The video is too large for the blog. I posted it on our mobile Me account. Below is the link. Not sure if it works or not.
http://gallery.me.com/katie929/100081
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Ode to Emily, Ashley, Alla and Daniqua: Allison's imaginary sisters
Well, at LONG last the Bookers are finally going to be a family of four! That's right, I'm pregnant! I'm in my 12th week and hopefully slowly becoming a lighter shade of green.
It's with mixed emotions, I'm not fond of change but boy oh boy (or girl) I have wanted this to happen for a LONG time. It almost became my "identity", I mean who am I if I'm not checking temperatures, taking drugs, shots, etc. And now it's finally here. It's super important for me to mention that Brent and I (obivously) "did" (probably not the most appropriate word choice) on our own. No drugs, no injections, no ultrasounds in bad places, no bloodwork, no speculums, you get the picture.
We walked that walk for a LONG time. Our journey was hitting the two year mark this September. Wow, that's a long time to be going through this emotional up and down roller coaster. I know a lot of folks are "curious" about our story since we purposely didn't talk about it. And why would we? It sucked. In the midst of "treatments" you are a slave to the whole process. And what a backwards investment. There are no guarantees. It was just a bunch of high's and low's And trust me, we had them. At one point, I was doing four shots / day. Not fun. You reach a whole new level in your marriage when you ask your husband to shoot you in the touschiss with a drug that may or may not work. I do remember sitting in the doctor's office, most of the time it was packed with stressed out ladies before 7 am and thinking, Wow, look at all of us, we all want to be Mommies. It always touched me in someway the lengths that we were all going to just to have a little baby/person/human look at us, smile and say, "Momma". But I can look bad at all of our ups and downs (I don't feel like typing the nitty gritty, just know we were up A LOT and down A LOT) and now know that our journey was perfect and has all been leading up to this day, this pregnancy and at long last this baby. I have already scoped out onesies that WILL say, "I was worth the wait!"
Allison is aware of the new development and when I can get a moment I will load the video of us telling her that "Mommy has a baby in her belly". It is the most precious thing but I'm obivously biased. WOO HOO!
It's with mixed emotions, I'm not fond of change but boy oh boy (or girl) I have wanted this to happen for a LONG time. It almost became my "identity", I mean who am I if I'm not checking temperatures, taking drugs, shots, etc. And now it's finally here. It's super important for me to mention that Brent and I (obivously) "did" (probably not the most appropriate word choice) on our own. No drugs, no injections, no ultrasounds in bad places, no bloodwork, no speculums, you get the picture.
We walked that walk for a LONG time. Our journey was hitting the two year mark this September. Wow, that's a long time to be going through this emotional up and down roller coaster. I know a lot of folks are "curious" about our story since we purposely didn't talk about it. And why would we? It sucked. In the midst of "treatments" you are a slave to the whole process. And what a backwards investment. There are no guarantees. It was just a bunch of high's and low's And trust me, we had them. At one point, I was doing four shots / day. Not fun. You reach a whole new level in your marriage when you ask your husband to shoot you in the touschiss with a drug that may or may not work. I do remember sitting in the doctor's office, most of the time it was packed with stressed out ladies before 7 am and thinking, Wow, look at all of us, we all want to be Mommies. It always touched me in someway the lengths that we were all going to just to have a little baby/person/human look at us, smile and say, "Momma". But I can look bad at all of our ups and downs (I don't feel like typing the nitty gritty, just know we were up A LOT and down A LOT) and now know that our journey was perfect and has all been leading up to this day, this pregnancy and at long last this baby. I have already scoped out onesies that WILL say, "I was worth the wait!"
Allison is aware of the new development and when I can get a moment I will load the video of us telling her that "Mommy has a baby in her belly". It is the most precious thing but I'm obivously biased. WOO HOO!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
San Diego 2010, by Katie Booker
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Bookers take Bethany Beach....and the Lander's and the Ferlazzo's
We are here! And I have been shamelessly celebrating my birthday ever since! I turned 35 (gulp) on July 9th and the only way to embrace my new cohort is to celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!
I did have a pretty awesome birthday. Complete with wine, flowers and cards and of course chocolate chip cookies. Yum. Those were from my student, Lindsay. She is also known as the student who essentially has made my summer a breeze. AAHHH..........love it when the student gets it! Friday night we didn't go out and celebrate my birthday specifically, because we were off to the beach! WOO HOO! I really wish we could win the lottery and buy a house at the beach. It's so awesome.
Saturday morning we were up and out and so was the rain. It rained buckets on the way up here. We did stop at a roadside stand and got corn, plums, peaches, yellow squash, green squash, watermelon and cantaloupe for $24?!? Really! So good, as of now we have eaten most of it except for the watermelon and cantaloupe.
