Berly's Blog

Sunday, July 31, 2005

We're leavin' on a jet plane...

Tonight we are leaving for Northern Ireland/Scotland to see our family in friends. We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Gemma is just beside herself with excitement. She has asked us a gazillion times what day she was going to see her Nanny and Papa and Becca and Erin. It is amazing to me as a parent how much pleasure that I get from her excitement. I am just happy because she is so thrilled to go see her relatives. I have to say that I am very fortunate that we are able to get our kids back to see their Irish family and heritage.

Wish us luck on the plane with 2 kiddos! A 9 hour, 50 minute flight + 3 hour layover and then another 1 hour and 20 minute flight might be a little challenging. Lucky for us there are free drinks over the Atlantic!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

A surprise guest from down Unda!

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We had surprise company this week from Townsville, Queensland, Australia! Jonny's cousin's son Kyle breezed few town for a few days. Kyle just finished high school and was in the Philadelphia working at a camp for a couple months and stopped by to see us on his way home. I have to say Kyle was an absolute joy to have around! He was fabulous with our kids and his parents have done a excellent job raising him!

During Kyle's visit we were able to take him to a Diamondback game, the state capital, and best of all I took him shopping! He was pleasantly surprised by the prices of clothes here vs. back home in Australia.

We had a great time with Kyle and we hope to get over to see him and his family sometime in the next couple years!

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Kyle, Angus and Jonny posing with their beers!

Friday, July 29, 2005

All Dressed-Up and No Place to go...

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Gemma and her very good friend Carson played dress-up last week at playgroup. I absolutely loved this picture! Carson was a good sport and dressed up like a princess too! Aren't they adorable!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

And I raaaaaan, I ran so far awaaaaay...

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In an attempt to grow Gemma's bangs or as Jonny would call it 'fringe' I have been putting a small pony tail on the top of Gemma's head with her bangs. Her hair looks very 'Pebblesesque'. When we take her pony tail out at night, this is what we get! Now what 80's band lead singer's hair looks like this????

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Update on Mr. Angus

We found out from our wonderful Pediatrician Dr. Hemphill, that Angus has one kidney with II reflux and III reflux, which is mild and moderate. Angus is scheduled to go the the Pediatric Urologist on August 24th, but in the mean time they are treating him with a antibiotic to prevent him from getting a urinary tract infection. He most likely will be on this medicine for a year and then be retested. It should clear up by itself within the year. To us that is good news! We were very scared of the unknown and we are glad that it won't require surgery. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and thoughts. It really helped me relieve stress by posting about Angus' condition and to see that everyone was thinking about him. We will let you know how everything goes at the Uroligist next month.

Monday, July 25, 2005

A little nervous...

Today I had to take Angus to some follow-up tests for the urinary tract infection he had last month. I was a little nervous and the Radiologist didn't make me feel any better about the test. The poor little man had to be catherized, strapped to a wooded board, pumped full of dye, and have a huge machine above him taking pictures of his inners while I tried to comfort him. After the tests I asked the Radiologist if he found anything 'matter of factly' said "he has reflux on both sides" and walked out of the room. This man's bedside manner was atrocious! I went home and did a little research on kidney reflux. We spoke to our Pediatrician this afternoon and he will tell us tomorrow morning what our next steps are going to be. We are hoping that he will only needed to be treated with antibiotics and that he will grow out of it. Please keep us in your thoughts, it has been a very stressful afternoon and evening to say the least.

Friday, July 22, 2005

And the winner is.....

CHENGDU'S AND DON'TS, THE INS AND OUT OF LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
CONGRATULATIONS TO MEL!!! Melanie is in my knitting group and I have had the pleasure of knowing her for almost 2 years. I am working on the prize and will announce what it is over my blog. A special thank you to PJS for his 8 very witty entries, two that made the final cut. Thank you so much to everyone who used their creative juices to name my China blog. I really loved the humor!!!

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

The results of the China blog contest

I thought I would have the results for the "Name Kim's China Blog" contest, but I am torn between 3 entries. I am going to ask you to vote one the 3 finalist and then I will decide from your votes.

Here are the 3 favorites:
1. Chengdu's and Don'ts, the ins and outs of living in a new country
2. Does that come with an Eggroll?
3. Picking out China patterns

I will announce the winner on Friday!

Baby Tatum has arrived!!!

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As I mentioned yesterday, our friends Jill and Joe welcomed their third baby into this world. She was 7 lbs, 11 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We were lucky enough to be able to run to the hospital today to visit the Barkats and their new bundle of joy. Above is a picture of Daddy Joe, Big Sis Peyton, and Big Brother Landon with Baby Tatum. Sorry no pictures of the baby with Mom, but I have just requested one.

