Erin Shaw Street

Bon Voyage, Mom and Dad!

Bon Voyage, Mom and Dad!
We just dropped off Mom and Dad at the airport, and they are on their way to Boston, where they'll depart tomorrow for their 35 day North Atlantic cruise to celebrate their 35th anniversary! The picture on the left was taken the night they were engaged at a Johnny Mathis concert. The picture on the right is from our Bon Voyage celebration last night at Riverchase. Looking better each day!

We're really excited to hear all about their adventures through Europe and Scandinavia on the ms Maasdam. I am particularly eager to learn about their excursion to learn about the legends of the Nordic trolls. (I convinced them to go on that one and will be most sad if they don't bring home a living troll.)

Dad will be updating his blog frequently, and I encourage everyone to visit and live vicariously through the adventures of Rosemary and Hugh. Dad's blog is:

www.yanks7.typepad.com

I'm also creating a special album (at right) called "Nate June 30-August 5" especially for Mom and Dad to follow all of Nate's antics while they're gone. We miss them already, but are so happy they are going to celebrate 35 in style. They deserve it!

Clean Sweep

What you are looking at may just seem like an ordinary closet, but it's really something extraordinary. Yesterday, with the help of an amazing individual, Eleanor, I was finally able to celebrate the wonder that is my walk in closet. Even though I am extremely organized in some areas of my life, I am extremely disorganized in others. But who isn't? When we moved into this house it was four days before Christmas and I was very pregnant, so the extent of the unpacking the contents of my closet was throwing a big pile of maternity clothes on a rack and a stack of record albums on the floor.  There was so much to do preparing for the baby, finishing up at work and .... next thing you know the closet, like others in the house, became a place I'd stick everything in, quickly adding up to chaos.

Then came Eleanor, cleaning lady and organizer extrodinaire. One day she brought a stack of towels up to my linen closet and within minutes had completely reorganized the whole thing, only this time I could actually make sense of what was in it. Imagine that! So I am embarking on a belated move-in/organizational spree, finding a place for everything in the house. My Type-A side is awakening to the new joys of this process, like finding clothes I didn't even know I have, and framing pictures that once sat at the bottom of a box. 

Now come the real challenges: how do I incorporate my tiki glass collection in an attractive and tasteful manner in my decor? And is there a place for my laminated picture of JFK on a tree stump? (Shane says no to the latter.)

Our First Portraits

These were taken nearly a month ago (during our infamous Target trip -- see May 30 post below), but I am just now getting around to scanning them: Nate at six weeks. Though they took 7,894 poses, these two were my favorite. In the one at the left I was actually quite furious with the photographer for making me get in a shot, as I was not "camera ready" if you will, but it turned out to be a great shot. I like the one of him with his mouth open because it's right around the time when he was beginning to be expressive. Viva the Nate!

A Reader (And Home Improvement Specialist) Is Born

Anyone who knows me knows that as a child I spent massive amounts of time at the Clearwater Public Library, especially during the summers. I loved to wander the stacks and flip through the card catalog (remember those?), and spent many school afternoons there as well as summers. I knew every nook and cranny of that place and spent hours there: reading books on religious cults (could I be the only 10-year old with a fascination with Jonestown?), helping the elderly volunteers tag books for book sales (and coming home with bags of musty books my parents are still trying to get rid of) and single-handedly winning every poster, essay and poetry contest sponsored by that place (take that all you other geeky kids!). My mom and I even once appeared on a public access show during which I waxed poetic about how much I loved the library and in 8th grade my yearbook quote read, "I live at the library." Needless to say, my obsession with the library always scored points with the cool kids. Yeah, no.

I'm still fascinated with libraries and the countless possibilities of words they contain. It's like every time I walk through the door I might find the answer to all of the questions of life, or at least find a bestseller I desprately want to read, even though it will probably sit on my nightstand until I have $5,679 in fines.

So, I was thrilled to share this with my son in taking him on his first trip to the library today! I was impressed with his selection of books -- he went straight to the Southern fiction. I explained to him that he's just nine weeks old and can't read adult books yet, but in time he will. After protesting, we rolled over to the kids section and he picked out this biography of Harry S. Truman. Perhaps he is a junior statesman-to-be? I don't know, but after that he started wailing, so our first trip to the library was a short one. But it will not be our last!

