"Not Me!" Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! I have been enjoying this fun little blog carnival that was created by MckMama. Basically its a great way to confess the silly things you did (NOT do) the previous week. Isn't it nice to know that no one is perfect and that everyone has their moments when they do silly or brainless things. So, I hope you enjoy my very first Not Me! post. There should be many more to come because I'm always doing crazy things that will make you wonder how in the world I got an advanced graduate degree, and how I manage to get my shoes on the right feet every morning. And please, if you need even more encouragement, head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well, I've lost all of my baby weight, so I'm NOT seeing a personal trainer twice a week. I would only do that if my all of my muscles have melted away since having that sweet little girl. And of course, if I was seeing a personal trainer I wouldn't cram my face full of Oatmeal Creme Pies, because wouldn't that just defeat the purpose of a personal trainer? I did not eat 3 of those Creme Pies at work the other day while fresh watermelon sat in the fridge - I'm so much healthier than that.

I'm such a fan of the baby monitor, but I would never hold it close to my ear to see if I can hear Kate breathing. I do NOT check on her constantly when I haven't heard her breathe in over 10 min, because that would be silly. I also don't eavesdrop on Don when he goes in there to comfort or feed her because its so darn cute.

Oh yes, and I finally got back out in the yard this weekend for some digging in the dirt!! Yay!! But I surely didn't smack myself in the face with the hedge trimmers, leaving a nice bruise on the bridge of my nose. I did not then manage to follow that up with smacking my face into my desk today in the EXACT same spot while reaching for some papers. That might result in me having a big red and purple mark on my nose, which cannot be easily covered by makeup or sunglasses. Not Me!

Did you know? I went on my first overnight trip away from home since Kate was born last Wednesday and Thursday. Did I miss my sweet baby? You betcha! But I certainly did not enjoy rolling over and going back to sleep upon waking at 2 am. No way! I LOVE sleep deprivation.

Hope you had a great Monday! I'll try to post more next week, but you know, I'm NOT a complete klutz, and my life is always pulled together perfectly and tied up with a bow! Now what would a post be without a fun picture? This is NOT the cutest baby girl ever. :D

Love the Earth!

In a moment of weakness today at Publix, Don and I purchased our first baby crack (have you ever observed a baby watching this stuff? Addicts I tell you!!). Not only did we do that, but it was a CD of ELMO! Ack! I figured that Kate likes Elmo and I could tolerate him if he talks about Loving the Earth. It is kind of cute... Elmo and friends go in search of the "elusive Blue-Feathered Swallowing Swallow" and learn about beautiful things in nature. They talk about recycling and how its important not to litter. Yeah, I know, Kate doesn't get any of that yet, but its never too soon to start!

I think part of the attraction of the video for her was that she got to watch it with Daddy and he fed her some strawberry popsicle, which, I'm pretty sure isn't considered a "1st food" for babies. Ah, those Daddy rules again!


In other Earthy-related news, I finally got back out in the yard this weekend!! I know, it was HOT, but it was so nice to clip and prune and dig and plant. Unfortunately I need more yard-work practice. I smacked myself in the nose while clipping the Crepe Myrtle. This almost never leaves a bruise.. but here it is. Displayed prominently on the front of my face. Its a lot more obvious in person and looks like someone might have taken a blunt object to my nose.


And one more picture that should make you question our fitness as parents.
Kate playing with a candle at dinner. Luckily it was the kind with batteries. But you have to watch her. Put things where you think they are out of harm's way, and then move them out another foot. The girl has reach!

Bathtime Baby

To borrow a fun phrase from my friend Ashleigh:

Oh my heavenly stars!

This baby gets cuter every day!

Doesn't she look like a little Sumo wrestler? With that cute little grin just before she squashes your face!? :) Too bad she doesn't have enough hair for an oichomage yet!

Happy Father's Day!

It was another laid-back weekend, and also Don's first Father's Day! We went to a cookout Saturday and enjoyed a nice lunch and some coffee at Starbucks on Sunday.


Kate's first swing ride with Dad.



Playing with her buddy.



Mmmm... Coffee!



Having fun with Mom!

What's So Funny?

I've always thought Foster was pretty entertaining, but Kate has taken it to a whole new level!

Randomness

I cannot believe another weekend has come and gone. I had a nice list of things to get done. Care to guess how many of these I did? Um.. I think zero. But I did some other stuff... I've never been a Gamecock fan, so I'm not sure how it feels, but I kind of have an idea as I mutter... "wait until next weekend!" Ha! Anyway, here are some pictures from this morning's kitchen photo shoot. Kate is sitting up in her bouncy seat. I'm almost certain no one intended for it to be used this way.

Do you think Smokey knows how dangerously close he is to getting his tail pulled/bitten/pinched if Kate isn't strapped into the bouncy.

Ahhhh..... I'm going to bite your face, Giraffe!

Yeah, you better strap me in!
She is too much fun!

