Merry Christmas!

Good morning and Merry Christmas to one and all. After another unfortunate posting lapse, I thought I would present a gift of an update to our faithful readers.

First off, life post-MBA is thrilling to have the burden of schoolwork lifted that was always following me around. That's not to say I will be any less busy, it's just now I can focus on other important matters, such as Helen and Kim, and all of our family and friends.

We had a fairly busy push to prepare for the holidays, as (at least for me!) most of it was put off until last week. We had several Christmas parties to attend in Greenville, but could not go to just as many.


We started on our annual holiday travel this past Saturday 12/22. We had enough foresight to not try to rush this part of the journey, which was good considering it took 6 hours to get packed and prepared, and about 4 hours to get to Conyers with all the holiday shopping madness. Admittedly, we blindly followed our GPS advice to go through Gwinnett towns that were slap full of Kohl's, Walmart's, Home Depot, etc... Whew, that took longer than expected!

On Sunday 12/23, we had a great time visiting friends at Conyer's First UMC, the church where Kim and I were married at way back in 2002. My how things have changed since then. We then had a nice brunch at the Cherokee Run with the Robinson's and Hughes', also where our wedding reception was held. We wanted to get a chance to actually try out the food there, since we never got a chance to eat at our wedding.

That night, Kim and I visited Ms. Eva and Mrs. Lindsay, who we were so glad to see and visit. During that time, we were called back to the house to return to our feverish baby. With a temperature of 102, Kim became worried about what we would do next with a very sick child, Christmas plans, and more travel ahead of us!

We are learning the art of flexibility of plans (not my favorite thing to do). We woke on Monday 12/24 to calling all doctors in the area to try and get an appointment. After getting turned down by several and pledging not to go the ER, we found a doctor friend at the Johnson's church who called in a favor for us to a see a doctor in Covington who coud see Helen. What a wonderful thing to do! We took our sick baby in who had no fever and was all smiles and giggles, to learn that as we suspected, she had some inflamation in the ear, aka Ear Infection. But we were prescribed antibiotics, and a tablespoon of relief at knowing there was something that could be done for Helen... and that it wasn't just a wasted visit, too!

From Covington, we drove to my parents in Roswell-pharetta, where they and my brother and his daughter Chloe were anxiously awaiting our (Helen's) arrival. [By the way, did you know that Publix doesn't charge anything to fill a prescription for antibiotics? Their scheme worked, as I also bought many other cold related items-- for KIM, who is sounding worse off than Helen with a cough and weak voice! I'm sure my turn is around the corner, too.]

We had a wonderful visit starting our Christmas slightly early so that we could all open presents and be together. Helen, despite being sick and putting off her afternoon nap, really enjoyed playing with tissue papers, pulling bows, scooting forward to grab her shiny black shoes, and generally soaking in the sights and sounds of her first Christmas eve.

Later that evening, the Walker family joined the Johnson family in Decatur for Lis' annual Christmas Eve cuban dinner tradition called 'Noche Buena'. I really look forward to it all year. The menu: salad, corn casserole, cuban spiced and marinated pork, rice and beans with plantains and chiorazzo sausage, and cuban bread. As always, I was willingly forced to have seconds, while saving room for her delicious pound cake. We enjoyed the meal and visiting, but sadly Kim's brother Joel and his family could not be there for Joel to play jazzy Christmas songs on the piano by request. But Elizabeth learned Jingle Bells, so we had several playings of that instead, plus several vocal performances by Julia and her red-nosed reindeer sister.

We're in varying stages of sleep her at the Johnson house, so Christmas has not yet started, although I think Santa Claus has been visiting, as I heard him creaking around throughout the night!

We wish you and yours all the best today and during the rest of the holiday.

-Alan

Fancy Pants!

We have had a weekend full of entertainment! It seems as though all of our various Xmas parties fell into the same weekend. Fortunately, we had the great help of Alan's parents (along with Michael and Chloe) to help baby-sit Helen, so Alan and I could go out and about. Not only did they provide excellent baby-sitting, but they also came loaded with beautiful clothes for Helen!! It was a true delight. First of all, it is amazing to me that Helen is growing so fast. It seemed like she had stalled for several months, but now she is growing rapidly. Of course, the 4+ jars of baby food a day helps. Much like her Grandfather Johnson, "you just can't fill her up." She will always eat when offered. The crazy thing is that she definitely is not getting chubby, it is all adding up in her length. She has also started feeding herself finger foods which is really fun to watch. Dora LOVES this new aspect to Helen. When Dora sees Helen in the high chair, she rushes over and does not leave Helen's side. No telling when a goodie will drop from above. Helen teases Dora by dangling her treats over the side. Occassionally, Dora will get it from her and make Helen cry.

