Monday, April 28, 2008

Crazy Hair Baby

This is what Grace looks like when she wakes up in the morning. She has a striking resemblance to her mama when she gets up. The hair on this child is OUT OF CONTROL. It either sticks straight up in the air or hangs down in her face, looking much like Donald Trump's fabulous comb-over. Do I cut bangs? Do I do it myself or take her somewhere? Or do I let it grow and put it in a barrette or pony in the meantime (which she promptly yanks out)? She is going to be the kid whose mom just lets her run around with wild, crazy hair all the time.

Hope you like the new banner...

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Summer and Randomness

Is Randomness even a word? I just turned the page on my calender that hangs on the wall in the office to May. Pretty much every weekend is filled already! A Derby / Cinco de Mayo Party on the 3rd, Scrapbooking, my B-day, Mothers Day, and a Tigers Game the weekend of the 10th, a wedding on the 17th, another wedding Memorial Day weekend (in NY) and there goes May! What the heck?!

In other news, we finally bought a DSLR camera. I have been researching for over three months and I picked up the Canon Rebel Xsi on Wednesday. I got a pretty good bonus check a week ago and it is my Mothers Day/Birthday present (which happens to be on the same day this year). I have no idea how to fully use it but I have had fun playing with it so far. Any tips from the DSLR owners out there for a newbie?

Stephanie's baby shower was yesterday. She got lots of good stuff, as I am sure she will post about as soon as she gets the pics. Everyone couldn't get over what a good baby Grace is and how cute she looked in her little dress. She is getting quite the personality and people are saying that she is starting to look more like me. Finally, I get some credit- LOL! She was motoring around in her walker this morning trying to open the refrigerator, the trash cupboard, and get in my purse. We are going to have quite the one woman wrecking crew when she starts walking!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The smell of newsprint in the morning

This kid loves newspaper. She loves to crinkle it, shred it, taste it, and get it all over her. It provides her with endless delight.

Forget the taxidermist thing, maybe she is going to be like her papa and work at a newspaper? By the time she is old enough they probably will be all online...


I wish I could bottle up the sound of her laughter and carry it with me everywhere. There is truly no better sound in the world. Worth all those stretch marks :)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Maybe she will grow up to be a taxidermist





As promised, here are the pics of Grace at her Great Grandpa Dawson's house in his animal room. He has been all over the world hunting and has just about every animal there is to prove it!
Enjoy.

Friday, April 18, 2008

What a crazy family

One of the best things about being a mom is watching your husband love your child. Adam really wanted a boy but I tell you what he loves this little girl more than anything in the world and she pretty much thinks daddy is the best thing ever. I love how her face lights up when he walks in a room. It makes my heart melt.

My mom had her third graders make "printers hats" to go along with a lesson they were reading last week. As we know, Grace really enjoys reading the paper with daddy. So, daddy decided that if Nana could make a hat out of newspaper then so could he. They look pretty funny together.

**Disclaimer: This picture was taken post plumbing and pre-shower....

And of course, we had to torment Dooley too. You would think he would get out of this now that we have a little person to play with. However, I am pretty sure my Scotties have no idea they are dogs. Sydney can eat off of a fork and hates getting her paws wet. She is supposed to be able to withstand Scottland's weather and she won't step foot outside if it is raining! Dooley can open latched pantry doors and recognizes landmarks in the car when we are getting close to home or when we are in Concord. Crazy dogs...






Monday, April 14, 2008

A Week At the Gym

Nicki sent this to my e-mail. This is about how long my intentions of going to the gym last too. Does anyone else have this problem? I can't seem to get in a routine. Going to the gym just bores me to death. Maybe I need a friend to go with or a class to join.

Anyway, check it out. Pretty funny.

Dear Diary,
For my 60th birthday this year, my daughter Rachel (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY :Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blond hair, dancing eyes and a dazzli ng white smile. Woo Hoo!! Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week-!!

TUESDAY :I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY :The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair 'monster'. Why would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other stuff too.

THURSDAY :Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late. It took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. She sent another skinny so and so to find me. Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine - which I sank.

FRIDAY :I hate that Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little cheerleader! If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY : Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching 11 straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY :I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter Rachel will choose a gift for me that is fun like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Blogger Slacker


Adam informed me this evening that I haven't updated my blog in a while and that I am a slacker. I think its pretty funny he is the blog police and is anxiously awaiting my next post since he makes fun of this blogging thing most of the time. So, I will bore you to death with a play by play of my weekend :)

I had a much better weekend than the last when I was deathly ill. It was another scrapbooking Friday with the girls. Met a few more new faces and got 4 pages done. I so enjoy just hanging out with other girls, being creative, and just having some "me" time. Saturday I took advantage of my 30% off coupon at the GAP and got this, this, this, this, and this. We also went to Grandpa Dawson's 81st b-day party. Ann (my MIL) got some pretty funny pics of Grace with all of the animals in the house, I will post those as soon as she e-mails them to me. Grandpa Dawson is a taxidermist and has moose, elk, deer, and lifesize mounts of bears in his house. It is like nothing you have ever seen.

