Daddy's Home!

Rhett is home! We are so happy that he is safely back where he belongs - in the chaos of our family! We planned a cute arrival "Welcome Home" for Rhett but as we were waiting for his plane to land his flight disappeared off the arrivals board. I knew from checking the website before we left for the airport that his flight was about 20 minutes delayed. I could see his gate from where I sat waiting for him (gotta LOVE the Birmingham airport - it is wonderful- the perfect size!) and I hadn't see anyone disembark yet. I decided to wait another 15 minutes before I tried to track him down. About that time I saw a few people start to trickle from the gate so I told Claire to look for Daddy. In about 2 seconds she took off running as fast as her little legs can take her into the "DO NOT ENTER" zone. Before I knew what was going on I saw Rhett as Claire practically tackled him!! She was so happy! On the way home she said "Daddy you're not in the jungle anymore!!". Ford was excited too in his own special way. He just kind of stared at him for about a day. Daddy brought us lots of cool gifts from Iquitos - including my gift a beautiful hand carved bowl made from Boa wood. Much to my surprise Rhett actually took lots of pictures while he was gone. You should look forward to seeing those soon!
Rhett says he was expecting Ford to have changed a lot but he didn't expect Claire to change so much. Apparently she went through one of those language explosions while he was gone. She also has to do EVERYTHING by herself now. We're talking butter her toast, put on her pullup, zip her jacket, climb into the car, buckle her carseat, wash her hair - you name it she insists on doing it. Don't try to help you'll get a firm "NO! I do it myself!". I've actually learned that even though it takes 2-3 times longer she can do quite a few of those things herself which is awesome because that is less stuff that I have to do! She's really grown up a lot in the past few weeks. I feel like she is definitley no longer a baby and completely a 2 year old now. If only her hair would grow so she would look like the other two year old little girls. It has thickened up a lot so I'm hoping a hair growth spurt is coming next.
Speaking of growth spurts: Ford weighed in at a hefty 16 lbs 8 oz at his check up last week. That's the 80th percentile. I don't recall how long he was but it was the 95th percentile! He is enjoying his exersaucer and jumper too. He has his first little cold which is no fun. He is now intimately familiar with the bulb suction and saline. When my children get ill I treat them like they are in the hospital - agressive suctioning, CPT and humidity. It is my attempt at keeping the OUT of the hospital! Hopefully he will get over this little bug and thank his sister for strengthening is immune system!

Good times with good friends

We had a wonderful visit with our good friends the Mareks over the weekend. Besides being great friends to us as a bonus our children get along fabulously which makes for an even better time for the parents! We just relaxed and let the kids play and get dirty all weekend which we all loved. Claire drove for the first time and we hypothesized that the knowledge of how to steer is carried on the y chromosome. Claire had no idea how the whole steering thing worked so Shanan had to teach her but interestingly enough the first time Cole got behind the wheel he just took off knowing exactly what to do. Do not get me wrong - I am in no way saying that women are bad drivers!! The top picture is Cole (2 1/2), Claire (2), Mason (1) and Ford (4 months). Ford just observed this time but his was taking notes and will be ready to jump in with the big kids soon!

Snake wrangler

Rhett sent me this picture from Peru yesterday. Awesome. Not only is my husband riding around the jungle on a motorcycle with no helmet but he now has large reptiles wrapped around his neck. The good news is now that he has more experience with enormous snakes he can wrangle the ones in our yard. If you remember our little nightmare from last summer - this snake could be our snake's twin brother.

Claire's quotes for the week

Anyone who has kids is constantly amused by the funny things their kids are saying (even if no one else is amused by them!). This blog is becoming quite a great record of our life so I thought I'd try to keep up with the kids are doing as a means of memory keeping for us. Sorry if you are bored by all the details present and future.

Today we were going through the drive thru at Chickfila and Claire said "Go black car! We're hungry!". My mouth dropped and I laughed at first then I realized she had probably heard that somewhere before - oops.

