. It's a very creative gift. It's rolled up diapers with pacifiers decorating the outside of it! She'll need all of those :)

Here's her cake! It was really cute and done to match her invitations!

Allison and I spent the afternoon running around town shopping and catching up, but the highlight was getting a manicure and pedicure. We chatted away for over an hour and I'm sure the workers there thought we were weird! After our time of relaxation, we went to dinner at Amerigo's and ordered all of our favorites! This is the best restaurant ever! Then we crashed later on the couch as she suckered me into becoming a Twilight fan :) We watched the movie and I have to admit that I just bought the first of four books. We'll see if I can catch up before the second movie comes out in Nov.!

Sunday morning I went to the church we attended when we lived there, Pinelake. I love that place! Talked to a few friends and headed back to Atlanta. Fleetwood and Logan had a great father/daughter weekend! They stayed busy hiking with family and swimming with friends. I'll end with the fact that I discovered MS is hotter than Atlanta, so not sure I'll adapt the phrase hotlanta anytime soon. Today, AUGUST 25, it feels like fall in Atlanta.

More adventures

2009-08-19T15:24:00.015-04:00

Party at the owner of the resorts home on Lake Tahoe. This is also where we did paddleboarding for the first time. It was so much fun. You stand on the board and use one paddle to get around! Gotta have good balance :)

We went with a small group to King's Beach to do some kayaking. It takes about 30 min., for normal people but not the Loustalot team, to get out to these rocks where we took some pics and jumped off into the icy blue water. It was really beautiful and quite the adrenaline rush to jump off that high rock into the water. It actually took my breath away it was that far.

Team Loustalot!
Fleetwood waving before he takes the plunge. Because the water is super clear, you can see rocks below, which are really a lot deeper than they are perceived to be, so it takes a second to work up the nerve to jump! For me, it took a few more seconds than everyone else, and as a result, Fleetwood only captured my splash. I was so upset! It took forever for me to climb up to the rock, so I didn't do it again. Fleet's action shot!My splash!

Our day at Emerald Bay

2009-08-17T14:10:00.011-04:00

Fleetwood and Felipe jumped off the pier into the freezing cold water after our hike down to the bay!

The following pictures are from a hike we did beforehand up to Eagle Rock Lake.

Cruising and hiking

2009-08-17T14:01:00.013-04:00

These pictures will be in no particular order...We'll start with the sunset cruise dinner we took with the group on Lake Tahoe.

A "tradition" for the week of this seminar...a staff member plays an alto sax for everyone while they eat.

The next 3 photos were taken from The Cascades Falls hike. You could see a beautiful lake from this hike (not Tahoe). Lake Tahoe's in the background.

The photos below were of the meadows hike that was right behind our resort.

The last 2 pics were from a hike Fleetwood went on with the group right after he first got there.

From Lake Tahoe

2009-08-04T12:08:00.003-04:00

Good devotional for today everybody. Check link "Devo" to the right on blog.

Lake Tahoe is beautiful. Yesterday we kayaked out from King's Beach over to some of these amazing rocks. We saw a couple of people jump off this really tall rock into the lake and decided that we must have to do this if we're here, SO off we went, one at a time so that the other could capture the moment in a photo. When we get home, we'll upload the proof! I must say that it was a bit scary. Especially considering the lake is so clear that you see down to the bottom, even if it's 30 ft. or deeper! Let's just say that the rock was tall enough that you had to climb up to it, and it takes your breath away on the way down!

Today we venture over to a couple's house on the lake where we will have dinner as a group. For afternoon fun, we'll do some sailing. I'm off to see the town while Fleetwood attends class. Maybe I'll get a massage, "hey, why not, I'm on vacation!"

Travels

2009-07-31T12:49:00.004-04:00

Logan's doing great at the Holcomb's. My sister says that it cracks her up to watch Logan at meal times because she loves to eat so much! I thought about her soooo much yesterday while traveling. There were so many babies for some reason. Reminded me of the flights and travel we've done with Lolo! I'd like to thank you for the travel prayers. I arrived safely last night after a LONG lay over in Salt Lake City. Initially it was only a couple of hours, but after taking off for my last 1 hour flight to Reno, they had to turn the plane around due to an instrument malfunction with the computers that tell how fast the planes speed is. Anyway, there wasn't a replacement plane which meant we all had to wait for the mechanics to fix our plane. No big deal, just made for a longer day.

After arriving in Reno, I wish you could have been on the shuttle with me up to North Lake Tahoe. It was an experience of pure travel channel, road trip, mixed personalities conversation from total strangers that made for a great prelude to what's going to be a great vacation! I smile on the fact that God created us all so different, yet made in His image, we all have that one characteristic in common. I feel like I'm on vacation and the "hey, why not?" attitude is freeing and good for the soul! I'm a girl that enjoys the outdoors and I'm looking forward to getting my fix of hiking, kayaking, fishing, biking, whatever I want because, "hey, why not?" I have no schedule or agenda! It's a gorgeous day here so I think I'll go read by the pool while I wait for my hubby to get done with class :) Then, we're off to explore!

Logan at 9 months!

2009-07-28T14:23:00.010-04:00

Please pray for me this week. I'm joining Fleetwood at Lake Tahoe and leaving Logan with my sis and bro-in-law. I'm going to miss her really bad!!!

Lakin' at the Loustalots

2009-07-26T20:58:00.023-04:00

Well, Melissa, Fleetwood's sister, started the slogan by printing cups with "Lakin' with the Loustalots" on them. It's probably going to stick now and that's what we were doing the second weekend in July! After returning from Disney and spending a few days back at home, we headed south. The Levine kids were spending some time with Fleetwood's parents and we joined in on the fun seeing some other family as well. Welcome to the beach at the lake!

Kim's grandmother.
"Famous" BBQ (as seen on Food channel, magazines, etc.). Aunt Diana's first visit to Leatha's!

Logan's wondering what the big deal is about the pig she's sitting on.

Our niece, Alexa!

Our niece, Olivia!

Our nephew, Jack, aka "snack pac!"

There's a lot of brim and small bass that we feed down on the pier. Alexa is going to catch one! There's also these monster catfish that swim up when there's food around. Fleet tried to catch one. They are not afraid of us. Fleetwood's grandmother. The row of 4 at meal times!
Logan and Olivia playing.

Happy Birthday Addyson

2009-07-24T09:53:00.012-04:00

This is always a favorite...seeing everyone staring at the little one in the spotlight. Friends and family celebrating and capturing all they can of every little part of the birthday. I love birthdays!! I'm already planning Logan's 1st birthday!

Addyson's 2nd birthday was July 14th, but we celebrated on the 4th at Lisa and Justin's new home. His parents and sister and bro-in-law came from Vidalia, GA. My parents flew in from TX. They had another youth from TX and some friends from church there. It was a great day! That morning, I ran in the Peachtree Road Race with 55, ooo other people! It's a 10k and quite a tradition around Atlanta. It's on TV, which, btw, I was seen running by waving!! Justin was able to get it recorded just as I was running by. So there's proof! haha!

Go ahead and dig in girl!

