Easter 2008

A little late, but wanted to post a few Easter pics from a few weeks ago. It was very nice and quiet - a bit sad that it will be our last Easter at Red Mountain Church. I have always loved their Good Friday services. Charles participated in his first Easter egg hunt. Last year we attended a few, but of course, we didn't do any hunting! This year he was very proud of his three or so eggs he found and learning how to open and close them. I just love the the bunny outfit he has, and hopefully a little brother will wear it again some day - I have a feeling that he will not be wearing bunnies next year if he has anything to do with it! The other picture is his Sunday Easter outfit at the Botanical Gardens.

Cookies

Over the last month we have been busy busy with trips to Mobile, Augusta and Charleston. Then Easter was right around the corner, but we have finally managed to slow down, and what a better way to start off our week with a cookie tour! Our little playgroup went on a tour of Bud's Best Cookie Factory. Charles is still a little too young to understand what all the robots and machines are doing, but he thoroughly enjoyed the train ride, and of course, the cookies!

Aunt Mary's Visit

We had a sweet friend come to visit us in Birmingham two weekends ago - she is Charles' Aunt Mary and Jacob's mother's best friend from growing up. I have always enjoyed spending time with her at past weddings and family vacations, but it was so great to have this quality visiting time all to ourselves! We played with Charles (thankfully right before the onset of his first ear infection), visited the zoo and botanical gardens and ate yummy food at the Fish Market and Open Door Cafe. We had fun touring around Birmingham, but most of all we just enjoyed the time catching up on each other's lives. Thank you for visiting, Aunt Mary!

Pink or Blue?

Jacob and I went and had our "big" ultrasound appointment yesterday where they check out the baby and reveal the sex. We are thankful that our baby appears to be very healthy and active...and that Charles will soon have a baby sister! All along I felt we were having a girl, but my strategy has been to change the sex from week to week so I do not get stuck on one or the other. We are thrilled and I can't wait to see Charles and his new sister interact. I would post the ultrasound pictures of her sweet little profile, but I have not gotten that high tech yet. We'll keep you posted on our pregnancy and the upcoming move to Charleston. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this healthy little one.

Cuteness

Just thought I would post three cute pictures of Charles that I ran across while downloading from our camera. The first one is a quite awkward pose we found him in one night - we check on him nightly, and it was a priceless photo op! How can that be comfortable? The second one is of him in his new shoes. He loves them and brings them to me every morning, sits down, lifts his feet and says, "shoes, shoes" until I put them on him. The last picture is of Charles sitting on his UGA stool acting like a gorilla. Jacob taught him how to beat (pat) his chest and say, "oh, oh, oh," to impersonate one. His favorite book is Goodnight, Gorilla so we get to see this trick often.

For Sale By Owner

Yes, we put our For Sale By Owner sign out today, with a tear or two shed as well. Even though we feel like it is our time to close the chapter on our time here in Birmingham, it is still difficult to imagine life in a new city. I feel like we just arrived here in a U-Haul after 4.5 hours on I-20 from Augusta. I have been through a roller coaster of emotions these days thinking about leaving B'ham and starting new friendships and routines in Charleston. Yes, the pregnancy hormones are playing a part in the ups and downs, but this city holds many memories over the last four years. During our time here, we bought our first home, traveled to Europe and Africa, nursed my dad back to health after a triple bypass surgery at UAB, had our first child, and celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and 10th New Year's Eve together.

We will greatly miss our first church joined as a married couple, Red Mountain Church, and our community group that we have been a part of over the years. We will miss our friends and extended family that we spent so much time with. We will miss our afternoons at the Zoo, Botanical Gardens, library and our typical Thursday night takeout at Shangri-La or dining out at El Cazador. We will definitely miss our comfortable house that we put so much love into and made our own.

With all this being said, we do look forward to starting our next chapter in Charleston. We will have our second child shortly after arriving and hopefully a few more while we are there. If it's in the plan, we look forward to buying our second home and setting up a big boy room for Charles and nursery for Baby 2 (and maybe even a second bathroom)! We will hopefully find a new church home and a new community of friends along with reconnecting with old ones. We look forward to being closer to Jacob's parents, siblings, and my dad. Jacob is ready to begin his cardiology fellowship (the last stop before private practice) and beginning a new phase of learning. We dream about having the month of June off with days filled with naps and beach time - I can not wait for long walks in the sand with cute little bare feet and backs to nibble on. Jacob has even discussed with Charles his future plans of special fishing trips. It will be fun to be tourists for a while in our new city and visit the Battery, Fort Moultrie, the beaches, Rainbow Row, City Market, and the Aquarium - of course, we welcome visitors to share our new city with!

Yes, I know you might be wondering why am I already bidding farewell to B'ham, but at this moment of less than four months left and putting the sign out in our yard, I felt it was an appropriate time to share my memories, anticipations, and fears. I might not have the time to blog this much over the next few months - I have a feeling that life is about to get a lot more hectic!

Snow in the South?

Yes, it's hard to believe, but the final winter we are enjoying in Birmingham provided a short snowfall last Saturday morning. We had fun wheeling Charles around in his little red wagon and letting him eat the snow!