A Beautiful Wedding

This past weekend, Cindy and I were invited to our friend, Ginny Conner's, wedding. We left early Saturday morning after dropping Abby off at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was the first evening Cindy and I have spent without Abby since she was born. After leaving Charlotte, we drove most of the day and made only a few stops to eat and shop along the way. The wedding began at 5:00 and we barely made it to the chapel before the wedding started. It was a beautiful wedding and it was so nice seeing some of my friend from college I have not seen in almost a decade. After the wedding, a few of us visited a local Mexican restaurant and kicked back for a fun evening. Cindy and I slept in on Sunday (til almost 8:30 in the morning) and had a "delicious" breakfast at the Holiday Inn. All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

Heth and Jeff Graham see one another at the wedding after having not seen one another in two years.






Heth and Ginny Smith. Ginny looked beautiful in her wedding dress and her wedding was wonderful.






Ginny and Daniel leaving the wedding chapel to begin their honeymoon. I actually didn't get a chance to meet Daniel but he seemed like a nice guy.





Ashley Fuller and Jeff's daughter, Hannah, had a great time at the Mexican restaurant. Hannah placed flowers in Ashley's hair and styled it for her.

Abby is now STANDING!

At the age of 9 months and 2 days old, Abby has learned to stand up on her own. She will crawl over to something, usually a coffee table, sofa or window sill, place a hand on the object and then pull herself up. Once she's up she will grab and touch everything within reach. She'll stand for a minute or so and then have a seat, crawl around a bit more and then stand up again. She's getting so big and growing up fast, but she'll always be a little girl to us.





Here she is getting ready to pull herself up at the coffee table. She is still working on her balance and getting her feet under her, but she can at least get to a standing position easily now.















No matter how big she gets, Abby will never be too big for a ride around the house in the laundry basket with "da-da." Here she is with me flying around our bedroom and taking a break for a photo from Cindy.

Paw Paw and Grammy's visit

Two weekends ago, Paw Paw and Grammy Kendrick visited from Alabama to spend some time with Abby. They last saw her in July and she had quite a few new tricks to show them while they were in town. Although we try to Skype at least every two weeks, it was nice having them at our house so they could get some "Abby time." While they were here, Abby took Paw Paw and Grammy on several wagon rides and stroller rides through the neighborhood and even took a trip to Costco (and tried ice cream for the first time and loved it). She really likes to be out of the house and takes in everything and everyone she sees.


Abby loves her Paw Paw. When they arrived at our house she had no hesitation in going right to Paw Paw and Grammy. She had a great time with them while they were in town.

BOOK TIME! Abby likes to "read" books with us. We try and read at least 20 minutes everyday with her and she loves turning the pages. Only a couple of books have been destroyed, but that's a small price to pay if she learns to appreciate reading.

















During these cool Fall evenings, Abby loves to take wagon and stroller rides with us around the neighborhood. Along our trip we meet neighbors, trees, bugs, dogs, cars and a whole host of other things that keep her entertained. While in town, Paw Paw and Grammy took Abby out several times to get some fresh air. She had a great time while they were here and we look forward to the next time we can see them.

She's almost 9 months old..

I know, I know, it's been way too long since a blog. We have been so busy lately and to be honest the world of Facebook is too tempting to stay away from at times :) It has also been difficult going back to work and balancing everything without feeling exhuasted. So here is a picture memoir of Abby at 8 months old. She loves playing with all of her toys- many thanks to Goodwill purchases at $1 a piece, she loves wagon rides in the afternoons since it is cooler now, and she loves saying mama, dada, baba, la la, and even says some other jumbled up baby talk. Abby is the joy of my life and watching her grow up is such a blessing. And if you haven't noticed she keeps getting cuter and cuter, and yes she still looks a lot like her daddy :)

Kisses and Crawling

Everyday Abby is growing more and more and learning so much. Below are a couple of videos that we took this week of Abby's new expertise of crawling around. She now crawls all over the floor to get to anything she can. It's so amazing and it makes me laugh every time I see her on the move. Her other trick (that she has taught herself) is that she likes to make "kissy" sounds. She will make this sound over and over and likes to mimic you when you make the sound as well.

