Paul's Birthday Card

Clara greeted Paul at the door the evening before his birthday. "We made a surprise for you, Dada. It's in the closet." 

Like her Mama, Clara can't quite bottle up the excitement of anticipation. Such things must pour forth. But when unfurled today, the homemade birthday card brought a huge smile to Paul's face, surprise or not. 

Vacation From Vacations & Riding Bikes At the Beach

Paul and Kate got a brief vacation from their beach vacation when they returned to Raleigh for a couple days of work, leaving Clara behind with the grandparents. What a treat! We had two full night's sleep in our own bed! We woke up at our leisure! We had adult beverages with our adult neighborhood friends with no non-adults present! We watched a movie! Who would have known that home vacations were more relaxing than travel vacations?  Thank you Ga and Pappaw!

While we understand she mostly behaved (though we're not sure if the grandparents would ever tell us otherwise), Ga and Pappaw did get some taste of the two-year-old attitude. Is it cruel and unusual punishment to hand over a sleep-challenged, bossy pants, testy-at-times, tantrum-prone child to a very relaxed retired couple trying to enjoy their beach vacation? Perhaps no. But they have a unique ability to gloss over the above-mentioned adjectives and see their oldest granddaughter for the absolute delight she is 91.7 percent of the time.

Among the treats from Ga and Pappaw was trips on the bike they rented to cart Clara around Wild Dunes. Here is Kate using the same bike for a brief joyride. 

MJM at the Beach

During a morning walk on the beach at Wild Dunes, Paul and Kate had one of those fun moments of serendipity when Paul glanced over to see a familiar redhead walking their way. Melissa Jakeman Mitchell!? What are the odds?

This blog provides some timelines of our lives, and it's fun to go back and reminisce every once in a while. But in this case it was a little embarrassing to note that it's been almost two years since we've seen Melissa. (I kept looking for this blog post of MJ's visit to Raleigh, certain the visit was only a year ago...but no, it's been two full years. Ugh.)

MJM's husband, Ted, was in Wild Dunes for a conference, and it gave them a chance to escape for well-deserved vacation. We were able to catch up some more that Saturday when they came over the house to watch the Auburn-Clemson football game. We were excited about the company and the football, but even more excited knowing that Melissa is an Auburn grad and Ted a Clemson alumnus. And they are both competitive. And they both love their schools. And they both love football.  Let the game begin!

This picture was taken after Auburn burst out to a 14 - 0 lead.  War eagle!

Melissa wouldn't let us take any pictures after Clemson moved ahead - and stayed ahead - shortly thereafter. (Alas, no national championship repeat!) Ted was more gracious than Paul would have been in similar circumstances. Of course he knew gloating would get him nowhere with his displeased wife. Ted is a wise, wise husband.

What fun to catch up! Here's to serendipity...but next time we'll do some planning on not rely so much on chance encounters.

The Beach & Go Fly a Kite

During Clara's first trip to the beach, two years ago, Paul plopped her in the ocean with cavalier disregard. Based on her immediate wailing, it would seem 6-month-olds might prefer a warm up period before their first introduction to salt water. Baby Clara was a bit reluctant to get back in the waves during that trip, but Kate was able to use her gentler touch to ease her back in.

Last year we were able to take several trips to the beach, and Clara became quite accustomed to the ocean. She would run up to the water's edge with little prompting, forcing her parents to keep a vigilant watch at all times. 

This trip, despite plenty of earlier visits to the shore where Clara was plenty enthusiastic about swimming, our daughter displayed a deep hesitation for approaching the water. She was terrified of the waves, so much so that, not only would she refuse to go in herself, but she would go into a panic if any of the adults tried to get in. Several times she grabbed us by our swim trunks, or propped herself  as a wedge between us and the ocean, forbidding us from going in. 

We can't quite figure out where this came from. Fortunately, the beach provides for plenty of other activities. This time she enjoyed flying a kite with Ga and Pappaw, getting no closer to the water than is pictured below.

