Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Other Side

The Bar.  Is Over.

I made it to the other side.  And now I'm sitting on a beach-front balcony, listening to crickets, the waves, and a guitar player, and not studying for the first time in 3 years and 2 months.  BA and I are on a mini-vacation.  We went to Hilton Head to celebrate my freedom and the survival of his single-parenthood this summer.  We left the little Peanut at home with Nana and Papa and took our first vacation alone in over a year.  It is well deserved.  We are eating as much seafood as we can fit into our bellies, and I have spent the better part of the day just staring out at the ocean and feeling the breeze.  It's a good day. 

So how did I celebrate my completion of the bar exam?  Well to kick it off I contracted pink eye.  Yes, that's right.  I'm sure I picked it up at the bar exam.  My eye was red and a little irritated on Wednesday morning (the morning of the MBE exam) but luckily I didn't suspect anything during the actual test, but by Wednesday night it was apparent that I had pink eye.  Thursday morning I went to urgent care and started eye drops.  3 days later, both eyes were full blow infected with no improvement, so on our first real day at Hilton Head I was back at another urgent care clinic.  Now I have steriod eye drops and those babies are finally getting the job done. 

So how do I feel about the test?  Not great, but I think that's how I'm supposed to feel.  I felt good after both morning sessions, but at some point during both afternoon sessions I started to feel like I knew nothing and was getting every question wrong.  To be perfectly honest, I feel that, regardless of how I actually did, I deserve to pass.  I worked so hard this summer, I studied so much, and I think I deserve to pass.  Unfortunately, that's not how it works.  I'll find out in late October if I passed.  Until then, I'm going to relax and take it easy for a change.  And after 2 weeks of taking it easy, I'm sure I'll get bored and realize that it's time to start looking for a job.  But not yet.  Now it's time for vacation.  And then it's time to spend the days playing with Leah, cleaning up the house, catching up with friends and family, watching TV, and just being happy I survived.

Friday, July 27, 2012

BA's Corner: Graduation Celebration

The night before AA's graduation, we planned a celebratory dinner at Katsuya.  Unfortunately, there have been so many other "current events" recently that this post is now long-overdue.  But since AA is still recovering from the bar exam, I thought I'd share this post because we had a great time that night, and I don't want the memories to be passed by. 

Katsuya is a special place to us.  In a lot of ways to me, it represents LA.  There's nothing bad on the menu, and everytime we went, we'd end up trying several new things on the menu (and loving them).  You pay for it, but it's a wonderful place for a special occasion.  And this was certainly a special occasion.

It was also a rare event - Leah was coming out to dinner with us.  In addition to being in a hotel room at this point, her schedule was about to be thrown off for the evening.  I think we were the only people in LA to eat dinner at 5 p.m. on a Friday night, but it was necessary. 



Since we ate so early, we scored the Tom Hanks booth again!





"Wait, is that my grape juice?"

Leah did great at the restaurant...staring dreamily at our Bradley-Cooper-look-alike waiter and flirting for a little attention (as if she wasn't getting enough already).  She got some exercise crawling back and forth on the benches.





The Peanut had reached her limit, and cried almost the whole way home in typical 405 traffic for 7 p.m. on a Friday (sorry Grandma and Aunt Haley who were stuck in the back seat with her).  It was frustrating because we knew that if we could just move, she'd fall asleep.  But we sat and sat.  It was a long ride home. 

After we got Leah to bed, it was time for a celebration.  We surprised AA with a TCBY cake and champagne for starters.  AA's parents also sang a song to her that they had prepared for the occasion. 


One of my gifts to AA was a dispenser of personalized M&M's.  I was very proud of how neat the images turned out...there's a picture of AA holding Leah while she studies - I thought that was appropriate for a graduation gift.  Do you see anything odd about this picture?