Yesterday we went out the door on the way to school and unfortunately I had not checked the weather report. The day before it was 65 I had on flip flops but apparently things had changed because it was 27 outside with snow flurries! Claire walked out ahead of me (with no coat on I might add) and she started singing "Baby, it's cold out side! Baby it's COLD, OOOUTSIIIIDE!" in perfect tune. I asked her where she learned that song and she said "PaPa taught me!".

We got a Valentine from Mac today and she was looking at it in the backseat. She said "That's Mac! Awww. I love Mac." It was so sweet! I told how nice that was and she said. "I love Mac. I miss him. We'll go see him tomorrow." I told her we weren't going to see him tomorrow. She said "We'll go see him in a couple days". Once again I told her we weren't planning on seeing Mac for a while and she said "We'll see him in a few weeks". I left it there but I wanted to drive to Atlanta to see him this afternoon!

I am amazed at how much she is learning at Community Bible Study this year. The children's program is incredible and they do a wonderful job. I can't describe the joy in my heart when I hear her singing scripture like:
"God loved us and sent his Son, sent his Son" and my new favorite "I am the way, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come but by me!".
They focus on hiding the truth of scripture in their hearts so it will always be there and they can lean upon it and build upon it.

In other news all of Claire's babies (Sadie, Lily, Addie, Rosie etc.) now all have baby brothers (various stuffed animals and smaller dolls). Now I have to keep up with which one is little brother to which baby! I am quickly corrected if I'm wrong, mind you. Luckily all of the baby brothers are named Ford!

Update from Peru: Rhett is doing great! The last English speaker left yesterday so he is on his own with Spanish from here on out. I imagine it can be a little lonely not being able to just relax and talk without trying to piece together a conversation. Thanks for all of the support and prayers they are being felt and answered.

Update from Peru

A lot of people have been asking me for updates about Rhett and how things are going here soooo . . . I'm happy to report that things are going well on both fronts! Rhett is settling into his temporary home in the jungle while we manage without him here at home. We appreciate everyone's prayers for Rhett's safety. This is still my biggest request and fear while he is gone. It doesn't help that he is driving a motorcycle (a real motorcycle that requires one hand for clutch, another for gas, one foot for gear and another for breaks - so all 4 limbs must communicate effectively to avoid disaster). Did I mention that there is no helmet involved at any point here? Not to mention no traffic signals or laws for that matter. Special prayers for the motorcycle are especially appreciated. I understand that when you are in the developing world you see things (especially safety and transportation issues) differently. I've been there. I rode in the back of a small pickup truck with 27 Haitians (I am not exaggerating - we counted). There have been times I have just closed my eyes not wanting to see the scene playing out on the road in front of us. We rode on a bus in Haiti that had people stacked on top of it. We were inside luckily instead of hanging on for dear life on the roof but a chicken did have diarrhea on Rhett's shoe during the trip so we may have fared better on the roof. There are no such things as seat belts or carseats in these places and I know and understand that completely. It's just difficult to change gears from being the lady who doesn't back down the driveway without a seatbelt on to being one of 27 in the back of a truck. But when I was in those situations it didn't really seem crazy or particularly unsafe (definitely uncomfortable at times) it was just what we needed to do to get from point A to point B. I understand that is the mindset that Rhett is in so I am trying to deal with likemindedly.
He is learning a lot about the culture and language. He's made a lot of Spanish comprehension progress this week and hoping that his speaking ability improves as well. This isn't an area where people speak even a little bit of English - he's definitely immersed. His role in the research (doing the clinical sampling) starts this weekend so in the mean time he has been visiting different clinics and rounding with an infectious disease doctor at the hospital. Overall he is having a great experience.
We are hanging in here without him. My parents were here for a visit which was wonderful. Claire got lots of attention and I got lots of help and treated to several meals out which is always yummy and fun. We will be visiting friends this weekend and plan to have Rhett's mom here next week at some point. Everyone has been so supportive of us. Claire just misses her Daddy and I miss my husband/best friend/biggest supporter. Ford is blissfully unaware which is nice so that someone around here isn't affected by Rhett's absence. I can not imagine being a single mother or being a military wife. It's just sort of lonely after a while. But everything is in perspective. As I was driving Rhett to the airport I imagined if he were leaving for war. It was difficult enough saying goodbye knowing that chances are pretty good that we will see him again. I can't imagine if he were going into combat. I know that many, many wives and mothers have had to say goodbye under those circumstances throughout history. It's just excruciating to imagine. So I will happily say goodbye for 3 1/2 weeks just thankful it's not 3 months, 3 years or forever.

