Rome, Rome on the Range

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T11:55:00.003-05:00

We had a blast for Halloween! Mary Kate was "Ariel the Nernaid" and Claire-Bear was a chili-pepper. Mary Kate was all set to be Snow White for Halloween until one day she decided to be Ariel. That left me in a dilemma because we didn't have a costume for Ariel. So, thankfully, my parents went to the Disney Store and found one on sale. Whew, we dodged that bullet!

Also, Aunt Jennifer made Mary Kate the cute fall outfit that she has on in the picture by the pumpkin. We apparently carved our Walmart pumpkin too soon because it rotted days later.

Down on the Farm

2008-10-03T14:09:00.009-04:00

Last Saturday we took the girls to Petite Creek Farm in Cartersville for some pumpkin picking and animal petting. Mary Kate had a blast and Claire thought it was pretty fun too!

Catchin' Up

2008-10-03T14:09:00.007-04:00

We celebrated Brian and Mary Kate's birthdays during the month of September. We celebrated mine too, but we won't go there. Brian told me that on his special day he just wanted to spend time with his girls and watch football.

All Mary Kate could talk about for a whole year was how she wanted a Nemo cake for her birthday. The week before her party she changed her mind and wanted a mermaid cake. My mom helped me make it.

Brian's sister, Jennifer, decided to make Mary Kate a dress for her birthday. She asked me to come over to help her make some dresses, and well, let's just say that I don't think she realized how "challenged" I am in the sewing department. But I can iron like a champ! The dress turned out so cute! I think she could sell them.

And of course, we need to show off Claire-Bear who is quickly approaching 7 months.

Sweet Sisters

2008-09-16T15:00:00.002-04:00

The "Dark Eye"

2008-08-27T14:32:00.003-04:00

Mary Kate fell off of the bed the other day during her "nap time." And I do use the word "nap time" loosely. She no longer sleeps during "nap time" but plays, sings, and apparently does various acrobatics which cause her to fall off of her bed. She ended up with a black eye. It's not that bad for a black eye but she called it her "dark eye."

Here is a better picture of her but not her "dark eye."

Update

2008-08-13T14:17:00.004-04:00

Hello All! If you check this blog often, then I am so sorry that I have been slacking in posting pictures. Here are some sweet ones.

National Cow Appreciation Day

2008-07-15T19:24:00.004-04:00

Madelyn here! I decided to update the blog for my sister since she tends to be too busy with the girls to do it. Last Friday was National Cow Appreciation day, and if you dressed up like a cow and went to Chick-fil-A, they would give you a free meal. So I talked to my sister and we decided to take her girls, as well as the little girl that I babysit. I got really into the costume making, and even decided to make one for my sister, Claire, and myself (Claire's turned out to be really cute!). Anyway, we went, got free food, and MK got to give many hugs to a gian cow they had there. All in all, it was really fun and worth all the funny stares we got while walking into the mall.

Just Claire

2008-05-27T14:34:00.002-04:00

Bumbo Seat

2008-05-27T14:27:00.003-04:00

Claire's Aunt Jennifer let us use her bumbo seat. I wasn't sure if she was old enough to sit in it yet, so last week we tried it out.

Not sure what we think.

Survey says- We don't like it!

I guess we will try again in a week or so. :)

Matching Again

2008-05-27T14:20:00.003-04:00

My friend Kirsten made these dresses for my girls. She is extremely talented. I am not sure if you can tell, but their dresses have their names embroidered on them.

Let's Go Yoga-ing

2008-05-21T17:20:00.002-04:00

Brian got me a membership to a gym in town for Mother's Day. I am very excited about it and have gone twice. Last night (my second time going) I wanted to do the 6:30 class but didn't know what it was until I showed up. Turns out it was "power yoga." I was a bit nervous after Jennifer's post, but I thought I would try it out. Here are some of my observations:

1. Up dog and down dog is a position in yoga, not a command to a dog.

2. Apparently, my hamstrings are glued in a too-tight position and have been since 1978.

3. I am not flexible.

4. I do not have good balance.

5. Yikes! I do NOT bend that way!

6. I enjoyed the relaxation part of the class. However, Brian wants to try Yoga and he would fall asleep during the relaxation part and I would have to drag him home. (He falls asleep in less than two minutes).

7. Men don't look attractive doing yoga. (Sorry honey, but maybe you should just try it at home). I too had one male in my class and he looked a little funny doing some of the moves. Then again, so did I.

All in all, not a bad experience, but I couldn't tell if I got a work out or I was just plain worn out from trying to figure out all of the strange positions people were getting themselves into.

First Hair Bow

2008-05-13T15:05:00.001-04:00

Smiley Face

2008-05-07T15:37:00.002-04:00

Mary Kate has discovered an interest in drawing. She will make all kinds of cute squiggles and will say that they are anything. She drew the features on the face. I made the circle. This is her very first face, that actually looked like a face, so we took a picture of it!

"Claire-Bear"

2008-05-07T15:30:00.003-04:00

When Brian and I were talking names and were deciding on "Claire" we decided that we absolutely would not call her "Claire-Bear." Well, we are calling her that. I think it suits her. Not because she acts like a bear, but because she is cuddly and soft and very sweet.

Yes, We Are...

2008-05-05T17:40:00.001-04:00

the kind of people that like to match our cute kids!

Throwback Post:Balloons and Bows

2008-04-12T04:51:00.006-04:00

Balloons and bows? If you think that sounds like more girl stuff, you would be right. When we arrived home from the hospital with our brand new baby girl on March 12th, here is what our mailbox looked like:

The bow is courtesy of Cabell Sweeney, our most talented friend. Ever been to Cracker Barrel or someplace and seen the college-themed pottery? That's her. She also painted an awesome picture for Claire's nursery as a shower gift...now we can be snobby and say that we have original artwork in our house. I guess we should say that while holding a glass of shiraz or something.

