Full Term

My younger brother, Andrew and his wife, Jenny are expecting a baby (their first and a little girl) on October 15th. These are special pictures for a special time, so I've been saving this post until my sister Jenny (ok, sister-in-law) reached full term. You're all cooked now baby - come out anytime at your leisure!

Andrew is a very good amateur photographer and took these pictures on a recent trip to Rainbow Haven Beach, about 30 minutes from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jenny was about 36 weeks along here.


Here Andrew was getting caught in the waves.




Their dog's name is Electron (Ellie) and she is a very sweet Shiba Inu.


Jenny telling Ellie, 'Don't worry, you'll still be our baby once this little girl comes!'. (Yeh, sure you will Ellie....that's what we told Max and Timber too. Now they're chopped liver).





Now Jenny is experiencing the typical full term yuckies (swollen, can't sleep but tired, ready to meet the baby yuckies) but is otherwise doing very well. She recently had a baby shower that I had to miss but I hear it was wonderful - and she was only subjected to a few awful baby shower games (shower games should be banned, but I digress).

I am certain that Andrew never intended for me to post this picture. So sorry! I sent Jenny this baby sling, called a 'Moby Wrap' which was truly a lifesaver for me when Hudson was itty bitty and didn't want to be put down. He would fall asleep in it for 3-4 hours a day and I was able to move around hands free. Here is Andrew practicing putting it on (it's actually a little complicated, even for an electrical engineer-turned-high school math teacher).





Sorry Rew, being the little brother never gets any easier I guess.


We'll be in Halifax during the days when Baby Woods is due. And if we are really, really lucky, we'll get to meet her.

Busy Weekend

We had a crazy busy weekend. Not sure how that happened since we had a crazy week and decided that we would lay low. Oh well, we can sleep when we're dead. So here's the breakdown.


Saturday we had an actual baby-sitter come to the house (first time ever). It was one of Hudson's teachers, Miss Julia. Up until now Hudson has only been 'sat' by his Granny Bain or Grandparents Benedict. Our friends Karen and JB (Zoe's parents) came over and we all went out for cocktails, a great dinner and even better company. So we got an adult night of debauchery and Hudson had a date with ZoZo.


Zoe came ready to party with her Puma's and 'I love Hudson' shirt. It didn't take long for her to steal Hudson's paci. It must be love.





Then he tried to manhandle her.




As usual, Timber is in the middle of things.




Zoe can stand really well. I think she'll walk soon. She's only 10 days older than Hudson, but she'll be walking long before he does. She can get into a standing position with very little assistance.

On Sunday it was the annual Sheldon Pointe /Bedford neighborhood picnic. It sounds like it would be painful, but our neighbors are all fun so it's a good time (aka lots of boozing).

Hudson was a champ. There was no whining or crying and only a brief nap was needed. To our surprise, his monitor actually worked in the cul-de-sac so we could continue our partying while he slept. Rock on!

It was somewhat alarming to me that he seemed oblivious that we weren't with him as he marched up and down the street. He would 'walk' himself up to strangers and join in their conversation. I think we have a social butterfly on our hands.

Mike was thrilled to see him chatting up the ladies.

He was trying to get these people to get him a beer but they ID'd him. He was bummed.

Videos of the cul-de-sac journey. Hey look! Another balloon to join his friend on the fan!

Never one to miss out on a party, Timber discovered that the electric dog fence was broken (has been for 2-3 months) and before we knew it, he was mingling and making small talk. Ever the chicken, Max the 95 pound Weim stayed within his bounds in the yard, longingly smelling the BBQ just feet from the end of his driveway while Timber partied on.

Death of the Phone Booth

Brought to you from the Miami-Dade Airport. A film short, produced and directed by Nicole, starring Vickie.

Miami Airport

Vickie and I have been in South Beach all day buying for the spring
season. We'll be home around midnight. Lots of tales from the day to
be told tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone

Balloon v. Fan

If you didn't believe me, here is the proof.



Very interesting that it is still somewhat inflated after 10 days.

You knew I'd go there eventually....

As much as I wanted to keep this blog for family and friends who live far away to keep up with us, those who know me well (or at all) know that I love fashion and even now with Hudson, I try to keep up. My favorite person to talk to about the latest designs is my sister Penny Turner. Sister-in-law, more accurately, but people tend to not like their sisters-in-law and I love PT, so I usually just refer to her as my sis.

