Desperate Times Alone in the House.

Yesterday I was super desperate to get out of the house.  I didn't realize exactly how long it had been ... until I looked at the gas tank in my Jeep and it was still almost full!  And that never lasts 10 days!  So it had been awhile, what with the sickness and the pink eye.

I got the baby ready right after he woke up for a quick trip to QT and Sears (for a Pepsi and chat with my gas station friends and also to return a coat that I like, except not in the color I ordered)

I made it about a block before my right eye started to tear up.  Shoot! I was even wearing my gross glasses!

 I made it to my friend Hilary's house, which is quite close to ours, and stayed to play with her little guys for a few minutes before heading home.  Bummer.

When Husb came home, I pounced! I begged him to take me out.

I really didn't NEED anything.  I had a few items on my shopping list for groceries next week I could go to. Plus, I didn't get that Pepsi from earlier in the day, so I was thirsty.  I ended up convincing him to take me to a store so I could get a few things and a bottle of Pepsi.  He was basically my chauffeur! 

"So... let me get this straight.  We are going out because you need to get out of the house, right?  And the Pepsi is really the secondary thing?  Because I can get it tomorrow after work..." he started to say.

I think he caught the look on my face.  My bummer face.

He grabbed the keys and we went out.

Even being at Walmart at  5PM was a special treat.  We stayed until my eye started to get run-y again, which was about twenty minutes.  I bought a butternut squash to make into a puree for baby's food.  I bought a few random groceries.  And I bought some Pepsi!

It was a successful trip being out among the rest of the world!!

And it made me contemplate if I have a spending problem, like Laura mentioned here on her Lenton Quest.

Being In Love With a Baby...

Its pretty different than being in love with a man.



If the object of my affection made rude bodily noises, I would probably be turned off.
I don't think my son's burps are cute or anything - I just usually ignore them!

If my sweetheart gave me wet, sloppy kisses, I would probably gossip about it with my girlfriends or try to teach him how to kiss more effectively.
These days, I just accept the sloppy ones and wipe the wettest slurps off of my face when he finally detaches from it.

And if my guy didn't make conversation on dates and just stared at his surroundings, I would dismiss him as a poor conversationalist and struggle to bring out the hilarious or interesting stories he is harboring.
When I go out with my son, I take a break from the chatter and just look at whatever is holding his interest - whether it is a ceiling fan or a laundry basket - to see it with new eyes.

Being in love with a baby is a lot of fun, but luckily, my heart has enough room for him AND my wonderful groom.

Confession: I Put Curry Powder In the Pumpkin Pie

Instead of ginger.

And I didn't tell Husby.

And since he doesn't read my blog, he is just going to eat the curried pumpkin pie with EXTRA whipped topping. 

And when he says, "This tastes familiar..." I won't say it probably reminds him more of the Pumpkin Curry Soup we had this fall. I will probably call him Very Silly, because of course it tastes familiar... duh! Thanksgiving!

It can be our little secret, right baby?

Who Do I Read and Why? #2

Foodie Blogs and Sites

I read lots of cooking-themed blogs. While I wouldn't claim that I am an excellent cook or that cooking is my number one hobby, I have found that I enjoy being creative with flavors and techniques much the way I used to find joy in creating scrapbooks or illustrations. 

Here are the sites that are on my Google Reader:


A Good Appetite - These people cook the way I would want my personal chef to cook.  Creative meals, rarely repeats, and fun ingredients to shop for.  Here is a sample of their weekly menu: Shiitake & Sweet Pea Risotto, Brown Sugar Roasted Salmon, Asian Meatball Bánh Mi, Lamb Ragu, Punjabi Dum Aloo, Hot Dogs with Zucchini Relish & Warm Garlic Scape Potato Salad.  I know, right? How much fun would it be to be their neighbor who always drops by around dinner time?

A Year of Slow Cooking -  This blog author is a REAL cookbook author.  Isn't that neat?  I admire her dedication to one project for a whole year.  That would be tough for me to do, especially during summer time when really, can't most meals be cooked on the grill in the early evening sun?  I really like this site because of the index feature.  Got chicken breasts and a slow cooker?  You've got dozens of ways to prepare the food!  Stephanie and her family have most of the same staple pantry ingredients as I do, which is super helpful.  I think I learned HOW to slow cook from her, too.  Seriously, you shoudl read this site.  Its really great... even the reader comments!The Year of Slow Cooking was 2008, and with the sale of her crock pot cookbook, I am guessing they don't have slow cooked food everyday.  I hope Stephanie gets to go out for fancy dinners on her book tours! 

