What an amazing year it has been! Nora turned two, Quinny arrived, and now we have two girls that are starting to realize they are sisters. I love how they can crack each other up. It’s usually on a level that Josh and I don’t really understand.

Which is where I’ll start with the latest little things they are up to —

• Making each other laugh. The other night, Nora was making random, rather loud nonsense exclamations at dinner. “Aaaaaaannnnnnnnaaaaaa….Dadddddddddddddaaaaaaa…” Right when I was inhaling the air for a declaration that she was being too loud and a little silly, Quinn looked right at her and started giggling. Which egged Nora on more and then it all ended up being pretty funny in the end. Who knew?

• Nora made up a saying — “Uncle Beau-coo” that will consistently, and I mean has a 100% success rate, make Quinny laugh. We don’t get it, have no idea how she came up with adding a coo to Uncle Beau’s name, or what about it is so hi lar i ous to Quinn, but it’s become totally normal for me to say, “Quick, Nora, make Quinn laugh.” “Quinn! Uncle Beau-Coo! Uncle Beau-coo!” And Quinn’s cries turn to giggles. Just like that. Why didn’t we think of it?

• We are up to our necks in Princess dress up, figurines, and dolls. Nora’s favorites are Belle and Cinderella, mainly because those are the only movies we think she’s ready to watch. (I didn’t remember so many of them being so scary at times. I mean, Snow White has a stepmother Queen who sends someone to kill her and then the trees grow claws and eyes and then the Queen becomes a super ugly old lady who is struck by lightning and then falls to her death?!? Calm down, Disney.) Cinderella, by contrast, is such a cute little story with the mice and whatnot. Although she hasn’t asked about the missing mom yet and sorta thinks the dad is “sick” throughout the whole movie. I didn’t want to tell her that the story killed him off.

Anyway, some of Nora’s favorite princess things to do:

• Wear a fancy dress and walk down the stairs to see it trailing behind her.
• Dropping a shoe on purpose. I could NOT find the matching shoe I wanted to wear to Josh’s Google party and finally found it at the bottom of the stairs. Of course.
• Randomly yell, “You can go ahead and STARVE!” like the Beast yells at Belle. It’s one of her all time favorite lines. Such great writing.
• Sing along to the songs. The one that always gets me is when she sings along to the reprise of Beauty and the Beast when a choir joins in with an “Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhh, AHHHHHHH!” She’s right there with them. (I don’t know how to write music or choir singing parts, so I hope that “AHH” translates. It’s probably supposed to be an extended b flat or tenor or something. But I’m going with Ahh.)
• Say, “Mommy, I’m going to LOCK YOU IN HERE!” then closing the door and running away as fast as she can.

If you aren’t into those movies, all references are lost and I’m sorry. But Nora will be happy to give you a full rundown of both stories.

Meanwhile, Quinny has experienced a renaissance era of learning little tricks.

