1st Dance Class

Today was Bekah's 1st dance class. She seemed really excited all week, but anyone who knows Bekah knows she needs lots of encouragement to do anything she doesn't want to do! So I was concerned that she would get in there and freeze. Or maybe even want to quit entirely. We talked and practiced all week, and I let her wear her dance clothes the other day and got some great videos of her "dancing".

Dance #1


For more of her dances, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZEX6Nadd4U (notice the tongue) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJG6iTa1eIE

All my fears were for nought! She did amazingly well at dance class! She listened to the teacher, obeyed, and generally had fun. When we were getting in the car, I told her how good she did. She said, "I know. I didn't even cry. It's because I loved it." :) Later in the car she said, "but now I know how to dance, so we don't need to go back." That lead into a great conversating on practicing things to get better and better. Here are some pics of her in dance class.


Left: All dressed up with her shoes in her bag Right: Trying to stand on toes like a "real" ballerina


Above: All girls are at back of class facing the teacher, but Bekah decided she should stay in front next to the teacher. :)

Trip to Brazil

In January Justin took a trip for business to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Below are some of the pics. I was really impressed by the architecture of the city, its pure size (bigger than NYC), and how nice the city was. Sure, there were poor sections of town...but overall it was a very metropolitan, modern city. Abraços!

Bekah Catches Her First (10) Fish!

Grammy and Pappy kindly took care of Bekah on 12/21 while Tammy and I hosted a Christmas party at out house. Grammy and Pappy just bought a new home by SR 675 in Myakka City that has a pond in the backyard. No one knew if the pond had fish and if it did how many fish it had. Bekah and Pappy were determined to find out!!!

Bekah quickly snagged her first fish (pic below) and subsequently went on to snag NINE MORE FISH over a period of about one hour!!! Her perspective on fishing will be clearly jaded for life!

Fun at Hunsader Farms!

Bekah, Parker, and family made our annual trip to Hunsader Farms this weekend. Bekah especially enjoyed riding on the pony with her mommy!

Teri and Adam kissin in a tree...

This weekend Teri and Adam tied the knot in Tallahassee! Tammy was a bridesmaid while Bekah was the flower girl. A beautiful wedding that I wish I actually got to see...Caroline and I spent the ceremony "bonding" on a long drive. Well, I was bonding with her...Caroline was screaming at the top of her lungs! :)

P.S. Many thanks to Ken and Diana for letting us borrow their ride for the long haul to/from Tally. The DVD player and the extra luggage room was unbelievably helpful!

Caroline cheers the Rays to a 9-8 win over the Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS

At exactly four weeks old, Caroline dragged her mom and dad out to the ALCS Game 2 matchup between the Rays and the Red Sox last night. Caroline was completely elated to be at the game (see picture below):

Di and Ken kept us company as Caroline cheered the Rays on to a 8-8 tie in the top of the 6th, then we headed home to relieve Lindsay, our babysitter, of her duties by midnight. But before we left, we snapped a couple of pictures:

Monkeying around at My Gym

My Gym in Westchase had an open house today!!!

Caroline Faith Norwood

After three solid weeks of on-again/off-again false labor and pre-labor, Tammy perfectly timed Caroline's birth - 3:12 PM on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - Caroline's EXACT due date!

Furthermore, it was shortly after the USF-Kansas game and in a perfect span of hours when her sisters (Jami and Teri) were able to join for the birth.

By the stats, Caroline weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 21.5" long. She came out with a full head of dirty blonde hair, very similar to Bekah.
On to the pictures!

Start of 2008 Gator Football Season!

Bekah was sporting her new Gator jersey!

Still Waiting for Caroline; Wait is finally over for football!

So it is Thursday night, and Caroline is still holding tight. Tammy is still having occassional contractions, but nothing consistent. We even went on some long walks and ate spicy food today to no avail.

Tammy goes back to the OB tomorrow, so we should get an official update on her "statistics." Stay tuned for tomorrow's update...

In an unrelated update, the College Football season starts tonight! Praise God! The period of months between the NBA Finals and the start of college football is hands-down the most unevental time of year (at least for those of us not into MLB). To celebrate the start of the college football season, we bought Bekah a Gator jersey! Pics will come after this weekend when she gets to sport her new Gator outfit when the Gators beat Hawaii in the Swamp!