My Atlanta Princess

We had a fabulous weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and Other Grandma and Other Grandpa in Atlanta.
We had lots of fun with Dave's classmates from his 20 year high school reunion. (by the way, Other Grandma was just whichever one wasn't in her direct line of sight. Very cute.)

Anyway, we have a stinkin' early flight, and we got to the airport ridiculously early. In my wanderings I found a little purse for Mookie. It says "Atlanta Princess."

She immediately put it over her head, walked over to Dave and said, "I have monies, Papa?". :-)  She scored 12 cents in the transaction. (Maybe Mommy took all of Papa's monies already?).

Fourth Foto Find

Nearly forever ago, Kelly tagged me in a little photo-meme, and because I'm clearly too busy to post a single picture, I've delayed...and delayed...and delayed... :o)

But here I go. My Fourth Photo.

(Ooh, I shoulda done this on July 4th. Dang.)

Anyways, the idea is this: you go to your My Pictures folder, and open the 4th folder, and post the 4th picture.  Which is a bit confusing for me because of how my My Pictures folder is organized.  See, the 4th folder in there is from when my best friend, Angela, visited us in England...which, in and of itself, is just fine. Except that there are 5 folders within that one folder.

SO...here is the 4th photo in the first album. I give you a pile of rocks.

And, when I opened the 4th folder, this is the 4th picture. A girl could really lose her head here...

There were SO many more awesome photos that Ang took that trip! These two are WAY on the bottom of my list of favorites.  It's hard to believe that was 4 years ago. Oh, how our lives have changed!

And, because I know that it will be my head on the Tower fence if I don't post an obligatory Mookie photo, or five, here are the ones that would appear if I did this meme just in the folder of Mookie-shots:

1. First Folder (Year One) 4th picture in 1st folder..."Birth Day" folder...this was taken a few hours before Mookie was born. OHMYGOSH how different I look. Wowzers, Batman.

***Warning to the family...there's a picture of Mom coming up...I just didn't want to catch you off guard***

2. First Folder (Year One) 4th picture in 1st folder of 4th folder..."Mom and Mookie"

3. First Folder (Year One) 4th picture in 4th folder (not in another folder)..."3 Weeks Old"... Mookie on a blanket. So teeny. So unbelievably teeny.

...BIG jump...

4. Fourth Folder (Year Two) 4th picture in the 1st folder..."12-13 Months"...I think you've seen something similar to this one, but this is the 4th photo in that folder, so you get to see it again.

Whew! That was arduous!

And, finally, the most recent shot I've taken of Mookie...the fascinating pinwheel...

And with that, I bid you adieu and wish you a wonderful weekend.

It's In The Mail

Well, we made it to the "Passport Agency" (a.k.a. Library) Saturday to get Mookie's passport application filed. Nothing like living life in the last minute lane!

Since Mookie is under 16, and since we are in a bit of a hurry :o) Dave and I had to go to the Passport Agency office together. Which meant Saturday was the only day we could go. Which meant getting Mookie ready, as well as getting her papa away from some cinderella-something-or-other basketball game where they won in double overtime or something. Which he didn't get to see because we HAD to get to the passport office. As we were walking out the door, I double-checked that I had everything I needed for the application. Mookie's photos, her birth certificate, her social security card (just in case), the pre-printed application, etc. Good. Got it all. Let's go.

And, as luck would have it, once we got there (45 minutes before they closed), I realized that I did not have any proof of ID for myself!! Ack!! My ID/wallet is usually clipped to my diaper bag. But not today. :-(  And it wasn't in the cupholder in the car, either. :-( And we had to get the passport ordered Saturday or we won't get it in time since we leave for England on March 30th. And it would take Dave 25 minutes to get home to get my passport (at least I knew where it was!) and another 25 to get back. And the library worker looked  little uptight already. And I was starting to freak out. So I asked if they would wait till Dave got back with it, and promised he would hurrrrrrrry. And, thankfully, she said yes. But not after closing time. (Eeek!)

