Bad Dora!

This afternoon Carlie and Dora went to Play Park to play soccer. I guess all started out well until Dora pushed Carlie down. I didn't actually see it happen, but Carlie insisted on it and proceeded to put Dora in time out (with a blanket because it was cold out there- her words, not mine). That Dora better watch it, or we will call Dept of Homeland Security and have her deported. (Of course, they would probably just give her full medical benefits and a monthly check and send her on her merry way.)

Good Morning!

For a Monday, we had a really good morning. Noah is now having solids for breakfast. On today's menu - oatmeal and prunes. The prunes made their presence known around 6:45pm. Whewee. Carlie just dined on her typical Cheerios breakfast. I think I forgot to eat breakfast now that I think about it.

Who's Gonna Go?

Yes, I'm talking about American Idol. Last night's performances were quite good for the most part in my mind. You can probably find them on youtube if you're interested. I think Sanjaya should go. His singing and "grooving" were a little much. Blake's beatbox rendition of "Time of the Season" was awesome. And, what was with the girl in the audience crying during the performances. A bit disturbing. It reminded me of Elvis footage they always show on television with the girls screaming and crying. Don't know if this girl realizes these people are far from Elvis. But, whatever floats her boat. Blake and Melinda are, in my opinion, the top 2. Glad Melinda got a haircut so her neck looks longer. Lakisha did not do well last night, definitely bad song choice. I could go on, but I won't because some of you reading this don't even watch Idol, but maybe I can convert you. Buwahahahahahaha......

Paging Dr. Carlie

I spent the morning putting the wagon together and taking Noah to the "doctor" about six times.

Heartbeat: Good
Blood Pressure: Good
Mom, what is she doing to me??
Ears: Good, All Healthy

Happy Birthday Carlie, Part 2

Yesterday was Carlie's actual birthday. We went to Spaghetti Factory, and when we pulled into the parking lot, she said, "but El Maguey is my favorite restaurant." We should have gone there. After we sat down and were waiting for our drinks, this waitress clearing another table was carrying all the dishes in this tub. Well I guess she tripped or something, and the dishes went crashing to the floor sending sauce down Carlie's and my back and dumping noodles all over Carlie's chair. Luckily neither of us were injured by the dishes. They were very apologetic, and the sauce residue wasn't that bad. It didn't result in a free meal or anything, but we didn't give them a hard time about it.

She opened all of her presents when we got home. My cupcake cake looks a little silly, but she didn't care. I guess I was a little distracted in the afternoon watching hoops rather than frosting it. Whoops.



CODE BLUE CODE BLUE!
I need the paddles STAT!!

Cinderellie

Carlie played dress-up with her two Cinderella outfits she got for her birthday. And, those glass slippers keep "breaking", but she always has the other one in her pocket. Once I caught her sitting on the floor in the kitchen with a rag singing "Sing Sweet Nightengale" as she wiped the floor. She cracks me up.

Happy Birthday Carlie, Part 1

We had a birthday party in Newburgh for Carlie so that Grammy Dobbins could attend, and of course so I had nothing to clean up. What a nice break that was. She got lots of fun stuff, although I think her best gift was Season 2 of House on DVD. Yes, I was quite surprised when she opened that, especially since we have never even seen the show. Turns out, there was another birthday party going on, and one of the kids saw the present and just put it on Carlie's pile. Oh, and there are better pictures than this, but I had to use someone else's camera to take them. They were copied on a read-only disk so I am unable to rotate them. I doubt you want to read the blog with a permanent head tilt.

Children's Museum

This is a little late, but we went to the Children's Museum while in Evansville with Aunt Michelle and Meredith and Caroline. It is very similar to the Magic House but on a smaller scale. Carlie had fun with her cousins.

This is a nose, and the kids are, you guessed it, BOOGERS! (Who comes up with this stuff??!!)
Sliding with Meredith...
Water fun with Caroline...

Carlie Goes to the Dentist

This actually occurred on February 28th, but I had to download the photos from Grammy's camera because I didn't have mine with me. Carlie did such a great job at the dentist. She has been going for a year now and each visit they do a little more. Last time she just rode up and down in the chair. This time she actually let them look in her mouth and count her teeth. She did such a great job. I was very proud of her.

I'm not so sure about this...
Hey, this is fun!
Open wide...

Mesker Park Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo since it was the nicest it has been all week. We were practically the only people there. The nice thing was our STL zoo membership provided us with free admission, and free is always good in my book. Carlie did not like the bird area too much because they were flying around. She didn't care for the nocturnal section either since it was pitch black in the room. Noah camped out in the stroller most of the day. He had no complaints.


We didn't tell her that this Burmese Python could probably eat her in one swallow...
Noah with Pawpaw and the goats...

A trip to Mt. Carmel

We went to Mt. Carmel with Grammy and Pawpaw to visit extended family so they could meet Noah. I didn't get any pictures of Uncle Ron and Aunt Barb, but did manage to get the kids with their Great Aunt Donna, and Carlie with Cousin Brenda.

