Capital Day

Today, Brother-in-Law, Nephew, Baby and I went to Washington, D.C. for The 42nd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival and to view The National Cherry Blossom Festival. In the photo to the left, all those little specs around the Washington Monument are kites. You can see all the people in all the photos. In the photo of Baby and I in front of the Jefferson Memorial, in the larger version of the photo, you can barely see the steps of the Jefferson Memorial because of all the people. CROWDED! Oh, in the larger photo, you can also see Baby's huge scratch. I may have been bad about keeping up with trimming her nails. On Saturday, I noticed the giant scratch and cut her nails before I even gave her breakfast. I knew if I waited, she'd have talons soon!

The day started out around noon. We quickly realized we were not the only ones heading into the city. The Metro and National Mall was packed! It took us about an hour to get to the National Mall (which should take about half that time). We braved the crowds. Man, people get cranky. We were all waiting for an hour to exit the Metro station. We were all cranky. There is no reason to get all cranky to the person behind you. Sadly, Nephew and Baby were fantastic - much better behaved than many of the adults we saw! It's also nice to know there are people out there who will help a woman out. I will admit that I am not the most graceful of stroller-walkers. So, it is nice to know some people will hold doors, help me up a curb, or just not be too mean when I run over heels or toes. We walked all around the Mall - around the Smithonian Castle from the Natural History Museum, down past the Washington Monument to the World War II Memorial and then along the Tidal Basin. Nephew (and I) had ice cream early on in our afternoon and used the sugar rush to walk everywhere.

Baby loved being outside and couldn't stop looking around. It was a breezy day, but it was really nice in the sun. When the sun went behind a building, it would get a little chilly. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

Towards the end of the day, we sat down under some trees and hung out. I put down a blanket, and Baby got to get out of the stroller for some time. Nephew is so good with Baby. He doesn't need to be around her all the time, but he needs to know that someone is taking care of her. Then, every once in awhile, he'll come back from running all over the place and take a good peek at her to judge how well she's doing. He pats her head or holds her hand, makes sure she's not drooling, makes sure she has her pacifier (whether she wants it or not), and makes sure she is without any hat on her head. He really dislikes her to wear hats or maybe he just knows she'll regret wearing the bunny hat and is saving her from future humiliation.

Now that we're home, I'm pooped! I definitely will sleep well tonight. I didn't realize that Baby had skipped an entire meal. She usually eats around 3-ish and then again at 5 or so. She didn't fuss once. She barely napped either. She was so busy taking it all in. So, we got home, and she ate immediately. She fought sleep a little and was restless when she finally fell asleep, but she definitely crashed. She'll sleep well tonight, too!

Baby rolling over (and over again)!

In this post, Baby rolled over from her back to her tummy. A short time later, she rolled from her tummy back onto her back. There's been no stopping her ever since! She rolls all over the floor! She now can get onto her knees and raiser herself up with her arms. She hasn't figured out how to do it all at once, but we've been warned. She'll be crawling early!

Here is Baby rolling from back to tummy and then again to her back. It's a little longer of a video and just as poor of quality as the other, but you should still be able to see Baby and her crazy wild hair (and unmatching outfit). I swear, in the last week, she has outgrown everything she owns but is still too small to wear the next size up!

Sense & Sensibility

Interesting. I can't say I'm a huge Austen fan, but I do enjoy the movies. I can't say I identify with any in particular, but I'm not against this result. I'll have to rewatch the movie now.

Take the Quiz here!

From Teble's Blog...

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Wonder Woman 73%
Spider-Man 65%
Supergirl 63%
Superman 55%
Green Lantern 55%
Robin 53%
Iron Man 50%
Hulk 30%
Catwoman 30%
The Flash 25%
Batman 20%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

It seems everyone has his or her pet peeves about the English language. I know I have mine. However, I also know I have big weaknesses when it comes to using grammar, punctuation and words correctly. For instance, my syntax has always been horrendous. My nouns and verbs don't always match each other.

This article mentions "verbing" nouns - where words that are usually nouns are used in a verb form. In some cases, the usage is correct or accepted as correct. In some cases, the usage is made up or completely wrong. I can't say it bothers me as much as the author, but it does make me wonder.