Abby is Crawling!

Today Abby officially crawled across our king size bed to get the remote control she wanted so badly. She has been working on the motions by rocking back and forth for a while but finally put it all together and moved across the bed. She seems to be more successful on our bed than on the floor though. I can't believe she is on the move now. I guess we'll not get to sit down or plop her down and be able to walk away from her, so I guess I have mixed feelings :) She really loves to stand and jump now too which means her little legs are getting prepared for walking. My little baby is growing up too fast. She is such a sweet girl and so much fun now, loving her wagon rides in the afternoon and laughing at silly things we do.

Abby's first blog

While I was posting my blog this morning, Abby was in my lap playing with her teething ring. I could tell she wanted to touch the screen and keyboard so I let her post her first blog"

" hhhhhhhhh nb bhjnb ` b bhbnb b mnhnbhyu nc `mnhnkiujh nb 6gtfb6gtftf5fgvcxxnb nhgn bbnb hrv jyyjjnhy6htuyyhg7hgnhgnngv mvkjyhv xxxxxxxxxvyhtt4ytrd, ` c``bcv gfyhg"

Sunday blues

Abby woke up this morning with a 101 temperature. Cindy and I think it's because she is cutting teeth, but just to be sure I kept her home from church today. Here are few pictures we have taken of Abby in the past few days.

Abby has been working on her posture for the day she becomes a supermodel. Here she is balancing one of her stacking rings on her head. She can sit still for about a minute with the ring on her head.

I like playing and trying to get Abby to laugh. She has a really good personality and can play with the best of them.

Abby can sit up on her own but she still likes to sit on the couch or recliner. When she gets tired or feels bad she wants to sit in your laps and just hang out. She's a great baby.

Like Manna from Heaven

A few weeks ago, before the first Auburn football game, I placed an order online to a store in Auburn (who shall remain nameless) for a new Auburn shirt and hat. I try to get a new piece of clothing each year before the start of the season. This way, if things go well for the team I can contribute all of their success to the hat/shirt. But, if things go poorly, I can treat the clothing as a voodoo item and destroy it in hopes of helping the team.

After placing my order, I received my package in the mail within 5 days. I think it was a Thursday. To my amazement, I received a second package from the same store in Auburn when i came home on Friday. Inside this package was a long sleeve orange t-shirt, an Under Armor golf shirt, a women's t-shirt and a women's Hilfiger embroidered shirt. All of the clothes were in the correct sizes for me and Cindy to wear. At first I thought it was a gift from a family member because the shipping envelope was made out to me. After looking at the invoice inside the package, it was supposed to have been shipped to a gentleman in Mississippi.

As much as I wanted to keep the clothing, I wanted to make sure the guy in Mississippi got his stuff he ordered (the total amount for the order was over $180). So on the following Monday, I called the store in Auburn and informed them of their mistake. They told me they would send the guy in Miss. a new package and send me an envelope to return the clothing I received. Well...

Here it is 3 weeks later and I have not received a return package. I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is for this kind of thing, but I think this is similar to the Biblical story of Manna from Heaven. The Lord has provided for me and my family and, come to find out, He is an Auburn fan after all! So for the remained of this football season, my family will end all of our prayers with "Amen" and "War Eagle."

Hangin' in her crib.....

We woke up yesterday morning to our sweet baby girl sitting up in her crib and trying to pull herself up by holding onto the crib rails. It quickly reminded us that we needed to move the mattress down to the lowest level. I thought, wait a minute, we just moved it a few weeks ago and here we go again. Our little baby girl is now in a toddler bed?? Well not really but in my mind it seems too soon. I know she's going to grow up but why so fast?? In four months she'll be a year old, did I just say that, and seriously where did these last eight months go? Each new stage has been such a blessing to watch. She's babbling now, laughing at silly things we do, really close to crawling, and jumps around like crazy if you hold her in a standing position. She is just a bundle of joy! I can't wait to see what the months and years ahead have in store for us!

