May Act Two: Camping

Well, not really camping, but we stayed in a very nice humongous cabin on the Blue River with our small group from church. It was really fun! Abram did well, slept thru the night and napped well in this pack n play and experienced his first camp fire! We went kayaking one day while our friend watched Abram. Curtis had not tried that before and he really enjoyed it! This was also my first Mother's Day! The guys got all the girls pretty flowers and cooked us an AMAZING breakfast! It was a wonderful weekend...thank you to Paul for arranging it for us.

This cabin on the Blue River is owned by Missy Bush. She is working on a website for renting her cabins and I will link it once it's available. The place was very nice to stay in and I've recommended that we use it for our staff retreat this year! So peaceful!

We hadn't traveled with the pack n play yet and it worked very well!

I know these are a bit hard to see, but so much more representative of the experience than the pictures with the flash. Abram seemed mesmerized by the fire...as we all are really.

Dean, Rayla and Alicia by the fire.

I'll post a kayak picture as soon as Donna gets it to me.

May Act One: My Irises

There have been lots of pictures taken in May and most of them fall into four distinct categories. The first being "My Irises." They really need no captions. I always tell people that whenever we sell this house, we must list it in mid-late April, so that people will see this when they come to look at the place! They are so beautiful and smell heavenly. I love them!

4 months!!!

"We're doing this again already?"

"Well, good luck taking pictures of me smiling real big."

"I did that last month..."

"This month I'm just gonna chill here in the chair."

"And stare at things other than the camera..."

"Or the crazy big people making funny faces and weird noises at me. Why do they do that?"

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go!

I returned to work full time on April 19th. It was a day I was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading. My first week back was a short one because of Good Friday. Now I'm almost through my first full week. It's wonderful to reconnect with the kids at work and to play with them. A month of playing with those kids and I think I'll lose that last bit of baby fat! Everyone seemed really happy that I'm back, so that feels really good.

Curtis's mother has come to stay with us through the baseball season, which is a huge blessing. It is wonderful to be able to leave the house knowing Abram is loved and well cared for. It's also nice to have some company since I'm usually home alone with Abram in the mornings and Curtis is usually home with Abram in the evenings. We'll have to figure out another arrangement come fall, but I'll worry about that a little later in the summer.

So the return to work has been pretty smooth. Pumping at work is a pain, but necessary if I'm going to continue breastfeeding. I'm not planning on introducing solids until closer to 6 months, so the pump is a must! I don't think too much about Abram while I"m at work because I stay pretty busy, but when I get home the guilt kicks in. I do feel bad being away from him for such a long stretch during the day. He's this perfect little gift that God has given me and it feels wrong to leave him and carry on with my life like nothing has happened. I pray for the day where I will be able to raise my own children.

Until then, I make the most of every moment I have with my son. He was very "chatty" when I got home from work the other night and Curtis got a video of some of our "conversation."

Abram's First Easter

Curtis and Abram both looked pretty handsome for church! We went to the Friday evening service because it fit best with the feeding schedule. Abram was good during the service...although he doesn't sleep through them anymore. He'll probably have to go to the nursery soon...he'll have more fun and we can concentrate better on the message!
We went to eat dinner at Tumbleweeds after church. YUM!

The Easter Bunny arrived on Sunday afternoon, bringing her haul from home! We'll never need to buy this child any presents...and he's still going to think that's what is supposed to happen every holiday.

I liked the Giraffe Easter basket.

Hobo tried his hand at being the Cadbury Easter Bunny.

April Showers Bring Mushrooms

We've had a record rainfall this April in the Kentuckiana area. 20 inches...the previous record was 13. We had a stretch of weather where it's rained everyday for almost 2 weeks straight. It was still raining when I took this picture of the gage and I think it was about full when Curtis dumped it.

Our unfinished walkway off the deck was a swimming pool. The boards floated out from the gap under the gate. We thought the garage might flood but the waters receded between downpours and the garage stayed dry.

Water was flowing in over the bottom rail of the fence...I can't imagine what our yard would look like without the fence and irises blocking the run off. We would have zero grass!

The great thing about warm, wet weather is that mushrooms LOVE it! Curtis went out 3 times right around Easter and found a total of 27 morels. That's 27 more than we've found the last two years.

They were VERY tasty! :)

3 months!

3 months old! Can't even believe it! Abram is getting so much bigger and growing out of clothes as soon as they're put on him! As you can see, he's developed a smile that is going to make any girl melt. Its most easily brought on by making juicy fart noises, but he's now giving it up when we just smile at him too or tickle his cheeks.

"Mom, why are we doing this again?"

At the beginning of April, I took Abram to Bloomington on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We stopped and visited with Charlie, whom I taught with at Headstart. Charlie loves babies, so we had to go see her while Abram's still little.

We went to see the Cunninghams/Wagners while we were home. Abram doesn't really appreciate a good book quite yet! We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Hardacre's house for the whole week since it was my mom's spring break. The week went soo fast (and I was stuck painting a rain barrel...pictures of that will be posted once I finish the darn thing) but we had a great time. Leslie cleaned my teeth one day and another day we went and visited dad at school and tried our hand at throwing on the potters wheel. I made a little bowl that dad finished for me (so that it wasn't lopsided) and then Abram drug his toes through it to finish it off! Maybe I'll do a post of that too once it's fired and glazed.

Aunt Emily gave Abram the bouncy seat that matches his swing and he LOVES it! He can sit in it and watch the tv or watch the cats since it's low to the floor. Over the past couple of weeks he's starting really reaching out with a purpose and grabbing at his dangly toys. He'll grab them and then hang on for dear life! He's also getting better at holding his head up when pulled up into a sitting position. We do "sit-ups" occasionally and have tried using the Bumbo seat a few times.

"Wait a minute, you're not my usual bather..."

My first official night out without Abram was to attend a fundraising event for the Cabbage Patch. It was an indoor Putt Putt and quite fun...some co-workers and I played...I had a few "hole in one's" but I still finished last on my little team. Oh well.

Colonel Sanders was there representing his putt putt station (no, it's not the real one, he died a long time ago.) The had great catering at the event featuring several Louisville eateries, including some KFC, a product of YUM brands which is based in Louisville.

Play Ball!! Abram attended his first (of many) Bats baseball games.

Uncle Travis got the weekend off so he and Aunt Leslie could come down for Thunder Over Louisville. They've been wanting to come see the show for several years now.

We had horrible weather this year. Cold and rainy. We walked down to the waterfront from my friends house at about 7:30, but we should have waited. Nobody was there since it was yucky out and people didn't show up to watch the fireworks til about 9:00!

I was worried about Abram being cold or afraid of the fireworks, but he did great. I had him bundled in 3 layers of clothes (maybe a bit much) so he stayed nice and snuggly. The jets woke him up, but he nursed the entire time the fireworks were going off and never flinched!

We had a great view from Ashland Park! This was the last hoorah before going back to work on the 19th.

Twelve weeks of maternity leave flew by. It seems like cruel and unusual punishment for a mom to have to return to work, just when a baby is starting to interact and be fun! I had a short week to start with because of Good Friday and it wasn't too bad. Abram stayed with our friend Donna for those 3 days and after Easter, Mammaw Jill will be coming to stay with us through the summer! It will be so nice having her here. It will help me emotionally, physically and financially. We're so grateful that she's willing and able to come. Summer should be fun this year!