The weeks after our vacation

Unfortunately, I went right back to work as soon as we rolled into town (well, a few hours after we got back, I had to be downtown for an event).... then travelled out of town for a work trip.... then came back home to some crazy crazy stuff:

A few of our neighbor's houses were selected for a Georgia Lottery commercial. The crew transformed part of our street into a winter wonderland and the kids got to play in the snow (as they were setting up) then watch later as they were filming the shoot. They had big blocks of ice that they ran through a wood chipper then sprayed on the yards & roof. The premise of the commercial (we think) is that a snowman had a winning lottery ticket, ran away with it, then got hit by a truck. That's all we could put together as they filmed this sequence from about 8 pm - 11 pm. Then they moved down the street and filmed a different segment into the night (and around 6 am when I woke up & was checking on them, they were filming yet a different segment down the street just a little bit more! They wrapped everything up around 7:30 am, were packing up the trucks and left by day break!

That last picture you can see our house in the background - undecorated - and see where the action started next door. Pretty cool!! The snow stayed on the ground for that day, but afterwards - it was pretty much gone. (LOTS of excitement- and we can't wait to see how the commercial turns out! Don't know if that means that we'll be buying a ticket, though.)

Here, one of our neighbors put the scene together & you can see the fake snowman running and the real snowman getting hit by the truck / ice splattering everywhere: http://www.vimeo.com/16080879

The next day, we headed to NJ for Todd's class reunion. It was a very short trip, but we got to see Todd's parents, one of his brothers, his sister, and several of Mercer's cousins. Todd got to take a tour of his old high school and see what has changed and what has not (some of the same furniture and finishes are still there *twenty* years later! Todd enjoyed catching up with people from his class (except there was one who didn't come he had hoped to see) & overall, he is glad we went. There were some events one day (meeting on the playground behind the elementary school) and going to the homecoming football game that we all went to as well. I have wanted to go to his hometown in the fall - so this was great timing!

Mercer's been saying some funny things. (It's interesting to see his vocabulary grow and him trying to put sentences together.) When he wants help, he says "I help you" or when he wants one of us to pick him up he says "I carry you." Obviously, we know it's the opposite of that, but it's sort of impressive to see him try to put that together, I suppose! And - I would be remiss if I didn't mention that his favorite number is 5. He wants to take 5 cars to bed with him. He would normally eat a whole bowl of grapes before dinner, but if you offer him 5, he is content with that. (It sounds like a lot, I suppose?) When asking him how many of almost anything - his answer of course - is 5!

The following weekend was Halloween. Mercer has really been into monkeys lately (thanks to Curious George) so we dressed him in a monkey costume & tried to get him to say "ooh ooh ahh ahh" but he kept roaring like a lion! oh well. You can see here his "banana bag" that we made for him to collect treats (yes, a little bit of candy, but mostly raisins, fruit snacks, and granola bars thanks to our willing neighbors). And - Todd & I dressed up a little bit - here I'm donning bug eyes & antenna... which Mercer ultimately ended up with.

He was NOT happy about being in his costume at first, as he kept tugging at the ears trying to get the hat part off of his head - but once we went up the street to a neighborhood party and saw that his friends were dressed up, he seemed ok with it. The neighbors who host every year have a playground in their back yard - and a good "rolling" hill in the front yard. Mercer and his buddies went down the hill over and over again. Here's a good shot of Mercer his good friends (buzz) Holden, (bumble bee) Glady, and (crazy chicken) Jackson. It looks like he may be making monkey noises in this last one, but who knows?!

A couple of weeks have passed

Our beach vacation sadly came to an end - but we knew it would. Thankfully, Todd snapped some really beautiful shots at sunset on one of our last days there that we will certainly cherish. We tried to walk the mile-and-a-half to an inlet at the opposite side of the island to collect shells... but with a 2 1/2 year old... that was a pretty lofty goal. We did snag some shells along the way. (Mercer was mainly interested in throwing them in the ocean, however, so if we saw something we wanted to keep - we had to hide it or else it was destined to swim!)

