Too Big

Gideon.  He'll be 18 months old on Friday.  Wow!  Where does the time go?  Last night, Luke said, "Is Gideon a baby?"  "Not really.  He's more like a toddler."  I could tell even he was having a hard time wrapping his head around that.  So, I guess that means we should stop referring to Gideon as "the baby"?!  (Sigh).

His vocabulary has exploded in the past few weeks.  He trys to imitate almost any word we say to him.  A stranger walking by probably can't tell that "gah gah" means "Thank you", but we know what he's trying to say.   He physically trys to keep up with the other two & shows no fear when trying out something new.  His current "Look how big I am" feat is climbing to the top of the boy's bunk bed every chance he gets.  After climbing to the top, he just looks around like "Now what?" before I run to snatch him down.

His bad habit of biting seems to be getting a little better.  My other two boys never bit, but Gideon bites like he's part crocodile!  Biting is just a phase, right?!  I'd like to blame it on teething, but I seriously doubt it.  Currently, he's working on getting the last four of his major teeth in.  Poor thing.  You know it has to hurt.  He constantly has his fingers in his mouth; I guess it makes him feel better.

Gideon is still very clingy to me.  I've realized that the reason my back has been hurting so much lately is because I'm picking this huge boy up way too much.  So I've come to point where I have to stop toating him around all the time.  (Sniff, sniff).  I remember Melinda Chapman told me once that she remembers when she had to stop carrying Reed around.  Next thing you know, they're way too big to even pick up.  Oh my heartstrings!  I guess I'll just have to keep trying to push that "pause button" more often.  Maybe it will eventually work.

Gideon-coloring-his new favorite activity

Yearbook Photos

So does anyone else remember the agony of that yearly high school tradition?  I would lament over what I was going to wear, how to fix my hair, practice my smile, etc., etc.  And then, FLASH, it was all over before you had time to wipe the spittle off your braces.  Wow!  It's a miracle I made it out of there alive.

Today I had the grown up version of the yearbook photo-the driver's license mug shot.  Thankfully, I am much more confident in who I am now then I was at age 15.  And amazingly, my boys left me alone long enough this morning to brush my teeth, pluck a few gray hairs & put in matching earrings.  Awesome!  So after an hour & a half at the DOL, I became an official Washingtonian.

And since you might need a good laugh, I'll tell you my infamous driver's license story.  When I turned 15, I went to get my driver's permit.  I studied the manual, put on my new red & white Espirit outfit (early 90s baby!), and went to take the test.  When I got back home, I ran up to dad & said "Dad!  I got my permit!  And they even picked a background color to match my outfit!"  He looked at me & burst out laughing.  Now of course, you know that DMV didn't care about my outfit.  They simply used the red backdrop to show that this was a permit & not a actual license.  My dad still laughs about that story today.  (Sigh.)  Like I said, it's amazing that I made it out of there alive.

Me-age 16ish-in Seaside, FL.  Jenn & Karen, wasn't that an awesome trip?!

(BTW, here's a link to one of my favorite Superchic(k) songs about high school:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RWQVYYKRQ)

I'm backkkkk!

It's finally happened.  We have internet at home again.  There are several reasons why, but the important part is WE HAVE IT!  I'm super-excited & it still feels a bit surreal to have easy access to the world wide web again.  But then again, most everything these past 6 months has felt surreal.  So whether I have anything worth blogging about or not, I'll be able to do it again on a regular basis. :-)

Our computer is set up in our "guest bedroom".  This luxurious suite is where you will be staying if you come to visit us!  Although it does contain luxury items like curtains and a sofa sleeper, there's not much else to it at this point.  The closet has three, white sliding doors that hide boxes from floor to ceiling.  The rest of the boxes that filled this room have been hidden in other spots around the house, but most of them went temporarily (I promise, Mike!) to the garage of our friends' Mike & Nicolle.  Those boxes I have to go through later this fall.

Yes, I said fall.  I think summer (all 3 weeks of it) is officially over here in Seattle.  Mom told me tonight that it was 97(!)° in Nashville.  I'm guessing the high here today was 67°.  I'm hoping that Falls here aren't all clouds & rain.  I can't wait to see the landscape in the fall & take pictures galore!

And when I figure out where my camera cord is, I'll be uploading pics of our life here.  Yay!