Our Day with Stephanie

Catri had her friend Stephanie, from Alabama, come spend a few days with us during Christmas break. Yesterday we took them to the World of Coca-Cola and to the new Georgia Aquarium. I've been to the World of Coke before. For the $9 you have to pay to get in, it's really not that impressive. My favorite thing is the architecture of the building and the big neon Coke sign out front. Otherwise, as Mark says, "We're paying them to advertise to us," because essentially that's all it is - a big Coca-Cola marketing tool. You come away feeling a little brain-washed.
Catri and Stephanie really enjoyed the end of the tour, though, when you get to taste different Coke products from around the world. There was a "lychee nut" soda from some country that was particularly distasteful. It is interesting to see what other people around the world consider delicious. Makes you think more about Coke too. I mean, have you ever really paid attention to its taste? It's a very strange blend of flavors. It's the sugar that makes it so good, really. That and the carbonation. All that being said, I confess to being a Coca-Cola addict, myself.



















Catri and Steph in front of the WOCC


















Catri and Steph in Centennial Olympic Park


The Georgia Aquarium was GREAT. AMAZING. AWE-INSPIRING. I can't recommend it enough to anyone and everyone. It was worth every bit of the $22.95 for a ticket.
When you walk through the tunnel in the Oceans exhibit, you're treated to Whale Sharks, Hammerheads, and large schools of Manta Rays gliding above you. It was so beautiful. My favorite comment of the day was from a little boy who was staring at all the manta rays "flying" above us: "It looks like they're taking over the world!" He's seen one too many alien movies, I'm thinking.




















The Cold Waters section had a tank with 5 beluga whales in it, plus other sections with sea lions, otters, and penguins. The penguin habitat had a tunnel you could crawl into and pop up in a contained glass "bubble" inside the habitat itself. Catri and Stephanie checked it out. The penguins didn't seem the least bit phased by it.
















I could go on and on about the Aquarium, but I won't. Just know that if you come to visit us, that's where we're taking you. Bring your $22.95 and some comfortable shoes.

Anyway, Catri left us this morning to go spend a day with her mom (along with Stephanie), and then a day back in Alabama with Stephanie, and then she'll be back with us for New Year's Eve (which we will celebrate with the Signorinis.) I love Catri so much. I hate it when she leaves.

Christmas: A Photo Essay

Our Morning at Home
We had Swedish pancakes and then opened gifts.
















The aftermath of the gift-opening




















Catri and her new clock radio/stereo that plays her iPod




















Me by the tree, with my new apron and slippers from Santa















What Catri did to poor, longsuffering Frankie

Midtown Church
I love our church. When I say that, I mean I love the people that make up our church. It was so good to be with them on Christmas day, to talk about the gifts that we have received in Christ and to see all the little ones in their Christmas outfits, running around as usual and bringing joy to us all.




















Bevin and Zellyn brought their new puppy to church, which really fascinated Callie.
Yes, people sometimes bring their dogs with them to our church. We're very laid back.
















The music




















Elder Deane with sons Nathan and Joshua (twin to Callie, above)




















"Uncle" Doyle and Meredith















The Rothnies

My Mama's House
After church we headed up to my mom's house for lunch with her and my stepdad, Wayne. We had a great time just eating, visiting with them, and allowing Catri to destroy us in Uno.




















My mama















Wayne MADE this hope chest for Catri. Can you believe that? He MADE it in his wood shop. That means they thought about and have been working on this gift for probably a few months. It was astoundingly thoughtful. I was really flabbergasted.















Catri and Mark and fun with gift bows.

Cats and Young Life "Kids"

When Mark and I started dating, and then got engaged, and then got married, he increasingly let it be known that he was not crazy about the fact that I have two cats (Frankie and Olly). It was a source of tension between us for a while, but he never asked me to get rid of them. Mark claims that he has never been an "animal person." He claims never to have had a longing for any type of pet and says he's still not really crazy about the cats. He says, "Animals belong outside." Sometimes I will refer to Mark as "Daddy" when talking to the cats: "Olly, go see Daddy." To which Mark always says, "I'm not his father."
Now, see photos below.










































































Now, I'm not saying that Mark is lying. I'm just saying that, whereas Mark may not be an "animal person", apparently the cats are "Mark people." Despite his gruffness, they still love being in his lap. Part of that might be because he gives them really rough rub downs (see last photo). I would never pet them that roughly - and when I try they get annoyed with me - but coming from Mark they LOVE IT.
So, is Mark an "animal person"? You decide.

