Take that Denver

Well, McCain officially announced his choice for running mate just a few moments ago and I'm a fan. She's, yes she's, relatively young in politics and I recently heard a lot about her from a personal standpoint. Since there will surely be countless articles sited from the political standpoint, here is a completely non-political story that is worth reading.

I have to say that unlike nearly everyone else in politics, everything I've heard, I like! I can't say that about anyone else so I am finally looking forward to November. I don't care that she's a woman as much as I don't care that Barack is black. Who cares? I don't think it should gain you any votes just as I don't think it should cost you any votes. But to be honest and truly realistic, you use what you have and if being a mother and a woman gets you the votes I guess it would be remiss to think you wouldn't use it to your full advantage. Because she is a mother. And she is a woman. (take that hilary) I can't wait to read more about her, as I only found out who she was a few months ago.

I think she's a smart choice. The moderates will surely tend to like her as she's from Alaska and has environmental concerns, an issues largely granted to the libs. Her approval is near unheard of at 90% making her the most popular governor in the nation. She's a fiscal conservative and the mother to a soldier. I think that by far my favorite quote from the governor came when she was asked her opinion on capital punishment in the case of a particularly heinous crime, such as the murder of a child. Simply put, "My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah". me likey...

Here is another worthwhile article that sheds some light on who she is as a mom. I couldn't be more excited that the first, serious, candidate for the GOP is this woman. I'm looking forward to learning more about her, what she stands for and what her intentions are for our country and the next four years.

More shoes for kate

Will dance for new shoes!!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Exciting new stuff going on with our little man. He now has 12 teeth, we think…10 or 11 for sure. He got his molars in on the bottom recently. We had no idea but all of a sudden we were playing around and when I hung him upside down, I saw little teeth in the back of his mouth. This is great news-it means he can have bigger chunks of hard food since he can mash it up in the back!! Right now he’s really liking these boneless ribs we get from Costco. And Mashed Potatoes, oreos and peaches-separately of course.

This evening we have Connor’s first dentist appointment. We keep hearing different things about when the first appointment should happen. Dentists will usually tell you that it’s when they first get a tooth, but for Connor that was 6 months and that just seems crazy early to me. Our pediatrician says 1 year is a good time, as long as there are teeth to look at. I’ve heard from other peds to bring them in around age 2 or 3, but that just seems really late. I want to be sure his little teethies are in good shape before that! So, they told me that tonight they will do an exam, brush his teeth very well and try to get x-rays. They are out of their mind. I cannot wait to see this.

Unfortunately, none of our recent pics show the new teeth since they are so far back, but here are a few cute pics anyway!!

Update: We had Connor's dentist appointment yesterday and it went so great. Their office is so kid friendly, since it's a pediatric dentist practice. There were big stuffed animals all over and several video game stations. There was stuff to climb on so Connor was good to go. We started with x-rays which went better than I thought. They only took 3 pics so it was pretty quick. Next, they let him run around the office meeting all the ladies. my kid is a ham. everyone loved him and stopped what they were doing to ooh and aah at him so he loved that. he flirted and was overall plain shameless. Next, they did an exam and counted 10 teeth, with a few more on the way and one just starting to poke through. They gave him a big toothbrush they had up on a shelf to play with and he broke it. sorry. Last they did a flouride treatment and brushed his teeth really well. It wasn't bad at all and he was such a good boy during the appointment. They even took our photo in the office to commemorate his first dentist appointment. I'll get that posted sometime soon!

Survey Saturday

01. If you were to attend a costume party tonight, what or whom would you go as?
ugh, i hate dressing up in costumes...i think 4 years of sorority theme parties killed it. that being said i'd surely be the pimp to jeffrey's ho. :)

02. What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger?
cheese, tomato, pickles, and maybe avocado

03. What are a couple qualities that you really appreciate in a person?
sense of humor, honesty, friendliness, good driver, intelligent

04. Lets say a brick fell on your foot, and a kid is standing right next you, what is your cleaned up curse?
i dont know, in that situation im not sure if anything would be cleaned up. yeah, there's no way i'd censor that moment.

05. What is a question that people ask you that always gets on your nerves?
not sure. can't think of anything now.

06.Name something you have in common with your siblings?
i dont have any siblings

07.What is the greatest amount of physical pain you have ever endured?
easy-childbirth

08.What number of drinks constitutes your limit?
i don't subscribe to limiting my drinks.

