The Blankenship Family

And the number of the day is...2!

2011-02-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

Greetings to those of you who actually remembered that we have a blog! Since there is a lot of catching up to do, the next few blogs may be a bit out of order, but I thought that Karis'2nd birthday deserved the first post.

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our baby's-- I mean toddler's 2nd birthday. Let me just say, she must have read the manual on how to be a 2 year old. She has been exerting her independence in as many different ways as possible. By this, I mean she is making her opinion known. Her language and use of sentences has also picked up tremendously. For instance, when riding back from church last Sunday, she was apparently hungry and this is what I heard from the back seat- "Um, I want grapes. I want yogurt. Want hot dog. Um, I want churky (turkey) and ticken (chicken) and appa soss (applesauce)."

Ok, so back to the second birthday party. We had a family birthday party which consisted of 13 adults and 4 of Karis' cousins (all 3 years old and under). Her party theme this year was "ABC 123" with some Seasame Street splashed in. Karis has been singing the alphabet daily for about 6 months now. She can still name most of her letters when we write them for her, which we still aren't sure how she learned other than daily play. She is also a huge Seasame Street fan, which is probably because each episode includes so many letters and numbers. She refers to Seasame Street as "Elmo-Cookie" and says several times a day, "Ina see Elmo-Cookie. Ina watch Elmo's Wah (World)."

Since most people traveled in for the party, we started with a smoked BBQ dinner and later broke out the cake and ice cream after gifts. My mom took my ideas and some of her own for Karis' cake again this year and had a bakery in Murfreesboro turn those ideas into a travel-friendly version. The cake flavor was red velvet since that happens to be one of the specialties of that particular bakery, and it was in the shape of the old fashioned ABC wooden blocks stacked into a (travel-friendly) tower. If you look closely, you will see her name within the blocks. For party favors for the little one, I decorated school boxes with each of their names and stuffed them with crayons, ABC stickers, a magnifying glass (without actual glass of course), travel games, and an ABC notepad.

We are of course blown away that our little one is a full-blown 2 year old, but are so thankful for the meaning and laughter that she brings into our lives. Here are several photos from her party.

Daddy's little helper

2010-10-28T18:15:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share with everyone something cute about karis. She loves to help out when we are doing chores around the house. I think her favorite chore is working the dryer. She loves to be in the laundry room as I'm emptying the dryer and karis likes to remove the lint filter for me, put in the dryer sheet and finally close the door. I really hope she still wants to do this when we start assigning chores! Here's a pic of karis in action.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gotta love an ordered world

2010-10-13T08:35:00.001-07:00

Below is a picture of karis' latest obsession, ordering and arranging like items. These items can range from stackable cups to mixing bowls to shoes to her my little ponies and everything in between. Holly and I love to watch her mind work as she figures out the best possible way for each item to be arranged. It's really too cute!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Record!

2010-09-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

I think we have achieved our all time new record for longest time interval between posts (not necessarily an "achievement")! I recently took yet another step of boards, so that is my excuse. Jared has been picking up my slack (not uncommon) recently around the house, so that's his excuse. Enough excuses...on to updates!

Jared is still spending his time as a stay at home dad, except for his part-time gig at the church as the liason/director of family ministries and the theology class he teaches every other Saturday for ordination candidates in our church district. He also taught a similar class at our church in Philly. I think wherever God directs his career in the future, it will involve teaching, at least on some level, as he is very good at this and enjoys it, too. Not to mention the fact that he is constantly reading a new book about every week, and these are not exactly the type novels that I like to read when given the opportunity. I enjoy fiction, whereas his are more on the educational side.

As mentioned before, I just took another set of boards, which feels like something I have to do every couple of months, even though it's only about once every year. I am in my second year of my 3 year residency and am enjoying having slightly less call, although I should have even less call/hours next year. Jared keeps commenting that he is excited that we will soon be approaching the time when our life becomes "more normal." Neither of us are exactly sure what this means, other than I should have more control over my schedule and more time with my baby and hubby. This is why I went into family medicine- it seems to be the field with the most flexibility and opportunities to cater your career, although these qualities have to be specifically pursued, which I plan to do.

Now on to our jabbering lady...
Karis is well into the toddler stage, which I realize as she runs through the house, throws balls, dances on request, and empties out the tupperware cabinet...again. Her vocabulary expands daily, and she picks up on words and phrases that surprise both Jared and me. Some of her favorite things currently are: singing her ABCs and counting, watering Mommy's flowers (=digging the dirt out of the pots with her hands and putting it in the watering cans), Cookie Monster and Big Bird (who have recently replaced her beloved duck as her favorite stuffed animals to push in her stroller), pushing random objects in her baby doll stroller as fast as she can (she pushes Daddy's shoes, cousin Andrew's picutre which for some reason has a lot of teeth marks on it, ABC magnets, etc), and playing in the tent Daddy makes for her in the living room.

She also still LOVES reading. We probably read about 30 stories to her each day between the two of us as she is continuously bringing us her new favorites and getting in our laps. This is not an over-estimate. Her favorites recently are "Pouch!" "Ten Apples Up on Top," "All the Ways I Love You," "Baby at the Farm," "Lullaby, Lullaby, Little One," "All of Baby, Nose to Toes," and "Good Night, Gorilla." Sounds like a long list, but these are just the ones we read repeatedly throughout the day. She is still a good eater, but has started rejecting certain foods that she has decided she no longer likes. She recently discovered okra, which she will continue to eat no matter how full she is. And finally, the last thing that Karis is really into, is "foss" (floss). She loves to play with floss hanging out of her mouth...hopefully this is the beginning of good oral hygiene. We love the sound of her little voice and feet in the house, and wouldn't trade our little "Curious Karis" for anything. The photos here are from earlier this summer. In fact, I can't believe how much she has already changed in the past few months. I have some more recent photos, but for now I am having issues getting them to continue uploading from my computer, so I will have to include those in the next post, which will hopefully not be in 3 more months :)

"Duts, Appies, Out!"

2010-06-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

These are the precious favorite utterings of my baby who I have been privileged to spend every waking hour with for the last week. I (Holly) had one of my much needed weeks of vacation from the hospital this past week, and can't seem to get enough family time. Within the first minute that Karis wakes up in the mornings, she usually begins requesting her favorite things in her sleepy voice: "Duts" (ducks), "Appies" (bubbles), and Out (outside)!

