Mitchell's Party

This has nothing to do with Mitchell's party but I had to throw it in there.

Mitchell LOVES his binkis and I haven't had the heart to take them away from him yet. We did so much traveling and moving around, I wanted him to have a chance to get adjusted before I took them away. He was really quiet the other day and I found him like this. He was standing there for at least five minutes sucking on that binki and he couldn't move because it was attached to the bag. So funny...desperate times call for desperate measures!


We celebrated Mitchell's birthday today so that my family could be there too...via skype. Here he is opening his first present. We had to tear him away from the computer screen to open presents, he was much more interested in the family on skype than he was in his gifts.

This was a hit! The boy LOVES vacuuming so I wanted to get him a vacuum for his birthday. George didn't like that idea, but suggested a lawnmower...he thinks it's the greatest thing ever.

His cake.

It's a dog in case you couldn't tell. I got a few different reactions from family who skyped us today...it DOES look like a dog, right?!?

This picture cracks me up. Check out our faces! Apparently I do that when I feed him too...ask my mom, she gets the biggest kick out of it.

Yum! Delicious doggie paw.

Pictures with his biggest fans :)


Mitchell and his grandma, aunt, and cousins live on skype. Kind of sad for them to have to see his first birthday on skype but it's better than nothing. We miss everyone at times like these.

He did a great job making a huge mess with his cake and ate every last bite.

He then started signing "more" but we gave him watermelon instead...he was equally pleased.

More presents.

Mowing the lawn/weeds with daddy. Our lawn needs serious help! It's a mixture of a little grass, a lot of weeds, and a good amount of moss.

So strange.

You can see in the picture that our neighbor doesn't even bother mowing...can't say I blame him.

A fence is next on our "to do" list!

Happy First Birthday Mitchell! Love that your jammies match your man toy :)

Happy Birthday Mitchell!

Every mother always says it... I CAN'T believe he's ONE! Here, Mitchell is posing in the birthday shirt Cambrie and I made him :)
Playing with his ear while waiting for his french toast. He loves ears! He is constantly playing with either his ears or the ears of whomever is closest to him...such an endearing quality! George wanted to get him a rubber ear for his birthday but I persuaded him otherwise...I just don't think it would have the same effect. LOL!
Just a little trip down memory lane...

mostly for my sake...

Killer smile :)


I don't even remember him being that small. How is it that we forget so soon?



And of course, we have to have a picture of him just after his birth. Love his little squishy face.

That newborn stage is so pleasant. The smells, the sounds, cuddling with them all day while they sleep, little socks, little onesies, little everything. And then they grow...

and we love them for less peaceful reasons :) Mitchell is by far the busiest baby I've had. He is in to everything he's not supposed to be in and he is very fast. It's hard to keep up with him.

This is the aftermath of just one of Mitchell's daily adventures in the cupboard. Can you see him? George put locks on all the cupboards but I had him keep one of them unlocked so Mitchell could play in it. Bad idea! I don't care what motor skills he may be developing or what brain cells are multiplying while he's tearing apart the cupboard and exploring it's contents. It's not worth it! What was I thinking?

Look at that innocent face!

"What mom? What's the problem?"

Walking.

Mitchell walks the majority of the time now and always has this smile on his face. He is so proud! It will make it easier to go outside now that he's walking. In the past, we don't go out much because the grass in Georgia is the pits and I couldn't let him crawl on it.

Here's to more outings!


Homemade birthday banner.

Here are a few things we adore about this little guy...

1. His contagious smile
2. His Indy/quizzical brow
3. His ability to disappear and get in trouble in 2.5 seconds
4. He is fearless
5. His love for music, dogs, and fruit
6. His pigeon toe walk (left foot only)
7. The way he gasps when he sees anything remotely close to interesting
8. His thighs
9. His love for ears
10. How easy he is to love

Happy Birthday Mitchie Moo!

We love you so much and are so glad you are a part of our family.

My Brave Kiddos

Today was Cambrie, Drew, and Max's first day of school in Georgia. Cambrie is in 5th grade, Drew is in first, and Max is in kindergarten (ALL day kindergarten).
They were so excited to get on the bus this morning...they've never been able to bus to school before. I was nervous.
Getting on the bus and checking in with their driver, Ms. Jessica. We LOVE her! She's super nice and has a very fun bus.