Below is just a taste of the fantastic outfits Nana Walker provided. Helen is now tres chic!




I'm ready for my concert!

Sweet sisters...aka, the battle for the ball

A Mother's Dilemma

It's Thursday and I'm at home. I should be at work, but Helen has created quite a dilemma for me. Yesterday, she started getting very whiny. I checked her temp, and it was approx. 99.9. I decided to go ahead and take her into the daycare so that I could work. The daycare won't take her if her fever is over 100, and I knew they would call me if she was truly sick. Last night, she started getting congested and coughing. She woke up in the night and her temp registered right around 101. She also decided to have a 1am-3am party, Mommy was invited. Mommy invited Daddy, but Daddy decided not to RSVP. Dora came out for a little bit but left early. So, this morning we made the call that she should not go to daycare. The dilemma has been that she has been acting great all morning, very little fever, happy, eating a lot, etc. I'm torn between going to work and staying at home with her. I have a feeling that most working mothers go through this all the time. I'm blessed that I only have to work part-time, but it makes it that much more difficult when she gets sick on one of the 3 days that I do work. It also makes me reflect that life is a little bit more difficult when you don't live around family to help out, particularly retired grandparents :) Oh, well. I'm trying to make the most of this day since I'll be working tomorrow...working on a Friday, YUCK!

Birthday Party!

On Saturday, Helen went to a birthday party for her friends, Ansley & Bailey (and big sis Emily). Please check out the Jefferson family blog (there is a link on the right) to see more pics of the awesome party. It was at a place called Jump Zone, and it was fantastic!! Helen enjoyed watching the kids go crazy on all of the various jumping stations. She got a few rides down some slides herself.

Here she is about to go down a slide

She loved playing with the other toys at JumpZone. She really enjoys playing with things while standing up.

A pic of her wearing her very first party hat. No cake for Helen, though. She has to wait 4.5 more months for that!

December Pics

Here are a few recent pics of our December fun! The holidays are quickly approaching, and we aren't anywhere close to being ready...is anyone???




Ready to crawl! Helen is now making moves towards crawling. She is currently able to move forward, but she doesn't have full realization that she can use this new power to her benefit. Looks like baby proofing items are #1 on our Xmas list!

Bundled up for a winter's walk to see the Xmas house. Isn't Daddy nice to carry me like this?? He was complaining that his back hurt, but I don't believe him because I have a very slim figure.

My very first visit with Santa. I couldn't take my eyes off of him!

For everyone in Gville, I highly recommend that you visit the Xmas house in our neighborhood. It is a sight unlike any other. This picture only captures about 20% of the whole experience. They have Santa, free popcorn, a movie playing on the garage...AND a whole backyard filled with lights as well as the neighbor's backyard filled with lights. Please call me if you would like directions to this Xmas extravaganza!!

Who knew?

My co-worker has been telling me for weeks now about his unsuccessful quest to get a Nintendo Wii for his kids, and I had no idea how hot these items are right now. Here's a link to a Wired article explaining more about the shortage of the Wii. I'll have to add this to my discussion board postings in my supply chain class.

More interesting is the hilarious link to a video about seniors having a Wii bowling tournament. Sign me up!

-A

Updates

Helen is finally taking a much needed long nap. She has gotten into a very bad habit of cat napping, lately. She'll sleep for about 20 minutes and wake up very happy. However, it is followed by a melt down about an hour later. It does not make for an enjoyable experience!

Helen is officially 7 months old now. She is still overall a very good baby. She loves to go out and about. Her favorite TV show is the Wheel of Fortune (mostly due to the massive amount of cutting up the contestants do.) She is a good eater and doesn't turn away any food offered; although, she prefers fruits and gobbles them up quickly. For the most part, she sleeps through the night (last night being an exception-she woke up twice to eat and did not want to go back to sleep.) She sits up without support and can turn around to get things that she wants. Not crawling yet, but that's good news as we have not child proofed at all!

AND...she now has 5 teeth, 3 on the bottom and 2 on the top. Boy do I know it, too. To put it simply, being bitten is not fun!

The best news of all is that Alan will be finished with his MBA in 3 weeks!!! Just 2 more weeks of classes and the finals and he is DONE!! I feel like I deserve a degree for putting up with this for so many years.

We hope all is well with everyone! We are looking forward to the holiday season!!

More Pics

Here are a few more pics...

Helen all bundled up for her nightly walk. Walks are getting a little more difficult to take now that cold weather has taken over. However, Helen still enjoys them, even if her nose turns red.

