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Derek's Mountain birthday

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:22:00 -0500

The weekend after Derek's birthday, we met my parents and brother at a cabin in North Georgia for mountain adventuring.

Cori and Amaris enjoying a hike

The family gathered around birthday dinner and chocolate cake

A cool picture of Kaley and Mimi hiking together

Family shot by Lake Blue Ridge

Derek, his girls, and his cake

Balancing on a log with "G"

Hiking by the waterfall and trying not to get too wet

Georgia Tech family

It was quite a pretty waterfall

Amaris and Mommy at the waterfall

A fun shot of Kaley in the back of the car with the dogs

Here's how you open your mouth to eat, Amaris. Yum, yum!

Long overdue pictures

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:45:00 -0500

Well, looks like me last blog was in mid-October and lots has happened since then.

Mid October: Amaris learns to sit alone, she begins eating baby cereal, and Georgia Tech beat VT at homecoming (we did not go to the game))

Late October: Mimi and G come to visit and spend Halloween with us

Early November: Derek turns 31!

Mid November: We take a weekend to a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA to celebrate Derek's birthday complete with: hiking to a waterfall, mountain biking, steak dinner and chocolate cake, time in the hottub, and mornings drinking coffee on the porch overlooking Ga, TN, and NC. No pictures from this event because they are all on Mimi's camera.

Now: Can't wait for Thanksgiving vacation and time in Rome with my family! I'm sitting here typing watching Amaris do all kinds of acrobatics on the floor including multiple rolls to get to the other side of the room where AJ is. This is new - using rolling as movement.Derek is outside using lots of new tools to build a workbench...a wonderful birthday gift from his parents

Here are the pictures!

A gorgeous sunset over our backyard

Kaley and G help Derek put our numbers on the mailbox

G and Kaley watching a movie. Yep, I get my sleeping genes directly from him!

Kaley, the fairy princess, shows off her wings

Derek and yellow jacket Amaris

The whole family at the church's harvest party

Trick or treating. G is Gandalf the Gray

If I had a daughter sir I'd dress her in white and gold. My Georgia Tech girls!

Daddy and Amaris on his birthday morning

Daddt and Kaley on his birthday

Derek teaches Kaley about catching and throwing a football

Yeah for fall and football

We found some hiking trails on church property where we can go hiking with the dogs

Me and Derek on his birthday. Kaley took this picture for us, her first

Cute sisters! Irresitiable!

Kaley showing off her pigtails

Amaris loves to cuddle and play with AJ

He laid there and spooned her for 10 to 15 minutes. It was adorable

Our car with all Derek's workbench supplies

This is where Amaris started. Now she is clear across the room stuck against the couch and ready to be picked up. bye until next time!

Uncle Denis' Birthday and Myers Visit

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:19:00 -0400

This weekend we went down to Orlando to celebrate Uncle Denis' birthday!

Amaris gets some good cuddles with Uncle Josh

My friend, former roomate, and co-worker Jackie had a baby girl three weeks before Amaris was born. We had a chance to get the two grils, Claire and Amaris, together to play

This is my favorite shot of Claire and Amaris

Baby switch: I got to hold Claire a little bit

And, Jackie got to hold Amaris

Amaris is quite smiley while playing in Jax' toys

Jax and Amaris playing together (kind of)

Lasagna dinner and birthday cake for Denis!

Grandma, Kaley, Uncle Josh and Aunt Lorra at American Adventure in Epcot taking a nice break

Conked out baby while holding her pacifier

Funny shot of me enjoying Mexican food from the Food and Wine festival over Amaris' head

Reunion of Swishers and Gilmans...now with two more babies than last time we saw each other

Kaley meets Mulan

Kaley introduces Mulan to Amaris and Mommy

Aunt Lorra, Mommy, and Kaley with Princess Aurora

We got to hear a Sister Hazel concert. It's called "eat to the Beat" and Amaris truly was eating to the beat!

