Mustard anyone?

Just 3 more days and we're off to see family for Christmas. Can't wait! Feels like we're just killing time now. We've finally finished with all the holiday parties (nine in all) and we ate dinner at home tonight for only the third time in like 2 weeks. No, we did NOT finish with all the holiday shopping. But hey, we still have 2 or 3 days.

Noah has so many teeth coming in, I can't tell if he has 4 on the the top or 5. He seems to possibly be cutting another one--biting his fingers, fussy, etc. Of course he may be fussy due to the fact that we are trying to get him to sleep through the night AGAIN, and so he loses sleep while he is screaming at the top of his lungs 3 or 4 times a night. So do we, so the fussyness is not only on his part.

Thought I'd post a few pix from the week of anticipation.
Noah loves getting everything out of the fridge door.

Noah figured out how to knock all the toys off the wooden beam and climb over it, then attempted to back himself into the 6 inch crack on the other side. That's when he got stuck and started yelling for help.
He also started helping me with housework this week, by unloading the dishwasher. Tell me, why did I put glass plateware on my Christmas list again?
And finally, Noah and his kitty. He loves hugging Moseley.

12 Randomness/Days of Christmas

Okay, so I got tagged by Sherrie to do my own 12 random Christmas facts, so here goes...
# 12. The traditional Christmas meat of choice in Sweden is Ham. Just kidding....while that's true, that's not about me. And I think that's the point of this meme.

12. This year we will celebrate our 6th Christmas season of wedded bliss and our 6th while living in Florida---but I have yet to host a Christmas at my house here. We always have and still do travel to see family up north and out west. This year we're headed to Nebraska to spend Christmas with my parents and brother and sister.

11. I do NOT like Eggnog. The very thought of it churns my stomach.

10. I (too) love listening to Christmas music and enjoy the 24/7 radio station, to the (echoed) dismay of my husband, who could probably do without holiday music all together. My favorite songs to listen to this year are probaby...as always, Carol of the Bells, What Child is This?, and O Come, Emmanuel (accapella).

9. Matt buys me an ornament for our tree every year. This year I am determined to buy him one. I also have planned to add 2 ornaments for Noah each year. One that we'll always keep in honor of his past year, and one that will become HIS for his own family tree when he one day leaves the nest.

8. I miss not having a class at school to teach the "motions" to the 12 Days of Christmas to...especially a partrage in a pear tree --(one person jumps on a partner's back and flaps their wings) and six geese a layin (pretend like you're laying the world's largest egg). Immature, I know, but the kids always love it.

7. The Hays family does "Stockings" first on Christmas morning--soon as you wake up, you get to open your stockings, but you have to wait for the family to roll out of bed for your presents. The Hawkins family however, saves stockings till last, so that after all the present opening is over, "Wait!, there's still stockings!"

6. I prefer the white, classic lights to colored lights. I love the icicle lights and greenery (wreaths) with red bows outside on the house look. We don't decorate like this, but if we ever own our own house, I plan to.

5. We grew up with the tradition of caroling to shut ins from our church...always 3 or 4 part harmony, and my mom would play the accordian! I learned to sing loud so the old folks could hear you, and you have to sing loud to balance out my dad! Our parents used to have to drag us around, but now I miss it.

4. I reeeeeally don't like the hustle and bustle of Chrismast shopping. It totally stresses me out and takes all the joy out of it. I prefer shopping online now or shopping at those wierd hours when nobody else is at the mall.

3. I always knew where my mom hid the presents when growing up, and I can't honestly say that I didn't peak sometimes!

2. I hope to one day go to New York City during Dec. and see the Rockefeller Tree, iceskating, etc. I also think it would be fun to go to Disney on Christmas Day, just once, for the memory of it. Maybe the 24th or the 26th would be better...