While Mookie and I were waiting, we made friends with a family of 6 getting passports to go to the Philippines. Their baby was born 5 days before Mookie, and Gillian was a chubbly-bubbly little doll. Absolute doll. :o)  It was really fun to see someone born at almost the same time as Mookie. In some ways, she's more advanced, but in others, notsomuch. Fun to watch, though, that's for sure. :o) I had the pleasure of seeing the passport agency's process for taking a baby's passport photo, and I am SO VERY GLAD that I did it at home. In the comfort of our own high chair. Because Gillian? Was NOT happy when they were taking her picture. It was like she was possessed by some other creature! Scared Mookie, even!  And even though you guys warned me that my home photos wouldn't work, the folks at the passport agency assured me that they met the criteria for size and lighting and color and shadows and stuff. So, YAY! Not only did we save $15, but we also didn't have to deal with the screaming fit that would surely have happened if Mookie had to take her picture there. :o)

Uptight Lady took my paperwork and completed as much of it as she could without Dave, Dave's ID, or my ID...and then we waited some more. Closing time came and went, and we all sat their patiently. Thankfully, Gillian's family of 6 was still working out all their various passport applications, so Uptight Lady couldn't really shoo me out. :o)  We looked at the really wierd painting on the wall (there was a bear with fish in his pocket, and woman with a birthday cake (complete with lit candles) on her head, and another woman in a wedding dress with a bird-in-a-birdcage on her head! Makes me wonder what the artist was smoking at the time). :o) And I learned a lot about Gillian's chatty sisters. And we found London on the globe, and LA, and Manila. And we talked about the contents of my PPB diaper bag. And why Mookie has flowers on her shoes. And what her shirt said. And why I had sunglasses on my head even though I was inside... Guess how old Gillian's sisters were? Heehee. But it helped me to pass the time without freaking out.

And, finally at about 10 minutes past closing time, Dave ran up to the locked door with our passports in hand, and Uptight Lady pushed her other work aside and began to finish our passport application. Then she went into a diatribe about how our passports are expiring, and whether or not we need the purple form or the brown form, and why. She was SO eager to get us o-u-t, until it came time to tell us how to renew our passports! :o)  But she finished Mookie's paperwork, administered the oath to us, we signed in the appropriate places, paid a large sum of money (for expediting the application, and all), and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

On the way home, we talked about where my id/wallet might be. Counter? Dining room table (still covered with stuff from our trip)? Stroller? Living room? Front door table? Stairs?  In the end, it was in the stroller from when I'd walked to the store on Friday. But I'm SO very glad I knew where my passport was because Dave didn't have a second to waste, and searching around the house for my wallet would have wasted a LOT of time.

So, job's done. Passport application is filed. We're getting everything ready for our next trip. And then the trip after that. And the one after that.  And, then? We're done. DONE. No more trips for the rest of the year. None, I tell ya.

(think I've just jinxed myself?) (me, too)

Almost All Packed

...and almost all ready to go home. 4 weeks away from home is a LONG time.

LONG.

And, while I'm ready to be home, I'm not ready for the journey. In general, just to let you in on a little secret about me, I don't like journeys, so much. Literal and figurative. If only I could get that teleporter to work and we could just appear at home tomorrow.

With all our crapola. Can't-see-out-the-back-window crapola. Do-we-really-need-all-this crapola.

We spent the day with my mom's family today. My grandfather's memorial service will be Saturday, but Dave and I aren't going to stay for it. We discussed this with Grandma, and she's okay with it. Dave HAS to be back at work on Monday, and getting home separately would be nightmarish. So we spent quality time with the family today. And Mookie just wandered around charming the pants off of everyone. :o) Of course.

So, with that, I will sign off and finish getting the car packed. Hope you have a great weekend!

To the Port We Go

I know the weather around the country has left a LOT to be desired, to say the least, but here? It's been gloriously glorious. Dreamily dreamy. Fantabulously fantabulous. You need to catch the first flight to LA. The guest room is ready. I'm not kidding.

We've had family in town this weekend, and have just been soaking up the sun, basically. :o) And eating. Mmmm.  And watching Mookie go and go and go.  Seriously. That child needs to just STOP growing already!

Here's a picture of Mookie and Mama at the Ports of Call at Port Los Angeles.

And here's another visitor to the port that day:

Memories of Chi-Town

I should not be on the computer. I have much to do, and not much time to get it done. And I'm tired. Oh, so very tired.

But, on the computer I am. And I'm sharing with you a sweet photo I took in the hotel while we were holed up in that dadgum hotel room in Chicago on Boxing Day.

...um...

...huh...

I got nothing else to say. The words, they are not coming together. My brain is alphabet soup and the letters just won't come together and form words. Much less sentences!  So I'll just leave you with this photo.

I hope you have a great, energy-filled, project-completed kind of day!

Starbucks and Strandings

Hi. Sorry I've been gone so long. Did ya miss me? I sure missed you, dear bloggie friends. (sigh)

(Did you see the bottom of my last post where I mentioned a little contest about winning a Starbucks gift card? Go there now and leave a comment about your favorite Grandma memory. Because of our strandings, I've extended the contest dates).