Carlie's First Basketball Game

Carlie got to attend her first basketball game on March 1st when the Evansville Aces played Drake in the MVC tourney. The Aces lost as usual, and they are now on the hunt for a new coach so if anyone out there is interested, you just let me know. Rumor has it Bobby Knight is being considered, although I think our lack of alumni donations will prevent that from happening (among other things). Back to the game, Carlie said she enjoyed the game more than her hotdog, but I tend to wonder since she was ready to leave at halftime. It's clear she is going to need to watch the full 12 hours of coverage provided each day of the opening rounds of March Madness so she can become a basketball junkie like her mom. (Dad still needs some work with that as well so he can actually beat me in a bracket contest-hee hee)

Sumo Boy

Noah had his 4 month check yesterday and is 15lb. 11oz. (75%) and 26" long (80%). He is quite large. He has also been given the okay to start cereal which he very much enjoyed at dinner time, eating every last drop.

What is this stuff...

Ooooh, this is tasty.

In other news, Carlie got a cruise ship from Grammy and Pawpaw Rodgers. It received the same reaction I would have given to having won a million dollars!

Names have been changed to protect the identity...

Carlie has decided to give all of us new names, hence the new title of our blog. I was just glad to be designated Kanga instead of Eeyore. You'll have to figure out the others on your own (it really isn't hard). At least she used Pooh names rather than the Cinderella ones. When we play that, she always gets to be Cinderella and I have to be the wicked stepmother (hope there is no correllation there). Guess it isn't that bad, Noah has to be Lucifer (he's the mean cat). And, on a side note, is anyone else so excited about March Madness and the upcoming baseball season?? GO CARDS!!

Would you like a spot of tea?

The Auffants are in town from Portland this week. It is great getting together with them, and it gave Carlie and Danny a chance to play. Noah and Ryan did a lot of napping during the visit. The tea party was a hit for about five minutes, but Danny got bored after he emptied out the sugar. Then, the kids moved outside since it was about 60 degrees outside. My batteries are almost dead in the camera so I don't have photos of that. Hopefully I can find more batteries before our zoo trip on Friday.

A New Friend

I am a little behind on these, but I will try to catch up a bit. On Monday, we got together with Ashley, a friend from MOPS, and her kids. Beck won't be 2 until September, but Carlie still had a good time playing with him.


Noah and Evie are 2 months apart, but Noah has a good 5-8 lbs on her at least. We are going to start watching each others kids for a few hours during the day so the other can go work off her pregnancy weight at the gym. I am definitely looking forward to it... going to the gym, that is, not having 4 kids under the age of 3. Yikes!!

Idol Predictions

Ah yes, it is that time again. Time for American Idol. For those of you who did or didn't watch the last two nights, here is my take on the early favorites (and those not so favorite). On the guys side, unless these other guys decide to "bring it" in the next few weeks, there really isn't anyone close to Blake "Beat Box" Lewis. For the girls, Lakisha and this other girl with really long very curly hair are definitely the best. One girl that should definitely go home is Anaconda or Annatonna or whatever her name is. You just don't sing Steven Tyler "Don't wanna miss a thing" unless you are in your car ALONE (like I do)!! She butchered it. At any rate, I would be happy to take Simon's place as I usually feel the same way he does. Look for more Idol stuff as the season goes on. (I know, you just can't wait!!)

Fun with the Cousins

We had a nice visit with Uncle Steve, Aunt Michelle, Matthew, Trent, Meredith, and Caroline. They were in town to visit WashU to consider college options for Matthew. We went to dinner Sunday night at Fortel's. It was great food, until Carlie drank WAY too much lemonade in a short period of time and threw up all over herself at the restaurant. She's fine now. (Don't worry no photos were taken so they will not be posted). It was a repeat performance of our Costco outing weeks ago where she consumed every available sample and threw it all up when we got to bathroom. Clearly we need to monitor her eating a little better when we are out.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We spent the morning with some friends attending their daughter's gymnastics meet. It was a fun time and was nice to be able to catch up on their lives. I had a really great birthday and received great gifts and wishes. I am looking forward to using my fitness center membership to get into better shape (since I am clearly not getting any younger). Besides a nice family meal out at Lonestar, I was able to get Carlie registered for preschool which will start in the fall.

Another Snow Day

We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday so I went out to shovel the walk and driveway. Mike left work early and got home just as I was finishing up. Go figure. He did finish the part between the sidewalk and street. Carlie even helped out. She didn't stay out too long because it was sooooo cold. And, once again today it is way too cold to go outside. I hope it warms up by Saturday because I need to go to the grocery store. The cold has given me the time to get caught up on scrapbooking, and I got our taxes done so now I just have to tap my fingers for six plus weeks and wait for the refund.