5 Things They Don't Tell You About Motherhood...

I wanted to do this kind of a list about pregnancy, but of course by now I've almost forgotten what being pregnant was like and can't remember the things I wanted to remember, so I could tell other people and remember them for next time. Oops.
So I'll do it about the early days of motherhood, instead - about nursing and taking care of a newborn and trying to remember who you once were. If you don't like talk about nursing, don't read on, k? K.
1.  Breakfast? Lunch? Who has time to eat those? If I'm home alone during the day, it's a miracle if I get a glass of milk in me before 2 o'clock.
2. You'll never smell the same again. I know, gross, but I feel like I will never not smell like rancid milk again. Even right after a shower, I still reek of it. Sorry for anyone getting too close to me. It's a new perfume, called 'new mom.'
3. Someone else's boogers all of a sudden become free territory to pick. And it's not even gross to me. It was instinct to pick her goobery nose. Good thing I don't have the same instinct with Dylan...ha.
4. All this talk about different cries meaning different things, and you'll quickly learn to differentiate between an 'I'm hungry' cry and an 'I'm tired' cry and the 'I am sitting in my own poop' cry is nonsense. Yes, Eloise has several different cries, but every single one seems to mean 'Give me the boob juice RIGHT NOW, Mom!' All other needs come secondary, apparently, and don't need different cries.
5. Nursed babies' poops are EXPLOSIVE! Or maybe that's just our little one's own joke on us, but she never poops while asleep (which is actually nice, since we always know when she has a poopy diaper), and then poops LOUDLY and VIOLENTLY while we're holding our hand on her bum.

But I could also add to that list how amazing it is when they smile their first real smile at you (happened yesterday!), or how their little coos are the best sound in the world, or how great it is to see your husband holding your little girl while he reads to her and kisses her little head. There are so many surprises, and we're just loving her more and more every day.

Stationery card

Eloise's Birth Announcement

Blossom And Branches Birth Announcement

Personalized invitations for babies, high school graduations, & more.

View the entire collection of cards.

Scare at ECU

On November 16th, I was sitting in my class in the Rivers Building at ECU watching one of my fellow students present about a therapeutic style. All of a sudden, my teacher, Dr. Hill, cut her off and said that he had received a text message about a man walking around with a rifle near campus. So, we locked the door and continued with the class. Not long after this, the threat intensified to the point where it was believed that he was on campus. We were told to stay in our classroom and to be on alert. Well, our classes are long and people (particularly the girls) needed to use the restroom. So, Dr. Hill told everyone who needed to go to the bathroom to stick together. Quite a few of the girls did so.

A few minutes later, my friend John decided he needed to go, as well. When he walked out the door, he immediately heard someone yell "Get back into that classroom, right now!" It turns out it was a police officer with a raised machine gun pointed at him. John's need to pee was suddenly gone (or had gone down his leg, already) and he came back into the class. The officer came to our room and said, "Is anyone in this room not supposed to be in here? Did you see anyone walking in the halls with a cowboy hat?" It turns out, the police had gotten a tip that a man they saw on surveillance holding what looked like a rifle, was holding hostages in my building. The police officer told us to board off the door and to not let anyone in until he came back for us. I helped Dr. Hill, John, and my friend Meghan move a big bookshelf in front of the door and then we waited.

At first I was afraid.When I looked around the room at many of my classmates and friends huddled terrified in a corner, something changed. I went from being afraid to having the most extreme feeling of anger and hatred towards a human being that I think I have ever felt. I wondered, "What kind of person would do something like this? Who could be without moral feeling enough to the point where they would make innocent people feel this way?" Then, I thought about the children in the daycare in my same building and the feeling of anger only grew stronger. I was no longer scared; I was just mad.

Finally, after a half an hour or so, the police officer came back. He told us all to get our stuff together and to follow him slowly and in a uniformed line. At each point of the hallway, there were police officers standing with raised machine guns ensuring that nobody was going to pop out and start shooting. With the intense fear, the leading officer started moving rather quickly and we all followed suit. When I looked back, I saw my teacher, Dr. Hill, limping to catch up. Dr. Hill had very severe spinal chord injury years before that make walking difficult for him. So, I turned around and rushed to him and locked my elbow under his to help him out. We finally got to the stairs, where the officers stopped us and told us to wait as they secured access to a bus. Finally, a bus came to us and we were escorted to it by dozens of armed officers.

