Moving forward

I am a 33 year-old white woman, wife and mother. I was born in South Africa and moved to Virginia when I was 15 years old. I was raised in a culture that many people have frowned upon and fought against for many, many years. For me, it was just how life was.

During my sophomore year in high school, I experienced a form of reverse racism. I was friendly with a young black girl until one day she stopped speaking to me. It wasn't until the end of our senior year that she opening apologized and admitted to assuming that I was racist because of where I was born.

Last night, I proudly cheered when Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States. I am now hopeful that my daughter will grow up in a country where the color of someone's skin is seen as something beautiful rather than used as a tool of discrimination.

Many may still disagree, but this country needs Barack Obama.

It's about time. It's about change. It's about acceptance. It's about moving forward. I am not so ignorant to assume that any president can or will deliver all that he or she promises. I do believe, however, that Barack Obama can move us. When I decided to support Obama in his bid to become the next president, I told my husband my reasons for doing so. I became more interested in politics this year than any year passed but it wasn't all politics that led me to my decision. Taxes are inevitable. Health care is expensive. War will happen. I don't stop to think that those issues can just be solved overnight, in the next four years or even the next 20 years. But I do believe that we have before us a man who truly believes in the power of the people - and that is a mighty force.

It's now up to all of us - those of us who voted for Obama, those who voted for John McCain. All of us. If we retreat to our corners (mourning the Republican loss or cheering the Democratic win), we'll be in the same place in four years as we were a week ago, a month ago, a year ago. Let each of us bring our strengths and let us all help Barack Obama be the best President and lead our country to greatness.

Election Day!

Updated at 11:44pm after a large celebratory brownie sundae and a glass of champagne - WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A divided household

No. Not Joe and I - between us and my dad! I sent a picture I found in the archives to the family earlier today; seems even in her young month-old-wisdom, Ava was wise beyond her years.

Then Pern fired back with his own campaign shot in defense of my Dad's "right to choose" who he votes for," whatever THAT means! Not sure where he dug it up, but the conversation that followed has been a lot more entertaining than anything we've seen from Obama and McCain for the past many months.

And the last picture - a doctored version of the coupon I designed for my moms group's SPCA fundraiser. I was trying to give it a more conservative spin since we live in a more conservative area. No, these did not go out to the public - until now!

Me: Even from an early age, I knew she was smart! I just discovered this
in iPhoto! Couldn't have found it at a more relevant time!

My mom: Your Dad will say she's upset at having to wear that shirt.

Pern: Doug, It's your vote, your choice! Do what YOU want! Don't let anyone sway your vote with cute baby pics... or candy... or 25 year old scotch.

Joe (in response to the photo): An old guy and someone who can't speak in complete sentences?

Me to Pern: I think you've been threatened with staying home from both
the polls and Disneyland if you don't vote a certain way... Stop
encouraging this behavior! [He and my sister and parents are heading to Disneyland on the 5th and she threatened to ban him from the trip if he voted a certain way.]

Pern: What behavior? The right to vote for who you want and voice your own opinion? And if I vote a certain way I don't think they are *not* going to let me into DisneyWorld. I'm not saying who I'm voting for, because I don't really know. I'm in the 9% of Undecided Virginia Voters right now. But I will be voting for someone with the letters M, O, C, A, in their name.

Pern: Doug, Joe just called you Old! Who is your favorite son-in-law now?

Joe: My logic (which may be flawed): the easiest way I know to my father-in-law happy is to keep his daughter happy, even if it involves insulting him.

The results are still not tallied but I think it's clear - Joe wins by a clear margin!

Happy Voting Day for tomorrow - have fun standing in lines!

Happy Halloween!

Since it was Ava's first Halloween, we deemed it fit for her to wear her costume on two separate occasions - the first was at our favorite coffee shop's Halloween event last Monday night and then again on Halloween. Our little Hula Monkey was out in full force - and actually decided to keep the costume intact by keeping the hat on!

On Halloween night, Ava's friend Lilah came over to trick-or-treat and then played for a while. We hope to do the same again next Halloween when hopefully both of the girls are walking!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, the three of us paid $20 to get into a farm to take a hay ride and take pictures of Ava sitting next to pumpkins. Next year we'll remember to pack the stroller in the car so that we can actually bring home our 2 free (paid-for-with-admission) pumpkins and not have to carry an almost-20lb baby around!

We had fun, as did Ava, and I bought some tasty blackberry jelly and apple butter on the way out. So not a total bust!

Branching out

Past few days

This will be a quick entry with fast photos - taken from Joe's iPhone and emailed; much quicker than using the big camera, downloading, cropping, fixing etc.