We attended a wedding in Columbia, SC. It was great! 2 weddings in one...a Christian one, followed by an Indian celebration. We had a great time. Obviously, the groom is wearing the tux :) I give Helen a 6 out of 10 for the day. She was very tired, so I took her to the hotel room where she cat napped and cried for about 3 hours straight. So, I didn't get to participate in the Indian wedding. Alan said it was fantastic!

Helen ready to go out on the town in Columbia. We had dinner with Auntie Terry's twin sister, Kristy. It was very festive as we watched the Clemson v Carolina game at a sports bar. Helen loved all the cheering and clapping!

Let me out of here...aka, Mommy and Daddy need a break!

Pictures Galore!

Hi, everyone. We've been lacking in posting pictures lately. Here are a few...

Helen looking like an old fashioned girl.

Enjoying a pee-wee football game. The Butler Station boys won the Super Bowl! Way to go!! The girls looked on from the very loud sidelines.

All dressed up for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with family.

The Thanksgiving crew, Spencer, Elizabeth, Helen, Julia, and Will. Cousins is Cousins!

At long last... an update

It's been too long since we've updated the blog, and apparently we've gone from one holiday update to the next, so there's much to say. Mostly, our story goes back to that same feeling this Fall of 'just making it'. But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we really have a lot to be thankful for.

To start, how about the fact that Helen sleeps from 8pm-7am, just about every day. That is just awesome! More on Helen in a bit...

During the blog lapse, I've been busy working through what I think is the worst of my final semester. I've cleared the hurdle and just have to get through a few final assignments over the next few weeks. Work at GE is going great. I had a short business trip to Texas, near where my grandfather lived as a child in Denton (north of Dallas). I was gone, just two nights and about 1 day from the office, but I finally got to see the manufacturing process of the wind blades, which I am working on.

Kim is still enjoying her part-time work arrangement and is feeling great these days. She enjoyed a visit from her mother when I was away, and a visit to Conyers (her hometown) following that.

Helen and I both picked up a cold (about the same time she got a flu shot...), but are feeling good now. Helen is just amazing these days. We feel like she is gearing up to crawl. She can pull herself forward, and do a complete belly 360 spin, too. But she's not quite got the strength to get on her knees yet. But how about standing? Well sort of. She can pretty much stand up while holding on to something like the couch cushions. She loves to smile, laugh, and hold her pacifiers. Who needs a teddy bear, when you're surrounded by a crib full of sweet, soothing, silicone poppers. (Best trick to get her to sleep through the night since we turned off the baby monitor and closed her door!)

Oh, I hope you noticed, but I updated the web albums with lots of photos from October. Check it out!

The Bees & the Beekeepers

Tonight was Helen's first Halloween. As seen in the pictures here, she had a wonderful time staring straight ahead, mostly because she skipped a nap today. She also enjoyed staring at Dora, who reluctantly wore her matching costume (but not for the first time!). Can you see in her eyes how much our dog is enjoying this?

Both of the girls stayed in costume just long enough to visit some neighbors and greet a few trick-or-treaters, before becoming exhausted by an early 7:30. However, Dora hung in long enough to howl and bark every time the doorbell rang.

Now the beekeepers are also off to an early bedtime. Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Sadly to report, Alan has hit the big 3-0! Today (Monday) is his actual birthday; however, we celebrated the event on Saturday with a big blow-out. We went bowling where Alan wowed everyone by scoring 4 strikes in a row in his first 4 frames! Amazement abounded until Alan stopped bowling strikes and started throwing gutter balls like the rest of us. Most people have to warm up to score big...Alan should have stopped at the warm up! We then we back to the house and feasted on pizza, cake, and homemade jalapeños poppers harvested from our garden. We also played a game of who at the party knew Alan best. Not surprisingly, his parents won based on accuracy but everyone got points for creativity.

I'm glad to finally get a chance to update the blog today. Helen is feeling slightly under the weather and is taking a much needed long nap. She loved the party...mostly she loved looking at her friends Ansley and Bailey (aka the twins). In the pic, big girl Valerie is shown gathering up the little babies. Valerie truly loved playing mother hen to all of the little chicks.

Also, we have failed to congratulate Helen on reaching 6 months old...or rather, I would like to congratulate myself for making it this far :) At her 6 month check-up, she was almost 17 pounds (60%) and 28 inches long (97%). She is officially sitting up AND sleeping through the night 5 nights out of 7. She eats 2.5 jars of baby food a day. Her favorite activity is watching big sister, Dora. Yes, everyone, Dora is still receiving some attention. Not much, but some. Dora had been depressed for the past many months, but lately her happiness has rallied back. Dora learned that instead of waiting for our attention she has better success if she demands it.

