Merry Christmas Baby!

Merry Christmas to all.  And what a wonderful holiday it was for us!  This sweet little package was all we needed from Santa, but that didn't stop him from bringing me a brand new camera and laptop.  I must've been extra good this year!  So forgive me if my photos and postings aren't up to par - I'm learning all the bells and whistles on my new equipment.  I've already accidentally posted this once halfway finished because I clicked the wrong button.  Oops.  Anyway, our holiday was delightful, courtesy of this little sugarplum here.  Grandma and Grandpa came down the mountain through the snow in a one-horse-open-Kia stocked with presents for Sarah Beth.  So much for taking it easy this Christmas.  She also must've been a very good girl this year because she received a new wardrobe, a library of books, and some fun toys to play with.  Not to be outdone, Me-maw and Papa T sent a boatload of gifts as well.  Our tree was overflowing this year.  We started the festivities with Christmas Eve family worship service.  SB loved the candles and the music, and we loved that it was over in less than an hour.  No time for baby to get bored - whew!  Christmas day was a soggy mess outside but inside we had our love to keep us warm, in addition to hot coffee, Mimsosas and a new furnace. Sarah Beth was a delight all day, enjoying the wrapping paper as much as the presents themselves, naturally. 

With my parents, aka Mr. and Mrs Christmas, coming to town, we had to step it up a litttle with our decorations.  We surprised my Dad with an outdoor display of light-up reindeer and twinkly trees to rival his own.  And my tablescape would make Martha Stewart turn green with envy if I say so myself. 

See the lights in the backyard?  Fabulous job Kurtie Claus!

Eat your heart out Martha!

Stole the cranberries-in-candle holder idea from my crafty Mom.

I was obsessed with these little guys from Crate and Barrel.

Souvenir ornaments for our honored guests.  CandB tried to charge me for 8 of these little penguins when I only bought 1.  They are $7 cute, not $60 cute. Always check your receipts, ladies and gentlemen.

The day after Christmas we went for a stoll downtown to see the decorations and work off some of the beef tenderloin we all devoured for Christmas dinner.  We watched the ice skaters and took a stroll through the streets. 

Our favorite chicken

Love this shot.  My new camera rocks! Oh and the baby is pretty darn cute, too.

Obligatory Grandma and Grandpa Reindeer Poses

There was a bunch of kids playing Christmas Carols on the corner of Trade and Tryon that sounded like they were straight out of New Orleans.  Festive!

Did I mention how much I L-O-V-E my new camera?

Someone had enough of sightseeing

On Sunday we has special vistors as well.  Chris, Kurt's best friend of 20 years, came over with his 2 children Mia and Tyler, and his parents too.  Uncle Chris went nuts with the Christmas shopping and gave us way too much, but we are very thankful.  To top it off, they cleaned out the kids' rooms and brought baby boxes of books and toys that they have outgrown.  The sweetest moment of the day was watching 8-year-old Tyler read to little Sarah Beth.  He was so cute with her, helping her feel the books and turn the pages.  Kurt and Chris had quite a moment watching their kids play together for the first time.

As I mentioned, Mommy and Baby both got spoiled but the best gift may have been for Kurt from his Dad. When they were visiting in November, they joked about going to play catch in the park to make up for lost time. Well, wouldn't you know it, Dad sent Kurt a baseball and mitt with a note promising that they'd break it in next time. Not a dry eye in the house, I tell you. When we think about all we have to be thankful for, it is overwhelming. Not only do we have a healthy, happy little ray of sunshine living under our roof, but also wonderful family and friends and new unexpected grandparents to love her. 2009 was a very good year.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!

Working on a Christmas post but here's a sneak preview of our holiday extravaganza.

Hello Blog...I have missed you.

So I realize I've been a major blog slacker.  But between, work, baby, new nanny, and the holidays sneaking up on me, I have barely had time to take a shower and brush my teeth, much less blog about it.  I'll make a resolution for the new year to be a better blogger.

