Parenthood

So Brian and I have been watching the TV series Parenthood. The fact that we look forward to it each week says something since we are not really your TV buffs. There are very few programs on that we value enough to set apart time during our week to watch But this series is definitely one of them. If you haven't watched it or are behind, you can catch it on Hulu.

The show is about family. It's about immediate and extended family. It deals with boundaries and sibling rivalry; with allegiance and devotion to one's own family. It shows the parents as both parents and kids themselves; as siblings within a greater family and as heads of their own family. It captures all family dynamics- there's a single mom, a stay-at-home mom, an executive mom, a stay-at-home dad, a young dad who is parenting for the first time, and a 9-5 dad who constantly puts in hours to fill the void that his nieces and nephews have. The kids include a rebellious teen, a social misfit, a "perfect" child, and an autistic child. The shows demonstrates that no one has arrived. That learning goes in all directions. The autistic child is as much a teacher as the grandparent. The strength in marriage doesn't necessarily come from years. Strength in identity doesn't necessarily come from ideal living situations. The series allows you to see growth in each character but still includes glimpses of each character's humanity. Every episode reveals something new about a character that constantly shapes your conception of him/her.

I really enjoy watching because there is a great sense (in every single episode) of struggle and of redemption. It's not the predictable "always end in victory" type series. There is definitely realistic baggage that you see intertwined simply for the fact that families are complicated!

I hope you get a chance to check it out. Ok... there's my plug!

Taadaaaa- Birdy Mobile!

It brings me great joy to hang the birdy mobile in Sophie's room. My friend Kim (check out her website where she sells cool baby stuff and also does custom orders: http://www.thirtyoneeighteen.com/) sewed all of the birdies and included ribbons and all I had to do was hang them. So I used my $1 wreath which I think resembles a nest and found another $1 wooden bird house which I painted and then applied fabric to the roof for a little color. (The roof matches the inside of the bumper.) What do you think?

Also, check out this way cute purse my sis got me!!! I LOVE IT! Thanks Nu-nu! It's the same Michael Miller Bird Swing Fabric that Kim used to make my curtains. Somebody on etsy was selling it!

Ok, baby girl. Your nursery is ready. Your carseat awaits you. Your diaper bag is pretty much packed. You have clothes that are not all blue. You may come anytime!

contagious laughter

Chase and his cousin Asher are finally at the age where they are easily entertained by each other. See for yourself.

Strawberry pickin'

Here we are with our friends, the Hoffmans, strawberry picking. Or as Lauren (their daughter) put it, "hunting for strawberries."

Shower of blessing

Here are some pix of some amazing, godly women whose friendship God has used to bless me and celebrate our expanding family!

Here's Brooke- the hostess with the mostest! She's due the same time I am and still wanted to host the shower!!!

Alethia- she's looks so cute in her fun top!

Cristen, Elisabeth, Grace & Val
(by the look on their faces, I think Val or Grace must've said something funny... or perhaps Cristen and Elisabeth are on their second bubble cake)

Bubble cakes! We had a blast trying to guess all of the flavors. Thanks Brooke!

My BFF Cristen :) love the retro shirt!

Theresa, my fellow halfy. How CUTE is she? I mean seriously!

All the preggos in due date order- I'm the farthest along...hence my giant basketball belly
(sorry the ligthing was funky)

Grace :) (she makes me want to be a runner...ok well maybe not until after this baby)

opening gifts

Beautiful artpiece Val made with a verse related to our babygirl name-
any guesses for those that don't know?

Women doing what we do best- Socializing!

Thanks so much to all you amazing women for some much-needed girltime, for your support, friendship and all the laughs!!

Baby Whited's Nursery!

I am SO excited to post some pix of baby girl's nursery. It was a stressful process b/c it involved moving Chase's big boy bed into his room and then all of his nursery furniture into her room. Thankfully we had already painted that room (early on in my pregnancy) a neutral taupe color, so it didn't matter what other colors we added to it. I'm SUCH a color/pattern person!! Just seeing a bright modern pattern that uses bold hues makes me cheery.

My friend Kim (check out her site: http://www.thirtyoneeighteen.com/) did an amazing job making the valances and crib bumper. I would highly recommend her work! She did a custom order for me, meaning she let me pick out the fabric and design which was fun b/c it allowed me to pull in colors that you wouldn't normally find in girl's nursery bedding. Needless to say, I picked some pretty bold colors rather than pastels. I actually integrated Chase's crib bedding b/c his colors were pretty gender-neutral and why not reuse whatever you can? You might recognize the crib skirt, crib sheet and the changing pad cover- they were all part of Chase's Dwell Studio's Circles series from Target: http://www.target.com/DwellStudio-Target-Bedding-Collection-Circles/dp/B000VP9JGA
I may still cover some canvases with leftover fabric to put over the crib.

Check out this cute retro birdy fabric!

I also found this cute blanket to cover the mauve chair that is in the nursery.

