Finally.

Is that you, fall?? Oh, it's been too long.

We had a good day today. It was so gorgeous outside, how could we not? Whenever I can open a window in my house and not start to sweat immediately, it's a good day.

We started with breakfast, which Alex has absolutely no interest in.

She would much rather eat her highchair. Which is ok, I guess.

Then we took advantage of the GREAT weather and headed to the river. The Missouri River, that is. Nothing like Old Town St. Charles. It's probably one of my favorite places in St. Louis. (Fact: St. Charles was the first permanent settlement on the Missouri River. I figure it was settled by people like myself... "Yay! We made it to the Mississippi! There's the arch! Gateway to the West! To the beyond!" ...walk a few miles... "Ya, this is far enough.")

We saw the statue of Lewis and Clark... and their dog. Which Violet barked at the whole time we were next to it.

I'm not exactly sure what this sign is referring to. I think Violet was confused as well.

And this is what happens when you are the only one who understands, "Now everyone look at the camera!"

It was a great day. I was able to find a secluded bench and feed Alex so we could stay there a bit longer. I promptly slammed my elbow into the table, which didn't feel nice. I never thought of nursing in public as an extreme sport, but hey, I drew blood. You try getting a wiggling kid (with teeth) attached to your chest while not exposing bare skin (gasp!) to the public. It takes practice, that's for sure. And for the most part, people tend to give you your space if they realize what you are doing. I've only had one awkward moment so far, which was in the Zoo not too long ago. Alex needed to be fed, and we were there on a weekday, so I grabbed a table in one of the eating areas. There were about 25 tables in the section, and not one of them was occupied when I sat down. As soon as we got started, this young kid who was apparently on his lunch break came and sat DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM ME. He proceeded to eat his lunch and feed the birds and not meet my eyes (which was probably for his own sake, because I'm guessing he would have burned alive if he saw the look I was giving him). Probably... no.... Absolutely one of the most awkward moments in my life.

***

no words.

Tonight, I got a firsthand (ok, well secondhand) glimpse into how awful this world can be. I made a horrible dinner (no, that's not the awful part- that's pretty normal actually), so horrible that we decided to pitch it all and get chinese. Paul was going to pick it up, as Alex was in a foul mood and in no state to travel, no matter how short the drive. When he got back, he came straight down stairs, and the look on his face, I swear I will never forget.
What happened was while he was on his way to get the food, while he was STILL IN OUR SUBDIVISION, in fact- just one street over from our house, he saw two small children walking in the street (no sidewalks here). Paul guessed that they were brother and sister, about 4-5 years old. As he was passing them, he noticed a black truck with an older guy in it slow to stop near them and initiate a conversation with said children. Paul, thinking this was a little sketchy, decided to turn around and ask the man what he was doing. (Which just goes to show, listen to that little inner voice, people) When the man saw Paul turning his car around, he took off. Yep, definitely sketchy. Paul then pulled up to the kids to ask if they knew that man, to which they both replied to the negative. When asked what the man was talking to them about, they said that he wanted to show them something, and something about a 'peepee' and 'butt'. Paul called the police, gave them a full report, and they were at our door in about 5 minutes. Impressive. They will be sweeping the subdivision for the next couple of days. Paul gave them a pretty good description of the guy, plus the first 3 letters of his liscence plate. And since then, he's been on the internet looking up the registered sex offenders in the area. Bless him.

This scares the shit out of me. When I was younger, I could go around the block, down to the store, really anywhere I could get to on a bike without causing too much worry. But even then, it was the worry of me falling off my bike, or getting lost. But now, kids can't even go down their own street without their parents having anxiety attacks because some pervert might pick them up. Scares. The. SHIT. out of me. What sick, sick people.

REALLY?? Did you just DO that??

Recently, I had a salesman come to my house. He was trying to sell a cleaner that supposedly took off anything from anything else. He sprayed the apparent mold I had on my cement (uhhh... I think that's called... dirt). But look! It's clean now! He sprayed my door handle, and oooh, it's pretty now.
Then he said something about how it was safe for the environment.
He sprayed his fingers, and PUT THEM DIRECTLY INTO HIS MOUTH.

