The Chorus in Heaven

Early this morning, the chorus in heaven grew a little bit louder as the angels added a new voice to their choir. Grandmother had a wonderful life, full of blessings and joy. Our hearts are heavy with the loss, but we are comforted by the countless good memories and the knowledge that she is in a better place.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers for Tracy and her family.

Nothing but joy...

Despite the sorrow during my grandmother's final days, little Carter is nothing but a bundle of joy. He has brought smiles to my mom, to my granddaddy, and even to my grandmother on the day we arrived. Here is a slideshow of some precious Carter faces during an afternoon playtime with Mimi. There are more pictures than usual - but these are for Carter's daddy whom we are missing very much and who I think is missing his little man too.



Thanks for all of your comments and prayers. I am really glad to be here with my family. I have had some precious moments with my grandmother and granddaddy and even got to take my mom out to dinner for her birthday last night! And a great big thanks to Mimi who has been here with us babysitting Carter, washing clothes, cleaning dishes, etc. Her being here has given me the ability to spend lots of time at my grandparents - time I will cherish forever.

We appreciate your continued prayers.

A Somber Update

Hi. Adam here.

Things are a little quite here at the ATL Post. Tracy's wonderful grandmother (her mother's mother) has fallen ill, and Tracy and Carter are down South to be with Grandmother and family. We certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

More posts soon.

Who's More Proud?

Carter? or his Mommy & Daddy?



Sorry for the unsteady camera work - tough to hold the camera and try to catch your newly walking toddler at the same time!

Working on our Manners

Our neighbor from across the street took the afternoon off and wanted to spend some time hanging out with Carter. So we headed over to their house (which Carter visits daily on foot - he loves to go knock at their door) to check out their ceiling fans (in several rooms) which still fascinate Carter.

After he tried to empty the trash can and tossed their pillows on the floor our neighbor handed him a box of kleenex. Twenty minutes later this is what her floor looked like:



I e-mailed the picture to Adam and he told me that Carter's parents should teach him some manners. I agree.

He had the best time pulling each kleenex out and then putting them back in once the box was empty. Yes, we emptied the box. (I offered to buy our neighbor a new box but she assured me they buy them in bulk.) Once the in and out game got a little old he started tearing the kleenex apart - which seems pretty simple. But he had the most serious look on his face and his arms would shake a little bit because he was putting so much effort into it. Kind of like if you were trying as hard as possible to open that incredibly stuck jar of jam. Too funny.

We made good walking progress again today...I might try to capture some on video tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Baseball & Bliss in Baltimore

We headed to Baltimore Friday morning for the wedding of Nick and Janelle - two of our very dear friends. We have been waiting for this day for quite awhile - they have been dating for 3 years or so and we thought they were perfect for each other the first time we got to hang out with them as a couple. But it was worth the wait - the weekend was a blast and their wedding absolutely beautiful.

The rehearsal dinner was at a unique location - a baseball game. They rented out a suite and we toasted the bride and groom and enjoyed the best ballpark food I have ever had.

Carter supported the O's...



And enjoyed walking up and down the rows of seats jiggling each one to make sure they worked just right.



Although we didn't get to stay for the entire game it was a lot of fun. Carter wasn't interested in the game but enjoyed the big stadium and all of the attention he received from our friends as well as strangers.

The wedding took place in a courtyard next to a church. It was intimate and beautiful. Adam was asked to give the homily and he delivered a very touching and personal charge to the couple. He made the couple and family laugh with fun stories but also saw a single tear fall down the bride's cheek while he spoke which I think shows that he found that perfect balance. Although he admitted he was a bit intimidated when first asked I think he found the writing came with ease as we are so excited these two decided to get married. They truly are a perfect match.

OK - enough sappy stuff - on to the pictures. Here is the new Mr. & Mrs...



And here is Carter with his proud mommy. He did great at all of the events this weekend and was a joy to introduce to everyone. He made great progress on his walking too - taking 10+ steps at a time without help.



And now here is Carter with Daddy. It was very much a tag team weekend. Now that Carter is more mobile than ever he is not a fan of sitting still in our laps. So, Adam and I took turns walking Carter everywhere he wanted to go.



Check out the August album for more pictures from the weekend. Congrats Nick & Janelle!

Taking One Step at a Time

Carter has been on the verge of walking for some time now. He is doing great just holding on to one of our hands for support and definitely leads the way to wherever it is he wants to go. But, whenever we let go of his hand he immediately squats down and starts crawling again.

