So Much to Say

I started a post with all of the words that Ford is saying, but he's learning faster than I can type and translate. I thought maybe I should do a post for no particular reason and include some of my favorites.

Kee Kot - Cricket
Lello - Yellow
See eh - Sierra
Gee Ga - Griffin (his first attempt at Griffin was today!)
Ky Kull - Motorcycle
Tay Tew - Thank You
Mee or Meez - Please
Kel Key - Miss Kelly (one of his playschool teachers)

We've been talking about colors lately, only because Ford seems interested. And if I talk about something that interests him, he's less likely to scream i.e. while I'm changing his diaper. Anyway, my sister mentioned that he knows his colors. "No, not really," was my response. She said, "Yes, he knows yellow." I said, "Well, I asked him how old he was the other day and he said 'Lellow'," so, I don't think he grasps it quite yet!

I had the news on while Ford was eating dinner the other night and Dan Miller, the evening news anchor, was on. Ford looked at the TV and said, "PawPaw," which is Scott's dad. What do y'all think? Do y'all think PawPaw and Dan Miller look alike?



Here are a couple of pictures of Ford just being cute. Ford reading a book:

Ford playing IN his toybox:

I took a picture today of Ford and told him to "look cute" and this was his pose:


On a totally different subject, a couple of weeks ago, Abby came to Nashville to visit (without her children) and Mary Ann, The Jennifers, Abby and I all went out to dinner. It was so nice to spend the weekend with my sweet friends.

The next morning, we played at Mary Ann and Jason's house and I took a picture of the boys. Look how cute they all are!


Okay, I've written enough for one post. I just had lots of catching up to do!

Busy Bees

It's been way too long since my last post and it has been a busy couple of weeks. Ford has recovered from his black eye AND Scott and I left him for the very first time while we went to Virginia to Scott's step-sister Jennifer's wedding.

I took Ford to Granny and Papa's house in Kentucky last Wednesday. I was just a little concerned about Ford being sad that I was leaving him. The fact that he wouldn't give me a hug and kiss bye and was screaming for my mother made me more confident that he would be just fine without us.

On Thursday morning, Scott and I left for Christiansburg, Virginia, about two hours from Lynchburg where the wedding was going to be. My sweet husband planned for us to stay in a historic bed and breakfast, The Oaks, and go to a nice dinner to take advantage of our time away from Ford. Here are some pictures of the B&B.





It was our first vacation in four years, since our honeymoon, and it was very relaxing and a very nice break from our daily routines. We got up on Friday morning to meet up with Cindy, Forest and Scott's brothers in Lynchburg.

The rehearsal and dinner, wedding and reception were all held at this wonderful plantation house.

Everything was just beautiful, including the bride.



We had lots of fun eating yummy food and dancing at the reception. Thanks to Jennifer and Michael and their respective parents for such a lovely weekend! A huge THANK YOU to Granny, Papa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Leigh Ann for taking such good care of our baby boy in our absence. And, last but not least, a big THANKS to Scott's dad and Rona for taking care of the pets while we were out of town.

I also have end with some recent picture of Ford AND a big shout out to my Kentucky Wildcats. As some of you know, my blogger name, UK Nat, is in honor of the Wildcats. UK's football team is ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 1984 AND they are 4-0 after beating Arkansas on Saturday! GOOOOOO CATS!

Shiner

We had a yard sale at our friends' house, Andy and Jaime. Ford was playing around in the driveway and fell down. Scott picked him up and I ran over to see what he had hurt. He did a really long, no-noise pause and then screamed louder and longer than ever before. Look at his eye. And the pictures don't do it justice. Poor baby.

Barrett's Bracelets

Here is a picture of almost all of the sweet girls in my community group (two of them had already gone home, so they didn't make the picture) and Melissa (in the middle), who goes to our church. Let me tell you about Melissa's nephew, Barrett.

Melissa's sister and brother-in-law have three children. They have always wanted to adopted a child and felt like God's plan was for them to start the process and they have chosen to adopt a child from Russia. As you can imagine, trips to Russia can be very expensive. Barrett decided that he needs to travel with his parents when they go pick up his brother in Russia. For the sake of telling the story correctly, I've copied the following from their blog:

Our oldest child B came to us a few months ago and asked if he could go to Russia with us to "pick up" his new brother. We told him that due to the cost of the plane ticket and us now knowing how even Mommy and Daddy were going to get there, it wasn't going to work out. "But I have $135" was his matter of fact reply. We told him a ticket would cost more like $1000 and he headed off to his room. A few minutes later, B returned with a well-thought out plea: "Well, since I am going to be his only brother, I think he wants to meet me first. And I think he wants me to see where he was born since he'll get to see where I was born. I can save $1000. I'll do extra chores. I really want to go to Russia."

