`Tis the Season

The last few weeks have been a busy time for Gina and I. In addition to getting our house ready for two little ones, we have been wrapping up a busy semester. We both completed what will likely be the last of our courses at UVA. This is an exciting benchmark, though I am personally intimidated because this means the only thing I have left is my dissertation. I won't speak for Gina on this matter, though I do think she shares my sentiments a little bit.

Regarding the twins, all reports have been positive and encouraging. We estimate they are about 4.5 pounds right now, and our hope is that they will stay put for at least 4 more weeks. Of course, there is no way to predict when they decide to make their entrance, but we have been trying to persuade them to wait a little bit. Though ultrasounds are not the best indicator for what a baby will look like, you can see their latest photo opp here.

This time of year has also been a wonderful time to reconnect with family. Gina's parents spent the Thanksgiving holiday with us in Charlottesville. They helped us prepare the holiday meal and get the majority of our Christmas decorations set up. Don and I also got to see James Madison's residence, Montpelier. I had never been there before and was quite impressed with what they are doing there. The only President residence I have yet to see is Mt. Vernon, which I'm sure we'll see before we graduate and move on.

My mom has also been in Virginia helping Katie and Joe with Ella while Joe took his law school finals and Katie worked her last few days on Capitol Hill. She will begin working for the American Diabetes Association in January, which is much closer to their house and has more family-friendly working hours. We are all excited for the many ways God is blessing their family. My dad will round out the Alexander roster when he arrives on Tuesday. This will prove to be another wonderful holiday, just as Thanksgiving was.

That's all the news for now. Gina and I hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the Christmas season. We want to extend our prayer for a blessed Christmas for you and your family.

Picasso I am not

The past couple of weeks have been a busy time for us as we prepare our home for two new family members. A few weeks ago Gina and I made a trip to Richmond to buy some baby furniture we saw advertised on Craig's List, so now the room that used to be our study is officially a nursery with two cribs, a changing table/dresser, a wardrobe and a gliding rocker. Gone are the sports pennants, our college diplomas, pictures of Old Main and Raley Chapel, and my beloved picture of Fenway Park (go Sox, by the way). Despite my lofty intentions, Gina has convinced me those are not appropriate wall decorations for newborns.

My most ambitious nursery-related endeavor, however, has been to repaint the entire nursery. Looking back, I had the perfect window of opportunity to do this during the brief time between when I moved the "study" furniture out and moved the baby furniture in. In case you've never painted a room before, it's much easier to do when there is no furniture to compete with. But alas, I didn't think that far ahead. I was probably more interested in watching a football game or something at the time. So, this weekend I decided to avoid the school work waiting for me and take advantage of the extra hour on Saturday night by painting a room. We picked out the paint on Friday, which is a light green and a light tan for the trim. I can't recall the exact name of the color ... probably Amazon Mist or something like that. If I named hues of paint, I would opt for "I just smoked my first cigar" green and "there's no way you are coming in my kitchen with those socks on" brown. With a name like Amazon Mist, no one can really dispute it unless they have been there (which I have, and I still can't dispute it). But if I say, "It's green, like the color of my face after dipping Skoal for the first time," there's a chance people can relate. Never mind marketing strategies; it's all about keeping it real.

Anywho ... I got a late start on the project Saturday after doing some other work around the house that morning and Gina and I meeting some friends for a birthday lunch. My intent was to start the painting, go to bed at a reasonable hour and finish it at a later date. Well, as is the case with almost every project I start, I couldn't think of a place to stop once I started. I use this as my justification for procrastinating. Honestly, procrastination is my built in defense mechanism to avoid working myself to death. I'm like a sled dog, only with less endurance and tolerance for cold temperatures. Well, just a few minutes shy of 2 AM (which was really 1 AM), the whole room was painted and the furniture was put back in its rightful place. I am glad to have that job behind me, though I still have a stack of school work waiting for me. But it can wait. Otherwise, I wouldn't get to enjoy the weekly reading/writing/grading marathon I've grown so fond of.

Speaking of health, Gina is doing well and continues to expand more each week. We had another ultrasound last week, and they told us the boys are both just shy of 2 pounds each. We have also noticed the power of their kicks increasing each week, so we may either have a couple of soccer players or the next Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris combo. One of them was posing very nicely for the camera, but the other one refused to let us look at his face. And in case you think one of our sons is a jellyfish, that's just the back of his head.

I guess that's all the news for now. Keep checking in for updates and more photos!

Drum roll, please ...

Gina and I had a very important prenatal visit on Wednesday, October 3rd. We have been anticipating this visit more than the others because we knew it would be when we found out the gender of our twins. During a previous visit, one of the residents tried to help us get a sneak peek but was unsuccessful as the babies kept squirming and crossing their legs. We couldn't get them to cooperate, so we knew we had to wait until October.

