Spring Fever

This spring was super-busy (so busy I didn't find time to blog about it until now!).  Here are the highlights:

MARCH

Baby shower

Grandma and Grandpa Porcaro visit

Baby Audrey born

David defends dissertation (passes without revisions!)

Soccer begins with David coaching again

APRIL

David goes to New Orleans for 5-day conference

Claire's trip to Urgent Care for a twisted ankle; spontaneous recovery at McDonald's play area

Minnesota house-hunting trip

Atlanta Temple open house

Easter
David's last day teaching at UGA

MAY

Grandma Haberman and Emery visit

David goes to Montreal for 5-day conference

Dawnell's last day as Primary President

Ethan's preschool graduation

David's UGA graduation

Last Sunday in Athens 1st ward

Ethan's birthday and last visit with Dr. N

Dawnell's last day of work

Marigold Festival Parade

Pack the moving truck, ready for a road trip!

MARCH

Audrey's first bath at home with Grandma P.  We sure loved having grandparents help and company as we added a 5th member to our family!  They babysat, cooked, cleaned, washed dishes, took pictures and were happy and cheerful when we were sleep-deprived and out of sorts. 

 Just after David passed his dissertation... without revisions!  Audrey attended the defense at 1 week old.

 Adoring grandmother

 One of MANY beautiful pics of Audrey taken by Grandma at 2 weeks

Grandpa & Claire on David's scooter

 Three generations of Porcaro boys (imagine the teasing and puns that went on that week)

David coached Ethan's soccer team again this season since there weren't enough volunteers.   

It was a rough season for the "Fighting Frogs."   They were a young group.  I don't think their team scored any goals.  David missed several games and practices due to being out of town for conferences, etc.  Ethan mostly hung out in the goal (there are no goalies in the Under-6 teams).  But Ethan did become friends with this sweet little girl who was also in his CTR-4 class at church.

 APRIL

Soon after David's parents went home to Utah, David headed to New Orleans with his good friend Bruce for an education conference. There was a music festival going on so they enjoyed free street concerts all week.

Jazz at Preservation Hall

Off of Bourbon Street (B-street was packed with drunken revelry)

  David said this was the best (and most expensive) sandwich he's ever had.  Shrimp and oysters, I think.  (Meanwhile, I spent the day at the Urgent Care center with three kids.  Claire twisted her ankle and refused to put any weight on it...at least, not until we went to the McDonald's play area next to the clinic.  I think Claire actually enjoys going to the doctor.  The nurse had cute pink scrubs and carried Claire to/from the x-ray room.)

Above ground cemeteries due to high water table

 

Beautiful house in lower 9th ward

 The lower 9th ward is a poor area that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  The map on this building shows where people from the neighborhood relocated to following the storm.

Some Mardi Gras Indians at the kite festival.  The men spend all year making these costumes.

 David and Bruce found out about a kite festival that was planned by a resident of the lower 9th to get kids and parents outside in the community.

 Established in 1840, Antoine's is the country's oldest family-run restaurant.

David and Bruce enjoyed a 3-course fancy-shmancy lunch before heading home to Athens.

 

The stately dining rooms are lined with pictures of celebrities, former presidents, etc.who have dined here.

 Two days after David returned from N'orluns, we went on a house-hunting trip in Minneapolis.  Ethan and Claire stayed with friends during the 3 days we were gone, while 3-week-old Audrey enjoyed her first airplane ride.  TIP: If flying with an infant, bring a pillow!  She slept nearly the entire time.

 Land-o-Lakes

 Our real estate agent showed us about 30 houses in 2 1/2 days.  

This one was our favorite from the beginning. :)

  It snowed once during our April trip to MN.  We came home to lovely spring weather in Georgia.  Here we are at the Atlanta Temple open house.  The temple underwent major renovation over the past 18 months.  It was fun to show the kids what a temple looks like inside.  Ethan absolutely refused to wear the plastic booties over his shoes, so he may have been the first person to tread on the new carpets. 

 

Easter Egg Deco

 Easter Egg Hunt!

  David finished teaching classes in April...hooray!  Here is one of his Computers in Education classes:

MAY

David had another week-long conference, this time in Montreal, Canada.  We've been so busy this spring that he still hasn't told me about his trip!  Here are a couple pics I found but have no explanation for:

Yeah, I don't know what this is about.

Fortunately for me, my mom and Emery came to visit while David was away.   "Auntie Emery" got to experience being a big sister!  Claire and Ethan sure loved having her around.

