Bartmer Ave.

The big switch

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Hi everyone. So it seems to me that I have been holding out on switching the blog location in an emotional attempt to hold onto St. Louis. The fact is, I no longer live in St. Louis, and I guess it's goofy to have a blog at "gordonsinstlouis" when you don't live there. So, in another of the painful steps we have taken to extract ourselves emotionally and physically from St. Louis, you may now find us at gordonsinsavannah.blogspot.com. You can just click here. Thanks.

Training

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:16:00 +0000

Hi everyone. Just a note to say that all this week we'll be in Atlanta (that is, Michael, Elsie and I) for staff training and orientation with RUF. So we'll talk in a week. Bye.

Walking tour

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:18:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:40:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:27:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:13:00 +0000

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"

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:04:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:17:00 +0000

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...

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:12:00 +0000

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.

I found my camera

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:45:00 +0000

So the kids are asleep and Michael's out. I should be packing something. But I couldn't resist putting these online. The kids and I trekked down to the Botanical Gardens. Boy am I going to miss the cheap things there are to do in St. Louis. Look at the stinkin' tulips! Elliot is sitting here in a piece of art that is only temporarily at the gardens. He loved this thing. It was a big skull that you could climb around inside. We were there for over an hour, walking, playing in the children's garden, watching the brides get their picture taken. It was a perfect day to visit. Spring in St. Louis. Beautiful and cheap - 2 of my favorite ways to find things.

Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:03:00 +0000

So we're packing. I'd show you what our house looks like, but I can't find the camera. Elsie is consistently sitting up now and only falls over occasionally. Elliot's favorite new hobby is to watch Michael play Wii. Yes, we have a Wii. Michael's Bible study bought it for him. You should have seen how happy he was. So for Elliot it's like watching interactive cartoons. The people in the Baseball game look like veggie tales to me. Every time Michael hits the ball I hear "That was a good hit!" from Elliot.

Anyway. The kids and I are flying to GA 2 weeks from today to do the great hand over to the grandparents. Then I fly back to help finish packing. We're leaving St. Louis during one of the most beautiful times of the year. I just love the tulips and flowering trees and greenery that's shooting out everywhere.

More later. There's an inspector coming to look at our house this morning. Elsie's rubbing her eyes. Must be first nap time. 7:10am. First nap. She starts early.

Peoria

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:13:00 +0000

This is Elsie's first experience with grass. I think she likes it. She eats like a horse here and loves grandma and grandpa. It was 70 degrees here yesterday, so we spent some time outside. Grandpa and Elliot took a stroller ride over to the train tracks where they saw no trains but lots of interesting equipment. Elliot, of course, hears the train whistle a mile before it comes and runs to Grandma. She picks him up and puts him on the counter where he watches the trains.

Anyway. It's a good place to be. We will severely miss grandma and grandpa.

We're moving here!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:12:00 +0000

So, why are we selling our house? I guess I failed to mention that part. So, Michael has accepted a job as the campus minister for RUF (Reformed University Fellowship)in Savannah, GA at the Savannah College of Art and Design. This means many things, which I'm sure you'll hear about soon. The first one is that we must sell our house. We've been working on this for about a month now, and we have some prospects. Michael is currently in Savannah looking for an apartments, having some meetings, taking transfer exams, etc. We are hoping to pull out of St. Louis sometime around May 12th.

So, things are a little busy in St. Louis. We're excited about Savannah, and sad about St. Louis. I'm sure there will be many more posts in the days to come!

To Peoria

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:38:00 +0000

Just a note to say we're off to Peoria for a few days before the packing and official leaving of St. Louis begins. Here you see Michael and Elsie enjoying Messy Night. This is a phenomena in University City where kids and their parents come to a certain large room in a school up the street form our house. Available for the kids to play with are mud, crayons, markers, paint, colored water, bubble wrap, play-doh, and all kinds of other messy things. Elliot wanted NOTHING to do with anything messy. He just liked the water. And the play-doh. So here he is, fascinated with the mechanics of the water toys. Have a great week, everyone!

The zoo train

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:31:00 +0000

So for months, we stalked the zoo train. We listened for it. We watched it go by. We stopped in the middle of conversations about giraffes and zebras to listen to the whistle. We discussed the train stations and the tracks. Elliot's part of these dialogues had been slowly escalating from listening for the train to watching the train to finally the last time we were at the zoo I heard, "mama, RIDE train?"

"You want to ride it?" I asked. This was a big step from just admiring the train from afar, which seemed to scare Elliot a bit at times. I promised him that if he obeyed on the way home, he could tell papa that next time we went to the zoo, he and papa could actually ride the train.

You think little people sometimes forget things. They do. Vegetables, cleaning up, handwashing. But not trains. As SOON as I mentioned the zoo the other day - "Papa, RIDE TRAIN?" And so they did. And here they are, waiting in line with their tickets, (which Elliot is currently sleeping with as I type this) and riding through the wooded areas of the St. Louis Zoo. The kid was beside himself with joy, and then crushed when he actually had to get off. We wondered, if we let him, how long would he actually stay ON the train?

Close, but not quite

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:43:00 +0000

So on the way home last night, we were asking Elliot if he could tell us his name. The conversation went something like this...

Michael: Elliot, can you say your name?
E: Eh Gor
Michael: That's right. Can you say your full name? Elliot Atticus Gordon.
E: Eh Ass Gor

(Wild but muffled laughter from the front seats)

Chris: Can you say it again? Elliot At-ti-cus Gordon
E: Eh Ass Gor!

