Pappy

Happy Birthday, Dad! It is a well-known fact that my dad is awesome. I've written about it before, and I'm sure I'll write about it again. We used to jokingly wish him a happy 25th or 30th birthday, but now that I'm almost 30, that just seems weird. So I'll just say that the world has been lucky to be graced by his presence these last few decades, and he's not only the best dad I've ever had, he's the best dad I can imagine. We'll be having ice cream in his honor tonight. Yaaaaaay, Pappy!

We talked earlier, but since he didn't get to see Mabes singing to him, here it is:

Nostalgia, Part 3

Last week, I decided it was time to clean off the computer. We've been downloading pictures to it since we got our digital camera 4 years ago and I haven't been good about getting rid of the the duplicates (because hey, it's digital, why not take 5 pictures when 1 will suffice?), blurry shots, or flat-out unflattering pictures that I never want to look at, let alone print. A couple of things I've learned:

1. This time 3 years ago, I was HUGE.
And I still had a week and a half to go. I thought about posting pictures of my feet, since they were at least the size of my belly, but it still pains me to look at those so I'll spare you. My hugeness brings me to my next point:

2. Mabes was big. No, I'm not just realizing this now. But I start to think that maybe my memory is exaggerating it, but no, it's not. In holding my friend's newborn, I'd look at his legs and think, "I don't remember Mabes ever being this small and having these newborn chicken legs." Because she wasn't and she didn't.
Here's Mabes at about 45 minutes old, coming to the sad realization that she's now cut off from chocolate milk and chocolate chip cookies.

3. Mabes was a doll. I know I'm biased, but if you can look at this picture without thinking "awwww" or wanting to pinch her cheeks, you're probably the type of person that kicks puppies for fun.

4. Mabes had some serious thighs. She's still solid, but despite any scoffs from Sarah, Mabes has thinned out. She's slowly growing into her thighs, but these pictures just make me giggle. Those are the mightiest thighs I ever have seen...I mean...(mad props to anyone not in my immediate family or Nancy that can name that movie)

5. Yesterday marked the anniversary of our exodus from California, and one year ago today, Mabes got to meet the BYU cougar. She was a little intimidated, but since the Cougar Fight Song was her nightly lullaby, she was excited to greet him with a "Rah rah rahrahrah!"
The last year has flown by. I would love to be able to go home more, but we've really loved living in North Carolina. We've made some great friends, eaten a lot of really good fried food, done and seen a lot of new things (I just saw a deer in the "woods" behind our apartment--it's not so much woods as it is a strip of trees separating us from some offices. Perhaps the deer was heading to work.), and we really like where we live. I could do without the humidity, and I still don't get the "U turns must yield to right turns" rule, but those are only minor complaints. The South Carolina peaches make up for both of those.

Big mistake--HUGE.

We were at Target the other day and I decided to stroll through the toy section to get ideas for Mabes' upcoming birthday. In the past, Mabes has been content to look at toys, so "getting ideas" for birthdays and Christmas was fun and easy. This time, however, as we started down the doll aisle with the dolls that make the creepy cooing, squawking, and chirping as you walk by, Mabes saw a doll accessory box she decided she needed. Right then. I calmly explained to her that no, she didn't need it, while silently deciding that it was so cute that she did need it, but not for another few weeks.

I tried the usual diversionary tactics and started to head to the cleaning section, when Mabes decided to throw a fit. "I need that doll seat! Put it in the cart, mommy! I NEEEEEEEED it NOOOOOOWWWWWW!" I should have let her scream. I should have taken her out of the store. But for some reason, instead, I decided to tell her that her birthday was coming up soon and maybe someone would get it for her for her birthday. As I'm saying this, the intelligent side of my brain is screaming "No no no, stop talking idiot!" while the idiot side, which I thought had been in charge up to this point, was just laughing and saying "Um, yeah, I'm not even dumb enough to think this is a good idea." (Yes, I have many voices in my head. But that's not today's issue.)

It worked though, and Mabes quickly quieted down, her eyes huge, and said, "My birthday? My birthday! My birthday's coming! Let's get some cake and candles and balloons! Yay!" I tried to explain that it was still weeks away when she said that she needed the doll toys for her birthday. Remembering that Aunt Nancy had already sent birthday money for Mabes, I told her that maybe Aunt Nancy would get that for her. If she's a good girl. Phew. Problem solved.

We got home and she was still talking about her birthday, so yesterday afternoon, we made one of the paper chain things you made in 1st grade to count down to Christmas. I tried to explain the concept that each link symbolized one day, and that it wouldn't be her birthday until we had ripped off one piece of paper each morning. I don't know that she got it, but it distracted her enough. Until later when I was checking a recipe online and Mabes came over and matter-of-factly asked, "Mommy, are you emailing Aunt Nancy? To tell her about the doll seat for my birthday? I think she wants to get it for me."

So I guess I know what Aunt Nancy is going to get her, but we're still deciding what we'll get her. You'll notice a poll on the right, and any input would be appreciated. She was having fun on a neighbor's tricycle yesterday, though she can't quite figure out pedaling. I figure that's something she needs to practice. The neighbor also said that they got the tricycle for their daughter's third birthday, and now she's almost 4 and close to outgrowing it. So should we get her a small bike with training wheels? Or a Big Wheel? Target has them and I'm tempted just for nostalgia's sake. Thoughts?

