Attack of the Quack, Quacks

So, Joey and I decided to reminisce a little and take the trip back to East Cobb the other day for a Sunday afternoon in the Chattahoochee Park we use to play at as children. Of course things are different now, but all the geese were still there despite the "Do Not Feed Geese" signs, which we obviously ignored. Unfortunately, we may have scarred our daughter for life. Check the following progression of curiosity to fear thanks to my husband's awesome new photography skills....

Here she starts by thinking feeding the "Quack, Quack" is kinda fun. She's close and curious....

It doesn't take long for her and the goose to come face to face...check out her puffed out cheeks, as if she's trying to intimidate him. Mama's not too fired up about the goose's stance either....

...the goose obviously wins, and as fast as she can climb, Savannah is up in my lap....

but we can't give up just yet....

....she continues to be safe from Mama's lap and enjoys tossing the bread....

...so I decide to be adventurous and get her down on the geese's level....

....as you can tell, Savannah is definitely still not into being close to the geese. I was constantly calming her down....

It didn't take long for the other geese to get the picture that there was food, and close by...

....this was even making Mama nervous, so hiding the bread was the only option. These geese were literally getting close enough to take it out of my hand....

sensing my tension, Savannah started to freak out a little....

.....and I'd say it was warranted. I mean check out how many geese were there in minutes within inches of us, and these babies were definitely the same size as Savannah if not bigger.

A trip to the playground calmed her fears, but as we walked the rest of the park path down by the river, she made sure to put me between her and the "quack, quacks" which she was quick to point out from a great distance away, squeezing my hand tightly, not wanting one to sneak up on her. She even excitedly said her first complete coherent sentence as we left the park: "Goodbye Quack, Quacks!"

What's In A Name?

I have always been fascinated by the meaning of names. After teaching for four years, you come across a thousand kinds and types of names, and when I go and research their meanings, the name of a child and their personality never ceases to amaze me at how well they tend to match up.

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My name means "Fair Lady" by one interpretation, which is the beauty of language, you can just choose the name meaning you like the best from all the possibilities in language=) Anyway, I don't think of myself as fair in appearance, but I believe the name fits as fair in behavior, like just or not showing favoritism. I like to think the meaning fits me. Joey's name, Joseph, means "Productive", and I don't think anyone who knows him would argue with that!

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So when it came time to choose a name for my children, I not only considered the cadence of first, middle, and last name together, but the meaning of their first name in particular was important to me. With as much as I love to be outdoors and gardening, it makes me smile a little to know that both of the literal interpretations of my children's names have an original tie to nature, but it's their spiritual connotation that also needed to mean something valuable.

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Savannah means "Treeless Plain"-duh, but her spiritual connotation means "Cherished". I LOVE THIS! "Cherish" is one of my favorite words in the English language. I even made sure my wedding vows specifically used this word. To me, it means more than just to love; it means to adore and treasure, so not only do I want my baby girl to know she is adored and treasured by her parents, but by her Lord Jesus Christ, and cherished is how He wants her to view herself through her entire life.

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Now....drum roll please...for our little boy, Joey and I have decided upon the name Weston Loyd Durham. Weston literally means "Of the Western Meadow", fitting considering we live in West Cobb County--Haha! Anyways, but his spiritual connotation means "Steadfast". This is a quality in my father and my husband as well as other men in my family that I admire most. They hold a standard, make a decision, and stand true, holding tight to what God tells them to do. There's no wishy-washing, backsliding, or mind-changing. They are steadfast and true to God's Word in their lives. In this ever-changing, more terrifying world we live in, I sometimes cringe at the thought of what my children will have to experience and face in their lifetimes, especially the males in our society. They have so many expectations placed on them that it's no wonder many shrink from their responsibility. My prayer is that my boy will be steadfast in his faith and holy inheritance. That he will find and possess the quiet strength that only comes from being a rooted man of God.

. . .

So their it is...Jennifer "Lee" Durham, Joseph Loyd Durham, Savannah Lee Durham, gladly welcome Weston Loyd Durham into our household. We couldn't be more filled with joy!

What does YOUR name mean?

New York, New York!

(All my lovely family...April, Amy, Aunt Debbie, Mama, Emily, Me, & LaurieAnn

Photo taken outside on the street in front of the Waldorf Astoria hotel where we were staying.)

