Happy Birthday, Papa Odie!

I spent nearly an hour yesterday trying to get a Happy Birthday message for my dad, aka Papa Odie. But, as any parent knows, getting an 18-month-old to talk on command (or at least to say what you want) is nearly impossible. These are the two best iterations I got, but as you can see, Anna was more interested in the camera, chalk, the camera, milk, the camera, etc.

And, in true toddler fashion, as soon as the camera was off, she wandered around saying Papa, Papa, Papa... I'm sure Papa Odie will love the videos nonetheless.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Red Sox Nation Invades Atlanta

We had a great weekend - our good friends Rick and Cristina came down from Boston. The Red Sox were in town playing the Braves for a 3-game series so Jason was able to get his baseball fix. The Sox won the two games Jason & Rick attended - on Sunday we didn't go to the game and they lost...coincidence?

It was so nice to have a fun weekend with old friends - we wish we could see them more often!



Jason & Rick enjoying the game at Turner Field. Go Red Sox!

Mobile Post Alert - Sorry for the wonky formatting earlier, I sent the pics/post from my phone and the blog masters apparently didn't like it....

A Day for Daddy

We had a great Father’s Day yesterday. Anna woke Jason up with a squealing, “Daddy!”, and eagerly shoved a card in his face. Luckily he still has vision in both eyes despite her best attempts to ensure they were gouged out with the corner of the envelope.

When we were picking out a card I steered Anna towards the ones with sound. The final card selection featured a conversation between Homer and Lisa Simpson about donuts and vegetables. Anna was fascinated with it yesterday and throughout the day we heard:
Homer - “Want a donut?”
Anna – “Ha ha ha!”
Homer - “Want a donut?”
Anna – “Ha ha ha!”
Homer - “Want a donut?”
Anna – “Ha ha ha!”

She never let the card get beyond the word donut…

Anna and I made Jason breakfast, enticing him to the table with the tantalizing smell of bacon. Up next came a round of errands including a visit to Home Depot…recently it seems like we live there. We made this particular trip to procure some heavy duty, extra strength, super-duper weed killer, so Jason could continue to wage his war against the hill behind the retaining wall in our backyard. I think the weeds are knocked out for now, but we’ll see…

Jason was planning to spend the afternoon lounging and watching the US Open, but he got an even better treat – the Red Sox were playing the Braves so the game was televised in Atlanta (in Jason’s world, that’s like winning the lottery!)…so, not only did he get to watch some soggy golf, but his beloved Red Sox won and he got to witness it to boot.

Following the game, we headed to the pool to wile away the rest of the day. Jason made the mistake of taking Anna down the slide, which of course she wanted to do “ageen!” and “ageen!” and “ageen!”. We now will only be visiting the slide pool when Daddy can come with us…I like the slide and all, but five trips down in one visit are more than enough for me.


After dinner Jason’s little love presented him with his favorite desert – a Carvel Lil’ Love ice cream cake. We had to be quick for this photo opp, for obvious reasons…

So, that’s two Father’s Days under Jason’s belt. I hope all of you dads out there had a nice day as well!

Pizza Night!

We started a new tradition this weekend that I hope we carry on for years to come…pizza night! Jason is an excellent pizza dough maker – he LOVES to measure, mix, and knead (by hand for 10 minutes!) and has perfected a great thin crust that crisps to perfection. While Anna has had our homemade pizza before, she’s never helped apply the toppings and I thought it was high time she did her share. ;)

She was eager to help, most likely because I let her stand on a chair, which is typically a no-no. She donned her super cute cupcake apron and applied sauce, cheese and black olives with gusto although she probably ate more cheese and olives than she put on her pizza.

And, she didn’t disappoint when it came to eating the final product. Although I think Jason was slightly miffed when she pulled the cheese and olives off of her slices and neglected to eat all of the crust.

We're back! (& finally posting!)

I've had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind for several days now - like I had forgotten something. And then I realized it has been almost three weeks since I posted to Bergstrom Babble! I am very bummed about the lack of new entries, but we have been busy and were out of town for one week so I can't beat myself up too bad...

We went to Florida for Memorial Day week and had a fantastic time with Gramma, Grandpa, Great Grandma Dodie, Aunt Maddie and Uncle David. Anna logged some good quality time with Gramma by joining the 3 year old Sunday school class my mom teaches and accompanying her to work one day.


Anna was absolutely enthralled by my parents' pool. I think it blew her mind that she could just walk outside and swim vs. having to pack up and drive to our neighborhood pool. We had to be careful because she beelined straight for the pool every chance she got...I'm glad that she loves the water but there is nothing like the panic of seeing a baby almost plunge into a pool accidentally. Anna seemed to get a kick out of making the grown-ups panic!


During this visit Anna sampled some delicacies mom had never purchased for her before. So, thank yous go out to Aunt Maddie for the introduction of Froot Loops and Gramma for buying cotton candy flavored yogurt. Both of which Anna LOVED (as you probably could have guessed).


We also made a trip to Butterfly World, a very peaceful place with thousands of butterflies, a lot of birds, gross bugs and beautiful flowers. We forced my brother David to come with us ladies, and I'm not sure he enjoyed it as much as we did. Especially after we toured the bug exhibit and noticed at the end of the tour that there were live, very large, uncaged spiders hanging out in all of the corners of the room. Sure there were signs saying the spiders wouldn't bother you if you didn't bother them, but still. Ick. We all had the creepy crawlies after leaving that place.


More pictures from the trip are below. Stay tuned for news on the basement remodel - we're almost there!!

This is actually a "Before" picture. Unfortunately we don't have the "After" on camera.
Before: Anna happily petting the lorikeets.
After: Anna screaming hysterically when one of the lorikeets (gently) pecked her finger.

Uncle David absolutely enthralled Anna. From the moment he arrived she flirted and did everything possible to get him to notice her. She also would go to his bedroom door each morning and inquire as to his whereabouts saying, "Di-did?" I always let her have a quick glimpse and luckily Uncle Di-did was a sport and didn't mind the tiny visitor who interrupted his sleep early each day.

This is a silly picture but I'll have you notice one thing - a clip in Anna's hair! She has finally grown enough hair to be able to wear small bows and clips. What a milestone!

Finally, I am so happy Anna has been able to spend time with her Great Grandma Dodie. Dodie flew to Atlanta from Texas and spent a day with us before we all headed down to Florida together. She got to meet Cruz and James and see firsthand the chaos Anna and her friends wreak. This picture was captured during a spontaneous moment when Anna held her arms up to Dodie to be rocked and I think it is very sweet.

I didn't get any pictures of Anna and Grandpa, but rest assured he was always there entertaining her - especially by doing canonballs in the pool...