Yes, the Pepperdine mascot is the "Wave"

Well, there's something you need to understand here.  As a die-hard Florida State Seminole, I make it my personal mission to not allow the colors "orange" and "blue" to be used together.  We just can't have that other Florida school represented in any way.  Heck, when possible, I just remove orange completely to make sure it doesn't happen. 

Problem: Pepperdine's colors are orange and blue.  C'mon people....has the LA smog corrupted your brains?  Who decided the most beautiful campus on Earth should be frosted with orange and blue?  Yuck.  I can't even comfortably write those two colors in the same sentence.  But as I told AA, this occasion was all about her and her achievements - not my never-ending love of fried gator tail.  So for this one day, for this one occasion, it was not about me...it was about AA.  So we rolled out the orange and blue.  Look now...you'll never see this again from us (unless Leah goes to Pepperdine). 





We ended up leaving quite a bit of cake for the housekeeper, but had a great time celebrating while Leah slept peacefully in the other room

During the visit, Leah also decided to surprise AA's family with another "first" - waving.

Friday, July 20, 2012

First Birthday Party



We enjoyed celebrating Leah's first birthday all last week.  We are fortunate to have friends and family who care about Leah so much.  Some presents started arriving during the week, and Leah loved opening them up.  See how excited she got?


First present to arrive, all the way from California from Auntie Kristen

The Peanut loves styrofoam peanuts!  She just pops them in her mouth like they are nothing...doesn't even stop to think about it.  The more we try to stop her, the more determined she is to get her baby paws on them and munch away.



And she's really learning how to tear into some gift wrap!  Check out the stance she picked for maximum gift-opening leverage as she really puts her back into pulling the wrapping paper off....


Saturday was her official first birthday party, and it was a wonderful event, full of family and "firsts."  We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  Leah had her first cheeseburger, and ate it like it was a plate of black beans (the girl loves black beans for some reason).  We paused for a thank you to everyone for coming and their help/support during Leah's first year, especially Leah's grandparents.


We owe thanks to many folks, but we shared examples of what each grandparent has done for us this past year.  They are worth repeating:

Grandma: AA's mom was there from the beginning...I believe she arrived on day 3, while we were still trying to figure out which end was up.  She cooked for us and held Leah while we tried to get organized and adjusted.  She was up first thing every morning to take over so we could get some sleep, and she stocked our freezer before she left.  She's kind of like James Bond in the kitchen...give her a paperclip and a battery, and she'll whip up a salmon salad.  This past week, she's been watching Leah so we wouldn't have to send Leah back into the germ pool known as daycare, which would derail AA's already-behind-schedule studies. 

Granda: AA's dad was a huge help too.  I think he's been thrown up on most out of all the family members, and he took it all in stride.  He took night shifts and early morning shifts, and I know he did some grocery shopping for us too.  Early one morning, I walked out of our room and he said, "You see that burp cloth over there?  Bring it to me now.  I just changed my first diaper in 30 years."  So how does it compare to riding a bike, Wayne?

Nana Wanda: AA's stepmom cooked great southern food for us and took a few night shifts too.  She raided our fridge for Dr. Pepper, then stayed up holding Leah all night long in the dark.  I'll never know how Wayne and Wanda rocked Leah all night long in pitch darkness, but somehow they did.  And one day, Wanda told us to "get lost" so she could deep clean our apartment before they left.  When we came home, all the windows were open and she was scrubbing away like her life depended on it. 

Papa: In addition to surviving on frozen dinners and Long John Silvers while Nana stayed with us, BA's dad held Leah and entertained her while we ran errands and got things done around the house.  Most recently, he assembled all of our porch furniture while AA studied and BA slept to recover from being sick.  He also helped us transition to a home in Atlanta by watching Leah as soon as we got to Atlanta so we could house hunt, shop, and get organized. 