While we were on the coast of South Carolina, we took a trip into Charleston -- about an hour away. Todd & I haven't spent much time there, even though we lived fairly close when we lived in Savannah. We played "tourist" and did things we thought Mercer would enjoy. We think he had a good time. He saw dolphins in the water, boats, horses, and roosters. (There were some chickens & roosters wandering around the street in one part of town where the horse stables were. Mercer tried to say cock-a-doodle-doo. To our amusement, he said "ca-ca-doo-doo." : - )

We rented bicycles one day. We rode to the beach in the morning... to a playground on the other side of the island... to eat ice cream at one of the few retailers on the other side of the island... and continued on to the SC State Park beach to look for sea shells before wearily riding back to the condo. When asking Mercer what his favorite part of the day was -- he said the ice cream. What?!!? We can do that anywhere! Oh well!

The last day there, Mercer wasn't feeling well. He laid on the couch with Todd all morning, so I went to a part of the island that's been turned into a nature preserve. Botany Bay Plantation is now owned by the state and open to the public. It is a unique undeveloped parcel of land approximately 4700 acres which spans marshes, farm land, and beaches that look the way that the coast looked before the other area shore-lines were cleared for beach-goers 70 years ago. It boasts one of the most diverse array of wildlife of any other place in existence (according to some educational information on site). I saw several dozens species as small as sand crabs... as large as heron in the sky... to dolphins in the water. Most of the plantation structures are no longer there, but there are a couple which are interesting: A Gothic ice house & gardener's shed.

I can imagine that sunrises at the plantation would be AMAZING. We will have to make it a point to get up early and go out there sometime, as we have already decided that we want to go back to the island, as it's one of the last non-commercial beaches left on the east coast.... nothing to do but play in the sand.

Couldn't resist posting these real quick

We're on our way to Charleston this morning & I need to get our things ready, but this was a funny series & I wanted to post quickly:




We're sure that many a men have been defeated by the ocean....
We promise... he IS having fun on this trip

(with the occasional *blip* from the sea)

mid-vacation post

We're on Edisto Island beach on the coast of South Carolina right now. (We'll, right now, Mercer is napping / Todd's playing golf / I'm here at the condo.) We have worn the little guy out & we're not even half-way through our vacation! I don't know what it is about the sun, but it has zapped Mercer every day & he takes monumentally long naps.

Here, he's sporting his car pj's while laying on his car sheets. They almost look the same. We brought a twin-sized blow-up mattress for him to sleep on & brought his bed rail so he wouldn't roll off the 4" to the ground. The first few times he was to go to sleep on the mattress, he used it like a bouncy house while holding onto the rail -- but he eventually goes to sleep on it. (yes, he just drank... and is drooling milk)

Here are a few shots from yesterday's visit to the beach. The place we're staying is not on the beach, but they have a tram that takes you there... there's a cabana with bathrooms and (most importantly) a wash-off station. It's amazing how much sand a little swim diaper can hold!! After getting back to our condo, we ended up stripping Mercer & hosing him off before coming back inside -- but there was still a ton of sand that appeared mysteriously during his shower afterwards.

He enjoyed playing in the sand with his shovel, bucket, bulldozer, and dump truck. He made tracks. He buried his feet. He was very creative with the various toys around.

It seemed that his play area was a little too close to the water, however!
coming...
and in a flash...
it was gone!

We introduced him to "frisbee" although he didn't need much introduction to throwing / slinging things! (the frisbee would go behind his back much of the time) Today, we all flew kites (sort of).

We watched pelicans along the water, lots of butterflies along the dunes, and even a heron that would fly & perch... fly & perch... fly & perch. We haven't seen any alligators, although there are supposedly plenty of them (the island is surrounded mainly by a marsh... which moves to an inlet on either side... that encompass the shore line along the Atlantic). I am hoping that we can move a little inland later in the week and explore some of the nature areas on the island. We'll see.

Here, he's running from waves -- which we did for quite awhile. Eventually, he became more comfortable with the water and ventured close to the edge. (Today, he wanted to actually go further in - so his comfort level is growing still yet).
I will try to post again in the next week or so -- but I know that when I get back home, I have a heavy week lined up for work. Let me put this out of my mind, though, and get back to the beach for now!!

every weekend, we try to do something fun...