 The girls!

 Grandma H with Audrey

 

 Early Mother's Day lunch at Last Resort Grill.  This was the first restaurant I went to when we moved to Athens 4 years ago (salmon and grits... yum!). The fried green tomatoes and chocolate cake were excellent.

Happy Mother's Day!  What a lucky mommy I am.

 Preparing Mother's Day dinner

 

 The following week was a big one with David's graduation from UGA and Ethan's graduation from preschool (see previous blog post).  I was released from my calling as Primary President that week, too.  I really enjoyed working with the kids, and made some great friends with the women I worked with!

Last day of work.  After a 4-week maternity leave, I returned to work 2 days/week for the last 5 weeks of school.  I've been blessed to have such a great part-time job at a nice school with great kids.  I'll miss my peaceful 2-hour commute and all those books on tape, too.

 Ethan turns 5.  Ethan had his 5-year checkup on his birthday.  He surprised Dr. N by reading and asking questions about items on his medical chart.  We were sad to say goodbye to our favorite pediatrician.  Dr. N was one of the first people to meet Baby Claire and Baby Audrey. 

 Dr. N administers the "magic rub" after Ethan bumps his arm.  

 We went straight from the doctor's office to Pittard Park to celebrate Ethan's 5th birthday!  We got a pretty good turnout on two day's notice.  I'm not a great party planner, but I think Ethan was happy with cupcakes at the park with friends from church and preschool.

Okay, if you've made it to the end of this blog post, then you are probably staying up too late, too!  Time for bed. 

Graduation!

Ethan and David, Class of 2011 graduates!

Yesterday, Ethan completed a wonderful year at the Winterville First Baptist Preschool.  (I could go on and on about what a blessing this experience has been for Ethan and our entire family!)

  

Today, David officially became "Doctor Porcaro" with his PhD in Learning, Design and Technology.  I can't so even express how proud I am of David for his many accomplishments and for the person he has become since he graduated from preschool 25 years ago!

So much to say, but so many boxes to pack...(did I mention we're moving in 9 days?)  I think I'll just post a few fun pictures from the graduation ceremonies this week:

The 4-year-old "Duck Class" preparing for their processional

Claire is excited for preschool

Diploma and trophy in hand

First family photo with five!

UGA Graduate Student Commencement Ceremony

Pre-show nap in the baby carrier

David with co-advisors Drs. Hill and Reeves and fellow student Kenyon

 Audrey at 7 weeks stayed awake for most of the 3-hour ceremony.

Family graduation party :)

Georgia family moving to Minnesota soon! We'll miss this place.

Audrey Jean Porcaro

I'm way behind on blogging, for a few very good reasons.  Here's the best one:

Introducing

Audrey Jean Porcaro

 

 After her first bath

 Holding hands with Daddy

 Claire and Ethan hold Audrey for the first time! 

 Audrey Jean meets Grandma Jean Porcaro

 Audrey meets Grandpa Porcaro

 Even the press was there for Audrey's birth, waiting in the parking lot.  (a high-profile shooting and manhunt had the hospital and neighborhood schools on lockdown that day.)

Here's a video of when the kids and grandparents first arrived.  I'm glad Ethan still loved me with my reduced belly size:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZykKj6JoNDo

One of my favorite moments was when Claire first held Audrey.  Already a protective older sister (see at 38 seconds):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0lU9Jr70JE

For those interested in the childbirth details...this was very different from my previous two labors for which I had no medications or interventions.  This time, my labor was induced a couple days after my initial due date, right on the ulltrasound due date.  I was started on Pitocin around 8am (about 2cm dilated).  By 10:30am I was still feeling great, making phone calls, etc.  Around 12:30pm the doctor showed up and broke my water (I was measuring 3-4cm at this point).  Labor became a lot more painful at this point, and I decided to try out having an epidural.  It was placed at 2:20pm (now measuring 6-7cm).  At 3:20pm I went through the "transition" stage between active labor and birth.  I could tell because my entire body started shaking uncontrollably.  Even my teeth were chattering, which David thought that was pretty funny.  The doctor was called in, and soon it was time to push.  I had an episiotomy this time (not painful at all, and much quicker to heal than my previous tears, by the way!).  David was right by my side through all of this, of course, and assisted with cutting the umbilical cord.  

Audrey was born at 3:47pm, weighing 8lbs 15oz and measuring 21 1/4 inches.  The doctor said she was huge (just under Ethan's 9lbs and just over Claire's 8.5lbs).  She looked tiny and beautiful to me.  She was so quiet that I was concerned about her lungs for a few moments, but they assured me she was just fine.  We felt so grateful for a sweet, healthy baby girl.  What a blessing she is to our family. 

