Gone But Not Forgotten

My maternal Grandmother, Mildred Long Walker Wright, passed away on October 29th, at the age of 90. She had been slowly declining over several years, and had been in assisted living since the summer of 2010 after she had suffered a mild stroke during Christmas of 2009. Prior to that she had lived with my parents for several years. She was from her beloved Gadsden, AL, so the move to Tennessee was hard for her, but ended up being a real blessing for us all. We got to spend even more time with her, and she got a lot of joy from being around us and especially my brother's kids and watching them grow up. My mom was a wonderful caretaker, even when being put in a position that was so unnatural for her. She was selfless and loving toward her mother for many years.  

Many elderly people get combative and mean with dementia, but not Grandmother. She was so sweet and kind, even to the very end. She was always greeting the other residents and became very childlike in her ways. She was extremely faith-filled and was always talking about Jesus and Our Savior...praying and singing hymns even when she couldn't carry on a conversation.

 I can remember spending the night at her house as a kid and getting to sleep in the bed with her (a real treat!!). She would always hold my hand, and we would pray before we went to sleep. I remember one time when she was living with my parents the four of us went to the beach. Steven must have had to work, because she and I shared a room with twin beds. I can remember her kind of "sleep talking" in the middle of the night, but she was praying and saying things like, "thank you, Jesus" and "we love you, Jesus". What a Godly legacy she left behind for her family! I love you, Grandmother. You'll be missed, but we will keep you alive in our memory and share those memories with our children.

Just two weeks prior to her death, Henry and I went to see Grandmother during Fall Break. I'm so glad we did! I had taken him several other times, but was so glad to get these pictures of them together and interact with her. For me to say goodby and tell her I love her before she died brought a lot of closure. I could see she had declined, but she was still her sweet self. She was trying to talk to us some, and when she was able to focus on Henry, she did say a few times, "precious" and "oh, how sweet". Grandmother truly LOVED children-she was the type to come up to your child in the store and want to talk, the type to always have a trinket or candy for the kids, the type to light up around children, especially her own family. She knew what was important in life.

We got Henry to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and Grandmother joined in for a little bit of it. So sweet. I'm glad I got pictures, but am so mad that I didn't video this.

There were two funerals held-one in Tennessee where Grandmother had been in assisted living, and a service was also held in Gadsden where she was buried. Above is the majority of the Walker clan......my mom and uncle Larry with 5 of the grandkids and 11 great grandkids (Nicole is in college and could not come, my other 2 cousins would be at the Gadsden burial the next day). Let me just say that Grandmother would have been in her element with her whole family around!! She would have loved seeing everyone. 

An attempt (feeble at best) of the Sherrod cousins...:)

Afterward the whole gang went out to lunch and Henry was in his element.....he was a total ham and was pushed around from table to table to all the family while they ate. I think we took up half of the restaurant. Maybe Henry will have Grandmother's personality-she was a true people person and loved interacting with others.

The next day, Nov 2, we drove to Gadsden for the service in this beautiful chapel and the burial afterward. She was buried beside her parents and three sisters.

Afterward with my two other cousins, Christy and Jeremy, who are from Birmingham, plus Mom, Dad, and Uncle Larry.

Henry and Walker took a real liking to one another! Walker is my cousin Christy's 4th grader who we rarely see! In the background is Christy's husband Phil Jackson and Jeremy's wife Summer Walker. We loved catching up with them!

And here are my handsome boys:)

Fall Break 2013

My school still gets a full week of for Fall Break. It is wonderful, and comes at the perfect time. We started the week by traveling to Gatlinburg. We met the Bush family and Steven's mom. We hadn't been in a long time-like 10 years-so it was fun to experience it again. Being there reminds me of many childhood visits-since one of my Dad's biggest clients was in Pigeon Forge, we tagged along on many a business trip. The area is super touristy and can be annoyingly cheesy, but I have those memories that help me appreciate it. Plus, it really is a beautiful area, and it is nice to get together as a family for some togetherness. It also reminded me of just how BUSY it is this time of year! Everyone travels there in October it seems. Driving around was a mess, but it comes with the territory I guess.
We spent three nights in TN, then it was so nice to come home on Monday and basically have a full week just to be at home! Steven was having to work from home due to the gov shutdown, so it was nice to be with him-he ended up taking some leave so that was even better. We hung out at home on Tues and Wed, then on Thurs I drove to Athens to visit Robin and Bennett. Friday I went to my parents for a day visit. We met at my Grandmother's asst. living facility to see her, then did some  and ate lunch in Columbia before heading back to my folks for the afternoon/evening. It was nice to spend the day with them, too.
Anyway, it was a great break. I loved being at home with Henry and not having to rush in the morning to get out the door. I didn't wear makeup or dress clothes all week! Whoohoo! Anyway, see below for some pics. I was waiting to post this until I uploaded our iphone pics, but that hasn't happened, so I am just gonna go ahead and do it. I know there are gaps in these pics, but no one else does, right?!:)

Steven was working at home for almost 3 weeks! Crazy! Here is Henry "helping" by scribbling all over his notes!