Logan enjoyed hanging out with her cousin and checking out the toys as she opened them. She also loved eating her first pieces of watermelon! This child has not disliked anything I've introduced to her. There's gotta be something she won't like. She even likes the meat in the jars. Particularly lamb (must be her New Zealand connection:). She also loves bologna. Maybe she'll be like her parents and love all kinds of food!
.

While we're mentioning Logan....here's a brief update. She had her 9mo. checkup and she's 19lbs 12oz, and around 27 in. long. That puts her in 50% of height and weight. Her head is like 96%, so she's got a big head! Gotta buy the big hats. She's crawling, pulling up, cruising, clapping, and has 2 teeth. She's still very observant, getting more social, talking like crazy and enjoys her car, Hollie entering a room, making up a bed, bathtime, and going to the zoo. She's started interacting with us a lot more and trying to communicate her feelings to us. I love that she finds even the tiniest things amusing. Next week she'll spend a week with her cousin Addy while momma joins daddy in Lake Tahoe. I am already missing her and think that it's not going to be as easy as it was the first time we left her for a weekend. yeah, be praying for that! Here's a picture of when Addyson stayed with us for a week. She loved helping Uncle Flo give Hollie a bath, which happened 2x that week!

Hollywood Studios, not MGM!

2009-07-23T10:49:00.011-04:00

Made it through another full day! MGM, as I kept calling the park, had so many shows to see that it took all day to do everything there. We had a good time and chose to go here the day it was 70% chance of rain, so that we could take in the shows and sights mostly covered! The pic below is for ADDYSON HOLCOMB...It's Playhouse Disney, and this girl is in love with some Mickey Mouse! We thought of her while we were in here because that's her show. While we were keeping her the week Lisa and Justin were out of town, she'd request Mickey??? usually around nap or night time. You can see Clubhouse Disney on the Disney channel in the mornings. This was one of Fleet's favorites. This cars, bikes, moving fast show was just like another we saw, the Indiana Jones show. They take you through what it's like to be on the set of a motion picture and show the in's and out's of behind the scenes. Recognize Herbie?? I love that bug! hahaThis was a parade. One of the dancers went up to Logan to say hi. Below, the characters from "It's a Bugs Life."

They had a rollercoaster here we would have liked to have done, but we missed gettting a "fast pass" for it and there was always a really long wait. No biggie. Fleetwood did get to ride the "Tower of Terror!" Justin, if you're reading this...I think it was a lot like the ride you guys did at Six Flags! He was pretty scared :) haha

This concludes our Disney News. Will catch up on all the other as fast as we can. Hopefully before we head out for another trip next week!

The Magic Kingdom

2009-07-19T16:14:00.021-04:00

The Vanderendes: Ethan, Dan, Asa, and Kristen. Like the matching shirts guys!!

The castle looked really pretty changing colors as the night fell. When I was a kid, the parade in the Magic Kingdom that was late at night was called "The Main Street Electrical Parade." It is now the "Spectromagic Parade." We went into this park 2 different days, so these photos will be at random. This particular day we went in later so that we could shut the park down! Logan woke up for the parade that was at 10pm, but unfortunately cashed out and missed the fireworks show that followed it :) She then woke back up to go on the Peter Pan ride (about 11pm now), then went back to sleep after flying through the air. AND, since we were there, Fleet and I decided that we should go see if the line was short for Thunder Mt. (rollercoaster). I took off and got right on, soared through the night air, then ran to tag him to go. The guy was just closing the rope, but let Fleet squeeze in. He got on the last ride for the evening!! On the way out of the park, feeling quite like teenagers again, we caught the music and lights of the parade going on again! We did not stay. We took the ferry back to our car and called it a night!

Another new thing...Fast Passes. You could get a "fast pass" to a ride and come back to ride it later and not have to wait in line. We took advantage of this several times, but we really didn't wait in a line over 45 min. A lot of them were around the 30 min. mark and there was plenty to entertain us while we waited. The ride above moved ultra fast. Logan loved "It's a Small World!" We did this one 2 or 3 times. There's video of her waving her arms and talking as she watched all the things moving. Kristen and Asa below. I think this is on "The Pirates of the Caribbean ride." I think I mentioned that Logan was able to ride a lot of the rides which surprised us. It was great!

You don't go to Disney World to rest, and rain or shine (which it rained a lot), you still have a lot of fun!

Our day at The Animal Kingdom

2009-07-19T16:11:00.007-04:00

We have both been to Disney World as children, but they didn't have Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom when we went, so those were definitely on the "to-do" list for the week. I realized when uploading the pictures that we really didn't take a large amount of photos. Guess we just got busy seeing and doing things. Anyway, one of the highlights for Logan was meeting the characters. It was something she could really get into at this age and it fun to watch her grab at their costumes! She never was scared of anyone. Like I said, she grabbed noses, ears, hats, etc. Guess it was like a giant stuffed animal to her! We bought her a souvenir autograph book for her to get their autographs. Kim has one from when she went in first grade, now they can compare.

This park was a lot of fun, an enhanced zoo, with a little more rides! The whole week we were actually surprised at how much Logan could ride, so we really weren't left to watch or switch turns. We did take turns on some roller coasters, etc! The AK had a great roller coaster with a surprising twist. It was definitely a favorite and we saw "Big Foot!"

The things that were recommended as must-do's that we really enjoyed were the Nemo show, the Festival of the Lion King, and the safari. The pics above are from the safari. It was done really well, as you can expect from Disney, and we saw tons of unique animals! Logan loved it, as well as the shows! Lots and lots of visual stimulation.

Updates soon

2009-07-07T10:33:00.005-04:00

These are pics from Typhoon Lagoon water park at Disney. We got to go there 2x and had a great time. This was day 1 of our week. There is so much new, fun things to report. Be patient....we just returned from visiting family in MS and unfortunately we all had little colds we're starting to get over. Lots of pics to upload and share! Also, Logan had her 9 mo. checkup and last head appointment. The measurements they've been taking of her head have all fallen into the normal category now, so no helmet.

2009-07-03T22:07:00.002-04:00

Sorry that it's been so long since we've updated. We have been traveling some, most recently returning from Disney World. Can't wait to update you with some new pics, etc. Also, Logan is so big now and acting it! She's crawling, almost walking, etc. and we'll give you an update on her as well. Tomorrow Kim is running in the Peachtree Road Race with about 50,000 other people. Lots of fun things going on. Stay tuned for photos, etc.!

Last pics of Seattle

2009-06-14T22:28:00.016-04:00

These are photos from when we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to look around. We got to experience the boat rides and different views of the city from the water. We got great shots of the Seattle skyline and felt even closer to Mt. Rainer. Once on the island, we walked around a farmer's market and ate at a great little restaurant where we caught up with some locals who also had a baby girl! The people are super friendly! On the way back to the city, it seemed as if the whole island was headed to Safeco field for the state baseball game. We decided that sounded like a good way to end the afternoon, so we went and saw the baseball game as well. Since we had just left Bainbridge, we felt compelled to root for their team. They really didn't do so hot though and ended up losing. Oh well, got to see the stadium and Logan enjoyed the atmosphere of her first baseball game. I think she's ready for the Braves now!