Big smiles after the concert

Amaris "eating to the beat"

Big hugs from Kaley to Mom after dancing and singing "all for you" at the SIster Hazel concert

Our whole family at Epcot

On Monday, we got to see some of our CA friends who have also moved to Georgia. I was happy to re-introduce Amaris to Jess

Mike and Derek hanging out with the dogs in the shade

The three kids: Katie, Kaley and Jack

The three kids at Chick FIl A

Cori and Jess saying goodbye...for a short while till we see them again

A weekend in Florida

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:30:00 -0400

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Orlando to see Derek's family and to pick up a riding lawn mower than Derek's dad is giving to us for our new big yard. We had a great trip! Here are some pictures! It has been hard to get blogs written and posted these days!

16 week old Amaris is getting big and loving tummy time, using her hands, and testing her voice by squealing at the top of her lungs

Grandma gets some cuddle time with Amaris at the Contemporary for lunch

Kaley's huge smile and dance when she saw Mickey and the princesses in the show by the castle

Together on the tea cups

3 generations of Carousel riders

Kaley chose Uncle Denis as her partner for the Barnstormer

Brooke and Denis get cozy on the Astro Orbiter

Brooke and Denis on Big Thunder Mtn Railroad

I loved it! My super tall 3 year old is tall enough for Big Thunder and she loved it! What a treat! Here's our family shot at the end of the ride

Jax and Amaris enjoy playing and kicking their legs after a long day at the park

Grandma with her two granddaughters

Grandpa loves his 3 grandkids

Brooke and Derek with all their kids

Aunt Lorra with Amaris

Bedtime for Kaley at Uncle Josh's house

Kaley with Uncle Josh (picture by her request) in front of his new house

Getting Settled in our new home

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:59:00 -0400

August is flying by already! We are staying busy with unpacking, playing intramural volleyball on base (3 times last week!), starting Kaley in AWANA, exercising, making new friends, enjoying the hot summer and checking out churches. Did I mention unpacking? Amaris is growing like crazy. She hit 12 weeks and kept right on going and started giggling this week. Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Luke came down to visit. The girls love their uncle and Amaris wonders about that fuzzy stuff on his face

All 4 kids with their Uncle

Luke and 3 of his friends flew to California to pick up our stranded Trans Am and drove the convertible cross country in a week long roadtrip. What a huge help! They had fun and we can't wait to have our car back. We still think they are crazy for putting 4 grown guys with two having to ride in the tiny backseat

My smiling strawberry

Getting ready to try out the pool

Not so sure what to think of this...

We spend a lot of time out in this pool. It's great! Fun way to reward hard work/exercise by cooling off and Kaley loves it. We did however learn that the filter makes a HUGE difference. It broke when it got water in it and our pool turned scary green in a matter of days. We're still cleaning it up but should be back in working shape this weekend

Not loving the cool water. WIll keep practicing

Safe and warm in my towel

Look at that hair! I love it!

A cute yawn

Girls in matching bows. The dogs have since eaten Amaris' white bow. Who eats a bow, really?

Getting long...due to bureaucracy we have been unable to have a 2 month check up. She's 3 months. Don't really know how long or how much she weighs but know she is healthy. We'll know more Thursday!

My heart stealer

We drove to Newnan (near Atlanta) to spend the day with my dear friend Sara and her family including Sam. She is going to have her baby girl this week so we got there just in time!

Finally found a toy engaging enough to encourage good tummy time. So strong!

Kaley has figured out how to play and help out with Amaris. Here she is doing tummy time too. Amaris loves her sister and I am truly amazed that a 3 month baby can react so strongly to her but she does. It's so cool!

