Allie Elizabeth Berry
April 6, 2009
12:24am
7lbs, 13oz
20 inches
Living, learning, loving...
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hamming It Up
Nevermind the oversized, double-chinned giggling mama in the background. Check Ella out! She's such a little ham!
Leslie Coehlo took this and many more pics the other day at Cleveland Park. I'll post some good ones soon!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Stupid Preggo Comments (Made Mostly By Men)
What is it about men that makes them utterly idiotic when they approach a pregnant woman? I personally think it's just because they have absolutely no idea what that woman is experiencing, and therefore, have absolutely no idea as to what to say. Even the men who have children of their own...their wives could have gone through it 2, 3, or 4 times and they can still really prove themselves to be major boneheads when they try to talk to a preggo.
Point in case #1:
I won't drop names, but will say a very influential person in our community who has three children of his own said this yesterday as he ran into me taking lunch orders for some volunteers who were helping with a project: " You look like you've put away some cheeseburgers..." What?!? Did you really just say that? Then he tried to back peddle by saying, "well, darlin' you deserve every one of them."
Point in case #2:
I stopped by the church yesterday with my dad to show him some renovations that are happening at the Teen Arena. I was greeted at the door by the husband of one of Brandon's staff members. I think they have 5 kids. I got out of the car, and he said something about how are the triplets, er...twins, er... I had to inform him that I would take him out without remorse if he said one more word to me.
Point in case #3:
While shopping at the Fresh Market with my mom yesterday, we were ordering some meat at the meat counter. The butcher who was helping us was trying to be funny (I guess all these guys were trying to be funny...he was the closest) and said to his partner, "Call security. This lady is trying to smuggle a watermelon out of the store under her shirt." That was followed by "If you were in a race all by yourself, you'd come in second." Okay...those were somewhat cute. I told him that I'm so competitive that if I was in a race with myself, I'd turn around and cross the finish line backwards.
Men...I know that if you have had a wife or girlfriend who has been pregnant that you had to have been more careful with your words with her. Take some advice...stop trying to be funny. Just be the caring and sensitive guy that you were when your significant other was about to have a baby.
In fact, here are few phrases that a pregnant woman would accept coming out of your I-have-no-idea-what-you're-going-through mouth:
Point in case #1:
I won't drop names, but will say a very influential person in our community who has three children of his own said this yesterday as he ran into me taking lunch orders for some volunteers who were helping with a project: " You look like you've put away some cheeseburgers..." What?!? Did you really just say that? Then he tried to back peddle by saying, "well, darlin' you deserve every one of them."
Point in case #2:
I stopped by the church yesterday with my dad to show him some renovations that are happening at the Teen Arena. I was greeted at the door by the husband of one of Brandon's staff members. I think they have 5 kids. I got out of the car, and he said something about how are the triplets, er...twins, er... I had to inform him that I would take him out without remorse if he said one more word to me.
Point in case #3:
While shopping at the Fresh Market with my mom yesterday, we were ordering some meat at the meat counter. The butcher who was helping us was trying to be funny (I guess all these guys were trying to be funny...he was the closest) and said to his partner, "Call security. This lady is trying to smuggle a watermelon out of the store under her shirt." That was followed by "If you were in a race all by yourself, you'd come in second." Okay...those were somewhat cute. I told him that I'm so competitive that if I was in a race with myself, I'd turn around and cross the finish line backwards.
Men...I know that if you have had a wife or girlfriend who has been pregnant that you had to have been more careful with your words with her. Take some advice...stop trying to be funny. Just be the caring and sensitive guy that you were when your significant other was about to have a baby.
In fact, here are few phrases that a pregnant woman would accept coming out of your I-have-no-idea-what-you're-going-through mouth:
- Wow! You look beautiful!
- How are you feeling?
- Is there anything I can do for you?
- You carry that baby so well. You have such grace during this stage of life.
- I remember when my (wife, girlfriend) was pregnant. I hope your man is treating you like the queen you are!
- How far along are you? or When's your due date? (and if she lets you know that she's not as far along as you thought she was, don't say anything else!)
Ladies, if you have any other acceptable phrases, feel free to leave them as comments.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Block Party
I just wanted to let you know that I'm serious about this no-touchy the belly thing. Today I started taking actions against unwanted outreaches.
A girl came up and looked like she was about to dribble my belly like a basketball. I pulled a Karate Kid on her and "waxed on" (or was it "waxed off"?) and gave her a look that told her to stop immediately. Yes, it was awkward, but I didn't care!
