Memorial Day

We had a nice long weekend for Memorial Day.... Chip worked alot last week and because of that he had 4 days off!! It was so nice!

We headed up to his parents house on Friday night in the pouring rain and went to eat at my FAVORITE place- Skogies! Its at the Gainesville Marina. You can dock your boat and go eat- and the food is SO good! Trey really enjoyed it as well. He had grouper and met a cute little girl and they played together most of the time.

Saturday we took Trey for a boat ride... He really enjoyed being on the boat but once we left the dock we had to put the life jacket on him and he HATED that- can't say I blame him. Here are some pictures:

Sunday our plans changed at the last minute so Chip & I left Trey with his folks and spent a few hours out on the lake (and went back to Skogies to eat).Later that night we enjoyed pizza out on the dock. (you can still see how low the water is!)
Monday before we headed home we went to the local Memorial Day parade. It was a nice tribute to honor all the men and woman who have served this Country so bravely!

Month 3

ok so month 1 is actually month 2:This is month # 3! Time is flying - only about 6 more months to go. Another 8 weeks and we'll know if we are having a boy or a girl!I've got some pictures from our Memorial Day weekend I'll post later!

Its only Wednesday

Here are some random things from the week...

I spent about an hour or so yesterday organizing Trey's closet and drawers. He outgrows clothes and shoes so quickly I feel like this is a monthly task. I have to go through all the clothes and take out what doesn't fit and add in things he's grown into or about to grow into. While I was at it I did the same for my clothes (since my closet is also in his room). I dug out all the maternity clothes- joy oh joy! During my "sorting" Trey was playing. This is what he did to his room! AHHHH! LOL!

After dinner last night we had some really bad weather- we were even in the line of another tornado. We've had so many tornados this year so far- beginning in Feb! Which is pretty early for the kind of weather. Anyway- here is a picture I took from our back porch as the storm was moving in.

STRAW SUCCESS! Trey figured out last week how to drink from a straw. I had wondered how I was going to teach him that- but he just figured it out. We were out to eat and he kept grabbing my water glass so I let him put the straw in his mouth and he ended up drinking most of my water! I kept forgetting to buy straws- so today I went to the store and grabbed some straws and a cool cup with a straw for him...

Dinner time is well... see for yourself! He pretty much only likes the typical kid stuff... Mac & Cheese, pizza, grilled cheese, hot dogs, fish sticks, chicken nuggets.... Tonight I made a cranberry walnut chicken- which he likes. I made green beans (he can eat canned ones but not frozen - he can't chew the skins up so instead he had corn)... potatoes, and garlic cheese bread. He ate the chicken and the bread- the corn and potatoes... again see for yourself.

cat feathers and a zebra

I just thought this picture was funny! Trey knows he is not allowed to play in the cat food- but today he picked up the cat toy "feathers on a stick" and was using that to play in the cat food and he thought it was so funny- so I snapped a picture...

For his birthday Trey got a bounce and spin zebra. We got it put together this week and he loves it. He really likes to practice getting on and off... on and off.... on and off.

Its the weekend and Chip is off- yay!

Today was the first prenatal appointment. I didn't remeber what happened on my first visit when I was pregnant with Trey... funny how quickly we forget things. Anyhow Chip came along and so did Trey. It was pretty routine I guess - get weighed (which I didn't mind this time but as the months go on my weight goes up and that's when I start freaking out... the Doc told me when I pregnant with Trey to "calm down" - LOL!) Anyhow- poor Trey cried everytime a Doctor or Nurse entered the room. I guess he thought he was getting a shot. They even gave him some Kool Aid to try and make "friends" with him. But it was the animal crackers that did the trick. They did an ultrasound today and as soon as we saw the image of baby Chamberlin 2 I had a feeling I was further along than 8 weeks... you could clearly see the head, arms, legs, and even the eyes! Wow! We also heard the heartbeat- pretty awesome. And as it turns out- I am 10 weeks along. My due date is December 12th! Yay!

We got home and Trey and I had lunch- he had one of his favorites; Hotdogs and Mac&Cheese. Well he has learned in the last 2 days how to spit out his food. So he enjoys practicing that. He would suck the juice off the hotdog and spit it out and suck the cheese off the Macaroni and spit out the noodles! AH! LOL! What can you do. He eventually ate some of the noodle and thankfully I guess after his small afternoon snack he was very hungry by dinner so there was no spitting out the fish sticks!

Last night while I was getting his bath ready he was playing on the floor as usual. He has a ton of rubber ducks (I guess I think they are cute) - he was playing with one and started to walk to me... I turned around to turn off the water and make sure it wasn't to hot and I turn around just in time to see the toliet lid closing. I looked at him and he looked at me as if to say "what... I didn't do anything" Well here is what I saw and I couldn't help but laugh! (at least it wasn't clothes or something else).

