August 2004 Archives

A Happy Belated Birthday to Bill's nephew Mark. In my complete ditziness as of late, I got the date wrong. Sorry, Mark! Hope you had a great birthday anyway! We love you and can't wait to see you guys soon.

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I fixed the link in the post below. Please click on it and vote for Maddie if you feel like it!
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Alecia entered a photo of Maddie in a "Water Baby" photo contest at AmericanBaby.com. If you register on the site, you can place five votes per day--and you can place all five for the same picture, if you want! I didn't know this at first, so after placing a single vote for Maddie, I started spreading my votes around. Doh!

Please register and vote for your favorite pic (as long as it's the one of Maddie). The winner just gets some web recognition, no real prize. But it would still be cool for us vain and greedy parents. There are a lot of pics that have already gotten a bunch of votes, so it will be hard to catch up at this point. But maybe someday Maddie will feel good that she got a lot of votes on some stupid website when she was a baby.

Anyway, click here to vote.
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We had some more pics on the camera, so I thought I'd better post them before Alecia puts them on Snapfish.

First, there are some pics of Alecia in her clown suit with Maddie. Yes, if you didn't know, Alecia is a professional clown. She went to clown school and everything, though she rarely performs now that she's a full-time mommy. She had a gig at a grocery store opening Saturday, which is why she's in the suit. The funny thing is that she was about to leave for the gig right when Maddie was waking up from a nap. Alecia went in to get her, forgetting that she was in her suit. Maddie recognized her right away, and didn't seem to notice the colorful outfit. Later, Alecia admitted that she didn't even think about how she could have seriously scarred the kid for life. I mean, think about it, a strange clown comes into your darkened bedroom and steals you from your crib...that would freak me out! But Maddie saw through the makeup. Must be the psychic connection she and Alecia share.

The next group of pics are from later Saturday, when Grandma Regina and Aunt Mic drove over from 'Bama to visit. Mic brought her old "fake food" toys, which are actually pretty neat. A friend of ours had given Maddie a little kitchen playset earlier in the week, and it instantly became her favorite toy. (Not only does she love opening and closing the doors, but she has learned about cause and effect, shapes, and inside/outside thanks to this kitchen! More on this later.) The fake food Mic brought was a perfect addition to the kitchen, though Maddie does try to eat it a little too much. The McDonald's food and uniform are hopefully not a foreshadowing of Maddie's postgraduate future.

The final few pics are just a few at-play pics. Maddie has become quite the climber, and is smart enough to know that if she pushes bigger objects over to something she wants to climb, she can get a lift up. We're always pulling her off of tables and such, which she uses her cars to get up on. She has no fear, and impressive balance. She has managed to fall quite a bit, and even got stuck in a basket she fell into, but her skills are still impressive. Just one of the areas in which she seems to be more advanced than she should be.

Also, there are some pics of Maddie reading. She likes to read her books and her mommy's magazines, poring slowly over each page. It's almost weird--as if she's really reading and understanding the words. She'll spend the right amount of time on each page, and then will move to the next. She'll go through a whole book, quietly, and then reach for another one. I predict she's going to be one smart cookie when it comes to school. But genetically, she should have a head start, considering her mom's a genius (and dad ain't so dumb, either).

Well, that's all we have today. We're not going to San Antonio this weekend like we thought (another story for later), so I'll probably post again later in the week.
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I finally got the scanner working again, and decided to do a picture update.

First off, an answer to a question I was asked at a birthday party the other day: "Have you met any famous people through your job?" Of course I have! Check out the celebs link to the left to not only see some of the major stars I've rubbed shoulders with, but to also see the newest (upcoming) star in our lives: Jelly Bean! The ultrasound is from weeks and weeks ago, but scanner problems kept us from putting it up before now.

The other set of pics--marked "August Pics"--are a mixed bag of assorted junk. Some of them are pics Alecia actually already posted on Snapfish. I'm reposting them to keep all of our pics in one place...and because I hate Snapfish. I did write some new captions, though, so there's that.

The rest of the pics are either random Maddie pics or pics from our outing to Six Flags Over Georgia (or whatever they call it). Alecia and I aren't big fans of the park. It's smaller, hotter, older, and more rednecky than the great parks we're used to (Disney, Universal Studios, Cedar Point, or even Marriott's Great America). We've been to Six Flags a couple of times, but weren't planning on going again. Of course, things changed when my company decided to take over the entire park for an employee appreciation night.