First of all....holy cow I don’t know what happened but Christmas is THIS FRIDAY!  I can't believe how quickly the year has passed.  Twelve months ago were under major kitchen construction and I had a tiny baby bouncing around inside making me feel totally miserable.  This year we have the best Christmas present of all...a happy, healthy bundle of joy to spoil rotten on her first Christmas!  Having a child really does make the holidays much more exciting.  I started Christmas shopping last weekend and have discovered something even more fun that picking out baby clothes---- BOOKS! Glorious books! Oh my gosh I went to the Barnes & Noble on Saturday and completely lost my mind in the Children’s Books. Normally, I try to shop at mom and pop stores, avoiding big box book stores when I can.  But I needed some gift cards, and was quickly seduced by their kids’ section. I wandered around, seeing myself and Sarah Beth there as she grows up, starting with the baby board books like Hungry Caterpillar, then graduating to bigger kid books like Clifford and Little Bear before taking on the classics like Little Women and Black Beauty.  I must admit I got a little choked up at the thought of this wonderful world of books that awaits her.  Needless to say, I bought more than a few to put under the tree.  I think the library will be more economical in the long run, but for now, we must have a decent collection for her to read (and chew on.)  And yes, I am buying "Your Baby Can Read" from that infomercial on Sunday mornings - she five months old so I think we're already behind.  Those babies on the TV were reading Moby Dick at 7 months...show-offs.

As I’m writing this, “Mary Poppins” is on TV in the background. How appropriate! While our new nanny did not float in on an umbrella, she does seem to be pretty wonderful. Very patient and loving with our little one, and keeping her happy and stimulated. What a blessing and what a relief! Totally worth half my paycheck.  I have heard 3 horror stories this week about babies SB's age catching RSV (a respiratory infection) at daycare and having to stay in the hospital on oxygen and IV fluids.  Can you imagine our precious angel in the hosp...oh I can't even type it. I'm sick just thinking about it. Just further reinforces our decision to keep her away from daycare, even if nanny costs a small fortune.   Baby is healthy and has nanny's undivided attention all day, as it should be.  I know that plenty of people have their kids in daycare and not eveyone ends up in the hospital with serious illnesses, but as long as we can continue to avoid it, that's what we're going to do.

In other baby news, SB has moved on from rice cereal into the orange food category.  Somewhere I read that orange/yellow foods should be introduced next and I'm a big fan of color coordination so why not.  First up was Sweet Potato.  She seemed pretty indifferent to the taste, although she enjoyed spreading it all over her face and head.  I'm not sure how much of that she actually ate versus wore as an accessory.  Next on the tasting menu was Carrot.  DELICIOUS, apparently.  I know for sure she ate it because the next day her diaper contents were orange.  Looks much the same coming out as going in.  Yuck.  I can't wait 'til we get to green foods. 

Mmmmm....sweet potato.

Friday was my last day of work for the year.  Cue the Hallelujah Chorus!  I am so brilliant for saving up my vacation days for the holidays.  I can finish shopping and prep for Christmas all week without having to run around like a maniac.  I may even bake the cake that is on the December cover of Southern Living.  (Somebody please talk some sense into me!)  We are delighted to be staying home for baby's first Christmas.  My parents are coming to us on Christmas Eve, barring another winter storm like the one they had this week.  Ten inches of snow in the mountains!  We didn't get one flake here in Charlotte.  Just the typical "wintry mix" that is a big letdown for all the local newscasters. Poor guys, they were really hoping to get some snow in the area so they could go outside with a yardstick and measure the inch or so of accumulation for a live news report, but all they got was sleety rain and a bunch of people fired up to buy milk and bread at the Harris Teeter. 

But I digress...our halls are decked and stockings are hung by the chimney with care and we're ready to enjoy a relaxing, cozy Christmas with our family, reflecting on the miracles that have blessed us in 2009, and all the wonder and excitement that the coming year will bring.  If there wasn't one present under the tree or one card in the mail, we would still be the happiest home around thanks to this precious little angel right here.

