Go Lions

ok, this week's People contains nauseating pictures of new celebrity moms who have dropped their pregnancy weight JUST LIKE THAT ... some exercise, yes, but mostly just from chasing their kid or breastfeeding ... exactly where am I supposed to chase Annie? she isn't exactly mobile yet ... personal pregnancy weight just hangs around, despite self's constant running up and down stairs, toting constantly growing child, fighting off predatory hawks with bare hands, caring for entire family, dancing to 'N Sync DVD for entertainment of not-so-tiny Annie, etc. sigh ... at least winter is coming ... have extra weight all stored up.
on unrelated note ... have decided bitterness over yesterday's frustrating loss to Auburn is not good reason for self to create new personal history to include brand new alma mater of USC or Texas or any other school AT ALL with a competitive football program ... still, can it possibly be that hard to throw and catch?? actually, no, self can throw and catch ... am tired of rooting for school with horrific football record year after year ... but will stick it out. must find fresh enthusiasm for State ... is not (ha ha, Kel) dark time ... ok, is dark time, but will find light ...

Auburn vs. MSU (Rebuilding Year LXXXVIII)

has been lovely day visiting friends and their little girl in Clarksville watching alma mater Mississippi State not win another game ... sigh. has been two SEC games in a row that State has scored zero points. honestly, how many "rebuilding years" can a football program have??
on brighter note, was great fun watching Annie and Aubrey together ... Annie seems to really like other babies ... she just completely passed out in the car from the excitement of it all ...

Especially for Aunt Mar from Lucy Tooter

With much joy and love and a
belief in God's abounding
gifts ... thanks for a
perfectly timed e-mail ...

Do the Dew

has already been eventful day full of fluids, annie's among others ... after hugely messy breakfast (hers, not mine) of oatmeal cereal and bananas and lots of burping, changed her out of crusty little sleeper into clean clothes ... such a fresh little girl. played and had lovely time ... was about time for mid-morning nap, so went to change annie's diaper and found (love when this happens) a surprise little poop in there ... hoisted her bottom half up so as to keep feet, etc. out of poop at which time she tinkles, which of course shoots out everywhere because her tinkler is sticking straight up in the air ... then, just for good measure she spits up banana (how could she not since I have her little stomach turned upside down?) which runs down the back of her neck ... alas, all of this occurs in about 1.2 seconds. now, split-second decision: what to clean up first?? yep, always the poop, ALWAYS. get her stripped down, cleaned up (she thinks entire situation is very funny) and down for her nap ... is time for my breakfast now ... make lovely scrambled eggs and opt for much needed caffeine-loaded Mountain Dew ... am sitting in floor enjoying breakfast when huge Mary Barclay accidentally knocks over Mountain Dew but doesn't notice until drink runs under her paw and she just stands in huge drink puddle as Hope (last dog on earth who needs caffeine) cleans up around her. as for me? I decided they could handle that mess.

Annie's First Haircut

And so today Annie had her very first little haircut, and yes, she needed it ... did fabulously well and (true to the ways of our family) loved looking at herself in the mirror) ... such a fun place wish they did grown-up haircuts! p.s. note her cute little tennis shoes in the first picture.
and (in a small tribute to Steve Irwin) a small but exciting nature story from my very own life... for long-time readers of the blog you are familiar with Rambo and Roxie, our sweet little parakeets. in nice weather, we put them ( in their cage) out on our screened-in porch to commune with other bird relatives of the wild (translation: other bird relatives who are feeding at the feeders) yesterday, a loud ruckus occurred, such a loud ruckus that sweet Mary Barclay who doesn't expend energy for just anything was up and barking at the screened-in porch ... self was frightened but confused ... looked out window and enormous predatory bird was ferociously attacking the screen trying to get to the frantic Roxie and Rambo ... rushed out (throwing caution to the proverbial wind) and grabbed cage, even though predatory bird was staring me down and believe could have carried me away were it not for the extra 6 months old post-pregnancy weight I carry around like luggage ... VERY scary moment ... believe was hawk ... so there ... never fear, readers, is always excitement to be found, even in the most seemingly mundane little places ...

Sweet Potato Queen

PMS For Babies

am back to world of blogging on brand new computer ... old computer has gone to rest in the sky ...
biggest change to report in my little corner of world: annie possibly teething. not necessarily happy news as last week our precious, smiling and laughing little girl became someone else entirely ... and not really in a good way. made self want to go out into front yard, dig lovely hole, place head into hole and remain there indefinitely. long week ... then suddenly, as quickly as she went through the change she came back to her usual self ... very happy to see but makes self hesitant about each new day. wonder if this is similar to how men feel when women have PMS? (or, to be quite honest about the whole thing, how men feel all the time with women?)
one more thing about new computer: am working to figure out new picture program, so will try to post pictures asap but have to learn how first ...

Come In, Houston

in process of buying new computer today ... should be back to blogging very soon ...

Stay Tuned

am working on new post with pictures from trip home but have computer power cord issues in that cord is apparently fried and won't connect to computer properly ... battery also having issues so won't hold a charge very long, which results in self blogging with one hand and holding the power cord with the other ... stay tuned ...

