Aidyn's 1st anniversary

Aidyn's dinner at China Pearl in Roswell, September 13th.

We reserved the party room and filled it up with friends to celebrate Aidyn's first anniversary with us. The kids enjoyed the dance floor. I wish this photo could convey the fun they had, loud fun. And I wish everyone who tried to come from playgroup and discover group could have made it that night. Our kids enjoyed being "home" and seeing their friends. Thanks to the Starbirds, Shaws, Buchanans, Fogas, Carey, Lanning and Collins families for making this a fun party for Aidyn.










Also on Aidyn's gotchaversary, we met four other families at the zoo. Parent tip: always have enough zoo maps to go around. The girls all wanted one. As you can see here, Grace Ingram really needs a map . . . even though Mackenzie is the only one close to being able to read one. The meerkats, tiger, and pandas were the crowd favorites with the girls, and Spence liked riding the train.






We had dinner one night at Josh and Kim's new home. Aidyn and Spencer loved Paxton's new Jeep. And we got to see what our future holds in about 13 years. I captured these faces as they rode around me at a fast clip. And look how big Lorelei is now. What sweet children.

Preston meets his Great Grandparents

Game Day in Alabama

Two months old

Preston weighed 12.6 lbs at his two month appointment. He is still a sweet baby. He smiles and makes cooing sounds. And he is still easy to care for bc he rarely cries. Thanks to Sarah and Jay for this cute outfit.

Atlanta Gotchaversary

hello atlantans,
we will be in Atlanta sept 10-15th and we would like to see as many of you as possible. we will be at an airport hotel monday through wednesday and then at the shaws in cumming wednesday through saturday. so far our only planned events are to take Aidyn to the zoo for her Gotchaversary on september 13th. we will be joining friends from our china playgroup for the zoo trip. we also want to go out for dinner on thursday evening, september 13th. if you would like to join us for Aidyn's dinner, let us know and we will give you more details. if neither of these times work for you, please let us know if you want to meet up with us on another day or night. jeremy will be working during day on monday, tuesday and wednesday, but the kids and i are free. since we still have our aquarium membership, i will likely take the kids there one day.

hope to see you all,
marsha

I'm a Dandelion

Well this is what happens when J runs the bath water. I went in to bathroom to pack for Bham trip this weekend, rounded corner and saw this little face beaming up at me. Then he announced that he was a flower. A human dandelion. And dad had to blow the white fluff off the dandelion.

Sweet Baby Preston--Six Weeks Old

Funny Spencer

The photo Spence took of himself. no clue how he added this effect to it.






When did he get so big?

At 7:30 this morning, Spencer came bounding downstairs and announced he needed to go potty and that he didn't need my help. After taking care of business, he went back upstairs. I figured he was playing in his room, but in a few minutes he came through the den carrying clothes that he wanted to wear today, inculding underwear, socks, shoes and a belt. he had used his bathroom stool to get up into his high drawers to gather all the clothing items.

so we put his clothes on him and i took a few photos of the ensemble as he played football. before i got a chance to load the photos to the computer, i look up and Spencer is on the computer taking photos of himself using the imac's camera. i don't even know how to do this, but he has done it several times before today so he knows which icon to click and how to take the pictures. he proceeded to explain to me which steps to take to do this on computer.

3 year olds today are like 6 year olds when i was a kid. so what's he gonna be like at 6?

gotta run. somehow he got a Macaroni and Cheese box open and is at the sink pouring water over the macaroni trying to get the pasta to soften. we need to keep the pantry locked. and apparently the big kids are hungry.

p.s. breakfast update. while i was in den feeding preston, the big kids were eating at kitchen table. after finishing his meal, spence washed his hands in the bathroom, which is commonplace lately. so aidyn starts crying bc she wants down too; she doesn't like being at the table by herslef. thus spence got aidyn down out of her highchair. i didn't see it happen so don't know how he did it. but i heard no crying so she must have helped him. i didn't even know it was happening until it was done they came in the den to tell me.

Heatwave

Hey mom and dad,
It is 94 degrees outside at 10:30 pm.--at bedtime, how can it still be this hot?
High of 106 today.
Hottest August since 1952 here.
But the humidity has been low so it doesn't feel as hot as Searcy.
(I thought about bringing the kids to your house this week while J was in Kentucky but figured at 107 I would be miserable travelling with a newborn. and i knew the big kids would want to play in your backyard the entire week so figure would be better to bring them in cooler weather.)

We checked out the website for Mammoth Cave so we could do something cool this weekend. (cave temp is 54 degrees) but the parks service doesn't allow diaper bags or infant backpack carriers inside the cave so not sure we can make a hike with Aidyn and Preston.

