He did really well for awhile... a short while.
Thankfully, his hairdresser - Farrah - was a good sport! Friday, January 23, 2009
11 months old today...
Hard to believe that Mercer's almost a year old. (He certainly looks and acts like a one year old... oh... he sometimes seems more like a little boy & less like a baby.) He's holding his own bottle for the most part now. And he got his first "official" haircut today. (I've trimmed the hair over his ears once, but that didn't really count like this.) Check out the photos:
Thankfully, his hairdresser - Farrah - was a good sport!
Thankfully, his hairdresser - Farrah - was a good sport! 
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
post-inauguration post...
Did you watch the inauguration? I watched it at work with a bunch of my co-workers. This is the first one I've ever watched. Pretty cool. Inspiring. Wow - what a big job he has ahead, though!
Todd had uploaded some more videos that didn't make my blog post a couple of days ago. here are the links to those...
Mercer chasing bubbles at his cousin Marley & Nathaniel's house (uncle Jim & aunt Becki's house near DC -- as we headed north around Christmas): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PihPATlQctM (about 2 minutes into the video, Mercer starts to talk to the bubbles a lot!)
Playing with a train that makes music and sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWN-3stC_uY&feature=channel_page (he uses it like a walker... and even waves bye at the end)
And... my favorite... Mercer's Happy New Year salutation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM_mrgO_0pQ&feature=channel
enjoy!
Todd had uploaded some more videos that didn't make my blog post a couple of days ago. here are the links to those...
Mercer chasing bubbles at his cousin Marley & Nathaniel's house (uncle Jim & aunt Becki's house near DC -- as we headed north around Christmas): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PihPATlQctM (about 2 minutes into the video, Mercer starts to talk to the bubbles a lot!)
Playing with a train that makes music and sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWN-3stC_uY&feature=channel_page (he uses it like a walker... and even waves bye at the end)
And... my favorite... Mercer's Happy New Year salutation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM_mrgO_0pQ&feature=channel
enjoy!
Monday, January 19, 2009
an MLK day post...
I had the day off from work today so I thought I'd post -- as it's been awhile.
We got some shots yesterday of Mercer playing with "dit-dee." It's his way of saying Kitty Cat. Pigg doesn't really respond to him too much, but Mercer is SO interested in him! 
Let's see... we've had 2 soup nights. The first one (Sat the 10th) was pretty good size and there was lots of activity (and kids singing at the top of their lungs) so Mercer had a hard time leaving the party to go to sleep... but overall he did really well with the crowd. He did wake up screaming, however, because the LOUDEST boom of thunder I've ever heard scared him... poor guy! (or did he just want to re-join the crowd?!)
Also, last Sunday (the 11th), we visited a church up on the square... we said that when we had kids, we'd raise them in a church. It was just the first one we went to, but we enjoyed it. We took Mercer into the (contemporary) service with us, but he wasn't really that well behaved, so I missed a good portion of it. We sat in the back and brought him in when they sang... because he loves to sing. Seriously! (It's just one or two notes at this point, but he has to start somewhere). After the service, a friend of ours who we ran into showed us the nursery and we went to lunch together / talked more about it. We'll visit another church next Sunday.
Todd was in Asheville Monday & Tuesday... and on his way home, he found a Nintendo Wii at a store. (We've been looking for one here, and no one has them.) This was our Christmas present... we had several gift cards towards the purchase (thanks mom, Todd's mom / dad / brother!) Todd set it up right away and set up Mii profiles for himself, me, and Mercer. The next night, he set up the Wii fit... and gave it a try. So far, so good. Some things are a little cheesy, but overall it seems pretty cool. We joked that Mercer's going to be our exercise program in 2009... but this will be a great way to keep it interesting and to keep track of things.