The balloons are courtesy of David, Julie, Ellen, Meredith, and Christina Tomlin, our across-the-street neighbors. Christina and MK were born six weeks apart, and have become fast friends:

And, in a flash of diplomatic genius, I managed to talk the entire Tomlin family into standing next to each other and smiling:

Little Cowgirl

2008-04-10T09:37:00.006-04:00

MK is apparently following in her cousin Haley's footsteps with the cowgirl thing.

Meanwhile, I am more and more happy each day that we have girls, who like hairbows and pretty stickers and things like that. I have found that they also like to decorate things. The only fitting caption to the following pictures is "MK lives here."

When I rounded the corner and saw that, the look on my face was not unlike the look on Claire's face here:

Updates via Picture

2008-04-05T19:09:00.010-04:00

So we haven't been great about updating the blog with pictures of baby Claire and our new situation. I don't know why...it's not like we have been busy or something.

Here is an update:

MK has learned the joys of playing on Daddy's back:

Baby Claire has learned the joys of tummy time:

MK is showing potential of becoming the next Jackson Pollack:

Aggie, as always, is hanging in there quite well:

MK is extremely affectionate and doting toward Claire:

Claire met our good friends Ben and Kristie Hogue, who are expecting their first child this summer:

And Bryan and Krista Pierce - Bryan is our pastor at Seven Hills Fellowship:

More to come!

2008-04-04T05:15:00.005-04:00

MK is settling very well into life as a big sister...a few shots of her life these days:

2008-04-03T10:43:00.003-04:00

(brian writing) Just wanted to give a shout out to Jenny for being a wonderful mother. We are now three weeks and two days into the two child world, and she has proven herself to be a master. Those of you with more than one child know that going from double coverage to a man-to-man is tough enough, and then I go back to work, which leaves Jenny running a zone all day long. I am very proud of her.

We also turned a corner in our lives earlier this week by......purchasing a minivan. Could someone please shoot us?

Pics of the Girls

2008-03-31T16:06:00.003-04:00

Welcome Claire Olivia!

2008-03-17T16:13:00.001-04:00

She is here!

Making Pizza

2008-02-19T15:44:00.002-05:00

Mary Kate has decided that her new favorite hobbies are 1. Making large messes and 2. Helping mommy cook. Both are demonstrated below.

Belly Bump

2008-02-19T15:41:00.002-05:00

It is bigger now. This was taken around two weeks ago! We are almost 36 weeks!

The Big White Lie

2008-01-24T16:09:00.000-05:00

Last week the weather man lied to us two times. Last Wednesday he told us that it was going to snow 1-3 inches. Guess what? It maybe snowed 1/2 an inch and was gone in an hour. Mary Kate got to touch a snow flake, but as far as anything fun in the snow- nope! The snow didn't last long enough.

Then again on Friday the weather man said that it was going to snow 1-3 inches overnight and all day on Saturday. I was so excited! Every time that I got up to use the bathroom (it is alot these days) I would look outside to see the snow. There wasn't any. When I woke up in the morning Brian and I checked the weather and they kept repeating that it was coming. About noon it did start to snow and it snowed for about two hours. It was completely gone in 30 minutes after it stopped snowing. I don't know what kind of training the weather man gets to be able to be on t.v. and lie to all of us, but that is exactly what he did. This was supposed to be the "mother of all snow storms." Well, it was a big white lie.

I do not have any pictures of Mary Kate in the snow because it didn't last long enough! :)

Winter Attire

2007-11-27T16:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry to you folks who check this often. I guess I am in a "blogging slump". I will try harder to keep you updated.

Old man winter has arrived and with him comes some fuzzy, warm, and cozy clothes. Mary Kate loves putting on coats, hats, scarfs, gloves, mittens, etc. And by loves I mean screams and cries loudly when you try to take any part of it off- even if it is a toasty 80 degrees inside. For some reason she will let me take off her coat at home but not when we leave to go out somewhere. Even today she cried when she took her nap because I took off her sweater so she wouldn't sweat while she napped. Crazy Kid!

This hat/scarf ensemble was knitted by my friend Brianna for MK's birthday. She wouldn't put it on in September and she won't take it off in November!

The Mormons and the Good News

2007-11-12T14:58:00.001-05:00

I know that Becky already posted a picture of this, but I could not let my picture go without blogging. I mean it really is striking how much they resemble mormons in this picture.

Now for the good news. For those of you who read this and don't know we are having a girl in March! We are very excited and can't wait for her to get here. Mary Kate on the other hand might have a few things to say about having a little sister. When we ask her what is in mommy's tummy she says, " a belly button." She did let her guard down one day and decided to share her sippy cup of milk with my tummy. All kids have to adjust sooner or later. I will get Brian to take a belly shot of me and I will post it later.

Happy Early Halloween!

2007-10-28T19:12:00.000-04:00

We have already begun the Halloween festivities around the Bojo household. We went trick-or-treating twice on Saturday. Mary Kate is a clown or in her words a "coot clown" which is a cute clown. She is indeed pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. This clown suit was made for me by my mother when I was little. I wore the clown costume, my brother wore it, and my sister wore it. Brian said he heard someone say that they thought Mary Kate looked cute, but that they saw the same clown costume at Walmart. It is a GOOD thing that I didn't hear that or I would have had to throw down! Not that there is anything wrong with getting costumes from Walmart but she should recognize a homemade one.

Mary Kate and the Mandolin

2007-10-28T19:06:00.000-04:00

This last week, Brian was using his musical abilities on the Mandolin. He leads worship in church and he wanted to bring a "blue-grass" feel to the songs. Mary Kate loved the mandolin and thought it was just perfect for her size.

