And now for something completely different

Okay, so I have this cute baby and all, but did you know that I used to have a life outside of diaper changing and spit-up cleaning? 

I know, it wasn’t nearly as adorable, but it was a good life nonetheless {hmmm…about mid-word…you know, somewhere around the “h,” it occurred to me that “nonetheless” was an odd word to choose and may not even be a real word.  Thank goodness spell-check was there to withhold the red squiggles and reassure me that I was on the right track.  Thank you, spell check.  Now where were you when I spelled “Jesus” “G-E-A-S-U-S” in front of the class at my CATHOLIC elementary school?  Thanks a lot, spell check.  Way to leave me hanging.}.

But I digress.

My point is, that in this post, I will attempt to share the life of the Bogles without even mentioning “Little Miss Not Appearing In This Post.”  That’s because on September 11th, we had some wonderful visitors from my non-baby years.  Grad school buddies AD and Scott McVeigh and Wes and Carrie Cole came to stay with us for the weekend.  Also-grad-school buddy Julie Kellett (who lives in town), also came over to join in the festivities and get the old gang together. 

We had dinner together on Friday night.  Here we are, with nary a high chair in sight.

 

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The Coles!

 

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Wes and Julie

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The McVeighs

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The Bogles

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This would have been a cute picture of Michael, but he was blinking.

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Isn’t that better?  You’d hate for something like blinking to ruin a picture, right?  I should get this one framed!

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AD was eager to share her wine with us.  VERY eager.  :-)  It was yummy, though!

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Wes and Julie were ready to dig into dinner! 

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All in all, it was a great weekend!  Saturday, we all went to Fall’s Park with Julie’s kids and “Little Miss Not Appearing In This Post.”  The USC-UGA game (and the Tennessee game for Scott) were NOT the highlights of the weekend, but good friends, food, and wine more than made up for the losses.  Hope to see everyone again soon!

And now back to your regularly scheduled [NAME REDACTED] love-fest.

Look into my eyes…

 

 

…and wish me a {belated} Happy 6 Month Birthday! 

A very, merry half-birthday to Lily!

Goodness, how time flies.  On September 10th, our little peanut reached the half-year mark.  I know I keep marveling at how time flies, but it really does!  {I won’t even mention how this was, ahem, two months ago!}

Happy 6 Months!

Annabelle Persephone Kittykins

From the ridiculous parents who brought you the likes of Lucy Bumblegarden…

We proudly introduce the newest member of the family.

Meet Annabelle Persephone Kittykins.

Okay, so the little jailbird isn’t actually a “new” member of the family. Annabelle actually joined our family last Christmas. Michael bought her (and the pink bear you see Lily photographed on every month) for Lily for Christmas 2008. I hadn’t even thought to wrap up any presents for Lily since she wasn’t “here” yet, but Michael did. How sweet is that?

On September 15th (6 months old), we decided to let Lily try napping with a lovey, to see if she’d take to it. Well, let’s just say that she and Annabelle became fast friends. Lily loves to fling her back and forth in the crib, and then cuddle her up to her cheek while sucking her thumb (Lily’s thumb, that is…Annabelle doesn’t have thumbs, of course, with her being a cat and all). It’s so sweet, and by 7 months, Lily will now instantly cuddle up against your shoulder and suck her thumb whenever you hand her Annabelle. If she wakes up during the night, we can also watch her on the monitor searching for Annabelle. When she finds her, she’ll cuddle back up with her and fall back asleep.

So incredibly sweet. Clearly they are best friends already.

Their incredibly tight bond was only slightly questioned the day that Annabelle had a bath in the washing machine.

And Lily was forced to nap with…ummm…Unnamed Bunnykins instead.

And Lily didn’t bat an eyelash.

I mean, other than that, I’d say that Lily and Annabelle are best friends.

Friends for life.

Or until Bunnykins edges her out.

Either way.

Baby Mine

I don’t even remember this song from Dumbo since I haven’t seen it in forever, but I listened to it a few months ago and (sap that I am), it chokes me up every time I try to sing it to her.  Seriously, I do just fine listening to the song, but I suddenly sound like a blubbering idiot every time I try to sing it, so don’t expect any videos of that any time soon. 

Or ever, really.

Just so we’re clear. 

Anyway, this isn’t a song for when she’s all happy and playful during the day, or cranky and tired in the backseat. 

But when it’s late in the evening. 

