Beau's 4 Year Old Check-Up

We finally made it to Beau's 4 year old check-up.  Going to the doctor is still not his favorite thing, but we made it through and celebrated with Chick fil a! 

4 year old stats: 

31 pounds (6th %)

38 inches (7th %)

BMI 15 (23 %)

18 Months

Today marks 18 months without my dad.  

I miss him every single day and wish I could tell him all about Beau and Palmer.  He'd love knowing every little detail.  He'd be so proud of the amazing husband and dad that Raleigh is.  And he'd be beyond thrilled about another little one on the way.  

It was an absolutely gorgeous Fall day in Atlanta....sunny with a high of 70 in the afternoon.

I know exactly what my dad would have said....get outside and let those boys enjoy playing!

So that's just what we did.

We actually tried a new playground that we recently heard about.  We stayed about an hour and the boys had a great time.

 

At the end of the day, Palmer discovered the gum in my purse.  I quickly put it out of reach on our kitchen buffet.  Before I could finish getting dinner on the table, Palmer had found a way to get to the gum! My dad would definitely love hearing all about Palmer's crazy antics! 

Miss you so much dad.  Love you!

Chicken Pox

Beau tends to get "hooked" on certain books and wants to read them over and over.  His most recent book fascination is Arthur's Chicken Pox by Marc Brown.

We've read it for the past week or so at bedtime.  If you are not familiar with the book, the main character, Arthur, gets the chicken pox.  His younger sister, DW, becomes jealous of all the attention Arthur is getting from his family.  She takes matters into her own hands and creates chicken pox on her face with a pink marker.  Unfortunately, DW's grandmother quickly figures out what she has done because all of DW's "dots" wash away in the bath.  

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon.  I had taken Beau and Palmer on an errand to get the oil changed in my car.  We came home and I took Palmer upstairs for his bath.  Beau came upstairs a few minutes later and had orange marker all over his face.  I asked what was going on and he said he had the chicken pox! 

Hilarious! 

As a former kindergarten teacher, I have to say that I was totally proud of those marker dots on Beau's face.  To me, it meant that he was comprehending the story we've been reading!  And it was cute.  He hopped in the bath with Palmer, and his "chicken pox" washed right off! 

We Have a Name

We finally have a name for precious baby boy! 

Drumroll Please ......

Baby boy's name is 

Rhodes Howard Gresham! 

Rhodes is a name that I have always liked for a boy.  I like it as a stand alone name, but I also think it sounds nice with Beau and Palmer.

I want to honor my dad's life and legacy in Rhodes' name.  It really is incomprehensible that my dad will not meet Rhodes until Heaven.  I can't let my mind linger there long because it is so painful to think that only Beau will have memories with my dad.  

Rhodes' middle name is to honor my dad.  My dad's name was Howard Brent Gill.  Although he went by the name Brent, I love the name Rhodes Howard.  Also, my grandfather (my dad's dad) was John Howard Gill, and he went by the name Howard.  

Howard has a rich heritage in my family of being a name given to men strong in the Lord....men who love their families fiercely...men who are loyal and fighters.  

So, there you have it! 

Rhodes Howard Gresham 

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Proverbs 22:1

Happy 18 Months Palmer!

You've brought so much energy and fun into our home over the last 18 months and we love you so much! 

 You love to eat! 

 And you love to climb! 

 I pulled out this stool today to grab a bowl, and before I could turn around you had made your way to the top.  You are always so proud of yourself when you are being adventurous. 

This is how I found you today after your nap.

You had taken off your sleep sack and your shirt and were beating your belly like a gorilla.  You thought it was hilarious.  It was pretty funny!  

You sure are cute and snuggly! 

Happy 18 months little guy! 

Customer Service

I've experienced some pretty terrible customer from Comcast this week.  Basically the cable installer created major damage and no one from Comcast seems to care.

Instead of focusing on the poor customer service that I've been dealing with for the past six days, I want to share two experiences I had today where I received excellent customer service.  It does still exist. 

The boys and I hopped in the car this afternoon to head to Publix.  The tire pressure light in my van came on as soon as we were on our way.  I headed to the Costco tire center and asked if they could check my tire pressure.  They were so extremely nice and told me where to pull the van.  The boys stayed in their carseats while the nice gentleman checked and filled all four tires.  There was no cost and it was done with a pleasant attitude.  I will write a thank you note and express my gratitude for their customer service.  

After we had dealt with the tires, we made our way to Publix.  Once we were in the check-out line, Beau had to use the restroom.  If you have little ones, you know that you can't always just tell them to wait.  The cashier noticed our situation and made a space for all of our groceries so we could quickly make it to the restroom without much of a scene.  Again, it was a small act of kindness that made a huge impact in our day.  

