Baby Brain

We have been joking with my sister Nicole about her "baby brain", the reason for her word mix-ups and memory loss. The baby is obviously sharing her brain, and sometimes it is evident in Nicole's e-mails and conversation. We've received several e-mails such as these:

• I just spelled third "thurd", and not a typo just me being an idiot.

• Subject of Nicole's e-mail: "Mom's Present's".

• I just wrote an email to my coworker and wrote his name Drank instead of Frank in the email.... this day needs to end.

We've all had moment like these, with or without a baby sucking up our brain. Have you ever just stared at a word on the computer that you've typed a million times before, convinced that it doesn't look right and finally double-check the spelling with the person beside you or dictionary.com? Just the other day, I e-mailed my sisters because Nicole's baby brain rubbed off on me for a change.

I was reading an article online when I came across this sentence:

"Brooklynite Asa Ersgard stays home full-time now, but when her two oldest daughters were small, she worked full days."

I literally read this one sentence 15 times, wondering to myself how someone could ever name their child "Brooklynite".

Yikes.

Beautiful Lengths

Eliza Joy and I had the privilege of accompanying Dana to her hair appointment where she so thoughtfully had her beautiful long hair cut to be donated to someone in need. She had been letting her hair grow out for around two years, and it was finally long enough where she wouldn't be left with her infamous "boy cut" from elementary school. I thought it would be fun to document her experience and show you all what a champion she was. With only a couple tears shed and one loud scream heard throughout the salon, she made us very proud. Enjoy!

Ta-da!

And even though Eliza Joy is going to kill me for posting these pictures, I just can't resist. How can you trust two girls with a history of prank calling, driving up and down the Corner with a monkey mask on while yelling ridiculous things out the window, and filling truck beds with mounds of donuts taken straight from the Krispy Kreme dumpster?

You can't.

Fast Times at Nursing Home High

Me: "I didn't know you were a hunter. What did you hunt?"

Don, 80 year old resident: "What do you think?"

Me: "Deer?"

Don: "Women."

------------------------------------------------------

Me: "Tony, it's time for bingo!"

Tony, 90 year old resident: "Oh, oh, okay, just resting my eyes."

Me: "Do you need help getting up?"

Tony, with a mischievous look on his face: "Getting up, or getting it up?"

Me: "I'll be back in five minutes."

------------------------------------------------------

Picture a group of elderly residents sitting around a table for a baking activity. A resident's middle-aged daughter is visiting and joining us for the activity. She happens to be wearing a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt.

Tony, elbowing me and whispering: "Hard Rocks, eh?"

Jaclyn: "Don't go there, Tony."

Tony, still whispering: "Heh heh, hard rocks...."

Jaclyn: "Don't do it, Tony...."

Tony, hands out in front of him pretending to squeeze two oranges, loudly addressing the visitor: "They're hard as a rock, eh? Prove it to me!"

Home Team

I have just woken up from a nap in the king size bed of my best friend Eliza Joy's guest bedroom. I feel rested, refreshed, and inspired. And not just from the nap... but from being in the company of best friends, sharing the excitement of a 9-month old baby with another on the way, and relaxing in a home that was beautifully transformed by Eliza Joy and her husband, with the help of family and friends. This weekend trip was just what the doctor ordered.

Here's a quick summary of my trip.... pictures don't do justice for how lucky I am to have as good of friends as these and to feel the comforts of being known and loved by both of them.

Hannah's Nursery that Eliza Joy has decorated with such thoughtful detail. I have walked away with many "DIY" project ideas and inspired to put more time and energy into my home.

Dana selflessly having her hair chopped off for Locks of Love. She was a trooper throughout the hair appointment, only shedding a few tears and one loud scream after the initial cut.

Taking countless pictures of Hannah Bean and claiming every little thing she does makes her "the cutest baby in the world".... and trust me when I say, she really is!

I am confident that all of the Charlottesville girls will appreciate that we found it necessary to make up our own recipe for "cake balls" on Saturday night. And this was after we enjoyed an incredible dinner at Blue Koi... dumplings, Chinese pot roast, and all. Some things never change.

Bath time for Bean... happiest baby in the world! As long as you're not trying to make her take a nap when she'd rather be playing with Mom and new friends.

More pictures to come!

Man of the Year

A belated re-post for my Dad's birthday.... I was sad to miss out on the celebration this past weekend, but I was definitely celebrating him here in Austin! He spent part of his birthday weekend building the crib for the little Nugget's nursery.... proving once again that he really is the best Dad (and soon to be grandfather!) in the world.