Day one we headed to the pool. My husband who is also known as the fun strategist decided that we should skip the beach on Sunday. Thought being that most folks weren't able to go to the beach Saturday because of the rain and they were headed out on Sunday. So we went to the pool. Makes sense to me! Allison displayed her mad swimming skills and had a blast. That first morning we also took her for a walk on the boardwalk and a bike ride. By naptime we realized that she had completed a kid triatholon--run or walk, bike ride and then swim. Needless to say nap was not a difficulty. Which per usual we embraced. Dinner that night was my first birthday celebration--we had dinner at Blue Coast. Which was a first for me--I had Chilean Sea Bass, which I must say was very yummy! I think I always skipped it because I was intimated by the name. A fish really shouldn't have three names. Scary. But I was brave and it was good. It was bronzed and served over a cucumber and corn salad. So good. Day two we were off to the beach. Allison has NO FEAR and would spend her day standing in front of the ocean and jump waves. These were breaking really close to shore and it was making Momma nervous. So I headed back to our "camp" and sat under the umbrella. We were then joined by my Aunt, Uncle, Mom and of course Nick. There is nothing funnier on Earth then watching Nick battle the waves. It was hilarious! He tried to get up and then fell down, repeat about 5 times and it was a recipe for a hilarious morning. Then we headed back to the house for pannini's. Yum. Forgot to mention that Sunday AM we hit the farmers market and got some bread. Then I found a panini press in the kitchen and we were in business. So good. Allison then put herself to bed for nap (new development and we love it!) and we all hit the pillows. Then dinner at home. I headlined the cooking and it was good! We had steak, grilled squash, corn, salad and sauteed mushrooms. Brent was a little green, really green lacking and opted to share macaroni and cheese with Allison. For dessert, we made smores. Which was a first for my Aunt, she had never had them, WHAT?!? Then we got into lots of trouble with Momma when we started a foil ball fight in the dining room. We ended up spilling wine on the back of my Aunt's shirt. Oops. Then, we enjoyed my White Sangria (it was good! toot! toot!) and watched the homerun derby.
Today it started off raining. Kind of a bummer, but it wasn't storming so Brent and I decided to let Allison play outside in the rain. Remember all those times that you were told NOT to jump in the rain puddles?? Well, we put that aside and played, played, played. We ran laps, hit all the puddles, kicked and splashed and most importantly laughed! Brent and Allison then showered outside. Defintely a first for Allison! We then headed to the center of town to hit the playground and then met the fam for lunch at Mickey's Crab House. Allison was a little upset because she thought we were eating Sebastian. She wasn't the least bit interested in eating the crab, but did enjoy using the hammer. After lunch, it was nap time. Really loving the vacay schedule. Never gets old. Tonight we are eating at home with pork BBQ that Brent and I made, cornbread and greenbeans. I think I'll whip up a batch of watermelon margaritas. More to come............Brent is now asking me to keep my PT skills sharp and massage his shoulders. Uh-huh, be happy to, but where's my tip?! :)
I'll add pics when I get home.
I did have a pretty awesome birthday. Complete with wine, flowers and cards and of course chocolate chip cookies. Yum. Those were from my student, Lindsay. She is also known as the student who essentially has made my summer a breeze. AAHHH..........love it when the student gets it! Friday night we didn't go out and celebrate my birthday specifically, because we were off to the beach! WOO HOO! I really wish we could win the lottery and buy a house at the beach. It's so awesome.
Saturday morning we were up and out and so was the rain. It rained buckets on the way up here. We did stop at a roadside stand and got corn, plums, peaches, yellow squash, green squash, watermelon and cantaloupe for $24?!? Really! So good, as of now we have eaten most of it except for the watermelon and cantaloupe.