We were able to go to my family's Mecca, aka Murfreesboro (they pretty much all live here), for a few days of detox from the residency. We were able to take Karis to the Nashville Zoo, along with BB, Aunt Lori, and her cousins Andrew and Kaylea. This was Karis' first zoo trip. She paid the most attention to the roosters and, in general, looked on at the other animals as though we have always had them in our back yard, even the giraffes. It will be fun to see how her response changes in the years to come. Karis was also able to get some much needed playtime with her cousins, my parents, Aunt Lo and Uncle Kev.

We have been home for the past few days and have been laying low. My house is still not as clean as I'd like, but we've had some time outside, good home-cooked meals, and even some movie time...well, it was just a borrowed Ratatouille DVD (thanks Andrew) that Jared and I watched while Karis toddled around, and we are not afraid to admit that we really enjoyed it :)

It has been refreshing to love on my baby girl all day long, hear her repeat new words after me, see her walk back and forth to the things she is not supposed to get into, and to see her grin and say "hi" every time we make eye contact. I honestly dread going back to work because of how rewarding and rich my home life is, but unfortunately the med school bills won't pay for themselves and I will be returning to work on Memorial Day. Until then, I am going to savor these extra hours I have with Karis, who is currently talking on the phone into a (clean) diaper while she is wearing a "hat," which most people actually call a washcloth.

Chattanooga Lookouts game

Strolling at the Zoo

Cousins Andrew and Karis

Checking out the Zebras at the zoo

Hitching at ride on DaDa

Our talented daughter with Sydney the dog

Cousin Kaylea

Trying to stay cool in the pool

Hanging out in Cousin Andrew's playhouse

We're walkin'

2010-05-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Karis has finally decided to start walking! We believe that she had the necessary skills to do so much earlier than now, but was a little too stubborn about the whole issue. This video is from her 3rd day walking and we can't believe how fast she's progressed, although this may be somewhat normal. Hope you enjoy!

Welcome to the World!

2010-03-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

: Karis chilling in Daddy's lap waiting to meet her new cousin

Through the nursery window

Gome holds her 5th "GG baby

Papa Ted and Andrew discuss the upcoming changes at home

Proud Papa

Big brother Andrew finally sees his baby sister for the first time

She's here!

Awaiting arrival of our baby in the nursery
Andrew's post baby snack

Karis playing peek-a-boo in the car

On March 15, our precious niece, Kaylea ("Kay Lee") Anne Carver came into the world. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz., was 20 inches long, and looked very similar to her big brother Andrew when he was born, only a little more petite. Like her brother as a newborn, she has black hair with blonde highlights. Andrew's hair eventually turned blonde, so it appears that hers will too. I had been on call all weekend at the hospital, so I was able to leave that morning and drive to Murfreesboro with Jared and Karis just in time for the delivery. Andrew was excited to see that the baby grew enough in Mommy's belly that it was finally time for her to come out. As soon as he finally laid eyes on her through the window of the nursery and determined that that was definitely the baby he was going to get to take home, he decided it was "time for a snack!" Lori and Kaylea are doing very well, as is proud the proud father, Kevin. Here are some of Kaylea's first photos, although some of the best ones I took for Lori and Kevin on their camera, which unfortunately for me, is in Murfreesboro. I will post better pics as soon as I can get them from Lori. Welcome to our family, sweet baby girl!

Karis' 1st Bday Party

2010-02-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

So Jared posted a few pics from Karis' Bday party in January, but we thought her 1st bday deserved its own post. Karis' Bday is 1/7/9, so we celebrated the first week of January with the family members who were able to make the trip. We decided on a farm animal theme since one of Karis' favorite things was a big pop out book she has on farm animals. In fact, one of her very first words was "rooster," which she said several times around 9 months old, along with her attempt at "cock-a-doodle-do," and to the dismay of her parents, has not repeated it since.

My mom, known as "BB" to the grandbabies, made Karis' first birthday cake, a barnyard cake complete with silo and farm animal cupcakes. She also made Karis' own little pig cake to eat/destroy. In light of the cold January weather, we served homemade chili with chili dogs. We also made little party favors for Karis' mini guests, her cousins Andrew, Eli and Ethan. Their party favors were in little silver farm pales, lined with a bandana. Inside the pale were animal stickers, an animal coloring book, crayons, animal crackers, animal stensils and party blowers.

Karis decided she was sleepy just before cake and presents, but we were able to somehow distract her enough with the festivities to stay awake. As a result, she was a bit more stoic than her usual personality, especially considering all of the people who were in her house watching her eat cake, open gifts, and play. Of course, she became wired just as all the guests started leaving and as she realized those gifts weren't leaving with them!

Here are some photos of our fun night with our baby girl, already one year old!!
(For some reason some of the captions did not turn out right- sorry, Jared's computer and I do not get along!)

Karis Olivia Blankenship, born January 7, 2009
[caption id="attachment_325" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Karis\' personal (pig) cake"][/caption][caption id="attachment_326" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="K\'s first candle and cake!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_327" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Andrew convincing Karis to dig in!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_328" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Guess it worked!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_329" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="What a fun mess!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_330" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cleaning up the aftermath"][/caption][caption id="attachment_331" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Time to spoil!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_333" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ethan digs in head first!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_335" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Is that a pig cupcake?!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_336" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Eby Family"][/caption][caption id="attachment_337" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Karis with 2 sets of great grandparents!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_338" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Karis with \"BB and Bop\""][/caption][caption id="attachment_339" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Karis and Papa Ted"][/caption][caption id="attachment_340" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Karis and Aunt Marina"][/caption][caption id="attachment_341" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Party Pooped"][/caption][caption id="attachment_342" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bday kiss"][/caption][caption id="attachment_343" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Loves her bday barn!"][/caption][caption id="attachment_345" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Our little peanut one year ago..."][/caption][caption id="attachment_346" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="My how she\'s grown in one year! (That\'s her sock in her mouth instead of on her feet, which she prefers.)"][/caption]

Rounding out '09

2010-01-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a few activities that rounded out the year for the Blankenship family.