Of course our hearts melted and we agreed to let him go under one condition: that he did pay for his own plane ticket. B was THRILLED and saw the challenge ahead as a totally achievable goal. We decided that he could do a large recycling drive (in CA we can turn in plastic bottles, soda cans, etc. for cash), some jobs in our neighborhood, and a few other fundraisers. He was pumped! He paid for his passport out of his own money and he was off... The recycling was an instant success: our kids LOVE the hunts for bottle and cans. We have a number of wonderful friends saving their recycling for us. B even recycled at an Angels' game recently after nearly being moved to tears at the thought of leaving all those bottle and cans behind!

Around Mother's Day, I came up with a craft for B's Sunday School class to make their moms and it has emerged (per B's idea) into a massive effort towards B's trip. B makes bracelets. We started out thinking he would sell 50 or so to family and close friends...he is well on his way to selling 300! B decided that his goal of $1000 was "too simple" for him and so now he is on his way to raise $5000--he'll pay for his plane ticket, food, hotel, and supplies for the trip, gifts for the orphanage, and perhaps his new brother's ticket home! We are so proud of him; and now due to the large success of the "Made for an Angel" bracelets, are all part of this crafting effort. He even has college students from the University where my husband and I work volunteering their time to try to keep up with the orders. B buys all of his own supplies and has designed these adorable bracelets. He has a charm that says, "Made for an Angel" in the middle of each bracelet...of course that angel is his brother.

On Wednesday night, Melissa came over with all of her bracelet making supplies and we made bracelets for Barrett to sell. Of course, I think all of us purchased one for ourselves! They are very cute!

It's the sweetest story ever. Barrett's parents must be wonderful...rather than telling him it was impossible, they helped him find a way to raise money so that his dream can come true. What great lessons this is teaching him! And, Barrett must be a wonderful little boy for bringing all of this into fruition!

I have added a link to their blog in my favorites. Go there and read about their sweet family and buy a few hundred bracelets from Barrett!

Haircut

Ford got his first official haircut today. I trimmed it once myself, just to get it out of his eyes and off of his ears. But today, we went to a professional. It's not that drastic, but still very cute! Here's the before and after:

Ford was absolutely PERFECT. He sat in the chair and sat STILL until she was finished. Of course, my brave boy got a very yummy sucker when it was all over!

Quote of the Day

I ran across this quote on the blog of a friend of a friend. I thought it was too good not to share.

"God is not working toward a particular finish. His purpose is the process itself. What He desires from me is that I 'see Him walking on the sea' with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see Him...

It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God."

-Oswald Chambers,"My Utmost for His Highest"

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

We went to Illinois along with Scott's dad for Labor Day weekend to visit Scott's Dad's family. We hadn't been to visit since May of last year. We knew they wouldn't care a thing about seeing us, but figured a visit from Ford was long overdue.

Scott's grandpa just turned 85 and his grandma is 82. They have lived in the same house since 1960 and have lived in Winchester, IL, the most quintessential small town, their whole lives. Here is a picture of their house (it was built in the 1880's).

We arrived on Friday in time to eat pizza and watch the Cardinals vs. Reds after Ford went to bed. On Saturday, Scott, Ford and I went for a walk around Winchester. Here is Grandma and Grandpa's church, the town square and library. When we got back, Grandpa asked us where all we walked. We told him and he said that that was pretty much the whole town!

On Sunday, we headed to Springfield to Scott's uncle Steve's house. Almost all of Scott's family came on that day to visit. I got really lazy and didn't take many pictures. So, I'll just put a couple of cute ones of Ford here...climbing trees in the backyard and with his "Steak and Shake" hat.

Oh, and over the weekend, we had TWO wedding anniversaries to celebrate. Scott and I were married four years on Friday, August 31st and Grandma and Grandpa celebrated 63 years on Monday, September 3rd. I hope that someday I can say that Scott and I have been married that long!

We had a really nice visit, but we are glad to be home!