Someone else blindsighted me before this incident, though. She came from the side, and had her hand on my belly before I could chop, block, kick or spit, so I was stuck getting a Buddah rub.
But I'm getting quicker. By the time I get my defense tightened up, my belly will be replaced with a squirmy infant!
A girl came up and looked like she was about to dribble my belly like a basketball. I pulled a Karate Kid on her and "waxed on" (or was it "waxed off"?) and gave her a look that told her to stop immediately. Yes, it was awkward, but I didn't care!
Someone else blindsighted me before this incident, though. She came from the side, and had her hand on my belly before I could chop, block, kick or spit, so I was stuck getting a Buddah rub.
But I'm getting quicker. By the time I get my defense tightened up, my belly will be replaced with a squirmy infant!
35 1/2 weeks
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Craving Satisfied
We recently took a quick trip to Charleston for Claire's baby shower. Brandon was originally going to stay home and work, but decided to escort Ella and I down to the lowcountry so we could get some coveted family time. It was awesome. We stopped in Columbia to see Mom and Dad for lunch, and made it down to Mt. Pleasant in time for dinner before the shower.
Ever since I had decided to make the trip, I had been nursing an ever-growing craving for a favorite dish served up by a local restaurant:
A fried-green tomato, (homemade) pimento cheese, and ham sandwich with collard greens on the side from Boulevard Diner. Ahhh...I almost want to type it out again...this is not your ordinary sandwich or your ordinary restaurant. The restaurant owned by a family who has a few restaurants of different genres in the Charleston area; there's an Italian restaurant and a more upscale restaurant...and then there's Blvd. Looking at it on the outside, you'd never know it was such a gem. But once you taste and see...and you walk out with money in your pocket AND a doggie bag of extra food (the portions are great), you'll understand. Brandon and I laugh when we think of our first date sans other people. He drove 3 and a half hours from Greenville after working construction all day and was covered in red clay when he arrived at the door. But after cleaning up, he was hungry, so we went to Blvd Diner and I introduced him to fried pickles. He was a bit skeptical at first, but ended up loving them!
So we had approximately 45 minutes to get to the restaurant, order, eat, pay, change clothes and make it to the shower on time. As unreasonable as it sounds now, I was NOT about to miss out, and Brandon was NOT about to allow me to forgo satisfying my craving. Here are some lovely pictures of pure preggo bliss:
I take full credit for my husband's love of collards.
Ever since I had decided to make the trip, I had been nursing an ever-growing craving for a favorite dish served up by a local restaurant:
A fried-green tomato, (homemade) pimento cheese, and ham sandwich with collard greens on the side from Boulevard Diner. Ahhh...I almost want to type it out again...this is not your ordinary sandwich or your ordinary restaurant. The restaurant owned by a family who has a few restaurants of different genres in the Charleston area; there's an Italian restaurant and a more upscale restaurant...and then there's Blvd. Looking at it on the outside, you'd never know it was such a gem. But once you taste and see...and you walk out with money in your pocket AND a doggie bag of extra food (the portions are great), you'll understand. Brandon and I laugh when we think of our first date sans other people. He drove 3 and a half hours from Greenville after working construction all day and was covered in red clay when he arrived at the door. But after cleaning up, he was hungry, so we went to Blvd Diner and I introduced him to fried pickles. He was a bit skeptical at first, but ended up loving them!
So we had approximately 45 minutes to get to the restaurant, order, eat, pay, change clothes and make it to the shower on time. As unreasonable as it sounds now, I was NOT about to miss out, and Brandon was NOT about to allow me to forgo satisfying my craving. Here are some lovely pictures of pure preggo bliss:
The even had red Texas Pete for the collards, although my heartburn would only allow minimal coverage.
Excellent!
I take full credit for my husband's love of collards.
Daddy introducing Ella to fried pickles
She's such a good eater! She'll try anything!
Friday, March 06, 2009
Snow Fun!
Ella saw her first real snow this week, and we had a great time experiencing it with her. I tried to wait for Brandon to wake up naturally, but got too excited and had to become his alarm clock. Too bad, since it was an unexpected day off for him and one of his only opportunities to sleep in a little in weeks! But we needed to take advantage of all the fresh snow!
We quickly realized that we didn't have proper snow clothing for Ella, so she looked a little like a ragamuffin with all mismatched items, but we finally got her dressed enough that we thought she'd stay warm for a while.
Brandon's first order of business was to teach Ella how to make a snowball and throw it at Mommy. Here you can see the progression of his snowball throwing clinic.
