South Carolina on My Mind

Ahh, the South. Time just seems to go much slower there, people are friendlier and everything seems more relaxed. Although we technically still live in the South by a few miles, Northern Virginia is generally lumped into the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast culture. Don't get me wrong, the South has its own problems (that I won't get into here), but it is wonderful to pass some time down there.

A couple of weekends ago we returned to the city that was our home as newlyweds for 3 years, Columbia, South Carolina. The occasion was welcoming our best friends back to the states who were coming off the mission field for furlough after 3 years. Along the way we were able to catch up with several other friends that we miss dearly and attend the church that we are still technically members of. (We may need to get it on that!)

First stop, the Comptons, our old neighbors/good friends/martini drinking buddies (did I just write that?). It has been 4.5 years and 3.5 babies since we've seen them!

Maggie, the newest arrival

Grayson and Campbell

We then met up with my middle school cheerleaders who are now SENIORS. Grayson LOVED those girls!


Then we met up with the Merediths to watch a little football and introduce Kate and G.

It took a little while for them to warm up, but obviously they did. (And don't worry, Ellis, he's just practicing for the real deal!)

We spent the rest of the weekend with the Danfords and Hawkins. Yea!!

Baby Nate!

Grayson learning how to be helpful/sweet to babies.

The Hawkins. This is how family pics roll when you have a newborn and a toddler.

G loves Jaime

Mercy arrives next month!

Grayson with Aunt Sara

Boys

Ben with Aunt Ashleigh

And to all the others not pictured here, we had a wonderful weekend and cherished our time with each of you! Thanks for loving us and taking care of us!

More T-shirts!

*If you think wearing matching T-shirts is uncool, this post may not be for you.

(This post should have been written at the end of June, but I was busy gallivanting around Italy and spent the subsequent weeks as sick as a dog, wondering why I thought it was a good idea to get pregnant again. Don't worry, I'm over that now and happy to be with child.)

Team Dickerson

+

Team Hawkins

=

Team Hawkerson!

We have traipsed around 3 continents in these bad boys.

We've been pregnant in them.

When we first got them printed babies were not on the horizon, but we got 2 little shirts just in case.

Grayson

Ben (his shirt is on the wrong continent right now)

So we had T-shirts for everyone!


Until this guy came along in June...
We are oh so proud to welcome (belatedly) the newest member of Team Hawkerson:

Nathaniel Wib Hawkins!

Nate, we love you already and can't wait to hug and kiss you to pieces this weekend. (you too, Ben!)

And in the meantime, I'll be ordering more T-shirts.

Low Bridge, Everybody Down

Does anyone else remember the Erie Canal song from their childhood?

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, cause we're coming to a town

When we drove through upstate New York in route to the Canadian family wedding, we passed the Erie Canal. I thought I could remember a song and a picture book about the canal from long ago. Joe didn't think any such thing existed. (Of course he has been since proved wrong)

On our way home we had a little extra time and I begged Joe to stop at one of the parks along the canal. You may laugh, but it was one of those full circle moments for me.

It was beautiful and cool (temp.) and even had an old lock system you could look at. Of course my part in the side trip was almost ruined due to a sudden pregnancy ravenous hunger, but thankfully we had some Cheez-Its in the car to stave it off.

This was the weekend Grayson discovered the joy of throwing rocks into the water. (He did it in Lake Ontario as well)
It may have been a little further off the interstate than Joe anticipated, but he agreed in the end that it was worth it.

And you'll always know your neighbor and you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.

Love Languages

Many of you have read The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. (If not, we highly recommend it) The main idea of the book is that everyone has a "primary way of expressing and interpreting love". The 5 Languages are Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. The interesting thing to note is that you are most likely to give what you love to receive. Make sense? Joe's language is Physical Touch: holding hands, hugs, me rubbing his back, etc. Mine is Receiving Gifts. So of course (even though we know better) Joe gives me physical touch and I shower him with gifts. What can you do? We're trying.

All of that to say that Grayson's little love language has become overwhelmingly clear in the last couple of months.

QUALITY TIME!

This kid, in the words of Crosby, Stills and Nash, loves the one he's with. When we were in Texas in August and Mom was taking care of him he only wanted Gran. He didn't want me, his Dad, his other grandparents, anybody. Forget about it.

At the beginning of September we went to Canada for the long weekend and then Joe was off work much of that week for various doctors appts. Thus, he spent a lot of time taking care of and playing with Grayson.

Of course I was present at this time too, and it was at this point that I started getting my feelings hurt when he didn't want to come to Mommy.

