San Diego, A House, And A Baby Who Doesn't Like Apples

I know it's been forever since I've posted, but I've been a little busy. Between my family, two kids, their doctors appointments (Brady has had strep and Noah an ear infection and a 6 month check up), traveling, and building a house, I don't have much time to blog...or bathe for that matter!

So, to save time, I thought I'd combine a few topics into one post to get ya' caught up on where we are.

First up, San Diego. We flew to San Diego 5 days after arriving in the states from Germany to visit Buck's family. His parents are both from San Diego and his grandparents still live there. The last time we were there, I was 6 weeks pregnant with Brady, so the great-grandparents hadn't seen either of the boys yet. It was a wonderful time! Of course, perfect weather and family always make for a good time, right?

In this photo: Buck's parents and siblings, (minus one sister who couldn't make it out) and his paternal grandparents, a.k.a, Granny and Grandpa.
Four generations of Carroll men; all of whom have the first name Allan and the initials, ABC. :)

Granny with the boys. And this is again Buck's family, but with his maternal grandparents, his aunt and two of her three kids.

The boys with Nana and Papa. Brady was in no mood for pictures this day!

Me with two of my beautiful sister-in-laws. :) (I decided to throw this one in since I rarely post a picture with me in it.) The House: It's coming along...slowly! I didn't realize how long it took to build a house (the lot was cleared in April!) or how involved a process it truly was. (Bless you dear mother for the months of work you did without me here to help!) We finally have stucco outside (which has been re-done since this picture was taken thanks to a composition problem) and painted walls inside. The doors, crown and baseboards were going in today, and cabinets are being delivered tomorrow. Eventually, we will have a driveway, and flooring put down, and be able to move in...eventually. The baby: I swear this kid has taken the term, "picky eater" to a whole other level. Remember this post. Well, the grains weren't agreeing with him. A few hours after eating the cereal (oatmeal too) he would vomit. Not the baby spit up kind, the projectile kind involving coughing and spitting. I took him off for a month and tried again at 6 months with the same result. His pediatrician told me some babies don't tolerate grains well and to just start him out on apples, bananas or pears. So I did. And he hates them. ALL of them! He makes the awful face (pictured below), gags and spits them all over me. So far he's hated apples, peas, bananas, squash and pears. I continue in my futile efforts, hoping that one day he'll choke down a bite or two and find something other than Mama's milk palatable. That's about it for now. Hopefully, I'll find time to post before October rolls around.

**Disclaimer: I know that these pictures are in need of editing, but I'm too tired and busy, (or maybe just too lazy) to edit them.**

Blessed

God has richly blessed Buck and I with loving, caring, amazing parents and our boys with the most wonderful grandparents any kids could hope for. They have been given more love in their short days than some kids get in a lifetime.

My mom was here when Noah was born. Looking back, it still amazes me that she arrived less than two hours before I went into labor! She wasn't here when Brady was born. The little stinker decided to come a month early and surprise us all, so to be able to share the birth of her grandchild with her this time around was very special indeed.
Just this past week, Nana, or Ana as B called her, flew over to see Noah and Brady. Buck was in the field pretty much the entire time she was here so she and I were able to bond in a special way. Buck and I have been married for 6 years in May, and we haven't spent more than 4 days together. It was time much needed and time well spent. Much like when my mom was here, Noah's tiny hiney didn't touch his swing very often!

Even though Zia wasn't here when Brady was born, she was on a plane and in Germany with us by the time he was 7 days old. I have some very special memories from those 2 weeks she was with us. I will never forget the look on her face or the tears in her eyes when she held that tiny little bundle for the first time. And yes, in the background you can see all of the things that were supposed to be hanging on our walls. Our household goods arrived on Monday and I went to the hospital in labor Wednesday night! Brady came home to many, many unpacked boxes!

And, Nana and Grandpa both made it out to see B when he was just a few weeks old. They were able to stay for a week and what a special week it was! I would imagine that holding your grandchild for the first time is much like holding your child for the first time...instant and unconditional love.

We are blessed indeed to have people in our lives who love us so much they're willing to put their lives on hold to fly across an ocean...just to be with us.

A Visit From Grandpa

This past week Buck's dad was in Heidelberg on a business trip.

Since Heidelberg is only 2 hours from us, and he didn't have to fly out until later in the day on Friday, he was able to make a little detour and stay with us on Thursday night.

Since B never meets a stranger it took all of five minutes for him to be in Grandpa's lap. Of course it didn't hurt that Grandpa let Brady play with his keys. After that small act of generosity, B was putty in his hands!

Brady asked for "Pa-Pa", as he called him, for the next two days! And just now when he saw these pictures, he got excited and was pointing and smiling at "Pa-Pa".

We all had a wonderful time...it's always good to be with family!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from Thursday night, and Friday morning before saying goodbye.