Baby Sister & The Dreaded Drink L'Orange

This is, perhaps, the part of pregnancy Kate dreads the most...chugging the orange drink in preparation for the gestational diabetes test. 

With the Clara pregnancy, Paul was traveling for work so Kate video taped the experience (re-posted below). This time she wasn't particularly interested in capturing the moment for posterity and gave Paul the evil eye during his picture-taking attempts. She was not amused at his amusement at her discomfort. In fact, it might be safe to say that's a major theme of this pregnancy.

Below, Clara shows family solidarity by chugging her own sippy cup of orange juice. 

Lollipop

Why must our children love the songs that imprint themselves on our brains in continuous repeat mode?  Why? Why? 

Well, at least it beats Barney songs and conjures pleasant recollections of Stand By Me.

Dear Baby Sister...

Dear Baby Sister, 

We are derelict in celebrating your arrival. Perhaps you will one day read this blog, compare the history we composed of you versus your sister Clara and feel neglected, and perhaps that will put you on the path of enlightenment on the ways of the world...

But rest assured that we have been paying some attention, taking all prenatal vitamins, and attending doctors visits as prescribed. Your sister went to the last one in a sign of familial solidarity as Mama was given the dreaded drink l'orange to prep for the gestational diabetes test. Believe you me, when she throws back that drink you will have the sugar (or high-fructose corn syrup) rush of your life!

Let us say how eager we are to meet you in December (no earlier, please, as we're rather busy getting ready for your arrival). Last night Clara was sitting on what remains of Mama's lap, reading a story before bed time. As you're prone to do in the moments after Mama eats, you went into a fit of kicks and spins in her belly. You were moving with such force that Clara could feel you. She said Baby Sister was tickling her back. Clara is looking forward to paying you back very soon.

Here are your stats from the latest hospital email...

• You are about 14.5 inches long and weigh up to 2 1/2 pounds.
• You're finally producing your own red blood cells.
• You're able to open and close your eyes, and though the scenery is pretty limited in there, it says you're practicing "looking" movements.
• You're kicking and moving a lot now.
• The convolutions, wrinkles or "gyri" on the surface of your brain appear as your noodle gets bigger and bigger.

The Princes in Atlanta & Cheering for Boise State

Though we're not fair weather fans, it's doubtful that Auburn Tiger football will provide us with a national contending team to cheer for this year. So we're happy to throw our support behind the Boise State Broncos. That's right, we're jumping on the bandwagon early, casting our lot with the perennial outsiders, and declaring that this is the season they finally bust the BCS and get that championship shot.

To that end, we joined the Prince and Hill families in Atlanta for a weekend of catching up and cheering the Broncos to victory over the University of Georgia (it's never hard to root against the bulldogs) at the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in the Georgia Dome. It also gave us a chance to see Ronin for the first time, and for Paul to make sure Fiona remains fully aware that he is THE Godfather.

When they weren't doing the things normal two- and three-year-olds do (namely, fight over possession of, well, everything), Fiona and Clara enjoyed each others' company tremendously. It was the first time they had seen each other since Paul and Jason's 10-year college reunion, when they were both quite a bit smaller, considerably less verbal, and generally more agreeable to their parents. 

To be clear on the picture below, Jason is doing nothing to harm our daughter. It's a game of "blast off" where Clara rests on Jason's shins before he flips backwards for a 10 point landing. Clara had been eager to do this since seeing a video of Jason performing the same trick on Fiona last spring. Though it has been months since Clara has watched that video, she recalled it upon seeing Jason at the airport and was eager to take part in the fun.

Thank you to the Princes and Hills for a most excellent weekend. We look forward to being honorary members of the Irish Boise Brigade at all future events.

Brief Auburn Visit with the Drydens

The extended Drydens weren't able to swing the usual annual summer reunion this year, but we did gather briefly in Auburn to celebrate Dad's 75th birthday and see each other prior to the opening football game.