For more beautiful pictures of Audrey, check out my friend's photography blog:  http://chelseajohnsonphotography.blogspot.com/2011/03/introducing-audrey.html

Baby prep

A couple of my good friends from church threw me a baby shower last week.  I thought I didn't need a shower at first, but it was really fun and I'm so glad I got to have one!  Baby Audrey and I received some darling gifts, as well as some much appreciated diapers and coupons for meals and playdates!

Only five people in attendance were pregnant.  Here we are in order of due date:

Yesterday I finally got around to washing baby clothes and sheets.  When I showed Claire some newborn outfits that she had worn, she got excited and wanted to wear them again.  I tried to explain that she was too big, but she insisted, "No, I'm little."  It wasn't easy getting the top three snaps done.

When Claire saw a 2-pack of newborn pacifiers, she said, "One for baby Audrey, and one for me!"  Um, no, Claire, you are not allowed to have a pacifier anymore.  That's why you like to put fingers and other small objects in your mouth when I'm not looking.  Just today, David was telling Ethan that they needed a coin to open the battery compartment of a toy.  Claire immediately said, "I've got a coin!  Here, in my mouth."

Ethan had no difficulties transitioning to life as an older sibling.  We'll see how Claire does. 

Ethan gives me these sweet "Mommy and baby hugs"

Just a couple days left to go!

House for sale

Well it's almost official.  We've got a For Sale sign in the front yard, and we should be on the MLS by Tuesday.  Here are some pictures of our house:

Exterior (June 2008)

Bushes are now larger, and David recently planted several small trees around the yard.

Living room

Living/entry/hall

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Master bath

2nd bedroom

Hallway bath

3rd Bedroom / Office

We've been fortunate to have such a cute house to live in over the past 4 years!  We'll miss Winterville and our great neighbors.  If you know anyone who is house-shopping in the Athens area, please send them our way!

Minneapolis, here we come!

I can't stand to blog out of chronological order, so this news may be old to some of you.  But...

David accepted a job offer in Minneapolis, Minnesota!  He'll be working as an instructional designer for Seward, Inc, the educational consulting company he went to Jordan with in January.  David will continue to support the project in Jordan and will also be involved with grant-writing, instructional design and evaluation, and supporting educational projects in developing countries.  Seward is a small company, which means that he'll have opportunities to be highly involved in several aspects of work/projects. David is excited about taking a break from academia, and I'm excited for him to have an 8-5 job (free nights and weekends!) although he will be traveling occasionally. 

We are planning to move to MN by late May or early June.  Everyone we talk to has wonderful things to say about Minneapolis--schools, parks, lakes, culture, people.  There's just that minor problem of having snow on the ground for 1/2 the year.  My grandpa says that Minnesota has two seasons, winter and the 4th of July.  I'm glad we'll be moving after the snow has melted.  We've been staying up late every night viewing homes on the MLS and reading up on school districts in the Minneapolis area.  It's hard to believe that after about 10 moves in 10 years of marriage, we'll actually be settling in one place for awhile. 

So here's our plan for March:

Week 2: David turns in his dissertation, we put our house up for sale.
Week 3: David's parents arrive from UT, and healthy baby girl shows up right on time (right??).
Week 4: David defends his dissertation (and passes, of course!).

Thank goodness we'll have grandparents in town to help with baby, kids, and keeping our house presentable!  Maybe they can even potty-train Claire while they're here.  (Just kidding, grandparents who are reading this!)

The belly at 35 weeks. (Just imagine how I look now at 38 weeks!)

Ethan requested Ratatouille for dinner (after watching the movie, of course).  It's got all my favorite veggies: eggplant, zucchini, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes.  We'll be making this again!  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ratatouille/Detail.aspx

Ethan, what do you think of Ratatouille?

"Plant a tree for your tomorrow..."  3 years ago, David accepted 10 seedlings (and a lifetime's worth of return address labels) from the Arbor Day Foundation.  He initially planted them right behind our house where they'd have some protection from the weather.  Last week, our friend who has helped us a ton with landscaping our yard came over and they moved all the trees to permanent locations around the yard.  How do you like that Georgia February sunshine?! 

 

Ethan never waits to be asked for his help... he jumps in on every house and yard project.

Claire had so much fun playing with our friend's son (aka "that boy")