The Gym... at least someone goes

There are quite a few days when Daddy or Mommy Girata ponder the question of the ages: Should I go to the gym tomorrow? Well, I would love to say that that question is most often answered with an enthusiastic YES, but alas, such is not the case. Instead, Baby Girata has taken the lead in the gym department. At the risk of spoiling his fans, here is another video of the little boy hanging out. He loves his play gym, as you've seen before, and its a great way to hear some of his little cooing. That's the best. It never gets old to hear little squeaks and squawks. If we get a better example of them, we'll put it up. Until then...

Pool Boy (in motion)

Da-da-Dah! "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Pool Boy!!"

Hey Pool Boy

What kind of Florida natives would we be if we never took our baby to a pool during his very first summer ever?! Bad ones, right! Well, here ya go. Brayden is off to his very first day at the pool.

Too much 'o the screen

A thoughtful gift-giver gave us some organic baby sunscreen. Now I'm all about the organic products... good for the earth and all, but check this stuff out. I began applying it like a normal sunscreen, only to find that the "organic" part of this mixture must have been shortening. This poor kid looked like I had covered him in Crisco. Yum.

Too cool for the pool

And here he is, Mr. Thang, at his very first pool adventure. Of course he demanded the shades, as any hottie-baby would. I think my grandmother has that hat...

Lovin' Mommy

Nicole finally got her wish -- to have Brayden in the pool. It was such fun to watch them. Here's a still picture of it, but stay tuned for the video (a must see!). Happy Saturday from the V-A.

The New Kid

As you know, I began seminary last week. Apparently I was too good lookin' to keep off the seminary website. Scroll through to the 4th (or so) picture. Bravo.

Get Ur Move On

People, people -- here are the moving pics! As you already know, there was quite the little adventurama upon arrival to NOVA (northern Virginia, I have been informed) but what you haven't heard is anything about the departure. I can tell you that it was not a wreck of a move, but it was tighty-tight-tight in the truck -- we nearly had to leave the boy behind (j/k!).

Feast your eyes on these:

The monster

When we went to pick it up a few days earlier, what did this novice think? "Woh, that's way too much truck for this move." Uh, no way. In fact, we could have used a little more truck. Let's just say that once it was packed, I wasn't concerned with the cargo "shifting" in transit. One needs room to shift...

The beast

What can I say -- I'm a beast. You got it, a beast with a kicking dolly. I have to give that dolly snaps. Snaps for the dolly.

Fab Friends in the hot monster

So who's got great friends?? We do, we do! Look at these dedicated loves. They're cartin' things up and down in a 'Bama heatwave - and in the green (yellow) house of a truck. They're fabulous... even snap-worthy. Snaps for our friends.

All the pretty boxes

Now it's time for a shout-out to my mom. Do you see all those boxes? Well, she packed as much or more than anyone else (including the owners of all this stuff). Thanks, Gigi, for all your hard work. Not a dish was cracked, nor a vase broken. You know what that means... Snaps for Gigi.

Lazy bum.

Say I, "A little help here, man?!"
Say he, "Wake me when we get there."
Thanks, B.

Who loves ya?!

It's me, it's me

Hi all... I can't tell you how quickly the time disappears when you're trying to put together an apartment and get yourself "registered" in this state (just go to the DMV website to see the craziness it takes in VA). Anyway, here's another picture of the big boy (almost 13 weeks old!!) in lieu of moving stories and pictures. I promise, they're coming. Much V' love.

Virginia. Welcome.

Howdy, VA!

We're here!! It's been so long since we've been able to reach out and touch you on the blog -- and I have to admit I've had quite a bit of withdrawal. No longer! Our internet is hooked up and we're back atcha. Brayden sends his love to you from his new play gym (thanks Stewarts!). He loves it. He's beginning to get very active and is trying to talk back to us. We have plenty other pictures and we'll post them up this weekend.

The move was great, but we did have a little drama. We had a massive moving truck and towed the little red monster behind it. Everything was flawless-- big truck, no problems the entire way from B'ham to Alexandria. I made the final turn off the interstate... and then... I was told to pull into a church lot next to our apartment complex. When I tried to do so, I took the entrance with the more-than-slight grade... and I bottomed out. Oh yes friends, the tow hitch on the back of the truck was driven straight into the street. Horrified, I jumped out of the truck only to realize that I was blocking 3 of the 4 lanes of traffic. Oops. Needless to say, I was not able to bounce myself out of it. Four police officers, a full regimen of firefighters (6) and a tow truck spent more than 2 hours trying to dislodge the truck. In the meantime, the seminarians that were out to help us move in were just hanging out with me on the side of the street. Some of their spouses had lunch with Nicole and Brayden (my ploy to introduce her to the spousal community). What can I say? I can make an entrance.

There are plenty more stories where that came from... stay tuned!

Farewell, Sweet Home...

Hey Daddy!
Originally uploaded by cgirata.

It's sooo close! We're packing like mad and are almost ready for the moving team (aka. friends) to come on Sunday. We've had a bunch of good-bye lunches and dinners and receptions, etc. We're sad to leave, but very excited to begin our seminary life in Virginia. In fact, we'll get to see a bunch of family on Wednesday night! It will be so great to live close to family again.

As we prepare to go, we send all our love and thanks to all our friends in Alabama! Brayden wanted to give you one more smile to remember him. We'll be out of touch, so to speak, for a few days. But never fear... the blog will return, better than ever!