Everyday Life

If someone told me, before I had Liza, that there would come a time in my life that I would tolerate an unpacked suitcase for weeks on end I would have called them a liar. Guess I'm the liar now. We've been home from vacation for 2.5 weeks and in the last day or two the final suitcase disappeared from the front hall. Call me a slacker! Being Liza's mother has become more important than a clean and organized house and while there are moments when the disorder sends me over the edge all I have to do is see Liza smile and I know the mess can wait.

I took a few pictures this morning as we were getting ready for work and Rita's. Liza loves to play with the Taggie ball that our friends the Clearys gave her. Her favorite thing to do is grab it and bury her face in it.


This is one of Liza's favorite new toys. It lights up, plays music, she can make it play 4 different instrument sounds and when she looks in the mirror at herself she laughs at loud. It's even funnier to her when Mommy or Daddy come up behind her and she can see us in the mirror too!


Okay Mom...I'm ready to go to Rita's now to see all my friends...do you think you could speed it up?

4,282 miles - Final Leg of Journey

After our stop over in Montgomery we headed for Nashville. Originally, we planned to arrive in Nashville on Friday in time for a family dinner. Uncle Mike and Cindy arranged for my cousins, Christie and Colleen, their families, Uncle Peter Rhea and Aunt Ellen and my Mother and Daddy to come to meet us as we were passing through. Since we got there late Thursday night instead we had free time on Friday. I went and met Mother and Daddy at some exit to pick up Mom while Daddy went on to Dyersburg. Mom, Chris, Liza and I went and had a short visit with a long time friend of my Grandaddy Marks, Dorthy Dean Peebles. She was just as funny as I remember her to be and for a moment it was as if my Granddaddy was back with us. Thanks Mom for making the visit happen!

After that visit we loaded the addresses of some fly fishing stores Chris had hoped to check out and after a stop by one we headed to Christie's house. Aunt Betty was there for the day and it was a lot of fun to see her. We got to spend extra play time with Benton and Cate, checked out the house renovation (nice job!) and when Chris came back from his used bookstore stop we made our way back up to Ridgetop. When we returned Uncle Mike, Uncle Peter Rhea and Aunt Ellen were there! The party started then and just kept going until we all went to bed that night.

We were so excited to get all these children together! These precious children are second cousins (thanks Rob for helping us figure out the right terms). Working from the left to the right - the eldest is sweet Benton who is holding his sister Cate, then comes Liza (who is earlier pictures was pulling hair)and with her mother's assistance Erin is sitting up at the end. Cate was born in February, Liza in January and Erin in April - as my Daddy said "Well Meg's child sure is the healthiest."

Martha, you might recognize the quilt they are all sitting on - we traveled with it and it came in very handy - thanks so much for making it for Liza. LeeAnn and Misty, even though you can't see it well, the dress Liza is wearing is one of the beautiful smocked ones you gave her! She loves looking so very pretty.

When this picture was being taken there were no less than 4 cameras going off in all different directions - several proud Daddies and grand parents made these children feel like the paparazzi had come to town.

After photo shoot #1, we had a quick clothing change and photo shoot #2 got started. Great Aunt Ellen brought the matching outfits to the girls and we did the best we could to try and capture their modeling debut. Cate is waving for you, Erin is wondering what's up and Liza is so busy chewing her fingers she doesn't know what's going on. Thanks Aunt Ellen for the outfits!

Saturday a.m. we loaded up for the journey home to Iowa. We've been home for a week and there are still suitcases to unpack, thank you notes to write and I need to go to the grocery. Thanks to everyone who was so kind to us on the trip. We were so pleased to see everyone and can't wait to do it again!

4,282 Part Four

We left Florida and headed for Alabama to see our niece Mary Katherine. The sweet little thing wasn't feeling her best so we hung out in Panera and got some good visit time in before moving on down the road. We were so glad to see Paul, Susan, Patrick, Sherra, Mary Katherine, Suzanne and Stan even if the visits were way too short.