They closed the park to anyone but employees and gave us all "looney bucks" to spend. Since they only gave us five fake dollars per person for food (in a park where water costs three dollars), I begged bucks off of every person I could find who wasn't attending the event. I collected fifty dollars in looney bucks before we left for the park. We had multiple meals paid for, along with drinks, candy, and even a souvenir picture. :)

Maddie loved the amusement park, but we knew she would. She's a major people watcher, and loves bright lights and loud sounds. The park was the perfect situation for her. And the weather actually dropped about twenty degrees the day we went, so it wasn't the usual August heat.

Because Alecia's preggers and Maddie's a runt, we couldn't go on many rides, but Maddie did get to try out a few. She was amused by the "scary" creatures in the Monster Plantation (the weak haunted boat ride), and loved looking down at the park's lights during our nighttime ride in the skybuckets that travel over the park. (Alecia was white-knuckled for that ride since she's afraid of heights.) Maddie also got to see her third fireworks show in the last month, and she loved it just as much as the first two.

Maddie also got to go on two rides that were a little faster paced, and I was a little worried when I strapped her in next to me on the first one. It wasn't really wild, but it did swing around pretty fast, and we had no idea what she'd do. When I strapped her in, she started squirming--she hates to be tied down. But when the ride started, her jaw dropped and her eyes were like saucers. She loved it! When we took her on the second one, she didn't even squirm in her seat, as if she knew what to expect. (These were kids rides, by the way, so don't freak at the thought of her on a roller coaster.)

The final ride of the night was the carousel. That was probably more fun for me than for anyone else. I stayed off the ride so I could film them going around. Everytime Maddie would come by where I stood with the camera, I would jump up and down to get her attention. She'd always get this big grin and giggle, like she was thinking, "Hey, look! It's Dad! What's he doing here?" She went around a dozen times, and was overjoyed each time she saw me. I was laughing like an idiot and didn't care. :)

We left the park around midnight, and Maddie was wiped. We would've took more pictures, but made the mistake of bringing dead batteries for our camera. Instead, we took a lot of video. It was a great family outing, and the perfect Friday night. I can't wait until Maddie can actually go on the big rides with me!

Other than that outing, we haven't done much. We went to visit our friends Anna and Jim today, to meet their brand new son, Matthew. He's a living doll. I'm kicking myself now for not bringing a camera, but it's been a hectic week, and my brain is on vacation. Seeing Matthew made us remember what Maddie was like ten months ago when we brought her home. While it reminded us of how hard it was for us at times, it also made us strangely excited about Jelly Bean's arrival. We wanted to go home and paint Maddie's new room and get the nursery ready for the new baby's arrival. None of that work will happen until after Maddie's first birthday, though. We need the den to stay a den until then. But the week after the party, that will become my new office, so our current office can become Maddie's room.

The next few weeks will be hectic for us. Alecia has a clowning gig tomorrow for the friend of a friend. It'll probably be mostly facepainting, but she's prepared to whip out the balloon animals if needed. On Thursday, we leave for San Antonio. We're driving out there for my friend Mike's wedding (with a brief stop in New Orleans on the way). We're not going to be able to take as long as we want for the trip, both because we're broke and expecting and because I have to be back a week from Tuesday to serve as Power of Attorney for the sale of Mike's townhouse here in Atlanta. But it should be a fun trip, even if it's not long. I just wish I knew what we're doing with the dogs while we're gone.

After we get back from San Antonio, I start back into soccer. My (and Todd's) Saturday coed team won our division last season, so we're trying to repeat in the Fall. And I'm playing on an over-30 men's team on Sundays, as well, with a bunch of Turkish and Romanian players. It should be interesting. They argue calls when we're scrimmaging, and I can't understand a word they're saying. But they needed defenders (since no Europeans play defense), so I was recruited by a friend of mine on the team. I'm turning down two weeknight soccer leagues and a volleyball league this Fall. It's good to be in demand, especially since I'm trying to slowly get back in shape, but I can barely do the weekend leagues. My days of five leagues at a time are long over! :)

Anyway, enjoy the new pics. I may try to get some video up this weekend. I've never really played around with it, so it may be easier than I think. We'll see.

Have a great weekend!

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Alecia told me I had to post something on the site, because she's posted the last few times. But if you look at the names next to the posts below, it shows that I've posted a ton over the last few weeks. Now Alecia will try to convince you that she's the one that made those posts, she just did it on my computer, so it showed my name. But can she prove it?