When we got on the bus, we all began talking. Text messages were flying back and forth from loved ones. My Mom was in town to see Eloise and wasn't expecting her son to be evacuated with raised guns, I'm sure. Julie kept texting me to give me updates. There was mass confusion. Finally, the bus moved and then just dumped us off at another part of campus without anyone really protecting us. A while after, the news got out that we could go home. It turns out, a young man that was carrying an umbrella he specifically bought to look like a weapon (a samurai sword) was walking around on campus. He had no idea that he had caused so much turmoil and was surprised that he was the "shooter."

While it turned out to not really be a man with a rifle, the event felt very real to each and every person that was in the Rivers Building, including the police. They thought they had risked their lives in our protection. I guess that's why I (and everyone else in my class) was annoyed when it turned into a big joke in the media and on campus. People posted things on Facebook like "watch out for umbrellas; they're deadly," etc. The cops took a beating by the local press and were mocked for their efforts. While it's unfortunate that it's turned into a joke, I was very impressed with all of my classmates. It turned into a moment where we really rallied around each other and helped each other. Umbrella or rifle, it doesn't matter. I got to see the best in human nature on that day. I also felt the worst in human nature when I realized how the victims of people that have done abominable things, like school shootings, felt. It was a real eye opener to me about the power of both good and evil.

The E-Mail I Wrote After Eloise Was Born

Hello, family and friends! Baby Eloise is finally in the world! She came out as 6 lbs, 15 oz and 19 and a half inches long. Apparently, that is almost perfectly average size; definitely our child. However, she did not have a huge Edwards/Cannon noggin. Thank goodness for that (although she did get my comically small ears). On Halloween night (4 days past the due date) Julie and I didn't really know what to do for "fun" while Julie was having mild contractions and feeling nauseated. So, we ended up watching "The Others" (a terrible choice given the crazy stressed out mother theme) and I read "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" with nothing but Julie's I-Phone flashlight app on in the house. We had only one person come trick-or-treating; a 17 year old kid who said he was going out for his kid brother who was too lazy to get out of bed and do it himself. So, we ate a lot of Kit Kats, too.

Throughout the night, Julie's contractions increased in strength and frequency. With each one, she woke me up and asked me to hold her back and use her I-Phone contraction counter app (yeah, there's an app for that, apparently). Finally, around 3 AM, they were getting within 5 minutes of each other so I took Jules to the hospital...where she would remain in labor until 12:02 Wednesday morning (over 20 hours later). The labor was stressful and almost came down to the point of needing a C Section because of risk to Julie and Eloise. Right before they were going to perform a C Section, Julie had rapidly dilated. She dilated (for those of you who've experienced this or maybe giggled through this discussion during an awkward Maturation Day or Health class)  from a 3 to a 10 in about 3 hours (which I'm told is incredible, particularly since the first many hours nothing happened).

As for Daddy, I got to hold Mom's left leg while she was pushing. I made the decision to not look down because there is only room for one hospital bed in this room. I failed to comply with that decision on two occasions. The first time, Julie ripped something or another and shot blood out like a fire hose. That was great for the old stomach! The next time I looked down there was a little face looking back at me.

Eloise is wonderful. We gave her a personality while she was in the womb because we thought it was a funny inside joke. Turns out, she already has a lot of it on her own account. She was born two minutes after Phil's birthday ended because she couldn't stand the idea of sharing the spotlight. While we named her Eloise after Julie's grandmother Lois, it's looking more and more like we accidentally named her Eloise because of her similarity to the children's books about Eloise at the Plaza. She is dearly loved by her parents and we are both excited for the vengeance that is about to be placed on us for being such stubborn children when we were kids.

We love you all. Eloise will love you all someday, too, when she worries about love rather than just sleeping, eating and pooping. Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, gifts and love that you have sent our way. Come see us when you get the chance! God bless you all.

Love, Dylan, Jules and Eloise Jayden Cannon

Eloise Jayden's Arrival

(to see more pictures of just Eloise, I put them up on my photo blog)

Eloise made her arrival 2 minutes after midnight on November 02, 2011. After three straight days of labor, an almost c-section scare, being sent home from triage once (almost twice), being pumped full of pitocin, and little Eloise's heart rate making everyone nervous, I was more than ready to push that baby out. She came out head-up, which explained all my back labor and why pushing ended up being so difficult. There are tons of details to share, but that can wait. For now, pictures! Keep in mind that Dylan and I had been awake for too many days straight at this point, in less-than-comfortable circumstances, so we were EXHAUSTED. Thank goodness for epidurals.

Right before they came in to announce "It's baby time!"

