Welcome Home Daddy

Bo has been doing some volunteer work for the church and had to travel one weekend in October - he rarely ever travels for work, and the boys thought flying on a plane was a big deal.  So in Bo's absence, we planned a little surprise.... 

Working on a sign for Daddy

And here we are riding the shuttle to the airport.

 It was a bit embarrassing when the shuttle driver pulled over and asked where I was going pushing a Double Bob stroller, carrying a baby on my chest and a gigantic "Welcome Home Daddy" sign.
Me: We're walking to the airport. {duh}
Shuttle Lady: Oh no you're not!!!
Me: {ahem} what do you mean?
Shuttle Lady: You see all these orange cones?!!!  You see all these construction signs?!!!  You ain't walking nowhere!!! Hop on the bus!!!
Me: I, um, have a huge ass stroller.
Shuttle Lady: Hop on the bus!!!
Thank you God for the two strangers who immediately popped out of the shuttle to help me. Absolute angels, I tell you.  One guy looks at the Double Beast, I mean Bob, and says, "we used to have one of these things" and like riding a bike it all comes back to him, collapsing it into it's smaller beast size.  It takes a bit of grunting and shuffling, but they cram it in the handicap storage area.  I grab the boys; we squeeze past a couple of sweaty snickering passengers, and like that the bus takes off for the airport. 

I went dark with Bo's phone calls as he was boarding for his return flight, because you know, if a little surprise is good, a huge surprise is even better.  At the time, it seemed like a genius idea....

"What's that you say?  Daddy's flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours!!!?"

Oh crap.
I only brought two packs of fruit snacks.

So here we are, all four of us stuffed in the family bathroom while I nurse the baby. 
This was the tipping point of the whole trip.  I completely expected the Bigs who have forfeited a nap, to have a major meltdown. In public. Simultaneously. But instead something crazy happens for the very first time in the history of ever:
they go with the flow.
Even Wade has decided that he's willing to play the ipad with the image upside down. Amazing. 

Bribing with Cheetos paid dividends.

We walked around every single baggage claim at least 4 times and rode the elevator at least twice.

But this was worth it.

 

 

And this.

 

This one is more...

more complex

more challenging

more rewarding

more responsible

more imaginative

more frustrating

more interesting than I ever thought a child could possibly be. 

McCord at 2 years old was quite possibly the hardest year Bo and I have ever had, but we all made it through, and there on the other side was a fascinating, remarkable 3 year old.  And now here we are another year older with the usual 4 year old challenges, but every once in a while we get a glimpse of this old soul as if he is an old man. 

Tonight after the boys were in bed, I made my way upstairs to wash clothes in the laundry room which is adjacent to the boys' bedroom, but I stopped before I got to the top of the stairs because I heard Mc singing.  He started participating in choir at church a few weeks ago, and it's not unusual to hear him "practicing" when he thinks he's all alone.  How I wish I could have recorded his sweet little voice singing his heart out to God in what can only be described as a stream of consciousness prayer interspersed with the days of the week and a few nonsense words.  It went something like this:

"I love you, I love you. Thank you for my cousins and my friends..."

A few days of the week were sung - not necessarily in the right order. Then,

"And God, can you please tell Santa Clause thank you for Catfish [my very special buddy whom I sleep with every night].

A few more days of the week...

"And thank you for my Batman castle. And all the parts that go with it."

...and then things got a bit muffled here, but I'm fairly certain I could make it out,

"But there's just one thing I don't understand, God. Why can't you just kill all the mosquitos?"


Absolutely delighting in the gift of hearing what's on McCord's heart, and half-crouched on the stairs, straining my ear to the crack in the door, I cried a happy, humble tear at the gift of being a mother. 

The days are long, redundant, and thankless.  And sometimes, many times you feel as though you've made a mess of things.  But every now and then you find yourself holding your breath, a heap of dirty laundry, and a tender moment.  And it makes it all worthwhile. 

Catfish and Batman

Thad's Baptism

Thad, what a beautiful day we had for your baptism!  Your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of the family came to town for the big event.  We felt so blessed to have so many family members come to see you baptized and we enjoyed a great celebration with all of them at our house afterwards. 

Here you are in the church nursery - right after Gee Gee and I got you dressed.  You are wearing the handmade gown that she was baptized in.  Since then Daddy, aunt Mere, all of her children, and your brothers have been baptized in the same gown.  It is an absolutely beautiful family heirloom and I'm so thankful that you've been able to be a part of this special family tradition. 

 

 

Aiya came up several days early to help us get ready for the baptism celebration.  She cooked and cleaned like a mad woman and for a very short time, our house looked and smelled great.  Funny the only picture I took of the party at our house was of a plate of cookies!

Wade is 10 months old

...in fact, he'll be 11 months this week (!) so I'm squeezing this post in just in the nick of time.

What a wonderful month 10 months has been! It is so hard for me to believe that Wade will be 1 year old in just a little over a month.  I am having a really hard time with that.  I love the baby phase so much I'm having a hard time letting go.  Every day I get sentimental about this little one who is growing up way too fast.

Wade's monthly picture standing next to his maple.  We tried to convince Mc to take the picture with us, and this was the best we got!  This was Easter morning - Wade's first Easter, and he had a low grade fever, so he stayed home with Daddy while Mc and I went to church.  

On our way to his first official Easter egg hunt - a rainy day moved our hunt indoors at church. 

Poor little guy - this is where we realized he wasn't feeling very good.  He clung to Bo while McCord participated in the egg hunt. 

Wade's favorite foods are sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots.  Mc loves to feed Wade and always tells me, "save me that last bite!" 

Mc spent a couple of days with his grandparents over his spring break, and Wade was an only child for a couple of days.  Here he is pretty pleased with himself getting strolled around in the single stroller and loving a slower pace and lots of extra attention.

Wade's Baptism

Wade was baptized this past Sunday (or " 'tized" as our little friend Libba calls it!) and we had a great time entertaining family at our house afterwards. We have been in our house for a year now and it is finally starting to feel like us.  Did you know that in the past year we sold our first house, moved into our second, renovated it - gutted 2 bathrooms and added a third, got pregnant and had a baby. It's been a big year for us!

Here are some pictures of the baptism, the family, and a few shots of our house that my mom took while getting ready for a family brunch. It was a rare occasion that all of the toys were out of sight!

The family. Right before going to church.

One of my favorite photos of the day!  My mom caught this unsuspecting moment.  Doe Doe (my dad) was talking to McCord about how Wade was going to be baptized at church today and McCord would get to go in front of the church next to the baptismal fount and be next to him and what a special privilege that was to be the big brother.  I think he understands much more than we give him credit for.  

This is my mother-in-law, Gee Gee.  Wade is wearing the gown that she was baptized in as an infant.  Since then, Bo and his sister wore it during their baptisms as well as each of our children.  We are so thankful for Gee Gee for sharing this special tradition with our family.  In retrospect, I wish I would have gotten a picture of all of the people who have worn the gown.  It would have included: Gee Gee, Meredith (my sister in law), Bo, Emily, Kyle and Will (Meredith's kids) and McCord and Wade.  Amazing!

And here's the house.  I pulled out my collection of vintage children's prayer books and used them around the house as decorations for our brunch. 

We hope to renovate this kitchen one day - but we're slowly making peace with one another. 

The playroom - it takes a beating every day, got to love a hard working room!

And it would only be fitting to include Wade's prayer for the day, the same prayer McCord offered on his baptism.  

God in heaven, hear my prayer,

Keep me in thy loving care. 

Be my guide in all I do. 

Bless all those who love me too. 

Amen.