Speaking of baseball, we're currently rooting on the USM Golden Eagles in the college world series. We SOOOO know we should head to bed since we've got 2 baby girls in the house this week. Our little niece is staying with us for the week and no doubt we'll be needing this extra sleep, but gotta pull for the Eagles! Maybe they'll win, the game's not over. This Eastern time zone is still hard for us to get used to because things come on so late here. Anyway, it's 10 till 11, but close to the end. We'll let you know.... oh, they lost. Too bad.

Round 2 Seattle pictures

2009-06-11T11:05:00.017-04:00

From the top down:

Logan and I went to the children's museum after our picnic lunch in the park while Fleetwood headed back to the conference. You can see that she had a good time exploring the stuff they had there. On the video another woman is heard praising her son for "good sharing." Logan was too into the drums to care that the little boy was watching her. The other pictures are of the Space Needle. It was built in 1962 for the World's Fair. The observation deck was 520 feet high. It provided great views of the snow peaked mountains surrounding the city.

2009-06-10T11:24:00.003-04:00

I was reading the devotion for today (see side link, Devos), and couldn't help but think of my small group friends whom are expecting their first baby in Aug. They were a little discouraged after hearing that the baby's skeletal bones are 4 weeks behind in developing, but they are praying for the healthy development of their baby. God is strengthening their faith, and they aren't going through this uncertainty alone!

Thought I'd just share this verse with you today because all of us go through "seasons" where are faith may be tested. I like this translation from The Message, and the challenge that it implies to each of us personally.

"Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory." 1 Peter 1:7

What's more priceless to you?

First Round Pics of Seattle

2009-06-09T09:57:00.016-04:00

Here we go. Some pictures from our trip. As mentioned earlier, we had a great time with great weather the week we spent in Seattle. These are some pictures of the flight over, our visit to the Seattle Aquarium (where they have a great, active octopus!), and some pictures of Pike Place Market. I was in love with the bouquets of flowers they were selling for dirt cheap. I said if I lived there, I'd have fresh flowers constantly in my house. Fleetwood was amazed at the size of the lobster tails and seafood, and Logan didn't quite understand why she couldn't touch the fish in the tanks at the aquarium! There was always some "street music" going on by either locals trying to sell their CD's or by those trying to earn a little extra cents from the tourists.

My first impression of the city on the water, was that it reminded me a little of Wellington, New Zealand. Not so much what I saw, but the weather felt like NZ in the summertime, and I could see the snow-capped mountains in pretty much every direction you looked. (The snow-capped mountains - not so much Wellington, but mountains - definitely NZ.) We made sure we made time for some fish n chips while we were there, and we enjoyed all the sights of the city.

Sleepless in Atlanta now

2009-06-01T22:26:00.002-04:00

Many of you know that we've been in Seattle, Washington for the past week. We are now home and adjusting to the Eastern time zone again. This morning Logan slept until 10 am, which is 7 in Seattle. Anyway, it'll take a couple of days, but we're glad to be back home and looking forward to routine for a while. Can't wait to share photos with you. Our time there was amazing! We had beautiful, cloudless, 70 degree days which made it great for walking around and boat rides. Logan continues to surprise us with how well she does with traveling. Well, it's late and I'm tired from embarrassing myself earlier at tennis practice in the neighborhood, so I'm headed off to get ready for bed. Unfortunately Fleetwood couldn't attend practice tonight because he was at the call center at the CDC heading up the team calling people about the surveys they worked on in TX. He'll have to comment on his time with the swine. haha, told you I'm tired. I did laugh when he bought Logan a flying pig stuffed animal that flapped it's wings when you pushed it's hands. I'll leave you with my first impression of Seattle....it reminded me of Wellington, New Zealand. Culture, totally different, but it had a similar feel with the water and the weather felt like summertime in NZ. There were more snow-capped mountains in Seattle, though.

Hola San Antonio

2009-05-18T12:00:00.005-04:00

Inside this famous restaurant, Mi Tierra, was so many lights and decorations. You felt like you walked into a massive party.

Outside The Alamo. A high school band performing songs inside the courtyard at The Alamo.
This past weekend was a lot of fun hanging out with Fleetwood. It's the first alone time we've had since Logan was born and although we missed her, it was good to hang out together. While he worked Friday, I slept that morning and hung out at the pool that afternoon. Then I got in a workout before meeting him for dinner. It was a nice day to relax, catch up on some sleep, and exercise! Sat. we toured The Alamo and walked around the Riverwalk. We ate lunch in a famous Mexican restaurant where they also have a Mexican market. That afternoon we saw Star Trek with some friends, Ben and Heather. It was really good! Sun. we rested and headed back to the Riverwalk to eat lunch on the water. I had a great time and didn't want to leave him that afternoon. I guess what made it easier was the fact he's finishing up this week, so we'll see him again soon. Also, my mom's birthday was yesterday and I wanted to get back to go to dinner with them to celebrate. We had fun at the Olive Garden.

Today, Fleetwood continues with the school surveys. They met with a new school today to launch the survey with them, then they'll await the responses. The call center was opened today as well for those telephoning in. It'll be a busy next couple of days, but he'll be flying home Wed. night. Logan, Hollie, and I take off tomorrow to start our journey home. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers as we've been traveling the past 3 weeks. The journey continues as we get ready to go to Seattle next week!

Incredible Pizza

2009-05-14T17:32:00.008-04:00

Tuesday evening we went to a place called Incredible Pizza. This place was CiCi's on steroids! It had all kinds of games, go karts, a bowling ally, and I'm not sure where they're going to add it, but they're adding an ice skating rink. These are my folks and sister and niece. We had a lot of fun. Logan loved the bling bling!

I am headed to San Antonio tonight for a little rest and to pick up Fleetwood. I've almost cried 2x today about leaving Logan. I know this is going to be good for us, but still hard :) The thing that makes it easier is that she'll be with family whom I'm sure will spoil her for the next day or two! Dad already wants to take her shopping.

Just this week I've bought her 9 and 12 mo. clothes and watched her drink a bottle herself sitting in the car seat. I also bought 3 diapers today! What is going on here????!!!!!!!!

Fun in Austin

2009-05-13T14:27:00.009-04:00

Trying out some cheerios!

Balloons from Chik-fil-a

Olivia and Logan
Logan, say MOOMelissa, Cousin Dana, Olivia, Jack, Logan and Fleet
Jack and Eric
GO ALEXA!

It was great to visit the Levine's this weekend in Austin! Logan got to spend time with her cousins and they did a great job keeping her entertained. She took some really long naps! We'll have to plan a longer visit next time because the time flew by. Fleetwood was able to come up Sat. night and hang out with us for Mother's Day on Sun. He left to return that evening for an 8:00 meeting. He should be done on Sun. They have added another school to the list getting the survey, so there's potential to stay longer for some team members. They have moved hotels to be closer to the downtown area which provides a little more fun atmosphere for the dinner meetings. TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! I'll be joining him in San Antonio tomorrow evening for the weekend. It'll be the first time Logan and I have been apart. I'll enjoy a little me time and she'll probably never know I'm gone with Lili and Pappy to love on her. For those wondering about Hollie, she's hanging out with Winston, my folks dog. The other day Rookie, my sister's dog, was over as well for just a little while, and the three of them took on some adventures of their own. They managed to get out (guess fence wasn't latched that tight) and Win and Rook were visiting some local apartments while Hollie found a nearby creek. Yes, she was soaking wet when dad found her. Today she's having a spa day, getting a bath and haircut!