Mardi Gras!

I know this is my third post tonight but I'm trying to catch up. Rhett took the laptop to Peru so I've had to go back to using our older desktop. I'm frankly spoiled with the new technology and haven't wanted to deal with a computer that is "so 4 years ago" but I decided that I would suck it up for all of you faithful blog readers!
One great thing about Birmingham is that just about everyone celebrates Mardi Gras here. Back in Georgia years would go by without be even thinking about it or I thought it was just a wild New Orleans thing. I guess since Alabama is a gulf state there are a lot of big ole parties celebrated here which I think is really fun and cool. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't even know what a King Cake was until 2 years ago. Claire has had King Cake three times this week. She walked around chanting "Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras!" for several days. We went to a Super Bowl/ Mardi Gras party (King Cake #1), they had King Cake (#2) as a snack in Spanish class - talk about cultural diversity!, and the made masks and had cake #3 at Busy Bees. We even caught a little bit of a parade and got some beads. Whew! What a fun and sugary week!
All my friends seem to be putting potty pictures on their blogs so I thought I'd join the bunch. (Don't adjust your monitor - our bathroom really is pink and yellow!) Claire looks like she is catching on to the basics of going to the potty for girls - always take your friends and your purse(s)!!

Roly Poly

Ford's newest accomplishment - rolling over!! Yea Ford! Claire and I had the joy of watching him do it for the first time and we clapped and cheered for him while he smiled and basked in the glory of his feat! It was so sweet to see her so excited for him and cheering him on. I hope she will continue to do that for him his whole life. She yelled "Do it again, Ford!!" and was so genuinely thrilled for him. I was so proud of both of them at the same time.

Best Buds

Well, Rhett is gone to the jungle and I am here doing an experiment in single parenting. So far everything is going fine but we miss him terribly. Claire is doing a lot better than I expected (why do we always underestimate kids?) and she seems to understand a lot more than I thought she would about Daddy being away (underestimated this too!). We are able to talk to him although we have to shout into the phone and there is a 3 second delay which can be annoying/difficult at times. We are thankful for modern technology so we can be in touch via phone and email every day. Thanks to everyone for your constant support and prayers while he is gone. The countdown is on for him to come home!

I have a calendar that I need to put a picture in every month so that means once a month I have to struggle to get a picture of both of the kids together now. This is the best I could do for February since Ford can't sit up and Claire, well, we all know about Claire and pictures!

Jungle Doctor

Off he goes . . . Rhett is heading to the jungle of Peru to work on his research in Malaria as part of his Fellowship training. He will be leaving next week and will be gone for a little over three weeks. We cringe at the idea of him being gone for so long but we know we are "taking this one for the team" and ultimately it will be a wonderfully fruitful experience for him. Please pray for his health and safety as he rides a motorcycle around the Amazon jungle to examine patients for this clinical research project. Rhett is always up for a good adventure but he is struggling with leaving us for so long. He a C are VERY close and this will be tough on both of them. Several times a day she looks at me and says something like this "Daddy's at work. He has on a tie. Daddy drives to work. Daddy be home soon. I give Daddy big kiss and hug. Daddy swing Claire". It is so sweet to see how much they adore each other (about as much as I adore both of them!)

I don't even know how to approach this with her. Someone asked me what I was going to tell her and I replied "I guess I'm just going to tell her that he is in Peru and will be home as soon as he can". She can pick Peru out on the map so I've started telling her excitedly "That's where Daddy is going!" and she smiles and says "Noooo!" (as in how silly of you to think something like that!).
Anyway, that's the hot topic of conversation around here lately as we prepare for him to go. No doubt he will have some great stories and hopefully some great research data when he gets home. We miss him already!