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Tatum looks just like her Landon in this picture.

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Peyton and Tatum

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Landon and Tatum

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Kim, Gemma and Tatum, I think I will have another! Well done Barkats!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Another movie review

Last night Jonny and I took a little time out from planning our move to China and watched the movie "House of Flying Daggers". I have to say that every since seeing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" I have been fascinated by artistically done martial arts films. House of Flying Daggers was very similar to "Hero" and I loved both movies. I thought that they were both so well done that I didn't even realize I was reading subtitles the whole time. The choreography was amazing and Ziyi Zhang is an incredible actress. I am looking forward to seeing her in "Memoirs of a Geisha" coming out later this year. If you get a chance to rent either of these movies and love a good arty film these are the films for you.

We had a busy day today. Gemma had her last cheerleading class and afterwards we met our friends Marne her daughter Elizabeth and Katherine and her sons Lincoln and Nolan for a playdate at Kidstown. It was so packed at Kidstown, it looked like the whole east valley was there to beat the heat. After our playdate we went to the Nelson's house to have lunch and for Gemma to have a playdate. Holly and Nicholas were out of town for over a month and they had a great reunion today. Angus and I had a nice afternoon at home, he slept and I cleaned.

More good news, our friends the Barkats welcomed their new baby girl, Tatum into the world today. I hope to have pictures by tomorrow of her. Mom and babe are doing well.

Tomorrow is another busy day. We have to go and see the new baby + we have a lunch date and I have a shopping date! Whoopee!!!

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Past posting...

I am finally getting caught up with my posting. I don't really like to back post, but there were so many adorable pictures I could not deprive my reader (especially our family) the chance to see the kiddos. Last Wednesday we were so excited to have a chance to get together with Brooke, Jack, and Brooke Mom Sandee. Gemma was so excited that Sandee bought M&M baking bits especially for Gemma. Gemma was very disappointed at the Easter when Sandee had us up to decorate cookies, that she didn't have the M&Ms.

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Here is Angus and his buddy Jack.

Jack is quite the mover. He is crawling around every where! I was telling Brooke that I don't evny her having to chase him around all day. I am very content with Angus just sitting on his bottom and smiling away.

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Angus, Sandee, Jack, and Gemma

We had a fantastic time at Sandee's house and we will really miss her when we are in China!

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On Friday we went over to Julie's house for a swim date. Julie just put in a new pool and it is gorgeous! Her beautifully decorated house backs to a lake and her pool has a negative edge, so it kind of looks like the pool flows into the lake. Here is Angus sitting on the extended step.

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Here is Gemma by the edge of the pool over looking the lake.

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Here is our gracious host Julie with Gemma. Julie served us a fantastic lunch and we enjoyed cooling off in her pool. Unfortunately Julie's little man Mac was taking a nap and wasn't able to join us in the pool.

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Gemma, Angus, and Jack.

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Brooke and Jack

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Later Angus, Jack, and Mac were able to play a little while before we headed home. We really appreciated Julie's hospitality and enjoyed her lovely home!

I do have to make a comment about spending so much time with Brooke and Jack recently. I think that Jack inspired Angus to start crawling! He is really starting to scoot and has been taking a few crawling steps. I think I am in for it! Can you imagine a 10+ hour flight across the Atlantic with someone who wants to move all the time! Ugh!

This evening I was able to stop by our friends the Stinson's to drop off dinner to them. I had meant to do it right after the baby was born, but poor little Ty ended up in the hospital for about a week. Thankfullly he is home and doing much better. He is absolutely adorable and really makes me long for those small baby days with Angus.

I also have to share some picture my dad just sent me. My sister Becky and her sons Isaac and Aiden were over at his house and he took some pictures for me. They are so cute!

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Aiden and Isaac

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Becky and Isaac

Saturday, July 16, 2005

And the contest continues...

I have decided to give everyone a chance until next Wednesday to use your creative juices and put your entry in for the "Name Kim's China blog" contest. I have so tough work cut out for me trying to pick the winner. The entries have been superb!

I have tons of pictures to post and I am very behind on my blogging, but tomorrow I am going to try and catch up.

Tonight Jonny and I went out for a date night. We finally were able to see "The Revenge of the Sith". I have to say that I don't think that I can handle action movies anymore. I don't know if it is age or what, but my stomach was in knots after the first big scene. After the movie we tried to have a drink at the new bar "The Tilted Kilt". I have been curious to check this place out because I have seen the waitress' uniforms. I have inserted a picture of the waitress from their Las Vegas location below.