Well, October is here and the gender of our twins is no longer a secret. After seeing the sonographer carefully analyze everything from their heartbeats to their brains to the length of their femurs, we found out that we are going to welcome two boys into the Alexander home. Yes, apparently any modesty they displayed in the first attempt was shed during this episode. The sonographer told us she was repeatedly flashed throughout the scan. She didn't say anything about it at first because she wasn't sure we wanted to know. I know everyone will be curious about the names we are considering, but that will remain a secret until they are born.

In the midst of cherishing this joyful news and reflecting on what is to come, we experienced deep sorrow as we realized that Gina's first cousin, Kara Jean Kelly Herynk, was nearing the end of her struggle with cancer. On Saturday, October 6th, Kara passed away from this life, but she became alive in ways we can only imagine. You can view her blog by clicking here. The most recent posts share very precious thoughts from Kara's mother and sister, including a very touching poem/prose by Cynthia Heald. When you have a chance, please read this.

In my mind I've gone to Carolina

Actually, we were there, and not just in our minds. Gina and I broke away from reading, writing and grading to spend a couple of days in Kill Devil Hills, NC. For those of you unfamiliar with the Carolina coast, this is known as the Outer Banks (OBX). Gina had been there before a few years ago, but this was my first time to the Outer Banks. Having been raised in the Rocky Mountains and not familiar with the beach, I was not really expecting much. During the handful of occasions I've actually been to the beach, I think I've only gone in the ocean 2 or 3 times. This is likely due to my media-induced fear of sharks, which Gina tells me is completely unfounded. Gina, on the other hand, has been wanting to go to the beach since we arrived in Virginia.

Well, I put fear and doubt aside and we headed to the beach for the weekend. We actually made a couple of stops on the way down to inquire about baby items Gina spotted on Craig's List. We are now the proud owners of a glider rocker, a baby tub and this Baby Einstein thing that is supposed to make our children into geniuses. Like they need help with that! We actually picked up the rocker on the way back today so we didn't have to lug it around the beach all weekend.

Gina found a great bed and breakfast online called Cypress House Inn. The rate was reasonable, the rooms were very nice and the breakfasts were unbelievable. We have stayed in a couple of B&B's before, and I really like sitting at breakfast with the other families and getting to know them. There was a couple from Yorktown next to us, a couple from Chicago (whose son went to UVA ... Wahoowa) and a couple who works for the State Department who is about to head over to Afghanistan for a year to work in the Embassy. Each of these couples was very nice and we had a great time talking with them. Of course, the inn owners' 2-year old grand-daughter Kayla stole the show as she ran in and out of the room and interacted with everyone. Overall, the accommodations were great, and I'm pretty sure we'll visit Cypress House again.

The first day was very mild and slightly breezy. My original plan was to sit in a comfy beach chair and read until the sun went down. Well, the sea was beckoning me and it wasn't long until I was wading in up to me knees and jumping waves. Gina joined me eventually and we had a really good time. Though I didn't get very wet and didn't really swim, I'm pretty sure there were no sharks waiting for me to jump in.

The second day was not so wonderful, as far as the weather is concerned. It wasn't cold, but it was extremely windy. I had a hard time even setting up the chairs. Now that I think about it, I was reminded of Wyoming, except the air was warm. Gina got nestled into her seat and wrapped up in the beach towels. I tried to get some reading done for a class, but the wind kept flipping my pages. We stayed for about one and a half hours, then went to lunch.

We decided to head back to the beach later that day after a long nap in our room. Our game plan was to get in the water no matter how windy it was. The air was still pretty warm, so I wasn't too worried about getting cold. Gina actually made the first plunge as I took pictures of her pregnant belly sticking out. She looked pretty cute, if you don't mind my saying. After a few snapshots, I got in with her and realized that this water was not ideal for swimming. Besides the fact that the wind was blowing pretty hard, the waves were coming in very fast and it was hard to stand up. We were going to swim out and test the buoyancy of Gina's belly, but we retracted that idea when we struggled so much to wade against the waves. I know Gina was disappointed, but we both thought it was the best thing to do. I swam for a little while longer then got out after I got tired.

This morning we had breakfast with our inn-mates (hee hee), took one last look at the beach and headed back to Richmond to pick up our new chair. Sydney is still with her friends Auntie Flo and Henry and will come back tomorrow. We are straightening up the house and catching up on all the work we didn't do while at the beach. We are both already talking about our next trip down there, which will have to wait awhile. Everything we talk about these days usually starts with the phrase, "You know, in 4 months we won't be able to do this ..."

That's all for now. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying life. Drop us a comment and let us know how you are doing. Take care!

