Columbia Family Fun Day.

Friday was laundry day.

Ami played with play doh. We went to Target and open gym. 

After her nap, we went out for ice cream. She was so proud of herself throwing away her trash from across the way.
She kept saying, "Bye, Momma!  Bye!!"

And this is one of her funny faces.

Jumping to Saturday morning, we left at 9 to get to Donna's Cafe at 11 to meet Dad-Daddy, Mom-Mommy, and Uncle Nick.

Ami got some gifts- a big blue book of beginners readers stories and a Cabbage Patch Doll named Brianna Veronica.

Because Donna's was having technical difficulties- the power was out- we hopped across the street to Eggspectations which was delicious.

Ami had wheat toast, eggs, fruit and milk and a side of Dad-Daddy fun time.
I had cinnamon raisin french toast topped w kiwi, cantaloupe, mango, strawberries, grapes and banana. It was really good.

And then we shared some yummy cake.

After lunch we went to Centennial Lake for a little walk and playground fun.

We went out for ice cream by the Enchanted Forest and my old apartment. Ami said, "A castle!"
It was sweet.

We parted ways w the fam and headed over to Mema's.
Ami played w blocks as Mema and I talked.
I told Mema about our day, then she asked if I wanted to go get dinner. I said, sure.
:)  Mema called Donna's and their electricity was back on.

So Ami, Mema, and I went there.
Ami fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep all through dinner. Mema and I ordered corn fritters and the grilled peach salad. Oh man, so good.
A jazz band consisting of drums, bass, and keys played Beatles songs. I wish I was sipping wine, as I was feeling very Columbia-hip.

After dinner, Ami and I headed home.
It was such a lovely day.

It's really easy for me to be with ppl who share similar ideas of respect.

Wednesday/Thursday Mini Vacation

Wednesday, Mike left early to help his dad put break down or put up a wall in his sister's house.

Ami didn't want to go to Story Time for some crazy reason and we were moving slow, playing at home... I decided that we should go to Wegmans for some snacks and such for the river as well as lunch for Mike and his dad.

I got Mike and Ami some brown rice and soy beans and not dogs.. I also got some avocado summer rolls (rice paper), vegetable gyozas, and veggie sushi.

But what to get Mr. T?  I didn't want to get anything too unhealthy, although I was sure the salt content was high as it is pretty much anywhere food is prepared.

I asked for Jambalaya but the lady behind the counter gave me Gumbo (oh well) and a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken.

Mike laughed at me because I got his dad a whole chicken.

He said it's like a meat eater wondering to get a vegetarian... "So... do you want lettuce?"

Then Ami and I went swimming a little bit before it stormed.

Then Papa came home and we started our mini river vacation.

Thursday was a gorgeous day, starting with news that Bean was going to be born!!  We anxiously waited his arrival.  In the meantime, we went out on the water. Ami got her feet wet by the beach, then she, Mike, and Jenna went on the tubes.

Ami was so excited she got to play in the hot tub.

Then we went on a grocery run to make lunch.
We made tofu egg rolls and lettuce wraps and salad using fresh basil and cilantro.

Jenna took the dogs out and Ami wanted to go with her. She did and she and Jenna had some bonding time.
It was really sweet and it's nice Ami was so comfortable- especially being around all of those dogs (5 of them).

We eventually got the news that Bean was born.
We headed home to meet Uncle Billy at our house, secretly planning on taking him to the hospital to meet Bean and see Gabby and Larry.

Bean was going to eat, so we left for US to eat, intending on our coming back but it didn't happen.

It got too late.

Billy, Mike, Ami and I went to Castiglias first to get pizza, but they sat us in the middle of the hustle and bustle and ten feet away from the saxophone player. Service was lousy and it was hot so we just left before ordering.

Because I was thirsty (we hadn't even received water at Castiglias), we went to Hyperion and chilled there for a bit, enjoying the quiet and AC.

Then we picked up a pizza and went home.

I love talking to Billy. I really enjoy his company.

So... what an exciting and eventful couple of days.
I love my family and friends.

Saturday It Rained Outside and in My Brain.

I think we're going to have to skip Nina's gymnastic's class on Saturdays. Ami is just too wacked out and tired... Unless I can find a way to make it work. She asks about it often. 

