Straw Poll Road Trip!

Today we drove to Ames, IA for the Iowa GOP Straw Poll. It was so much fun and so exciting to be a part of something so politically important. We went with the Romney campaign, but I learned something new about several of the other candidates and really feel like there are some strong options for a V.P. out there! :)


Seriously though, the Romney campaign really went all out. They handed out yellow Mitt Romney t-shirts on the buses so when we got there it looked like a big yellow Romney party. They had three different bands lined up, a tent for BBQ, a tent for eating the BBQ, a rock wall for people to climb, and those blow up bouncy things for kids. Party! Brownback was the only person who even came close to being that cool with BBQ and a snow cone machine. The snow cone machine was very tempting, but it just felt wrong to go take stuff from them when we weren't voting for him. Then again...I guess if he did become the Republican nominee I would probably vote for him (unless the dems came up with a surprise jewel of a candidate unknown right now), so then that would make it okay to have snagged a snow cone. Too bad my brain wasn't working earlier. It was crazy hot out there.


There were Ron Paul groupies everywhere marching around and trying to hand out Ron Paul literature. They were almost as aggressive as the guy at our mall who tries to tackle me with a flat iron for a demonstration every time I walk by. About every two minutes Brownback or Romney or Ron Paul people (usually college students) would parade through the event doing a chant of some sort and waving their signs. This alone was one of the best truly "Iowan" things we have done here. Here is a video of some dancing from earlier in the week and our trip today. Enjoy!



Oh, and the NRA pictures are for Brent! :)

I'm Published!

With the Iowa GOP Straw Poll tomorrow, this week has been full of politics. This is a family blog, however, our family has been quite overrun with my Romney volunteer efforts lately so it is only fitting that I post my little opinion blurp that made the paper today. Living in the small liberal town of Iowa City, IA has definitely brought out the activist in me. This is the second or third time I've written in to the paper in an effort to make sure they print something sane every now and then. It is a little concise because I had to whittle it down to 250 words. From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

"Romney will restore respect" (I did not come up with this title!)

In 1984 I re-elected Ronald Reagan. I was 6 years old, but I felt good about my decision to vote for him. He was already the U.S. president so I figured that was worth my vote. That title stooped to a level I never thought possible while I was in college, and the president was on my television describing the level of sexual relations he had with a White House intern.

Saturday, at the Ames straw poll, I will be casting my vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president. I truly believe that if it is possible to restore respect, admiration, and loyalty to this once highly esteemed office he is the one who can do it. I'm looking for leadership, honesty, integrity and someone who believes in the kind of America I believe in.

As a taxpayer, I am weary of politicians in Washington getting nothing done because of differing views. It's time to start solving problems. Romney believes legislation should happen at the state level particularly on matters such as abortion. If anyone can balance our budget without raising taxes, he can. He recognizes that the war in Iraq is only a small part of a global war on Islamic extremism that must be taken seriously. He believes a strong American military and economy will secure peace for our children and us. He understands that socialized health care is not the way to promote quality health care.

For these reasons and many, many others he has my vote.

It was only fitting that a Hillary supporter was right next to me as well. I don't believe that any of my readers are Hillary supporters because I truly would not be friends with one. I seriously question the sanity of anyone who really thinks this woman will bring anything but demise to our country as president. I was going to include the Hillary write-in here, but it was really too annoying to be put on my blog. Sometimes I think the American public is more savvy about picking diet pills than they are leaders. It's like people believe that the President of the United States will make them wealthy, healthy, smarter, better looking, and completely at peace with themselves and the world around them.

I promise I will refrain from turning my blog into yet another political blog...there are plenty of those to go around.

Snuggles, Jogging, and Politics

Tonight was a good night. After an afternoon at the pool, Addie wanted me to snuggle her a while before bed. Then I unwound by running three miles (my best since Addie was born) while enjoying the Garden State soundtrack. Now I have finally stopped sweating and I can go enjoy a shower!