Family grill-off: Holly's family started a new tradition last year by competing in a grill-off. We were not able to participate last year since we were living outside of Philly. But this year, we were there........and came in dead last. The theme this year was burgers and I submitted a turkey burger, since that's the only burger that Holly and I can agree on. (She doesn't eat red meat.) I was very happy with our entry, especially since I love those burgers. They have chunky applesauce mixed in with the meat and a maple-Dijon sauce on top. I believe there are two reason why we fared so poorly. The first is that some of the judges don't care for turkey burgers and the second is that I totally underestimated the flair that each contestant used to present their entries. I mean we're talking Food Network Challenge material. I will be better prepared for next year, although I have never cooked ribs before. Here are a few pictures.

[caption id="attachment_307" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The Harvest Turkey BlankenBurger"][/caption]

Trip to Charleston: The day after the grill-off we traveled down to see my parents outside of Charleston, SC. This was the first time we had been there since mom and dad moved to Summerville a year and a half earlier. The trip takes around 7-8 hours and we were nervous with how Karis would handle all of the time in her carseat. She is usually pretty good on our trips to the 'boro, but this was the first time doing a longer trip. Well, Karis did great until the last 90 min. She slept a lot and Holly entertained her quite a bit, but she had her fill of the road and let us know. Our arrival time was delayed several times as we had to stop and try to settle her down. Once there, we had a great time with my parents. I had never been to Charleston and enjoyed our venture into the city and through the marketplace. Unfortunately we were only able to stay from Sunday afternoon through Wednesday morning because Holly had to get back to work. But if God keeps Mom and Dad in the area we will look forward to exploring more of the low country.

[caption id="attachment_311" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Karis with Grammy and Daddy B"][/caption]

Halloween: This was obviously Karis' first Halloween and we couldn't resist the opportunity for a photo opportunity with all of the GG babies. (GG stands for great-grandbabies.) Karis was dressed up as a lady bug and was a cutie. After spending a few hours with the family we headed home in time to find out that our neighborhood is a zoo on Halloween night. Thankfully since we live in a townhome a few streets into the subdivision, no one came to our door after we got home. I say thankfully because we didn't have any candy to give out. Next year things will be different as we will take Karis around to get daddy some candy, I mean trick or treat.

[caption id="attachment_309" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Our little butterfly flying through the air"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_310" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="The GG babies"][/caption]

Thanksgiving was kind of weird for us this year as Holly had to work and we both missed our family gatherings. I was lucky to be invited to a gathering of the family of one of my good friends from college, even though they weren't there. So my sister, whose husband was also working, Karis and I crashed the Thompson family Thanksgiving. We were able to get up to the 'boro on the weekend for a celebration with Holly's family.

Christmas was also a busy time as we tried to navigate family gatherings around Holly's schedule. We were able to be with Holly's family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but had to leave on that evening for Holly to work the next day. We then headed up to Gatlinburg to be with my parents for a few days. Both times were great, but just not long enough. We are finding it hard to work around the near impossible schedule that Holly has to keep right now, but understand that it will get better; eventually.

[caption id="attachment_313" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Holly and Karis on the 23rd when we celebrated our family Christmas"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_314" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Karis with Bop on Christmas Eve"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Karis and BB on Christmas Eve"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_316" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Karis pulling up on Cousin Ethan on Christmas Day"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_317" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Karis on her new toy, a present from Grammy and Daddy B"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Karis with Grammy in Gatlinburg"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_319" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Karis giving Daddy B the stiff arm in Gatlinburg"][/caption]

Ushering in Autumn

2009-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we never mean to go as long as we do in between posts, but as you can imagine, life at the Blankenship household has been anything but standard in terms of schedules and free time, especially in the first few months of my residency. Well, here is an update on our family since our last post, as well as some pics. I just finished working on the general surgery service, which means I had to wake up by 3:15 AM just to get to the hospital in time for the day, and of course days that I am on call are even worse since I routinely work 30+ hour shifts on those days, no matter what service I am on, with very few exceptions. That makes for one tired Mommy and wife who just wants to love on her family and pretend she doesn't have a career. My schedule will be somewhat better this month, and you better believe that if you see me outside of the hospital, I will be clinging to my baby with my husband close by.

We were able to go out onto the lake with my family a couple of times in August/Sept., so Karis was introduced to the boating/lake experience for the first time. Although, Jared and I actually went out boating on the day I told him I was pregnant, so if you count that, it was technically not her first experience- we start them early in my family :) It ended up being a bit chilly on our second trip to the lake, so we pretty much kept Karis wrapped up in a beach towel most of the time. She did however love the way it felt for the breeze to blow through her "hair." Jared and Kevin (our bro-in-law) got some tubing in, despite the cool water that day.

On October 2, Jared and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Jared's sister, Jenna, watched Karis while Jared and I went out on a much needed date. We enjoyed dinner at Hennen's in downtown Chattanooga, and then strolled over to a outdoor bluegrass concert next to the river. We can't believe it's been 5 years unless we picture all of the things we've done and places we've been since we were married. From Clarksville to Philly to Chattanooga. And then there's that little spunky bundle of joy...

[caption id="attachment_260" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="5th Anniv. overlooking downtown Chatty"][/caption]

Karis will be 9 months old next week. She started eating baby food a couple of months ago, and has established a few favorites. For the past few weeks, her top few picks are bananas (understandable), green beans (which have very little flavor but taste like raw green beans), squash (as of this week), and one of her steady favs, sweet potatoes.

Karis brings us a lot of joy and laughter every day. She has earned the nickname "turbo roller" since she immediately starts turbo rolling as soon as you lay her down anywhere, including her changing table. She will flash her 2-toothed smile at anyone who will pay attention to her, and loves to hear the range of her own voice. Here are some pics of everyday life with our baby over the last couple of months:

[caption id="attachment_268" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Giving her butterfly a piggyback ride. Still not sure how this happened..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_273" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bath time at BB and Bop's house"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Karis fell asleep sitting up in my lap"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_279" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Went for a jog with Mommy- this is where her blanket ended up"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_280" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Time with Daddy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_281" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="K without a diaper post bath- Mommy living on the edge!"][/caption]

Hit the ground running

2009-07-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

It is very fitting that Holly's sport of choice in high school was cross country because her life has paralleled that sport in many way. Let me explain. One reason why Holly like cross country is that course is more than just going in a circle around a track and that each course she ran on was different. A cross country runner has to be ready to deal with inclines, declines, smooth ground, rocky ground, sink holes, trees and many people trying to fit on a path whose waist line grows or shrinks at the drop of the hat. Needless to say, it's unpredictable and challenging to participate in and master. As we close out Holly's first month as a resident I feel that Holly has finished her first cross country course (med school) and is now beginning her second course (residency). Of course she started off with one of the most difficult rotations, in patient pediatrics, and it has been a trying a long month for the both of us. Holly has been working 12-16 hour days and has had a few days of call (30 hours straight). She usually leaves the house around 5:30 AM and gets home around 7 PM. As you can imagine she is pretty exhausted when she gets home and treasures the few hours that she has with Karis and I. Luckily we can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this rotation. She actually has a day off this week (not too many of those so far) and we will be leaving spend the weekend with her family since she will be free on Saturday and Sunday. Let's hope that our time with family, especially the few hours on the lake that we will have, will be refreshing and relaxing for the both of us.

