Peace on earth

Need a little Christmas spirit? Do yourself a favor and download this.


("I heard the bells on Christmas Day" by Casting Crowns)

2 teeth and lots of smiles

How is she already 7 months? It is so cliche to claim that "time is flying by," but in reality it truely is! Emily is currently working on two teeth (ouch for her & me). Her favorite things are paper (especially magzines, ads and anything that comes in the mail), my water bottle, her singing book and me. She's got quite a reporatiore of foods now: green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, avacodo, bananas, pumpkin and applesauce. However, her sleeping habits have taken quite a hit. We have only seen a 10-11 hour quiet sleep twice in the last 3 weeks; most nights she is restless from 1am-5am making both Paul and I zombies. She makes up for those sleepless nights with lots of cuddles, laughs and silly faces. I honestly can't remember life before her.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! It was great at our house.

Evening walk time!

In her first 'fall weather' outfit; ready for a walk! She needs something for her head as the hood is useless in the stroller. Her noggin has outgrown any hat we currently own. Must find one soon!

Friday Funny

"The queen declares this photo session be finished immediately!"
(yes I did this in Paint and it sucks, but it made me giggle)

Go Pack!

Although we've got a lot of pink in our house, red still reigns!



(shirt reads, "Wolfpack baby, best in the world")

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

11 weeks

In lieu of an update, here's a few pictures of Emily.

She enjoys watching the Tour de France


She's doing really well with holding her head up


Her eyelashes are so lush (and her head, well, so bald)


She's learning to hold toys


And she finds my photo taking sessions quite boring

Smile for Friday

When she's happy, she's really happy...

Happy 6th Anniversary to us!

With my mom in town, we headed out to dinner to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We have so much to celebrate this year :)

Four weeks (and a smile!)

Emily has been amazing us with new skills, talents, sounds and smiles daily! It's amazing what a difference a week makes. She's a fiery little girl - never missing a meal or sitting in a wet diaper for more than a few moments without strong objections. As usual I don't have much time to update, but I wanted to take a moment to share her precious smile. I think I even witnessed a few giggles this morning. The absolute joys of being a new/first time parent - it's so rewarding!


Ok, so it may look like a mid-yawn, but it was a really BIG smile!

3 weeks!

In honor of Emily's 3 week birthday, here's a slide show of her many faces:

Emily Marie is here!

Born Tuesday, April 28th at 6:37am

Stats: 7lbs, 14oz, 21" long

Sneak peak -

More to come!

Spring!

Spring is here! I know because my nose has been my nemesis the last 2 weeks with all the pollen floating around. Also, things are blooming! And Paul has had to mow twice. It's great to see some color return to the great outdoors.

The rosemary has bloomed once again and its tiny blue-purple blooms amaze me.


Our Eastern Red Bud tree has also bloomed and its heart shaped leaves are really beginning to take shape.


The weather is just too gorgeous for me to be inside. I'm off to do something... most likely nap. :)

[Sigh] No wordless Wednesday this week

I've put off taking pictures of the nursery (mostly because it isn't done) and pictures of my growing belly (I feel like I look like a whale now) and the "Noah-times like rain" kept me from taking any pictures of spring evidence outside (spring is in full force). So, in effect, no pictures for wordless Wednesday. Why am I even posting about this? I have no idea. I mean really, I've only done "Wordless Wednesday" like 5 times. Most likely it's because I am completely swamped with work and I am doing everything in my power to avoid it. My motivation is completely lacking for anything work related these days. I keep looking at the calendar in awe as I've only got a few weeks left before Baby T makes her appearance. AHHHHH. I am sure that I'm going to be late though. More time to put off what needs to be done! Awesome.

Fresh look

In honor of spring, I've updated the look of the blog. I know that if you're keeping up through Google Reader this means absolutely nothing, but I for one was tired of the snow and winter look. The last few days have been dreary and I'm waiting for the sun to return. Happy spring!

Wordless Wednesday

Because it made me laugh

Paul and I had a little exchange about laundry this weekend (something to do with me drying some nice new wool socks - oops!). I'm the general laundry doer in our household - not sure exactly how it worked out that way considering I had never done a load of laundry in my life until I went off to college. Yes, so sad. My mom had to teach me the basics standing in the laundry room of my freshman year dorm (I think a few tears were shed). Since then, I've been more or less successful in my laundry ventures. Sunday is our typical laundry day - and I mean ALL day. Normally I do 4 loads, but somehow it takes no less than 10 hours. Apparently I am not efficient. My mom would not be proud (seeing that she can do 4 loads on a weeknight!). Anyway, when I saw this, I had to laugh.



From FailBlog.org

Wordless Wednesday

Snow. Picture proof

In honor of the 401st post to the oldmarrieds blog, here's some snow pictures. I'm still feeling pretty bitter about the snowfall, so I didn't really try to capture the 'winter wonderland' essence.


Front yard view at 5:30am, decided to go back to bed




Fluffy azaleas


Paul shoveling snow into his truck before heading off to work


More fluffy azaleas


And this. Taken on Thursday afternoon when it was sunny and around 60. Hopefully spring will be back soon!

