Babies and Butterflies

A few weekends ago, Tyler and I headed out of town to Pine Mountain, GA to meet up with some dear friends of mine from Auburn. It was a combo reunion weekend/baby shower and we had a great time. It was full of babies - and not just the two in utero - but also a precious little girl and boy belonging to 2 of my friends. We had a great time hanging out, talking, eating and going to Callaway Gardens. Of course we picked the hottest weekend of the year, but we still saw birds of prey and butterflies and everyone was a trooper. Except me who kept having to sit down because I was so dang hot. The ugly, red-faced, sweat pouring down my face, might throw up, kind of hot. It was so attractive. I wish you all could have been there. Tyler had fun playing with all the kiddos, as he himself, is a big kid. He's going to be the greatest dad. And you'll also see some of his artsy butterfly/nature photos below. A renaissance man, he is.

We had a great time and I'm so thankful for great friends - even if I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like!

Somewhere, this picture exists with all of us looking at the camera. I have no idea where though.











The butterfly garden has a tropical jungle climate to keep all the butterflies happy. This feels totally awesome when it's 98 degrees outside. I had been in there before, so I sat outside on the cool bench, while Tyler took pictures. It's like I was right there with him. :)














Yes, we are models. And we do our little turns on the catwalk.

The Burns' Girls get Showered

The Burns' Girls were proud recipients of a shower hosted by 2 of their most favorite people this weekend. They were super excited about all of the wonderful gifts they got and can't wait to try them out when they make their grand entrance in September. Or at least this is what they would say were they, you know, not still hanging out in my belly. But I know it's what they're thinking.

We had a bunch of family come in town to celebrate with us. We had a great time visiting with all of them and being together. Below are a few pictures from the festivities. A special shout out to Brenda and Kristin for being the best hostesses a girl could ask for.

Brenda, Me & Kristin. And yes, I'm wearing a crown.












Me and Mom, a.k.a., "Mimi".


















My 2 grandmothers, soon to be great-grandmothers! Nana on the left and Gabby on the right.

















That's the baby daddy to the left and my dad, one of the future grandfathers, on the right. He has yet to choose a name for himself. However, I can't judge as we have yet to choose names for the girls'. So I'll just blame him for my indecisiveness. :)













Tyler's grandmother on the left and mom on the right. MeMaw and Coco.
















The Burns' Girls aunt's and father, who appears to be doing his best Zoolander impersonation.












Get it? Aren't we funny? Wait, I don't hear you laughing.

The Burns' Girls

Well, as most of my blog readers know already, we are expecting twins! My apologies for the huge delay in actually blogging about it. In my defense, I couldn't find the cord that hooked our computer to the printer so I could scan some ultrasound pics in. Now, I have no defense but laziness as I found said cord but still haven't scanned them in. When I do, I will post! Until then, here's a picture of me with my dear friend, Kelley, who's expecting her little boy any day now! This picture is about 3 weeks old and let me tell you, the belly has GROWN since then. This was at about 18 weeks.

Tyler and I are excited and overwhelmed and so thankful for these 2 little blessings! I've started to feel them move around which is so cool and also a little freaky. So far, Tyler hasn't been able to feel them, despite my repeating "THERE! Did you feel that???" over and over again. Weird how it doesn't work like that.

So far, they are doing well and we pray that they continue to grow and develop and stay healthy. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to hear the heartbeats, which is always so fun and reassuring.

We have tons of stuff to do before the little squirts arrive, starting with registering this weekend. I'm not gonna lie, I'm afraid of Babies R Us. It makes me sweat a little bit. But our super cool friend, Brenda, is coming along to stop any meltdowns and help us navigate the craziness that is the baby superstore. Brenda, I promise not to cause any scenes. I can't make any promises for Tyler though. The guy's a loose cannon.

So anyway, I *hope* to be blogging more frequently as we take this journey towards meeting our 2 girls. I know I've said that before, but hopefully this time, I actually mean it. That kind of makes this entry a cliffhanger, doesn't it? Sweet.

If You're Going to San Francisco...

Please be sure to pack a raincoat.

Ha - you thought I was going to say wear flowers in your hair, didn't you? I like to keep you guessing. But you can wear flowers in your hair if you want. You'd fit right in.

Tyler and I took a trip to San Francisco to celebrate our 5th anniversary/my upcoming birthday on which I will celebrate the 9th anniversary of my 21st birthday. We had a great time.


