Tennessee Vacation

Jonathan actually had a few days off before starting his second year, so we meet the Moseley family in Tennessee (Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area). They rented an amazing cabin on a secluded mountaintop. But we could still go down and enjoy all the glitzy fun of the strip.

(It's a long post, so stick with me.)


How amazing is that view? Not a bad place to take a nap, I say.

The house had a pool table downstairs. Turns out, Josiah is really good at pool. We were all very entertained as he crawled around putting the balls in the holes, then taking them out. Occasionally tasting them. He scratched a few times and put the 8-ball in prematurely, but the child is only 10 months old.

The house also had a ceiling fan in every room - Josiah's dream house. Da! Da!

Day 1. We all went on a hike in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Our family, plus a random child.

David and Amy

Sweet Anna cooling her feet

Dad and Mom Moseley

Josiah observing the waterfall

"Mom, Aunt Amy's trying to steal my sugar!"

"Ha! Don't worry, I got her hair."

Day 2. The boys went fishing and the girls went outlet shopping. Grammy bought the whole crew cute new stuff.

Josiah had to stick with the girls. Boring!

We took this picture to illustrate the dumb things that children's clothing designers put on t-shirts. This one says "Monkey League Volleyball." So silly.

Josiah helping the girls try on outfits.

Afterward, we met up with the boys for go-carts, arcade games and putt-putt.

Josiah liked this game the best.

Catch a wave.

Redneck family fun

Anna did a great job helping with her nephew.

Josiah playing putt-putt.

He thought the gorilla was funny at first, and then he got scared up close.

We swung by Atlanta on the way home and the trip was much longer than anticipated. We drove through Maryville, Blue Ridge and Ellijay (good memories, Carrie-Anne and Lindsay). We had lunch packed with us, but somehow ended up parked at the back of a shopping center to have our little picnic. The view was really great though.

Here are a few sweet pics with Mimi and GP in Atlanta.

Introduce Yourself!

Our visitor ticker just went over the 1,000 mark!

What in the world? We don't know that many people. I know some of these are the same people visiting from different computers, but it's still way more people than we ever expected when we started this thing.

I'm always surprised when I hear someone is following the blog, but it's a blessing to hear people enjoy it. We pray that it blesses you as well.

But my question is: Who are you? I'm really just curious now. I know I am personally a blog-lurker for some people that I only know remotely, so I cannot throw stones. If you've always wanted to comment, this is your chance. Introduce, or reintroduce, yourself.

(Unless you are a stalker. If you are, repent, turn away from your sin, run to Jesus.)

To My Dad...

Mom says that it's your birthday today. I've never had one before, but it seems like a time I should tell you how much I love you.

I knew I liked you from the moment I met you!

Thanks for paying attention to me even when the Tar Heels are playing.

You've found all my good tickle spots.

You always do the most fascinating things.

Thanks for taking me on lots of fun adventures.

And teaching me how to do new things.

Thanks for taking care of me.

And for always having so much fun with me! Nobody throws me around as well as you do!

And you do a great job loving my Mommy. I always see you giving her hugs and kisses.

I love my Dad!

But everything I had to lose
Came back a thousand times in you
And you fill me up with love
Fill me up with love
And you help me stand
'cause I am a family man

Oh Baby! Botanical Gardens

I recently started organizing the baby events for JCRMA (Jefferson County Resident Medical Alliance, a.k.a. resident wives group). For this month's event, we went to the botanical gardens and were joined by Melanie and her son Jack. Melanie's husband and Jonathan are the same year in the same program, and Jack and Josiah are just two months apart.

This picture tickled me: Don't they look like baby CEOs at a board meeting?

Melanie took some pictures of the boy and me for us.

The boys are figuring each other out.

Oh dear! Poor Jack!
Is my little boy going to be the bully on the playground?

Melanie and Jack had to head out, but Josiah and I stayed for a picnic. Turkey sandwich for me, Cheerios off the blanket for the boy.

They have a fun fountain that Josiah thought was cool.

Thanks!

Thanks, Kate, for the Hobnobs! It was so exciting to get your note in the mail; it brought back lots of good memories. Josiah opened them immediately (while I was not paying attention). He did eat part of one and seemed to like it. Good times...

Also, Mimi and GP, that is his Hawaii t-shirt. I was tickled about how cute he could look in a t-shirt!

This picture is to show Grammy how cute he is in his outfit.

Father's Day in Atlanta

Jonathan was on-call all day and night Father's Day, so we celebrated with him on Saturday. We had a great day: Jonathan read all the notes people wrote him, and we went for a walk and ate French toast for lunch and chicken fingers for dinner (Jonathan's faves).

Josiah and I headed to Atlanta Sunday and Monday. Grammy and Anna were in town for a wedding, Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Gail were visiting Ryan and Susan, and Carrie-Anne brought her crew over too. Lots of fun!

Josiah was sweet as he could be. He liked the pool, but was really tired when we went into it. He chirped at Sandy the dog and Smoky the cat every time they were nearby, but when we tried to bring them close for him to pet them he got shy. The funniest part of the weekend was when Sandy licked his face. Josiah scrunched his lips and rubbed against me to get the drool off.

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Happy Father's Day!

Hanging in My Crib

Josiah woke up happy from a nap this morning, so I took the opportunity to snap some shots.

We often find him playing with his mobile animals, and sometimes he's taken Mr. Giraffe down.

He's been so sweet lately! Today he waved back to me in the mirror. He's also started smiling at strangers and then doing the cuddling-close-to-momma thing when they talk to him. Be still my heart!

Visit With Joyce and Hope

Jonathan's Aunt Joyce came up for the day to take cousin Hope to a doctor's appointment, so we got to have lunch with them.

Stealin' some sugar while Josiah was focused on his cheese.

We also got to go to a summer music program at the local library this morning. It was fun, a little chaotic, but fun. Josiah liked looking at all the kids and hearing the music. They passed out instruments, and he rocked out with an egg shaker. Then we finished off the day with dinner with a friend from Bible study. We like to keep busy while Daddy's on call!

Sippie Cup

I seem to be running low on new things to blog about, but here is Josiah's renewed attempt at a sippie cup. I had been doing it for him, but I thought I'd let him try on his own for a while. He did best with this cup (handles and no sucking nozzle thing).

In other eating news, Josiah is really enjoying his finger foods. Here are a few he's tried and enjoyed: bananas, carrots, peas, corn, apples, blueberries, strawberries, black beans, sweet potatoes, green beans, yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, avocado, mango (not a fan) and cheese (mozzarella preferred over cheddar).
For the things you may be thinking are too hard for him to eat (carrots, potatoes, apples) I've steamed or microwaved them in chunk form, so they are still soft enough to eat and solid enough to pick up. Do you think any potential future children will get this much effort? Or will they just survive on Cheerios and chicken nuggets?