New Pictures
Pictures taken since Fall 2006 are now in Picasa Web Albums.

Back to School
"Alex, are you excited about kindergarten?" "No, I think I just want to go to college."

Roan Mountain Vacation
More cousins and grandparents for fun! Neely cousins and Patterson grandparents came together for mountain climbing, more swimming and paper airplane making.

July 2006
A summer of cousins and grandparents! Our Crandall cousins were in the country so we all came together for a weekend of swimming and fun.

June 2006
When summer started, Alex attended an Art Camp at our local Nature Center. We also joined the Botanical Gardens for extra outdoor play.

May 2006
Alex's fifth birthday, and other frivolities

Spring Break 2006
Spring Break found us back on the Florida panhandle, this time at Carillon Beach. The sand and surf did not disappoint.

Spring Fun and Friends
April signals the beginning of baseball season, both major league and the 5-year-old T-ball variety, plus Easter, and rain.

Post-Olympic Euphoria - March 2006
The den becomes the scene of intense snowboarding competition, but warmer weather means the backyard beckons once again.

Adam's 2nd Birthday
Having a winter birthday means having a party indoors, but all is not lost

Alex "Fridge" Art - February 2006
Alex got inspired by the Winter Olympics to create his own interpretations of speed skating, ski jumping, bobsledding, and the like.

December 2005
Christmastime and the livin' is easy... with Grandparents and gifts. Alex hedges his bets by writing Santa a letter and leaving cookies and carrots (for the reindeer)

November 2005
Jill tries several times to capture the perfect holiday photo, but it isn't to be...

October 2005
Unicoi State Park near Helen, Georgia. And of course Halloween.

September 2005
St. George Island on the Florida panhandle lures us back for some beach fun. But it was HOT

August 2005
We visit Indianapolis for an informal high school reunion

July 2005
A soggy 4th of July and fun-filled trips to Chattanooga and Nashville

June 2005
The boys clown around indoors - and then say goodbye to neighbors Payton and Carson

May 2005
Alex turns four - and what goes with birthdays? Ice cream, of course.

April 2005
The weather warms up as soccer season starts.

March 2005
Easter comes early this year and even the Easter Bunny is cold. Meanwhile, Adam gets up on All Twos.

February 2005
Woo-hoo! Adam turns one; partying ensues.

January 2005
The kids start the new year playing at home in the warm house.

Christmas 2004
Adam's first Christmas is white, thanks to cooperative Indianapolis weather. Alex benefits most from the snow, however.

Holiday Photo Shoot
Our 4th Annual Attempt at a Quality Holiday Photo commences. We discover it's MUCH harder to get good pictures of two kids at the same time.

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving with Tennessee grandparents. Alex finally sees Uncle Bud's REAL construction equipment!

Halloween
We sweated through a sweltering Halloween, then moved inside for fun as cooler weather finally arrived.

October
October found us back at home, but highlighted with a visit from Indianapolis grandparents.

September
We headed to St. Simon's Island just as Hurricane Jeanne headed to the GA coast. Luckily there were few problems, and those back home in Atlanta suffered worse.

August
Adam has his six-month birthday in August. He and Alex have a great time as they start to play together.

July
In July Adam takes his first vacation, to the mountains to meet his cousins. At home, Jill and Alex plot to celebrate Eric's birthday.

Summer
Alex clowns around with his friend Payton, and is invited to join a t-ball game one morning. Playgroup friends and families meet for a day at Lake Burton.

A Busy June
All sorts of comings and goings and visitors make for a busy month with lots of pictures

Alex Turns Three
Summer started with Alex's birthday and the requisite presents, party, and grandparents

Three Months and Three Years
Adam keeps growing, grinning and exploring; Alex helps out a little

Easter 2004
Plenty of Easter egg hunts keep Alex happy and high on candy. Mom and Dad eat what they can and hide the rest. Fortunately, Adam doesn't know what he's missing yet.

Adam at Six Weeks
Finally things start settling in. Adam isn't as fragile, and Alex is able to enjoy his smiles.

March 2004
Adam begins to reward our lost sleep by giving us big smiles, which also help make up for an outbreak of baby acne and hair loss.

Adam's First Two Weeks
The first (sleepless) weeks...

Welcome Adam!
Our second son Adam is born on February 3, 2004. All is well and we are now a healthy, happy family of four!

Christmas 2003
Alex had the option of leaving Santa a beer, chips & salsa, but he chose cookies and milk. What gives?

Holiday Photo Shoot
These are pictures from a photo shoot that we won at our church auction, courtesy of photographer James Lawrence

Fall
Alex gets ready for the new baby, and has fun at Halloween

Smoky Mountains
We rented a mountain cabin for a week near the Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, and much hiking and rock-throwing ensued. Alex's favorite part was the giant robot outside the Ripley's museum in Gatlinburg.

July 4 and Summer
We had another fun July 4 with kids' parade and fireworks at a neighborhood park, joined by some friends.

April and May
Alex turned two on May 10, and we had a great party in the backyard. Shortly before, Alex enjoyed hunting for Easter eggs at his school.

Spring Break at the Beach
We decided to head down to St. George Island, Florida for a week of R&R in April. It's near Apalachicola in the eastern part of the panhandle. About a third of the island is state park, and the rest of it isn't very commercial. Despite some cold weather, we had a great week.

February and March
Plenty of fun inside and out of the house, including the new backyard swingset. A new sandbox and life jacket are good preparation for going to the beach!