Off exit 7

Things we like here and things we miss since the move:

1. well, we no longer live off exit 7. actually, i have no clue what exit number we live off here bc people don't seem to use exit numbers when discussing places. maybe i should bring that in. or maybe it won't catch on bc there are so many loopdy-loo interstates running through this area. anyway, i still haven't figured out how to tell people where we live.

2. churches on every corner here. almost literally. and full parking lots. so that's a bit different from the city. and people are really friendly here. much slower pace. shorter work hours. shorter commutes. so i guess folks have more time to be involved with a church. we are looking forward to choosing a church, but have only visited three thus far.

3. more $$ in the wallet? we seem to be spending less bc the stores are so far away that no one wants to get out to shop. as my mom put it when she was visiting us, "Going to Home Depot is like driving to Bald Knob. . . it takes 15 minutes to get there." so now we have to make calculated trips out to shop on weekends. especially with three kids in tow--we plan out our route of stores and try to get all the shopping done in one day. for those who never visited us in Atlanta, we had every restaurant and store in our community, most places within three miles of our house. and granted, i hate to commute for any reason. of course, the lack of fine dining nearby means our waistelines may shrink as our wallets expand. no more beating the heat by taking the kids for a stroll at the mall after work and ending the night with takeout dessert from cheesecake factory.

4. beautiful scenery. they haven't built out every rolling hill here so when we are out on our commute to shop we are surrounded by lovely rolling hills. spence comments everytime we are out. he loves the "mountains"

5. no pools. neighborhoods don't have pools here. seems most families join a YMCA. and the YMCAs are everywhere, kinda like the churches. we haven't joined one but if we do they have daycare facilities and activities for the kids while the parents workout.

6. this one would kill some of you: no SuperTarget. haven't seen one yet. but we do have the reverse: a Walmart grocery store--just a grocery store, like Kroger and unlike Target.

7. zero traffic here. zero. (at least none for any of the places i need to drive. J hit some on an interstate commute.)

8. loads of people our age here. with kids. loads. at the churches. at the YMCAs. at Target.

9. no Monica Kaufman Pearson here. instead we get Sticks N Stuff commercials. both are equally bad though. and our eldest son is picking up a nasty drawl. we are working to correct it, but i'm fairly certain it is from watching the local news and advertisements.

10. no Mike Vick. Pacman instead. isn't that a wash?

one month old 8/5/7

August 5th--One month old

july 29th

Silly

Spence came through the den today with a football crammed up his shirt on his belly and said, "Mommy, you didn't used to look like this." Then he went and got a bigger blue ball and stuffed it up in his shirt and told me, "This is what you looked like when Tadpole was in your belly." Hmmph, apparently i had a large belly.

Too hot to be outdoors

This week the temps are supposed to be 100+ so we brought the art easel indoors. Spence painted a story about Thomas the tank engine on one side of easel while Aidyn tried to paint the floor on the other side. Preston slept on the couch during arts and crafts.

Several of you have asked how grandparent detox is going. All is well again. Aidyn has stopped having her daily meltdowns and is laughing again. Spencer has spent much less time in timeout. And actually the paternal grandparents made a short notice trip up for a weekend and both kids stayed positive. So we think we may be past the trauma of the move as it seems everyone is settling into our new home and new life. Spencer still says he misses Atlanta. We have had a few visitors from home that have helped with our transition: Rocky, Ashley, and Camp brought us lunch one Saturday and Sarah came and spent a weekend. We would love to have more visitors. But if you can't make it to us before September, we are planning a trip to Atlanta to celebrate Aidyn's gotcha-versary. More details to come but likely we will be there Sept 12th-15th with a planned zoo outing and dinner with friends.

Madeline babysits

Becky's daughter, Madeline, came and did "mother's helper" for me. The kids love her. Spencer really wanted Benson to be his sitter, but on this day we only had Madeline. We are grateful that we are getting to spend time with Becky and David and their kids. It is nice to finally live in a city with some Searcy friends.

Tonggu Girls

Dusty created this collage of the girls. This week marks the first anniversary of our referrals. We received ours on August 1, 2006. So a year ago this week, our family went from one child to two. and now, a year later, we have three. And our family isn't the only one with big changes: Five of the seven girls will be big sisters. Mary Joyce will become a big sister any minute now, as her mama is past due to deliver baby Katherine. And three of the other Tonggu girls will be getting little sisters from Vietnam. And we all look forward to what God has planned for us in the coming year.

I'm the Captain.