Liza loves it when Paul and Susan make her laugh out loud!

I want to smile for you I really do but I'm busy watching what Mary Katherine is doing.

Wait just a minute Paul I'll be right back to play; I have to pose for the camera.

Hey there Grandmother Bair you certainly look familiar. Thanks for taking care of me for the month of June.

My cousin Mary Katherine has the best smile; it just warms every heart when they see it. You're just too cute sweet girl!

We really wish we had gotten to see Eric, Rayne and Amelia - thinking of you all and wishing you well.

4,282 Part Three

We finally arrived in Stuart on Friday July 25th and were grateful to have air conditioning and a pool a few steps out the back door. Liza loved swimming and every morning Nana and Ann (if she could) would come over and watch Liza play in the pool. Liza's Daddy had as much fun as she did and I'm not sure the last time I've seen him act so crazy - splashing around, jumping up and down, holding his breath under water - all in the name of entertaining our precious daughter. What a Daddy you have Liza! Thanks Julie for the swim attire!

Liza's great aunt Ann loved to get on the floor and play with Liza and her toys - thanks Ann for being such a good playmate.


Our time in Stuart flew by too quickly. One night we went to Jupiter to have dinner with my cousin Peter and his family. We had a great time but unfortunately I forgot the camera. It was so great to see them again and I was amazed by how grown up Kristin is. Next time we see them I hope I get to see Tripp too! Thanks for a great meal Melanie you were so kind to have us on such short notice.

We visited some of our favorite places in Stuart, Chris got in a little fly fishing, we swam a lot in the pool and often took family naps. It was a very restful time! We felt like guests because every night Nana, Gaggy, and Ann prepared delicious meals and somehow we were fortunate enough to get the left overs for lunch the next day. For the members of the Glasscock family this picture will look very familiar to you. This was lobster night - FABULOUS!

I couldn't resist posting this picture because I love the profile of Chris and Liza and I think it's wonderful that Pete's drawing of Chris and Suzanne is in the background.

Thanks to everyone who was part of our great time in Stuart - we can't wait to come back!

4,282 Part Two

After several wonderful days in Montreat seeing friends and family we headed out the gate and pointed the mini-van southward. In route we stopped in SC to feed Liza and were fortunate enough to find a great rest spot with picnic tables and beautiful live oak trees. Today's picture theme is large background objects with people standing in front of them.



After our stop in SC we high tailed it into northern Florida where we found a hotel for the evening. The next morning we headed to Auburndale so Liza could see her Great Grandma Bair (see previous post).

4,282 miles Part One

The Bair family adventure began on July 18th as we embarked on Liza's first long car ride. She was absolutely amazing and a perfect baby. Out of the 4,282 miles we logged she was only fussy for about 45 of them. Her Daddy sang the 3 children's CDs we had with us over and over and she enjoyed looking out the window, sleeping and playing with new toys. Our first stop was somewhere north of Indianapolis. We left home late Friday night hoping to get a lot of driving in while Liza slept. In my younger days I could have gotten us further down the road but after 300 miles we decided to pull into a hotel for the night. We were concerned about how Liza might transition from her car seat to bed but in the end all was well - she slept through.

Saturday evening we arrived in Montreat and were delighted to see family and friends who had come to celebrate Liza's baptism with us. We already posted some pictures of her christening (see previous post) but I couldn't resist sharing a few more. Liza's great aunt Cindy took these photos and put together a great album for us - thanks Cindy!

I am so happy with the perfect weather, a wonderful ceremony, great family and friends and a happy healthy baby!

Grandmother Jones was all smiles during our visit; she loves her grand daughter so very much! If only I could get them both to smile at the same time.

Seems to me Liza's Popa is growing more and more Grandfatherly every day. Of course he is still as stylish in his attire as he's always been. No room for improvement there.