Snow... blah, blah, blah

Just because I always do some kinda of blog entry from snow, I'm posting this now. The stupid weather wrecked havoc on our weekend. We were down in Atlanta having a perfectly wonderful visit and baby shower when WHAM(!) snow enters the forecast. We had to cut our trip short after Delta canceled every flight to RDU today. We also decided to rent a car to drive home... in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I'm no fan of the cold, white, evil stuff right now. Paul and I are both operating on about 5 hours of sleep since waking Saturday morning and after driving 6.5 hours home (Paul did the driving).

It did end up snowing in Atlanta (between 2-6 inches across town) and the airport was a disaster. And it did end up raining almost as soon as we got home, so we beat the airport mess and the mess on the roads by getting home ASAP. Now we're just waiting to see what happens here overnight. I'm kinda hoping for a snow morning (not day) so I can sleep in a little. Goodness knows we need it! (the sleep, that is)

Winter storm warning details - - -
"Statement as of 3:53 PM EST on March 01, 2009

... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 9 am EST Monday...

A strong upper level low currently over eastern Georgia will
pivot northeast across central North Carolina tonight. As this
occurs... widespread precipitation is expected to redevelop across
the warning area. Although precipitation may initially begin as a
wintry mix... precipitation is expected to become all snow by
midnight. Locally heavy snowfall can be expected at times
overnight... with the heaviest snow most likely falling along the
Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 corridor from Chapel HIll... west
to Greensboro... and southwest to Charlotte.

Storm total snowfall amounts across the warning area are expected
to range from 3 to 6 inches... with locally higher amounts. The
heaviest amounts are expected to fall across The Triad and
western Piedmont... in locations such as Burlington... Greensboro...
Winston Salem... Asheboro... and Albemarle. The lightest amounts in
the warning area are expected to fall along and east of the
Highway 1 corridor... including locations such as Raleigh... and
Louisburg.

Despite the previous warm conditions... travel will likely become
treacherous late tonight as snowfall begins to accumulate on area
roads and highways during periods of moderate to heavy snow.
Travel on bridges and overpasses will be especially dangerous. In
addition... strong and gusty northerly winds are expected... and
wind chills could frequently drop into the teens tonight through
Monday morning.

Citizens of central North Carolina are urged to monitor the
latest forecasts and conditions... and to avoid travel tonight and
Monday morning if possible."

Winter Weather Advisory - here we go!

This morning's weather was pretty disappointing. My car had a nice thin layer of snow. I saw lots of snow covered cars coming from the north on the way into town, but the ground was pretty wet. I did see some nice dusting on leaves/grass in North Raleigh, but nothing very exciting.

It looks like tonight/tomorrow has a little more possibility for something. Although 'they' are saying it will be patchy accumulation, so I'm withholding my enthusiasm.

NWS Winter Weather Advisory (as of 12:30pm)
"Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
12 PM EST Wednesday

The National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a Winter
Weather Advisory for snow... which is in effect from 6 PM this
evening to 12 PM EST Wednesday.

A strong upper level disturbance and surface low moving into the
area from the northwest... combined with cold air in place... will
lead to the development of areas of snow over north central North
Carolina tonight into Wednesday morning.

Snow is expected to begin this evening around The Triad area and
spread eastward through the Triangle area... Smithfield... and the
Rocky Mount-Wilson area through tonight. There may be a lull in
the snow for several hours overnight... then additional snow bands
on the west side of the surface low are expected to cross this
area early Wednesday morning. The snow should taper off by noon
Wednesday. Storm total snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches is
anticipated... and locally higher totals are possible.

In addition to the snow... brisk northwest winds may drop the wind
chill into the teens at times on Wednesday.

A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow will cause
travel difficulties. Be prepared for slippery roads and limited
visibilities... and use caution while driving. People across north
central North Carolina should keep up with the very latest
conditions and forecasts from the National Weather Service."

Snow. You know it.

I couldn't resist a quick post about another possible winter weather event. Not only did Sir Walter Wally, our resident winter weather predictor, predict another 6 weeks of winter, he brings tidings of COLD and SNOW this week.

From WRAL: "The Triangle and areas to the north can expect anywhere from a dusting of snow to 2 inches, WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said. Northern counties have the best shot at snow, but there likely won't be enough moisture behind the cold front to keep snow falling steadily Tuesday morning.... For the morning commute, it's unlikely that there'll be many problems on the roads, Maze said, given the warm temperatures of the past few days that has heated up highways.

WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said that Wednesday's commute could be more troubled, since temperatures will be lower, in the 20s.

More places will have a chance to see snow than on Tuesday. Flakes might be seen as far as Fayetteville during the morning commute."

I love the idea of snow, but not when it could affect my commute. I can't afford to add on any more 'adverse weather' time at work - I'm saving all my leave for more important things!

Snow? Oh yeah, we have it.

We were not disappointed this morning, snow covers the ground. We're both home from work and just finished a nice big breakfast (eggs, bacon, grits & blueberries). I think a mid-morning nap is in order before we take a little walk outside. I have to guess we've got about 4 inches and it's still falling like mad. I doubt we'll get anywhere near the record 2000 snowfall (21 inches), but it's the most I've seen in a LONG time. Here's a few pictures.