As for Karis, she is developing well. She loves to get on all fours and look around. It won't be long until she starts to crawl. She is talking more than ever and uses the full scope of her range while doing so. She has also begun to notice her hands and will stare at them while open and closing her fingers. Lastly, we are starting the process of introducing solid foods. The first week that I started rice cereal with her, she would look at me like I was playing a prank on her. Her facial expression was priceless. She also would choke on the cereal and get really mad at the whole situation. So we gave her a week off and I am proud to announce that she ate about 8 spoonfuls of cereal for me tonight. She is growing up like crazy. I'll try to post some pics from the lake next week.

6 months

2009-07-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

It's kind of hard to believe but Karis turned 6 months old last week. Holly and I can't believe how much time has flown by and how much Karis has changed. I had the pleasure of taking Karis to her 6 month check up at her new pediatrician last Monday. I am happy to report that she weighed in at 13 lbs and 1 oz. She has come a long way from the 3 lbs 14 oz that she was at birth!

On top of her weight gain, Karis is becoming much more interactive. She loves to smile, especially when she recognizes you. She flashes this big grin and usually brings her two hands together and buries her face in them. It is really cute. She is also talking quite a bit. She has discovered the full scope of her range and exercises it frequently. Her upper range sounds just like a dolphin call. She has begun to reach and grasp onto things which of course go straight to the mouth. Karis has also becoming proficient at flipping over. She can easily flip from front to back and has on occasion gone from back to front, mostly when she is after something. Lastly, because I can't think of anything else though I am probably forgetting something, Karis has become a big giggler. She has certain tickle spots that trigger a string of belly laughs/giggles. Of course mommy and daddy love to torture Karis by kissing there quite frequently.

Tonight we are starting to add rice cereal to her diet which is the first step towards solid foods. We anticipate that she will start teething pretty soon and we have noticed that she is getting stronger when we try to help her sit upright. Before too long she will be crawling and ruling our household.

Below are a few updated pictures from her actual 6 month birthday and the photo shoot that we did a week before.

[gallery]

The month of June

2009-07-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

So we have been a bit tardy in doing a blog post. We do offer our most sincere apologies to the few loyal readers that we have. In our attempt to make up for it we'll do 2 posts to cover the month of June and so far in July. Hopefully I won't forget anything! If I do I'm sure Holly will offer the corrections.

The end of May was mostly a big emotional roller coaster. We celebrated the end of medical school and the long awaited graduation for Holly. It signified the end of a fun but very stressful four year period in our lives together. Holly's family came in for the weekend to be a part of the many festivities.

The other part of our roller coaster of emotions was wrapped up in having to say goodbye to the many friends that we had made during our time in the Philly area. Over the course of a weekend we had a graduation formal for Holly's school, a graduation party for Holly with some of our closet friends and my last evening with the best youth group in the world. We shared many laughs, shed a few tears and got to pray one last time with dear friends. We will (and are) miss many of the people that we shared life with the past four years.

The next week we officially moved into our new place in Chattanooga. I must say, we have really taken a huge leap up from our drab apartment in King of Prussia. Holly and I have said many times to each other that we almost feel like we're in a dream and that at some point we are going to wake up and find ourselves back in Kingswood. We spent the next few weeks unpacking boxes and trying to get settled into our new place. Though we are still not finished it is coming slowly but surely. God has surely blessed us with a great place to live and we are enjoying it very much.

The month of June also contained a few trips to Murfreesboro for various events with Holly's family. Our nephew Andrew turned 2 and so we attended his construction themed party. The following weekend Holly's cousin Ashley had a birthday party for her son that turned 1. This party was a pool theme as well as Mickey Mouse. The next weekend was father's day which we celebrated with Holly's parents and her sister and brother in law. The last weekend we had another graduation party with Holly's extended family and some of our friends that are in the middle TN area. All in all we had a great time relaxing and trying not to think about the big change that would occur when Holly officially started residency in July. Below are a few pics from our various parties.

[gallery]

I will do a follow up post on Karis, who is now 6 months old, next so stay tuned.

Stay Tuned...

2009-06-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let all of you know that we have had a very hectic past few weeks, from moving to graduation to birthday parties, etc.. We will post new photos and updates as soon as we can get out from under all of these boxes! Stay tuned-- lots of updates on the way!

A Mother's Bliss

2009-05-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we celebrated my first Mother's Day. Although it has been a beautiful experience, I still stumble over hearing myself or someone else refer to me as a mom. I guess after so many years of thinking of yourself as "the kid," it is difficult to make the transition in your way of thinking overnight, even though the transition basically takes place overnight.

After church that Sunday, Jared, Karis and I got into some more comfy clothes and then headed out to Valley Forge National Park for a picnic. Valley Forge Park is only a few miles from where we live, and it has been a peaceful place for me to escape to occasionally throughout these past 4 years in med school whether I go there to run off stress, get fresh air, to get away from the noise of the city, or to take long walks with friends and catch up on each other's life. It seemed appropriate at the closing of these last 4 years of our time here in Philly to have our first picnic as a 3-person family in that setting. Here are some pics taken that day, including some taken in Valley Forge Park

[caption id="attachment_187" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Decked out!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_189" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Mmmm Sugar!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_191" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis' First Picnic"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_192" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis' First Picnic"][/caption]

from our camera which was mounted on Karis' stroller- not too shabby!

