Thanks to everyone in Mid-TN for their kind farewells and to Florida for the warm welcome. We are glad to begin new routines here in Tampa. Adam started school with students today - he looked like a real teacher in his school spirit short sleeved denim shirt this morning! He is really excited about this job and getting to know the kids - so far things have been ideal with the other teachers. Walker is getting used to our temporary home with my parents. He is certainly enjoying the extra attention and interesting new toys like Dad's Wii and remote controls. He is getting a lot of extra cuddling time because he keeps crying in the pack-n-play and ends up in bed with us. Oh well, this too shall pass!
One more exciting piece of news to report, we are expecting another baby this Spring. I am thirteen weeks along now and feeling great, thankfully. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat at my last check-up in Nashville, and I am so amazed by the miracle God works through our earthly tents. We are humbled by the opportunity to raise another one of His precious children and are looking forward to a great pregnancy. Our little one is due to arrive March 2nd, and we will try to be surprised again with the gender, but we'll keep you posted on the progress.
Love to all!
Glad ya'll have gotten moved & settled in. We're outside of Nashville this week, Coulter is preaching a week-long meeting in Lewisburg. Coulter and I trying to plan a trip down to Tampa some weekend soon, but if anything I'll see you at the Ladies' Weekend. Hope your pregnancy is going well. Love yoU!
Glad you are enjoying Tampa! I figured you would! Maleia won't sleep in a pack-n-play either. Whenever we go out of town she just sleeps with us cause it's easier that way.
No we have seen Leah, some people are just at shows.....and we miss you guys! Actually, I was really going to miss someone leading the new songs but it's okay, Eric Nash led them yesterday. =)
So glad that you are settling in well. We miss you so much and think about you a lot!!!!!! Please post pics of Walker so we can watch him grow ( and you, too!) Love you!
Congrats! We have been living with Andy's parents for a year now. It wasn't supposed to be for this long, but it is going so well. We'll be sad when it's over. Enjoy this temporary time. It is such a joy to see your kids bond with their grandparents.
...Of course I was wearing lipstick! :) Thanks for looking out for Murry...he needs it! Barb keeps me posted on how y'all are doing...glad all is going well. Look forward to seeing y'all next time we're down!
A friend from church is coming down with me and at this moment we're planning on staying with Emily. Why...do you want us to cram into your folks house with you??? ; ) No worries about the Bible. I'm a good Christian...I have more than one Bible. ; )
Things still going well for you guys??
I really want to have you over for dinner. If I don't see you before the Ladies weekend, maybe we can compare schedules then!
We saw Leah today and she gave me a good run down on you two. I'm sure Mama and Papa Walker are so glad to have you back around. I'm glad for Adam's new job opportunity and so excited for the new edition to the Olson team! Congratulations, that's so wonderful! I hope things go well for you both back in Florida!
Hey! I saw you at Brentwood last night and noticed Walker waved when asked to raise your hand..too cute!! Sorry I didn't get to talk to you-- I hope you are doing well. Chris was at home- under the weather- and I was there with William and trying to get things prepared for my Sunday morning bible class- so I'm afraid I was preoccupied to find you, sorry. But, so glad you guys came back to visit-- Walker is too cute. Hope you have been feeling good-- how far along are you know? An updated post is needed :) !! ♥ ya. (9-2-08)
Exciting news for the Olson Fam - we are moving to Tampa! Though I am really sad to be leaving NashVegas I am thrilled to be back in closer proximity to my family and many dear friends. Adam was offered a job on Thursday with Hillsborough County Schools to teach music at Twin Lakes Elementary. I am so excited for him to get the chance to put all of his talents to work and have a career that is so rewarding. Adam has to report on August 4th so we have just over a week to pack up. We are going to be staying with my parents until we can figure out if we are selling or renting our home here in TN so that should be a fun experiment. We are looking forward to seeing many of you Floridians soon!