Finally I just have to post that I am SO excited... The New Kids on the Block were on the Todays' show this morning. I missed it but watched it later on the web. Trey must've thought I was nuts jumping around and singing 'step by step' and 'you got the right stuff'... hanging tough! Anyhow I had been wanting to go see them in concert but the only dates listed had been Boston, NYC, NJ.... so tonight I thought since we are going to NYC this summer to see the Yankees maybe we can go when NKOTB are in concert.... NO need!! THEY ARE COMING TO ATLANTA!!! I called Chip... he was "thrilled"! LOL! I can't wait to go. Tickets go on sale June 9th! WHOOO-HOOO! I am total dork!

Fernbank- not again...

Tuesday was community day at the Fernbank Science Center here in Atlanta- which meant free admission! I was pretty excited (free is always good!) so I called up Karen and we made plans to take the kids. I can remember going to Fernbank so many times as a kid on field trips. I can't say I remember all that much about the place - mostly just the planatarium (which wasn't free on Tuesday) and most of my other memories include waiting outside to get in and eating the brown bag lunch we always got on field trips (which always had an apple and a chocolate chip cookie and I hated both those things- still hate the chocolate now). I guess if I had remembered what Fernbank was all about I wouldn't have taken Trey and asked Karen and Kate to come along. But then again I should've known better.... The Fernbank Science Center is well about science and of course we all know what that means- EVOLUTION! Yea- so it was kind of a bust. But at least we didn't pay to get in. The one neat thing about the place was the toddler play room- Kate and Trey really enjoyed that part- here are some pictures:

Afterwards we headed to Felini's Pizza- I love this place. There are a few locations around Atlanta and you can buy pizza by the slice- YUM! Anyhow- it was at least nice to spend some time with friends!

Bless your heart, tramp!

(this picture is a little hard to make out- but its one of my favorites... it was taken in PCB for the Yankees reading this that stands for Panama City Beach, FL - the Redneck Riviera and one of my favorite places to go. The picture is NOT me- some girl I don't know- but it says "GRITS" again for the Yankees- that means "girls raised in the south". Beneath it are 3 cherries within each is the rebel flag... welcome to the south! LOL!)

Bless you heart, Tramp.... This is a title of a silly book that I picked up over Christmas after a conversation with my "Yankee" sister-in-law, Suzanne. She pointed out to me that Southerners are fake because we southern woman (YES I consider myself a southerner) feel we can get away with the most awful insult as long as we preface it with "Bless her heart" or "Bless his heart". For example "Bless her heart, she's as dumb as a box of rocks" or "Bless his heart, he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag". This really made me laugh of course because ... well... it's true. I can't count how many times I've heard myself say this. I guess being a "proper southern Christain woman" you must bless the heart because then the insult just doesn't seem so bad, right?! LOL! But come on as Celia Rivenbark puts it in her book, This "making fun" comes from folks who think the "family silver" refers to the large medallion around Uncle Vinnie's neck.

Suzanne and I like to make fun of each other about this. In fact, can you believe it, she says that until her first time to Georgia (which was probably 6 years ago) she never knew we (southerners) refered to 'them' as Yankees!? We do... and its not meant to be an insult (most of the time- unless for example you say "I wish these Damn Yankees would just go back North). Suzanne would never utter such words as "ya'll", "right close", "fixin' to"... and I'd never say things like wutter (translation- water), hooowse (translation- house), neow (translation- now) and the worst- Go Eagles or Go Yankees (gives me the shivers just thinking about it!)

As I mentioned in my last post, Suzanne and Kevin came to Georgia in the spring of 2006 for a family vacation. Chip and I along with my folks headed to Savannah for the HUGE St. Patricks day parade and party. We drove from Atlanta to Savannah via I-16 and made a stop in the "one stop light" town Cochran (where we lived in the late 80's early 90's). Now THIS place is true small town Georgia. I think the entire drive her mouth was open... The parade and party on River Street was Great (here is a picture of us).

The next day we headed back to Atlanta for the NASCAR race. Now if you think racing is a silly sport- please go to a race. It'll change your mind. This, in my opinion, is one of the BEST all American sports and family events out there. Where else can you arrive for a 1pm race at 6am- cook out and drink beer- and not be alone. In fact it's encouraged! You can even bring in your own coolers of Coke or beer and your own food - so you don't have to spend money. Before the race you can walk around and even get autographs and pictures with the drivers. Really it's a great sport. Anyhow- back to my story. This was a pretty chilly day in Atlanta I'd say 40 something and raining. And look what walks by... not helping my case about how wonderful the south is- this just played into the stereotype!
And just a few more pictures from the race just because:

Later that morning Suzanne tried her very first corn dog (she loved it). I am still not without hope that she will love the south (I even tried getting her to watch the greatest southern movie of all time... Gone with the wind- but she fell asleep during the part Where Ashley Wilkes is talking about how terrible the Yankees are) and one day want to live here.

So in closing here are some tips I found for a Yankee moving to the south:

-Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store.

-Remember: "Y'all" is singular. "All y'all" is plural. "All y'all's" is plural possessive. (example: Do ya'll want to keep ya'lls forks for ya'llses' peach cobbler)

-There is nothing sillier than a Northerner imitating a southern accent (unless it is a southerner imitating a Boston accent- sorry Chip).