Pics for Daddy!

2009-05-08T11:00:00.010-04:00

Yesterday mom and I took Logan and Addyson to the pool. It was Logan's first pool time. She loved it, which I knew she would because she loves bath time and water. She splashed the water with delight! Those of you keeping up, this post is just a bunch of pics for Fleetwood whose been working in San Antonio for 2 weeks. Logan and I are headed to Austin, TX tomorrow morning to visit her other cousins!!!! We're so excited to see them!!

Trying on hats for the pool. We got a little carried away!
While Lisa and Justin have their house on the market, a bunch of Addyson's stuff is at my parents house. She found her tub and drug it out to sit in it. She wanted Logan to join her, then showered her with kisses!

Kenny Chesney Concert

2009-05-07T10:26:00.008-04:00

Date night with.....Lisa. Prior to coming to Texas to visit family, we bought some tickets to see Kenny Chesney in the Woodlands. It was to be a date night for Fleetwood's birthday. I even planned to wear my Wrangler's. I mean, if you're going to go to a country music concert in TX, then you gotta wear your Wrangler's! It was a little sad when we found out he wouldn't be able to make it, but Lisa got to go with me and we made it a girl's night out which was a lot of fun. We headed over to the Marketplace to catch a Swoozie's tent sale, then headed to La Madelaine for a quick bite to eat before walking over to the outdoor pavilion for the concert! The weather was really perfect for an outdoor concert.

Tonight I learned that 73% of Fleetwood's EIS class is involved with the Swine Flu outbreak. Fleetwood's working hard with his teammates on this web-based survey they're putting out. They are meeting with the schools tomorrow. It's really been interesting to him and will be a really great way to gather information. They also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. That's the publication I talked about in an earlier post, so that's pretty cool! There will probably be a lot of pics of Logan coming up in a post because he's really missing his little girl!

Playing hard

2009-05-07T09:33:00.005-04:00

Logan's enjoying her time in TX. She's so stimulated she sometimes gets 3 naps before bedtime at 8! This is the second time we've placed in some type of moving ride. She loves it and seems to know exactly what to do by placing her hands on the wheel like she's driving. She turned 7 mo. old yesterday! In addition to the babbling, she's starting to explore her surroundings even more. She is one little curious bug! We went to visit the people my mom works with the other day. They've been dying to meet her. She also went to lunch with a few of the ladies yesterday, so no worries about her schedule. She's staying busy! Today we are going swimming for the first time with cousin Addy. This ought to be entertaining! Oh yeah, it's gonna be 90 degrees here today.
Fleetwood is going to have to stay another week with work, so family time for him will be little to none. That's kinda sad, but in keeping things interesting, they are still working on this survey for the schools that's become a big deal kinda and he likes it. They also have a team in New York doing the same thing. I'll try and get more details to share with you.

Want you meet my neighbors

2009-05-05T15:34:00.007-04:00

Meet our sweet neighbors! This is my friend Mary and her beautiful children. They joined Logan and I for back to the zoo #2! As mentioned in a previous post, we bought a zoo pass for a year so that we could go whenever we wanted and stay as short or as long as we want. The cool thing about it is that during the week while Fleet's at work, my friends can accompany me for free! I think we're going to definitely get our use out of it. We had so much fun and the kids were worn out that night!

Hey Lucy! Say "cheese"

"Let me think about this...who is this crazy lady?" Hi Sophia!
Mr. Climbing Henry!

"These are my buddies everybody!"
Mama and Baby Pandas. The baby wasn't sleeping this time. He/She (gotta find out), was all over the place and even put on a show by climbing the tree below. (Didn't mean to rhyme, but do consider that I just got all these new rhyming books for Logan)

Update on Fleetwood: He is now working out of the Emergency Operations Center in Texas. He says it's where they track all the hurricanes during hurricane season. (Cyclones for my Kiwi friends!) They are coordinating and supplying teams to go out into the field, and his day-to-day tasks haven't changed from what I've posted previously. He found out yesterday that he may need to stay another week, but it's not official yet. Several of his colleagues have taken positions across the country to do similar things and a lot of the other EIS officers are also working around the clock at the emergency center at the main campus back home. That means there's not a lot of replacements for the teams already in the field.

Logan and I are doing well and arrived safely. Hollie too! They both traveled great and allowed me my time to sing some favorite tunes on the drive over. I actually didn't mind the car time. Gave me a little time to just think. We split up the trip by staying with family in Mississippi. Besides maybe a little extra nap, Logan hasn't gotten off her schedule one bit. More pics to follow...btw, she's 7 months old tomorrow!

Pretty neat stuff

2009-04-30T22:40:00.002-04:00

Still working really long days, Fleetwood said he's gotten to be involved in some new kinds of research that he's never really done before. They've been working with a school to check on possible cases with kids, etc. and are doing what he called self-identifying social networking. It's a "neat" study, he says, on looking at the kids friend networking on Facebook. It's web based research and kinda new to him, but it's a big enough study that they are flying out another EIS officer to work on it. The other really neat thing is that he may get a publication from his work there. He'd probably die if he knew I told you that! On another serious, yet happy note, he saw a baby patient at the beginning of the week. A 3 1/2 month old who was sick, but the good news is they're doing better now! I will speak for him and say that he enjoys being an encouragement to other people.
.
As for Logan and I, we're hitting the road tomorrow. Fleetwood and I just don't have a peace about her being on an airplane right now. She's just a vulnerable age and it's too risky. So, stay tuned for the adventures of me, a baby, and a dog on a road trip across the states!! I will also try and post pics of our 2nd visit to the zoo with the triplets who live across the street from us.

Details of the job

2009-04-29T15:35:00.002-04:00

Talked to Fleetwood about how I could better inform you of the work he's doing. It basically boils down to 2 categories:

1. They are setting up systems in the communities to identify any possible new cases, treat them when necessary, and work to try and prevent the spread of the virus.

2. They are doing research to learn more about the virus. That's a large part of the research, but the other reasons for the research is to, again, prevent the spread of the Swine Flu.

This is the condensed version of what he said! Feel free to comment in the comment section with any questions you may have for him.

We will make a decision on mine and Logan's flight out to TX after we see how the week goes. I'm REALLY entertaining the idea of driving!

Swine Flu

2009-04-28T21:50:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately there is not a lot to report from Fleetwood right now. Although we talk several times a day, they are short conversations and texts. I do know that he's not getting a lot of sleep! He went to bed about midnight last night and tonight our phone conversation got interrupted because he was going to another meeting at 9:00. He wasn't working in the field today, but was in a regional office. For those asking about more specific things he is actually working on... I'll have to ask, but expect that he may not be able to say exactly. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers. Today I've prayed specifically for his health and energy. All these guys work so hard to keep us Americans informed!
.
I am also asking God for a peace about flying out this Sat. to visit family in TX. I'm not really worried about myself, but am about Logan. I've thought of calling her Pediatrician to see if they have baby masks! I'm not joking. Especially when we're flying Air Tran and one of their planes traveled back from Mexico carrying the virus (that's what I heard tonight). Fleet said we'll see how the week goes.
.
On a funny note..(please refer to Logan's 6 mo. update post a couple down). She likes the prunes! Didn't even make a funny face. I, however, couldn't bring myself to try them. It looked like chocolate pudding that smelled funny! I also interviewed a babysitter today. Yoo-hoo! It's a start to meeting people and she was very nice. So, when Fleet gets back, we'll have to have a date night!

