Playing in the Park

This past Tuesday, a few friends from my moms/young women's Bible study group decided to go to one of the nearby waterfront parks for a picnic. Knowing how much Baker loves to be outside, I didn't pass this one up. So I stopped by the bagel shop for a sandwich and walked over to meet the girls. Baker, being pretty chilled out anyway, is most content outside. We had a great time out and Baker got to have some playtime with his friends, Noah and Micah. Of course we had to swing since he adores that but this time, we even attempted the see-saw! And it wouldn't be normal if I didn't take loads of pictures! It was a fun afternoon out but then we had to head home for his afternoon nap!

It's obvious by the look on his face that he loves to swing! I love how sweet his face is in the second one! I'm not sure how his arm ended up inside the

swing but he didn't seem bothered by it!

Look at his little pearly white showing! Did I mention that he got his 2nd tooth last weekend?

Carolyn and Noah, Melanie and Micah, and Sara and her little girl Ellen. The other pic is of Baker and I on the see-saw.

The three amigos - Noah, Micah and Baker

Video of Baker swinging - Please excuse all of my talking. The lady at the swing next to us was so nice but kept talking to me and I couldn't be rude so I just kept talking back! :o)

Our Weekend

This past weekend was full of fun! On Saturday, Brad and I took Baker out to grab some lunch and while we were out, we strolled down King Street for Old Town Alexandria's annual Festival of the Arts, despite the record breaking heat of 97 and 100% humidity! It was very odd to think that just last year, we were walking through this same festival only I was almost 5 months pregnant. It was great to be able to introduce Baker to this world of art and sculpture. One artist had created these huge, colorful animal sculptures made of steel. Baker seemed to love it!

Later that evening, we met a group of friends in the Falls Church area to eat some good 'ole soul food at Flavors. Oh my goodness, was this food delicious! Seriously, I felt like I was taken back in time to my childhood having dinner at my grandma's. We're talking about fried chicken, the best roasted chicken I've ever had in my life, collards, mashed potatoes, mac 'n cheese, and a dozen more of the best southern sides and sweet tea you've ever eaten! We will most certainly be back for more. The only down side to this place is that you leave there smelling like fried chicken. My hair, our clothes, Baker, we all smelled like it! No wonder Bleeker couldn't stop licking us when we got home!

At the festival, Baker got his first balloon and was fascinated by it!

He couldn't take his eyes off of it.

Standing with the lion. Dinner at Flavors...we must do this place again!

Baker didn't nap very well that afternoon and while at dinner, my friend Carolyn was holding him and he so sweetly had his head resting on her shoulder and didn't move. Bless him, he was so tired but he did end up having a short snooze before we left.

Sara Beth and sweet Sam

Baker got to try his first snack this weekend. Figuring that he is almost 8 months old and should be ready to have something like this by now, I bought him some very mild, few ingredient cookie/cracker at Whole Foods (I guess they are some sort of teething biscuit) and he loved them. They went off with a hit! I would have started these biscuits sooner only I was under the impression that babies needed to be crawling first but a friend told me over the weekend that if he can sit up on his own then he should be ready. The great thing about this is that now while we're cooking or having dinner, he has his own food to keep him occupied because it takes him forever to eat it. For all my other new mom friends, Baby Mum-Mums are great! Trouble is, they made a huge mess on our table and turns into a sticky goo, getting into all sorts of crevices!

Baby cracker + slobber and little fingers = mushy paste-like mess!

More of that to come I'm sure! Our little boy is growing up so fast!

Afternoon at the Park

The past few days, not including this dreary day, have been wonderful with mild temperatures in the 70s. I've been dying to take Baker to the park because he loves to be outside but it's been way too hot. Plus, it's a great photo opportunity and you know I never miss one of those! So I took advantage of the weather, packed a few blankets and headed to Founders Park with our little monkey. I sat him down and right away, he bent over to touch the grass. He was enamoured by it and couldn't stop touching it. I know, it's sad that he's never touched grass before but we don't have a yard, only a little patio. That's city living for you. We're just happy we have a patio! Anywhoo, we had been out there for about 30 minutes when I called Brad and found out he was almost home from work. So he went inside to get Bleeker and walked over to the park to meet us. It was so nice to have the four of us, sitting out in the park for the first time as a family. The park is just a few blocks away and is right on the water so I'm really looking forward to the weather turning more comfortable so we can spend more time out there.