Friday, Todd and I went to the Cirque du Soliel show - KOOZA. We "hired" our first teenage babysitter (the very young-looking, but responsible 18 year old daughter of a friend). I enjoyed the show more than some of the past shows we've seen. I heard that this one went back to it's roots... they had contortionists, jugglers, tight-rope walkers, a guy on a unicycle, trapeze artists, etc. Of course all of these people did really trumped-up stunts... some of them were hard to watch because they were so dangerous! (And the contortionist finale was a little disturbing, actually!) It's always such a visually fascinating show -- and the live music grabs you. It's such a terrific production... and definitely on our "splurge" list - for we have to see it when it comes to town. (Here's a link to the promotional video, if interested: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/kooza/intro/intro.htm )
The following morning, I headed back downtown to meet up with a bunch of my co-workers. My company has a number of volunteers at a MLK service event every year -- helping low-income / elderly make energy-improvements to their homes. Other civic groups, companies, and individuals work on the houses too painting, doing carpentry, yard-work, etc... but our group does specialized things to help them save on energy bills. I've done it before... and learn a lot -- things to actually apply to our home. I don't like that it took me away from the family, but I feel that it's important to teach Mercer about community service / helping others.
Here are some links to some (simple) things we did at Bula & Jessie's house Saturday... Check it out / get your hands dirty / save some bucks if you're interested in employing these strategies at your own home. (We mostly did "air sealing"... I worked on caulking HVAC penetrations... and a couple of people worked in the attic while someone else installed weatherstripping.)
The second soup event later that night (on the 17th) was much smaller -- mostly neighbors -- we assume because there were actually snow flurries Saturday night! Unfortunately, none of the snow stuck. On the positive side... one of our favorite soups... we had a lot of left-overs. I know Todd was happy about that!
We got some shots yesterday of Mercer playing with "dit-dee." It's his way of saying Kitty Cat. Pigg doesn't really respond to him too much, but Mercer is SO interested in him! 
Mercer has really mastered climbing up our stairs... 6 steps in the first run.... he scoots across the landing then he goes up the 10 additional steps. He gets tired out at the top of the second run of stairs, but when I bring him back down -- he's ready to climb up again. I mentioned he's going to rock our worlds soon?!
Speaking of which... he's gotten so much better at "creeping" along furniture and walls in the last week since I've posted. He is becoming brave and he will lunge towards us letting go of whatever he's holding onto. So far, we've been just 2 - 3 feet away from him when he does this so we've been able to catch him, but.... oh.... I dread the day when we're not able to catch him in time. He's very trusting and/or doesn't have a sense of depth yet to know that we're just out of reach. Scary!!
That brings us to today. (Long post. Sorry!) I took Mercer to daycare so that I could work on the nursery. I painted a big piece of furniture that's been in his room and hung some pictures on the wall. I still have a little bit of stuff to do in there, but it's getting close. Mercer's 1st birthday is coming up... and we're flying the birth mother out. I'd love to get his room 100% done -- just to have a deadline.
The wrap:
I've been watching new shows... some daytime t.v. interviews and reading the paper this long weekend. There's SO MUCH buzz about serving others... pitching in... all of us - as a WHOLE helping out in our communities. Some of the buzz is in the name of MLK day. Some of it is due to the inauguration and renewed interest in the leadership of the country. I liked these links:
I'm interested in getting involved in the events tomorrow. I think that I'll actually watch the swearing in & inaugural speech online from work (during lunch?). I've never watched one -- but there is energy in the air about this historic event. It's pretty amazing how the excitement is building... as tomorrow is the beginning of this new era.
Later!
Candice
Friday, January 9, 2009
Back in the Grind....
Since the last post, we wrapped up the trip to Asheville for Todd's work... thankfully, the contract for his project has been extended another 4 or 5 months - as the work out there is not yet done.
