Oh the humidity...the humidity!

Last summer was hot. This summer, it hasn't been as hot, but the humidity is crazy. At this point, it's more funny than anything. As I walked from Chick-fil-A to Target, I felt like I was on a cruise. You walk out of the air conditioned restaurant and are hit with a hot, sticky wave of moist (ewww) heat and bolt to the next air conditioned space. The cruise thought made me instantly happier, and made the humidity almost bearable, until I realized I wasn't going to be disembarking at a beautiful Mexican beach nor would I be enjoying a midnight buffet. Breyers at 10 pm will have to suffice. The humidity is all the more amusing because when Becca was here in June, she would sit on the couch marvelling at the how humid it was, eyes bugged out, waving her arms in the air saying "It's like I can FEEL the moisture!" If you know Becca, you know what I'm talking about. And it wasn't humid here in June. It was normal. Like California. Utah is just exceptionally dry.

We had a lot of rain last week, I guess remnants of Fay. I kind of feel like a moron for how excited/amazed I get by the downpours, but seriously, fist-sized raindrops are going to catch a girl off guard. I really do love it, even if I'm annoyed when it decides to come down in sheets as I'm running to the car and getting Mabes in, then lets up once we're both inside. So other than getting drenched and a few large puddles, we didn't have any issues with the rain. If we lived a few miles north, we would have:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/galleries/gallery/154331.html

And apparently Mabes has already learned to introduce herself with thoughtful details. For example, tonight at the the Chick-Fil-A playground, she walked up to a kid and said, "Hi, I'm Emaline. I like toilet paper." You know that kid's going to remember her.

Take me out to the ballgame...

We had been talking for months about taking Mabes to her first baseball game. Thanks to a father who enjoys sports (to put it mildly), she's been watching baseball her whole life but other than Uncle Dave's little league games, had never been to one. So when our friends called to invite us to a minor league game that evening, I was pretty bummed because Mabes had again opted for quiet time over a nap, despite being cranky. The previous evenings, she had crashed around 7:30, so paying $25 to take a crabby toddler to a game with a 7:15 start didn't exactly sound appealing.

Much to my shock, she fell asleep on her own right before "quiet time" ended. Suh-weet! I let her sleep until 5, we ate a quick dinner, then headed to the ballpark. When we got there, there had been some sort of promotion and people were handing out free tickets--it was like we were meant to go. Mabes was so excited to be there. She didn't pay much attention to the game, but was thoroughly amused by the fouls that kept popping up, and the dragon mascots running around.


We took a break to get some funnel cake, only to find that the children's play area was right next to the funnel cake stand, so Mabes got to ride on the merry-go-round. We got our funnel cake and were back in our seats just in time for the seventh inning stretch--unfortunately, Mabes was too upset that we didn't also get cotton candy to notice everyone singing the song that at one time had been her bedtime lullabye. (Yeah, Dave used to sing her that and the Cougar Fight Song before putting her to bed.) She calmed down and really enjoyed the funnel cake, declaring it the "best ever dinner." On the drive home, a very tired Mabes kept saying "I had so much fun at the baseball game! Fank you for the baseball game!"


This morning we finally broke out Mabes' new Big Wheel! She loves her "motorcycle" and is starting to get the hang of peddling. She's still figuring out the whole steering-and-peddling-simultaneously thing, but loves that she has her own toy to ride.


Oh, and Laura: your friend Wolsey (the cardinal she named while visiting here) is either having vision problems or is trying to attack us. He just flew straight into our sliding glass door twice--and it's not that clean. If you don't hear from me soon, avenge our deaths. Ugh, I never should have seen The Birds.

Birthday fun

It's been a busy week, and with all the delicious leftovers, I haven't had time to blog. I'm sure my sisters understand.

Her birthday was great--she was so excited all day and loved the phone calls and random birthday wishes from people at the grocery store (she told everyone). When Ainsleigh and Dono called to sing happy birthday, she just smiled and listened, and when they finished, she said, "Oh, good job, guys!" While I'm sure they did a spectacular job, Dono felt it wasn't good enough so they called back to sing again that night, which Mabes appreciated.


We decided to go low-key for her birthday, and perhaps save the Super Sweet Sixteen-style party for next year. We just had a few friends over (Hen(g)ry of course, and we're all very sad to learn she's dropping the nonexistent "g" from his name), ate pizza and cupcakes, and opened presents. Mabes thought it was the greatest party ever.


After putting her to bed, I thought I heard her asking for water. I went in to see what she needed, and she wistfully said "No, I don't need anything--I'm just talking about my birthday." The next morning, the first thing she said was "I had so much fun at my party last night!" I love that she's easily impressed.


Friday afternoon, we headed east to spend the weekend with Grandma Jackie and celebrate her birthday on Saturday. She was so excited to not only see Grandma Jackie, but to celebrate yet another birthday, that she fought falling asleep for most of the ride, despite being very tired. We had waffles Saturday morning, Mabes got to open more presents (including a cradle made by Jackie's cousin's husband, only Mabes insists that it's not a cradle, it's a rocking bed), and enjoyed fried chicken, barbeque, hush puppies, and dirt cake. The eight hour roundtrip drive is worth it for Eastern Carolina-style barbeque alone, and we had a great time visiting with Dave's family.