Our Best Bites - I don't visit this site too often because it has so many advertisements, but when I do visit it, I fall in love with it and want to visit this place every day and make three of the recipes.  The authors have a keen wit, too.  I wish the authors were my neighbors who dropped by with leftovers because some of the recipes are SO tasty - Boston Cream Pie, Spicy Honey Chicken, and Pizzookies.  There is a really nice index and they do the step by step recipe picture, too, which builds my confidence.

Sunday Suppers - This site makes me want to move to NYC and be a part of their company.  It is a cooking class/eating experience place.  I would love to take my mom and my friend Ann and her mother here for a few of their classes!  The photos are amazing and its really informative.  This site has a few lovely recipes strewn here and there. 

And now for the creme de la creme.... Smitten Kitchen.   I learned how to make oven roasted tomatoes here, which very well might be the best food I've ever made!  This site is so inspiring to me.  It makes me want to become a person who only leaves the house to grocery shop because I could cook and cook and cook these recipes! 

And there's my standby search engine site, Recipezaar.  I use this site more than the Food Network site or Allrecipes because I think the database is larger and the recipes are more honest and user friendly.  Usually when I am going to make a new item, I read several different versions of the recipes and craft my own version.  This is a great recipe research site!

Do you have any foodie blogs you read that I should be reading?  If so, please comment and share!

Who Do I Read, and Why?

Some of my best friends aren't bloggers.  They are creative and thoughtful and would really be fantastic sites.  They read my blog and know more about my daily life because of that, and it makes me wish they had one too so I could feel more involved in their lives.

These friends do often click on the links on my blog, and sometimes ask how I know so-n-so or where I found a particular site.

So, I am going to link up to a few sites that I read over the next week so you know and so you'll have more enjoyable reading.

Let's start with people who aren't real life friends.  I actually have never met them!

There's Erin, who writes MoMommy, a site that at first glance seems to be all about mommyhood (that word still  makes me shudder.  I don't know why I don't like all things mommy-ness.  I think the things that make women more than just moms is more fun to read and easier for me to relate!)

 Erin does write about her three photogenic kids (who actually are equally if not more so as photogenic as my kid!)  but she also writes in such a way that I relate to.  Maybe because she is a biologist.  Or maybe because she doesn't be all fakey-fake about having it all together.  Here is a link to my favorite post she has written, though really, I have a lot of favorites!  Here is a photo of how I hope our living room will look one day, and another of her (uber photogenic and slightly younger than my son) daughter.

Erin also keeps a tally of the miles she runs each week, month, and year.  Yikes!  Way to go, Erin!  Way to run and run and run, even just days after delivering a cute little bundle of Willa!  This makes me feel encouraged about starting a running program again, for I was once a runner.  Maybe I could start a tally, too.  Maybe it could be a Pilates counter, like how many Hundreds I do in a week.  Hm?

Now, there's Bonnie, of Team Meyer.  She actually is from the town I live in now, and her husband was in my same year and program at MU (though I didn't know him directly but I think he was in my friend Colby's FIG!).  They work teaching English in Korea.  I have just recently started to follow their adventures.  Here is a photo of the Meyers on the Greatest Wall ever.

I must admit, I some days I am so jealous about their chosen vocation.  I sincerely wanted to teach abroad or work with Peace Corps after college.  Instead, I went to grad school and married a man who has roots planted firmly in Missouri.  Because I teach ESL for one of my jobs, I feel like I can relate to them.  Also, they BOTH went to MU, just like we Haids did.  So that's a little connection, right?


Now there's Ashley, of Our Little Apartment.  I found her through some eco website I clicked through, and felt a kinship.  She rambles as much as me, and also feels conflicted at times about her chosen profession.  She is a crafty lady and she even has an ETSY shop!  She also does some of the nutty things that I do - such as saving shower water to flush toilets (did you know that about me?) and composts, too.  I bet she will do cloth diapering one day (soon!), too.

I started to read Ashley's blog over a year ago.  She reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age, which was like a year and a half ago.  Also, I think her relationship with her husband Mike is really similar to my marriage relationship, though her husband seems to be a bit keener on her eco-ideas.  Another difference - they live in an apartment, whereas we live in a stereotypical neighborhood!