Singin' and Dancin' and Movin' to the Groovin'

Recently, Abby has begin to show more and more her little personality. She has the cutest laugh and smile for a baby I have ever seen (I may be a bit biased). Below are a few recent videos which show Abby playing at home with Cindy and I.

JUMPEROO MADNESS!

It has been a while since we let Abby play in her Jumperoo. Part of this was because of the number of other toys we have for her to play with. But Cindy's mom has been telling us how much she likes to jump in the jumperoo at her house. I think you can tell from this video she really likes to jump.

ABBY IS A DANCING MACHINE

Since Cindy started back to school, Abby has been staying with her Grandma during the day. Mrs. Fleming sings, plays and has shown Abby how to "dance." In this video, Abby shows off her mad skills while eating Peas, Pears and Peaches. I think you know YOU JUST GOT SERVED SUCKA!

LITTLE ROLY-POLY

This last video demonstrates Abby's mad skills of rolling while holding a purple block at the same time. That, my friend, is talent rarely seen in babies. Only the bravest of babies would even think of such a feat. I think you can also see that Abby has learned to say "Da-da," which brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

Wouldn't that be somethin'

Occasionally with my job, I have the opportunity to attend a community/public meeting where I get to talk to members of the public regarding a project I may be working on. These meetings are usually fun for me as it seems as though every wack-o comes out of the woods to tell me how stupid I am or some crazy idea they have had for the past 50 years about how to improve their city. I had the opportunity to attend one such meeting this week in Fayetteville, NC.

For those of you not familiar with Fayetteville (including me until my visit) it is the home of Fort Bragg, one of the Airborne and Special Forces bases. I was asked to help with the redesign of a 6 1/2 mile stretch of road on the north side of town. During the community interaction process, members from the public can stop by and let you know what they think of the design, what they know about the history of the area, etc. Usually these meetings are pretty standard but there is the occasional "character" that may stop by. This week, I had the opportunity of meeting "Mr. Burns."

Mr. Burns is a retired Army paratrooper, lives at the far end of the street I was redesigning and is 84 years old. His wife (who I never met) is 64 years old, so essentially he is a cradle robber. Mr. Burns came to every community open house (there were five) and would stick around until we shut the lights off. He was a nice man and he wasn't shy in sharing some of this thoughts on some key topics. Below is a except on some of Mr. Burns' favorite topics.

GLOBAL WARMING:
The best way to explain my Conversation with Mr. Burns is with a narrative.

Mr Burns: You know, I heard one of them icebergs in Iceland broke loose last month and is floating in the ocean.

Heth: Oh really.

Mr Burns: Yeah, it's just floating around out there in the ocean. I heard it's about 26 square miles. That's bigger than Anson County. Wouldn't it be somethin' if that thing floated towards New York City and crashed into it?

Heth: That would be something.

Mr Burns: I think they oughtta do something about them icebergs. That's the reason the Titanic sunk, you know. I think they oughtta go and melt all that ice and keep them icebergs from floatin' around in the ocean.

Heth: Well, we kind of need those icebergs.

Mr Burns: Wouldn't it be somethin' if we could get an 18-wheeler full of gasoline on that iceberg to spread gasoline all over it? Then we could light it on fire and melt the whole thing. Wouldn't that be somethin'?

Heth: Huh?

Mr Burns: Yeah, a truck full of gasoline would take care of that iceberg real fast. You know what would work better?

Heth: What's that?

Mr Burns: One of those atomic bombs we dropped on the Japs. Now that would finish off those icebergs for good. No sir, no more icebergs in the oceans. Wouldn't that be somethin' if we could drop a lot of atomic bombs on all of that ice?