Even Moose is in the Christmas Spirit this year!

O Nanny where art thou?

Sorry I've been off the radar for a while, but we've been scrambling a bit. Due to unforseen circumstances we suddenly found ourselves nannyless and in a panic.  Grandma Beth was gracious enough to come down to care for our little girl while we figured out what to do.  Joining the church hasn't done squat for our status on the daycare list, other than lighten our wallet a bit with our generous bribes..I mean, donations.  Why can't they kick out someone else's little brat so our perfect child can go to the perfect daycare?  Is that too much to ask?  Of course there's no such thing as the perfect daycare, as many friends and acquaintances have shared their horror stories with us.  No matter what type of facility, SB is going to end up sick with a cold or worse half the time.  She has been so healthy her entire almost 5 months of life; we hate the idea of exposing her to the germ warfare of a daycare center.  Not that we even have that option because we're still on the wait list. So while we're waiting, we needed some other options. 

Option 1:  Quit my job immediately and stay at home with my girl. 

Great option except for having to pay those pesky bills every month.  We could probably swing it, but it would be tight, especially since we just dropped $6800 on a new furnace.  I'd have to get some kind of job working nights but the only things that come to mind are cocktail waitress or exotic dancer and I'm not cut out for either of those career choices at the moment.  (I won't share with you Kurt's disturbing thoughts on lactating strippers but he did think it was a niche market with potential to be quite lucrative.)  Anyway...with that option off the table, that left us with:

Option 2:  Find a new nanny. 

The idea of inviting a stranger into my home to take care of my precious child while I'm toiling away at work is not my favorite thing in the world.  In fact, it really freaks me out, but we found a trustworthy nanny agency which sent us two candidates.  We really liked one of them so we're taking the plunge and giving her a try.  And I will try not to call every five minutes or cry in the bathroom at work all day.  Really, I'm sure it will be fine and it's only a temporary situation and so what if we're paying her half my monthly take home salary; the happiness and well-being of our baby is priceless, right?  So pray for poor Mommy and Baby and Nanny as we transition into our new routine.  

To relieve the stress of all this and get some fresh air, our little family took a stroll downtown on Sunday to see the Christmas decorations and more importantly show Sarah Beth the latest addition to Charlotte's public art collection, the Glorious Disco Chicken in front of the new museum.  Ok, the official name of the sculpture is actually "Firebird" but I think my choice is more appropriate. 

Isn't it wonderful?  I love that there's a mirrorball chicken on a perch nestled amongst the stoic bank buildings.  We can't wait for the Bechtler Museum to open.  This guy decided to build a museum to showcase his modern art collection.  Must be nice, hmm?  Thank you Mr. Bechtler.  Sure beats the stupid Mudpies we've got along the light rail tracks.

The shiny bird is a fantastic addition to downtown and I will enjoy taking SB to see this fun sculpture for years to come.  See, she loves it already!

Here are some more photos of our urban adventure.  SB looks thrilled to pieces, doesn't she? Kurt and I had fun, at least.

These giant Christmas ornaments are my favorite decorations downtown.

I had such a horribly busy day today, and I had to rush down to the car between meetings to pump some milk for SB (yes I'm still doing it in the parking garage.)  I was in the worst mood, when I heard a janitor pushing a bin, picking up trash that people had carelessly dropped from their cars, and he was singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  He was good.  I mean, Ray Charles kind of good.  I sat there in the backseat of my car, getting myself back together and laughed, thinking, if this guy can sing his heart out while picking up other peoples' messes, then I sure as hell should lighten up.  He doesn't know it but he changed my attitude a little and ignited a flicker of Christmas spirit in me.  I needed that.  I hope he has a very Merry Christmas this year.