So, our adventure started out rather simply on Friday morning. We got in the car in northern Michigan to drive south to Detroit to board a flight to Atlanta that had a layover in Chicago.

Can you see where this is going?

Did you hear about the mess in Chicago from Thursday to Sunday?

(sigh)

Had I been able to live blog from the airport or our hotel, I would likely have retold the story with a great deal more venom and vigor, but I'm tired of reliving the story.

We took off from Detroit on time, and things were (at that point) looking good that we would get all the way to Atlanta on Friday night. We got to Chicago on time, and things were still looking good. Then our gate got changed. And our flight got delayed. And the gate got changed again. And the flight got delayed again. And finally, about 12 minutes before the flight was supposed to leave, they notified us that it was cancelled. Along with about 50 other flights. Yay.

So, we got on the horn and called the airline to reschedule us on Saturday, but since there had been so doggone many delays on Thursday and Friday, there weren't any available seats until Sunday morning. (sigh) So we booked it. I could hear people all around me screaming at the reservations desks, and cussing like sailors, and just being mean.

Can I just tell you something you might not have ever heard before? Because, apparently, tons of people at O'Hare airport on Friday night have never heard this.  You get more flies with honey than with vinegar.  Not that I thought about it outright, but I tried to be nice to the lady on the phone. I wanted to handle the stinky situation with as much grace as possible. It wasn't her fault, you know. So at one point she made a comment about how Mookie was very lucky to have us as parents because we were just the nicest people she'd talked to all night. And if that comment wasn't enough to make me realize that my "honey" and grace were making her night just a smidge better, she upgraded us to First Class. HELLO!!  Score!!  :o)  So, when we finally got to get on a plane to Atlanta on Sunday morning, 36 hours later than scheduled, we got to sit up front. In the big seats. Nice. Very nice.

We were also able to reserve a hotel room for Friday and Saturday nights. I know that there were quite a few people that couldn't (or didn't).  I'd like to be the first to tell you that I'm so very glad that we didn't try to catch a Saturday flight on stand-by with a baby.

I think the worst part about it all was that the airline made the decision to not release our luggage to us. Even though we were stranded for 2 days. Even though we were leaving the airport. We were without pretty much everything. Except what fit into the briefcase and the diaper bag. And we were down to 2 diapers, and one spare outfit for Mookie!  Which, as you may know, is a recipe for disaster! :o)  Again, there was nothing we could do, and screaming at the person manning the luggage counter wasn't going to get us anywhere, so we left for the hotel.

I'm so very glad we didn't have to spend all that time in the airport with a baby. We were handicapped enough as it was, but to be stuck in the airport? Um, no thank you. The (other) bad part was, our hotel didn't have free Internet access in the rooms, nor did they have a "business center" with free Internet access. They were very European in that they wanted us to pay $5.95 per 15 minutes for the priviledge of using the Internet. Or $12.95 for a day. So I decided not to blog, and  we saved our money and just hung out as a family. :o) Dave walked to the store and got us some diapers, toothbrushes, etc. We watched movies, watched football, hung out, relaxed, Mookie crawled on the manky hotel floor. Good times, folks. Good times. :o)

Anyways, we're in Birmingham with my step-brother and his family (the famous Mookie-dressing Aunt Terri, and Mookie's beautiful cousin AJ). We got to spend a brief, but not long enough, period of time with my dad and step-mom yesterday before they had to head back to Gulfport. (sigh) We're trying really hard to eat them out of house and home...which is a challenge because they love to cook. And they cook well. And they cook a lot. So, lucky me!! :o)  Sadly, our trip with them was cut short because of our time in Chicago, but I'm glad we got to get here for the short time we did.

Now we're on our way back to Atlanta to spend some time with more of Dave's family. We're looking forward to it! :o) Hope you are doing well, and staying warm. Don't forget to leave a comment on the previous post about your grandmother! Bye!

Bikini Conversations

So I never actually finished posting pictures from our weekend in Phoenix.

Saturday (can't believe it was already 2 weeks ago! gosh!) we chilled (if you can actually chill in 103° weather). Mookie and I got up, had our respective breakfasts, and went back to sleep. :o) Well, she went back to sleep, I made some phone calls and relaxed. She woke up again at about 11:00, and we suited up in our bikinis, and slathered up with sunscreen, and headed out to occupy some space in the shade. My aunt and uncle were out there already, my brother and his girlfriend were on their way, and Mom and Dale had gone home to get their bathing suits and were on their way back.

