The Buerglers

33 weeks 30 weeks  25 weeks  23 weeks 22 weeks How far along? 33 weeks How big is baby?   According to The Bump,  He weighs about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. And he may grow up to a full inch this week -- amazing. Total weight gain?  33 lbs (Maggie - 26lbs, Evie - 40lbs) Maternity clothes? Oh yes. I am rotating between 2-3 pairs of shorts and a few sundresses. I bought a pair of bright red ankle pants and 2 dressy tops for "going out".  As much as I love dresses I just can't sit modestly in a short dress these days.  Stretch marks? Not a single new one this pregnancy! Belly button? the top part of the circle sticks out, that's it. Exercise?  I was going to Pure Barre 2-3x a week until about 3 weeks ago. They changed the schedule and it just didn't work for us right now so I put my membership on hold until September. I had been walking during the week too, but it's...

When I retired from youth ministry seventeen months ago, I had no idea what my life would look like. At the suggestion of my spiritual director, I took a full year to just enjoy my retirement and motherhood. It took a full year to really unwind and relax. After nine years of working nights, weekends, and holidays, I was long over due for some R&R. During this time I discovered the aspect of youth ministry that I really missed was teaching. This lead me to working for The Natural Baby where I teach monthly cloth diaper classes and workshops. I love my Saturday morning time working with families on something I am so passionate about. I've also spent a great deal of time growing my photography "business" - taking workshops both in person and online, as well as joining a forum where we share constructive criticism.  I am pleased to say that I am booked through the end of 2015 with Christmas card, maternity, and newborn sessions. In August and September of this year...

This winter was super snowy for most of the country. We were supposed to have a rough winter but as each storm approached hours before the snow was supposed to hit the front would push north or warm just to that 32-33 degree line where the snow would turn to rain as it hit the ground.  One day it did snow a little bit and enough stuck to satisfy a Southern born three year old. We had several days off from school in anticipation of these snow storms being awful. And watching them carefully on the radar they had the potential of shutting down the city for days, but they didn't produce anything more than soggy days...and I am okay with that.  We made the most of the chilly weather this Winter with fun dinners, new games, learning scissor skills, practicing drawing, playdates, organizing the house, learning to crawl, going to the movies, reading by the fire and taking selfies.  As much as we loved our ...

I keep sitting down to blog and have nothing too exciting to report, but things have been absolutely crazy around here.  When it rains, it pours, right? Let's start with a few weeks ago -- Evie.   Eric and I caught her limping. I took off her shoes to see if her feet were swollen. Maybe she had been hurt and we didn't know?  When I took off her socks her feet were enflamed, peeling and blistering.  How did we miss this?  Of course it was Friday night just after her pediatrician closed for the weekend.  Saturday morning it was worse. The blisters were now oozing.  I took her to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.  The doctor told me she had a terrible case of Athlete's Foot that was now a bacterial infection as well.  During the foot exam the doctor did the routine eye/ear/lungs/heart check on Evie.  She asked me a few questions and then left the room. She brought back the swabs for strep.  In less than 5 minutes Evie's strep tes...

One. I am writing this on Thursday to link up on Friday. I'm so behind on blogging I'm actually ahead. Or something like that. Two. Tomorrow we embark on our largest Confirmation retreat to date.  We have 209 candidates on retreat out of a class of 219. Not a bad ratio AT ALL.  We have 35 group leaders, a full band, 3 staff members, a nurse, and some clergy going with us.  I'm so overwhelmed, but I'm actually caught up on preparations (this NEVER HAPPENS) that I'm actually at peace....except.... Three.  Satan has been attacking.  Usually, it's that I binge eat or engage in other indulgent behaviors that result in me being super grumpy and moody.  Today I am feeling super down because our little baby Albert was due a month from today, which means in the original plan I shouldn't have been going on the retreat this year.  It's giving me feelings of doubt as to why I need to be there this weekend, but Satan is also making me fearful that so...

Hi. It's been a while, but I'm back! At first my self-imposed blogging time out was for practical purposes.  I noticed that most Julys I spent with family or pulling late-nighters in the office getting ready for my busy season to begin again. However, as the month unfolded I found that the time management skills I had acquired in the last year left me home and bored this July. It was everything in my power not to blog more than the two posts I did.  But it taught me a lesson. This month I learned just how much time I spend behind the computer blogging, editing pictures, and reading Oh! The! Internet!  Without blog posts to write, I didn't edit or take as many pictures, and therefore didn't read The! Internet! nearly as much (at least on my computer).  But rather... ....I got on the floor and played.  I played trains. I played tea party. I read countless books. I played snuggle with my baby girl because she's only a baby girl once. ....I cl...

Yes I know it's Tuesday.  But really it's just case and point to my post.  July is too fun to stop and blog! Every July I get caught up in working really hard and playing even harder.  I've contemplated taking formal breaks from blogging in July and I think this year I am actually going to do it!   Here's what is keeping us busy the next few weeks -- Evie has been non-stop learning and growing.  It's so beautiful to watch her take interest in new things, mimic us, and parrot every little word back to us. I can't believe she'll be 20 months later this week! The weather has been electric - as in a lot of thunder and lightening, so my computer has remained off and unplugged.  I'm kind of enjoying the lack of distraction.  The daily rain storms have also kept the summer weather fairly mild (so far), so after dinner walks are a must. Nephew Zachary is in town for a long week to play and I want to soak up every ounce of play time ...

I can't believe it's June.  Let's talk for a moment.  May is always crazy. My family has coined the phrase "the merry merry month of May"  because in 1988 my grandmother turned 50, both my aunt and uncle graduated from college (in two different states), my aunt got married, and my mother gave birth to my sister.  This is in addition to things like, my pre-school graduation and Mother's Day. This year was the 25th anniversary of the original Merry Merry Month of May.  It did not disappoint. My grandmother turned 75, my sister turned 25, my aunt and uncle celebrated 25 years of marriage...in addition to our trip to NYC , a funeral Mass for our miscarried baby , two baby showers, the worst mother's day , a trip to the cabin and the advent of toddler tandrums.  I was supposed to have two weekends of graduation parties and an ordination Mass and party, but I skipped them. I just had to. In no particular order....our May (courtesy ...