Ketchup, Apples, Punkins and Big Changes

Ketchup - Today, I catch y'all up on all things Presleigh.
Apples - We picked apples over the weekend.
Punkins - We also saw lots of pumpkins after the orchard.
Big Changes - We experienced overflowing diaper syndrome for the first time, which necessitated emergency public diaper changing.

Presleigh is vacillating between 3 and 5 hour sleep stretches. We'd prefer she lean more toward the 5 hour mark, but it's a process, right? We'll be alright and so will she. We'd just like some consistent sleep. It'll happen.

Last weekend, Ben and Katie Horton were nice enough to take us to see an apple orchard in the North Georgia mountains (with a nifty stop for true family style lunch at the Smith House in Dahlonega - Thanks for lunch, guys!) We had one tween who was entirely unimpressed with the prospect of picking apples, Presleigh, who could have cared less because she fell asleep for most of the trip, and Cristine & I in our car and The Hortons with Ben's little sister Gabby in theirs. You'll see photos of all of us throughout.

The orchard was really cool - talk about fresh, whole foods -

"How fresh are your apple pies?"
"Uh, ten minutes ago...?"

BTW - try the pie. The fried pies are phenomenal.

It was like eating fish at a Cape Cod seafood restaurant, only not as yummy. Just choose what kind of apple you want and they'll show you a whole row of trees that have oodles of those apples dangling from the branches, itching to be picked and stuffed in your bag (or the compartment under the stroller).

Oh, and for those of y'all who want to try this kind of family outing with a newborn - upgrade to the offroad tires or seriously just bring the baby pack to wear your infant on your chest. Rolling the standard model Graco around in the muddy hills of North GA isn't a picnic, even if you brought a picnic with you. You need a Hummer.

All in all, everyone had a great time - Gabby and Brianna got to enjoy themselves chasing animals around the petting zoo. There were plenty of goats, a pair of pigs, a small cow, rabbits, and everyone else's kids. While picking apples and shooting apples in the apple cannon were really cool activities, the petting zoo provided a nice diversion for the kids while Presleigh got her bottle on.

Brianna lived up to her nickname "Dr. Bri-little", petting every animal that would come to her (nearly all of them), and chasing down the rest who wouldn't. I wish I had audio of the teeniest goat in the world as all the kids tried to chase it around the pen. It was so scared, it practically pooped horizontally.

Speaking of pooping horizontally, yes, I learned the hard way "when in doubt, change the diaper" even if it doesn't rhyme. Presleigh needed to be changed mid orchard and later at Bert's Pumpkin Farm. Fortunately, big sister Bri-bri noticed a leaky diaper before it got really bad. Unfortunately, Papi noticed it was leaking because it was jam-packed with "mustard-butt" (a yellow, finger-paint like substance that infants shoot from their patooties and a good reason to buy stock in Huggies, regardless of what the Dow says).

Mommy and Papi were well prepared, though, with their diaper changing pad, making short story of the packed Pamper in the parking lot. Presleigh was grateful for our proactive equipment purchase and her sister's keen eye.

I hope nobody ever makes fun of my kids, but I'm posting this last photo to make fun of someone else's. What part of "Do Not Sit" do these guys not get?!

With the exception of Monday's Jesus Spoken Here Golf Challenge, you're caught up. More on that tomorrow or so.

TMI Warning - ThreatCon: 4

WARNING: This post and accompanying photo borders on WTMI (Way Too Much Information). No, this probably isn't as bad as your boss blabbering on at the company party in way too much detail about his colonoscopy or grandma talking about a UTI. UGH! No, that would be a true ThreatCon: 5.

Alright - you've been forewarned. GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW.

I made a flippant comment a post or two ago about being secure in my manhood and coming to grips with the fact that moving forward all of my shirts are bound to have spit up stains on them. Well, none of that experience prepared me for last night. It was just about time to put Presleigh down after her last feed/wake cycle (yes, we're doing BabyWise. What.), when I noticed a deeply pensive look on her face.

I asked her what was wrong, but being 6 weeks old, she was unable to articulate and share the feelings underlying the facial expression. What she was able to articulate and share a few moments later while repositioned on my shoulder was... cheese. Well, whatever substance is created when milk or formula meet with the human tummy.

Yeah. Presleigh effectively pressed the "eject" button on her last feeding. And, daddy was nice enough to play catcher with his shirt. And shorts. And feet. As a result, we decided it was bath time. Good call, Mommy.