Taken from inside the house as it's still falling/blowing like crazy!


Looking down the street as the Town snowplows our road.


I had no idea they would plow our street! See truck, far right.


The birds need more seed!

Afternoon snow update

Well, the sun was shining this afternoon and it was vaguely warm. However, I can see some snowy looking clouds on the horizon. WRAL has the latest on the possible winter weather -



"The Triangle could take the brunt of a snowstorm pressing toward the Carolinas, the National Weather Service forecast indicates.

The heaviest band of snow is forecast along the U.S. Highway 1 corridor, from Southern Pines to Raleigh and east to Rocky Mount and Nashville. Accumulation to the south and east of the Triangle could reach 6 inches.

...

Whatever wintry precipitation falls is likely to stick around for a while – particularly on roads – because North Carolina won't see a significant warm-up until the latter part of the week.

The winter storm predicted for Jan. 19-20 comes during an auspicious – or infamous – time for snow in the Triangle.

Four years ago to the day, between 0.5 and 2 inches fell on central North Carolina, catching everyone by surprise. Roads clogged up with workers and students going home early, clogging roads at the same time they turned icy and making some commutes last more than eight hours. About 3,000 Wake County students were stranded at schools overnight.

Five years earlier, on Jan. 25, 2000, the region got its heaviest snowfall ever, 4 inches shy of 2 feet."

Ah, I remember both storms well. The 2005 storm caught me at work and I had to crawl out to the RDU airport to pick up Paul late that afternoon. It took us several hours to get home that night taking a jammed I-540 to Six Forks Road (Falls of Neuse & Capital Blvd north were completely shut down because of the hills near the Neuse River bridges). I know that we wouldn't have made it without the all-wheel-drive Subaru. She was only a few weeks old and she proved her worth that night! W hile many other cars were ditched on slick hilly roads, we made it home! The 2000 storm happened while I was away for college. Asheville saw about 4 inches (fun) but my parents were completely homebound in Raleigh. During that time they got some crazy cabin fever and thought it would be grand to call and tell me crazy things. I shall leave such crazy things unsaid.

Here's hoping for some fluffy white stuff! The pantry, fridge & freezer are stocked!

Winter Storm Watch!

Whoa Nellie! We wake up to find we're under a winter storm watch tonight and tomorrow with the chance of 2-4-6 inches of snow! Yesterday it was cold and drizzly with a little sleet. It was quite depressing. Now we're on SNOW WATCH 2009! I'm about to be off to the grocery store to pick up a few things - mostly because we never made it to the store this weekend and our pantry is bare.

... Winter Storm Watch in effect from this evening through Tuesday
afternoon...

The National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a Winter Storm
Watch... which is in effect from this evening through Tuesday
afternoon.

A strong upper level disturbance will dive southward through the
Midwest today... and eastward through the Carolinas tonight and
Tuesday. Low pressure at the surface is expected to develop over
western South Carolina this evening and intensify rapidly as it
tracks east then northeast along the North Carolina coast tonight
through Tuesday. With cold air in place over central North
Carolina... the potential exists for a significant amount of snow as
this storm system strengthens.

Precipitation is expected to begin as a mix of rain and snow this
evening... transitioning quickly to all snow overnight... continuing
through Tuesday. Storm total snowfall is expected to be at least two
inches across the area... and could reach four to six inches by
Tuesday evening in some locations.

Some uncertainty remains regarding the precise location of the
highest snowfall totals. At this time it appears that the greatest
risk of heavy snow will be in the corridor between Highway one and
Interstate 95. However... everyone across central North Carolina
should keep a close eye on the latest conditions and forecasts
through today and tonight. Check NOAA Weather Radio or other local
media frequently for the latest information... including possible
advisories and warnings... on this developing storm.

A Winter Storm Watch means there is a potential for significant
snow... sleet... or ice accumulations that may impact travel.
Continue to monitor the latest forecasts.

Brrrrrr and a chance of snow?

Um, it's cold. And it's getting colder. I guess this is what winter is supposed to feel like. I couldn't remember, it's been a while.

From weatherunderground.com

Tonight
Clear. Lows around 13. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday
Sunny. Cooler with highs in the upper 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night
Clear. Cold with lows around 11. North winds around 5 mph in the evening...becoming light and variable.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, drum roll please....

Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and snow in the evening...then partly cloudy after midnight. Cold with lows in the mid 20s. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Long time, no post

Wow. It's been another long stretch without a post. We've done plenty of fun & exciting things (many things that include great photos) but I've been too lazy with posting. Last week we both headed back to work after a 2 week break and it was rough. I know, 'woe are we for having to take 2 weeks off,' but it was seriously hard to get back into a routine. Especially after such a fun Christmas. I'm still in 'brother withdrawal' (Justin stayed at our house from Thanksgiving until Christmas) and trying to come up with a scheme to get him back in NC for a little bit before he heads off to the big NYC. We'll see how that works out. Hopefully I'll get around to a real post later this week - I've got so much to share!