Happy Earth Day ~

Did anyone do anything cool to "love your mother" today?

Obviously -- every day is Earth Day. But - it's kind of fun to see all of the extra things businesses are doing. For instance, Disney launched a new line of cute eco-shirts and reusable bags. I imagine that this will grow into more of their product lines in the future. I know Home Depot was giving away Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (and letting people know that they recycle old CFL Bulbs). Also, an organization that I am on the board has been doing a lecture series all month -- and they gave away water conservation kits to everyone who attended the lecture this week as well as a couple of rain barrels. Hey it's one day that people think about what should happen all year... whatever gets people motivated, right?!

We had a good day. We went to the library for storytime and songs. Mercer's favorite part - by far - is the bubbles. He can now walk around and "chase" them. Before he'd just watch the other kids and say oooohhhh. It's a little hard to see, but he's wearing his (Tree) Hugger t-shirt that a neighbor made for him. The tree is a picture sewed on instead of a word. One-of-a-kind! His friend Brody is there in the background. It was his first time at the storytime. Brody was a little skeptical / hung out with his mom the whole time, but ventured a few steps in front of her once the bubbles came out. Mercer used to do the same thing -- watch and observe, but now that he's mobile and comfortable, well, there's no stopping him -- especially during bubble time.

We had a heating & air conditioning rep come to the house today to look at our system / give us a quote for a new one. We're not taking the plunge yet, but ironically it was on Earth Day that we were talking about efficient systems... and talking about offsetting costs a bit by applying a federal tax deduction. (FYI you can go to http://www.dsireusa.org/ to check out incentives if you have a need for a new HVAC system / efficient water heating / anything solar).

Oh... we have a new member of the family. His name is Thomas. He's a train. I feel that he will be a major part of our lives for the next few years. He joined us just before Easter. Todd's mom sent down a box of the trains, tracks, and bridges from the nursery school that they closed down when she and her partner retired last year. He LOVED LOVED LOVED them. This past weekend, our neighbors were having a yard sale and guess what was there: a ton of Thomas stuff. A train table... a round-house... a crane... a bunch of engines and track. Of course we bought some of it. (We didn't how much this stuff costs "retail" 'til this weekend / talking with our neighbor. Mental note - NEVER buy it new... ALWAYS buy it 2nd hand! There's no reason it should cost so much, honestly.) Mercer says "too too" sort of like "choo choo" when he plays with them. Todd was noticing that this is something that he self-entertains with and he can play with it for 15 minutes on his own. Yay!

There was another "first" today (I know he will be upset one day when he's a teenager for me posting this on the blog): Mercer played with poo. I occasionally let him "go free" around the house or when he naps b/c I just don't think that being cooped up in a diaper 24/7 is healthy. Well, I had him in these loose-fitting shorts for his afternoon nap. I knew he was awake and playing in his crib, but I was trying to get some work done, and, well... the rest is history. All I will say is that when I got in there, he was having fun. For the next 1/2 hour or so, I was scrubbing down the crib rails and Mercer, but couldn't be upset. I had to laugh. Good times!?

I can't think of anything exciting really. All is well on our end. Hope the same is true on yours.
Candice

a video before i go....

... I'm heading out of town for another work trip tomorrow, but I wanted to post a long-awaited video otherwise it wouldn't happen for awhile!

This picture (at right) and the video (which is linked below) is of Mercer at his first Egg Hunt. Someone in the neighborhood organized a hunt at 10-12 of the houses on our street and the one behind ours. Mike & Connie's house (two doors down from us) was his first stop. We went to a 10 or 12 houses total, but Todd and I thought that he was the most excited at this first house and had a really long walk, actually. Check out the video and go all the way to the end watch something really cute (he gets VERY excited). Ahhh the simple things. Would 2 plastic eggs with stuff in them make you this happy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bal0o31YHec

He really does love eggs. He calls them "ba" like he's saying ball.

On Easter, we walked to church up at the square... walked home... grabbed some food from the house... changed clothes... and walked to a neighbor's. We had Easter lunch with them and another couple from the 'hood then all of the kids played together in the back yard. It was a nice day.

He's going to kill me when he's older - but I HAD to give him these lamb slippers Easter morning. I've had them for at least 4 or 5 years to use when we had kids. Here are some shots of him walking around in his g-diaper and little lamb slippers. (Look what he's holding: a ball and an egg... he's in another room now... and - yup - still holding the ball and the egg in this picture too.) Really - he loves them!

Monday night, we spoke at a meeting that our Adoption Consultant had. Each month, she has an informational meeting for prospective clients and less than 1 1/2 years ago (Nov 07) we attended that very meeting. We were asked - like the family who spoke at ours - to share our experiences and how the consultant helped us out. There were about 8 couples there and it went well. It was SO FUNNY to see Mercer hamming it up and interacting with the crowd, though. He is definitely a social kid -- and did well playing his part in the show as "happy baby."

Tonight, we're getting together with an ol' baseball buddy of Todd's - someone we hung out with in college. He's visiting from California and we're looking forward to introducing them to the little guy. I should run and clean the house a little while Mercer's napping! have a good rest of the week, Candice

ps - had to include another photo of our baby "bird." You know when a mama bird comes to the babies with the (regurgitated) worm? Well, the baby bird's mouths are wide open. Mercer has begun doing this - mouth wide open - when he's ready for another bite to eat. It's hard for us not to laugh, although we probably shouldn't encourage him to do this! Oh well.

Good Friday

We promise that we'll have some video posted over the weekend... we know that we'll catch Mercer walking because he's doing it with some regularity now. Before, he'd sporadically take 2 or 3 steps -- there was no way to catch it on video. Now, he'll take 5, 6, 7, 8 steps most any time we get him balanced and standing on his own. Actually, he took 16 consecutive steps this morning. Yikes!

I travelled for work to western NC (Asheville and Hickory) last week -- hence no post to the blog. I got home very late Friday night, then Saturday morning, Todd and I headed to Athens, GA to meet some friends of ours and wander around the town / check it out. We didn't really do much while there: walked around, ate lunch, and hung out on the "green" in the middle of the University of GA campus. There was an international fair that the students were having, so we checked that out a little bit. We went to several of the booths, but the thing that interested Mercer the most was the dancing and music that was on the stage.

An update on Todd's work situation. He had turned in his notice on Monday of last week to his old company. He went to Asheville Tues and Wed for his last trip to his mixed-use project that is 98% done (no, we were not in NC at the same time - we were there a day apart!) Todd was asked by his company to make Thursday his last day. They just didn't have the work for him. So - he contacted his new employer and said he could start a week earlier. He had Friday off of work. Wow - one day off between jobs! (It gave him a day to work on cleaning the pond in the back yard, though.) He started work at his new job on Monday and so far it's going well. He's going to be working on a church for the next couple of months to help someone at the new office get the drawings done & out the door - while learning the new CAD system and drawing standards. He'll begin working on his school project after that.

I'm looking forward to a low-key weekend at home. We do have a n'hood Easter egg hunt Saturday afternoon in people's yards. We will go to church Sunday and then to a neighbor's for lunch, but those are our only plans. Yay!



I had to include this last shot.



-- love it --


Have a great weekend~