[caption id="attachment_185" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mother's Day Morning"][/caption]

Homecoming

2009-05-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

This past week, Jared, Karis and I traveled back home to Tennessee to see family and to look for housing in Chattanooga where we will be moving for my medical residency starting in June. This was also Karis' first trip to TN, even though she is genetically southern :) Karis basically slept during the entire airport/plane experience to Nashville and then again to Philly at the end of the week. As soon as we made it to the baggage claim in the Nashville Airport, she was whisked away by "BB and Bop" (my parents). We then made a dinner stop at the home of Aunt Lo, Uncle Kev, Cousin Andrew, and Ginger the dog. This was the first time Andrew (almost 2 years old) got to meet Karis. We assumed at his age there would be jealousy since he is not used to sharing attention within our immediate family, but he surprised us! The family has been talking to him about his new cousin and showing him pictures since she has been born. When he finally me her that night, he would just look at her, gently touch her and giggle. It was no time before he was pointing to his lap and saying "Andu's lap! Andu's lap!" He not only wanted to hold her, but he wanted to show her his toys, and anytime he went outside last week, he wanted "Livy" to go with him. (When I was pregnant with Karis, Andrew had trouble pronouncing Karis, so when we got him to say her middle name Olivia, he said "Livy" and it just stuck.)

Karis was also able to spend time with some of my extended family too, some she had already met and others she got to meet for the first time. In other words, there was a lot of cuddling and no shortage of kisses! In fact, in addition to visits from Aunt Pam, her kids, and Gome, we were able to go to my Uncle Ted and Aunt Marina's house to share their family night with them, feasting on BBQ and smoked chicken from the Slick Pig (which I always think is called the Stuck Pig, but I guess Slick Pig is ever so slightly more appetizing). All four of the "first litter" girls were there along with all four of our babies. Seems like yesterday when we four girls were the ones playing house, and now we live it every day...only Ashley is not Kelly Kapowski like she ALWAYS was when we played house! Those were the days, huh, Ash?

Jared and I met with our realtor Tuesday morning to start looking at houses after several weeks of narrowing things down online. We saw several houses in the Chattanooga area, but ended up loving the very first one we saw which seemed to meet all of our preferences. By lunchtime of that first day, we had given our realtor the go ahead to start making negotiations with the builder. We left Chattanooga that day with a new address... mission accomplished!

For more pics of our new place, use this link

[caption id="attachment_171" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis remembers her "Auntsin Lynz""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_172" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Karis cuddling with Aunt Pammy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_162" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Bonding with Bop at 6 AM"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_163" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Karis loves sleeping against BB's fleece PJs- she thinks she's still in bed!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andrew with his Livy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_165" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andrew reminiscent of his bouncer days"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Our new house!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_167" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Back view"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_168" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis meets "Auntsin Ash""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_169" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ethan and Eli's Papa Ted = Jungle gym"][/caption]

Gettin' Up There

2009-04-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a busy one for the Blankenship family. Jared's parents, sister and brother-in-law came to Philadelphia to see Karis and attend her dedication on Sunday and to celebrate Jared's 30th birthday on Saturday. Jared's big birthday warranted more than just a quiet evening with family. On Saturday, we surprised him with a party at the home of good friends and about 25 guests. The decor was that of a Phillies baseball motif, red and blue, but because I had a very hard time finding Phillies decor, our featured decor was Karis in a Chase Utley tshirt someone had gotten for her at a baby shower...or should I say, gotten for Jared :) There were balloons, a cookie cake (white chocolate chip macadamia nut) from Mrs. Fields, and some of Jared's favorite drinks and side dishes that friends brought to go along with the good ole fashioned burgers and dogs. It was special to have his family there for his birthday, which has not happened in quite some time due to distance. Another highlight was that our friend, Stephen, who moved with his family to Angola, Africa for mission work had flown into Philly a couple of hours before (on business) was able to surprise Jared at his party, despite his jet lag state. In addition to this surprise, the teens at our church were able to celebrate Jared's birthday Sunday evening with homemade desserts and a humorous artist's (Terri McKay) rendering of Jared as a baby (but with his adult face and facial hair intact), which the teens are signing as a birthday card of sorts. Much better than Hallmark!

Also this past Sunday, Karis was dedicated by our dear friend Doug, co-youth pastor with Jared (but more like his brother). Jared also had the privilege of dedicating both of Doug's children last year. We probably would have waited until a little bit later to have the dedication, but considering our upcoming move, we decided to do it sooner so Doug could do the honors. Karis did so well and apparently won the hearts of the audience with her little white dress and bare feet hanging out while relaxing in her Daddy's arms. It was a special day, and a memorable weekend!

[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis' Dedication Day"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_144" align="alignright" width="300" caption="J's bday cookie cake, requested about 8 months ago!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis in Phillies shirt, pooped out at Daddy's party"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis' Dedication by Pastor Doug Moister"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_147" align="alignright" width="199" caption="The Blankenship 3"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Visit from Jared's Fam"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Baby Love"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Grammy and Daddy B, ready to spoil"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Aunt Jenna and Uncle Luke with Karis"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_153" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Cute Factor"][/caption]

Down Home

2009-04-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

[caption id="attachment_133" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Blankenship Family- March"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_136" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis 14 weeks old"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_137" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Karis Chilling out in her new Pack N' Play- 14 weeks"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_138" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Morning nap- 13 weeks"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_135" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Blankenship Family- March"][/caption]

As most of you know, things have been busy in the Blankenship household for many reasons. First of all, Karis is now almost 15 weeks old (would have been 7 weeks by due date) and is changing more and more every day. She now weighs over 8 1/2 pounds, which is surprising considering how much energy she spends moving all four limbs when she is awake and sometimes asleep. When we lay her on her back or in her bouncer she looks like a battery operated doll. A few weeks ago she started smiling responsively and finally not just as a result of gas. I used to be somewhat annoyed when people went overboard with the babytalk just to get a response out of a baby, but I'll be the first to admit that I am constantly talking in a high pitched voice and will repeat the same ridiculous phrases over and over if it gets a response. Her Daddy is not much better! She loves the song "Butterfly in the Sky" (old school Reading Rainbow) and the sound of the letter B. Her most animated responses are, of course, around 3:00 in the morning.

