Happy Halloween!

What a fun day! The City's Halloween Parade went right past our house, so Dani got to watch the whole thing.

We did take a swing break in the middle.

We had tons of trick or treaters--lots of adults and babies though, which is always a bit disconcerting. Dani just stood at the door looking at everything. As I was taking this picture, I realized that I didn't really have a way back into the house--Dani was leaning on the door, and if I opened it, I would make her tumble forward. So, I had to ring the doorbell and wait for Big Man to move her so I could come in.

And our pumpkins. Big Man did the middle one and I did the others.

Big Man's mom flies in tomorrow to spend two weeks while he finishes his supervisor training. Dani's going to have lots of fun!

Crazy dancing baby.

Somebody was a little silly tonight!

We had fun tonight. Dani likes to shake her little booty when we play tunes!

Lots of smiles for Big Man and I tonight!

I'm officially an aunt! Todd and Amy welcomed Peter Parker late last night...a big congrats to them!

I never thought it would come to this. But it did.

I swore up and down that this would never be a part of my life. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

Today, Big Man said goodbye to the Caddy.

And, after work, he picked up his new ride. Behold, the Town and Country. Even sounds lame.

He picked Dani up from the sitter (sitter all week as he has training) and when he pulled into the driveway, and I came out to see the car, she was bawling. He said she started wailing the minute he put her in the minivan. She is clearly sad, because her parents are not cool, at least not anymore.

Between the minivan and my Buick (and not the new sporty kind but the geriatric LeSabre) we definitely stepped on the lame train. I can't even drink away the mid-life pain, because I'm knocked up. Mock away, all of you to whom I swore I would never. ever. own. a. minivan.

It's Big Man's. He's going to use it primarily. And he picked it out all by himself when I was with Dani in North Carolina. Does that make me slightly less lame?

Since Big Man has been home at night, I've been spending less time on line, hence the delay in these vacation videos. Enjoy.

Here, Dani says "bow wow". (Try to contain your excitement.)

Dani and Grandma doing "so big"!

And bubbles!

In other big news, my sis in law Amy is checking into the hospital tonight to have her labor induced in the morning! I'm going to be an aunt! Woo hoo!

And, a final rant. US AIR sucks! Sucks, I tells ya! I paid $60 each way to check my two bags. Yep, added $120 to my flight--which was already over $400 because I wanted to fly direct. Honestly, I'd have preferred to pay $570 for my plane ticket up front, instead of being shaken down at the airport so hard. And, the big rub is that I could have been one of those douchenozzles who brought a WAY too big carryon onto the plane, but I didn't, because I respect the carry on bag size limit and needed to bring diapers onto the plane. A million people boarded the plane lugging big ass carryons that should have been checked--but who's the sucker? That's right, me. Because I checked the flippin' bags and paid an extra $120 for the privilege. A wag of my finger to you, US Air. And you didn't even give me any peanuts. Not even those shitty pretzels you used to give out when you were just starting to cheap out.

Outrageous! Southwest--I'm sorry I cheated on you but you don't fly to Charlotte.

My trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house, a Dani guest post.

As you know, I was just visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Hickory, North Carolina. I got to ride in an airplane. Mommy got seats all the way in the back, and she kept calling it the "screaming baby section", but I proved her wrong, because I was really good. It was hard to sit still for so long, but whenever my ears hurt, I just sucked on my bottle. There might have been screaming babies on the plane, but it wasn't me!

My mom's best friend from college came over. Her name is Gina. She brought her baby Emily, and it was my first play date! Gina said that I was too little now, but that some day she would have lots of stories to tell me about my mommy! I can't wait! It sure sounds like my mommy had lots of fun in college.

I got to sit on Grandpa's motorcycle. He said I was too little to ride on it though. Maybe next time I can...or maybe he can get me a side car to ride in.

Grandma gave me a vacuum cleaner ride!

I ate at a restaurant called Iron Thunder. Grandpa shared his burger with me.


I rode on a rocking Harley at Blue Ridge Harley Davidson!

I went to an aquarium and saw lots of neat fish. There was so much to see and do!

Grandma blew bubbles for me! I wasn't very good at catching them!

Me and Grandpa spent lots of time being silly!

Grandma gives the best hugs, ever! This was a sad one though, because it was my hug goodbye.Before I knew it, I was back on the plane headed home.

What a fun trip! I love my Grandma and Grandpa!

Greetings from North Carolina, a Dani guest post!

Hi everybody, Dani here. I'm in North Carolina with mommy. We are at Grandma and Grandpa's house! I'm having lots of fun. Daddy took us to the airport yesterday, and I got to ride on a plane. It was a little scary and I didn't like sitting still, but mommy brought lots of toys for me to play with and snacks to eat so I tried to be extra good. Everyone on the plane was so nice to me!

It is so sunny and warm here! I don't even need to wear shoes and socks! Grandma let me play with the magnets in the kitchen. I'm not supposed to go into the kitchen at home, but sometimes I am faster than daddy and crawl in there anyway.Grandpa showed me his motorcycle. I got to wear a cool hat and sit on it!

They put lots of gates up to keep me safe, and there are lots of fun toys for me to play with here! I even took a bath in a big huge bathtub--it was so much fun. I love grandma and grandpa.

I'm taking a couple of steps and can walk from mommy to grandma if she's not too far away. Some times I get scared and sit down, because walking is hard! All this playing is making me tired; I have to go take a nap now. Bye bye!

Leavin' on a jet plane.

