Miscellaneous

Can you believe it's almost NOVEMBER? Neither can I....


Frankenstorm pretty much missed us. We had some drizzle and wind, but that's about it!! It certainly feels like fall out here. I've been assured that it's supposed to be sunny and 65 on Saturday. Dean is probably pretty thrilled about that. Someone got his hunting license in the mail....... and is borrowing a gun. He's aware that if I see ANY part of the deer that is not ready to be cooked, I'm not cooking any of the deer. Gross.

Dorothy came down to visit us!! I was so excited to see her and spend time with her. I think the last time I saw her was Thanksgiving last year. I know I SHOULD be used to seeing her only once a year, but I'm not. I'm always super excited when she gets here and super sad when she leaves. Yes, that's right. I said super. twice.

**An aside---- Dad pointed out to me that Dorothy and I frequently spent our time visiting together with our noses in books. For hours. That's how we roll. :)

I made my first venture into Raleigh alone. I needed my GPS to get to Michaels, but I did NOT need it to get to Costco. Nor did I need it to get home from Costco. I'm pretty proud of myself.

We're having a trunk or treat in Ridgeway. I'm pretty stoked. I was figuring on not seeing costumes since we don't live in town. BUUUUT I get to see costumes! Also, Sawyer gets to dress up like a tiger. He's going to be the cutest tiger ever. Don't worry. We'll take pictures.

 I was trying to mimic his facial expressions......

 Bilbo gets very jealous of Sawyer. It's a good thing I like snuggling with both of them.

 I love fall in North Carolina. This is the view from our front porch. Isn't is beautiful?

 I'm gonna get you!

 Aaaaand my table cloth is NEVER clean.

 Morning snuggle time is the B-E-S-T.

 Sawyer also loves to snuggle with his papa.

 Bilbo enjoying the great outdoors.

Can you see Sawyer? I didn't think so..... His CAMO outfit is cute!

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!!

My cooing boy

Sawyer has taken to talking to the angels during meal times.

AKA: He stares up at the ceiling and starts talking.

Isn't he cute?!?!

Duds Crying

Dudly does NOT like it when Sawyer cries.

Thanks to Dorothy for recording this! :)

Pictures

Bilbo likes snuggling with Sawyer and me. I'm fairly certain he's jealous. :)

Blue-eyed boy!

He's a flying superhero!

 Bilbo loves chilling out in Dean's office (and by chill, I mean run around like a chicken with its head cut off, chewing cords, toes, fingers, chairs, etc, and generally annoying Dean).

 

My new book!!

 

Nap time is the best!

We went to the Gardens at Duke. BEAUTIFUL!!! Much like the botanical gardens. I'd say even better.......only they don't have a huge hot house. Other than that though, these gardens were AWESOME! We didn't explore too terribly much as I had to feed Sawyer, but what we saw was beautiful. We'll be going back there!

 turtle!

 Who knew pond scum could be pretty?

 DUCKS!

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!!

Dean seems to think this is an overreaction...

It's not MY fault the spider was massive.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I'm so, so, SOOOOO excited to tell you about my best friend in the whole wide world! My other best friends in the whole wide world brought him home a while ago. He's SO little. He's gotten bigger. He's my best friend. I love to play with him, but my other best friends won't let me. They REALLY wouldn't let me before the long trip.

Oh snap! A black bug! BRB!!!!

Don't worry. I killed it. Dead.

When they brought him home, I had to stay separated from them. But it was ok. I got to stay with other best friends. I did not like the Cat. She was different than my best friend the Cat. She had talons. She was mean. I did not like the Cat. I did like Little Small Dog. She did not like to play though. That made me sad.

BEST FRIEND! BEST FRIEND! SOMEONE IS COMING!!!!!

Bummer...they did not come to see me....

My new best friend is AWESOME! Sometimes I get to snuggle with him when I'm not snuggling with my other best friends.

OH! The best part about the long trip was the new house. I have ALL kinds of new best friends. My best friend, Dean, seems to get a lot of visitors. They're my best friends.

I do not like it when my new best friend cries. I can't help by cry with him. It makes me sad. I'm not sure why my other best friends laugh at me. I can't help it! I'm a sympathy crier!!!