Rainy Day with Elmo

2007-10-04T15:47:00.000-04:00

Elmo is quickly becoming a favorite person around here. He goes many places with us. We got back from the grocery store one day and I turned around to see this.

Mary Kate's Birthday

2007-10-04T15:40:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate turned two last Thursday. We took her to Chuck E. Cheeses for dinner. We all had a blast but the pizza was nasty. Mary Kate's absolute favorite part was the giant mouse named Chuck E. Cheese. She would stare at him forever-especially his feet. I guess she thought that if he had feet he must be real. She liked the rides okay. I scored some majore tickets when I found a game that was broken and would just keep letting you play it. I kept getting dirty looks from other parents for hogging the game, but I didn't care because I was racking up tickets for prizes for my daughter. The absolute highlight of the night was when Mary Kate picked out a long tootsie roll as one of her prizes and decided to take a big bite out of it, wrapper and all!

My Birthday and Labor Day

2007-09-12T15:24:00.000-04:00

This year my birthday fell on Labor Day. I have been dying to see the Georgia Aquarium and we wanted to go before Mary Kate turned two and we had to pay for her. We had a blast! Mary Kate asked to see a "dolshin" the whole time, but of course they didn't have any dolphins, but they had lots of other great things to look at. If you haven't been I would really recommend it. Our camera lost battery power after just a few pictures so we were bummed about that. I think this last birthday was one of the best of my life.

The Stifling Dog Days of Summer

2007-08-14T15:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything these days except complain about the overwhelming heat. It is way too hot to be outside doing anything but sitting in a pool.

Mary Kate has invented this new game called "Daddy Dit You" which is "Daddy Get You." The way it is played is this: Mary Kate announces "Daddy Dit You" and takes off running in any crazy direction laughing and squealing as loudly as possible. Brian then takes his cue and drops whatever else he is doing and begins to chase her. I inevitably end up getting smooshed, squashed, or generally clobbered as she scrambles to get away from Daddy and seeks protection from me. This game can go on for hours and when Brian collapses from sheer exhaustion, Mary Kate takes this as "the end of the world as we know it" and cries until Brian feels compassion and begins to "dit you" again. I'm telling you- it is a fun game.

P.S. Sorry, no pictures of the game yet.

The Barbie Jeep

2007-07-21T20:18:00.000-04:00

Woohoo! A very, very nice person gave us a barbie jeep for MK. She wasn't real sure about it at first, but she likes it much better now. She isn't tall enough to reach the gas so we have to use our old mop to push it for her. It makes for dangerous driving when an almost two year old is in charge of steering!

Hey Hollywood!

2007-07-21T20:13:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate loves to wear her sunglasses. She gets mad if she can't put them on by herself.

Happy Belated Fourth!

2007-07-06T14:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! We had a great day. We watched the cave spring parade, swam and ate lunch, had visitors for dinner and then watched a drive in movie. It was a busy but fun day. On July 3, some cousins from Ohio came to visit so we had a cookout at Brian's Uncle Tom's house. We captured some cute pictures of Ben and Mary Kate eating some ice-cream.

Aggie the Wonder-dog

2007-07-06T14:44:00.000-04:00

I don't typically talk much about Aggie, but she is a great dog and very special to me and my family. We got Aggie about three and a half years ago after we had gone through a rough time. Aggie didn't heal our hurt but she surely distracted us from it. She was an adorable puppy and she has turned into a great dog. One thing she does that is so unique is that she will curl up in the most obscure places. You never know when you might find her. You might be making the bed, and you go to grab the covers and something black comes flying out from the bed. This particular day I was getting ready to do some laundry, but hadn't made it downstairs yet. Aggie found herself a nice spot to curl up in to rest.

Bathing-Beauty

2007-07-03T15:20:00.001-04:00

This picture proves that you can be any age (although my Grandma's only 29) and still be a bathing-beauty.

Back From the Beach

2007-06-28T11:16:00.000-04:00

Last week we joined my parents for a vacation at Venice Beach, Florida. We had so much fun! For some reason, fossilized shark teeth have found their way to Venice Beach and all you have to do is look really closely to find them. That was a great part of the trip. We mostly just relaxed, ate, read, and did almost nothing. It was nice and much needed for everyone.

Oh yeah, we played pool too!

The shark teeth and maybe other fossils?

On our last night in Venice Beach we ate at the Italian American Club. We were by far the youngest people there, but we ate like kings for eight dollars a person!

Again, I Pick my Battles

2007-06-14T15:05:00.001-04:00

This picture needs no explanation.

I Pick My Battles

2007-06-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate has decided that she loves her swan float which she named "duck." She takes a bath with it and wants to sleep with it- but I had to draw the line somewhere. The thing is just to large to sleep with her, so we compromised. I put the "duck" to sleep on the floor next to her crib and cover it up with a blanket.

Ahh, the joys of toddlerhood. :)

Madelyn's Graduation

2007-05-31T16:15:00.001-04:00

My sister,Madelyn, graduated from high school last weekend. We are so proud of her! She was the salutatorian of her class and graduated with honors. She is headed to UGA this summer. Yep, she is off to bigger and better things. Madelyn, we are so proud of you! May God bless you as you embark on your college journey! We love you!

Before graduation!

After graduation with my Nanny and Papa. What a transformation!

Brian's 3rd Marathon

2007-05-31T16:05:00.000-04:00

Brian ran a his third marathon on May 19th. It was a trail marathon up a mountain for 26 miles! Mary Kate and I accompanied him to Sloppy Floyd State Park to hang out while he ran. Luke, Becky, Patrick, and Ben joined us for some fun while we waited.

