As Mike was writing the previous entry I was buzzing around giving my two cents about what photos should get on the blog. Mike informed me that I was welcome to post my own entry next, and here it is.
We have had such a nice time in the states so far. We miss Ghost, Keska and our Enschede crew of course, but it is great to be in familiar places. Our trip to Charleston was much too quick, but wonderful. We had mostly clear weather and were able to see many friends, eat local oysters, and drive that new Cooper River bridge.
Now we are in Atlanta, and due to the twins christening we were able to see LOTS of Maiers (though not nearly all of them). James' cousin Brad got him to belly laugh for a long time Saturday night.
I am having such a good time with friends and family I almost forget Christmas is in just a few days.
I met many of Mike's high school/college buddies this week. Most of the girls I am familiar with because of the Georgia Mom's Web Forum, though it took me a while to sort out who was who-- whenever I was introduced to someone I would think, "now what is her screen name". At the party James cheeks became flushed and he was fussy. New parents that we are we thought--
Is he sick??
Does he have a cold??
Is he teething??
Should we leave??
I got really worried and Mike started to change James' diaper, just going through the big three (does the baby need sleep/diaper change/food).
Umm, no- it became apparent that James was HOT. Could we be a little slower??? We took off his outer layer and he was happy as a clam. His parents settled down a bit after that.
The next day Mike and I were reorganizing our boxes of belongings in the basement and I got to see these folks in their prime in the Roswell yearbook of many many years ago. It was hilarious-- lots of funny pictures of a stringbean Mike. (Why is he on the friends and lovers page with John Sabol???) It was especially cool to get the chance to really talk to Steph and Anne, with whom I've been emailing for months. We also got to see Brian and Genia, who have agreed to come over and experience dominoes with Mike's parents. Should be interesting.
Next on the agenda is historic Valdosta, Georgia-- incubator of many a small business. We will drive down Christmas day and spend about ten days there catching up with the Owens family.
Okay-- here are MY photo choices:
The BEST SHOES EVER-- courtesy of John and Joyce. They are so cool that we build all of James' outfits around them. We absolutely love them.
And James in the tub at Aunt Dorothy's w/a discreetly positioned washcloth.

Road update

Well we have been movin and shakin since our arrival and today I finally have a little more time for an update as I just sent the last of my editing work off for the year. Atlanta and Charleston have been great; every day I try and soak in as much sun as possible and burn the feeling into memory for February in Enschede...
James has really developed in the last 3 weeks- he's now rolling over, consistently finds his thumb, is eating a little solid food, and feels heavier and bigger every day. We attended a great party/reunion of old Roswell/Georgia friends last Sunday and there was a gaggle of babies accompanying a group of folks, some of whom I haven't seen in 12 years. Everyone had a great time; my friend Anne says how cool it is to see how parenthood (or just maturity in some cases) has affected everyone. Its true; when people ask how I like fatherhood or what has changed my first answer is that I don't care about as many things I used to- its a relief in some ways to focus on a healthy family. I've thought more about it recently and wonder if parenthood gives people a second chance in some weird way. I'm not talking about people that suppress their own shortcomings and try to live vicariously through their children, more that it gives you a new energy seeing this little innocent face that has everything ahead of them.
We were able to spend a couple days with my sister and her family in the last week; the twins were christened on Saturday and we had a great gathering (even brought some select local oysters in from Chucktown..). Dorothy finally gets famous on the blog....
Photos are:
Dorothy with little Michael in the hug-a-bub
Katharine and Michael with the twins
Aunt Mary and Sophie working on the brussel sprouts, and
Uncle Tom with Micheal

Baptism

While in Charleston we managed to meet up with our favorite man of God, Bert Keller (who married us), for James' baptism. James was baptised Sunday afternoon in the Circular Congregational Church in downtown Charleston. My dad's brother Joe found a christening gown that belonged to my great grandmother to use for the occasion. James looked very sweet.

Charleston

We are having a wonderful time in the Holy City-- so much so that we've barely blogged. Here are some photos (taken by Julie Smith) to get you through...

Across the pond

After a good flight, we arrived in Atlanta almost a week ago. James did well on the plane though the pressure change was not pleasant when we were taking off; nine hours is a long time for adults crammed into that tiny space but we had a good trip and sat next to another nice family with a 14 month old. Atlanta is crazy in a lot of ways even though I lived there for seven years and have been visiting for the last 14. I sound like a broken record every time- look how big those houses are! look at the traffic! We have gotten used to the compact towns of Europe and things looked even bigger and more wasteful this trip. Who really needs a seven bedroom house?
It was great to see the family and I do miss the raw space of America; there is so much land! And trees and water and undeveloped (as yet) country. After a short stay in Atlanta we drove the five hours to the coast of South Carolina and arrived in Charleston Tuesday afternoon. Alot has changed here in two years as well- a beautiful new bridge over the Cooper River (they are currently dynamiting the remains of the old bridges; I'm hoping we can catch some of that) and of course more development as well.
One thing we have really missed is the cuisine of the lowcountry and Charleston restaurants in general. Every chance we have had so far we've gone out (or cooked with friends) some of our favorite food. We are just getting ready to start roasting oysters so more later! Fotos: James and Kat with little Emily at my sister's...

Eerste Sneeuw

Since I have never lived in an area that gets snow, whenever it snows a bit I automatically assume it means it will "really" snow, and stick on the ground. Usually everyone just laughs this off because they come from places like Canada, and they know that a little snow does not necessarily mean anything. The snow began falling this morning and by midmorning had turned into what the dutch call natte sneeuw (wet snow). I thought that was it for the day, but by midday it became real snow again, had begun to fall hard, and continued throughout the afternoon. Mike had to WALK his bike back from picking up the turkeys. We are hoping this won't ruin our Thanksgiving plans for tomorrow. James was not able to enjoy it-- he has a little stuffy nose and we thought it was best that he stay warm. We snuck out during his nap to get a few photos. Every few minutes throughout the evening we have heard a big KER-PLUNK as a big hunk of snow has slid off the roof. Just a little while ago the tree out front dropped two large branches due to the weight... but for now the snow has actually stopped falling.