So the 80's are back, in case you've been living under a rock and haven't noticed. And I must say that I am loving it. Penny and I have been debating the bootie for the last year or so. Both of us have tried on countless pairs, but I haven't found a pair I love yet. I was just eyeing this pair, the open toe has me intrigued and you can't go wrong with those scaley-ruffles. If my grandmother is reading this, I know you had these in the 80's! These are not 'jean shoes' so I would pair them with a pencil skirt or a simple LBD.

I realize that these shoes will be hated by many of you. I'm ok with that.

Mike and Anthony have been known to keep bets on what trends Penny and I will or won't adopt. Two years ago they bet us that we would buy Jordache jeans when Jordache attempted their big comeback. (No, we did NOT buy them and we're still waiting for them to pay up on the bet.) But Mike has recently come around on the skinny leg, as long as I don't wear them with flats. I know the skinny leg is not 'new' (PT and I have been sporting them for the last 6 seasons) but for the 'big city' of Raleigh, they are finally becoming acceptable, thank goodness!

Many designers are now taking a more realistic approach and have introduced a straight leg to their collections. Hopefully the ladies of Raleigh will begin to retire their bootcuts and adopt this more figure-flattering cut (I mean more flattering than the skinny). And for all you haters out there, the skinny / straight leg DOES look good on many figures. Vickie tells me that she is hard-pressed to find a bootcut in NYC (she's working in the city now for MTV - jealous!).


I am coveting this pair of Citizens and by the time this post is published, I just may own them. I will wear a shirt with mine though.




Like the 80's, this Fall season is about extremes, and the really wide leg pant is hot now. Check out this pair from Alice + Oliva with - omg - PLEATS!




I am not sure why, but Penny and I are loving Wellies lately. We both own them, and we want more. I am quite the scene when I emerge from the house to let the dogs out at 6:30am, fresh out of bed, wearing my PJ's tucked into hot pink wellies, carrying Hudson and shepherding 3 pups . Maybe our obsession has something to do with our fixation on the lives of J.Crew models.

[And Penny, I KNOW the real reason you suggested apple picking when we go to Halifax next month is because that scene would most closely mirror the J.Crew catalog imagery.]

Anyway, we must be on the same wave length as the fashion Goddesses, because this morning shopbop is featuring them. PT and I immediately decided that we must have these.


tall or short, laces or no? One of each?

But we don't need to bring back everything from the 80s. Yesterday I got a random text from PT that said, 'Just say NO! to stirrup pants!'. I tend to agree. Just because Vince is now selling them doesn't mean anyone should be wearing them.




Vickie and I are headed to Fashion Market tomorrow to buy for the spring season for the shop. I will probably bore you with tales of what craziness is in store from the fashion world come January. I apologize in advance.


And now on to some gratuitous photos of Hudson (and me) taken this morning on the way out the door to work/daycare.





Haters, note that I am wearing a straight leg


These are from Sunday. Hooray for grocery store balloons! Mike tried to ban balloons from the house after one got wrapped around the ceiling fan. That didn't stop the balloons from coming home, or from getting wrapped around the fan! There is actually one wrapped around it right now, been there for 9 days and counting.



Balloon playing is exhausting! And although I am sleeping, this balloon is still mine so don't you try to take it from me.

Stuck at Starbucks

I'll be at the office just as soon as this talented person returns to their car.

- UPDATE - the person returned and dammit, it had to be a female. Not helping our already sketchy reputation in the 'motor skills' category.

Sent from my iPhone

Time with Grandma and Grandpa

Ralph and Sandy have been a great help to us always, but lately they have gone above and beyond. Mike and I have both been traveling or otherwise occupied a lot lately. Ralph took these pictures on Saturday when we had to leave H with them for a few hours.



Oh how he loves his grandma.



Must find a way to keep him from eating the flora he finds.

Mystery of the bread: Solved

This made me laugh so I had to post it. Last week I mentioned how odd it was that Mike left me only one tiny sliver of bread from the loaf of cinnamon-raisin I made. The next day I got an email from Sandy (Mike's fabulous Mom) that said, 'I know where the rest of the bread went'. This picture was attached.

