Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Girl in Hat

Yesterday, after a long nap on the sofa and during a particularly wound-up afternoon, Jessica put on her purple hat, and wanted Daddy to take her picture. Here is the resulting portrait:

Monday, July 27, 2009

Nap on the Sofa

Today, after Mommy left to go to work for a little while, Jessica insisted that she didn't need a nap, but she did want to sit on the sofa and watch a little TV. Five minutes into America Rock (the tape she picked out), she was fast asleep:





Friday, July 24, 2009

Yellow River Game Ranch

Today we went to the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, not far from Stone Mountain. It's kind of like a small zoo where you can pet and feed half the animals (including some very tame squirrels). Among the most interesting for a toddler are the goats, which Jessica thought were rather silly:


She did a good job of feeding them, though:



Near the end of that section, there was a cute little goat resting on a bench, and Jessica could not resist giving it a hug:







* * *

In other news, today Jessica is exactly two-and-a-half years old! Hard to believe, isn't it?

And, in case there's anybody reading this who doesn't already know, she won't be an only child for too much longer! Read about it here.

Friday, July 17, 2009

The First Picture of the Littlest Burdett

Today's ultrasound went very well; we heard a very firm (and fast) heartbeat, saw four distinct limbs wiggling about, and saw the Littlest Burdett squirm around as though trying to avoid the camera. It was awe-inspiring and beautiful.

The picture doesn't really do justice to the experience; when you see it live, the ultrasound really presents a picture of a tiny little human being rolling around in Mommy's belly. But here's the picture anyway:



--Chris

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Anticipation

Tomorrow, Friday, July 17th, we go to Anna's OB/GYN for her first ultrasound. It is both something to be excited about and something to be nervous about.

Fortunately, for this particular procedure, Anna is required to have a full bladder; they suggest drinking 32 ounces of water an hour before the appointment. This means that mostly what we'll be thinking about is how quickly it can be over so she can get to the bathroom.

We will post a picture of the ultrasound picture tomorrow; simply for nostalgia's sake, here is what Jessica's first ultrasound looked like, almost exactly three years ago:



--Chris

Sunday, July 12, 2009

McDaniel Farm Park

This morning we had breakfast at Sweet Tomatoes near Gwinnett Place Mall, and then went to McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth. It was the fourth time Jessica has been there, and once again she loved it. Here are a few pictures from our visit:




Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota: Home!

We left a day early, on Sunday morning rather than the originally-planned Monday, and made it home on Tuesday evening at 9:15. The drive home was uneventful.

We enjoyed the trip, and were very happy to see Anna's family, and also glad to be able to visit a little of the country between Loganville, Georgia, and Faribault, Minnesota. Jessica was a very good traveler--she was generally content reading books or playing with the Magnadoodle and her "A Princess Mess" mix-and-match magnetic puzzle set in the car; she enjoyed stopping at various restaurants and rest stops along the way, and she was excited by the different hotels we stopped at on our route. She especially enjoyed the indoor swimming pool at the Clarksville, TN, Quality Inn on the last night of our trip.

But now we're home again, and I'm preparing to return to the real world of teaching one section (thankfully only one section!) of English 1101 at Griffin Tech this summer, starting Thursday night at 5:45.

We hope to be out on the road again soon!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota, Day 7: Family Pictures

Last night, the last night we'll be in Minnesota visiting the Benoits, we took a few family pictures:


Great-Grampa Ray, Gramma Mary Jo, Anna, Jessica


Back: Uncle David, Uncle Jeb, Chris
Front: Uncle Luke, Aunt Molly, Aunt Theresa, Anna, Jessica


Back: Grampa Denny, Uncle Luke, Uncle David, Uncle Jeb, Chris
Front: Gramma Mary Jo, Aunt Molly, Aunt Theresa, Anna, Jessica



Friday, July 3, 2009

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota, Day 6: Playing in Faribault

This afternoon, Jessica walked up to the playground in Faribault, along with her Mommy, Daddy, Grampa, and Aunt Theresa. Here are some pictures of Jessica playing on the slide and the see-saw.








(Click here to read about the next part of our adventure.)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Road Trip '09: Faribault, Minnesota, Days 3 & 4

Tuesday and Wednesday, days 3 and 4 of our trip, were spent almost exclusively in travel. On Tuesday we drove and drove and drove through parts of Illinois that were flat, through some that were hilly, and through bunches (as I hinted at before) were there was a good deal of road construction going on. We stopped for gas near Knoxville, IL, and I got out of the car for a few minutes to take pictures. Here are a couple of them:




(I don't know what was growing in these fields, I just like the lines and curves. I'm a photographer, not an agronomist.)

After we crossed over into Iowa, we stopped at a rest area to, well, rest, and Anna and Jessica did some drawing with the sidewalk chalk. When I asked Jessica to make a funny face for the camera, she stuck out her tongue:

This is the squid Jessica drew:

We spent that night in Cedar Rapids, IA, and had dinner at the CiCi's there. We eat at the CiCi's in Snellville (about seven miles from our house) at least once a week, and we try to work in a CiCi's when we're on the road.

The next morning we made a quick trip to the Barnes & Noble just a mile from our Comfort Inn, and then headed out into the chilly midwestern morning. (The temperature was a good 30 degrees cooler than what we'd been used to just a few days earlier in Georgia; in fact, I think my car's thermometer didn't read even as high as 70 until we were nearly out of Iowa. And we brought nothing but short-sleeved shirts and short pants!)

We stopped at yet another Iowa rest area, ate some mediocre pizza from the convenience store across the street (the Arby's sign lured us in, but when we got there we discovered the Arby's wasn't yet finished), and Jessica played for a bit:

while I took pictures:

After this break, we went nearly non-stop until we arrived at Anna's mom's house in Faribault, Minnesota.

(Click here to read about the next part of our adventure.)