We had our 2nd stay at the Bed & Breakfast that allows children (Todd normally stays at another one closer to the jobsite but does not allow kids). We actually really like this one -- and feel very comfortable / very at home there. So much so that when I need, I can just pop into the kitchen to wash Mercer's utensils and bottles. (which we really needed after being on the road for a week + )
There was one thing that happened at the B&B, though. Mercer shed his "first blood." He did a face-dive into the hardwood floor as we were playing "chase." Oh I felt so bad. I thought he fell and it scared him (like is common here at our house)... usually a little bit of cuddling and comforting is all it takes before he's ready to get back into the swing of things. But this time he kept crying and crying... I said "you're ok" and pulled him away from the cuddle. My shirt and his shirt were covered in blood. He wouldn't really let me look at things in his mouth, but it was evident that some of the inside of his upper lip got caught in his two front teeth b/c it was hanging down. I was able to get him to suck on a washcloth with ice in it... and eventually he was fine, but his mouth was sensitive and his gums were swollen for several days afterwards.
A good thing happened while we were in Asheville too... we caught up (briefly) with our friends Tad & Ashley who live there. We all went to the Grove Park Inn to check out the National Gingerbread House Competition. The inn is amazing and our favorite art gallery (Grovewood Gallery) is right behind it -- which we didn't get to see this time. We always love to head to that part of Asheville to check them both out. Here's a link if you want to check out the winners... ( http://www.groveparkinn.com/gallery/Gingerbread2008 ) the top 4 in each the adult, youth, and child categories... as well as the grand prize winner.
My favorite house isn't in there - it was in the top 10 for adults... and is a bird house, actually. 
In the lower level of the inn, they have all of the contestants who did not place and it's fun to look at those too -- it's literally eye-candy as far as you can see. (sorry - couldn't resist!)
Afterwards, Todd, Mercer, and I drank some (real) hot cocoa (well, not Mercer just yet). We also sat outside on the big covered porch to check out the "last light" of the sun peeking over the mountains. Then we stopped for a quick photo in front of ONE of the fireplaces in the main lobbies.
Notice that the opening for the fire place is over my head! The one at the opposite end of the lobby had a roaring fire in it. It's really beautiful there.
We had some neighbors (and their kids) over for New Year's. Mercer made it to 10 pm. Some of the neighbors left around 11, but two couples stuck around past midnight -- one of them with two children (Jackson 13 months and Glady 3 years) who rung in the new year! We were impressed.
Since then, we've basically been working (I'm really trying to be better about hitting my part-time hours in 2009), doing laundry, and unpacking. I just finished unloading the last suitcase and putting it away this morning. The Christmas decorations are still up -- those will (hopefully) come down tonight. And - we'll begin preparing for Soup Night this weekend. We went to have soup with a former co-worker and some of her neighbors, children and husband last weekend. Mercer is SO GOOD around older kids. He watches them intently as they pick him up / set him down / go play with something and then come back to him. He LOVEs being paid attention by all of these little girls ages 3 - 9 !! We noticed it over the Christmas holiday, too, with Todd's neices. So cute!
oh yeah -- Todd posted some videos from November on YouTube.
- A crawling sequence from November (he's totally mastered crawling now -- and can go up steps even!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg2wT_hQmpg
- A standing and "creeping" sequence in Mercer's crib (he does this a lot now too... pulls up to stand and walks / creeps along furniture all the time now) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obI1OoivVE0&feature=channel_page
- A messy messy episode with a teething biscuit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZVZUx9PyHA&NR=1
There are some December ones too of Christmas travel -- but my favorite one is him kissing a stuffed animal bunny his daycare teacher gave him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNBa59eYKfc&feature=channel_page (you'll notice too how he imitates us now in part of the video. "ooohhhh. mmmmmm.")
Times are tight right now.... and we've had to make some adjustments... but feel fortunate for all of the wonderful things that 2008 brought our family. Our thoughts are with the many people we know whose times are even tighter right now. We really do hope that each of the blog readers has a special year ahead and that the photos and videos we share keep you close to our family and bring you a little bit of joy.