Adventure Science Museum





For the past few days spencer has been dressing as a pirate and then this morning we saw on the news that today was pirate day at the local science museum so we loaded up the family.

Just like with Santa, Aidyn was terrified of the Head Pirate.

Otter Creek has Otters, but they do look like Calvin

Because the weather was lovely over the weekend, I forced the family out of the house for a hike. We took them to Radnor Lake State Natural Area bc it is close to the house and our travel guide book said the place was beautiful and full of wildlife; it failed to mention the foul pond scum but the place was pretty. We saw a doe and three fawn cross the road right in front of us--just feet away from jeremy and spencer. And I spotted an otter out on a tree trunk in the lake. Jeremy took the big kids down for a closer look to see that the otter was eating a fish. spencer was great about whispering around the critters. Aidyn snorted "uhhh" to the otter, who in turn looked back at her and then continued eating. Preston rode well in his carseat and seemed to enjoy the outdoors. This path was good for a newborn bc it was paved and we could use the stroller. Once i've recovered more and Preston can hold his head up we will have to go back and hike the trails with the smallest kids in backpacks. Of course jeremy will be glad bc pushing three kids uphill in the stroller today was more workout than he cared for.

Grandparent Detox and doctor appointments

I just got the calendar out to count how many days the kids have been with extended family during this crazy move: out of the last 102 days Spence and Aidyn have been with grandparents, aunts, and uncles a grand total of 71 days.

So we will now begin grandparent detox. Spence has been doing really well with the major changes, but Aidyn has been trying us. At 18 months there's just no way to communicate to her what is happening and her inability to communicate with us increases her frustration and hence she whines more. Fortunately for us, Uncle Phillip just called and asked for spence to spend the night with jack so we will be able to spend tonight having some fun time with Aidyn.

Both big kids seem to like the new house. Occasionally spence will say that sometimes he misses his old home and friends in atlanta but he seems excited to be in tennessee and has even asked about where we will be attending church--which is huge bc he never wants to go to church or to school. and both kids love, love, love their new brother--sometimes a bit too much, especially aidyn. today i caught her sitting up on top of Preston, kissing his head, while he was in his bouncy chair.

Preston is such a good baby that sometimes it is easy to forget he is home. He rarely cries. and sleeps well at night.

they all had doctor appointments today and here are the results:
spencer at 3 years weighs 39 lbs (93%tile) and height is 40 in (90%tile)
aidyn at 18 months weighs17 lbs 10 oz (not even on the growth chart) and height is 29.75 in (3%tile)
preston at 2 weeks weighs 8 lbs 8 oz and height is 20.25 in

More Of Baby Preston

Preston Kincade

Playgroup friends, neighborhood moms, Discover group, and family: Here are a few pictures from Poppa's camera to tide you over til tomorrow. Our film is getting developed tonight and we will add them soon.








Hooray! We are home and finally have internet connection again. So much has happened since June 29th when we moved into our new home. The moving company left July 2nd and we (jeremy, marsha, and grandparents) spent July 3rd and 4th getting our boxes unpacked and putting our house in order. And then on the afternoon of July 5th, our son and God decided to surprise us with an early delivery. Preston Kincade was born at 6:39 pm and weighed 7 pounds, 10.5 ounces and 20 inches long. He has been such a blessing during this incredibly frustrating move. So far he has been an easy and sweet baby. Spencer and Aidyn adore him and they love to pet him and give him kisses. The delivery and recovery has been a breeze this time, with none of the complications we have had in past.

We visited Brentwood Hills church on July 1st and members of the Sunday school class are bringing us meals for the next 2 1/2 weeks. Amazing. What a blessing! We miss all of our Atlanta friends but we look forward to making new friendships here.

Our home phone number in Nashville changed last week. Please email us and we will reply with the correct address, home phone and email info bc I don't want to post that info online.

Thanks for all of your prayers. We miss you and can't wait for you to visit and meet our son,
Marsha

He's Here!

Hi everyone...This is Mary Alice (or Aunt May May, as I am better known these days) guest blogging for the proud new mom and dad. I am so happy to report that Preston (middle name still TBD) Duncan was born last night at 6:39 p.m. weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 and a half ounces. He is 20 inches long, has reddish blonde hair and bears a striking resemblance to his big brother!

I know that I am partial, but he is beautiful! Jeremy (or Jerome, as I call him - you should too because he LOVES it) and Marsha are doing great and will be resting at the hospital for the nest few days. We stopped by this morning to introduce Jack to his new baby cousin and were able to get a family photo to share with everyone.

Enjoy - and I am sure that Marsha will update everyone just as soon as she gets home and they get internet access set up!