Nana: So that AA could return to school and BA could return to work, we needed someone to watch Leah until she was 2 months old and could attend daycare.  When we asked BA's mom if she was up for the task, the next day she said she had a 1-way plane ticket to LA.  She stayed with us for about 5 weeks, and she was amazing.  She was up, showered, with a cup of tea every day at 6 a.m.  We'd hand Leah over (because we'd been on the couch holding her all night), and head straight to bed for an hour or two.  Some days we would come home, and she'd have the dishes done, the laundry folded, the bathrooms cleaned, dinner ready, and Leah strapped onto her.  I have no idea how she does it.  Keep in mind that we couldn't put Leah down for the first 2 months...somebody had to hold her 24 hours a day.  So Nana did all of this while holding Leah.  And she just spent another 2 weeks watching Leah so that she could get healthy.  Of course, she never got healthy until she got tubes, but we were so glad to have Nana's help around the house. 

And Aunt Haley deserves a big "thank you" as well.  She has been such a trouper through all of this, learning how to feed, bathe, and put Leah down at night so we could go to dinner alone every now and then.  She's traveled all over, she's cooked, she's cleaned, she's babysat....she's done it all and never complained.  She's been as wonderful of an Aunt to Leah as she is a sister and sister-in-law.

It wasn't easy for them....it's not like we lived right down the road.  Everybody had to spend time and money (and time off of work) to fly across the country to do these chores for us.  You all may not remember all of the little things you did, but we won't forget them.  We can't thank you enough!  But back to the party....

Then it was time for Leah's first taste of cake.  AA selected a strawberry cupcake from "A Piece of Cake" and topped it with (a replica of) one of Leah's favorite bath toys - a little pink squirt ducky we call "Matilda."  Leah was equally interested in eating the cake and Matilda.



As usual, Leah made such a mess that it required two people to clean her up.  The only difference on this day is that while she was being cleaned, she had an audience to entertain.


We opted for Leah to go naked the rest of the day.  It seemed appropriate.



We asked for "No gifts please," but no one followed the rules.  So we decided to open Leah's presents while everyone was there.  Leah got many wonderful gifts...way too many to mention here.  She got clothes, money for college, toys, educational things, music, bags, books, and more.  We opened a 529 for her (which I'm sure Leah and AA were equally thrilled about), and got her some baby Converse shoes.  BA bought her a case of Kleenex tissues....4 boxes worth.  Leah loves to pull them out, one by one.  We always stop her, but he thought giving her hundreds of tissues to pull out and just letting her go to town would be a fitting first birthday present.  So she did, and we got a good laugh out of it.
 




Then we put on her Converse and topped it with a pair of "babiator" sunglasses our friend Emily got her. 





After we opened presents, Leah got another "first" -  she had her first taste of ice cream.  BA decided to get a homemade ice cream maker and make vanilla ice cream from scratch for the party.  AA's Dad had to save the day in the end by hitting the store for more ice.  It didn't turn out quite as planned, but everyone ate it up, so it must have been ok.  Leah certainly enjoyed it!

Leah's biggest toy was a red wagon from Nana and Papa.  Papa assembled it for us a week earlier, and we hid it from Leah until the "big reveal" after the other presents had been opened.  She loves this thing.  We think she just enjoys seeing all of the scenery go by, compared to when she's in her stroller.  It's kind of funny actually...80% of the time she's in her wagon, she clinches onto both sides, stays pretty quiet, and maintains a very serious look on her face.  It's like she's driving or something - "no funny business when I'm being pulled in my wagon."  The rest of the time, she's smiling like crazy, talking up a storm, pointing at things going by, and rocking back and forth when we stop (to queue us to keep going).  It's adorable. 

Ready to go.

Serious business



It's been pretty hot recently, so Leah was a little sweaty by the end of her first wagon ride with AA's family.  After all, it's tough work sitting back and letting other people pull you along like you're a princess.








Later that weekend, Grandma and Aunt Haley worked with Leah on climbing the stairs.  They've been working on this for a while now.  This time, she climbed all the way up by herself. 