For the past couple of nights we tried to provide a little motivation for him walking on his own - the sprinkler. We turned the water on ever so slightly so it would only spray as high as Carter's chest and Adam and I stood on either side of the water and let Carter walk back and forth between us.



We were so proud of him and cheered uncontrollably. Carter was also very proud and as soon as he reached the outstretched arms waiting for him he would immediately start clapping for himself.



We are almost there. I have been trying not to rush it. Everyone says I will be running around more than I do now when he starts walking so I have been just fine with him crawling everywhere - he gets into plenty on all fours - trust me.

But with this kind of determination and concentration it won't be long now...

Little Bittle Update

Yesterday was a great day for Little Bittle Designs. I sold 8 bibs on Etsy. 8 bibs. Very exciting. Granted 6 of them were to one buyer, but that is not a problem in my book. Plus, one of the orders was a repeat customer which felt great. A dear friend also placed an order (not on Etsy) for another 5 bibs, and I have a few other sweet friends who are interested in some fall shirts. Yippee!

Even though I have been quiet about Little Bittle's progress lately I have been working very hard and enjoying every minute of it. One night this week I sat down with my "CFO" (aka my husband) and we brainstormed some goals for the fall and my next steps to get there. My very wise CFO also encouraged me to make a list of things I have accomplished since I first started dreaming about this little business idea several months ago. Here are the highlights of our "meeting":

Accomplishments
* research, research, research which led to purchase of machine, monogram software, and merging software
* 5 Etsy sales (at time of meeting)
* name/logo/business cards
* Blog giveaway
* blank and design research and testing

Next Steps
* market via e-mail, facebook, blog, Etsy
* build blank inventory
* add 5 items each week on Etsy
* stitch all fall/holiday designs
* get Little Bittle blog ready to share
* register as business in state

Goals
* sell 50 items from 8/1 - 12/31
* have 25+ items listed for sale on Etsy
* have established blog with fabrics, fonts, designs, etc.
* have inventory of blanks, shipping supplies, organized workspace

This is probably more information than you guys are interested in, but there is something about writing it down and posting it that makes me feel like I will be held accountable for completing these goals. As I type my machine is humming along working on 1 of the 5 butterfly bibs that were ordered yesterday!

After I completed some of my orders last night, I decided to stitch an item for Carter. It is a chocolate brown long sleeve shirt with a candy corn on it. I can picture him wearing this with some jeans and cute fall shoes toddling all over the place. I was going to add his name to the shirt but ran out of orange thread. The shirt quality is amazing. I finally found the supplier I want to use. I ordered samples from 4 different companies and this was by far the best. It is so soft and thick - really good quality. A bit more expensive than the others - but well worth it.





I am so excited about the designs that I have found for the fall. I have attached a slideshow below - these are images from the company that actually created the designs. I will be using some different fabrics, colors, etc. Let me know if you see anything you like!

Music to [Somebody's] Ears

After our family vacation time at the lake and beach Carter and I decided to stay down south a little bit longer to visit more family and friends. Adam had to travel to LA that week anyway so it seemed like a good idea to hang out with family instead of hanging out in a daddyless house. We were able to visit my mom and grandparents for a couple of days and Carter discovered their pianos. Carter didn't seem to mind the fact that they hadn't been tuned in several years. I hope you don't either. Enjoy.

Dinner from the Garden

When we arrived home last Friday night after being gone for two weeks the last thing I wanted to do was make a grocery list and head to the store - yet we had no food in our refrigerator. Adam made a quick trip for the essentials - mainly Carter's milk - then he decided to whip up a very yummy meal primarily from our vegetable garden. Check out our gathering...



Our kind neighbors watered our garden for us while we were away - we encouraged them to take anything that was ripe while we were gone - but there was still lots left for us to enjoy too. We picked lettuce, tomatoes, okra, edamame, cucumber, onions, basil, and the largest zucchini squash I have ever seen. Take a look...



This picture really doesn't do it justice. I would say it was longer than a football but not quite as wide.

I think Adam fried just about one of everything that we picked - here is a shot of the green tomato, onion, and okra medley.



And now for the full menu...

blueberry salad
pickled cucumber
zucchini lasagna with tomato basil topping
fried veggie medley
edamame



Trust me it was just as yummy as it all sounds. Thanks for the delicious dinner Adam!

Not a bad day...

...when you get to wake up to this one morning:



...and this the next:



After a few wonderful days at the lake we loaded up and headed to the Gulf Coast. I had every intention of blogging while at the beach but the waves and the beach reading and the seafood and the card games etc. etc. kept distracting me. Here I am over a week later finally trying to catch up. More to come...