Whew.

After they got on the bus I had George drive me to the school so I could walk them to their classes. They all went into their classes with smiles on their faces, ready for whatever came their way. Then I had a moment-there were tears. Actually, today I've had a few moments. I love them so much and am so amazed at how BRAVE they are. They have handled this move so well. I was so nervous for them today. It must be so scary moving to a new state and starting school when you don't know anyone yet. I don't know anyone more brave than them...they get the medal today.

I can't wait for them to get home to tell me all about their new friends, teachers, recess, and LUNCH. And while we're chatting, we'll have some of these...
and everything will be OKAY!
This is who I'll be hanging out with while the kids are gone for 7.5 hours a day. Such a fun little guy, and a really good helper ;)
These are just a few random photos from last weekend. We took the kids lake Lanier to swim and play on the beach. So beautiful.
FYI: There are little fish at Lake Lanier that bite you if you stay in one spot for too long. Ask George, he may have some more info about it from personal experience. MUST KEEP SWIMMING!
Again, my little helper. Mitchell LOVES the vacuum! He turned it on on Saturday and vacuumed this same spot for twenty minutes. His face was flushed from all the hard work (heavy vacuum for such a little guy), and his hand was hot from the handle. Super funny. Every time we turned it off he would turn it right back on...luckily, he hasn't figured out how to plug it back in yet.
My three Duncan Creek Cardinals. This is the "Cardinals Nest" outside of their school. A little outside classroom I guess...kind of fun.

16+16+8=40

We made it! We drove 16 hours on Monday, 16 hours on Tuesday, and then what seemed like a very short 8 hours on Wednesday. Such a LONG trip! The kids did so great...no complaints at all. Mitchell flew out with my mom after we got there which was a blessing. He would have been so miserable. Here are a few highlights (more like twenty highlights)...
The Budget truck. Yep, everything we own was in that truck and it was NOT easy fitting it all. It was packed so tightly...as was George's poor car that we towed behind the truck. Never again, next time we're paying someone to do the moving for us. We could only drive 60-65 mph... hence the 40 hour drive. I don't recommend it.
My sweet dad made the long drive with us and as a result, there were a few DQ pit stops along the way for ice cream :)
Getting ice cream in Nebraska with Cabelas in the background.
St. Louis Arch
It was so good to finally see "Atlanta" on the signs! Check out the Budget truck...ugh...I do not miss that ginormous thing.
Crepes for breakfast in our new home.
We all felt like this. George went missing one night and this is how I found him (not sure which night, it's all a blur). Poor guy. Notice...no sheets on the bed yet.
Richard and Cambrie painting her VERY OWN room. Which is still in the process of being painted by the way and it looks fabulous! We've had the design for her room planned out for a long time and it's fun to see it all coming together. Pictures of the finished product will be posted soon I hope.
Uncle Richard painting the canvases for Cambrie's room. They turned out AMAZING! Richard is so talented and we are so grateful he made the trip from New York to help us paint. He and George painted for three days NON-STOP.
My dear mom organizing my kitchen.
George painting his den. He has waited so long to have a den of his own so he could paint it red. It looks great. We need about 3 or 4 more bookshelves to fit all his books but for now they're organized nicely in their home depot boxes :)
Mitchell started walking as soon as he got to Georgia. He's turning one on the 19th of this month. Not really ready to talk about it.
My mom and the kids at Emory University. We had some time before we dropped my mom off at the airport so we went to show everyone the campus. It was way too hot to be walking around so it lasted 15 minutes and we were all soaked. I LOVE this heat...it warms me to the bone and that is so rare for me. Toasty!
George's home for the next 5 years. Such a beautiful campus.
Cricket hunting. We have found five crickets in our house the past two days. They are annoying house guests! They sleep all day, stay up all night, and they have the LOUDEST, most obnoxious song :) No really, I can't take it anymore. We're taking care of that problem TODAY!
This is what Mitchell is doing most of the time. This kid is TROUBLE! This is the second episode we've had with paint...very busy little guy.
You can't even get mad...look at that face!
The boys playing soccer with some of the neighbors. This night it was POURING rain and they toughed it out for over an hour. They loved it.
Wet. So very wet.

Love it here so far.