It's been just over 2 weeks since the last post. I've been VERY busy at work lately. i had a big grant proposal that was due this week as well as was coordinating / leading a week-long green building training for Dominican Republic & Colombian architects, architecture students, and professors. It was a very unique experience as we had our material translated in print and verbally. This group, too, was - by far - the "warmest" group of students that we've ever taught. It was a lot of fun touring them around the city, too, and visiting local green buildings.

2 weekends ago, we checked out a "safari" that i scored some 50% off tickets to. A co-worker told me about it & it sounded intriguing, but..... it was a little bizarre. You have the option to drive your own car through the safari or rent zebra-striped mini-vans that have been modified (glass out of the windows & bars across the openings). We opted for the van. You buy bags of food & drive through a several-hundred acre preserve. The animals come up to the car & want you to give them the food. Some of them can get their snouts all the way into the car... some of them -- especially the cows and the giraffes -- have really long tongues that they stick out at you too trying to grab the food from you. (That part freaked me out, actually.) Mercer stayed smack in the middle of the van -- very smart.... it was the furthest point away he could get from the animals at a very safe distance! Here in this pic -- he's checking out one of the animals & looks a little concerned. We can't tell if he enjoyed himself or if he was a little freaked out too!?!

Last weekend it was rainy, so we went to the Georgia Aquarium. I snapped a shot of him in front of some of Todd's favorite fish - Lion Fish. My favorite fish - the Weedy Sea Dragon - Mercer was actually interested in. Luckily, we got to spend a couple of minutes watching the odd-looking fish. We have a membership at the aquarium this year (thanks Grandma Gloria!) so we go occasionally; this time, however, we discovered an area that we haven't been to before -- the upstairs section of the kid's area. Here we found a tunnel that Mercer climbed through over and over again as well as a slide that he & I went down to get back to the main level. Another thing that he discovered (although we've seen it before) is how in one of the areas, there is a wave machine that periodically moves across the glass above your head. He was more fascinated by this than before. Love that excitement of discovery! There's a common theme... mouth WIDE open!

This past weekend, we cashed in some passes we had for the Atlanta Botanical gardens... they built a new bridge that weaves through some woods as well as built new fountains and garden areas. A subtle water feature next to a "living wall" became one of Mercer's favorite things to play with there.... I bet many people may pass by without noticing the water feature. Mercer learned that he could break the flow of water that otherwise disappears in grooves cut into the wall and that he could also "paint" his hand-prints on the slate surface with his wet palms & fingers.

One of the things that Todd & I love about going to the botanical gardens is that they try to incorporate art into the garden. Here in this new fountain, they had some blown glass flowers "floating" on the surface. Also, they have multi-colored blown glass pumpkins & gourds which are really stunning in the clusters (of dozens & dozens of hand-made pieces) that they had arranged throughout the new garden areas.

Mercer had a good time playing with the pumpkins that were on display too. Yay - fall is officially here!

Mercer is doing some new things... he "announces" EVERYTHING. If I give him a cup of water with ice, he has to go tell Todd about it. If Todd puts together his Lego train set, Mercer has to have me come look at it and says "daddy did it." A minute later: "daddy did it." At first I thought he was telling on us... if I spilled something "Mommy made a mess" -- but now I've learned he just wants to tell us things -- wants to announce things. Wants our acknowledgement.

Guess we have to be a little careful about what we say & do -- because little guy will certainly openly talk about our every move!

Last week, Mercer counted to 12 by himself & shocked us both. He's also filling in some of the letters when singing ABC song. He's really getting more into wanting to hear kids songs and singing along / clapping / bopping around. (Much to our chagrin - we're not always "allowed" to listen to what we want to on the radio. We new it was coming at some point, though.)

Mercer has gotten into kicking & saying "Hi-ya" like he's in karate. Wonder if a kid at his daycare does this? He also has a hard time expressing his frustration... kind of like a puppy -- when he gets excited -- he bites. (This is something that we're working on having him stop doing!) He's also honing his skills for stalling going to bed... he wants water... he wants to wash his hands... he wants to "fix" my hair. he wants to read just one more book... he wants to go to the potty... he wants to go say good-night to the kitty. This we knew would come too -- we just didn't count on it coming so soon!