Once again, I tried to capture Brian running across the finish line, but I just don't think I am fast enough to capture his true speed on camera. This will have to do. :)

Here is a sweet picture of Mary Kate and Ben eating lunch or dropping food for the bugs.

Big Girl Hair

2007-05-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate is now able to sport some cute hair!

Mother's Day Weekend '07

2007-05-14T15:07:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate and I went to visit my parents this weekend and we got to see my brother Jarred. Mary Kate hasn't seen him very much so I took this opportunity to snap a picture. She just looks frightened because my brother is the biggest guy she has ever seen! (Ha Ha, Jarred!)

Mary Kate got to go swimming twice(yes, it was freezing). She loved the pool! She got to visit with her "Mimi" and her "Granddaddy" which is always fun.

On Sunday, Nana came over for lunch but Pops was MIA. No really, he had to work unexpectedly. Personally, I think he was afraid I might make him eat something green or like a vegetable or something, so he stayed away just in case. Anyway, he was missed!

I meant to post this yesterday, but this is my prayer for all of you mothers out there in blogger-land.

My Prayer for Mothers

For all of you mothers at home with little kids may God bless you with extra patience, love, understanding, and grace.

For all of you mothers that have an empty nest (or an almost empty nest) may God bless you with peace and trust in Him.

For all of you mothers that have lost a child through miscarriage, sickness, or tragedy may God grant you extra peace and comfort.

For all of you mothers who are pregnant unexpectedly may God grant you peace of mind and a sense of humor.

For all of you who desperately want to be mothers, may God bless you with hope, perseverance, and endurance and may he answer your prayers for a child.

I hope all of you mothers had a great Mother's Day!

Brian and Jenny: Animal Rescue Rangers

2007-05-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

Sunday night as we were getting into the car to go to church a bird had flown into our garage and couldn't find its way back out again. Brian got all heroic and tried to get the bird to fly out of the garage. It was determined to go out the closed window. The bird kept getting all upset and wouldn't go the right way, so Brian had to catch it gently and take it outside. He finally caught it and let it go outside. I was worried that it had a broken wing, but it flew away just fine.

Well, the next day as I was leaving for the grocery store and thinking about the bird, I saw our neighbor's cat pawing at a chipmunk. I stopped the car in the middle of the street and went running and screaming over towards the cat to leave the poor chipmunk alone. The cat grabbed the chipmunk and started running away! I grabbed a little kid-sized broom and started chasing the cat with it. It finally let go of the chipmunk and went running into the woods. I couldn't find the chipmunk after that, so I am hoping that it survived!

If you need any help rescuing animals, just let us know!

Goodbye to an Old Friend

2007-04-26T14:08:00.000-04:00

This might look like an ordinary slipper to you, but to Aggatha Bojo it has been a dear friend and plaything. Brian gave me these slippers (yes, there used to be a pair) for Christmas 2002. I loved them. A few short months later, we brought home a cute little one pound yorkie. I would wear these slippers all the time. We first knew Aggie liked them when she would spring out from behind furniture to attack my feet while walking. We thought she liked them because they were furry. I tried to teach her that they were my shoes, but I gave it up when she peed on them. They became Aggie's slippers.

You might be wandering why we are deciding to retire these blessed slippers. Well, for one thing they stink to high heaven. They have been washed and bleached many times- they still stink. Aggie has horrible breath and I guess she slobbers on them when she plays tug-of-war. Believe me, it is high time to get rid of them. I have decided to give her my current pair in hopes that Santa will bring me a new pair next Christmas.

So, Aggie- here's to many good times with the old slippers and here's to many more with the new ones!

Sick as a Dog

2007-04-26T14:03:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate has had some kind of funk for two weeks now. I took her to the doctor on Monday and he treated her for the croup and gave me an antibiotic and told me to wait until the next day to see if she was any better. Well, she wasn't, so we started her on the medicine. She is slowly recovering but is still very grouchy. All she did on Tuesday was watch Baby Einstein. Aggie decided to watch her for me so I could take a moment to reclaim my sanity. Thanks, Aggie!

First Prayer

2007-04-16T20:57:00.000-04:00

When we put Mary Kate to bed we always pray with her before she goes to sleep. The other night Brian was putting her to bed and she said her very first prayer. She said "Hi, Jesus." Of course, Brian thought it was the sweetest thing he had ever heard. I thought it was sweet too, but I heard it second hand. I assure you, she is not always so sweet and spiritual as showcased below-one of her many fits. This one involved a piece of blue sidewalk chalk and an eyeball.

Before Easter and After

2007-04-16T15:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay of posts. We have been out of town for a couple of weeks. We went to Texas for a week and had a great time. We came back and had Easter and then left for my parents house. Brian had a conference in Atlanta and my sister had two soccer games. She scored her first goal and we were there to see it! It was very exciting. We don't have any pictures of Texas yet, because we were goobers and let Pops take all of the pictures.

This is a picture of my sister and I after her first soccer game. She told me that it better not be on the blog so, here it is! I have to mention that she only scored one goal because she plays a defensive position. The coach put her on offense so she could score since it was "Senior Night."

Mustard-Head

2007-03-21T15:09:00.000-04:00

Happy Spring everyone! We are having a blast playing outside and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We had mustard with our dinner the other night and Mary Kate just enjoyed playing with the mustard and rubbing it in her hair. Yuck!

Runaway Car

2007-03-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

Today we were outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I was sitting on the hill on the phone holding for the next available representative who would answer my call in the order in which it was received, and Mary Kate was in the garage playing with chalk. The next thing I know I hear something rolling down the hill. I look over and Mary Kate is rolling backwards down the driveway in her little red car! I was a little freaked out at first, but then I saw her face. She was smiling and laughing the whole time! I didn't even know that she could or would do that.