I shouldn't have. Now that we're back at home together, on our normal schedule, buddies all day, it's all about Mommy again.

Even when Daddy is around.

And Mommy is happy.

And now, you too, know the (current) key to Grayson's heart, if you ever need to use it.

Texas, Our Texas

We just got back from spending a month in Texas. Why we chose August, I will never know. Joe was here for 14 days at the beginning and he pointed out that every day he was here was during the 14-day heat wave of temps over 100. Of course it was broken at that point by a 99 degree day followed by several more 100s days. We finally got a cool front that brought temps down to 97. That was actually the term the meteorologists were using: "cool front". Sheesh. Joe, back at home, has been sleeping with the windows open. When my Dad heard this bit of information he shouted, "Oh no! The air-conditioning went out?!" Because let's face it, for someone that has grown up in Texas, the idea of sleeping with the windows open in August is completely ludicrous and would only happen during the most dire of circumstances. Like a broken AC. Dad would never dream that it would be in the 60s-70s in DC (or ANYWHERE) during the month of August.

About the heat, I just forget how oppressive it is down here. I know Dallas doesn't have it as bad as Houston (I have no idea how those guys survive/breathe down there), but it is shocking when you step outside. It almost hurts. There are many lakes in the Dallas area, and while here, Joe decided that if we ever moved back we would have to live very close to one. It's just so hot for 6 months out of the year that if you are outside, water must be involved. And we like being outside.

(I would also like to add for posterity's sake that if Joe decides to move us back to Texas at any point, I will need a pool in MY backyard. Thank you.)

There are several other things that have been on our minds since we've been here, unique to Texas, we think, that we would like to share:

1. You know how you always wonder who on earth wears the clothes you see on fashion runways? I mean, you never see those clothes walking around in real life. Unless you are in Dallas, specifically at Northpark Mall. For those of you in the DC area, Northpark is the size of the regular Tysons, with stores like Tysons Galleria. Northpark is anchored by Neiman Marcus, which has been the pride of Dallas retail since 1907. When you walk in to Northpark Neiman's you can expect to be quickly assessed with a once over look by the nearest salesperson, to see if they think you are really there to buy something. Talking to a friend here at home I was told of her mother, who though does quite well financially, has always loathed the culture of Neiman's. Recently, after searching every other store for a dress for her son's wedding, her husband forced her to check at Neiman's. So just to spite the salespeople, she wore her rattiest sweats and proceeded to buy a very expensive dress (that at least she loved).

Anyway, Northpark, and Dallas for that matter, is all about status. How you look, what you drive, who you know. And so I guess when you are out shopping for your status symbols you have to look like you just walked off the runway yourself. I have a close friend who grew up shopping with her mom at Northpark and she recently told me that she doesn't even go there anymore. Despite the fact that she loves clothes, she feels that even if she puts on her best outfit to have an outing at Northpark and still feels grubby and judged amongst the atmosphere, it's probably not a healthy thing. I totally agree. Not that that stopped Mom and me from spending 2 days there searching for a dress for an upcoming wedding for my Mom. What can I say? You can't beat the selection.

Moving on, but still talking about the status issue...

2.There is a suburb north of DFW called Southlake. In 2008, Forbes named it the most affluent neighborhood in the United States. It's all big houses, nice shops, and exemplary schools. The high school wins practically every state championship in every sport. Not really, but it seems that way. I think the football team three-peated a few years ago, which in Texas translates to all-out idol worship. But here's where the crazy comes in: I recently learned that people who do NOT live in Southlake buy Southlake Carroll football/sport bumper stickers to put on their cars so that people will THINK that they live there. Are you kidding me?

3. I just feel that the radio stations in Dallas play an entirely different selection of music in the "hip and cool" genre. I kept hearing this song called "Club Can't Handle Me", with the main idea being "this club can't even handle me right now". Which by the way, I am thinking of making that my life theme song. And then there's Eminem's new song "I Love the Way You Lie" HUH? I won't even attempt to understand that. How am I missing these AWESOME songs up here? Listening to the wrong radio stations in my old age?

(p.s. if you don't realize the word "awesome" above is sarcasm, then we may have to re-evaluate our friendship)

4. I was in the trenches of my first trimester while in Texas which meant a lot of sick time on the couch watching TV. Joe and I were shocked, SHOCKED, by the amount of bariatric surgery commercials on Dallas TV. (Bariatric surgery being the type where they reduce the size of your stomach with a lap band or staples. And then you lose weight because you can't put much food in your stomach) We understand that for some people this is the only option for them to lose weight to become healthier and reclaim their lives. And thank goodness for this procedure! However, we have NEVER seen a single advertisement for this on TV in DC. But when seemingly every doctor in town that performs the surgery is shouting to the MASSES about it on television we get suspicious. And I think it all goes back to the STATUS issue in Dallas. All about how you look- and there go all sorts of people running to the Dr. offices asking about it. Oh dear.