Mookie and I "swam" a little more like we did the day before, and then we got back up on our deck chairs for a rest. Rob and Tracy got there and told me about a water slide at the pool that went from one level of the pool to another (yes, this place had 3 levels of pools, all interconnecting, all very awesome). And since it's been about 25 years since I've been on a water slide, I was very tempted. But, being the responsible mother I am, I said "No, I have to stay here with Mookie. You go off and have fun." (felt like an unwed teenage mother, I did) My aunt and uncle said they'd take care of Mookie while I went and played with my brother, so off we trotted. I have no pictures of the water slide, but MAN, was it fun! Serious fun. If you have the chance to go down a water slide, take it! You'll feel 30 years younger! (and the next day you'll feel 30 years older...ugh)

While I was playing with Rob and Tracy, my aunt and uncle were taking pictures of my little lovely.

Here's Barb and Mookie together. Such a beautiful pair.

Phil held her for a while, and the series of pictures is funny, to me. I imagine some kind of conversation going on...or at least one of Mookie's famous monologues. What she's actually trying to say, I don't know!

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's beautiful here by the pool. Hot as blazes, but it's nice enough in the shade, or in the water."

"Me? I think I'll be voting for Mickey Mouse for president. He seems to be fairly bi-partisan, and want what is best for the people. Plus, he's all about making people happy, so how can we go wrong?"

"Oh, I think Minnie Mouse would make a good first lady. She is a good hostess and makes everyone feel welcome. I hope to be like her one day."

"What do you think of my Speedy Gonzales hat? I think it's pretty funny."

"Want me to sing something to you? Let's see. On top of Spagheeeettti, all covered with cheeeeese. I lost my poor meeeeeeatball when somebody sneezed. Shall I keep going?"

Mama loving her water baby.

And this, maybe my favorite of the day (maybe!) is a sweet, sleeping baby. Tuckered out after a hard day of swimming and singing and just being cute. She slept on my chest for over an hour.

And that, my friends, is the last of the photos from the wedding weekend. If you haven't noticed, we had a fabulous time. I wish all weekends could be like that!

I hope you have a weekend as fun and fabulous as ours was. :o)

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

So our escapade started at 6:47 on Thursday morning (Sept 4th). Mookie was strapped into her carseat, and I was strapped into my (driver's) seat. I had the bag of snacks beside me, and the iPod filled with fun kid's tunes (and soothing lullabies) for the journey.

We were headed due east, my friend, to Phoenix. We went through Riverside and picked up I-10. 400 miles, 7 hours and 45 minutes, and a couple of "snack" breaks later, we were there! Our first stop was The Buttes Marriott Resort in Tempe. Ho. Ly. Cow. That place is beautiful! The resort is literally built into the side of one of the "twin buttes" in Tempe, and it was stunning.

Here's a picture (similar to the one I posted on Monday):

My aunt (Barb), uncle (Phil) and brother (Rob) arrived about an hour later, and we got settled into our rooms. Quite well appointed rooms, I might add. However, I'd like to say, for the record, that a resort should offer some amenities (wi-fi?) for free. If Motel 6 can do it, so can the Marriott! Mookie needed a nap, so we just took a couple of hours to relax and put away ALL the stuff I had packed into our little car. You know, all the baby-related gear. Ugh. 

At about 6 pm, Mookie was up, and fed, and we went outside to sit and watch the evening go by. Yes, it was Phoenix in September. And it was about 100*F in the shade at 6 pm, but we did it anyways. :o) Barb and Phil and I were waiting for Rob and his girlfriend (Tracy) to break away so we could go to dinner and have a scheming session. While we were waiting, I decided to see what Mookie would do in the water. We weren't dressed for swimming, but the pool was empty, so I sat on the edge and put her feet in. She recoiled them back up as if she had touched hot lava! But then she let them back down again, and we were able to dip our toes in the water a few more times before Rob and Tracy got there.

(Phil and Mookie)

(Barb and Mookie)

They finally arrived, unloaded some stuff out of their car, and we headed out. As we were eating dinner, we coordinated who was going to buy what from where and do what when and how we were going to pull off one of the biggest surprises in family history. (I think the biggest was my pregnancy announcement last year).

See, we were in Phoenix because my mother was getting MARRIED!!!! Yay! She and Dale have been together for quite a few years, and she finally decided that it was time. She (obviously) knew she was getting married, as did Dale...but what she didn't know was that Barb, Phil, Mookie and I were going to be there to celebrate with them! When they planned to get married, it just wasn't going to work out for us to drive over, so I said I would rather she get married now than wait till it was convenient for us. Plus, her wedding is not about us. But then, things changed. And we could go! And so could Barb and Phil! And it just made sense to be there.