The example:
The proper packing of a snowball:
The windup:
The release:
And yes, she hit me right on the belly (it's a nice, BIG target).
We quickly realized that we didn't have proper snow clothing for Ella, so she looked a little like a ragamuffin with all mismatched items, but we finally got her dressed enough that we thought she'd stay warm for a while.
Brandon's first order of business was to teach Ella how to make a snowball and throw it at Mommy. Here you can see the progression of his snowball throwing clinic.
The example:
The proper packing of a snowball:
The windup:
The release:
And yes, she hit me right on the belly (it's a nice, BIG target).
Thursday, February 26, 2009
33 Weeks Along...and Venting.
As you can see, Allie Berry is growing...and growing...and growing! We're at the point where random people are approaching my belly with hands outstretched. I have always wondered about that. They don't know me from Eve and I guess that because I'm carrying another life in my womb, they assume that I really can't be all that bad. They don't know. I could be carrying a weapon or just decided to judo chop their butts to the ground in the middle of Main Street. They'd look really silly then, huh? Getting beat up by a preggo. I mean, they wouldn't approach a business man or a homeless person or the guy on the corner with a "Turn or Burn" message board or a Mom with 2 kids running around or a college student on her laptop or an extremely obese person and just start rubbing their bellies! Why me?
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People at church are funny, too. I guess that since they think that since we worship the same God that it makes it okay to rub and make pretty dumb comments about how big I'm getting. Maybe they think that since I'm a pastor's wife, I won't turn around and say something right back to them. I'd like to turn the questions on some of them and ask them if they are about to deliver twins when they ask me if I'm sure there is just one kid in there. One dude asked me if I was going to be the next octuplet mom! WHAT? He's a little hefty himself, and when I relayed this to Brandon, he suggested I say, "No, are you?" Here's just a warning: I'm pregnant, I'm tired and sometimes I'm a little mean on top of my normal, everyday, I'll-come-right-back-with-some-comment way of life. So hands off and keep the fat comments to yourself. Right now what I need is a nap, an antacid pill, someone to watch my lively 18 month old, and some compliments about a pregnancy glow that I hear some women have.
There, I said it.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Ever Growing Baby Belly
I swore that I wouldn't be that mom who captures every possible thing for her first child and has virtually nothing to show for the second child. I've seen parents who have baby books for their first that look like a volume of Encyclopedia Brittanica and scrapbooks that could be published in Creating Keepsakes, and then the second kid has a few measly pictures thrown into an album.
But here I am about to have number two and I need to publicly apologize to all the moms I've secretly judged in the past because I now understand why it is so incredibly difficult to keep up! So here's my sorry attempt at capturing a few moments of this pregnancy. Allie, if you ever read this, please know that Mommy and Daddy love you very much and are sooooo excited for you to come join our family! We just forget to record it sometimes! If it's any consolation to you, I haven't even started on Ella's scrapbook yet either!
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I'm gonna try to keep up for the last few weeks...at least enough to show a difference!
But here I am about to have number two and I need to publicly apologize to all the moms I've secretly judged in the past because I now understand why it is so incredibly difficult to keep up! So here's my sorry attempt at capturing a few moments of this pregnancy. Allie, if you ever read this, please know that Mommy and Daddy love you very much and are sooooo excited for you to come join our family! We just forget to record it sometimes! If it's any consolation to you, I haven't even started on Ella's scrapbook yet either!
27 Weeks Preggo
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31 Weeks Preggo
I'm gonna try to keep up for the last few weeks...at least enough to show a difference!
She's Gonna Kill Me For This One Day...
Warning!
Contains graphic potty training footage.
Enter at your own risk.
I remember watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 a while back and it was the potty training episode. I thought it so funny and kinda embarassing that Kate was taking pictures of the little girls by their potties after their first successful trip. But now I understand the big fuss. Sorry, Ella. I just couldn't resist.
I don't know if this means we are going to go full force on the potty training, but it's a start! She was very proud of herself!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Splish, Splash
Bath time has to be one of the best times in our house on any given day. Ella loves it. When I say, "It's time for your bath!" she runs to tub and starts tearing off her clothes and tries to climb in before I even turn on the water! Brandon and I love watching her talk to her bath toys and splashin' in the water, even though it usually means that we're gonna get wet, too. We also love the fact that bath time usually means the start of the nite-nite routine and that our little bathtub swimmer will be heading to dreamland within the hour.
So here are some pics of our bathtime fun:
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