Some highlights:

The Chinese New Year parade (apparently one of the top 10 parades in the world - had no idea). Then, eating at a restaurant in Chinatown. Let me just say, it is fly by the seat of your pants when you're picking a restaurant in Chinatown. It was slightly scary, yet strangely exhilarating. There are some interesting things hanging in the windows. And fried rice in Chinatown is not the same as fried rice at PF Chang's. Or wherever you like to get your Chinese food. Not bad, just different.











































Meeting an old friend for the day and getting a super tour of San Fran and seeing the redwoods. The redwoods are gorgeous! I'm so glad we got to see them. And apparently, Muir Woods is where the Ewoks in Star Wars lived. Well, I mean, not for real - but that's where it was shot. All my Star Wars friends (ahem, Brenda) will appreciate that. :)






































Driving to Sonoma to visit wine country. It is BEAUTIFUL there. I think I could stay there for a week and just sit on a porch in a rocking chair and read. We went to a few wineries, where Tyler, my non-wine loving husband, developed an appreciation for it. Way to go, honey! We ate a delicious lunch in little historic downtown Sonoma. I think Tyler said it was the best burger he ever had. High praise, coming from him.







































We also took a ferry ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It was flipping cold, but it was still fun and we got a lot of good pics. The Golden Gate Bridge is quite impressive and it made me hum the theme song to Full House whenever I saw it. Which is always fun. I think Tyler and I sang it all the way through while driving across it.



















































And speaking of Full House, on a totally unrelated note, please watch this link and tell me it made you cringe and laugh as much as I did. I could do a whole post about Full House. But I digress.

So, clearly we had a great time in San Francisco. I'm actually headed back out to the left coast for work tomorrow - it's no vacation, but I'll take a trip to LA over sitting at my desk anyday!

Snow!

I'm really doing an excellent job with my New Year's resolution about keeping up my blog. Thanks for pointing that out, Michelle. I need someone to hold me accountable. Oh, Brenda, thank you too. And Tyler. So it's really not being held "accountable". It's just being hounded. And it appears to have finally worked. Well done, guys.

I have other updates coming, but first, in a shocking turn of events - it snowed. In Atlanta. In March. So, while the rest of the city was rushing out to the store to buy up all the bread and milk they could, I took a picture of our house to commemorate the occasion. People, this is rare. It had to be documented. Lily didn't know what to do with herself. I wish I'd gotten a picture of her contemplating the snow with her head cocked to one side.

Snow yesterday, but a high this week of 68. March is off to a brilliant start!

Who me? Not update my blog?

You must have me confused with another, much more irresponsible blogger. I would never do that. If I WERE to do that though, I would blame it on the busy holidays. Not laziness.

So, Happy New Year everyone! And by everyone, I mean the approximately 5 folks who read my blog. My audience is small, but my readers are dedicated. Hope you all had a good one. :)

This entry doesn't so much have a topic so much as to let you know that I'm back and my New Year's resolution is to update my blog more. Hopefully this one will go better than most all of my other New Year's resolutions have gone.

Lily, however, is much better at keeping her resolutions. This year they are to learn to appreciate good art and be cuter. As you can see from the picture below, mission: accomplished.

Looking Around

One of my favorite quotes, sayings, whatever you want to call it goes:

Sorrow looks back
Worry looks around
Faith looks up.

I have been spending too much time looking around lately. I'm a worrier by nature, but have been especially so lately. And I find, naturally, that when I spend so much time worrying and "looking around", I don't have nearly enough time to look up. This is not what my Heavenly Father wants for me. He doesn't want me dwelling on things I have no control over. He doesn't want me so caught up in my own mind that I'm not focusing on my relationship with Him. It's so much easier to brood, and dwell and sigh a lot and wonder if this is the plan He has for me than to realize that it is EXACTLY the plan He has for me. Even if I don't get it. And don't like it. I'm not supposed to. My human nature tells me that I should, but I'm not promised roses and sunshine throughout my time on this earth. That's not the deal. Jesus didn't get that. So why on earth would I, sinful, flawed me, expect to? Human nature. The constant struggle to realize that it's NOT all about me. It's all about Him. I pray and pray that His will is MY will - and I don't think it's wrong to pray about/ask for things I want. He wants to know the desires of my heart. I just can't expect that they are always in line with His plans. That is a hard pill to swallow. It's big and tastes gross and needs a lot of water to get it down. Or a lot of faith.

So all that to say, I'm going to start spending more time looking up. And in keeping with the season, being thankful.

I'm so thankful for:

A loving, supportive family
Prayerful friends
My solid-as-a-rock, not to mention, handsome, husband
The coming Advent season
My grandmother's turkey and dressing!
Time with aforementioned family
The armful of love that is my dog
Leaving work early
Faith
Hope
and Love

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I pray it's a blessed one for you all.