Baker was so content out there from the moment we arrived! He wouldn't put his hands down and kept doing this new thing with his hands where he just bends his wrists back and forth like he's waving. This has been going for a few weeks now...it's pretty sweet.

Must touch grass!

Love his little buddah belly!

Baker didn't mind the grass at all, even when I sat him in it! And thanks to some stranger for taking this picture of me and boy. I LOVE how he is smiling so pretty in this pic!

Those hands must be yummy because he chews on them all the time, especially his thumb. And I adore this close-up of him...shows how handsome he is!

He may be watching an airplane go by??? Yeah, daddy joined us!

"Ha! I love to lay in the grass!"

Video of Baker playing in the grass. Pardon the noise in the background-we live in the flight path of Reagan National Airport.

Baker's Pearly White

Now that Baker's tooth is getting bigger, it is really starting to show up a lot when he smiles, laughs and even in pictures. I got a few pics the other day and then some extras that are just typical, funny Baker faces!

Baker's tooth is on his right side and the left one is trying to come through as well but it hasn't quite cut through yet!

These faces he's making are hilarious! I love those cheeks!

Celine Dion Concert

Wow! Brad and I went to see Celine last night at the Verizon Center and I couldn't have been more excited. Poor Brad, let's just say he's not the biggest fan of Celine but he went because he knew I loved her. But afterwards, even he admitted that it was a really great concert and that he enjoyed it! Do I have a wonderful husband or what? Thanks babe for the tickets! They were actually given to me as part of my Christmas this year and back then, September seemed so far away but it was well worth the wait.

We started our night when the babysitter arrived (yes, night #2 for us!) and went to dinner at Zaytinya. Brad, the sweet hubby that he is, made reservations in advance and surprised me. Everyone recommended this place to us saying it was the best place for mezze (kind of like Spanish tapas but this was a fusion of Greek, Lebanese and Turkish) and it was so delicious! We finished up dinner early so we walked around the Penn Quarter for a bit and then off to the concert. We weren't sure where our seats were gonna be but we imagined they were high up...we were right! They were in the upper concourse and at the very top, 3 rows from the last!! Ha! Seriously, I felt like I was going to have vertigo...it was that high up. But who cares?? I was at the Celine concert! I was too scared to stand during the concert though...that is a long fall if I were to lose my balance!

Okay, so many of you probably don't care for her but for me, she has been a favorite of mine since she first came out in the US. It was a concert I've always wanted to go to so when I opened the gift on Christmas and saw what it was, I was elated! Her opening act was Gordy Brown, a hilarious Vegas entertainer that basically spoofs off the songs of major music entertainers. Very funny! Then finally Celine came out and I was beside myself with excitement! I know I risk getting made fun of by writing this, but I totally teared up - not full on crying or anything, just misty eyed - when I saw her. Now I know why all those women used to cry when they saw Elivs or even the Jonas Brothers! She had several costume changes, great dancers and musicians and a simple but fabulous stage with huge plasma screens. She sang all of my favorite songs (old and new) and was even more breathtakingly great than she is on CD. I took a few pics (well a lot of pics) but since we were so high up they didn't show up as great as I'd like. She finished and went down the center of the stage and of course, came back for an encore song. When she left the stage for a second time, we thought that was it so we bolted. Of course, the crowd kept shouting and she came back out. So we popped into one of the entrance ways and watched her perform her last song, "Heart Will Go On" (go ahead and gag as many of you will) but it was so beautiful! She was wearing this long black gown and had four huge candleabras come down above the stage...it was gorgeous! It was really over this time so we left and were home by 11 to relieve the sitter! Thanks Jena for doing a great job! It was a fabulous night and one I won't soon forget! Thanks for sharing it with me Brad! I love you!

Getting so excited before the concert begins! As you can see from this picture, our seats were way up there and the house was packed!!

Her entrance...Celine was standing in the center of that big plasma cube when it lifted! The next picture is of her singing Eyes on Me, love that song!

Singing The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli (he wasn't there, only on the screen); Final song Heart Will Go On

Another fun number with all of her dancers

Video of Celine singing To Love You More (my favorite song!)