Except for a nice little date night that Don and I took Saturday (complete with Peanut Butter Nirvana and a hilarious movie), we spent most of our weekend at home. Sometimes its nice to be home, isn't it? I ran across this great description of home in Skirt magazine. Not sure if you're familiar with Skirt, but its a feminist newspaper-type publication, and I don't consider myself a feminist really but this magazine makes me feel ok to be one if I please. Its more about supporting and uplifting women, and the writing is usually super. (This is the part where Don is so glad that he's branched out with his own manly blog)

So here goes. Don't know who wrote it, but I hope you enjoy it and it makes you reflect on where home really is!

Home is pajamas straight from the dryer on the coldest night of winter and a roof that doesn't leak during a rainstorm.
It's food in the refrigerator and heat that Works and this month's rent paid in full.
It's Benjamin Moore Blue, Porch Light Yellow, a loose-change-in-the-sofa silver lining.
It's the dog who thinks you invented walks and someone to share your late night thoughts.
It's the evening news with a glass of wine and a slice of the moon in the window at bedtime, the shower that washes away work and the special mirror that makes you look taller before you leave the house.
Home is the key left under the mat, your mother's phone number, the place you drive through the night to reach.
It's where we find our Belonging.

Happy Half Birthday!!

We're half way to one!!

Happy Half Birthday sweet girl!


Its hard to capture the giggles on tape, but here are a few.

Checkup!

Today we went to the Dr. for Kate's 6 month well checkup.

She did great! All 17 lbs of her.

She's 26 inches long and her noggin's growing just fine (16.75 inches).

Am I going to get a shot Mom?


No, of course not sweetie.....

You're going to get 3.

(she's since forgotten about all of this and is playing happily at Nanna's)

Lazy Weekend

Well, it was a lazy weekend for the girls. Don went surfing while we relaxed at home and cleaned a house that really needed it. So not many pictures today, but a special treat! Kate has gotten the hang of her new bouncy exerciser. It makes her very happy.

We've reached a new milestone! Kate can sit and play at the same time.


After our Sunday stroll, we sat in the grass.



The Big Girl slept in her crib all night for the very first time. Yes, it was a LONG night!


And here it is, the video you've all been waiting for. I think I may post a video montage of all of the crazy stuff Don and I do to actually get her to laugh/smile. It never works. By the time we get the camera, she's done. We did catch a few minutes of fun, though!

For Your Friday

Wow, I actually had someone ask me if I had any more pictures of Kate! Oh, you should never ask a new Mom that question unless you really do want to see more. Of course I do! Thanks for asking. Here you are. Happy Friday.

Too many toys?! I think not!

The most fashionable baby at the Olive Garden was spotted lunching in the back seat with Dad on the way home from Florence.

Sporting her favorite color (orange) and showing off her new sitting-up skills!

Simplify.

If you've been reading our blog for any length of time, you might have noticed that I've hijacked it in recent months. Therefore, Don decided to go off on his own and start a new camping/hiking/backpacking website - lightpack.blogspot.com. Not sure if you know this, but he's become quite the guru of ultralight backpacking, and reviews gear on a pretty regular basis. Really, he needed his own site so that his backpacking friends didn't have to wade through all of the adorable baby and ultracool dog photos to see his latest trip and gear reviews. Also, if its ultralight gear, he's probably bought it, tried it, and re-sold it - unless, of course, it was great gear - then he kept it! So, mosey over there and check it out!!


Simplify.

I don't know about you, but my life is complicated. In cleaning out my closets recently, I've found I have way too many clothes and I can't seem to part with them because "that's a nice (dress) and I may need to wear it one day." Really, I haven't worn half of those things in probably 4 years. Then there's all the other "stuff" that we have collected over the years. Wouldn't it be nice to simplify? To have just what you need? We're just so afraid to get rid of anything! Well, I think this is primarily my problem b/c I'm married to this wonderfully simple guy (and I mean that as a real compliment). He likes vanilla ice cream, plain bagels, black coffee, and rice with no gravy (which really blows my Mom's mind). He's an ultralight backpacker and can easily pack for several days worth of hiking in a tiny little pack that weighs something like 3 ounces (ok, not really, but seriously light).

Two weeks ago he bought a surfboard. A white one. It is beautiful and clean and simple. And, he's serious about this simplicity thing.




So, now I'm (a little more) motivated to simplify my life - to get rid of the clutter and keep what I need.

Too Much Fun?

"Too much fun what's that mean?

It's like too much money, there's no such thing
It's like a girl too pretty, with too much class
Being too lucky, a car too fast
No matter what they say I've done, well I ain't never had too much fun"

Yeah, its kind of a goofy song, but if you've read our blog much, I think you know that we believe there's no such thing as too much fun when it comes to weekends! I learned a few things last week. Most importantly that you should seize every moment. Love on your family and friends, as if you might never see them again. Don't take anyone for granted, b/c next month they could be gone. So, per our usual, Don, Kate and I went out and seized our weekend.