Day one we headed to the pool. My husband who is also known as the fun strategist decided that we should skip the beach on Sunday. Thought being that most folks weren't able to go to the beach Saturday because of the rain and they were headed out on Sunday. So we went to the pool. Makes sense to me! Allison displayed her mad swimming skills and had a blast. That first morning we also took her for a walk on the boardwalk and a bike ride. By naptime we realized that she had completed a kid triatholon--run or walk, bike ride and then swim. Needless to say nap was not a difficulty. Which per usual we embraced. Dinner that night was my first birthday celebration--we had dinner at Blue Coast. Which was a first for me--I had Chilean Sea Bass, which I must say was very yummy! I think I always skipped it because I was intimated by the name. A fish really shouldn't have three names. Scary. But I was brave and it was good. It was bronzed and served over a cucumber and corn salad. So good. Day two we were off to the beach. Allison has NO FEAR and would spend her day standing in front of the ocean and jump waves. These were breaking really close to shore and it was making Momma nervous. So I headed back to our "camp" and sat under the umbrella. We were then joined by my Aunt, Uncle, Mom and of course Nick. There is nothing funnier on Earth then watching Nick battle the waves. It was hilarious! He tried to get up and then fell down, repeat about 5 times and it was a recipe for a hilarious morning. Then we headed back to the house for pannini's. Yum. Forgot to mention that Sunday AM we hit the farmers market and got some bread. Then I found a panini press in the kitchen and we were in business. So good. Allison then put herself to bed for nap (new development and we love it!) and we all hit the pillows. Then dinner at home. I headlined the cooking and it was good! We had steak, grilled squash, corn, salad and sauteed mushrooms. Brent was a little green, really green lacking and opted to share macaroni and cheese with Allison. For dessert, we made smores. Which was a first for my Aunt, she had never had them, WHAT?!? Then we got into lots of trouble with Momma when we started a foil ball fight in the dining room. We ended up spilling wine on the back of my Aunt's shirt. Oops. Then, we enjoyed my White Sangria (it was good! toot! toot!) and watched the homerun derby.
Today it started off raining. Kind of a bummer, but it wasn't storming so Brent and I decided to let Allison play outside in the rain. Remember all those times that you were told NOT to jump in the rain puddles?? Well, we put that aside and played, played, played. We ran laps, hit all the puddles, kicked and splashed and most importantly laughed! Brent and Allison then showered outside. Defintely a first for Allison! We then headed to the center of town to hit the playground and then met the fam for lunch at Mickey's Crab House. Allison was a little upset because she thought we were eating Sebastian. She wasn't the least bit interested in eating the crab, but did enjoy using the hammer. After lunch, it was nap time. Really loving the vacay schedule. Never gets old. Tonight we are eating at home with pork BBQ that Brent and I made, cornbread and greenbeans. I think I'll whip up a batch of watermelon margaritas. More to come............Brent is now asking me to keep my PT skills sharp and massage his shoulders. Uh-huh, be happy to, but where's my tip?! :)
I'll add pics when I get home.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Red White and Blue 2010
We woke up early or at least I did on Saturday July 3rd and got ready to go to the City of Fairfax 4th Parade. I was looking for a parade and this one was highly recommended by my patients! I woke up around 6:30, researched the parade route and then made a list of supplies for Brent to pack while I was out. Allison slept in until 7:30. We are beginning to think 3 1/2 years later we may have broken her of the 5:30 wake ups! Or at least we hope so. Brent decided to drive us by Mason via Braddock road and parking was a shot in the dark. There were several street closings and we lucked into parking into a faculty lot by Mason. We put on our sunscreen and then dashed down the street. When we first arrived at the route, we thought we were at the end of the parade route, bummer. But then we realized (once we looked at the map a little closer) that we were actually at the start of the parade. Yeah!!
While we were waiting for it to start we walked around and checked out the freebies--Allison was hoping for a lollipop! We found some at the 97.1 Wash FM booth and low and behold they took her picture for their website. Gosh she's cute! As of this morning, it's not on there or at least I can't find it. I'll keep looking! I'm sure they will post it front and center!!
Then the parade started. Oh it was fun. It reminded me of sitting on my grandparents porch and walking their parade go by as a kid. So fun! Allison loved the parade and it kept her attention--it was a good two hours long!!
Check out these balloons! Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade look out!
And the grand marshall was Sam Champion from Good Morning America. I always thought he looked a little "Ken-like" on TV and it's the same in real life. I don't think he was wearing makeup, but he has the whitest teeth and flawless skin, especially for a dude!
Fire trucks, shriners, bag pipes and lots of American flags, it was a perfect parade!
After the parade, we dashed off to lunch and then rest time. (We take rest time very seriously!) We wanted Moe's but settled on Ledo's pizza. Mine was el yucky. I was hoping for a pizza margherita but it was not fresh mozarella, AT ALL! I did like the thin crust, but overall yuck. Allison got a cheese pizza and Brent got a meat lover's stromboli. They were both happy with their choices, and I was envious!
Once home we made cupcakes, Allison took a pause, no nap! Then we were off to Stevie and Janis' house for a pool party. I was super hungry when we arrived due to the lunch failure and wasted no time eating a burger, barley salad (yum!), chickpea salad (yum, yum!) and of course beans. The baked beans were made with root beer that made them especially nice to the tastebuds! Allison headed straight to the pool with her Daddy. One of the other girls that was there, Eleanor took to Allison and looked after her all afternoon. It was too sweet! Eleanor is eleven and I can only hope that one day Allison will show such kindness and patience to another little girl. After lots of swimming it was time for fireworks! And dessert! I referred to the dessert as a caroseul of goodness. I opted for a dinner plate and loaded it up with a piece of my mom's rum cake, sour cherry pound cake and then homemade cheesecake. My tastebuds were out of this world. Oh it was good. I thought I should take a picture of it, but I ate it so fast there was just no time!