Tea at the Ritz

Yesterday was a time solely for the girls, and boy was it great! Carolyn arranged to have a tea party for the gals after church because it was finally a time where our husbands were all in town (a few of us have husbands that travel a lot!) and could take care of the kiddies. So, reservations for the tea were made at the Ritz by the Pentagon...if you're going to do tea you might as well do it right! And this place is so beautiful, a far cry from the lacey doiley, floral tea rooms you typically see. Think modern suede chairs, vases and all together chic decor. It was absolutely delicious and reminded me of having tea times in London. They brought out three 3-tiered trays with tea sandwiches, assorted desserts and scones, including clotted cream, jams and custard and several pots of tea of our choice. Need I say more? What a delight to sit over tea with your girlfriends! It was a much needed break from the day-to-day activities and a chance to have girly chat without interruption. We have vowed to make get-togethers like this more often because we all had such a great time. I can't wait until the next one!

Left to right: Lauren, Carolyn, Susan, Sara Beth, Melanie, Nicole and Nicole

All I can say is "Yum!"

Just for Giggles

We got the cutest video of Baker the other day, just cracking up at Bleeker. Brad had him in his lap while playing tug with Bleeker and it Baker thought it was pretty fun, especially when Bleeker would shake his head so violently...geez, that's one strong yorkie! One more example of how much he loves his pup! His little laugh is like medicine to my soul (I know that sounds cheesy but it is). I think all parents feel the same way...there's just something so sweet and innocent about it. Let this little video be your meds today too!!

On Saturday, DC was "supposed" to be affected by T.S. Hannah, throwing a wrench into our plans to go to the Air and Space Museum with the Laughlins. Instead of testing nature with our 7 1/2 month old in the car, we played it safe and all hung out at our place for lunch, games and then later we ventured out for dinner. It was a long day of sitting inside and watching it rain and as the day went on, it just seemed to be so calm out. We were a bit disappointed in the weather as it wasn't nearly what we expected and we could have totally gone to the museum but it was great to spend quality time with friends. So it really worked out for the best. Anna, the teacher that she is, read Charlie and Baker a book and you can see in the picture that they were both pretty into it. Baker loves to be around Charlie and gets a real kick out of watching him act silly and "play the guitar" to his uncle Rod's music (J Roddy Walston and the Business http://www.myspace.com/jroddy)...it's very entertaining to all of us! Overall, we had a great Saturday, storm or no storm.

Tooth Time

I managed to take a picture of Baker's tooth yesterday but it was no easy feat. He's not so fond of us looking at it but somehow I got a picture, it's blurry but at least it's a picture!

His first tooth has come in on his right side.

He's giving me that look of "I can't believe she's making me do this!"

Practicing our colors - I grouped up some of his toys in like colors. He really liked it!

Our little monkey desperately wants to crawl but sadly he doesn't go anywhere. He sometimes goes in reverse though!

First Babysitter

Okay, this past Saturday was one of the scariest days of my life...leaving our baby with a babysitter for the first time (someone other than family or the church nursery)! Brad and I had a wedding to attend in Richmond, Jeff's sister Kara was getting married to James and we wanted to be there only we knew how difficult it would be with a baby. I never in my life expected that to be so difficult. I think I tried to put the reality of it out of my mind in the week leading up to it so I never really thought of it, that is until Friday night rolled around. I questioned if we were doing the right thing and if Baker would be okay. I know that no one knows Baker like Brad and I do and the thought of someone else watching over him scared me to death. Brad constantly reassured me that he would be fine and I just had to trust that he would be.

About two weeks earlier, I had been asking around to be friends at church if they knew of any good sitters and one friend told me that her neighbor was great and that she would trust her with all of her kids at once. Another friend told me the same thing and about nice this girl was. So, I scheduled a time for Allie to come meet us and I really liked her so we decided it would be okay. The paranoid mom that I am had to type up a Baker Guide for her so that she would know absolutely everything she needed to know about our little guy - how much to feed him, what toys and entertainment he enjoys, his schedule, things he doesn't care too much for, yada yada yada. I also left out his medical records and important phone numbers, along with money for a cab should she have a dire emergency and need to take him to the hospital...God forbid. I wanted all the i's dotted and every t crossed. Despite my tears and fears, we left and Brad assured me she wouldn't fall down the stairs and that she wouldn't drop him. Ugh, my mind ran crazy with terrible thoughts! Obviously I called a few times to make sure he was doing okay and for peace of mind and each time he was perfectly okay and content without his mommy and daddy (sigh). We are praying that he somehow bypasses that whole separation anxiety phase that supposedly kicks in around 9 months with some babies. The books say that there is less chance of it if you get them accustomed to sitters early on...so, horray for our efforts! Anyway, we returned about 6 hours later and she was great and Baker was happy as a lark! I can't tell you how relieved and happy I was to see him alive! I know I must sound crazy to some of you but I am such a worry wart! So, all in all, the day went just fine and I'm happy to have that "first" over with! Now maybe Brad and I can possibly start having date nights again!! Woohoo!

