Uh Oh

I have one of those babies. You know, one with a binkie on every finger.* She rotates them. Frequently.

*Really, this is rare. No, really, I promise, it is....

Funky Family Christmas

Maybe you don't know. My family can be kinda funky. Every year the Fraylicks get together for Christmas Eve and have a blast. We're mostly older now, and pictures of all of the girls with panties on their head have been replaced with themes (Cowboy, Camo, you name it) and ornament swaps. This year was a bit different - we did a gag gift swap. Rules were simple: buy a funny gift from the dollar store (or costing no more than a dollar). A gift can only be stolen once. Laurie didn't really like this rule, but I can tell you that there wasn't anything I would have stolen! Ah, but things did get stolen, and I haven't laughed so hard in quite some time.

So, I think Kristen picked 2nd. She went for the biggest gift. I can't blame her, I would have too. But she got this rooster* tail thing. She's not a rooster fan at all, so she was begging people to steal her gift all night. Funny. They beat Clemson, but no one really wanted the tail.

*known in some circles as a gamecock

Here she is.. showing how happy she is with her gift.


Somewhere along the lines, Laurie snagged this rockin Dale Jr. poster. Yeah, sorry Dale, no one stole that either.


Elizabeth managed to look excited about the FBI action play set.


She must have really wanted the golden cow that Jordan got. I noticed that he tucked it away so no one would remember.


Remember Foster's gator head? Well, know you know where it came from.


Kate admired Pop's rubber spider.


Alice models Drew's potty seat. What a practical gift! I should have stolen it.


Even my Grandmother got in on the fun. She got a package of Jim Beam coffee. If you know my Gramma, you'll know this was the perfect gift.


As for me? My first pick was a pack of crackers. Not the kind with cheese or PB filling either. Straight saltines. Mom was sweet and stole them from me. Then I picked an ovulation kit. Yup. I didn't even know they sold those at the dollar store. It was stolen from me and given to Kristen... remember the rooster tail? I ended up with a tube of Chapstick. I love Chapstick.

And in case you were worried that Kristen went home with that wretched tail thing, never fear - she really made out:

A bag of edible coal, a plunger, and an ovulation kit. Wow.

You know, one day we will all go our separate ways on Christmas Eve. I will miss it. A lot. As an only child, I've always loved our large gatherings. They are fun and exciting and loud and chaotic. And when everyone goes off with their own large families and have large Christmases with lots of chaos, we will go home to peace and quiet. And I will miss the loud, silly, funny, chaotic Christmases of my childhood.

You Gotta Start Somewhere

You would think that with all of the vacation time I've had over the past week, I would be blogging constantly. Wrong. I think vacation time makes me lazy. The real problem with this is that now I'm completely overwhelmed with photos and stories and such. But, you've gotta start somewhere, right? So we'll start right here in the middle. Christmas morning with Kate and her Santa toys.

Here we are Christmas Eve after we played Santa.


And the next morning before Kate was up (what's up with Foster making funny faces in these pics?)


You didn't think we'd leave our first-born out of the fun, did you?

Christmas toy (some sort of bird thing). It squeaks. Of course.


Gator head (Don's gag-gift from the night before - story to follow).


When you're 1, you don't know that sleeping in isn't as fun as getting up before the sun to see what Santa left. Here's the groggy girl FINALLY making it in.


Once she was awake, she was really starting to love this Santa thing.


The crayons were a big hit. I'm certain she will be drawing on my furniture/walls/floors in no time.


Little Tricycle Monster.


Patiently waiting on Daddy to put a toy together.


And that was only part of the fun. But the most exciting part for Kate, so that's where we started. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Day!

Wow.. after what seems like a week of rain, today the sun was out and brilliant! Before we headed out the door to do some Christmas shopping, I subjected Kate to a little front yard photo shoot. The lighting was perfect and Kate was dressed in her pretty blue corduroy.

But....

She also had a red puppy-dog Wubby hanging off the front of her face.


