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.

Will we ever recover??

I have just learned that NBC has cancelled the soap show "Passions". I know, I know, it is really tragic. Do people really watch that show? Obviously not since it is getting cancelled, but I don't know what is worse, the cancelling of "Passions" or the fact that NBC is going to put on yet another hour of the "Today Show". Isn't that show already on like 4 hours!!?? Oh, and now that all these stars are entering rehab for one thing or another, can someone please put Britney Spears into Birth Control Rehab? I read online the rumor that she was pregnant yet again. (Eye roll, eye roll). On a happier note, if you have not yet seen it, I highly recommend the movie "Eight Below". It is very good. That is all I have to say for now. See you real soon... :)

Play Time Fun with Bennett

It is rare when I get both kids sleeping at the same time so I thought I would do a quick post. Carlie got together with Bennett today to play. They had a lot of fun, and I think enjoyed the tea party most of all. Didn't get a picture of that though. Oops.

3 Months Old Today

Today Noah is 3 months old. He is growing very fast, and it won't be long before he is as long as Carlie. Several of his 3-6 month clothes look a little snug when he stretches out completely because he is so long. He definitely looks like his Daddy. And, I couldn't do a post without putting a picture of Carlie as well.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning (1/21) to lots of snow on the ground, well 3 inches, which is huge considering it has been awhile since we have seen it. Our membership class at church got cancelled so we decided to stay home and let Carlie enjoy the snow since it will probably be gone tomorrow. Carlie had fun making a snowman with Daddy, and Noah got bored rather quickly and decided to go in and eat. Eating is his favorite thing to do. Anyway, we plan to spend the rest of the day watching the football games, and hopefully the Colts will win. I am so sick of the Patriots and Tom Brady's revolving door of supermodel girlfriends. (That doesn't mean vegging in front of the tv all day, I will be doing laundry as well.) I think that should be my new middle name "Laundry"-- that is all I seem to do anymore. I think I am rambling so I am going to quit until I have some interesting to say.

Fun with Lia

A few weeks ago Carlie had a playdate with Lia. They had a fun time playing together, and we try to get them together every few weeks. This week Carlie will be playing with Bennett Griggs so I will try to post some of that as well.

Not a lot going on...

I'm sure you have wondered why there hasn't been any current blog postings (or maybe you haven't and couldn't give a rip.) Anyway, we have been really busy, but yet, it seems as though there haven't been many exciting things to post. Unless, of course, you would like to see photos of me doing laundry, ironing, watching DAYS, scrapbooking, etc... I have taken a few pics though so I will go ahead and post them.

Olympic Tunnel Crawling Controversy

After not qualifying for the tunnel crawling gold medal round due to getting stuck in the tunnel, P-Daddy has released a statement and wants everyone to know that it was his "buff, Schwarzenegger-like shoulders" that got stuck in the tunnel, and he is not overweight. Other competitors have confirmed that it was indeed his shoulders that got stuck.

Future Olympic Sport: Tunnel Crawling

We had a fun time setting up the TeePee Maze Craze the kids got for Christmas. It does take up half the basement, but at least it is something fun to do on a rainy day. To get a little exercise we decided to have races through the tunnels. Carlie won the gold medal by getting thru the tunnel in 14 seconds. Mommy [aka Rachel, R1, Sports Goddess Extraordinaire (I just made that up)] won the silver by getting thru the tunnel in 1 minute 48 seconds. I had to do the army commando crawl, and it is quite difficult. Daddy (aka Mike, P-Daddy) failed to qualify as he got stuck in the tunnel. We nearly had to call the fire department to rescue him. Needless to say there is no Olympic future for him.

Little Big Man

Noah had his two month appointment a few days ago. He weighed in at 12lbs. 4 oz. and was 23.5 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. By comparison, Carlie was 9lbs. 14 oz. and 21.5 inches. He is sleeping pretty much thru the night now (from about 10pm - 5:30am.) He really likes to play Patty Cake, and he just smiles so big when we play. Other than that, he is very stoic.

Christmas Part 2

We got a few more gifts from the Dobbins clan as Heather and Sean stopped in for a quick visit on their way back to California. Carlie loved her Lumpy stuffed animal and purse she got from Aunt Casey. I hope Kitty doesn't get jealous.





Don't know what he got, but I think he likes it.