I love that sweet smile!

Here we are in Gatlinburg on the strip...checking out all the sites including this one-Ripley's Believe It or Not (I think??).

We had beautiful fall weather while there and got to enjoy all the autumn decor.

Henry loved playing with cousins on the trip.

He kept trying to pick up the pumpkins or sit on them. Always working!

Group shot!

We got the kids in this cute telephone booth-it cracked Henry up-he was having a ball in there!

Back at the cabin, we stuck with tradition and made caramel apples, and even Henry got in on helping. He also had his first mini M&M during this time, and threw fits and fits for more! Guess he's a chocolate lover like the rest of the fam!:)

Unwrapping the caramels.

Since the gov shutdown was still going on, we could not go to any parks to hike like we'd planned. We stopped along the river running between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to walk and to get some good photos, too, of course!

Hank was mesmerized by the water...he was in a trance!

What cute cousins!

We hit another tradition-Hillbilly Golf! Last time we went, Camden who is now 11, was about Henry's age. Talk about feeling old! Here we are heading up the hill to the start.

Someone had a blast picking up everyone's golf ball and placing it in the hole or throwing it. He was a busy boy, that's for sure!

And another tradition-The Dixie Stampede! We had all gone as kids, then also together the last time we visited, but not of the kids remembered, and they were excited for the experience!

Henry loved seeing the horses up close before the show, but looks a little unsure about the whole experience here! He was very shy during the pre-show with loud music, and was also clinging to Steven during the first part of the show, but about half way through he got warmed up and was bouncing in his seat and waving at all the horses in the arena and saying, "Hi!" By the end, he was loving it.

Since we had done Gatlinburg just the weekend prior and also had done the County Fair just a few months ago, we decided not to go on a big farm visit, but just went to the local church pumpkin patch instead to pick a pumpkin.

He had fun running round and picking up pumpkins, re-arranging them, and saying "big!" and pointing to the biggest ones. I kept trying to get a good picture, but never really had success. Oh well!

This was the best one of his face...he kept putting these little flower-shaped pumpkins up to his nose and smelling them like they were flowers:)

20 Months

Henry is 20  months old today! He is growing up so fast and changing daily. He is lots of fun and lots of work!:) Here are a few happenings in his world from this past month.

He is talking a ton. Some new words this month are: BIG! (saying this all the time for everything), tree, leaf, boat, bus, train, buckle, ice cream, sticker, wet (there was water on his jacket, and he felt it and said, "wet"-I had not idea he even knew that word let alone what it meant!), picture, dirt, dirty, clean up (sings the song unsolicited by us when we start to clean up toys or something lying out), roof (for the sunroof in the car), blanket, Marley (the neighborhood dog), pumpkin, giraffe, elephant, boots, bed, the end (when we are done with a book), clothes, pants, jacket, funny (when someone laughs at him or when he laughs at himself or is being silly, he will say "funny"), Elmo (where did he learn this?), bubbles, cookie (not sure where he got this one since he can't even really eat cookies...maybe we call his animal crackers cookies?), juice, knee

He's learned a new trick-When you ask him how old he is, he holds up his pointer finger and says, "One!" He's pretty quick on the draw, so you've gotta watch carefully!

I have also been noticing him put lots of words together this month like, "big truck", "yellow bus", "blue train". When we go in to take a bath, he will wave at it and say, "hi, bath!", and he'll say, "night night dada" then give kisses to Steven right before bed. (he's been very loving and affectionate lately-wanting to give kisses and big hugs around the neck). For the past 2 days when I've given him some food to eat, he's said, "Thank you, mama!" totally unsolicited (melt my heart!!). He's also been saying bye-bye to certain people, like on Face time the other night he said, "bye-bye, Aunt Mae!" He says bye-bye to all of his friends after school, even on the car ride home:) Eli, Graham, Ellis, Braeden, Patty, John Lane...we talk about them constantly!