So of course I took Wubby away in order to capture the perfect photo!

She didn't take it well.


I gave up.


And, she finally did too.


I cannot believe its already 10:00. I have a new work hours strategy, which means I actually have to get my behind out of bed in the morning. I'm enjoying some "Friendship Tea" that a very nice friend gave me on Friday. I guess an enemy would never give you Friendship Tea, now would they?. Oddly enough, this tea contains no actual tea. So it can't keep me awake tonight! If you haven't seen Kate show off her newest talents, please scroll down and watch the video. She's too much fun!

Kate Knows What Santa Says

We've been working with Kate on the sounds that animals make. Like all smart little girls around Christmas time she's showing particular interest in all trivia related to Santa Claus as well. Afterall, you have to know Santa's language to tell him that you want a Lynskey tricycle for Christmas! Here's a short video clip of her running through her repertoire...

We. Are. Back.

Its so nice to be back. Back from tree decorating. Back from party planning and partying. Back from our internet being kaput. Its so nice to be blogging again. In my soft fleece pants (that I'm pretty sure Don loathes), my "Go Tigers" sweatshirt (uber soft and warm) and my miss-matched socks (that are warm but I'm quite sure they aren't even from the same decade). Having been gone for an entire week, I have so much to share. This will be a photographically intense post, and since it is Monday, I'll be sure to throw a few little Not Me! jewels your way.

We have a tree! It was touch and go there for a bit. And by touch and go I mean screaming baby, 30 degree weather, shopping for a 9 ft Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the dark at Lowes on a Sunday night. Here is Don putting a star on top. We did not break down and pay a premium for this tree so that someone else would trim it and put it in the tree stand for us. I did not stop by and choose this tree and then let Don go by and pick it up after work. Nope! Totally a family affair.


Don and I got Kate a swing and slide for her birthday! She LOVES it (see below). We did not give it to her a week before her birthday. She goes down the slide by herself now... well, Ok, we are always there to make sure she doesn't whap her head on the way down.


Saturday was the big Party! Kate turned 1!! I guess the year has gone by quickly. I have to say that I've been pretty ready/excited about each new stage. It seems like she's been with us for much longer than one year. It was a fun time. Kate is a sweet girl. She looked at every card and oohed and ahhed over every toy. I can tell you that she has enjoyed EVERYTHING that she got for her birthday already. She's read the books multiple times, hugged the baby and stuffed animal, bounced on the horse, taken puzzles apart, answered her cell phone, had a tea party and played in the bathtub until she started to wrinkle. And, she's still carrying all of those cards around. Bet no one has ever enjoyed birthday cards quite as much. Here are some pics from the big day. And if you want to see a fun video montage Don put together, you can do so by clicking right HERE.

Table set and ready to go! Every time we walk into the breakfast room, its like she's never seen those balloons before.


Really not too crazy about the cupcake, but did like everyone singing Happy Birthday.


Sitting with Grandma.

Riding her new Pony.


Hanging out with Aunt Cheryl. She really enjoyed meeting new people at her party.


Looking at the Tree with Aunt Susie.


What's a party without your wings? They matched the party colors so well!


Cousin Laurie was nice enough to knit her a hat with hair. You know, since she doesn't have any of her own. Here she is showing off her braids.


Sunday Don and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary in a low-key way: brunch at Motor Supply and coffee at Starbucks. It was nice and quite and fun to just be us again. Six years doesn't sound like much. We've almost known each other for half of our lives.

Here we are 6 years ago! What a happy day!


Ah, yes. And our escape from the cold. Never fear! We have already found a swank, all-inclusive Jamaican resort that Kate can visit with us!

Ok, so today I recuperated. Mom had to go to the dentist and Kate had her 1 year checkup today, so I spent the day at home. It was nice. Oh, Kate weighed just over 20 lbs and is 30 inches tall. So, while she only gained a pound over the last 3 months, she gained 2 inches - whoa! Still hoping she'll be tall like Da. Poor thing had her finger pricked and got 5 (yes, you read that correctly) shots! She cried a lot and was clingy for the rest of the day. I'm not complaining. I love the snuggles!

