Spain or Bust

In 21 days the Fykes family leaves for Spain. This will be our first international trip with Ehren, so we're trying to make sure we don't forget anything that might be catastrophic to our sanity (i.e. his stuffed elephant) Unfortunately we already missed the running of the bulls, but that wasn't on the top of our list of things to do.

We're planning to be much more regular (i.e. more than one post per month) with the blogging and photos while travelling so stay tuned.

A Wedding (not ours)

Congrats to Blake and AnnAlyse! If anyone reading this is planning a wedding, two words for you: Photo Booth. Great fun.

Ehren's Dad and My Dad

Today is a day to grill out, relax and be thankful for the dads in your life. Ehren and I are both lucky to have dads that share a lot of great traits.

• He works tirelessly for his family
• He leaves work at work (something I wish I could do better)
• His words are well chosen and so few that when spoken they are respected by his peers
• Service to others is his first instinct
• He isn't too much of "a man" to cook or clean or whatever needs to be done
• His focus is so intense that the whole family can be in the car ready for church and he is picking weeds out of the flowerbed

Even though that last one is sometimes annoying and my mom would say shouldn't be on a positive list I am thankful for everything that makes up Joshua and Bobby - the dads in my life. I love you both!

Cicada Summer

So apparently locusts are called cicadas in TN and there are different broods born every year. This year was "the big year" with type XIII coming out of the ground and it was a bit like a take over. When the news and everyone was talking about it I expected something like I imagined with of the locust swarms from Little House on the Praire - you know where the sky gets dark as they fly in and eat everything in sight. Turns out it they just crawl out of the ground sit around for a week or so and then they start flying around and making all kinds of racket. They have all died by now so it has quieted and now we are just back to the normal TN summer except this time we have a kid.

That little addition to the summer makes everything more fun. It makes us want to go to the pool more so he can learn to float and be comfortable. So far this week we've been twice and it would have been three times if it hadn't been for a crazy storm yesterday.

We also have another change this summer that required me to run out and get a new bathing suit for all those trips to the pool. I'm 3 months pregnant which at this point just means I look a little fat. I got a cute new suit at Target and maybe by the end of the summer I'll look a lot less fat and more pregnant.

Either way we are going to enjoy our time at the pool and maybe we'll have a little one that floats/swims by the end of the summer. I promise to try to update before then but so far my track record isn't great so I'll probably see you in July.

May 16, 2011

Dear Ehren,

Today you turn one year old and I'm not going to lie it kind of freaks your dad and I out a bit. Means you have been home six months and you decided this week it also means you are going to walk. You've been pulling yourself up for a month but it was almost like you knew you were turning one and that one year olds should walk so you just started letting go this week and trying to figure it out. I think Dad would like you to be using a spoon as well but let's not rush things, right?

We are so grateful that God chose you to be a part of our family. Your laughter fills this house and makes life so much more fun in a way we never knew was missing before. Your dad and I fight over who gets to wake you up from your nap because we both want to be the one that makes you squeal with excitement and jump up and down in your crib. Your joy is contagious and one of these days Austin the Dog is going to catch it too.

We pray this next year is just as exciting as the first and look forward to being with you through all the new things you get to discover. It's probably going to be another big year of changes and excitement but if we've learned anything in the last six months with you it's that you are going to be fine. You are resilient and strong and it's going to take a lot more than a few mistakes from your dad and I to do any serious damage. That being said, expect a few mistakes and if you want to use some of your college money for therapy we totally understand.

We love you!

Mommy

Almost Famous

We got a call from our adoption agency about a month ago telling us they had an opportunity to have an ad in Time Square and they wanted to use our picture in it. One of the many papers you sign gives them the right to use your images as they see fit so I was pretty impressed they even called to ask. Turns out they just needed a higher resolution file for the video than we send via email with our reports so that is why they called because we're also the front of their website and they mentioned NOTHING about that when we talked. We actually found out from a friend at church who was doing some research and found the site.

So this trip to NYC we'll actually go to Time Square and see our 10 seconds of fame on the side of a building and you can check out the website here. Too bad it didn't come with a check we could put in his college fund.

Anyone Still There?

You always hear about second and third kids getting the short end of the stick. They don't ever have childhood pictures and parent's can't remember anything about when they were a baby. We're just trying to make sure it is fair for all of our kids so we've decided we're not going to take pictures of our first child either. You know one less thing for the younger kids to complain about when they get older.

We took our first family roadtrip last week and can I just tell you how amazing Ehren is? That kid took the 10 hour trip (each way) like a champ. In total we had 30 minutes of crying and that is counting all 20 hours. He spent a lot more time like this than anything else.

We were visiting our friends that live out of the country but happened to be in Virginia for a few weeks. Since we saw them last year we have each added a stroller to our lives so it was fun to share that with each other. There was talks of us trying to get to Spain this year while they are living abroad but we'll have to see if work ever lets up for us. Spending a few days with them reminded us how much we miss having them around but just like all our great friendships we will take the time we get.

We jump on a plane in a couple weeks. Flying is totally old hat to this kid so we're not too worried. Rest assured we'll catch you up once we get home from NYC.