Tallulah Gorge

Zach is starting a new job at WAG or Wendys Arbys Group next week. He finished his position at Purchasing Power last week and this week has been vacation time :) He took a week long break to spend some time with us and extended family. Sunday afternoon we drove to Gainesville, GA to visit his side for a few days.

Zach's mom and younger brother were out of school there for Monday-Wednesday. Monday morning the 7 of us drove an hour from Gainesville to Tallulah Gorge State Park. I'm not sure what I thought a gorge was going to be, or maybe I was just thinking about the logistics of time, food, and hiking with kids that I didn't concentrate on the fact that we were visiting a 400 foot drop surrounded by rocks and water. I am not a heights person at all and when you add mama brain to that it makes for a somewhat frightful thought process. Despite Connor's displeasure with the backpack carrier, me hiding

from his sight so he'd stay in the thing and a somewhat treacherous walk across a swinging bridge up super steep stairs and next to a busy highway, we had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and Micah loved walking through the woods collecting treasures of pinecones, red leaves (he could have cared less about the other colors) and long skinny acorns.

Zach and Connor

Nana and Micah

The 400ft terrifying drop

The swinging bridge

Micah and Poppy

Getting across the bridge alive

The only way up

Micah made it to the top a whole lot better than everyone else

Looking for acorns

We had a leisurely picnic lunch and then made a quick stop at a farmers market/pumpkin patch for some homemade ice cream. Needless to say some good naps were taken that afternoon when we got back :)

park, lunch and monkey joes

Tuesday morning, we went with Nana and Poppy to a great park in Gainesville with a beautiful scenic walking trail that goes straight to their downtown square. The boys had a great time climbing and sliding and when they had worn themselves out had a great time crashing in the wagon while we wheeled them through the woods. We ate lunch at Turnstile Deli then headed home for naps.

After nap Linda (Nana) took the boys to Monkey Joes. Micah has been on inflatables three times. Twice were at the Younglife end of year party and the other was Haley's 3rd birthday. In each of these situations Zach had to go down the slides with him and that was after a lot of coaxing. When we walked into monkey joe's he immediately got a look of excitement on his face. We started off slow in the 3 and under area so Micah and Connor could get accustomed to this new experience. Micah loved it right away and even kept coming up to Connor to make sure he knew what was going on. Connor took a little while longer to get used to it but once he learned how to 'work' the slide he was a happy camper.

Once it looked like Micah was used to his surroundings we got him to try some of the other inflatables. He ended up going in everyone except the huge slide and loved them all. He even climbed up the walls by himself using all the foot holds and handles. I don't know if I've ever been so proud of my cautious little boy. He was a big fan of the obstacle courses which was even more surprising because he couldn't see me or his Nana at all while he was in them.

A new inflatables place just opened near us in Covington and I'm thinking about having his 4th birthday party there now that I know he'd really enjoy himself!

sunday song

He Never Lets Go

Matt Redman

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

(Chorus:)
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth

(Chorus)

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Christian lyrics - YOU NEVER LET GO LYRICS - MATT REDMAN

17 months

I totally skipped 16 months. I figured that out about a week after so I was going to do a 16 1/4 month post but then I forgot about that and figured I'd just wait until 17. I'm sure he'll forgive me and not hold a grudge!

Connor is a W.I.L.D. man! He runs runs runs, gets into A LOT, and forces himself into whatever Micah is doing, was doing or wants to be doing. He's not too crazy most of the time but he definitely moves through life at a faster pace than big brother. That is when he's not demanding to be held. I never imagined an almost one and a half year old needing to be carried this much. I've started trying to be tough and making him walk from the living room to the kitchen or anywhere in the house by himself but it's not always as easy as it sounds.

He also...

*finally stopped his rooster wake ups. Those 6:15-6:30 days were killing me!

*has all 4 1st year molars and all 4 canine teeth (is there a more sophisticated term for these?) coming in at the same time. He has been having motrin and teething tablets for a bedtime snack frequently!

*loves Thomas the Train and has gotten Micah into it as well.

*still dances to any music anywhere and would prefer you to dance with him. I have to think sometimes before listening to music in the house in case he wants to dance around with me.

*has started hitting and pushing :( He's had to sit in time out and give his brother sorry hugs on an almost daily basis.

*falls and bangs his head, mouth, arm, leg, or other atleast once a day.

*has a lot of new words. no, yes, water, nana, mimi, outside (his version of it is 'yide'), book, spot, choo choo, bike, dance, hide

*can point to his eyes, nose, mouth, head, belly, hands, hair, and feet

*needs a hair cut but I just can't bring myself to do it. The lack of humidity recently takes some of the curl out which just makes it L.O.N.G. I'm going to have to

take him to a real person but want someone who can cut it cutely and not just hack it off!!

*eats lots of different foods. He loves anything involving noodles (hot or cold like in pasta salad), all fruits, vegetables (or at least vegetables I like enough to cook) rice, oatmeal, potatoes, sausage, baked chicken, ham and many others. So far the only things he just doesn't like are chicken nuggets, grits, roast beef or pot roast.

embrace the camera: rule breaker

I am breaking Emily's rules today. SORRY!! I haven't embraced in two weeks and then I come back not following the rules. Just don't kick me off :)

Zach and I had the very uncommon opportunity to have 3 outings alone this past weekend. Two were due to a wedding he was playing in (rehearsal then ceremony) and the third was the Braves last regular season game (where they FINALLY made it back to the playoffs).

Since times alone are few and far between in this season of babyness we took the opportunity to embrace the camera ourselves...just the two of us...alone...nice :)

Here are some people who correctly {embrace the camera}

long day

With the ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS weather we've had the last few days has come stuffy noses, sore throats and low grade temps. Connor got it first and Micah next. I don't want to complain too much because neither were sick enough that it held them back from enjoying themselves but were sick enough that we all got to sleep in until after 8 this morning!!! However, since Micah only takes naps on school days because otherwise he is up til all hours of the night, he was absolutely EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. After dinner he went to the living room and did this...

It took all his strength to get into the tub. Bless his little heart :)

fire engine man

This week is Fire Prevention Week. At least that's one the people at Nancy Guinn Library said :) They were having an activity at the library today that included firetrucks so Micah was all about going. We got to the big room on the bottom floor for a story, songs and a craft. Connor had a good time watching but Micah pouted the majority of the time because he didn't get to hold a number for the 9-1-1 song.

When the firetrucks arrived we went outside to see one of the fireman put his whole suit on. Connor was not a fan of sitting down and watching because we were outside and sitting down is not what you do outside! After the demonstration they passed out fire helmets and badge stickers, which made two blond boys VERY HAPPY! Then we headed up to see the engines. Micah was excited about seeing them up close but he was pretty nervous about the chance of a siren going off. Thankfully they didn't so I didn't have any hysterical children to calm down! I couldn't convince Micah to get on the firetruck but he did have fun peeking under it.

Every time I visit the library with the boys my once upon a dream job of being a children's library surfaces again. I seriously can't think of many jobs better than reading books to kids and connecting them to life through literature. Maybe one day.