And of course, #1...I did not grow up believing in Santa Clause. Gasp. Yes, I know, shocking. I don't really even remember having a discussion about it or feeling like I was different for not getting presents from Santa and sending off my list to the North Pole. But apparently, I am like in the 2% of people who were "deprived" of this. The big discussion now is what are we going to teach/allow our own kids to believe? We're still not sure.

Hope you enjoyed the randomness, thanks for the idea, Sherry!

Aaaaawww, Mom!

Things got a little out of hand at dinner one night last week. Actually, Noah was tired, and he kept wiping his hand all over his face. Thank goodness I had the foresight to skip the bib and take the shirt off ahead of spaghettio time.

Piano Man

Forget the recalls from China.
Every few days Noah discovers something new at our house to play with, and I usually enjoy watching him play with his new "toy" for a few minutes before I find it so cute I have to run and grab the camera. Here are the new toys of the week.

First, this is actually from Ms. Bev's house. Ms. Bev is our Florida Grandma--she watches Noah for me more than anyone else, and buys him more toys than we do. This piano was her kids when they were young. She couldn't wait to break it out for Noah. Of course, he loves it. He stands up at it (the best part) and bangs on the keys. Looks like a MWS in the making here.

Next, I was wondering when he would find his way behind the door in the bathroom. Doesn't he just look thrilled with himself, too.

A real toy, but new to Noah. He's not so sure about this car yet, but he did sit on it for about 5 min, not sure how to get off.
And finally, Noah loves to stand at the window(s) and play with the blinds. He grabs at the cord to the blinds and lets it bang loudly against the window, and then smiles and laughs. Don't worry, it's not long enough for him to get his head into. Just long enough to barely reach at.

Elemeno....Alphabet Soup

Alas, I have been behind in the ABC Soup blogging for several weeks. I enjoy making entries even if nobody reads them but Carrie and Shortie/Sherrie. I tried to catch up with I, J and K, but didn't want to overwhelm the blog with more of my silly "likes"...

I'm going to throw a bunch together and only do what comes to mind in one sitting for each letter. As I started to type my title, I realized that these are the letters of the ABC song that get jumbled together anyway---as a teacher I know that many young children think "elemeno" is a long name for one letter !

L....oh wait, I DID do L last time! Because LISTS was my first thing! So I guess I'm already on to the next...

Mmmmmmm
Matthew of course makes my number one spot. He is the best thing that's ever happened to me (uh...tied with Noah, now...!). God knew what he was doing when he created both of us and brought the two of together. I already mentioned him under the Hs (hubby) but he's worth repeating. I could go on and on about how wonderful I think he is. I hope one day my brother and sister will find someone as perfect for them as he is for me.

Mom is an easy second. I admire my mom for her strength, wisdom, and patience among so many other things. She has always been such a Godly example of how a woman should be and how to raise a family. She has taught me about faith, trust and total reliance on God.

M & Ms I love my chocolate. When Matt and I got married it seemed only fitting to use M&Ms (red and white) as a favor to give at the reception. Every holiday I fill a candy dish with the seasonal-colored m&ms. Now there is a store at the Florida Mall dedicated to M&Ms...I love looking at all the colored cylinders on the walls!

Music I love music, nearly all kinds. I owe much of this to my parents and to my brother. My parents instilled an appreciation for music growing up--we were always singing in church, carolling with the accordian at Christmas, or playing our instruments for Grandma. I learned to play the piano and the flute as a youngin. I learned about some of the best musical groups of all times from my brother: The Beatles, DC Talk, Wierd Al, Bobby McFarren to name a few...I remember borrowing his tapes before there were c.d.s and making my own mix tapes. Haa, I may still have them. He taught me all about early Christian groups, like MWSmith, SCChapman, and Petra, as well as ALL the 50s and 60s music. Next I need to give thanx to my middle school carpool mom for introducing me to Celine, Michael Bolton, Rod Stewart, and Lionel Richie. No one else would take credit for them! Then, I learned to like 80s (alternative) music from the teen girls at church, country music from a few boyfriends along the way, and of course the 70s, 80s, and 90s music from the local radio mix station. I've since picked up some decent music that I'm actually proud of listening to, like jazz, piano, and worship music. There's really only a few things I steer completly clear of: Southern Gospel, Gangster Rap, and Heavy Metal. But other than that, I'll take any of ya'll on in a game of Name that Radio Song.

