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