Summer is almost over...

Summer is almost over and it won't be long before we need a sweater up here on the mountain.  We've had the air turned off for a couple of weeks and it has been getting down in to the upper 50's at night which has been wonderful.  That makes for some great sleeping but it sure is tough to get up in the morning when you're snuggled in all warm and cozy.

We FINALLY have our house on the market in Asheville and Trip and I are beginning to feel human again.  It has been so nice to have our weekends back but it was a little bitter sweet to drive away from the house on the day we listed with the realtor.  I mean that was our first house as a couple and our little boy's first house too!  We both shed a few tears as we said goodbye.  We actually took Jake along for that trip and he made it clear that he wanted to stay in the Asheville house.  He loves his room in that house and his little friends that live next door so he told us several times that he wanted us to live there again. 

My Mama and Daddy are going through withdrawal now that we're not dropping Jake off with them every Saturday morning.  They just miss him so much but thankfully we're close and still hang out with them as often as possible.  I'm eternally grateful that God blessed me with a job that kept us close to them.  We're very, very close and family is extremely important to me.  I would be lost without them and I love that Jake gets to spend so much time with not only Mama and Daddy but also my brother, his wife and their three amazing kids.

We're starting to "browse" houses up here but we're reluctant to get our hearts set on anything until we see how long its going to take to sell our house off the mountain.  It is a terrible time to be trying to sell a house but we're getting excited about the possibilities for buying in this market.  I guess you can never have it perfect on both sides of the coin.  You either sell high and buy high or sell low and buy low. 

Jake loves the park here and we take him as often as we can.  It's only 10 minutes away which is great.  It's a community supported park instead of being government funded and it is AWESOME!  Great play ground equipment, picnic areas, tons of open space, walking/biking trail, great river access, an outdoor music stage and more.  We hope that when we do find a new home that we'll still be very close to the park.

Grandma came down and stayed a couple of nights with us last week and we all enjoyed our time with her.  I feel so fortunate to have her as my mother-in-law!  Jake loved having her here and can't wait for her to come back for another visit!  He was especially excited that she slept here in the house and was ready to play as soon as he woke up in the morning.  Luckily ... we'll get to see her again in just a few weeks at the family picnic. 

We were part of a truly beautiful wedding this past weekend.  My cousin's daughter (who I adore) got married to a wonderful young man and being there with them was very special.  Jake was supposed to be a ring bearer but he was overwhelmed by the crowd and decided not to participate.  Luckily, Laura was a sweetheart and totally understood.  He was VERY excited about wearing his tuxedo and I have to say he was absolutely adorable in it.  I was the director of the wedding so I only got to snap a couple of photos of him but he looked so cute that we'll probably dress him and take a few more at some point soon.

What a beautiful bride!

Congratulations Laura and Thomas!

May God bless your marriage always!

Yep... I'm totally adorable!

I wish I had been looking at the camera because this

would have been a great family shot...

Just made my entrance and wowed the ladies!

I love that Grandma and Daddy let me hold

the drill in this picture!

Grandma ... you can come in and play with me...

I was so excited to find Grandma at the bottom of the slide!

I woke up from my nap and Grandma was still here!

I have got to get Mama's car cleaned up!

It's moments like this that make shopping with Mama bearable!

Check out this great big bear that I found in the park...

I love to go down the slide... over and over and over and over...

I love doing things like this with my Daddy!

It just doesn't get much better than a nice pile

of rocks next to a body of water!

Wow!  I'm already 2 1/2 years old!

Happy B-Day to me!

Uncle Russell's Birthday cake was yummy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Russell!

I was having so much fun playing with toys in my sand box

that I just decided to climb on in...

Daddy... if I'm going to go fast like that little girl...

I'm going to need a helmet!

My Daddy is a dietitian and he says...

"all things in moderation"...

wonder if that applies to Cheetos?

Hey... this one is red so that means I can pick it!

And eat it!

 

Nothing beats the taste of a homegrown tomato!

I just started taking bubble baths and I love them!