Kate walked around with a balloon.


And let the cat that she found sleeping in her toy box borrow her wings.


And she practiced her newest rendition of the pteradactyl. Yes folks, its back. I know you're excited! I was going to post a video here.. but its late and I'm blogged out. Maybe another time.

Out with the toys!

In with the baby! Why let a perfectly good sitting basket go to waste.

Step 1: Remove all toys from basket.




Step 2: Climb in and enjoy!

Cheating

Today I worked from home. Kate helped.

My fabulous friend Dori sent Kate a birthday present several weeks early. What a good example she set for the rest of us with little kids (she has a 6.5 month old). If you don't get it done at the first chance you have, it may never get done.

Anyway, Kate just couldn't wait to get her presents open (of course it had nothing to do with me). We opened the 3 Dr. Seuss books first. Kate loves books, so they have been read many times already. Today we couldn't stand the suspense of the big package and cheated a little by opening the rest of the gift well before her actual birthday. Here she is enjoying her new wings. Thanks Dori! They're a hit!!

Cooties

Yep, you read that right! The Meredith household has been struck by cooties. And not this kind:

We wish. You didn't think cooties were real did you? Yeah, neither did Wikipedia:

Cooties is a non-scientific term in North American English used by children for an imaginary "disease" carried by the female gender said to infect through contact. The term may have originated with references to lice, fleas and other pests. A child is said to "catch" cooties through any form of bodily contact, proximity, or touching of an "infected" person. The phrase is used by children aged 5-10.

First of all, why girls? I'm quite sure guys carry most of the cooties - I never ran from girls worried I would catch their cooties. Second of all, Cooties are most definitely not imaginary (proof to follow) and I am a scientist, using the word "cooties," which makes them quite scientific.

When I was growing up, riding that little Merry-go-Round outside of Kmart (which is the ONLY place I've ever seen them) was strictly forbidden by my Mother, unless I was wearing long pants - I know, weird, because I wasn't wearing gloves.



Anyway! She did this so that I wouldn't catch cooties (is that how one catches them? through naked legs?). I'm starting to see that my Mom may have had a point.

Last weekend we visited Barnes and Noble. We even posted a photo of Kate playing with what I believe to be the source of our Cooties - a Thomas the train engine and cars. Like clock-work (3 days later) she came down with one nasty fever and rash that made us miss Thanksgiving with the family. I am a microbiologist, so I diagnosed her with some "virus" and two days later she was fever-free and playing like a mad woman. Enter exhibit A:

Blisters on her feet (and hands and mouth).


This, my non-scientific friends, is known as Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Please do not be confused. She didn't catch this from a cow in England - that would be Foot and Mouth Disease. No, I don't know why. Probably some totally non-creative person had to name them. This disease is caused by, you guessed it, Cooties! Its highly contagious, easily spread from kid to kid (on toys too). It is actually caused by a variety of viruses that belong to a group called enteroviruses. Usually its a coxsackievirus (isn't that a fun one to say!?), but sometimes can be an echovirus. Did I say highly contagious? Yup!

Today Don called me at work and said he was definitely feeling sick. He had a sore throat and a blister in the back of his mouth. Uh Oh. Now he has a fever of 102.8 and is very miserable on the couch. Its actually really cool for me to see a disease that I have only read about until now - but NOT cool for the sick members of my family. Don't worry, these viruses are pretty benign and run their course quickly. The disease in adults is supposed to be milder... at least we hope so.

Kate has recovered nicely. The blisters on her hands are looking better, and the ones on her feet have not prevented her from walking up a storm. In fact, here she is playing fun games with a pyrex dish. I didn't know that peek-a-boo could be just as interesting behind a see through dish, but she was giggling up a storm.



So, will I be next?? I've certainly been exposed multiple times, but lets hope NOT!