Here is a glimpse of what I'm gonna hang for a mobile. Kim sewed the birdies using some magenta and turquoise felt accented by the bumper fabric for the wings. I'm gonna use a wreath to suspend the birdies b/c it resembles a bird's nest...plus it was $1 at the dollar store. :)

Here is a picture of the changing table with the artpiece my friend Val made. It quotes Scripture, particularly a verse that has the root word of baby girl's name.

Love it!

I recently finished this art piece after much thought of what would be perfect for this space. Drumroll please....... and her name will be....

Sophia- Greek for "wisdom"
Elizabeth- Greek for "consecrated to God", "God's promise," "oath of God," or "I am God´s daughter." Plus, Elizabeth is the middle name of both my maternal grandmother and Brian's youngest sister, Catherine. There is a cute story in which Brian as a kid got to give suggestions for middle names for his little sister and he really liked "Elizabeth." I already think of our baby as Sophie and we've been calling her that!

And I found this lamp at Target which was perfect. Notice the fun polka dot bin. My design-savvy friend Theresa actually gave me a gift in this and it goes perfectly!

Feeling better now that Sophie's drawers are filled with her own clothes and her crib awaits her!

Chase in his big boy bed

From crib....


(You like how I stuck Asher in there with him?)

To......

BIG boy bed!!!

We are grateful to God that Chase is adjusting well. So far so good.

"Chase, how old are you?"

Here's a video where I actually caught Chase telling me how old he is. :) Enjoy.

Whited family vacation!

Brian, Chase and I had the pleasure of spending the week at Myrtle Beach in a condo that was paid for by my sister and bro-in-law! This overdue "anniversary getaway"/"babymoon"/"vacation we haven't really taken since Chase was born" was thoroughly enjoyed.

We didn't have a schedule. We just slept when we wanted. Went on the beach when we wanted (ok, well I guess that we did take mandatory breaks when Chase has his long nap, but hubby and I traded off giving each other time alone so that the mid-day siesta wouldn't restrain both of us); we did some shopping, we ate all our meals together with no interruptions, we played in the sand and the pool, we walked along the beach, we watched our favorite TV shows. We just simply enjoyed each other. No job stress, no late nights of Brian doing his computer entries, no hustle and bustle. I probably got more sound sleep there than my whole pregnancy! (I still woke up 7:30ish, but waking up to the beach and a good book sure feels different than waking up that early at home where all my chores, baby, and doggy await me.)


I have to say my favorite beach moments were:

-Seeing Brian and Chase play in the pool and the sand together
-Throwing frisbee with hubby and having him tell me that my "flick" was actually pretty good
-The time either early in the a.m. (when the boys were still in bed) or in the afternoon by myself reading my Bible, journaling, or my latest book
-Eating mango pie with fresh strawberries for breakfast!
-Seeing Brian fall asleep on the bed with Chase (so sweet!)

best seat in the house

Belly shot at 34.5 wks

Chase & Mommy

Chase practicing to be an airplane

my boys

B skippin' some shells

Chase doing what he does best

sunrise shot

over the rainbow

26.2

Here are some photos from the Blue Ridge Marathon that Brian trained for 4 months and ran in on April 24th. He did an amazing job both in training and running especially considering the terrain. He continued to train during our harsh winter when cars weren't even on the roads! And the days it wasn't safe to run outside, he'd often do a bizillion laps at the gym just to get in mileage.

I loved this event because I felt like I had invested so much time in helping Brian and was eager to see him finish. Plus my whole family spent the entire day encouraging him! It was SUCH a blessing to have my family just as excited as I was about seeing Brian race!

First we headed to a campground behind my sister's neighborhood. The gnats were AWFUL but we managed and even Asher came along to root for his unky. When Brian spotted Chase and my mom, he ran off the course to greet them.

Making friends

People were SO friendly. In fact runners were coming by and as we cheered they were all saying "thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate it!" Ha! They were telling us thanks even though they were the ones sweating! So cool. Really made me teary-eyed for the special place Roanoke has in my heart. I'm still convinced we are one of the friendliest, hospitable places out there. Prideful, I know.

I actually passed Brian on a main road traveling back to the house! It was an act of God b/c the chances of that happening were so slim and I thought "God it would be so awesome to see him pass and be able to honk!" And I did!

(You can barely see him but he's got blue and black on and is near the next cone. This was taken on Franklin Rd. by someone else.)

Here is Brian passing a park near our house. We saw a guy racing barefoot before him and the kids cheered "Barefoot! Barefoot!" as he passed.

We headed to the finish after that and Brian actually picked up his pace so that we missed him come in! But he still finished under 6 hrs which was something to celebrate! Here we are at the finish!! He said he never even used the bathroom during that whole time and he drank all the drinks given to him!! (TMI.... sorry)



How cute is my hubby?! I mean, seriously. He just ran for like 6 hrs and his eyes are sparkling and he's got a huge smile on his face. I love him so.

Great job hubby! We are proud of you!