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Ok, so the weekend before last, I had the opportunity to spend four amazing days in the great city of New York, NY. From April 16th-the 19th, I think we walked the four corners of the city, and probably saw at least a good 80% of what there was to see. Now remember, I am five months pregnant, mind you, and we did A LOT of walking...I don't think my groin and lower abdomen muscles have recovered since=) BUT, I worked really hard at not complaining too much, and truly did thoroughly enjoy the trip 1) since I will most likely not be going back in the near future (not because I didn't like it, just because it's not a real "family vacation" spot=) and 2) since, most importantly, I got to spend it with all the fabulous ladies on my side of the family.

(Just my side...Emily, LaurieAnn, Mama, & Me)
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There are a million, zillion stories that could be told, and to be honest I'm surprised my blogging family hasn't told more of them yet. I think we've all been pretty busy since we hit home. So I hate to blog about only one of the outstanding things we did, but really, seeing Wicked on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre was the highlight of the trip for me, and it almost didn't happen!

(Just the young ones-Haha! Emily, Amy, LaurieAnn, Me, & April

Photo taken inside the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria hotel.)
. . .

So I was in charge of buying these tickets for the 8:00pm showing of Wicked on Saturday night, April 18th. I had carefully and cautiously guarded these pricey tickets with a bit of fear from the moment they left the safety of my bedside table to a safe nitch inside my purse. My worst fear was getting my purse stolen in New York! Not because of the cash I was carrying, but because of these tickets! And with no safe in our hotel room, I was not about to let them leave my person until I handed them out Saturday evening.

. . .

So, Saturday night we get all gussied up for a night on the town, so to speak. This was the one day we all actually dressed up really nice, and the one evening many of us chose to wear heels or fancy shoes with no cushioning for walking whatsoever. All the pictures you are seeing above are the BEFORE pics=) Note my lovely pink heels below! I figured my feet could suffer for the sake of beauty just one evening in NY, plus when you're preggers it's all about the accessories!

Anyway, I began to be a little concerned when we sat down for dinner at 6:00pm and our appetizers arrived 30 minutes later...remember, show time is 8pm and we're about 8 blocks away according to Google Maps. So, 7:30 rolls around, and we are just leaving the restaurant. We decide we can't haul 8 blocks in heels in 30 minutes with time to spare, so we try to hail a cab. Ten minutes later we climb into a cab only to drive around the corner and come to a dead stop in typical Saturday night New York traffic. We watch the clock on the cab screen nervously. At 7:53pm, my mom asks the cabbie if it would be quicker to walk. He says, "Oh, yeah, definitely." (as we've now sat in his cab for about five minutes.)

. . .

He tells us how to get where we say we want to go, and literally start running through the streets of New York City. I'm not lying...we are all running, in heels, and I am five months pregnant. Somewhere in the middle of the run, I decide to look down to watch my step because heaven forbid the heel of pump fall through a subway grate! Only to find, that the pink sweater buttoned at top with one button is securely in place flowing behind me, but the tube top I was wearing underneath, not so much in place as it was around my waste, revealing my lovely nude bra to the entire world we were sprinting past. How long I was running down the street this way before I realized things were a little breezy, I have absolutely no idea, but I did manage to burst out laughing in the middle of my run.

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Eventually, we all stop breathless as the place where we thought the theatre was suppose to be located...no where in site. According to the natives, we are about six blocks south of where we need to be. At this point in time it's 7:58pm, and if I hadn't started running for my life again, I was going to break down into tears, hysterical. So one by one, we all take off once more at a dead sprint to the north. Each of us, following the head of someone in front of us through the sardine packed streets of Times Square. I was precariously trying to follow the top, straight brown hair of my wafer thin cousin April, who was able to squeeze between people holding hands. Yeah, I was doing good to squeeze my belly between anyone. Not to mention that we were definitely NOT following the red stop hands at crosswalk intersections, so I was informed later that apparently my pregnant self dashed out in front of an oncoming bus in my quest to follow April's head.

Needless to say, we arrive at Gershwin Theatre about 3-4 minutes after the show begins. I quickly throw my precious tickets at whomever will take them...I vaguely remember Amy getting their first before everyone else, and I run up the moving escalators, preparing to beg the attendee to escort me to my seat before I go into labor. I was fully prepared for her to tell me that the show had already began, and I would only be able to be seated at intermission. At even the thought of this, I was in tears before a word ever came out of my mouth. Thank God she was a kind old woman, who smiled, told me to calm down, take a deep breath, and that the show had only just begun. Where for I was then escorted to my seat, which was third row of the balcony...DEAD CENTER. So I apologized profusely to each and every person I had to waddle over to get to my seat, trying not to sweat on them or pass out in the row in the process.

