This past weekend we visited P’cola. While we were there, the most awesome photographer ever took my senior pictures. They turned out A-M-A-Z-I-N-G; see for yourself!

She really is the most awesome photographer EVER – it was SO much fun!

So, to the extraordinary Mrs. H – thank you SSOOO much! I had a blast and can never thank you enough for taking my pictures for me! You are incredible and I look forward to the next time I have to have pictures taken – you will definitely be the one I call!

Great, now I have that song stuck in my head. “Who you gonna call?”

We’re visiting with some friends who have a house full of girls.
Upon arrival Jesse (2) promptly searched out the only two cars in the house, put them in a pink doll stroller, and pushed them around the livingroom and kitchen.

With these super stylish sunglasses on, in all his toddler innocence.

I spent the rest of the day reminding him that baby dolls are not footballs.

The kid is 110% boy. Pink sunglasses and all.

Okay. So we were at this rest area.  It was super crowded – both women’s bathrooms had lines. And smelled funny.
I didn’t laugh.  It wasn’t that kind of funny.

After I had thoroughly scrubbed my hands after my visit to this rest area’s little girl’s room I needed to feed Lucy and change her diaper.  She smelled funny, too.  So I fed her, put her in a fresh diaper, and then went to throw her diaper in one of the numerous rest area trashcans.

You know how some people pull in to a rest area?  And they park their car in a parking space right in front?  And they get out of their car and walk from the car door to the sidewalk?  And then they drop and do about 30 push ups?

No, you probably don’t know about that because strange and usual things don’t seem to happen around you. However, as I, myself, am strange and unusual (name that movie anybody?), as of about 2 pm today, I do know about this.

There was this man, this grown man who was probably in his late 40′s doing push ups on the sidewalk in front of the parked cars.

He was doing push ups, people.  Right there.  Right on the sidewalk where, like, a gazillion people were walking.

Right in the middle of everything. 

Then, as if that weren’t enough to make me look in through the windshield at Ryan with a wide eyed, is-this-guy-for-real? sort of look, the man then took off towards the bathrooms in high skips.
That’s the only way to describe it.

When I got back to the car Kait was cracking up.  She asked, Um, Mom?  Did you see that?  Was that guy seriously skipping to the bathrooms?

The whole thing was so completely Dwight.

I should have asked for his autograph just in case.

I asked Kait if she wanted me to take Lucy so she could eat. My arms were empty and I am always happy to hold my sweet baby girl.

No. This is good practice. Was her quick reply.

I’ve got no doubts about her ability to mother.  By the time she’s got her own little one she’ll be more than ready to handle the job.

Kait’s been calling her Lu-Bean.
I called her Bean tonight and received a heavy scolding for trying to ‘copy’ her nickname.

Lucy made cute-like for Kait and she shot some really adorable pics of the baby girl.
She’s looking a little like Sam in this picture, I think.

On a completely different note…
You know that ridiculous time change thing we all complain about, yet so willingly participate in?…
It has messed me up way more than it should have.

I made a list of things to do.  This is very helpful for me when I’m feeling a little dead in the head.

The list had things on it like who to write thank yous to for meals after Lucy was born, and who to thank for baby gifts. I have on it packages I need to get out, and a few little things that I need to pick up from the store.
It was a very thorough list, and being that my brain is broken right now, very necessary.  I have to have lists to recall, well, anything.

But the list is gone.

Somehow it deleted itself from my computer.  Or, in my state of brain-brokenness, I didn’t save it. 
Or something.
I was so irritated when I went to retrieve the list to find that it was no longer in existence. I wanted to blame somebody, anybody. Except myself, of course.
What I really wanted was somebody to yell at so that I would feel better. But I knew that wouldn’t be good, nor would it help my irritation. So I looked for the dog, and thought of maybe scolding him for eating it, but he’d quickly made himself scarce when he smelled the discontent leaking from my pores. Or maybe it was the small puffs of smoke beginning to leak from my ears.

Whatever. The list has disappeared and that’s left me clueless as to what on earth I’m supposed to be doing right now. 
Seriously! I’m eating a bowl of cereal for dinner.  That’s how backwards I’ve gotten.

Wait, that’s normal for me. Never mind.

With Kait’s help we sorta pieced our list back together. I’m sending up prayers that we haven’t thanked somebody for something they didn’t give us.

Cause, uh, that would be totally embarrassing.

Lucy is 25 days old in this picture.  I gave her her first full bath, she found it quite interesting, making ‘wow’ faces the whole time.
Then I wrapped her up in a towel and snapped some of the most ridiculously blurry pictures ever.