Now to the Ns...

Noah is the JOY of my life! If I could only name one thing, he would be it. It has been so much fun to stay at home with him these last 9 months and watch him grow and develop and go through all sorts of stages already. I am sooo grateful for this time that we have, because I know that not every one is soo lucky. He is soooo fun right now, so adventurous and happy. I spend most of my days just watching him and laughing at what he does. We couldn't be happier with his name. It suits him so well, I can't imagine having named him anything else.

Naps--I still take plenty. When you have a baby, everyone tells you to learn to "sleep when the baby sleeps." Well, 9 mo. later, I'm still doing that. Since he doesn't sleep completely through the night, I'm often still tired when he gets up in the morning. And so when his morning nap rolls around, I thankfully roll over and crash for a few more zzzzzzzs too.

(The) Notebook and Nottinghill--two good "girl" movies that I can watch over and over.

Oo oo oo oo...
Speaking of movies:
(The) Other Sister--Haven't seen it??? Oh, you have to. It's hilarious. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't put gum under the cafeteria table! But Daniel, you didn't fail... by much.

Organizing--I think I've mentioned this in a blog before. I actually like to put things in order. I organize my groceries when they're on the conveyer belt at Walmart. I'd choose organizing over cleaning any day of the week. Not everything in my life is totally organizing, but I feel at peace when it is.

Olive Garden--one of Matt and my all time favorite restaurants. We currently have a gift card that's been burning a whole in the wallet for like 5 months, because the closest OG is an hour away and with the baby, we haven't made it up yet. But I'm planning what I'll order now...Yum...

Old Navy--one of my favorite stores. Also an hour away, but we go out of our way anytime we can. Their online line of career clothes nearly give me a reason to go back to work.

The Olympics --I love watching the US compete. But I also just love the excellence of the event and the competitiveness in general. Only problem is: I CRY at the end of nearly EVERY medal ceremony. I can't help it, it gets me EVERY TIME. When NBC covers the individual athletes' stories, it's all over. I'm a mess.

Oreos--Nuff said.

Oprah--My list would not be complete without mentioning her, although I'm not completly proud of liking her. I don't agree with her views or tolerance in every area, but I DO enjoy her personality and respect her for becoming who she is. I love how she interviews celebrities, challenges people to own their mistakes and of course, live their best life. I also love it when she laughs!

So, I think that's enough me-time on the blog for quite a while!

Three-Quarters of a Year...

Here's Noah's 9 month chair picture! Doesn't he look like such a big boy? I only snapped a couple before he started climbing out of the chair, so these'll have to do. No toothy smiles, but kinda funny still...

And a few more from this past week...
First, the teeth....look closely or click on the pix to enlarge...3 on the top, 3 on the bottom. They are through!

Next, Noah discovered how much fun it was to chew on a wet wipe during bath time. He would NOT let me take it away.

Then, today, he snuck into the laundry room (aka cat's hiding spot) and tried to offer him a paci and a piece of straw grass,I have no idea where the straw came from.

Finally, Noah as he pushes past the barracades and reaches for the scantily clad tree.

Happy December!

Just because he's soo cute...

Just a few more photos from SC

Holiday #1, 2007

3 new teeth coming in!