An example from work today: we have letter copy that sounded awkward, but it was actually correct. We made it incorrect so we could appeal to the masses.

As for "verbing", I do use Google and Wikipedia as verbs. Plus, I make up verbs all the time in common conversation. I can't think of an example right now, but I do make up my own words. Oh, I often use the phrase "I snoozed and I losed" as the past tense of "You snooze, you lose". It just sounds better than "I snoozed and I lost".

Do you misuse any words or use incorrect grammar on purpose or do you have any pet peeves?

Books read in March 2008

1. Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb.
2. 1st to Die by James Patterson. (NOTE: This is the first book in the Women’s Murder Club series. Book 2 is Second Chance. Book 3 is 3rd Degree. Book 4 is 4th of July. Book 5 is The 5th Horseman. Book 6 is The 6th Target. Book 7 is 7th Heaven.)
3. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. (NOTE: This is the first book in the Sign of Seven trilogy. Book 2 is The Hollow. Book 3 is The Pagan Stone.)
4. Hard to Handle by Lori Foster. (NOTE: This is the third book in the SBC Fighters series. Book 1 is Causing Havoc. Book 2 is Simon Says.)

I had a good reading month. It was very bloodthirsty. Between J.D. Robb’s futuristic murder mystery and James Patterson’s serial killer, the body count was high. There was some mention of violence in the Nora Roberts book, but I think the real violence will come in the later books in the trilogy. Blood Brothers was an introductory book. I liked all of the characters and can’t wait for the rest of the installments. Hard to Handle was my light romance for the month. It’s fun and quick.

Happy Easter!

It was Baby's first Easter! We started the day very well. Husband and I woke up early, got ready, and then woke Baby so we could go to church for 9AM. We wanted to get to church for 8:30AM because it's a madhouse. So, we woke Baby up and were all prepared to feed her once we got to church. Everything went smoothly. The photo in the car was taken on the way to church. She ate. She fussed mildly and then fell asleep. We went home. She had lunch, took a very brief nap (then Husband and I took a brief nap) and then we headed to Sister's house.

Before we left, we did take photos of her and her Easter basket. She got a tiny basket, a tiny bunny, barrettes, and a flower headband.

Baby fell asleep on the way to Sister's house, and it was all downhill from there. She was miserable all day. She did only have the two brief naps so her schedule was thrown off, but she just wouldn't relax. I don't know if it's because there were so many people or because she missed her stuff, but she was miserable.

There were moments when Baby was happy especially with her cousin (as shown), but she was mostly miserable. Baby cried during the Easter egg hunt. However, Nephew wasn't too upset. He managed to have fun during the Easter egg hunt anyway as you can see. Baby cried during gift exchanges. She did nap briefly during dinner so the family got to eat in peace. She cried during dessert. She cried during goodbyes. Then, we hit the car, and she was all smiles. She smiled all the way home.

As soon as we got home, I put Baby in her crib. She fell asleep in about 5 minutes and went to sleep with no issue at all. She'll sleep until we wake her before her midnight meal and it'll be back to normal tomorrow. Poor thing! At least next year she can have a taste of chocolate. I bet that will make the holiday a little more tolerable for her!

What a pro!

For those whose e-mail would not accept the video (my own e-mail included), here is Baby rolling over and giving a great, big smile! Sorry for the poor quality. It is being filmed on my digital camera which isn't really built to take video. Enjoy!

From Teble's Blog

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

What's in a Name?

I just looked up Baby's name. Her name is the #22 most common female first name. 0.51% of females in the US share the same name which equal to around 624,750 women. Choosing her name wasn't as much of a trial as I had expected. Husband and I both went through the Name Book and picked our favorites. Then, we narrowed down the list of 10 or so to the ones we both liked. It basically narrowed down to one. He liked one. I liked one. There was one name we both liked. We actually had a middle name chosen first. It's a combination of both our mother's names. It's a lot of pressure to choose a child's name!

FYI: Baby is more popular than I. April is the #142 most common female first name. 0.154% of females in the US are named April - approximately 188,650 women. Husband has us both beat though. His name is the #3 most common male first name. 3.143% of males in the US share his name - approximately 3,850,175 men! I don't know how accurate the statistics are, but they come from this site.