We drove to Florence on Saturday to have lunch with Don's family. Our niece Lauren is graduating from high school on Thursday! Here she is being embarassed by the singing Olive Garden wait staff. I didn't even know they did that for graduation. We're hoping Lauren chooses to go to Columbia International University here in town so that we get to see her more often and Kate gets to know her big cousin. It was so good to see everyone, we should definitely do this more often!

The Family. I really don't like this photo of me, but there are so few of us together as a family, so here it is.
On the way home we stopped by Babies R Us and picked up this cute little activity center for Kate. We'll probably hate "The Farmer in the Dell" by the time its all said and done, but she LOVES it.

On Sunday afternoon we went against our better judgement and headed to the Zoo! I don't know if you know this about Riverbanks, but it has to be one of the hottest places on earth in the summer. Well, today the high was in the 90s, but there was a breeze, so we tried it. Not too bad! Thanks to my friend Lorene, we had 2 free passes. You probably also don't know that the zoo is one of my all time favorite places in the world. Yeah, that's a big statement, but its true! I always wanted to be a zoo vet before I ended up a Microbiologist. I wonder if they need a zoo Microbiologist.....

Kate's first trip to the zoo!


We sought out lots of shade.
Sitting on Happy the Tiger with Mom. Happy was the first resident at Riverbanks Zoo, which opened the year I was born, 1974!


Kate couldn't see most of the animals, and lets face it, this trip was for me and Don and not her, but she did have a few favorite parts:

The penguins with Dad. She also liked it when Dad threw his sunglasses at the Koala bear.. Ok, so I exaggerate a little bit. I wasn't able to get a picture of him picking them out of the exhibit with those "grabber" things. I guess when you don't have any hair to hold them on, it can happen. :)


Loved the plants, trees, and flowers!



Fish with Dad. LOVED the fish. Takes after her Pop.



Here is my attempt at artistic photography. This other blog I read had a post on how to get blurry backgrounds. So, I dropped my f-stop down to 2.7 (that's as low as it would go) and voila! I'm quite pleased with myself.



I think we wore her out. What do you think?


Wow. Its past my bedtime. I have no idea where the hours go, but Kate is asleep (for now) in her own room (!), Don is upstairs sewing (yes, you read that right), and I have just finished cleaning the kitchen that never gets clean and I have a list 2 miles long of stuff I'd like to do (only 2 feet of which might get done after this post). Hopefully Kate won't wake up as often as she did last night and I can get some sleep. Last night was her first full night in her room. It was brutal, but she woke up happy and Don and Foster brought us bagels. This coming week will be my first 5 day week in over a month. Its going to be a long one, but rest assured that next weekend we'll try to have too much fun again.

For the Love of Long Weekends

Long Weekend Part I
Aren't long weekends just the best? You know, when you squeeze lots of fun into Saturday and Sunday, and then realize that you still have one more day to shop/explore/recover. So, we decided to pack up the baby girl and head to the coast. Ah, Charleston, our home away from home... or is that where we live now? For my Birthday/Mother's day, Don and Kate gave me a pedicure at my favorite pedicure spot - Stella Nova. Then they took my sparkly toes to Basil for dinner, where we sat outside and listened to Kate giggle her loudest and longest giggles yet. After crashing in the hotel we had a relaxing Starbucks breakfast, shopped a little and bought Don a surfboard. Oh, and in case you were worried... there was a fair amount of shopping that resulted in Kate acquiring more super cute clothing and a couple of books.

The freshly pedicured toes and Kate's new shoes


Giggles galore!

Don and his new dream surfboard. I liked this purchase b/c it guarantees many more trips back to Charleston this summer!

Kate bopped to the reggae music while we waited on Don to pick his board. She showed off her mellow, Bob Marley side. I'm afraid she'd have dreadlocks if her hair were longer.


Here we are in the truck waiting some more.


Have (only a) Baby, Will Travel
That's plenty to pack into a long weekend, right? Not for us! Monday the 4 of us cruised downtown (Columbia) and had some lunch. I guess we totally forgot that we had a BABY to take care of. I realized when we got to the Saucer that we had no diapers, no wipes, no burp clothes, no binkies, no baby hat, no baby stuff whatsover except for the baby, her car seat, a stroller, and the toys she came with. It worked out ok. There were no diaper blow-outs.

Kate and Foster. Notice she's holding the leash. Don't worry... it wasn't attached to the dog.

Pretty girl.

Her usual happy self.

Yeah, you know I couldn't get through this post without some cute baby feet. She stomped happily in the grass.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig
Ah, finally home. Kate sure knows how to relax. Tuesday I had my final Furlough Day and we took advantage. There was some napping and some coffee and some strolling. Here's Kate kicking back. I think we wore her out.

Relaxed in the ducky tub!

Snoozing in the swing