(mmmm, tasty pumpkin)

Tomorrow Dani and I are headed to NC. Yes, I will be the lady with the squirmy baby who is probably crying next to you. But, if you feed her or play peekaboo, maybe she won't fuss. She's never been on a plane before. And, I've never been on a plane with a baby before. Well, I've been on a plane with other people's babies and have really not enjoyed myself what with all the screaming and crying and all. But I've never been on a plane with my baby before, so you better not f&*k with me, because believe me, I will be more stressed than you.

AND. I'm. not. taking. my. laptop. (deep breaths) And I'm only bringing a little bit of work, so that means it may actually feel like a vacation...wow. Full disclosure: I wanted to bring my laptop, but with only one carryon, the diapers, toys, spare clothes and baby crap won out. Does that make me a grownup?

That also means, unless I use my Dad's along with his camera, you peeps will just have to wait until Sunday for pics of our trip. I have a feeling that somehow I figure I will find a way to post.

Big Man newsflash: Dani took two steps for him today. She was leaning on one part of the sectional and took steps to him...I predict that with 4 days of Grandma and Grandpa's expert coaching, she will be walking. Do they make those gerbil spinny balls for babies? That's about the only thing that is going to keep her from banging every part of her body on the incredibly kid-friendly wood floors, stairs, etc., that we have everywhere.

And, little Pumpkin did not make the Halloween costume cut. So, Dani won't be wearing this one either--although it is damn cute!

In a fantasy football update--I'm ranked number one in my officefootballpool.com online league with about 50 people in it. I think they are mostly lawyers. I keep bouncing back and forth between first and second, and my arch enemy and rival TINTIN is constantly threatening to take my lead away. I'm coming for you TINTIN.

Pancakes and politicians.

I took Dani to the Town of Florida dems' pancake breakfast this morning. She had a great time, and we got to spend a little time with our Congressman Paul Tonko!

I have known Paul for over half my life and worked for him for years when he was in the Assembly. It's great that he's serving in Congress during the Obama administration.

Big Man has tonight off, so we are getting ready for the Bears game. I'm going to try to stay up for the whole thing!

I got hosed in my office football pool league--too many upsets and wins that didn't beat the spread. This is my first year picking with a spread and it's hard! Sucks when you pick the winner, but lose anyway because you didn't beat the spread. Good news is that in my league of about 55 people, I'm in 1st place for the season--it may fluctuate to 2nd depending on the outcome tonight and tomorrow, but I'm kicking butt!

Almost all packed for our big trip Wednesday! Dani's first flight!

Halloween countdown...costume 2.

"Mommy if I wear the costume and don't cry while you take my picture, will you let me climb the stairs?"

Is I posted last week, I managed to amass a number of Halloween costumes for Dani. One was given to us, two I bought on ebay, and one I saw in the store and just had to buy.

I said I'd post the other costumes that Dani won't be wearing on Halloween (although I'm really torn about this one). I did make a really cool Halloween card that I will post with all the costumes closer to Halloween, but I will be posting a different costume each week until Halloween.

This is Dani's fierce lion face:

This adorable costume is from Aimee, who's little guy Liam wore it last year. It is super, super cute!

The happy lion pictures came just before Mad Cow. Dani has a one costume limit, per day, apparently.

A case of the clap.

Dani wowed us at dinner with her newest first. Well, she wowed me because guess what, Big Man had seen her do it before.....as usual!

She was clapping away, following Daddy's lead, until I got the camera. Then, she was intermittently clapping while hamming it up and focusing on my mac and cheese.

This is just Dani, standing with ease for Daddy on Saturday.

Looking forward to our trip to NC next week to see the folks! Not looking forward to a full airplane and a wriggly baby!

Just call me Martha.

(Stewart, that is.) We went to Eagle Mills, had some warm cider and donuts, and bought some apples. Then, my domestic gene kicked in and I baked this. And yes, I used a cookie cutter to cut out dough hearts for the top. I really did read that in Martha Stewart Living, but it looked a little nicer in the magazine.
Dani was too little to do much there, but she tried some donut and cider, and just enjoyed the pretty fall weather.I'm feeling much better. And a shout out to the Target pharmacy. I filled my antibiotic prescription there, and it was the first time I'd ever used their pharmacy. Today the pharmacist called me to confirm that I was feeling better, and to ask if I had questions, and finally to remind me to take all of the antibiotics, even if I feel better. Although I knew all that, it was very nice to get the call from them. I <3 Target!

Jumpin' Jack Flash.

I've bought Dani a number of superhero t-shirts so she can dress like Daddy. Every time she wears one, Daddy says, "what a cute little boy". Yesterday, she was the Flash.

I've been home sick for the past few days; starting to feel human again, so hope to post more this weekend.

Yesterday was my 5 year anniversary. I'm a lucky girl. Love you, Big Man.

Halloween costume Dani won't be wearing.

We're trying out costumes. This one didn't make the cut today.

Stay tuned for the ones we picked!

Catching up.

It's been an incredibly busy week. I've been light on taking and posting pictures. (sorry dad)

I worked for a big chunk of the day today, and brought some home for tonight, so don't have much time.

Every morning we vacuum the whole downstairs, as Dani spends most of the day on the floor. We generally keep her away from the cord, but she is always trying to get it. Here's a great example of stellar parenting: photo op, then safety.

Somebody likes looking out the front door. I was putting pumpkins on the front porch today, and had to grab the camera once I noticed Dani smooshing her face against the glass.


And a little closer up (a big shout out to Tara who gave Dani the awesome Supergirl shirt):

Big Man has been home for the past two nights. That meant we went out to dinner last night with David and Gail--to the Cock N Bull for a nice firelit dinner, and a tasty Big Man breakfast today. Here's some Dani sillies during breakfast:

She was giggling so much better before the camera was turned on!