Swine Flu Outbreak

2009-04-27T10:14:00.004-04:00

Many of you are asking and wondering about Fleetwood's possible involvement with the Swine Flu outbreak. I thought I'd do my best to keep you updated on what's going on with him. Yes, he was deployed Sat. morning early with a team of 6 people from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). The team started forming around Thurs. while he was attending his EIS conference here in Atlanta. He was booked on two flights, one Thurs. evening and one Friday, but both were cancelled until further notice. On Sat. about 7am, he was called up and Logan and I drove him to the airport! It was a little crazy for us with all the wondering those two days, but just goes to show you that it takes a lot of work to get things like this organized and plenty of people have worked around the clock. It's been amazing on this side of things to witness the in's and outs of how the CDC responds to such events. They've done a really great job in reacting quickly (almost like they are in place and ready before even asked to come)! He was debriefed, given all this equipment, and packed Thurs. afternoon just waiting.

I'm sure you guys are watching the news and know by now what's going on. If not, just tune into CNN, FOX NEWS, or local news on the TV or the Internet and you're informed. Even this morning President Obama mentioned it in a talk from the Academy of Science. They'll do a much better job then me updating you on it both in our country and internationally. I do know that now the virus is in New Zealand and that sparked my attention since we lived there and love that country. I was watching a guy talk about it in Auckland. To our friends there, Fleetwood said he should have held out a little longer and he may have been able to come see you guys!! Although, I joked that he wouldn't have been able to go without Logan and I.

Fleetwood is doing fine. He's very busy. Usually with all Epi Aids (that's the term the EIS officers use), they work very hard and long days. He is enjoying it because it's been so interesting. He sent a picture of himself to show how they are protecting themselves from getting the virus when they are being exposed to possible cases.

Logan at 6 months

2009-04-25T21:14:00.009-04:00

Last Friday we went for Logan's 6 month shots. She is in the 50th percentile of height and weight, which is 26 inches long and 17lbs. I know she's gotten taller because I bought a 9mo. sleeper the other day so she could stretch her legs out! It's finally getting warmer so we can just do the onesie's. The doc gave us A's for our parent report cards which is always reassuring. She now eats: rice cereal, carrots, squash, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (1x), bananas, apple sauce, peaches, and pears. I'm running out of things to try from the starter foods! She hasn't disliked anything so far, nor reacted to anything. However, I am going to be a mean mommy and introduce her to prunes. I kinda laugh about it because I wouldn't eat them! My mom said after I make her try them, I have to try them as well since I made her do it! Who knows, she may love them like anything else you offer her to eat. We tried the Gerber "puffs" for a finger food and she just played with it. I think it'll be a couple more weeks before she knows what to do with that. She drinks from a sippie cup occasionally and also likes to experiment with a regular cup.
.
We went back to the orthotics/prosthetics clinic for another measurement of her head. Still no helmet which is great! In fact, the most growth was in the area (left side) that we've been working so hard to keep her off of. She doesn't really seem to cater to any side now. We did start sleeping her on her stomach which we believe has made the most difference.
.
She's ultra observant and aware of everything. Wants to touch everything she sees or sees you doing. She's very curious. She is impatient when it comes to food! You won't be able to make it fast enough. She's still a pretty easy baby which has been a blessing! She's so much fun to interact with now. She can sit up which is her favorite position to be in. She can turn over from her belly to back. She's pretty frustrated she can't get from point A to B which will be nightmarish for us when she figures it out! She'll be a little active one! And the best is when she gets excited about something, she almost gasps for air, she is so happy.
.
Thanks to Karin, Carlos, Annika, and Phillip in New Zealand for the adorable little dress in the last picture.

God and Country sermon

2009-04-23T14:20:00.003-04:00

www.northpoint.org/GodAndCountry

Andy Stanley started a 2 part sermon series this past Sunday on God and Country. There was an overwhelming request for video on it, so they posted it here while one is being made. If you're interested, it's good listening!

Also want to give a shout out to Miss California for standing up for what she believes in. I didn't see the pageant last weekend, but have followed a couple of news interviews of the drama that's unfolded with the question asked to her in her interview. I was really encouraged by the direct answer she gave and the way she stood by her convictions! In my opinion, too many people straddle the fence when it comes to really tough personal questions because they don't want to offend someone, etc. I am drawn to the persons who don't compromise their beliefs just to say what is maybe expected of them to say.

Zoolights

2009-04-20T14:18:00.009-04:00

The new panda baby. The mother is below. They are a big deal here in Atlanta!
Logan absolutely LOVES being on her daddy's shoulders!

This past Sat. we went to the zoo. We packed our picnic lunch and headed out to enjoy the weather. I love that you can take your own snacks, food, and drinks into the zoo. Just makes it so easy. It was so much fun watching Logan get excited at what was going on around her. She's so alert and observant that she takes everything in. She ate lunch with us and took one little snooze, but was awake the majority of the time. When she woke up we rode the train for the finale. I don't think she knew what to think about the tunnels and ride, but she definitely took it all in! When we left the zoo, we went ahead and signed up to be members. Now we can go anytime we want until it expires next April, so when you visit and you have little ones, we can go to the zoo if you want! And for you "older" kids, (dad), we'll take you too!

When we left the zoo, we went to this cool new (to us) restaurant called Six Feet Under. It's a fish place. Great atmosphere, outdoor rooftop seating, and good eats! Still exploring Atlanta!