A major event on our horizon is that we are moving to Chattanooga, TN the first week of June where I have been accepted to the Erlanger Hospital Family Medicine Residency program. We originally moved to Philadelphia for me to attend medical school, and at the time were just hoping that Jared could find a job that was remotely related to his passion for ministry and teaching. We often joked in our uncertainty that Home Depot was calling his name, but as a detailed answer to prayer, Jared was hired at Fairview Village Church as one of two full-time youth pastors. While serving at Fairview, Jared has been able to use his musical talents in both the youth group worship as well as "big church." He has also been able to practice his passion for teaching in the youth group setting, in "big church," and has also taught courses such as "Systematic Theology" for ordination candidates in our church district. In relocating to Philly for pursuit of my medical career, I was afraid that Jared would have to settle for a job that was unrelated to his interests, despite his selflessness and willingness to follow me several states away to pursue my career plans. Instead, God blessed him (and in turn, us) with a very fulfilling role that encompassed all of his passions and talents and offered us an environment of friendship and support in the absence of our family. Now after 4 years in Philly, a couple of degrees and a baby later, we are returning "down home" to continue our journey closer to family. Jared and I are so thankful for our experience in Philly and the countless meaningful relationships that have been formed as a result. We are not leaving those relationships behind, but rather we are taking them with us as they have helped formed who we are. Leaving Philly will be bittersweet, but we trust that God will direct us in our transition back to Tennessee just as he did over the past several years here in PA.

Addendum

2009-03-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Jared forgot to mention that even though Karis was asleep during the whole service, she let out 2 sturdy consecutive burps during the closing prayer when everything else was quiet, which gave me one more reason to laugh at an inappropriate time...like I need more of those!

A few firsts for Karis

2009-03-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Holly and I took Karis on a mini road trip to Babies R Us. I wish I could tell you that Karis loved seeing all of the baby things there, but she slept the whole time. She really loves being in the car seat, especially when it is moving. Another first is that we took Karis to church on Sunday. She met a ton of new people and once again slept through the whole thing. I did feed her during a part of the message but then she went back to sleep. Lastly, Karis slept 6 straight hours last night. We only hope that this wasn't a single occurrence!

the life of Karis

2009-03-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Once again, sorry we haven't posted in some time. As you can imagine things are pretty busy/crazy around here. Karis is doing really well. She has already outgrown most of her preemie outfits, which is a good thing. Right now she is about twice her birth weight and going strong. She has started to stay up longer in some stretches, but still likes to sleep a ton which is totally normal.

One really cool development that we've been noticing is that Karis is starting to look in the general direction of sounds and trying to focus on where they come from. A couple of days ago when I got home from work, I bent down to talk to Karis while she was in the swing. When I started talking she turned toward me and flashed this huge smile and it melted my heart.

Here is a link to some updated pics of Karis.

the life of Karis

2009-02-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we haven't posted much lately. Sorry for that. I've been waiting for Holly to post something about the whole birth event, but she hasn't had any time. If you are interested I talked about it here on my personal blog. This is by no means the whole account and some of the timetable might be out of order. (Give me a break, I typed it a few days after the whole ordeal was over.)

Anyways, I wanted to start this little update on Karis that we'll try to post from time to time. We will try to let you in on her little milestones and such. But I first want to play a little game called, "What is Karis really thinking?" Even at 5 weeks old, Karis has quite a bit of personality through various looks that she gives us. I will describe a few events and the look on Karis' face and what I think she is really thinking. Hopefully you'll get a kick out of it.

Scenario #1: Holly and I were putting a preemie gown on Karis that my parents bought for her. The only problem is that her head is a bit big for said outfit and Holly and I had different philosophies on how to put the outfit on. In the process of Holly and I trying to figure out the best way, the outfit rested over Karis' shoulders and she let out a cry. When we finally got her head through, she shot this hilarious look at me that I interpreted as, "Would you two figure out what the heck you are trying to do and just put this on me already!!!!"

Scenario #2: One of my favorite things to do to Karis is to kiss all over her face and neck while I'm on the way to change her and start her feeding. Of course this is usually about the time that Karis is uncomfortable from and dirty diaper and an empty stomach. While in the process of this, Karis usually looks right at me with a look that I interpret as, "Stop it, Stop it, STOP IT!!!!!!!! And get on with the bottle already."

That's it for now, I'll try to post some more stories later.

If you are looking for pics of Karis they are on facebook. Here is a link to a few of the albums.

Karis is home

Coming home

Karis 3 weeks

Karis

Birth announcement

2009-01-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

Today at 10:01 AM our daughter Karis Olivia Blankenship was born via c-section at roughly 32 weeks old. We will report more later on the ordeal but I wanted to let you know that both mom and baby are doing well. Karis weighed 3 lbs 14 oz and measured 17 1/4" long. The doctors are telling us that she is developmentally further along than she should be which means that they are not having to do a whole lot to help her breathe, etc. She will be in the NICU for at least 3-4 weeks as she continues to develop and be closely monitored. She is so beautiful and precious and we will be posting some pics soon, I promise.

Mom is doing well too. As I am typing this she is sleeping soundly for the first time since Friday night. Hopefully I will do the same tonight. Thanks to the many that prayed for us as they found out. Sorry to those of you who have found out unexpectedly, just know that things were crazy and we wanted to keep communication to a minimum. We would appreciate your continued prayers for mom and Karis as mom heals and Karis continues to grow. Dad is doing well. He is very relieved that this crazy journey is finally over and is now trying to get used to fact that he is a father.

Wrapping Up

2008-12-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

As we are wrapping the last Christmas gifts and wrapping up the year, Jared and I are realizing how many new beginnings are ahead of us as we embark on 2009. As Jared mentioned, we haven't had many posts in the last several weeks since we have been completely out of our routine. Just before Thanksgiving, Jared and I took a road trip to the Youth Specialties Conference in Nashville with our "Philly relatives," Doug and Mear. Once Thanksgiving was over, Jared and I had to part ways once again (yes, this gets very old) as I started a rotation at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga and he headed back to Philadelphia for the next month. We were finally reunited just before Christmas when Jared drove 14 hours in one day to Murfreesboro, just so we wouldn't have to spend yet another night apart. After 4 years of marriage, it still feels like we are dating...and long distance at that. Fortunately, this past month was supposed to be the last rotation completely apart, which we are very thankful for. Since then we've enjoyed all the Christmas festivities (including too much down home food) with my side of the family here in the Boro, and we will be headed to Gatlinburg to meet up with his family to celebrate Christmas/New Year's Day at the beginning of this next week.