And she’s all snuggly and ready for bed.  It’s just the sweetest, in my humble opinion. 

(This is a video with the Bette Midler rendition dubbed…couldn’t find just the audio…any fellow blogger tips on how to add an MP3 I already own to the page would be helpful…not a whole-blog playlist, but just for one post.  Thanks!)

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I love this little girl so much, and it warms my heart every day that I spend with her. 

Yes, some mornings my weary eyes are screaming at me to let them rest just a few minutes more, but her “good morning, Mommy!” grins perk up my tired eyes every time.

And, I realize that her babyhood is all too fleeting.

I love you, baby of mine.

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Baby Mine

Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
never to part, baby of mine. Little one, when you play,
pay no heed what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine,
never a tear, baby of mine.

If they knew all about you,
they'd end up loving you, too.
All those same people who scold you,
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your hair down to your toes,
you're not much, goodness knows.
But, you're so precious to me,
sweet as can be, baby of mine

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Viva la French great-grandmother!

September 7th, Lily got to meet her great-grandmother!  That’s Michael’s maternal grandmother who we call Memere.  Memere is originally from France and now lives in Arizona, but came to visit SC for a few weeks.  We were so happy that Lily got to see her a couple of times while she was here.  It was so sweet to see them together, and we got some great photos. 

Voila!

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Memere et Mimi.

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Memere et Lily.

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C’est difficile à choisir les meilleures photos!

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La famille.

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Lily mange.  Mimi l’aide, mais Lily aide Mime aussi!

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C’est tout que je peux dire en français!   C’est pathetique!

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Le prochain jour.  Elles sont adorables, n’est pas?

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À bientôt!

{Oh, Lordy…that was my attempt to remember some French that I really haven’t spoken or written in 9 years…please excuse my numerous spelling and grammatical errors!}

Our little “Gourmet”

Pre-Lily, I would have told you that I did not plan to make my own baby food.  It seemed like a lot of work, and really just not necessary.  Then I tasted Gerber brand pureed chicken. 

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

It was such foul-smelling, gritty, pasty ick, that I couldn’t help but wince as I tried to feed it to poor Lily.  She wholeheartedly agreed with my assessment.  Two thumbs down. 

Lots of the other foods are also quite…um…gross, so I thought I’d give baby-food-making a whirl…in the food processor…bad pun intended.  I have to say, it really doesn’t take that much time, and the food tastes so much better. 

I mean, would you rather eat the homemade peas on the left or the Gerber peas on the right?

 

I thought so. 

And I don’t even like peas. 

{Or so I thought.  I apparently do like peas now, because these homemade ones are quite good.  Who knew? }

Lily apparently does, though.

 

Back to the point…Lily started out eating commercial baby food, and accepted all stage one foods except green beans.  After the first couple of weeks, I ended up making the majority of Lily’s food – apples, plums, peaches, peas, chicken, banana, sweet potatoes, mango, pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut squash, avocado (although she’ll only touch that when it’s mixed with banana!), and others I have surely forgotten.  She has enjoyed everything I’ve made so far, eating her vegetables, fruits, and chicken with relish. 

These days, I only give her commercial baby food when we’re traveling or when she’s obviously wants a little more food, and I don’t want to defrost any more homemade food for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, having a personal chef seems to have turned Lily into a bit of a gourmet.  She will grudgingly eat most commercial baby food fruits, but resolutely turns her nose up at all commercially prepared vegetables.  As in the “dramatically gagging while shaking her head and then clamping the lips shut and fussing” kind of turning up her nose.

Bottom line?  Our little girl has apparently developed a highly refined palate.

Someone call Maury.

We may need a paternity test. 

It’s not easy being green…beans

In August (rats…I’m now posting out of order…I hate that!), Lily had her first taste of green beans. 

She reacted about the same as she did to every other food she’d eaten so far.  She seemed to think it was fine.  Nothing special, and worth eating.

Exhibit A:

However, she appears to have been putting on a show for the camera to prove what a good girl she was to eat her vegetables, because as soon as I shut it off, she began making faces and coughing/gagging. 

Exhibit B:

Clearly I’m trying to poison her.

Drama queen.

Go Roosters!

Did you know that Michael once yelled that at a Gamecocks basketball game when he was 5 or so? Cute, right? :-)

On September 2nd, Michael, Lily, and I followed our favorite team named after a ferocious barnyard animal up to North Carolina for the first USC game of the season. They were playing NC State, so we got to combine our love of football with visiting some great friends!