So happy to be holding my little girl. And her little hand was in the same position here as in her 20-week ultrasound - that little hand that had me so anxious to see her

Proudly wearing his 'new dad' t-shirt

My mom was in town, and came to see Eloise and Dylan and I during the day

Family of three!

The hospital room

I was so happy to finally be able to receive this balloon!

1st day of life

Watching sports with Daddy...I have a feeling I'll see a lot of this in our house

At home, snuggled up with mommy.

She had hours of awake time two of the mornings she's been home, which has been fun - just content and taking everything in

Daddy time after church

I birthed a...football?

Another common occurrence - napping on Daddy's chest. Oh, and brainwashing at a young age for BYU

I love her LONG feet. I mean, these things really are super long, and skinny, so wearing socks has been a bit of a challenge

Three generation of women. Grandma, Mom, Daughter

First bath (at home)!

She wasn't quite sure about it. Baths since have been a little less cry-inducing

Our little duckie

Patiently Waiting...

Ok, so we're not being very patient, at all. We're being very impatient, actually. Julie's Mom came in last night and Eloise's due date was today. But, Julie's zero dilated as of this morning. We've tried everything. We tried bribing her ("Eloise, if you come now, we'll make it worth your while!")  We tried scaring her ("Eloise, if you don't come now, it's going to get colder and colder out here." -Julie. "Eloise, if you don't come now, I will stay my hand and let Mommy dress you in anything she wants." -Me). We tried praying for an earlier birth. We tried reverse psychology ("Fine, Eloise, don't come now. See what we care."). We tried making Julie's uterus a hostile environment with poking and prodding and a doctor stripping Julie's membranes. Still, no sign of the little squirt.

So, now we're resigned to sitting here on a Thursday night with nowhere to go and nothing to do waiting for the stubborn little girl to come. I don't know where she got this stubbornness from; must be from Julie.

Dylan at ECU

Last Saturday, I had my buddy take some photos of me at ECU campus so that I could send them home to my Granny (who is 90 and may or may not ever get to see me out here). He has a brand new camera and is really interested in becoming a photographer. I asked Julie to do this for me...but there was a mix-up and she thought that I just wanted her to take photos of the campus (which she found boring to do). So, I got Stephen to do it. Got to say, the pictures turned out nice but it was really weird. The fact that he wore a bright pink shirt and I wore a purple collared shirt (ECU's color) probably didn't help that uncomfortableness much. Oh, well. He did a great job and now I've got some good photos to send home to Granny and kin.

This structure is pretty much the symbol of the campus. It's called the cupola and it's never looked this good.

Again, the legend...and the cupola.

These were kind of awkward photos. I really didn't know what the heck to do with this guy. I'm definitely not a male model.

Where I'll be spending most of next year.

Arggghh!!! That's the symbol that we're supposed to make at football games after first downs. What's with Southerners (particularly Texas) and their need to make stupid hand signals for their school? 

 

 

 

Overall, it was fun. But, I never want to do it again. EVER. Sorry, Flight of the Conchords, but I will keep my normal job and not even do this part-time.

What I've Cooked Recently

For about a year, now, I have tried to cook three times a week. Julie is still by far the better cook of the two of us but I am getting a little bit better. I got out of the habit of cooking for about the first month we were here, but I am back on track, now. In church on Sunday, I gave a talk about my role as a father. I mentioned how there is no male work or female work only work. Now, everybody in the ward is going to hold me accountable for those comments even more than I already do. So, here's a run down of my best meals since we've moved to Greenville.

1- Bacon and chicken penne. I was really proud of this meal. It was delicious, took quite a few ingredients and took a long time. So long, in fact, we didn't eat until 8:30 that night.
2- Puffed French Toast. This meal was absolutely delicious. It was french toast with an interesting twist. I made the batter, dipped the Texas toast in it and then fried it on the stove. After I fried it for 5 minutes on each side, I rolled it in cinnamon sugar. We added bacon to our meal just to make it a little more healthy.
3- Crock pot Mac and Cheese. Julie and I had never heard of the idea of making crock pot Mac and Cheese. It called for the use of eggs and other ingredients I had never thought of to put into Mac and Cheese. Letting it heat up in the crock pot made the cheese nicely melt and come together.

These are the top three meals I enjoyed making and eating in the last few months. With Julie being unable to cook for some weeks, soon, I'm going to ge the opportunity to make even more delicious meals. 

I Hate Mice

Think he's cute? Well, I don't and you're wrong if you do.