And here are 10 more reasons why he really is the best... (besides this picture, which clearly blows all other reasons out of the water)

1.) He taught me to appreciate good music. I used to flail my body around the living room, dancing and reciting every word to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band CD as well as Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. You name the artist... Billy Joel, Tom Petty, the Eagles, Paul Simon, Chicago... if they were good, they were being played in my Dad's car. He used to play DJ at all of his friend's parties.... sound familiar to anyone who has attended a party with me or Dee?

2.) He is the only male in the house. A wife and three daughters. We never even had a male dog. Hello, estrogen... yet he handled it like a pro. God bless him. And give him a few grandsons (possible one on September 30th?!)

3.) He is one of the funniest people in the entire world. He tells the BEST stories... ones that I ask him to repeat over and over again. I hope I have just an ounce of his sense of humor.

4.) While the three of us girls were eating breakfast when we were younger, he used to run downstairs through the kitchen dressed in only his boxers and a t-shirt saying, "I'm late for work! Just woke up! Gotta run! Love you girls!" and would run out the door to the garage. Being as gullible as we were, we would chase after him screaming, "DADDDD NOOO you don't have any pants on!!! You can't go to work like that!!!" Always kept us on our toes.

5.) He has traveled all over the world. He has been to almost every state in the U.S. and to so many other countries. The best stories involve Japan and the business men singing karaoke across the dinner table.... in English... with straight faces. I would give anything to be a fly on a wall to see my Dad in that situation.

6.) He has been the most faithful fan to the New York Jets. For those that know their history, that says a lot about him. But soon enough he will be rewarded for his dedication.... J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!

7.) He is the most encouraging and supportive Dad that three girls could ask for. No matter what sport we wanted to play, courses we wanted to study, places we wanted to live... he has backed us up 100%.

8.) He has been the best example for what I want in a husband and in a Dad for my children (in the far-off future...), and let me just say, it hasn't been easy to find somebody with his qualities.

9.) Remember when it was funny in high school to make inappropriate comments about your friend's Dads? Without going into too much detail, let's just say my Dad was the most popular.

10.) Here comes the cheese... but it needs to be said. Dad has always told us how proud he is of us and how lucky he is to be our Dad, but I'm not sure if he knows how proud we are of him. We are told on a regular basis by friends, family, co-workers, etc, what good people our parents are. And they're right... we are the lucky ones.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I love you!

You Are My (Half) Sunshine

Can anyone guess what happened to the other half of this clay sun that a resident and I so creatively molded and detailed with our hands?

I'll give you a hint....

Me: "Good job! That's the coolest looking sun out there."

Betty: "Okay... what do I do with it, eat it?"

Me: "No, no! It's clay. We just look at it."

I turn to help another resident for 10 seconds, and when I look back....

Me: "WHERE'S THE OTHER HALF OF THE SUN?!"

Don't worry, I played a quick game of "Go Fish" in her mouth. But if I hadn't, let's all thank God for non-toxic clay.

Neon Daggers

I remember babysitting for a family in Charlottesville and knowing exactly what kind of parent I didn't want to be. The Dad was a creeper (as in he used to walk me outside, slip me an extra 20, and ask me to look at the stars with him as I awkwardly hurried to the car) and the Mom was caught up in some sort of materialistic /wannabe charlottesville liberal hippie / probably-never-wanted-kids-but-all-of-her-other-friends-were-doing-it outerspace. Did you catch all that? And the kids were just wild. Free reign over their hundreds of acres. The first time I babysat, I was on a four-wheeler within five minutes, cruising through the woods to their monstrous mansion being built. I am laughing as I write this because it doesn't even seem possible. But I couldn't help but love them. They were desperate for their parents' attention. They lived for it. So even though it wasn't my attention they were looking for, I gave it to them. I still let them know who was boss, but we had fun. I'm talking cannonball into the pool, King of the Mountain on top of the boulders, being chased by chickens in the coop kind of fun. But I'll never forget one specific day when the Mom was leaving for a bridal shower or something of the sort when her youngest son ran up to her with so much pride and excitement, handing her a bracelet that he had made for her to wear to the party. She quickly thanked him and threw it down on the table. He told her it was for her to wear that night and begged her to put it on for the party. Instead of just putting the damn thing on and taking it off in the car, she replied, "Seriously, I am not wearing that to my party." I loathed her from that day on.

And the only reason I'm telling you this story is because of the picture below. My resident made me this necklace and even before I knew it was for me, I joked that it could be used as a weapon with it's neon green daggers posing as jewelry.

But you better believe that unlike their coldhearted Mom, I'm wearing it with pride. And it is totally available to be borrowed... anytime.