Farewell, my love...

It's a sad day here, folks. Gracen's BFF, Vincent, departed this morning on his move back to Canada. They're such a precious little pair, and we'll miss the family so very much. We are planning, hopefully, a playdate in Montreal in August.

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I can't write much today, or any other day so it seems, because I'm busy chasing a toddler. It was pointed out to me that I no longer have a baby now that she's a walker. Toddler. It's a big move. Gracen is loving her new freedom as a walker. She has free roam of the house now, except for the stairs, which is the only place she really wants to hang out. We can wear dresses again since we don't have to bother with the fabric catching on her knees as she crawls and throwing her into the floor. And we're even wearing the dresses she's outgrown (and not worn) as very cute shirts. Her old pants are becoming shorts or capris. We can make this wardrobe go on forever!

I've been in spring cleaning lately. I've decided that clutter is making me crazy, so I must attack. I hit Gracen's room first, eliminating unnecessary furniture and random junk, rearranging her furniture, and organizing her clothes (birth-12 months). I even went so far as to separate into month sizes. Adam is looking for his wife.

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We're leaving for Weaverville in the morning. Uncle Ronny Mac is coming in from San Francisco for a visit, and we want to make the most of his time here. Annie, Adam, Sabrina and Sue Lane will be there over the weekend, so it will be wonderful to have the family together. It hasn't happened in a long time. We might even have to have a birthday party for some sweet little lady!

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This is how Gracen felt last night after her bath, with a cold and a fever.

John Jacob

(singing)

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,

that's my name too!

Whenever I go out,

the people always shout,

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!"

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da!

(Repeat four times, each time softer, except loudly on the "da da.")

It's been stuck in my head for two days. Hope someone can join me in this misery...

War of the Hoses.

I told ya she could do it!

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We spent the weekend with Grandma Dot et al in Fork, SC for her 81st birthday. I met cousins I never knew I had and got to spend time with the ones I did know. Yes, Livi, you are blogworthy. Delta and I put together a poster of photos of G-Dot throughout her life. And while I had always been certain that my sister Annie looked just like Gaga (maternal g-ma), it seems she's the spittin' image of Grandma Dot. And as I had always assumed I looked like G-Dot, I find myself now lost in the gene pool. I look like no one, except maybe Ronny Mac. And Gracen used to look like me. Now, she's a little mirror of her daddy. I think I'm a little bitter about it.

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And Gracie loves Grandma Dot. She's gotten to be a little harder to handle, now that this whole mobility thing has become so very advanced. But she was gentle, still, curious, and utterly charming while her great-grandma loved on her.

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The McDaniel Clan (Ricky, Minerva, Olivia, and Delta) put together a wonderful day, and I am so grateful that they are so supportive and loving to this very special lady. Thank you guys for everything you do for this family.

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And in other news...

With the weather getting pretty and this new home to beautify, we're feeling motivated to make the place our own. Adam has become quite attached to his chainsaw of late and is clearing out our woods to make room for, um, prettiness. It's looking great and the task would surely go a tad bit more quickly if I would contribute my time and energy to clearing brush, raking, hauling logs and whatnot. But, really, that's just not my strength. So, I've been planting flowers and moving out the houseplants. What I realized, however, after taking 47 trips into and out of the home with a juice pitcher of water to quench the thirst of the aforementioned flowers/plants, was that fixing the hose situation might be a smarter use of my time. I'll not bore you with the laborious details of my war with these hoses, as I had planned to. Suffice it to say, that at this point, the hoses may be winning. But, I have new weaponry in the trunk of my car that may turn the tides of the war. I'll update you soon.

AND. and. and. (get ready people--this is something to get excited over) Athena and Harley have discovered that they have much more land to run on, they have not escaped, and I caught Thena making poo in the woods. I realize that the poo part might not be real exciting for some of you. For others, who have come to be festive at our home and ventured out to the fire pit latenight and did not for whatever reason "remain ONLY on the perimeter" as instructed, they will be happy to know that soon they may walk through our yard without having to scrape the bottom of their shoes and listen to our most humble apologies. It's a big deal!

