Josie at 11 Months

Josie the Little Bear on the day she turned eleven months; Kalamazoo, MI.

Her fifth tooth made an appearance the next day. She stands up in her crib, eats everything, and her eyes are precisely the color of dark denim. And she might the cutest baby ever! Says her mother.

Picasa will sometimes make gifs and collages - I don't know why or how, but it's fun

Grandma and Grandpa's yard

 With a view of the farm next door. She did not want to put her legs down in the prickly grass.

With Aunt Nancy.

Cracking up over Grandma's funny faces.

With cousin Kessa.

We love you, Jo!

June Goals

Time to settle down and get back to day to day life in SA. I'm usually daydreaming about traveling but lately - it might have been when C's poorly positioned, saturated diaper led to my lap being utterly urine-soaked for the last hour of our flight from Las Vegas to SA that I thought, I'm really looking forward to being HOME and doing HOME THINGS.

Here's my list of things to accomplish in June.

// Attend ten fitness classes. I bought the Memorial Day military appreciation half-off unlimited monthly pass at the barre studio 0.7 miles from our house. Streeeeeetch. I was doing so well with regular gym attendance until allergy season descended in March and left me with nonstop congestion and headache - truly, a low grade headache most days and most of every day - for eight weeks. DIE TREES AND GRASSES DIE! It was truly truly truly a miserable spring.

// Ride my bike five times (ie to barre class). Charm passersby with my hamburger bell.

// Prepare five meals from One Pot.

// Prepare two dishes from Genius Recipes before its library due date. I gave this book to my May birthday sistas and am waiting for reviews from them.

// Prepare three meals from Healthy Slow Cooker from America's Test Kitchen.  I bought a digital copy of this book a while ago but haven't cooked from it yet. (Maybe I shouldn't buy digital cookbooks?) Very frequent cooking schedule for me but I want to...

// Have ten days this month without any processed food (talking about you, cheese; going to eat you, whole foods.) I love the concept of Whole30 and long term clean eating but I lack the organization, ability to grocery shop frequently, willpower, and [more excuses]. One day at a time will be much more achievable.

// Buy two houseplants to instill some cheer. Green is good.

// Tidy up and organize my office. Add a plant or two there. I have a Pinterest page devoted to plants, specifically hard-to-kill varieties.

via

// Plant two fabric bag beds. My containers are doing well - watching the watermelon plant grow has become a daily highlight - and I looked around at raised beds but decided against that purchase due to expense, reluctance to buy yet another clunky object, and poor track record of sustained gardening interest level. At $25 a piece, the Big Bag Bed Jr seem like a great starter project. 

// Rock a different look. On the weekends I normally roll out of bed when the girls wake me up (read: no shower, no makeup besides an application of sunscreen). I'm pretty sick of catching sight of my bedraggled, eyelashless, droopy-eyed self when we're out and about. Because the bedhead look is not going to change, I'm going to fully embrace it with matching heavy-eyeliner-and-mascara -- it's not dishabille, it's rock n roll! I ordered this kit along with the sun safety kit that I wait for with bated breath every year (thank you, Brady, for letting me know when it's released!) Planning a favorite sunscreen and makeup post (much like plants, I enjoy the latter in theory yet very little in practice).

Keep me accountable! See you July 1.

 I'm trying out Amazon affiliate links for books, etc. Waiting greedily for the pennies to roll in :)

Viva Las Vegas!

VEGAS, BABY!

Because Luke stayed in San Antonio for work, my mom flew to SA to help me transport the cubs to Vegas to celebrate my bro-in-law's law school graduation with the fam.

After a fairly uneventful flight, we set Clem loose in my parents' suite and she was in heaven -- an EL-OH by the potty!

Her two favorite things: pretend 'poo poo the potty' while pretend talking on the el-oh [hello=phone]

View of the pool complex

And airport. Clem: 'R PANE, TAKE OFF! 'ELICOPTER, TAKE OFF!' x 1000

Hide and seek.

Head to toe leopard print for Vegas, of course.

The first night we got takeout from Border Grill and played Catchphrase. Since my mom and sisters and I share a hive mind we are very good at this game. Later the rest of the gang went to a Cirque du Soleil show.

And my sister's hair looked amazing.

St Josephine, patron saint of Not-Good-Travellers. She didn't sleep, her skin became blotchy, she wasn't her sunny self, she threw up for the first time in her life, in the middle of the night (then was smiley and back to sleep, crisis averted). Looking forward to our flight tomorrow.... (gulp)

The next day we rented a cabana (good planning, Dad!) Sun, shade, snacks, lazy river... it was fabulous.

so how's your bar exam prep going?

She calls Grandma 'Gammaw' and Grandpa... Pop Pop. And Pop Pop was the person whose whereabouts she was most concerned about all weekend... 

Chirping from the crib first thing in the morning: 'I wanna poo poo the potty. Where Pop Pop go? I want a doughnut.' 

In the airport - 'Where Pop Pop go? Pop Pop in the R pane.' 

Hello Pop Pop!

 C was very happy to sit on the edge and kick her feet.

Inner tube/play pen.

 Mini caftan.

It turned out Luke and I were both surrounded by water this weekend -- he was trapped for many hours at an ultimately postponed wedding venue by catastrophic flooding. Luckily the venue was high on a hill and the wedding took place the next day.

Mommy and me caftans.

A couple of favorite moments from the trip: C finding both the cordless and corded phones -- "MOMMY, TWO EL-OHs!!!"

Walking by this fountain, C said, 'Elephant agua! Elephant agua... an S! Two S!'

The alphabet is everywhere, friends!

Other Clem-isms that I heard about later:
// gently touching my brother-in-law's nipple ring, shaking her head, and saying, OW-EE!
// warning fellow diners of a steaming plate at a nearby table, 'Careful, HOT!' and waving her hands - 'HOT, HOT!' They thanked her for the heads-up.

Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef Aquarium where C was able to 'naco fishies!' [look at fishies]

thank you, Laura, for the romper!

We had dinner at Lupo that night and it was delicious - caprese salad, papardelle bolognese, gnocchi with mushrooms, squash blossoms.

The flight home was nonstop. Nonstop crying, I mean. Actually Josie slept for about an hour but the earsplitting screams for the final 45 minutes erased that memory.

In the airport C caught sight of Luke: DADDY! I WANT DADDY! I want Daddy hold youuuuuuu [me] Daddy hold you!!! 

Thank you, Mom! And thanks, fam, for being so fun to hang out with - the next time we get together we will have another baby girl in tow - my sister's first is due in July. #girlpower #xx #noboysallowed