Enough to be Dangerous

Everyone who uses it tells me they have a love/hate relationship with Photoshop - it does absolutely anything you want it to do, so you love it. But, it's so quirky and comprehensive that if you only know enough to be dangerous with it, you'll hate it. Unfortunately, without close personal attention from a highly skilled mentor, that stage can last for years.

However, as intuitive as I've been with WYSIWYG and GUI apps, I've found myself gaining altitude on the learning curve lately. While it's not exactly what I wanted it to look like, I've figured out how to make a couple of things out of Presleigh's photos that will look really great on paper. Unless, of course, I get too tweaky with them. In that case, you'll find me going to bed at sunrise, wide eyed, with "mouser's wrist" after an all night editing bender.

For now, here's a very, very simple creation that I can thank Adobe for. More to come, especially if you're on our friends and family or donor mailing list for Seasons of Life. Enjoy.

Crazy Days?

Lots has gone on since our last update. We have some catching up do to... again! Brianna and I volunteered to help out at Catalyst, a next generation leadership conference where Andy Stanley, Seth Godin, Jim Collins, Jeff Foxworthy, and a whole load of other great leadership dudes flexed their intellectual muscles for two days. Wow, that was amazing. More on that later.
Brianna is getting more and more comfortable holding her little sister. Here they are in the living room moments before Presleigh would buck her head back, freaking big sister out, and prompting a frantic call to "Mommmmmmm!". We think Brianna fears Presleigh's head will fall off if she doesn't hold her right.

Hey, we could seriously use anyone's help with the upcoming Golf Challenge. Check the right hand column for details. This has taken a lot of time and prayer and the growth of this ministry next year really depends on this event going off well.

Here's another shot of Presleigh and a shout out to Debbie, Cherie, Tara, Rochelle, Mom, Joyce, Gwynne, Kevin, Katie & Marty, Carla, Sarah, Kim, Shay, Gigi, Astrid, Camarie, and everyone else who we didn't photograph or mention in previous posts. Given the choice of posting well and appropriately to the blog versus caring for the family and the ministry, I've overwhelmingly and repeatedly tended to the latter over the former. So, thank you, to all for your visits, generosity, and prayer. Oh, and Toni, YOU ROCK - the Boppy has been the coolest invention, let alone gift, that we've gotten yet (with the exception of the crib and the obvious child seat required by law for transporting Presleigh home from the hospital).

More updates and sickeningly cute photos of our little angel this week.

In an Attempt to Catch Up...

Here are a few photos from two weekends ago. Aunt Shanua, after two weeks of travel mayhem at work, was able to get here to HotLanta for a visit to her new neice. (My sister did beat me to the kid thing - Presleigh's cousin, Ciara, is 21. So, it'll be interesting at family reunions...) But, Presleigh was delighted to finally meet her Aunt (or at least that's what she'll say in a few years when she has the words and looks back at the photos.

The following week was a bit of a blur, but was punctuated by a visit from Uncle Rudy. Uncle Rudy's always got a good smile on his face and was kind enough to pose with Presleigh. Somehow, there was a stain on his shirt, though. It doesn't really say "Jets" on it. I'd never allow that in my home. Though, the Pats need to pick up their game.

Last Sunday, Cristine's friend Robin and Aarron's friend Kevin paid us a visit. Robin was thrilled to finally get to meet our daughter and Presleigh did her thing - slept through the whole visit... A big bag of Bagel Boys was fully in order and we made short order of a dozen fresh ones. Thanks, guys!!!

With HUGE thanks to our friends Helen, Yolaine, and Carla, who gave us the car seat and stroller combo (go, Graco!), Presleigh was able to stroll around the neighborhood and even the block a few times these past couple of weeks. In the interum, she's been working on her skills - napping skills, diaper filling skills, wailing at the top of the lungs skills, and appropriately placed spit up skills. While she shows great promise in napping, she seems strongest in the spit up department.

I have decided that this season of our lives is the season in which I simply resign myself to the fact that my shirts will always be marred by spitty formula. I'm certain that the future holds many business meetings unapologetically opened with a spitup stain remark. I am secure in my manhood. "It's spitup. What."

More photos this week. Mommy, Brianna, Catalyst, Oktoberfest... But, our parting photo of the week - Momma gets some sleep!

More Photos, More Visitors, More Fun...

Coming soon. I promise I'll get some photos of Aunt Shanua's visit from last weekend and Uncle Rudy's stop over from this week.

For now, here's Presleigh and her Papa on the sofa, just chillaxin.

AP