Trip to Siesta Key Beach

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:43:00 -0400

Our last day in Florida we had to fulfill a promise to Kaley and to ourselves to make it out to our favorite beach. Kaley has been in California so long that she doesn't really remember what it's like to go to a warm beach and to play in the waves. The last one was Hawaii when she was 16 months old. The rain threatened to ruin our trip but the afternoon turned sunny and made parking easier. We had a great time and it was worth the effort (though we've learned that everything takes more effort with two kids, especially when one is a baby!) We also were amazed when Kaley started swimming on Tuesday! She has been working on it and progressing and the child is fearless but all of a sudden she learned to keep her head down and something clicked and now she is going forward by herself! She also jumped off the diving board twice to Daddy but I didn't get any pictures (or even get to see it myself).

Kaley's first glimpse at the beach. She didn't want to wait for her sunscreen to dry!

How Amaris started out at the beach...

Look Mom, I've got sand everywhere

Amaris happily playing on the blanket after she got used to the brightness

Playing with Dad

Derek taught Kaley how to play in the waves and used a boogie board like a float. She was a bit scared at first but did great after a bit. The waves were small that day too.

Coming in with the waves

Triumphant return to tell Mom all about it

We enjoyed our first experience as Aunt and Uncle. Jax and Amaris (11 days apart in age) are too cute!

He's got their attention!

Swimming video #1

Swimming video #2

July in a Nutshell

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:58:00 -0400

Whew, I can't believe how the summer is flying by! Tomorrow begins August and Amaris is almost 10 weeks old! It is hard to choose my favorite pictures, and there are more up on Facebook but here are some highlights from July.

This may be my favorite picture yet! Julie and Jana gave the girls matching dresses and they are adorable! You can tell they are sisters! I never imagined myself with two girls and now I've got two beautiful ones!

For the 4th of July, we took Kaley to a Rome Braves baseball game and sat on the grassy hill by the outfield. She loved dancing and the fireworks were great afterwards!

We concluded our 3 weeks of living with my parents with a 4th of July cookout! Then off to Warner Robins the next day!

Welcome to our new house! Derek shows his parents our home when they drive up to help us unpack

Now in late July in Sarasota, Grandpa spends time with Kaley in the pool. She can swim half the length of the pool now with no assistance!

Kaley adores Aunt Lorra, the bride to be!

My two princesses on the day of the wedding

Awesome baby cousins both slept through the wedding ceremony

The bride with the flower girls

Our growing family (minus two sleeping babies)

4 generations of Summers/Gilman

Just the 4 of us!

Kaley, Amaris, and Jax meet their Great Grandparents!

Cousins all playing together

Derek and Grandma with the cousins

Not only did my kids meet their great grandparents, they also met 4 sets of Aunt/Uncles from the Gilman side and 4 sets of Aunts/Uncles on the Summers side

A quickly passing summer (timeline version)

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:16:00 -0400

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've updated my blog. I don't have a good way to post pictures right now but here is what we've been up to.

Jun 16th - Cori, Kaley, Amaris, and Mimi fly from CA to Georgia. Everything goes smoothly on the trip!

Jun 17th through Jun 27th - Cori and the girls live with Mimi and G (Cori's parents) while Derek wraps up in CA and roadtrips with his brother Josh across country. The Trans AM is supposed to get shipped to GA and never gets picked up. Still in CA today but Luke (Cori's bro) is going to rescue it in mid August

June 23rd - Amaris turns 1 month old and starts smiling

Jun 27th -The Yellow Escape breaks down in Mississippi with Derek, Josh, and 2 dogs. They are more the 400 miles from home and Josh's flight is the next morning. My dad drives to rescue them and brings Derek home Sunday morning

June 29th - Derek travels to Warner Robins for his first week at the new job

July 3rd - Derek travels back to Rome for the weekend. Celebrate 4th of July with family by going to a baseball game

July 5th - Derek, Cori, and two girls travel to Warner Robins to start our life in our new home. Start out in temporary living on base

July 7th - Close on the house and get the keys! Move in with no furniture.

July 8th- Cori has a stomach bug. Ugh!