Really? You just powerwashed my driveway with that stuff, and now you are eating it??

Should I mention that he did not have his upper four front teeth? Just a minor, unrelated detail I am sure.

my hand is RAW from putting on the SMACKDOWN

I know it's been a few days, but I figured that I would let you know how the wrestling match went.

It was, as promised, awesome. Not only was it officially a date night for Paul and I, which is a rare thing, but it was a date night in a big stadium with lots of pretty lights and things happening. Awesome.

We started the night with a great dinner at a pub downtown. I was able to sample the beer without worrying about it passing on to the little one.


We even got dessert.... which I swear was good. And very pretty. But my stomach acted more quickly than my camera did in this instance...

After dinner, we went straight to the stadium. I was ELATED upon arrival, seeing how many people I was about to 'people watch' allll niiiight looong. Some interesting men and women at these things. I was not disappointed. I was excited to get to my seat so I could just sit back and stare... When we got there, I went in first and immediately struck in the face by a wave of ... 'not-good-smellingness'. As I searched for the source of the smell under and behind my seat, I heard a very loud... what do you call it when someone sucks back a loogey? That noise. I heard that. Right next to my ear. I jumped, turned, and there, sitting in the seat next to me was one of my 'people-watchees'. Classic WWE fan. Not saying that they are all... eccentric. But this guy could have fit in here, a Star Trek convention, and a Dungeon and Dragons marathon so so easily. More power to him for embracing it. But, dude, embrace a shower once in a while.
Sorry. That was harsh.
Anyway, I turned and stared at Paul, who was still searching for the moldy nachos or the decomposing body that was obviously stashed someone near our seats. He caught the look in my eyes, glanced over my shoulder, then grabbed my hand. I was led up the stairs to the standing area, listening to the loogey sound the entire way. We decided that, until the event actually started, we would hang out up here.

After about 20 minutes, the lights started flashing, so we grudgingly made our way back towards our section. We were stopped by an usher who asked if we needed help finding our seats. We said no, and Paul very nicely explained that we had just been waiting to go down because the man we were sitting next to had a 'hygene issue'. Bless his heart for putting it so nicely. Well, this usher, who became our best friend that night, gave a look of... was that pity?!?! He turned, made a motion that we should follow him, and he lead us straight to the little handicapped section on the top... the one that sits right at the top and has the two folding chairs. PERFECT. He said we could hang out there until someone else needed it. We were able to stay there for the whole first show (it ended up being a double show... almost too much for us old fogeys!!). After that, someone who needed the seating area that provided came, so we headed back to our section... low and behold! Our friend stopped us AGAIN! and ushered (he was very good at his job) us to 2 empty CLUB SEATS for the rest of the show. Big old leather club seats. It was awesome.

So the show was great. Very entertaining. The seating was awesome. Multiple viewpoints! The company was tremendous. I would do it again. I guess I can officially call myself a WWE fan. ;)


And... is anyone else an MTV marathon junkie? You know Mike from the Real World (and all of the subsiquient challenges)? Mike. Mike and Coral Mike. The MIZ Mike. Wonder where he went? Yep. He made it to the WWE. Good for him.

6 months old today.

Half a year.

HALF of a YEAR.

HALF OF A FRICKIN YEAR, PEOPLE.

I'm stunned at how quickly these past 6 months have gone. But also stunned because it seems like she's been with us for much more than 6 months. A few lifetimes might be a more appropriate time frame.

People ask if having a child is anything like I had expected it to be. I usually tell them that I didn't know what to expect, so in that respect, no, it's nothing like what was in my head. It's so much better. Yes, I have permanent bags under my eyes. I am usually covered in some type of bodily fluid. I get excited about different things, like Alex having a bowel movement, which she is doing right now (tmi?). Things are different. But this is my normal now. And I love it.

Stats: 13 lbs 11 ounces
25 inches long