After that we made another monumental "first visit" -- to the Home Depot! Shane told him all about the wonders of the hallowed halls of home improvement. Hmm, perhaps we have an assistant to do some painting?

But we're in for the day.  It's too hot to be outside -- nearly 100 degrees in Birmingham. Plus I need time to remember Aaron Spelling and honor his legacy by thinking of my favorite "90210" and LoveBoat episodes. As my dad said, "He gave us Tori." I couldn't have said it better.

For more photos from today, check out, "Nate Out and About" in the photo albums at right.  For new photos from the past few weeks, click on the "2006" album.

Nate's Commentary on the World Cup

This morning Nate  cheered for the U.S.  in their game against  Ghana.  Although he was disappointed in their loss  he is undettered in his  dream of playing World Cup  soccer in  2026. Here  he is working his kick ...

Nate meets his Uncle Mark and Aunt Terry

Today Nate met his Uncle Mark and Aunt Terry, who drove all the way from Atlanta to see him! Nate stayed up all night because he was so excited to meet them, then he slept through most of their visit. He did pop his eyes open for a short time, enough for us to discuss the hotly debated subject of his eye color. Stay tuned for the great reveal on that one.

He says he's looking forward to visiting them in Atlanta so they can take him to see the monkeys at the zoo!

A teeny smile

I know that I'm biased, but is this not the cutest kid in the world? He's beginning to crack a smile. Here he is with his doggie blanket, and yes, I've now removed the tag. It's a Minnie Pearl thing.

Going to the Chapel!

Stop the presses, major news from the Shaws:

Megan and Ricky are engaged!

The proposal happened Saturday in the Duke Gardens, followed by a visit to the spa for Megan (nice touch, Ricky!) and a surprise appearance by Mom and Dad, who stealthily pulled off a trip to North Carolina without the world's most inquisitive daughter and former reporter figuring out where they were going. (Perhaps they really aren't going on a cruise in July after all. Maybe they are CIA agents? Is this why Dad likes "24" so much? Now I wonder ...)

Anyhow, I am very very excited for them and to have the chance to bust open my gigantic wedding planning notebook. Let the listmaking, date checking, reservation booking begin! Preliminary plans are for a date in May. I am getting my singing voice ready just in case they ask me to do a solo.  Just think, my sister, Mrs. Rick James.  What a great name!

Friends!

This has been a busy week for us. Last Saturday, Stephanie and Marjan came over from the Atl and hung with Nate before  we  went shopping  (sorry, baby,  no TJ Maxx for you yet!) This week Jenny came from DC and bonded with Nate on the couch, especially watching "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story." Apparently he was intrigued by this film, which probably should scare me.

Nate says he likes the South Carolina ladies, and is eager to wear his first Gamecock outfit, which Stephanie was so nice to bring him.

Two month checkup!

We just have one big event after another. This week Nate got to meet his Uncle Ryan, who is in town for a very special guest appearance. Ryan is imparting a brief history of Broadway and beginning to teach Nate about the importance of highlights. I'm trying to cover his ears from that last part seeing as we could probably pay for Nate's college with all the money I've spent trying to achieve my "natural blonde" over the years. 

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for a weigh-in. I get Nate weighed each Thursday to make sure he's gaining weight properly. Well Dr. Stone sprung a surprise on us when he asked if we wanted to go ahead and do Nate's two-month checkup, which can be done anywhere from week six through eight.  We did it and all the stats are great.

He is 9 lbs, 12 oz, having gained ten whopping ounces in one week (let's here it for the bottle). The best news about this is around 10 lbs he will probably drop a night feeding and around 13 lbs he will be able to sleep six or seven hours throughthe night! Can we go ahead and give him a cheeseburger?

He is 21 and 3/4 inches long, which is in the 75th percentile. Now it's well known I am not a mathemagician, but after some sleuthing I figured out that this means Nate is a tall boy for his age.  Even better news is that his head, which Dr. Stone was concerned about during our two-week checkup, has morphed into a perfectly round shape, and he says it looks great. 

Of course there had to be some drama involved, which would be the dreaded first set of immunizations. It's best I didn't know that he'd be receiving them yesterday or I would have been completely anxious.  The nurse was so great with him. He got  shocked/angry/mortified/silent scream that morphed into a sound like none I have ever heard and the worst part ... his first tears welled up (but weren't actually shed). But then, as fast as it all came, it was over and he was calm within moments.