The Chuckles

Baby gator has new tricks. He likes to chuckle. Today he is currently practicing laughing/chuckling. 

At first I thought I was just being extra funny and I got excited.

Then he laughed at our friends dog. 

Next at a flower.

Then a window.

And then the real killer....the ground.

He is currently laughing at his hand. 

I no longer feel so great about my accomplishment. 

But I am very happy he's happy....pray that it lasts!

Oh did I forget to mention I'm about to go on a four hour flight with baby gator?

Seriously. Pray that it lasts :).

I Had So Say Goodbye To The Best

I discovered an amazing place while living here.....

A place that was within walking distance of our apartment

A place that I visited too many times

A place that may have been to close for my own good

A place where the owner knew my name

A place that satisfied my hunger and cravings 

A place that will forever be remembered as the best

A place that I frequented often during pregnancy because it was the ONLY thing that never made me sick 

A place that when asked what I would miss most besides our friends and church when we left, was listed as my number one

A place that is near and dear to my heart and will never ever be replicated or forgotten

This was no ordinary place.

And I had to say goodbye to it.

Sake Garden, you stole me heart. And so did your happy hour special of buy one sushi get one sushi half off.

Goodbye crunchy roll. Goodbye spicy mayo. I will miss you.

The Continuation Of Our Story

Our sweet friends threw us an amazing going away party on Tuesday! God is good and has blessed us beyond our imagination!

 

 

Here is how our merry go-round spun...

After we got married, we moved to the swampland.

 

 

We knew no one, but we ended up with so many sweet friends.

 

How you ask?

 

(This is where God is good.)

I don't know.

Mr. Gator doesn't know.

And baby gator surely does not know either.

 

But they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we love them dearly.

 

 

We've cried together.

 

We've prayed together.

 

And our lives will forever be impacted by them all. 

 

See you in 3 weeks or less

Well....I wrote this at the beginning of last week and have struggled to post it because I am still struggling...

Last Tuesday was moving day. We currently are living in an empty apartment and sleeping on a blow up mattress and in a pack and play. I'll leave the guessing up to you for who is sleeping where.

If you are thinking about visiting us, which we would still love, plan on using the stairs as your table and the floor as your chair. Mr. Gator just realized we could have been using the angled closet underneath the stairs as a "guest bedroom" since a twin mattress would fit nicely in there. I'm very happy he just now realized this and not when we first moved in.

If you are thinking about robbing us, don't be silly, it's an empty apartment, unless you really want our scrapbooks. And if that's the case I will just make you one if you ask nicely. No need to take one of the seven objects in the apartment. 

We will be without our possessions for a total of about three or so weeks. Two weeks here and one week there. Surprisingly this little tidbit doesn't bother me. 

I do have the occasional thought that our truck will be the one truck that gets in a horrific accident. 

And for some reason they decided they would not pay to replace any of our items. 

Let's pray this doesn't happen.

Mr. Gator and I can't help but worry about the probability that something was broken during the move. Not because we are worrywarts, well Mr. G isn't at least, but there were a few too many crashing noises, boxes sliding down our stairs, and bumps and bruises on our furniture along the way for me to have any confidence in the well being of our things.

After feeding baby gator throughout the night after the move, I had a hard time going back to sleep worrying about it all. Each time I worried, I felt a little nudge reminding me that they are only things - and things don't matter at all in the next world. I also felt God asking me, "aren't I enough?" My reply was always yes, yes you are enough.... but it was still a struggle thinking of all our pretty things and the fact that we don't truly NEED them.

As I sit here trying to remember that God is enough, I know that are our things are most likely not broken and that we are so extremely blessed to have gone through this situation rather than an actual devastation (flood, hurricane, tornado, fire) like so many others have gone through recently.

Matthew 6:28-33

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Nostalgic

Last night was our very last trip from the great state to the swampland.

 

For our going away present, both states gave us lots of traffic (luckily no one was hurt, it was only construction traffic I think). So in response to the traffic, we left them a stinky diaper. You're welcome!

 

Mr. Gator and I have always (for the most part) enjoyed our trips back and forth. Gives us good chance to talk. On this particular trip we remembered all the fun we had in the swampland and all the things we forgot to do. We enjoyed the view on the ride as always and soaked it all up for the very last time. We had lots of laughs (including baby gator) and a few cries (baby gator).

