Cabin Fever

Here at Casa de Ford we get a little something called Cabin Fever.

It's highly contagious with symptoms of cranky pants, fussy faces, and pains in your - well, everywhere.

The cure?

Get the heck out of dodge before the steam bellows out of your ears.

And so we did just that yesterday. Most folks will likely scratch their heads at the thought that we ventured off of camp property to have some outside peace, but your backyard is your backyard - sometimes you need to hop the fence. We hopped about two miles down the road to the little playground at the Methodist Church - but made sure we vacated before they made us stay for Wednesday night church.

We weren't sure how Noah would like or interact with the play things considering he's just now taking steps on his own, but I'll let you decide:

In the spirit of Abigail: "Nunnels!"

The BIG slide with daddy...
Look, mama is on the slide and in front of the camera...
Rare.And for obvious reasons, this one is my favorite.

So the park - it's good for our feverish souls. I just hope winter holds off a little longer - like until next December.

::beep beep beep beep beeeeeeep::

This just in: We have a walker.
Hold on to your hats, drinks, snacks, daughters,
and anything else in a 2ft tall grabbing radius.

Alright, kid. You've proven your point.
You're big, growing, turning into a kid before out very eyes.
Now quit it. Let my heart catch up with the fleeting moments.

A Streak of Luck

Fact: When you turn one you are able to
run around willy-nilly (pun intended).Myth: When running around willy-nilly,
the one-year-old does not pee on the floor.Fact: There are three extra disinfected tiles in our living arena.
Myth: Parents of said one year old will discontinue willy-nilly time.

Twelve: Round Two

Alright. It's kind of fun having a "toddler", I'll admit - even if he doesn't toddle (that's a real word - no red squiggly line) real well and is starting to practice for the Troublesome/Terrific/Terrible/Transformative Atti-Twos. I love him to pieces - sometimes so much my heart aches. I love to watch him play and discover, figure things out, test his limits (he is quite fond of this one), and wonder what is going on in that little brain of his. His imagination already runs wild, I can see it in his eyes. Most days are filled with laughs and games and looks of mutual adoration, often started off with a good morning smooch from the little guy - but I will confess we are entering the phase where the discipline part is kicking into gear, and I am not sure yet how good we are going to be at this part. More to come on that at a later date...

I love being a mama, especially to this little guy:

Noah's Birthday Invite that never got printed or sent...whatever.

...and even if he does call me "Beb", here are a few (or twelve) reasons why, in no particular order:

1. He loves Florida State football - not so much the arena in which it is played, just the team itself. He loves them so much that he had an anal volcano ALL over his seat, shorts, hands, and Grammy Nan just as we were pulling into our parking spot for the game. Perfect. I recently heard that the "adventure only begins when everything else has gone to s#*t" - wise, wise sensei.

Exhausted much? It's hard work being a Nole.
Sidenote: He's worn this jersey every game day except Oklahoma.
We aren't superstitious.

2. Clap on - (clap-clap). Clap off - (clap-clap). Noah has the clap down to a patty cake. I even fed him pancakes the other morning and when I was telling him what it was he started clapping. And the part where you "throw it in the pan" he starts to duck for cover from tickling fingers.

3. Wagging. Taking a walk with a wagon - wagging. This kid loves all things wagon - riding, snacking, pushing, throwing - if he can do it in/to a wagon, count him in.

Wagging is whoa-some for the wandering wagger.

Look closely - it was chicken pox season.

He is riding in his Quarantine Wagon.

4. White boy can dance - well, as rhythmically as his genes allow. The best is that once he starts flailing his arms to the beat he expects everyone else to do the same. And we do. The other day Chris said, "Why does he think that just moving his arms is dancing?" - to which I responded by showing him, in close proximity to his face, the flailing about that we've been inherently teaching for the past 12 months when anything resembling a tune is played. And to that all he could say was, "Oh...".

Go Pack - only when in the presence of Uncle D...

