Saturday, January 31, 2015

yo, adrian!


my january pregnancy update:
i watch rocky over and over and over because encore shows at least one of the 6 iterations each saturday night. that's how lame i've become. each saturday, thomas usually does work at night and i sit on the couch with my feet propped up and then i tear up at random times during the movie. like when rocky kisses adrian for the first time. or when rocky gives the speech about going the distance, 
"Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood."
and then there are the requisite dog, baby, and life insurance commercials. so, my face looks like a perpetual crying, blotchy, swollen sumo wrestler. i've always wanted to be asian, but i was thinking more along the lines of daniel larusso's girlfriend in karate kid part 2. 

other january non-pregnancy news:
anywhooo, thomas was able to see georgia wallop lousiville in the belk bowl. i teared up when i got this picture from him because i was so happy for him. he even had to be told to move back from the sidelines. dreams realized. i bought him some new jeans to complete a belk bowl outfit, but he was not very excited about that.

the big kids wanted to stay up and watch the game and find dad on TV. they didn't last too long and i went and slept in my bed because i have no interest in sleeping on the floor ever again for the rest of my life. 

this child still lives here:

scarlett has been letting me practice "fawncy" braids more and more on her hair. we have something extra special planned for valentine's day. 

scarlett made the all A honor roll. the girl cannot spell to save her life, but she is so naturally inquisitive that apparently that is not going to hold her back. her favorite is science. she's especially interested in the ins and outs of male pattern baldness, so the future looks bright. 

we made it down to the georgia aquarium this morning. that place is 'spensive! and like everything in atlanta, it was crowded. i waddled to try and get sympathy from passersby, but to no avail. my kids still had to wait in line like everyone else. 

it was pretty incredible. lots of sharks and fish and whatnot and like my father before me, i read the boring informational placards and learned that the georgia aquarium is the largest in the world and that they have a special sea otter rescue program for baby otters who get separated from their parents. so, naturally, i cried a but a bit about that too. 
i felt kinship with, maris, the beluga whale who is pregnant and due in the spring, just like me. she was pretty lithe and i figure i would be pretty lithe too if i was swimming all day, instead of resting and watching rocky. i have kept up with running 3 miles a few times a week, but it's more like shuffling and gasping in public. then once a week i take a barre class which has to be hilarious to watch because i am clinging to my barre for dear life because my fred flintstone feet cannot support me any more. 

speaking of fred flintstone feet:
grosssssssss. they look like rocky's face at the end of rocky 1,2,3,4, and no one cares about 5, or rocky balboa. 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

florida christmas spectacular


before we left on our trip to florida for christmas, i made sure to put my nice camera download cord in a "safe place" so that i would know exactly where to find it upon our return. i'm not sure why i didn't put it in my regular spot, as that would make the most sense, but i decided to make things hard and try and lose my cord for fun. all together now, "pregnancy brain"!!!

we had so many trip highlights, but the ones i have pictorial evidence of are busch gardens and honeymoon island. unfortunately, the theatrical extravaganza that was reagan's fire safety puppet show reloaded, complete with 8 songs, including the addition of selena gomez's, "if you're ready, come and get it" is not included. let's all hold a fast for the camera cord location. 

anywhoo, since i obviously never going to find it and i can never download pictures from my camera ever, never, ever again, i may as well record what i can with my camera phone pictures. it will be a weak substitute. i don't even have a picture of my dear sister or mother. probably because we didn't get frosties together this time and pictures and frosties go hand in hand like long, flat william's family bottoms and empty calorie choices.

we went to busch gardens on christmas eve. it was so fun to be there as a family. 
that's ATHENA BLYTHE up on the suspended bridge with thomas. no big deal, mom. 

blythe's example gave scarlett the courage to accomplish the same feat.

the dads took the big kids one some fun roller coasters and aunt heather and i took the babies to see the elmo show. heather and i sang the loudest. because we are so obnoxious.

blythe had more than a few moments of tantrum. waiting in line was a pain, buckling up was a pain and going in through the entrance is for mere mortals. i had to chase blythe many times when she decided she was done waiting and was going to take any chance she could to get on a ride. 

  final busch gardens thoughts
*a bird pooped on my shoulder. at least it wasn't my hair
*they had HUGE, lazy 12 foot alligators about 10 feet from your face
*we got free tickets from heather's neighbor and that saved us about $250. boom.
*pregnant women are the best spot in line savers. what else are we going to do?

aunt heather and uncle daniel have a real live alligator lake in their backyard. uncle daniel took the kids fishing and all that outdoorsy stuff while i nursed yet another sinus infection and thomas took conference calls from the hotel room. (poor thomas spends every christmas putting out legal fires. everyone should go to dental school. the law is a jealous mistress.)


uncle daniel is the best. hands down. fishing. treasure hunting. specialty drink preparation. specialty cheese plate taste test preparer. full body beach burials. he's the party starter. he'll get things going.


aunt heather and uncle daniel have started the tradition of elaborate treasure hunts for my kids. this was was complete with maps, clues and real live buried treasure under and X in the sand. 


floridaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because i know it's downhill from here, i took a swim suit pregnancy picture. i am woman. in spandex.



 on our return trip, we stopped for lunch in waycross with thomas' mother. scarlett was ready for her 90s engagement portrait sitting on a hay bale in the barn. 

final note, if i was to go looking for crystal meth, a drive through certain parts of north florida might send me in the right direction. sketchy.