Getting Started Early...

No one could be more excited that it is football season than my husband. He loves watching it, reading about it, listening to podcasts on it, and playing it on the PS4. He also loves coaching it (and I might be biased, but I think he is pretty darn good at it, too). So when his team headed down the road for its season opener, Will and I were there to watch the blue bring home victory!

I think he likes football.

Will at 11 Weeks

This one is for you, Gege! LOVE his Chattanooga Choo-Choo outfit!! SO cute!

Our little man is growing up before our very eyes! Here is what is going on with Will these days...

* He is firmly in his 3 mos. clothing; we already transitioned out his 0-3 mos. outfits. And so many of them were so cute!

* He is smiling at us all the time. He totally charmed this couple behind us today in church; he couldn't stop smiling and cooing at them!

* He loves bath time, which is awesome considering we are trying to ease into a sleep routine (beginning with sleep associations, like bath time and reading). He loves to kick in the tub.

* He is already attached to his owl "lovey," which Clay and I affectionately call "psi u" and chi o" in honor of our fraternity and sorority, both of which had owls as their mascots.

* He went to his first football game on Friday night--and was a good luck charm. McC pulled it out in the last minute of the game. Way to go, Will!

* He and Carla are doing so well together. I love coming home and seeing them so at ease with each other--and then I scoop him up and we have hug time until I can let him go long enough to put him in the car seat and take him home.

* He is still waking up 1-2 times a night to eat, but he immediately goes right back to sleep. We are hoping he starts stretching this out so that we might get a full night's sleep here before too long. All the books say that by 4 months he will be able to sleep throughout the night without a feeding but that until then, we need to follow his lead. And his lead is asking for milk at 3 a.m.

* If you watched the video, you may have noticed some white spots on his tongue. He has a mild case of thrush (baby yeast infection), which we are treating with an antibiotic 4x a day. Doctor Dodd says its no big deal.

Saturday Mornings=Bliss

So we are settling into a routine here in Chattavegas now that school has started and Will is approaching a sleep schedule. Our work weeks are scheduled pretty much down to the minute in order to allow us to get everything done that we need to, but once Friday nights come along, we transition to relax mode. Add in a good night's sleep and we wake up on Saturdays feeling like new people.

Will has been pretty vocal lately, so I tried to capture some of his sweet sounds this morning. I didn't manage to get a smile out of him, but hopefully you can tell here that he is trying to say hi!

My Love Affair with Blogs

I was reading my highly intellectual People magazine on the elliptical yesterday when I flipped the page to see a picture of...one of my childhood babysitters. I recognized her immediately: Catherine McCord, who in addition to being one of my favorite babysitters was also a frickin' Victoria Secret and Calvin Klein runway model. I AM NOT JOKING. Man, I thought she was pretty, but dude, one of my babysitters was a SUPERMODEL. Crazy.

Anyways, the reason she was in People was not because of her modeling--no, its because she is the author of a hot blog on baby and kid food: Weelicious.com. WHAT? She was super cool in my book until now, but she has now earned a spot on my bookmark header. Clay and I have already decided to try to make most of Will's baby food (for both health and financial reasons--plus, I love cooking!), so I have a feeling this site will get lots of hits from me once we approach that milestone. For now, we are still loving the milk...especially at 3 a.m. :-).

I am also excited about the blogs I am incorporating into my classes this year. They provide us with an attractive space online through which we can discuss texts, brainstorm and draft writing pieces, and connect our studies with information on the web. My blog got me writing again--I am hoping these do the same for my students.

Senior English: Clarity

Sophomore Honors English: Reflections

Sophomore English: Inspired

We're back and better than ever!!

Most people who read this have seen all these pictures, but for those who haven't...

Meet William Bradley Gahan!

Born on June 10, 2010, weighing 7 lbs. 13 oz., and measuring 21 inches, this sweet little guy has totally captured our hearts--and our time! Hence the summer of no blog posts!

We have indulged in a summer of holding our little one and thus not blogging. I am okay with that. But now that school is back in session and we have emerged from our sleep deprived semi-coherent states, I am more committed and inspired than ever to chronicle this time in our lives.

Why? Simply put, I have never thought or felt or learned so much in my life.

While I still feel like I am the same person in many ways, I revel in the fact that I also feel more fulfilled and utterly joyful and peaceful than ever before. Will has made me see our world and live my life in some radical new ways. And I want, make that need, to have a space in which I process and record these realizations in writing.

i am ready to return to the blog.

What have I experienced this summer thanks to the gift of Will in our lives?

1. Insane happiness. Every day I wake up to Will, every afternoon I return home to Will is like Christmas all over again. I feel like my life is a dream I am fortunate enough to experience again and again each day.

2. A deep appreciation for sleep--and the knowledge that I simply don't need that much of it. It's been at least 10 weeks since I slept for more than 5 hours straight, and there have definitely been moments when I wish I could sleep through the night, but I also love the quiet moments at 3 a.m. when it is just Will and me rocking in the chair, me making up verses to "Hush Little Baby." I will never forget those tender moments.

3. I also have discovered a whole new form and level of love for my husband. We've always been a team, but Will demanded we take that partnership to a much more intricate, open level. We have had to communicate more frequently and honestly than ever, which is often pretty hard to do, but it has led us to such a good place now. We feel like we have turned a corner in terms of understanding to be both good parents to Will and good partners to each other, but we are also constantly aware that just when we figure something out, Will throws another challenge our way. Man, parents are saints.

4. Speaking of, I have never been more grateful for the love and generosity of my parents and Clay's parents. Clay and I have dedicated so energy to trying to be good parents to Will and he is only 10 weeks old. Our parents have done it for 30 years. WOW. Thank you. We have learned so much from you--and continue to learn by your example every day.

5. We have also experienced the overwhelming thoughtfulness and generosity that exists in the parenthood community. Gifts, advice, cards, food--you name it, we've been humbled by it. This "Pass it on" philosophy is so refreshing. I love that parents help each other out so naturally. Certainly all of our children benefit. What a beautiful community we have been ushered into thanks to Will. I hope I will show the same care to other dear friends who become parents in the future...

6. Immense love from our families. Thank you all. We love you more than words can express.

7. So much fun. We laugh all the time at Will's funny faces and sounds, we coo and smile right along with him, and we delight in his embrace. We are excited to get to know him--a notion that sounds weird considering we might have some hand in how he turns out, but we have realized more than ever that he is already his own person and we are privileged to share in his life.

It certainly has been a special summer for us, one full of so much love from all directions and in all ways. We are just so grateful.

But now it is the start of a new school year and thus we must forge ahead! So I hope it is okay that I pick up the blog at this point rather than try to catch up.

Here we are in my new classroom a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, Will doesn't hang out with me in this chair every day, but he is being lovingly cared for by Carla, and I am blessed to have some awesome students this year. And every day at 3 p.m., I pull back into McC with shaky arms--I am that excited to get to hold my little man again. And it's at that moment that I know I might just be the luckiest girl on the planet.

More to come--and soon, I promise!