In other Mary Kate news- her personality is coming out in full swing. She is pretty good at letting us know exactly what she wants. When she falls down outside she says "uck" which means clean off my hands! Today she was pushing her baby stroller around outside when she got stuck. Well, actually she ran over Elmo with her stroller and it wouldn't go anymore. She started screaming and yelling so I ran over to help her. I put everything back in the stoller including her sippy cup. She looked at the cup, and looked at me, and turned the cup around the way she wanted it. Picky girls!

Runaway Car

2007-03-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

Chocolate or Vanilla

2007-03-08T13:49:00.000-05:00

Lately, we have made two batches of pudding, chocolate and vanilla. Mary Kate has enjoyed helping me make it. Bet you can't guess which flavor she is wearing!

Picnic in the Park

2007-02-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

Since we have been having such great weather, Becky and I decided to take the kids to the park and have a picnic dinner. The kids had a blast eating, making a mess, and stepping on everyone else's plates of food!

My cutie playing on the slide!

Patrick giving MK the ride of her life!

Ben sporting a cute expression and some baked beans on his face. MK was wearing them too!

The Children's Museum

2007-02-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, we took MK to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. They have some amazing exhibits for little kids. She got to play in a huge water table, go grocery shopping, and play with lots of balls. She loved it.

Mommy

2007-02-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

Mary Kate just started calling me "mommy" from "mama." It is so sweet to hear, except for when she is saying it over and over and hanging on my legs. :)

Weather Bummer!

2007-02-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

The snow passed us by and landed in north Georgia. We didn't get anything but some sleet and ice which is not fun to play in. I was hoping for some fun in the snow with Mary Kate, but since it didn't snow, she is ready for spring!

Feeding the Ducks

2007-01-03T14:51:00.000-05:00

We took Mary Kate to Garden Lakes to feed the ducks and she loved it. We gave her bread to feed the ducks with and she ate it! Oh well, at least she saw us feeding the ducks.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! May God bless you richly as you share in the joy of His Son's birth!

Uncle Jarred visits

2006-12-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

My brother, Jarred, came to visit today and brought Mary Kate a great present. Her very own Cinderella chair. She loves sitting in it. She sat and ate her gummies while watching Baby Einstein!

Red-Head Rants

2006-12-15T16:12:00.001-05:00

I would just like to take a moment to rant a bit about being a red-head and having a red-headed daughter.

1. People seem to think that it is their "obligatory duty" to comment on MK's red hair everywhere we go. It is just hair people! Now, I don't mind the nice comments but the comments of "Whew! That's about as red as red can be!" we can really do without!

2. Being a red-head does not necessarily mean that we have a temper. LOTS and LOTS of people have tempers who are not red-heads. So, it really doesn't mean anything. Having a temper is part of being a sinner.

3. Just because a little girl has red hair does not mean that she will be mean. I taught kindergarten for four years and I saw plenty of mean kids. Most of them were not red-heads.

MK sharing her bubbles.

4. Being a red-head does not mean that we will fry every time that we go out into the sun. We can get a tan. Now granted, we won't tan like J-Lo, but we can get a nice golden color. It all depends on skin tone, not hair color!

Grass Sledding

2006-12-11T15:37:00.000-05:00

I am running out of things to do with Mary Kate outside. She loves to be outside, but you can only blow bubbles for so long. Last week I decided to push her down the hill in my sled. Maybe I was wishing it would snow for real.

The Hospital Visit

2006-11-30T16:37:00.000-05:00

We have had quite a week! Mary Kate was put into the hospital on Tuesday afternoon for a severe allerigic reaction to an antibiotic that she was taking for an ear infection. It was not fun at all. She looked horrible. I took her to the doctor on Monday for it and he gave her a shot of steroids. He said that it would take care of it along with some Benadryl. Well, lo and behold, the next day she was worse! Her eyes were swollen and puffy and her face was swollen. When I took her to the doctor people were gasping at her and saying things like, "Bless her heart." Well, we all know what that means! She is doing much better now and looks like her normal self again. It was quite a scare!

Sweet Picture

2006-11-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

Mk and her Grandaddy!

Is It Christmas Yet?

2006-11-21T11:58:00.000-05:00

This is Mary Kate asking her Daddy "Is it Christmas yet?"

Happy Anniversary!

2006-11-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. Brian and I went out of town last week to celebrate our fifth year anniversary! Yeah! We left Mary Kate with my parents and went to the beach for a few days. We had a blast and Mary Kate had a blast too. We didn't have anyone to take our picture so this is the best we could do. :)

The sun was doing some amazing things behind us. But you can't see it. ;(

2006-11-03T16:03:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday I was tagged by Becky to do this thing. You have to take a picture of yourself and then write about the person that tagged you. Well, I don't know Becky extremely well, but the times that we have hung out I have really enjoyed it. Everytime I am around her and the boys, something really funny happens. For instance, one night we went over to the Motes house for dinner. As soon as we got there, Patrick thew something into the ceiling fan (which was going at a high speed). It sounded like the fan exploded! Becky got onto Patrick and told him to go outside to release his energy but she was laughing the whole time. I think it takes a very down-to-earth person to have such a cute and active boy like Patrick and be able to handle it with stride! Hope you are feeling better, Becky.

The Coffee Mug

2006-11-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

Brian and I both have issues with misplacing things sometimes - I guess everyone does. A few weeks ago I saw him with a new coffee mug and I asked him where he got it. He said that he didn't know what happened to all of his coffee mugs that he used to have and that several of them were missing tops. Well, today I am walking by the mailbox and I spy a foreign object atop my mailbox. Here folks is his coffee mug. I am sure that he got the mail and set it down on top of it. I thought it was so funny that I wanted to share. Honey, I am so glad that we have each other's back when it comes to finding the things we each lose. :) Love ya!