We headed home around 9, just in time to catch the fireworks at Potomac Nationals stadium. We pulled over and parked the car and watched the show. It was a wonderful day and holiday and we are hoping to catch more fireworks today.
While we were waiting for it to start we walked around and checked out the freebies--Allison was hoping for a lollipop! We found some at the 97.1 Wash FM booth and low and behold they took her picture for their website. Gosh she's cute! As of this morning, it's not on there or at least I can't find it. I'll keep looking! I'm sure they will post it front and center!!
Then the parade started. Oh it was fun. It reminded me of sitting on my grandparents porch and walking their parade go by as a kid. So fun! Allison loved the parade and it kept her attention--it was a good two hours long!!
Check out these balloons! Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade look out!
And the grand marshall was Sam Champion from Good Morning America. I always thought he looked a little "Ken-like" on TV and it's the same in real life. I don't think he was wearing makeup, but he has the whitest teeth and flawless skin, especially for a dude!
Fire trucks, shriners, bag pipes and lots of American flags, it was a perfect parade!
After the parade, we dashed off to lunch and then rest time. (We take rest time very seriously!) We wanted Moe's but settled on Ledo's pizza. Mine was el yucky. I was hoping for a pizza margherita but it was not fresh mozarella, AT ALL! I did like the thin crust, but overall yuck. Allison got a cheese pizza and Brent got a meat lover's stromboli. They were both happy with their choices, and I was envious!
Once home we made cupcakes, Allison took a pause, no nap! Then we were off to Stevie and Janis' house for a pool party. I was super hungry when we arrived due to the lunch failure and wasted no time eating a burger, barley salad (yum!), chickpea salad (yum, yum!) and of course beans. The baked beans were made with root beer that made them especially nice to the tastebuds! Allison headed straight to the pool with her Daddy. One of the other girls that was there, Eleanor took to Allison and looked after her all afternoon. It was too sweet! Eleanor is eleven and I can only hope that one day Allison will show such kindness and patience to another little girl. After lots of swimming it was time for fireworks! And dessert! I referred to the dessert as a caroseul of goodness. I opted for a dinner plate and loaded it up with a piece of my mom's rum cake, sour cherry pound cake and then homemade cheesecake. My tastebuds were out of this world. Oh it was good. I thought I should take a picture of it, but I ate it so fast there was just no time!
We headed home around 9, just in time to catch the fireworks at Potomac Nationals stadium. We pulled over and parked the car and watched the show. It was a wonderful day and holiday and we are hoping to catch more fireworks today.
Trip to Pennsylvania -- Hello Nathaniel!
Last Saturday we headed out to PA to get furniture from Aunt E's house and also to meet Nathaniel James Cooke. We were very lucky to have a trailer loaned to us from Brent's co-worker, Greg. Allison and I called it the "big red trailer". It was quite large and had a Harley Davidson sticker on the back. Yup, that's how we roll.
We arrived in no time -- 3 hours = trailer + preschooler + geriatric dog. Not too shabby. Needless to say I was a little anxious and spent most of the time staring in my rear view mirror to make sure the big red trailer stayed attached! Thank goodness my wonderful husband has experience with pulling trailers and not having a rear view mirror.......
Once we got to PA, we had some lunch and then headed to Aunt E's to get our furniture and load the big red trailer. Then Brent was off to watch the US/Ghana game (that didn't go our way!) and Allison and I were off to Maple Springs Pool for an afternoon of sun and fun and to spend time with Nathaniel.
Who when we arrived, was sound asleep. Allison NEVER did that as a little one. She did manage to scream A LOT! Once he woke up, we got to hang out in the pool with him. He's pretty laid back (Allison wasn't!) and goes with the flow (Allison dictated the flow!)
After the pool, we headed back to Aunt Sue's for dinner. This was the time of day that Brent and I were a little unsure how Allison would act to Nathaniel. She surprised us or at least me and was VERY HELPFUL and tuned in to his needs. ((whether Samantha, Nathaniel's mom wanted her help or not!)) The best story was when we were outside on the porch and Nathaniel was swinging in his swing. Allison woke him up. Samantha went over to him to comfort him and then Allison looked at Samantha and said, "Look what you did. YOU woke him up!". It was to funny!
The next morning we were headed back home with our goods and of course the big red trailer. We were able to unload everything, say good bye to the big red trailer, and all the goods remain in our garage. We are hoping to tackle that this weekend before we head off to the beach next week.
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