5. Noah plays peek-a-boo now - where he is the "peeker". He will play with most anyone anytime he has something to hide behind - sometimes even himself in the mirror (obviously my favorite to watch). Fair warning: if the object is mobile, watch your face. You've been warned.

Peek--a-boo!

6. We have had enough parties to get us through until he's three. Yep, three celebrations of Noah's first year of life: Fairhope, Clyde, and Ten Mile. Each one full of love, laughs, friends, family, food, and fun. The Fairhope party is where we gave him his very own chocolate cake - I have been told since the day he was born that his first cake MUST be chocolate so it shows up in the pictures. And show up it did:

'Scuse me, sir. It is not your birthday.
Please step away from the cake.

I think he liked it.

Finger-lickin' good.Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere.
Clean up, clean up, get the chocolate out of your hair.
(Pay no mind to the green gob-lin doing the spraying.)"diss?"Party numero dos at the Giusti casa. He's not very excited about it.Noah and GiuGiu - she knows how to get down.Mason's face says it all - ha! Love it.

We are thankful for everyone who helped us welcome Noah Matthew into the world a year ago and for everyone who has grown to love him since. We are beyond blessed with the family-by-blood and the family-by-love that surround us.

7. Noah took his second trip to Boone, NC to hang out with Aunt KD & Uncle Dan - and he let us come along, too. Sleeping in the closet went better than before, the little doggies were slightly more tolerant of the other four-legged creature in their midst, wedding things were accomplished, autumn weather was enjoyed, Florida State football was watched, and Green Bay shirts were worn.

Football & snacks with daddy -
sounds like a good Saturday afternoon combo to me.

I love the mountains...I love the rolling hills...I love the Noah and all his simple thrills...

8. Noah has always been a great sleeper - I mean, phenomenal. During his twelfth month he decided that not only is he going to be a great sleeper, but he think he likes being a night owl as well. Down between eight and nine (usually), wakes between eight and nine. Yes, please. Sign me up. AND he still takes a beast of a nap or two during the day - two plus hours per nap. So for those of you (Aunt Meg) who said that "all babies wake between 6:30am and 7am because they are babies and that is what they do and I should just go on and forget about not being a morning person" - you are welcome to sleep in at my house any day. Knock on a big ole piece of wood...

Sleepy McGeeface

9. For the first time in his life Noah got to have all four grandparents all to himself for a whole weekend! We went down to Pensacola/Tallahassee/Fairhope over Labor Day weekend to go to a football game, John Mayer concert, and to celebrate Noah's first year with all of our FL/AL family. While 'beb' and daddy were with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Paul, Noah was hamming it up with his four grand parental units. Scary thought, I know. The amount of sugary love in that room must have been stifling.

A whole lot of this was happening...

while chaos ensued.We look pretty wild, eh?Prom Pose
Watch out - that's how babies happen.
(On prom night? What exactly does that mean?
This post must be running way too long.
Almost over, I promise.)

10. Sippy cups are old news, we have moved on to the straw in this house. Blessing and a curse: 1) He wants to get his grubby little hands on everything with a straw - my drink, your drink, the people at the next table's drink. 2) He has "forgotten" how to tip his sippy cup and drink on his own. Convenient. 3) Meltdown will occur when straw-drinker does not immediately surrender said-drink to the boy. Public spectacle = Slightly embarrassing.

11. I mentioned this before, though I feel it is worth listing here as well. We are ween-ers here in the Fab Ford Fam. No more boob for the little one. He decided it was for babies and very easily and naturally moo-ved on. Amen? Amen.

Any suggestions of how to get him to drink this instead-
without putting chocolate in it?

