RMG is one month old

as you can see, Red has put on some incredible weight, and he is primarily carrying it in his cheeks.

this is the most peaceful he gets... prefers sleeping with one of us on the daybed rather than in his crib all alone... we are REALLY not trying to promote this.

our little bean all tuckered out from another long night keeping mom on her toes...

happy birthday momma...

after a very long night as a new mother, and just a few hours after officially turning 26, my son decided to give me a very cute birthday surprise. Not only peeing everywhere from the perch of his changing pad, but when i picked him up to clean it off and give the diaper change a second go, he decided to pee all down the front of me.

I love it. As you can see from this picture, at three weeks and 26 years respectively, he is definitely getting the better of me.

Disclaimer: The ensemble worn in this picture is the result of sleepless nights, and blind pajama decisions at 3am when i am cold. Please give me a break. I'm exhausted.

second week of life

here's a day in the life of a two week old, or at least for RMG's second week of life.

red marshall

our son arrived sept. 28, 2007 at 10:21pm. He weighed in at 7lbs, 2oz and measured 21 inches long. we really, really like him... so much so that we've almost forgotten to share him with you all because we've been enjoying him - and he does keep us busy.

right now he's working real hard at his tenth day of life - napping before his second lunch so i better go rest too. Here are a few shots of his first week for you to enjoy. Hopefully i can share lake pictures too soon. (We took him to meet his six older cousins this weekend - it was complete mayhem! he loved it.)

For those of you who are interested, here's a little background on his name: Floyd's grandfather had two brothers, Red and James Marshall. W.F. "Red" Gibbs is floyd's great uncle, and namesake... the original W.F. Gibbs... but has been called Red for his entire 93 years of life. James Marshall passed away five years ago, and was greatly admired by my floyd. So there you have it.

ps - yes, his hair is red.

Drapes are up! Just waiting on the rocker!

they are coming!

that's right... the Colorado Gang are coming to South Carolina. Back to their roots, some for the first time (C-love and Scuppernog). For others, Like G-money and JG especially, this flying thing is becoming old hat. And I'm sure D-struction will have some extra special tricks up his sleeve too, but we'll be praying they are more cute than destructive...

I haven't seen my oldest sister since last November. That's right... almost a full year. And Tootie was here in May, but it seems like a long time ago too. Most importantly is the fact that this is the first time the entire Baker clan has been together since Nanni & Reid were married. That's 2.5 years ago, and at the time there was only G-money in the cousin crew... since then the-O-man, D-struction, JG, Georgia Weez, and C-love have all joined him. And baby Gibbs & Scuppernog are not far behind.

We're pretty excited... i love my family, and i'm hoping we have lots of fun together. And maybe even an actual DELIVERY while they're here too, wouldn't that be awesome?!?

a taste of things to come...

Nursery update... You might remember my posting about our nursery a couple of months ago. I was kind of proud because we had a crib already, even if it was full of junk. But the room has come a long way from junk room/music room/guest room to house a nursery primarily, but also serve other functions as well. I will post more images later next week, but here are a couple of details. The drapes are going up tomorrow and the mini blinds coming DOWN, and our rocking chair will be done on Wednesday... hurrah! More about the face lift to come, but here's some of the details...

The view when you walk in the door now (again, still a work in progress)
The table by the rocker with Floyd's baby picture, and his silver baby rattle, comb, toothbrush, teething ring, etc.

A little bucket of toys and special stuffed animals

One of my favorites, Mr. Frog, who is currently hanging on the closet door... he's cute.
And the closet! Lots of organizing and laundry has been done already to make this happen :)

a couple of bump shots...

well i realize i've been neglecting to post the belly... honestly we've gotten a little preocuppied with getting the house ready for this new little human being, and the belly seems like old news to Evelyn & Floyd... but just for good measure, here is the 35 or 36 week image (i can't remember when exactly we took it... oops). Also, below that is the today image... i don't know if there is much of a difference. It's all the same to me now, and hopefully we'll get one last final one in a couple weeks before this kid pops out.

A little chi-chi here, a little baby there...

Evelyn & Floyd have an amazing neighbor and friend, Karen. Her home is like a sanctuary to all who enter, and her friendship too provides great respite. It's like she has this spiritual gift to create an oasis of relaxation. Anyway, when she throws a party, it is always chi-chi, even if it is a baby shower. Sponge cake, fellowship halls and punch step aside - romantic tea lights, palm frans, and cordials for conversation are welcome here.

We opened many generous and thoughtful gifts from friends


It was cool enough to socialize on the porch without sweating!


Friends lingered for hours after dinner and dessert


Grandparents-to-be (the Gibbs) talk with a more seasoned "Pops" as he cuddles the current youngest member of the Baker grands (Georgia)


The party may be over but of course we're all still hanging out

Our sweet nephew Olice is TWO!

The icing ran a little after nancy and i worked so hard, but they still look delicious! Olice's favorite colors: yellow, orange, and blue.

Olice digging into his cupcake...

Olice with his Uncle Will... (or "Uncle Wheeeeeel!")

Reading a favorite library book with his Nana

Getting a little help from Mommy to open the presents

Helping Daddy assemble the new John Deere barn ("Here's the hay dad.")

Baby Georgia partied for a little while too.

Birmingham Wedding...

This weekend we joined our friends Lauren Matthews & Cameron Cole to worship and celebrate with them in their marriage. It was a weekend full of lots of fun events and opportunities to see old friends. Here are a few images of the weekend.

Megan Matthews, Cristy Lollis, me, Megan Wells


All of the bridesmaids with the bride


partying it up after the rehersal dinner: Cameron & Lauren, Cristy & Oliver, Evelyn & Floyd


Meg Matthews, me, and the beautiful bride during the "bachelorette extravaganza"

ebay and nesting...

i know the subject of this post sounds dangerous... but here's how the story went.

Evelyn was having a very hard time with our living room layout... very frustrated, the jute rug wasn't working, and the coffee table tried to bite your shins everytime you passed by it. So off Evelyn went to ebay in search of an alternative solution. Enter hand knotted rug from some strange province in Iran, and some pictures that still didn't really confirm whether or not i would be a total sucker for bidding. So i closed my eyes, entered a maximum bid of $26 US dollars, and won. Not so bad. Three days later the suspicious package arrives on our doorstep and i chose to leave it there for a couple of days... because i was still nervous about it falling apart in my hands. When i finally got the courage to open said package, i was delightfully suprised at what i found. Here are some pictures of the updated space with our new addition to the family. (Don't worry, the jute rug found a better home in our bedroom.)

weekend warrior...

i know that "nesting" at this stage in a pregnancy is normal for women. i'm embracing it. And somehow i've successfully encouraged my dear husband to embrace it too. Actually, i think that the pressure washing machine was a greater encouragement... There is just something about immediate gratification (as comes with pressure washing 60 years of dirt off your stone terrace and sidewalk) that can inspire the Mr. Clean in us all. So here's to Floyd's efforts this weekend... And the fruits of those labors!

gimpy Jim

Jim Hargate, III has had a couple of surgeries in the last few months, much to his dismay. His manhood was taken away, and then a couple of cysts were removed from his legs... needless to say, he became a little insecure what with the purple cast and then floppy lampshade he had to endure. At least he was kind enough to pose for a couple of shots...

"She's great... (pause) ...with child"

This was my husband's response to someone this week when asked, "How's your wife?" Obviously, I haven't been as inclined in recent weeks to join him on nightly excursions, much less a fun trip to the Bele Chere festival. I mean, lets be honest... good food, music, fun people watching, but at the price of swollen feet and staying up late? Not my cup of tea these days. It's true. I'm great. With child.