Oh - he will be in Iquitos (see map above). There are no roads there either a boat up the river or an airplane. Rhett will be going by plane but he will have to arrive early in the morning or late at night. Apparently there is a problem with vultures on the runways at the airport so they have to time flights around the birds in order to prevent a disaster on the runway (bird vs. plane). The other picture is one of a typical area of Iquitos during the wet season (now). I check the weather down there high: 86 heat index: 96 Not bad for February!

Let it Snow!!!

Yeah! Claire's first snowfall! Doc and Jo Jo are here to enjoy it with her. Claire made a snowman that she quickly stomped and learned how to throw snowballs at her Mommy (thanks to her Daddy). Ford slept through the whole thing!

Going to the grocery store

I went to the grocery without the kids the other night and it was very odd. First of all I couldn't park in the "Expecting or New Mom" parking spot that I been able to claim for most of the past three years. As I grabbed my buggy I spotted something out of the corner of my eye sitting in the corner - it was one of those little baskets they have available for single people to use when they shop. I can not remember the last time I shopped with one of those baskets. It's so . . . well, small. You surely can't fit a mega box of Huggies in there so they aren't an option for me any more.

As I shopped I noticed the people who were carrying those little baskets around the store. Several college students and a few old people who could still manage to carry one the distance around the store. I used to fit all my groceries for an entire week in one of those baskets!! Then I got married and I graduated to a full-sized cart. Then I started having babies . . .

Having one baby and grocery shopping is a breeze. You can prop the pumpkin seat in the seating area and glide around the store while everyone oos and aahs over how precious your quietly sleeping baby is (your baby is precious because you were able to carefully time your trip to the store right after a feeding so the child is content and darling to all passerbys). Then an even better day arrives: your baby can sit up in the cart! No more lugging that ridiculous seat around! Your cutie pie smiles and babbles with all the old ladies in the store making you feel like a wonderful and proud mother. Once they start talking to everyone in sight you are the hit of the store. Especially when they turn up the cute factor and say hello or something really darling to everyone you pass in the aisle. Eventually #2 arrives and the seating problems start. Where are the carts designed for a toddler and a pumpkin seat? Don't bother looking because they don't exist. Now you must sacrifice your actual grocery space in the main buggy to hold the pumpkin seat which takes the entire space while the toddler rides in the seat. This means you must utilize all of the lower shelf-thing, stack food around the baby and bribe your little one to hold various items. As much as possible I put the baby in the Baby Bjorn (a must have for me) so I actually have a cart to put groceries in. We were plugging along with our various shopping systems when Rhett took Claire to the store one day and everything changed . . .
I had been avoiding the big green race car shopping carts for a while. Claire didn't even know that they existed - ignorance was bliss for me. Well, that all ended when Rhett made his first trip to the grocery store in about 4 years and quickly introduced Claire to the big obnoxious cart. Once you go to the race car there is no going back. The first time I had to drive the thing I encountered two college girls (carrying their little baskets with fun stuff like sushi and hummus in them) who were commenting on how cute the kids were and talking to Claire. They were very nice but I could tell that when they saw us coming they made a mental promise that they would never drive one of those bohemeths around the grocery store no matter what their kids wanted.

It doesn't seem like that long ago that I had that little basket with fun food in it and I was standing in the aisle with my roommate investigating the caloric content of something while in my workout shorts because I had just (gasp) exercised. I lamented the fact that I was the race car driver and they were the hottie college girls for about 10 minutes. Then I realized that even then I wanted to have a cart full of kids to push around the grocery store. I have gladly turned in the keys to my 2 door car and my size 2 jeans and moved on to bigger and better things (no pun intended). Those two girls have no idea of the wonderful fulfilling life experiences that are to come. So for now I will happily drive the race car because I know there will be a sad day when there will be no little one begging me to drive it and I will go back to shopping with a little basket and telling all the young moms how cute their babies are.

Look out South America - here we come!