5. To end on a positive note, we will discuss the superior taste of the food in Texas. For years we have been telling our local friends that we would love to take them home just to eat for the weekend. And eat we did. Except I didn't. Until the last week of the month, because I was only eating crackers and fruit. But normally we EAT. For breakfast we can run down the street to get breakfast burritos or donuts at the mom and pop places that are found in each town. (We're not talking Dunkin' Donuts here). For lunch there is heavenly Jason's Deli (which technically there is a couple of locations in DC, but only a couple), Chicken Express, Whataburger and Taco Bueno. For dinner you can eat Tex-Mex or Steak. That's it. And there are way too many places to name to get those things. For Tex-Mex, the best comes from hole-in-the-wall places and a good steak can be had anywhere from a local chain to a fancy restaurant. Oh my goodness I am so hungry now.

Alright, so I didn't exactly discuss the taste of the food in Texas. That would make me sad and hungry and I'm also a little lazy today.

A Hitchin'- Canadian Style

This weekend we attended a family wedding in Canada. How can this be? My dad's sister (my aunt) married a Canadian pastor and that produced Canadian cousins. Who get married. In beautiful places that are 40 degrees cooler that Virginia. Praise. the. Lord.

On Friday we drove up to Kingston, Ontario where my cousin Daniel and his new wife Julia are finishing up their PhDs at Queens University (because they are smart like that). We met most of my dad's side of the family up there, as well as the rest of Daniel's family (his dad's side), whom we have always considered to be family as well. Because we like them. My Uncle Gary (the aforementioned Canadian pastor) performed the beautiful ceremony. How is anyone supposed to keep a dry eye when your steady-eddie uncle can't begin the ceremony because he is choked up at his son standing before him getting married? Sheesh.

On Saturday we were slated to go on a three hour tour of the Thousand Islands/Lake Ontario region complete with lunch. Included in our group were an engineer, geographer, life coach, and most importantly, a realtor, so I was feeling fairly confident of our safe return. However, the wind was gusting at 40 mph and the swells on the lake were reaching 6 to 8 feet so they CANCELED on us... after we were aboard, seated, and sipping iced tea that our Canadian waitress was quite proud of having concocted. The good news was that they fed us for free- the bad news was that this was the excursion I was looking most forward to of the entire weekend. And for the record, our waitress told us, they had never NOT gone out. Of course.

A quick note here about the food that was consumed over the weekend. The only good meal I ate was at the wedding reception. Every other meal from Fri. to Mon. was dismal at best. I'm not sure if I was picking the wrong entree or what. We ate at different places, and I never remember having this issue in Canada before. But it's sad when you are relieved to see an Arby's on the side of the road once you get back in the states and beg your husband to pull over.

I will tell the rest of the weekend in pictures and interpretive dance:

(Except we didn't take a ton of pictures because we spent our free time wrangling a toddler)

Grayson proudly using his passport for the first time

Daniel and Julia at dinner

Grayson LOVED Julia. I don't think all of her fun accessories hurt her chances with him.

Dad, Don, Karl. Solving the world's problems before dinner.

Cousin Rachel. She looked charming in EVERY picture she appeared in this weekend. How does one manage that?

Uncle Gary and Wendy- you should hear her beautiful South African accent!

This is my grandma. I'm not sure she has ever made the blog- which is shameful for me. You should know that at 82 years old she has better legs than me. And to add insult to injury, she could probably beat me in a foot race.

Uncle Don and Aunt Tara- they are way fun and are still in Canada celebrating their anniversary.

Mom and Dad. Dad- you are lucky I didn't post the other takes of this picture.

Cocktail hour after the ceremony

This is sadly the only picture I have of the bride in her gown. And the only other picture of the wedding. Things were getting touch and go with Grayson.

So that's all.

Sorry for lying about the interpretive dance part. I wanted to keep you hooked.

As for Grayson and his behavior during two 10 hour car rides, hotel rooms, and a wedding/reception...the kid deserves a pony.

Let me put it this way...

I have still never been to Italy without being pregnant.


We found out at the very end of our trip.

#2 will make their debut at the beginning of March!