So during dinner we figured out how we were going to pull this off. Mom kept saying "No fuss, no muss, no nice." Which, to her meant that only Rob and Tracy would be there as witnesses, and that there would be no decorations in the church, and, well, okay, maybe you can take one picture...but nothing else.  Of course, the rest of us...well...we didn't honor our mother's wishes. :o)  We mussed and we fussed and we niced. The plan was to get bows and ribbons to decorate the aisle, as well as flowers to make a bouquet for Mom and a little flower girl basket for Mookie. We had to get champagne and glasses. Tracy had to secretly pack an overnight bag for both Mom and Dale because Barb and Phil gave them a night at the resort as their wedding gift. And Rob? Well, he was the mastermind behind all of this, and his biggest job was keeping Mom and Dale in the dark!

Much too late for Mookie (and her mama) to be out at night, we headed back to the hotel to get all good and rested up for Our Big Day. The plan was to play in the morning (the pool was calling my name!), and work in the afternoon, and the wedding was scheduled for 4:00 Friday afternoon.

Tune in tomorrow for more of the story...

Plum Tuckered

We're home again. Whew it's been a long day. And a long week. Good stuff, but still...visiting family, passing the baby around, driving from top to bottom and back again...it wears a girl out!

 

Mookie was, again, a wonderful flying bird. She slept for most of the duration of our flight, and the rest of the time she was awake, I sang to her and we did our "exercises."

 

Surprisingly, she didn't fight too much when it was time for bed. I know she's over-tired, so I expected some good wailing, but nope. Just a lot of walking for me. And Alan Jackson singing hymns in the background.

 

I'm over-tired, too. I'm so glad to be home, but you know how it is...gone for a week, and you've somehow got 3 weeks of laundry to do, and dishes, and mail, and things growing in the fridge that look like your 11th grade science fair project. Oh what I would give for a "duvet day." A day to just stay in bed all day. Because of my new "career," I don't actually have to change out of my pyjamas during the day. Nor do I need to leave the house...so neither of those would be a restful change for me. But to stay in bed all day? Now that would be restful. Well, and to have all the laundry done, too. :o) That's not too much to ask, is it?

 

There were lots and lots of really good things about this trip, but I'm sure glad we're not going anywhere for a long time!

 

Here are some of the best things (in no particular order):

•  Einstein Bros. Bagels -- cinnamon sugar bagel with honey almond schmear
• The Smells -- the Denver airport, the fields, before the rain, after the rain
• The tears of joy shed by family when holding my sweet baby girl
• Staying in a house with air conditioning :o)
• SuperTarget. (we don't have those where I live)
• Seeing cattle in the fields as you drive by on the interstate
• Seeing some of my family for the first time in 2, 3, 5 years
• Driving 100 miles on the interstate, during the day, through a major metropolis, without stopping a zillion times for dumb traffic. :o)

I will post some pictures...sometime in the next few days. My camera is all the way downstairs. And I'm tired. Goodnight.

My Tired Star

Is everyone enjoying the Olympics?

How about those opening ceremonies, huh? Ho. Ly. Cow!  Those were super intense. Sooooo coool!!

We're on the downhill side of our trip to Colorado. The anniversary party was today, and the weather was not nearly as hot as it has been. And it rained in the end! Which is great because there has been very little rain in Colorado this summer. Lots this week, yes...but not so much this summer.

Here's a picture my aunt took of Mookie and me on Friday:

Mookie travelled very well, and has just been a STAR!!! Everyone she has met has absolutely loved her. And for the most part, she has loved them, too! So sorry to Aunts Coleen and Cheryl...in whose arms she cried consistently. Don't take it personally. Really. I'm sure it was just gas. :o)

And she loved her Uncle Rob. I can't download pictures for you today, but I will when I get home. I think he might be a wee bit smitten, too. :o) 

Her sleeping patterns are all over the map (clock?), though. Which is tough. In fact, it's nearly 11:00 at night, and she is still awake. And she didn't sleep enough last night. And she certainly didn't sleep enough today. She is WAY overtired. Poor girl.

I'm gonna go now and see if we can get her to sleep now. Goodnight!

On The Go

Mookie and I are flying again. This time to Denver for a week. My grandparents are having their 60th Wedding Anniversary party. The anniversary was actually in January, but who wants to spend a Sunday afternoon in northern Colorado in a park in January?

Which. By the way. Who wants to spend a Sunday afternoon in northern Colorado in a park in August?! It is about 30 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in northern Colorado than in southern California. Yes, you read that right. Hotter in Colorado. Than California.