• After she learned crawling, she focused on that for about, oh, two months. And she has crawled everywhere. And has dismantled everything she can. All very, very quietly. When I go back and look at Nora’s videos at this age, she was all about the babble but didn’t crawl until much later. Quinn has been the quiet type who’s more interested in being on the move. But it seems she’s suddenly decided that she’s officially mastered crawling/exploring and is ready to branch out into other areas. Which now include clapping, waving, and high fiving. I think Nora is as proud as we are.
• Quinn also LOVES her new baby dolls. Give her anything with a face and she lights up like a little Christmas tree.
• Quinn is starting to tune in to what Nora is doing and the toys she’s playing with. She’s been doing her own thing with her own toys but now she starting to crawl towards Nora to play with whatever she has. It’s not exactly Nora’s favorite development. “Mommy, can you move her?” All those times Nora has taken Quinn’s toys away…we thought Quinny had forgotten…but she’s ready to even the score…(I’ve seen too many movie trailers lately….)
• And one thing that Quinn has definitely moved into is the Separation Anxiety Stage. By “Separation Anxiety,” I mean she cries so hard she hyperventilates when I drop her off at the church nursery. And it takes her a while to warm up when we go somewhere or have people over. It’s so sad because up until now she’s been in the stage where anyone could hold her and she didn’t seem to notice or care. So everyone expects that same laid back attitude but are instead greeted with a quivering lip warning that will quickly dissolve to tears and a red face if she isn’t returned to Mommy ASAP. But I’d be totally lying if I said it didn’t make me feel a teeny bit special. I feel sad for everyone else but it’s still touching in a very selfish way. I know she’ll grow out of it soon. Probably before I’m ready for her to.
• Somewhere along the line, Nora decided Quinn is her best friend. Josh pointed out that Quinn hasn’t really done anything to earn that status. They haven’t really played together and Quinn doesn’t even talk yet. But for reasons only she knows, Nora consistently says her best friend is Quinny. “Quinny, you my beeeeeest friend.”
• And lastly, it seems that Quinn is suddenly aware that she can get Nora to react to her if she does something to her. She’s started to tug on Nora’s clothes or hair. Sometimes Nora laughs and plays along.
  “Quinny, are you teasing Nora?”
  “I want her to tease me, Mommy!”
  Sometimes I have to intervene. But it’s fun because they’re starting to experience that special sister relationship. You live in quarters that sometimes seem too close, you have to share your toys and parents’ attention, and sometimes your hair gets pulled. But there’s someone who is always there who knows how to make you laugh. A best friend.

We are so, so, so thankful for the blessings God has given us this year and that we have our own set of little best friends running/crawling around our home.

Nora finally got to meet my Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. It was a great trip! They are fantastic hosts. The only sad part was that the trip was a short one.

It worked out so well that we were able to go at all. Josh had business meetings in Mountain View, which is about an hour and a half away from Carmel, home of Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. They were available to spend the time with us, so he booked a ticket for me and away we went!

The flight out there was amazing. The flight attendant managed to find us our own row on a full flight! After landing, we got our rental car and car seat, dropped Josh off at his office, and drove down to Carmel.

And then Nora finally got to meet Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul! She loved them right away and started giving them her flirty, squinched up face grins. She also loved exploring their kitchen as we ate lunch. (So many drawers! And cabinets!)

After lunch we went for a walk in downtown Carmel. There were so many doggies. And birds. Aunt Barb and I went from shop to shop and were always able to find Uncle Paul and Nora by listening for the cry of “Hey! Dog gee!” Uncle Paul was very kind and pushed Nora’s stroller while she exclaimed over all the dogs. She also liked to touch the potted flowers. (And maybe even snatched a few during drive-by flower pickings.) She was totally comfortable and didn’t even care that I kept walking away. Instant trust and love for Uncle Paul.

The next day we went to this amazing park (the wildlife kind) where you can look over cliffs and see seals. We even got to see a mother with her baby seal! It was so adorable. The baby swam right next to the mom and sometimes they touched noses like they were kissing! We named them “Mommy” and “Nora.”

Next up — the Dennis the Menace Park. Um. Wow. I really wish every kid could go to a park like this one. It was huge with these gigantic bridges and swings and climbing equipment. Nora loved it when Uncle Paul carried her across the wobbly bridge. Then Mommy took her down the long, bumpy slide.

And Nora’s world came crashing down. She absolutely lost it. She sobbed and wailed and let the tears flow.

So we took her to the swings where she cheered up and loved every minute of it.

Then I thought, “Let’s go to the baby slides. So she doesn’t have a fear of all slides.”

Too late. I held her on my lap and tried going down the 3 ft slide with her, and she was still hysterical. Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul even tried to hold her while she watched me go down the slide. (“Look at me, Nora! Whee!! This is so fun!!!”) Nope. Forget it. It was all too horrible for words.

Back to the swings. Because you can’t leave a park sad.

