My brother is going to kill me......

With Alex growing and changing every day, and with Laura pregnant, baby talk and baby "Stuff" is becoming a very big and exciting part of my parents and I's lives. Alex is only 9 months old(today actually) and not only is he crawling, but he is already pulling himself up on things and will stand up for decently long periods of time. This got my Dad to thinking.....when did Kate and Alex first walk? SO! Out come the baby books. This, we all know, is a very dangerous game. AND SINCE Alex Macnab was the only one not present at this time, he was in the most danger, as proved by this post.

The funny thing is, what I am about to do, my brother could do back to me with 10x more imagination and electronic manipulation than I could ever attempt, BUT, I mean, I am here with all the ammunition I might need, and he is there in London, with a very limited amount of what might not even be .22 caliber bullets so, I take the risk. AND, I can laugh at myself so I am not worried. (thank goodness being able to laugh at oneself is a shared Macnab trait. I wipe my brow.)

So after going through Alex's baby book, these were the two that just kept me in stitches. He just looks so...........proud. So Alex, in honor of your upcoming baby shower (and because I'm your sister and I can do these things) I post the pictures below. I hope they give you a giggle as well.

I love you. I miss you. I can't wait until you are here (with clothes on).

Bathtubs and Bars - another random posting

For those of you who read this just to keep up with Alex, sorry, I am going to torture you with Allen's birthday photos first. We'll get to the bathtub stuff later. (Thankfully, those photos have nothing to do with Allen!)

We went out on Saturday night to celebrate Allen's 29th birthday. We ate dinner on the patio at Ozona on upper Greenville, and then headed to Stan's Blue Note to hang out. Below are just a random sampling of photos from the night.

Katy and I watching all the weird girls come up and try to take the shuffle board away from us. (Honestly. It's not jealousy. These gals were strange!)

Just thought this photo was funny. What is going on here? What are we talking about?

Amanda accidentally ordered a drink she didn't know anything about, which turned out to be a cherry bomb. She was a little apprehensive to say the least.

John was there to help out. Otherwise known as making sure she did not only drink half of that thing.

Ok, now for an update on The Monster. Alex is sneaking up on 9 months old and doing very well. He is crawling EVERYWHERE! There was a week of the army crawl, two weeks of good crawling, and we are now already in the crawling really well and pulling up on things phase. I also like to call this the "oh shit!" phase, since that comes out of my mouth every time I look over and Alex has pulled himself up on something to get grab at an object he should not have with his go-go-gadget arms.

This shirt was made by my friend Kristie. Too cute and very fitting.

The obligatory bathtub picture. This, and many others, will be filed away so I can wait for the perfect opportunity in his teen years to use this against him. No really. What parent doesn't do that? I thought we were supposed to.

Thanks for checking in. Talk to you soon!

7 Random Facts

So Amanda tagged me to create a post to list 7 Random Facts about me. Why 7? That is too random AND difficult. I am shooting for 5 and anything after that is just a bonus. Here we go:

1) When I was little, I was a rough and rowdy gal. I used to collect live crickets and stick them in my pocket. (That is if they escaped the burning lens of the magnifying glass). My poor Mom used to find cricket legs and heads in the washer and dryer.

2) I was born in London England. Chelsea to be exact. After a few drinks, I do a mean London accent. Sober, I do......something close.

3) It is quickly becoming a family tradition on holidays to play the After Eight Mint Game. You get an After Eight Mint and put it on your forehead. Lean back. Now you have to get it into your mouth without touching it at all. You can only use gravity and facial expressions to get it down your face. This game is best placed while inebriated. My brother demonstrates wonderfully.

4) I must have carnies in my family tree as I have many strange tricks up my sleeve. I can: tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue, put 1, 2 or 3 loops in my tongue, I can wave my tongue, cross one eye, cross my arms after turning them inside out and STILL fit my head through there without letting go of my hands, and I can blow a bubble with gum bigger than anyone I know. And no, I will not show you pictures of of any of it. Carnie, not crazy. I am also left handed to add to my oddities.

5) I, like Amanda, have never (and probably won't ever) get gas before the gas light comes on. Don't lecture me. I am big on structure and schedules and lists, but apparently, filling the tank before necessary is not in my nature.

6) I am proud to admit that I am one of the few people my age that I know that has 3 friends I have known since kindergarten and still speak with. Melissa, Kathryn, and Katie.

7) I actually have a pet raccoon.

ok, no I don't but how many people have pictures of themselves feeding raccoons on the patio? Not a lot I bet.

OK, that is 7. This wasn't as hard as I thought. I actually can think of more random things about me! BUT, unlike Amanda, I will not curse you with having to post about yourself! ;)

Holly Jolly

Here we go. A ton of photos of one person in particular that will probably bore you (unless you were there). Never-the-less, pictures from that crazy holiday where going green would mean not wrapping your presents for others, and that is just crazy talk!

The injured reserve: Zach had a brace on his hand. Boys will be boys....

Alex was actually hanging upside down for this one. He was a happy kid!

Not very keen on the way the tree feels..

I got Dad a new hat

With some new hair..

Isn't my family pretty?! Don't be jealous.

Christmas went by in a flash and Alex was spoiled. I spent most of the night opening presents for him. (There was no shortage) I can't wait to see what the maids figure out to do with all this stuff while they are trying to vacuum!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we will see you next year!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

I found out today that Alex and Laura are having a girl! YAAAAY!!!

Merry Christmas!

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

So guess who is crawling now? Well, he can crawl. He actually prefers to pull himself forward by his elbows and drag his feet behind him. It is more of an army crawl. Although he can actually crawl, I guess he thinks it is much more dramatic to make it look like he is wounded at war and crawling to his safety under heavy gunfire. Looks like something right out of a movie! It won't be long before I am the most paranoid person in the world with leaving things out on surfaces, etc. This kid already wants to put his hands on anything he is not supposed to.

Let the Holidays begin!

Joe and Teresa came over tonight to have some of my favorite Cheeseburger Soup. We hung out for a little bit afterwards until Allen brought in the tree to put up. Then, Joe whips into action. If there is something to be done, Joe is going to do it right! Once we get the tree out of the box and put together, Joe continuously alternated from sitting on the couch making sure we had our angles right to getting up and making sure we were "fluffing" it properly. This game ensued for at least an hour.

This was Alex's first tree siting. He loved looking at it but hated touching it. Which is fine by me. I hope that trend sticks for the next ten years! That kid can hate trees as much as he wants. Stay away from it Kid!

So that is that. Holiday weekend over. Man do I hate to go back to work on Monday!

Joe Humbug

Alex's first look at a Christmas Tree!