Better Late Than Never?

Well I'm gonna start back up on this at a slow pace and then maybe I'll actually keep up. Won't seem so overwhelming. I can't believe it has been since last January. A lot has been going on since then. Building a new room on our house, building a big porch on the back, Harper turned 3, and I saved the best for last... We have a little girl- Russell Ellis Reed, born on February 19, 2009- She's fabulous and fits right in with our crazy family. She will be 8 months old in two days. I'll start with a couple of pictures over the past 8 months!

Quick Update....

I have gotten a new computer since last time I updated and am not sure how to upload my pictures yet, so I'll have to add some pics later.

We have been so busy since Thanksgiving. We wrapped up last semester and have been adding onto our house (yes, again). This time we added a playroom/den on the back of our house and are doing the work ourselves. I say we, mainly I just try to keep Harper out of the way or go to the building supply for materials... This project has been done entirely by Elmer, my Dad, and Chris. And it has been a big undertaking that they have done relatively quickly. We are almost finished with the inside. In fact, we should be able to move some furniture in next week. Chris is finishing the floor this weekend. Every single day of our break between semesters has been working on this project. We will be glad when it is completed. We are also working on some other things inside, the nursery is one of them... maybe we'll get done in time... who knows.

Christmas was nice, and I sure wish I could upload some pics tonight! We went to Reform and Christmas Eve with my family was at Mom and Dad's house. I think there were 27 of us. We had our usual lobster dinner and everyone had a good time. Harper had a ball this Christmas and finally learned about presents. I love that he isn't to the "greedy kid" stage yet (maybe he won't ever be... I can dream, right?). When someone gave him something to open he'd say... Me? For Me? I thought that was great.

This semester is finally getting into a groove... just in time for this baby to arrive! I am teaching five classes (at SUSCC and CVCC) and Chris is doing his "normal" crazy schedule. He is in his last semester of graduate school, and we will be so glad for him to finish! There have been so many late nights working and trying to juggle too many things... school, work, childcare.... and it is sure to get worse here in a few weeks. Which brings me to my last subject.

At 35 weeks pregnant I am starting to get a little antsy. My friends with new babies remind me that it really is better for her to stay on the inside as long as possible. I know they are right, but when I am tired and uncomfortable that is hard to remember! As of now, I am "more pregnant" than I have ever been. Harper was born at the beginning of 34 weeks so I feel like we have reached a BIG goal now that we have passed the point where there were problems last time. No hospital stay for me, no transport to Bham, looks like no NICU because of preemie in our future, etc... I have been praying for this to be the most normal pregnancy ever. So far so good! So it is hard for me to complain because normal is what I have hoped for!

Happy 2009!

Time to Update...

I haven't updated in so long... I just saw Molly, and it immediately made me feel guilty for not updating because she does such a fabulous job keeping her blog up to date. Here are a couple of pics from a random day before school and a Halloween pic downtown.

My semester is going smoothly. I can't believe there are only a couple of weeks left until the semester is over. I have a great bunch of students (127 to be exact) who I expect good things from in the future. (And yes, I do know all of their names!)

A couple of weeks ago was my 15 year AHS reunion. The are always nice to adopt me since I don't exactly have a graduating class. It was great fun and I am proud of everyone doing so well- healthy, happy, etc...

We took Harper to the homecoming game last weekend after a full morning at Ag Roundup. It was a lot of fun.... he loved it! Football season has been a bummer, but this weekend should be a fun one, no matter the outcome of the AU/GA game. There couldn't be a worse start than a 11:30 kick off, but other than that the weekend will be packed with plenty of parties and fun events. Lots of folks will be in town too and we are looking forward to seeing them!

We are about to start a second addition on our house which we will need before long.... We are starting the week before Thanksgiving. Wish us luck! Then Chris's family is coming for Thanksgiving. I'll update on that after Thanksgiving.

Chris is doing well in school but is about worn out. He will graduate in May with his master's degree. We'll all be glad for him to have a good Christmas break. Yay for teacher's holiday schedules!