Halloween Pictures

2006-11-01T15:18:00.000-05:00

Rebeckah was sweet to Trick-or-Treat with Mary Kate! Brian's cousin Caleb made fun of me for making this loud noise with my mouth to get Mary Kate's attention for the picture. All I got to say is that it worked!

The Fam.

I had to be a one-woman-circus to get her to smile for this picture!

The cheerleader!

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

Last night I took pictures of MK by the jack-o-lanterns that Brian carved for us. My plan was to dress her in her Halloween costume. She was supposed to be a flower. The costume was made by Brian's Aunt Chris and was worn by his cousin Rebeckah. Well, MK would have no part in the flower petals being put on her head. So, she is going to be a cheerleader for Halloween. We are trick-or-treating with Rebeckah and Nana and Pops (Brian's parents) tonight so I will post pictures of her first trick-or-treating experience tomorrow. Happy Halloween everyone!

This picure scares me. It's like she has seen a ghost! Or, maybe she just takes after her Pops!

Our Weekend with No Pictures

2006-10-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a spectacular fall weekend. We were going to take Mary Kate to Burt's Pumpkin Farm but that was too far away. Instead we went to the Pumpkin Patch that Luke and Becky took their boys too a few weekends ago. We had a blast! Mary Kate loved petting all of the animals and she even got a few kisses from a goat and it didn't bother her at all. We also took a hay-ride. That was a little boring because it didn't go very fast and Mary Kate doesn't care about tractors. After the pumpkin patch we went to Chiaha which is an arts festival here. It was great! We have no pictures of the day because all of our batteries were dead for the camera. Bummer! So here is a random picture!

I am not sure what she was eating here- obviously something messy!

Morning Mohawk

2006-10-25T11:56:00.000-04:00

This is how Mary Kate woke up one morning. I swear that we didn't make her hair this way!

So Much to Say, So Little Time

2006-09-29T15:58:00.000-04:00

Wow! So much has happened during the time in which our Dell computer failed us completely. We are still in the process of getting things back together but thankfully our internet is up and running. Sorry that it took so long.

Brian had a birthday on September 20th and he is now the big 29! Almost an old man!

Mary Kate had her first birthday party and I had wanted to write a long entry every day leading up to her birthday, but alas, the computer failed us. She was also sick with Strep Throat right before her party and was still not feeling well on the day of her party. I will show more pictures of that later.

On September 28th Brian and I had officially been a "couple" for 7 years.

September is a busy month for us!

Mary Kate has been such an amazing blessing to our lives. On September 26th, 2005 I went to the hospital to be induced. We were told to be there at 1:00 p.m. We waited until 3:00 before they even hooked me up to the pitocin drip. I watched on the monitor as my contractions started. I didn't feel anything and I stupidly thought to myself, "Maybe I won't feel any pain!" The doctor came in at 5:30 and broke my water and THEN I felt the contractions. I just kept setting goals for myself. I told myself that I could make it 30 more minutes, then fifteen, then ten, then- I want the epideral. I got the medicine at 10 and was ready to push at 1:30. Mary Katherine Bojo was born at 1:42 weighing 6 pounds and 1 ounce and was 19 and 1/2 inches long. She now weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches long.

The first few days at home were rough. Mary Kate was jaundiced and we had to keep taking her back to the hospital to get her heel pricked. I couldn't watch. I had to wake her up every 2 hours to feed her. I was a nervous wreck, afraid that I was going to do something wrong. I read every book I could and all they did was make me more nervous because they all said something different. Looking back now, I wish I would have believed the people who said, "Take advantage of how little they are, they grow up so fast." They were right, they do grow up so fast.

I have learned many things from Mary Kate, so I will just list them.

1. It is okay to have red hair.
2. People say stupid things about red-heads but just smile at them and they will go away.
3. If you grunt loud enough, eventually someone will figure out what you want.
4. Wake up smiling and talking in the morning.
5. Fall asleep at night jabbering and talking about Aggie.
6. If you want to be held, follow someone around the house grabbing at their legs and they will eventually cave.
7. Having rolls and chubby cheeks can be cute.
8. If you don't know the name of something, call it "Aggie."
9. Always look up.
10. Smile and get excited about little things in life like bubbles, balloons, balls, babies, and lights.

Mary Kate Bojo we thank God for blessing our lives with you!

Defect Almost Cured

2006-09-22T09:27:00.000-04:00

A few days, two telephone conversations with someone in Asia, and one new hard drive later, we are almost back up and running. I am continually amazed at how dependant we are upon this box that sits in our home office. Jenny will have some updates soon, as we approach this weekend and MK's FIRST birthday party! Big stuff.

Technical Difficulties

2006-09-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

(brian writing) our home computer either died recently or is sleeping pretty soundly. We should have an IT guy out sometime soon to fix it - computer maintenance is such an arcane topic and it blows my mind how much we depend on them. Hopefully we won't lose too much data....gladly Jenny is very disciplined about backing up all of our pictures of MK and other important stuff. later...

Go Georgia Bulldogs!

2006-09-11T10:15:00.000-04:00

Remembering 9/11

2006-09-11T10:02:00.000-04:00

Five years ago today I was teaching my kindergarten kids when a co-worker came in and said "They have the World Trade center and the Pentagon. You need to pray." I didn't understand what she was talking about. Later, on the playground the teachers were all talking about the attacks. We couldn't turn on the t.v. because we couldn't expose our young children to the graphic images. Later, during lunch someone told me that they were evacuating the city of Atlanta and that's where Brian was. This was two months before we got married. I tried calling him on his cell phone, but I couldn't reach him. I knew that he had ridden MARTA and I was scared that he was stuck down town. Later, I found out that he was fine and that he had gotten on the last train out.