In other news ...

Mark and I went to a Christmas party Thursday night with some old friends that I only see about once a year, if that. Most of these people I know because once upon a time (over 10 years ago now), I was their "leader". That makes me laugh when I think about it now, because I was such an emotional/psychological disaster at that time (only slightly improved now). But anyway, I was a volunteer leader with a ministry called Young Life, an outreach ministry to high school kids. I was assigned to McEachern High School, where I met all these fine people. They were some of the most interesting, eclectic, zany people I had ever met, and I felt so privileged that they let me into their lives. They're still interesting, eclectic, and zany, but what blows me away is that they're all grown up. I guess I'll always think of them as my "kids", even though most of them are married with kids of their own at this point. Heck, one of them (Daniel - unfortunately he didn't make it to the party) is the pastor of this very cool church in Louisville (Sojourn Community Church), another one (Jason) is a brain surgeon (NOT kidding), one (Rob) is a wine distributor, one (Jennifer) got married and lives in London now, and another one (Amanda) lives this cool alterna-life on a farm in Tennessee with her psychologist husband. Talk about all grown up. It amazes me how they've all turned out. Amazes me how God works in people's lives to grow them up and into Himself. I guess that includes me, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it.














Rob the wine guy, Jason the brain surgeon, and Mark the husband ;o)




















Amanda the farmer and me with our pregnant tummies (Amanda's second child, due in February)




















Jennifer the Londoner

Christmas Tree

Well, here's our tree:



















And here's Oliver hiding under the tree:



















He thinks the water in the basin that the tree sits in is put there for him to drink. He also thinks the ornaments are there for him to bat. Communicating with cats the real purposes for things can be difficult.

Our tree is actually kind of sad. We didn't get it until last Saturday, and there were hardly any left in the Home Depot lot. The one we got has a huge "hole" in its side, but we just turned that side to the wall. It's not too obvious, I guess.
The thing is, Mark and I are not big Christmas people. In general we try to avoid all the hubbub surrounding the holiday and keep things low-key. We're not ANTI-Christmas, we just don't like all the madness and commercialism. So we waited until a week before Christmas to get our tree, and we paid the price for it by getting kind of a crappy tree. Oh well.
We also don't exchange Christmas presents with adults (other than each other), and we just focus on getting presents for Catri. Once baby Gwennan comes along, we're thinking of imposing a 3 present rule for her and Catri. It might be kind of a hard adjustment for Catri, but we don't want Gwennan to grow up thinking Christmas is about GETTING presents. We'll shower her with gifts on her birthday instead.

By the way, we've chosen the name Gwennan for the baby. Gwennan Grace Rothnie. Gwennan is Welsh and means "blessed". We'll probably end up calling her just "Gwen", or possibly Gigi, if her personality fits that moniker.

Various and Sundry

I was so excited last week about the news of our baby girl that I totally forgot to mention anything else. Time to play catch up, I guess.
Mainly I just have some photos to share ...

Monday last week I went to Andrea's house and had brunch with the girls - Andrea, Carrie, Erika, Retha, and of course, Anna and Katie. Anna and Katie provided the entertainment.
Andrea asked Anna what sound a bear makes, and she responded with a "grrrr!!" which really fascinated Katie. I don't think she'd ever heard that sound before. Pretty soon they were both "grrring" around and making us laugh, which of course encouraged the bear imitations even more. Soon Andrea put on a little swing music and the girls started dancing for us. See pic below. It amazes me that I'm going to have one of these in just a few short months.




















Saturday night we went to Midtown's annual Christmas party. Joe Perri provided the music, Eatzi's provided the food. I had invited Mike and Kathy to come, since last year's Christmas party was Where It All Started. (Okay, well maybe not ALL, but I like to take credit where I can.) For those of you who don't know the story, Kathy was living in Colorado this time last year and came home for the holidays. I invited her to come to the party and bring a date. After thinking it over for a while she remembered this guy she'd met when she was working one weekend at Young Life's Sharp Top camp. He was the kitchen manager and they'd flirted pretty much the whole weekend. That was in May (I think.) She called him up, he remembered her, and he came to the party with her. They ended up spending every day of the rest of Kathy's vacation together, a few months later they were engaged, and in October they were married.
Anyway, I didn't think they were coming this year, since they both have crazy work schedules, but when Mark and I pulled up, there they were, walking up to the church! I was so excited. I haven't seen my Katie Bug in a while, and I start to have withdrawal symptoms when that happens. So I ended up spending most of the night talking to the Signorinis. How I love them so.