I started this post on Saturday, but finished it on Sunday night. I thought that I would make a quick mention about the sermon today at our church. Today was World Communion Day... so they sang some songs in Spanish and in Swahili. They also said a blessing for the bread and the wine in Spanish, French, German. It was interesting. Later, they went into talking about not wanting for "stuff" -- how people are caught up in wanting more and more materialistic things... and how this doesn't bring happiness. They also played a U2 song - "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Never thought so much about the words to that song. It was an interesting sermon and communion -- I'm really glad we went today!

Todd & I don't feel like we're as materialistic as we used to be... we're seeking more quality-of-life and more experiential things. I've been thinking a lot lately about "what's next" for my career / our family... and as a part of that I am constantly thinking about simplifying life when I do make my next career transition and (hopefully in the near future) our next adoption adventure. This drove the point home for me today to re-focus on what's important. I'm wanting to "push the reset" button. Next week we go on a week-long vacation and hope that we ALL push the reset button and steer towards a more simple, fulfilling life!

Mercer's personality is coming through

Mercer did something that was SO funny the other day:

We were grabbing a slice of pizza up on the square & someone we knew stopped by our table to talk. The woman, Joan, asked Mercer a question, but he had just shoved a piece of pizza in his mouth, so that when he replied he let out an un-interpretable mumble. She asked him the question again and he replied with the same mumble. I told him not to talk with his mouth full -- intending for him to finish chewing and THEN reply with his answer. Instead, he grabbed the chewed up pizza out of his mouth & stuck it in my hand, then answered the question!!

Todd, Joan, and I BUSTED out in laughter. I don't even remember what the question or the answer was because I was in shock! He resolved the problem in a much different way than we had intended, but... he DID resolve it!

Mercer's also starting to think and reason for things he wants -- even things that are not tangibly in front of him. We were watching some neighbor kids one day after work / after school. I wanted him to behave well / not be cranky, so I brought a cheese stick so he could eat it on the way home & carry him through 'til he ate dinner later that evening. He's eating the cheese stick -- and after awhile he says "this is not a treat, mommy" "this is not a treat, ok?" I suppose he was afraid he wouldn't get a goodie at some point later if he gobbled up the cheese stick?!

Hmmm..... smart!

This past weekend, we went for a bike ride on a converted "Rails-to-Trails" path called the Silver Comet. We had a nice ride & even stopped at one of the pull-off areas to hike a little bit. We knew there was a nature preserve and walking trails that backed up to the Silver Comet, but. little did we know that there were some old ruins on a creek at the end of the trail. The ruins were supported by a steel sub-structre which added even more interest to the site from our perspective.

We were so pleasantly surprised -- as ruins and water are 2 of the things Todd & I like to see along our hikes, in fact we sometimes plan trips to specific places because of them!! For us, this was a hidden treasure & we will definitely be back!

Todd took some photos of Mercer in front of the ruins while Mercer was climbing up an elevated manhole structure not too far from the stone ruins. At first, he needed our help climbing up the 2' tall structure, but after a few times, he was able to do it himself. He was also a little apprehensive of jumping off the structure, but quickly got over his fear and did it over and over again all by himself. He's definitely becoming more independent.

Speaking of independence, we've enrolled him again into semi-private swim lessons. They're more expensive & further away from where we live, but we really didn't think he was getting life-safety skills at the place he's been going for the past year. He's no longer afraid of the water, but we want him to roll over & float on his back - most importantly - when he does get in the water. Hopefully these new lessons will provide these fundamentals & others. He had one lesson last week & the instructor said he needed to move up to the next level. This new level is the first class where the kids are in the water on their own with the instructor.... none of the parents go in the water with the kids.

He was the youngest kid in the class and was clingy & apprehensive, but we passed him to the instructor. She carried him into the water & set him on the step where the other few kids were waiting. Mercer actually sat in one place on the step for the most part. He went to her when she came to get him for his one-on-one instruction. He got his head & ears wet. He floated on his back with her. He kicked. He (sort-of) blew bubbles. And - he jumped into the pool upon her instruction where she caught him. He kept looking over to us to make sure we were there -- or to see if we were watching & applauding him on his achievements. All night long he kept saying "I did it." He was definitely proud. I was a little sad -- this is a new step for him, but we were both proud of him too.

