A little shout to the moms...

My mother-in-law, Betsy, sent this to me today. I think it is wonderful and well-worth the time it takes to read it.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're going to love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Just a swingin'

We are pleased to announce that after nearly four months of HATING the swing....Henry has crossed over and decided to tolerate it for a few minutes at a time! I know his Grumpy will be pleased. In other exciting news, we are headed to the airport in a few hours for a week in Texas!! The costume is packed, bottle pumped, and we're just waiting on daddy to get back from Miami and pick us up. Yippee!!

Friday Funday!!

It's been a long week. We've been sick since Sunday, and everytime I think we're better, my sore throat and his sniffles come back a few hours later. Jared has managed to avoid the plague that we have...for now. Let's hope it stays that way, being that he has a ridiculous work schedule right now and simply cannot sit out any time for a cold. Despite our wretched hacking and sniffing and interrupted sleeping, I have managed to snap a few pictures for our fans. ;)

Henry modeling a onesie that our dear friend, Betsy Berthelot, made for him. She has started her very own sewing company in Jackson, Mississippi called Monkey Business!! If you are interested, email me and I'll send you an e-catalog for viewing!

I caught the little guy doing this more than a few times this week. Isn't it cuuuuuute?!!? It seems like only yesterday we were oooohing and aaaahing over Uncle Justin doing this. Oh, but in not-so-cuteness, the tiny dark spot directly above his head is the sick, green BOOGER that was completely blocking ingress and egress to his right nostril. Gettin' buggy -- he likes to sit inbetween our knees and look down at us...seriously cracks him up like nothing else! This photo was taken after the laughing stopped. He has returned to pensive staring.For all you curious haters (I'm looking in your direction, Mad Dog Jr.), here's a recent post-baby-bod photo. This will probably be removed shortly, so get a good look while it lasts.

T minus 3 days 'til we take to the skies for Texas. I guess I ought to start the packing/laundry now or I'll never get it done in time. :):)

Happy Birthday, Jared!!!

In keeping with my enthusiasm for all things celebratory, we have spent the last week pumpin' it up for Jared's 27th birthday. The actual day was the 19th, but we kicked things off last Monday at the Burgess house. I baked Jared's favorite -- german chocolate birthday cake -- and after dinner, Henry, Jud, Mary Brittan, and Sam helped blow out the candles! Evidently, blowing out candles is just as tiring as going to a pumpkin patch. After his snooze, Henry joined in the birthday fun!Then, in a treat of immense proportions, we got our first babysitter (thanks, Geez!!!!) on Saturday night and hit the town for dinner and dancing! It all went down at Taverna Opa in Pointe Orlando. The last time we went to Taverna Opa, I was a zillion weeks pregnant, so we couldn't truly enjoy all of the fun it has to offer. We made up for that this time!

Look, we are an actual couple who actually goes on dates!
Here's our group...sorry Martin's head got chopped...and where, oh where, are Dan and Cooney?? They're sitting in their chairs laughing at us....but, rest assured, both of them were on the table with the Greek bellydancers before the night was over!
That siren dancing next to Jared is our friend Elisabeth. We can always count on her to bring the party.
This very nice, yet scantily-clad, woman brought Jared a piece of birthday cake AND sang 'Happy Birthday' with us. These are our awesome friends, Mike & Jaclyn, enjoying the napkin-throwing excitement for which Taverna Opa is famous! They are so precious...and Mike has really nice eyes...promise.
To close out the birthday week, we celebrated with the Chesser/Kalapp clan over at Jerry and Betsy's. While there, we got our long-awaited 4 generation photo with Jared's dad and grandmother.

Henry played with Grandpa lots and lots and lots....and I finally got some pictures to prove it!


This one just gets thrown in because the little man looks so stinkin' cute in it. Big thanks to Auntie Norma for this adorable blue outfit. xoxoxoxo

That's all for now. After all of the fun of the past week, I've somehow caught a cold, and I think Henry has it too. So, we're in for the week...resting up and getting ready for HALLOWEEN in Texas!!!

P.S. My apologies for my child looking like Kurt Cobain beat-boxing in the new blog pic. His shirt is actually chocolate, ivory, and burnt orange (perfect for fall), and we dressed him that way for the October birthdays because we thought he looked so much like Jared's grandfather in the outfit. Of course, the shirt was tucked into his jeans and he was wearing brown mocs when we left the house...

...and the pics just keep on comin'...

A few pictures from playtime today. Somebody please come visit us in O-town....we're a little bored...as evidenced by the 4,348 pictures I've taken this week. :)

Sneaky Baby Laughing Baby (we learned how to giggle this week!!)
Sweet Baby

The Pumpkin Patch

Today, we tagged along with the Burgess and Newsome families to the St. Luke's pumpkin patch. Henry laughed and played with the Burgess kids the entire way over there, and he looked like this when we arrived... However, within about three minutes, he looked like this...
...and he stayed this way for his entire morning nap!!
Oh well, sometimes turning 3 months old (on Saturday) wears you out.

Henry, what do you think about doing this again with mommy and daddy when you're more awake? Oh, okay...guess not.
Hope we have better luck in the pumpkin patch next year!! A big thank you to all of my photography assistants -- Bo, Ashlee, Mary Brittan, Courtnee, Baker, Trey, Brittnee, Jud and Sam -- for their help gathering the perfect pumpkins. xoxoxoxo!!!

Road Trip!

Yesterday, Henry and I braved the interstate for a short (but sweet) visit with Aunt Heather. For those of you who know her, you know that Heather loooooooooooooooooves LSU football. So, it should come as no surprise that she made her way over to Florida for the big game, that she also managed to scout out the team hotel in Ocala, and that she wanted her sister and nephew to come join in the Tiger fun. So, off we went...against my better mom-of-a-travel-hating-3-month-old judgment.

