Monday, April 26, 2010

weekend snapshots

I hope your weekend was nice. Friday was beautiful here, so Hannah enjoyed some time in the sunshine. Here are some pics from the weekend. 


watching Daddy's every move...always.


 Sweet sleeping baby in child's pose. This is really how she sleeps.

Hannah's reaction to pears.

Baby played while Daddy worked on his vegetable and herb garden. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, pimentos, basil, rosemary, parsley, and mint are in our future.

When it came time for Mollie to get a bath, she went and hid behind the baby. Good move.


cafe au lait...

Good morning! My sweet hubby just presented me with a cup of coffee. He does this many mornings, but today was different. Today was his first attempt at frothing milk with his hand mixer (favorite gadget) and adding steamed milk and foam to my otherwise run-of-the-mill cup o' joe. Not only that, he sprinkled cinnamon-sugar on top. I'm in love. I don't know who was more excited with the outcome - him or me?

So now, here I am, sipping this delicious cup sleepy-eyed because Hannah decided crying for 2 hours in the middle of the night was acceptable. I'm trying so hard to feel better, really - positive thinking, optimism. Unfortunately, you can only be optimistic for so long when your body loses the battle to whatever's going around. The last few days I have felt yucky. Cough, congestion, chills, and all over body aches. Mucinex, the Neti Pot, and lots of hot tea and rest has been my plan of attack. Yesterday, I didn't even go to church (Gasp! The preacher's wife!) Nope. Hannah and I stayed home, alternating between feedings and naps. What's worse - I shared this fun with Joe who doesn't get to rest all day on Sundays. Thankfully, he didn't get it quite as bad...

Soooo.....here's an observation every parent knows: it doesn't matter to babies whether mom or dad don't feel well. Nope. They still cry, and throw fits, and have blow-outs, and refuse to eat, and wake up in the middle of the night extremely upset for no found cause. Life with a baby doesn't stop because you don't feel good. Nope. You gotta get up and get moving...and try to keep up despite the fact that you want to stay hidden under the covers, turn down the monitor, and ignore those annoying lights flashing: "Baby's upset! Baby's upset!"

Baby is fine. We're going through a "stage." She's been teething pretty bad the last several days and is generally fussy. Last night, nothing we did seemed to help. Rocking, pacifier, singing, Tylenol...we actually ended up giving her a bottle. Eventually, she settled down, and then - like a light - she was out. Now, if that bottle would've just pushed back her morning feeding a little later so Mommy could sleep...

That's ok. Did I mention how good this coffee is though?

I will get by.
I will get by.
I will get by.
I will survive.

- Touch of Grey, Grateful Dead

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Observations from the carwash

Just a short little story -

Today I decided enough was enough. My car was a light shade of green when it's normally silver. A large bug population had taken up their final resting place on my front bumper. The windshield was getting so bad that I had to use the washer fluid just to be able to see to drive. The Boo needed to be washed and it wasn't going to wash itself. I kept relying on the rain to take care of it... We don't need to be spending money on unnecessary things like a detail. Plus, I admire people like Mama Buck and Aunt Karen who diligently wash their cars themselves. So this afternoon, I buckle Hannah into her car seat and set off for the Jesup car wash.  As we pull up I see this sign over each "stall":



Immediately I am skeptical. First, do you notice that "0" patch over what was "5"? Second, I'm thinking 20 minutes doesn't seem like that much time. (It turns out I was right.) So before I put my 14 quarters in I read through all the 9 steps...yes, dorky, I realize. But it'd been so long since I've done a car wash myself that I thought if I read everything I will be better positioned to achieve desired results.



The steps: tire cleaner (the neon yellow spray is neat); engine cleaner (...what?); pre-soak (not exactly sure what the point of this step is); high pressure soap (my favorite step); scrub brush (most effort involved here...); rinse (which you select after several of the other steps, too); clear coat; wax; and spot-free rinse.

Here are a few things I learned:
  1. The scrub brush really does not need to put out that much soap. Really.
  2. The soap from said scrub brush is a ridiculously bright shade of blue.
  3. The "clear coat" stage involves a spaghetti noodle-sized stream coming out of the sprayer. If I chose to stay on this option, I would have wasted most of the 20 minutes just trying to cover the whole car.
  4. You have to be MOVING to get all the suggested steps done.
  5. This whole ordeal was a work out. My arms were sore. My back was sore.
I really admire people that choose this route over a spiffy detail service. I understand why some people, like Joe III and Ben, choose to pay for said spiffy detail service. You really have to consider opportunity cost in this matter...

Note: This was last Wednesday. Thursday, I buckled Hannah up and went back for round 2 with Joe's car. I am crazy.

Alas, it rained all weekend.





Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Favorite Faces


Every once in a while there's a look Hannah gives us. Her eyes are saying "What is wrong with you?" It comes when we say something she doesn't recognize or make a funny noise in response to something she does. Her eyebrows dart in and she has a look of complete puzzlement. We call this "The Look" because there's really no other way to describe it. It is just plain funny. And she always is taken by surprise when we laugh after she does it. It's also very hard to catch on camera. So in tribute to that face, as well as other ones we love, I thought I'd post some of our favorites:


Caught playing in the crib during nap time.


Goofy girl...


Perfectly happy in Mommy's arms...


I'm gonna getcha!



Contagious smiles...



Monday, April 19, 2010

walking with hannah

Hannah and I love to go for walks. We both enjoy being outside in the sunshine.  I like the time to talk to God or to just let my mind wander as I push the stroller down the street. I love to hear Hannah squeal as she takes it all in. I love the flowers and trees. I love the many blues of the sky and all the different types of clouds. It never gets old... Recently I've enjoyed watching the wisteria, dogwoods, and azaleas bloom. And I don't know if it's just me, but the azaleas seem so much prettier this year than I've ever remembered them.  Maybe it's because we had to wait so long for them to bloom because of our long winter! But the vibrancy and variety of all the colors is so beautiful.  Recently, on a couple of occasions, I brought the camera along.


Hannah's 1st Easter!

Happy Easter...two weeks ago! Now that we are back from our trip to San Francisco, our lives are returning to normal. Meaning lots and lots of pictures to edit and upload. Below are pictures from the weekend. The first few are from the egg hunt at the church. Hannah wanted to eat everything she picked up.  On Sunday, she wore my (and my mom's) Easter dress and bonnet! So sweet. I got a little carried away with documenting Hannah's first Easter. But...you only have one first Easter. And...well, it's just in my nature to take lots (and lots) of pictures. When Hannah hams it up - as she did on Easter - I'm snap happy! Here are some of them:


Grandma came too!


Gran Gran and Poppy came down for church.