On Tuesday we did something we'd never done before: we voted early. I'd never heard of such a thing until we received a political phone call and the lady asked if we knew about it. Seems more than 30 states allow early voting, but Virginia is not one of them. I thought it might be a scam - ie. my very important vote ends up in the big abyss of "early" votes. But apparently it is real! So, we voted. I was number 788 at our polling station. Now the big question: what shall I do with my time on November 4th while everyone else is standing in line?

Taken after voting while we were walking through the grocery store. Note the hat that actually stayed on!

Earlier in the day, we went to Lilah's house for a playdate and met a twin. Another little girl new to the group was born on the same day as Ava (but at a different hospital). After the other kiddies left, Lilah and Ava hung out for a little while, while Gillian and I chatted. Apparently Gillian believes that whenever the babies hang out, Lilah goes home and partakes in some less-than-desirable activity (you know, crawling, pulling up, etc.) So, now I need to figure out a way to spend more time with older babies so that Ava can learn more undesirable tricks to teach to Lilah!

Little buddies playing

On Wednesday we went to Wal-Mart for fun. Yeehaw! Yes, I live more in the country than I used to and no, I do not enjoy trips to Wal-Mart, but when the 5pm witching hour hits, beggars can't be choosers! So at 5pm, I packed up the baby and headed to Wal-Mart to help the economy a little.

On Thursday morning we headed to Durham to visit the folks at the Infant Cognition lab at Duke University. Ava went there when she was 6 months old and will hopefully go again in the next 6 months. After her 10 minute session, staring at various television screens that showed different dots and cartoon characters (all in the name of science), she received her second diploma. The kid is now officially more educated than both mommy and daddy. We figured the first trip earned her a baby bachelors, this trip the baby masters and if she goes for the third time, we'll have to start calling her Doctor!

Baby scientist!

One day she'll learn the value of a diploma!

Waiting for lunch at Macaroni Grill where she had a great time shredding the paper tablecloth and wanted to eat the crayons!


This morning was our weekly trip to Little Gym for some physical exercise and fun, followed by our post-LG visit to the coffee shop where we snacked and chatted with our new friends.

This weekend is stacking up to be busy, with a baby shower on Saturday and (weather permitting) a trip to the pumpkin patch on Sunday!

And then it'll be Monday and time to do it all over again!

Photo Saturday

Inspired by my friend Nikole.

All that glitters

Snacktime

What you can't see in the frame is the banana I'm enjoying as a snack. Unfortunately, I have a weird dog who loves banana and a baby who has finally gotten over the weird texture issue she had with the fruit. I pull the peel and they both come running.

Standing

No, not all on her own, but right now, this is the closest she's come to standing with the help of a little friend - the trusty toy basket.

Farewell card ending in xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-####

I suppose the time had to come. After 12 long and faithful years, after small balances and some larger, the bank decided it was time to give me a new credit card number (most likely to avoid fraud). My dear number will no long be used. I will have to memorize a whole new number and hope that it becomes a part of me as the old one did.

It is a sad day.

Welcome to the new card ending in xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-[some number]!

Wrightsville Beach, NC

This past weekend, we took a trip to Wilmington. We stayed at a boutique hotel (part hotel, part bed-n-breakfast) in the heart of the downtown district. We had a great time exploring a new place - walking around downtown, eating yummy Thai food, strolling back to the room after dinner enjoying ice-cream cones and marveling at the beautiful historic homes. On Saturday we ate at a Tex-Mex type place that was recommended to me and had the most delicious quesadilla. Afterwards we wandered around Airlie Gardens and saw a 400 year old tree. That night after dinner, we took Ava to the beach for her first ocean experience. She seemed in awe of the size of it all - looking at the water and listening to the waves. Then she laughed and had fun having her feet splash in the water and sink in the same as the waves retreated. All in all, a great weekend, our first vacation together as a family.

Outside

Future musician?

And yes, that is part of the breast-pump machine. It was clean and it kept her entertained.

Backlog

Without a computer of my own, being able to download and correct photos and then upload them and the stories to the blog has been very difficult.

So, with Joe out of town for the night, I'm staying up extra late to get some pictures up.

These are some from the past few weeks.

Ava can spend hours taking her books from her bin
and paging through them.
Our happy baby.
A sneak peek at the Hula Monkey halloween costume.
For a refresher on Hula Monkey...
Pulling a goofy face. Along with the goofy faces, come goofy noises. Today she spent the better part of her awake time practicing what can only be described as a fake laugh.
She loves pulling out all the clean bibs
and found this sock amongst the stash.

Hats off to ya!

Enjoying lunch and a drive in the car

Swimming

(Taken a few weeks ago during a visit with my parents)

9 month stats

Here are the numbers:

18lbs (down slightly from the 6 month checkup, but we have a busy, busy little girl who burns lots of calories, so the doctor is not worried) - 40th percentile

28.5 inches - 85th percentile