I encourage you to add Erin, Bonnie, and Ashely to your Google Reader account.  And to Erin, Bonnie, and Ashley:  the next time you roll through Columbia, let's meet up for coffee! (except I will probably order a Pepsi, since I don't actually like coffee.)

Thoughts and Tidbits

I have cabin fever.  We've been INSIDE continuously since the pediatrician visit on Thursday. 

I think I will go out tomorrow to by some Romano cheese for this Spaghetti with Pepper and Cheese recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen.  I will also buy some squash and apples to make more baby food.

Yes, that's right, I made baby food with my very own two hands.  And he likes it!  For some reason, this really appeals to me, and probably, I should feel more proud of breastfeeding, but I totally don't.  Maybe this means I am a culinary master at heart.

My pink eye is fading to pale pink.  Today I wore lavender eye shadow and I am not sure if that was a coordinating color or if it brought out the unnatural shade caused by conjunctivitis.

I have several friends/acquaintances getting married this year.  This will be my fifth year of wedded bliss.  Yet, I feel crazily jealous that I am not planning an incredible wedding and lovely party afterwards.  I really loved wedding planning.  Maybe one of these friends will ask me to do the flowers or yell at a cake baker or something.

I loved watching The Bachelor tonight.  I think the guy is really dopey, as the last several have been, and he reminds me of this guy named Jared I knew really well from HS and college.  I never dated him because he was dopey, even though he was nice and hot.  I don't do dopey.

I really loved the drama of the girls discussing the romance between one of the contestants (are they contestants or girlfriends or potential wives? IDK.  I guess the word I chose describes how I view the show!).  I really loved how sassy that chick was.  She had really illogical arguments, of course, and her story was full of fallacies.  It was a really fun trainwreck to watch.

I am excited that the cast of Dancing will be announced next week!  I have little interest in the rest of the show, however.  My sister said it best in a text tonight -one girl thinks she is a Disney princess and the other is a hoochymama.  My sister is a great analyzer of character!

What else... one of my BFFs got to go to an exhibit all about The Muppets and Jim Henson this weekend.  You might call her SO LUCKY (but if you know her, you'd know she's had a series of unfortunate events that say otherwise).  Husby wanted to know if she got Kermit's autograph, because he thought they would be large puppet people like at Six Flags.  They were actually the original puppets, so they were behind glass.

My baby is cutting teeth today.  I think tomorrow he will wake up with two pearly whites.  I've thought this since October when he began gnawing on everything in sight and became a Droolfest.  today I felt his lower gums, something I do every day out of habit, and felt bumps.  This is totally going to rock his world.

I've been sipping on my favorite 99 cent beverage each morning - a Route 44 Diet Limeade with Extra Limes and Two Real Cherries and Easy on the Ice.  Next week they go off of sale, so I'll have to start drinking a homemade iced tea or something.  I am worried what that will do to my outlook on the day.

Life with Husby is really really really  good these days.  He is so kind to me.  He shows me his love, not just tells me.  This is something I have especially picked up on from being sick.

This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. I am writing some thoughts about this.

I am also going to write a few posts to introduce people or sites I read each week in hopes that my nonbloggy friends will start to be bloggy friends, too.

I am also planning to reorganize the menu bars and side columns on this blog, too. But that is a little boring to me, so I might skip that in favor of a game of Peek A Boo and just delete them all for now.

What else....?

I don't like the word tidbits.  It sounds gross on my ears.

Cloth diapers are on sale at cottonbabies.com.  You should totally buy the $12 Bum Genuises, because they are awesome!!  That is, if you have someone in your home who soils themselves and you give a hoot about the environment/your budget.

Oh yeah, LOST tomorrow!  It looks like we've got an angry Claire situation on our hands, not just a Fake Locke running around the island. 

Two vs. One

I just realized it.

I am out numbered.

That's two channel changing votes.

Hopefully, the little one will enjoy Dancing with the Stars. Season 10 starts in just one month!

Six months (Nearly Seven!)

This might be my favorite age/stage of babyhood.

My son has been sitting unassisted for a month now, is able to entertain himself by singing or exploring a toy, has a predictable napping and eating schedule, and takes delight in being cuddled by his parents.

It is easier now to be his mom since I get six or more hours of sleep in a row (and often eight total at night!). I feel like I have mastered the art of cloth diapering (and coupon clipping to buy Huggies for cheap when we travel!). My husband and I have clearly defined baby chores, but we help each other with them, too. I feel excited for when he tries and enjoys the baby food that I prepared for him.