About halfway up, she started saying "Ma Ma."  AA was studying upstairs with the door closed, and apparently Leah wanted to see her.  She climbed and climbed.  With one step to go, she turned and looked at us.  We encouraged her to go ahead.  She climbed the last step, and didn't stop for a millisecond....she immediately crawled at lightning speed straight to AA's door, butt bouncing in the air the whole time.  It was hilarious and very sweet.  We just happened to get it on video.  She's done it several times since.  She knows where her Ma-Ma is!


Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Leah's first year!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Team Grandma

Leah is really lucky to have such a wonderful Grandma and Nana!!



Monday, July 16, 2012

Peanut's Post: Ghost Mom and the Single Dad

You may remember a time when I was really into Mommy.  For whatever reason, Daddy just didn't exist to me.

Well I was really glad to have Daddy at the doctor a few weeks ago when I got my shots.  He makes a nice pillow, which made me feel better....


And Mommy's been doing a lot of this lately.... 


I know she's around, but holy cow does she stare at those books all day long!!  I'm pretty sick of it.  Anyway, with most of her focus on "passing" these days (whatever that means), Daddy and I spend a lot of time together, which I've really enjoyed.  When he walks by, I drop what I'm doing and crawl over to him.  I reach up and moan until he picks me up.  Daddy says it's great at home, but not so great when he's dropping me off at daycare. 

In case I slip back into my "obsessed with Mommy" phase, I thought I'd document some of our Daddy-daughter activities.  A typical day might look like this....

Daddy will get me up in the morning.  Usually I'm in my favorite sleeping position....on my knees with my butt in the air, blanket tossed aside.  I don't know what it is about this position...I guess it's just super comfy.  Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. 


After breakfast and some crawling around, he likes to put me in the backpack and take me on walks.  But sometimes I just fall asleep.


Sometimes we'll do random projects around the house.  Apparently it's important to "baby proof," but I cry when I hear the sound of the drill.


We eat some lunch together.  He tells me I'm a mess.  I put my hand on his shoulder, point my baby finger, and say, "Ad bahdvheal dafma," which loosely translated means, "No I'm not, I'm a baby."  He'll get it one day.


"Daddy, how come the stuff on your face doesn't come off in the bath?"
I get worn out faster than he does, so he'll put me down for a nap.  I'll, of course, work myself into my favorite sleeping position.


After some rest and a bottle, it's time to play.  Sometimes, we go to the pool. 

"Ok, I'm ready to go to the pool....let's go!"

"Will anyone take me to the pool?  Anyone?"

My bathing suit is a little small, but the bottom still fits.  So on this day, I went topless.  But Daddy says "we can't have that" so he's going to buy me a new suit.

"Maybe if I get on my tiptoes I can find someone to take me to the pool."

"Mommy, so good to see you!  Are you coming to the pool too?"

"Mommy can't come to the pool with us!"
Towards the end of the day, Daddy gives me a bath.  I like to watch him fill the tub as I throw all of my bath toys on the floor.


Then I get my last bottle for the day, and lately I get some yucky medicine too (which sometimes winds up on Daddy's shirt).  If it's been an especially exciting day, I'll fall asleep on Daddy's shoulder, although usually I squirm until he puts me down. 


Friday, July 13, 2012

Sophie

My mom's dog Sophie passed away last night.  Sophie was a beautiful dog, and she was a good dog.  She had a major heart attack/stroke and died in my mom's arms on the front porch last night around 9 p.m.

Sophie was a beautiful golden retriever mix that my mom adopted from the humane society.  She really was the sweetest dog, however, her only fault was that she liked to escape and run free through the neighborhood, sometimes miles away.  One of these escapades landed Sophie "in trouble."  And a few months later 7 little black puppies were born.  The puppies were a total surprise (the humane society told my mom that Sophie was fixed - obviously they were wrong) but adorable; they all look like black versions of their mother.  My mom donated all but 2 - keeping the only girl (Maggie) and the runt boy (Jordan).  Sophie was the best mother.  Ever since the puppies were born Sophie would let them eat first, and she would take whatever was left.  She never stopped doing that - even nine years later Sophie would still stand back and wait for her "kids" to finish before taking the scraps they left behind.  My mom learned to feed Sophie separately in order for her to get any food. 