After class, we went to Springfield to meet up w Aunt Jecca and Paul. We drove to Alexandria and ate at a place called Bilbo Baggins. Ami and I ordered bruschetta and fresh rolls (rice paper) and remembered how much fun we had had the night before.

They have excellent bread, btw, as Ami here, is demonstrating. 

We visited the Torpedo Factory. Some things were inspiring. There was really awesome metal work, as well as paper mache shizz.

Then we went to get some ice cream.
I got red velvet cake ice cream- it was way too sweet but it was good.
Ami picked out cookies n cream.
We later traded... then traded back.

After ice cream, we went back to Paul's house and left for  home.  It took 2 hours!  I was amazed how backed up 95 was. 

We were rocking out to some Ida Maria.

Ami can rock this song out, Dude.  More than Iggy Pop :)

After she fell asleep, I hit random, I guess on Audio Galaxy, and it really wanted me to listen to Andrew Bird and Built to Spill. I nearly fell asleep in the stop/go of traffic.

I found out I don't like Rilo Kiley during this trip which bummed me out.  Oh well, right?

Ami and I got home in time for us to chill just ever so slightly before she went to Nina's house and Mike and I went to his show at Eyeclopes.

It was an all ages show so there were a lot of kids. I made some friends- a bunch of shorties. We were talking about my belly.

The first band was from Charlotte, North Carolina. They were old and they could rock.
I just don't understand how one can be that old and still not sing like him/herself. The singer was trying to sound like Lemmy.
I totally understand kids trying to emulate someone, but I imagine when you're 40 or 50 you should be yourself... but... what do I know. I'm only 29.

We left in the middle of the third band. They were pretty lame. I just don't understand that music. I can't even remember what they were called so I can't give an example.

Anyway, Mike and I came home, I was exhausted. We made pizza on whole wheat flat bread. It was good.
Then I died.

Craft/Dinner Night

Ahhh...  Yummy delicious blueberry pancakes. 

Ami and I let Max out Friday morning to afternoon. 

I brought a multi-grain pancake mix w added quinoa flakes and blueberries to his house.

It was really good to see Max. It's been a while.
We played a bunch. Ami was more secure around him than ever. She even initiated play and followed through with it. Max was also being very patient with Ami's ball throwing skills, ha ha.

After we left Max's we stopped at C&T's produce stand. We got carrots, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
We still needed to go to the grocery store for rice paper wrappers and bean sprouts..
It was a fruitless Giant journey, however, and got egg roll wrappers instead.

Lauren, Craig, Gabby, and Larry were coming over for dinner.
I made a salad w peanut dressing and egg rolls -this was my first time making egg rolls. I think they were a success.

Lauren and Craig made bruschetta that was super tasty...

Craig was making Play Doh monsters.  One of them was a kitty slug. I think there was a kitty snail that turned into a kitty slug, too.

Marilee Wednesday!

Mike and Ami went for a walk early this morning while I got ready. They came back and I took Ami to Story Time. Today's theme was Summer Fun. Librarian Pat read beach books. It's so interesting seeing the difference in Pat when I worked with her being a lowly Page and seeing her be a really good librarian with the kids.

Also at the library Ami stamped and colored a bookmark.
We had to leave right after this because our appointment with Marilee was at 11:30.

Marilee came and said I was doing well. I told her I was getting nauseated on and off and she pricked my finger and we found out my blood sugar was just low and I need to eat more frequently.
We talked about the placenta which is anterior which means it's near my belly instead of my back. This can pose a problem at Ollie's birth if I don't do my exercises and she isn't trained to be in the correct position.

a) anterior placenta b) posterior placenta

If the baby's spine is towards mine during labor, complications could result.

"What are you doing, Ami, being awesome?" "Um... uh... yeah!'

Ami told me today that she can't read and she wants to learn.
She said, "I can't read, Mumma. I don't know how."  Then she sighed.
It was so darn cute.

She also gave me an impromptu belly drawing.

And we love Bloom now only because of the little shopping carts.  "I get cart! I get my cart!"

We went to the park w some friends. I love this family. The kids are polite and Rae speaks to kids using a wide range of vocabulary. It's really really nice to be around them.

Ami liked exploring and imagining. Jonathan and Ami pretended to dig for dinosaur bones. 

They threw rocks in the river.

We had lunch at Sammy's w Jenna. Ami gobbled up her spaghetti.

She fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep for 2 hours. She was wiped.