Over the weekend, we went to an easter egg hunt at the church that Todd & I have been visiting. (Don't think I've blogged about church yet - but we've been going to a contemporary service at a church up on the square... it's very casual... not at all traditional (sometimes a little over the top as one of our neighbors describes) overall we like it more than some of the others we've visited.
They have an annual egg hunt at the home of one of the church members. They throw HUNDREDS of empty plastic eggs in the yard and in the bushes and flower beds. 
The kids gather the eggs then turn them in for a goodie bag with candy and stuff in them. M's too little for that -- and I asked if he could, instead, hang onto his two plastic eggs (one in each hand). THIS was his real prize! (FYI - it was 46 degrees during the egg hunt.... hence the wool coat and cords!)
What's new in the first photo? NO ONE is holding him up... he's standing on his own!
I had to take Mercer to the doc today b/c of an "unusual" diaper rash. He'll be fine... but I noticed something interesting as he was laying on the doctor's table with his screaming mouth wide open: he's got at least 3 teeth coming through in the top of his mouth! We had no idea. We think 2 are molar-style teeth. We thought that he's been a little fussy off and on the past couple of weeks. We attributed it to a change in his feeding schedule. (Once he turned 12 months old, we've been weaning him off the bottle a bit and introducing more solid foods. Also, we've been switching over from formula to organic whole milk.)
I know that there's lots to blog about (my work conference went really well last week. Long days, but a good show -- I came away inspired which is hard to do now that I've been to 6 or 8 of these conferences.) We had an architect - Ed Mazria - speak on the 2030 challenge -- attaining carbon neutrality in buildings by the year 2030. http://www.architecture2030.org/ . He talked about job creation as well as the ideas that he's given to the president regarding the stimulus package. It was interesting. I attended a couple of building science sessions by a guy who's funny, crude, and brilliant (http://www.buildingscience.com/) And I moderated a session on the Living Building Challenge -- no net energy use / no net water use / good use of resources / etc. Only 1 building is following the challenge right now in the country and there are 7 more on the books. It's pretty much the standard for the greenest of green buildings. http://www.cascadiagbc.org/lbc ) GREAT STUFF. The day after the conference, I attended an all-day training on green roof design. It was a good week for me, as I love learning new stuff. Todd's work is taking a major turn. He is changing jobs. We felt 99% sure that when his project in Asheville ended in a couple of months that he would be laid off. He heard about an opportunity from his former mentor / friend... and went for an interview last Monday. A few days later - he was offered the position. The next day he turned in notice. He really didn't have a choice. It's the only way to offer our family some stability in the coming year. He didn't dislike his current place of employment... and of course wishes them well. It's a little scary out there right now. ( 2/3rds of his company has been laid off in the past year... and Todd says that 40% of AIA members (professional, licensed architects) are currently unemployed. He heard that stat may be as much as 60% including interns and unlicensed architects that are currently unemployed in Atlanta. We didn't quite hit that point of panic, but we have been discussing the "what if" with our financial advisor. We can't go crazy. He really didn't get a raise, so we're still on economy mode, but it's definitely reassuring.
He's on his way to Asheville for his last trip. Ironically, I will be heading there in a couple of days to teach a class on the same day he's coming home. We definitely had good times there and LOVE LOVE LOVE that city. I hope that we can continue to visit it ever year or two like we used to. It's one of our favorite places!
I should go for now... it's getting late... but I should report a few other things that little M is doing. Says "oof" when he sees a dog. He can take 2 or 3 steps together now. He is getting good at putting objects inside of other objects now. Also - he now really likes to give us a book to read to him (and re-read and re-read and re-read... we know this is only the beginning of that!)
Have a great week. c
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 
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!
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.