Mama and Daddy on the hayride with Noah

Here's a recap of our busy but wonderful Thanksgiving weekend at the Hawkins.
Tuesday: 3:00 p.m.--expected departure time...5:20 p.m--actual departure from home...stop for food at 7:30 p.m. Stop for baby puking, 8:10...back on the road at 8:30....many verses of Old MacDonald later...arrive in N. Augusta, 2 something a.m.
Wednesday: a little sleepin in, lunch with Sherrie/mom and Leah, play time with Grandma Salter/golf, and relaxed evening at home. A. Jess and U. Jon arrive after midnight.
Thursday: family breakfast, coaxing Noah to walk (no such luck), GBay football, 4:30 turkey dinner, boys movie night/girls t.v. movie night.
Friday: 3:30 a.m. wakeup call, 4:30 arrival at Staples, Kohl's, Panera's, Target...4 women, 1 single purchase. How does that happen?!? Return back home at 8:30ish a.m...boys golf, more Noah time, Christmas Tree Farm (see above photots!), and Hawkins Family Fun Night. woooh.
Saturday: First ever Hawkins family Paintball Competition, Turkey Bowl Football (hawkins vs. teen boys) and good ol' Zaxby's chicken fingers. Departure time: 4:30 p.m...stop for Noah's dinner, 7:30...stop for more baby puking, 8:00...break time for mom and dad, back on the road at 9:00p.m....arrive home, 12:35 a.m. Sunday.

So after this weekend of fun we have decided that our adorable little man is 1) soooo close to taking some serious steppage, 2)soooo cute in his new little moose hat, 3)possible car sick? from watching videos in the car after eating?!? NOT the best hours we've spent together. Poor little thing. But we made it.

We really did have a great time seeing everyone, just makes us miss them so much more when we have to leave. It seems as if we looked forward to this holiday to get away and be with family sooo much, and then it went by sooo fast. So now we're on the other end of it, feeling a tad bit disappointed that it's already over.

Noah's Conversation with the Links Family

Forget babbling, Noah's now having full "conversations" with his toys.

Noah is a Babbler

The first 30 sec. are Noah talking, then he quietly explores a box for the next 30 sec.

Tike on a trike

A few photos to tide you over till the holidays...

And a few funny "things" from this week...

1.) When Noah finds an interesting toy/item that he likes, he will crawl all over the house, carrying it with him in his little hand. I don't know if you've ever tried crawling while holding something in your hand, but it's not that easy. Very funny is when he holds on to TWO things, one in each hand, and tries to crawl.

Somewhat related to this, if Noah has a pacifier in his mouth, and then he sees another one or you offer him one, he'll reach for the new one and then sit for a while to figure out what to do. Often times he'll eventually spit out the first pacifier and put the new one in his mouth. This last week, he did just that, then, seeing the first pacifier now on the floor, he spit out the "new" one and put the old one back in his mouth. I seriously thought this might continue back and forth for some time, but finally, he just kept the "first" paci in his mouth, carried the "second" one in his hand, and crawled in to the other room to play.

2.) Noah is cutting his top teeth now. Like possibly 4 at once. Yesterday I realized that while waiting for us to pick him up out of his crib, he has gnawed into the side of the crib rail with his little shark (bottom) teeth. NOW I know what those plastic crib guards are for I saw at Target!

3.) When he wants something, Noah YELLs a real short, but loud "Aaah". Actually i think it's more of an "ehh". If he doesn't get it right away, you get two "eeeh, eeeh"s. That boy's getting loud. (Then, if he still doesn't get it, the crying begins.)

Someone from our church gave us a Little Tykes toy chest and a tricycle for Noah. Matt took Noah on his very first tricycle ride around the house. Too funny. Hope it will post. He looks like SUCH a BIG boy sitting on that thing.

Make sure to hit the PLAY button below to watch him lap the kitchen.


Just two more full days till a holiday break! YEAH!!!

Alphabet Soup is almost caught up.

LLL l l l l LLLl l l....things I like, love or laugh at that start with L...