We stayed with Wes and Carrie Cole, two dear friends from my graduate school program. They were great hosts, and have a beautiful new home. Although we may have scared them off of having kids anytime in the next decade or so, they were very understanding about our ridiculously complicated baby schedules! Carrie was awesome enough to skip the game and hang out with Lily and me, and Wes and Michael went to the game.

{Side note: Seriously, Gamecocks? You only won 7-3?!? I had to double check my notes I made on my calendar because that is a ridiculous score. For shame!}

Once again, I failed to get any pictures to prove that Wes, Carrie, and the Bogles were in exactly the same place at the same time. I also failed to capture any photos of Justin and Molly Bagby, two more dear friends who met us all out for dinner one night while we were there. This is why I could never be a professional blogger.

That, and the fact that I post 100 posts a year, but only post 6 days out of the year.

That, and I only blog about the inane details of my incredibly staid life.

That, and I use words like “staid,” which I”m pretty sure Michael is looking up right now.

That, and I tend to ramble.

That, and you’d have to be a blood relative to still be reading at this point.

See? Yes, I’m a very UN-professional blogger. So, bear with me and my unprofessional pictures.

So, without further ado (and the crowd goes wild!), here we are on game day at the Cole’s house (I would LOVE to have their lighting in our home – the camera was loving it!).

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OMG – Mommy comes out from BEHIND the camera!

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Umm…I think it’s time to retire the cheerleading outfit…it’s getting a bit short!

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The day after the game, Wes and Michael were re-watching it on DVR (of course!), and Wes howled like a wolf. Lily thought it was HILARIOUS! We caught on video her reaction to my howling. Please note that I am SO much funnier than daddy!

From Desktop

Now, this isn’t really “news” since she laughs all the time now (remember, I’m SO late in posting this that this is 7 weeks old by now…so sorry about that!), but at the time, this was one of her laughing-est moments.

And it also illustrates that she sometimes laughs like Alf (“Ha! I kill me!”).

This is sadly appropriate, as he used to refer to her as Alf when she was in utero.

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As I said only a short 12,000 words ago, we got to see many friends on this road trip, including some ladies I went to grad school with, and their babies. On Friday, the Coles and Bogles met up with our friend Kate Dryden, and her precious little girl Clara. Clara is about 2 or 3 weeks older than Lily, and was already sporting two adorable little teeth! Forgive me for posting so many pictures, but I forgot to e-mail them to Kate, and I want her to have copies as well (Kate – let me know if you need them in higher quality. Apparently, I have never heard of e-mail, and can now only communicate via my blog, which I am bizarrely assuming that everyone I need to contact is reading. Forgive my manners!). :-)

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The girls holding hands…the cuteness!

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I couldn’t get my camera settings right so that both girls were in focus at the same time with this indoor lighting. Sorry about that!

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Clara looks sad! She must want a hug…

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Sweet girl.

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At least they are looking in the same direction.

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See?!? Wes WAS there on this trip!

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And so was Carrie! :-)

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The mommies and the babies. Kind of hard to get two babies looking in the same direction at once.

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And Michael’s a little tall to be the one trying to get their attention, but at least they are both looking up!

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Sweet babies.

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Phew! I think I need a break! But no rest for the blogger who is sill behind by 7 weeks. Ugh. I already used up my apology for this blogging session, so I’ll move on!

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The next day, we got to see another mommy friend from graduate school, Caroline Hexdall, and her husband (Eric), and their sweet little daughter (Camille) who is two weeks younger than Lily. Another grad school friend, Dore, also came over to the Hexdall’s for some refreshments. Like I said, we were busy this trip!

I didn’t get as many pictures at Caroline’s, but she and her husband prepared a delicious feast for us, and Camille very graciously shared her toys with Lily. She also shared her cleaning supplies, but that’s all I say about that (sorry again, Caroline and Eric!).

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Again, we try to get the babies to look at the camera. Again, we need to remember to ask someone shorter than Michael to do this. :-)

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Camille lays down the law about playing nice with her toys.

Haha! Just kidding! Camille was super-sweet, and we were so grateful to the Hexdall’s for having us over!

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All in all, we had a fabulous trip, and were so happy to see so many old friends and brand new baby ones as well.

Oh, and Go Roosters!