Christmas 2001

This certainly has been a busy year. In fact, it seems like I was just writing out our little newsletter just a month ago or so. They say time goes by faster as you get older, and I can certainly vouch for that (more on that later). I’ll try to catch you up on everything as briefly as possible.

In our last letter, we had told everyone about our news that Becky was due in February. My guess is that the baby was so excited that George W. Bush had won the election that he decided it was time to be born… early! Grayson Charles Wilcox was born at 11:29 am on January 17th, 2001. If he had waited until the 20th he could have gotten an official White House congratulations card from President Bush, instead (despite our pleadings) he’s had to settle for a signature stamped color picture.

Grayson’s premature entrance into our lives meant an early end to Becky’s work with Crown Financial Ministries. She enjoyed her years of service there, but was quite happy to make the transition to being a stay-at-home mom. Initially, she was concerned she would be a little bored at home, but a busier than ever schedule has proved to keep her more than well occupied. Becky hasn’t had enter into motherhood alone, as our friends from our small group have also had their boys (Nelson, Carter, and Conner). You can find the new moms scrap booking or hanging out at Picture People (photography) with their free sitting coupons in hand.

Between Grayson’s birth (becoming a father and parent) and then turning 30 in February, I was starting to really feel old (or at least older). We were just starting to get the hang of the parenting thing when Grayson decided it would be fun to add a few gray hairs to my head. Grayson appeared to have a simple stomach virus, but after nearly a week of throwing up most of his meals (the furniture and house will never be the same) it turned out to be a condition called Pyloric Stenosis (a stomach muscle problem that prevents proper digestion and is particularly common among first-born boys – a rather mysterious statistic that has yet to be fully explained). After having been parents for only a few months, it was a real shock to have to hand over our child to nurses waiting to take him into the operating room for surgery. Thankfully, the surgery went extremely well, and the only remaining evidence of his ordeal will be a small scar on his stomach that he will no doubt make up wonderful stories about as he grows older.

For Mother’s Day, we took Grayson to meet his Great-Grandmother Applegate and Great-Grandparents Wilcox in Gainesville, Florida. By that time, my mom was missing her grandson and needed the visit as well. It was an incredible family time for us all.

The next month we headed down to Pensacola, for Becky’s cousin Leslie’s wedding. The wedding and bride were beautiful, and Grayson had fun at the reception trying to steal as much attention away from Leslie and Jacob as he could. Becky and Grayson stayed on in Pensacola for a few extra days for some quality time with his Grandpa Dee and Grannie Pat and Great-Grandparents Robertson.

For a late anniversary celebration we got a good deal on a flight to Vancouver, British Columbia. For those of you who are geographically challenged, that is in the part of Canada right above Washington State. My parents were thrilled at the chance to keep Grayson for a long weekend, so they came and took him up to North Carolina while we spent a few days flying to Canada (that’s the problem with cheap tickets). Still we managed to spend two wonderful days in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.

There were a few different things about Canada. I expected everyone to say “eh” at the end of every sentence. I never heard anyone in Vancouver say “eh”. What I did find was an unusual desire to use the word “out” (either in part or in whole) in as many sentences as possible. Example: It’s about 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) away and about 5 degrees outside (41 Fahrenheit), so take a jacket for when you’ll be out and about.

Not wanting to be left out of all the jet setting around, Grayson got to take his first airplane trip in mid-August when he and Becky flew to Pensacola to visit with Grandpa Dee and Grannie Pat.

For our annual college buddies vacation/trip, we decided to return to the Smoky Mountains, but this time we stayed in Tennessee. Upon arriving, I managed to get a stomach virus, which I then graciously passed on to Wendi. This temporarily passed all child-care responsibilities on to Hyatt… Makenzie Kaye joined the Baker family on May 16th this year. In all, it was probably the most relaxing vacation (for those who weren’t sick at least) since we ended up hanging around the house more. However, the guys had a successful shoe-shopping trip (imagine that twist), and we did manage a great visit to Dollywood. Susan will have to save her bear bell for another trip.

By November, Grayson was crawling around the house, and thoroughly enjoying standing while holding on to things. It made our Thanksgiving that much more special as Becky’s parents came up for several days along with a brief visit from Becky’s aunt, uncle, and cousin (AB, TB, and RB).

My parent’s big news is that my Dad has finally retired after nearly 32 years of service with BellSouth. The retirement is forced due to some downsizing, but we are all viewing this as a real blessing and God’s timing for my Dad to finally leave the company. And as a message to anyone else that thinks they can help fill my Dad’s time now – you can just forget about it!

I just got back from taking Grayson to the doctor’s office where they have proclaimed his ears “infection-free” for the moment. We have been undergoing a battle for the last couple of months with ear infections. As soon as he gets the sniffles or a cold, he develops an ear infection almost immediately. We’re hoping he stays well through the holidays now.

I’m still working for JDA Software. I have had to start doing a little traveling again, but my latest client is in Nashville, so the trips aren’t as long. The biggest news with my company is that they are planning to relocate my office from Norcross to Marietta, Georgia. Marietta is on the Northwest spoke (I-75) heading out of Atlanta instead of the Northeast spoke (I-85) that leads to Norcross and Flowery Branch. We are waiting and praying to see what is going to occur as a result of the office move as it puts my work 50 miles from home (and an approximate commute of one and half to two hours each way).

I will be trying to keep our family website more up-to-date. I haven’t managed to keep it current lately, but I’ll keep trying.

May you and your family be blessed this Christmas season and throughout the next year.