So much to blog about today.

I mentioned in the last post that Todd's brother was hit by a car... his neice was also hit by a vehicle earlier this week. Tara (13 years old) and her brother Zach were helping someone on the side of the road (they live on a busy street near Atlantic City). Tara was hit by a pick-up truck and dragged under it. Luckily the pick-up had slowed way down because of all of the shore traffic and because of the person on the side of the road. People normally fly down that road at 50 mph, but the driver was only doing about 20 -- thankfully!! She suffered a broken pelvis and has been going through therapy to walk. She's been in the hospital most of the week, but should be checking out of the hospital today. It's been a crazy week!!!!

To pick back up from the last blog regarding Mercer, we went on our trip to Asheville on Sunday. We got off to a late start b/c of the doctor's visit, but they gave us the "go ahead" to go on our trip... said he wasn't that bad / keep an eye on things / keep checking his temp / etc. The first night at the B&B was rough for us. He hardly slept, but during the day seemed to feel better (he slept a lot).

We ended up going to a friend's house Monday afternoon (Tad – a former classmate from college and his wife Ashley). It was Memorial Day but also their 4 year old son's birthday party... we gave them a head's up that Mercer had a cold / offered not to come, but everyone felt comfortable & we had their children wash their hands a lot after touching / playing with Mercer. Here's a shot of Morgan who was so sweet with the baby (left) and birthday-boy Brenner (right) with little M. 4 years ago, Brenner was born approximately 3 months early. He was only 2 lbs 2oz when born. Now he is a spunky, thriving boy! We're glad we were allowed to share in this special event with them. Oh yeah -- Mercer got to seehis first fireworks.... he did great -- just focused on the bright contrast against the dark sky. (They weren't the kind with the the loud boom - otherwise he probably would've cried!)

Todd went to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. While he was at his jobsite, I did a little bit of exploring -- but not too much. I went to a nearby town, Black Mountain to visit someone else we knew from college and to check out the town. I picked up a little something for Mercer (see pic below) and got to see about 60 or 70 Model T cars to boot. (there was a rally passing through town) Later that day, I went to the NC Arboretum (which is free on Tuesdays) and spent a bit of time in the garden with Mercer. It was very relaxing feeding him in the garden, as I could look one direction over some flowers and see a mountain range.... and look another direction to see more mountains and flowers. It's so beautiful there -- and (as always) I get great ideas to bring back to our garden at home!

We both kept things a bit more low-key than a "normal" trip for us b/c of Mercer not feeling well. We actually spent a lot of time chilling out / hanging out on the front porch of our B&B. Feeding Mercer.... writing letters.... watching the rain. One of the owners, Angela, begged to hold the baby every morning while we ate breakfast (so we actually got to eat together and she got her baby-fix at the same time). They made it really pleasant for us even though Mercer was feeling so crummy / at his "worst" (which is still great as compared to many babies -- we can't complain!)

We would recommend staying there for anyone traveling to Asheville and will definitely go back there when Mercer and I tag along with Todd on another of his work trips.
www.sweetbiscuitinn.com Ok... here's my *favorite* picture of Todd & Mercer. I wanted to get Mercer a kid's hard hat -- but I was in a really small town / the only little toy store had hard hats with head lamps on the front. It's close enough for effect... and Mercer will have fun with the headlamp in the coming years. I thought it would be cute to get a picture of "baby & daddy" at Todd's jobsite (you can see a parking deck & some of the residential structures in the background that Todd' been working on). SO CUTE!!


There's more to blog about, but I need to go tend to Mercer. I will blog this weekend about the visit from my dad, Mercer’s doctor appt when we returned home, an update on Tara, and (hopefully) post pics of a finished nursery this weekend.

C