I hear little Helen calling for me now! Enjoy the pics, and I promise to update more often :)

Kim

Homecoming

This weekend we all went down to Atlanta to visit my parents and go to the Georgia Tech Homecoming. We no longer have season tickets, but still try to make it to at least this one game. It was nice to catch up with friends, see the homecoming displays and wreck contraptions, even if we did leave Helen with my grandparents for the day-- much to their delight! It was a beautiful day in Atlanta, although after a few hours of baking in the upper bleachers, we decided to leave a little early and walk around campus. Fortunately, Tech was able to win, despite our early departure. On our drive out, we wound up driving through Kim's alma mater, Oglethorpe to see how her campus looks these days. We later grabbed a quick dinner with our friends, Matt and Julie who we haven't had a chance to see for a while.

Helen update: I noticed I haven't really updated on what our little girl is doing these days. After having the heavy cough and runny nose, Helen was much improved this week (which means we all slept better through the night). She can pretty much sit up on her own now, although she is still a bit wobbly. When on her belly, she has just started pushing herself up while really kicking her legs... looks like crawling-in-training. She eats her baby food great, even the green peas that she used to refuse to eat by prentending to choke on them. And she's an expert at putting her pacifer in the mouth herself (and anything else within arms reach). Mrs. Johnson, Kim's mother, accurately describes her as "the most looking-est baby", which is to say she loves to look around and see new things. She absorbs her surroundings. Unfortunately, it looks like she has the runny nose again (or is it the same one?). But that's just part of growing up!

We made it!

We feel like we made it past a big hurdle. As predicted, last week was a difficult one that kept us busy-- and didn't leave much time for updates to the blog. Sorry for the long delay!

Here is a pictorial summary of the last two weekends:

After my return from a great, quick visit to FL with my brother, we went to the GE family day picnic. It was a lot of fun, even if we didn't go on any carnival rides. Helen isn't quite tall enough yet. We enjoyed the funnel cakes, though!



All that socializing makes Helen get all tuckered out.

After my first week of week at GE, midterm exams and reports, Kim getting over being sick, Helen still sick... we were ready for some lazy mornings. Saturday was so chilly, Helen had to bundle up. (eventually we decided to turn the heat on since it was 64 degrees in the house).

This weekend we went to the church Oktoberfest (great bake sale!) and Fall for Greenville downtown with Terry, Christy, and Chris. We all enjoyed complaining about the high cost of food tickets and the crowds. But it was fun to get out and enjoy the perfect Fall weather.
Kim and Helen after Sunday's church service. What a great picture!

-A

Transitions

It feels like Fall is really here this weekend. Kim, Helen, and I have really enjoyed the cool, breezy weather this weekend. It's been just beautiful outside. And even when we're inside, we've opened up the windows to enjoy the outside inside.

This was my last week of work at Michelin. It was an odd bitter-sweet feeling... I was sad to say goodbye to some really good work friends, yet looking forward to starting out new. I had several informal going away lunches and hope to keep in touch with some of the folks. Greenville is still a small enough town that I'll still be seeing many a familiar face. I don't know if it was a bad omen, but earlier in the week I was rushing off to work and noticed Kim had a flat tire. Fortunately I did see it because she was going to work that day and would not have seen it on the passenger side. I went ahead and changed the tire (not too concerned about coming in late that day) and after later inspecting it, found not a nail, but... wood? I pulled out some wood in the shoulder lug that was jammed in like a sharp pencil, and found air escaping around it. Strange. I'm planning on getting it patched tomorrow.

We had a little get together at a park Saturday afternoon with some of the couples from the natural birth class that we went through (really, Kim went to class and I got the cliff notes later). It was fun to hear everyone's birth story and share our favorite child-rearing strategies.


Helen has been doing great lately, with much better sleeping in the night and great gusto for eating pureed fruits. Still doesn't care for peas. Unfortunately, she has picked up a bit of a cold and a low fever. So we have two things from Helen: (1) Grade-A Grumps, and (2) Niagara Nose. Let's just say she's been uncharacteristically fussy and is seeing lots of the nose bulb followed by tissue wiping.

I've got a busy week ahead of me, despite taking a week off before starting the new job. After my Monday and Tuesday classes, I'll be headed down to Florida with my brother to pick up a dining room set from my grandmother's house. Kim and Helen are wisely staying home from this 3-day whirlwind. Then I make the transition to start at GE, followed by a lovely mid-term exam. yeah.

-A