August Goings-on

Reunions

Living close-ish to family and friends is a great thing, and maybe I take advantage of it too much, but who knows where we'll be in the future? My mom went on an Alaskan cruise, and my dad and sister had birthdays while she was gone, plus it was Brooke's last weekend in town, and Jillian, Ms. Stephanie and Christina were all available to meet up. So... I went. Carson was grading papers for the last week of the last semester of the summer (there are three) so he stayed behind. 

Usually Mom is there to greet me, but since she was gone, these two punks were there, mostly excited to get out of the house and see a human face. You can tell here that they're anxiously looking for Dad to come home. 

Scott cooked dinner while Mom was gone. Lawson here is helping Scott cook while eating a pound cake my sister made. It reminded me of times Jillian (Lawson's sister) and I used to spend doing nearly the same thing.

Scott's dinner - roasted chicken, potatoes and broccoli. 

Gary came over too and they watched the Republican Convention debate being broadcast from good ol' Cleveland. Dad and I looked at funny things on the internet and only sort of listened to the debate. Oscar enjoyed a good cuddle.

I got to meet up with Jillian the next morning and we drove into Beaufort and picked up Christina who was also visiting from Florida. We went downtown and met up with Ms. Stephanie who many years ago was our English teacher. She's been a lot more than that over the years, and it was so good to see all these ladies again. We missed Emily though.

We had lunch at Upper Crust. 

We went to drop Christina off at her in-law's (it's weird calling the Smiths that) and had a little reunion with Ms. Cindy, Caleb and Ale Grace, who's going to MOODY next week! (the one in Chicago though). 

We used to live across the street from the Smiths and I've known Ale since she was maybe 2? Maybe younger? A long time. She was in Jillian's and my Jr. High class when I still lived in Beaufort and was my roommate in Ukraine in 2012. I love this girl!

Jillian and I drove way back out to the country and said our goodbyes.

And the dogs and I went for a walk/run/adventure time on the driveway. I learned that Oscar is not allowed to cross the road to the neighbor's house, but he pretended to not know that rule and to not hear me telling him to come back. 

He's a weird dog. Clearly loved, despite his strangeness.

I went to Charleston with Brooke and Clayton the next day. We've never been together (well technically maybe - I had an ice skating birthday party one year in Charleston and I think she came) and this was finally time to make that happen - before she moves to Washington!

It was a hot but beautiful day in Charleston. We bought popsicles from King of Pops which were worth it and delicious and enjoyed by all. 

And we stopped to watch a street performance.

We ate lunch at a place called Jack's Deli, and it was okay but not the best I've ever had. The company was pretty great though!

We walked through the City Market on the way to the waterfront. Many years ago, this was sadly a slave market. Now it's used to sell art and crafts and there are food stands and lots of people weaving sweetgrass baskets and flowers. We both bought prints of Charleston to remember our day there.

The Pineapple Fountain!

There were two groups there taking pictures for Quinceañeras (link). We actually argued about whether they were bridal parties, but I thought they looked too young and they were actually just elaborate situations, and I was right (I asked someone in the group). This group dressed traditionally and the other one had people in tuxes and poofy dresses. I don't know much about these tradtions, but there were a boy and girl dressed differently and posing like it was their wedding with bridesmaids and groomsmen, so I don't know if that's normal or just happened to be the case. It was definitely a sight. 

I came home just after Dad did, and we went out to let the goats out. In case you were wondering, you should be very glad that this is not a scratch and sniff picture because goats (particularly male goats, I didn't ask why and neither should you) SMELL. In all caps like that. Bleah. 

Dad and I let Scott off the hook from cooking dinner (he was with friends) and went to dinner ourselves. People thought I was his wife, which was funny but also weird. Also we look like a father and daughter appearance-wise. We drove around downtown Beaufort with music blaring and sunroof opened, enjoying the end of that super nice day. 

I saw Jillian and her girls at church in the morning and she wanted a picture. Graceanna wasn't in the most cooperative mood but was bribed to smile. Well, sort of. 

I grabbed lunch with Dad after church at Moe's, where someone who's a bit older than me and who hadn't seen me in awhile asked what year in college I was in? Haha. 

Becca's birthday was the next day, so I swung a little out of the way to stop by her house and see her and Thomas and give her a present on time for once since I moved out seven years ago. Go me. 

Their cute little house.

Six Years Engaged!

Six years ago today, Carson proposed. 

Grayson Joel

We've been calling Morgan's baby "Luigi" for months, because she had a dream that it was a girl and that "she" was inexplicably named Luigi. We found out this spring that she was having a boy, but continued to call the baby Luigi because Morgan and Caleb kept the name a secret until after his birth. That's got to be hard, but Morgan especially is very stubborn, so it worked, and it was wonderful to know his real name after months and months of not knowing and trying to guess (I was way off). I will say though that it was a little weird to see him and NOT say Luigi although Luigi Colucci isn't so great as far as names go. 

Baby's due date was July 31. He tried to come in June (see here for our first visit to L&D), and then not at all in July, so he must have really wanted to avoid that month, because he arrived on August 1. Carson and I drove down to Ocala that evening to wait with Caleb's parents and sisters and my uncle Mark. We arrived at 10:30 and were informed that she had just begun pushing, but we expected to wait a very long time. The baby was born at 11:08pm, so we didn't wait long. The worst part of waiting was that we didn't know WHEN we'd get to see him after he was born. We were sent pictures of the little guy, but not his stats or name, which made waiting even more frustrating. 

At about 12:30 in the morning on August 2, we got to meet Grayson Joel Colucci. Caleb announced his name as soon as we walked in the room. I got to hold him, but Carson didn't see the "take pictures!" look I was shooting him, so pictures of that are on the new parents' camera and they've been a little busy (edit: stole some from Facebook).

As expected, he's precious. I didn't expect him to be so tiny though. He was 7 pounds even, which really surprised me!

Carson and I were given the task of caring for Marlin, the "big brother" (the dog). He took awhile to warm up to us and to go outside, but eventually decided that he really liked us and that we were probably not evil incarnate. 

In the morning, we stopped at the store to get a champagne that Morgan gave me when she first found out she was pregnant and some tacky things to decorate for when they came home. AND (I'm proud of this) "Luigi's" Italian Ice because before he was Grayson, baby Colucci was Luigi. I'd been planning to get that for them for months and we had to go to several stores before finally stopping at a Publix that had it all along. 

Our final stop was the hospital to see the baby again. Morgan had looked really good but a little tired the night before (as one does after having a baby...) and she had showered and looked like someone who hadn't had a baby 12 hours before, which is really an impressive thing. This time I got to hold the baby and sit and talk for a little bit before he got hungry and we needed to leave. Carson took about 100 pictures, which more than made up for the night before. Here are some of those:

He cried for like a second, but Carson caught the moment.

She's a momma! 

I've not waited in the waiting room for someone to have a baby before and it's been a long time since I held a brand-new baby. It was wonderful. I felt as if my own sister had a baby - we're cousins but we grew up together and Morgan has referred to me as the baby's aunt although I'm a first-cousin-once-removed. 

We've cried and prayed for this baby for a long time, and watching Morgan go through pregnancy and seeing that baby for the first time? I might have teared up with joyful tears (no one saw because they were looking at that sweet little boy). I am truly happy for Morgan and Caleb, and this was the first baby in a long time that I've been this genuinely THRILLED to see enter the world. This kid's got a piece of my heart, and I've only met him once!