North Carolina Zoo

We had a good time this morning at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The zoo is HUGE so we only saw one part of it, but it is really cool. All of the animals looked like they were really in their own habitat (as much as I can say without having been to Africa!) I don't really consider myself an avid zoo goer, but this one is cool and I'm glad we bought a family pass for the year.



Addie "wuvs" Jack. She has actually started calling him Jackie. We've NEVER called him that and I don't really want him nicknamed that. Hopefully it won't stick?



Addie enjoying her lemon Italian ice.





As I'm posting these pictures, the thought just occurred to me that only one of them has an animal in it. Actually, the one with the zebra only has like 95% of the zebra in it. I'll pawn the blame off on Anthony for this. After I took the bad picture of them with the zebra, I set off trying to find a place to feed Jack. I got lost in the process and although I saw lots of cool stuff I had left the camera with Anthony with instructions to take pictures. Oh well! We'll be back and I'll be sure to post some fabulous photos of the Rhinos.



I'm so lucky to get to hang out with such good looking people. :)

Chubby Babies

This is Addie playing with our neighbor's one year old, Izzy. She is so chubby...almost like Addie was a year ago. I love it!

Preschool!

Addie had her first day of preschool today and I think it was a success. She is in a class of kids 2 - 2 1/2 years old and it's mostly little girls, so I think she's going to like it. She got a little bit wimpy when I dropped her at the door, but the teacher said that once she got over that she was talking the entire three hours. Sounded like she was the class know-it-all. I wonder where that comes from?

Anyway, I'm excited that she has somewhere to go play with other children while we're waiting for Mr. Jack to grow. She and another little girl were hugging when I got there. Here is a before shot and an after shot with her admiring her door prize.

Lucky Girl

All bad hair days aside, this is how I'm feeling about life these days! :)


Lucky from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Motherhood Isn't Always Pretty

So, when I first saw the "Motherhood" ads by Suave I thought it was funny and partially true. I mean, being a mother definitely makes it more difficult for me to have the TIME to do fabulous works with my hair. This week there was a new development.

This:




The pictures don't really do justice. It's as if every strand got it's own bad crimp job. Every single hair was this wirey crazy thing going all over the place. Even putting it in a ponytail didn't sufficiently correct things. I just stared in the mirror horrified at the mess that resulted from my same every day routine.

Same amount of time as always, same products as always. Yet, somehow it looks like I just chemically fried my hair on the same day as sticking my finger in an electrical outlet. I have nothing to blame but random changes in my hormones for this lovely occurrence. I am now the proud owner of nasty doll hair I guess. I promptly called the hairdresser my friend Tiffany referred me to 6 WEEKS ago and set up an appointment that I will hopefully be able to keep in 2 weeks. If Anthony ends up working, I'll have to go even longer in my hideously offensive hair state and maybe Serena can help me with my kiddos while I get some hairapy. Stay tuned...if things don't improve I may be sporting the Katie Holmes bob.

P.S. Please don't judge my vanity...my hair is all I've got. People don't exactly stop me on the street to compliment my long legs, gorgeous eyes, or fabulous teeth. :)

Two Months Old

Certainly there is a part of me that can't believe two months have already passed since Jack was born, but there is another part of me that can't believe it's only been two months! Partly, because so much has happened since he was born but also because I can't imagine our family without him.

For the most part, Jack is a super easy baby. He does have a strange need to wake up in the middle of his naps and cry for about 10 minutes before returning to sleep, which kinda makes me crazy especially when his 2nd nap of the day overlaps with Addie's! But, after much trial and error with trying to sooth him, burp him, etc. it seems that the crying (or screaming) is just what he wants to do. ??? Strange. He's also a bit of a broken record at night. He's been eating at 10 p.m., 3 a.m., and 7 a.m. since his first week and doesn't seem to have any desire to change this. I'm a wimp for nighttime crying, so even when I say I'm going to let him cry for a while it doesn't last long. He's just so tired at that time of day, that he doesn't eat well and then I spend forever burping him. Stubborn boy I guess? Addie just gradually slept longer at night and she never really bothered to cry in the middle of a nap. At the very least, she never did it twice in a row! I know he is big enough to sleep all night - check out the chunk:



Makes his mommy proud with that round belly. :)

He makes up for the broken record nights by giving me smiles now, so just when I'm getting a little weary his sweet smile gives me a boost. It's been a great two months and while I'm trying to enjoy him as a baby I am really excited to get to know him as he grows!

