Favorite things...

The idea of "favorite things" is twofold for this post. First, I want to say that I wish I was friends with this woman (Brooke Reynolds of Inchmark)! I enjoy her blog and wish I was invited to this party. She gets together with a big group of friends, they each bring 5 exact replicas of their favorite (inexpensive) thing, then swap. What fun?!? I think its something that I'll try to plan with my girls after we get settled in Vegas (so excited that I already have "girls" waiting for me there).

The other favorites I want to talk about are my favorite things about New Orleans. We still have a little time left here, but I know that after bambino #2 arrives our last few weeks here will pass in a flash. A very sleep-deprived, hormone-crazed flash. So I thought I'd talk about what I love about this city on an evening after I got a full 8 hours of sleep, plus a one hour nap this afternoon (these days are growing short. Tear.).

Crepe Myrtles -- what a beautiful tree and something I wasn't familiar with at all until we moved here

Spanish Moss & Live Oaks -- while the idea of little buggies living in this beautiful silvery green moss creeps me out, I've learned to love the way it looks...especially at Audubon Park

Audubon Park -- The fam spent a lot of time here, taking walks, having a Whole Foods picnic... it's just a beautiful place and I'm going to miss all the green when we move to the land of brown/orange (pic from October 2008 taken at the park)

• March through May -- the weather is amazing and everything is green and blooming
• Festivals -- there is never a dull moment here in NOLA. The big events (Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Voodoo Fest, etc) get a lot of publicity and are fun but the good stuff, in my opinion, are the little fairs and fests. Gretna Fest is awesome and most of the Catholic churches here have little festivals with delicious food, great music, and friendly people. Its just fun. Period.

There are more but I guess 9 hours of sleep today isn't enough for my brain to function at its fullest potential. Maybe I'll keep this as an ongoing story...

What do I do now?

G has made some little friends in our neighborhood in the past couple of weeks. Yet another perk of living on base, so much easier to get to know the neighbors. There are 3 little girls who are all 4 and usually they play outside while I watch from the front porch and read or mediate the little arguments. The other little girls roam more freely, going from house to house, but G is still too young for me to turn her loose. Anyway, today one of the girls came over to see if she could play but her mom wanted her inside because its so hot. So, G is at her first playdate at someone else's house without me! I am going to go get her before lunch. I'm not sure what to do with myself!!! I considered a shower but what fun is that? Any suggestions? :-) Maybe I'll just veg out on the couch! I think Designed to Sell is on...

By the way, the mom is a cartographer. How cool is that!?! I love me some maps!

The girls a few nights ago

Also, I'm trying to come up with a new design and NAME for the blog. I don't want Baby #2 to feel slighted because the title was MMG and Me. So I'm trying some stuff out...bear with me.

Yummy!!!

Made Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta tonight and it was delicious! Thanks to The Pioneer Woman! A little tart/tangy and just what the doctor ordered (OK, minus the butter, heavy cream, 1/2 and 1/2...).

Catching up...

Boo-ah! and PaPa came to visit in July and we had a wonderful time! We celebrated the 4th with some good friends, made sugar cookies, and even celebrated G's 2 1/2 birthday (she shares the real thing with Jesus, who gets top billing, so this has been an annual tradition).

making cookies

adding the sprinkles (G's fave part)

G got a new kitchen and loved her Buzz Lightyear balloon

there was a "traditional" yellow cherry cobbler instead of a cake :-)

Not a big fan of...

...the last paper towel on the roll. The glue is icky.

New layout, etc.

So, I'm trying out some new layout options for the blog. I have yet to figure a few things out. Like whats with all the wonkiness with the pics... why are some no longer centered, why are there giant gaps between my captions and the pics, etc. I think that because I have a tiny bit of HTML code writing experience, I will be going crazy trying to fix this. If I didn't have a clue, I'd just leave it. Or maybe not. I'm a little fussy when it comes to things like that. That's why I always write in pencil :-)

Soon there will be a marvelous post on what we were up to during July. Oh yeah, it'll be a page-turner. For now, I'll say that I'm so excited about a book I just got from the library. You can find out more about it and its author HERE. I haven't even cracked the book but I already know its going to be one that I cherish (and might have to buy, although I want the British version because I like the cover more and figure some of the wording was probably changed for us Yanks in the US version). I read that it was better than The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. What?!? I loved that book!!!

37 weeks...

37 weeks

36 weeks, G lovin' the baby

OK, now that I'm at 37 weeks we are "ready" for Baby to arrive. She still has no name and my mom's not scheduled to be here for another week and a half but since Baby's been brewing long enough now to be healthy there's no reason to keep her in there. As G says "Mom, just skeeze (squeeze) her out!"

36 weeks

36 weeks...4 to go (officially tomorrow)! I've started re-reading On Becoming Babywise and am reminded of why I loved it 2 1/2 years ago. What a wonderful way to calm my fears about sleep and the change we're going to experience as we transition from a family of 3 to a pack of 4.

Life is too short...

Life is too short...to fold fitted sheets!

Mr. (or Little Miss) Fish

G took swimming lessons for the past 4 weeks and it was awesome. The company is called "Mr. Fish" and for some reason, instead of calling it swimming lessons, we all, The G included, referred to it as Mr. Fish (totally cute!). With the exception of her 10 weeks of daycare, we haven't really had anything in our lives that happens on a schedule. It was interesting to HAVE to be somewhere from 10:30-11:00 Monday through Thursday but also kind of nice. Anywho, she did great and I was sad when it was over (just this past week) I was actually kind of sad. The first day she would barely put her face in and by the last she was jumping off the side and swimming back to the wall, swimming about 10 feet underwater, and even learning to come up in the middle for a breath! I hope we can find a swimming school next summer after our move that is as great. J got to go with her a few times and I love seeing my two swimmers in the pool (I'm just a beached whale at this point :-)

First day, a little apprehensive

A pro on the last day!

Little Miss Fish!