Bye... bye old house!

It was really fun to play here one more time!

Mama's co-workers at her ad agency gave her this tree

in memory of her Granny so she's kind of

sad to leave it in Asheville....

Mama loves to watch me sleep...

One last nap in my old room...

Somebody has to remember to water these tomatoes...

I think I'm too tired to swim today...

Finally ... after much anticipation...

Wow... has it really been almost three months since I've had to time to do a post?  Sorry Grandma!  We should be able to officially put our house on the market within the next two weeks so I should be able to get back on a more regular schedule now.

We are so ready to be finished in Asheville.  We've gone there every single weekend since we moved in January (minus a couple when it snowed so much we couldn't get off the mountain and Mother's Day weekend because I was really sick).  I just hope that we can find the right buyer for the house now and get it sold so that we can find our new home up here.  We've started to look a little bit but I really don't want us to fall in love with a place and then lose it to someone else because our house hasn't sold yet.

Life here is really wonderful.  This is such a beautiful place and really a perfect community in which to raise a child. I don't really know where to start to provide an update on what Jake has been doing for the past three months but I'll give it the old college try...

Jake got to go on a field trip to Grandfather Mountain in April and Trip was able to go along as a chaperon which was great.  They had a really great time and Jake was very brave.  He was the only child to cross the swinging bridge all by himself.  That makes me proud and a little nervous all at the same time. 

We took in a couple more ASU baseball games before the season ended and feel sure that we'll be season ticket holders next year.  Jake really loved going to the games and still keeps asking when we can go to another one. 

We had a really nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa.  They rented a cabin in the valley about ten minutes away from the house we are renting and Jake was really thrilled to have them here.  He got lots of play time with them which was really wonderful since he doesn't get to see them as often as we would like.  They tried to teach him that Harley's say "potato, potato, potato" when they are running but he didn't buy it.  Now when we ask him what says "potato, potato, potato" he says... "Grandma and Grandpa".  Grandma's sister and her husband (Aunt Lynne and Uncle Sherrill) came up and spent some time and Aunt Lynne taught Jake to sing "Wheels on the Bus" which he loved.  When he sings it and we ask him where he learned it he still says "Aunt Lynne taught me".  Trip's twin brother and his girlfriend also came up for a few days to hang out at the cabin which was fun.  Jake got a great haircut from Uncle Paul, had funny flirting with Jennifer and got lots of "kisses" from their dog.

We had our first outing to Tweetsie and Jake loved it!  He was a little nervous about riding the train because it was so loud but once we were on board and moving he was a very happy little guy.  We had a fun day but unfortunately we think that's where Jake picked up Roseola.  We were at Tweetsie on Sunday... on Monday Jake was a little less energetic than normal and by Tuesday morning he had a fever of nearly 104.  We took him to the doc but other than being very sleepy all the time, having no appetite and a very high fever he had no other symptoms.  They did blood work which came back perfectly normal and told us to watch him closely and call them if anything worsened or if he developed additional symptoms.  They felt sure that he had been exposed to Roseola.   It was a long stressful week while we worried and waited to see if they were right.  Sure enough after having a very high fever for four days on Saturday he got the rash so we knew their diagnosis was correct.  We were relieved to know what was wrong and 24 hours after getting the rash he was well on the way to being his normal self.  Most kids have it by the time they are two but since Jake stayed home with me he hadn't been exposed to it.

The 4th of July was a quite celebration for us this year.  Mamaw and Papaw came up for the day and we did a little fishing, had a cookout and finally celebrated my Mom's birthday with her.  We decided not to go see fireworks this year because we weren't sure Jake was ready for it.  Luckily, we could see some fireworks just across the mountain while we stood outside on our deck.  Jake LOVED them and after everyone he would look over at me with a big smile on his face and say... "again Mama".  He also asked to watch fireworks when it got dark the next couple of nights so I think next year we'll be ready to venture out on the 4th of July.