So, now I'm definitely going to Hell...

The Catholic Church announced additional mortal sins this week. The original ones were gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, lust, and pride.

It seems like the original seven were a good foundation. All of the contemporary sins seem to fall under the original umbrella. I mean, isn't "becoming obscenely wealthy" covered under greed? It just seems like these items are poor choices rather than sins. What about just adding "thou shalt not be a Dumbass?" It seems if we had a ruling from on high to instruct people to be considerate, kind and cautious, we would be on the right track. Of course, both of these scenarios require people to listen and contemplate what is right or wrong, good or bad.

More importantly, will there be a sequel to Seven now? Will Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman reunite to hunt down a serial killer who kills scientists, a man in a Hummer, Bill Gates, and Amy Winehouse?

It really happened!

Yesterday, I was determined to see Baby roll over. I got home from work, put her on a giant blanket and just kind of rolled my arm to entice her to roll over. She glared at me as if to say "I am not a dog". Then, she started moving. For about an hour, she rocked from side to side.


She'd get so close! She'd be almost on her belly and then she'd flop back onto her back. Then, she'd start all over again. It was really fascinating to watch her determination. About an hour and a half later, she finally did it with a little help from gravity. She rolled over! For us! Right in front of our eyes!

She stayed on her belly for about 15 minutes. She'd move her legs and hold her head up, looking side to side. She hasn't really figured out the purpose of her arms, but her legs move a mile a minute. We're definitely in trouble in the future!

Tell Mom and Dad that they got their money's worth...

My parents put me through college, and I earned a B.A. in English. It looks like some of it sank in!

I Scored a 100%!

401(k) plans, dogs... and Baby!

What are things that roll over!

We put Baby down to sleep (or what we hoped would be sleep). She babbled. We let her. Then, Husband looked at the video monitor and told me to go into the bedroom with him. When we did...


...she was on her tummy! Baby rolled over! It is a great milestone. Baby was surprised. Seeing as she hates to be on her tummy, she was also not happy. I can't believe how quickly time is going by with her!

Clear Eyes! Full Heart! Can't Lose!

It appears that there is a God, and He watches Friday Night Lights! OK, I'm sure God doesn't care about television, but this is good news, folks! After months of nail-biting and begging, er, persuading NBC to keep on this little show, it looks like it may be granted a Season Three! See here for the unofficial news. Plus, we have DirecTV so we can watch the show twice a week now. FYI: Season Two is available for pre-order. If you don't want to shell out the money for Season One or Season Two, you can always view the episodes on-line and catch up before Season Three!!!

Superman (It's Not Easy)

The song, if you don't know it, is by Five for Fighting and has a line "I'm only a man in a silly red sheet". When I first heard the song, I had no idea what the line was. I just thought it had something to do with a sheep. Yes, a sheep. Husband didn't know what the lyric was, but he was pretty sure it wasn't about a sheep. I said I didn't think it was about a sheep either, but that's what I heard. We finally found the lyric and, surprise, it makes sense and has nothing to do with sheep.

My second example would be 3AM by matchbox twenty. It has a line that says "she thinks happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway". I always thought it was a mouse. It didn't make sense, but that's what I heard. I still kind of hear mouse.

My third example would be a Pearl Jam song called Glorified G. It has a line "glorified version of a pellet gun". I thought the song was about a pelican. Seriously. For YEARS!

It's amazing how things make sense once you know the correct lyrics. Any stories anyone wants to share so I don't feel quite so ridiculous?

We Miss You!

Of course, I really think we miss her more than she misses us! Today is the first day Baby is home by herself. Well, she's home with Grandma, but this is the first day (of many) that she is home without Husband or me. I like to think she misses us underneath the smiling and sleeping. I left her playing with her activity gym. She greeted me at lunch time sleeping, but I like to think sleep is her defense mechanism to pass the time until I come home and not just a nap. I know Baby and Grandma are doing fine, but it's a whole new routine for the rest of us who have to both get out of the house at the same time and make sure Baby is fed and taken care of. Plus, when she stays up late, one of us has to stay up because there's no excuse of working if both of us have to work. I have to admit that we've been lucky that we've both gotten 2 months of leave to be home with her. She's a great baby and will do fine, but we miss her!