The other day I articulated something I'd been feeling for awhile. My husband was sitting next to me on our couch watching the Olympics, and I was just finishing up Baby H's last feed for the day and stroking his soft scalp.

"This is totally how I pictured us having a baby. Its exactly what I assumed and hoped for."

I certainly know I didn't picture a baby as a fragile newborn and our house a constant place of activity for the parade of new baby visitors. I didn't realize there would be a Getting to Know You period in which we learned to communicate and express mutual trust and affection. I sort of thought that just happened naturally.

It is so much fun to have a baby this age and to be a parent of a baby at this age. I don't feel guilty when I acknowledge that I didn't really love being a mom earlier because I can confidently and enthusiastically declare my love for mothering my child right now.

I bet it gets way better, too, once he can talk and tell us jokes. Probably the next time the Olympics are on, he will be showing us how good of a sprinter he is or making up his own gymnastics routines using the couch as a pummel horse! I bet I will enthusiastically declare that the best moments of mothering are now, too.

The Sickness Continues...

Yes, my eye is still pink (but no longer bloodshot! and still only one eye!)

My baby is still exhausted (but taking three or four naps a day and waking once per night!)

The nasal bulb aspirator still elicits howls of agony (but also removes gummy worm-like snots!)

I pray for us to get better soon (and also pray a thankful prayer that we are generally quite robust!)

Initiation into Mommy-hood.

I forgot to publish this one.  I wrote it the week after Valentine's Week, which means its kind of old. Oh well. I still want to remember these things so I will publish it for posterity.

After this week, I truly believe that the nine months of nausea and day of contractions weren't actually initiation rites into the club of motherhood. 

Being up all night with a sick baby while you yourself are quite sick is the ultimate challenge.  DHH was a total pathetic mess of snot and moans all day on Wednesday.  This continued well into Wednesday night.  Because I wasn't feeling so well, I banished Husby to the guest bedroom in a sort of quarantine.  I had the baby in our bed, surrounded by all kinds of pillows to block his fall onto the floor. 

I didn't actually need to worry that he'd fall onto the floor though, because he buried his head into my collar bone and latched his tiny arms around my neck.  He was curled up into such a small bundle - so small that in the 2 AM hour I would have sworn I had time traveled back six months and was holding a newborn bundle - and really, if I had been feeling better myself, I probably would have been giddy with the comfort of baby smell and his snuggly-ness.

But I didn't feel well! 

I think Husby brought the germs into the house because on Saturday night, he felt very unromantic, even after a quite lovely Pre Valentines Date.  And on Sunday morning, it was my turn to feel sick.  We actually left church after ten minutes because I was so uncomfortable.  I needed to be huddled up under a blanket on our couch!  (Which is exactly how I spent the bulk of Valentine's Day).

On Monday, Husby was off because his place of work celebrates Presidents' Day as an actual holiday.  He stayed home with the wee one while I worked at MU for the morning.  I also worked some in the evening and afternoon, though from home, and with a trusty box of Kleenex. 

DHH was starting to get a little fussy. I could tell he was getting sick because his normal bathtime splash show was a little lackluster.  He just sort of kicked a few times, then settled back for us to wash his tiny bod.

Tuesday was my last full day of work for awhile, and I had made arrangements for our little boy to spend the entire day at daycare.  I knew this would be a poor idea, so Husby took the day off to tend to him.  When I came home for a nurse break during lunch break, I felt horrible.  I had gone through a box of Kleenex that morning and looked a lot like a the cartoon Kleenex kids from the commercials.  I took one of the only antihistamines that nursing moms can take and braced for a long afternoon of more work.

I was feeling so tired and sickly that I barely made it through LOST this week!  That is really saying something, too!

On Wednesday, DHH didn't have much of a fever.  He and I both slept for 3 hours in the morning, which is quite impressive.  I called our awesome peds nurse Kerri for some more tips about treating a sick baby.  I wasn't totally sure if he was just experiencing a cold or it it was something more.  I was doing everything necessary - humidifier, Vicks Baby Rub, Vaposteam, Healing Vapors Bath time, lots of liquids... and his temp was still only 99.2 F.  I tried to be a superhero wife and prepare 2 meals that night so Husby would have leftovers for lunch, but that was a big mistake.   It made lots and lots of dirty dishes and me feel exhausted!  I went to be at 7 and slept until DHH woke me with howls at 11 pm.