After she recovered, we headed back to the house. It was time to pack up and leave to drive back to Mountain View. It was sad to leave Nora’s new friends.

Then we went to pick up Josh from work. Uncle Kemble was there so we could all go to dinner. We went to In N Out, because we were in CA and you have to go at least once. (Them’s the rules.) Kemble was making Nora giggle pretty hard, which was impressive given how exhausted she was.

Time for bed. This promised to be interesting because we haven’t attempted to sleep in the same room with Nora since she was an infant. We put her pack n play next to our bed, turned out the light, and hoped she’d go to sleep. Sure enough, I heard the sound I thought I would hear; little hands struggling to find a grip on nylon netting. I saw one hand, then the other, grasp the rail. Finally, a little head popped up and there was Nora, ready to play the “You’re Pretending to Sleep and I’m Going to Get You” Game. She was giggling as she repeatedly tapped my head.

After trying to lay her back down a few times, we decided to try co-sleeping for the first time ever. First she just wanted to play with our noses and hair. Then she would sit up and flop onto one of us. Only to sit up again and flop down on the other one. And there were spontaneous bursts of giggles as she continued to attempt the Wake Up Mommy and Daddy Game.

Back to the pack n play, only this time we moved it as far from our bed as we could. She must have been totally wiped out because she didn’t even make a peep. (I was expecting some major protests.) A few hours later, we were waking up to get on another airplane and back to Seattle we flew.

Nora had such a GREAT time with her (great?) Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. They took wonderful care of us! They had toys for her, her favorite foods ready to go, and lots and lots of love and attention.

Thanks Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul! We’d love to have you visit Seattle anytime!!

Today Lauren turns 27.

Also, today is the first birthday for our sweet little niece (and Nora’s cousin) Faith! They’re celebrating over here.

Here’s some images from our latest ultrasound. The technician did that helpful thing where she labeled each picture. She’s also the only person who claims to know the sex of the baby. Tantalizing! 

Baby Face

The baby is facing the camera with an arm on each cheek.

The Crossed Feet 

If it’s a girl, she’s a lady already.

The Arms 

The left arm is a little easier to make out. The right one is quite blurry.

And… The Ever So Gracefully Extended Leg 

This little leg is the cause of some of those kicks I’ve been feeling.

If all goes well, this is the last we’ll see of Baby Teague until we get to meet him/her! That’s approximately 120 days away. =)

We’re here! We’re here! Well, okay, we arrived last Sunday, but here’s a summary… :)

To see the entire album from each day, click on the Destination photos.

Day 1
Destination: St. Louis

After shoving two huge suitcases, our airbed, feather mattress, my terrarium, four pillows, a dog bed, a bag of books, Josh’s laptop, and of course, our car sick prone dog, Remy, we left Mom’s house and took off on the beginning of our great Road Trip ’08.

We got one block away before we had to turn around and go back to get some stuff (yup, even more) that we realized we forgot. So we were only an hour late meeting our Tennessee friends for breakfast. Thanks Davy, Emily, Kirby, Kristin, and Robbie! These were the guys (sans Kevin) with whom Josh won the trip to Paris a while back.

Several hours later, we did get to see some of flooding in Illinois that was all over the news this spring. It was so sad to see the tops of soccer goals and baseball field lights peeking out over feet and feet of water.

After driving about 6 hours, we arrived south of St. Louis- a whole hour earlier than we thought we would!! Our Garmen GPS didn’t include the time zone change when giving an estimated time of arrival. We were so excited — we were able to take a NAP before sightseeing! Luxury, luxury.

We then went down the famous arch. The Gateway Arch. There’s a really pretty park that we walked through. And three guys that I’m pretty sure were smoking marijuana. Either that, or they just wanted gullible people like me to think they were smoking marijuana. Hmm.

