Eucalyptus makes us happy!

Now that Springbreak, Easter, and my b-day are all over with - we start our countdown to May 11 (specifically around 5:30ish that day). You ask, "Why, Jill? Why May 11? Why 5:30ish?" Well, take a good guess. Nevermind, I don't have time for this.

The reason is... my last final is May 11 at 2pm. Therefore, I will be free to have fun again and act like a normal person who looks forward to weekends, that is, until about mid-August when I start classes again. A few certain friends will be happy to read this, because I will now be available on Friday & Saturday nights and even random Tuesdays. This whole having a baby is so easy, she is cute - I can take her anywhere - it's this stupid law school thing that gets in the way of life.

So, for now, you all can assume I'm home studying, reading, preparing my outlines, and/or sneaking away to play a match of tennis to stay sane. I hope to catch up with everyone starting May 12. As of today, I'm on planning that only two special someone's will get my attention on the evening of May 11, and one of them is below wearing a koala outfit (Thanks Jeanine - adorable)!

The other is the sweet-sweet grandma, who is very deserving of a visit by her daughter & granddaughter on Mother's Day and is probably going to be doing a lot of babysitting for the rest of the summer.

My first attempt...

at putting Amélie in a music video. She is just too cute, even with a mom who has poor editing skills.

Easter bunny + birthday fairy = Craig!

Well, I've survived another birthday and Easter. What an event! It was a lovely winterish day when many years the weather has already turned Spring on my birthday. Kind of a bummer, but whatever, 30 isn't very memorable anyways. I'm waiting for that big 37th birthday that everyone goes crazy about...

Amélie's first Easter consisted of church, Aunt JoAnne's house, and then grandma & grandpa's. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted and full... full of yummy dinners and treats. Even Amélie had to pop open her top button.



Thanks for the pic Julie!

Happy almost 30

After a glorious evening of dinner with a few friends (Shan/Matt, Tash/SteveN, and Lisa/Bully) we came home to some dog wrestling and guitar hero. Who would need anything more than a little beer & guitar hero?!?

Lisa rocking it to a little Weezer:


Bully tending to the pooches:


The boo-boo babies acting adorable!!




Craig looking a little like Elvis Costello:

We're a happy family!

Now that daddy is back home from snowboarding in BC, it seems the whole family is much happier. All I have to do is sneeze and we get these crazy giggling episodes.



Happy Easter everyone!

Boohoo...

I might sound a little bit sad this week being Craig is off galavanting in B.C., snowboarding. However, Amélie doesn't seem to mind - thank goodness for the distraction of grandma & grandpa!



In the meantime, I will be a single mom going to law school and working full-time. Holy shit. That is even harder than going to law school and working full-time while being a co-parent. Hmph, go figure. I never realized just how much I liked having the stinky boy (a.k.a. Craig) around. Especially when it's time for me to study, shower, or eat and Amélie demands my attention. I give more & more props to those single parents out there... while I count down until Sunday when the daddy is back in the house.

I hope he enjoys the mountains this week because he won't be seeing them again for a while. Heehee, I demand our next vacation include tennis, surfing, and awesome accents (thinking Australia everyone) and that we BOTH take the trip together; no more vacations w/o one another - it's just too lonely. I'll leave you all with a picture that Craig posted from B.C. Shhhh, don't tell him but it does look amazing.

Ka-Blam! Ka-pOW! Ka-ZAM!

That will be little Amélie when she is hitting the tennis ball. Being that she is getting close to three months old, we figured it was time for her tennis initiation... never too early to start training! Last week, Craig took her to Baseline with Auntie Shannon & Matt to watch the University of MN women's team. Plus, it's also an appropriate subject since I purchased tickets to NYC over Labor Day weekend for Craig & I to watch the US Open. FYI to the grandparents, this is an announcement we will need a babysitter. Mmmuah!

Btw, this week's milestones include more giggles, putting the pacifier (almost) into her mouth herself, and very detailed conversations about google this & google that... I figure the little genius is trying to tell me to invest in google stock.

A big thanks to Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom for Amélie's first tennis outfit. What a dollface.

'Nother hat

I'm insanely busy with classes and quarter-end at work. However, after Granny dropped by today with a new hat - I just haaaaaad to find time to post a pic of Amélie sporting it. Oh, and a few new milestones that cause excitement in our house include a deep-hearted chuckle (happy just like the daddy) and a fondness for brightly colored books (almost just like the mommy, except the mommy doesn't read books with color anymore - bummer).

Am I the only one that hears an old woman from Jersey coming out of the mouth of this child? What are we going to do with her?!