The ride up there was actually relaxing. Henry slept, and I enjoyed being out of the house for the afternoon. We got there around 4:15 and went to eat at Cracker Barrel with Heather. On that note, if you ever need a major ego boost, just take your baby to Cracker Barrel during the Friday Fish Fry. Within 10 minutes of being there, several homefolks had come by to admire the baby and tell me what great genes he must have...also, how much they love his name, that he is SUCH a good baby, and that he is perfect. For a girl living a trillion miles away from anyone she really 'knows'...I sure do feel like I've got some friends at the Cracker Barrel.

After our dinner there, we went to one of my all-time favorite stores - Target. We browsed the shelves for an hour, left with, like, two items in our basket, and snapped a few pictures in the parking lot before heading home to Orlando. These are some of the first pics that I've gotten to be 'in' with the baby since he was born. Like most mothers, I'm always behind the camera, so it's a rare occasion that I actually appear in a picture...and most of the time, when I do, I'm all wonky-eyed and half-smiling because I'm so focused on getting the baby to look at the camera. So, these were a nice treat for me...
















































Heather snapped this one as we were packing up, because she thought Henry looked like a little angel peering out from behind my shoulder. I'm biased, but I think she may be right.
Sad to say, though, this little "angel" was not so angelic on the ride home. We made it, oh, about 5 minutes down the road before he started yelling...which heightened to screaming....which quickly elevated to wailing...which prompted mommy to pull over for a cool-down. We stopped at a nice Turnpike rest area, and it took me every minute of 45 minutes to make his head stop spinning around on his shoulders. He was asleep as I started to load him back in the car, but of course, he woke up going into the seat and started the screaming all over again. This time, though, he was more amenable to the pacifier (thing #498734942 that motherhood has unexpectedly taught me how to do -- hold a paci in a baby's mouth in the backseat from my spot in the driver's seat) and was asleep in a few minutes. Due to our little scenic route, we didn't get home until after 10...and he woke up coming into the house, so he didn't feel like going back down until 12. So, all in all, it was a great visit with Heather...but a VERY long evening. Oh well, such is the 'new normal' around here -- and we were just happy he made up for it by sleeping until 9 this morning!





















After his breakfast this morning, we decided to start back to our family tradition of eating at Brian's Restaurant on Lake Ivanhoe on Saturday mornings. Today, we were so excited to be joined by our friend from Mississippi, Stephen Dummer, and are happy to say that Henry was awesome at the restaurant the entire time. This weekend, Stephen and his wife, Geneva, are in Orlando celebrating their first wedding anniversary and Stephen's birthday. Congrats, guys!

Henry and Lilly...on relationships.

Boys and Girls,

Today, I (J. Henry) would like to teach you all about relationships. As you know, people in the world tend to over-analyze and over-complicate things when it comes to the subject of, what one might call, relations. So, for your benefit, I (with the help of my lovely girlfriend, Lilly) have compiled an extensive how-to guide for engaging in and enjoying your very own personal loving companionship.

This, I learned from my dad. One day, you're going to be hangin' out - doin' your own thing (I, personally, like to eat my hands in my spare time) - without a care in the world. You'll be rockin' along in bachelor heaven...and she'll be right under your nose. You probably won't even notice her at first...

...then, suddenly, she will become the only thing you notice. Her beauty will amaze you, and you will want to write poetry for and about her. Yes, poetry. Her eyes will be the light of your day, her sweet face is all you'll see when you close yours, and this is when you know that you are 'in love.'

Of course, you must not show all your cards at once. Just look away, pretend to be busy doing other stuff. However, just between you and me, while you're doing your own thing, you will be daydreaming about her...

...and how you have so much in common and how you like to do all the same things...like, put your feet in the air and kick 'em real fast...

One day, the boy will have to show the girl how much he cares...but he must be careful to keep up his coolness level. So, GO SLOW...don't just go straight for the kisser. As you can see here, my darling Lilly doesn't even realize what I'm up to...

...but, she figures it out (they all do)...and if you're as blessed as I am, she'll actually like it. The way you know whether you've succeeded is that she'll actually hold your hand back.

Once you've established your relationship, you don't have to be so PDAish about it anymore. In fact, you can just start chillin' out again...except now you have a sweetheart to chill out with. Just think, at one time, you were going in different directions....now, you can enjoy looking together in the same direction. Nice.

Now, there will be things you don't love to do with her. But, you must do them anyway (and preferably with a smile on your face) so that she will continue to hold your hand when you want her to. One of these 'things' for me is cutesy couple pictures. She loves 'em...I don't...but I do them because I love HER. I got in trouble for this one...

..but I learned my lesson and did better the second time around. We held hands for a LONG time after this.

Dear readers, I wish you the best in your relationship endeavors. Trust me, the tips I've given you today are essential to your romantic happiness. With a little time and a lot of practice, you, too, can enjoy a satisfying and fulfilling relationship like Lilly and me!


Now, run along and find your girl!! Seriously, stop watching us...a little privacy, eh?

I'm so much like my mom...

A few of the ways that Henry is just like his mommy:

1. he celebrates holidays for several weeks leading up to the actual big day.

2. he is a very particular eater3. he likes playtime...a lot.4. his favorite sport is golf...just don't tell his daddy!

We had a great time this past weekend with Grammie Jeanne. After a multitude of visits to her house last month, she came to see us in Orlando!! Henry tried his very first baby food -- rice cereal. We thought it might help him with his spit-up...sad to say, he just pushed it around with his tongue and spit it up an hour later. boohoo. This week, we are looking forward to lunch with Henry's Orlando girlfriend, Lilly, and his buddy, Conner.