Naybe

Amelia has gotten so adept at spotting her little elf friend that she spotted him hiding in these flowers...from the top of the stairs...20 feet away.

Beauty Salon

If you can't find Amelia at any point during a visit to her grandparents' house, the safest place to look is her Grandmother's makeup chair. She will sit there forever pretending to put on makeup and doing her hair over and over again. For any of you wondering how she maintains such a beautiful bounce in her 'do...apparently the answer involves shoving an inordinate amount of Q-tips in it.

Naybe

Feel So Happy

She's learning...but, she's not quite there yet...here is our most recent dinner table discussion...

Amelia: (clearly passing gas like a grown man after a chili dog eating contest) Oh
Me: Amelia, do you need to go stinky?
Amelia: No
Me: Are you sure? I think you might need to go stinky in the potty.
Amelia: No. I just toot-tooted.
Me: Oh, okay.
Amelia: Toot-tooting is okay.
Me: Yeah, toot-tooting is okay.
Amelia: We don't stinky in our pants. That makes us so sad.
Me: Right
Amelia: Right. Stinky in our pants makes us sad, but Toot-tooting makes us feel so happy!
Me:Umm, yeeeah, something like that.

Where's Naybe?

This year, we are employing the fantastic holiday element Elf on the Shelf. For those of you who haven't heard of Elf on the Shelf, here is a quick rundown - Santa sends an elf to your house to watch over you. The elf reports your behavior back to him each night while you sleep. The next day, you have to find him again as he always returns to a different viewing spot. You aren't allowed to touch him and he isn't allowed to talk to you. These are very strict rules. For reasons unknown to me, Amelia decided to name her elf "Naybe". So far, through two nights of Naybe staying with us, she has definitely taken a major interest into his whereabouts. That said, we can't tell if she excited to have a direct connection to Santa or if she is creeped out by the 7-inch Peeping Tom running around our house. Either way, I hope it makes her behave.

Night 1 in the hallway...


Night 2 in the shower...

Sights from the Weekend

I need one of these in my yard...


So I can do this much more often...


I've lived all my life in the South and yet I had almost never seen real cotton...




Speaking of big, fluffy things...

Parades are Fun?

Amelia attended her first parade this weekend. For her, it definitely was met with mixed reviews....

Anxiously awaiting the parade with her cousins...


Holding hands to help during the excitement...


All the candy a 2 year-old can grab...


Not a big fan of clowns...even when the clown is her Uncle...


Needing some support from Grandpa...


Only kid at the parade with this look...


There is very little a baby chick can't cure...

On the Road Again

It is time for the holidays once again and that can mean only one thing...I miss living near family. We are very fortunate to be able to travel (even though the car ride at 8 months pregnant and with a 2 year-old really sucks) to see some relatives this weekend. That said, I will still dearly miss seeing my side of the family. While I see no reasonable solution to the problem, I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea that Amelia and Everett will never experience a large family gathering that doesn't require luggage. There are very few things I'd go back and revisit from childhood (I actually enjoy being an adult), but Thanksgiving dinners with all my family living close by is near the top of the list (naturally, just behind the awesomeness of Saturday morning cartoons)

Lazy Sunday

Sophie was able to take advantage of a lazy Sunday by taking a nice nap with Everett...

Underestimated

When I said "99% of our family will not particularly like" the name Everett, I slightly underestimated them. While the number appears to actually be lower than 99%, the 90% who don't particularly like it....seem to particularly hate it. In an interesting study, we have heard basically nothing positive from anyone over 50 and virtually nothing negative from people under 40 (lukewarm results in the 40-50 range). We've heard feedback ranging from "I'd have preferred that" in reference to us jokingly saying we could have named him Diego (what Amelia wanted to name him after a character in one of her favorite cartoons) to "I LOVE THE NAME. I think it is strong, masculine, and honorable" (A message I received). Luckily, regardless of feedback, we still love it and I have a suspicion that once the snuggly baby arrives, nobody else will care what its name is.

As a side note, for those of you who think Everett is a strange name - according to Howmanyofme.com, there are 10% more "Everetts" in this country than there are "Amelias".

And We Shall Call Him...

Well, after much deliberation, we have arrived at a name for Baby Brother. We basically had 2 or 3 main names in the running for the last several months. Ironically, we got rid of all of them and went with a name we first discussed today. Additionally strange, we are pretty certain 99% of our family will not particularly like the name we chose. Luckily, unlike the Wall Street situation, in this case we are in the 1%. And since we'll be paying all the bills, going through all the sleepless nights, and generally assuming all responsibility for him...our opinions are all that matters. We decided to go with an old English name (like we did with Amelia) that we felt was uncommon, yet strong. From here forward, Baby Brother shall be known as Everett Joel.

Pleasure to Meet You

Priorities

Gator Basketball game streaming live online

Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow playing live on TV

Yeeeeeah, there's not going to be a post on here tonight.

Checkup

Everything went great at Meggan's doctor visit today. We are very appreciative of the blessing of having a healthy pregnancy. I proudly take absolutely zero percent of the credit. So, first I'd like to thank God for looking over us. Additionally, I'd especially like to thank Meggan for putting the pregnancy at the forefront of all matters. She gave up sweet tea. She gave up Diet Coke. She never takes medicine. She takes her vitamins religiously. She reads parenting books and blogs nightly. In short, she does everything she can do as often as she can do it to ensure the greatest possible health of the baby. For that, she has a very grateful husband and a very lucky baby boy on the way.

