family – Page 5 – ~HB ADVENTURE~

April 27, 2014

Visiting 3G & Great Grandpa

One of the very best reasons about living in the area that we do, is that my grandparents live a short drive away. Over the years of being here, we’ve spent a fair share of time visiting with them at their house; however, my most favorite visit was a few weeks ago. We packed Maggie’s bike and she rode up and down the driveway, after helping to set out cones with my Grandpa. Audrey, not one to be forgotten, got to be pulled up and down the driveway in the wagon, and she was delighted about it. She spent most of the time singing and humming and squeaking excited sounds. My grandpa pulled and walked with the girls until he was tired, and my grandma was able to watch everything by sitting on the tailgate of the Element.Eventually the sun went down and we headed inside for dinner, but it was a golden hour in more than one way.

April 17, 2014

The Past is in the Past. . .

This morning Barry and I got some really, really great belly laughs from these pictures. I told him I didn’t think there were words for these. His response?

“Oh, there are words: not cute.”

And he’s right. How did we look so tired BEFORE we had any kids? My mom took these pictures a day before Maggie was born and I think it is very, very apparent that Barry and I BOTH were done being pregnant. Here’s a post I wrote around this time.

I was lucky enough to have two easy pregnancies in terms of my own health and delivering two healthy, amazing babies. But towards the end….oh, man. I just didn’t feel good. (And truthfully, Audrey’s pregnancy ended in a big, huge scare….). The few days before Maggie was born, the weather had started to change and I was really angry about it. Birds were tweeting, flowers were blooming and I had zero clothes that fit and my who-ha didn’t feel good. I went to the store and bought the largest pregnancy shirt known to man – it was purple and light weight. I wore that shirt for exactly one walk around the block, a walk that Barry claims was at a snail’s pace, and burned it immediately after I gave birth.

We have a secret archive of pictures that fall in to the category of “never needing to see the light of day” and for these have been buried in that vault for a long time. But this morning when both Barry and I had our laugh attacks, I decided to post them. Maybe nobody else will think they’re funny or horrible in the same way that we do. I had a friend ask about how we felt before we had Maggie and how we planned/prepared. Well, when I look at those two tired looking people grinning and smiling, I don’t remember having any type of plan or ‘knowing’ anything about being a parents.

But that didn’t stop us. . .

March 18, 2014

Christmas Day Visits

The following pictures are all mixed up and I’m not willing to take the time to put them in the correct order. That said, my Christmas in March blogging spree continues and will until I’m caught up. I got exactly two pictures of Maggie waking up to see what Santa brought her. She went outside to check to see if the reindeer had eaten the food (Thanks, Linda!) that she’d left and then started to play. Our original plan for the day had included a meal at my aunt’s and presents at my grandparents towards the end of the day, but my Grandma ended up getting sick and that plan was changed early Christmas morning. For us, it really was a blessing in disguise because we were able to slow down a bit and not worry so much about fitting it all in. Audrey took a quiet nap and Maggie even watched cartoons – on CHRISTMAS! – while the rest of the adults read and relaxed before we went to visit Barry’s parents and grandparents.

We’d already had a dinner/presents/Nutcracker exchange a few days before with Barry’s side of the family, since his brother and Darcy had Christmas Day plans of their own, so the time at Greg and Linda’s was mostly playtime mixed with yummy food. Barry’s grandparents live a short walk away and it is always nice to go over and visit when we can. They have a pool table in their front room that every grandkid and great grandkid has been on top of and Audrey was delighted to join in the ranks. I sometimes feel very bashful about asking for posed photos with other adults, because I feel like I’m being pushy, but I’m now wishing that I got Margaret and Luther, Barry’s grandparents, to pose with the girls.

Because of our plan change, we ended up staying a bit longer to visit Greg and Linda and finally headed home later in the afternoon. That night, because the girls were so tired, they were in bed pretty early and Barry and I had a quiet house together. Because we’d been gone for a few days and weren’t planning on being home for any type of Christmas dinner, I don’t think we had anything to eat except crusty leftovers. I mostly remember us sitting next to each other on the couch, as the Christmas lights twinkled through the window, saying that we couldn’t believe that it was REALLY Christmas since it’d been such a wonky day of plans changing and visits to both sets of grandparents and one set of great grandparents.
miller family play time audrey bell rhone pool table-2 audrey bell rhone pool table-3