Can you hear me now?

Wow! Has it really been 6 months? Until a month ago I was under the impression that no one was reading this blog anymore. Actually, I was under the impression that I wasn't updating this blog anymore. You see, I assumed that I should only post when something extraordinary happened. I figured our life here in Virginia had stabilized and there wasn't anything interesting to report anymore. If we all waited until something extraordinary happened to speak, we would just walk around in silence most of the time (which doesn't sound all that bad to me, now that I think about it). But it was brought to my attention that some people like reading about the everyday, mundane things because it just lets them know that we are still alive and doing well. So, in addition to some extraordinary things to report, I will throw in some mundane nonsense just to spice things up.

For the most part, life is clicking along just as it was when we got back from the Smoky Mountains last March. I am still teaching classes at UVA, with the occasional online class for Casper College. Gina is working for a research center in the nursing department and we are a little further along on our quest to become Mr. and Mrs. Doctor Doctor. Sydney is still pretty darn cute and not quite as hyper as she used to be. That means she only jumps on you a couple of times when you walk in the door and only tinkles a little bit on the floor. We're still going to the same church, I still faithfully watch UVA soccer every chance I get (2 games this weekend!) and we still like to volunteer with ISI and help international students adjust to life in Charlottesville. So you see, life hasn't changed that much for us at all ...

... Yet ...

That's right, there are big changes coming down the pike on 12th street. And by big, I mean bigger by the week. Gina and I found out in June that we are expecting twins! We don't know the gender yet and we haven't settled on names (the most common questions), but we are very excited for February to arrive so we can meet them in person. In the short term, this means I have been moving furniture (either to other parts of the house or into somebody else's) in order to convert what used to be our study into a nursery. So, the laundry room is now the laundry/library, and the dining room is now the dining/computer room (surf and slurp). We may even need a storage unit before it's all over. But these are all welcome changes as we get ready for these precious treasures God is placing in our family.

Another extraordinary event is that our niece, Joella Gale Murray, was born this summer on June 21. If you want the back story, you can read her blog. I've been told by a reliable source (her mother) that she is now over 10 pounds and eats like a horse. She has the classic Alexander/Murray appetite, so now let's just hope she can sing and throw a baseball. Even if she decides to do neither of those things, that's fine because we think she is just perfect! I know she will be a wonderful role model for her baby cousins down in Charlottesville.

Other than that, there isn't anything very exciting to report. I am about to take Gina to her office to print out her comprehensive exams (affectionately known as "comps" by us doc students). If you don't know, comps are the first big hurdle we must pass in order to be considered a doctoral candidate. Until we pass our comps we are nothing more than tuition-paying desk warmers sucking the oxygen out of the building, but once we prove our mettle we are called "candidates" and get referred to as "scholar" by our professors. Slap some tape on my glasses and call me a nerd! I took my comps last summer but Gina's program won't let them take theirs until after their second year. So, she has reached an important milestone; one that was hard earned, I should add. She wrote over 40 pages, and that was in addition to eating 6 meals a day and going to the bathroom every 5 minutes! :-)

So, that's it for now. Have a great week, leave us a comment and stay tuned for more ...

Springtime in the Smokies

Gina and I just returned from 5 wonderful days in the Smoky Mountains. My parents had some extra points from their timeshare club and let us use some of them for my birthday. The condo was at the Bent Creek Golf Village, just outside Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The room was very nice -- the nicest we've stayed in so far -- and had several luxuries, such as a jacuzzi tub, a fireplace and a private hot tub on the back porch. We took advantage of the hot tub every night we were there.

If you have never been to Gatlinburg, it's a nice town tucked away in the Smoky Mountains, just a few minutes away from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Gina and I spent the day there on Wednesday hiking and exploring an old homestead named Cade's Cove. This area of the park was first homesteaded in the 1820's, and had several hundred residents. There were also several churches, a mill and many acres of farmland.

We also got to take a hike to Laurel Falls, a beautiful waterfall about a 1.3 mile hike from the highway. The weather was great and we passed many other people taking advantage of the nice conditions.

On our way home from spending the day in the park, we stopped in at the Park Grill. It was a very nice restaurant, and the food was excellent. As is the case with many restaurants, the portions were huge, but that didn't stop us from gorging ourselves on a mammoth brownie desert.

On Thursday we went into Gatlinburg to see the Aquarium of the Smokies. We have been to aquariums before and really like them, and this was a great opportunity for me to overcome my fear of sharks, which is totally legitimate for someone who lived his whole life more than 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. There was also an exhibit on Mars, which gave us a chance to try on a space suit and drive a Mars Rover.

