Future Dentists of America

These cute guys decided they wanted to accompany me to the lab and work on some teeth. So, they each designed their own set of dentures. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Peyton kept telling me he was making baby Clara's teeth.

Clara Michelle Gurney

She's finally here! We are so excited to have a new little baby in our home. Clara is adored by her brothers. They just can't get enough of her.

I was induced April 30th. Lynn and I went to the hospital and just got to hang out all day together. It was very relaxing! We rented a couple of movies and Lynn read his papers for school. I couldn't have asked for anything more "chill". I started pushing around 4:30 and Clara was born at 4:45 pm. That's the jist of it :) She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz., was 21 inches long and 13 inch head. She has the darkest hair and lots of it! Here are some pictures of Clara's first few days of life. I've got more pictures, but they weren't uploading. boo!

Clara minutes after being born.

Happy mommy!

Porter was so excited for his sister to come!

Peyton loves her too!

Lynn doesn't know what to do with a little girl...he loves it!

Going to the doctors for the first time.

Silly Boy

So, Peyton and I were finished with my Drs. appointment today and we sat down to eat lunch when Peyton asks, "Mom, is there a baby in your tummy?" I respond with a "Yep, right here!" Peyton then says, "Did you eat her?"

I just had to laugh! That makes sense right? To a two year old, how else would a baby get into your tummy?

Oh Baby!

My awesome friends threw me a baby shower this past weekend since I'm having a girl. It turned out great! Laura Farley was an awesome hostess. Maurisa and she planned the whole thing, but Maurisa had to go out of town last minute. We missed her a ton. They went all out, and there were so many people willing to help out. It was a lot of fun opening girl things...dresses, shoes, booties, hair bows, flowers, blankets, and burp cloths! I have so many talented friends who made me gifts. Thank you everyone!

My friend Tori and I. Her husband Kent is in the same program as Lynn.

Jackie, Laura Pack, and Mary Cat (who just had a baby a week ago).

More party guests :) The rag quilt in the back was a gift from Molly.

Molly made this cute "it's a girl" sign.

Gourmet cookies made by Jackie with a "g" for girl/gurney. Super cute!

The food table...it was all so delicious and so pretty!

Laura found various varieties of pink/red drinks in honor of the girl theme.

Maurisa made me this adorable diaper cake. It turned out so cute!

More decor...notice the cute party favors made by Laura Farley. Molly made the super cute mary janes out of paper...talented!

A Plethora of Pictures

In January and February Columbus got a record breaking amount of snow. Yay, for us right? Not exactly, but to look on the bright side, Porter got 4 snow days out of school. It was nice for me not to have to drive on the snowy roads.

Lynn and the boys made this cute snowman

I got to volunteer at Porter's school for his Valentines Party. It's always fun to see Porter interact with his school friends. These are some of his buddies.




It's a Grandma Gurney tradition to send heart sugar cookies to us for Valentines Day. Lynn really wanted to make some of our own together before Valentines, so for FHE we decorated them, ate them, and then gladly downed ours from Grandma a week later :)




The Primary kids put on a talent show last month. As soon as Porter heard there was a talent show he wanted to be a part of it. He decided that he was really good at cart wheels, so that is what we signed him up to do. We practiced, and practiced, and when it came down to the actual night of the show, Porter got cold feet. Oh well...at least we knew he was a good cart wheeler.




Porter build his version of an Alien and we took pictures. This picture is my favorite "cheeser". He's looking a little frightened.




Grandpa Gurney came to visit us for four days. The boys were in heaven! We took him on the "kid tour" of Columbus. We visited COSI (the children's museum), went to a dollar show, took him to Greaters (one of our favorite ice cream places), the pet store, and finally to the zoo. We weren't very good at taking pictures, but we did get some from the zoo.

OSU Snowman contest...We won!!!

Interesting Story

I thought I might share a quick story that happened recently while at work. I was seeing a very nice young man for dentures. He still lived at home recovering from some medical issues. He is always so polite and positive. The other day he showed nothing but excitement for the whole process. While discussing life he mentioned that his mother's dentures didn't fit too well. As our conversation continued, my attending was going over the days procedures with me, he mentioned that he had tried to use his Mom's dentures thinking that they might fit him if they didn't fit her. I assume something like out growing a pair of shoes? My attending's eyes about popped out of her head. We gasped and suggested that he shouldn't do that again. He didn't seem too phased by our response to his comment. A short while later, he continued his thought and was hoping that his dentures might fit her so she could have some nice teeth to borrow.
Very innocent and thoughtful, but a little unusual. I thought someone might find some humor from this story. It taught me something about different cultural thought processes. To have no teeth and receive dentures to some may be a non issue; in fact, it might even be considered a coming of age like event. A point in ones life that they too will fit in with the others that surround them.

Hmmmmmm...interesting!

Updates...busy, busy, busy

Here are a few things that we've been up to these past couple months:

1. We went to San Diego in November for Lynn's prosthodontic conference :) Mom and Dad Belcher met us in Long Beach and we drove to San Diego with Grandma Ballard. We went to Legoland, ate at a super fancy restaurant, watched Lynn get an award, and went to Sea World. Thanks mom and dad for all of the fun!

Our hotel was walking distance from the bay. It was warm and beautiful!

Legoland was Porter's dream place!

Bob the Builder

Porter and Grandma rode the dinosaur roller coaster 14 times in a row. This is them after the fun!

Feeding the pigeons

Sea World...waiting for Shamu.

The only reason to go to Sea World

2. We traveled 8 hours to Janesville to spend Thanksgiving with my sister Jodie and her family. Jodie and I went to see New Moon together, we went Black friday shopping, and the kids went ice skating. We were glad to spend Thanksgiving with them and their crew.

Barry was the master turkey cooker...it was so moist!

Peeling oranges with Jodie

The kids made turkeys out of oreos, candy corn, and reeses.

Porter and his turkey

3. Mom and Dad Belcher came to Columbus for an early Christmas celebration. Jodie and Barry came too! We went to the movies, ate fondue, found out we are having a baby girl, went to build-a-bear, got pedicures, and just hung out playing games.

Fondue Dipping...we liked the chocolate the best.

4. Christmas. Thanks to all of you who made our Christmas spectacular. We were spoiled this year. Thanks for the gifts! We missed spending the day with extended family, but it was nice not to have to travel in the winter weather. Super relaxing!

Matching pjs I made the boys

The boys playing in the sweet tent Aunt Shelly made them!

I got a CHI!!!

Santa pulled through and Porter got Lego Batman

Making Christmas breakfast and looking prego.

Lynn got his OHIO state beenie

Christmas Dinner with the Farley's