He was extremely pleased with himself. We were trying to praise him for trying in the midst of not being able to breathe/drive from laughing. When you see him, please ask him his name.

Just because she's so stinkin' cute

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Just a publicly spoken thank you to God for the Bug. In the midst of not being able to sell our house and lots of grey, rainy days, Elsie continues to smile at me in the morning and laugh hysterically at her brother, just 2 of the things that I absolutely love about her. We're so thankful for this happy little girl.

The Bug on solids

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:57:00 +0000

So, it's going very well. Here you see her reaching out after a meal of sweet potatoes, cheerios, and a bit of applesauce. The girl can DOWN some pears. Peas are a go. Green beans, not so much. She likes cake of any kind and enjoys wildberry fruit combinations.

In other news, Elliot uttered his longest sentence so far the other day, "Baby Elss, it's cold outside - you need to wear a hat." I made him repeat it, just to make sure. Would anyone else have understood that except me? Probably not. But I understood every word.

New pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:42:00 +0000

coming soon. I promise. We have an open house today so we're behind. But there are cute ones coming!

Wow. Genes are a powerful force.

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Can you tell which one's which?

Much better

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:42:00 +0000

We've been healed! We seem to finally all be back to normal. Thank God. That was a very long run of yuck. The day after we all seemed to be better, we took our van in and didn't have a car for 4 days. But even the van is better now.

We've had a couple of pretty days in St. Louis, so here is Elsie enjoying some sunshine. She loves working in her office, which she doesn't know used to be Elliot's office. He doesn't know either. This is a good thing. He has begun sharing one or two pieces of track with her - a major breakthrough.

It's cold and rainy here today, but I feel hopeful that spring may actually come. Soon there will be flowers, and more and more warm days. Sometime we'll forget about the dark cold winter altogether. I love forgetting about winter.

We're on our third configuration of the train track already, and it's only 9:52am. I'm off to join the action.

A crabby update

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:14:00 +0000

So in the background right now, Elliot is screaming. Keep that in mind - it's a great soundtrack for this post. I'm choosing to think of this week as a comedy. Otherwise, well, we won't go there. Last Saturday I took Elliot to ride 4 trains as he loves them and is always asking. I figured, why not, it's $2.25 for 2 hours of riding. And so we did. I didn't feel great when we started. By the time we ended, I was so motion sick I almost didn't make the walk home. Sunday seemed better, but Elliot, as you know from other posts, was not well by then. Monday I spent much of the day in bed, while Michael tried to take care of us, defending the carpet from viral predators escaping Elliot and other evil things. Tuesday Michael was in bed all day. Wednesday we were snowed in because it had snowed 8 inches. So, one teething 7 month old, a leaking toddler and a cranky mom, trapped in the house.

Thursday we thought we'd get out. We had to get out. It was 7am. Doesn't everyone go to the mall then? So I drove to a large mall about 20 minutes away with an indoor playground we'd been to several times, early in the morning, this past summer. I was already tasting the Starbucks and thinking of Elliot's giggles on the big slides. The Starbucks was closed, as was the playground. ...Yup. And more poop.

Friday I was sick enough - and I mean really sick - that Michael actually stayed home from work to take care of the kids. I literally couldn't leave bed for a long time. Saturday someone coming to look at our house, so we had to not only clean it up, but get out of it for an hour or so. By this time, I was able to walk around, but still extremely nauseous, and Michael was much worse. We made it out, with much screaming from 2 children who were not happy to be ignored while Michael and I tag teamed cleaning and taking turns in bed.

And today I so wished I could vomit, but I just don't seem to do it unless I'm pregnant. We probably would have stayed home, but someone was coming to look at our house - 2 people, actually. This is a good thing. But we had to be gone from 10 to 12:30. So imagine a fairly vulnerable Michael (in the bowel way) teaching Sunday school and leaving me here to somehow get out of bed, clean the house, get dressed (when did I last wash my hair?) and get the kids (by now I think Elliot is fine) dressed and out of the house. We made it out. With 10 minutes to spare. The rest of the day has been a slow torture (Elliot is literally still screaming). Michael and I really could use a 2nd bathroom right now. Sometimes the drain in the basement or the back yard seems like an option (is this too graphic?). Needless to say, we're both still sick.

I think if we would have been filmed it would be pretty funny to put it into fast forward. I guess it's just part of being parents of 2 small children. Someday we'll talk about it, with a good glass of wine, and a very quiet house, and laugh.

While he sleeps...

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:39:00 +0000

This is what Elsie does sometimes while Elliot sleeps - plays with his toys. He'll never know.

The good, the bad and the stinky

noreply@blogger.com (Christine Gordon) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:42:00 +0000

First the good. Elsie slept last night from 7pm to 6:20am. Fabulous. We've been sleep training and this is the second time she's slept all the way through the night. I love it. Next, the bad. Elliot has managed to pick up some alien virus which has cleaned him out (read: vomiting, 4 changes of sheets and blankets, 3 outfits, all this in less than 12 hours). The vomiting has stopped, but the poor kid just keeps on poopin'. I'm not sure what's left in him. Suprisingly, he's pretty happy today, except when we try to change his diaper (this would be the stinky part). He's looking a bit skinny. Even the belly has all but disappeared. I love the belly. I'm sure it will be back.

Michael seemed to experience this virus yesterday, and I was the day before. Bug? Well, she seems immune. She's excitedly cooing on the bed behind me. She's working on teeth. One thing at a time.