Things That Make Me Happy

Addie found a piece of paper in one of her drawers with a list on it and brought it over to me pointing to the text saying, "Hey - H, I, J, K, na, na, na, na, P in there!"

She's been singing a church song, "A Happy Family" this week, only instead of saying "I love Mommy, she loves me. We love Daddy, yes sir-ree" she sings, "I love Addie, she loves me. We love Addie, yes sir-ree!" I think it's cute, but yesterday on the way home Anthony asked if I'd please teach her a new song this week so I guess everybody's not on board.

The babysitter on one of Addie's favorite shows is named Julie. She was talking about Julie the other day and I thought I'd explain that my name was also Julie. Now and then today she starts calling me Julie to see if I'll answer. She just stands there with this funny look on her face saying, "Julie?" She also talks to Julie on the phone. Silly girl.

Last thing of the moment - counting. Addie counting: two, four, fie, sick, seden, eight, nine, ten, leven, twelf. She has been skipping 1 and 3 for months now, not sure what they've done to offend. She alternates counting to herself and saying her H,I,J,K's to herself while she plays.

Blue Ridge Mountains

We had a great time this weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We left on Friday night and got back this afternoon. We mostly relaxed, but we did venture out to good ole' Boone, NC so that we could catch a glimpse of the famous (or infamous) Appalachian State University. (If you are curious, check out the cool video below.)



The weather was great. We slept with the windows open and in the morning on Saturday it was chilly enough in the cabin for a fire.



My cute boys.



Addie and Bear with the Baby Bjorn.



I thought we wouldn't get this look during family vacations until she was at least 12.



In Iowa, we passed fields of corn everywhere we went. Here we passed mountainsides lined with Christmas trees.



Addie loved hiking.



Nothing significant really about this picture relating to our trip. I just think it's stinking cute. :)



One more of Jack - just to prove he was there! He's such a cool little guy. So chill, he just hangs out being happy.

Happy Birthday Berg!

Anthony turned 32 today so we had a little dinner celebration for him. Going out was not going to happen, especially after I spent the day going to and from Charlotte with the kiddos, so we had a good dinner at home and some fabulous chocolate cake (thanks to Whole Foods Bakery!)

Here's my skinny meat lover with his new steak knives. :)



And since Addie wouldn't wear the cute "2" birthday hat our friend Tiffany Newton bought her for her birthday, it seemed fitting for Anthony to wear it while he blew out his candles...since there's a 2 on it. Only 30 years difference. I think it looks good on him.



Sadly, Toppy left today to go back to Texas. We had so much fun with him and Addie just thinks he hung the moon. Maybe Anthony's 33rd birthday will be with family in Texas...hmmmmm.

Blessed Baby

Today we blessed Jack at church. He did great...no crying at all. The only thing he did wrong was grow out of the cheesy white outfit I had for him. It had a really cute cross-stitched blue sailboat on it. I guess he was just putting his foot down on having his mother dress him. Instead he looked like a cute little golfer with alligators all over his polo shirt. Luckily, I didn't remove the tags to the expensive cheesy outfit before trying it on him this morning so I'll be returning it this week! His 2 month appointment is coming up & I can't wait to see how much this boy weighs!

Pops, A.K.A. "Toppy", was here for the blessing and Addie is on cloud nine. She snuggled him all through church. It kind of amazed me how still sat with him during the meeting. She cried in nursery again and told Anthony she wanted to see Toppy. So sad.

Oh Yes I Did

Didn't you hear? With the price of gas going sky high these days, it is now legal in several states to hitch a Burley trailer to your car for the kiddos! I joke. This is our super cool Nana sporting the birthday present she got this weekend.

On the other hand, here is what I got while my mom is hot-rodding it around Houston. (Sorry about the bad photography...As you can see, the house next door is white.)



It was a long, quiet, and difficult discussion that I've had with myself over the past few years about having to eat everything I've ever said about minivans. I think I crossed over mentally and emotionally three years ago when I was taking enough fertility drugs to get a set of triplets, which of course would necessitate a leap like this.