Kathy & Mike with their 5-dessert selection. The first year of marriage is kind of like the first year of college - there's that "Freshman 10". Or, in my case, a baby.



















Me & my Bug. Hello DM! Makeup much??


Finally just thought I'd share another sunset photo from our back yard. This was yesterday's sunset. I'll miss living in a hilltop house ...

Catri's little sister

As many of you know, I was thinking that I was going to have a boy. Part of that was because I thought I kind of wanted a boy, and part of it was because people kept telling me they thought it was a boy. (Ever notice how believable someone is if they just say something with confidence and authority??) Anyway, the truth is I was happy just to be pregnant, because a little over a year ago I was sure I never would have the opportunity, so boy or girl, I was just happy I was going to be a mama.
Catri, however, has been hoping for a baby girl from the beginning. She wants to be the "cool big sister", and to have a little sister she can help take care of, play with, take shopping, etc. She wants to have a little sister look up to her and admire her and to get excited every time Catri comes over. She would have loved a baby brother too, I'm sure, but I think she felt she would bond more with a baby sister. Catri is such a people person - she can't stand being alone and wants to be in the same room with someone at all times. I think in a way she's been pretty lonely most of her life, because here she is, this complete people person, with no siblings to play with or bond with. She's alone. I think that's why she loves going to Seattle so much - she's got lots of cousins, including many girl cousins near her age. When we go out there, we actually don't see Catri much. She takes off with Rachel, Laura, and Marta and we see her again at the airport when we go home. And she's usually always sad to leave them.
All that being said, I was thinking the other day about how much God loves Catri. Because I just really feel like this baby girl is for HER, more than me. I mean, of course this child is a gift to me - a token of God's love and care for my heart and the desires therein, but it didn't matter to me really whether it was a boy or girl. The fact that it IS a girl I am convinced is God's gift to Catri - proof from God that yes, Catri, he hears the cries and desires of your heart, and they are IMPORTANT to him. YOU are important to him. So here's the baby sister you've always wanted. And yes, she is going to LOVE you. Who doesn't??

Movement

I'm finally starting to feel the baby move. It's usually when I'm lying down or just being really still - a sensation like going over a hill really fast in a car, only more subtle and in different areas of my tummy. It's pretty cool. There's a real little person in there!

The Baby

Mark and I went to the perinatal office this morning and got an ultrasound. The baby looks good - and she's a girl!! Her little heart was beating strong, and we got to see her profile and her spine and her legs and arms. She was doing a lot of acrobatics. (Could she be taking after Catri already?) Anyway, just wanted to share the news! Mark and I are going to have a daughter!

Catri the Teenager

Catri tonight:
"What if I wore my hair like this every day? And what if I streaked it red?"

One of my favorite parts of being married to Mark is the privilege of being in Catri's life. She is such a fun, zany girl, with an amazingly tender heart. I love her to death.

Friday Night 80's Party

Last night we went to a party at Chris & Mary Jane's in town. They have a fancy penthouse apartment at the Biltmore. I don't actually know these people, but I've gone to three of their famous parties. They open them up to anybody and everybody (by word of mouth), and our friends Zellyn and Charles play in the band. The first one I went to was the 2004 St. Patrick's Day party. I was a single girl, and for a large part of the night I sat on the couch next to Mark, who never spoke to me the whole night. This was during the time when Mark didn't like me and thought I was obnoxious (I found out much later). But at least I tried to be nice and talk to him that night. He pretty much sat right next to me the whole night and never said anything. His excuse now is that he was supposedly really sick. Anyway, every time I bring that night up to him, he says, "Yeah, but I married you." I guess that makes it okay. ;o)

Anyway, last night's party theme was (I think) 80's music. Although the band also played some 70's disco music, including a pretty decent version of "Disco Inferno". The best part was that the band all dressed as 80's as possible, including long-hair wigs. Charles' just made him look like Sideshow Bob, however. See pics below.