This month Henry has been loving watching/helping Maggie do tricks. He says "treat, treat" and runs to her treat jar. Steven lets him give her the treat after she's done a trick. He gets the biggest kick out of it, and it is so cute to watch Henry try to imitate Steven with the hand motions he does. He also says, "lie down" and "come!". When it is all over, though, Henry gets very sad and begs for more. This is a running theme, and I think it might be the beginning of the "terrible twos". :) He has such an opinion.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" "Oh, How I Love Jesus" (on his own, he will randomly sing, "oh, Jesus!" to himself), "ABC's", "Pat-a-Cake", and "Ring Around the Rosy" are his favorites right now. He begs to play Ring Around the Rosy, and says, "hand? mama, hand?" if I am not playing. He wants both of us involved, and usually cries for more before it is even over. He is very dramatic for the all fall down part. For "Pat-a-Cake" he chimes in during these parts: pat a cake, roll it! pat it! B! baby! me!

He's been showing lots of interest in the potty this month, and I'm not really sure what to do with that. He says, "poo poo" and pats at his diaper, then when we ask him if he wants to go sit on the potty, he says, "uh-huh". We've put him on the big potty for the first few weeks, and had some success with one #1 and one #2 deposit, but after a few days of this, he would ask the same way, but as soon as we put him on he would want off. Very confusing. Anyway, we got him the kid potty you sit on the ground and the seat one you put on the big potty just the other day, so he has seemed  more comfortable with that, but we have still not had any more actual successes. I guess we will still keep trying since he is showing interest, but I gotta say that it's kind of a pain and kind of a lot of work!:) He may be too young to start, but several friends I've talked to have said to do it if he's acting interested. It is even harder to ignore him when he's saying it...I feel terrible just saying, nope, just go in your diaper...so, I guess we will keep it up.

We might be making some progress in the food department. Just this week we've had success at home with some chicken nuggets, some roasted broccoli, and turkey kielbasa-all things he never would have touched previously. I've tried to limit his milk intake some (ie-not let him have it prior to meals) to maybe boost his appetite some. Maybe it's helping. He eats all kinds of snack type food (had his first granola bar this week and liked it)

, but when it comes to "real" food, he just isn't that interested. He has been rejecting fruit this month, too, which is driving me crazy-no to bananas, pineapple, pears, grapes, and strawberries....yummy ones of all of this, too! Every once in a while we will have success, but he just doesn't devour anything (except for pizza-the boy can chow down on some pizza-so I know it's possible!). We will keep trying! I do have to say, though, that it is a constant struggle, and I look forward to the day when he eats better-hopefully:)

He still love reading, and one of his favorites is the above. He says, "walk, walk, walk!" and "run, run, run" for the dogs. He also likes, "moo, baa, la, la, la" and will say, "la, la, la!" and "no, no, no" randomly throughout the day (quotes from the book). :) He also likes Corduroy, Doggies, and Little Boy Jesus. There's a first Bible I keep in the car, and he looks through it on the way to school in the morning. I will hear him in the back saying, "Jesus?" "hi, Jesus!" and "baby Jesus" as he looks. It keeps him preoccupied for whatever reason!  

Well, there's so much more but I will stop. We love you, Hank. Thanks for being so much fun and for being so sweet. Each day with you is a treat.

September Stuff

We've had a busy, fun filled end of September, along with some good home time, too. Here is Henry putting his play stethoscope up to his ear and saying, "Hello? Hello?" I attribute this to all his ear check appts that occurred over the first yr of his life!

Steven turned 32 on the 20th, so we celebrated that night by going to Rosie's and opening gifts. Then next day he went on his annual Atlanta golf trip with small group guys. I took snacks to small group on Monday, and had ordered him a bday cookie cake to take. I asked for orange and white (go Vols), but when I picked it up, it was orange and white AND pink! I just started laughing and said we'd take it anyway-that he's man enough to handle a pink cake.:) Everyone got a kick out of it.

While Steven headed to Atlanta, I headed to Nashville to join the Lexington crew at our annual BBQ at Diana's church. It was great weather and lots of fun to be outside. Henry had been sick during that week prior (out of school 2 days for fever virus PLUS he'd had to get his foot Xrayed after several days of not putting any weight on it and then limping on it after going down the slide funny at the playground), so he still wasn't 100%, but had fun with his cousins, especially jumping the curbs (see above). He says, "Ready? Ready? Jump!" while dramatically crouching down and bounding off the curb making us all very nervous!

We met up with Kaia's friend Emma and her baby sis Lyla who is just a few  months younger than Henry.

After church on Sunday we went to the Italian Fontanel Restaurant nearby.

With such  nice weather, we got some great outdoor shots. Here's Gram with her 4 grand kids!

On my way back home that afternoon, I stopped in at mom and dad's. Here are mom and Henry doing their usual-sitting on the swing playing with stickers. He has them all over himself by the end of it. Here he is saying, "Toes? Sticker?"