I was going to try to think of something more creative to name this post, but I couldn't. And Julie would be upset if I named this post something more harsh than "I Hate Mice." But, last week, we discovered mouse droppings in our home and heard scurrying in the walls. Now, I am not a violent man but I definitely do not want a mouse pooping all over my stuff. So, I tried to think of non-lethal ways to get rid of it...but, non-lethal mouse traps are expensive and I didn't know how I'd make one myself. Finally, on Saturday night (when I snuck out of my room to watch the rest of the BYU game) I flicked on the light to the kitchen and saw it quickly dash behind the oven. When I pulled out the oven, I found a little hole that I felt it was sneaking into the walls through. So, I thought, here is my chance; I'll just board up this hole and it will presumably just leave (or die without me feeling like there's blood on my hands. Ignorance is bliss).

I thought that was the end of it...until a few days later I found poops in another spot in our house. I had the thought (more like deep wish) that maybe those had been there before and I just hadn't realized it. That thought quickly became even more of a pipe dream that night when I saw it running across my bedroom floor in the corner of my eye. Mustering all the courage I could, I chased after it. That was dumb. It ran right out under the door and hid in another hole in the kitchen I must have missed in my otherwise thorough investigation. So, Jules and I taped the hole shut and put a large barrier in the way of the hole.

Again, I thought that was the end of it. We heard him in the wall throughout the rest of the day and again figured we were done with him. The next day, we found more mouse poops. To this, I told Julie, "He's made it personal. I'm in a Master's Program and this stupid thing keeps outsmarting me." So, what did I do? I finally called for an appointment to Pest Control (who is coming Monday if I don't get to the little devil first). I will tell them to try to not kill it. However, Mouse, I gave you your chance to leave us alone and live in peace out in the fields. Now you have to deal with the wrath of a being with superior intelligence; or at least a being who has a cellphone.

My Role as a Daddy

Last week, Sister Elaine Dalton gave a talk in General Conference about a father's role for her daughter. I liked what she said, for the most part, and thought I would write what I think my role as a father to my daughter is.

1- I need to show Eloise how she should be treated in marriage. I am trying more and more to do my part around the house because there is no such thing as "man's work" or "woman's work" in the home; there is just work. I have been learning how to cook and am trying to do it 3 times a week for us. Also, the way I interact with Julie and the way I treat her, I feel will have a major impact on Eloise's views about marriage. Part of being an example to her in marriage, ironically, is to show Eloise that she is beloved and welcomed as a part of my family but that my marriage comes first and is the my most important relationship. I fear that child-centered families are often the ones that break up. I want Eloise to have good relationships with all of her friends and boyfriends and I think this modeling begins with me. Marriage should always come first in a family; unless you want your kid to live with you until they're in their 60's, it is the relationship that will be the most intimate and the longest. 

2- I need to teach Eloise that princesses are only in fairy tales for a reason (or if you're in England and happen to marry one of those princes and then do nothing for the rest of your life while making lots of money). When I was in London, us guys were sorely outnumbered by the girls (33 to 5, I think). There was a girl in particular that was very high maintenance and had been used to the idea of men waiting on her at all times in all places and being placed on a pedestal. Danny and I made it a goal to treat her differently than any man ever had--as an equal and as a friend. We teased her and didn't wait on her every whim. I don't know if it made a difference (probably not) but I fully plan on wrestling my girl and teaching her not to be a delicate flower that needs to be waited on. It will make her (and her husband) much happier in the long run.

3- I need to show Eloise that the only things that really matter are the relationships you have. I feel like way too often, children are taught that education and employment status and honors are what matter. In my family studies, I have run across so many articles that measure good childhood development by how well they do in school and how smart they are. I feel like this is the new good parenting philosophy in America: be rich by working way too much and spend money on your kids to go to extra-curricular activities to learn things that you should be teaching them at home (but you're not because you're never home and neither are they). These variables are stupid to me; I won't consider myself a failure if Eloise (or my other sons or daughters in the future) doesn't get into Harvard. However, I will consider myself a failure as a father if she never learns the golden rule, is unkind to her parents and family, is a disloyal friend and doesn't have a personal relationship with God. 

4- I need to be actively engaged in her life. Again, there is a trend in family studies to talk about "quality time" rather than "quantity time." I agree that it's unproductive to be at home in your bedroom watching the news while your children are downstairs doing something else and calling it family time. However, this idea that you can work all the time and then take a week off and go to an exotic island and consider this quality time is silly. I measure my dearest, oldest friends by how much time they spent with me even when it wasn't exciting and convenient. I feel like as a Dad, it's my responsibility to spend quantity and quality time with her and not only when it's fun for me.