Anyway, whether it's my turn or not, I'll post when I get the chance. But I know that nobody cares as much about a weekend update as they do about new pics. So I don't want to post until I have pics to share. That should happen in a day or two. Be patient. :)
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I just posted some more pictures on Snapfish. I babysat David, a friend of Maddie's from playgroup yesterday. They loved each other! You have to see the pictures to understand what I mean. And honestly, these were not staged. Plus, everything you see happened so often that I was able to get an actual picture. So cute! Maddie's first boyfriend.
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Happy Birthday to Cheyenne, Marci, Heath, and Marcia! August seems to be a popular month! Hope you all had great ones.
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So everyone's been asking for more pictures of Maddie, right? Well, there are two reasons why we haven't posted lately:

1) We haven't been taking many pics. Instead, in an effort to capture all the cute things Maddie's been doing lately, we've been taking tons of video. Not so great for everyone out there wanting to see more of Maddie, but great for us and posterity. Seriously, though, we have some really cute footage of Maddie dancing and singing, and "talking" to Bill while playing in her crib. Hopefully we can digitize it and put it on the website for you to see soon.

2) Now this one may get me in trouble, but I really dislike the new way we've been posting pics to the site. Sorry, honey! Sure, it's been easier for you guys to see (just click on the left!) but it's been h-e-double-hockey-sticks to put together. I'm not a web person, and while I have a modicum of understanding for how to put together individual webpages, that doesn't mean it's easy for someone dealing with a teething 10 month old and another on the way. So, I'm taking a stand and going back to using Snapfish. Sorry that it means more time for each of you (logging into the Snapfish site, etc.) but it saves me about 2 hours of time and in the end that means more pics can be posted in a timely manner. Isn't that what everyone wants?

In other news, all is going great with both Maddie and Jelly Bean. Maddie has learned to growl (thanks to a bedtime song I sing to her at night with animal sounds) and now proceeds to make all of her toys growl at one another. I've been trying to teach her that ducks go "quack quack" but in the end they all end up growling. She's also teething, we think, so sleeping has been an issue again. For a few days she refused to take any naps and woke up every 2 hours at night. Luckily that has passed, but it had us worried for a while.

Jelly Bean is doing great too. We had another doc's appt. last week and got to hear the little heartbeat. I've started to feel a little movement too, in the evenings. Not quite kicks yet, but little flutters that make my heart go flutter as well. Our due date is still February 6th and I'm about 14 weeks along right now. No more morning sickness (yay!) and feeling good.

Be sure to check out the new pics on Snapfish. We'll try to post some more soon!

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Maddie had a pretty exciting time this weekend. She went to not one, but TWO 1st birthday parties for kids from her playgroup.

First, was David's party at Chuck E Cheese on Friday. Although it might have seemed a little too old for a bunch of 1-year-olds, it wasn't too bad. The older toddlers liked climbing on the slide and coin-operated cars, while Maddie and the younger ones just enjoyed watching all the rest of the kids go hog wild. It was insane. And this was a Friday afternoon. I'd hate to see what Saturdays are like. She also enjoyed seeing Chuck E Cheese come out and shake hands with the kids. The best part, though? The cheese pizza. No lie. Our little Magpie LOVES pizza (must take after Aunt Mic). She ate nearly 3 little pieces by herself, and she's only got 2 teeth! On the bottom, no less.

Friday night ended with a picnic in Marietta square where the three of us enjoyed a Golden Oldies-themed free concert. It was fun and a beautiful night. Maddie had us, and everyone else, cracking up. She stood up, holding onto our picnic basket and danced and sang to the music. Her little body just bounced the whole night until she finally crashed on the way home. And don't forget the singing. I'm not sure what she said, but whenever the music was on she was singing "La la Da Ga La". She's ready for stardom.

Saturday was a little more low-key as we enjoyed lunch and ice cream at Jake's in Midtown and a stroll through Lenox Mall to see what the Buckhead Betties are wearing these days. Is is just me, or do you only need a few inches of material to make a skirt lately?

Today was Grace's birthday party at her house. It was a little insane with about 40 parents and kids in one house as we all tried to avoid going outside in the 95 degree weather. In the end, it was cooler outside than in the house with all the body heat. Grace was adorable and Maddie enjoyed playing with all the kids and trying to steal refried bean dip from Mommy's plate. (Not a pretty sight!)

And that rounds out our weekend so far. Lately, Maddie has been going through a growth spurt (hurrah!) so keeping the kid full is nearly impossible --as you can tell from the pizza at Chuck E Cheese. She's also learning a few more words, including Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, and Baba (bottle). And yes, besides what Bill says, she CAN say these words and knows what they mean. She's getting so much closer to walking too, cruising on anything now, including the walls. We caught her standing up in her crib the other day, without using her hands, but only for a few seconds. As soon as she realized what she was doing, she fell. And our favorite daily ritual is to wait for Daddy to come home from work now. Around 5:30 each day, Maddie crawls into the living room to the front door. She stands up against the glass door and bounces while saying "Dada". Then she'll play for a while. When Bill does come home not much later, I tell her and she'll go to the door again to greet him with a big smile. It's so incredibly fun to see how aware she is and how much she understands, even if she isn't able to talk much yet.
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