1) Lists: I am a list maker. I make to do lists, to buy lists, grocery lists, Christmas lists, honey do lists, new year's resolutions/goals lists, Bible verses I know lists, music I like lists, hopes and dreams lists, you name it. For some reason, my brain thinks in lists and finds comfort in list making. Now that you know this, it's not surprising that this alphabet soup thing is right up my alley.

2.) Lion--my little Noah was a lion for Halloween, and he was soooo cute.

3) Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe...I loved this book when i was younger and I loved reading it again a year or so ago to my class. And I loved the movie version.

4.) Lewis, C.S. Lewis...what an amazing author. See my train of thought?

5.) Licorice--red, strawberry Twizzlers. I will put away a whole bag if I'm not careful. They are addictive, and you always want just one more...

6.) Laughing--nothing quite like a good belly laugh with friends.

Alphabet Soup Catch up, Take Two...

K

K is for Ketchup. I use a lot.

K is for Kearney, Matt Kearney. I love his sound.

K is for Kit-Kat, one of my favorite candy bars.

K is for kisses. I am a kisser. My husband is a good one, too. Noah gives open mouth kisses still. They are so cute. I also love Hershey's kisses, because I love a good chunk of chocolate.

K is for kettle. Tea kettle. I love to boil up my water on the stove. It feels so much cozier than using the microwave. Tea and hot chocolate taste better that way.

Alphabet Soup ....JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

Apparently, Alphabet Soup has returned, and where have I been?

I guess I have THREE letters to catch up on. I think I'll do just one letter a day so as to not overwhelm anyone.

J....J....J....
This letter is hard for me. Here are a few things with J that I love...
1.) July--the month we were married. The beginning of our wonderful life together.

2.) Jewelry --from my husband. I don't wear or buy a lot of jewelry, but Matt has always done a really good job at picking out jewelry that I'll like. I have 5 or 6 neclaces that he's given me that are my favorites, and then of course there's the gorgeous diamond ring he picked out all by himself.

3.) Jean jacket--I know jean jackets may be a bit from the 80s, but I never had one back in the 80s, or 90s for that matter...and I always sort of wanted one. I found one last year that I liked and decided it was time to treat myself to my first jean jacket. I love wearing it, but I hate that you can only wear it when you're NOT wearing jeans. Because I wear jeans alot. I tried to explain to my mom that you shouldn't wear jeans on the top and bottom at the same time, but I don't think she gets it.

4.) Jackson--our precious "little" puppy. If you look back to last year before Noah, my blog was full of pictures of our new puppy Jax. We got Jackson when he was just a wee little lad, and I LOVED him sooooo much. He was sooo much fun to play with and he and I were great PALS. Peyton has always been more of Matt's dog, so Jackson was more of mine...Well, as you can probably guess, we no longer have Jax. We were able to keep him for a full year before we decided that 1)He grew to be soooo big! and 2)With the new baby coming, he had not grown up enough to settle down. It was a very hard decision, but we finally agreed that for our safety, we would have to give him away back in April. I hope he's doing okay out there and that some family is taking very good care of him. He was MY first dog, and thinking of him makes me very sad that he's not with us any longer.

That's all I got for Js!

New on Noah in November

I almost decided to NOT post anything on my blog for a while because I love the pix of Noah in his costume so much and I love seeing those at the top of the blog page...who wants to see a bunch of words on the blog!?!
But, alas, one day we'll have to move on, so it might as well be today. Just wanted to write a few things as updates for my family(ies).

1. Noah is over 8 months old, now, ya'll. This is totally getting ridiculous how fast he is growing. It was feeling pretty crazy to say I am the proud mama of , oh, a 5 or 6 month old, but now it's just insane. He is SOOOO big now. In so many ways! He hasn't been back to the dr. since his 6 month apptmnt, so no I don't know exactly but he is nearly 22 lbs., wearing mostly 9-12 mo. clothing and ready for his next size carseat (which is huge and can NOT be lifted out.) Not that I carry him in the car seat anymore. Oh no, we've been carrying him-only to and from the car for quite some time now.

