Birthday awesomeness

We had a fabulous weekend. Saturday morning, we headed uptown (for some reason they call it uptown rather than downtown--I guess because it sounds nicer?) for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies. Mabes was thrilled when she saw the jogging stroller, which was great because I didn't know how she'd feel about a long walk. By the time we found parking, registration was almost over so we booked it to the starting point. Dave was a little nervous about keeping up that pace for the entire walk (that's what happens when you walk with my mom--you get used to walking crazy fast), but I assured him there would probably be tons of people and we'd be lucky if we didn't mosey along for the entire 4.5 miles.

I was right. Even though they closed down a bunch of streets, there were so many people the beginning felt more like people were out for a leisurely stroll. That's fine, people, but for 4.5 miles? I'd like to be done by dinner! If I had my dad's talent of making freakishly realistic cow noises, I would have mooed loudly. But the pace picked up quickly, due in part to people that bailed early on. Apparently, they don't care about babies. Jerks.

It was interesting to see the different shirts people were wearing. Some were "in memory of," and others were commemorating their miracle babies. It was hard not to get a little teary, especially when thinking about Katie's boys; one is home from the NICU and one continues to fight and exceed everyone's highest hopes. The advances in neonatal medicine are truly amazing.

A few times during the walk, we let Mabes out of the stroller. She thought it was great during the homestretch when all the volunteers were cheering people on--she threw her arms up in the air and ran, yelling, "Yay, Emaline! I did it! See mommy,they're saying, 'Yay, Emaline!'"

We finished before noon, headed home, and Dave and Mabes made my birthday cake. Mabes took a nap, I showered, and Dave sent me out for a pedicure. After a long walk in the morning, my feet (and I) were very grateful. Then we took the cake and headed to South Carolina to see Em's friend "Hengry" & family. They made us pizza, the kids had a blast running around, then we put Mabes to bed there so we could stay and play games with Lane and Deserae (Henry's parents). We got home late, and though Mabes was wide awake the whole ride, she went right to sleep as soon as we got home. All in all, it was a really fun day--a great way to celebrate my first (of many, I'm sure) 29th birthday.

It was hard to narrow down the pictures to just a few, so I put a bunch on Shutterfly. Here's the link:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AYuG7lw3aseU

Oh, and I heard my first tornado warning today! We went back to Henry's today and as we were getting out of the car, noticed the loud siren. I just thought it was a really strange sounding fire truck...that wasn't going anywhere. When we got in, we found out there was a tornado touching down close by, but it wasn't much and that was the extent of the excitement.

Llama Mama

First of all, I made an awesome lasagna for dinner tonight. And I didn't even have to call my mom to ask about how much salt or water goes into it. Took Sarah's half sausage/half beef suggestion, and Laura's whole milk mozzarella (here I had been using part skim like a chump) suggestion, and deliciousness ensued. Then made breadsticks out of Trader Joe's garlic herb pizza dough and had a side of broccoli, and it was pretty much a fabulous dinner. It was my attempt at making up for days of leftovers.


I've decided that since this is supposed to be my journal, one of the things I'd like to remember are the books Mabes loves. So periodically, I'm going to post books that we've checked out from the library and enjoyed, and maybe warn you about the ones we haven't renewed. I'd love any suggestions, but Laura and Becca, she's a little too young for Harry Potter. Give it a couple of years.

Our current favorites are three books by Anna Dewdney:

Grumpy Gloria--About a grumpy pitbull named Gloria. I love this solely because it's hilarious to hear Mabes try to pronounce "Gloria," but the story is cute. And who doesn't like a story about dogs?

Llama Llama Mad at Mama, and Llama Llama Red Pajama-- Fun rhymes, and it reiterates proper bedtime and shopping behavior (in case an amusing story isn't enough, there's an educational aspect, too). Mabes likes to point to Llama's tantrums and say, "We don't do that!" And yet she does, but that's another story. They're cute books with great illustrations. For some reason, the picture on Red Pajama makes me think of Louie. Red Pajama makes her want to get in bed and go to sleep, and what's not to love about that? These books have earned me the nickname "Llama Mama." I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Oh, and Mabes and I love "Some Dogs Do." It's about a dog, Sid, that discovers he can fly. Yes, another story about dogs. Dave doesn't like it, because Sid's classmates and teacher are pretty mean to him when he claims he can fly. But you know what, the real world is cruel, and kids should be warned that some people might be jerks if you claim you can fly. Every time we read it, when we get to the part where Sid's dad asks, "What's up? You seem unhappy, little pup" Mabes stops me and coyly asks, "Mommy, will you call me little pup?" And then giggles and giggles when I comply. Spoiler alert: at the end it's all good, as Sid learns the secret that his parents can fly, too. Some dogs don't, and some dogs do.

March for Babies

This Saturday, we'll be getting out the jogging stroller for a 4.5 mile Walk for Babies, supporting March of Dimes. When we were expecting Mabes, we had a scare mid-pregnancy that made us realize that we had just assumed that our baby would be born healthy. She was, and we are so grateful for that, but that's not something we take for granted.