I'm sure she'll travel just as fabulously this time as she did when we flew to Birmingham a few weeks ago. This time we are going for longer, so we're taking more stuff. I've tried really hard to pare it down to get our stuff into one medium bag, but I keep thinking of more and more stuff I want to (or think I need to) take.

When I planned the trip, I felt like one week would be plenty of time. But now? I'm not so sure. I mean, I'm loading up the baby and all our stuff...and there are washing machines where we're going, so enough clothing is not a hindrance. Plus, a week isn't enough time to cart the baby around to everyone. To those of you who we won't be seeing - I'm sorry. I wish we could see you. I do. :-(

I guess we can just plan to go back sometime. And maybe stay longer.

And maybe it won't be 100 degrees next time.

And More Lovin'

On the last post, I forgot to mention that coming home, we flew through Houston. My aunt and uncle live there and work for Continental Airlines, so I worked it out so my aunt could meet me during my layover. (She didn't know it, but she was my back-up plan in case Mookie or I had a complete come-apart between Birmingham and Houston).



This was the first time she got to meet Mookie, and I think it is safe to say that Aunt Barb is quite enamored with Mookie.

Mookie liked her too, as evidenced by the fact that she slept in Aunt Barb's arms for the better part of an hour, and then when she finally woke up, she cooed, and smiled, and even giggled for Great Aunt Barb!! Oh, the love.

She Got Lovin'

Wow, I thought I took more pictures than this! I'll have to do better next time.

Anyways, like I said, Mookie did really well in her travels. I was really surprised how it seemed like everyone in the airports wanted to make a comment about what a cute/beautiful/lovely/little baby she is. I almost never talk to people in airports. But there were tons of people who wanted to talk to me about my sweet baby!

So, here's a picture of my dad holding Mookie after she got up on Saturday morning. She's doing her morning stretches for Grandpa. :o) She loves to have her left arm free (wonder if she's gonna be a lefty...), and it made good fodder for conversation. (Not that we needed anything more to talk about really!)
After her breakfast, we played (one of many rounds of) Pass The Baby. Here's a sweet pic of AJ holding her baby cousin. I think Mookie looks like a doll in this picture, and not a real baby! AJ was SO good holding Mookie. She held her a few times throughout the weekend, and she was a champ each time. AJ is getting another baby cousin in a few weeks (and this one will live much much closer), so she'll have plenty of baby holding practice before long.

After that, and before she got too tired, we turned on Kidstuff Radio (a SIRIUS satellite station), and did our morning "exercises" and "danced." We do that each day at home, so I thought we should do it while we were gone, too. Mookie really does seem to enjoy her exercises. :o) We do the Hokey Pokey, and we stretch Sooo Big and Soooo Tall, and we wiggle our arms and legs to the music. Then we turn over for some tummy time, and try to crawl! :o) Hah, not really crawling, yet, but she moves her legs like she wants to crawl away! It's just the getting-her-head-off-the-floor part that stumps her.

One of our favorite parts of our exercises is what we call "Smooch-Em-Ups." Normally it involves bringing Mookie up to my face and I smooch her 10 times (or more, of course). This time, Papa was doing a different version of Smooch-Em-Ups, where he was leaning down to her to give her smooches. I think this is one of the best exercises we could ever do. :o)

Saturday night, we went out to dinner at the restaurant where Jonathan is the manager. Nice place. If you're ever in Birmingham, and want an authentic (really) (really really) New Orleans dinner, I'll point you in the right direction.

Grandma Jen had gotten AJ and Mookie matching dresses, so the girls wore them out to dinner on Saturday. Here's one of my favorite pictures in the world. (AJ with her two front teeth out, and everything!) But look at the matching ribbons on her shoulders and hair...such a southern girl she is!

And here's the 3 of us. I, of course, did not have a matching dress...so I clash like a bad noise! BUT there's lots of love. Lots of love. (it helps that AJ is so darn lovable!)
And then on Sunday we went to a pottery painting place, and AJ made a little plaque to hang on her door, and I made a plate with AJ's hand-print and Mookie's hand-print on top of it. The owner was pretty adamant about not having any photos taken, or I would show you the "before" shot of our artwork. In the end, I think it was a good time for both of us since she'd never done it before. Hopefully she'll remember the time we went painting. And maybe next time I visit I'll do a better job of planning.

AJ's just growing up WAY too fast (what little girl isn't, right?), and next time, she'll be 6, and way too grown up to hang out with her un-cool Aunt Melissa. :o) No. She's been raised too well for that. Seriously. Her mom and dad have done an incredibly awesome job raising her. Too bad they live so dang far away! I could use some help doing the right things!