Btw, if you click on the picture it takes you to our Flickr site so you can see the really awesome pics that Craig took today. Seriously, do it!

Knock on Wood

Our house has been terrorized by viruses. It's horrid. There are an array of viruses out in the world - like the kind that make your nose run, eyes well up like fountains, and another kind where you become much too familiar with the dust and dead bugs in the corners of your bathroom. We had all of the above.

In order to make the house happy, grandpa made a special delivery today with V-day goodies for the family, we found out that the ceiling fan now takes #2 in Amélie's eyes.

Balloon's are numero uno, check it:

Supermodel Babies are All the Rage

Quick post here... Thought you'd like to know that our Amélie was recently featured in a photo exposé by The Denver Post. The girl is a natural. Look out Tyra, this kid is destined to be America's Next Top Model. She has the looks, edge, and work ethic of a high-fashion icon. Although, like many models, she desperately needs to break the habit of spitting up after large meals.

LINK: Denver Post

Shhhhhhh.

Okay, so technically the caucus is a secret "straw vote."

However, as soon as Amélie partook in her caucus (which was recently discovered to be the least attended precinct in the WHOLE state of Minnesota) she conked out. I'm very proud of the little wonder as she is so politically driven at such a young age, almost two months old! Wow, she is amazing.

All in all, we had a great night caucusing... we had heated debates about the Iraq war and property taxes. Have I mentioned I loooooooove politics? I hope everyone was able to get out and take advantage of their privilege to vote & caucus. What an amazing feeling!

Peace out - here is Amélie right after she marked the "X" in the box. What a cutie.

All in good taste...

Well, Sunday evenings at home are normally quite peaceful. Tonight is just a touch different as we're watching the Superbowl... UPSET! The Giants pulled it off, just as I predicted by 3 points. Yay! Oh, and one minute Amélie is calmly sleeping.



As is life, time flies. So we realize we looked away for just one minute and Amélie cruises through the living room telling us she'll be home by 10pm. Something about Giselle dumping Brady after losing the big game. HuH?!



It's embarrassing but you can tell that I don't wear make-up very often as Amélie could only "dress-up" in my early 90s cake eye shadow and pinkish/orange lipstick. I guess it's time I clean out my make-up bag. They grow up so fast...

The scoop

Well, some of you know that little Bwie is now little Luca. I don't have a picture yet but some details: he was almost 9lbs and 23 inches long! He was 9 days overdue and had a head full of fuzzy hair. If you go here you'll see his debut pics. What a sweetie.

Now, a couple updates re: Amélie. She now smiles, giggles, makes eye contact with everything in the room, and she loves hearing stories from the exciting tales of Civil Procedure.

She even enjoys kissy's from her mama. I think?!

Big news! Big news!

Amélie's boyfriend was born last night!! I won't give many details until Bwie's mom has named him and shared all the information herself. Because I'm too excited, I will give a tiny detail: his hands are bigger than Amélie's are today at six weeks old. Ohhh, and he is an adorable little newborn and I'm not even lying! He is cute, cute, cute! We can't wait until everyone is healed and better. What a lucky little boy to have such awesome parents. WE LOVE YOU - hurry home!

I will post pictures of Bwie as soon as we get some!

p.s. I was going to hang out with all the cool kids from law school tonight... but Amélie is begging to see her new boyfriend at the hospital instead. She remembers how lonely it was just laying in that little bassinet while mom slept. So, I hope there will be more gatherings in the future!? Plus, I really wanted to meet Indie's look alike...

Oye, oye, oye!

I've been a busy girl. I've been keeping up on my daily tennis (the reason for oye, oye, oye), caring for Amélie, reading for class, and stressing about Bwie's mom.

I remember 6 weeks ago when everyone was calling, writing, nagging me about if "anything" was happening. I wanted to reply with, "why don't you ask my belly?!" It seems that Bwie has the same attitude that Amélie had, he is going to choose when it is time to arrive. She is now five days overdue and tomorrow will start her delightful inducing experience. I just know that it'll go more smoothly and quicker than mine. I mean, four days in the hospital without any progress is totally abnormal. Plus, Bwie's mom is a total boss - she'll make Bwie do something, I just know it.

In the meantime, while I'm pacing back & forth waiting for a phone call from Bwie's family... I will hope that my Maria makes it to the Australian Open finals and WINS!

Check out Amélie's latest photoshoot. In my biased opinion, I think this is her cutest pic yet.

Hat fashionista

Okay, so you all loved the last hat and this is the coldest week so far this winter. It is only appropriate for Amélie to post her second supermodel pose (see the pursing of her lips - hot!). Actually, she was pooping in this one - that's talent right?!

