Thursday, November 24, 2011

Charlie Angel

Happy Thanksgiving! 
What a great time to (finally) blog about the newest addition to our family:

Charles ("Charlie") Kincaid Ussery
10.18.2011
6lb 14oz
19.5 in


So, here he is.


Our Charlie.


We didn't know until delivery if we were having a girl or a boy...


but for some reason I just thought that maybe...


it was another little blue bundle of love.


And we are so thrilled.

We are especially thankful today that Charlie is healthy. As many of you know, he had a rough start after he was born.  His lungs didn't fully open up which landed him in the NICU for 6 days with a diagnosis of respiratory distress syndrome.  He's over it, and we're enjoying having him home with us.  We are so grateful for all of the prayers lifted up on his behalf, for the wisdom and skill of his doctors, meals that people brought us, phone calls and texts of everyone checking up on him.  

Charlie is thankfully a good baby who likes to sleep and eat, and only cries when he's not getting enough of either one of those. 

Oh, and we love his hair, too.

Photos were done by Janet of Silly Goose Photography!  

Monday, September 26, 2011

Jack's First Day of Kindergarten

It's been a couple of weeks since the last post.  Which is normal. 
Usually it's because I'm either too busy or too lazy to post something. 
But I have been dreading this post. 
Because it would mean it's real. 
Jack is really in kindergarten. 
In fact, he's in his 7th week of kindergarten. 
 (which means it's almost time for Summer break, right?)


The first day started off well.  Uniform was laid out.  Lunchbox was packed.  Jack was happy.  Everyone was excited.  I mean, what's the big deal?


We pulled into the school.  All was well.  Jack still wanted something to do with us.  He even held John's hand.


And then we came to the hallway of strangers....most likely ill intentioned youngsters waiting to ruin my perfect little boy with their glue eating ways.  


At this point, Jack was still excited, but he definitely had his game face on.  
I on the other hand was wondering when they started letting zygotes attend kindergarten?  
Because that's what he was just yesterday, right?  


Jack got his name tag happily and marched right in.  
No one else remembers, but at this point, he turned around and said I was the best Mom ever and that no teacher could ever teach him as much as I had in his 5 short years and that he would need me forever and that he can't wait until school lets out so we can hang out again and that if he said he liked school it was really just a lie so that I wouldn't be upset because he could never like anything unless I was there.  
Really.  It happened.  Just no one else saw it.  Or heard it. 
I also thought to ask his teacher if there were any "Child Left Behind" programs that we could volunteer Jack for so that he could just chill at home...for the sake of the budget cuts, of course.  
But there were no such programs.


Before leaving my infant son in his unsafe kindergarten seat that didn't have a seatbelt on it, we posed for a family photo to mark the occasion.  


Jack went right to work, coloring like a maniac. 


Poor thing.  Look at that sad face....


Then the unthinkable happened. 
Little Finley (who thankfully has 17 years before he starts kindergarten), climbed out of his Dad's arms and said he wanted to say goodbye to his brother.  
The same brother he had just told "I'm glad you're going to school."


"Bye, Jack."


The coloring pages were too much to fully leave, so a side hug would have to do.  


And that's when Michael C. Riley was christened with a melt down of Old Testament proportions. 
I tore my clothes, put ash on my head and adorned a sack cloth (that I had packed just in case things got ugly. Which they did.)
Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. 
Or the fact that we left with only one boy in tow.  
Or the fact that I had no idea what to do with just one boy in tow.  
Doesn't the Bible say two are better than one?  Surely that can't just mean any two.  I'm pretty sure it means two sons at home are better than one son at home.  

So, really...Jack is loving Kindergarten.  He loves his teacher.  And his friends.  And his lunchbox.  And his reading group.  And dance, music, art, PE, and earning "Eagle Eyes."  
We can't say a bad thing about it. 
Except that it's a long day. 
For us.

We had seriously thought about homeschooling Jack for Kindergarten but when prayerfully considering the duties of that, plus Finn, plus a new baby, we knew it was too much for our plate.  Not everyone's plate.  But ours.  So, we were obedient to where the Lord would have Jack for this school year, and we feel He has honored our obedience!  We are so thankful.