Around the house

2009-04-20T10:38:00.003-04:00

Spring is always a time of year that you feel like cleaning up and getting rid of. That started about 2 months ago for us. We took about 3 boxes of clothes and misc. items to the goodwill place down the street. A few weekends ago, our neighbor did some landscaping in his front yard which also motivated us to do a few things to our front yard that we wanted to do. Fleetwood yanked out these awful looking box shrubs and we replanted some dwarf youpons and azaleas in the front bed. I've yet to add some colorful annuals, but as soon as it stops raining so much it's on the list. We also planted some prickly holly bushes along the fence as well as some taller growing shrub plants on the other side of our house. They will grow to be a barrier shrub from the neighbors. If you know me at all, you know my "green thumb" is pretty much gray, but we're learning the names of many plants and flowers which makes you feel a little more educated in the gardening world. Our neighbor across the street also has offered some plants that we can use to tackle a much larger bed around a tree in our front yard...we'll see. She also told us about the Growers Outlet where she had just bought a TON of stuff for dirt cheap. (Mom, we'll have to go when you come.) I bought a Boston fern to put at the door and before we had it even one full day, a little finch started building her nest in it. I discovered it because I went to water it and there would be these long pieces of sticks or whatever cascading from it and I'd pull them out. Poor little bird, I was doubling the work for her on her new home. Last night when we came home from church, I noticed the fern had fallen. It's anchor broke. The two babies were tossed to the side of it on the ground. Fleet put on some gloves and shoveled them back into the nest and rehung it. We are really hoping they survive. Also, can't forget to mention that we got a new roof put on Friday. They completed the whole project in a day. We had some hail damage from a storm a while back so that's the reason for replacing it. Anyway, we're starting to settle in to our house on David Rd.
.
On the inside...we bought our first piece of furniture last week as well. It's a console table, really just an accent piece and nothing big, but it's got an Asian flare to it and made in Thailand. It goes well in our living room which is deemed the Asian room. I went last Friday to a consignment furniture store. On the lookout for a TV media stand. I found a mirror for the guest room, but nothing else. I did get info on dropping off our stuff in the future. We have to wait though until we can replace the things we get rid of, so for now, the list sits.
.
Still thinking about what Easter means...If you've seen it, you may think I'm crazy for renting Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. I have seen it, but couldn't remember it that well. Since Easter I've been wanting to watch it, so we watched it the other night. I don't know if amazed is the word I'm looking for, but to reflect on the torture Jesus went through for me, for all of us, well, really just can't imagine it. I'm so thankful to Him. On a human side, He was so courageous, humbled, and He wasn't thinking of Himself when He traveled that long road. He was thinking of us. I feel blessed. Yesterday, Andy Stanley started talking about God and country. It's not difficult to feel a little apprehensive about the state our economy is in right now and wonder where it's headed. I feel thankful and assured that I can rest in knowing that God remains in control and has been in control since the beginning.
.
I'm not a huge news junkie. I do enjoy segments that the Today show has on and the topical stories are pretty interesting sometimes, but to just watch reports of violence, etc. etc., it's depressing to me. I just don't want my mind concentrating on the many what if that ever happens to us kinda thing, so I limit what I watch. All that to say, Logan and I had our first talk about sex the other day. I am seriously disturbed by what tweens and teens are exposed to these days, and much earlier than I could imagine. Their exposure to things with the internet and texting world scares me. I was watching a story on the news about a 14 year old boy who was being registered as a sex offender, and it was because of this "sexting" junk that kids are doing. They don't even know the trouble they can cause themselves later on in life. It was sad to listen to his testimony of how when he applies for college one day, he'll have to address that on his application. So, I do know that my 6 month old daughter had no clue what I was saying to her, but nonetheless I told her she is special and beautiful in God's eyes and ours and that she doesn't ever have to do anything to prove that to some boy one day.

Article

2009-04-14T13:49:00.002-04:00

http://www.parents-kids.com/articles/20090401_191/10_Steps_to_Avoid_Mommy-Isolation--Why_Stay-at-Home_Moms_Need_A_Break

If interested, here's the link to an article my friend wrote on tips for stay at home moms to find time to beat loneliness or isolation. I enjoyed reading it! Her blog is to the right under The Partridges.

Easter weekend

2009-04-14T12:37:00.011-04:00

We had a great Easter. It rained on Friday and was cloudy Sat., but Sun. was absolutely gorgeous and the weather felt great! Fleetwood's parents came in on Friday for the weekend. It was so good to see them! We went hiking around at Stone Mountain Park Sat. and just hung out for the weekend. Sunday morning after church we ate brunch at Mimi's cafe before they headed home. Around 3, we went up to the Embry Hills clubhouse for an Easter egg hunt and snacks. Logan didn't really participate, just looked at all the kids, etc. Someone had a real bunny and it made me think of the chicks I had as a child around Easter. Don't remember having bunnies though. I didn't take pics with my camera of the rest of the weekend, so I have to see about transferring them onto the blog. My mother-in-law got some great ones, we'll see if I can upload them. Hope you had a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Risen Savior!!

MC School of Business on the Radio

2009-04-03T10:07:00.003-04:00

If you're interested...this was an email sent to me that I thought some of you may be interested in listening to maybe in your car (Alli) or at work.
.
Dear Alumni and Friends,
.
Please tune into your local Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB)station this Tuesday, April 7th at 9:00 a.m. CST to hear the MC School of Business faculty on the hit MPB radio program Money Talks. The MC School of Business hosted MPB on campus for a taping of the show in front of a live audience and our business faculty members participated as panelist to answer questions on the economy, the banking industry,personal finance and more.
.
Don't miss this chance to hear from Dr. Gerald Lee, Professor of Economics; Dr. Mark McComb, Associate Professor of Management Science;Dr. Nancy Anderson, Assistant Professor of Finance and Mr. Doug Muenzenmay, Senior Vice President and Trust Investment Officer for Regions Trust and Morgan Asset Management and Adjunct Instructor of Finance at MC. The program is moderated by MPB host Kevin Farrell.
.
Visit http://www.business.mc.edu/ for more information on our events and activities.
.
Warm wishes,
Marcelo Eduardo, Dean
.
Click the link below for the MPB station in your area:http://www.mpbonline.org/about_us/coverage/index.htm

Random post

2009-04-02T16:52:00.008-04:00

Logan wanted me to share with ya'll that she loves her mommy!

She's hanging out in the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner.

I took a couple of pics of Logan in this t-shirt for our sweet neighbors, Sig and Missy. They brought her back this shirt from Disney.

The night before last and yesterday:

So, the night before last was a terrible night for Fleetwood and I. It had much to do with Hollie who is deathly afraid of thunder and lightning. Thanks to her, we were up at 2 and again at 5. At 5, she managed to wake up Logan. So, to assure we got a little more sleep...Fleet headed to the couch downstairs, barricaded the stairwell so Hollie couldn't nervously roam, and Logan got in the bed with me. We explained to Logan the next morning when we woke daddy on the couch that mommy and daddy were not mad at each other and still sleep in the same bed. haha

Yesterday, Logan tried green beans. I wasn't sure at first how she liked them. She was eating them, but not in the same way as the squash, etc. Maybe she was just getting full. Anyway, she seemed to like them as well since she finished them in the afternoon. So that adds number 4 to her growing list of vegetables! We're 4 for 4 in the liking department. We'll see how she does with green beans today. I would also just like to add that it's really a lot of fun to walk through the toy department in stores with her. She is mesmerized and laughs when you play with funny things and bouncy balls!

In search of wader's

2009-04-02T16:43:00.003-04:00

Fleetwood wanted to drive up to the Gwinnett convention center last Sat. to this gigantic Orvis sale. They were advertising 75% off, and we love a good sale! He still has some Christmas money and was thinking about some fly-fishing waders. (hope I'm spelling that right) They did have a bargain on some, but no boots to fit him, so it didn't work out. Anyway, Hollie scored! They had this bed that's like the size of our bed! She seems to like it. The only thing about it, it's monogrammed with "Sophie's" name on it. (It's against the wall) Supposedly I can rip that out when I have time, but for now Hollie doesn't care :)

Head update

2009-03-31T09:25:00.004-04:00

I was reminded to give an update about our appointment to see a rehab specialist for Logan's head in small group last night. They took some measurements and the ones they focus on measure diagonally the two sides. She was in the moderate range at 10.9. Normal would be 6 or below, and intervention would be above 12. Anyway, that's probably confusing without really looking at the photo, but they didn't recommend a helmet. Instead they want us to continue what we are doing with keeping her off of the left side in the back as much as possible. We will go back in 4 weeks to take other measurements and match progress.

