Wedded bliss

Tony and I have been enjoying weekend dinners with my Uncle Philip and Cousin Ben lately. Philip is a video editor and director for ME TV and for decades has been chronicling family events. So at each dinner he brings some forgotten roll of film from back in the day.

Last time he looked through his undeveloped rolls he found these candid shots from my wedding (the wedding was also Tony's).

Me and my Granddad (Dr. Jack) who can cut a rug like you wouldn't believe.


Uncle Bobby (who just got back from the Inauguration madness), My Godmother Lisa, My Dad


The lovely girl holding my hands is my cousin India who everyone says looks just like me, which is crazy because she is much better looking than me. Though at the time she did say I looked like a princess (big dress=princess) which is a big compliment from a kid of her age at the time.


Notice the lovely saris that decorate the tables and the cake that is not melted into a puddle on the sari. The air-conditioning in the gallery where we had our reception was turned off (for some unknown reason) the day of our wedding and my Mom had to physically intimidate a service person into turning the thing on. It was July in Dallas and many of the guests were dying.

The decor was mostly Mom's doing. So were the flowers, the food, the booze, and all the horrible-last-second-disaster relief. I do have a picture of Mom in this bunch but she would be mad at me for posting it because she was in such a flurry trying to get things ready that she didn't feel like she had on her happy face in the pictures.
She is pleased beyond words with the son-in-law, but would prefer not to host another wedding (sorry Jesse).


This is one of those pictures that mean nothing to people who are not in the picture. But I see so many friends and family members that are dear to me. Some of them are no longer with us.


So many people helped us with this celebration. Tony's parents hosted a beautiful rehearsal dinner at their home, my father's mother provided cameras on all the tables, my mother's mother bought us the cake with champagne icing (it was so freaking good), my aunt got Tony a groom's cake with a monkey on it (Mojojojo from the Powerpuff girls- Topical!), my dad gave us a nice check.
Tony and I did not have a big wedding and we had lots of help, but we still ended up with plenty of debt and a profound urge never to plan another wedding.

I remember being so scared during the whole process and Tony looked like he was going to pass out at the altar. I was so worried that no one was going to have a good time and all the little details made me insane. After all that hullabaloo the actual marriage has been cake.

Baby Cage

We finally got Alice to accept sleeping in her crib as a good thing. She has gone to sleep at bedtime with minimal fuss every night this week. Daddy has been on point for all of these bedtime sessions giving me a chance to get some work done. This is a great relief as she is too old to snooze on our bed with a fortress of luggage stacked around her and her parents nervously popping in to check on her status every few seconds. Blissful, sleeping, safe baby.

Tomorrow we are going on a 5 day road trip that is going to blow all this to hell.

Hair Update

My Mom told me tonight that she thinks I should go ahead and get the pixie cut. She is also all for the blue coif, though she also suggested purple (it goes with my coloring). I am flumboozled. Mom once advised me against the wild notion of getting bangs!

Tony says he is also all for the change. Wow. I think I might have to do this.

hair

Some Sundays ago I spoke to my friends (veteran parents) Erik and Nicole. The two friends asked me if Alice had progressed to the pinching and hair pulling stage of babyhood. I said "kinda".

Well, Alice has gained a herculean level of strength in the past few days (must be the smashed yams). Now if you look at my hair you will see a motherly mullet. Long in the back- Ripped to shreds in the front. Most of the hair around my temple is ragged and about an inch long. It also came to my attention recently that the top layers of my hair are hiding an ample crop of wiry gray strands at the bottom. For the first time in my life I am considering a pixie cut. Not for fashion, but for self-preservation.

Do I have the bone structure so necessary for optimal short hair success? No I do not. Maybe if I dye the whole mess bright blue as I have always wanted then no one will notice my bones (or lack thereof).

the beast

Tony refused to let me post the video that I took of Alice last night. Granted much of the video featured Tony lounging in his boxers trying to have a civilized phone conversation with our buddy Leanne, but the focus of the short film was the raging ball of insanity that is our daughter.

Alice was on a wild swinging pendulum between beating me to death with her flying baby mitts and climbing Tony to snatch the shiny cell phone away from his face. She zoomed between her parents with a series of ninja rolls and flips. Occasionally she would crash onto her back and stare up at the camera in perfect stillness. Only to leap back into the fray with a hearty "Da DA!".

It was gloriously frightening.

DaDa BooHoo

"DaDa" is Alice's favorite person and most expressive sound. She finds it especially useful when her Mama won't give up the shiny camera for her to chew on.

Close one

After the 1am feeding, the baby had just settled back down for sleep.
As I moved away from Alice my hand brushed a musical motion-sensitive toy on the bookshelf. Specifically a butterfly that plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" very loudly when you move it.

The moment the music started I was on my feet and sprinting out of the bedroom. After he stopped laughing Tony said it was like I was holding a live grenade rather than a stuffed butterfly.

I made it all the way to the kitchen before "How I wonder what you are".

The butterfly is in the freezer.


This is the butterfly in the story, being chewed upon by a "1st thing in the morning" rumpled Alice

It's official: She's crawling

fingerprints

Since she hit six months Alice has been sleeping less deeply during her naps. This makes trimming her nails while she is sleeping (the only viable option) a trial. Today she refused to let me touch her hands and actually planted her face down on her fingers and refused to roll over. Since I was working on the computer next to her I just let Alice nap on her hands. When she woke I looked down and said "Hello Sweetie how are yu..."

Did you see the perfectly formed little baby finger impressions in her soft baby face? This is what happens when we are stubborn Alice.

Today was a banner day in the learning to crawl academy. When Tony came home Alice was rambling her way across the bed toward her daddy at warp (for a scooting baby) speed. She was pretty proud of herself for figuring it out.

Back online/ lunch with Brad

Back before our computer died our buddies Brad and Leanne came to visit for my birthday:
I took this video during feeding time (on my birthday) of the rehabilitating wild birds at the Nature Center in Austin. Notice Brad feeling sad for the rat at the end of the movie.

Alice however sided with the bird.



While our buddies were in town we took them to "Mother's" vegetarian restaurant multiple times and after the holidays my sister came into town and was also dragged to Mother's.

I am slightly addicted to the cashew tahini salad dressing found at that particular establishment, plus the changing tables are ample and in both unisex bathrooms. This is a serious consideration these days. Not only that, the staff consistently provide us with a cup of hot water for disinfecting pacifiers and toys that have hit the floor.

It was great having Jesse in town even though we mostly stayed indoors and played with the baby. New Years Eve we saluted the fireworks via our upstairs guest bedroom window with crystal glasses full of lemon slices and...water. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Before Jesse's visit Alice and I flew to NM where Alice collected snuggles from her Grammy and toe licks from Grammy's dogs.


Before that Alice visited her cousins in Houston and collected pacifiers from Santa in the stocking provided by her Auntie Karen and Uncle Toby.

Tony and I enjoyed Alice and our niece Marilyn's first Christmas morning.

Tony and Marilyn



Alice ended her vacation in Dallas playing with her Granddad Mike, Grandma Nancy, and Uncle Mike. She had fun eating at the dinner table with the grownups and adding babybabble to the conversation, instead of sitting in front of "Hulu" with her parents. Alice also spent the night at her Great Granddad's house. While her parents were enjoying coffee Alice stole a kerchief of her Great Grandmother's head and put it on her own little noggin. Of course my camera batteries would die before I could capture that precious moment.

After all that travel we made it home to a repaired laptop (note to self: always get the extended warranty on mac laptops) and peaceful days playing with all her Christmas booty. Baby bliss: