Pull up a chair...

and grab yourself a cup of joe. This is going to be a long one. Lots of pictures, lots of words, and still no idea how to make a slide show! Obviously I need to get with it in "20-10" and become more computer savvy...

While I am typing this, I am waiting on my flu-stricken husband to fly home. He came down with the flu a few days before he was suppose to leave for Costa Rica. The day before he left he had no fever and felt great. I went down to my sisters to play with everyone while he was gone, and while I was down there I woke up to a message saying that he had re-lapsed, had a high fever, and was having the doctor that treated all the workers on the resort come to his room to evaluate him. There was some talk of possible pneumonia, so I got a little nervous, but thankfully it has not developed to that level. He still has the flu, along with bronchitis. He decided to leave early and come home, so Foxie and I woke up this morning and came on back so we could take care of daddy. Please keep us in your prayers- that Knox won't catch the sickness that Lee and I seem to have acquired. I am so thankful that the Lord protected Knox when I had the swine flu. Ugh, that would have not been good! Pretty much...feel free to pray that illness would just leave our house completely!

Now time to talk about the visit. As usual, we had a blast. I really think Robyn's house is my second home. Minus the fact that I have to pack up a gazillion things for the baby, I love going down there to visit...and so does Knox! Who wouldn't when you have 3 adorable girls drooling all over you and dancing around the house like monkeys to entertain you? The oldest, Abbie, might as well be his babysitter. She is only 8 but I almost completely trust her to be alone with him for small bits of time. She is a natural. She has always been the care taker and the soft hearted one, but man, when we watch her with him it is just incredible. She is always able to soothe him and loves to lay on the bed with him and play with him. She totally forgets about life outside of Knoxie when we are in town. She notices everything about him, loves to watch me feed him...change him...bathe him. She pays very close attention and always asks to help. She is just like her mom, inside and out. Knox can't get enough of her, either. Here is a picture of the 2 of them the other morning. You can't see Knox's face too well, but he is giving her the biggest grin! It's one of my favorites!

side note: most of these pictures were taken with my phone. I NEVER have the camera near me when I need it. Hope you can see them well enough. Anyways, as soon as Abbie came in and saw that Knox was awake, little wildcat (Carley) had to come get in on the action as well:

I mean, seriously. Who WOULDN'T want to wake up to this? Foxie was definitely eating it up. And lets not forget about Ash-bug. She popped up in there just in time for the dance party that entertained Knox. He was sucking hard on the paci, and when they started dancing he ripped it out and just stared at them with his mouth wide open, in complete awe:

Another side note: I want to suck the cheeks right off his face in this picture! Notice the grip he has on that paci? We just started using one again, and he doesn't play around when it comes to this thing. I think it helps him a little since he is teething so badly. If he isn't sucking on it ridiculously hard, then he is gnawing at it

Knox and I went to visit sweet Wawa on Friday. I love my Wawa. She is my mom's mom and just like a mother to me. She practically raised me when my parents got divorced and my mother went back to work. Going to her house is like going back in time. NOTHING has changed. Not a bit. I love it. There is not one person on this Earth that has met her and doesn't love her. Let me shoot you straight, though. Some grandmothers are super sweet and bake all day and want to rock back and forth and sew a lot. Go ahead and get that picture out of your head. This woman is hysterical! Wawa does NOT hold anything back and she will tell you EXACTLY what she is thinking, Like, for instance, when you are wearing pants that make you look fat or when your face is breaking out and you really need to take better care of it! She is not scared to tell you what is on her mind, and the older she gets the less the filter works. I think that's one of the reasons why I love her so much...honestly. Sometimes brutal, but I love her honesty. She has always loved us unconditionally and taken such good care of us. A lot of my best childhood memories involve Wawa. She can't get enough of babies and children, and she is definitely every child's "favorite". Going to see Wawa is a treat, much like I remember when I was little. I have watched her fall in love with my nieces and nephew and I am so thankful that she has the opportunity to meet Knox and love on him. I love the pics of the 2 of them:

I love the way he is looking at her in the second picture. I think I am going to frame that one. Anyways, we had a great visit with her and then went back to sister's house to celebrate my dad's birthday. We had so much fun messing around with dad. Militant is a word that describes my dad, to say the least, but he is so different when you get him around the grandchildren. He smiles and laughs and plays more than I have ever seen him do. Although I wish he could have been this way a little more with us when we were growing up, I am thrilled to see him be this way with our kids:

I think dad has been waiting for me to have a boy ever since I threw my first softball, so to say he is excited about Knox's birth is an understatement. Knox didn't make it to the birthday candle ceremony, but I was able to get the best picture of dad and the girls with his cake:

Do you see that smile on him?? Robyn and I couldn't believe he had teeth! I love it. Dad already has this one blown up and framed in his new house!

Later that night sister and I decided to play a joke on Lee, and we took a picture of Knox looking like this:

O.K., so in retrospect...this probably wasn't the funniest joke ever, but for some reason we thought it was hilarious at the time. It sort of ties in with the post a few days back about Knox getting his first "real" boo boo with Lee. Luckily Lee knows me well enough to know that I would have called hysterically if anything like this were to happen, not just send a picture of it, so he didn't buy in to it one bit. Hind sights 20/20, right?

Last night my sister was gracious enough to watch Knox while I went to dinner with some friends from our church in Fairhope. I love these girls. They are like family to me. They are some of the most Godly, encouraging, loving, accepting, and FUNNIEST people that I know. Some of them are pregnant, and if you don't know by now, if you are pregnant...then I am obsessed with you. In fact, if you have a baby or a child, then I am obsessed with THEM! I could play with babies and talk about babies all the day long, and I think ever single baby is the cutest baby. SOOO... it was super fun to talk to the preggers at dinner, and hear all about how they are doing and feeling. I miss the girls so much and think about them everyday. I trust that the Lord will provide these types of friendships in Montgomery, and he is definitely starting to, but it's still hard to say goodbye to these women every time I leave. My picture didn't turn out to so well, so I am waiting for Leslie to email hers. I will post it later...

And lastly, sister had some help on the babysitting end. Here is what I walked into the room and saw "Mother Abbie" doing with Knox before I left for dinner:

Yes, she had him propped up, wrapped up, and hanging out with Baby Tad. And you know what's coming next:

Goodness. While Abbie worked "hard" to tend to Knox, here is what the other "helpers" were doing:

3rd (and last) side note: Carley does actually owns clothes. I think the last post had her shirtless as well. Oops!

And for the final picture of the night, Carley wanted to take a picture of me and Ash-bug:

I love her smile!

Sadly, the only people we didn't get to see this visit was Riri and Paw Paw (my mom and Andy). They were in the mountains, covered in snow, so I'm not sure how much they missed us :).

Off to cook dinner for my sick husband. Please keep him in your prayers!