Sunday we had Matt (Adam's brother) and his roommate Derek over for dinner. We bought a new grill today and wanted to try it out. We followed it up with some yummy Maggie Moos for dessert. Matt just bought a house about a month ago and it is just down the street from us. It is so nice having him so close!

The pic above is the best we could get of the two of them together...

Monday, April 7, 2008

Leaving A Comment

I have been meaning to post how to leave a comment for a while now. I hear from many of you out there that you visit my blog frequently but you are not sure on how to leave a comment. I am a sucker for comments and I started this whole thing as a way to stay in touch with all of you near and far so please leave me a message!

So here is the deal:

1. Click on the link at the end of a post labeled "Comments"

2. Type your message in the box labeled "Leave Your Comment"

3. Type the letters you see in the word verification box (this helps eliminate spam)

4. Choose and identity. You DO NOT have to be a registered user to leave a comment. You can select "Google/Blogger" if you have a hotmail, gmail, or google user ID and password OR you can select "Open ID" and just type in your name.

5. Hit "Publish Your Comment". Easy as that! Now I want to hear from all you lurkers out there! That means you- Mom, Ann, Nicki, Beckie, Nancy, Sally, Peggy, Julie, Ilene.....

The ride of your life

I have a stoller obsession. I have been on the hunt for the perfect stroller since I was pregnant. All I wanted was something fashionable, lightweight, all-terrain, and would work for a baby or a toddler. Why can't someone invent something that is the best of a travel system, umbrella, and jogger in one? I think I came pretty close with my new Bumbleride Indie. It weighs in at 19lbs and folds down quite compact, has a swivel or locked front wheel making it ideal for any road condition from mall treking to jogging, has a universal car seat adapter (with the option to buy a matching car seat cover!), has a weight limit up to 45 lbs, and is super cool looking.

Here is Grace enjoying her new ride. Works great for those uneven Jackson sidewalks and manuvered great at Michaels whose aisles can be tricky with a bulky stroller.
Speaking of Michaels, they finally finished our custom frame. Here are some pictures of the finished product. Our wedding picture used to hang here and I figured it was time for a change.

What do you think?

8 Months


On April 4th Grace turned 8 months. She is growing in so many ways now and her little personality is emerging more and more every day. The picture above illistrates her newest love which is to stand OUTSIDE her excersaucer. She laughs when she falls and can almost pull herself back up. The funniest thing is when the music plays and she dances. It doesn't matter what tune it is she will just wiggle her little butt and bob her head to the music. Too cute.
No headway on the crawling front. She still just rolls around on her tummy or flops around like a fish. I wonder if she will ever crawl? She is finally starting to get a tooth. I can feel a tiny little bit of her right bottom one emerging. She is loving her daddy right now. She gets the biggest smile when he walks in the room and loves when he plays rough with her. I just close my eyes and cringe.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Does this baby look sick to you?


I took Grace to the doctor today because she has been running a temp and coughing for a few days. She had a temp of 103 last Friday but I had Mere (my friend who is a PA) check her out and her ears looked fine and her lungs were clear. I took her to the pediatrician today sure they were going to tell me is was a virus and to give her some Tylenol. Turns out she has a double ear infection and a very red sore throat. Poor baby, she has been acting pretty normal: a dry cough, runny nose, and a little clingier than usual but otherwise very happy. We are so lucky she is such a little ray of sunshine. Unfortunately that means it's hard to tell when something is wrong. It kills me that she has been suffering with this for a few days and I waited to go to the doctor.
In other news, Luke, my nephew, was in the hospital last night with the crud, my brother is passing a kidney stone, and my Grandpa had his 3rd artificial hip put in. It has been a crazy week so I have been MIA for a while. I had a great weekend. I went out to dinner with Scott and Nicki and we had way too much fun. We don't get out much so we kind of get out of hand when we do. You are right, Nicki, next time we are for sure riding the bull! On Saturday we went to Big Ten Gymnastics meet. State did pretty good, they ended up getting fourth. I got to see a couple of old teammates and we went out to dinner which is always fun.
So hopefully things have calmed down and I will do a better job of keeping up with the blog!