 

We feel so blessed that God brought us here and introduced us to so many lifelong friends. We will cherish this place forever, which is something I never thought I would say.

Last Beignets

Warm beignets. 

Sleeping baby.

Cool breeze before the rain.

Perfection.

The One With The Rolling Baby

Baby gator mysteriously wiggles.

Baby gator rolls.

Baby gator ends up in the corner of his crib.

Oh If It Were True

As I was dreaming, I dreamt about baby gator-talking.

Let me paint the picture. There are a few details that helped me realize that this was only a dream that I will also share with you, so you too can know it was only a dream. Not that I needed them, but I am still a recovering sleep deprived mom.....who am I kidding I am totally still sleep deprived and this is why I have dreams like this.

I was in my hometown in the country, and I had just gotten out of the shower. Baby gator saw the tv (no tv in my room or bathroom) and as he gazed at the tv commercial for Mountain Dew he asked me if we had any Mountain Dew. 

I explained that we did not have any, after peering at the vending machine in a locker room. Oh ya we were now in my junior high girls locker room.

As I realized my feet were terribly still dirty (if you know me at all, you know this is a big deal) so i walk to get back in the shower. I then asked where he learned to talk. He said he learned how to talk from dogs, but "they" don't talk because it freaks humans out. 

You know, after all he is a baby, and babies are sometimes weird, and can totally be considered abnormal and not human. So I sidestep the fact that he doesn't include himself in the human population and ask who is included in the "they" he is referring to.

He replied bluntly, dogs and babies. 

I asked when was he able to talk to dogs and he explained that he learned when he was at the vet adoption agency. Apparently dogs are very talkative and like Mountain Dew and they talk all the time to other dogs and babies when humans aren't around. 

I then get upset in the dream because he was never at a vet adoption agency, only a hospital. 

And this is how I knew it was only a dream and my baby did not learn how to talk from dogs. 

Oh did I mention he sounded like Chris Tucker? Also upsetting. What happened to the cute baby voice?

Fingers Are Still Crossed

My sweet mom came to visit us in the swampland and to help us pack for the big move. We packed 27,034 boxes I think. Not really. But our apartment feels like a warehouse right now, so there's at least 27,033 boxes I think. We are soo thankful that she was able to come help because I am 100% positive I could not have done this on my own.

Our anniversary happened to fall during the visit, so we were able to get a night away! The original plan was to make one last trip to the city of beads and loud music, however, a massive storm was in our way. So we settled for oysters around here. There must be something about waiting in a thirty minute line, too many people jammed packed into a tiny little restaurant that most certainly is breaking all fire codes, that make the oysters taste amazing because these oysters were not the same. Don't get me wrong they were gooooood, but they weren't quite the same. Maybe it's the thrill of knowing you could be pickpocketed at any point when you are in bead city.

We are about two and half weeks away from our moving date and I still have my fingers crossed that we can visit just one last time to say goodbye!

Happy Late Independence Day

We had a great day celebrating our nation's independence! We are so thankful we live in such an amazing country and one day I can't wait to tell baby gator all about it all!

 

I technically told him all about our founding and great country when he was a few days old, but I think we were both too traumatized (him) and sleep deprived (me) to remember anything (him) or make any sense (me). One day he will learn about our great nation, our great military, and our great God who gave us the opportunity for all of these things. Maybe next year?

Reflections on Fatherhood - A First Letter to My Son

Hello son,

Some mornings you'll just feel a little more contemplative than others.  Today is one of those for me.  There's a song I really love - you can look it up - "souvenirs", by Switchfoot.  It's a reminder of how temporary everything is.  My college memories are suddenly far in the rearview mirror of my life.  How did that happen???

Some people are met with sadness when they realize that they are aging, and I'm really no exception.  One third of my life has already passed!  In every sadness, however, there springs hope.  You, son, are the hope and the joy that mitigates the sadness of aging.  In your growing life I place my own hopes for the future, for a better tomorrow on the Earth that God has given to us.