Addie got to meet Mitt Romney yesterday. I thought she would behave since it was lunchtime and she'd be eating but she was the annoying baby the whole time. I practically had to chase the governor down for this picture. I finally told one of his guys that if he'd help me get a picture I'd take my noisy baby home. That worked! :)

24 Hours On The Trail

24 Hours On The Trail: "One family, 99 counties … and a Winnebago.  As the Ames Straw Poll rapidly approaches, join the Romneys as they trek across Iowa in the famous Mitt Mobile. Click ACT NOW! to help build the buzz for the full video's premier later this week on Mitt TV. "

Happy Birthday Addie

 

We have now had the official "First Birthday" event. Brent and Holly joined us for the festivities. We enjoyed Addie's favorite meal: spaghetti, peas, and bread. We also had cake, but of course Addie turned it down on account of watching her figure. She mostly had a good time and of course all of us enjoyed a reason to eat cake and ice cream. She got a little overwhelmed unwrapping the presents. It didn't help that it was right before bedtime, but it was still funny. In honor of Addie's birthday, here are a few facts about her little self:

Favorite Food: Cheese (she knows the sign for "more" and pretty much only uses it when she wants cheese)
Favorite Veggie: Peas
Favorite Fruit: Blueberries
Most Repeated Action: Pointing
Favorite Words: Momma, Dadda, & Yeah
Favorite Song: Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani
Clothing Size: 24 month
Favorite Toy: Cups...any kind and Animals

I don't know what I like most about Addie. There are just so many things! Like the fact that sometimes when I come in her room she gets excited and dives face first into her bed. Other times she just points at the bears on the shelf across the room and says "bea" over and over again. Or maybe it's listening to her hum while she plays. She constantly hums while she plays by herself and it's really the sweetest thing. Since turning her around in the car, sometimes she just waves and says "hi" over and over while you are driving to your destination. She also makes the strangest noise with her tongue. It's like she's rolling an "r" only at a really high pitch. Kinda sounds like a cricket. She didn't get that from me! I also love the way she dives head first into her bumper when it's time for bed. Addie had a babysitter a few weeks ago and I completely forgot to tell the sitter about the "dive" so I think it really blew her away when she set Addie in her bed and she faceplanted it into the corner. Funny girl. This year has been so fun just getting to know her. What a lucky mom!

One Year Old

This is a pretty uneventful video, however, since most of my family has not seen Addie in a while I thought I might post it anyway so you can see what she's up to. We turned her car seat around this week so she's having fun getting to see where we are going. Very exciting. :)

In the video she looks kinda funny when she eats a Cheerio. That is because for the past two days she has been really enjoying chewing with her front teeth. So everything she eats she bites with her front teeth. I picked this David Gray song because Anthony "borrowed" it from someone else that was in the hospital while we were when Addie was born. So it brought back memories of her first week with us and the music we listened to as we got to know our little girl.

Good Party, Bad Pictures

 

We hosted a "Going Away" party for Brent and Holly Gardner this past Saturday. They are moving to New York City this month & we are very sad to see them go. Every year at least one couple we are really good friends with moves so I guess I'm just going to stop making friends! Or, maybe I should get to be good friends with someone new and I'll be the person leaving this year...naaahhh.

The party was a hit. Holly was not surprised because I ended up having to confess my plans to her earlier in the week, but Brent was. He even believed Holly when she told him the 20 lb bag of ice they were bringing to our house was for making ice cream. What a good little liar. I tried some new burger toppings, which were quite a hit. I mixed creamy swiss cheese with blue cheese, which people could spread onto their bun. Then you add bacon, red onion, avocado, lettuce and tomato. I saw it on TV and seriously thought nobody would try it but Brent, Holly, and Anthony. Much to my surprise everyone tried it and loved it.

The Berg family (many of whom read my blog) prides itself in being experienced in the photography world. Thus, I thought I could give Anthony the task of taking pictures of the party. One good thing came out of this - now I know that I'm not the only person he takes horrible, unflattering photos of! Seriously, I think I could be shot for posting half of these because people either have food in their mouth, are talking and hovering over food, or there is a nice shot of their backside and let's face it - none of us are models. I'm pretty sure none of us have ever even been models so there should be no confusion. I guess in the future I will fulfill my hostess duty by saying hi to everyone as I get their attention for a photo, let them suck their guts in, clean out their teeth, and smile! :)

Just Can't Reach!

 
 
My days of putting flowers in this window are limited, which is a bummer because I love the way it looks. Such is life though! This girl seems like she changes every day that we get closer to that 1 year birthday, which is in ONE WEEK. I am pretty sure I've done everything possible to keep her from getting older but she continues growing and learning so I guess I'll have to deal with it!
I've been teaching her signs and up until this week all she could sign was "more" but on Monday she finally started signing "milk." Anthony was so proud when he saw her do it. I hope he's that proud when she makes good grades someday (which, of she WILL do right?)

