Baby Toes

Baby toes are so cute.

Update for Last Week

Last week was very eventful, so I am going to sum it up briefly. We had a trip planned to Washington for my 10 year class reunion which was last Saturday. It became an extended trip because my grandmother passed away the weekend before. We went down at the beginning of the week for the funeral and stayed through the next weekend to attend the reunion. We had some sad times and some fun times and now we're trying to get back into our routine at home.

Caleb Braxton Donahue

Introducing Caleb Braxton Donahue!

Caleb was born July 30th by C-section (I got to watch!). He weighed 7lb 7oz and was 19 inches long. Brad and I went up to Rockingham for the birth last Wednesday. Starting Tuesday, we spent our nights at a bed and breakfast in Wadesboro and our days at Richmond Memorial Hospital until he was discharged on Friday. Ever since, Caleb has been at home with us waiting for the revocation period to pass. Last night at midnight our time was up, so today we are introducing the newest addition to our family. It will still take a few months to finalize the adoption through the court system, so for now Caleb is technically named Braxton Jones (Jones being the last name given to all babies that are custody of our agency). Braxton was chosen by his birth family, and we are keeping it as his middle name. We have an open adoption and have gotten to know some of his birth family already. Caleb is so cute- and the other children luuuuuuuv (squish) him to pieces. Enjoy the pics!

Swingset Addendum

I forgot to give credit to Brad not only for putting the kit together, but for building the staircase up to the clubhouse on the swing set. Anna needed stairs to crawl up instead of the ladder that came with the set. The swing set also has three swings, a rock wall (in the back), a rope ladder, a slide, tic tac toe, a telescope, and a really neat picnic bench and play area under the clubhouse. We had a good time eating at the picnic table the other day. This is a great addition to our back yard.

Catching Up

This post is for my mom. Well, it's for everybody- but recently my mom has been asking me "when will I see _____ on your blog?" Let me fill in some blanks. Ben's birthday was July 18th, and went by without an entry. Sorry Ben. I didn't use my camera to take pictures of his party, so I had to wait to get them from my sister in law. We had a small family gathering with cake. Ben got puzzles, a "Benjamin" cup, stickers, and some bubbles. The big present for Anna and Ben this year was the swing set, which Brad finished building a couple weekends ago. It is very fun and underneath it we used a wonderful material called rubber mulch. Rubber mulch is made from recycled tires. It is very shock absorbent and lasts a lifetime. You could also roll in it and never get dirty. Amazing stuff. Brad's birthday was August 5th. Brad turned 30. We have no pictures to commemorate that event because according to Brad, he failed age 29 and has to do it over again. Another big even for Ben occurred today. Ben had his first trip to the dentist. He was very cooperative and pleasant to the staff. I was proud. His favorite part was when the hygienist showed him how all the different tools worked and let him touch the tooth polisher. His teeth looked great except for a molar that was malformed and lacking some enamel. It needs to be partially filled. So. We will be having Ben's second trip to the dentist very soon. I'm afraid that one won't be as fun.

Vera Bradley, Meet Your Match!

It is so late right now that I don't even feel like writing this post, but I have to share with you what happened to me this evening. Brad and I went out on a date to the Melting Pot to celebrate our pending adoption. It was a leisurely evening, and it took a couple hours to complete our meal. Unfortunately, we needed to make a Wal-Mart run after we finished, so that put us arriving at the Indian Trail Wal-Mart around 11:30pm. Those of you who know me also know that I wear a Vera Bradley pocket book that is technically called a "small backpack". However, it is in the handbag section and is actually a purse with two straps. I bought it last fall and have worn it every day since. On the way into Wal-Mart I was stopped by the guys at the door, who asked me to leave my bookbag up front. I said, "Oh, this isn't a bookbag, this is my purse." They said, "Sorry, company policy. If you don't want to leave it up front, you can go leave it in your car." I said, "Is it because of the time of day?" Thinking that maybe after 11 they had a spike in crime and needed to crack down on certain things. No, no, the guys insisted this was a policy that is always in effect. I had actually opened it up for them and showed them the contents to prove that it was a purse and not, in fact, a book bag. There were no guns or drugs inside, and really, there was not enough room to steal anything because most of the space is taken up by my travel Bible. Yes. My Bible. However, this must have looked quite suspicious to our second shift workers, because they told me I was fortunate to have been allowed in with this bag for the past year. In stead of leaving my bag in the car, I left completely. Brad actually called the manager when we got home and politely asked him about their policy. I was still interested because I also bring diaper bags into Wal-Mart and I wanted to know if there was a problem with the size of the bag, or if it was just the fact it had two straps. The manager told Brad that they did not have a policy against purses that have two straps and that the employees were in error. So, Wal-Mart missed out on a couple of purchases tonight. And now we have to go back out tomorrow. But we will go to Target instead.

Happy Birthday Again

Today, Ashleigh and her parents came over to celebrate Anna's birthday. We had fun opening presents, swinging on the swings, and hanging out. Candy made a really good cake with mandarin oranges in the cake part and pineapple and cool whip in the frosting. It was very light and tasty. Also, we discovered where the sideways tongue gene came from. If you have been around Anna recently, you've probably seen her turn her tongue sideways. This is one of those special genetic things you hear about in biology class. We were wondering who else could do it- and now we know!