5- Finally, I just feel like it's important for her to know I love her and that I'm proud of her. People express love very differently and receive it differently. However, I don't think it's ever killed anyone to say they love you and are proud of you. I also know that those words are hollow without actions that confirm it.  

Aquarium Trip

Wrote a post about our trip last weekend to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium out here in NC, over on my photog blog. Check it out here.

And here is a sneak peak of a few pictures up there:

Nursery Update...and other random life events

I thought I'd update you on the nursery, since Dylan showed the before...I'll show the after.

Me in the almost-'finished' room (take one), at 33 weeks pregnant

After deciding to repaint the room (WAY too dark, completely wrong colors, tan looked like baby poop, etc. etc.), Dylan was REALLY excited to spend another weekend painting. Here he is, about to start the primer

He primed so fast that the roller disappeared. It was actually pretty tough to cover up those stripes, even though they were wrongwrongwrong. Just a lot of work, ya know? And they turned out pretty well.

See, these are the fabrics I already had in the works for the room, and about 20 craft projects based on them...so we needed colors that actually matched/went with these. And then the two color samples of the paints we decided on.

With the help of a friend in the ward, we got the walls back to a yummy cream color

Stripes - done! Well....I did spend all of this morning being a perfectionist and touching up every line with my teeny tiny paintbrush, in places where the paint had bled through or where it wasn't quite even, or where the tape had ripped off little chunks of paint. So I guess this is ALMOST done. But aren't these green stripes much more soothing and light and calm?

And then a few craft projects in the works or almost finished...I'm trying my hand at embroidery, and actually really really like it! This is from an ABC pattern that I got at a quilt shop in Utah, from the company Three Blond Mice. It's nice for a beginner - mostly backstitching.

 

This is actually a pillow (now), but this is it right before I sewed on all those little leaves and the tree trunk. I love how it turned out. Perfect colors and feel for Eloise's little birdie room.

And then there are a TON more projects that I'm working on. 5 weeks until her due date! Can I do it? EEK!
It should be a little easier now that we can actually put her furniture together and hang stuff on the walls. It's going to start coming together quickly!

Eloise's Nursery

On Saturday, Julie and I woke up early to start working on Eloise's nursery. Julie had visions of everything she wanted to do and even got the ambitious ideas of making stripes on an accent wall (she's proud of me for remembering what that was called). We started around 9 AM and didn't stop (other than for lunch) until 2 PM when I had to shower and get ready to go to the ECU game (which they lost in heartbreaking fashion). I got home around 6 PM and we ate some dinner and then got back at it, again. I watched the BYU game (which they lost in heartbreaking fashion) out of the corner of my eye while painting for my baby girl. Finally, at 11 or so, we were done...only to realize that the colors we used were "too dark, changed the whole feeling of the room, weren't baby enough, looked like baby poo and didn't match the craft projects that were going into the room" (notice I put quotation marks on purpose. Those are obviously Julie's words, not mine. I wouldn't know the difference). So, now we are starting again next Saturday. But here are some pictures for your viewing enjoyment until then.

Some day Eloise might appreciate all the work we are doing for her in her nursery. Well, probably not, actually.

Me so excited to unveil our hard work. Poor guy has no idea what he's in store for.

I mostly put these pictures up because even though the colors weren't right, I am still mad impressed with mine and Julie's skills.

Be Humble

I had a missionary companion who always said, "God will have a humble people. Either be humble yourself or God will find a way to make it happen." Apparently, he didn't say it enough, because I still haven't learned my lesson. With Julie pregnant and having to quit her job and me being in school, we have had to get MEDICAID. When we went to the MEDICAID office, I was worried there might be a knife fight that broke out in the office. If there was, I felt, I would be the first one everybody shanks. I felt extremely out of place with people yelling derogatory slurs at each other, talking about their dead beat baby's daddies, wreaking of marijuana, etc. while I sat there with my pregnant wife in my button up shirt. I may or may not have thought, "here we are, two college educated (from a stellar university) people. What are we doing here?" A few weeks later, I felt similar feelings as I sat at the DMV trying to get a North Carolina driver's license. The people were as vulgar, crass and societal norm unconscious as they were at the MEDICAID office. When it was finally my turn to meet with the worker, I felt like she would be happy to talk to someone with all of their paperwork and who didn't call her a "ho." She seemed to be. Then, I took the online part of the test...and totally failed it. The woman looked at me like "seriously?" Apparently, there are a lot of specific vehicle laws particular to North Carolina (who would have thought). Out of all the people who took it, I was probably the only one who was getting a Masters. And I bombed it, whereas most of them passed. Which leads me to my point, be humble, Dylan. You're not better than anybody else.