The beautiful bride and groom - they were so precious!

Lesson of the Month...or Maybe Year

Okay, so I've been pumping my own gas since I got my license at 16. It wasn't until
we moved to DC and sold our other car that I stopped pumping the gas...afterall, Brad takes the car to work so I typically don't need to. Until last Saturday. Having been home alone with the baby for 9 days while he was in LA, I needed to make a Babies R Us run for necessary baby things. So, I took my first day free from the baby (Sat.) to do this. I was so excited to get out and do something besides change
diapers! Not that I don't love to do things for Baker but to have some alone time was exciting.

So, I get in the car and see that the car is on empty. I'm not above getting gas and I've never had any problems with it in the past. I pulled into Shell and up to the pump when I noticed the guy in front of me was leaving. So out of respect for others that may come up, I moved my car up to get gas from the front pump. I notice there is diesel at this pump...hmmm, how interesting. I've never seen that before. I almost pressed the diesel button...oh, that would have been bad I thought. Good thing I caught myself. I proceed to grab the nozzle. As I'm trying to pump the gas, it really starts to give me a hard time, continuously stopping and I started to get really agitated as I just wanted to lock it and let it filler up! I gave up after about half a tank but determined as I was, I let the lady working the window know that the #1 pump wasn't working and she needed to have it looked at.

I get in the car and immediately call Brad to ask if he had ever had this problem before where the gas just kept stopping and he said it was probably just the bottom of the barrel but it should be fine. I pull out and within 60 seconds of hanging up the phone and getting on the road the car stalls. I knew it!! That darn gas was bad...I can't wait to tell Shell about this one! They have ruined our car! I manage to putt-putt the car into the nearest parking lot praying the whole way that it wouldn't stop in the middle of the road. Thank goodness He listened and allowed me to park and then it stopped and refused to crank. Urghhh! We joined AAA last year and good thing we did because they came and towed me to the nearest service station that was still open at 1 pm on a Saturday, waiting only about 40-50 minutes but when you're a woman, sitting a check into cash sort of joint, it's not the most amazing feeling! Anyway, that station couldn't even look at the car until Monday and I knew that wouldn't work. So, back in the tow truck and off to station #2. Such nice guys at that Sunoco. They took a look at it, of course after I played the damsel in distress (come on, I totally was!), despite the fact that they closed in an hour. Diagnosis: The fuel pump had gone bad and needed to be replaced. Cost: A small fortune. However, they gave me a bit of news that I would never have thought of on my own. Since our car is a 2006 and under 35,000 miles, it should be covered under warranty and we wouldn't have to pay a dime! Score! So, Brad called the dealership from home while I stood and waited. Time at this point: 3:30 pm, still sitting at the service station. Good news, car is under warranty but we need to get it to them before they closed at 5 pm.

I called AAA back to ask for another tow truck (because the first one had left) so that they could take me to the dealership. About an hour later, the tow truck arrives and whisks me off to the shop. I sit there for a while as they get things together and provide me the transportation get home. About 30 minutes after walking through our door, 4 1/2 hours from the beginning of my saga, the phone rings. It's the dealership. "Um, Mrs. Blackmon, did you put diesel in your car?" No way, but I almost did! "Well, that's the problem as there is definitely diesel in your tank and that's not covered under the warranty." Not good. I knew in my heart what happened that day at the gas station and I knew that I did NOT put diesel in our car. So, the only other option I had was to go to the gas station and look at that pump. I didn't like what I saw - 2 nozzles, one on each side, one green the other black, along with 4 buttons - diesel, and 3 unleaded. I know that I pressed 87 but it seems that I grabbed the green nozzle and despite pressing the right button, the diesel nozzle overides it. How could this happen? I've never seen this before in my life and out of all the pumps at that station, this was the only pump that had diesel! Figures! So, despite my desire to fight the station that they ruined our car, I had no case. I tried to find out what kind of gas they charged me for, recommended to do this by the dealership, because if they had charged me for 87, then technically it was on them but that's just too hard a battle to fight, especially when the folks there barely speak English. Thank God for a wonderful husband who didn't get mad at me or even raise his voice in question whatsoever. His response to me was: "Mistakes happen and this could have happened to anyone. Now we know." Cost for this mistake: $1600. Lesson: Use extreme caution when pumping gas and do a double take to make sure it's not diesel that's going in your car.