Five years later I am still awestruck when I see images of what happened. It is still hard for me to believe that it happened on American soil. I am so thankful to the soldiers who have fought and are fighting for our freedom. Freedom isn't free and I thank God that we have it.

Back from the Beach!

2006-09-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

Well folks, we had a blast at the beach. Ernesto missed us and we had beautiful weather the entire time that we were there. We played on the beach. Spent time by the pool and ate whatever we wanted. Mary Kate had a blast despite the fact that she was cutting a MOLAR and came down with a cold. Several highlights for her were spending time with one set of grandparents and going to the Splash pad, which is a baby water park. Highlights for Brian and I were: doing nothing, reading and going on a date.

Mk loved the birds!

Our little sand-sampler!

Having fun at the splash-pad!

We are Off!

2006-08-31T12:14:00.000-04:00

Well friends, we are off to the beach for a few days. I will do my best to take plenty of pictures of MK at the beach. We almost didn't get to go because of Hurricane or Tropical Storm Ernesto, but we prayed faithfully and Ernesto took a turn. It stinks for people in the Carolinas but it's great for us. T.T.F.N!

Random Pictures

2006-08-26T21:41:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate's new favorite word- ball.

MK laughing when I tell her not to eat the leaf.

Grammy and Granddaddy came for a visit last weekend.

Our little dishwasher.

Books

2006-08-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

ONE BOOK THAT...

. . .changed my life?
I know it sounds like a sunday school answer, but really the Bible.

. . .I've read more than once?
Sheep in a Jeep.

. . .I would want with me on a deserted island?
Island Rescue for Dummies!

. . .made me laugh?
Walter the Farting Dog

. . .made me cry?
You Are Special by Max Lucado.

. . .I wish had been written?
A book that encourages young girls not to give their heart away too young.

. . .I wish had never been written?
The Satanic Bible

. . .I am currently reading?
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

. . .I've been meaning to read?
For Women Only by Shanti Feldman. Best book on marriage ever!!!! I need to read it again, and again, and again....

First Ever Ponytail

2006-08-15T14:51:00.000-04:00

Crab Legs

2006-08-15T14:46:00.000-04:00

I have had some bad experiences with seafood lately. I have stayed away from it even though I really like it because of the end result. Well on Saturday, Kroger had crab legs on sale. We bought a box and invited Becky, Patrick, and Ben to eat with us. We were so glad they came because we could not have eaten all of them on our own. I decided I was going to bite the bullet and just eat them and I did not get sick this time. Yeah!

Mary Kate was clapping in this picture because she was so excited to see Patrick and Ben.

Uh-Oh Spaghettios

2006-08-15T14:41:00.001-04:00

Mary Kate had Spaghettios for the first time on Saturday. She is wearing more than she ate.

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

2006-08-13T17:28:00.000-04:00

We went for a walk by the river because it was actually cooler than 100 degrees on Friday night. It started to rain on us and Mary Kate just loved it. She squealed and giggled the whole time. We all were soaked. I tried to get MK and Aggie and Brian looking at the camera, but to no avail. Brian, however, got us to do it on the first try!

Blogger has been a pain for two days and won't let me post pictures! I will as soon as I can.

My Big Uh-Oh!

2006-08-04T09:53:00.000-04:00

The other night we went walking near the river. Since we are going through a heat-wave we all got nice and sweaty. I decided to take a shower before I went to bed. Since I never take showers at night, I decided to do something different with my hair besides blow drying it. My friend was in a wedding and she had this great wavy hair-do. She told me how she did it, so I decided to try it. You just bun several areas of your hair while it is wet and sleep on it. The next morning you have beautiful long, wavy hair that looks fantastic. Well, lets just say that I did not get the look that my friend had. I did exactly what she told me to do, but I did not get the same effect. Brace yourself! This is scary.

For those of you who just check the blog to see Mary Kate, here you go:

Yes, she is pulling up on everything. :)

The Big Uh-Oh

2006-07-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate has extended her vocabulary to include the word "uh-oh." She is forever dropping things on the floor and saying her new word. We went to visit my parents over the weekend. MK, Madelyn, and I went shopping at the Mall of Georgia. I rented one of those push-cars for Mary Kate to ride in. She was always dropping things over the side of it. Well, Madelyn went into Aeropostale to look and I couldn't go inside the store because the car was too big to fit through the aisles. They are not exactly a mom-friendly store, so we sat outside on a bench, or rather I sat on the bench and MK sat in her very large car. :) We were on the second floor near the railing overlooking the first floor. Well, Mary Kate was thirsty and needed some water so I gave her a sippy cup and relaxed for 15 seconds. She drank happily and then I heard her say "uh-oh" and at the same time I heard a loud crash on the first floor. I couldn't believe it! She had let the sippy cup drop and it rolled over the side of the railing and could have hit someone in the head down below! I laughed so hard and Mary Kate just kept saying "uh-oh." I couldn't retrieve it because we would've had to ride the elevator and I couldn't tell Madelyn where we were going because I couldn't fit in the store. Anyway, here are some pictures of the weekend.

New House

2006-07-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

I know this is a long time coming, but here are some pictures of our new house. More will follow.

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!

2006-07-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

In case you don't know, Rome is one of the hottest places on earth to live. Every night on the news they say that Rome is the hot-spot for Georgia. It is miserable to go outside. So, instead of going outside, I let Mary Kate play in an empty bathtub with kitchen utensils and water. She had a blast.

This is when MK had had enough of the tub.

Blueberries

2006-07-17T16:16:00.000-04:00

Many of you may not know that my parents have several blueberry bushes in their back yard. My dad spends countless hours picking them to give away and to freeze. They are the best blueberries that I have ever tasted! This year my mom made blueberry jam and they brought us a jar when they came to visit on Sunday. It was the best that she has ever made. I let Mary Kate have a piece of toast with some jam on it and she loved it. Here she is enjoying the feast!

