11/16/2009

Refocus



I feel like the last few posts have mainly concentrated on things other than the real purpose of this blog:



LILY GRACE



She's just over 10 months old and crawling up a storm. She's pulling up on anything and everything and really only needs to hold one of your fingers to walk. "Bah, Bah, Bah" is a main part of her vocabulary when Bear comes into the room. Followed by "Duh, duh, duh." I'm guessing this means "dog," but with Bear you never know.


The number one thing she says and does is "HI!" while holding out her hand. To everyone.
Everywhere.
All. The. Time.
Thankfully people love it and it makes them smile!


We are in party planning mode for her first birthday! I can't believe it's almost been a year having her with us.
Christmas preview





And without further ado....

I finally bring you her 6 month photo! Thank you, Nana!

11/14/2009

Friday the 13th

Nov 4th at 3:45pm: I receive a birthday card with a gift certificate in it stating that I will be a guest investigator with the Atlanta Ghost Hunters.
3:46pm: My eyes tear up in fear and I begin to have a difficult time breathing.
10pm: I can't seem to fall asleep.
Nov 9th at 11:30am: Andy Roberts (lead hunter) calls me to provide information and give me upcoming dates.
Nov 10th at 9:37am: I decide to go ahead and put a request in for Nov 13th. Friday. Why not, right?
Nov 12th at 1:48pm: I receive confirmation that I have the last available spot for the 13th. Friday.
1:49pm: I FREAK OUT!
Nov 13th at 7:32pm: I arrive at the haunted location to find another couple speaking with Andy. I trip walking up the stairs and make a typical Audra-esque entrance.
9pm: LIGHTS OUT. Yup. All of them. Pitch black dark except for the two little red lights on the recorders.
9:01pm: AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I've never sat so still and quiet in all my life.
Fast forward
10pm: It's my team's turn to head up to the attic. Great.
10:05pm: I ask my first question.
10:07pm: I ask my second question, keeping in mind these are former Civil War soldiers; presumably Confederate.
10:10pm: I'm kind of getting into this ghost hunting thing and ask, "Do you think the South will rise again?" (I was bummed not to get a response.)
10:15pm: We move out into the hallway of the attic.
10:37pm: We feel cold air. It's an old house, I'm sure it's a draft. We hear sounds from above, I'm sure it's an acorn falling from a tree. We hear footsteps on the floor beneath us and a thud, I'm sure it's one of the girls from the other team walking in her noisy heels to the bathroom. We hear three distinct knocks from a room down the hall where no one has been. Not so sure what to think about that one.
11pm: Time's up. Where are you, Andy?
11:05pm: Okay. Our hour is up. I'm ready to head back downstairs. WHERE ARE YOU, ANDY?!?!
11:12pm: We meet up with the other team. The girl wearing the noisy shoes had been on the first floor the entire time without a bathroom break.
For the next hour and a half, we sit in the control room and chat while Andy is uploading all the recorders onto his computer so he can give us a cd to take home to listen to on our own.
4 digital recorders x 2 hours + 1 other recorder from the beginning = 9 hours of listening for EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon, for your rookies out there).
The cd will only play in your computer.
Good, I wasn't interested in being tempted to listen to it in my car on the drive home. At 1am. Alone.
I woke up feeling sort of brave and ready to tackle my first 30 minutes or so of audio.
The darn cd was blank! Hopefully I can get in touch with him to get another one, or I don't mind waiting to see what he comes up with after listening himself.
All in all, it was a fantastic night! I would definitely do it again!
This is the house.
The Warren House in Jonesboro, Georgia
Brief history of the house:
~Built in the 1700s by Mr. Warren
~Site of a major battle of the Civil War
~Used as a hospital for wounded soldiers
~After the battle, the yard was covered with bodies and amputated body parts so they dug a big grave in the backyard and buried them.
~The room thought to be where the wounded soldiers may have been treated, still has some of it's original plaster where the soldiers wrote their names.
Here's a link to the website with some of the past investigations of this house. Enjoy!!!
http://www.freewebs.com/henryghosthunters/warrenhouse.htm

11/08/2009

Fantastically Fun Weekend

This was the final weekend we would have any guests for a while so we took advantage of it!
The Arnolds came into town for the football game and Farrah's baby shower and I hope they had as much fun as Lily and I did. Baby Charlie has grown so much and giggles at the annoying dog and lets Lily beat him and is just plain cute!

Beautiful family
Lily showing Charlie the ropes of exersaucering

Tailgaiting twosome

Buzz & Cheerleader Bartling playing sweetly with Lily

Buddies with babies

Sorry for the scratch, Charlie!

Diaper cake for Farrah & Baby Owen




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Happy Birthday, to Me!

Ugh. I'm 33.
How can that possibly be?
My parents at this age were MUCH older than me!
Ugh. I'm 33.


Card from my dear, sweet, lovely husband:


My gift to myself (times two):

11/03/2009

Nana Time.....again

We love us some Nana time!
She gets up with Lily.
She feeds Lily.
She puts Lily to bed (sort of).

And she gives LOTS of kisses!

But things aren't always what they seem when Nana is around.
Sometimes bad things happen, too.

Case in point:


Weeeee!
This baby slide sure is fun! (and safe)
Let's go do this one!

All smiles at the start of things, but this:


plus this:

equals this:

If only there was a camera to catch the next 30 seconds.
I'm face down in the dirt, on top of Lily who is crying.
I'm shaken up because I could have crushed my child but managed otherwise (much to my knee's dismay).
Meanwhile, I can't hear my mom because she's practically peeing in her pants she's laughing so hard.
I have to admit, I had a hard time not laughing, too. But I didn't know what all the other parents would think: Two ladies cracking up with a crying baby who is covered in dirt?
Someone might have called child protective services.

Everyone is fine (and clean) and happy now.
No more slides for a while.

Happy Halloween!

It was Baby's First Halloween!
We had many dress rehearsals preparing for this day and it paid off because once it was on, there were no issues. She kept the antennae on, too! (Even though they were a bit skewed....like her mom and dad.)

There was a concern for some rain throughout the day but it cleared up just in the nick of time to head over to the dealership to show her off and then race home for the big neighborhood parade.

She was a rock star! All the kids from the babysitter's were there as was Ms. Jenny herself which made it so much more fun. Lily just hung out in her stroller checking everyone out and wasn't bothered a big when it started raining again. Nana, on the other hand, freaked and had to get Lily warm and dry again. It's not like I was pimping out my kid to get candy or anything, so we left.



I've never seen 90% of these people before.
I'm convinced they don't all live in this neighborhood.


This is what you get when you force your dad to go trick or treating
during the UGA/Florida game.