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Are You a Nugget?

And we’re back. This morning Barry and I were practically high-fiving each other as Maggie sprinted up and down the hallway singing, yelling and making demands to be picked up. Our baby is back and we’re super happy about it. Cue the ‘let’s get pumped up’ music…which is more like put on the James Taylor Pandora station…either way, we’re happy to let you know that ALL of Maggie’s sass is back.

She isn’t missing any of it.

Our weekend was full of Chaya’s jazz concert, visiting with Barry’s parents, Erin and her family, and topped off by meeting up with a bunch of friends to celebrate Kurt’s 30th. Both Barry and I were a bit apprehensive about having Maggie out to dinner with us, but she did great. I hardly ever carry a “baby bag” but you better believe that I packed a bag and had a bunch of tricks up my sleeve. The stickers that I brought were the biggest hit and Maggie was able to methodically put them on her cup of water in a very orderly fashion. (You think I’m being sarcastic? The girl had them in a SUPER straight line all the way around her cup. She’s organized (or Type A) just like her papa!)

We’ve been playing a game that goes like this:

Me: Mags, are you a nugget? 

Maggie: Yeah. [head nodding]

Me: You are? 

Maggie: Yeah [smiling & more nodding]

Me: Okay. Well, is _________ a nugget? 

Maggie: [depending on the person] NOOOOOOO….. [face scrunched up and extending the ‘oooo’ sound as long as possible. 

It feels funny to really like to hear her say ‘NOOOOOOOOO’ because I know the day is coming very soon that I’ll wish the opposite. We figure that being a nugget is a good thing and from what we can gather if you’re in Maggie’s good graces, you get to be a nugget.

We took Sydney to the vet last week after we discovered a little lump on her chest. We’re still not entirley sure what the lump is, but we were also informed that Syd has an ear infection….in the same exact ear that Maggie had hers.

Barry and I felt (still feel?) like the worst dog owners/parents possible. I told Barry that we both need to go get our ears checked too because maybe we ALL have ear infections. Either way, Syd’s got drops for her ears and I can’t say that she enjoys them. Poor girl.

I’m off to go do something productive…..quietly because THE NUGGET is sleeping.

And you never want to wake a sleeping nugget.

Trust me on this one.

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Cousin’s Dinner

For Christmas in 2010 Cora hosted a Cousins Dinner as her gift to all of us. We all went up to Bellingham and ate dinner and played games afterwards, a delightful night for all. This year I hosted the 2nd Annual Cousins dinner in February.

I wanted us all to feel like we were eating like queens and kings so I set up an art station for everybody to make their own crown when the arrived. I also had a bunch of Maggie’s stickers available, which everybody took advantage of. Morgan was the only non-cousin until Barry showed up later, he had gone to help celebrate his grandpa’s birthday.

Phil did “Baby Magic” for Maggie, which I really can’t describe, except to say that it was odd. Of course Maggie loved it and has since insisted on having Phil do more when she sees him. I served a multi-layer cake from the Momofuku cookbook that Phil and Geneieve got me, it was a true labor of live. I can’t wait to make another one because it was so involved and rewarding, not to mention super tasty.

Happy Saturday to you.

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Boomerang Part One

Before last week happened we had happily been like a boomerang going from day trippin’ outings with friends to back home again. This weekend and today  we’ve stayed extremely close to home. Today I sat down to look at the images from some of our latest antics….

Lara & Marc got some new chicks and we jumped at the chance to join Cole & Caroline to see them. Maggie was delighted and wasn’t the least bit scared to touch the little birds. I, on the other hand, was a bit skittish.

Being in a ‘playgroup’ with Lara, Nicole, Krista & Erin is so easy. It isn’t quite convenient with all of us spread out, but when we get together the kids have a ball and us girls do too. (But Marc, it is a play date….not a girls weekend.)

Back home, Maggie has finally figured out how to open our backdoor on her own (only if it ‘s unlocked, so don’t go worrying too much) and constantly is letting Sydney in and out. More often than not we’re also ‘invited’ outside with Maggie to stomp in the puddles, get into the gardener’s shed or balance on the wall.

We’ve gotten to a point where she can get her own boots on and will drag our (either my or Barry’s…sometimes both) shoes out of the closet too. We last about 30 minutes before she starts saying “Burrrr” and rubbing her arms.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that she always wears shoes…or a coat, but we try.  This and that don’t seem that far off.

Tomorrow we’re boomeranging up to A-Town to take some pictures of some friends and do some other business related things. Will you do your sun dance for us because we don’t like to take rainy pictures…

Hope your week holds some friend-filled adventures…