Anyway, I'm having lots of fun in my new house.

Please come see me! I miss you, best friend!!

Love,
DUDLY

P.S. I killed it for you. Aren't I a good best friend?

Giggles!

It took a LONG time to coax a tiny giggle out of him. Every time I turned the camera off...he'd laaaaugh. This is the ONLY one I caught on camera. :)

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!!

Roast

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/pomegranate-beef-crockpot-recipe.html

This is the recipe mentioned in the previous post. Try it! It was yummy!

Things and Things

Not much has been happening around here. Lynn came in on Monday. She's been a big help. There are things I still need to get done insofar as unpacking. She watches Sawyer while I go and work in the basement or my room.

On Friday our cars became official North Carolina residents. We went to the licensing place and got our plates (no front plate necessary). Dean can now officially enjoy his days off instead of running and trying to become a resident! :)

We also went to Walmart to pick up pictures, and then we ventured in to Wake Forest. We ate at AppleBee's and went to Once Upon a Child (got some CUTE dress clothes for Sawyer---he looks so handsome), Marshalls, Trader Joe's, and Whole Food.

Saturday brought a baby shower (soooo many cute girly things!) and a trip to a winery with Ashley and Margaret. Dean stayed at home to work on his sermon (which was stupendous). It was a beautiful winery!! Although Sawyer didn't think much of the winery. He was quite fussy the entire trip. We'll have to work on that one! ;)

I also made us a pot roast. It was made with...pomegranate juice! It was delish (yes, I liked it! What a surprise...)!! :) I was going to attach the recipe but the website currently hates me. If you want it, let me know and I'll get it to you.

I can also fit into one pair of my prepregnancy jeans. I was pretty stoked!!!

 Why I'll be bald...

Jeans that fit...:)

Sawyer and his adorableness

Winery...

OH! Best part of the weekend....... chocolate covered peanuts from the church for Pastor Appreciate Month!!! :)


Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!!

The Brat

It's been 65 days since they brought it home. I've decided to call it the brat since it gets all the attention. They won't even look at me anymore. The only time I get pleasure is when I sit on her head while she's sleeping. I'm trying to kill her, and she thinks it's cute. He won't let me near him at night. I think he's suspicious.

One good thing is I have more toys than EVER! There are things that rattle and move. I especially like the thing the shove into its mouth. Him and her try to keep it from me. Fools! I have my own personal play mat! Even the brat is a toy. Not that THEY let me touch it. It taunts me. It wiggles its paws and what am I SUPPOSED to do?! She smacks my head when I try to play. She is NOT nice. It's why I try to kill her while she's sleeping.

They also brought me two new beds. I try to rub my scent all over, but the brat STILL gets in them. It does NOT understand. These are MY new beds. Even him and her kick me out of MY bed and place the brat in it. It's not fair. I worked so hard for that bed. I deserve it.

Sincerely,

The greatest feline of them all--Bilbo

Dr Visits

We went to the doctor today. I actually really liked him. He did really well with Sawyer...I think he'll be a very good doctor for him. Sawyer did NOT appreciate the shots. I'm fairly certain he didn't breath for 5 seconds after the first shot. He was in shock. Poor baby!! I felt like a horrible mommy!!

The news you want....Sawyer is 11 pounds and 6 ounces. He's 22 and a half inches long. That puts him in the 50th percentile.

Grandma had surgery today. I'm hoping it went well. I just got a text saying she made it and is out of surgery, but they were waiting for the surgeon to tell them details. She was in surgery for eight hours...I think.

Sandwiching with good news... Sawyer slept eight hours last night. Yes count it....eight hours. It was the first night he's slept until 7am. OK....He slept until 7 another morning, but that was after we gave him the pacifier at 5. This time...he slept until 7 without stirring. Heck, yes.