12. And last, but certainly not least, as this one is probably the biggest milestone of all - for all parties involved: Noah spent his first night away from us and his bed. BIG step - more for us than him. It was very strange not having him with us and felt like we were being irresponsible at times - like we had left him somewhere on accident. Mama Bo and Papa Bo took him with them over to the Giusti house for a few days so that Chris and I could get the house together for Noah's party and spend a little bit of time just the two of us. We went to the climbing gym, to a movie, dinner, and just relaxed. It was wonderful to have the together time, but it felt even better to have Noah home.

That's a whole lot of little boy lovin' right there.

Wow. Big month for our not-so-little guy. It's hard to believe it's been a year (plus) since he changed our lives and hearts forever. Our love for him is worldly and imperfect, yet mighty and unconditional. I would easily give my life for his, my tears for his pain, my joy for his sadness. If knowing that I could protect him from hard lessons and uphill battles would provide for him the best possible outcome, I would - but I know better than to think I know what's best. We love him more than there are stars in the sky, but only his Maker knows that count...

The next update is just around the corner... but here are a few blogs to be looking for: 180 South, 3 Cords, Etsy (gulp)...

Fall Friskies

Orange. Red. Yellow. Crunching. Leaves. Chai Tea. Thanksgiving. Hammocks. All Things Pumpkin. Cool Breeze. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Socks with Chacos. Long Sleeves. Festivals. Halloween (OK- really just the candy). Harvest. Change. Fireplace. Crisp Air.

I. Love. All. Things. Autumn.

I think I am not going to call it Fall anymore. Typically when something falls it breaks, shatters, hurts itself - all not-so-very-fun things. And Autumn is so very fun.

I have decided to make a list - a list of projects I want to take on this Autumn for no other reason than they will bring me joy:

• Dig up hosta plants that have taken over my yard. They are pretty and apparently expensive but I don't have a desire for 9,374 of them in my yard. I would like to plant other things - like tulips or carrots.

Hosta la vista... Hello, pretty spring time flowers!

• Build chicken coop (I originally spelled this "coup" - and then laughed at the image of a bunch of chickens living in a rag-top hatchback) with my dad. Yes, it's happening. This spring we will get chickens. I haven't decided yet if we will try to hatch them or try to acquire them post-brooding, depends on how in touch with my roots I am willing to go. Chicken pox, you don't scare me.
  

Welcome home, chickens.

• Hang our hammock. Sadly we have moved two hammocks to three houses and have yet to put either one of them up to enjoy since Kansas City where it's a frozen tundra three-fourths of the year. (I'm not bitter.) Operation: Hammock may happen this afternoon - I have to check with my boss. The little boss.
  

I need a lot more of this in my life... just up off the ground.

• Sew. Sew. Sew. My goal is to make a stockpile of hand-grown goodness to sell on (deep breath) Etsy and then the Market Square Farmers Market next season. I also have Christmas gift dreams to fulfill as well. I think I will need to tune up my machine to prepare it for the storm - anyone know how to do that? Cinderelly, Cinderelly...

The dress I made for a little one who is loving life in the womb.
Come on out and meet the world, sweet girl.

• Research and plan a year-round garden based on the Vegetannual starting in the spring to further our attempt at becoming locavores (Folks who eat local, in-season food as best they can). I gladly welcome any pointers. I am not trying to feed Roane County, just our little family and enough to can/freeze for the cold months.

Yummy - now when do I plant y'all in East Tennessee?

• Paint our dreary living area. I say "living area" because it is just that - our kitchen, living room, dining room, entry way, sewing nook are all one big room. And the color on the wall is about as exciting as a root canal.

I am digging this color or something similar - bright and inviting.
I also like the green of the next room.

• Create a business card. (Listen, I know I am nothing fancy, but a girl can dream.) Tell me what you think.
• Throw my almost-one-year-old the most incredible birthday celebration this side of the Mississippi. I know, I am running behind, but this chicken pox stuff has thrown me for a loop - and now I am rethinking the original theme. This is what happens when I have too much time to think...

Celebrating a little early with Uncle Matt & Aunt Heather.

We are working on the whole "thank you" thing...

