I Didn't Come Here to Start No Trouble

We were talking about this at work tonight. My co-worker Justin (who's rad by the way-- he burned me the new Coldplay CD and I can't wait to listen to it on my way home!) was in Chicago when he asked someone if Jerome Bettis was the "Fridge." The whole conversation was spawned by us searching for athletes in an event we covered tonight for the show. The station sponsored it, and people like Ozzie Smith and Marshall Faulk were there. In fact, I asked both my anchor and my boss to get me Faulk's autograph. My bet is neither one of them come through. (Hi, Wayne)

As if the Super Bowl Shuffle weren't enough, I also found this on YouTube. Which was very exciting, as Justin and I recounted the failed marketing attempts by McDonald's, which not only included the McD.L.T. but also the McLean. We decided McDo's (that's the nickname in France, y'all) should stick with what it knows.

Father's Day

We didn't do much for Father's Day. I let Chad sleep in (I think he slept until 11am!!), I mowed the lawn and cleaned up around the house, then we all played together before Mommy crashed and had to take a nap. Post-nap, we had a nice barbeque dinner and played with LMCP. Below is a video of how much fun Lila & Daddy have together. What a nice, relaxing day at home.

Earlier in the week, Daddy worked in the yard, and Lila wanted to help. Needless to say, this kid likes getting dirty. I think we have a future TomBoy on our hands. And I'm perfectly happy with that!

Mmmmm, we can't wait to eat the delicious vegetables Daddy & Lila planted together!

Don't Tell Anyone I Went to the Zoo

So there's this big joke at my work about how much I hate the zoo. The thing is, I don't hate the zoo. The zoo just has this gorilla marketing department (yes, I know it's guerrilla--I thought it would be funny to write gorilla), and anytime anything happens, you get an email from the PR department, telling you how the zoo would've handled that bank robbery or earthquake or hot air balloon crash or four-alarm fire. So, that's kind of annoying when you get 486 emails a day as it is. Okay, all that said, the zoo had "Media Appreciation Day" on Saturday, so I took my family. The reasons are many-fold, but I will just give you the big one: it was free. Anyway, I think LMCP just enjoyed a lot of open space (it wasn't very crowded -- the rain and 58-degree temperature, and the Grand Floral Parade in Portland all played roles in that) and delicious snacks like elephant ears. She thought the animals were okay. I expected a little more joy, but as my husband says, "you can't expect pure joy all the time." That's true. Lila liked the zoo just fine. In fact, she was so comfortable with it, she had no problem sleeping through the last half hour in her stroller, while Mommy enjoyed the "Stellar Cove" animals (my favorite, the sea lions, penguins and otters) and Daddy enjoyed a free whirl through the "Dinosaur Thrill Ride." Ah, good times.

Here are some pictures to prove to you Lila "couldn't care less" about the animals, and really just wanted to roam free in the big grassy areas.

Here is some proof we were actually at the zoo. That's Packy in the background.

Here's what happened when we got home, had a nap, then ate dinner: (it doesn't get any easier to clean the older she gets!)

And, can you believe that Big Brown? What a bummer. (Wish I would've bet on Da'Tara) I battled a stomach bug this weekend, and we played a lot of "Dummy Rummy." Also, Chad made us listen to the worst song on earth, over and over and over again. Maybe I'm glad I have to go back to work tomorrow.

A Day at the Beach

On the spur of the moment, Aunt Kim (Chad's sister) invited us to her husband's (Uncle Matt) family beach house. So Saturday morning we packed up the wagon and headed west to Manzanita. What a treat. Lila's first trip to the beach surely didn't disappoint. It's best to let the pictures tell the story.

When we first arrived, Bella flung off her shoes, and Lila looked on, sort of wondering what we were about to do.

She quickly picked up a shovel and noticed sand is much easier to play with than dirt.

She started to get the hang of it, digging in sand, looking for more toys to help her accomplish supreme sand playing. Watching cousin Emily helped her figure it out, even if they had to stop for photos.

Hey! I get to sit down on this stuff? Awesome. A great opportunity to get really, really messy! She loves that!

Ooooh! Wet sand. This is even messier. And there's a lot of room to run. (But people were always running behind her, and sometimes she didn't even realize it!)

Dad is just one step behind.

Aunt Kim's sand digging skills are amazing. Lila tried learning from the best.

How long do you think it'll be before Lila tries eating this stuff? Turns out it didn't take long. We didn't caputre that on camera, though. Too busy trying to stop her.

The dads sure had fun playing with their girls.

Lila even took a break to pose for a picture with her Daddy.

Here's a video of the fun in the sand. There are two more posted on YouTube. You can see them here and here.

And, we got great news about an addition to our family. Bella and Emily are getting a brother or sister. We can't wait for Lila's newest cousin to arrive! All in all, what a great day at the beach!

