Yo, Papa.

See how cute I am when you're away?! Don't ya wanna come home now, please?
I even got to take a nap in your bed.
Really, do you miss me yet?
I crack myself up.
It's MY camera, Mama!!
Ouchie. Okay, it's your camera.

Da Bij.

I didn't make a big deal out of May 31st, and perhaps I should have. It was Athena Marie's 9th birthday (we heart you Thenie!), and the anniversary of Bijou's passing. Had I been a blogger whilst the Bij was still alive, you could be sure that every post would have included him in some capacity, whether it be pictures of him and all of his hairless-gloriousness, pride at some new great feat he may have achieved, anger over some item he destroyed (on purpose and with joy), or embarrassment of another episode of him molesting yet another woman (or man for that matter) by barrelling headfirst betwixt her breasts to nestle next to her skin. If you were blessed to know Bijou, you were indeed blessed. He was a remarkable creature; I dare even call him a cat. He was our monkey-rat-pig-dog with the mind of an eleven-year-old (human) and the charm of George Clooney. He was magnificent. And now he's gone.
Adam and I didn't start out to find a hairless cat (they're a bit freaky and expensive), and after my first meeting with him, I never would have considered willingly enveloping him into our lives. He belonged to my sister (who has a blog, but doesn't blog--please harass, friends). I was in her apartment less than five minutes when he sprinted across the room and attacked my head, completely unprovoked. This became a favorite game of his, and I seem to be the only person he chose to bless with these lovely assaults. He and Harley would busy themselves with wrestling matches for hours, which was fabulous entertainment for Adam and I in our pre-TV days. My sister gave him to us, and we had 6 wonderful, chaotic, infuriating years with him. Now that Gracen is of the age that she would have been able to really appreciate the power and charisma of our Bijou, I find myself increasingly more distraught over his passing. And I think this: WE NEED ANOTHER CAT. But the thing is, we don't need a cat, so to speak; we need another monkey-rat-pig-dog-freakshow-cutie-patutie. That's what we need. So I'm looking. I'm contacting Sphynx rescue agencies, breeders, etc. in hopes that we may find us another family member. I don't want to replace the Bij, for that would never be possible. But we want us a pretty lil' baldie cat...

If you knew and loved our Bijou, stop what you're doing right now, take a moment, close your eyes, picture his precious little face, and send him some love wherever he may be. Sometimes I think he's still under the covers, making sure we get a good night's sleep.

pinecone princess

Preface: This is my THIRD attempt at writing this post. Some of my blogging colleagues may have noticed that handy-dandy-"Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically!"-caption box at the bottom of your edit post window. I would like to be the first to announce that It Is A Lie!!! Let's try again.

We've been well here on McGregor Woods. Our neighbors are off in Spain (I'll try not to interject too much jealousy and bitterness here), so we've been a bit lonelier and lazier than usual. We desperately need for them to return, though hoping you're having a fabuloso time. Quiero ir tambien! If you're reading this from overseas, which I doubt, the critters are happy and your garden thriving. But seriously, come home!

Gracie is talking up a storm these days in a wonderful language only she, and perhaps Walker and Rylie, can understand. Our official words to date: Dada, Mama (sometimes), Juice, Dog, Fish, Shoe, Balloon (ba-dooo), and Rylie (Wi-eeee). Language acquisition is such a fascinating process, and I'm blessed to be able to watch it unfold day by day.

She's into everything right now and has realized just how far her arms can reach, which astounds us too. The breakables and potentially damaging objects in our home are working themselves higher and higher from the floor. No more pretty vases. No more frames with glass. No more candles. No fun picture coasters. No more plants. They've been replaced with Megablocks, pop-up books, stuffed animals, honey-nut cheerios and fruit, diaper wipes, talking animal boards, the list goes on...

She's fallen in love with books lately. Reading has always been a part of her nighttime routine, but over the last week or so, she's started bringing them to us to read to her. She wants you to sit down on the floor, let her turn the pages, then read it backwards, get up and walk around the room, and then come back and start all over. And then again, and again, and again. It's an obsession, which I'm loving! Current book of choice is "In My Garden Pop-Up Book." Thank you Ghi-ghi!

On a very sad note, our niece Jade Lynne passed away shortly after her birth last week. Our sister and brother-in-law, Jenny and Andy, are going through a tough time, one that I can barely fathom. So if you're a praying person, a meditating person, or a good thoughts person, please send some healing energy out in their direction. Our hearts are with them as they journey through this loss. We love you.

beach week.

I'll have to write more later. We've had a bit of an accident today. Gracen face-planted into the hardwood floors via her high chair during lunch. We have a VERY swollen bottom lip, and I'm pretty sure her nose is a different shade/size than before. (no Britney jokes, please) There was much blood and many tears (from both of us). She won't let me in there to make sure all of her teeth are still solidly placed, but I'm hoping for the best.

i got PANTS , people.