The rest of Wednesday night was so difficult!  My little boy was moaning in his sleep.  He tossed and turned and I started to notice that my eyes felt like acid was drizzled into them.  My ears were super sensitive, too.  I watched the clock change in fifteen minute increments, and decided that I would call it quits and let Husby assume sick baby duty at 5 AM.  I knew I'd need some sleep and a shower before I brought him to the peds office in the morning!

Husby held our little boy for an hour and calmly shushed him into an uneasy slumber.   Before he left for work, I took a shower.  I had had high hopes for it making me feel refreshed and renewed  Sadly, these hopes were not met!  I looked in the mirror and saw it was way worse than I had thought.

PINK EYE.

What an awful, bad thing.  It meant typing emails with my eyes closed (seriously!).  Make up? Please, if I couldn't see it, there was no reason.  I was just pitiful!

Little Pyramid Poem

Sick.

Pink eye.

Up all night.

Fussy, coughing, fever.

Empty boxes of Kleenex.

Pediatrician says Mom is more sick.

Big Bummer- mildly sick baby, really sick mom.

Grading Papers

So over the last 12 hours, I've edited and reviewed several final presentations for the English and Professional Immersion program for which I am a teacher.

I've seen so many FUNNY sayings that are konglish (Korean English) and I've forgotten how hard it is to give objective feedback without just totally altering what a student writes to match my own writing style and intent.  I have forgotten how to be a coach!  I am totally just an editor and basically rewriting.

Tomorrow is my last day with this EPI program, so I think its okay to make their papers super-ultra-wonderful-perfect for the final presentations. 

Perfect Valentine for a Baby

Husby went to get this balloon early Saturday morning. (He was also shopping for me!) He noticed that at 7 AM there were already dozens of guys selecting cards, flowers, and goodies for their sweethearts.  He chose this balloon for our son and it was a hit!  You can tell the baby likes it so much because he is kissing it.

Valentines Notes

Dear Parents In Law,
  Thanks so much for volunteering to come to watch the baby.  I know you were only here for a few hours and then left again before the snow, but we really enjoyed time away.  We enjoyed seeing you delight in our child.

Dear Husband,
   Thanks for letting me pick the restaurant and also for helping chose a movie.  I also like that you encouraged me to try a new food at lunch, and offered to share yours when I didn't like it to much.  You broadened my horizons, but you also let me stay in my comfort zone by giving me the last crab Rangoon.  Thanks for holding my hand while we walked around HyVee to pass a few moments before the theatre and also for dropping me off outside the theatre so I wouldn't have to walk in the cold.  Thanks also for being the only other person in the movie theatre who laughed at the special education line.  Also, thanks for puting up with me mocking the movie afterwards and telling REALLY funny jokes and not whining that it was a waste of money or complaining that I chose the last movie we saw, too, which was also not Oscar worthy, six months ago.  You rock!

Dear Q's Chinese Food Restaurant,
  You make THE BEST crab Rangoon.  The hot and sour soup was tasty, too.  I'm sorry I didn't love your Egg Foo Yong and hope I didn't offend when I asked for additional sauce because I found the dish bland.  I will most definitely order General's Chicken next time because you make it SO good.

Dear Redbox,
  Thanks for the free movie.  We'll try to get it back to you on time.

Dear Nicholas Sparks,
    I'm not sure where to begin.  I should say that probably you ARE a really good author, but that you have chosen to write in such a style that I find predictable and corny because you know dumb Americans love that.  And so I hope you get lots of money for that.  Pardon me, but I don't think I will sell out like that.  I might.  But I doubt it.

Dear John,
     Really?  You chose the military over a 2 week fling and you thought she would stay by you for HOW MANY years?  Seriously?  And why didn't you ever realize your dad had special needs?  And that last scene with the flowy shirt and the goatee and the bike... are we supposed to believe that you became a hippie after Afghanistan? 

Dear Amanda Seyfried,
    I thought your role was pretty silly, but you did a Mandy Mooresque job, plus you didn't cut your fabulous Mama Mia hair.  Thanks for singing in the movie for one scene, though to tell the truth, I wish you would have sang the whole movie to make it a bit more fun to watch.  I think you are the next Meg Ryan, so I'll probably watch all of your movies and hope that one of them will be as well written as your Big Love script.