A Few Quick Pics

Thought I'd load a few pics from Thanksgiving.  Baby got a new toy from Grandma's friend Dorrie.  It is the greatest thing ever - an octopus that plays a different note when you squeeze each leg.  I think I love it even more than SB does.  I played Do-Re-Mi...all those years of piano lessons are paying off in spades.

Here she is in her little school girl outfit Papa T picked out for her.  Too cute!  She liked it so much she wore it for a few hours before spitting up all over it.  Good girl!

Flying baby!

Father and Son Reunion: Part II

Happy Thanksgiving all!  And boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for this year.
I understand that some of my followers are anxiously awaiting Part II.  Not everyone appreciates a good cliffhanger, hmm?   Patience is a virtue, my friends.
When we last left our hero, Kurt, he had just gotten the most fantastic voicemail ever.  From his Dad.  His real Dad.  Later that evening, there was a 2 hour phone call followed by many more phone calls and emails over the following weeks with Terry and his lovely wife Patricia.  We talked to our newfound family about everything from 'what have you been doing for the past 39 years' to the weather and of course all about Miss Sarah Beth.  Little does this sweet baby know that not only has she made Kurt a Daddy, but because of her, Kurt has found his own father.  She has brought a wonderful unexpected light into the lives of her new grandparents, who couldn't wait to meet her (and us), so a few weekends ago, they drove all the way from Texas to see us.
We thought it would be nice to cook a simple meal at home with plenty of wine available for this momentous occasion.  They called when they got into town and said they'd be over to our house as soon as they knocked off the road dust and freshened up.  I proceeded to stand at the window like a kid waiting for the ice cream truck.  I tried distracting myself but it was no use so I just stood there fogging up the panes until headlights lit up the driveway.  Kurt played it much cooler, watching TV and giving some love to Savannah Dog, but I'm almost certain he had no idea what show was on or what the characters were saying.  He was about to meet his Dad for the first time ever.   We'd talked to them so much on the phone and they had read all about us on our blog, we couldn't believe they were about to be in our kitchen in a matter of moments.
As soon as they pulled up we walked outside.  They were first greeted warmly by the doggy welcoming committee bellowing loudly from the backyard.  SB was still snoozing so Kurt and I met them halfway up the front walk and exchanged hugs and teary-eyed stares as we sized up Terry and Kurt.  There is absolutely no denying that Kurt is Terry's son.  It was the strangest thing to look into someone's eyes and see an older Kurt looking back at me.  The good news for me is that Terry is still a handsome man!  Kurt definitely got his thick hair and height from him.  Eyes, nose, mouth, chin...Kurt inherited it all from Terry.  See for yourself...here's a few from the photo shoot in our backyard:

See what I mean?  Later over the weekend, Terry and Patricia shared pictures of their wedding when Terry was in his mid-thirties, and I swear it was Kurt with sideburns in a groovy seventies white tuxedo.  Other similarities we noted:  they both married left-handed redheads.  They have the same speech patterns. They are interested in the same type of books and movies.  They both love pickled okra.  Coincidence?  Perhaps, but it sure would be an interesting study, wouldn't it? 
We had no idea how it would be, meeting them in person.  We figured there had to be some level of awkwardness and tension given the circumstances, but there wasn't.  It was strangely comfortable sitting at the dinner table with these folks, like we had known them for years.  Sarah Beth, of course, was the highlight of the weekend.  She dazzled her new grandparents with flirtatious smiles and was a perfect princess sitting in the lap of Grandpa Terry (aka Papa T.)  Good thing our Texas grandparents have such a big SUV because they needed it to haul all the cute new clothes they brought for our tiny fashionista.  Wait 'til you see the photo of her in her Ralph Lauren plaid dress. All her designer clothes come from grandparents.  Mommy and Daddy shop at Target.
The weekend flew by too quickly.  Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful meal at our favorite restaurant, Fiamma.  Everything was delcious from the Salmon Tartar to the complimentary Limoncello.  (If I haven't said it before, this is the finest establishment in Charlotte.  The food is incredible yet reasonably-priced and the people there are unpretentious.  Zagat's can quote me on that.) On Saturday, my parents came down for a meet-the-new-in-laws dinner and everyone hit it off splendidly.  Sunday afternoon we took a driving tour of Charlotte to show off all the changes since they had lived here last.  Along the way, we stopped in at Barbara's Canine Cafe for the super-duper special dog food we feed our mutts.  It was there that we learned about baby's fascination with ceiling fans.  They had quite a few in the store and she was mesmerized.  If our ceilings weren't so low we'd have bought one for her room already.  Sunday night was pizza and champagne (why not?) and great conversation before they headed back to Texas the next morning.  We all feel so lucky to have connected and have this second chance at being a family.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would turn out so wonderfully.  I knew Kurt's Dad had to be a good man based on how Kurt turned out, but who would've thought he and his wife would be so excited about us! We talk to Terry and Patricia at least a few times a week.  Let me tell you, it gives me chills to hear Kurt answer the phone and say "Hi Dad." Such simple words but a profound meaning.  This void in his life has been filled by a real father who is proud of him and loves him and his family.  They're an important part of our lives now and we feel so blessed to have them.

SB with Me-maw and Papa T

Family Photo!

Bonus shot of our little princess...ain't she sweet?!

Father and Son Reunion: Part I

For those of you who don't know Kurt's family history, Kurt's parents split up before he was born and he never had any contact with his father. It's complicated. We'll just leave it at that and save the details for the screenplay. His mother’s 3rd husband adopted Kurt when he was a kid (where “Newsom” came from) but no longer has any relationship with him. Kurt knew that his real father's name was Terry and he was an airline pilot and that was about it. Years ago, when Kurt was a teenager, he got curious and asked his mother to find his Dad. Lo and behold, Terry was living here in Charlotte, but being a teenage boy, Kurt hesitated too long, not really knowing how to approach him, and before he knew it they had moved away.


When Kurt and I first met he told me the story of never knowing his own father and it blew me away. Being the inquisitive person I am, I could not believe that they had lived in the same town for years and Kurt had never met him. I for one would have at least stalked him. Parked across the street from his house and watched him mow the lawn or something, trying to figure out if I looked like him. Kurt even worked at the Harris Teeter where his Dad shopped. How crazy is it to think he could have bagged his Dad’s groceries and not have known it. Humorously, when Kurt was swinging single he was always sure to find out about a girl’s parents right away just in case he had a long lost sister around town. (Hey, stranger things have happened – have you seen Maury Povich lately?)

So years went by and next thing Kurt knows he’s up and married and about to become a father himself.  During the pregnancy, we had to do genetic counseling and a battery of tests since I was declared “ancient” in pregnancy terms (their euphemism is “advanced maternal age.”) Come on, really? At 35 I am old and decrepit? Should I just crawl in a hole and die instead of bringing a shiny new baby into the world? Talk about a blow to your already fragile pregnant self-esteem! Anyway, part of the counseling was to sit with this cute blonde genetic counselor (clearly NOT advanced-maternal-aged) and draw out your family tree to get a medical history. Kurt’s poor tree looked like one that Duke Power lopped in half because it was too close to the utility lines. Ouch. It was then that we truly realized we should find this man, even if all we got out of it was a complete medical history.

Despite Kurt’s unknown pedigree, genetic testing went well and before we knew it baby arrived on the scene -- life as we know it is a whole new ball game. Instantly she is all that matters and it drove home the importance of family. Kurt’s not an overly sentimental guy and I’m not exactly a big sap either, but I overheard Kurt saying once that our baby would never not know where her Daddy was, and it broke my heart a little. We talked about how this little one should know her roots. So a few months ago I played Magnum P.I. and scoured the internet for Kurt’s dad. A few real estate records, a news article and some people searches later…I found him and his wife in Texas. Well, at least I found someone that could very well be him. We wrote a letter, stuck a stamp on it and mailed it. Actually, Kurt may have sat the letter on his desk for a day or two and stared at it before he mustered up the guts to drop it in the postbox. But off it went. I guess I hadn’t really thought through what would happen next. Would it be the right Terry? What if he never told his family about Kurt? What if he doesn’t want anything to do with us? What if he never responds at all?