Alex's Second Christmas
We made the trek up to Indianapolis, and were rewarded with a white Christmas. There were plenty of opportunities to play in the snow after opening presents. Back in Nashville, things were more subdued as most of the Fultz family was down with the flu. Eric did meet up with several high school buddies and their families.

A Christmas Photo Shoot
While the weather didn't cooperate for many photos outdoors, our friend Penni got some great shots of the three of us inside. Did we choose the right photo for Christmas cards? You be the judge!

Fall and Halloween
Alex enjoys Halloween and other fall activities with friends, grandparents and neighbors. You might recognize his Halloween costume that his Gramma made for him from last year; it may fit one more year after this one!

At The Pool
Alex and Jill went swimming about four times a week this summer at the public pool across the street (literally). Alex has always allowed us to dunk him and pour water over his head without putting up any fuss; the pool was his favorite place to be. As the summer progressed and he learned to walk, Jill had a harder time corralling him, but at least the place is fenced in! On weekends the place was filled with tots and dads, and we finally got some photos at the end of the season.

Roan Mountain in August
This past August, we drove to the scenic Roan Mountain State Park to meet Jill's family for a few days. Despite the rains, we enjoyed some great hiking. Jill and Kate saw wild turkeys, and Alex learned to walk on a log teeter-totter with his Gramma's help. His cousin, Icile, is only a few months older, but the differences really showed as she led him around. Bethan and Webster are great hikers and were ready with a compass in case we got lost. Everyone enjoyed getting away into the woods.

July 4 and "Christmas In July"
We had an eventful July Fourth. Eric ran the Peachtree Road Race that morning, the largest 10K race in the country. Although he didn't come in first place, Alex won first prize in a neighborhood parade for best "float" in his age group. We also had a summer full of cousins this year. Janet and Steve, Erin, Sean and Lauren were up from Africa for a visit and we had a Christmas in July with them and the rest of Eric's family. He also went to his first Braves baseball game with his Fultz cousins, and thanks to food, toys and cousins, he did great. He adores Charlie and is lucky to have four year old male cousins in both families.

Summer 2002 Around the House
Alex is growing like the proverbial weed. He's usually a picky eater, but we sneak veggies in where he won't notice them. He loves having his own spoon and fork and prefers foods with adult seasonings. He stood up from the floor alone on June 28. By July 4 he was walking and had given up crawling completely. Within a few weeks he tried running, walking backwards, and spinning in circles until he fell down.

Mammoth Cave Trip
In June we drove to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to meet Karen, Trent and Anna Dougherty. Since Karen was seven months pregnant, we took the easiest possible cave hike; Eric and Trent found it harder than expected.

San Francisco and Lake Tahoe
Feeling brave, we set out for a wedding and California vacation with our one year old. Not only did he entertain the rest of the airline passengers, but coped with the time change like a pro. We drove to Marin to see Eric's aunt Nina and uncle Ray Pohl, and his godparents, Janet and Bill Walton. Alex charmed them all, as he is prone to do. We then explored San Francisco by foot, cablecar, and ferry boat. All too soon it was time to drive to Lake Tahoe for Joel and Stevie's wedding. We shared a condo with our Atlanta friends Dawn, Niel, Amy and David. The lake was not only a beautiful background for a wedding, but a fun place for Alex to swim. The whole trip was great - surprisingly easy, considering we were the only couple to haul along a kid.

First Birthday
For Alex's birthday, we celebrated twice. We had a few friends by on Friday night, and his Gramma and Grandpom the next night. While he ate his weight in pizza, he used his cupcake mostly for more finger painting. He seemed suspicious of the odd ritual as Eric helped him blow out his birthday candle. We had a contest to see who could guess his height and weight. Maybe because we heft him around so much, we both guessed too heavy. He put on 12 pounds 5 ounces and 8 1/2 inches during his first year.

Finger Painting and Other Misadventures
Jill was brave one sunny April day and prepared herself with soap, water and towels before introducing Alex to finger paints--outdoors, and it's a good thing. She ended up washing him in the wading pool after it seemed that no number of towels would do the trick.

A Visit with Cousins, March
In March, Alex and Jill flew north again to Indianapolis. They visited Karen and Anna Dougherty, and then drove to Salt Fork (Ohio) State Park to hang out with Aunt Kate, Aunt Claudia, Chris Toth, and grandparents. His cousin Paige celebrated her first birthday, and Alex planned for his big day.

On the Move, January-March
In January and February Alex put the move on. Suddenly when we left to another room we'd find him following us. Other times we'd return and be unable to find him. He developed a speedy combat-style crawl that left his hands free to hold toys. It wasn't until after he learned to pull to standing that he learned the usefulness of knees when crawling.

Swimming Lessons at the YMCA, January
To overcome the late winter blahs, Jill and Alex went to a parent-child swim class at the nearby YMCA. After only 3 days he learned that if Jill said the "Humpty Dumpty" rhyme, he's better close his eyes and hold his breath because he was about to fall off the wall too. He still doesn't mind going underwater; we hope he remains such a fish.

First Christmas and New Years
Alex got two Christmases (Jill likes to draw out the gift-opening as long as she can - maybe she's more suited to Hanukkah). Alex's Gramma and Grandpom Patterson came to Atlanta with noisy toys in crinkly wrappings. Then we all drove to Nashville and enjoyed a festive gathering with his Grandma and Grandad Pohl, Aunt Sue, Uncle Bud, Will, Steve, and Charlie Fultz. Christmas morning, he also brightened his great grandmother G.G.'s day. In the style of Y2K, Alex toasted in the New Year with Iceland (eight p.m. Eastern time). He wasn't sure why we made all the fuss about a new year when he hadn't finished the first one yet.