Leaving Atlanta

Our week here is coming to an end. Gracen is going to be missing her Aunt Belle and Uncle Shep. We're leaving here to go to Fork, SC for Grandma Dot's 81st birthday party. I'll write more when we get back home...

Piedmont Park

We made is safely to Atlanta and are having a wonderful time at the Shepherd-McDaniel homestead. Gracen is loving the attention and is working on making Jada and Birdie fall in love with her. Jada can't quite figure out what she is, though the more Gracie feeds her, the more random drive-by licks and love are coming her way. Birdie, all six pounds of her, is quite ferocious and wants nothing to do with her. Gracen, sadly, doesn't understand this. I think she'll be wooed by the time we leave, if Gracie's persistence is any indication.

Adam is working and driving all over Georgia. Annie is working and angering me that she won't just take the whole week off. Seriously, we're worth it! Robert has a couple of days off, so he's been our source of entertainment. I think we're going to pack them up with us and take them back to Chapel Hill. I'm still a little bitter they left us in the first place.
Today, Robert, Gracen and I went to Piedmont Park in downtown ATL. The weather was great, overcast but warm, and the company delightful. So, the kid is walking all the time. She's wonderfully clumsy, but can make it all the way across the room without falling. It is precious. precious. precious. precious. I really am going to put a video up--sorry about my motherly slacking on this. I'm trying to figure out how to edit film clips together. Any thoughts? While it does look like Gracen is petrified by this Rottweiler (Jada), she's actually answering, "How big is Gracie?!" Her arms used to go over her head for the "So big!" part of the trick, but she's apparently only a little big today.
My favorite girlies...

G-Unit to the ATL

The Family is off to Atlanta for the week. We'll be staying with Belle and Shep, so fabulous photos are forthcoming. We're leaving the dogs behind, and hoping they'll stay contained. We just re-routed their invisible fence to include the whole 4.5 acres. We're not sure if they "get" it yet and have been staying behind the initial acre of containment. They're going to be so sad, and I feel a little guilty. If any ChapelHillians are bored and want to come over and pet dogs, the door's open for ya! We'll see you tomorrow...

PS--Please encourage my sister to start blogging. I've made her this lovely site, and she refuses to post. Please harass her, if you don't mind.

good grief!

I suppose it is time for the Riggsbee Family to have a more upbeat posting. Thank you all for your kind words about Mama Lessie. She really was a remarkable woman, and I am blessed to be a part of her family. The last time I saw her, she gave me a smile as I was leaving. And while she was weak and close to death and probably didn't recognize me, it was a beautiful vision, and in that moment I felt a genuine happiness overwhelm me. It was happiness for the blessing of knowing her, for creating this family that surrounded her, for the peace that awaited her, and for knowing that she was ready to go. Like my father, Mama Lessie will be remembered, and generations of descendants will know and honor her memory.

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Days with Gracen are amazing. I love watching her grow up a little more everyday. She's had a a tough week of teething, with fevers and insomnia, and pain overwhelming her usual sweet, calm, and content disposition. Today seemed to be much improved, and she took two very long naps. I hardly knew what to do with myself. She's walking (a video soon to follow), though not all the time, and when she realizes what she's doing or if she can't get to her destination quickly enough, she drops and crawls. She's recognizing objects and laughs at discrepancies of life. Hide and seek has become hours of entertainment. She continues to feed the dogs, very discreetly. She's learned to "run" from us when we chase her. She only wants to eat with a grown-up fork or spoon. She survives primarily off goldfish, cheerios, pear juice, rice cakes and the occasional bottle.

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Adam has gone to St. Louis, and as usual, it took five times longer for Gracen to fall asleep tonight since her daddy didn't put her to bed. Along with the distraction of Adam being away and Gracen taking excessively long naps today, I found myself with time to kill. This would have been an excellent time to catch up on laundry, do some dishes, sweep the floors, etc., but I decided to forgo my chores for some projects I've been wanting to get around to completing. My 8x10 prints came in today from Shutterfly, so I hung photos in our hallway. They are the most recent and ones that just put a smile on my face (you've seen most of them if you've read our blog lately).