2. He is also loving food, the real kind, not the baby jars anymore. I'm not even sure if I can coax him into eating what's left in the cabinet. I may have to add the puree stuff to thicker, chunkier foods. Whenever he sees any sort of food or drink, (or notices that one of us walked into the kitchen) he starts ooo-ooo-ing and squawking for a bite. His arms start flapping up and down like he's a bird when he gets excited. Today he gobbled up a pasta/cheese soup I made for lunch, mooched canteloupe off a lady at the church office, and stuffed stuffing in his face at dinner. He'd never had any of them, and loved all three. He's also enjoyed eating shavings of apple, spaghetti-0 type pasta, pizza, rice, bagels, etc.

3. Noah LOVES playing outside on the porch and the grass. Today he bear-crawled (on his hands and balls of his feet/toes) all the way from the edge of our yard, across the asphault to the church lot where his daddy was playing football. (I was right there with him, of course.) This is a good 30 or 40 feet though. On rough concrete. And he didn't seem to mind one bit. He was thrilled with himself.

4. Noah is STILL not sleeping well. In his crib. Tonight he has been "crying/screaming" out but not quite waking up. We go in to check on him and he's technically still asleep. Sometimes as soon as he starts to wake up, he will immediately try to sit up, or even stand, before he's even awake...and he usually falls over in a clumsy, drunkard like state once or twice before he really wakes up. It's pretty funny. Until about 2 or 3 in the morning.

5. Noah's favorite toys: Mama's keys of course, mom or dad's cell phone--he LOVES these--Moseley the cat and Peyton the dog--loves them also--tupperware containers, pots and pans....I'm beginning to wonder why our house if cluttered up with all these primary colored, Fisher Price links and rings when all our kid wants is REAL household objects!!! Save your Christmas gift money, people! Just buy me a new 5 quart saucepan and Matt a new cell phone--after a few hundred gallons of drool, touch any key and it thinks you're pushing 7. Anybody claim the number 777-7777?

We are soooooo looking forward to spending the holidays with family. Hope the next 2 weeks go by quickly and the week of Thanksgiving very sloooooowly!

A Roarrrring Good Time

Two of the few pix of Noah's first Halloween costume:-). He was an adorrrrrrable little lion, and despite my previous expectations, wore his costume quite PROUDly all night. He fussed a bit when I first put the head piece on, but then seemed to forget about it the rest of the night. Matt even humored me by dressing up as "scarecrow" and I the "tin man". I have withheld those pictures for our sake as well as yours. Noah loved watching everyone dressed up and all the sights, sounds, and silliness of the evening. He enjoyed his first hayride with Grandma Hays and was definitely (one of) the mane attraction(s), tee hee. My lion humor is really too much, isn't it. Here's a few in his holiday p.j.s...

We are having a great week together. My mom is here for a week and it is sooooo nice to have her here to help out as well as hang out with and spend time with her little grandson. What good timing, too. Matt and I spent several hours on Monday, Tues., and then Wed. getting ready for our church's party--we hosted a Kids' Carnival (as every previous year) and Indoor Trick-or-Treating Night (new this year), and it went quite well, I must say. Matt was basically in charge of the games side/teens and I...well, the rest. It was the first time we tried to get our whole church involved, and like can be expected, took more time and work than you think it should. It turned out to be a much needed event in our community because it rained off and on all night. (I can't honestly say that I didn't pray FOR the rain, so that we'd be able to make contacts with our community...). I was glad we'd planned on the trickortreating thing. Our church people sponsored different doors in the building and decorated them, then passed out candy to the kiddos as they came by. We had an excellent turnout, for our church---75 to 80 kids, plus parents plus church folk...around 225 people on the church property during the night. Yeah, I was SHOCKED. It was pretty awesome. A bit chaotic, especially when the rain started and the people came in droves, but no one complained to me about their soggy hotdogs. Fun was had by all.