I hope to make your childhood one that is full of joy, great memories, and daily learning.  I hope to launch you into adulthood as someone confident, capable, and compassionate.  My own life trajectory is settling into place, and most of the big questions have been asnwered.  Yours, however is just beginning to unfold, just like your little fingers unfold to grasp for a toy or a necklace when offered to you.

In each stage of life, we learn a little more about the marvelous adventure of grace that God has laid out for us in "the land of our sojourn" (another very deep song you must listen to, by Rich Mullins).  I sure did miss home cooked breakfast and the daily encouragement of my parents when I left for college, but independence, responsibility, and great friendships made up for it.  After entering the workforce, I missed the freedom and fun times of college, but the joy of marriage and the challenge of building a financial foundation made up for it.

And after having my first baby (YOU!), I sure did miss sleep.  I missed having alone time with my wife.  I missed the freedom to go play golf, or to have a few cocktails.  As you grow, however, those things that I miss are quickly receding into irrelevance.  You smile, you laugh, you giggle with joy as I fly you around the room.  You grab at our Mardi Gras beads, shaking them playfully like a true New Orleanean.  You sleep peacefully, like a little angel, as I leave for work in the morning.  These moments are the greatest joys I have ever experienced, and they cover the memories of colic and sleepless nights with a deep, abiding joy.  I have learned that the requirements for genuine fatherhood are steep, but the inner peace and joy of leading a godly family is incomparable.

This, I believe, is what the ancient writer of Ecclesiastes finally grasps at after his years of searching.  To fear God and obey his commands is the whole duty of man.  Honoring that duty is what brings fulfillment - more than any pleasure, any riches, or any temporal pursuit under the sun.  Honoring that duty looks like a man, leading his household in godliness, honored and uplifted by a wisely-chosen wife, blessed each day by his growing children, in a family unit that together brings glory to their Creator.

I love you, son, and I'm loving every minute of watching you grow up.
-Dad/Mr. Gator

The Four Month Present

Baby gator is now four months old!  When they say there's a light switch for the colic and overall temperament they weren't kidding!  We experienced this amazing switch around 3.5 months.  We were luckly though because the nasty colic period was lessened a degree when we started giving him probiotics!  4 or 5 hours of crying went down to 30 minutes to an hour.  If you have or know of anyone who has a colicky baby give that sweet one a probiotic!  And then give them a big lonnng hug! 

Baby gator has learned to roll which we quickly learned that means he has to be watched 24/7 when he plays or things like this happen. I think I'm okay with that.

About this time he usually looks up wondering why we haven't moved him back to the center so he can rollover again......he only rolls one direction!

For his four month birthday he got his four month shots! He is now a healither boy because of it!

The One With The Early Fourth

Well we made it. Two years that is. Almost two years, 729 days to be exact, I just got a little excited and couldn't wait. Instead of giving you many cliché sayings, I will make it short for you. Its been a blast, we've added to the family, and I love my gator more than I ever have.



Gator and I have realized that we love visiting plantations. We love the beauty of the mansion and the history of the plantation. For our anniversary we stayed at the Nottoway Plantation, the South's largest remaining antebellum plantation. During the Civil War, the owner decided he needed to earn more money so he went to Texas for a short period. And what county did he settle in you ask, my home county that I grew up in. Very cool. Well while he was away, his wife and younger children stayed with the house so it wouldn't get occupied by troops. The house did not get burned down because the union officer that was suppose to burn down the house went to school with their eldest son and had attended many events at the plantation. So he and his troops stationed out in front of the house and pretended to occupy it as other union boats passed by.

 

 

While touring, Gator and I realized we want a white room in our future home. Beautiful isn't it? You can all come visit our white room in 15 years when we finally settle down. Who am I kidding...make that 20 years, and maybe by then we will be done moving all around the world.

 

 

Baby Gator thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the trip as you can see. He might not have been very enthused about seeing the beautiful mansion, but he was very sweet throughout the trip. A few visitors said they would be willing to hold him, you know...in case we wanted to hear the tour guide better.

 

 

These beauties are priced at $1,200 a plate. When the say do not touch they really mean it.

 

 The next day our church had a Fourth of July celebration for the community. It was an awesome outreach event with lots of free food, games for the kids and even a fireworks show at night. We will ignore the fact that we live right next to the church, the show was way past baby gator's bedtime, and the grand finale sounded like bombs going off.