Brooke Elizabeth Wilson

I have a new niece and Addie has a new cousin! Brooke was born last night and she's so PRETTY! I'm so sad that I won't get to see her until she's more than 2 months old!! Now Emily is next...Whoop!

Brown Girls

 
 

Addie and I were matchy matchy today for church. Cheesy...yes, but I give myself some credit for doing it in brown and not pink. I have my limits. I saw this dress last week and just couldn't resist, but of course then I had to go find matching brown shoes for it. This morning when I got Addie ready for church Anthony was teasing me that Addie is my dress up doll. I didn't deny it, but of course she's much more than that! The dress up part is just a perk.

She's finally figured out how to "play" her toy piano, which makes Anthony so proud so I had to post a picture. Instead of just banging on the keys with her palms, she has now advanced to banging on the keys with her pointer fingers. There is a "card" that slides into the piano to tell it which songs to play. She use to just remove the card as fast as she could. Now she bangs on it for a while and then removes it. Progress!

We're on our own for most of this week. Anthony will be in L.A. and Lubbock. It seems so strange to me that those two towns are our big choices at the moment. To add to the mix, Lubbock is the higher "ranked" program...whatever that means. I don't think anyone outside of the world of Anesthesia would ever understand why he would choose to go to Texas Tech over UCLA and I know that nobody would understand why we would go to Lubbock over Santa Monica but we'll just have to see how the cards play out! Addie and I will be fine whether we're hanging out with Joe, Melissa, and Emma in Lubbock or shopping at Posh Baby on Rodeo Drive. I'm all about turning lemons into lemonade.

Photo Shoot

Anthony and Addie did a brief photo shoot this morning before her nap. We've had such a mild summer that our garden is really looking pretty. It was so nice for the 4th. We won't miss the winters here when we leave, but we will really miss the summers.

I didn't blog last week, but I had a funny little story from church to share. Addie was sitting in Holly's lap during Sacrament Meeting looking at a book. It was one of those books that has little flaps to open and close with animals behind the flap. Addie got a hold of one of the flaps and tore it. When she did that, Holly gasped loudly and we all looked at her. Then Addie took her pacifier from my hand and offered it to Holly. It was pretty funny, especially since Holly had already gotten plenty of people's attention.

Addie's been quite the whiner this week. She has 6 teeth that have broken through and boy have we been feeling it this week! Even at her worst she sleeps through the night so I shouldn't complain about the whiny days.

Spreading Cheer

I just had to post this picture of my girl. Some days I get more into dressing her than others and I always think she's cute in this outfit. We went out to run a few errands at the mall during lunch and she made almost every person we passed smile. She was being so happy and sweet. Then we got home and I put her down for her afternoon nap which she spent playing in her crib so by about 5 o'clock most of the sweetness was gone. At least she brightened a few people's day! I don't mind it too much in the end because when she is really tired she'll let me rock her to sleep and that is hard to beat. :)

Come and Get It

 

This is a great visual of what it is like to get a picture of Addie lately. I put her far away and start trying to get a good shot before she gets to me & the camera.

One funny story from the week - we went to Best Buy on Monday to check out portable DVD players for our next vacation. I was keeping Addie "quiet" and somewhat occupied with Cheerios. She'd squawk a little, I'd put a Cheerio in her mouth, and then she'd be busy chewing it for a while. The cycle simply repeated as we strolled around the store. At one point I was about to leave her with Anthony and they were both "talking" to me at the same time (I say this because Anthony doesn't seem to realize that when Addie is whining for something his words simply sound like extra noise to me.) Without even realizing what I was doing, I tried to stick a Cheerio in Anthony's mouth. He kept talking and I still didn't realize what I was doing until he was like, "Julie! I don't want a Cheerio!" I'm sure anyone watching got a nice kick out of my insanity. Man...wouldn't it be cool if that worked for him like it does Addie?

Flower Power

 

Who can say no to a face like that?

Too Much Time on My Hands?

Which Napoleon Dynamite Character Are You?

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you? (pics)
Summer You are Summer Wheatley! Congratulations! You're the most popular kid in high school! You are the leader in style within your circle of friends. You are a natural leader and you enjoy attention, especially from the opposite sex!
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

Pearls of Wisdom

This will always be one of my favorite pictures of my dad and Addie. This was just minutes after she was born and we were hanging out in the recovery room. I was so glad he could be there to meet my little girl! I am so lucky to have a great father who is always there to give love, support, and advice. Here are ten little jewels my dad has passed on to me in honor of Father's Day.

