Snake boots

I don't know how this picture never made its way on to my blog before.  It's one of my favorites.  North and I donning our best snake battling gear in front of our house.  I remember this day.  North is looking at a huge concrete truck precariously parked on our driveway during our drainage renovation.  That's why we're standing in dirt.  We pulled up all of the brick pavers and had rock-stamped concrete put in.

This was taken in the early summer of 2010, which was a bad year for copperheads on our property.  Six of them met their end with a shovel.  I normally leave snakes alone, but after a copperhead bit our dog, Jake in 2008, I have become a copperhead murderer.  They are beautiful and I do admire them, but I cannot share my land with them.  Afterall, I have a little boy in froggy boots to protect.

OBX Trip

Through the kindness of Nanny and Poppy who kept North for the night, Dave and I enjoyed 24 hours free to roam around Buxton, NC. After some coffee and an Apple Ugly at Orange Blossom Bakery, we rode our bikes to the Hatteras Lighthouse.

Then we strolled along the beach looking for shells to make Christmas ornaments for our tree this year.

Nothing like an arm extension shot with a cute little boy in pink sunglasses to make your heart smile.

We met some new friends at the Old Gray House in Buxton and North loved exploring the gardens out back. I will never go to the OBX without a stop by to visit Dewey and Mary, they are one of the greatest treasures of the island.

Being that this trip was in May, the water was still COLD! Fortunately, we'll be back in a few months to do a bit more swimming and exploring.

3 Years

Dear North,

This blog went on a brief hiatus through the winter when work got the best of me. It's been a hard six months trying to maintain a balance between my work life and home life. There are days months when I want to escape with you and your dad and live off the land in a tiny cabin by a lake. As much as I enjoy all that modern life and technology have made possible, there is also a price that we pay for such conveniences. Unplugging from it is not so easy when you have to plug back in tomorrow.

But anyway, getting back to the balance is my greatest challenge, which is often made easier with the advent of Spring.  The early blooming flowers and first buds opening on trees will always remind me of your birth.  I will always remember that last waddle around the neighborhood I took the day before you were born to try to initiate labor.  A warm gusty wind enveloped us as we strolled the streets on our way to nowhere in particular.  It was a relaxing way to close the chapter in my journey and start the new one called motherhood.
 
I often tell you about how you used to live in my belly before you were born.  At first, you looked at me sideways insisting that I was trying to trick you.  Pregnancy is a weird thing, I don't blame you for being suspicious.

You've been with us for three years now.  You are one of the funniest, stubbornest, sweetest boys I have ever known.  We have actual conversations now. 

"Talk to me." you will say, as we lounge in chairs on the back deck.

"Ok.  Why don't you tell me about what you would like to do when you get bigger?"  I say, knowing this is one of your favorite things to talk about.

"I want to ride in a rocket ship to Nanny and Poppy's house when I get bigger!" you exclaim.

I've learned that you have some bold goals on your bucket list.  But I have some bad news.  You will never be able to ride a rocket ship to Nanny and Poppy's house.  They don't have a rocket ship landing pad, so there would be no place to park.