And...we're back.

Mookie and I have returned from our visit to the far off land of Alabama. It's late, though, so I won't say much other than that she did fantabulously well on the airplane flights (I only cried twice, so that's good, right?), and she enjoyed meeting and getting tons of lovin' from all her family.

And remember the request for ideas for how to spend special time with my niece AJ? We painted pottery. We have handprints of AJ and Mookie on things. But guess what. Turns out she wanted to wear our tiaras and go to a fancy restaurant for tea again.

Note to self: next time - ask the kid! :o)

The weekend was a TON, TUN, TONNE of fun, I just can't believe I was stupid enough to only book our trip for a couple of days.

Anyways, pictures and stories in the next few something-or-others.

Photo Recap

...as promised, some photos from Dad and Jen's trip. I didn't get the photos from their camera (hint hint), but here are a few good story-tellers. :o)

Saturday

Whale Watching (left to right): Dave, Rob, Dad

The Seafood Mariachi's (Rob was hiding)

Sunday - we went to Redondo Beach, sorry, no photos yet

Monday - a day in LA/Beverly/Hollyweird

Dad and Jen on the Red Carpet!

(there was a movie premier that night, so the Red Carpet was out!

Tuesday - they ventured alone, no photos

Wednesday - we shopped, no need to take photos of that!

Thursday - they went home. :-(

Where Am I?

Hi,

Sorry no blogging - been kinda busy. Dad and (step-mom) Jen are in town.


Recap (no time for spell-check, please accept my apologies):

• Saturday: After a hearty breakfast, Dad+Dave+(brother) Rob (from Phoenix) went whale watching while Jen and I went to Target. They didn't see any whales, but when we went to pick them up, they were halfway through a plate of oysters and a pitcher of beer, so we stayed, and ended up getting a snack of deep-fried Huachinanga fish from the local fishmonger. (Google says it's a type of red snapper). Dad wanted our picture taken with the seafood mariachi band, then we went home and...um...I think maybe we ordered pizza for our official dinner, but I don't remember.
• Sunday: Dad+Jen+I sent Rob home, then stopped at a diner for lunch, then went to Redondo Beach for a stroll and to stick our noses in at all the kitchy shops. Then we came home for a nap before we had leftovers for dinner.
• Monday: We went back for another hearty breakfast, and then Dad+Jen+I went to a "promenade" type mall where all the snootchy stores (Sur la Table, Smith&Hawkin, Maxazaria) are outside, and we spent a little money there, then headed up the highway to Sunset Boulevard, drove a ways, turned left into Beverly Hills, gawked a bit at the houses that are so ginormous, then took another left onto Hollywood Blvd where we parked and strolled a bit more. I even have a red carpet photo for you...just not today...sorry. Then, for extra fun, we decided to head home at the peak of LA traffic! Woo woo! We made pretty good time, though, and Jen made pork tenderloin for dinner. (It was SO nice having someone else cook for us! SO nice.)
• Tuesday: Dad and Jen left me at home while they took the car and went 'sploring. They wanted to visit some of the historic district of San Pedro, and go to Long Beach Harbor. They enjoyed their touring around town, had a nice lunch, then got lost trying to get to Long Beach. :o) Eventually they made their way home, where we all quickly ate sandwiches, then went to the VA Hospital for a volunteer night of Bingo (it was Dave's unit's turn to host Bingo night, so we all went and had a fun time).
• Wednesday: that's now. We are going to venture to Babies 'R' Us, then maybe Tarjay Boutique, some lunch, get some See's Candies (which are yu-yu-yummy!), then stop at Trader Joe's for a little more 'sploring. Dad and Dave are going to build the baby's crib tonight, and then tomorrow, Dad and Jen have to go home...that is, unless Dave and I can figure out how to keep them here! :o)

I hope to post some pictures, but I wanted to get this out there -- maybe tomorrow afternoon I can post pictures of Sunset Blvd, Gruman's Theater, Seafood Mariachi's, and whatever else we find! :o)

Have a great day!

Up the Road to SB

Dave and I picked the rainiest weekend of the year to take a road trip, but it was really good to get away.

