Goodbye

This is one of my favorite pictures from our last beach trip.

I just love the way my children are holding hands.

I love the way that they are gazing out ove the ocean.

I love all the hair in Melody's ponytail.

I was thinking about this picture today.  Mainly because, for me, Labor Day is sort of the day I feel we all say goodbye to summer.  I'm excited about the new school year the four (yes, I said four! I'm finally back in school!) of us are embarking on.  I'm excited about activities and events that are already cluttering our calendar this fall. But I love summer.  I love the lazy days.  I love the freedom.  I even love the heat.  I love the heat a lot.  And I will miss summmer.  This was a special summer for my children and I.  And think of this summer fondly.

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

PSF and cribs

A while ago, Alex and I had decided to swap Melody and Charlie's bedrooms.

Melody's room was right next to Jack's and we thought it would be best for the boys to be next to each other. Plus, Charlie's bedroom was bigger and Melody deserves the bigger bedroom...let's be honest, she does have to put up with two brothers.

Alex took the kids to Grandmother's house for the weekend, while I stayed home for some R&R to be here for the painters. (I know, my husband does rock!)

Since my painters work fast, I had plenty of time to rearrange the rooms and swap the furniture. It was all pretty easy (since they actually barely have any furniture) until I came to disassembling and reassembling the crib. As you all know, a crib will not fit through a doorway so it has to be taken down to be moved. I was on a roll and (anyone who knows me will attest to this) had no intention of stopping until their rooms were situated. Plus, I had seen my husband set up the crib numerous times in the past 6 years and it never looked all that difficult.

Looking back, thinking that was probably my first mistake.

It was quite a long *ahem, 2 hours, ahem* process and, in the spirit of educating others, I'd thought I'd share my new found knowledge with the blog world.

• When opening the drill case, make sure it's not upside down. If it is, the contents will spill everywhere.
• Drills have a lot of small parts. If you lose one, it will take forever and a day to find it.
• You don't actually need a drill to assemble a crib (at least not my crib.)
• Google is very informative. Without it I would not know what an allen wrench is.
• You do need an allen wrench to assemble a crib.
• Before starting this process, take a long, honest look in the mirror. If nothing about you screams handyman, it might be best to defer the responsibility to someone else.

Please take a moment to ohh and ahh over the assembled crib. I'll wait.

(Don't worry, a pictures of Melody's room are coming, but it will be another few weeks before we have her new furniture.)


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

How to...

take really awesome bad pictures of an 19 month old.

1. Chase one year old around until he gets caught and then throw him in the closest chair, even if it's an ugly brown one.

2. Desperately snap pictures before he can climb down and run away again.

3. Play peekaboo in an effort to keep him in chair for more than 3.5 seconds.

4. Use one hand to take picture and one hand to pin one year old to chair.

5. Realize you have to pick your battles. Sigh and walk away.

now and then

Earlier this week I posted about our trip to the North Georgia State Fair last weekend.

It was our second year going and my kids wanted to ride many of the same rides they rode last year. (Shocker, I know, since they are so unpredictable! *sarcasm*)

It's amazing to look at how much they changed in just a short year.

Jack was 4 and had just begun Pre-K.





Now he's 5, in kindergarten, and thinks he knows it all!

Melody was 19 months old and just beginning to sprout a little fluff on her head.
(No, I don't know how in the world I was able to fit in that car. And yes, I was really scared that I was going to be stuck there until after I gave birth.)

And here's my big girl now. She's grown up already in so many ways!

And speaking of changes taking place so quickly...

Charlie goes to visit my parents for 5 days and comes back practically running!

This is what he was like when he left and this is the video I took Tuesday after I picked him up. (*Update* He's pretty much become a full-fledged walker in the past three days!)

the haircut

Lately, I have been bemoaning the fact that Jack is growing up so fast; he's almost 5 and will be in kindergarten this fall! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited that he's growing up and learning so many new things, but every now and then, just a little bit, I miss the baby that he once was.

Alex, on the other hand, is thrilled he's growing up. In fact, the older our children get, the happier Alex seems to get.

It seems that this is a common occurrence; the mommies miss their babies and the daddies are thrilled their babies are growing up.

Alex has been trying his best to talk me into getting Jack's hair cut short lately. You know, really short. Buzz short. He seems to think I keep his hair too long. I think it's a sweet little boy cut. "He's a man, not a baby, " is Alex's response to that. You can be the judge (but I'm pretty sure you'll agree with me).