Recently, a friend lost her 4 month old daughter. Julia Grace was born at 23 weeks, 5 days gestation--she was just under a pound. She grew to be 6 pounds 14 ounces, and was doing well, until 1 week after her original due date she suddenly lost her battle. She passed away on March 25, 2008. We're walking as part of Team Julia's Grace.

I'm especially excited to do this, thinking of Katie, Steve, Aaron and Andrew. (See her blog on the right, it's a wonderful story!) After a week in the NICU, Aaron is home from the hospital--yay! Andrew remains at the hospital, getting stronger each day. His fight is amazing, he is doing so well and is truly a miracle.

So that's what we're doing this Saturday. If you'd like to contribute, visit my March for Babies page. Anything is appreciated, and at the risk of heaping on some guilt, Saturday is also my birthday. Instead of a card or gift, you could kick in a couple of dollars and feel good about supporting a good cause. Thank you!


On a totally different note, you know what you wouldn't expect to see on the side of the road? A camel. I mean, at least not in the US--we saw several just walking around in Israel and Egypt. But that was expected. On Saturday, we were heading to a cookout (they're called cookouts here, not BBQs!) and all of a sudden I see camels. Dave turned around and we went back--sure enough, 2 camels and other animals. Turns out it's a Christian theater and conference center, so they need camels.

Who knew? Camels just hanging out on the side of the road in South Carolina.

"Enthusiastic" is a nicer word...

At the end of our library class this morning, Mabes yelled a loud "Oh, thank you!" to the teacher as she put a dog stamp on each of Mabes' hands. Miss Mary Jane smiled and responded, "And thank you for being such an enthusiastic dancer!" She enjoys the stories, but she just goes crazy when the music comes on.

Thank you, Miss Mary Jane, "enthusiastic" is a much more positive way to describe Em's energy. Honestly, the reason I haven't updated in days is because I've been in the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" mindset. I realize that angry rants are probably far more entertaining than my usual ramblings, but I haven't even felt up to that. Just worn out by Mabes' enthusiasm.

But some cute, non-frustrating stories: When we were at Costco last week, I grabbed a package of salami and Mabes' face lit up. "Sawami?!?!" Uh, yeah, kid...we just had some last week. You'd think it had been ages. She proceeded to belt out, "I wuv sawami, I wuv sawami, I wuv sawami..." to the tune of "Follow the Prophet" over and over. Sacrilegious, perhaps. But Ostlers revere cured pork products, and Mabes is one of us. The next morning, I was making waffles and singing the salami song (why not?) and Mabes interrupted me, and said, "No, mommy, I wuv bacon, I wuv bacon..." to the same tune.

Our apartment faces lots of trees, and lately those trees have been full of birds. I think Mabes loves the cardinals most, probably because they're easy to spot and the only bird I know the name of. On Sunday, we set out a plate of birdseed for them. Dave and I were talking about how knowing Mabes, she'd come back inside and stand by the window for the rest of the day waiting for the flocks of birds she surely had anticipated. We were wrong. She didn't even come back inside. Despite the fact that it was 52 degrees and she was wearing a sundress, flip flops, and a sweatshirt (hey, she insisted on the dress, but at least she was wearing a sweatshirt!), she stood right next to the plate, yelling, "Hello, birds! Birds! Come eat your food! We have your food, birds!" They didn't come. Two days later, I guess the human smell had finally worn off the birdseed (either that or one bird made the discovery and word travels fast) and we've had lots of different birds come through for food. Mabes loves it.

And a special birthday shout out to Joof, or Uncle Jeff. Mabes has been rehearsing all morning and will call you after her nap. (Hooray, she's napping today!) She got mad when I picked up my phone this morning to check voicemail and starting shouting, "No, mommy, I SING! I sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Jeff! I need the phone!" Apparently she thought I was going to steal her thunder.

I love spring, part 2

Today we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather and head to the park after library class. We decided to be bold and not take jackets, but I was soon wishing we had worn shorts or at least flip flops. Mabes was having such a blast running around in the grass, chasing her friend Henry, and playing in the sand, that once we saw turtles (!) in the lake, I thought she was going to pass out in joy. We walked around the small lake and must have seen two dozen turtles in addition to the ducks and geese we usually see there.

I was so mad that I didn't bring my camera, but had my phone with me so used it to take some pictures. This is usually pointless, as I take pictures with my phone but never do anything with them, but today I decided to figure out how to get pictures from my phone on to my computer. Now I just need to figure out how to use call waiting and I'll be golden.

Here's Mabes watching a turtle sunning himself on a rock. That's Edgar just to the right of her ear:


And here she is clutching her shirt as she realizes she has a turtle on her shirt and she's looking at a turtle:

If you look closely, you can see other turtle heads bobbing up out of the water. Oh, and I got my hair cut to my collarbone. I probably could have gone shorter, but it was at least 6 inches and I didn't want to freak Mabes out with a drastic cut, and I wanted to be able to put it in a ponytail. I'll take and post a picture later--I'm a hot mess from the park this morning!