Our lives have certainly been chaotic lately with these away rotations, holiday traveling, residency interviews and a baby on the way, but we look forward to a couple of short months of routine life in our humble Philly apartment before all of the new but welcomed chaos begins. If our baby allows, I will be working through the end of February and will then start some of my vacation time that I have saved up over the past couple of years the first week of March, which is when our baby girl is due. Later in March, we find out through the match where we will be moving for residency. Then, I will hopefully be finishing my last 4 weeks of medical school during April by doing a local ENT rotation in Philadelphia with an ENT doc I have worked with previously. I graduate in May, and we will then move as close as we can to my residency hospital (wherever that will be) in early June. Residency begins the last week of June. Sound crazy? It will be. We are also not so naive to believe that everything will go according to plan. This is just the skeleton of a plan that we have in place. Usually when I get my ducks in a row, God flicks at least a few of them down just to show me who is in control, and I am ok with that. He's has brought us to where we are today, and we lead content (although complicated) lives as a result.

We are now 30 weeks along in the pregnancy, but here are some pics taken at 28 weeks for those of you who like visuals. Hope you have all had happy holidays. [gallery]

All quiet

2008-12-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, we haven't posted much lately because Holly is in TN for a rotation and Jared is back in PA. We are both lonely and pathetic shells of ourselves so there's nothing interesting to post. Unless you want us to talk about the wicked virus that we both caught from my grandmother at Thanksgiving. Or how we traversed across most of KY while Holly was interviewing at 2 residency sites on back to back days, right after we were starting to recover from said virus. Or how we are very thankful that my sister, who Holly is staying with, has the ability to iChat on her computer and we can therefore see each other when we talk at night. Other than that, you should know that Holly crosses into the 3rd trimester tomorrow. It's getting closer and we can't wait. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We'll try to post some pics of Holly or Thanksgiving or both soon.

The Family That Eats Together Stays Together

2008-11-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

One of the priorities in our relationship during med school has been eating dinner together. This has become somewhat easier as Holly progressed into the rotation phase in her 3rd and 4th years of med school. But at her last rotation she had a few late nights at the clinic that caused our already late dinner hour to be pushed back a few more hours. So I was home patiently waiting for Holly to let me know when she was going to be able to leave and as 6, 6:30, 7 and 7:30 came and went I began to wonder if we were going to eat together tonight. Finally Holly called me around 8 and I started the grill on a cold and very dark night so that we could eat together. Here is a picture of me outside in the 40 degree weather grilling with a small flashlight.

[caption id="attachment_78" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="A close up because you know you wanted one!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_77" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="It's cold out there"]
[/caption]

Holly I hope your veggie burgers were cooked how you like them!

Baby shower!!!!

2008-11-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Holly and I were given a baby shower at her parent's house. In attendance were many family and friends from the area. We had a great time and received some cool gifts as well. Thanks to all of you who were able to come out. Below are some pictures of the event. Notice there are men at the shower...Holly likes for there to be men there to even out all the estrogen :) Thanks Brenda, Marina, Lori, Ash and Lynz for planning such a fun afternoon! [gallery]

24 week pics

2008-11-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Holly at 24 weeks. She has been doing great and the baby has been very active at various times in the day, especially at night which I love!!! We still have not picked out a name yet, so keep on holding your horses. We're really close to figuring it out though. Thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement.

[caption id="attachment_71" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="From the side"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_72" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Front view"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_73" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Other side view"][/caption]

Apologies

2008-11-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry to all of you who are interested in frequent updates. Holly and I have been incredibly busy and therefore have failed to put up any updates. I should have one up hopefully tomorrow with Holly's 24 week pictures, even though that was 2 weeks ago. We were in Nashville starting last Thursday for the Youth Specialties conference which was awesome. We had a great time with our fellow youth pastor couple, Doug and Mear, from FVCN. We also were able to catch up with a few friends who are scattered throughout the country in ministry. One highlight was a family/friends baby shower that we had on Saturday at the in-law's house. We'll try to post some pics from that as well.

Holly and I are currently in Chattanooga while Holly is doing a rotation here. We are staying with my sister and brother-in-law and their dog, Nora. I will be going back to PA on Dec 3rd and then coming back down to TN on the 22nd for Christmas. Please pray for continued safety with all things related to travel and a grueling schedule that Holly is having to deal with at the hospital here.

Thanks for your patience.

And the gender is.......

2008-11-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's a Girl!!!!!!!

Gender wars

2008-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

To date we have 19 votes on the gender of our baby. 13 of you have voted for a boy and 6 have voted for a girl. From all of the comments, facebook postings and email we know that you are dying to know. While I cannot say anything just yet, I can tell you that we will make our announcement by Monday. So hang on and think about all of the gifts that you are going to shower our baby with.

Baby's first pics

2008-10-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

So we had an ultrasound last week and can now share with you our baby's first pics.

Here is the baby's profile picture. Isn't it cute? It actually looks human!

Here is a profile shot that is a bit further away.

The baby's mouth is open in this picture. If you can't tell the face is in the middle of the picture and the dark circle is its open mouth. It kept opening it's mouth like it was yawning and telling us to stop bothering it. Holly said that baby was singing like daddy. I think it was probably talking like mommy.

There are more pics that show vital organs, the spine and such but these are the best. We know that some of you are dying to know the sex of the baby and we will tell you, in a couple of weeks. We want to notify the grandparents and close family first. Holly's parents will be with us next weekend and we will tell them then in person along with my parents on the glorious invention of ichat. So hold on to your horses. Below is a fun exercise in seeing if you can predict what we are having. Enjoy!

[polldaddy poll=1054362]

Half Way Point...Whoa!

2008-10-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind so far, but Jared and I are at the halfway point (20 weeks) in this pregnancy.

[caption id="attachment_46" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="20 wks front"][/caption]

I did not expect it to go by this quickly, but I imagine it will "slow down" during the third trimester when I am waddling more than I am now. I had a patient ask me yesterday if I was pregnant. This is the first time someone has asked me outright. I should have said "no" just to see what she would do when she realized she had just called me fat. Instead I said, "Yes, but you should never ask someone that, just in case they're not pregnant." She said that she had done that before when the woman was not pregnant and almost made the woman cry...some people never learn.