The only regret I have on the night, well, make that two, 2)My last minute costume idea came together nicely except that my "grey" facepaint was a bit darker (blacker) than I imagined it to be and I actually SCARED people with it...(who's ever heard of a scary tin man? HA!) and the real regret...1)My mom ended up holding Noah more than Matt or I did during the night, and even though I got SOME time with him, it still left me wishing that my/our jobs didn't always creep into family time like they do. We had a good first Halloween, a GREAT one, but I just wish I could have delighted in my little one a little more...

Grandma's Here!

Here's my mom, Grandma Hays, with Noah. She will be here all this week and we love having her here!

Noah's Newest Discovery

Noah loves this carboard box that came from Oriental Trading Company. He has climbed in it on 3 separate occasions, and today, he climbed up in it, layed down and kicked and giggled for over 5 min, he was so excited to be on top of the Halloween toys! So silly...

Happy Boy

Here's a double dose of happy for the day...

Noah's newest tricks

And no, Noah didn't wet his pants here--he tipped over the dog's water bowl and the water crept along the crack in the tile.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Hays

Happy 60th, Grandma Hays

Tomorrow is my mom's 60th Birthday. I can't believe she's "that old", because that means that I'm getting older myself. Noah begged and begged to do something special for his Grandma, so I finally gave in and let him make a video for her. Hopefully it will upload to blogger for me today.

Mom--I wish we could be closer and take you out to eat for your birthday, but since the 2 main restaraunts in Ainsworth, NE are Pizza Hut and Subway, we figured maybe you'd enjoy a raincheck until you get here to FL. We are looking forward to seeing you in 2 weeks over Halloween--what a TREAT it will be, and we can't wait to show you all our (Noah's) new TRICKS!

Love you!

The Return of Alphabet Soup.....I Style

I think it's about time I continued with the alphabet soup series, even if the lady who started it all does not. (I don't have much better to write about, like she and her blogging ladies do...thoughtful takes on life and living). So.....I think it's time...for I...

So here for the list of things I enjoy, like, smile at, etc. that begin with I....

1. IHOP--my hubby and I love to go to breakfast here on Saturday mornings and get the french toast and fruit specials, that also come with hashbrowns, eggs, and your choice of a meat. Yummmm...

2. Italian food--love it, yumm. Anything pasta. I hope to one day visit Italy. It's top of my list in Europe.

3. Italian Ice from Rita's Italian Ice.....a local favorite

4. Icecream--I have mentioned this in previous posts, but it is worth mentioning again.

5. Iced lattes from Dunkin Donuts

I know---Pretty pathetic that my entire list so far (and usually) has to do with food and drinks. But that's all that comes to mind so far....hmmmm... what else....

6. Idaho--state where I went to college for 4 years and have many, many memories of. Several of my close friends still live there, and I wish I could visit more often.

7. iPod! Funny story...if you haven't read my "confessions" post from a few weeks back, I was given an iPod Nano for my birthday a year and a half ago....and have only had some 9 songs on it---and what winners they are!...until tonight. Yea, hurray, my husband just discovered that some 200 songs I downloaded from my musically saturated brother back at Thanksgiving ARE actually saved on my iPod, just as MP3 files instead of audio files...so I didn't COMPLETELY waste the 5 hours it took me to pick them out! We are currently trying to convert them so they are listen-able, and I am soooo excited! That is definitely the best thing in my life right now that starts with I.
The End.

Family visit

October 019
Originally uploaded by mayjayhay

Noah and his Papa Hawkins during their recent weekend trip to FL

Family visit

October 014
Originally uploaded by mayjayhay

Noah and his Gigi

Baseball Week

Noah wore his baseball clothes every day this week in anticipation of the Cubs' game in Miami---I guess we didn't bring them any good luck. I'll add pictures from Noah's first game when I get them back--I forgot my camera and we had to pick up a disposable one while we were down there.