1. How to wash a car.
2. How to buy a car.
3. How to change a tire.
4. How to use the cell phone to call someone else to change the tire.
5. That if I couldn’t chew with my mouth closed I deserved to eat with the dog.
6. Not to watch garbage on TV.
7. That I am ten times more likely to get into a head on collision by driving in the left lane.
8. There is nothing we can’t fix.
9. The people who don’t love me just don’t know me. :)
10. If Mom says no, just ask Dad.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad as well as all the dads who read this!

Grandma Clarkson's B-day

 
 
 
 

Amber just sent me these pictures so I have to blog this even though it happened on the 7th. While I was in Texas we celebrated Grandma Clarkson's 74th birthday at Lupe Tortilla in Houston. There were only 3 of the 6 grandkids there, but you'd never have known it because Addie was yelling the entire time. Not crying or whining, just yelling. Maybe it was the Mexican background music or something. She was a wild woman. In one of these pictures I have a straw of water to her mouth. That was the best way to keep her quiet! She looked really cute too, just didn't act that way. These pictures are me, Addie, Grandma, Grandad, Nana, and Emma. My fake smile in picture #1 says it all. I love the picture of Grandad. He's so good! I guess that's why Addie is named after his Grandmother!

Icky Grass

 

We set Addie in the grass while we were at the park and she didn't really know what to think. I always love the way babies react to grass. Addie sat with one foot off the ground for most of the time. :)

Daddy Daughter Time

 
 
 
 

Anthony is in the SICU this month, which means he is really busy but also has random days off. Soooo, we took advantage and went to City Park yesterday afternoon. The weather has been so nice and it is suppose to warm up this weekend so we are trying to enjoy it. City Park is actually one of my favorite parks in Iowa City because of the river running through it and large Weeping Willow trees, but oddly enough it also has some mini-carnival rides. I never really noticed because I didn't have any children to entertain, but you can ride several different rides for a mere 75 cents each. I actually think the majority of them would scare my children more than entertain, but there is a train that is pretty cool so Anthony took Addie for a ride. She liked the wind blowing in her hair and seemed to enjoy it. I stood back so that I could get pictures.

The whole time I just couldn't stop wondering why this guy in the red shirt driving the train (who looks to be maybe 35-40) didn't have anything better to do with his time than operate sub-par carny rides at a city park. At first glance I totally judged him, but then I wondered what it might be like to not be concerned about paying bills, climbing the corporate ladder (there was a ferris wheel he could climb, but only about 15 feet tall), cleaning my house to perfection, retirement planning, and all of the other "stuff" Anthony and I keep ourselves busy with. I guess it takes all kinds. Even when Anthony got off the train, the first thing he asked me was if I got a picture of the carny. I guess it's a good thing we are the same "kind!"

"Swimming"

 
 
 
 

Yesterday Kristi and Julia McCord came over for lunch and "swimming" in the smallest pool ever. Addie and Julia had a lot of fun splashing around. I love some of the expressions Addie makes when she's looking at Julia. Julia is 3 1/2 months younger than she is but she seemed more excited about the water than Addie. The last picture is Addie "begging" for bits of my sandwich. After she'd been in the pool for a while she kept trying to get out to see the grass, which of course let the water out. As soon as she actually got to touch the grass, she really made a funny face but I didn't get that on camera. She'd get excited about something and accidentally stick one foot in the grass. Then she'd look at the grass like it had said something really offensive. Pretty funny.

Swimming!

After a few apprehensive swimming outings, Addie has finally started enjoying the pool. It helps that she has fun cousins around and a few cool toys. She's still pretty timid, but I catch her laughing and splashing around after a while. The most fun is seeing her chubby little self in a swimsuit. The worst is seeing my chubby little self in a swimsuit! Please excuse the insanely white legs in the picture. Iowa has given me a whole new shade of whiteness. We are still in Texas so I'm also posting a few pictures of Addie with Emma. They are getting to be good friends which is so cute.

Crawling!

I think I mentioned it in another post this week, but Addie started crawling this week so here are the official pictures to document it. They are not the best pictures. I'll post a video sometime. It's so funny to watch her crawl. She doesn't actually move her legs much, she just shifts her hips and drags herself along. It looks like those toy dolls that crawl. Either way, she's really enjoying herself.

