What Makes You Smile?

The first few weeks that a newborn smiles are so sweet...she makes me smile.

While I was feeding Greer yesterday, Gehrig went to his room and apparently decided that he couldn't wait for me to put him down for his nap. This is how I found him...it made me smile.

Hearing Christmas music, receiving Christmas cards, hearing Gehrig exclaim "Baby Jesus!" everytime he sees a nativity...this Season makes me smile.

Our blessings are too many to count. I am so thankful for great friends & family and for a God that loves us so much that he sent Jesus for us. We hope your Christmas season is full of joy!

Surprise!

Another trip to Atlanta had a bit of intrigue this weekend! Bryce and our 2 best couple friends (Coopers & Dormans) conspired to have them meet us for dinner at my favorite restaurant for my upcoming 30th birthday. They each drove 2 hours just for dinner! The food was delicious and the company was wonderful. Bebe kept both kids for us. I am filled with gratefulness for such great friends & family!! And for the best husband there is...

Girl Time

A bunch of us met last weekend in Atlanta for some great girl time. It was so nice to visit, shop, eat and relax together! It made me sad that we now live so far apart! Our husbands were sweet to hang with the kids for us to get a little break. So looking forward to doing it again next year, girls!

It's Christmastime!

Happy December! Gehrig is enjoying the season already...seeing lights & decorations and declaring, "It's Christmastime!" over and over again! It's amazing to see how he's changed as we near his 3rd Christmas!

November pics are up on the right!

Thanksgiving Turkeys

As promised, here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving at the Mareks. Gehrig & Cole (our Thanksgiving turkeys) had a great time and made a great mess with the Mareks' dog's food & water bowls!

Grateful

Our Thanksgiving was much different this year. Usually in Virginia with B's family, we stayed home this year because Evans is still in the playoffs (yea!) and we were nervous about making the trip with Greer. We are missing everyone so much! However, we are just as aware of the holiday and the many things that we thank God for. Here are a couple of them!

We enjoyed a wonderful meal and fellowship with our friends, The Mareks. The kids had a great time playing and making a mess! We'll post pictures from it soon!

One other thing that we must mention... We have been overwhelmingly blessed the past few weeks with meals as we've adjusted to the addition of Greer to our family. It truly is the best gift for families with a newborn! The break from planning/shopping/cooking and the thoughtfulness of friends has been wonderful. Thank you...

Wilkins.Links.Mullenixes.Heards.Hermans.Dormans.Pierces.Lane. Murphys.Hardys.Abells.Enfingers.Griffis.McElwains.Linda.Freemans. Simkos.Owens.Popes.Ruckers.Mareks.Gays

You guys are great - thank you again!! Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm No Superman

After singing "I'm No Superman" (from Scrubs) repeatedly the night before, Gehrig donned his cape for our church's gym fest and had a ball! Here are a few pics from last night...

Greer's 2 week checkup went great today...she is already up to 8lbs 10oz and has almost grown an inch! She is doing great and Mommy is doing much better after fighting mastitis earlier this week! October gallery is on the right...love to you all.

How?

I know that a week is not that long, but it amazes me that Greer is already one week old! How? She is still in the sleepy newborn phase and we are enjoying her snuggling, especially knowing how quickly she will be past that phase!


Gehrig is still being adorable with her. He is getting back to normal with Mommy, after seeming a little unsure around me at first when we got home. And B is getting a little bit of a break from his "mini-me" with Gehrig going to preschool this week. Gehrig has been attached to him at the hip, constantly wanting him to play or just be in the room with him. B has been awesome and understanding with him. I'm thankful for this week and that B & I are both home from work, getting adjusted and having time together too.

We feel so blessed, so grateful.

Pure Joy

We are so thankful to announce the birth of Greer Elizabeth. She arrived Tuesday (early!) morning at 4:22 and weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces. She is beautiful and reminds us so much of Gehrig as a newborn...down to a swirl in her hair like his. Thank you so much for your thoughts, emails, calls & prayers! We can't wait for you all to meet her and will post pictures/updates often. Her first gallery is posted on the right.

We made our first visit to the doctor today and she weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces! They are checking her bilirubin count, but aren't too worried. All in all, she is perfect and we all can't get enough! Her big brother is especially smitten...and for this mommy, it is SUCH a joy to see them together. I'm overwhelmed at these two gifts from God.

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I can't finish without praising B for being such a thoughtful, patient, loving, constant, CUTE husband and dad. He is such a natural...