Today I relented and let him cut his hair. Well, Alex didn't actually cut it himself; we too him to Big League Barbers where he usually goes. I didn't let Alex get him the army buzz, but it's pretty short. (Sorry the pictures are poor quality...I took them with my phone).

Of course, as his mother, I'm biased, but I think he looks handsome no matter what. And a shorter cut will certainly be more cooler in the summer. And it will be nice not to have to comb it to the side every morning, only to have his stick-straight bodiless fine hair fall right back across his forehead in a matter of seconds. Or less.
What a handsome, almost 5 year old!!

And I'm also thinking that his shorter hair will give the illusion that Melody's hair is longer.
No?

We already know he looks good in orange

About a year ago, Alex went to work, as an analyst, for a new hedge fund, Williams Financial Advisors. It was quite an adventure for him, and despite their best efforts, the economy got the best of them and WFA closed at the end of February. He has been on a job hunt ever since then. He has interviewed at many places and considered many possiblilties but as of today, he is officially a Home Depot employee. Beginning on Tuesday Alex will be a Senior Financial Analyst for Home Depot supporting the Home Services division. An added bonus is that HD corporate offices are just 15 minutes from our house!
Alex is very smart and a hard worker and I know he'll be a great asset to HD. We are very proud of him!

just a random post

So, there are just several small things that I want to blog about.

For those of you who are interested, Operation Bye-Bye Passy has been considered a success. We are well over the 24 hour mark, and with two problem free naptimes and bedtimes, apparently the addiction wasn't as hard to break as we thought. The passy did seem to have a calming effect, which will be greatly missed, as she has started jumping up and down in her crib before going to sleep. I'm thinking that we're going to be holding off introducing the "big girl bed" until that stops.

It seems that Geek Squad has been able to retrieve all my data and I can pick it up tomorrow. I have a new computer complete with a docking station. And hopefully I'll get my files and such transfered without any major gliches. And, yes, the first thing I will be doing is backing up all my data.

My allergies have just been terrible. I have been sneezing all over the place and my eyes need some serious cucumber therapy. I used to have horrible allergies as a child and then they improved somewhat as an adult. When I am pregnant I have no allergy issues at all. Two years ago, Melody was a newborn, and I guess I was still reaping the effects of my pregnancy induced allergy-immunity. The following year, I was also allergy free as I was pregnant with Charlie. Maybe that's why this year is so bad; they are making up for lost time. I took Claritin today. Claritin clear is not really all that clear. Despite their convincing advertising, I'm still walking around in a fog. I'm not sure what's worse, feeling the effects of the pollen or being drunk off the meds.

Our friend Lindsey came over today to visit and brought Baby Grayson. He's just a month old and is absolutely adorable. He looks just like his daddy too. I had forgotten how loud newborns can be with their noises. The whole time we were talking, he was just grunting away. Melody wanted to hold him and actually sat there just looking at him for several minutes. This is the first time Charlie has met Grayson. Alex and Webb have been close friends since they met in college, and I know Grayson and Charlie will grow up to be BFFs too.

I just had to post this video of Melody. This is her new catch-phrase that she says constantly. She's such a Southern Belle, isn't she?

A big change is about to happen to our family. No, it's not that...heehee. I'm not at liberty to say anything just yet, but hopefully I'll be blogging about it within the next few days...so stay tuned.

happy new year!

Happy New Year! As 2008 comes to a close, I have been reflecting on the changes our family went through this year and upcoming challenges for 2009. The most exciting thing that happened for the Powells this year was Charlie's arrival. At the beginning of 2008, we were a family of four and by the end we were a family of five!

These are some exciting and challenging things that took place in 2008;

We celebrated Melody's 1st birthday in January, the same day we found out we were expecting Charlie.

In April, Alex took a position with a new firm, Williams Financial Advisors.

In May, Jack graduated from three-year-old to four-year-old preschool and Alex hit the big 3-0.










Jack turned four in June.

Throughout the summer we took many trips to visit grandparents and spent our time at home playing at the park while we waited for Charlie to make his appearance, which came at the end of September.

By the end of 2008, we were settled into a routine as a family of five.

2009 will, no doubt, bring change and challenges as well;

We are currently in the middle of filling out private school applications. Remember when you were filling out college applications? That was A LOT easier than this!! Hopefully we'll have some interviews in the next few months and know where Jack will start kindergarden by March.

At the end of January, Melody will turn 2.

In April, I am running in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville.

Jack will be 5 (!!!) in June.

We will celebrate Charlie's 1st birthday in September.

These are the events we are anticipating...I'm looking forward to those unexpected challenges and joys God will send our way! Happy New Year everyone!