All Grown Up

Yes, my 3-month-old had to get a passport for our upcoming trip to Canada. Nice, huh?

I'll Just Have the Side Salad--No Dressing

The other night we ventured out to a restaurant with Claire. The waitress came to greet our table. The conversation went like this:

Very Friendly Waitress: "Hi! Ooooh, how far along are you?"

Me: Uhhh . . . (look over at Claire sitting quietly in her infant seat. Suck in tummy a bit more. Contemplate skipping dinner.)

. . . . . . Awkward Pause . . . . . . .

Very Friendly Waitress: "I am only about 1/3 of the way through it. Isn't it good?"

Me: Wha? Huh?

Very Friendly Waitress: (gestures to the latest Harry Potter book we brought with us to read while waiting for our food.)

Me: Oh, yes. (giggle nervously) We are about at the half way point. Yes, yes . . . ah . . . very good indeed.

Weirdness All Around

So while in Dallas, we went to a Weird Al concert. Yes, we are that cool. I went in with fairly low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. He is actually a pretty impressive performer. He sang all the songs I remembered and, at one point, even came out in the fat suit from his "Fat" song which is a parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad".

The experience was made even more special by the unending blog material I got from people watching. Some of the fans, as you can imagine, were just as interesting as the activity on stage.

First of all, we had the mom whose children sat in the seats directly in front of us. No big deal, until you add the balloons they got in the lobby. The mom was totally oblivious to what her children's new playthings were doing to our view of the stage.

Fortunately, we were in general admission seating so we moved down several seats and had the pleasure of sitting behind this fine gentleman. . . .

. . . who came equipped with his own stuffed weasel, raccoon tail (tucked ever so delicately into his sweat pants) and a game boy for playing before the concert. Ladies, I think this one is still available.

Now, I could continue to share funny facts about the fans, but all it does is remind me that I was there too. So, keeping in mind that when you point a finger there are three more pointing back at you (thanks Mom), I will stop here. I would hate to do anything to add to my own growing nerd-dom.

Picture Post '07

Let me guess, the majority of you knew that I would have my hands full with getting Claire back on her schedule after our trip and didn't want to over burden me with too many requests. That's it right? Awwww . . . . you're always thinking of me first!!

Okay, here are the pictures that were requested:

Pigs asked to see Claire in her very cutest outfit.

This was VERY difficult for me considering that she has about 30 cute outfits. Since she HATES having her clothes changed, I spared her the trauma and only put one on her. I also included this bonus smiley pic. Awwww . . .
Pigs also requested a picture of Padme making her famous grimace. Sadly, I had trouble recreating it. You never know when she is going to do it and often times, the efforts involved in recreating it makes her think I am playing and she won't comply. This is as close as I could get, but I think Pigs will testify that it is nowhere close to the real deal.
And finally for Pigs, I present to you . . . my left knee pit. You weirdo.
Now for David, this I believe meets all your requirements. I am standing DIRECTLY in front of the mirror. The mirror extends at least 3 more feet to the left of the door. You never said I had to be in the same room as the mirror. This one took quite a bit of thought. I would expect nothing less from my brother's suggestion!!

That concludes my short picture post for 2007. You now have a full year to think of other fun pics you want to see when we revisit this in '08.

Assignment Time

Okay, I am, once again, stealing a great idea from my fellow blogger Pigs. Every year, Pigs throws out an assignment to her faithful blog community for picture ideas. A sort of picture scavenger hunt if you will. This looked like so much fun that I couldn't help but want to do the same. So here is your assignment:

In the comments section, request any picture that you would like for me to post on my blog. For example: Padme's favorite place to sleep or the dirtiest spot in my house. Be creative, while keeping in mind that my blog is rated PG. Now this is no time to sit back and let everyone else do the suggesting. All you non-commenting readers need to step up!!

I will post the pictures as soon as I can. We will be traveling with Claire this weekend so it will be next week sometime before I update with pictures. Have fun with your suggestions!

Happy Birthday, Uncle David

There are few things sweeter than watching your family cuddle your new child. It was so fun this weekend to watch my brother, the one I fought and struggled with for so many years as a kid, loving on my daughter.

There are so many things about my brother that make me proud. But one that stands out the most after this weekend is what a great dad he is to my nephew and niece. Who would have thought that the same guy who used to pin me down and force me to smell his farts would one day be a perfect example to me of how to raise my child?

Happy birthday, Dave. We love you!

Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear

I apologize for the lack of posting as of late. We went to visit family and friends and have been out of pocket for a bit. Nothing like a little travel to throw a 2 month old off of her schedule! It was totally worth it though for Claire to get to meet more of her extended family.

We had a lovely little run-in with a TRUCK.

I use all caps because it was a very large truck, with a very strong trailer hitch. The trailer hitch was what caused all the damage. (Actually it was running into the hitch that caused the damage, but I digress.)

I could spend line after line here explaining that it wasn't ACTUALLY my fault considering that another vehicle 3 cars up felt that he was more important than everyone else and decided to change lanes at the last second causing everyone to stop abruptly. But I won't do that. Nope, not me. I won't waste my energy explaining that the TRUCK was so massive that I couldn't see over it to know that the traffic was coming to a screeching halt. You won't find me making excuses such as: "I saw the TRUCK's brake lights, but merely assumed it was a casual brake and before I realized it was a massive stop, it was too late." Nope, I am beyond petty excuses such as that.

I will, however, assure you that everyone was okay. Claire slept through the entire ordeal. We are thanking God every day that the Semi-Truck immediately behind us was able to stop in time and didn't slam into the back of us.

Our van is now stuck in a shop in another state. We are living with one vehicle until the van is repaired and we figure out how to go retrieve it.

Poor little van. It was only 7 months old. Sniff.