Anyway, we didn’t go up into the arch because it was going to take an hour and well, we were too hungry for that. But we did get to see the museum underneath the arch. There were some creepy animated “people” that moved around and told about the Lewis and Clark expedition. I didn’t like those guys. And, there wasn’t one for Sacajawea. My first disappointment of the trip.

 
Day 2
Destination: Sioux City, Iowa

Probably the coolest thing that happened on this day was upon our arrival in Sioux City. When we got to our hotel, Josh went in to check us in and came back saying the room was “pretty rough.”

Now. Family. Friends. If Josh, thinks a room is rough, well, then I wouldn’t be comfortable walking around in it. Let alone using their supposedly laundered sheets. Turns out, they wanted to place us in a dimly-lit smoking room at the back of the motel. No thanks.

So being the good husband that he is, he agreed to drive around and see if we could find a better room. The tricky part: finding hotels that allow pets. Consulting Garmen and the iPhone, we found a Regency Inn nearby that allowed dogs. Well, we found where it was supposed to be. Actually finding it took awhile.  When we did… Yikes. Nobody could be serious about it being a hotel. We were about to call it quits and go back to the Pretty Rough Room when we saw a Marina Conference Center. It looked gorgeous.

Not only did it allow pets, and not only was there a room available, but it had the nicest staff who checked in with us every time we walked by the concierge. And the room was fancy nice. Easily the best place we stayed in the entire trip. 
 
Day 3
Destination: Buffalo, Wyoming

The highlights of the drive this day were Corn Palace and 1880 Town. We saw a lot of billboards for it when we were in SD two years ago, and this time, I was determined to check it out.

It’s a building with sides that are decorated with murals made of corn. They change it every year. When you go inside the Corn Palace, there’s a photo history that shows the themes for each year (2008-Everyday Heroes). There’s also vendors selling souvenirs. But the town also using it as a community center — basketball games, meetings, even proms. We really couldn’t figure this place out. Is it supposed to be serious? It seemed like more of a funny landmark than a historical one. We were laughing the whole time. I hope that wasn’t rude. Is this how people who are visiting Georgia feel about The Big Chicken?

1880 Town has a two prong approach to nab tourists’ attention. 1) A museum of memorabilia and props from the film Dances with Wolves. 2) Original buildings from the frontier that have been preserved and moved into one location. It did feel weird when you caught your first glimpse of the town. Like a ghost town — only one that has been pieced together manually.

 
Day 4
Destination: Bozeman, Montana

This was the best day on the road. We left early so we could get to Yellowstone with time to look around. On the drive towards the park, Remy started making some gagging sounds.

By the way, Remy was a trooper on the trip! He only got sick one time, when weak Lauren fed him a french fry. But other than that, he just dealt with the long hours. He did crack us up with his sitting habits. He rarely sat in the bed we put in the back seat for him. No, Remy preferred to sit on the armrest between Josh and I. He’d gradually push himself back until he was blocking our view of each other. He also liked sitting on top of the luggage we had in the back seat. Or laying on the floor behind the seat. But no matter the place he choose, the position was the same — face the back of the car. It was like he was on timeout the whole trip. But it worked. 

Anyway, so he was making gagging sounds and Josh decided to pull over at the next side road. Which happened to be at the most breathtaking mountain lake shore we’ve ever seen. Remy was magically and instantly cured when we stopped the car. He took off and got to explore the water and grass and wildflowers growing. It’s just impossible to describe how absolutely beautiful this place was. The pictures don’t even come close to doing it justice. It was the best part of the whole trip.

Then on to Yellowstone! Yellowstone was of course, incredible impressive. Just driving through it was amazing. Waterfalls on the side of the road and lakes and snow we could get out and touch right there next to our car. One area we were looking forward to seeing was this trail that led to hot springs. I had Remy on his leash and heard two different people whisper, “I didn’t think you could have dogs on this trail.” Josh was off getting close-ups of a bison — that people were literally running to go see. I started waving him down with panic and gestured that we had to get out of there. Sure enough, there was this dopey little sign at the very beginning of the trail that showed about 6 things that shouldn’t happen on the trail — including dogs. I felt so guilty. I mean, Remy’s not exactly the kind of dog to take on a bison (the reason behind the rules), but still. I would have cried like a kindergartner if a Park Ranger had reprimanded me.

