Fiftyish years + poor masonry + extreme drought + flash flood storm = first test of homeowners insurance

fun with meredith!

meredith is my dear sweet friend from college. We met during pre-season our freshman year when we were both on athletic teams - she a volleyball player, myself a cross-country runner. i introduced myself rather excitedly during a day at the lake, and scared her away. she slowly realized i meant well, and decided to put up with me. We lived next door to each other in the dorms, and graduated early together. She was my maid of honor, and then moved all of our stuff into our first house while Evelyn & Floyd were honeymooning. She has been a constant friend through the best and worst of times for the last eight years. The first one to find out we were expecting (when i was still in shock over the news!), she has also willingly given of her time to spend a day with RM every-other week since my maternity leave ended. Nancy sometimes says, "Does Meredith know she doesn't have to be your 'maid-of-honor' for the rest of her life?" Mer has a huge servant's heart, the most generous spirit, and is an amazing listener. Simply put - she's a devoted and loyal friend.

Pictured above are shots from Mer & RM's day together today. The funny thing is, she really was hesitant around babies before. You wouldn't know it though - RM thinks she is the most fun, and as you can tell from these photos, totally hams it up with her.

i know good mischief lies just beyond the rim of this 'saucer...

RM has learned that his new found freedom and mobility doesn't just mean seeing the top of the couch or hoisting himself up on the vacuum cleaner, or crawling over Jim Hargate, etc. He has also found ambition - what poisonous cleaning products lie behind the kitchen sink curtain? How about eating potting soil from the peace lily's container... that sounds fun. I can't just set him down on the floor of the nursery while I get his pj's and diaper from the drawer... He is gone in the flashest of flashes down the hall, through the living room, into the dining room and around the table BACK towards the dog water bowl in hopes of splashing about again. Here's to the world through a ten month old's eyes... who's momma sometimes has to confine him to the 'saucer while she works from home. these were also taken by my friend Rebekah the day she was here.

and PS - anyone have advice for a kid who has no interest in a sippy cup? I even put the sweet stuff (apple juice) in it to lure him... no takers. Turns it upside down and knaws on the bottom, or tosses it off the tray. But good news - has taken formula TWICE in the last week! We may be on our way to weaning soon, woo hoo!

My Family Photography

An old friend of mine from Virginia came through town a few weeks ago. She has started this really cool concept with her freelance photography work with the idea of catching families as they are, over and over at different phases of their life and hopefully creating some really cool visual memories over the next several years when she comes to visit us! We were glad to have a few moments with her, and LOVE what she captured in a short visit, when I hadn't seen her in YEARS! Hopefully, this is the first of many. (ps - She's good! and she travels! So lemmino if you need a reference!)

men and their strollers

we had a downtown stroll and dinner date with Brad & Lauren this evening. This image of the guys in walking ahead of us gals on Main Street gave us a laugh. Our pizza at Bellacinos was tasty, and the people watching provided more than enough entertainment.

i did it...

I did it.

i splurged for the stroller i wanted. and it's all that i'd hoped for.

it's shallow of me to lust and to 'hem' and to 'haw' over a stroller i know. but the push is like butter - better butter - and it can turn into a two seater with four different position options.

While i recognize that planning for more children when we only have one is silly, the fact remains that RM currently has six other cousins under the age of three... so it is somewhat logical in this family to plan for giving another kid a lift. Besides, have i mentioned i'm in love with this stroller? (If you'd like to see some of the fabulous features, this image details a few of those. Ours is in charcoal/black.)

Just to add to my self-justification-saga for paying more-than-i-care-to-admit for A STROLLER, i will also report that it was divinely provided for me at a discount of more than 40% off! VICTORY.

ps - You can all chastise me as needed in the comments section. I will not be shaken. I am firmly rooted in this stroller-obsession, and have no buyers remorse whatsoever.

WALL-E the movie!