[caption id="attachment_47" align="alignright" width="225" caption="20 wks side"][/caption]

At this point, I am definitely feeling the baby moving around/kicking/hiccuping several times a day...and night. I told Jared I thought the baby wasn't supposed to wake me up at night until after it was born. I can sleep through a great many things, but it is difficult to sleep when I am laying still and it feels like there is a hamster running on a wheel inside of me! I am definitely not annoyed by the new sensations, though. I admit, when I am laying there awake, I want to nudge him awake and say, "If your baby and I are not sleeping right now, then neither are you!" I let him sleep though. After the baby is born, I will just tell him he owes me a few months of getting up with the baby at night :)

[caption id="attachment_48" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="20 wks other side"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_49" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jared and Holly"][/caption]

Pressing Question

2008-10-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

So last night Holly and I were watching an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that we had on Tivo. To be fully truthful we were trying not to watch the Phillies stink up the joint out in LA. Anyways, we're sitting there getting wrapped up in this story of a mother of 4 who took in her sister's 10 kids after her sister died from cancer. (A pretty crazy thing in and of itself.) As we watched our emotions are really building up in compassion for this family and all that they have been through the past year or so and out of no where Holly's leg kick up like she's having a spasm. It really caught us both by surprise since we in the midst of this heavy moment but Holly claims that the baby had the hiccups. Over the course of the next few minutes Holly experienced this sensation over and over again every few seconds.

Now if you know Holly this is truly par for the course. Holly does not do too well with heavy emotional situations and usually reacts to those situations in the way that is culturally unacceptable. Here are a few examples: Holly and her mom tell a story of when they were at a funeral and something out of the oridnary happens and Holly starts silently laughing uncontrollably but visibly shaking. Holly's mom is trying to get her to settle down and in turn grabs her leg above the knee, squeezes it and pushes Holly's head below the pew so as to not draw any more attention. Which of course causes Holly to laugh even harder.

Here's another one. After we had just gotten married we were praying together one night and I wanted for us to recite the Lord's Prayer together. We get about two lines into it and Holly starts laughing. How is it that I am the one able to feel emotions in these times since I'm the one who is more stoic by nature?

Here's my concluding question. Was Holly really feeling that baby or just diverting attention away from the present situation? Those of you who know her well chime in and let me know what you think.

By the way, we'll be 20 weeks this Thursday so look for updated pics this weekend.

Truly remarkable

2008-10-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

So I (Jared) am leaving for a staff retreat today that will keep me away until Thursday evening. Luckily Holly didn't have to be at the hospital today until 11 so we decided to sleep in and hang out this morning. When we finally awoke we went into the living room to watch one of our favorite shows that was on our Tivo, My Name is Earl. I can't begin to tell you how much Holly and I laugh at this show, mostly because it reminds us of home and people we know or know of. But today as we were watching Holly told me that the baby was going crazy. I should tell you that for the past few weeks Holly and I will be talking and then she'll just get really quiet. She claims it's because the baby is distracting her as it does yoga poses, pilates and works on its crossover dribble move for the basketball court. I believe her because the only other explaination is that I'm boring to talk to and we all know that's not true. Anyways, we were watching the show this morning and Holly put my hand on her belly and I felt the baby kick! I will have to say that it was really cool. I know that it will get more pronounced as the baby grows, but today I felt the baby kick and didn't have to take Holly's word for it. Just thought you might want to know. We'll try to post some updated pics this weekend.

4 Years Later...

2008-10-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Then..."][/caption]

A couple of days ago, Oct. 2, marked our 4th wedding anniversary. We celebrated a little early in mid-September when Jared came to see me in Knoxville, TN where I was on rotation at UT Medical Center for a month. We went to our first Tennessee football game together, even though we had watched countless games together as a couple. We went to the TN vs. UAB game, and can I just say we are glad we didn't schedule to go to the Florida game for monetary and other more obvious reasons... We still support our orange team, but considering the way things are going, we are starting to pay even more attention to our undefeated Titans team and undefeated Vandy...for sanity purposes. (Jared wants me to be clear that he is not necessarily paying more attention to Vandy.)

Prego Premiere

2008-10-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so many of you are really far away from us and have not witnessed Holly's transformation into a pregnancy. As of today, we are 18 weeks along and things are progressing smoothly. Our due date is March 2 (or March 6, depending on who you ask). The first trimester was actually fairly uneventful, with the exception of about 2 really rough weeks. During those 2 weeks, she was nauseous, not eating hardly anything (except peaches, some eggs and popsicles), and was simultaneously doing last minute cramming for her last set of medical school boards, experiencing migraines for which she could not take her migraine meds, and I was hundreds of miles away in Pascagoula, Mississippi doing annual Katrina relief.

We are now a few weeks into the second trimester, and Holly is starting to feel the baby move. She was away in Knoxville, TN for the month of September, and the first time she felt the baby move was when I came to see her for a couple of days. She claims that the baby heard its Daddy's voice for the first time in a few weeks and got excited. She also thinks the baby may be residing in her bladder instead of her uterus, since she has been visiting the bathroom very frequently since a few weeks into the pregnancy. Several of you have inquired about past food cravings, so here they are:

First Trimester: peaches (this was the strongest, longest craving), eggs (only lasted a week or so, but was strong), anything icy, and the really cheap pizza at the grocery store, you know the 10 for $10 type, not the kind with fresh ingredients or even DiGiorno's!

Second Trimester (so far): Indian food (which she had only had maybe 2 or 3 times in her life before), rice crispy treats, peppermint flavored things that are cold/icy, but not actual peppermint now :)

More interesting than the food cravings has been the fact that since the first trimester, Holly has not wanted to eat, smell, or see anything chicken, especially "processed chicken." The smell of chicken (not that it's strong) turns her stomach. If you know Holly, you know that this has always been the main staple of her diet, so trying to come up with meals we can both eat together has been challenging, considering her new list of restrictions! Also interesting is the fact that since the first trimester, she has put Chili's the restaurant on the "No List." She still refuses to step foot in that restaurant, which she used to like.

We will find out the sex of the baby in a few weeks at our 20 week ultrasound, and are very excited. So without further ado, here is Holly at 16 weeks, with more pics to soon follow:

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Hello world!

2008-10-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome friends and family to our blog. We hope to keep you updated on our journey into parenthood, residency and beyond. Feel free to leave comments. Thanks for the part that you play in each of our lives. We love you!