About a week went by and I put it out of my mind until Kurt walked in from an evening run looking white as a sheet. “Guess who called me?” he said, “Terry.” Holy crap. My stomach dropped. Terry had left a message saying that he had sent Kurt an email but he knew how yahoo mail overdoes it with the spam blockers so let him know if he didn’t receive it. Of course we make a bee line for the computer but as expected, no message. Kurt had his mailbox set to immediately delete junk mail – curses, Yahoo! We paced around the house debating what we should do…call him back now? Wait until tomorrow? He hadn’t left a clue as to whether or not we even had the right Terry so we were absolutely dying. There was no way I could bear waiting for the next day so Kurt called him back after much rehearsal of what he should say if (a) he answers or (b) it goes to voicemail. He ended up with scenario “b” and left a message asking Terry to resend the email. And then Kurt sat there staring at the computer until it popped up in his inbox.

Turns out we had the correct Terry. He had indeed been married to Kurt’s mother, and they split up before Kurt was born. In fact, for several years Terry did not even know Kurt existed, and he wasn’t positive that Kurt was really his son. Terry also wondered why he had waited so long to contact him. He did mention that he and his wife would be interested in meeting us at some point. So Kurt responds, explaining how fatherhood had compelled him to find his own Dad. He also shared a link to the blog so Terry could read about our little family and see photos.

I don’t know how either one of us slept that night. It was such a flood of thoughts and emotions and still so many unknowns. The next day, Kurt called me while I was at the park with Sarah Beth. He said he got another voicemail from Terry. This time, he said “Hi Kurt, it’s Terry. Your Dad.” Apparently the photographs of Kurt on the blog left no doubt in Terry and his wife Patricia’s minds that Kurt was his son. Kurt is the spitting image of him. Holy crap.

Long Time No Post

Holy cow it's been over a week since my last post!  I suck.  But wait.  I have a good excuse.  We had a monumental weekend, I mean, a weekend that would make a fantastic Oprah episode or dare I say Lifetime movie.  I would like to think that I would be played by the redhead from the movie "Wedding Crashers" who's married to that Borat guy but I don't know if she does made-for-TV movies anymore. Oops there I go off on a tangent.  Back to our phenomenal weekend.  I'm afraid you're going to have to wait on that story until my next post.  I know, I'm such a tease, but trust me, it will be worth it.  I have had zero time to blog this week.  I can barely make it to the bathroom these days without the baby hanging on.  I have learned to do a lot of things one-handed but there are some tasks I just have to handle alone.  Speaking of baby...she had her four month checkup today, and the doctor's diagnosis was that our baby is awesome. That's right folks, the unbiased opinion of a trained medical professional does not lie.  She is officially awesome.  And getting bigger.  Sarah Beth weighed in at a fighting 13 lbs 10 ounces today and 25 1/2 inches long.  That's 50th and 90th percentile, respectively.  If she can keep up this long, lean physique she'll have the 25th season of "America's Next Top Model" in the bag.  As Tyra would say, our baby is Fierce!  We got the ok to start her on rice cereal - her first solid food, can you believe it?  Probably won't be as exciting as the taste of ranch dip she accidentally got a hold of when Aunt Elaine was trying to eat her lunch with baby on her lap, but it's got to be better than plain old milk, at least from a texture standpoint.  I'm trying to save all the latest baby tidbits for the next blog entry, but I will mention that we found out she loves champagne!  No, we didn't feed it to her, but Mommy was drinking some in a fancy bubbly flute and baby thought it was the most remarkable thing ever.  She was bouncing out of Mommy's lap to grab at it and making the most hysterical noises.  Kurt filmed her antics so if he gets around to editing it I'll post a video.  It's not as entertaining as that baby dancing to the Beyonce song on YouTube but it's pretty darn funny.
In other news, those of you paying attention may have noticed that Moosey was supposed to go under the knife this week.  Well the vet rescheduled him for the first week in December, and now we are having second thoughts.  It took a while for his little skin infection to heal up, and Kurt and I both have this gut feeling that the surgery will end up being the death of him.  The vet thinks he'll make a full recovery, but we're facing the cold harsh reality that Moose is no spring chicken and he's also a neurotic weirdo.  Really.  The dog is weird.  In a loveable way, but Moose is not your average sit at your feet kind of dog.  He likes to hang out on the couch and will lean on you but if you touch him first he'll get mad and jump off in a huff.  He barks like a ferocious beast, but when anyone comes in the house that looks the least bit threatening he'll run and hide.  He's just a very jumpy canine - probably could use a xanax along with his rimadyl.  So now that we're down to the wire, I think we are going to hold off and see how he does with just the pain meds.  He seems to be managing fine; we'll just have to check his liver counts regularly. As much as we want Moose to run around like the Six-Million-Dollar-Dog, we think the surgery will be too hard on him mentally.  That sounds really silly to say about a dog but if you know Moose you know what we mean. 