We beat the LA traffic out of town, and up the 101 to Santa Barbara in time to check into our hotel, and get our bearings before venturing out for the evening. Turns out the Santa Barbara International Film Festival was starting that night, so we hoped we might see a celeb, or two, but no such luck. We planned to have dinner and go see a movie, but the paper had the times wrong, so I still haven't seen 27 dresses. :-( I will say, however, that dinner was OUTstanding! We went to a Japanese restaurant, and Dave had sushi while I had yakitoris. I did have one California roll, and left all the raw fish to him. Ew. So, since we missed the movie time, we went back to our stormfront beachfront hotel, which had a fireplace in it and played some Trivial Pursuit.

On Saturday, we drove up into the wine country. The clouds held off till about 2pm, so we had some beautiful views. This picture is of one of the Bridlewood Vineyard where Dave enjoyed himself a sip, or two (and I enjoyed a cracker, or two!).

Then Saturday afternoon Dave did some napping while I did some shopping in the overpriced Santa Barbara shopping lanes. I went into one jewelry store, and felt like I walked back in time 20 years! Take a peek at these earrings...did you have a pair (or 6) like me?

The weather turned really sour on Saturday night and through Sunday (as evidenced below). About 30 seconds after we took this shot on Stearns Wharf the heavens opened up and poured down crazy rain. We got into the car and headed home - not even waiting around for lunch!

All in all, I'm glad we went. Maybe we'll get to go back. On a sunny day.

Back from Dial-Up

Whew! I had forgotten what 45kbps really feels like! It feels like chocolate chips melting over a tealight candle. It feels like "shaving" your legs with a pair of tweezers. It feels like making tea with no hot water. It feels good to be home, and back to wireless broadband.

All week I wondered if Kelly had her baby (She did. Go see!)

And how Megan was feeling after the discovery of a Peanut growing within (better, it sounds like)

And how Katie was adjusting to life with a newborn (very well, with additional hugs and kisses)

And how Mike was enjoying New Zealand (tremendously, of course!)

And what new creations Tink was making out of yummy fabric (have sewing machine, will travel...she's still on vacation, so we'll have to wait some more)

We had a fantabulous time in Northern Michigan. Although it didn't snow very much, I still got to put my big long "sleeping bag" coat to good use. It hovered around freezing most of the week.

We got to celebrate Grandma's 97th birthday. Yup. 97 years young. She's a spitfire if I've ever seen one! That woman is A-Mazing! She keeps up with the 4-year old, plays dominos with whoever wants to get wooped, and enjoys life more than most 35-year olds that I know!

And we celebrated Christmas in fine fashion. I have to say that I'm glad I'm into maternity pants now because, well, you know that critical point after everyone has gotten seconds where they sneakily unbutton their pants? Well, good thing for me, I don't need to unbutton anything...so I could just eat, and eat, and eat and my waistband would just grow and grow and grow! :o) Hee hee! I'm SO glad that both Thanksgiving and Christmas fall in the critical "must gain weight" period of my pregnancy! Yay Me! :o) Dave's family is just great. We both have such an incredible time with all of them. It was just one awesome thing after another! Dial-up internet connection aside, I would gladly have stayed for more.

And with that, I bid you all a nice, relaxing weekend.

Norwich In A Day

As you might have seen over at Mike's place, we got together last Saturday and ventured up north to a county not yet seen. We went to Norwich in Norfolk, Nelson's County.

We didn't plan much, just knew there was a river, a market, a castle and a cathedral...typical to quite a few cities in England. We went first to the castle, and were thoroughly unimpressed. There were gatekeepers that wanted us to pay money to see bricks that are 1000 years old (bo-ring!), so we decided to walk on.

Walk on we did, and we eventually found the cathedral - and a few goofy statues along the way! Mike's blog has more statue-pics that he took, but here's one that I took of Dave. We don't know what the actual statue was, maybe woman and child? It's so nouveau-artiste that we didn't know!

When we got into the Cathedral, we found the Queen's Jubilee Maze in the Cloisters. Mike and Dave set out to conquer the middle of the maze (and scoffed at me for waltzing right through to get good pictures!). Here are two, one of Dave on his journey with a good shot of the maze, and one of the conquerors.

After the cathedral, we wandered into the town centre, and found the very colorful market stalls. Much to our surprise, there was a treat for Mike. There was a band of Morris Dancers! A former employee of mine had introduced me to Morris Dancing a couple of years ago, so it wasn't new to me, but I'm not even sure if Mike had ever even heard of them! If you ever get the chance to see Morris Dancers, you should! The tradition goes back to the 15th Century, and even though it looks corny to us for people to whack sticks and fling handkerchiefs around while their shins jingle with bells, it's still a folk-dancing tradition that deserves our respect. I took a couple of videos, but, sadly, I can't seem to convince Blogger to post the video. Big. :( Sad. :( Face. :(