As we drove to Old Faithful, we were thrilled to see a crowd building. The geyser goes off every 90 minutes or so, so if we’d missed it, we’d be there until almost nightfall. There must have been 300 people there. It was crowded. But we got to see it go off in all its faithful glory after only waiting about 10 minutes. 

On the way out of the park, Josh lamented that he hadn’t seen much wildlife. In front of us, traffic slowed and people were parking their cars and running to the side of the road with cameras. I can empathize with people who live near Loch Ness. Of course, we parked our car and Josh took his camera. Guess what it was? We’re actually not sure if it was a deer, an elk, or a moose. But he  some good shots of whatever it was.

Then there was a second traffic jam. The one was caused by a herd of buffalo. There was a river on one side of the road and a mountain on the other, so I have no idea where they came from. Perhaps they just traveled down the highway for awhile. But that was a fun adventure. And even Josh’s expectations for wildlife spotting were met. He didn’t even slow the car down when we saw some deer a few minutes later.

That night was the most interesting (and by interesting I mean depressing) night in terms of hotels. It was our last night on the road, and the only other time that booking online meant getting stuck with a smoking room. It seems that when you book online to get a the better price, you also agree to getting whichever kind of room is available upon check in. And let me tell you — it was horrible. The room itself looked fine, but REEKED. We were too exhausted to search for another room and decided to deal with it and sleep. But both of us had a hard time sleeping and breathing the stale air. So. Let that be a warning to everyone who books online — always call afterward and confirm that you are a nonsmoker. Unless, I guess, you’re a smoker. It was the only time I busted out the sheets I’d brought to use in the new apartment. And our (personal, of course) pillows still smelled the next day.

 
Day 5
Destination: Seattle!!!

Not too much to report from this day. The last hour of driving seemed to take longer than the rest of the trip combined. But it’s amazing — even a short half an hour away from a bustling city, and you’d never know. It’s just trees and ice capped mountains and pure nature. 

Then we finally arrived home In Kirkland. Our new home and a new start.

It was a great trip.

If there ever was a time for birthdays, this would certainly be the season! Our oldest niece Sydney turned 6 this week, so here’s a ton of pictures from the big day. Click below for the whole set…

This past Memorial Day weekend we celebrated our nephew Silas’s 3rd birthday here in Marietta. Click on the photo below to see the entire gallery!

We recently found ourselves in Birmingham, AL for our niece’s princess birthday party. Click on the photo below to see the entire gallery!

Have been going absolutely crazy lately taking pictures. However, haven’t had the chance to share them with our FSI readers. So here’s some photos from Tiffany’s homecoming lunch — yup, she got a one-way ticket back to America! And the other slideshow is from the Petrella Family Easter Extravaganza — in Mrs. Petrella’s new home!

Click on the photos below to see each gallery…

Lauren and I (sans Remy, sadly) are headed out this weekend for the yearly Petrella/Robinson/Teague beach trip to Seaside — cannot wait! Here’s a couple sets of photos you may haven’t seen yet to keep you occupied…

Jeanine & Kemble’s B-day party
Tech vs. Samford

Look for more photos (and hopefully some video) here after we get back!

This weekend our friends the Van Hills came into town to visit. Here’s some photos from our day of fun in the city.

And in case you’ve missed ‘em, you can always find the latest photos here.

Hi friends. If you’re interested in viewing photos from our summer out here in S.F., you’re going to want to visit this page for the latest updates.

I’ll be honest — right now the pickings are pretty slim. Hardly any photos of people you know. Most of it is from my people watching around the city and me playing with my camera.