Donna Martin Graduates... to the 90210 spinoff

Tori Spelling will reprise her role as Donna Martin on the CW's new 90210 spinoff. You know it's true if it's on msnbc.com.
I'm counting down the days. (as soon as I find the premiere date, I'll be counting down the days)

90210 UpFront

Probably totally illegal, but I'm posting it here. Get on board already.



"You wanna live in the zip? You gotta live by the code."
Nice.

Another Thursday

It's another Thursday around here. Lila gets to go see Nana today. Nana has a dog named Zoe (also goes by Zo-Zo), and Lila knows a doggie says "woof, woof." Everytime I talk to her about Nana, she says "Nana," then follows that with a "woof, woof." Now, she doesn't think her Nana is a dog--she's just associating Nana's house with Zo-Zo. I think that's pretty impressive. Kind of like how she associates our doctor's office with painful shots, and immediately starts shrieking the second we walk in the building. (Also, I think Lila has mastered "Papa" as well!)

LMCP has had a good week. Cherie painted her toenails this week, and LMCP thinks it's the coolest thing in the world. The morning after Cherie did it, Lila was showing me her feet and toes, making sure I would notice she had paint on those tootsies, just like Mama's.

You already saw Daddy and Lila in the pool from last weekend, but you haven't seen how much she likes to put her face in the water. (She may have been secretly trying to drink the pool water, but we like to pretend she's getting ready for her big swimming lessons, where they'll teach her to put her face in the water. She'll be ahead of the class.)



We're so excited we get 3 days off this weekend. We're going to play like crazy, and may even go to a farm so we can practice our "e-i-e-i-o's." LMCP has that part of the song down. She also likes to sing along with the Sesame Street theme, and the "Elmo's World" theme. And, no doubt about it, LMCP can now say "Elmo," but it sounds more like "Emm-Mo."

Mommy is tired, and keeps thinking it's Friday--but turns out, it's just another Thursday. (Feels like I've had 4 of those this week already!)

Fun in Summer-like Sun

I don't know who had more fun, LMCP or Daddy?

Hide and Seek

Lila got Mama a cool balloon for Mother's Day. I think she convinced Daddy to get it because she really wanted it. I like it anyway. She's been a lot of fun this week. She's learned a lot of words. She's repeating a lot of what we say. We went into the driveway yesterday, and she pointed at the station wagon and said "car." It almost blew me away. I didn't know she paid attention when I told her about the car. She's also saying "quack," although Chad thinks it sounds more like a slang term for something else on a man's body. She also firmly said 'poo poo' today when we changed the stinky diaper. And when you say stinky, she crinkles up her nose and waves her hand back and forth in front of it. It's pretty funny. She also learned how to wash her first car, Cherie showed her how. Here are some pictures of her fun in the sun.

And after the car washing, it's time to go for a ride and have a snack. But it makes you so tired! Just ask LMCP!

And, here's a video on youtube of LMCP playing hide and seek, and "put away random stuff she got out of drawers and cabinets." That's a good game.

Have a great weekend. We're celebrating my friend's "retirement" from work, and career change into working "inside the home" mommy.

President of My Fanclub

My friend Amy says that's how you can tell if you like a new person right away. If they're the President of your fanclub, they ask you a lot of questions about yourself and genuinely seem interested. During my recent whirlwind trip to the greater Chicago/St. Louis-area, we had lots of Presidents. It was awesome. Here are some of the highlights of the trip (not in any particular order)

Amie was just about the prettiest bride I've ever seen. Amy says she looked like classical 1920's beauty bride. I think she looked just perfect. However, I'm not going to show you pictures of her radiant beauty. Instead, I'll show you the one photo I traveled close to 2,000 miles for. You see, on Monica's, Amy's, mine, and now Amie's wedding days, Luke has forced us to drink whisky from a flask while in our wedding dresses. Here's Amie indulging us in this ridiculous tradition.

And here's me--putting a little more heart into, Mrs. Simmons!!:

And I was apparently too drunk at Monica's wedding to capture it, so here's just a nice picture of her getting married.

And I was apparently too pregnant at Amy's wedding to capture it, so here's just a fun picture of her dancing.

So, I haven't really blogged about the trip, I've been too nostalgic finding old photos.

So, here's a good group shot from Amie's wedding, and I'll follow that up with something old school to put in perspective how OLD we all are. Enjoy!

I can tell you, some of the best parts about the trip:

meeting JonahMonster, meeting Mr. Cope, visiting with Pammycakes (and Kevin! and Erich! Oh my!), a surprise visit with Jacque, roadtripping with Amy, watertowers, evil parking attendants in Chicago, Dunkin' Donuts (but no Portillos!)

The only bad part: I missed Chad and LMCP like crazy. Maybe I'll expand on my adventures later if I get some time. Otherwise, consider yourself up-to-date.