I got a package from my mommy yesterday!!! Love it! Included: cute new outfit for Sawyer, cute sleepers for Sawyer, Borax and a homemade laundry detergent recipe, homemade soap (!!!), nursing pads, cradle roll lamb, Sawyer's SS card, and a check (Thrivent wouldn't send me the check since mom was the custodian....more money to pay off loans!!!). Love her! :)

Pictures:
Doctor's office before his shots.
Sawyer going shopping...and his crazy hat.
My cozy nap with Sawyer and Bilbo...Dean was gone or I would have had him take the picture. We looked kinda ridiculous. Sawyer and Bilbo enjoyed themselves though!!!

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!

North Carolina Resident!

I'm officially a North Carolina resident! I got my license in the mail yesterday. It's pretty spiffy. Much to Dean's chagrin, he did not! He wasn't very happy. We also got our new debit cards. The nearest US Bank is on the OTHER side of Raleigh. We decided it would be easier to find a local bank. With our debit cards came our new checks as well. It was a good day on the mail front. My favorite piece of mail came from my sister-in-law though. It included a Dr. Seuss book (!!!!) and a cd of pictures! Woot! We read the book last night before bed, and we're so excited to look at the pictures!!! We haven't had time to sit down and do that. We have company coming in tonight. Brian is driving down with Dean to the pastor's conference they're attending at Myrtle Beach (Steel Magnolias anyone?). I'm a little jealous, but I'm hoping that maybe Lynn and I (who is coming on Monday night) can make a trip out to the beach if it gets warm. Currently, it's not looking so good!

Sawyer is growing by leaps and bounds every day. He has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I'm anxious to see how much he weighs! He's starting to smile a whole bunch. I'm guaranteed a grin when I'm changing his diaper. He likes being naked! He also loved bath time! He only really fusses when he's forced out of the bath tub and into the cold air. He also sometimes fusses when he's really hungry which is a GOOD thing because he eats right after the bath.

He's been doing SO SO well with sleeping. We're going on two weeks of a wake up time no earlier than 3:30. The last four days it's been after 5:30. Yesterday he woke up at 7 and today was 6:30. Have I mentioned I love my sleep? It's been wonderful.

Mary got Dudly a dog toy for the baby shower. I opened it on Friday morning. By Friday evening, the duck was missing its head. I'm currently staring at stuffing all around the living room. Thanks, Mary! He enjoyed it!! He also enjoys sitting on blankets that are not his. He drags them off the couch/chair...wherever and makes himself a nice little comfy spot. This is why all of our blankets are hairy...

Meaghan turned TWENTY-FIVE on Friday. Welcome to the Old Lady Club!! And happy belated birthday!!!

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!!

Granddaddy

One of my favorite people in the world turned one year older today.

Things that happened in 1960:

John F Kennedy announced his plans to run for presidency.
Olympics held in Colorado: US Men take gold hockey, US David Jenkins takes gold in figure skating
Lucy divorces Desi (OH NO!)
NFL Cardinals move from Chicago to STL
Bye, Bye, Birdie opens
"The Twist" is released
Beatles gave their first performance
Flintstones premiers (clearly living in the stone age...)
1st electronic wrist watch on sale in NYC (I think that makes my point...)
JFK wins presidency election
Prince Andrew, Amy Grant, Hugh Grant, Cal Ripkin Jr. were born (to name a few)

Happy Birthday, Papa!
 

 

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!

P.S. Just because it's your birthday.... Sawyer pooped in your honor. :)

Dare I say...

Dare I say we're sleeping through the night? We average a wake up time of 4am. Sometimes he gets up at 3:30, and one time we were really lucky with a 5:30 wake up time! He always goes back to sleep after feeding and wakes up again around 8. He's been doing this for ALMOST two weeks. Pray it stays that way. I really like sleeping. :)

Goodies in the mail

I got some goodies in the mail yesterday!

You all know my love of cloth diapers. I ordered some more to supplement my stash. I have enough to easily go two days without washing. I'm told going two days is about right for diapering. Any longer and the diapers really start to smell, but you also don't want to have to do laundry every day. Sometimes Sawyer's poop/pee really starts to stink, and I throw the diapers in even if I washed a load yesterday. This just makes it a little easier. 

 

Sawyer also got a blanket from my Aunt Debbie. Isn't it beautiful? She weaved it herself.

I know...no pictures of Sawyer. I'll get some up at a later time. Sorry!

Hugs and Kisses from Norlina!