09.Do you fold your underwear?
yes

10.Who is the last person you wrote a letter to?
no clue... i wrote an email to a friend who just moved back to the east coast

11.Have you fired a gun before?
of course, i'm a republican.

12.Name someone you consider a genius.
i think my kid is a genius.

13. What was your favorite childhood toy/game?
i liked barbies...i liked strawberry shortcake and other awesome stuff like that as well.

14. Name a sound that disturbs you
people honking their horn, unnecessary cussing, and maybe my alarm going off at 4:45 every freaking morning.

15. Name something random that you would NEVER do?
eat any of that fear factor shit

16. Name the last movie you watched and loved.
we just watched Smart People and it was great

17.Have you ever had the same dream more than once?
yes

18.Name a song that makes you sentimental:
there are too many.. a lot of songs have a special meaning to me. i can never think of songs when asked.

19. Name something that made you laugh this week?
watching/listening to my son laughing on the swing this afternoon.

20. How old were you when you received your first real kiss?
13 or 14 maybe. no idea.

21.What was the last song you listened to?
Daughter by Loudin Wainwright

22.If you were in an emergency situation and you had to deliver a baby, could you do it?
successfully? probably not. i was uber-drugged for my own delivery but my bff carly sure could.

23.What do you like about being in a committed relationship?
i like being able to be completely honest and myself, and not being judged about it. i like having companionship and feeling safe and secure...i like raising a child and creating a family.

24.What do you dislike about being in a committed relationship?
nothing

25. If you were famous, what would you like to be famous for?
i'd be famous for being rediculously good looking.

26.Name something you dislike about your mother:
nothing.

27.Name something you dislike about your father:
nothing

28.What is on your refrigerator door?
pictures, invitations, connor's day care daily report thingy

29.Name the closest thing to you that is blue:
tupperware lid

30. If someone who didn’t know you had to guess your name, what would they say?
dont know, stupid question.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow:
alumni meeting

32. Name a movie you are looking forward to watching:
um, twilight...november 21st

33. Have you ever called 911?
yeah...several times at my old job.

**dont you hate when you get maybe 1/2 way through one of these damn surveys and you stop caring, but you don't want to just quit since you've already invested 20 minutes in it??**

Friday's Daily Dose of Briliance...

These are two of my favorite online places to shop for gifts.

Red Envelope-Such great gift ideas and I get a corporate discount here so if you ever want to use it, just ask! You can shop by occasion, recipient, whatever…and when they have sales, they are great sales! The photo here is of my favorite new baby gift.

Gifts.com-I love this site because you can take a little quiz on the person you are shopping for and they place them in a profile and then suggest gifts accordingly. By the way, my classification is The Country Clubber, but I am also close to The Achiever and The Domestic Diva. Just to prove the personality picker's ability, my profile chose the above monogramed soaps for me. I love them a rediculous amount!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

this is what we found when we handed him the bag of goldfish. lesson learned.

his first time eating a whole piece of fruit!

His Future President shirt

what a mess. note the cheerio on his boobie!

Oh happy day

you know when a new building is going up somewhere and there are those incredibly unbearable weeks where you don't know what it's going to be? you think, hmm I see a drive thru...maybe it's a taco bell-the closest one is 3 miles away. Or maybe it's a McDonalds-that old one closed. Or, maybe it's something new and shiny we've never even heard of. Oh the possibilities! Well, today a glorious sign went up announcing that our neighborhood is getting a new Panda Express--with drive thru.

My husband couldn't be happier.

Another Shameless plug...

I seem to be on a book reading binge lately. Now, I'm aware that binge has a pretty nasty undertone (binge drinking, binge eating…) but in this case I mean that books seem to be taking over my life! I find myself constantly talking about books. Books I’ve read, books recommended to me, books I didn’t love…So, in keeping with my recent obsession, here is a soon to be released (9/9/08) book by one of my sorority sisters. If you’re a reader like I am, please check it out. It’s her first novel and I’m hooked after just reading this synopsis from her site. Hopefully she won't mind me stealing it to plug her book!!