Last but not least, since I am so tardy about updating my blog, you probably already know this. I am having another baby.... a girl- I am due somewhere between Feb. 26 and Mar. 2. Harper really doesn't get the concept yet, but he will soon enough- Everything is rocking right along and I'm 25 weeks today. Please if you think about it say a prayer for me that everything will keep right on rocking along just like it is. No early baby this time, please!

Summer of 2008 comes to a close....

Here we are at the end of summer. It went by alot quicker than I expected. We have had a lot of fun this summer swimming, playing outside, going to Children's Day Out, the beach... And it has been wonderful not having to work much at night and having Chris free at night too.


Our garden has been a fun summer project, but our week at the beach about did it in. It has not rained much this summer, as many of you know. It did not rain a single day we were gone, so our plants got VERY thirsty and I don't think they will recover. Our pumpkins look good though. Hopefully around Halloween we can supply some of you with pumpkins for your Jack O'Lanterns. We should be able to if we can get the idea across to Harper that he is not supposed to pick them yet....


While at the beach, we went to the zoo. It was a great little zoo and if you are ever in Gulf Shores, I recommend it. It sure was hot, but there isn't anything the zoo could do about that! We saw turtles, Chuckie the alligator, tigers, farm animals, leopards, etc... This zoo was featured in a documentary about how they prepared and "rode out" Hurricane Ivan. It was called the "Little Zoo that Could". (Chuckie the aligator was the star of this film.) We got to see some folks (zoo employees) we recognized from the tv show, which was neat. I really admire those folks. They certainly are dedicated to their animals, which is so important since the animals are living in captivity and totally dependent on people. You would think ALL zoos are like that, but they aren't unfortunately.

Harper met a girl at the beach named Olivia. They played together a little bit one day. He named her Sassy. I don't know why he called her Sassy, but we thought it was really funny! He would call across the beach to her and has been singing about Sassy ever since that day. Who needs Sassy when they have Daddy to play with in the sand? Well, Mommy played some in the sand too. Harper loved swimming in the ocean. We were very lucky the water was clear and calm most of the time. So Harper could swim between the beach and the sand bar and stand on the bar watching Daddy fish or look around at the fish biting our feet. It would sometimes hit me.... my child is not even 2 and he is swimming in the ocean. Is that ok? But he loved it and we were careful, so yes, I guess it is ok.




We have a birthday party coming up. Harper will be 2 on Sept. 1 and some of his friends are coming to his fiesta. I will tell you about it later. It is shaping up to be a pretty eventful fiesta! I didn't know I could be so excited about a two year old party, but I am-


MAC THE CAT-

Mac the cat 1993-2008

Our 15 year old friend, Mac the cat passed away the day we came home from the beach. He had been ill for a long time, and it was a good thing. It is so hard to make the decision to put an animal down, and we ended up not having to make that decision. I am grateful for that. I think Mac knew he was loved. Chris found him at Camp Mac while he was a counselor there in college. He lived a long, good life and had even traveled to 17 states. Can you believe that? Chris is writing an obit for him, but I thought I would share my thoughts too. As most of you know, I am NOT a cat person. Mac was more dog-like than cat-like. I appreciated this about him very much. He was not snobby, he did not get on counters, he was friends with my dogs, he tolerated brutal treatment from my son, he required no litterbox, he liked to be inside and outside, he was very adaptable in general (like I said, 17 states!). If I can find the pics of him in front of the state signs (while driving to Maine), I will post them. Don't hold your breath though. Mac also brought many things to my front door, the largest of which was a kitten... he didn't want him to eat his food and was telling on him. The other intersting things he deposited at the door were birds, chipmunks, and even a goldfish. Yes, I am serious, he stole it out of someone's pond. Anyway, thank you Mac for your companionship to my family. We will miss you, but will have fond memories of you always. Here's to a cat who had a good life, well lived.

The Beach

Don't have time to write, got some beaching to do.... will update tonight, just wanted to get this video up right now. Most people put sweet photos and videos of their kids. Well, guess I'm not most people. I'm putting this up because it is so perplexing. Is this even my child? Where did he learn this? HIS DAD! Just wanted to make it clear it didn't come from me...

