Day 476: Waffle House

Whole grain waffle and milk for breakfast. Yum! June 28th:

Uncle Remus Museum

I just found the souvenirs that I got when I visited the Uncle Remus Museum in Georgia a few years ago. I'd forgotten that I ever went. I was traveling for work when I heard about it. I thought it sounded strange and so I decided to stop in and see it.

Here's the museum's website: click here

The only context that I have for the Uncle Remus stories is from Disney's "Song of the South"-- of which I watched a bootleg copy from Japan some years back. The movie has never been released in its entirety in America because a lot of people believe its content to be racist. If you read through the museum's website, you'll see that an argument could be made either way-- either Joel Chandler Harris was mocking black slaves, supporting racist ideas, and profiting off of stories told to him by people who tended not to have a voice in the popular literature of the time... or he was documenting an important part of American history and creating a valuable anthropological record (even if he did personally believe in white supremacy).

Interesting stuff, in my opinion. Some of the stories are on the museum website, if you want to read them.

Day 475: Pointer Sister

Clark, here is proof-- PROOF!-- that Elise "started it." June 28th, 2011. Before you were even born.

Days 472, 473, and 474

Splish splash, Elise was takin' a bath on June 24th:



Elise's first bathing suit! She'll be starting swimming lessons soon. June 25th:



Elise loves her Radar. And Radar tolerates her Elise. :) June 26th:

Days 469, 470, and 471

This is Elise's "why does the peel taste different than the squishy middle?" face. June 21st:



Wearing some of Daddy's old shoes, June 22nd:



My baby trap worked! June 23rd:

Days 466, 467, and 468

Elise and Daddy story time! So precious. June 18th:



We took the kids to the library on Father's Day. June 19th:



Elise's treasure box. June 20th:

Happy Father's Day and Days 463, 464, 465

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads that I know!!! My dad, Elliot's dad, Bret, Craig, our friend Chris... and of course, ELLIOT! I always knew that Elliot would be a wonderful father, but he's truly, truly an amazing, one-of-a-kind daddy to Elise, Clark, and all of the the kiddies that we've had the chance to foster.

Elise loves her daddy so much! Here she is on June 15th, after wrestling a panda bear (didn't even break a sweat!):



Elise is getting ready to take over this blog for me. This is what she looked like while typing up her first post. June 16th:



Good Night, Gorilla makes Elise a very happy baby. June 17th:

24 Weeks Pregnant with Clark

Here I am a few days ago, 24 weeks pregnant with Clark. Everything is going great with the pregnancy. I feel good-- a bit tired and constantly hungry, but nothing that I can't manage. Clark is kicking all the time now. He gets especially excited after I eat something spicy!

Here I am at 24 weeks pregnant with Elise: click here

Days 461 and 462

Elise likes watching Radar eat in the mornings. June 13th:



Elise has discovered how much fun stacking can be. She stacks blocks, cat food cans... whatever she can get her hands on. June 14th:

Days 458, 459, and 460

I wish I could post pictures of our foster kids, too. All three babies were asleep in their car seats on June 10th and it was so super cute. Peaceful. Quiet.



June 11th:



Elise has found a weapon! She was using it like a whip. June 12th:

Days 456 and 457: Crazy Baby!

We went out to lunch on June 8th, and toward the end of the meal Elise apparently got tired of our boring adult conversation. She put her head down on her dinner roll and tried to start her nap early:



This is my new favorite picture of Elise. I call it "Tortured Artist." June 9th:

Days 454 and 455

Elise hugged her teddy bear and bounced herself to sleep in her bouncer on June 6th:



Her days aren't all about reading books and practicing animal sounds-- Elise spends lots of time playing, too. June 7th:

No Day 453: Mommy Fail

I'm so upset with myself. Somehow I forgot to take a daily picture of Elise on June 5th. I guess we were all just having so much fun that day that it slipped my pregnant mommy mind. June 5th was a Sunday, so that means we spent the day playing and hanging out. That afternoon Elliot and I took the kids to the library and they met a little boy there and played with him. A million opportunities for cute pictures. :(

To make up for it, here is a picture of Elise on Saturday night, after dinner (which explains the food on her face and shirt):



And here is Elise Monday morning, reading a very cool book that our friend Amber sent the kids:



So, that doesn't completely account for Sunday, but it's the best I can do.

Days 451 and 452

This is what it looks like when Elise drinks from a glass. Look at that bottom lip! June 3rd:



The kids love looking at the fountain at the mall. They'll just sit and stare at it for a while. I guess the noise and the movement of the water are a novelty for them. June 4th:

Clark's First Video!

Here is the very first video of Clark, which was taken at our first OBGYN appointment. (You can hear Elise in the background.)




Hi, little guy! We love you!!!

Days 449 and 450

Yum! Milk! June 1st:



Elise enjoys working on puzzles. She's actually pretty good at it, for her age. She can often match the pictures to figure out where the puzzle piece should go, and she only needs a little bit of help fitting the piece into its spot. June 2nd:

22 Weeks Pregnant

Here's my 22 week pregnant belly with Clark:



Umbilical hernia and all. That umbilical hernia that I got when I was pregnant with Elise just popped right back out once I started showing the tiniest bit with Clark. Now it's bigger than it ever was with Elise, I think. It doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable or anything-- it just looks silly.

Here's my 22 week belly with Elise: click here

Day 448: Feeding Herself

Chili for dinner last night...



The resolution of the pictures that my phone can take does not accurately represent how very orange Elise was after she finished feeding herself. Nor does it show you how much food was stuck in her armpits, behind her head, under her chin, and between her toes.