- Candice, Todd, and baby M
We had our 2nd stay at the Bed & Breakfast that allows children (Todd normally stays at another one closer to the jobsite but does not allow kids). We actually really like this one -- and feel very comfortable / very at home there. So much so that when I need, I can just pop into the kitchen to wash Mercer's utensils and bottles. (which we really needed after being on the road for a week + )
There was one thing that happened at the B&B, though. Mercer shed his "first blood." He did a face-dive into the hardwood floor as we were playing "chase." Oh I felt so bad. I thought he fell and it scared him (like is common here at our house)... usually a little bit of cuddling and comforting is all it takes before he's ready to get back into the swing of things. But this time he kept crying and crying... I said "you're ok" and pulled him away from the cuddle. My shirt and his shirt were covered in blood. He wouldn't really let me look at things in his mouth, but it was evident that some of the inside of his upper lip got caught in his two front teeth b/c it was hanging down. I was able to get him to suck on a washcloth with ice in it... and eventually he was fine, but his mouth was sensitive and his gums were swollen for several days afterwards.
A good thing happened while we were in Asheville too... we caught up (briefly) with our friends Tad & Ashley who live there. We all went to the Grove Park Inn to check out the National Gingerbread House Competition. The inn is amazing and our favorite art gallery (Grovewood Gallery) is right behind it -- which we didn't get to see this time. We always love to head to that part of Asheville to check them both out. Here's a link if you want to check out the winners... ( http://www.groveparkinn.com/gallery/Gingerbread2008 ) the top 4 in each the adult, youth, and child categories... as well as the grand prize winner.
My favorite house isn't in there - it was in the top 10 for adults... and is a bird house, actually. 
In the lower level of the inn, they have all of the contestants who did not place and it's fun to look at those too -- it's literally eye-candy as far as you can see. (sorry - couldn't resist!)Afterwards, Todd, Mercer, and I drank some (real) hot cocoa (well, not Mercer just yet). We also sat outside on the big covered porch to check out the "last light" of the sun peeking over the mountains. Then we stopped for a quick photo in front of ONE of the fireplaces in the main lobbies.
Notice that the opening for the fire place is over my head! The one at the opposite end of the lobby had a roaring fire in it. It's really beautiful there.We had some neighbors (and their kids) over for New Year's. Mercer made it to 10 pm. Some of the neighbors left around 11, but two couples stuck around past midnight -- one of them with two children (Jackson 13 months and Glady 3 years) who rung in the new year! We were impressed.
Since then, we've basically been working (I'm really trying to be better about hitting my part-time hours in 2009), doing laundry, and unpacking. I just finished unloading the last suitcase and putting it away this morning. The Christmas decorations are still up -- those will (hopefully) come down tonight. And - we'll begin preparing for Soup Night this weekend. We went to have soup with a former co-worker and some of her neighbors, children and husband last weekend. Mercer is SO GOOD around older kids. He watches them intently as they pick him up / set him down / go play with something and then come back to him. He LOVEs being paid attention by all of these little girls ages 3 - 9 !! We noticed it over the Christmas holiday, too, with Todd's neices. So cute!
oh yeah -- Todd posted some videos from November on YouTube.
- A crawling sequence from November (he's totally mastered crawling now -- and can go up steps even!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg2wT_hQmpg
- A standing and "creeping" sequence in Mercer's crib (he does this a lot now too... pulls up to stand and walks / creeps along furniture all the time now) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obI1OoivVE0&feature=channel_page
- A messy messy episode with a teething biscuit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZVZUx9PyHA&NR=1
There are some December ones too of Christmas travel -- but my favorite one is him kissing a stuffed animal bunny his daycare teacher gave him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNBa59eYKfc&feature=channel_page (you'll notice too how he imitates us now in part of the video. "ooohhhh. mmmmmm.")
Times are tight right now.... and we've had to make some adjustments... but feel fortunate for all of the wonderful things that 2008 brought our family. Our thoughts are with the many people we know whose times are even tighter right now. We really do hope that each of the blog readers has a special year ahead and that the photos and videos we share keep you close to our family and bring you a little bit of joy.
- Candice, Todd, and baby M
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