I do realize this is not earth-shattering news for most of you. But for me, it is indeed a huge step in my battle-o'-baby-bulge that has lingered many months longer than I had imagined it would or should. The realization was made yesterday when I decided to break down and clean out my closet. This was long overdue. My closet, which is upstairs in the guestroom, has become the holding zone for the miscellaneous "stuff" that I'm not quite sure what to do with or too lazy to deal with, but must quickly hide before company comes over. Hopefully, our guests have not been opening the closet doors. In my cleaning frenzy, I decided to go ahead and get rid of clothing that was perhaps outdated and that was probably not going to fit me again. I'm pretty sure my 19-year-old "4" frame is gone for good as is the style of 1997. BUT, the clothes (pants, more specifically) that I've been waiting, pleading and praying for to fit, slid right on over the hips and were fastened without even the need to suck it in. I have to admit, they do not fit or feel quite like they did pre-Gracie, but they fit, and I am happy. So watch out people, I'm dropping the elastic waste bands of yoga garb and my Tevas and stepping into some slacks and heels!

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(currently napping)

And in Gracie News, she continues to astound us daily with how much she's learning. She's mimicking sounds, says specific words, understands commands and questions, can identify objects, can reach anything off of anything (we think she's miraculously grown 8 inches this week), and is simply happy. Please come visit so you can see in person.She's hopelessly in love with Walker these days and wants to touch, hug, pet, kiss, squeal at and talk to him whenever possible. He tolerates her affection well, and generally reciprocates the attention, though is occasionally forced to run or play dead (as pictured) to get away from the stalker-baby.

Who's 30?!?!

It's one of my most favorite people in the whole wide universe, Mrs. Jessica Jayne!! I hope you have a wonderful day my friend. I love you and will see you IN A FEW DAYS!!!!!!!

Thank you Kim and Tom Haynie for giving life to and raising such a spectacular person. Love you all!

Love, Love, Love...

Big news of the week is that our dear friends Renu and Jeff got hitched on Saturday at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. She was beautiful, he was handsome, and festivity was divine. The wedding was early in the day, so we were able to go out and about with the couple later in the evening, and they were blissful. They are in the process of moving into their new house this week, and will be taking off on honeymoon to Hawaii next week. We love you guys!
And yesterday, Adam and I celebrated our SEVENTH year of marriage. It's amazing how quickly the years are passing, and I can truly say that I'm more in love with him now than ever. I did good. Love you.
Inspired by Eliza, we decided to try some piggies again. Cutie-patutie!
Ghi-ghi and Aunt Belle were in for the weekend. Mama took care of Gracen so we could go play at the wedding. Ladies, please some back over, immediately. Gracen keeps looking for you in the guest room and is pretty upset that you're not there.
First time in a kiddie pool......with the coolest boy in town (Walker Blue).

Froggy Takes a Bath

I had to do it. He was disgusting. She was sucking on him. I closed the door. She kept opening it. I felt like a terrible parent for letting her cuddle up with him. Please forgive me.

And now he smells of citrus and is a bright new shade of green.

And Gracen is happy and sleeping...

roadkill and whatnot

This is how Gracen has been taking her nap for the last 43 minutes.

So the question has come up, on several occasions, about why I haven't been my usual bi-weekly-blogger-self. Let me explain.

Our neighbors down the road have been living a relatively parallel life to ours. We moved into the neighborhood about the same time, they have a toddler too, she stays at home, dad goes to work, blah, blah, and etc. We knew we existed these .2 miles away from each other, and have made plans to "make" plans for months, but we never quite followed through. However, once the plans became true plans, our time has become rather occupied. You see, we're walkers now. We walk every morning, and it's much more motivating when someone is expecting you. We started out going three miles, upped it to six, but were slackers today and only did four. And these are not leisurely strolls. We've got hills. Big mean hills. And they hurt. Amy, you can back me on this. The odd thing about regular exercise is that one really does have more energy. So I've been cleaning, organizing, rearranging, yoga-ing and playing.

On our trek home today, Froggy was apparently thrown from the stroller. I did not notice until we got home and it was naptime. Fortunately, Adam was home so that I could go on the hunt. I found him across 15-501, face down, very pitiful and dirty. He'll be getting a bath this afternoon. I would give him one now, but Gracen is snuggled up in his filth.

And Walker Blue, neighbor baby and Gracie's new best friend, has taught her about "outside." So now, she's pretty sure that if she's awake, she needs to be running around the yard, throwing the ball, picking flowers, dodging poo (Harley still has some issues), falling in holes, tripping on air, catching bees, climbing stairs, putting hands in dog water bowls, turning bowls over, digging up pretty plants, falling in holes again, eating dirt and rocks, drinking out of other dog water bowl, scraping knees, getting bug bites, and petting do(g)s. Oh yeah, and strolling. If I leave the stroller outside on the patio, she'll scream at the top of her sweet little lungs until I either put her in it or move it inside.

Gracie is going swimming in Walker's new kiddie pool this afternoon. Naked baby photos soon to follow.

Adam and Gracen have been getting in some good bonding time lately. They went for a big hike this weekend. I was going to go, but determined my day would be best suited with napping on the couch. While I'm grateful for little breaks such as these, I miss my family when they're gone.