Jake has always loved the water and he has no fear whatsoever so we decided that we should do swim lessons sooner rather than later.  We signed him up for a class at ASU so he's taking lessons in the Appalachian swimming pool.  Trip and I are getting a kick out of that since we met at App almost 21 years ago and now our little boy is taking swim lessons there.  The purpose of the first class is to get the toddlers comfortable in the water so its a parent/child scenario.  That means that Trip is in the pool with Jake for every lesson.  Jake was so comfortable in the water during the very first class that he kept telling Trip not to hold him.  The instructor quickly picked up on the fact that our little fish wanted to be more independent so she brought a float belt for him to wear in the second class.  The float belt allows Trip to let go of Jake very briefly which Jake loves.  He's learning to blow bubbles in the water, to put the back of his head in the water and to lay on his back and kick.  The first class is three nights per week for three weeks and then we'll try to sign him up for the next level so our little fish can continue to learn how to be safe in the water.

I'm including lots of pictures from the last three months so enjoy and stay tuned because I'll try to be back for at least one update every month.

Happy 29 Month B-Day to Me!

I'm cold Daddy...

Watch me kick Mama...

Learning to put my head back into the water was fun...

I love swim lessons!!!

When the clock say 4:00 I can get in the water...

Happy Birthday Mamaw!

I think I have another shark on the line!

I want to hold him Daddy...

I thought it was going to be a lot bigger!

This was a great way to spend the 4th of July!

Hey... was that another deer?

Mama says that I'm such a big boy now...

I have to wash this car before I drive to Asheville again...

I was tired of standing up so I figured out a way

to eat in my learning tower and sit down...

I'm ready to ride like Daddy now!

Digging in the dirt with my excavator is one of my

favorite things to do right now.

I think that water looks way too cold so I'll just watch.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy 28 Month B-Day to Me!

Riding the merry-go-round with my Mommy...

Mama... this is like the train table I play with at the library.

Let's go find some animals to feed.

Look Daddy... this baby goat got out...

Where is the train?

One more time Mama...

Daddy loves me!

Riding Thomas was loud but I had fun anyway.

Giddy up!

Thomas came to Tweetsie for a visit and Mama and Daddy

took me to see him...

Wow Daddy... Thomas really is here!!!!

I told you I could make a Y...

I'm getting very sleepy...

I took this picture of my Grandma when she came to visit...

Giggling with Grandma and Grandpa...

I'm not sure Shrek should be in the family photo??

This is my Daddy's Mommy and my Grandma...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Uncle Paul let me wade in the river!!

Just the boys, hanging out down by the river...

Uncle Paul's dog really liked me a lot!

Shooting the breeze with Grandpa and Uncle Sherrill

outside the Mast General Store.

You guys are embarrassing me with all these pictures...

(this is my Grandma and her sister, my Aunt Lynne)

I made Grandma laugh so hard just by pushing

my duck down the sidewalk...

Playing some checkers in my favorite store...

Grandma ... I'm so glad you're here!

Throwing rocks in the river makes me laugh...

I loved this really big yard at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin!

Check out my new backpack...

Crackers?  Why would I need crackers?

Enjoying music in the park with my Daddy...

This is great!  I get to eat, be outside and listen to bluegrass.

What more could a two year old want?

Wait... is that a swing set I see over there?

Planting a tomato for my Mommy's birthday...

I think this is a wild horse!

Uncle Russell helped me ride Katie and Abbie's scooters...

I think I can get one more bite out of here...

Throw it to me!

I love going to Appalachian baseball games!

Enjoying some tunes on Daddy's ipod...

Happy 27 Month B-Day to Me!

This is the only thing I like about Daddy having to

go to Raleigh every month.... doughnuts!!!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day Mama!

I made this for you at Miss Felecia's...

My Mommy loves me so much!

I'm a really good baseball player!

Wow... does that really say that we're one mile up?

I walked across the swinging bridge all by myself!

Lilly is ALWAYS giving me kisses!

Miss Felecia took us to Grandfather Mtn.

on a field trip and my Daddy went with us.