-Get used to hearing, "You ain't from around here, are you?"

-People walk slower here

-Don't be worried that you don't understand anyone. They don't understand you either.

-The first Southern expression to creep into a transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective "Big ol'", as in "big ol' truck"or "big ol' boy". Eighty-five percent begin their new southern influenced dialect with this expression. One hundred percent are in denial about it.

-Be advised: The "He needed killin'" defense is valid here.

-The winter wardrobe you always brought out in September can wait until November.

-If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the most minuscule accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It does not matter if you need anything from the store, it is just something you're supposed to do.

-Florida is not considered a southern state. There are far more Yankees than Southerners living there.

-If you do run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in the cab of a four wheel drive with a 12-pack of beer and a tow chain will be along shortly. Don't try to help them. Just stay out of their way. This is what they live for.

-Refer to EVERY soft drink as a Coke (Atlanta is home of Coca Cola. That's all we drink here, so don't ask for any other soft drink.)

-"Sugar" is a more common form of address than "Miss". So is "Honey".

Ya'll Come Back Now, Ya hear?

ps- this is all in good fun- you know how much I love all my Yankee family and friends!!! (heck, technically I am one)

What's in the water?!

It seems I know alot of woman who are pregnant right now. Funny how that happens- I felt that way when I was pregnant with Trey also. Well for those who don't already know my brother Kevin and his wife Suzanne are also pregnant- WITH TWINS! AHH! So that means my parents will go from having one grandchild to having four by the end of the year! Crazy! I am excited to be going through pregnancy with her (even though they are in NJ) but she'll be experiencing alot more than I... but either way it'll be neat.

Suzanne is actually due on Jan 6th- but I think when you have more than one you usually don't go full term. My due date is December 20th (at least that is my best guess). So the cousins will be VERY close in age. Pretty cool I think! It'll make the get togethers alot of fun in the coming years!

I got an email from another friend of mine today telling me she is also pregnant! When I saw her last weekend she was telling my that her husband wanted one more but she didn't think she wanted to. SURPRISE! Of course she is so excited! She has 3 boys already- could this one be a girl??? Hmmm?

Anyway- It's an exciting time with the blessing of new life. Thank you Lord!

ps- the picture is of Suzanne and I at Atlanta Motorspeedway for the NASCAR race(2006)... it was FREEZING! It was her first real "southern experience" (she even had her first corn dog this day) we also took her to Savannah for St. Pats day that same weekend. I was hoping to change her into a real Southerner and get them to move here... well it didn't work. "Bless her heart" she's just a yankee for life! Now go get my WUTTER... (I'll have to post about all this! Yankee/Southerner thing!)

catching up

One thing that I decided that I wanted to do during this pregnancy was to take pictures of myself each month. I didn't do that when I was pregnant with Trey. In fact there are probably only a handful of pictures of me actually being pregnant. The reason... well I was beyond freaked out about "becoming fat". Yea, you can roll your eyes0 most people do. But for me it was a real fear. Most people told me I would be fine and not have a problem getting the weight off afterwards- but there were those people who told me that I better love the way I look because after a baby "you won't look like that anymore". I even read a book called "The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy" - AHHH! After reading that I thought I was going to have saggy 'you know whats' and a gut to cover my jeans. So I was freaked out. BUT... I continued to workout (my last workout was within 48 hours of delivery) and I jumped right back into a workout routine after Trey. Long story short a little hard work and not over doing it on the fattening stuff (come on... I can't LIVE without french fries... ok and McNuggets and Coke and well more french fries) and I got back into my jeans in no time. SO here I am at month 1. I hear you start to show earlier with the second pregnancy so I think I only have a matter of a few more weeks so I am wearing all my favorite jeans, skirts, tank tops, and bikinis now....

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to PA:

Uncle Kevin singing and playing guitar to Trey

two crying cousins! (they are 5 days apart)My Mom, Jane, JT, me, and Trey (and thier matching monsters!)

Cousin Alyssa so sweet holding TreyTrey and his Mimi laughing up a storm (how do you spell that?!)

Happy Birthday to Trey!

Hard to believe it's been a year! But yesterday Trey turned 1! Time really does fly... the days sometime seem long but looking back... wow! I am starting to understand when parents say "it seems like just yesterday! Things have certainly changed ALOT since May 2007 - but I wouldn't change it for the world. I learned things I never knew... I learned that I could love more than I thought- I fell in love with Chip like I never thought I could. I gained a deep appriciation for my parents and all the sacrifices they made for me- things I was never grateful for until I held Trey for the first time.

Here are some pictures from his first days...

PA day 1

Some picture highlights from our trip....

Sun coming up on as we arrive in PA:

We took Trey to the local park in Dillsburg- he loves the swing:Trey and his Pa blowing bubbles:The firetruck (yes we took it to PA with us!):My cousin Cindy (sorry Cin your eyes are closed!) and my Sister-in-law Suzanne (LOVED being able to spend some time with them.... move to GA!)Trey enjoyed swinging in the tree:More pictures tomorrow....