My other grand project was to tackle the inch of pollen residing on our screened porch. We left the door open when the allergens decided to descend upon Chapel Hill a couple of weeks ago. And as the yellow dust has been washed away by the recent rains throughout most of our area lately, the porch just hasn't gotten any love. So, I attacked with a bucket of hot water and Murphy's Oil. It didn't' really work, but it's better than it was. I've sneezed and itched pretty constantly since 4:18. I'm going to go shower...

Mama Lessie

Lessie Young Riggsbee

November 30, 1911-April 7, 2007

Today was Mama Lessie's Homecoming and Celebration of Life. And it was a long life, proudly lived. Adam's paternal grandmother passed away Saturday evening, surrounded by her children and grandchildren at the age of 95. She was a mother of two, grandmother of five, and great-grandmother of seven. She was beautiful in so many ways. She will be missed, loved and remembered.

Gracen was the youngest of Lessie's great-grandchildren, and we're so happy they had the chance to know each other.

(Left) This is the house that Lessie lived in for almost 70 years. Adam and I were honored to live there for four years before moving to our new home. Gracen was the sixth generation of Riggsbee to live there.
(Right) This is Lystra Baptist Church in Chapel Hill. Lessie was ordained the first woman deacon of this congregation in 1972. The service was held here, and she was buried beside her husband, Jesse Bunn Riggsbee.

We love you Mama Lessie.

Ten Years Later...

Life comes with few guarantees. In fact, there are really only two that I can think of. First, you are guaranteed time, but its duration is undisclosed. And the second...all life must come to an end. We all recognize these two simple truths, yet death is often devastating to those left behind.

Ronny McDaniel--Shanna's father--left this world ten years ago today. His departure was sudden, and it has proved formative for all who survived him. I entered Shanna's life a year after Ronny's death; Gracen, some nine years later. I personally have found his absence harder with each passing year, and I suspect that Gracie will also have a hard time understanding his life and death over the years to come.

In a sense, Gracie and I share a "superficial" wound created by the death of a man we will never know. I say "superficial" because the real casualties are those that shared life with Ronny. They are the ones that awoke the morning of April 3, 1997 to a changed world. They awoke to find a hole in their hearts from which Ronny once guided, loved and provided for them. They are (among others) his mother, his brother, his wife, his daughters and his son. Today, appreciate and respect the memory of Ronny McDaniel--a great man with a great family--but we need also remember those whose hearts ache when they see, hear or think... "April 3rd". It's just another day for most of the world, but for a few people that hold special places in my heart--April 3rd marks a heavy day in their histories. So, stop to reflect on the life of Ronny McDaniel, but please, remember Grandma Dot, Uncle Ricky, Judi, Shanna, Annie and Ronny Mac.

Ronny, we look forward to spending some time with you on the other side. To those he left behind...we love you and we're thinking of you.

Adam and Gracen

Dear Dadeeeeeee,

Dear Daddy,

We miss you. Mama doesn't read me enough stories before I go to sleep, and I think she may be a little overaggressive with the toothbrushing. She pulled out a long stick to do it with instead of the fun ones that you use. She said it had to do with my new tooth. She keeps trying to give me mushy food but I don't like it anymore. I think I'm going on mush-strike. I just want the oranges. We can skip the rest. Athena gave me a bunch of kisses and tried to play with me, but then Harley jumped in the way. I feel like she's using me for something, but I'm not sure what. Mama let me stay in the bath until I got prunie. Will you come home yesterday, please?

Love,
Gracen

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And in case you have not yet met the true loves of Gracen's life, here they are: Froggy and Froggy. We're real original with names here at the Riggsbee home. Really, we just didn't realize the obsession was going to be quite so strong. But, the kid loves her amphibians. She falls asleep hugging one in each arm.