Dear Dear John,
   I one hundred and ten percent with all my heart think that you really and truly were a pleasant way to pass two hours.  Like, totally.  If only the mule coin would have gone to fund the horse camp for autistic kids... then maybe I wouldn't feel so totally sarcastic and mock the platitudes and tautologies.   Maybe then I would think you were uniquely different and especially special and not just another exact same character as all the people who have appeared on ABC's The Bachelor.   I mean, hello pleonasms!   PS - to the girl who sat in front of me who said that it was the best movie she ever did see, it DOES make sense now that you said that the only books you ever read are Nicholas Sparks.  Total sense!

Dear Jane Austen,
   Its time for me to reread you.  I need a classic and well spun romance that equally suits my fabulous Mr. Haid.

Thank You, Baby

Dear Baby,

This morning was a difficult one for me. It was a morning when I had to face the fact that you are our only child here with us, which makes me feel a little more sad on particular anniversaries. Today I would have a two year old daughter. Her pregnancy happened long ago enough that the emotions from it are not raw and devastating anymore, though they are still very real and sad.

But today when I was feeding you, you paused to look up at me and then turned to look at your dad. The look on your face was one of trust and familiarity. You recognize us as your parents. You think we are excellent parents
.

Seeing you look so pleased with us made me realize that we really would have been good parents two years ago, too. You did not make us good parents, we already had the qualifications of love and devotion before hand. I am not sure why I didn't realize this before! It brought me so much comfort and peace of mind.

Thank you for bringing warmth into a cold winter's day and a typically sad day of mourning dreams not realized.

Love,
Your Mama

Tea Pot Arms!

So whenever our kid gets fussy or we have the whim, we have him perform I'm a Little Teapot. When we get to this part, we just crack up. He has just such good posture and great angles. I am excited to have him do the robot. Arms stationary, anyone?

Koreans Come To My House for Fried Chicken, Babies, and Rifles.

 This weekend, we hosted a little informal gathering between friends and family.  I invited my eight students who are visiting from Korean universities over for a traditional Sunday meal.  I also invited Hilary and her two sweet children.

Luckily, I had my sister in town to help make a traditional meal.  For us, this evokes memories of Mom preparing a big spread after church (and later, when we worked at Douglas Company, serving a big meal to customers and watching THEM eat).  She and I decided to serve fried chicken (but actually, we had Shake n Bake because it was way easier, healthier, and less messy!), mashed potatoes, creamed corn, green bean casserole, hot rolls, and various desserts, including blackberry cobbler.

We prepared 38 pieces of chicken and lots of veggies.  At the end of the meal, two drumsticks were left.  One tiny scoop remained of the five pounds of potatoes!  Husby thought he would have some choice leftovers for work lunches, but he thought wrong!

This smiling boy is Emmett. He is crawling at incredible speeds and has all four front teeth. Here is the first post in which he appeared as a newborn!  I got to hold him just a few hours after his birth.

 And here, both boys are being held by Matt and Hun.  Emmett is apparently ignoring his friend.

This student is named Yong.  He is a chemical engineering student, and he surprised me by LOVING holding the babies.  I was actually surprised that all of the men enjoyed holding the babies so much.  They are a bit older than the females, even though they are all university seniors, because military service is compulsory in Korea.   They served two years and therefore are just a little bit younger than me, and I've been out of undergrad for nearly five years!

  I took this photo of nearly everyone who was at our house, except Joo's face got cut off and Husby had left for a meeting.  And, of course, I wasn't in the photo.  For those of you who are counting, that is twelve adults!

I included this one because my baby looks hilarious.

Look who is the center of attention!

Joo reads Dr. Suess while Han rocks him.  He fell fast asleep with a peaceful smile.

 It is illegal to own weapons in South Korea.  Husby enjoyed showing them a few and is planning to take some to a shooting range this weekend.  I think this may be the most exciting time they have had in America!  Its hard for me to imagine because I think guns are kind of dumb and uninteresting, but I suppose if I didn't have an opportunity to EVER hold one or see one in person (other than compulsory military service), I would also be as thrilled as they are.  I think that is a great part of freedoms.

Aunt Rachel plays with Baby H and Sophie the Giraffe.

He actually loves to give kisses, but not as keenly receives them.

 He also enjoys licking or eating hair.

 And touching eyes.

Its great to have a sister who can drop things in her personal life and come for a nice, long weekend visit!  I feel happy to have hosted her this weekend!  Its something when you visit for only an afternoon compared to when you get two nights sleep and three days with a sister in your house.  We had enough time to relax and unwind and get to know each other again!