3.30.2010

yay for spring break!

Between Adam's Craziest Semester Ever at dental school, my constant state of vomit, Mark's ever-looming (and unforunately, ever worsening) cancer and more snowy, freezing days than I care to recount, this winter has a been more than a bit rough around here.  Especially when it comes to family time.  We just haven't had any. Yuck.

Enter our little spring break jaunt to Mexico last week.... "Ahhhhh," pretty much sums it up.  Time as a family, warm weather, a beautiful beach.  Sheer glory, I tell you.  Burke's highlights were the seagulls (yep, he loves them... LOVES them), the hermit crabs/live shells, the pool, the 'broken light' (there was one burned out lantern-type light on the path to our room and, for whatever reason, Burke was fascinated by it... there's a picture of him sitting on it at the bottom of the page), and his little girlfriend Aliya who kept trying to kiss him (I should clarify that, while he definitely loved Aliya, he was less than amused by the public displays of affection- haha!).  Good times for the whole family.

3.21.2010

cabana boy

It's a rough life this week... Burke's day today consisted of:
Lounging in his cabana with his toys...
Eating fruit snacks...
Venturing to the beach for a little stroll...
And back poolside for a refreshing drink of juice...

Like I said, rough.  His parents might be enjoying themselves just as much.... :)

3.15.2010

sweet hannah!

We got to meet Aaron and Leslie's new daughter, Hannah, this weekend... what a sweet baby!  I just continue to be amazed at the miracle of their adoption story! And Burke ADORES his new cousin... y'all should see it, really.  We're so thankful to have Hannah as part of our family.

3.09.2010

project 365: week 2

Even though I wouldn't say the pictures themselves are anything stellar (hopefully I get better, right?), I love the way taking pictures of the 'normal stuff' is helping me chronicle our every day life... At the end of this year, if I still take average-ish pictures, I'll still be glad to have the record of our days. :)

3.08.2010

let the fridge cleaning begin...

For weeks, I've been writing a blog post in my head (do y'all do that?) about how bad I suck at being pregnant.

I'm sure we can all think of someone who actually does this pregnancy thing well (I think my own mom might be one of these individuals, actually... anyone who "really enjoyed" being pregnant is in a different category than me)- all glow-y and cute and full of creative energy.

My pregnancy-defective body, on the other hand, rejects all food that is given to it for the first, well 18-weeks-and-counting.  And then, at the end, my organs threaten to explode unless given the Devil Drug (I guess we can't count on that happening again, at this point, though).

Also, I don't like the feeling of being out of control, and that is precisely what pregnancy is- having a little sweet potato-sized dictator that makes your body unpredictable and chaotic.

And I don't like the fact that pregnancy gives a free-for-all license for people to comment on your size using words like, "bigger," "pooch," "basketball," and "popped out," even if they wrap things up by saying, "It's just so cute."  There's nothing cute about it.  I am well aware of both the rapidly changing, pooch-y state of affairs and also the lack of cuteness involved.

However, despite how bad I suck at pregnancy, I had the thought today that I am so thankful for my life just the way it is right now.  This is notable considering my terrible attitude lately.  These are the reasons things aren't that bad:
 1. I. love. staying. home. with. Burke.  Love it.  I love the stage he's in right now, all hilarious chatter and energy and teasing and laughter.  I love spending my days with him, hearing the things he comes up with, reading and coloring and dancing and playing and even spending time doing much more menial things together (like cleaning).  I wouldn't trade this for a classroom if you paid me a hundred grand a year.

2. I currently have the energy to tackle all sorts of house projects.  You should see our closets (well, the ones I've gotten to).  And today marked my first oh-so-thorough fridge cleaning (when I was pregnant with burke, I had this weird weekly urge to scrub down our fridge... It's back).  It's a beautiful thing.
3. The weather is turning.  We spend just about every afternoon lately running around outside.  I love spring.  Love it.

4. I can't be certain, but I think I've felt the Little Bean kick a couple times.  Just the fact that there's going to be another small fry in 22-ish weeks is something to celebrate.

5. Adam's in dental school.  He got in.  He doesn't have to work at Talk To Chuck anymore.  That's brilliant news for our little family, and something to continually be thankful for.
6. Spring break is in 11 days.  Burke and I talk about what we're going to do at the beach all day every day right now.  Excited is a monumental understatement.

Ok, that's all for now.  For those of you who've put up with my constant bickering for the last couple months, I'm sorry... I think I'm turning a corner.  Just don't say anything like, "Look how big/pooch-y/popped out/pregnant you look!" and we're good.

3.07.2010

study partner

Burke is super helpful to have around in weeks like these when Adam has 7 tests in 7 days... Though, he probably fits more in the categories of "study break," or "crazy distraction," than "study partner."

3.05.2010

23 nesting projects.

I seem to have a problem with nesting even when I'm not pregnant.  Every week, possibly every day, I find big projects or weird things that I'd like to be more organized.  That doesn't mean that I actually pursue these projects (life feels a little too busy for that), but that I think about them, that things not being clean/organized really bugs me and that I find great joy in actually completing these random organizational/cleaning tasks when I have a chance.

When I AM pregnant, however, I am a regular nesting tornado.  It is like all of the things that I wish I could put on to-do lists in my normal life suddenly become way more urgent and make the cut.

So, today I started making a list of 23 Nesting Projects I'd like to complete before babycakes #2's arrival in August.  I have 23 weeks left until my due date and figure I can try to do a project a week.  I had a friend who did this with 6 weeks left (6 projects in 6 weeks)... Brilliant, right?

When I have my final list of 23 projects, I'll share them with you... right now the problem is not coming up with 23 projects, but prioritizing and whittling my list of about 50 projects down to 23.  I told you... I'm a nesting wreck.  Until then, I'm off to reorganize the closet in my craft room as part of Project #1.

3.02.2010

7 down, 358 to go

Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Friday
Saturday
Sunday (alternate title could be Best. Outfit. Ever... more on this later)
Monday

3.01.2010

welcome to our family, baby hannah!

Through the craziest string of events EVER (including a birth mom that didn't even know she was pregnant until she was at the hospital in labor), my sweet brother-in-law, Aaron, and sister-in-law, Leslie, are now the proud parents of Miss Hannah Katherine Gentry. She's six days old, absolutely adorable, and, best of all, their daughter!

It has been quite the long and twisty and prayer-filled road for them to get this baby girl and we are more thrilled than I can even tell you. I have been teary all morning just thinking about how long we've been praying for this and what a beautiful answer God has given them... what a miracle!

Aaron and Leslie were made to be parents, and I can't wait to watch and grow with them... welcome to our family, baby Hannah!