thoughts and inklings of an artist...

costa rica!

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:18:00 +0000

david has been given the opportunity to lead fourteen berry students to costa rica this summer. the students will be teaching english in local elementary schools across the guanacaste region. we arrived here safely yesterday and will be here until june 28th. internet will be limited, so i won't be able to post much. i am able to post this from a location where we are currently staying. we are leaving today to move into our house, and will return to this location three weeks from now (where we'll have internet access again). it's been an easy transition so far despite the fact that i got sick from our first meal down here (why i ate the salad...lord only knows...but i was the only one out of the seventeen of us that got sick). here are a few pics of our adventure so far!

asa packing for our trip

asa and me arriving in costa rica

asa and papa in the pool

pasty whites playing in the pool together

berry students on the beach

they are EVERYWHERE!!!

happy mother's day

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

happy mother's day to all you mommies out there.

i hope that you have a fabulous day.

what a gift it is to be a mom...

clean as a whistle

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:17:00 +0000

sunlight and texture

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:00:00 +0000

again, no need for loud toys that take an hour to put together. asa is intrigued by the sunlight here and the texture of the carpet. sat there for the longest time (if you can see, his trails of drool have made their way into his diaper).

asa's soap box

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:00:00 +0000

asa is surrounded by a multitude of colorful, musical toys. but as you can see, an empty soap box brings him the most joy. he also loves the white huggies wipey box (in the lower left corner)...will play with the pop-up lid for forever. glad to know if we were stranded on an island...my kid could easily entertain himself with coconuts and bamboo sticks (no need to play in any dharma stations). isn't it crazy how much stuff there is in the world today for babies? what did kids play with in the 1600's...1700's? i think moms today should burn all their kids' toys like the women of the sixties burned all their bras. then give their kids a bunch of wooden toys and chickens and rocks to play with. then in about twenty years give all the kids a test and see how well they score...they'll all probably be geniuses.

our very own michelin man

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:35:00 +0000

it was brought to my attention that my last post didn't make sense. sorry about that. i was cooking dinner and trying to feed asa at the same time a few weeks ago, and this is how things ended up (i am not much of a multi-tasker as you can tell). i ended up finding the pureed carrots a couple of days later in the folds of asa's arms (that was even after a bath!)....hence that is where the carrots were hiding...

great hiding place

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:28:00 +0000

one guess as to where the carrots are hiding...

our emotional eater

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:54:00 +0000

bless his heart...he's quite the sensitive kid. ;o)

past few weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:00:00 +0000

man, the past about month and a half...well, to be frank....have sucked butt. life has been challenging and pretty much trying. i have been exhausted. my body has hurt from head to toe. pajama bottoms and baseball caps are my friends. so to name a few obstacles we've encountered: six month growth spurt (equaling extra feedings), teething (equaling sleepless nights resulting in extra feedings as a last calming resort equaling an exhausted mom), vaccinations, the time change, asa's first cold (lasted a week...no infection thank goodness), asa's po-po being "adjusted" (we're going to have him circumcised when he turns one...long story), and forgetting how to sleep through the night as a result from all of the above...sigh. wooo! good night nurse in the morning. i share our hardship with you only to remind myself that this too shall pass. asa has slept through the night the past four nights. his cold is gone. he's taken a liking to some solid foods. his new favorite fun activity is jumping in his boingy seat...hours if i'd let him (boing! boing! boing!). and pet smart makes some great chew toys (j/k). i am posting these pics to remind me that it does get better. when i look at them, i melt and somehow completely forget about the loooong nights. i love my kid. it's all so worth it (but...don't ask me that at three in the morning when i stub my toe on the laundry basket full of dirty clothes as i am tripping to the crib to blindly feel for the pacifier that gets spit out thirty seconds after i crawl back in my warm snuggly bed with my warm snuggly husband). :o)

yeah, buddy, you're not the only one yawning... ;o)
we love you sweet boy!!!

happy easter

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:11:00 +0000

praise god from whom all blessings flow! :o)

kissin' friends

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:44:00 +0000

asa has an obsession with peoples' faces...that is if you let him. he loves to suck, drool, and slober on noses, cheeks, and chins. asa didn't waste any time recently. within minutes of meeting aunt mimi for the first time, he went straight for an open mouth kiss. no shame in his game.

oh how he loves his aunt mimi!

guitar lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:01:00 +0000

papa teaching asa how to play the guitar

*the real story behind this picture....we had a full, fun day with out-of-town guests, and asa had just woken up cranky and crying from a short-lived nap and was a mess. so we plugged him up and played guitar to calm him down because our babysitter would be arriving in an hour, so david and i could go play in a badminton tourney (yes, we're dorky like that). we ended up forfeiting our quarter final match to go home to a baby that just couldn't be consoled...oh my, how pictures can be deceiving! :o) what a night...sigh.

grandparent lovin'

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:00:00 +0000

happy valentine's day!

