Help us Shaquille O'neal

Several months ago you may remember a blog I wrote about a bird pecking on our window early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Fortunately this stopped around October and we haven't heard from the bird... until today. This morning around 8:00 I was playing with Abby and I heard an indistinguishable sound of "peck, peck, peck" coming from the foyer. After looking up I saw the same dumb robin flapping its wings and flying into the window pane. I opened the door a few times and scared it away but it would return very shortly and start to peck at the window again. I have tried placing a fake snake on the window sill, throwing tennis balls at the window, and considered purchasing an air rifle to permanently get rid of the problem (which Cindy veto's every time). Today I had the revelation of placing a scarecrow on the window sill.


The window above the front door is the bird's window of choice. We had it tinted and a reflective treatment added to it our first year in the house to cut down on the afternoon heat coming through the window. If you look closely at the bottom left of the window you will see my "scarecrow." That's right. The scarecrow is none other than LSU's center from 1991 Shaquille O'neal.


"Why Shaquille O'neal" you may ask? He was sitting in my garage and looked like a good solution. For the bird's sake, I hope this works. So far the bird has not returned in the past 6 hours since Shaq has kept watch over the window, but only time will tell. If you have any recommendations, I'm all ears.

11 months old...

I can't believe my baby girl is 11 months old today! So exciting that she's happy, healthy and growing like crazy but I still look at her and see that tiny little
6 lb. 8oz baby girl. It's even harder for me to believe that in one month we'll be celebrating her first birthday. This year has flown and been one of the most challenging but fun years of my life. Wow, how your life can change so fast. Abby is now feeding herself and loves her snack foods more than anything else. In fact she went from eating lots of fruit and veggies to wanting only snack foods. I tried to tell her tonight a girl can't live on puffs and graham crackers:) I am trying new foods with her and she'll let you know she doesn't like it by throwing it right up. I have a kiddopotamus bib that's great because when she starts throwing up I can catch it in the little pocket and scoop it over to the sink and wash out the bib. She's also cruising around as long as she has something to hang on to and I won't be surprised if she's not walking real soon. Our baby girl is soon to be a toddler. She's into everything now, loves to dance, read her flap books, try to sing, laugh at her daddy's antics and gaze at the Christmas tree. I can't wait to see what she's going to think about Christmas!

How time flies!

For Thanksgiving this year, our family traveled to Gatlinburg, TN for a four day stay at the Hemlock Hills Resort. Cindy and I had stayed here last year with our church group and it is a great place for a large group. The cabin was a five bedroom/five bath and we had 14 adults and three kids with us. It was a bit crowded when everone was in the same room, but it was a great time. We visited the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, hiked in the Great Smokey Mountains, shopped in Pigeon Forge and had a great time playing at the cabin. Here are some photos from our trip and few photos from other visits with family.

This year, our family came together in Gatinburg for four days of fun and relaxation. Heth's family drove from Alabama and Cindy's family drove from Charlotte and Greenville, SC. In this photo from left to right are great Paw Paw Fleming, Grandma, and Grandpa.


Heth's family included from left to right Pop and Nana Gibson, Brody and Bryleigh Wood, Aunt Erica, Abby, and Heth. Cindy took the photo and Uncle Tommy was trying to get Bryleigh's attention for the photo.


Nana, Bryleigh, Abby, and Uncle Tommy enjoyed playing together and reading books all week. Bryleigh was 18 months old and Abby was 10 months during our trip to the mountains.


At the aquarium, Abby's cousin, Bryleigh, stands along the ledge of one of the tanks and tries to get Erica's attention to show her the fish inside the tank.







Brody, Abby's oldest cousin, is excited to go inside the aquarium in Gatlinburg. Brody had a great time exploring the aquarium and got a toy shark from the gift shop.



Outside of the aquarium there were fall decorations set up. Abby loved the pumpkis and scarecrows while Brody liked climbing on the hay bales.



Cindy has bought Abby a Leap Frog learning table that she loves. She likes to stand along side it and push all of the buttons. She also sways back and forth like she's "dancing" to the alhpabet song.



On Thanksgiving Day, some of our family took a walk in the Great Smokey Mountains Nation Park to a waterfall. It was a 1 1/2 mile trail that is completely paved with asphalt the entire way. I would recommend this walk to anoyone visiting the park and looking for a stroller friendly trail.



On the way to the waterfall, Brody climbed several rock outcroppings that are beside the trail. In this photo, Pop and Brody show us how high they can climb.



Abby really liked her Aunt Erica and everone else in the cabin. Abby loves being around new people, as long as mom and dad are nearby.




Wii madness swept the cabin. We brought our Wii from home and enjoyed playing bowling, tennis and baseball with each other. Brody loved to bowl, box and race cows. He mentioned Santa may bring him a Wii for Christmas this year.