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

This was too hard to resist! Any female who reads this & likes Jane Austen needs to do this. I'd love to see your results as COMMENTS!! :)

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

I have to say that I wasn't surprised much by this. Pride and Prejudice has always been my favorite Jane Austen book because I relate to this character so much, but I was still interested in the quiz. I guess that proves that it is really scientifically correct. :)

How funny is it that I am posting a blog entry stating that I am intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive but also humble? I guess it's okay when it's true? (That was for Emily!)

Reverence and Danger

We decided recently that Addie is getting to the age where we need to be more proactive about helping her be quiet in church, so Anthony went out this week and bought her some church books. One of them is called "Jesus Loves Me" and it is made from this cool brightly colored foam with shiny paper glued on top of it containing the illustrations and stories. Addie loves this book, but for all the wrong reasons.

Today I broke it out during the sacrament and she immediately put it in her mouth. While I seldom encourage eating books, I figured the reverence result had been achieved so mission accomplished. Then Addie realized that if she rubbed her teeth on the book just so it made a fun squeaking noise. So she would make the book squeak, take it out of her mouth to look at it, and laugh. Over and over. Hmmmm... Well she was at least occupied for a while and she knows she likes "reading" about Jesus so I guess we are on the right track.

On a completely non-religious note, here we have a photo that Anthony took of Addie outside a Mexican (oh so good) restaurant. He is trying to get her barefooted self to sit still on this nasty public bench which is set right beside the door to the restaurant where people are going in and out. I should also mention that below the nasty bench is concrete. Oh, yes, and she started crawling this week so getting her to sit still on a nasty bench in an interesting public place is entirely unlikely. Now I realize that many a father does things with their children that mothers would never do because of "danger" or "germs" and it's good for the kids to try new things and that's why you need moms and dads to expose kids to different stuff and bla bla bla...What I'm wondering is why Anthony feels the need to capture such moments on camera?

A Tribute to Simon

We made a final move in a long debated decision about our Yorkie Simon this week and took him to Texas with us to a new home. I'm still in Texas and Anthony flew back today to an empty house with no Simon. So sad. So here's my tribute to a great dog who was just a little too energetic and stubborn for our growing family.

We got Simon in October of 2004, almost four months after moving to Iowa. I missed Texas, wanted a baby, couldn't find a job, and Anthony was working all the time. In came Simon and there was something to smile about! He and I went everywhere together, and that first month while Anthony worked every night Simon snuggled me in the bed. We'd had him like 2 nights when he came down with kennel cough and his entire little 2.5 lb body would convulse as he coughed. Of course it happened at night when Anthony was gone and I was scared I was going to loose my new little baby so I rushed him to the pet hospital. A few hundred dollars later I was home with an antibiotic and a cough suppressant (how funny is that??) One trip to the pet hospital and you feel a true connection!

Before Addie was born I asked Anthony if I would love her as much as I loved Simon. Naturally, this is very humorous now because he has gotten the "boot", but that is just how much I love him. Somehow in the past 10 months, Simon's barking and constant need to go outside (we have no yard so this requires a leash) his presence has become primarily a nuisance to me and I didn't want things to be like that anymore. He deserves better and I didn't want to have an unnecessary reason for Addie to see me annoyed.

It will be a long time until we have another pet because it has been so hard to see Simon go. To give an idea of how spoiled good ole Simon is, he has a bed on 3 out of our 4 floors, his own carseat (he actually outgrew it, but this thing sat on the console of my car so he could sit up and see out of the windshield. It was so cute!), 7-8 sweaters (1 A&M of course), a winter coat with matching boots, a designer dog bowl, several holiday neck "scarves", more pictures than the average dog owner has of their dog and many many toys. His favorite toy was always this little plush squeaky duck which we would simply replace every few months when it was falling apart. This week I bought Addie a duck toy. I think I was missing Simon. Now we have to do something with all the STUFF!

On the upswing, Simon has been adopted by a nice family in Waco, Texas so we can rest assured he is in the right place. His new home has another Yorkie by the name of Fibi, so he will be hanging out with Fibi now and that should be great for him. These are two of my favorite pictures of him. One when he was such a tiny little puppy sleeping on my bed and the other of him doing his favorite thing in the winter - sunbathing!