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:51:00 +0000

asa sends his love, snuggles, drool, and wet, open-mouth kisses to all his friends, family, and girlfriends. we hope that you each are having a wonderful valentine's day. valentine's day should be celebrated everyday. we love you all...so very much.

hey, baby...how 'bout a kiss?

wait! you can't leave without giving me a kiss!

depth of friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:02:00 +0000

i am amazed how the heart can feel for another. a former UVA volleyball player. an aunt from hilton head. an orlando pastor. a matron of honor. an RA from college. a husband. a son. for the past twenty-two years, my life has been a journey woven through several cities and states. so many people. as an outcome, a cast of characters has evolved. each member playing a part in my journey. whether going for a jog in my mind or physically present...my life is changed. my heart sighs. words are unspoken. kindred spirits are in communion. david experienced this depth yesterday with the man pictured below. their friendship affects me. amazing men. gentle spirits. beautiful hearts. mj, kate, asa, and i are blessed.

mantlepiece

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:32:00 +0000

look who david found on the mantle again...

a few christmas pics

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:00:00 +0000

and my all-time favorite....
asa with his uncle david (my handsome big brother)

centre friends

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:09:00 +0000

to all of our centre & danville friends...

we love you all and miss you much!!!

asa thanks the old centre crew for his fun onesie...it final fits now! :o)

wee hour writing

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:33:00 +0000

it's 1:13 in the morning...and again...i am wide awake. asa is dreaming. david is softly snoring. i am reading friends' blogs. it seems to be the only time i get to read blogs these days. the house is creaking. a dog is barking. the keyboard is clicking. my sleep mask is still intact resting on my forehead. we attended a basketball game this afternoon. the last game to be played in ford gym. made me sad. brought back many memories. i loved college. such a romance. living back on campus ten years later conjures up such odd emotions. memories surface often on walks around campus with asa. splashing in rain puddles from richards to krannert. mudwrestling. witnessing a student get run over by a deer in front of green. waking up in drool in cubicles tucked in the back of the library. disecting sheep eyeballs in the basement of cook. endless pranks in friendship hall. even as i type now, my mind floods with memories. i hope asa will have memories here. his life. the deer. the sunsets. the long walks. visiting his papa and students in evans. he watched the basketball players run up and down the court today. was startled each time the buzzer sounded, but quickly refocused on the game. i pointed out to him the national championship banner hanging across the gym. hope he'll think i am cool one day. we made a memory today. the three of us. i try so hard to soak up every moment here. memories are powerful. go make one with someone you love.

4 8 15 16 23 42

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:09:00 +0000

asa's response when he heard the fourth season of LOST is about to start...

check out the counter on the right side of my blog. go here if you want one for your blog (you can also download a widget if you have a mac!). we can't wait until january 31st! david and i canceled netflix after having asa because we abruptly stopped watching movies (have yet to watch one since he's been born) or really watch a full-length tv show (except football...only because the games last several hours and you can come and go as you please). but by golly, we will make time for LOST! asa's bedtime is 9:45 right now and creeps back in 15 minutes increments over every few days. our goal is to reach a 7:30 bedtime. so today is the 16th...lost starts the 31st at 9:00...calculations...hang on i am slow...i need pen and paper to calculate...if all goes right, his bedtime will be around 7:45 by the 31st. SWEET ACTION!!!

happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:55:00 +0000

i guess you could say that david and i are the ultimate new year's eve party poopers. by the time we get done celebrating christmas with both sides of our families, we are too tired to do anything...this year within seven days we hit four cities and visited with over sixty family members. insane, i know. so new year's eve has always been a retreat for us because we hardly see each other during the days surrounding christmas. for the past five years, david has gotten great deals on hotwire.com, and we've spent the night in a four or five star hotel with a bottle of martini & rossi, some form of chocolate, dick clark, room service, and each other. you would have thought while we were kidless, we would have been livin' it up partying with friends, going downtown to the ATL and workin' the dance floor, or at least asking a neighbor to come eat leftovers with us for pete's sake. no, we were losers and retreated (and honestly and selfishly loved every minute of it). well, this year starts a new tradition and being even more poopers of any local parties, we celebrated at home with a kid in a crib (i guess justifiably so). out with the five star hotels and room service and in with our own bed and homemade soup. still wanting to cling to our former tradition, we brought in the new year with hershey kisses (for me...the female of course) and a bottle of martini & rossi. and to spice up our new tradition, we froze our butts off playing with cheap sparklers while asa slept soundly in his snuggly pjs. anyone up for partying next year?

here's a pic of my first attempt to spell "happy new year 2008."
(i had to write the letters backwards and from right to left within a 30 second limit..ha)

amazingly enough, here's my second jab at it!
(i had to concentrate hard)

HAPPY 2008 EVERYONE!!! WE LOVE YOU!
a joint effort for "we (heart) you!"

asa loves sitting on the mantle!

berry baby

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:39:00 +0000

berry baby

my papa is sooooo funny!

our little elf

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:17:00 +0000

it seems like as asa is growing, his ears are growing...out. he looks like a little elf to me in this picture. :o) he just might get a gig every year now at the mall as one of santa's little helpers.

special friends

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:23:00 +0000

we have a unique relationship with some dear friends here at berry. kathy and randy were both of our professors while we were students here (as well as david's forensics coach and mentors). they are now david's colleagues and asa's auntie and uncle. :o) they gave asa this outfit when he was born, and we pulled it out of the closet the other day fearing it wouldn't fit him anymore (seeing how he's doubled his birth weight in less than four months). the outfit looks comfortable, but asa's expression in this first picture really tells the truth..."thanks a lot, guys, i have the biggest weggie right now. just wait for my next diaper change...i've just left y'all a little present of loooove."

bath time

noreply@blogger.com (Aly) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:15:00 +0000

i can't help but laugh pretty hard at this first picture. asa's expression is freakin' hilarious. so funny that i can't even think of a caption to put under it (feel free to offer one). asa has graduated to his "tub" recently (we were using this pillow thingy to bath him). the picture below is from his first time (obviously quite unsure about it), but he enjoys it now.

fat and happy...

makin' kissy lips like all the girls on facebook do... ;o)

mom & asa both squeaky clean...