Wow that is exciting stuff! I'll be visiting in October and look forward to seeing you all again. Maybe we will actually have more than 2 minutes to visit this time around? :) I'll be thinking of you in your move and search for a place to live.
It was good to see you at church Sunday! August 4th is really soon, good luck with the move. Where is Twin Lakes Elementary? I haven't heard of that one.
Nashville's loss and Tampa's gain!! :)
Looking forward to seeing you guys!
Hey, once you're here and "settled", let's chat about our King High 10 year reunion. The details are set and I want to talk you and Jon Barlar into going with me!
I know you are all excited about this new venture in your life- and it's always nice getting back closer to family and old friends. We will all miss you guys here- but know you'll always have a place to come back to and visit. Best of luck and God speed!
Craziness! Best wishes getting packed up in such a short time. If you want to pack my Bible with you, I can just pick it up when I go to Tampa for the ladies' weekend. If you need a place to stop halfway down to Tampa, give us a holler!
Dito on Lauren...if you need a place to stay, you know you're always welcomein Birmingham! I know y'all are so excited...as well as the rest of the fam. I heard Papa and Gran are pumped!
how fun is that!! i always wondered if you guys would make it down to Tampa. We are hoping to be there in Feb so perhaps we will see you. Best of luck with the move!
I've looked at Micah's page before but didn't see any stuff up about menu's the last time I went. My problem is we love meat, milk and fresh produce and I have never seen those on really good sales. At least not the sales the money savings mom talks about in her blog. Thanks for the tips about Kraft. I looked at their web page today. And thanks for your tips - I know you are busy.
Thanks for your sweet comment. Now you must become a pleo addict! I miss you already! Sunday night felt empty with out you guys and that beautiful baby boy! Please save him for Chloe Jane! STAY IN TOUCH! Your new life in Tampa will be great and I'm sure you will feel right at home in no time. But don't forget about us and please visit often - you ALWAYS have a place to stay! We love you lots!
Did I call you last night while you were in church? You picked up and I could only hear distant talking. Then as I was saying, "hello?" I remembered Christie said you had been meeting on Thursday nights! I am SO sorry!
Thanks to everyone for all the advice about weathering camp with a baby. It was great! Walker loved all the attention he got - everyone was so sweet about entertaining him and watching him when Adam and I had responsibilities. He was so tired from playing so hard that he barely noticed he was sleeping in his pack-n-play thanks to a powerful sound machine.
We were glad to be at camp and enjoyed our time with the kids and counselors. To all of you FC camp alumni who have thought about going back to be counselors - I strongly encourage you to give it a try. It is a great way to give back and encourage young people in a way that energizes and uplifts you too. We are glad that we went back to camp when we were still young enough to adjust to the lack of sleep and luxurious accommodations.
I am thankful for my great experiences with FC camps from way back in the on-campus days to being a Group 4 girl in Leesburg and the first year of NC camp. It is exciting to think about my own children making those same kinds of memories with the same wholesome fun I looked forward to every year. What are your best camp memories?
Awww, good post. My best camp memories are probably from MN camp. Rustic, rural, and very hot (ironically). Lots of mosquitos and everyone was just messy all the time. :) BUT...no one cared. And everyone was always there just to have a good time and encourage each other and play sports (bleh) and sing and pray. I miss it!
I just got back from FL camp, and although I'm exhausted, I am mentally and spiritually recharged! I use the week to get away from my kids, but I'm glad that Walker did so well for you. NC camp must be more laid back than FL... not sure a baby would have faired very well! =-) I'm glad you had a great time, and I agree with you -- what a great way to give back and to be an encouragement in the lives of young people!!
Glad to hear that he did well. We are thinking about being counselors in the next year or so and I didn't know how a baby would do. You have encouraged me to go for it!!! When was Walker born? I'm thinking it's around the same time as Maleia. Her birthday is 4.19.07
So glad it went well! I've been wondering how Walker did. I knew you and Adam would have a blast but knew if Walker wasn't having fun that would stress you. Now tell me again what your title was this year. Because I wasn't sure if you were acitivities director again or what. Hope you guys get caught up on sleep soon! We are getting ready for Ryan to leave us on Saturday. That will be sad but I'm thinking next year I'll go back....