Heth: That would be somethin'.


HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE:
This conversation was between Mr. Burns, David (my client) and I. I have to be very careful when it comes to subjects like this because you never know the "orientation" of the people, or clients, you may be working with.

Mr Burns: You know what I don't understand? How can a man in his right mind be attracted to other men with so many good looking women out there?

Heth: I don't know the answer to that Mr. Burns.

Mr Burns: Well I do. He just ain't right in the head. There's somethin' wrong with a man who wants to kiss another man.

David(client): Well, Mr. Burns, some people are just born that way.

Mr Burns: No, that's not true. There's just something wrong in their head.

TRANSPORTATION
Fayetteville is in the process of constructing a Interstate 295 to loop around the city. Currently the interstate is about half built but construction is scheduled to begin once again in the near future. Within the first 10 minutes of his arrival, Mr. Burns asked "When do you think they will continue work on Interstate 295?" I was told the state was just a few weeks from beginning agin so I told Mr. Burns this. The only problem is that he asked this question SIX MORE TIMES... Each time I would tell him the same thing but I would get the same exact question within the next 30 minutes. I don't know if he was forgetting due to his age or if he liked to feel like he was in on some information that the public may not know (he always asked the question when someone new entered the room).

Overall, the meeting was a sucess and there was no screaming or yelling. I have been to meetings and been refered to as "that moron," "that idoit from Charlotte" and "A-hole." But I have to say the folks in Fayetteville were very cordial and polite to us the entore week.

It's All happening so fast....

Some days I look at Abby and think that time is just going by way too fast. She seems to be reaching these developmental milestone so quickly. The past few days she has been able to go from a lying position on the floor to sitting on her own. She's been trying for a while but was successful yesterday, as witnessed by my dad while I was at work. I hate missing those first times but I did get to see it firsthand this morning. She is still on the verge of crawling as well. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, with a little leg movement every now and then. Soon she'll be all over the place and Heth and I will never be able to sit down. She also continues to babble, now using some different words adding da-da to the mix this week. Wow, has it really been 7 and half months?? I can't even remember what life was like before Abby and wonder what in the world Heth and I did with all of our time. Things are busy now, especially since I am back at work. I have some great students this semester in Anatomy and it really makes teaching enjoyable and fulfilling. It is refreshing to get off to another new start and look forward to the upcoming fall. I think Fall is my favorite time of year, the leaves changing, football, and cooler weather. I love it!

Not just another schoolyear...

Tomorrow starts my tenth year teaching. I know I can't believe I've been doing this for ten years already. And yes, it does make me feel like I'm getting older. As I begin another school year I always start praying for the 160+ students that I will teach. Praying that I can somehow be an example for their lives, and praying that God will help me know how to effectively teach and deal with each student. Becoming a mommy has also really changed my perspective of teaching. I guess you can say that teaching has helped me with motherhood in many ways, and motherhood has helped me grow as a teacher. Now as students enter my classroom I remember that they are somebody's baby and I want to treat them in the same way I would my precious Abby. It has really enlightened me, especially when dealing with more difficult students. I just pray that I am not continually brought down by all of the CMS beauracracy that looms over us and all the additional, what seems to be like busy work, they seem to pile on us every year. Again, having a baby has also brought a lot of this into perspective. I used to bring a lot of work home, now if it is not finished at 3, oh well, it's staying at work and I'm going home to spend time with my little girl. I never want to take any more time away from here than I have to. At the same time I do try to do the best job I can while I'm there and really work to get things finished up. Pray that God will allow me to be an effective teacher, a living example to students (many that are not saved), and to instill in students a passion for learning.

Abby is 7 months old!

Well, she was officially 7 months old on Friday. I took these pictures Sunday afternoon while we were getting her changed after church and ready for her nap. She just looked so cute in her little diaper in the crib.