Conversely, I only had to mention a slight interest in a minivan to Anthony and all of the sudden he was researching them. Every other time I've mentioned an interest in any other kind of new vehicle he has insisted that what I was driving was perfectly fine. But here, I only mentioned that I had seen the light of practicality where minivans were concerned less than 60 days ago and now there is one in the drive way. There must be some male ego thing tied to putting the wife and kids into a large family friendly vehicle? Maybe an effort to make sure no other guy is checking me out? :)

Jokes aside...I love it and know we will really enjoy it. It's really amazing how much thought about a family has been put into this car & how many cool gadgets you can get on it! I'll just have to endure the ridicule from my family (even my grandmother refuses to drive a minivan!) while I enjoy my sweet new van.

Here is the resulting video from three days of trying to celebrate Addie's birthday. Her actual birthday was the first, we planned to have friends over for burgers and cupcakes on the 2nd but there was ANOTHER crazy storm and lost power so she just opened presents with us that night, then yesterday we had dinner & cupcakes. All three days we practiced singing "Happy Birthday" and talked about blowing out candles, but it didn't do any good. :)

I included some swimming pictures too. Yes, I realize Addie's swimsuit is just a teeny weeny bit on the small side. What can I say...we haven't been swimming since we went to Wisconsin Dells in February! It wasn't warm enough to swim until about a week before Jack was born and I was not going to risk splashing all the water at the pool out when I entered just so that Addie could get a swim in. I'll see what I can find on the sale rack. I must say, we were definitely the most WHITE people out there...looked like Iowans or something.


Happy Birthday Addie! from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

In Case I Forgot To Mention...

We've Moved...

To North Carolina.

The funniest thing about this photo is that I've actually seen worse since living here, but this one was sitting still so that I could get a picture!

Some rebel flag stickers on the tires would really make this truck authentic. :)

Happy Birthday Addie!

Today was Addie's second birthday. In a way, I can't believe she is two years old. It's hard to be with her all day though and not realize how fast she is growing.


All signs point towards the fact that this sweet little baby is definitely two, however, even with the flare ups of unruliness and defiance now and then I am truly excited to see what this next year brings.

Addie is constantly making me smile. Even lately, when she says "No, I don't want to" quite often. It is so hard to not just squeeze her and tell her how cute I think she is with her little independent attitude. She's terrible at being sneaky too and she often calls my attention to her when she's doing something she shouldn't. Like yesterday, I was just picking up from room to room in the house. I walked into the living room, not even looking at her, and immediately I hear, "Oh, Hiiii" in a very matter-of-fact voice. There she was with her legs crossed, sitting in her little green chair, sipping on a Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. It was all down her front but it was so funny.

Another of my favorite things she is doing right now is singing. Nana got her singing while she was with us last month, and it has been fun ever since. She will try to sing to almost any TV theme song and I can almost always cheer her up with a song of some kind. In turn, I'm the one who gets a boost because her little voice is just so sweet when she sings. Next month I'm sure there will be something new I'm enjoying about her.

When Jack was born, a good friend asked me if I felt as strongly for him as I did for Addie when she was born. I responded that I thought I felt stronger but only because I've had the opportunity to see, even for just two years, what's to come. She's given me a great parenting experience so far and I am truly grateful!

Pictures or video of the birthday celebration will come...but this momma might be tired after throwing the celebration so it could be Sunday before they are posted. I was thinking as I uploaded this picture, about how I will probably always want to use this picture for post on Addie's birthday. Then, I wondered if I'd still be blogging in 15 years. Will we have moved on to some fancier format? Should be interesting.

Days of Our Lives

I think I'm starting to see a pattern in my blogging. One video a week to sum it up! Even at that, it's just clips of us around the house. I guess that's just all that's happening here. Every day lately seems about the same. Feed baby, Addie wakes, make waffles, baby sleeps, take a shower, feed baby, baby sleeps, lunchtime, feed baby, Addie sleeps, baby sleeps, Addie wakes, feed baby, snack time for Addie, baby sleeps, make dinner, feed baby, eat dinner, bathe baby, baby sleeps, bathe Addie, Addie sleeps, feed baby, baby sleeps, GO TO BED! Oh, and how could I forget...diapers diapers diapers!