Big Win Over the 'Boro

This football season has been a refreshing change of pace from previous seasons at Evans High School. The anguish of mediocrity has been replaced with the fun of winning a few games. As optimistic as we have been, we could have never expected what happened Friday night. It was one to remember. The Evans Knights beat the undefeated and #4 ranked Statesboro Blue Devils 10-7! It was a landmark victory for the program and B's most memorable one (high school, college, and coaching). The Knights are currently 6-0 and in 1st place in the region. We hope that the ride keeps going! Here is a link to a story and a few highlights from the game courtesy of The Augusta Chronicle ....

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/101307/hig_147422.shtml

Greer Update: 38 Weeks

No change at our appointment today! More comments of how low she is, 3-4cm and 80% effaced. Thankfully, I am feeling great and am okay with her coming whenever she is ready. We are definitely thankful that we are further along now and feel better about her development from this point forward. If nothing happens before then, we go back to the doctor next Wednesday afternoon for our 39 weeks checkup.

Also, a quick shout out to Evans for the big undefeated matchup tonight with Statesboro! Go Knights!!!!

Greer Update: 37 Weeks

Our doctor's appointment went well today. According to Dr. Waxman, Greer is "very low" and I am 3-4cm dilated and 80% effaced. We'll keep you posted!

September with the Masseys

Here's a recap of September with our family...

1. Evans Football. They are 4-0! Gehrig has done great at the games! We were nervous about him staying up so late for the games, but he just listens to the iPod and cuddles with Mommy when he gets tired in the 4th quarter. Of course, when the games are over, he is reenergized to visit with Daddy on the field. He knows well how to say, "Go Knights!" We're not sure how many more (if any) we'll make it to with Baby Greer so close, but we are thankful for text messaging with Daddy to keep up with what's going on.

2. Labor Day Weekend. Daddy and Gehrig visited Fort Discovery for the first time while Mommy got a haircut. They had so much fun! G especially liked the big helicopter outside, the big grasshoppers and the ball that went round and round and down the hole! The rest of our Labor Day weekend was spent visiting with B's family at the lake and going to Gehrig's "girlfriend, Kiki's" birthday party.

3. Our Last Trip Before Baby. We made our last trip before Greer's arrival to Atlanta. We enjoyed visiting with friends and family and braved the tens of thousands in Piedmont Park to go see Dave Matthews. It was a long, hot, crowded afternoon, but turned out great by the time DMB started playing at 8pm. We especially enjoyed the time with Slade & Jessica and our friends, the Summers. I'm not sure any other 8mths pregnant women were there, but I made it! The walk back to the Marta station was the hardest part! We also enjoyed Buckhead Church on Sunday. It is always such a blessing to be there!
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4. Baby Showers. We have been overwhelmed with all that friends and family have done for us to help us prepare for Greer. Jenn, Kelli & Amanda threw a girls' night out/shower at Macaroni Grill, Wesley threw a shower luncheon and our Sunday School class held a girls' afternoon out/shower at Panera. They were all so nice! We got lots of goodies for Greer and feel blessed by everyone's thoughtfulness.

5. UGA vs. UA. Our marriage survived the game. Congratulations to all the Dawgs. (That's all there is to say about that.)

6. A Sad Move. Gehrig's girlfriend moved away. Mommy & Daddy's friends too. We were so bummed to see Chad, Kelli & Katelyn off to northwest Georgia last week. After talking about his buddy Clay and girlfriend Kiki moving to "Chattanooga," Gehrig announced, "I go to Chattanooga too. I'm a big boy!" We were so thankful to have good time with them last week and can't wait to see them again soon. Note to the few people left that we know in Augusta...no more.

7. Baby Greer Update. Last, but definitely not least! At our doctor's appointment on Friday, we learned that I am 2-3cm dilated. Wow, we were not expecting that news so soon! We are hoping that we make it to/past this Thursday (37 weeks) for her to be full term and are busy, busy making preparations for her arrival! Thank you for your prayers...we'll keep you posted.

Settling In

August went so fast! We have settled into routine with B starting school and football again and Gehrig going back to preschool. It's hard to believe that we only have a few weeks before Greer is here! See pics on the right...

All Grown Up

It's been a week now. Our son is all grown up. The transition from crib to twin bed has so far gone without a hitch and was harder for us than Gehrig. Seems like yesterday that the crib looked like it swallowed him whole! Driving and college are coming soon...

We're still working on the big boy room. We are transitioning toys into his room since the playroom has become Greer's room, so we're working on getting some furniture built and his bed refinished. In the meantime, we thought putting the bed on the floor would be safer anyway.