I love spring, part 1

Mabes&Co would like to take this opportunity to thank the following sponsors who made yesterday so awesome.

1. My great friend from high school, Catherine. Armed with the friends & family coupon she sent, Mabes and I took some friends to the outlet mall and spent a fair amount of time (and money--but hey, they were great deals!) at the Ralph Lauren Factory Store. We've recently realized that Dave's dress shirts are bigger than they need to be, because frankly he's swimming in them. So I've begun replacing them with proper-fitting shirts, and Catherine's discount was so helpful in getting Dave some really nice shirts for a great price. Yay, Catherine!

2. Ainsleigh and Donovan. And Sarah, because even though the card didn't say so, I'm pretty sure she helped out. They had wanted to get Mabes a "bucket o' bubbles" for her birthday last year, but sadly, by August, Target was no longer carrying summer toys. So last week they sent a gift card with instructions to go to Target and get said bucket and bubbles as an early birthday present. First of all, Em was enthralled with the picture Ainsleigh sent. It says "Emaline" and "Ainsleigh," though when Em "reads" it out loud, it says, "Hi Mabes, here's for your bubbles, it's Donovan, Ainsleigh's a big girl and uses her spoon not her hands." (Because if only mommy and daddy use utensils, Mabes would rather use her hands. But if Ainsleigh is using utensils, well then, they must be cool.)

3. Maintenance, for getting rid of the nest a wasp was building on our balcony. Yeah, I know it's their job, but it's just nice to call the management company and put in a maintenance request and have someone come take care of it. Because it used to be when I called maintenance, it was me. Or Dave. Or if it was a particularly tricky task, a coworker. I'm enjoying being on the other side of the management coin. I totally would have taken care of it on my own, but we pay an "extermination fee" of $1/month, and I'd rather take advantage of that than buy a $5 can of raid.

So with a wasp-free balcony, Mabes and I set out with our bucket o' bubbles. She was giddy.

Trying out her new toy:

Happy as punch that she can blow bubbles:

Bubble glasses:

Trying to catch bubbles on her wand, only to be disappointed when she pops them:

Trying to make an Ainsleigh face:

4. Dave's grandma, Granny. We spent last weekend with Dave's mom, and Granny made homemade banana pudding. On Saturday night, by the time Dave had dessert, Mabes had already filled up on barbeque, fried chicken, corn sticks, and hush puppies and was too busy playing to eat dessert. Before we left, Jackie packed up the leftover pudding, along with barbeque, chicken, hush puppies, etc. as souvenirs of our trip, though next time we may need a bigger cooler! After dinner last night, Dave shared some pudding with Mabes. To say that she loved it would be an understatement. Any description I attempt wouldn't do it justice, so here's a picture:

Just picture this face after every bite and a loud, "Mmmmmmmmm! It's gooooooood!"

So thank you to everyone for making our day awesome. And thank you spring for finally coming. I didn't realize how much I missed leaves on trees and warm weather, but I'm loving this!

Random shout-outs

Inspired by Laura's "mad props," I have a few shout-outs of my own:

1) Chick-fil-A. As I'm sure you are aware, one of my greatest pet peeves is the intentional misspelling of something for the sake of cuteness and/or sophistication. Klassy Kars? Um, no. But thank you for giving us the term "klassy with a k." Towne Centre? Fine if you're in Europe, but certainly not Provo. Kountry Kitchen? Thank you dumb hicks of Springfield, Oregon. There are a few exceptions: Krispy Kreme, because of the delicious donuts. Toys R Us, because I revert back to 7-year-old Allison, my heart starts racing in anticipation, and I feel the urge to make a beeline to the Barbie section (though shouldn't it be Toys R We?). And Chick-fil-A, since I'll just assume that it's more a made-up proper name rather than a creative spelling of "Chick Fillet." So my shout-out: First, I thank them for giving kids' meal toys that have more of an educational slant. Mabes really enjoyed reading about US Presidents. Really. And second, I thank them for the Kooky Critters puzzles in her last kids' meal. She loved putting them together and seeing the pictures of animals, we found it very interesting, and most of all, seeing the box say Kooky Critters (not Kritters, as I've seen often enough I'm wondering if Merriam-Webster is acknowledging that as a correct spelling) just warmed my heart. Thank you, Chick-fil-A.

2) The Charlotte public library. Great classes, great teachers, great books. We were enjoying our checked-out copy of "Puff Puff Chugga Chugga" so much that I was thinking about buying it. But then I found a copy in the library's used book sale (in great condition!) and took home that treasure for a quarter. Twenty-five cents! Awesome. After reading "Grumpy Gloria" the other day, Mabes turned to me and said, "I love to read books, mommy." And it is hilarious to hear her try to pronounce "Gloria."

3) Rainy days. White Chili and baking chocolate chip cookies. Need I say more?

That's all for now. In other news, I'm getting my hair cut next week and have no clue what to do with it. All I know is that it's way too long, way too drab, and just boring. I'm taking suggestions.