No Such Thing As Cabin Fever

Because of a snowy weekend, we haven't left our house all weekend and it's been wonderful! We have passed the time with ease sleeping in, walking on the treadmill, playing in the snow, having my parents over for a sleepover and reading in our new favorite chair.
Jason decided he wanted to join the February book club, so he picked up the new Dan Brown novel. You may notice the new glider. John Thomas is sure to love this new addition to the Kirkpatrick living room.

I've already read this one but I'll wait on the review until Jason gets through. Maybe he'll even blog about it!

I've started Jason's favorite book, The Good Earth. So far it's been the perfect recipe for a snowy weekend.

My parents came over Friday before the storm hit. We spent the better part of the evening playing Bridge. I'm sure some of you don't know how to play Bridge, but I'll put it this way--we slaughtered them! It's only fun to beat them because they're very good and we rarely have such a dominant night.

I think I've discovered an important correlation: the smaller the dog, the less they like the snow. This little 9 lb. dog has the will power of a Great Dane. She actually went on a potty strike for the entire 24 hours they were here.

Chester, on the other hand, really can't get enough of the powder white precipitation.

I told him to give me his most serious face. What do you think?

January Book Club

We had a delightfully restful weekend. In fact, there is really no news or excitement this week. Don't get me wrong, I love a beautifully ordinary weekend where taking the dog to the park, sleeping in and going to church make the highlight reel. I did a little reading this weekend. And, since Christmas I've had the opportunity to finish three really good books.
Crazy Love is not for the faint of heart. Written by Francis Chan, it is a challenging and (at times) uncomfortable book about Christianity and how the choices you make on a daily basis reflect your faith and the trust you place God.

Same Kind of Different as Me was recommended to me by a friend. It's a very easy read and you will want to have your tissue ready. This true story written by two men from two different walks of life whose paths were destined to cross is one that will leave you inspired.

Cormac McCarthy was a Knoxville native and UT grad who is perhaps East Tennessee's most notable author. The Road, is one of the most beautifully written novels I've read. Even though there are only two main characters, it is not a one dimensional story. They face hurdles unimaginable to most readers and through their love, demonstrate a resilience and grace rivaled only in tales of Holocaust survivors.

Chester isn't really a reader, but he is the only other member of my book club. I love to hear any recommendations for my next read and if anyone wants to do like a once a month blogger book club, let me know.

Week 26: Let The Nesting Begin

Jason was such a good sport all weekend as I not-so delicately encouraged him to help me move furniture, get organized and put more stuff up in the attic. His parents, Danny and Molly, our most faithful relocating service, came in to help cart off our spare bedroom furniture and make room for the nursery. I intended to snap some pics of the move, but Danny was already starting to pack to U-haul when I crawled out of bed this morning. If he had his own moving company it would be called the Roadrunner Relocation Company because he moves so fast it's impossible to keep up. Beep beep!
I think we've (meaning I've) picked out the color for the nursery. No it's not baby blue, it's actually Water Chestnut and hopefully it will look nice with the dark furniture and chocolate and blue elephant bedding.

Here is the room after Jason and his dad got a hold of it. Jason is set to do the painting sometime in the next month. He isn't actually nesting, he's just fallen victim to my obsession. Sorry hon.

Two disclaimers about this picture: 1. I have on no make-up and my hair is a mess. 2. I hate this bathroom color but it was literally the hardest room I've ever painted and I refuse to redo it. This is my baby mound. I swear it gets bigger every day.

Here is the abbreviated baby scoop (I'm stealing, eh I mean borrowing your idea Sarah):

1. Week 26 and John Thomas is VERY active. I'm pretty sure he's either going to grow up to be a karate instructor or a gymnist because he woke me up at 4:30 a.m doing Tae bo in my abdomen. His eyes are now open, he weighs just over 2 lbs and he's around 9.5 inches long.

2. Energy: I'm really good until about Thursday afternoon and then I'm exhausted. Thanks to a great schedule, I can hall walk almost every day to help keep my stamina up (Thanks Sarah!). Jason would never say this out loud, but I get really grumpy when I'm tired and he's been so sweet about it.

3. Cravings: I'm loving cottage cheese, pimento cheese and pecan sandies cookies.

4. Aversions: I wish.

5. Clothing: Anything with an elastic waistband. I love the fact that maternity clothes don't have zippers (simply genius).

6. Weight gain: None of your business, but I will proudly say I still am several pounds away from my freshman 20 (yes 20!).

7. Next doctors appointment: 2 weeks. It's the one where I have to drink the syrup and get tested for diabetes.

Chester got a much needed bath this weekend. Don't worry, this is his toy squirrel and as most of you know anyway, he's a lover not a biter.

Snow Bound

School was released early on Thursday due to inclement weather. Between the traffic and the icy roads, it took me nearly an hour to get home. Jason and I both slept in on Friday because school and my basketball game had been canceled. Friday afternoon we decided to brave the roads in order to remedy our cabin fever. We jumped head-first onto the Avatar band wagon.

Saturday we decided to register at BabiesRUs. Although we're somewhat overwhelmed, we both stayed incredibly patient with one another. You can go to http://www.babiesrus.com/ if you want to check it out. Please feel free to offer any advice to help complete or edit our selections.

This weekend's greatest disappointment:

Our friend Tommy was throwing his wife, Stephanie, a surprise 30th birthday party in Birmingham. Instead of spending the weekend with our long lost favorite cul-de-sac neighbors, we were stuck in the cul-de-sac here all by our lonesome because my basketball game was rescheduled for Saturday. I hope that she had a wonderful soiree and I hope that we can make it up to them real soon. Happy Birthday Steph!After looking at snow/ice all weekend, this picture reminds me of the warm summer days. Speaking of warmth, our heat went out last night.
Needless to say, Jason and I practiced our Eskimo kisses before we went to bed last night. When I woke up it was 50 degrees in our bedroom --brrrrrr.

At least we got a really cute picture of our really cute dog who happens to love the snow.

Christmas In January

Apparently our computer has decided to work well this week. Here are last week's pictures.
Our Christmas dinner. If it's possible, I think it actually tasted better than it looked.

Mom and dad (note: Sassie insisted on being in the picture)

Our family as of Christmas 2009. There will surely be big changes by this time next year.

This new years was our quietest ever. Jason went to his grandparents to hunt and I stayed home with the dog to rest and finish a book for class. I was actually in bed by 11:30. Like most of you, we're back to the daily grind on Monday.