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And a HUGE thank you to our dearest Dara, my beautiful friend off in San Francisco with her wonderful husband. It is because of her that Adam and I are together, which really means that she's the reason we have this kid! This beautiful blanket was a handmade present for Gracie, and she loves it! I do too. And we love you. I've lost your new address, so if you're reading this, please call, email or comment. I need some Dara love!

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And another bath video for your amusement...

Daddy in the ATL

The G-Unit is missing her daddy. I am too. He's off conferencing and being brilliant, and Gracie and I are contemplating hitting the road to go meet him. I wish it weren't so far away. He spent the night with Aunt Belle and Uncle Shep and was off to Athens today. In his absence, Gracen has learned to say Da-Deeeeeeeee. She can also say: hi (with a southern drawl), dog (silent "g"), and uh-uh. Do you notice what's missing here? Yeah, Ma-Ma. She can throw a ball, hand feed the dogs, walk two to three steps by herself, stand for 30 seconds or more while holding her juice, high five, pet the do(g)s, re-do her hairstyle, strategically drop food on floor for Harley and Athena, scream when you have something she wants, flash you her belly when you say, 'where's Gracie's belly?', make-out with frogs, give big hugs, turn off a light switch, etc...

She's a genius, quite simply.

We love the Papa.

And here's what Gracie's eating at 10 months, 2 weeks and 4 days: mandarin oranges, green beans, and turkey sticks. The turkey was an experiment in purchasing. It's tastes, smells and looks exactly like a Vienna sausage. I loved those things when I was little, but am a little nauseated by the thought and smell of them now. Gracen wasn't overly excited, so we'll be sticking to the veggie burgers for our protein. Feeding babies is hard.

I'm exhausted and can barely read what I'm writing so I should sign off. And seriously, please help us with a title! Thank you Sunday for giving it a go. Others, please follow her lead.

Your Response is Requested...

for I am in need of some help. Adam thinks I'm a blog-junkie. Perhaps so. But as I read from the blog of a friend of a blog of a friend of a blog of a friend, etc., it has become increasingly apparent, that we, The Riggsbee's, have a very boring title to our blog. And while I like to think of myself as the creative type, I have absolutely no clue what to rename/resubtitle us. I just know that Last Name followed by first names, is not the edge I'm going for. So, in your spare time--friends, family, strangers--might you assist us on some suggestions? I'm at a loss...

Hannah Does 30 Proud!

Unfortunately, Trisha and Stan have not made it back to Wilmington yet to email us pictures from last night's adventures, so I'm afraid this post will have to do without the 1AM-4AM shots. Hannah, I do apologize for this inconvenience. I will be sure to post those as soon as possible, especially those post-cab bath, post-break-in, post-bathroom concert, etc.

I hope all will be glad to know that after a lovely evening of celebrating Hannah's 30th year, the party team made it home safely. Friends travelled in from all over the state to celebrate this wonderful occasion. And I feel we all truly did the evening proud. Though we missed out on a few key members, it was a sensational party, and we hope our Hannah knows just how much we love her.

Hannah and I met up for some shopping at Uniquities for some designer jeans--this is an annual birthday ritual. And after trying on a few pairs, I really am convinced that price does make a difference. They do a bootie right. Here are the ladies at dinner at 518 West. The food was incredible. It was unfortunate that we had hors d'oeuvred on funyons, squirt cheese, triscuits, goldfish, chocolate chip cookie cake, pizza bites, mozzarella sticks, chips and salsa, and Ketel One. This was the first night EVER that I have spent away from Gracen. It was tough (for me), but the kid survived. Ghi-ghi came to stay with her so that Adam and I could celebrate appropriately. And I don't think she even realized she missed us until she saw us again. It was a very happy reunion.

She's still anti-nap. I've tried altering times, eliminating one altogether, begging and pleading, and she's still just happier being awake.
Adam is leaving his girls for the week. Work, work, work. He will get to be with Aunt Belle and Uncle Shep, which will be great for all of them. Not so good for us...
And in other news, Athena Marie went to her stylist for her summer look. Please compare to photo on left menu. We love our Beanie!

hey belle...