life this autumn

i feel as if I always begin each post with an apology; an apology for my lack of communication with you all via blog. i so desire to be a consistant blogger. but desire only gets me so far... apparently it gets me a blog with 0 posts for the mont of October. however, it is autumn, my favorite time of the year, and i am praying it motivates me, blogging speaking (well i am praying it motivates me in cleaning, dishes, crafts, quilting, reading, photography, etc...). so, here i sit, taking it one blogging day at a time and making an effort to share my thoughts on and adventures in life with you all at least once a week, hopefully more.

life has been really sweet lately. the last i posted, we were awaiting our appointment at Emory for Loudon's congenital ptosis. we headed up to Atlanta on that Tuesday night, checked into our hotel (which my in-laws graciously provided for us), and then headed out for dinner in midtown. being that we rarely get up to Atlanta for the night, we decided to celebrate our 4 year anniversary (it was two weeks later) with dinner at the Melting Pot. i am not sure if this was purposeful, but the hostess sat us in a section all to ourselves; therefore Loudon was able to be his usual talkative self without Kendall or i feeling anxious about disturbing others. the meal was delicious, of course, and then we headed back to the hotel for the evening. the following morning we packed up and left the hotel in plently of time to get to Emory, or so I thought. The gps said that we were a mere 6 miles from Emory. Well, a mere 6 miles in Columbus is vastly different than a mere 6 miles in Atlanta. our appointment was at 9:00am and we were supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early for paperwork. we left the hotel at 8:30. 6 miles to go. we would get there in plenty of time. well a mile down the road we spotted a dunkin donuts. i know everyone has an opinion about the best donunts, but lemme just tell me, kendall and i are obbessed with dd (dunkin). how obbessed? well we bought a house that just so happens to be a mile from one and when i was pregnant i would limit how many times a week i could run by on my way to work (maybe that is why i gained 39 pounds). ok sorry for the rabbit trail. anyways, we spotted a dd, figured we still had plenty of time, and i had already started salvating thinking about a pumpkin donut. needless to say, i figured wrong. apparently everyone in decauter was needing to go to the Emory as well. we finally pulled into Emory's campus at 8:59. have you ever been to Emory? thousands of people walking the streets, cars and shuttle buses everywhere, and nearly impossible to read signs among all the construction. after a few wrong turns, asking strangers for help, some yelling within our vehical, and parking at the very top of a very full parking garage, we walked up to the desk (frazzled) to sign in for our appointment. it was 9:15. fifteen minutes after our appointment time and 30 minutes after when we were supposed to arrive. i was worried they would cancel our appointment, being that we were so late, but thankfully they were wonderful and totally understanding. we met with our doctor, Dr. Wojno, and were extremely impressed. he was thorough with explainations and was just an amiable person. basically put, Loudon looks great as far as patients with congenital ptosis. he said that the composations Loudon is making to see, tilting his head back and lifting his eyebrows, is a great thing because Loudon is using both eyes to focus and see things with. their greatest concern is that he will stop trying to use his left eye to see out of, being that it is much droopier than his right, and then develop a lazy eye. in order to monitor this, we will have to meet with the doctors every three to four months. if everything progresses well (he does not develop a lazy eye) he will not have to have surgery until age 3-5. i asked the doctor if he has ever seen any neck or back developmental issues from the constant tilting back and he reassured me that in his 22 years, he has never seen any issues. i asked him how frequently he had seen this condition, he respondly promptly with "one to two cases a day". needless to say, he knows his stuff and that was extremely comforting. we left feeling encouraged and positive. we followed out our trip to Atlanta with lunch at Flip Burger with Kendall's sister. ah-ma-zing...for any of you who have never been. gourmet burgers and a krispy kreme doughnut milkshake, uh, yes please.


Loudon is now 6 and a half months old and is such an incredible little man. i never really imagined how much joy and warmth a child would bring to my heart. we have jumped in to the world of solid food and boy has it been an adventure. while we dabbled in rice cereal for a week, he was really not digging it. a week later we started avocados, and man oh man did he love them. bananas followed, along with apples, peas, carrots, and we are on day 2 of sweet potatoes. i had the best of intentions to make all of his food, then life happened, and by life i mean working 8 plus hours a day and less than 5 hours of sleep a night. while sleep has improved, he still gets a mix of food i mash and organic baby food. two days ago he started wanting the spoon more than the actual food and it has caused a bit of frustration for the both of us (kendall just gave up on it). a large quantity of the food ends up covering his face, his hands, his tray, his bib, his high chair, the spoon is covered, my hands are covered....everywhere. as i am going in with the spoon of food, as quickly as possible, his hands are quicker and intersect the spoon thus the food everything. he then grabs the spoon and puts it in his mouth in order to gnaw on it. when i try to take it from him....tears and screams. oh joy.

i mentioned that sleeping has improved. i am almost scared to type those words; fearing that i will in some way jinx us. oh well- damage done. this week has been wonderful. we have been putting him down between 8 and 8:45 and he has been sleeping until 6 or 6:30. i think i had forgotten what it felt like to sleep for 6 solid hours. i tried to remember the last time i got that many hours....i can't remember (being that i peed every three hours or so every night throughout my pregnancy). i know as soon as teething starts, this joyous time will be over, so i am taking it in and counting every night as a blessing....for they will soon be fading.

well, sorry for the novel. there is so much more. there have been tears shed, there has been lessons learned, there have been verses prayed, there have been dinners with close friends, there have been apples picked, and football games watched. i am blessed.