Pinhoti

2009-03-27T19:08:00.014-04:00

I'll post a few photos from the weekend trip to the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama. That's right Alabama. And for all those skeptics of hiking in Alabama, you just don't know what you're missing. I went with a few old friends from MS, John and Troy, and a new friend, Josey, joined us for the tramp. The trail was great - well maintained and marked, and it went through a wide variety of landscapes. It connects into the Benton McKaye Trail, which eventually connects into the Appalachian Trail.
It was a great time of year to go. Cool during the day, and chilly enough in the evenings to enjoy a magnesium-started fire. Thanks Josey for the Starbucks Coffee - that JetBoil Coffee Press was quite the surprise - and brought great happiness to my mornings. Hope to hang out with you boys again soon.

This is my boy T-Roy perched on the side of one of the rock faces that he just knuckled up. Troy was the only one the trip that had done the leg work to get a sponsor. Thanks to Bumble Bee Tuna for your support.

Just thinking

2009-03-27T16:00:00.002-04:00

I read a quote today that challenged me. It says, "Opening the day with praises to my King has transformed my heart. Now, when I go to church, I no longer wait to enter into His presence; my heart is already there."
.
It's been difficult for me to find that alone time I desperately need with my Saviour. I am really missing a consistent quiet time right now. I read the quote and think, "oh, I want my heart to be there, abiding in His presence, daily, hourly. I don't want to be wishing for that time and anxiously waiting for it. That only increases my heart rate! I want the peace that comes with a still quiet heart." I am thinking as well as this author that I don't want church to be just one day a week for me. It's just a building anyway! Maybe some of you parents with babies and toddlers can enlighten me as to when are good times for alone time :)

Family visits

2009-03-23T12:58:00.010-04:00

The Holcomb's, (Kim's sister, bro-in-law, and Addyson) came to town during their spring break from TX, so here's a few pics to enlighten you of their visit. We didn't have long with them, for they arrived Wed. and left Fri., but we had fun. We also got to see some good friends from MS, Jayme and Jared Yates, but didn't get any pics. We were all too busy holding kids!

The Farmer takes his wife...hi-ho-the-cheerio.... (Oh yeah, and Addy has a new smile in which she reveals ALL of her teeth, so beware:)

Logan watching her cousin.

You know we've got to get a Hollie pic in there! Isn't she the most beautiful doggie? We think so!

Don't ask. Don't know.

We made a sandbox in our play set for the kiddos that come over and play. It's a lot of fun. I bought some sand toys at Target last Friday, so we can get rid of the plastic red cups, but Addy loved them. FYI: those of you thinking of cats and litter boxes...HA!...we thought of it, and it's covered during none use.

Lisa daydreaming and Addy playing.

Copy cats. This is really to humor us as sisters, since my mom dressed us alike all the time when we were young. And, yes, Linda (mom) bought the outfits. One day a bow will stay in my daughter's hair hopefully! We bought her several while in Birmingham a couple of weekends ago.(see previous posts)

Our attempt at an outdoor photo, but Addy wanted to play with the rocks, and yes, several ended up in my house later! HA!

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Justin having a mat moment with pumpkin!

Bring me carrots Easter Bunny!

2009-03-22T22:05:00.007-04:00

This is pumpkin chowing down on some carrots. Yes, she's 5 months old now and getting hungrier. SO, since she's been doing well eating her rice cereal from a spoon, we're slowly introducing vegetables! We are 2 for 2 so far because she likes carrots, and as of yesterday...squash. As far as eating goes...I am still nursing and supplementing with formula. She eats rice cereal, carrots, squash, and chocolate. I am also introducing the "cup!" She enjoys root beer immensely. OK, maybe not yet anyways. I have only put a little water in the bottom, no juice yet, but she seems to get the hang of it pretty easily. For all the yahoos who say to do a cup instead of sippy cup....no way hosay. At least not until she stops waving the cup around! Oh yeah, and she may be beginning to teethe.

I am working on a schedule for her. Since we've been gone most of this month, I haven't worried about keeping track, but I started writing things down this week to see kinda what her natural patterns are with routine. I'm already seeing that this is going to be harder than I thought:) I am realizing that it is easy to get yourself a little stressed out with this, so I'm going to try and not worry about it so much. Lately I've been conversing with the Lord about His wisdom because I don't know what I should be doing with her at times!

Coming up this week, we visit the orthodic/prosthetics center to get some measurements taken of Pumpkin's head. It's a little flat on the left side and we're going to see if they are going to recommend a helmet or not. I've never seen one of those. Anyway, we may just have to escalate tummy time. We'll see!

When we went in for a 5 month weight check, Logan was back on track with her weight gain. She now weighs 14.3 lbs. Not sure how long, but she's healthy and growing. We no longer struggle with gas and she belches like a man. She reaches for everything and wants to touch it! She also gets excited over the songs, Deep and Wide and ABC's. Can't think of any other updates at the moment. I am pretty tired since I stayed up until midnight to watch a movie. It's like the first one I've seen sitting down all the way through it, but it didn't start until 9:00. That's Atlanta Eastern time for ya! Things come on so late here. Anyway, Fleetwood was in the woods on a trail with the boys, so I popped some popcorn and tried to stay awake for The Holiday. Really like this movie by-the-way! OK, rambling is ending and I'm going to bed.

Soon: pics of the Holcomb's visit to our house and Fleet's trip.

Lakin' it in TN

2009-03-17T11:39:00.010-04:00

More like cabin it. This past weekend we went up to Kristen Vanderende's parents lakehouse, The Refuge, in TN. We had a great time being indoors!! It rained the whole time we were there. This pic was when we were leaving and, of course, it was visible this day. You could actually take a walk this day :) Oh well, we had a great time and just relaxed. My triceps and abs are a little sore do to the strength training on the Wii Fit!

Where's Logan in the big, king size bed??

There she is!!

Apparently I need to work out more. This is my wii fit age.
Fleetwood must have cheated to get his closer to his age! :)

It would be really interesting to know Hollie's wii fit age..hum...

Kristen and Asa watch on...
Dan, what was your age? What, no picture??
The peanut gallery! Ethan and Fleetwood.

Thanks for a great weekend Dan and Kristen, we had a great time!

Doggie moment

2009-03-17T11:36:00.001-04:00

Does anyone else's dog sleep like this?

Birmingham weekend

2009-03-12T22:23:00.012-04:00

Following Roddick's victory, his teammates joined him waving the US flag around the court. My pic of all of them turned out blurry.

James Blake taking the court. He's currently ranked 13th in the world. He played Stanislas Wawrinka, ranked 16th for the first singles match. Wawrinka beat Blake for Friday's match, but Andy Roddick, ranked 6, turned around and beat Wawrinka on Sunday to secure the victory for the USA! I forgot to take our camera for the Sat. doubles match, so no pic of the Bryan brothers playing. It was a great match, but of course, the B bros won! They're the best! Roddick serving.
The matches were played indoors at the convention center which made the cow bells and fog horns extra loud!
My mom flew in from TX for the weekend to watch Logan so that we could enjoy the matches. Her plane didn't land until 3:00 so Logan watched some of the tennis with us. She was a hit with the other spectators seated around us, however, I thought she was going to have a heart attack when everyone cheered until she got used to the noise! Meanwhile while we were watching tennis, mom and Logan strolled around the Cottontail Arts and Crafts Festival at the convention center as well. This was a happening place this weekend. Actually, Birmingham had a LOT going on this weekend. Glad we booked our hotel early! Oh yeah, and before I forget...the most random thing, was that when we were parking, a guy we knew from Hattiesburg, MS parked right beside us and we got to see him throughout the matches. His name was Matt Mayo. Fleetwood used to play soccer with him.
Logan sporting her new hat.

