Walking tour

So I think I'm taking you all on a walking tour of Savannah. Here are some things we've found so far. The beautiful house is on the west side of Forsyth Park, a large park about one mile from our house which has a beautiful fountain, lots of big trees and grassy areas, and a playground. There are many houses like this on the western edge of the park, some for sale. One had a sign advertising 6,000 square feet. Unbelievable. I can't even imagine what they must cost. There are many streets like this in Savannah with such beautiful houses and architecture.

Here are a couple of pictures of the library, the main branch of the Live Oak public library system. This is about 3 blocks from our house, and actually has a small castle room built into the inside for storytelling time. Elliot just wanted to know if they had Thomas books. Upstairs I found a wonderful classical CD collection. I think I'll be starting with "A" and working my way around.

And here are the kiddos. My parents left today, which was pretty sad. Elliot cried as grandma left and said, "Gah no go on plane, Gah stay my house". Michael left to try to get plates for the van, which he actually did, and I was left alone with the children...

Just a phone note

Hi, all. Just so you know, if any of you have called me since we've been in Savannah and you've gotten an email in return or haven't gotten anything, I'm not trying to avoid you. My cell phone does not work in our apartment. I must stand on the front porch or leave the house, both of which are complicated if kids are around. So. In a couple of weeks we hope to get new cell phones and we'll be back in business. Just thought I should say something. Thanks

A few pictures

Hey everyone. Mom's here and she brought her camera. And so we have pictures!
Here's Buggie having a snack on the way to her room. You can also see our front porch here after a lovely rain storm. Both of our kids seemed to be a greyish brown color after playing on the porch everyday. So we finally scrubbed it with Oxyclean and hosed it off. It's close enough to clean that Bug can crawl on her stomach and be a lighter shade of grey when she's done.
You'll also see my mom here, cooking or cleaning something as she has been while she's been here. Dad's been hanging pictures and other things. It was about 75 degrees and sunny here today - beautiful. We hope to lay low tomorrow and hit the beach on Tuesday after all of the Memorial Day tourists go home. I hope to give you a gradual tour of our house and of Savannah as we go!

Elmo's Potty Time

So just a note, if you want your kid to get interested in the potty, here's the DVD for you. Elliot has watched it three days in a row and keeps asking me for a little potty. He doesn't know that I already have one in the back room for him. It's pretty funny, the DVD. Elmo's dad dances around the bathroom and sings while Elmo does a little shake dance while ON the potty. The lyrics to the songs, well, I may have to put some on here pretty soon. He and Michael left to run an errand and I almost watched the thing by myself, until I realized what I was doing.

In other news, my mom and dad are coming to visit today, which is great news in itself. They are also bringing an old camera of mom's. Good news as well. Pictures are on their way.

Thanks so much for your comments, those of you who comment. They are very encouraging and make us not feel so far away! We need that for awhile here, as we don't quite have any friends yet. Thanks ya'll.

"Mama, I want go beach again"

This is what Elliot has said to us most of the way home both times that we have been to the beach in the last 24 hours. We went yesterday afternoon for the first time. We weren't getting much work done here with the kids, so we figured, why not go play for awhile? My parents are coming tomorrow and we hope to get some things done then. So, to the beach we went.

It's approximately 18 miles from our front porch to the parking lot at the beach. This is unbelievable to me, as I grew up in Illinois, visiting Florida beaches in the summertime, thinking the people who actually lived there year round must be the happiest people in the world, since they NEVER had to leave the beach. I think it's still one of the happiest places there could ever be. We put Elsie in a little puddle made by the ocean when the tide had been further in. The water was warm and she loved it. She sat with her little pink bow-laden beach hat on in the puddle for at least 30 minutes and just splashed in the water, happy as she could be. Elliot ran up and down the beach, finding new puddles to help fill his bucket and cups, shovels and water toys. Occasionally he would ask one of us to take him back into the water to play in the waves, which I think he thinks are there just for his own enjoyment. The pull of the tide knocks him over about every 10 minutes. And every other wave causes him to turn to one of us and say, "Dat was a beeg one!"

This morning we tried a different part of the beach, attempting to perfect our beach exit strategy. We have not yet improved this part of the process. So we carried our umbrella, 3 towels, 4 water toys, diaper bag, snacks, 2 chairs and 2 very sandy children to the parking lot where we tried to wash the sand off of them with one of those showers that you have to hold while you use it, you know what I'm talking about? Well, let's just say it's not perfected yet. In the running for future help include things like something with wheels and one of those REALLY big Lands End beach bags. I'll let you know when we've got it down.

The part of the beach we went to this morning was a total vacation spot: there is a huge pier and pavilion with an ice cream store and music, lifeguards, a huge parking lot, and many beach side tourist shops. I loved it. So did Elliot. The kid, I think, would play with the sand and in the ocean until he was crispy like the bagels I forget in the oven sometimes. To me, it's well worth the pain of trying to get them clean and figure out the logistics of the whole beach thing. Yes, there is sand all over my car and on the front rug. The towels are dirty and the kids both fell asleep on the way home without eating lunch first. But the wind and the smell of the salt, the sun on the water and the feel of sand between my toes is one of the best combinations on earth.