Ummm... So Evelyn & Floyd went to see this movie over the weekend as a mini fifth-anniversary celebration (the real party will be a week away in Seattle this August, woo hoo!) Anyway, i hereby report that it is the cutest cartoon i have seen in a long time. It probably helped that my nickname for Floyd is "Wall-E" already, and that Wall-E's friend in the movie is named "Eve" (hint, Evelyn similarity). But we really enjoyed it and think yall would too. Post a comment if you have seen it and liked it too. :)

9 months...

RM is 9 months old. He hasn't gained any weight in the last couple of months because he is moving too fast! The stats are 20lbs 9oz (50th percentile) and 29in tall (75th percentile). He loves crawling everywhere, playing hide and seek around corners with his daddy, pulling up to stand wherever he can find an angle, and rockin' out in his crib whenever sleep doesn't appeal to him. He has mastered Cheerios, Gerber Puffs, and black beans. We're still working on the other finger foods - banana pieces still seem to slip through his pincher or get stuck in his palm... but he's loving trying new things... except the sippy cup. And he's still got no interest in formula whatsoever... we're tricking him by adding a tiny bit to his b'milk bottle... hopefully soon we can make the switch - i'm getting antsy for a little more freedom in that arena!

a new tool i found...

I just discovered the Map My Run tool online. Evelyn & Floyd are trying to exercise more regularly together in the evenings with RM in the stroller. Right now we're just walking, but hopefully (if i can choose a good jogging stroller) we will step it up a notch and start jogging some routes. Anyway - I've just started logging and saving my routes - so far i have a hilly one mile loop and a more relaxed three mile loop in our neighborhood. So go and create a free login, and start checking the distances of your favorite neighborhood walks/runs/strolls to know what you're doing for your health!

PS - any good reviews of jogging strollers? Send 'em my way! :)

pictures from The Springs trip...

Finally uploading some pictures from Sister week - Cousin Mania 2008 earlier this month. In no particular order, we have:


progress of the cabinet painting project,


RM bathing in Aunt Tootie's sink,


cousins on a couch,


4 sisters,


popsicles on the slide,


tootie & todd's date nite,


D-heavy "THE MANIAC" on wheels,


sweet baby E with me, and


RM with his aunt Shin

New Photos...

Look at pictures of RM! Password is our last name... so if you know that, you're in. We love this little butterbean. He's crawling everywhere now!

72 hours of silenced thumbs...

I am posting this picture because of the irony contained in the image.

This photo was taken two weeks ago at our fabulous friends' wedding. Please notice the expression on Evelyn's face, and the item of interest in Evelyn's hand. Anyone with any knowledge of me knows that there is a slight obsession with said crackberry. Anyone with such knowledge also knows that to detatch said crackberry from Evelyn for more than an hour or two could result in panic attacks, shortness of breath, etc. Hence the reason said crackberry is even in a picture at a wedding reception. YES, I am embarrased. It's like I brought an uninvited guest to the party.

Fast forward two weeks to a staff meeting out at the lake. I assure you we did get excellent planning/work done. But we also took a brief hiatus to dip our toes in the water. During said hiatus, the crackberry suffered an awful demise. Said crackberry managed to fall out of my shoe, bounce on the dock, and into the water, down to the depths below. I would like to think it is because i am such a loyal employee, and because i cannot leave it a safe distance from the water, that it suffered this fatal blow. So now, the fish are all laughing at me, while playing brick breaker from the bottom of Lake Murray.

If you need to contact me in the mean time, feel free to leave a comment below.

now at a music box near you...

I am proud to share the news that together with Old Man Records, Floyd has released his debut album, "My Fellow Sophisticates". You can buy it at a number of online vendors including Amazon, itunes, OMR website, etc. etc. So for those of you who have asked, what is his music like? You can now listen to it, or read a review, to see and hear for yourself.

bleary eyed bewilderment

i got no fun pics downloaded yet for you loyal readers (HAH!) but you can check out the Counts spot or Nanni Pan's new blog for some good ones. Like they have mentioned in their posts - we have 4 sisters, 8 kiddos - 7 in diapers - and not a spare corner of the house untouched. Just because we're not insane enough, yes, the kitchen got torn to pieces so that the 1968 ugly cabinets could get a 40 year old facelift. And they look pretty darn good if you ask me.

Highlights and Lowlights thus far?