Our Little Einstein

2006-07-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, our little nine-month old daughter is a genius. She already plays the guitar. She also loves to read books while in the buff. She is truly an artist! :)

More Visitors

2006-07-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

My parents and my Grandmother came to visit over the weekend. I tried to show them around Rome, but everything was closed on Monday. We had a great time anyway. Mary Kate enjoyed spending time with her Great-Grandma. We didn't do much on the fourth but we did eat yummy hamburgers with Nana and Pops.

Happy Belated Fourth!

Breaking News - Rome Church Plant

2006-06-27T22:14:00.000-04:00

(brian writing) This morning, I had a twenty minute conversation with a guy named Bryan Pierce. Who is Bryan Pierce? He is currently on staff at Perimeter Church , where Jenny and I have been members since we got married back in 2001. Perimeter is known for many things, most of them good, but the two things for which it is most widely known are its pastor Randy Pope (who is on my personal Mount Rushmore), and church planting. Perimeter has planted over a dozen churches in the Atlanta metro area, which are all PCA churches (our denomination). Their technique, tried and true, is to recruit a young buck not far out of seminary, put him on staff and through boot camp for around two years, and shove him out the door to a strategic location, predetermined by the North Georgia Presbytery, to plant a church. That brings me back to Bryan Pierce - he and his family are moving to Rome in two weeks to do that very thing here in our community. The Rome Church Plant from Perimeter is their most far reaching plant to date.

Jenny and I are pumped. Some of you know that we were inches away from moving to Berkeley, CA last year to assist a PCA church plant out there. Circumstances (i.e., MK on the way) changed that, and we came to the small town to raise her and focus on being a family. We wanted to be involved in a church plant, but just couldn't get any peace about going to CA. So, we made the decision to come to Rome.

Imagine my shock when soon thereafter I'm minding my own business at a nonprofit board meeting in Duluth GA and Randy Schlichting (on Perimeter's pastoral staff) casually mentions to me that Perimeter is sending a plant to Rome within the next few years. That was a moment like you see in the cartoons, when an exclamation point pops up over somebody's head...okay back to this morning.

The Pierce's will be in Rome in mid-July, and will hit the ground running, laying the groundwork for the plant. Projected start date for Sunday morning services is September 2007, with the development of a core group (via discipleship groups, home fellowships, etc) in the meantime. Jenny and I visited First Presbyterian Church in Rome last Sunday, and enjoyed it very much. We will likely continue to attend there until the plant gets off of the ground.

The only issue we have is when to get MK baptized...Bob Carter at Perimeter told us to wait until we get established in a church in Rome, but with the plant not starting services until '07...we might do the private ceremony thing at our house, invite family and close friends...we'll prayerfully consider our options and decide later.

We will keep everyone updated on the status of the plant, since it will be a big part of our lives, and, well, that's the purpose of the blog.........

New Toy!

2006-06-27T18:35:00.000-04:00

Mary Kate turned nine months old today. In honor of her nine-month birthday, we bought her a riding toy at walmart. She loves it!

Visitors

2006-06-27T11:26:00.000-04:00

We have had several people come and visit our new house. If you are not one who has visited, you have an open invitation to come. Here are some pictures of our visitors. Our friends Leslie and Richard didn't make it into any pictures, so they will have to come back again so we can take a picture of their whole family.

My parents and my sister. If they look a little tired it is because they had helped us move twice in one month. They were troopers!

The Mitchell boys, Josiah and Caleb, and Mary Kate. They all had a good time playing together.

Rebeckah, Aunt Chris, and a boy named Connor came to see us. Mary Kate would not stop pulling Rebekah's pig tails. She was a good sport about it!

I will post pictures of our new house later this week for those of you who can't come visit us!

Thank God!

2006-06-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

Well, we moved into our new house. It was hard work. We have accumulated alot of stuff in our almost five years of marriage. It took two truck loads and some extra car loads to get it all here, but it is here!

Here is a picture of Brian at home at 5:30 on his first day back at work. Two hours earlier than usual. :)

Mary Kate is everywhere and getting into everything. She tries to eat Aggie's food and anything else that she can. Here she is just crawling around. I tried to capture her looking out the window with the sun shining through, but she was too fast for me.

Homeowners Again

2006-06-12T16:08:00.000-04:00

We officially closed on our new house in Rome on Friday. We are very excited and we move on Saturday. If you have any free hands on Saturday, we would love your help. :)

Mary Kate is crawling! She is also loving the pool and Aggie. She says "Aggie." At first we weren't sure if she was saying "Aggie" for real, but whenever Aggie enters the room, she says her name. I guess the dog is more important than Mommy or Daddy.

Quick Hits

2006-06-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

I realize it's been a week since we posted on our blog, and I (brian) see the need to make it a little more masculine after that last post...here are some quick pieces of news:

1. We closed on our house in Rome last Friday, after much blood, sweat & tears. We're now official Rome homeowners (any ideas for another name for our blog?)

2. Click here for my sister's big news.

3. Mary Kate is crawling now...I swear tomorrow she'll be in college.

More soon, with pictures of our stay at the lovely Chateau La Hosch in Dacula, Georgia.

Beauty Tip for You Girls!

2006-06-03T14:17:00.000-04:00

I found this great stuff that makes your hair shiny and feel great. It is called Shine Happy by Clairol. It is a clear glaze that conditions and makes your hair look shiny and great in just ten minutes. I used to go to the salon and pay 90 bucks for the same thing. (Yes, that was before I was married.) It is around 8 bucks and it does the same thing that I paid for in the salon. I just wanted to share!