Below is a sampling of what you can expect to find. The sea lion photos are for the niece and nephew fans of ours . . . taken in effort to alleviate any trauma that may have been done by showing them sad Aunt Lauren a few posts back. :)

So tonight I settle into our new summer home here in San Francisco. We’re delighted to be right in the heart of the city, near all the shopping locations and many sights. Lauren won’t be here until June, so please take care of her for me in the meantime. Things are going really well so far and I’m anxious to start my internship this coming Tuesday.

Here’s what I came home to the other day just before I had to start packing for the trip… so sad. So sweet. My wife.

We’ll do our best to keep this site updated with photos and stuff throughout the summer. :)

Yesterday, along with the Thurmans, Lauren and I had the pleasure of getting to tour the forthcoming home for Buckhead Church. Like any other North Point/Buckhead event, the polish and attention to detail on the event itself was top notch. We got to see each of the four floors of the building, as well as the main worship area.

Some interesting tidbits:

Below the 1st floor is a parking lot that holds as many spots as the current main parking lot holds — this lot is reserved for Waumba Land / KidStuff families.

Better still, to get to this special parking lot, you actually drive your car/VAN through a tunnel that cuts into building for easy child drop-off. (It is very cool).

There’s an escalator system and stairwells & elevators designed just for children (to ensure their safety, etc.)

The building is 200,000 Sq. ft. That means it is really big.

The worship auditorium holds 3-4 times as many attendees as the current one does. The “upper-deck” seating area alone holds as many as the current in itself.

Beyond these, I can’t remember all the other really creative ways they solved certain problems with trying to fit a church in such a place and meet the needs of various groups.

Finally, what is more impressive to me was Jeff Henderson’s (Pastor) 15min. talk he gave to us at the end of the tour. What stuck out is that in all the planning and fund raising that has gone into the church, they remain cognizant (as we must be) of the fact that the building remains temporal. He noted that “every church has a closing day” and that one day in the future the building will be sold, abandoned or demoed. So with that in mind, we must use the space in a great way and to the best of our ability through Jesus. I thought this was all really forward thinking and very wise. It made Lauren and I extremely proud of what Buckhead church is doing and how the vision that God has given the leaders there remains laser focused on reaching unbelievers. Sidenote: Jeff also remarked how well the Atlantic Station service went earlier in the day — this is where they’ve rented a Regal Cinema screen for the morning to beam the service to. Apparently they packed out every seat (even having to turn away 50 people). But next week they’re going to reserve TWO theater screens for the same thing. Pretty exciting. Below are some photos of the worship auditorium in construction.

Above: A view from the upper seating level.

Above: A lateral view across the upper seating level. Curves rule this building’s design to beautiful effect.

Lauren and I from the top level.

When we started this blog over a year (!) ago, we used the first post to thank people for everything they had been doing for us and our engagement. Tonight as we ate a delicious dinner prepared by Josh, we talked about all the amazing things we’ve done and people we’ve met during our first year of marriage.

This year was a busy, crazy year! We joined up with our awesome community group, I started my first job, and I only threatened to quit my first job twice. Josh threatened to quit his first job and actually followed through. Thus sending him off to grad school while I move into a second year of teaching that is supposed to be easier than the first. (Prayers accepted.) Josh got his wedding ring resized- twice.

Josh won his first design award, complete with a trip to Paris, we went to four weddings of friends of ours, welcomed a new niece, and the first of our friends had a baby boy. We celebrated Silas’s first birthday, moved Annie into her freshman dorm, had two sets of friends get engaged, and went on our first helicopter ride. And saw Mount Rushmore and the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention the Anna Ruby Falls we visited just yesterday.

We thank Jesus for his blessings and faithfulness in our marriage this year.

We could go on, but pictures are worth so many more words. So here’s about 50,000 words summed up into little moments captured on film. Err — on digital screens from the past year. Some you’ll remember, some are new. Enjoy them all!