Well, I guess that's it for now. As I was typing this, we watched the Cavaliers lose to NC State in the ACC tournament. We are hoping this doesn't keep them out of the NCAA tournament, but it doesn't look good at this point. Everyone take care, and keep tuning in for more updates.

Happy New Year!

Yet again, a long period of time has passed since our last entry. Alas, the responsibilities of coursework and research stole away time, precious blogging time. Now we're turning a new leaf in 2007, and we have a chance to start over again and aim for consistency in blog postings.

During the fall semester, we spent a lot of time with our new friends in C'ville. We hosted many dinners and enjoyed the hospitality of friends. We've enjoyed fellowship at Christ Community Church, our church home, and we've been introduced to many new customs and delicious foods, thanks to our international friends from Mexico, China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Turkey. We've attended UVa soccer, football, and basketball games (go 'Hoos!), witnessing both disappointing and exciting games.



Curby's parents came to Virginia for Thanksgiving, and we had a very productive time. Over the span of three days, we painted our kitchen cabinets to brighten things up. We also celebrated our third anniversary by dining at Al Dente, a fancy restaurant on the downtown mall. On Thanksgiving Day, we drove to Alexandria and enjoyed a delicious meal with the Alexander family--Curby's sister Katie, her husband Joe, and Curby's cousins from Durham--Lindy, Cameron, and Kit.



The next day, we saw more of the Alexander clan--two of Ron's first cousins and their children and grandchildren. We drove to a historic church site in Aldie, Virginia, that served as a hospital during the Civil War, particularly of interest to us because Ron's great-grandfather R. J. Marshall, while fighting as a Confederate soldier, was wounded in battle and treated there.



After Thanksgiving, we had a very eventful last week of class and finals. We each had several papers to write, as well as some final exams. We survived the experience and were very satisfied (and somewhat relieved/surprised) by our excellent grades!

At the end of finals week, we loaded up our car with luggage, Christmas presents and one extremely excited Australian Shepherd and drove to Oklahoma so Gina could get some information for a research project she is presenting this spring. From there, we drove to Dallas to see friends and family. We spent a day touring downtown Dallas, and we got to learn all about the JFK assassination at the 6th Floor Museum. We also got to spend some time with Gina's brother and his family. We always have fun playing with the nieces and nephew. Before heading to Houston to see Gina's cousin Kara and her family, we spent a day with Curby's grandparents in Farmersville, where we had a fun time visiting and going to Catfish Cove for lunch. While in Dallas, Gina was able to see friends from OBU (Lua Brown with soon-to-be-son Owen and Lisa Black with son Jude). We also arranged to have dinner with some friends from First Baptist Church-Euless, Brent and Terri McCall (and their baby Maci Lynn), as well as Sheri and Desmond Fergusson.



We had a lot of fun in Houston, spending time with Matt, Kara, Emma, and Luke. Everyone is doing well, and we played lots of games together while catching up. Please continue to visit Kara's blog at prayforkara.blogspot.com when you have a chance. so that you can stay updated on her progress and know how to pray for her and the family. From Houston, we headed to Simpson, Louisiana to see some of Gina's relatives, as well as do some research on her family history. We met Gina's parents there and got to spend some quality time with one of her cousins and a great aunt and uncle. While there, we discovered the grave a long-lost great-great-great-great grandmother. It was quite the find!



After our stay in Simpson we drove to Baton Rouge to celebrate Christmas with the Johnson family. We stayed with Gina's grandfather, Pap, and got to see many cousins, aunts and uncles. Sydney, while being banished to her crate most of the time, did get to perform her frisbee tricks for everyone at the park on Christmas Eve. And we watched a lot of football. In fact, I think it's safe to say if there was a football game on during our four-day stay -- be it high school, college or pro -- we watched it.



On Christmas Day we drove to Shreveport, Louisiana to be with Curby's grandmother, Mawmaw. We had a nice time visiting with her, and we got to take her to lunch at one of her (and our) favorite restaurants, the Olive Garden. The next day we left after lunch and made the drive back to Charlottesville.



It's nice to be in C'ville during the breaks, when the college town pace has slowed a little. We celebrated New Year's Eve by attending the First Night celebration. The weather was a little wet and cold, so we didn't stay the entire time. We actually celebrated the New Year by picking up a friend from the airport, which was actually kind of fun. The next day Gina fixed a traditional Southern New Year's meal with ham, collard greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread. We had several friends over and enjoyed the day talking, eating, playing guitar and, of course, playing games.



Since then we have been working on school projects and manuscripts, finishing some things around the house, and planning more dinners with friends. All in all, we are grateful for having made it through another year, knowing we have grown in our love for each other and for the Lord. As one of our New Year's resolutions, we will try to update our blog more often. Of course, it's not looking so good since we are just now getting to it on January 11. But a start is a start ...