I watched a series on PBS a couple of weeks ago that contrasted the writings of CS Lewis and Sigmund Freud. It was fascinating! I got the quote from that series, so I'm not sure if it's from one of his books, or from a letter he wrote.
Ha Ha! You KNOW I'm no Martha! You guys always have the best ideas and activities for camp! Before you know it MO camp will just be a clone of NC camp. Except at a smaller no frills campsite. :) I'll ask Ryan about it. He'll probably want to get the idea eventually. Its hard with MO camp because it is very scheduled even though we don't have a lot of activities that the campsite itself offers. Sometime we should show you that and see what you think about it. We are definately going to miss daddy this week but I feel bad for complaining. Our friend at church spends lots of weeks by herself and she has 5 boys!
Sent Ryan to my parents tonight! Miss him already. I'm going to have to plan things to do this week or I think we'll miss him too much. Already can't wait until Thursday when we arrive!
We head out to FC's North Carolina Camp tonight. After a brief stay with the Moseley's to celebrate my nephew Canon's first birthday and my OLD sister Carrie Ann's 30th we will join the counselors to begin camp on Sunday. It almost killed me to miss out on camp last year but Walker was only three months old and there was no solution. We are looking forward to working with the kids as Bible class teachers all week - but I am not sure why I decided that camp is a good place for a very curious 14 month old. I am most concerned about Walker waking everyone up because he hates sleeping in his pack-n-play. I probably should have sent him to grandma camp, but I am a little too attached and I think it could be a little traumatic for him and grandma! We'll see how it goes. Any suggestions from all you pros out there about helping your kids adjust to different places and schedules - besides Benadryl?
I was looking on the "Recent" post list and saw your title, so I randomly stopped at your blog. :) I'm Veronica and my three siblings and I are going to NC camp for the first time. :) We're very excited. We're driving tomorrow from Florida. Maybe we'll meet sometime next week. :)
well, i would say keep him so busy and occupied that he'll have no choice but to pass out and sleep like a... baby. :) having no kids, i really can't help you.
Well, it's a little late now =), but my advice would have been to have him sleep in a pack-n-play at home until he was comfortable in it. We always had our girls do that before a trip. Of course, with family every direction, they were pretty used to their pack-n-plays =). Good luck and have a GREAT time!!!! I'm sure you'll have plenty of help with Walker - those big kids will just fall in love with him!
My youngest girl can't stand to sleep in a pack in play. She WON'T do it!! Going on a trip always make me nervous cause I know I won't be sleeping good while we are gone. I have wondered about camp with our kids. I'm sure everyone will love him and help you out with him. Look at it as a learning experience!!!! You can be the front runner for all of us parents who aren't sure if we should bring our kids to camp or not!!! Thanks for doing that for all of us!!! PLEASE let us know how it all works out!
I guess he did technically "practice" while we were there. :) I'm sure everything will go fine. I would love to go to camp and take mine but we only have counselors that stay in the cabins with kids. I couldn't really take mine to do that. I'm sure that everything will go great! You will have lots of help and Adam will be there too so together I think it will go smoothly. Have so much fun! Can't wait to hear how the week went! Have fun with your family too! Love you!
Can't wait to hear how camp works out. Coulter said we could have taken the girls to camp with us, but with two, I just wasn't sure that was a good idea. I wouldn't have been able to totally devote myself to the camp since we're team leaders. Lydia doesn't like the pack-n-play (thanks for giving us Walker's bed while we were there), but she does sleep a little better in it if there's a nice plush blanket to make that hard bottom a little more soft. Good luck! By the way, I emailed you...did I leave my Bible at your house or the church building?