GO EAGLES!!! :)




Sunday, September 11, 2011

How Mt. Gilead Ruined Our Children

One month ago today we returned home from the vacation that ruined our children. 

We ventured to Mt. Gilead, North Carolina for 7 days of family and fun.  For the very few of you who have not heard of Mt. Gilead before...think of Mayberry or Radiator Springs.  And then subtract several stop lights, a Barney Fife, add a Burger Shack and there you've got it.  John's parents grew up in the small town that's huddled around Lake Tillery, and we vacation here a few times a year.  This trip was "the" trip where 14 of us gathered together. 

Here is how our children were ruined:

They didn't have to wear underwear but maybe 2 times in 7 days.  They lived in their swimsuits and life jackets.


They skurfed with cousins and looked really cool while passerby shouted them on (no doubt in some wicked awesome NC accents).


They swam with cousins.  They swam with aunts.  Uncles.  Mom.  Dad.  Grandparents.  Etc. 


They paddle boarded.
(This was our first time paddle boarding.  It was fun.  I thought it would be easier than it ended up being, but that is not an unusual for me.)


Jack zip lined for the first time.


Finn zip lined for the first time.  (And possibly last after he fell backwards from the launching platform...scariest moment of the trip by far, but all was well.)


Jack paddle boarded and was really good at it.  (Better than me for sure, but I am a little front heavy these days and I'm giving his low center of gravity all the credit...surely couldn't be that my 6 year old is just better than his parents at something.  No way.)


Jack and Finn survived (barely) their daily wrestling matches with cousin, Austin.  


They witnessed the single most awesome tubing recovery in history.  
(This is Stephen, Aunt Jackie's boyfriend, and yes, he did manage to stay on the tube, making this the most athletic move to ever be performed by anyone who has attended NC State.)


The fun didn't end on the water....

It continued on the farm.  Here's Finn with cousin Jay on the ATV.  


Everyone held the newest family member, Eliza Jordan Smith.  She turned 4 months old while on the vacation.  I think she cried once.  


After ATVing came tractor rides...


...and then skeet shooting.  The boys did not get to shoot, but they were able to push the button to release the skeet, which to them, is better than the actual shooting. 


Just a good pic of the guys.


And a good one of Eliza and Gigi.


Breakfast was served whenever everyone stumbled out of bed in the morning (usually around 9!!!).


And everyone got along.  Even huddled for a group shot on a small deck overhang while testing the weight limit.  (I was the main contributor to that:)


The ruining process of Jack and Finn was enhanced by eating outside at Sonic, which is something they always ask to do.  This was Jordan's birthday dinner as well as my 8th anniversary dinner with my man. Nothing says love like tater tots.  At least to a pregnant lady.


This was the last picture of the entire trip.  It's my favorite.  It's very...them.
Smiling Eliza.  Goofy Jack.  Serious Finn.  Silly Austin.  


And that is how Mt. Gilead ruined our children.

(And we will let it ruin them again next year if we can all squeeze in the house.)


Friday, September 09, 2011

How to Skurf

How to Skurf:
(in Jack's words)

1.  Hold onto Dad very carefully.


2.  When you get up on the board you have to be safe and hold onto your Dad.


3.  Hold onto your Dad again. Sometimes you fall, and you have to be careful when you get hurt.  Don't get hurt.


4.  When you're skurfing, you have to be very, very, very, very, very careful in the water.  Sometimes your Dad won't pay attention and you might lost at sea.


5.  Hold onto the Dad.  And be careful. 


6.  When you're holding onto your Dad, you have to be safe.


7.  Bend your knees a little bit, and you will get the hang of it.  It takes lots and lots of practice.


8.  Keep your head up and be safe.  And don't get hurt.


9.  Have a lot of fun by not falling down and tripping.  It feels funny when you fall down and trip. 


"How to Skurf"

(In Finn's words)

1.  Put your feet on the board.  


2.  Hold onto Dad on the legs. 


3.  Stand up.


4.  Then you skurf.


5.  Then you get held onto to.


6.  And then you "shred" it.