This one was the only one decent enough to post after I spent some time cleaning it up.

She’s so stinkin’ cute!
I love having a baby daughter again.

We’re on our way to church just now. And Kait has pointed out an interesting church sign.
Not our church sign. Christian Fellowship’s church sign.

For the world to ponder, somebody, probably a totally plugged in volunteer wrote:

“Do you know God like you know Transformers?”

I have absolutely no response to this.

I’ll see if I can get a picture on our way home.

The husband took me to Panera Bread tonight. We’d never been but had heard amazing tales about how good their food is.
There were a buttload of cars in the lot. With a Starbucks and a Moe’s in the same building, this place was a serious after school special. There were name brand kids everywhere. And a handful of kids who were trying to be name brand, but weren’t quite pulling it off.

I was accosted by pastries as soon as I stepped foot in Panera’s door. It was delightful but I didn’t order any of that stuff. I wanted meat.

After much deliberation (my husband just loves it when I take forever to order something) I chose the chipotle chicken sandwich and a sweet tea. The order came with a bag of Panera potato chips, fried in 100% sunflower oil and zero extra bad-for-you stuff. It’s the truth. Said so right on the bag.
Umm… Not in those exact words, though.
And there was a pickle wedge.

Here are some thoughts.

The sandwich I ordered cost $7.09. It was good, but more like $3.92 good. Not $7 good. The bread was definitely fresh. But I make our bread from scratch, even grinding my own wheat. And while I’m still learning and my personal varieties are limited, it’s still super fresh around here so I guess that lowers the wow factor of Panera’s fresh bread.
Plus, I think they forgot the chipotle part of it. It just tasted like grilled chicken with cheese melted onto it.
Good, but nothing that’ll make you wanna slap yo’ mama.

The Panera chips, a severe disappointment, were marginal at best. Kinda tasted stale. I guess they are supposed to be that way cause they’re kettle cooked but I’ve tasted kettle cooked chips before that didn’t taste stale. I didn’t eat but a few before I handed the bag over to Mikey.  I mean Ryan.  Who will eat anything.
On a side note, why were the kids so amazed that Mikey, who’ll eat anything, liked Life cereal? I’ve always wondered about that.

The sweet tea was really only tea flavored water with just a hint of sweetness.

Listen up Panera Employee Worker People! We’re in the south. Go ahead and dump that sugar on in there. Don’t be scared. Sweet tea is supposed to be sweet.
I cannot stress this point enough.
Thanks.

Moving on…
I discovered that what you’re actually paying for at Panera Bread is atmosphere.
And cute little sandwich trays. But you don’t get to keep those.

Everybody was using their little laptops and I felt a little out of place without my netbook. And the Apple Dumpling Gang was definitely making a presence.  I would have given the place the calm, peaceful atmosphere award had it not been for that one guy in the corner with his music turned up a bit too loud.  He had big hair and was using an Apple.  I guess rude is okay as long as you’re doing it in style???

Personally, I just didn’t find the place to be all it’s cracked up to be.
Yeah, it was clean, and there are a lot of places to plug a laptop in, and my sandwich wasn’t horrible.
But $22 for two sandwiches, two chips, a tea and a limeade that doesn’t hold a candle to Sonic’s same-named drink…

I think next time we’ll go to Waffle house. You definitely aren’t paying for atmosphere there, even though every employee is super happy to see you.
Plus, as a bonus, their food is never stale and you get a whole lot more than just a little sandwich for your 7 bucks.

Scattered, covered, smothered, chunked, and diced…

Now, that’s some slap-yo’-mama good food right there.
Yessiree-bob.

Jesse(2) has called Lucy Isaac since she was born. We’re not quite sure why, but it’s funny. And I like funny.
However, today I pointed to Lucy and asked Jesse, who’s this, Jesse?, and he answered, Name.

I’m beginning to think my name correcting tactics are confusing him a little.
Normally when Jesse calls her Isaac I reply by saying, This is not Isaac. What’s her name?. And he will look at her, then back at me and say, Name?
And then I say, Yes. Her name is Lucy.

So naturally that would make him think Name was her name.

Right???

So anyway, Name is what Jesse has been calling Lucy today. He still threw Isaac in there a few times, but Name was used just as much.

Poor baby girl.
She’s regularly called Lucy, Helen, That Baby, It, Isaac, and now Name.

I’m starting to see an identity crises in her future.
And maybe a shrink.

I’d also like to add for those of you who will get it…
If my baby was my BFTKC, Mama Squirrel’s baby, her nickname would end up actually being Name because of this.
And that makes me laugh.