Seeing as both sets of our parents are in VA and AL, Ava's been in the pack-n-play lots. Once she got old enough, we started doing what Lauren does with the blanket to cushion. It seems to really help Ava, who is NOT the world's greatest sleeper. Walker will do great, I'm sure. You guys are my heroes for taking him with you--good luck!
Hey girl! I hope you don't mind, I saw your name on another blog and thought I would see if you were who I thought you were. Does that make sense? Anyway, I know I may be too late on advice-- but William (who no longer will sleep in his pack-n-play when on trips) would sleep fine if he had his favorite blanket- teddy- and I always took his musical aquarium. Whatever ritual you do at night- keep that the same and depending on where you'll be- if you can't hide yourself from him through the netting -- then put a blanket over the side- so he can't see you. But, each child is different- and hopefully it wont be too bad for you. Good luck- and hope you guys have fun! Be safe!
I also vouch for padding the bottom of it! Also, I tote my 16 month old wherever I go and if we're staying overnight, she'll sleep anywhere if I turn on a box fan near the pack and play (blowing away from her). If I put it on medium speed it completely drowns out any outside noise (and we have put that to the test!) and it provides white noise and lulls her to sleep so she sleeps good and long. Also just get one of those long distance baby monitors and try to stick to his nap schedule as best as you can. If you wear him out too much he'll get overtired and then you'll NEVER get him to sleep, you'll just have an extremely cranky baby on your hands. Oh and one more thing. Since it will be hot and sticky, if you give him a bath before bedtime every night he'll sleep much better. I learned all this stuff the long hard way on my first kid so I'm very glad to be able to pass on my hard earned wisdom! :) I'm sure it will go much more smoothly than you think it will. He will be feeding off of your attitude so if you go with an "everthing's gonna be fine" attitude and just roll with the punches, he'll just come along for the ride. But if you're frantic about everything that could go wrong he'll sense that and be uneasy too. So don't swaet it honey and have a terrific time! It's so great that you get to go and still be with your baby! Have fun!
hey amanda! It's Bronwyn!!! How are you? You look great and Walker is so cute! Good luck with camp! Can't wait to hear all about it! Godo to see you on here. Now you've just gotta work on that little sis of yours! :)
Hey its Aunt Barbara glad you guys will be close and we can play with the Walkman. I am in Limbo right now hoping and praying for a job offer on a job. I applied for. Maybe by the time you guys get here I will get the word that I got this job and if so I can help you guys with a mortgage.
Hi friends new and old. I am finally joining the pleonast world after years of what seems like futile resistance. I just cleaned house after a refreshing reunion with several FC girlfriends and they convinced me of the need to be plugged in. I have been blogging ever since the birth of our precious son, Walker, so check out the past year @ (www.walkerolson.com) and link through to the blog. I am looking forward to reconnecting with many of you with whom I have lost touch through the years. I'm sure I'll be as addicted as the rest soon, so I'll make this post short so that you want to come back and check on us later. Amanda - out!
i am so very thankful for pleo, because for several years I was in this black hole of communication and didn't talk to any of me dear friends for way too long.
I consider it a blessing, and i am glad you are here.
And this is Jessi Collier, btw.
Hi Amanda. This is Jennifer Reynolds. I, too, was very resistant to pleonast for a long time. Then, one day I realized that I was no longer connected to all the wonderful friends I had made at FC, and felt like I was missing out.
I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you so much for having us this past weekend. I miss you girls already and am anxious for the next time we get together...kind of like the day after leaving camp.
ha! you caved! becky said to welcome you, so i will comply with her request. :) it was great seeing you guys last weekend! tell adam hey! (this is meagan, by the way)
Hey there! I'm impressed with your page, you have pictures and everything. You'll have to teach me how to update my little page (although I only check in about once a month).
Welcome Amanda! This is Stacy (Hoffman) Butler. Good to see you on here. It's a lot of fun to be able to keep up with "old" friends. I think you will enjoy it!
