Happy Halloween!

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

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

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

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

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

(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!

Remembering 9/11

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!

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!

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

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

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

Crab Legs

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

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

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

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!

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

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

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

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!

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

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

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

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

(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!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

Long Time, No Blog

Sorry that I have been such a slacker and have not updated the blog recently. Things have been busy and we don't have internet access on our computer.

We have moved and we are living with my parents for a few more weeks. We will close on our new house on June 9th but we are still not sure when we can move in. Things have been going well here. I have actually been taking some classes for my Masters Degree in Housekeeping. I have taken Lettuce Washing 101 and Car Washing for Beginners. I was taking Principles of Rag Usage, but I dropped that class because it was too difficult! (Just kidding Mom and Dad.) Really, things have gone quite smoothly with all of our stuff shoved into my parents basement and garage. I will post pictures of that later!

In other news, Mary Kate is almost crawling. She is getting more and more mobile. My parents also have a pool in their backyard and she has loved going swimming. Here she is with her "Aunt Maddie."

Packing

We have been packing up a storm lately. Almost everthing is boxed and ready. Even Mary Kate is in a box and ready to go. The sale was final last Friday. We are technically living in someone elses' house until Saturday. We will be staying with my parents for about a month. I will try to blog but I don't know how it will all work.

Shopping with a Baby

Gone are the days when I would zip into a store to shop. Here are a few observations about shopping with a baby.

1. It will take 5 plus minutes to get out of the car and get everything ready.

2. If you time it right, you can get behind a person entering the store so that they will feel compelled to hold the door open for you and all your baby gear keeping you from tripping over the stroller while trying to hold the door yourself.

3. You have exactly 30 seconds to shop before the first fuss. GO!

4. The store personnel purposefully makes the aisles too small for you to fit through with a stroller. They watch at a distance and laugh at your poor driving skills.

5. The store personel also purposefully make displays too short for you to see when you are pushing the car seat atop the shopping cart. Hazard!

6. If you attempt to bring in many toys to keep baby occupied, be prepared to pick them up 200 plus times.

7. It is possible to push a stroller, carry a bag, purse, and baby all the while tallking on your cell phone.

8. If you think it will be smart to put your purse in the bottom of the stoller to condense all of the gear you are carrying, rest assured that you cell phone will ring. You will find it as soon as it goes to voice mail.

9. It will take you longer than 5 minutes to get back into the car. Remember- you now have shopping bags too.

10. Babies do not like shopping! :)

Just a quick venting. I know many of you can relate to several of these.

Bathing Beauty

Mary Kate went swimming for the first time on Monday. Well, it was actually like taking a bath in a giant,luke-warm tub with your bathing suit on. She wasn't sure about it at first but she ended up splashing and loving it! Here she is before we left.

Contract Take Two!

Yea! We have a contract on our house. We are so excited! A very nice couple put a contract on it on Saturday. They made an offer last Wednesday but everything wasn't signed, sealed, and delivered until Saturday. We were about to pull our hair out until it was finalized. At one point on Saturday Brian said, "Jenny, why don't you go for a run. You are driving me crazy!" I guess I had so much anxiety because of what happened last time. We are set to close either May 5th or the following Monday. We have to be out on Mother's Day. We don't close on our other house until June 15th so we will be stuffing all of our stuff into my parents house and staying with them for about a month. Thanks to all of the family and friends who have prayed for 380 days for our house to sell. Rome, here we come!