Awesome!!

Zero to Sixty

It was a busy weekend at our house, mostly because Hudson has gone from zero to sixty in the last three days. He is crawling everywhere now and getting into everything. Yesterday afternoon, within a 5 minute span he:

1. tried to get into the garbage
2. crawled over to Timber's food bowl and put his hand in it
3. reached for the electrical outlet
4. tried to crawl outside to the deck but got hung up on the screen door (ok, he tried to crawl THROUGH the screen, using his head like a bulldozer - hey I didn't say he was a genius, just that he is mobile)

More developments:

Pulling up. This could be problematic and it is only a matter of time before he tries to pull up on a stool and it falls on him. I guess we'll actually have to watch him, as much as that will cramp our style (kidding!.. mostly).

Discovery that he can get from A to B faster than the speed of light in his 'walker'. Prior to yesterday he didn't realize that his flailing legs were the cause of his locomotion.


Oh great! Finally someone to help me with the dishes! Now he can start to earn his keep.





The progression of pulling up.

A fascination with the door stop. He has found most of them in the house, and one at Ralph and Sandy's too.

Here he is, demonstrating his new 'walking' skills. Poor, poor dogs. As if their lives weren't terrible enough after Hudson arrived. Now this......

It's Friday!!

And now look at the trouble he is getting into.

And more crawling after the phone.

He doesn't move very quickly on the hardwoods, but soon this cat will be in a world of hurt.

He crawls!

And let the games begin.

Dodged a bullet

Despite the prediction from my brother, we did not experience a crapalanche as a result of The Great Chocolate Feast of 2008. When I returned home tonight from my trip Hudson was with his grandparents for the night, Mike was already on a flight to Arkansas and the dogs (and the house) were no worse for the wear.

Timber:

Maximillion:

Unfortunately, the Great Chocolate Feast has ruined Max's diet. When I took him to the vet for his annual check-up a few weeks ago the vet informed me that he needs to lose 10 pounds and handed me a brochure on canine obesity. Poor Max. Trouble is, despite my best efforts, Max always seems to find a way to feed himself. A month ago he discovered the 30 pound bag of dog food that Mike had left in the garage after bringing it home from the store earlier that day. He proceeded to eat a hole through the bag and helped himself to a whole lotta food. Now it looks like he's going to have to hit the gym again to burn off all this chocolate.

I did, however, find something very strange when I got home. I have recently gotten back into using my bread maker and I try to always have a loaf around. This thing is 12 years old so I am shocked that it still makes such great bread.



I put in a loaf of cinnamon-raisin on Sunday evening so Mike would have some warm bread when he got up on Monday morning. This is all that remains of that loaf.

So I ask: What was the point of leaving such a tiny piece? I mean, really - one half of one tiny slice? Just finish it off already. Geesh.

On my way home....

So I've been MIA this week but back home late tonight. I've been in Dallas for the last 3 days at a financial industry / housing summit. Doom and gloom to say the least.

Mike has had Hudson all to himself this week (lucky bastard!). But tonight H is spending the night with his Grandma and Grandpa as Mike and I pass each other in the air. Me heading home, Mike heading out on a business trip until Friday.

Tomorrow I can't wait to get my meat hooks on that little man.

Ok, they are closing the airplane door and the air waitress is about to confiscate my phone. I am off.

P.S. The dogs broke into the pantry last night (or maybe Mike left the door open....) and ate 2 bags of Halloween chocolate. They even ate the wrapping. Awesome! Can't wait to see what results from that.

Sent from my iPhone

Thank you Parents!

Ralph and Sandy got a new fridge to replace the one that was in their house when they moved in. They gave me their old one as an 'extra' for our garage! Weeehooo! It matches my deep freeze nicely (you know how hard it can be to match whites...).

Ahhhh the little things in life!

What's that H-man?

I think Hudson is trying to tell us something. 'What's that buddy?
Oooooooh. Yes, that's true. What a smart boy!'

Practically mobile...

I used my mobile to lure Hudson into getting mobile. He is so, so close.

Still moving a little slowly but don't worry Hudson. It was still a much longer wait in line the day that Vickie and I got our hands on that device.