Next Level

Amelia has taken her guitar shredding to a new level....from her plastic guitar that plays music when you push a button to a mini guitar that you have to strum.



Here is the best video I could get on my cell phone. (Itsy Bitsy Spider) So far, she won't play any free shows for me when I have my real camera.

So Proud

For any of you out there who are thinking of having children, let me fill you in on something...they are gross little creatures. Exhibit 1 - After Amelia's bath tonight, we were brushing her teeth when she ripped a huge fart, spit her toothpaste into the sink, said "I toot tooted on you", dropped her towel, ran naked down the hallway, and began jumping on her bed. Now, I assure you we do not teach her to do these things (although it sounds like something Meggan would do) and we try not to reward her bad behavior. That said, I am mature enough to admit that I am far too immature not to laugh at toddler fart celebrations...tonight was no exception.

Less Than Free to Good Home

Here is the aforementioned cat from the earlier post. If any of you like cats, he/she should definitely become part of your family. It is very sweet, but has no known home and it is getting cold outside. We can't bring it here because of the new baby coming and the fact that "cat" is Sophie's favorite flavor of lunch meat. I say it is less than free because on top of all the love the cat could give you (which is priceless), it comes with a month's supply of food to get you started! How can you pass up that kind of deal???

Absence

I know there has been a bit of an absence in posts this week. It isn't that there hasn't been anything to write about...I just wouldn't know what those things are because I have been stuck working on my actual job far, far more hours than should be legally allowed. This week should be much better. So, we'll get it started with a short post about our weekend...

Sooooo, last night after leaving Urgent Care with Amelia at Midnight, we had to stop by Meggan's office to feed her stray cat.... wait, maybe this week isn't getting off to a better start.

Get in the Back

Amelia and I came across a police cruiser with a car seat strapped in the back. I had never seen that before and to be honest, I never really considered the possibility of it. While thinking better of using it as an opportunity to tell Amelia they kept a car seat in the back in case they had to arrest her for pooping in her pants, I did try to think of a few reasons for this scenario....

- maybe it really is against the law to poop your pants
- perhaps the seat is for a 'little person"
- there may be a rash of baby gang violence that I have not heard about
- it might have been early preparation in case a Hangover-like situation were to pop off and a few guys find a baby and steal the police cruiser
- maybe the baby requested a ride along to see what a career in law enforcement was like
- they may have been filming the new TV series Undercover Baby
- given what I know of babies, it easily could have been a nudity in public charge
- perhaps they finally busted the E-Trade baby for insider trading
- maybe the baby got out of hand at a local Occupy protest
- the local police might be running a Scared Straight program to warn toddlers of the risks of living a life of crime
- might have fallen prey to a riding tricycle while intoxicated arrest

Oh well, I guess we'll never know the true story of this tiny outlaw. Let's just all hope they can straighten their lives out before it is too late.

Top Chef, Toddler Division

One of Amelia's new favorite hobbies is cooking sweets with her mother. Coincidentally, one of my favorite hobbies is eating sweets. Not so coincidentally, I am about 2 cookies away from not being able to see my belt.

Consolation Prize

I figure if the ballet thing doesn't pan out, at least our $35 dollars gets us all the free pinball we can play...and 20 years ago, that would have ruled my world.

5 Years

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary...which means it has been about 5 years and 2days since Meggan and I met. Okay, maybe we didn't get married after a few days, but it was not a long courtship. I can't speak for her, but for me, I didn't need it to be. Much like it doesn't take me long to order food at my favorite restaurant, it didn't take me long to realize I was forever "off the market". I knew what qualities I wanted in a wife. So, when I found out they all existed in the cute girl who lived 2 buildings down, I wasted no time before I asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. I'm pretty sure she checked with Jake Gyllenhaal's people first to make sure he wasn't interested, but when they said no, she agreed to marry me. I'm happy to report that 5 years, two job changes, a move, and 1.75 kids later, I still consider myself the luckiest guy in the world for somehow summoning up the courage to talk to a girl I just knew was out of my league.

Break

I just got finished with essentially a 14 hour workday including time I worked from home while listening to Amelia scream about going to bed for over an hour. So, rather than say anything I'd like to get off my chest, I'll just post a couple pretty pictures I took recently.

Just a Trim

We took Sophie to the groomer this weekend to get her normal haircut. She came home lacking her beard and eyebrows - basically her identity. I can't be sure, but it also looks like they used some Just For Men to touch up her color and make her look younger.

Sophie's normal style...


The new sleek, European model...

It's Not Always Easy

Is it really THAT bad if your kid uses a pacifier until she is grown? Amelia has gotten to where she no longer asks for it, but she also no longer falls asleep without massive effort on our parts. Tonight, we nearly had to lock her in her room after several attempts of snuggling with her. If she doesn't start making it easier on us, one of the two of us is going to start drinking hard liquor before bedtime.

Talking Funny

While discussing birthdays -
Amelia: when is mommy's birthday?
Me: December
Amelia: Just like Jesus?
Me: That's right, just like Jesus.
Amelia: Mommy is Jesus?
Me: Ummm, not exactly

While I was trying to keep her occupied at dinner -
Me: Why don't you color with your crayons
Amelia: I already did
Me: Oh, then can you help daddy put the lid on the water?
Amelia: I do everything for you. Its "diculous"
Me(verbally): Okaaaay
Me(inner monologue): I cannot believe my 2 year-old just called me ridiculous.

After putting on her Dora the Explorer costume for Halloween -
Me: Okay, Dora, what are you going to say when people answer their door?
Amelia: Hola!
Me: Yeah, you should do that.