I remember many years ago, taking walks in our neighborhood with my mom and Sophie, and we stopped by a neighbor's house to see her newborn baby boy.  This neighbor had also adopted one of Sophie's puppies so they were dog-friendly and all three of us came in.  The new mother was sitting on the couch holding her baby and I held Sophie back for a while, until the neighbor said to let her walk free.  Sophie walked right up to this mom and baby, and started to sniff the little baby's head.  My mom and I were about to jump over and pull Sophie away but the new mom said "it's okay" and  then Sophie calmly licked the little baby's head three times.  It was so sweet to watch and my mom later told me that Sophie was probably just doing her maternal thing, by replacing the baby's scent with her own in order to ward off predators.  Just like she did for her own puppies.  Sophie was a sweetheart.

And while the other dogs weren't allowed to roam the house free while my mom was away during the day (because they'd destroy the place) Sophie was allowed to trot around the house, all by herself, untethered.  Because she was a good dog.

Yesterday morning Sophie went for a swim in the bayou, and took a nice walk through our neighborhood with my mom, un-leashed, because she was that good.  She had a great last day.  And this morning she was buried in my mom's yard, next to a Camellia bush that was given to my mom in honor of my Grandpa who died 6 years ago.  Sophie loved the yard and it is the perfect place for her.

I woke up this morning with swollen eyes from crying so much last night.  I cried when I wrote this post.  I felt so sad that I couldn't be there to help my mom, and so sad that neither my sister nor I was close enough to go over and comfort her last night.  And the next time I visit my mom's house it will be strange and sad to walk through the door and not be greeted by Sophie.  My mom got her just months after she bought her house and Sophie is a part of that house and always will be.  She was such a good dog, and she will be terribly missed.

Sophie with one of my mom's rescue puppies (Itty-Bitty) who was eventually "adopted" into the family.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

12 Months!!

Our little girl turned 1!  It's hard to believe we have a 1-year-old.  (It's equally hard to believe we survived the longest year of our life.)  We were so excited to celebrate with her a little bit, but we'll celebrate more this weekend.  Happy Birthday Leah!!



***
7/18/12 Editorial Note: Leah had her 12-month checkup on 7/12/12, after this post was originally published.  Length: 28.9 inches (44th percentile).  Weight: 19 lbs 6.4 oz. (23rd percentile).  Also, this was our 200th published blog post!  It's fitting that it was Leah's 1-year post.
***

We've been waiting to get a chocolate chip cookie cake, and we knew now was the time.



We even let Leah get to the cake this time.  I think she knew something was a little different when she turned the corner and started going for it. 





As a result of the mini sugar rush, here's what we had on our hands about 1/2 an hour after bed time....


Yeah, it took a while for her to get to sleep.  But, hey...it's her birthday!  You gotta bend the rules every now and then.  And as you can tell from all the monthy birthday cakes we've had, birthdays are a big deal around here.  Happy Birthday little girl!  What a wonderful year it's been with you.

Now this post is about a year in the making.  Thanks a million to my cousin Renee for the very cool monthly birthday stickers!  They inspired us to mark the day each month during Leah's first year.  Enjoy the recap....




7/11/11 - Happy Birthday!



8/11/11 - 1 Month

9/11/11 - 2 Months

10/11/11 - 3 Months

11/11/11 - 4 Months

12/11/11 - 5 Months

1/11/12 - 6 Months

2/11/12 - 7 Months

3/11/12 - 8 Months

4/11/12 - 9 Months

5/11/12 - 10 Months

6/11/12 - 11 Months

7/11/12 - 12 Months

And in case you're interested in a recap of the birthday cakes.....

Ok, no cake for the actual birthday....