Tent poops

Did anyone see the comment from my brother Anthony on the September 8th post (Top Beach Moments)? It is true, Hudson was naked in his sun tent and he pooped. It was hilarious. I saw it all happen, start to finish. And yes, I do realize that is disgusting. The best part? H slept through the whole thing.

No evidence of the turd, but there is evidence of the nakedness.

Best dog ever

This is my weimaraner, Maximillion. He's 95lbs and 8 years old. He was my main man before Mike arrived on the scene (Mike may argue that Max still holds the #1 place in my heart). Without question, Max is the best dog ever, as evidenced by this clip.

Max is a gentle giant and he and Hudson are becoming fast friends.

Ok, so full disclosure. The reason Max is more interested in Hudson *might* have something to do with this. Throwing food from the highchair to the floor.

Duuuuude, Check Those Chairs!

We are all now home safely and soundly from an awesome trip to Ocracoke. A&P flew back to Edmonton on Sunday afternoon.

I think back fondly on our favorite Beach Trip 2008 moments:

• Driving in a leaky Jeep through a torrential downpour
• Thread-bare hammock that barely supported Mike's giant body
• The bikes we rented that were left locked up without the lock combination...
• The Coast Guard officers we ran into at the grocery store
• Ms. Booby Mc.Naked who was topless on the beach (cover up!!)
• The tragedy when we discovered that the Thai restaurant was closed for an extended weekend. And the glee when it re-opened to feed our hungry bellies!
• The dude flying the Confederate flag off the back of his pick-up. WTFork?
• The duck-friend that Penny made, and the Evil Goose who bit Mike's toe

But by far everyone's favorite memory was of 'Dude! Check those chairs!'.

Mike rigged up our beach chairs with bungee cords to hang from the back of the jeep so that we could have more room for the more important beach items (like booze). I know what you are thinking: 'What? Mike was rigging something up?' Yes, of COURSE he was. Anyway, for those who have never been to Ocracoke, the only way on and off the beach is to drive (4 wheel drive needed) on the sand, up a long, sandy road and then onto the beach itself. The ride is rather bumpy and the chairs were bouncing around wildly from the bungees.

So on our way home from the beach one day Jeff Spicoli was driving behind us down the long, bumpy beach road. At the end of the road he caught up to us and yelled out the window (using his best Spicoli impression):
'Duuuuuuuudes check those charrrrs! They are definitely gonna fall!'.

O.M.F.G you would think that this was the single funniest thing that we had ever heard because it became the catch phrase for the rest of the trip. Every time someone would say it we would collapse into gales of laughter.



Thanks for the laughs Spicoli!




'Duuuuuude! Check those charrrrs!'



And this was Penny's hair after the wild, chair-bouncing, beach drive. Duuuude, check that hair! Seriously. Whoa.

Saturday evening we broke out the Guitar Hero.... Penny takes the game quite seriously.



Mike is slightly less serious. But he and Penny spent a very long time trying to beat Slash. And they eventually did!



And I discovered that my brother ROCKS the guitar! I guess a thousand years of violin lessons pay off (eventually). I dare any one of you to challenge him.



'Ooooooooooooooo.....Barracuda!!!!'

While we played, Hudson made a humongous mess with a biscuit.




All that biscuit-eating and guitar-playing makes for tired, tired boys.









Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Rain.....

Driving in the rain in a Jeep with a leaky soft top is not the best
idea to be had. That is all.

Sent from my iPhone

The Hurricane Shuffle

The hurricane shuffle has begun. Is Hanna even coming this way? When will it come? Will the ferry be operational? Will they evacuate the island? Do we leave early? If so, when do we go?

We made a reservation for the Ocracoke to Cedar Island ferry to leave a day early, 7am Friday morning. We are hoping to just barely out run the storm. Mike drove his jeep down but he has taken the hard top off. It only has a bimini top so if it is raining hard, he will be wet! The rest of us will be staying dry in my car.

Yesterday we spent all day at the beach and it was a beautiful day. We all got a little bit burned, but it was awesome. Today we are riding bikes to Ocracoke Coffee, wandering around in the shops and heading back out to the beach again.

Bella is with us. Last night she was exhausted after a day of chasing plovers on the beach. Somehow she even managed to evade the beach police who have yelled at us in years past to 'Get your dogs on leashes!'.