Ta Da!

The porch is 99.99999% done (big sigh of relief). We are so happy with it and have been spending a lot of time out there already. This week is finally turning fall-like, so we will have the door open all the time. Hooray! I took some pictures, but they really don’t do it justice, you’ll all just have to come over and see it sometime.

Porch Time

Been too busy to write much lately. Brian and I have been working on the never-ending porch project. I really do like home improvement projects, however, I always always kid myself into thinking its going to take ¼ of the time it ends up actually taking. Always. Every time. You would think after redoing our entire house I would have a better idea, but I guess I am a slow learner. Anyhow, we truly are in the home stretch now. We’ve got the outside to paint and I have one more chair cushion to recover. Oh, and a threshold to keep the rain from running in under the door. Hopefully we will be done on Saturday (no kidding myself this time). It looks soooo great. We had a little taste of fall last weekend (note the sweats in HP’s pics) but we’re back to 80s and 90s, damn it. I am ready for cool days and nippy evenings to sit and relax out there. I will snap a couple pics of the final outcome this weekend.
In the meantime, here are a couple of the girlio. She is still cruising like crazy, clapping, pointing at things, and eating all kinds of new foods. She is standing all the time now – she doesn’t sit down much. The first one is at her new play table. The second is what happens every time I break the camera out. I have several pics like it.

Music makes the world go round

I went to Karrie’s last night to meet the ladies out on her deck to visit and drink wine. It was a lovely evening and the company was fabulous, as always. My girlfriends are truly the best—how lucky I am to have them. The weather was perfect as well. I love that fall is coming…less bugs, less heat, and more dreaming of high school football games and getting excited to don the first sweater. Fall is definitely my favorite season.
On the drive down to Karrie’s, I put a mix cd in that I hadn’t heard in ages. It had “If you want to sing out, sing out” by Cat Stevens on it, from the movie Harold and Maude. I’ll start by saying that is one of my favorite movies. It makes me laugh out loud AND bawl every time. So good. Anyhow, emotions overcame me hearing that song and I began to think of other songs that have that effect on me. Some are from my childhood, like, “I Started A Joke” by the BeeGees. I remember thinking that was the saddest song ever written when I was 4. I actually remember crying when hearing it.
Anyhow, here’s a short list of some that bring out a whole range of emotions in me.
“If you want to sing out, sing out” Cat Stevens – if you’ve seen the movie, you know. If you haven’t; rent it. It’s a simple theme. Cherish life.
“Eleanor Rigby” The Beatles – another one as a kid that broke my heart, no one came to the funeral! And all those lonely people.
“Tears of Rage” The Band – I’ve never heard so much emotion in a voice. This is a must listen selection. The fact that he committed suicide years later makes it even more heart wrenching. Plus, it is the most pertinent tambourine in a song.
“Summertime” Janis Joplin – just a great version of a bluesy classic.
“No Rain” Blind Melon – I think of college days and that little chubby bee girl. She gets me every time. Corny, I know.
“In My Life” The Beatles – Brian and I danced to this at our wedding. I sang it to Hattie everyday I was pregnant with her. Do I need to say more?
Here are a few more classics, for differing reasons. And this list is not even close to being comprehensive...just what's on my mind at the moment!
“Ophelia” The Band – one of the best songs ever. Ever, I say!
“Wish You Were Here” Pink Floyd - I could listen to this song a million times and not tire of it. A true classic.
“Little Wing” Hendrix or Clapton – same deal. Classic.
“Strong Enough” Sheryl Crow – perfect sing along (acoustic KBCO version is best)
“Black Coffee in Bed” Squeeze – another good sing along, and it reminds me of Lake Lotawana with Ferk when we were in grade school
“Stir It Up” Bob Marley – just for groovin
“Can You Hear Me Knockin” The Rolling Stones – their best song and awesome to rock out to. That’s a band term, rock out, right? (FotConchords)
“Working Man” Rush – only good played extremely loud
"Ghost at Number 1" Jellyfish - another one that is very good very loud
I could add another hundred, but will stop there.
Bon weekend.