So when are ya'll comin' down? You think I'm being funny...

We're here... but the camera is not

Hey everyone! No link to a new blog yet. I have a few minutes before the kiddos wake up so I thought I'd say hello. I am sitting in my living room on Lincoln on a couch which actually has a slipcover on it. We have found the dishes, clothes, diapers, etc. The kids are here and Elliot so far seems to like it here. We have been waiting for the trains to come through today, as they pass about 15 yards from Elsie's window (seriously) with a very loud whistle. Last week, while Michael and I were working here like mad to get ready for the kids to come, they came 2 or 3 times per day. So far only one has come today, and that was during nap. The kids slept through it (thank you, God).

Michael has run out to start a bank account in the Kroger branch of Suntrust which is about one mile from here. We've been to Target, Walmart and Home Depot several times. We have unpacked most of the boxes except for about 7 which include pictures, nic-naks and office stuff... Our landlord seems great so far and has been here looking for things that need to be fixed or worked on. Savannah is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Last night we walked to Forsythe park (about a mile north) with the kids and played on a playground surrounded by huge old trees covered in Spanish moss next to a beautiful and very large fountain. The houses on our block and most every block downtown (we are officially just on the edge of downtown) are amazing. Most of them are very old and very large and historic in nature. The restored ones are something to behold. I'd love a tour of many of them. There are two antique stores in big old houses within a block of my house, one with a little cafe in the back that serves things like pork with gruyere and apple slices (how do you spell that wonderful cheese?) Many sidewalks are actually brick and there are signs on everything that say how old it is and for whom it was built.

We are pretty much surrounded by students as far as we can tell. There may be a transvestite who lives next door upstairs. Not sure yet. It may be The Lady Chablis from the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Church yesterday was good. Michael's mom and sister were here as they brought us the kids Saturday, (after graciously keeping them so long so that we could actually move in) so the kids did not go with us, just to minimize the freak out factor of leaving them yet again with someone else. We went to a Sunday school class that was rather small with good teaching. In the class were at least 4 people we had already met b/c they had come by to help us unpack or brought us a meal. There are many MANY pregnant women and small children at this church. In the next 3 months there are 13 babies due. Crazy.

So, where is the camera? Well, in the chaos of moving, putting things in storage, taking the truck back, cleaning, etc., I have managed to either lose my purse or have it stolen. We really are not sure which it is. Those of you who know me well are laughing and thinking that I surely have lost it, as I do many things. However, it may have been stolen from our butler's pantry. Anyway. It doesn't really matter. What this means is that we have cancelled credit cards and I currently have no driver's license, prescriptions that I had written to be filled when we got here, debit cards, credit cards, stamps, or CAMERA, which was, of course, in my purse. So. I guess it will be a while before I can put some pictures here. So sorry about that; there's so much to see. I think we have to wait to buy a new camera until the contract on our house hopefully goes through. That should close May 29th (we hope we hope). Then we'll maybe have some more money to spend!!!

Oh, there are more things to tell you, but that's enough for now. We have been welcomed by people at Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah (including Michael and I having to stand up in the service and be recognized as the new RUF pastor for SCAD and his wife - good thing I wore my conservative/I'm the pastor's wife dress) and very welcomed by Michael's family in Griffin. It's calming to me just to think about who will read this as I type it. I miss you all in St. Louis. I really do. More later.

Oh, and by the way, Bug is crawling. She crawled several feet today, smiling the whole time!

the end...the beginning

Well, everything's in the truck. Everyone has come to say their goodbyes. Tomorrow - the beginning. We love you, St. Louis people. We'll put up a link to the Gordons in Savannah when we get there...

What we've been doing...

So, it's busy here. We have 5 days left in St. Louis. The kids have 2. So here's what we've been doing between boxes and goodbyes. Elliot has been flying around the bed which is now off the frame (our bed). It's pretty fun and now that it's lower, I, too, can jump. I also fall on the bed which Elliot thinks is extremely entertaining. Elsie, as you see here, has discovered some new foods. She loves french fries and frozen berries. When we gave her mac and cheese yesterday she was so happy we seriously thought she was having a seizure. She can eat an entire serving of it. She picks at her tray until she has eaten every noodle her little fingers will allow. Some stats from the doc yesterday: at 9 months, Elsie is 17 pounds (10-25th%) and 26.5 inches (10th%). She's just a little bug. She's really trying to crawl. I think it's coming in the next 2 weeks. Definitely by the time we're settled in Savannah. If you are of the praying persuasion and think of it, please pray for Elliot in these next couple of weeks. The poor kid's whole world is about to be rocked, and we all know he likes things JUST SO. Thanks.