I know that mistakes happen, I make them all the time.  If Comcast had simply apologized, it would have set the tone that they are willing to work with us and "make it right."  Instead, every interaction we've had has implied that we are somehow at fault that there is a massive hole in our ceiling.  Funny thing, installation of our cable (when the damage occurred) was Friday night and we received our first bill today.  So they obviously have a good protocol in place for making that happen in a timely manner.  Meanwhile I'm opening the bill while staring at the hole in my ceiling. 

Today I'll be thankful for the experiences we had at Costco and Publix.  

It may be harder to find, but good customer service still exists. 

Fun Day

Thanks for a fun day Aunt Angie! 

And thanks for the huge surprise package of new clothes! What a special treat! 

And the clementines!  In only 24 hours we ate the whole bag! 

Love, Beau and Palmer

A Treasure of a Friend

My sweet friend Emily is a treasure of a friend.  We've been friends since high school and have lots of shared memories.  I remember carpooling to lots of high school football games together, the beach trip when we drank more powdered coffee than could possibly be healthy and now we both are married with children! It is crazy how time flies.

Emily is a friend who consistently checked on my dad for over 10 years.  Even though we went to different colleges and have been separated by many miles, she was faithful to ask how my dad was doing.  Emily is not only a special friend, but she is an amazingly talented photographer and seamstress.  "Seamstress" seems so old fashion.  How do you describe someone who sews?

A couple of weeks ago, I received the sweetest surprise in the mail.  A bundle of love made by Emily!

Look at these adorable burp cloths that Emily made for baby boy! Aren't they just precious! And I need to get a better pic of the precious bibdanas she made! If you aren't familiar with bibdanas, they are the cutest little bandanas that babies where around their necks to catch the drool!  

Emily, I can't thank you enough for celebrating the upcoming arrival of baby! 

So blessed to call you my friend! 

Pizza Making Fun

A few weekends ago we had the pleasure of joining our friends, the C family, for a yummy dinner prepared on their new big green egg.  It was so delicious and the company was even better.  

The kiddos made cheese pizzas! 

The big boys played cars while the pizzas cooked. 

Palmer was such a big boy eating in a booster seat! Time for us to invest in one! 

 Look at these delicious smores in cones! They were so yummy! 

Thanks C family for such a fun night! 

Robots

The last month or two, Beau has been really interested in robots.  He likes to put his shirt on his head and say he is a robot.  When we were in Nashville a few weeks ago, he decided to create a robot.

He found the stones under my mom's deck and stacked them up.  He then asked for "dots" and Nana found the felt sticky pads for him to use.  Nana showed him how to make the arms by tucking the branches between the top two stones.

I'd say it's a pretty cute robot! 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best mom there is! 

We love you mom and are so blessed to call you ours! What an example you are for me as a mom!  I sure didn't inherit your sewing skills or green thumb or ability to command a board meeting, but I've sure learned a lot from you over the past 31 years! 

You are not afraid to do the hard work to get something done.  Whether that is at work, in the house, a landscaping project, or a homemade banana pudding!  You are a hard worker just like dad! 

You have an eclectic group of friends which speaks to your love for others.  You have an ability to make others feel comfortable around you and they know you are a good listener because people seem to always share their life stories with you! 

You are generous with your time.  At work you take time to truly listen to others and help think through solutions.  You are never too busy to attend a special family event and you make the extra effort to "show up" when it matters most.  Again, this is something you and dad always made a priority and I hope Raleigh and I can continue this legacy.

Over the past 17 months you have been an example of Christ's power being perfected in weakness.  You like to say that sometimes we have to put "feet to our prayers" and you have surely done that by fighting for joy, fighting to find blessings in the hard, fighting to have a positive outlook.  While others face seemingly small challenges and give up, you are fighting through immense grief while remaining a blessing to those around you.  I know dad is proud of how you are continuing his legacy of displaying the fruits of the spirit to others, even when it seems impossible.  

You still know how to rock a pair of hair scissors and and haven't lost your touch giving manicures and pedicures.  You enjoy fancy meals but are just as happy at home with a scrambled egg sandwich.  You know how to make the most of the everyday moments.  

We love you so much and hope you feel loved and celebrated today!

 Happy Birthday Mom!      

On Repeat

Another song that we often have on repeat around here. Enjoy!

What Beau is Into {at 4}

Last week during dinner, I decided to ask Beau a few questions about his favorite things.  I love getting little glimpses into his mind.

Here are his replies when I asked his favorites:

color: "orange"

food: "casserole"  (egg casserole) (I thought this was funny....I mean he definitely likes it, but I didn't know it was one of his favorites.)

song: "Lighthouse" (My Lighthouse by Rend Collective)

book: "Jesus book" (Bible)

toy: "legos"

show: "Daniel Tiger"

place: "play area and playground" (play area is Chick-fil-a, LOL)

Whee!

Apparently Vimeo hates me this week because I cannot get this video to upload correctly.  Oh well! It's fuzzy but I still love it!