Update the Resume

We have lots of new things to add to Hattie’s bag of tricks. She had a very big week. In addition to the four new teeth, she is now clapping her heart out at anything and everything. Even with a few extremely grumpy days, we’re now cheering for everything. Dinner time? Hooray! Another toy? Hooray! Poopy diaper? Hooray! It’s a bit like being at a sporting event with all that applause. Dancing is another fun thing she’s been practicing. There’s been a lot of booty shaking going on. She’s not exactly Baryshnikov, but we’re getting there. I can't wait until she can stand and dance...that funny, squatty-thing kids do. Love that. It's always good for a giggle. She has also been pulling up some, but not without a few comical faces getting there. You'd think she was climbing Everest.
And the last thing-the one that I, personally, have been dreading… stranger anxiety. Yuck. We went to Brian’s brother’s house on Sunday for a cookout and HP absolutely flipped out just walking in the door. Too many (somewhat) unfamiliar faces all talking to her at once, I guess. She absolutely freaked out. Multiple times. The fact that we were missing nap time to be there didn’t help much. The fact that everyone there, bless them, thought that they could ‘fix her’ if they took her and held her didn’t help. Obviously, as a parent I don’t want my kid to be in pain, sad, or scared. But, she’s an infant and these things are inevitable. My problem with big groups is that I don’t want to make everyone listen to my screaming kid. And I want everyone to know what a laid-back, fantastic kid I have 99.9% of the time -- that was not apparent in any way that day! Oh well, these are things we will get over, I suppose. She and me. Her and I; whatever. In the meantime, I need to get her out more and used to seeing unfamiliar faces and places more often. We tend to stay at home a lot. But, we’re going exploring more now. Hopefully this stage will be a short one.
Regarding the pics… I absolutely love the one of Hattie and Brian. It highlights the hilarious-looking new teeth (Hattie’s not Bri’s) and the fun we typically have. The second one is her in one of her new favorite places…under her exersaucer. I guess it’s her first official ‘fort’. The third one is our dainty little flower with her new, mean, scrunch-face which we’ve been seeing a lot of these days. It’s usually accompanied by heavy panting. She’s a flower, she is.

Grins

This weekend Hattie smiled and I spied a tooth poking through on top. Upon further inspection, I saw FOUR teeth coming in! All on top. At first I saw only three-- one front tooth and two on either side. That would’ve looked pretty comical if the other front tooth had lagged. But it is now poking through, too. She is going to look so different soon. It’s amazing how quickly she is changing; I swear some days you can almost observe it happening.
She is also crawling a lot now. When she does, she breathes really loud and fast like she's having sooo much fun. This is good, as it makes it much easier to track her. I know she’s on a roll when I hear breathing and squealing. She’s pretty funny, that girl.
Lately I’ve been having these visions of her when she is bigger. The other day we were sitting under a fan, her hair blowing and we were laughing. I had this vision of her being 12 years old on an amusement park ride. It came in a flash and it makes me so excited to see what kind of person she is going to become. So far her personality is very laid back, but highly inquisitive-- she has to know everything going on, just like her dad. As her Grammy says, “she doesn’t miss a trick”. She also has Brian and my own love of music….she will stop whatever she is doing and listen to a song being played for several moments. She is very funny and loves us being goofy. Its funny that at such a young age babies know "goofy". And obviously, Brian and I are. She gets very excited when all three of us are together and we play. I do get the impression that it is the highlight of her day (its also mine). I can’t wait to watch her personality develop more and more as she gets older.
And I’ll get some pics of her toothy grin soon….

9 Months

Yesterday was Hattie's 9 month birthday. I can't believe she is already 3/4 of a year old! My mom bought her age cards to get a picture taken with each month. This month and last were pretty comical, as she wants to eat and play with the cards, not pose with them. Anyway, they are below with my favorite profile pic I took and some of the very cute puzzle my parents made for her. Yep, made.