And finally, we decided that after 3 years, Mabes was ready for a haircut. Her hair had gotten a little crazy. But when you have a little girl who was bald for so long, it's hard to cut the hair, even for a trim. It had gotten long enough that I figured evening it out would still leave plenty of hair, so after cutting Dave's hair, we put Mabes in the barber seat. (And by barber seat, I mean the folding chair we use.)













It turned out really cute, though it's a little hard to tell from these pictures. She can wear her hair down without it looking strange--the sides were maybe 2 inches longer than the back. She now looks even more like a little girl, which is both funny and sad.

At this time, ___ years ago...

Perhaps the highlight of my birthday is the call from my dad. Pleasantries are exchanged, he says happy birthday, and then he launches into "29 years ago right now, we were..." and recounts my entire birth story, always ending with "and I still consider it to be one of the greatest days of my life."

Now, as a kid, I'm sure I rolled my eyes at this. Sarah has teased him about it. But there was always something kind of cool about 1) hearing how you were born, 2) realizing that your parents remember that day, even though it was years ago, and 3) hearing it from your dad. We expect that kind of sentimentality from my mom--we purposely buy her "crying presents" for Christmas. (And while some of those gifts have been cry-worthy, one year, she cried when she got a clock, the next year was a sewing maching. Happy tears both times, but we still don't get it.) So when Dad gets sentimental, it's something to remember. My dad has had an impressive career, played some amazing golf courses, and traveled the world. But to know that the births of each of his six children stand out as the greatest days of his life--that really makes an impression on a kid that doesn't understand parental love.

So I blame my parents for the sentimentality of this. Three years ago this morning, after a fast labor and 2 hours of pushing (who knew that pushing would take longer than the labor part?), Emaline came screaming into the world. Throughout our hospital stay, all the nurses commented on how alert she was, how they'd never seen a newborn so awake, etc. Being the proud, naive new mom I thought, "Oh, that means she's smart!" Maybe, but the alertness has nothing to do with that. Alert just means she'll never sleep. Despite her alertness and ridiculous energy, we wouldn't trade her. She's hilarious and loving and her hugs are probably the greatest invention ever. And you know how much I value the relatively short time she's asleep? As I checked on her before bed last night, I was watching her sleep and just thinking about how she's not my little baby anymore, it's like I turned into Laura or Becca and thought "Let's wake her up!" I just wanted to pick her up and hug her. Bebe.

The past three years have been a huge learning experience for us. Lots of laughter, lots (and lots) of tears, and lots of hugs. So yeah, I'm going to be an emotional sap today, because three years ago today was one of the greatest days of my life.

Saturday in the Park

On Saturday, lured by the promise of paddleboats, we headed to a park we hadn't visited yet. Given past disappointments with height requirements, things not working, etc., we didn't tell Mabes anything other than "we're going somewhere fun." I now understand why my parents would just say "Go with the flow," and would like to take this opportunity to apologize for making them want to bang their heads against the dashboard due to our incessant "but what are we doooooooooing?!?!?"

We got to the park, found the paddleboats, paid our $4, and waited for the next available boat. At this point, Mabes thought we were just watching the boats, and she thought that was pretty cool.
But as the family waiting before us paddled away, we asked Mabes if she wanted to ride on the next boat that came in. Her eyes got huge, and she just whispered "Yeaaaaaaaah...WE can ride the boat!" Glad we didn't tell her before that, because she kept asking which boat was ours. When our boat finally pulled up, Mabes sprinted onto the dock.

We headed out at ramming speed and spent the next 45 minutes paddling around the small lake. While Dave and I got a nice leg workout, Mabes pointed out the bugs hovering over the water, the ducks on the logs, the people fishing, and even one "funny" fish that was floating on its side in the water. Silly fish.
A few times, we'd stop to enjoy the serenity and Mabes would get impatient with us. After several days of ridiculously hot temperatures, Saturday was in the mid- to high 80s, and being on the water cooled it off even more. The trees were so thick and green--it was perfect. And looking at my pictures, I'm more disgusted with my camera than ever. I've known for a while it needs to be replaced, but come on, A80, now you're just making a mockery of the scenery.
After a while, Mabes decided it was time to eat. In all fairness, it was dinner time, so I asked what she wanted for dinner. "French fries." Okay, we're going to get barbeque and French fries after we're done. "No, I want to eat French fries on my boat. Let's get some now." She had a point--all good boat trips should include food. Maybe next time there will be a concessions boat, or a paddle through restaurant.
We finished our tour of the lake and got our barbeque, brisket, French fries, and hushpuppies. Mabes is very good at expressing gratitude--the whole ride home, she kept saying "Oh, fank you for taking me to the boats! We have so much fun on the boats! We have a fun day! Fank you, fank you, Daddy!" And now I understand why my parents put up with our whining, even if we didn't trust them when they promised us fun.

Oh, and giant shout-out to Becca for her acceptance at the University of Utah's Nursing program--yay Becca! She's worked really hard for this, and totally deserves it. This is a particularly impressive feat, as very few people get in the first time they apply, and because for a long time, Becca tried to argue that she just wasn't as smart as everyone else. Nice try, Becca. Her crazy personality and big heart will be a huge addition to the medical field--like Patch Adams, minus the annoying Robin Williams factor.

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.