Gratitude-

Yesterday morning Harper and I went on a walk downtown. I am grateful that we had the opportunity to enjoy that time together and have such a nice morning doing something so simple. And thanks Auburn Fire Dept. for letting us play with your nice tiger! These pictures were on our walk. They are taken at the Burton House bus stop. Who would have ever thought the bus stop could be so much fun?

People sometimes forget about gratitude. I am a true believer that remembering to be grateful can make a hectic life go smoothly. We can be grateful about big stuff or little. I know there was a popular book recently called Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. While true, what I am talking about is being grateful for the small stuff. If you are the kind of person who likes to complain or point out the negative, which I am sometimes, it may take a little retraining of your brain. Training your brain to notice the good things going on around you rather than the negative. Here are the first 10 things I am grateful for today. Some are big and some are small!

1. Chris cooked Harper breakfast this morning while I napped, thank you
2. Today is beautiful and warm
3. My students are doing well on their midterms (mostly, anway)
4. We have so many fun things planned with our friends this weekend
5. That I have a safe and reliable SUV that isn't any bigger than it is
6. Children's Day Out- so Harper can play with other kids for three hours in a safe and caring environment this summer
7. Auburn Public Library - and to think, it is free! What nice services they provide the community
8. The opportunity to work part time right now
9. What a nice and satisfying surprise it is to see old friends on a random Thursday morning (this one alone might carry me all the way through the day)
10. That my laptop battery has lasted three hours this morning!

May 2008 was great!

Betsy's Rehearsal Dinner


Harper on the way to school

Anna, Will, Meredith, Ridge, and Pat before Ridge's Baptism

THE BEACH MAY 2008

We have had so much going on since I last posted. Almost too much to put in one post. I am not feeling very creative, so I think I will do this in list form by date.





1. Jeb's wedding in Mobile was fabulous. There were roughly 30 hotel rooms full of our Auburn and Birmingham friends that wanted to see Jeb tie the not. There were just as many rooms booked at the other hotel too. It was beautiful in Mobile. Downtown was a fun area and the cathedral was unbelievable. Harper stayed in Auburn, so he didn't get to take part in the festivities, but Tiffanie came from Boston. Everyone had fun and we are so happy for Jeb and Leanna.





2. I'll lump these all together- We celebrated our 4 year anniversary, Chris's 34th Bday, and my 33rd Bday. I don't know what else to say about that but WOW!





3. Camp Good Grief- That was fun, as always, but I didn't get to stay all day. Hope I don't have any conflicts next year because it made me sad not to be able to work with the kids this year.





3. The beach- We had a good time at the beach between semesters with my Mom and Dad and Bett. Chris and Harper had so much fun playing in the sand. And Harper loved the water! We have some great pictures, but I'll have to upload more later. This is where all the birthday action happened. We were also there for Mother's Day... and I am a proud one! It was also nice to be able to be with my Mom on that day. Last but not least, Harper LOVES crawfish just like his daddy.





4. The next stop was Betsy's wedding in Birmingham. That was a lot of fun and a beautiful and eventful weekend. I am so glad she and Brad are starting such a wonderful life together. I think the common phrase over that weekend was "a match made in heaven." Looks to me like that is true- it was an honor to be included in their wedding. Now we've just got to find her a job in Brewton. Anybody know of one?





5. Last but not least was Charleston for Ridge's baptism. He is the sweetest baby. Being a Godmother to Meredith's little boy is indescribable. It was an emotional event for me and I hope I can provide good guidance and support throughout. It was such a nice weekend.

6. Oh yeah, I guess last really is me completing the Jr. League of Birmingham Leadership Institute last week. I've been working towards completing it for over two years. I can't believe I finally graduated. Yea me!





So there is the rundown in not so eloquent words. I hope to do better later. Let me get my thoughts together now that I have all of the above down and I'll decide what else I want to talk about. We really have been involved with so many nice things the last month or so. We are just as excited though about being at home in June and July and just having a nice summer. Chris is not taking classes this summer and I am not teaching much, so we intend to do lots of vegetable growing, working on the house, playing outside, and swimming! More later... happy June!