SYNOPSIS - Emma seems to have it all-a fabulous apartment in Boston’s trendiest neighborhood, a glamorous job as an entertainment writer, and a closet that could have even Sarah Jessica Parker second guessing herself. So what’s the problem? For starters, she hates her job. Sure it’s a paycheck, but she wants to write about things that matter, not about whether velour jump suits will make a comeback next season. (FYI they’re so over!) Then there’s the leggy bombshell that not only steals her promotion but turns out to be her new boss. But a meaningless job and a nasty boss are the least of Emma’s worries. In the midst of playing matchmaker to all her friends, Emma meets her match. when he rescues her from a most tragic shopping accident. Tall, dark and handsome the man is close to perfect. His only flaw being that he belongs to someone else—her boss! Or is that her only problem? With a few more surprises, a love triangle, and a shocking political scandal, Emma learns that it’s okay to dream, but maybe reality isn’t so bad.


If, like me, you love the easy to read chick lit books, please check it out and let me know what you think!!

Friday's Dose of Brilliance...

The Foggy Monacle-Site from two guys who post IMs, emails, and texts between friends the morning after a good night out, all the while attempting to sound gentlemanly and classy. I love this site. Be sure to read old entries like this one, this one, and this one.

Overheard Everywhere-quotes sent in that people have overheard. People say crazy things when they don't think you're listening. There are also sister sites, Overheard in NY, Overheard at the office, and Overheard at the beach.

Halfway to my weekend...

Not too much new stuff going on in the Barnes household. Right after we got back from Colorado, Connor had his first day of school as a (sniff, sniff) toddler and this is really the best photo we could get of him.


Please note the flip flops. I die a little every time I see them they are so damn cute. The big goal of the toddler room is to get them on a crazy, strict schedule. Even a pro-schedule mom like myself laughed in their face when they told me that not only would he be moving toward one nap a day, but that he’d be sleeping on a mat. Yes, a mat. Not a caged crib. Good luck to you my friends. Since my kiddo isn’t exactly the sit still kinda guy I gave them a high five and told them to have a back up plan. I guess it went pretty well though. Turns out if you run him ragged and don’t let him sleep until noon, he takes a fairly long nap mid day and sleeps wherever he falls-may as well be on his very own mat. Lesson learned.


We're still considering making a move. We love our house, but we've just totally outgrown it. We're really struggling making a firm decision because we want to stay close to Connor's school, but it's hard to find a big house with a yard for less than 400k in that area. There are great houses in Gilbert, and we love the areas but it's just too far and we'd be going out of our way to drop off/pick up. decisions, decisions!


um, what else? i just stepped up at Alumnae Relations Advisor for the active chapter of the Chi O house at ASU. I'm pretty excited and have lots of ideas. I'm looking forward to rush later this month and really getting settled into this new advisor role. I think it's going to be a lot of work, but i'm up for it.


Well, this Wednesday wasn't exactly wordless, but here are the photos anyway:

Toddler Travels

Well, the Colorado trip is over and done and we survived! I guess I should say that the other Southwest passengers survived Connor’s first flight! He really did great, and the crew even gave him a set of wings and a certificate!! We flew in on the earliest flight which had good and bad…the bad was that it meant we had to get up at 3am to get to the airport by 4. 3am is an ugly hour (my excuse for the rough looking photo below) and I’d like to start a petition to ensure that alarm clocks are no longer able to go off at that time. The good thing about flying at 6am is that the flight isn’t usually full and people are usually business travelers and are completely used to the annoyances of travel. Here are some pics from the flight, and no we didn't have him strapped into the normal seat, that was just for photos!

The trip into Greeley was to visit some family that we never get to see. Connor never met his great grandma and she’s the only great grandparent he has left so I wanted to be sure we got to spend some time with her asap. Unfortunately, one of my uncles who has been extremely ill passed away while we were in town so we didn’t make it in time to see him. Here's a horrible photo of grandma, connor and I. She was too tired to sit up, connor wouldn't wake up and so this was the result. yikes. we're a photographer's dream i'm sure...

After Greeley, we got to spend a couple days with Katy and Scott at their new swanky home in Denver. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a nice apartment that wasn’t on tv!! Connor managed to terrify their 3 cats and Scott within just a few moments of his arrival. I think we gave all involved a taste of life with a toddler! Connor’s a good boy, truly, he’s just active, and everywhere…and a boy!! Here's a quick pic of a frightened Sara and then a photo montage of Connor and Arthur's love affair...

Here are some more pics of our recent trip...

Connor loves chicken nuggets, and ranch, and chicken nuggets drowning in ranch.

hmm, which way should i run in the airport?

sharing a nice meal.

Wordless Wednesday