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Needless to say I thought that these uniforms puts Hooters to shame! We decided that the Kilt wasn't really our speed so we headed to Pesto's new wine bar. It seemed nice until a few of the very intoxicated patrons seemed to have a little homophobia and one woman was putting on a very offensive Asian accent. Very annoying!

I promise, pictures tomorrow!

The visit with the Cullops!

We had a very nice visit with our old friends the Cullops. They moved to Tennessee 2 years ago and we have missed them. Jonny and I introduced them and they are married and have to cute little girls.

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Emma playing in the sand circle.

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Maura, Auntie Pam and I are all friends from our days at UNK. We were all Chi Omega sorority sisters and in the same pledge class. While the Cullops were in town we went to Auntie Pam's house for a birthday party for her dog Zoey. Here is a photo of Pam and Zoey opening her birthday gifts.

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Lily and Gemma enjoying Zoey's birthday cake.

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While Maura lived in Chandler, we both shared our first pregnancies. Gemma is 3 months older than Lily and they spent most of their first year of life hanging out with each other. Above is a picture of Lily, Gemma and Emma jumping on our bed.

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More jumping!

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Maura's husband Glen worked with Jonny for a few years at Intel. Here is Glen enjoying his vacation hanging out with Lily and Gemma.

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Gemma and Lily, best of friends!

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We took the Cullops to Lifetime Fitness a couple times and they loved it. They decided to take their Christmas card picture in front of one of the waterfalls in their pool.

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Maura with Angus and Gemma.

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Me and Maura getting ready for Girls Night Out!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

The contest continues...

I am still taking ideas for my new China blog. Keep them coming! So far PJS, Jo, and Brooke lead. My favorites so far "I am a Capitalist Spy" by PJS (I don't think I will be using it, but I love it!), Chinese Checkers: Chandler to Chengdu by Jo, and "Chengdu: Democratic HQ" by Brooke.

I am hoping to catch up on my daily blog updates by the week-end. I have great pictures to share from the Cullops visit and from our day with Brooke's mom a.k.a. Grandma Chocolate!!!

I am also looking forward to Knitting and Wine tomorrow night at My Wine Cellar in Ahwatukee! Whoopee!!!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Name my China blog contest!

I just wanted to let my faithful readers know that we are moving to Chengdu, China around the 12th of September. We are going there on an expat assignment for the company my husband works for and will be there for a minimum of a year, but as long as 3 years. We are looking forward to our China adventure and I thought I would start a new blog about our life there. I was trying to think of a name for my new blog and I thought I would have a contest to see who could come up with the most suitable name for my new blog. I haven't decided what the prize will be for the person who wins that contest, but I will assure you it will be something. If you would like to submit your entry please just post the name on the comments section of the blog. I LOVE GETTING COMMENTS!!!! Good Luck and more to come later!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Sick and Tired

I have been meaning to post, but have been so busy with our company I haven't had a chance. I have pictures to share, news to tell, etc. Unfortunately last night I woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever. I have been in bed all day and I am afraid Miss Gemma is a little under the weather too. She threw up last night and then again tonight. I think we both have a little bug. I hope to post in a day or so when we are all rested and are feeling back to normal.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Sun, Fun and the Circus!

Our visitors arrived from Tennessee on Thursday and we have we have had a wonderful time with them! They are really enjoying the Arizona sun and have been in the pool almost non-stop. We decided to get Angus a floatie, so that we won't have to hold on to him the entire time we were swimming. Here he is kickin' back in his new floatie...

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Friday Glen went to work with Jonny to see his old co-worker while Maura, myself, and the kids hung out in the pool. Friday night Maura, Auntie Pam and I headed to book club for a little girls time.

Saturday was circus day! We had tickets to Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey's Circus at America West Area. I would have to say, I don't think I am a circus girl, but the kids (and Jonny) seemed to enjoy it, so that is all that mattered.

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Angus and Jonny sporting their hats on their way to the circus.

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Gemma, Lily, and Maura at the circus.

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Gemma exhausted from her day at the circus.

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Jonny and his new hat from the circus!

On Sunday we had some friends over for a little Welcome Back Cullops Party / pre-4th of July Party. We had a little bit of non-traditional food fare. We had Jonny's rotisserie chicken, country-style ribs, and hot links. I also made a potato salad, pasta salad, Jello pretzel salad, guacamole, pineapple salsa, and seafood pizza. It was a great day and the food was fantastic! Below are a few pictures from the party.

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My little friend Maren.

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Here are a few pictures of the morning after. Once again Jonny Bridwell is on our couch. (I guess it is better than our grass. He is still single ladies!!!)

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Mark sporting his usual look on our couch.