HAPPY FALL!!

FUN

Here is Gus on his first day of "school". Silly as it sounds I put him in this onesie (with matching monkey socks!) in order to convey to his caregivers that he was a fun-loving baby, maybe giving him that hold-me-more-than-the-other-kids look. But it looks like our child was adding his own ironic take on the ensemble by combining it with this serious expression. Hopefully he won't have the reputation as "that intense infant".

My Boys

Road to Roses

A last roadtrip before returning from maternity leave. With summers end near the time was ripe to visit rare rose nurseries in South Carolina and bring back a load of beauties for Meredith and our home garden.

Here are some beauties we admired:

(not identified but pretty pink hybrid musk)

My favorite of the day: Lisboa de 1947. Perfect red rose.

A perfect pink (Rosa 'Desgaches') with cute crabby spider

Admiring roses is harder on Aaron than one would think. His mind works overtime deciding which ones to get, how to use them, etc. I just walk around saying "pretty!" or "I need that!" or "Can I have it, please?" like a little kid.

Plant Napping in Progress

We brake for plants. And not just at nurseries. If I had stepped back a few feet for this picture you would see a Holiday Inn sign above this bed. Aaron realized that these ferns were enduring the hot September sun beautifully and had to step out to collect them right there on the busy street under a sign that said "Congratulations Steve and Amanda".

Southerly Carolina

Okay, Aaron came up with the name of this post and I challenged him on the word "southerly". Apparently it is a word so I had to concede although I did remind him that I was the chief editor of the blog and future uses of strange words had to be approved by me before going to print. I write this to have it in black and white that I admit that I was WRONG. Sorry for the detour - resume enjoying blog.

The weekend was so pleasant. We managed to find a really nice small hotel with pretty views in Table Rock State Park even though it is high season for the mountains. The inn keeper was this super sweet lady who left beanie babies in our room for our enjoyment as well as a bud vase with a little pink rose when she found out we were in town to look at roses and left us candy bars in our room.

This was taken at the most gorgeous lodge in the park with views of the lake and beach. Of course we didn't capture the view, just Gus. He has really been interactive lately and really seems to listen to you. Its pretty amazing as a new parent to watch him focus and pay such close attention. He mimicks the shape your mouth makes as well as many sounds.

Picture of Gus goofing around as well as mom's cleavage.

Smiles at Sunrise

Bath Time

Wednesdays With Friends

Every Wednesday we get together with our friends for dinner. Usually it is Mexican but we decided to try our new neighborhood deli. We probably won't be back anytime soon since it took several tries to order before finding something they weren't out of and then waiting and waiting for the food we did order. Oh well. We tried.

Luckily we had Harrison and Gus to entertain us while we waited to be fed. Tune in soon for pics from the farmer's market with the gang getting biscuits and punkins!! Can't wait!

Flea Market Finds

In-laws came into town. It got ugly.

You just know there is some scary s@#* in this guy's basement.

Want this for your kids room? Scary part is the artist's name....

Creepy.

Gus

Vaccination Victim

Can anyone tell me how you give 4 vaccines to this little guy?I had to take him to do just that today and he was such a champ although mom almost lost it. Gave me the whole bottom-lip-quivering cry, real tears, and a look that said "why are you trying to kill me?" Poor little fella.

In other news.....he weighs 13lb, 13 oz and is 23 1/4 inches long. That is 90th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. His head is in 95th percentile. I think the above hat was made for high schoolers.

Baby Blue....a Haiku

Baby Boy in Blue...

Parents waiting.....which eye hue?

Think we'll find out soon!

August in Bed

We have a little routine in the house now. Gus is sleeping 6 hours at a time, nurses, then sleeps 3 hours more. It is so wonderful to get that much sleep for new parents. However, since we usually put him to sleep several hours before we actually go down, we are still sleepy in the morning when he is ready to join the party. So we drag him in bed with us to snuggle. He usually plays quietly while we get a few more minutes of shut eye. He seems to really enjoy the arrangement. We sure do!

Engaging Gus

Night Cap

This kid can look cute in anything - even this super silly hat our neighbors (not the ones we hang out with I should say) gave us. He's been wearing it to bed since his other knitted hat is stretched out (large noggin) and we must say he looks very cute in it - in sort of a fraggle kind of way.

Table Time

Hurricane Brings Beautiful Rain

So love a summers rain! Lovely lilies (lycoris) clothed here in tiny turks cap (malvaviscus) flowers.
Cold hardy citrus (poncirus) putting on their late summer show.


Cactus (opuntia) fully fruited

Rain lilies (zephyranthes) rushing back to life. Seen here in full flush following a summery soaking shower.

Life is Good