Did I mention we tore apart the kitchen with eight babies?

The proposition that we all get our tubes tied during the next Sister Week. (I'm not saying who suggested this... but I will say that we all took the thought seriously for at least a moment...)

my experience with the airline call center

Soooo, this is fun. Here's a very short synopsis of a phone call i just made.

BACKGROUND: RM & Evelyn are joining Nancy, Big-O, and G-Lou to venture across the country tomorrow and visit Tootie & Boonie in CO tomorrow. (If you can't discipher that lingo, lemme know, and I can hopefully give you the background on our inter-family codes.) Basically, it's gonna be a Baker Sister reunion, which is sure to provide some juicy photo and video updates on the various blogs.

PHONE CALL DETAILS: I am trying to be a very wise and thoughtful mommy-traveler, which means i even went so far as to e-mail the airline today (over 24hrs in advance of our flight) to tell them that Nancy & Evelyn will each have an infant in their lap. I thought that this would be a relatively simple process to execute with the online services. IT WAS NOT. Customer Care online isn't what it could be my friends. I got a nice e-mail back from the "online specialist" telling me to call the toll-free line and speak to a representative. Okay, i says... this should still be relatively simple, right?

"Hello, yes, my name is such-and-such, and my record locator number is such-and-such, and I am calling to notify the-powers-that-be that Passengers A and B will be carrying infants under the age of 2 in their laps."

[Thick Indian Accent] "OOOOkaaaaay, I am happy to assist you. Could you give me the record locator number again? And your name was? And can you speak up please? And you are carrying an infant? And the name of the infant? Okaaaaaay, Was that R as in Raaaaandy, E as in Edwaaard, D as in Delta? Okaaaaay, and the infant's date of birth? I'm sorry, can you speak up please? So Nancy is carrying the infant with the name of Red?"

"No, I am not Nancy, I am Evelyn, and I am carrying Red. Nancy is carrying G-lou, another infant, with the same last name as her. Red and I go together (notice the matching last names?)."

----This process repeats, with me giving her G-lou's stats, etc. etc. etc.----

[Thick, almost indiscernable accent again] "Sooooo, Stetson Fisher is carrying G-lou and Nancy is carrying Red?"

----SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY? Am I speaking in a foreign langauge? No, i cannot speak up, I am speaking directly into the receiver, but i am at work, and I can't yell above all my co-workers at you. Are you kidding me? Who'd like to see the two and a half year old O-man carrying G-lou onboard our flight? And I'll make Nancy carry RM, and I'll just sit pretty reading the gossip magazines or shopping the onboard flight catalog. ----------

RM meets some of the McCurley Family!

"Memaw" and John Michael came through town on their way to the mountains last week! It was such a treat to get to see them, even though they weren't able to stay long. (Will had been sick with a very high fever and sore throat... we didn't want him to get near them!)

Anyway, they got to meet RM and he was happy to soak up a little loving from more adoring extended family members. Memaw & John Michael, we loved seeing you, and hope your time in the mountains was very relaxing!

did i say soon? lemme esplane...

When i promised, "video soon!" to document the 'crawling' for RM's fan club, what i really meant was the when-it-happens-again kind of soon that inevitably doesn't happen once you declare to the world they can see it, 'soon'. So we wait. Because we're back to the rocking and YAYAYAY, DAH, YAYAYAY, YA-DAH vocal patterns for now. But trust me, with mobility on the horizon, we're loving every final minute of the stationary-but-frustrated-because-i-want-to-move stage. You'll get there buddy.


So, i got pooped on today. I was trying to think of a gentle lead-in, you know, give you some preliminary explanation, and even now i'm really tempted to tell you all about how I was being a conscientious parent by letting his little rear air out, but the bottom line is, i got pooped on. He thought the aftermath was quite fun, and baths are always a splashing good time, so what's not to love about crapping on your mom's lap?

HE CRAWLS!

it's starting... he's figured something out... only he hasn't figured out the "forwards" motion yet. So far it's only backwards that he's mastered...
video soon :)

oh what a face

just love this expression too much not to share... it's such a mischievous one.