Well, after conquering 5 continents individually and North America as a family we have decided to take on a new challenge. Look out South America - here we come! Rhett has been accepted to the Gorgas Course for Tropical Medicine for 2009! (There is a link in Favorite sites for those of you with too much time on your hands). We are thrilled at this incredible honor and opportunity for him to receive incredible training in tropical medicine. He is one of 24 students that were accepted from all over the world to participate in the course. Most of them have signifcant overseas experience and have done some pretty amazing and intersting things. Some of them have been practicing medicine for 30 years and others, like Rhett, are Fellows - just getting started. Many of them have done at least one rotation with Doctors Without Borders in some pretty crazy places. It sounds like we will have some interesting new friends from all over the world!
Next year at this time we will pack up and head to Peru for 10 weeks! We will be based in Lima but will be traveling to Cusco (near Machu Picchu) and Iquitos (in the middle of the Amazon jungle!) for field trips. Rhett may possibly be doing some additional research in malaria for another month or two and that would be in Iquitos as well. You can find Iquitos on the map above - just look in the middle of the dark green area (that's the jungle) and you will find the biggest city in the world with no roads leading to it! Due to it's location in the jungle you have to either fly there or take a boat up the river (Amazon that is). Pretty cool! We are really excited and ready to start planning our big adventure!

The course is really intense academically. Rhett will be working and studying very hard while we are there so he can take yet another test to get his diploma in Tropical Medicine. I am going to try to attend language school while we are there. Anyone who went to high school with me will find this mildy hilarious because I have detested Spanish since the first day of 8th grade. However, I now desperately want to have a second language. I know that this is not the time of life to start persuing that dream but I'm going to give it a shot. I have found a Spanish immersion international preschool for the kids to attend while I am in class. I am really excited about them have such an enriching experience at such a young age so they will hopefully be able to pick it up quickly. Claire started taking Spanish lessons last week to get her feet wet. It's just a 45 minute class once a week where they are immersed in Spanish playing games and singing songs. Claire is picking it up quickly - she left the class saying "adios!" and now knows her colors in Spanish just from that one class (I wish my brain was a sponge like that!). She translates through English though ("Azul - that's blue" then she will point to it). It won't be long before she and Ford are plotting against us in a language we can't understand!
I have affectionatley nicknamed this particular adventure "Step 1" which obviously will be followed by "Step 2" - stay tuned for more details on that. But obviously Step 1 is preparation for Step 2 so you can kind of see where this might be headed . . .

Ford 11 weeks

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sweet Claire!

A digital scrapbooking first

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

I have a 2 year old!

To celebrate Claire's big #2 we went out for Mexican food and she had a cupcake! Yesterday we transformed our house into a winter wonderland and had a "Snowflake" party. Those pictures have yet to be downloaded but I'll work on it. Claire's favorite thing in all the world is birthday cake. She loved every bite of it! She went around singing "Happy Birthday" to herself all day on her birthday and everytime we said "Happy Birthday" to her she said "I'm two!" and tried to hold up two fingers.
The other picture is of Ford so everyone can see how adorable he is! He is just as sweet as he is cute! I know hard to imagine but it's true.

Merry Christmas!

I'm a little behind on blogging considering how much has been going on the past couple of weeks!
We started our Christmas celebrations by heading up to the mountains of North Carolina to "Shirley Ridge" - Rhett's parents new home. We had a couple days of fun with his family where Mac and Claire got to play with each other or around each other! We came home to Birmingham for Christmas and my parents drove over for Christmas Eve and morning. We managed to take both kids to the 8pm Christmas Eve service (it's the only one we have - whose idea is that anyway? Obviously no one with small children!). We made it through the service with some creative moves on our part and ended it with a high five to celebrate our parenting feat!
We opened lots of wonderful gifts on Christmas morning. The picture of Claire above is her in Mommy's snazzy new double stroller a Phil and Teds Sport Buggy! It's really cool and she couldn't help but smile when I put her in it. I went back and forth on what kind of "jogging" stroller to get (they do make non-jogging jogging strollers just for people like me). I found the Phil and Teds and it seemed perfect considering how much international travel we are planning in the next few years. We needed something that could whiz around airports and museums and monuments with out being too big. I wish I had more tech savvy so I could put a link or something so you could see how cool this stroller is. Rhett is disturbed by the fact that we now own 4 strollers (single, single jogger, double umbrella and now double non-jogging jogger) and asked me if we have started a new tradition of getting a new stroller with more seats every year for Christmas. Watch out for what you wish for Rhett . . . I've got my eye on a triple! HA!
Claire gave Ford a hippo for Christmas - I'm hoping it becomes his Bunny. He is doing so well. Just as sweet as he can be. We took him in for his 2 month check right before Christmas - he was 14 lbs 2 oz!! Could he possibly have gained 6 lbs in two months?? He definitely has some chub on but he doesn't look really roly poly- he just looks like a six month old.
Claire is having a blast playing in her new kitchen that she got for Christmas and her new dollhouse she got for her birthday. I'll post on her birthday next . . .