Really, really ridiculously good-looking

Mabes has decided that instead of smiling for pictures, she'll make a "frowny face." Only I call it "Blue Steel."

I believe this one is "Magnum."

Happy birthday, Aunt Ber-Rae!

New rule when you come to visit: When you're here, it's your birthday. Okay, that might be a stretch. But because Becca came to visit a week after her birthday, and Amber-Rae came a few days before, we've gone ahead and thrown them a party. And by party, I mean pizza and cake. What more do you need? So if anyone else wants to visit, plan a trip near your birthday and we'll make you a cake and you can blow out candles. And Mabes will sing to you all.day.long.

Amber-Rae had just gotten back from a week in Italy and Greece and stayed with us for a couple of nights before heading back home. When I told Mabes it was her birthday, she decided that she needed to wake Aunt Ber-Rae up with a rousing rendition of the happy birthday song. Despite the jet lag, the birthday wake up was appreciated.

We made Amber-Rae help with the cake, because we're mean like that. I don't know why Mabes is making that face, but she's making it in all the cake-making pictures. But I'm posting it because Amber-Rae looks cute, and I guess this picture conveys Mabes' excitement level.


But we then let her have the beaters, as is the birthday custom. She was nice enough to share with Mabes, and Mabes thought it was glorious.

Note the new Greece t-shirt from Amber-Rae.

I realize this isn't the most flattering picture of her, but I think it's hilarious. For that reason. I'm sure my parents have a least a couple pictures of me making this face, and my dad has, on many occasions, made this face to demonstrate the faces I'd pull to make him laugh. And now I get why he laughed:


In honor of the birthday girl, we got her favorite pizza, Hawaiian. Mabes thought this was the greatest--ham AND pineapple on pizza? GENIUS! She was very excited. She then quickly turned her attention to the cake sitting on the counter, begging us to light the candles so they could blow them out.

She can't take her eyes off the candles:

We did it! That was a lot of candles...
I like birthdays.

It's a komodo dragon!

Dave turned on the National Geographic Channel as I was running Mabes' bathwater and it was a documentary on komodo dragons. Thanks to a previous Chick-Fil-A kids meal prize, the Kooky Critters puzzle (the one that I was so happy they didn't opt to call Kooky Kritters, because I would have thrown it back at them), Mabes is quite familiar with the komodo dragon. Well, enough to recognize the giant lizard and immediately be intrigued, which was pretty surprising considering that those few minutes before bathtime are run-around-naked-time. (Just for her.)

She happily sat and watched the komodo dragons run around, tear apart animal carcasses, hatch eggs--even watched an older one curl up and die. "Oh, he's tired, Mommy! He's sweeping! He close his eyes and go to sweep!" Once it was over, she ran to the bath and run-around-naked-time was completely forgotten. I haven't heard that many references to the komodo dragon since The Freshman, but the little piece of the documentary we saw was really interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing the whole thing. Or maybe I'll just watch The Freshman again.

Hey, is that a bandwagon?

Well, I guess I may as well reluctantly jump on. First a blog, now this--I'm annoying myself. I'm succumbing to peer pressure (or sister pressure) and getting a Facebook account, so if you have one, expect me to harass you until you accept me as your friend. Laura has assured me that Facebook is much more dignified than MySpace, so I won't need to post debaucherous pictures of myself to fit in. Phew...

And did you know that Home Depot has a kids craft workshop on the first Saturday of the month? From what I can tell, it's every Home Depot and it's awesome. Last Saturday, Dave told Mabes that he was going to take her somewhere fun. Her eyes lit up and she turned to me and whispered, "Mommy, Daddy's going to take me...SOMEWHERE! Just us!" She must have told me to stay home at least three times, that it was just her and Daddy that were going somewhere. "You stay here, Mommy, and I go with Daddy..." So Dave took her out and I was able to spend 2 glorious hours cleaning and preparing for the arrival of his mom and sister. I know, the only thing that sounds more absurd than using a free 2 hours to clean is ALLISON using 2 free hours to clean. But when you have to vacuum around the two-year-old dancing with her vacuum ("I helping, Mommy!") or explain that Mommy's cleaning, not playing with bubbles in the bathtub, 2 quiet hours of cleaning is absolute bliss.

Mabes came home from her morning out with Daddy with her new birdhouse:
According to Home Depot's website, the kid crafts are designed for ages 5-12, but Dave said that she had no problem paying attention and building the house, though she needed a lot of help with the hammering.

And much to Mabes' delight, we'll be going to Chick-Fil-A a lot this month. The kid's meal prize 1 of 4 books by Doreen Cronin. We had checked out Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type from the library and love it. I mean, any book that teaches kids words like "ultimatum" and "neutral party" is great, and this is just hilarious. I think Dave and I were more entertained by it than Mabes, but once we got the smaller paperback version from Chick-Fil-A, suddenly it became Mabes' favorite book. I'm hoping next time we get Duck for President.