Wake up in the middle of the night, of course, to feed baby. Hit repeat for next day. We change up the sequence in various exciting ways like going to the mall, Target, Walmart, walking, laundry, dishes or other cleaning. I guess that explains my lack of interesting blogging. :)

Yesterday we changed it up by breaking out an early birthday present (the Colorwonder markers and Tigger & Pooh book) from Grandpa Berg. New toys have become something I think I enjoy more than Addie does.


"Normal" Life from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Oh, The Insanity

I started to type out the long version, but it was too long. Short version: House got real hot, AC got REAL loud, new AC ordered, man came to install it, major storm hit at the same time, power went out, stayed out, cell phone was out of charge, loaded hot babies (pulled out of their beds) into the car and drove circles trying to figure out what to do, hotels were all full, eventually Anthony got a friend to drive over, we followed her back to her house, got to bed around midnight, spent 2 days mooching off of friends, 3 of us living in one room for 2 days, late night feedings and diaper changes in the dark with a 2 yr old, AC got fixed, house cooled down, YEAH!!!

Anthony comes home to join in the fun tomorrow.

Today Addie was cradling her baby doll in her arms, walking, and swaying from side to side while trying to put Jack's pacifier in the baby's mouth and saying "Try it, you'll like it." Unfortunately, Jack is not as in love with his paci as I might like so I may have said this statement a few times. :)

Other new "statements" include "Stop it", "Don't do that", and "I don't want to."

Some random/recent pictures of my cuties who have endured the insanity so much better than I ever could have imagined:

Wish You Were Here

Sorry if we're boring everyone with the family videos! I've been making these videos for Anthony anyway, so I might as well post them here for everyone to see. :)


We Miss Daddy from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Southern Hospitality

We've had a nice dose of Southern Hospitality since moving here and it's been GREAT!

The gal across the street brought over a peaches and cream pie the other day...oh wow.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

It was so stinking good. Yes, I said "was." Why bother to make breakfast when there is such a great option. Bread, dairy, and fruit all in one...the perfect breakfast or dessert, whatever you're looking for. She and her husband are both fellows here so I was also impressed that she found the time to do it. They have 2 little girls that I know Addie will enjoy playing with.

Then...my next door neighbor washed my car for me. He was just out washing his and he thought he'd wash mine too. So nice! Sadly I had not left the house the day he did it, so he could have driven off with the car and I wouldn't have had a clue. Either way, it was so great. He has a granddaughter the same age as Addie so he seems to enjoy visiting with her.

And yesterday the State Farm lady, Dot, called needing my signature to set up automatic payments on our insurance. She had already talked to Anthony and told him he was insane for moving me to North Carolina with a new baby and a 2 year old and then leaving for three weeks. She insisted on coming by the house with the document so that I wouldn't have to go to the trouble. So refreshing, especially since I have had the office in Iowa City hound me last minute that if I didn't drop everything and get into the office by 5 p.m. on any given day our insurance would be dropped.

As I was giving her directions to our home, I told her to turn onto Ebert. She repeated me saying, "Okay, turn on Ahhbert." Without even thinking I said, "No, EEEbert. E.B.E.R.T."

She laughed and said, "I know, but it's called Ahhbert down here hon." Okay, how dumb did I sound correcting her??

I went at Addie's hair with the scissors again yesterday too. Here's the end result. If I keep it short like this, all I have to do is slip a clip in it every morning. Very nice. This is probably the equivalent of the "Orphan Annie" curly do my mom had on me until I was like 10 while I longed to have long luxurious locks of hair flowing in the breeze like the other girls. I don't think it did any permanent damage to me to have to beg my mom to please stop cutting my hair, so I'm sure Addie will be fine. And don't you love the off the shoulder look with her shirt?

How We Pass the Time

Just a few clips I compiled from the past week or so. Our days are pretty much the same everyday, but we're still having fun. Only 13 days until Anthony joins us from Iowa!

Happy Days from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

By The Way

Oh, by the way...on June 22nd Anthony graduated from residency. I was in the hospital so he went all by himself - we had just a little bit of stuff happening all at once! You won't find me complaining of being bored any time in the near future. 

Despite the fact that the graduation when rather unnoticed with all of the other events going on, it is such an accomplishment and I am so proud of Anthony for what he has done. I know he's been happy with the training he received at the University of Iowa and it has been four well spent, but challenging, years. We are both happy it's over and ready to settle down!