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I plopped down in my seat, took a deep breath, and sighed, as I prepared to thoroughly enjoy this part of the trip that I had been looking forward to seeing for so long. No sooner had I settled into my seat and began to catch up on the story line, then my little boy inside of me began kicking with a vengeance. I mean, he kicked and turned and punched and jabbed excitedly the ENTIRE SHOW. Not once did he stop. I can't blame him I suppose. I mean, all the adrenaline that had powered this five month pregnant woman in hot pink three inch heels through the packed streets of Times Square must have had some effect on the kid. Either that, or he REALLY enjoyed the theatre music=) Something tells me it was the latter!

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After the show, which was fabulous! Music-superb! Actors/singers-uber-talented! Costumes-amazing! Storyline--I like it better than the original story of the Wizard of Oz. Anyway, after the show, we discovered that our legs REFUSED to take us up any stairs at all...I almost fell trying. My poor sister Emily had left her inhaler back in the hotel, so she had fought an asthma attack the entire show, and pretty much everyone was dreading the walk back home. But the show was incredible, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world...obviously=) So not only did I get to see a first rate show on Broadway, but I have a fun story to tell to go along with it. The after picture not looking as good as the befores =) Fortunately, I had the forsight to pack a pair of flip flops in my purse for the walk home after the show. As I was changing shoes out by the street, I smiled as some fellow show-goers commented on what a smart idea that was. The rest of my party still had to hike back in their evening foot attire.

So, with Savannah I hiked 13 miles in the Grand Canyon, and with this little one, I RAN approximately 10-12 blocks through the streets of New York. My children will either be excellent athletes some day, or I already wore them out before they were even born=) Haha! The rest of the trip was fantabulous....so many stories to tell, but I will let some of the other ladies tell their favorites. As for me, I'm still catching my breath from recalling this blog=)

The Verdict Is In! It's A.....

Boy! Can't you tell from the picture? =) Great shot! And no qualms about it. Joey is elated and a very proud, contented Daddy (although we really were fine either way), but it's nice to see him be able to really connect for the first time with this pregnancy. It's just hard for the dads to really get involved until they know something. Moms luck out because we actually feel

something=)

....

Everything about the sonogram went great...he is perfect! All ten fingers and all ten toes, a healthy beautiful heart and brain--even if his head is measuring a little larger than normal--thank you to my wonderful husband. Thank you also to my healthy family genetics because I am 20 weeks along where an average baby weighs about 12oz. This little fellow is already a pound and measuring about a week ahead of schedule. Dr. Pitcher estimates an 8.5 to 9.5 lb baby if I make it to term. When I reminded her about Savannah's three-week early arrival at 7lb. 13oz., she said it's not uncommon for a woman with high activity in good health to go early when the the baby is measuring large, so please all be praying for the right timing for this little one and my body. Early or not, I just want a healthy baby=)

So, the Durham family is thrilled to add a little more testosterone to the household to even things up=) We have a name we like, which many of you already know, but that's another blog I'm saving for another day--plus that name isn't set in stone yet either--, so to keep you chatting with me, I thought for this blog I'd get a poll of what names YOU like for our new baby Durham. Remember the middle name must be Loyd--I know, not too catchy, but a family name nonetheless--so make it sound good=) Enjoy the rest of the pics, and thank you all for your wonderful prayers and support!

This one of the hand is my absolute favorite! It never ceases to amaze me 1) how incredible our God is in His design even on such a small scale, and 2) how far He has allowed human technology to come to be able to capture these images. I mean, you can see all the tiny bones in his hands! Love it!

My New York trip update is in the works, and more thoughts to come concerning my kiddos, so stay posted!

Easter 2009

OK, so this is going to be more pictures than anything. As with all holidays in my family, Easter was a many-evented attraction=) There was Savannah's first Easter egg hunt with her cousins in Macon the weekend before Easter. I was very surprised at how well she took to an Easter basket and really wanting to gather eggs!

Then there was the Saturday before Easter. First was the Easter egg hunt at McEachern Methodist, right by my house and where Savannah goes to Mother's Morning Out. Now, this was much fun because there weren't a lot of kids, and she really got into it. Until she figured out there was actually something inside the eggs then she just wanted to open them all instead of collect them=) By the way, since when does this whole throw-the-eggs-on-a-tarp concept qualify as an Easter egg hunt?!?!?!