We got back home Sun. evening and mom flew back home on Mon. afternoon. It was great seeing her. I love this pic of her and Logan.

Red Rock Park

2009-03-12T11:28:00.007-04:00

The only reason I can think that we weren't in short sleeves and shorts was that we didn't pack them and it was windy, windy, windy this day in CO. Otherwise, the weather was pretty warm. We stopped at this park to look around on our drive back from Keystone to Highlands Ranch where our friends, Michael and Jennifer live. (See the link to the Goodrums for their blog) Logan is sporting her new sunglasses from Target. It was so bright in the snow and such that we bought her some shades so she'd be able to see what the snow looked like! After spending the evening with the Goodrums, we headed home the next day. We left sunny, warm (70 degree) CO, and landed in sunny, cold (50 degree) Atlanta. Go figure! Hope you enjoyed the pics and stories.

Hello from Keystone!

2009-03-11T22:18:00.007-04:00

Our condo. OK....so, the story you've been waiting for...how was the skiing??? Well, the picture below will explain our trip to Keystone. We pretty much hung out in the condo and rested. We had one day to ski on this trip and Fleetwood woke up sick. We thought we'd make it to a half-day ski if he felt better, but he didn't. I was going to ski half a day, but he was a little too puny to watch Logan, so I didn't go either. I didn't mind because I probably would have thought about them the whole time. He wanted me to ski since we came all this way, but they needed me, so Logan and I strolled around the village and browsed in and out of shops for a little while while Fleet rested. We did enjoy seeing the snow. We got a good laugh because it didn't snow while we were there and the weather was actually pretty warm. It did, however snow here in Atlanta. They got 4 inches at our house! I have been hoping for snow this year and we missed it. Oh well! Although we didn't get to ski, it was fun being in the mountains and Logan had a blast! She was squealing in delight the moment we got there. It's like Fleetwood said, at least we weren't one day in Thailand, we've got good friends we can revisit for another ski opportunity in the future.

USA WINS 1st round Davis Cup!!

2009-03-10T11:10:00.003-04:00

Andy Roddick ties Andre Agassi's wins in Davis Cup history....

We were so excited that we got to cheer on the US team in Birmingham, AL this past weekend! It was a very energetic crowd and I must say that this is the first time that I've ever watched tennis amongst a crowd cheering away with cow bells and fog horns. I mean, was this a MS State football game?? We'll post more about our weekend after we wrap up some pics from our trip to CO. For now, you can see pics and highlights and get the Davis Cup news from the link below.
CHEERS!!

http://www.usta.com

The Wedding and Reception

2009-03-10T10:51:00.013-04:00

The morning after the big day, we got to watch the couple open their gifts and see them one last time before we all went our separate ways.

Neil and HeidiDancing the night away!

Eric and Scott.
Eric, Dan and Fleetwood.

FLeetwood and John

Fleetwood and Eric

The Groomsmen

We would also like to say a special thanks again to our friends, Michael and Jennifer Goodrum, for watching Logan while we attended the wedding. It's great that we got to see them some, and they were so happy to watch Logan for us that night so we could enjoy the wedding. They said that she had fun strolling along Pearl street in Boulder and taking in the sights of the town!

Kiwi Humor, Neil's Bachlor Party and way too many scarcastic people (me included)

2009-03-07T10:30:00.003-05:00

I was overly impressed by the showing at Neil's Bachelor Party. At least 25 fellas gathered at a local Boulder watering hole to celebrate the dying days of single Neil. Three full tables of guys itching to share 'old' stories of Neil escaping lighting storms, getting pummeled by ocean waves, or exercising for absurd amounts of time. It was personally gratifying to meet other guys from different stages of Neil's life, and hear about their experiences and friendship. I was part of the 'Nashville guys'. A group that I cherish, brought together for bible study, but one that developed into an environment of trust and respect, in which all other groups in my life have been measured against. Not to build the guys up too much. If the videos from the wedding party would have turned out, tears would still be strolling down the cheeks from the 'free-styling' sessions. Kim and I were both glad that we had plenty of time to see Neil, Heidi and all of the guys. On Saturday, before the wedding, the guys went out 'hiking'. It turned into a school-yard rock throwing contest at 7000 ft, but that's just what makes this past weekend all the more memorable. Plenty of new memories and the celebration of old ones. Cheers to Neil and Heidi for tying the knot. You will be amazing together.

NZ humor for Neil: Business Time

Colorado cont....

2009-03-05T20:19:00.009-05:00

Here are a couple of shots from the rehearsal dinner and hotel fun. Logan gave lots of speeches at the dinner! The last pic is of her bow that was a little too big. It was fun looking at her anyway, but we'll save it for a little later!

For the tennis fans!

2009-03-05T15:39:00.001-05:00

http://www.usta.com/

Take this link and find out how you can watch the Davis Cup live. USA vs Switzerland! We'll be there cheering on the US!!!! Yoo-hoo!!

Getting started

2009-03-05T09:39:00.003-05:00

Brunch on Friday at The Original Pancake House in Boulder. We got in on Thursday afternoon and Fleet will have to share about the bachelor's party Thurs. night.

The "guys" all hanging out. It was great to sit around and chat. Logan is letting me know that she is hungry and tired :)

I loved meeting Heidi and Neil's families. This is them with their momas!

Logan's first flight

2009-03-05T09:17:00.004-05:00

What a trooper!! Logan did great on her first round trip flight out to CO. This is the pic on the way home. You may be wondering why she's half naked, but when we left CO it had to be 70 degrees! She got hot on the plane going, so this time, we did better. I didn't wear a sweater for one thing! She nursed and took a bottle going up and down and seemed to have no problems with the pressure. In fact, she enjoyed talking to people on the plane. She wanted to share with them the new sound (aka noise) she picked up on this trip! It makes my throat hurt just listening to her. We are home now and look forward to sharing with you about our trip. We went to Boulder for Neil and Heidi Smith's wedding and had a blast! We reunited with friends and really felt like we got to spend some quality time with them. We also met new friends from all over the country. Also, to all you wives who couldn't make it...your men got jiggie with it on the dance floor and you'll definitely want to check out those pics! I did capture some video, however, I'm disappointed it is too dark to make out any images. We'll see about posting one. Post wedding we drove up to the mountains to do a little skiing, and well, let's just say...we enjoyed our condo immensely! Stay tuned for that story...

Getting ready for CO

2009-02-24T14:52:00.002-05:00

CUTEST LITTLE BEAR I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!!!!!! Logan's pulling out all her fleece for the upcoming trip to CO. Any advice on flying with a baby? Submit now.