100

Emily is ever my blog idol (all hail Queen of the Blog!). She made a list of 100 things about herself. It is supposed to be a self-enlightening process. I don't know about that, but I do know its probably more than anyone wants to know about me. And its terribly random. Here goes...
1. My shower is my dirty little secret. ‘Dirty’ being the key word.
2. My new eyes have made this terribly apparent-I used to live blissfully blind and unaware. How does a “cleaning area” become so dirty so quickly?
3. The rest of my house is pretty clean.
4. My husband is my best friend.
5. It is a huge pleasure having a copilot to share life with.
6. I love wine.
7. I enjoy a good buzz.
8. I enjoy a good buzz more often than I should.
9. I request catalogues just to get mail.
10. I do not like to see myself in pictures.
11. I do not like to be videotaped. At all.
12. When looking in the mirror, I do not look at the ‘big picture’ only small areas. Clean teeth, mascara application, hairdo, etc.
13. I do not own a full length mirror.
14. My daughter makes my heart smile more than anything else on earth.
15. They say that the average person laughs 17 times a day. With Brian, Hattie, friends and family I more than double that. Easily.
16. I like my freckles and loathe my age spots.
17. I consider my gray hairs a right of passage.
18. I choose a day to clean house when I know I can be home that night to snuggle in and enjoy it. And I do immensely.
19. I am a blusher who hates to blush. It’s a crippling weakness to me.
20. Some of the reasons I chose to be a scientist; fewer people to deal with
21. No presentations.
22. No dressing up.
23. Oh yeah, and I like science. It’s the hands-on part that I like. I’m no brainiac.
24. I am a big penny pincher when it comes to (most) things.
25. I don’t see any reason to pay obscene amounts of money to be a walking billboard.
26. I don’t see any reason to pay obscene amounts of money on clothing or purses to impress other people.
27. I don’t feel the need to ‘pamper’ myself much. My whole life is pretty cushy.
28. I’ve never had a pedicure.
29. I’ve had 1 (free) massage. This I may treat myself to again someday.
30. I’ve had 2 manicures and don’t get the appeal. My nails suck.
31. My girlfriends are one of my biggest assets. I couldn’t feel any more fortunate to have them. Most I have known since high school or longer.
32. I don’t talk to them nearly enough.
33. I am aiming for retirement at 55.
34. 35 would be better.
35. Short of being independently wealthy, I enjoy my job very much.
36. I refuse to buy Hattie any clothing with the word Princess or Diva on it.
37. Piercing the ears of babies makes me cringe. Aren’t their faces beautiful enough without painful adornments they didn’t choose?
38. A good cup of coffee is one of life’s great pleasures.
39. So is chocolate anything.
40. I am striving to be the kind of parent that my parents are to me.
41. My family is the best. Ever. Truly.
42. You can’t have them.
43. I have ridden on a fan boat in the Everglades.
44. I have visited 10 countries. England, Ireland and Switzerland are my favorites.
45. On my bad days, I daydream of shucking it all and moving to Ireland.
46. I regret not studying more in school.
47. The Sunday paper and lounging with family are what weekends are all about.
48. I am a horrible arguer/debater.
49. My best comebacks usually arrive an hour too late.
50. I watch too much tv, but enjoy it a lot.
51. My wardrobe is pretty pathetic.
52. I have a love/hate relationship with shopping.
53. And my body. It’s healthy & strong, but flabby.
54. I try to convince myself I like working out.
55. Most of the time, I do not.
56. I do get a high when I work out hard enough.
57. But it’s not often enough!
58. My opinions sometimes get in the way of my happiness.
59. Hattie is exceptional. And I am not biased.
60. My husband is goofy and sooo kind-hearted. Two of his best qualities.
61. Patience is not a virtue of mine.
62. But I am working on it.
63. Clowns frighten me.
64. So does public speaking.
65. And maggots.
66. And leeches.
67. If I could take my family and friends, I would move to the beach.
68. I love water. Drinkable, swimmable, watchable. I can stare at the ocean or a lake for hours. And have.
69. I am competitive, but hopefully in a fun way.
70. The last few years I have been embarrassed to be an American. Thanks, George.
71. I have a phone phobia. Hate talking to anyone I don’t see on a regular basis. I feel awkward and talk too fast. I’ve no idea why.
72. I don’t own a cell phone.
73. David Beckham and Matt Damon are pretty close to perfect physical specimens.
74. I doodle a lot.
75. My knees are beginning to sound like rice krispies.
76. I have a huge extended family all in KC. Huge. And they are really, really fun.
77. I’ve never broken a bone.
78. Hard physical labor is extremely rewarding to me. But I am glad I don’t have to do it for a living.
79. Our yard is in a sad state of affairs.
80. I enjoy working in the yard, but don’t do it nearly enough. HP is my excuse.
81. After her bath time, I sniff Hattie more than I probably should.
82. I love my car.
83. After life at KU, I am pretty adept at parallel parking.
84. I tried to learn drums, but my sense of timing is not so good. It is fun, though!
85. I wish for Hattie her father’s musical abilities.
86. Even with my fear of public speaking, I have always dreamed of being a great singer.
87. When I am not in a hurry, I like my handwriting.
88. I would absolutely hate living in Hollywood or L.A.
89. I love board games.
90. One of 3 “Bs” always sounds good. Beatles, Bob (Marley) or The Band.
91. I could live on grilled veggies, pizza, tofu stir fry and Chipotle burrito bowls.
92. Add chocolate and baked goods to that list.
93. At all times I have all the ingredients in my kitchen to make chocolate chip cookies.
94. I wish I could express myself better when I am angry or upset.
95. Does anyone really need or want to know this much about me?
96. I have become much less lazy as I’ve aged and become a wife and mom. I like that.
97. Hattie is my joy in life, but sometimes I miss my independence and freedom.
98. Compassion is a quality I am working on.
99. The older I get, the mellower my music becomes.
100. My life is pretty damn good.