This is not the best picture, because he was running around and wouldn't be still for it, but Henry put all this stuff on himself! He has Steven's VPN around his neck, his hat on crooked, and those "cufflinks" are coozies! That's where he thinks they go!

We went to Lowe Mill one Friday evening to enjoy their outdoor concert. Henry loved running around and saying hi to all the dogs and people. He was happy with the music as long as we weren't super close. When it got too loud, he got too nervous!

The next morning we went to the Madison Street Festival which was a lot of fun. We met up with Robin, Bennett, Jenn, and Ethan. I guess this was technically October, but it was the very beginning!

I just love this cute picture. One of the nursery workers sent it to me from school. He is happy there!

With football season upon us, the boys are donning a lot of orange. It is the only time we let Henry look at the TV. We don't let him watch long, but he certainly analyzes it and says, "Uh-oh" a lot.:) Guess he sees a lot of falling down!

Henry's favorite treat in all the world is animal crackers. Here he is showing me his over and over while devouring them.

The last wknd in Sept we took a few days off of work and met my parents in Orange Beach. It was awesome weather and so relaxing.

Henry loved the baby pool and was constantly throwing himself down in the water, then jumping up just to do it again.

He got warmed up to the sand and had fun throwing it and exploring/gathering shells.

He never did get comfortable with the actual ocean, though, and while he didn't cry, he did cuddle in hard and sometimes would say, "no, no, no" about it.

This is what he did the whole time were in the waves. I think the jumping motion and the sound of the waves made him sleepy!

Cheese!

We attempted some photos one evening and it reminded me of how difficult it is to photograph Henry now. At least we got a few decent ones, but nothing amazing. Oh well! We had such a wonderful, relaxing time at the beach. We were just happy to be there!

19 months

 Henry turned 19 months old (9 days ago...grrr!). I've had everything ready on this post besides the picture for a while, then we were out of town and his pic was delayed a few days, then I had some blog malfunctions that I won't go into. I am NOT a technologically savvy person, so any little glitch throws me for a loop! :) Anyway, see below for some updates!

Henry's vocab has continued to expand, and he just talks all the time. I love to hear that little voice and am not tired of it yet, anyway! There are so many new words he's been saying this month that I can't remember them all, but here are a few highlights:

"ready? ready? jump!!"-ready is "leddy"...he has been doing this from the hearth and it's hilarious. He attempts to step down (that's his jump), and usually ends up falling on the carpet and rolling around and laughing. He does it over and over. He has also been saying "jump!" any time there is a tiny step to walk over outside. His version of jumping is different than ours, I guess!:) After he jumps, he looks back at me and says "mama?" and reaches for my hand for me to jump, too. Oh, the things you do for your kids:)
"water"-sounds like nan-no, he just can't really get this one, but he tries. I can understand what he means, although I am sure no one else can!
"pretty"-he learned this from looking at the jewelry that I wear and me saying "pretty" to him about it as he examines it. I made the mistake of saying "pretty" about some new curtains we put up, so now he looks at them and says, "pretty" rather than saying "curtains"...oops!
"worm"-this is what we call his glowworm, he says "numb" or "gnome" for it
"star"-comes out as "tar", says it when he sees them in books and sing twinkle twinkle little star
"owl? hoot, hoot!"-comes out as "ouww"
"fish"-sounds like bish, then shows us what a fish does my opening and closing his lips
"button"-for belly button. He LOVES to find our bellies by pulling up our shirts (lovely) and saying "belly?", then finds our belly button and points and says, "button!"
"where'd it go?"-with his hands up and a shrug, usually about a ball he can't find or an airplane
"outside"-his favorite place in the world! This is not very clear and often sounds like "all done", but sometimes is more like "ouw tide?"
"uh huh"-he has just started this, and I know it is not a good habit, but it is SO cute. He has always wanted to respond/get approval for what he's saying, and always before would nod his head "yes". Evidently he has already picked up on our slang, though, and says this quite a bit. We gotta start practicing saying "yes!" around here more....or better yet, "yes, m'am or yes sir!" He is saying uh huh ALL the time now.
"yep!"-several times he has repeated this after we've said it, although it is not as frequent as "uh huh".
"hi, guys!"-I am almost positive this is what he is saying, although I don't know where he got it from. He will say, "hi, hi, hi duys" when we are walking in to school and wave his hand
"chicken"-perfectly clear
"peas"-frozen peas are still a big success. So strange.
"airplane"-sounds like "ah pain". Says it when he sees one flying by, then watches it til it's out of sight, then says "where'd it go?" then "bye bye!" It's amazing how much he's putting together.
"trash"-picking up trash on the floor (ummm...I'm not the best housekeeper I guess), the going to the trashcan and throwing it away is a new favorite activity. 
"arm", "back", "leg"-new body part words!
"open"
"Backson"-from Winnie the Pooh CD
He's interested in colors and although he does not know them yet, he will repeat the ones we tell him: red, green, blue, yellow, purple. I think it's just a matter of time before he gets them, though!