• Carve pumpkins and reminisce on previous pumpkin carving parties. Do they have pumpkins in the northwest?
  

We've got mad pumpkin-carving skills in this neck of the woods.
Too bad half of our neck has run off...

• Take a trip or two to the mountains. It's always good to go home.
  

Back porch view from HiZi - such is life.

Whew. I better stop while I'm way already way behind. Three days, folks, until the Autumn equinox. I've got a lot of goodness on my plate - how about you? What are your favorite things about the season formerly known as Fall?

Ford Excursions

Cheesy, yes I know.

In case anyone was worried, Hotel de Ford is back in full swing after a sweet little lull right at the close of the summer season. As mentioned before, we kicked it back off with the Giusti family escaping the heat of their AC-less house and getting in one last footloose jaunt before the booger picker, I mean, Mason started Kindergarten. (I am wrestling with whether or not I should re-word the previous sentence because I could potentially make my sister cry for two different reasons in-between that capital letter and period containing only thirty-five words. Well, if she's going to cry anyway, might as well leave it.)

This past weekend Matt and Heather, the married ones, made the eight hour trek from Savannah to come and spend a way-too-short weekend with us. This was their first time to our house (Matt came last summer to the first house we lived in at camp, remember, the big one.) and we were so glad they came up. The funny thing with them is that we go long periods of time without seeing each other, like since Christmas, and then it seems like we see each other a few times close together, like in two weeks in Tallahassee.

We ventured out to the Market Square Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, admittedly our first time going since we've moved here, and let me just say, I may have found my heaven on earth - or at least my heaven in Tennessee.

Fruits, vegetables, fresh bread, jellies and jams, handmade goods, hippies, diaper-clad bathing beauties, and sideshow-Joes galore. Heaven. We even got on "the list" to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in the spring! We could have joined now for the rest of the year, but we decided that we would save up our cash and join next May - $17/week for a half-box containing 5-7 variations of farm-fresh goodness. I wish I could remember the name of the farm, but crazy enough, I didn't write it down or take a picture of their stand - come next May, say good riddance to Kroger's produce aisle.

The five of us grabbed lunch at Tomato Heads which happens to be right in the middle of Market Square - how convenient. And delicious. They are all about the local, in season, and fresh - music to my ears.
Our pizza was phenomenal and a victory all in one - it's not very often you find ONE pizza that all four folks, especially with me around, will agree on and love. And that's saying a lot considering I typically pick off at least one topping on every pizza I eat, but when you know it's so fresh and local it's hard to disregard the hours of love that have been put into that mushroom and olive.

Matt, Chris, Heather & Noah at the Market

Accordionist on stilts and his lovely lady.Noah and his daddy playing in the water.

Next year he will be one of the naked babes running around.This kid loves the water. Loves.

You would think after being surrounded by food galore we wouldn't be able to eat for at least a week. For us, this is not so. In Ten Mile fashion, we had to take Matt and Heather to eat at the Marina - it's a must if you stay with us for more than one day. And the Braves game was on - bonus!

Noah is trying out new smiles these days.
I am partial to this one.

The gang outside the Marina.Matt & Heather at Watts Bar Lake.

Sadly, or not so sadly depending on how you look at it, the more I educate myself about food, our food industry, where it comes from, where it doesn't come from, I find myself more and more picky about what I eat. Maybe not so much picky as I expect food to look good, taste good, and that I feel good about eating it. For me, this was not so with my selection at the marina. Breaks my heart because I love the little place, but it opens up a whole world of questions about the quality that they are serving when I can visually see the problem - makes me wonder what I can't see.

Anyway, that's for another post.

We had a briskly wonderful weekend with the married Uncle Matt and Aunt Heather...they have to come back when they can stay longer.

Oh... and one more thing:

Happy Birthday to my mama!
She had me 26 years ago so that makes her at least 37.

Here's to a year full of blessings and bliss!