When it Rains, it Pours...Literally

The old homage "when it rains, it pours" has never been truer or more literal than in mine and Julie's case here in Greenville, NC. In my first week of school, here's what has happened...

On my first day of school, I was sitting in my class when it suddenly moved. Yeah, that's right: moved. My desk was shaking and I felt like I was on sea. My professor said, "it can't be an earthquake. Those don't really happen here that often. Must be people doing construction outside." Well...he was wrong. It was an earthquake. The first one I had ever sat through. All of a sudden, I was wishing that I had actually listened in grade school when my teachers taught us what to do in natural disasters (was it climb up a tree? Get under my desk? Stand on my desk?) Fortunately, it only lasted about 20 seconds and did just about no damage here in Greenville. Mother Nature decided Greenville had one too many Mormon Yankees and displayed its wrath.

On day two, I woke up early for school so that I could ride my bike to campus (about nine miles away). I took a new route to school that I thought would be safer since it was not on the highway. Well, it turns out that there was a big river in the way that I couldn't get around except for on the highway. This knowledge alone meant I wouldn't be able to shower before class.Then it got worse- my bike chain completely broke off beyond repair and cut my leg open. Since I was closer to home (4 miles or so from home, 6 or so from campus) I walked my bike all the way home because Julie did not have a car to pick me up with. I had to write and apologize to my professor for not making it to class when I finally got home.

On my third day of school, we had to introduce ourselves to one of our classmates. My classmate was from North Carolina and asked me if there was anything I didn't like about her great state. I said the only two things that have been tough thus far are the ridiculous humidity and the stupid cicada bugs that would have made Pharoah decide to let the Hebrews go if God had set them on Egypt. She proceeded to tell me that cicada bugs only show up every 13 years or so in Greenville and happened to be here the year we came. I am not sure if that is true but I hope it is for two reasons: 1- it makes a hilarious story and 2- that means they won't be here next summer.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/07/2278836/cicadas-loudly-return-after-13.html



And then, oh, yeah. There was that whole hurricane thing. We have been planning for weeks to come up to Sterling, Virginia to get a car from my brother-in-law and his wife since they are moving to China. We also thought it would be a great excuse to say goodbye to them...and for me to take my nephew to an Orioles-Yankees game. It all came together perfectly, until Irene. This hurricane is appropriately named after the woman who made the first place we lived in hell. The game was cancelled and we may or may not have a home when we go back to Greenville. Needless to say, it's been an interesting first week.

Our First Few Weeks

We have now been in Greenville for two and a half weeks! It seems like it has gone by really fast (and really slow). Here are some things that we've been up to or just other random stuff.

Julie snapped this photo on our way to Greenville from Raleigh on the day we got here. North Carolina is very beautiful and green.

Delmar: "All my sins been washed away, like when I knocked over that Piggly Wiggly." Everett: "I thought you said you was innocent of those charges?" Delmar: "Well, I lied...now that sin's been washed away, too." We have a Piggly Wiggly here in Greenville...unfortunately we haven't taken a picture of the actual store because with the part of town it's in we might not live.

Our first meal at our house. Without furniture, Julie and I sat on boxes and used the only chair we had as our dining room table.

Julie looking more and more gorgeous as this pregnancy goes along...probably doesn't feel gorgeous, though, since it's been hot and humid everyday since we've been here.

Don't worry, I DO THIS!

A phenomenon I had forgotten about since I left Milwaukee. Apparently, the gangsta thing to do is to buy really junky cars, paint them bright colors and put huge rims on them. We see these all over the city.

And again. We point them out to each other every time.

We went up to Richmond to see Julie's brother and sister-in-law and their children. The city is really beautiful but has a very interesting take on the Civil War...er, I mean, the War of Northern Aggression. Apparently, Jefferson Davis was a great man who only wanted to fight for state's rights...of putting chains around black people's necks and ankles and selling them like livestock (they forgot to mention that last part).

This is a very new phenomenon to me. Everywhere you go, there is something about Christianity. You would think that this is just a dry cleaning business. You're wrong! It's a place where you can get your clothes ironed AND find cheap salvation (for a lot less money and less time investment than the dry cleaning)!