July 9th - Batchelor family comes to bring some furniture and visit new house

July 13th - Gilman parents come to visit new house and help us unpack

July 14th - Household goods arrive

July 16th - Get internet access

July 22nd - Leave for vacation in Florida for Josh's wedding

July 24th - Today! On vacation and enjoying family! Amaris is 2 months old now. Meets cousin Jax (same age) for the first time

First Week in Georgia

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:25:00 -0400

Well, we made it across country and through our first week here. God has blessed us in many ways during this adventure.

First, I woke up Monday morning with mastitis and a fever of 102 degrees 24 hours before time to move. Fortunately, our doc got me antibiotics quickly and I healed enough to feel good by the day we flew. The girls were both awesome on the flights. Amaris ate and slept the whole time so I got to sleep on both flights (the most day time sleep I'd had in weeks!) Kaley even fell asleep on the long flight for 2 hours, allowing Mimi the chance to read her book.

It's hot here! Most days have been 95 degrees or so. I stay inside most of the time but it is a lot to get used to. Mimi is always finding great outdoor water activities for Kaley and friends.

Amaris is already 4 weeks old! Wow! She is becoming more aware of her world and almost smiling as she interacts with our faces or herself in the mirror. I think Derek will be shocked at the change when he gets here next week. She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz on Saturday so she is growing at a nice steady rate, which puts this Mama at ease a bit.

Kaley loves holding her sister. She has a bit of a cold right now and can't understand why I won't let her kiss the baby

We enjoy our cuddle time!

Amaris got her first tub bath here. Hopefully she'll enjoy the next one more.

Kaley got invited to slip n slide with friends from church

It was so much fun that we bought one of our own!

Celebrating Father's Day morning, G holds his two granddaughters

Kaley likes being outside with Mimi and watering the plants

Amaris admires herself in her beautiful dress

Pretty in a picture

This ones a little blurry but still so cute!

Our Father's Day picture for Derek

Kaley adores Uncle Luke. Here they hang out in the car while we eat Brusters ice cream

Uncle Luke and Amaris meet for the first time

My Support Team

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:21:00 -0400

This is an important entry that I've been thinking about for 2 weeks now. I have had the best possible support team (family) throughout the whole end of the pregnancy, the birth, and the early weeks with a newborn.

First there's Derek. He was absolutely amazing as a childbirth coach and teammate on Amaris' birthday. He literally held me and supported my weight on nearly every contraction and supported me though many squats too. He was complimented by the nurses for his caring nature, his way with me, patience, and emotional strength. He was truly a God-given rock to lean on. We're volleyball teammates as many of you know where we each experience the fundamentals of passing, setting, serving, and hitting. This was such a neat chance to be teammates in a situation where our roles were completely different! The experience has bonded us to each other and to Amaris! He has continued to amaze with his patience and kindness in handling my emotions during the roller coaster early weeks with a newborn. I can easily say I've never loved him more!

Then next is my mom (aka Mimi). She came out on May 12th and stayed for almost a month with us. She quickly added a week to her stay when she saw that we still needed help and she is coming back in a week to help me fly with both girls as we move to Georgia. She's even still excited that we will be living with them for a few weeks! She helped keep me occupied with fun activiities while i was still pregnant and encouraged me to rest. Since Amaris has come, she has loved and cared for Kaley so that we could focus on the baby without neglecting our big girl. She has cooked, cleaned, stayed up late, chaueffered and shown love in trying situations. I miss her already! I don't think I've ever appreciated her this much. Our relationship has grown in a special way!

My dad (aka G) arrived just in time. We all need a break and he booked his ticket before we knew for sure that labor would actually start. He arrived just 12 hours after Amaris' birth. He also showed a lot of energy to Kaley and said it is some of the best time he has had with her. We didn't get our coffee date but had multiple good talks over the 3am feeding when he woke up to give Derek some extra rest. We sure wished he could stay longer and are so thankful he was willing to lend Mimi to us for so long.

Last but not least is Kaley. The child is resilient, loving, energetic, helpful, extremely proud to be a sister, and tenderhearted. She has done so well in these first 2 weeks and loves to show off her sister and to help us. We are still working on finding as many ways to incorporate her as possible.