Later that day we were invited to join the Gootees at North Metro Church for their egg hunt. The whole fam showed up for this one. Many more kids attended this, so Savannah was a little overwhelmed, which meant she got about six eggs, but the ring pop she collected was her favorite=)

Sunday morning we attended First Baptist of Woodstock since that's where my parents attend, and so do Vanessa and the kids, so Patti & Gary were able to see everyone together. After the service, we couldn't resist trying to get a few photos with all the cousins together. You should have seen Savannah running around like a banshee! Squealing and smiling! She LOVES her cousins...and her Most Wonderful Aunt Debbie's phone=)

From church it was off to Mimi's house (pronounced Mee-Mee, my mom) for some attempted family Easter photos. Savannah wasn't in the mood to cooperate hence the lack of smiles. I wasn't even able to get one good picture of her by myself=( Oh well, such is the fate of the photographer, right? Maybe Mother's Day... Later that day, she had her last and final Easter egg hunt in Mimi's backyard all by herself, and you would have thought she found gold every time she discovered a new egg--each one created the same new excitement. I loved watching her!

I also was never able to get a really great shot of Savannah's Easter dress, but hopefully from some of the pics above you got the idea. She was darling, and when I first put it on her she stood up, grabbing the dress and fluffing it out from her with a big look of "Ohhhhh" on her face. She loves being a girlie girl=) Hope you enjoyed the update! NYC here I come!

Kissing Cousins

OK, so the weekend before Easter, the Durham clan all took a trip to Macon for some early Easter fun. It was HILARIOUS to watch Savannah with her cousins! She loves them so much, and what warmed my heart was how much they loved her in return. Natalie was even sharing Easter eggs she found with Savannah=)

But probably the most precious thing was watching how Savannah took to her cousin Drew. Yes, he's the only boy in a family of estrogen, so I'm sure he's used to the oggling and oodling and kissing, but being only five months older than Savannah, it is a little funny how much she likes him. Here she is near the beginning of the visit sharing with him and greeting him so sweetly...

That's got to be the most precious kiss ever! It wasn't until the cousins got ready to leave that we found out how much Savannah REALLY likes Drew. Check out the following sequence of events....we couldn't help but almost cry laughing while watching them, all the while Drew kept looking at us like, "A little help here...any day now."....

Yes, so some of the wrestling moves on Savannah's part are not so kosher, a little scandalous, and definitely something worthy of blackmail later in life=) Wait til these photos show up at either one of their weddings in the future! Oh, I can hear the laughter now=) Needless to say, I think Joey and I have got our work cut out for us where Savannah and cute little boys are concerned. Props to Drew for not decking her one and being a patient gentleman, although one day I think he might=)

Let's See If I Can Describe...

OH, how I wish I had a picture to share! Let's see how good of a writer I can really be....=)

So today after Bible Study, several of us ladies were all standing around, and the idea of lunch was brought up. We end study at 11:30, so the thought of catching a quick bite to eat all together today was a good idea. Let me paint this picture...

We get to El Pollo Loco, push four tables together and gank all the high chairs the restraunt has to offer. There are now seven women and six kids sitting around these tables, for the most part it was kid, adult, kid, adult, etc. Now, mind you, the oldest child at this table was my friend Bekah's 20-month old, Luke, making Savannah the second oldest and the youngest child about 9 months old.

This was a riot! As the lunch process went on, you could totally tell that we women came in thinking this would be a fun time to chit chat and enjoy each other, but slowly, very slowly the stress of feeding these children and almost being outnumbered began to rise. Not to mention, that we all got the biggest hoot out of watching each parent and child duo. You know, there were the ones that had the high chair covers and the ones who didn't. The ones who ate off the table, the ones who ate off a plate, the one who carry around the disposable table placemats, and the ones who needed to borrow one of those placemats. You saw moms who bought their kid a meal and those who packed their kid's lunch. Moms whose kids drank out of bottles, cups, straws, juice boxes. The moms who meticulously tore apart each bit of food into tiny pieces, the ones who figured the kid could handle some chunks on their own, and the moms still spoon feeding.

You could watch everyone watching everyone as the stress levels began to rise. Of course, some children were easy and laid back, others were not having as much fun, and then there was the two "oldest" who we allowed to run around after painstakingly failing at keeping them in a chair. In one aspect I was impressed, all of our children new their mother's voice, and all of them knew to obey. Disciplining your child in front of others can be so uncomfortable. There was a moment when I thought Cynthia was going to have watch me spank Savannah, but she soon gave in to my most threatening tone to SIT in her chair.

Needless to say, after about an hour, of which no real adult conversation took place, we all smiled graciously at each other, and left the restaruant much quicker than we had entered--all wanting to avoid the inevitable afternoon naptime break downs. I LOVE my friends. I LOVE the group of women I get to interact with, and I LOVE being a mom. Where else can you find such cheap entertainment?