School friends-he can say all their names and has done it without any tutelage from us. One day after school he just came home saying, "Ellis?" "Ellis?" SO clear! His other friend is "Braeden" without the r. One morning when I went to get him out of bed he was just standing there saying, "Baeden? Baeden?" (which is better than coming in to him saying "poo poo" which has happened, too, and he really did have a dirty diaper!). He usually says, "Ellis? Baeden? baby? There are 4 together everyday, and one of them is a "baby" who just turned one whose name is John Lane. After he says baby, I say "John Lane?" and he does his best to repeat it. One day a week another baby comes in with her mom to watch the kids, and that baby's name is Patty. She said as soon as they walked in, Henry started saying "Patty? Patty?" (strong t sound!). He had remembered her from the week before! She is just a few months older, so they'll get along great.By far, though, his favorite to says is Ellis, and he slips it in all the time.

Speaking of school, it is going SO much better. I knew that it would, but now that we've made the transition, it is so nice. That first week was rough, but since then it's been smooth sailing! He is happy when we walk in, waving and saying "hi" to everyone we pass. He wants to get down and play, and squeals when his friends (Ellis especially) walk in to nursery, too. He still doesn't eat great there, but honestly, he doesn't always eat that great for me either, so it's a wash I guess. He does not nap as well there on TTH, but he does sleep around two hours, whereas at home he sleeps about 3. At least 5 days out of 7 he is getting that longer nap. On MWF, he usually falls asleep in the car on the way home, so it really works perfectly for  me to have a couple hrs at home to get some schoolwork done. On TTH, I don't touch it, though, since we don't have that long together on those days.

He gets way too much attention at church. We take him into the service as long as we can (usually just during singing) so that he is not in nursery for such a long time if we are trying to go to both Sun school and service again. This past Sunday, he echoed the preacher say "amen" twice, and then when the worship leader said it again rather enthusiastically after a song, Henry yelled "AMEN" really loud right after her. Of course everyone around us thought it was so cute, especially the old ladies:) He also just grins and flirts with whoever sits beside or right behind us. Not sure how much longer we will get to bring him w us:) We went through a phase of him not really wanting to go into church nursery, but as long as he is rested, he seems happy to go. This past Sunday he just marched right in and held up his arms for the worker to take him!

Henry is loving holding our hands and walking now-like through stores. And he wants BOTH of our hands if Steven and I are both around. If Steven is holding his hand, he stops and says, "hand? mama? mama?" or vice versa. It can easily go awry in stores, but as long as we keep a tight grip and do not let him taste true freedom (ha!) he loves it. If he's able to get into something on a shelf and we try to get him away, all heck breaks loose, though! Just ask Steven about our Hobby Lobby experience!:) When it is just me, I always use the stroller. I would never do the hand holding thing on my own! He seems to have learned, though, that it is a special privilege and is all smiles during it.

Henry continues to LOVE music and singing. He often sings all the way to school in the morning, and I love hearing that sweet babble from the backseat. Henry has loved "This is the way the lady rides" for a long time (where we put him on our knee and go through the song with him), but just recently he has started saying the "hobbildy horse" part all on his own and moving his head side to side while he says it. He is trying to re-live his favorite part I guess! He's also added "Jesus Loves Me" to the songs he likes to sing, and will chime in with ME and SO at the end of each line. His ABC's are getting clearer and clearer, too! Another favorite is "Ba, Ba, Blacksheep" and he will say the "baa, baa ", "wool", "yes", and "full" parts when it comes time for them. I have a CD of the Over in the Meadow song that he loves, too, and will repeat all the animal noises along with it. Most recently, his very favorite song/activity has been "Ring Around the Rosey"....with the "down!" being the highlight. He lights up when we actually DO ring around the rosey with him and he tries to "fall down" way before it is time. He's very dramatic about his fall:) Also, one or two rounds of this is NEVER enough and he begs for more, more, more (hand? please? more?). It usually ends in tears, poor guy, because he would do it all night if he could!:)
This is a good example of Henry's opinionated self...he is pretty focused and bossy at times:) Sometimes he can be so laid back, too, but there are certain things that are REALLY important to him and he lets us know about it for sure! 

We love this age. Henry is so much fun and learning so much. Everyday is an adventure for sure. We love you, little man!!