A haircut and a smile!

Claire got her first haircut today! She was so excited and had so much fun. We went to one of those "why didn't I think of this" places - a salon for little girls. This places is a sea of pink and purple designed to make little girls feel like princesses. There is even a throne. We got the "First Haircut" package that included a certificate and a lock of her hair for probably twice what we should have paid but it was a special day and worth it! There wasn't too much hair to cut but it looks cleaner and a little thicker with the layers in it. We skipped the mani/pedi package but maybe we will be back for that one day. Claire was so excited about the whole experience that she . . . gasp. . . SMILED for the camera! Yea! Claire did get glitter in her hair, a glitter stamp on her face, a balloon and a lollipop. Not bad. I wonder if they would cut my hair there?
Claire was excited to play on her new playset that Jo Jo and Doc gave her and Ford for Christmas. I got some cute pictures of her playing with lots more smiles for the camera!
The last picture I stumbled upon when I was downloading the others - it's for Shanan. Can you believe that picture was take Jan. 22, 2007 - less than 11 months ago? My how things have changed. That was before we knew Mason or Ford and when our first babies were, well, babies. Claire and Cole have always been so incredibly sweet to each other. She's lucky to have him as a friend. And maybe one day a husband . . .

Little Friends

Claire and Sydney have been friends for a long time now (since her Mom and I were waddling around the PICU worried that everything we did there was going to somehow harm our babies). Well they turned out perfect despite all of the radiation and contagious diseases we were exposed to. Sydney turns two today which means Claire turns two in 9 days. It's difficult to believe that time has gone by so quickly. Sydney had a party at Kids Gym last weekend and we had a blast! Claire wore herself out climbing, jumping and riding on all of the fun equipment. The first picture is of the two riding in the see-saw boat. If you look closely you can see Claire's smile (she does actually smile just not when a camera is around). The second picture is of the two of them leaving school today. They had their Christmas party today - nothing more fun than a bunch of toddlers eating pizza! They held hands and walked out together - too cute.
I was able to (sort of) get a picture of Sydney, Connor and Claire together at the party. It was a lot easier when they were 8 weeks old (in the bottom picture). Claire has just a little bit more hair but not much! We are going to get her first haircut today despite the fact that she doesn't have too much to spare. I've heard that if you cut it then it will thicken up a little bit and help it grow. We will see. I'm sure I'll have some interesting pictures that I'll post later.
We are off to North Carolina to visit with Rhett's family this weekend. If we survive the 6 hour drive (plus stops) we will have a great time up in the mountains. We are looking forward to some relaxing time in front of the fire looking out at the Smokies!

Our little lactation consultant

There has been a lot of breastfeeding going on around here lately for obvious reasons. Claire has definitely shown a great deal of interest in the whole process. She continues to bottle feed her babies but occasionally she will get all of the necessary equipment for pumping and head back to my bedroom telling me that she is going to make milk for her babies and that she will be right back. On this particular day she decided that Bunny (aka Bubby) needed to pump. At first it looked like she was trying to resussitate Bunny with the pump (maybe I just miss working in the ICU too much) then she got it together and poor Bunny will never be the same (if you've ever used a breastpump you understand!). (click on the pictures to get a better view!)