It Takes a Village, Part 2

have been home visiting family in Columbus for several days and have had revelation: parenting is actually quite simple, not at all stressful and certainly never cause for one to wish for even a moment to put one's head into toilet bowl and flush ... the answer is merely to have at least three people (AT LEAST) participating in aformentioned parenting. enormous poopy diaper that has exploded down infant's leg onto pajamas? no worries with six hands to address issue. feeding time? please, let's try a truly challenging situation, shall we? oh, right, there's not one with a small crowd around the infant at all times to do whatever may be required ... God bless grandparents.

A Day In the Life of Annie

Hippity Hop Hop

house is being overrun by dust bunnies and their huge, extended families ... such a shame that housekeeping has to take a backseat to little Annie as self used to love dusting and such so so much!! moved some furniture around over weekend and was appalled at amount of dust that has accumulated ... feel safest bet is to leave Pledge out in strategic place so if anyone comes by will appear as if am in middle of housecleaning and am aware of terrible dust situation and very concerned about doing something productive about it ... all about keeping up appearances you see. in reality have no intention of spending any spare moment I have dusting as is just not fun ... would rather sit outside and literally watch the blades of grass just grow, grow, grow ...
annie is going through some sort of change it would seem ... was doing so good with sleeping through the night and taking good naps during the day ... suddenly found self with actual hours during the day just to myself (of course not enough to do any sort of housecleaning) but now she is fighting and fighting NOT to take a nap ... hopefully is some phase; otherwise will be expecting her period anyday now. good grief.

Weekend At Annie's

Sweet Dreams

readers, brace yourselves: self has become somewhat psychotic naptime mother ... Annie's used to be 5 or 6 30-minute power naps throughout the day have lately turned into 3 and 4 hour naps once a day, sometimes twice ... is good but paranoia has taken over and find self making a LOT of trips upstairs to make sure she's breathing. there is of course a method to the checking ... must be at just the right angle to seek rise and fall of little body indicating breathing ... wrong angle can be confusing if pattern on precious baby clothing suggests breathing movement that may or may not be there so have to re-adjust level of head until can see tiny Annie breathing ... it is not only checking for breathing that is new stress of long naps: self must be sure Annie hasn't miraculously developed the ability to hurl herself out of the crib and onto the floor, must be sure she hasn't forcefully moved the crib bedding and wedged herself between the bars, must be sure she hasn't suddenly moved to a standing position and pulled the mobile down on top of herself; there are just so many potential hazards ... not to mention avoiding the squeaky parts of the stairs as I bound up them ... quite a sight I suppose, especially considering sweet Hopie makes every step with me. Of course, truth be told, she's just as paranoid as I am ...

Distracted By Vanity

vanity has ashamedly grabbed self today ... have realized majority of days are spent with no make-up on, no cute hairstyle (in fact, no hairstyle to speak of at all) and outfit usually consisting of pajamas or hastily thrown on shorts and t-shirts for errand-running. (to be perfectly honest, was terror-filled moment in Target yesterday when suddenly had serious doubt that self had remembered to put on shorts at all because as pj pants came off Annie had some spit-up calamity and couldn't recall if had ever retrieved shorts or just left house in underwear ... ) would like to be cute mom with effortless style not mom who questions whether she is fully clothed ... will find way to hastily throw on stylish yet functional clothes, ala clothes covered in some sort of plastic material to repel spit-up, etc... is more calming to think of such things than thwarted terrorist plots ... scary world sometimes ...

Sir, Yes, Sir

has been interesting day as many days are ... because is extraordinarily hot here in Nashville have not been getting Annie out much but instead have been getting most favorite babysitter to come over while I run errands ... however, just had two short but important errands to run today so loaded up and headed out ... arrived at first store, unloaded Annie, and lovely STRANGER in parking lot commented on how beautiful Annie is (duh), then said "and to have her out in this heat, my goodness!!" I do love unsolicited advice from people I don't know ... as if Annie was in tiny fatigues crawling across the parking lot practicing maneuvers ... good grief ...
then on to next critical errand: Target to buy exersaucer so Annie can continue developmental growth ... am still adjusting to steering buggy with her carseat obscuring most of the view so swerved all over store taking out displays, clothes racks, entire families (do the children here ever go back to school?) and one unfortunate employee. Finally arrived back home for fun tummy time on surfboard motif mat ... amazing self is not complete buffoon given that huge range of toys not available when was small child. Anyway, tummy time short-lived as Annie passed out for a nap after errand-running ...

The New Bumbo Seat

Going, Going, Gone

This is Annie practicing sitting up on our couch surrounded by pillows ...

What IVF Can Really Mean

18 Years and Counting

lately have found self caught up in home renovation shows and the like ... design on a dime, design on a nickel, design on a penny, sell this house, flip this house, flip that house, national open house, international open house, etc. have decided master bathroom should become escape spa -- like bathroom seen in bathroom expo 2006 made completely of recycled products ... bathtub built into floor with windows thrown wide open to reveal beautiful treetop views; heated floor so no "cold tile floor" feeling when stepping from ocean-size tub (is large enough to scuba dive); faucets which respond to voice commands and similar amenities. will streamline home into modern, clutter-free machine, both aesthetically pleasing and efficient ... oh wait, have small infant ... plans on back burner for 18 years or so.