She says mmmmuah to her adoring fans!

Saturday = one-month!

Well, one month has passed. I think that means Amélie is an experienced baby and I'm probably considered an experienced mother, right? Okay, well, sort of...

Sure, Amélie might not realize why she has arms or hands (she frequently hits herself in the face) or understand why we have to give her a bath (slimy mustard yellow poops), or even why her parents make those silly faces and tickle machine noises (uncontrollable face-brightening grins).

However, Amélie has mastered drinking 6 ounce bottles without too much dribble & drool and last night she actually slept a straight 8 hours. To me, this equals an experienced baby, but again, this is coming from a one-month experienced mother.

Caucus me!

Just thought I'd share that Amélie and I had our first night of politics together. We eagerly watched the CNN countdown of New Hampshire's primary. Amélie did nod off & on but I heard her chanting something like, "goooooooooo Obama!" and "goooooooooo Hillary!"

I have to say, Amélie is quite bright, she says it's just too hard of a decision to make at this point. I listen objectively - what can a mother do?!

Although last night was a little surprising, all in all, we're satisfied with Iowa and NH's results. However, just remember that Super Tuesday (Feb 5th) is around the corner - so please get out & caucus! Let's give MN a strong voice...

Here is another cute picture - Amélie practicing her body language for when she is on the podium speaking to her supporters.

It's called... a life

Dudes, NYE was da bomb. Craig & I acted like we were 24.5 again except we were home in bed by 12:45am, which is a bit different than the ways of our early 20s. Oh well, it was totally boss (I'm going to start using this word, see movie Juno) we were able to go out and have fun; thanks again to my parents.

This new found "life" is filled with a hair appt, dinner plans for the evening, cuddling the Boo (so she doesn't feel neglected), and tennis plans for the 23rd (the exact date of 6 weeks after Amélie's birth). I'm overly eager to get back on the court. Hopefully, it all comes back to me. In the meantime, I can live through my tennis pros, as the Australian Open starts soon. Just a warning to Bwie's mom: if you decide to give birth during a really good match - I might just not have reception that hour; no matter that it's a landline phone. Teeheehee.

One fun update, Amélie now almost weighs 9lbs. The nurse came by today and said she looks much older than a 3 week old being that she can now make extensive eye contact, track our movement, and grins bigger than Craig when he puts on a brand-new pair of socks.

Here are a few cute pics, for good measure.

Craig being nosy:


The gang colors in our house are pink & purple - represent, yo:

HELLO new year!

I am going to blame the hormones again as I'm feeling quite sentimental today. It could also be the excitement and appreciation I have for my parents who offered to take Amélie for the evening so that Craig & I could have a "date night" on NYE! Yes, New Year's Eve! It's quite amazing and selfless of them - even after I warned them of Amélie's tendency to scream bloody murder at 4am requesting a bottle; they didn't seem to mind, go figure. This is just how grandparents act, I guess?! Well, it got me thinking back...

Picture this, approximately 20 years ago: Craig wearing his neon snow-pants (it was the late 80s/early 90s, folks) either out on the hill snowboarding or dreaming about snowboarding. It is highly likely I was sitting at my grandma & grandpa Taylor's house begging my grandma to give me a perm (it was the late 80s/early 90s, folks). I highly doubt either of us would have imagined ourselves as parents (to a dog, cat, and new baby girl) or even as a husband/wife.

Boy, being 10-years old sure seems easy... when your biggest worry is if you'll get to snowboard that day or if you'll get your hair to resemble a spiral-curled poodle. Today, even though we don't have much in the worry department as we have it pretty easy; Craig probably never thought he'd be changing a diaper instead of changing his boot straps and I never would have imagined my grandparents would have passed so early from my life, leaving me to miss them almost everyday. These thoughts are especially striking now when Craig & I are in the midst of building an amazing family of our own.

I mean, Indie is the best dog we could have ever ended up with and even Goomsie isn't too bad. However, it's this most amazing kid chilling next to me that gives me goosebumps. Today, as we say goodbye to 2007 and Craig & I move farther away from our childhood memories and as we start the new year - we will be adding brilliant new ones for Amélie. Many of the new memories will include our awesome family as both sets of grandparents have already shown us how amazing, helpful, supportive, caring, and genuinely obsessed they can be... even over the span of three, short weeks of life.

So, as we readily accept the offer from my parents to have a "date night" on such a special evening... we'll be sure to bring in 2008 both with anticipation of these awesome new memories and especially thankful for the old. Oh, and I will be drinking a beer (outside of my living room and not smelling like rotten milk) tonight - finally.

Happy New Year!