Finally, Mercer has begun a couple of new things that ALL kids do / we knew to expect at some point. He does the constant "Mommy, mommy, mommy...." "Daddy, daddy, daddy...." until you look at him. Just acknowledging him doesn't work to cease this constant name-calling. He's also began the continuous "Why?" He hasn't done this too often, but several times he's asked when I wake him up in the morning: "Where's Daddy?" I reply, "he's at work." "Why?" "Because he has to pay for the house and the groceries." "Why?" So that we have a place to live and food to eat." Why? I think at that point, I distracted him with something so it ended!! I know that there will be ever more and more "why's" added to the end of the string.

Good times!

2 years ago today, we celebrated Mercer's adoption

It was his official adoption day. We went to court in the morning for the judge's review of our paperwork, social worker's recommendation, and and ruling. We had a big party that evening. Two years has passed quickly in one sense when thinking about his development and growth. But, it feels like "forever" that we've had Mercer -- it feels like he's always been a part of our family.

Today, we hung out as a family -- going out to breakfast, playing here at the house, then going to an annual picnic that our church was having. It was at a historic "meeting camp" site nearby. (It's a place where many denominations of churches gathered starting in the 1800s. There's a large open-air heavy-timber church which is pretty cool.) After eating, Mercer was drawn a few times to the open-air structure where there was singing, but the highlight was definitely the playground. Here's a pic... this is something I started & still think is sort of funny... but I know one day will haunt me -- him opening his mouth & showing me what's inside. He ate a blue cookie & wanted to show me.

Now - things may seem a little confusing if looking at hair style. In the pics above (from this weekend) Mercer's hair is shorter. He got a haircut a couple of days ago. The pics below are from last week. There's one pic that has an adorable long curl going right down his forehead. oh... I hated to see those long curls go!!

Last weekend, we went for a hike at a spot that Todd & I like (there is water and building ruins along the way). Mercer actually did a great job on the hike. Todd & I had to carry him a little bit, but he moved along the trail for the most part. Well, until he'd get distracted by a tiny worm.... or river viewing platforms that he would have to dance around and explore every inch of. The thing that kept him moving the most, however, was logs buried in the ground. He would see one and run to it. Then, he would jump off of it. He'd see another & take off again. We took a number of breaks along the way -- once for a picnic lunch, once to explore the rocks in the water, and once to get another stamp in Mercer's letterboxing book (someone had buried a box in the park & left description enough for us to find it).

Mercer has had some "eating" firsts this week. He ate his first hotdog (well, really it was a veggie dog) at a Braves / Mets baseball game earlier this week. He ate his first piece of fried chicken at the church picnic earlier tonight. He had his first "kids meal" at a fast-food restaurant... ate 2 chicken bites from chick-fil-a, a few fries, and an apple juice (this one, I'm not proud of, but we were on the run & were both getting cranky because we hadn't eaten lunch). And, he had his first piece of bacon at breakfast today. It was turkey bacon and to him this flat piece of meat looked odd. Once he tasted it, he gobbled it up quickly, though.

Mercer has picked up a new habit - not a good one - where he's grabbing and scratching when he dosen't get his way. Todd & I are trying to work on nipping this in the bud and hopefully this is a short-lived phase that he's going through. He's been getting frustrated really easily too. And he also squeals "stoooooppppp" when we're trying to help him do things. Very independent... and doesn't want our help! (He kind of sounds like a whiny teenager when he does this.) It's a little bit funny -- for now.

Another picture from our hike... This is the face he makes when he wants a treat. I can't imagine what he wanted while we were out there, but had to post. We're SO onto him, although he thinks he's being cute & sweet.

One final thing, Mercer is starting to show that he's scared of things. He'll put his hand over his mouth & gasp or he'll cover his eyes. One thing that is interesting, though, is that he's not afraid of the dark. He likes to run into his closet in his room & shut the door. In the bathroom, he'll cut off the light and say dark. You ask him to turn the light on and he doesn't want to.

He's always keeping things lively here!