Here he is the next morning...waiting for Mommy & Daddy to come in.


The first afternoon nap. No problem.

Gehrig's 2 Year Pictures

In the midst of all the traveling mentioned below, we were able to sneak in Gehrig's 2 year pictures. Here are a couple of them!

On The Road

July turned out to be a traveling month. After returning from FCA Coaches Camp, we went to Albany for a family reunion. It was great to visit with everyone and Gehrig especially loved spending time with his cousins, Megan & Nathan. They decided to come home with us to visit for a couple of weeks, with Bebe keeping them during our beach trip.

We met the Coopers & Dormans at the beach for our annual trip together. What fun! It's been wild to watch our families change over the last few years. We have gone from no kids to 5 kids very quickly and look forward to adding 2 more this fall! The kids had a blast and Gehrig absolutely loved the beach! We can't wait until next year!

Upon returning and getting the twins back from Bebe, we learned that Granny Tolley (B's great grandmother who was 100) passed away. We are so thankful that we were able to visit with her one last time in June. The next day, B met Lindsey & Mike in Montgomery to take the twins back to them (9 hrs round trip). We were bummed that our visit with them was cut short, but will make plans to do it again! The following day, we drove to Virginia for Granny's funeral and to visit with family. Other than the driving, it was a great time of celebration, remembrance & visiting. We are so thankful for her legacy and her influence in our lives.

We've been home for a week now. It's amazing how much we needed to catch up on. We're almost there and have started getting ready for baby Greer too. We'll post pictures of her nursery when it is ready. B has been husband/father/uncle of the year this month during his time off! He's worked on tons of projects around the house, driven all over the Southeast and had lots of fun with Gehrig & Mommy. Unfortunately, the nesting phase of pregnancy is hitting right about the time that football starts again...looks like August might be busy for him too!

See pictures on the right side...we updated the July Travels album with all the trips. We are so thankful to have had the time to visit and so thankful to be home!

A Great Week

A week ago, we started our trip with a visit to B's family. Gehrig enjoyed visiting the farm with Pa & Daddy. He was able to...drive (yep, drive) the big John Deere, chase the cows, ride in the boat, and even catch a couple of fish. Not a bad day! Mommy visited with Mammaw & Pots while the boys were out.

Monday, we left for FCA Coach's Camp at St. Simons. What a time of rest and spiritual renewal! We met so many awesome families and B was so encouraged by meeting and spending quality time with other Christian coaches. The fact that he is not alone in his longing to invest in his student athletes' lives is a great comfort.

We are truly thankful for the opportunity to get away and spend the week as a family with others who desire to further Christ's kingdom through education and athletics. We are specifically challenging ourselves as a couple to learn more scripture and to invest more time together daily in His word. We are looking forward to starting FCA with a bang again in the fall when school starts and watching God work through it. Hopefully, the camp will become an annual tradition for our family!

During the breaks at camp, we were able to visit the beach (with Mammaw, Pots & Papa) and a water park. G had a blast!! Here are a couple of pics...the rest are on the right.

THE Family Reunion

Family Reunions.

For many, an obligatory event. For the Bournes, a joy.

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to the 20th annual Bourne reunion in Virginia. Part silly, part sweet, all meaningful with stories upon stories behind each tradition and ritual. We are SO grateful for the experiences and memories that have been passed down and shared with us. We hope that we will add to them in the years to come and continue to share them with the generations ahead.


A special thanks to Uncle Bill who has been our Puds too...Granddaddy would be so proud of how you've filled his void in our lives. Our understanding of family is greater because of you.


Check out more pics on the right.

Greer Elizabeth

We are grateful to report that our doctor's appointment went well today. The baby is doing great and measuring well. We were also able to find out what we are having...Gehrig wants to announce!

Here are a couple of the sonogram pictures of Greer Elizabeth! Greer is just a name that we like and Elizabeth is after B's Great Granny Tolley and other special women in both our families.

Braves Game

Pa gave Gehrig Braves tickets for his birthday, so we enjoyed the day at the park yesterday! (It was coincidentally Lou Gehrig Awareness Day at Turner Field.) Slade & his friend, Nug were also treating Bebe to a game for her birthday so we were all able to be there together. Here are a few shots...the rest are in the gallery on the right. Happy Memorial Day!

We're Joining the Blogging Fun

For the days that you're bored and surfing the web, here's another blog to add to your collection! We'll try to update regularly with what's going on here and post pictures often. In the meantime, feel free to click on the photo galleries on the right side. Hope you're all doing well!