I am going to continue working on the mother of all blog entries, complete with photos, but right now I'm off to bed.  Baby went to sleep early (11:45!) so I better take advantage of the extra sleepytime. 

'Night Everybody!

Showtunes and Highchair High Jinks

I'm sitting here listening to my Pandora showtunes station and the rain pouring down with baby snoozing in her bouncy seat.  Ahhh...good stuff.  She fell asleep to my rendition of Beauty and the Beast.  I don't take it personally though.  Ooh Edelweiss is up now...boy do I l-o-v-e Pandora and having a baby to sing to.  You can't really belt out of Edelweiss for any old reason, but have a baby around and you can release your inner Broadway Star without fear of ridicule.  We also had a piano lesson this evening.  She hit her first note.  I'm so proud.  I can tell she's a natural.
I sound like I'm in a calm peaceful mood, don't I?  Why?  Because I took the afternoon off.  I wasn't feeling too hot this morning so I came home and took a long nap instead of long conference call.  Let me tell you a nap can do wonders.  If everyone could take an afternoon nap the world would be a better place. Since baby was nice enough to take a little nap herself, I have time to load some more pictures of the cutest baby ever.  We didn't take pictures at the park as I had hoped because we had Moose and Savannah with us and they were crazed with excitement since they hadn't been to the park in ages.  We saw lots of other dogs, some bratty kids and one small snake.  I thought having a baby would make me like other people's kids more but I find most of them annoying as ever.  Do you really need to scream and yell and roll by on your dumb wheelies so close that Moose nearly has a heart attack?  Our child will NEVER do such things, I'm sure.  She is perfect, as I have mentioned once or twice.  Anyway, here are a few of the latest:

How cute is this outfit.  Baby Hoodie?  Too Much.

Daddy just walked into the room - look at that smile.  4 Months old tomorrow!

Moose just had to get in the act

She's doing this new thing with her bottom lip - hilarious

Daddy Time!

Our little girl is growing up.  She is now an expert highchair sitter.  She looks so small in there but definitely prefers it to lounging in her bouncy seat.  She can see all the action and play with toys on the tray.  It will only be a matter of time before she starts throwing them on the floor and teaching Mommy and Daddy to play fetch.  Oh won't that be fun!

Big girl trying out her highchair

Wow..."Annie" is on now and baby is waking up just in time for my big finish..."Tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow you're always a daaaaaay aaaaaa-waaaaaaay..."  Baby loves her some jazz hands!