Mutt Strut 2008

Lots of dogs.
Lots of poop.
Lots of fun. :)

Our New Ride!!!

Let me preface this post by saying I truly try to lay my treasures in heaven. I don't wear name brand clothes, go out to fancy dinners, or live in a big house. I try to put very little value in my material possessions. That said...CHECK OUT OUR NEW CAR!!!!

This is our "new" 2005 Honda Pilot. Technically, it's used, but it's new to us! This is a major milestone for our little family for two reasons:

Reason 1: Most of you already know this, and make fun of us for it. Dave and I drive matching cars. Yep. Matching cars. We hate it. People give us strange looks. I remember when we moved into our house, I wondered how long it would take the neighbors to notice there were two identical cars parked in our garage. I knew they'd think we're weird because of it. When people ask, I usually tell them we got them on a "Buy One, Get One Free" sale. Ha! It's a long story on how it happened, but certainly not intentional that Dave and I drive the exact same car. But not anymore!!

Reason 2: Our family's growing, and outings have become a bit more challenging. It's nearly impossible to fit an 80 pound dog, a baby, baby gear (i.e. stroller, diaper bag, car seat, etc.), and two grown adults in a four door car. Wedging our jogging stroller into the trunk of our car is not enjoyable. It certainly takes some of the fun out of family outings!

With our "new" SUV, we'll no longer get funny looks for driving matching cars, and we'll have room to breathe...and even some room to grow! Anyway, I'm excited in case you can't tell. :)

Girl Time

It's definitely harder to get together with girlfriends now that babies are in tow. It takes some advanced planning and flexibility around babies' schedules! Shannon and I decided it'd been too long since we'd met up, so we took a long walk on the Monon Sunday.

I love spending time with Shannon, and I love getting the girls together. Andra and Mady (Shannon's baby) were born just 16 days apart, so they're perfect playmates developmentally. It'll be fun as they get a bit older and actually PLAY together (although Andra did reach for Mady's paci once!). Shannon and I both hope the girls grow up to be great friends.

The funniest part of the walk was when I noticed Andra was missing a shoe. When I looked down the trail, I spotted Andra's shoe, along with one of Mady's shoes about 20 feet farther back on the trail! I think the girls are already conspiring against their mommies! It was like they planned it. Anyway, we had fun!

Our Little Guppy

"How is big Andra? Sooooooo big!!"

Andra started swim lessons today! I was curious what she'd think of the water, and she seemed to have fun! "Swim lessons" are mostly games and singing at this age, and the water is oh so warm! Dave got in with us too, so it was a family affair! Being the inquisitive gal that she is, she seemed more interested in the other babies in her class than the water!

I also learned that swim diapers hold a very small amount of liquid, and are certainly not designed well enough for a short nap AND swim lessons. Mom's learning too. :)

We might have a future Olympic synchronized swimmer on our hands! I guess we'll see how lessons go first...

Cardinal in Training

Andra and I visited Ball State (my alma mater) today, and laughed at all the students getting ready for finals. Not really. :) I miss some parts of college, but definitely not that part! Anyway, we had lunch with a friend, and then enjoyed some of the beautiful weather while we walked around campus. It was such a great day to be outside. I'm glad we got to soak up some sunshine. Andra was so well behaved too. She's such a mellow baby, she's easy to take places. Here she is in front of the Bell Tower on campus. She's riding in her stroller like a big girl now (without the infant carrier), but you can see she's still got a little growing to do! She can hardly see over the cupholder.

After BSU, I still didn't want to go inside, so we snapped some photos in our front yard too!

Home Improvements

I love adding little things to our house that make it seem more like home. We usually go in spurts...and there's been fewer spurts since Andra was born! We've got some small improvements planned for this summer, but since it was so crummy outside this weekend, we finally did 2 tiny little improvements. And they each involve pictures. Imagine that! I love being surrounded by pictures in my house! Bare walls make me crazy. So I've been trying to cover our walls one by one.

This weekend, we FINALLY put these pictures on our dining room wall. I got these frames for my birthday in February...2 months later, I finally got around to hanging them up! They're all photos from our Japan trip in the Fall of '06. It was such an incredible trip, I'm glad we're finally displaying some of our great memories. That was Project #1... (Thank you, Dad, for all your great measuring lessons over the years...only one's a little crooked!...I'll fix it later)

Project #2...we added to "Andra's wall." This wall is right outside her nursery. My friend Megan gave me the wall letters when I was pregnant (thanks, Megan!). The letters go up so easily...they're from a website called Make an Expression. I know the woman who owns the company from my days in Lexington.

It's not much, but our house is feeling a bit more homey now!

Spring Fever

Our grass is far from green, but surely this warm weather means spring is almost here! We've been taking Andra outside for the last several days, and it's been pure joy to see the expressions on her face. We put her in grass barefoot for the first time, and she looked at us like, 'What's THIS?!' 

As for spring officially arriving...I think we got our hopes up too soon. The forecast this weekend is 40s and light flurries. That's Indiana weather for you! 

My new gig

For those of you who have asked me what exactly I'm doing at my new job, you can see for yourself! I just published my first monthly e-newsletter which goes out to about 7000 subscribers. The topic of this monthly e-newsletter is the Life Sciences in Indiana. I'll be adding another one to my plate soon which will focus on Advanced Manufacturing.

I'm really enjoying it, by the way. I didn't realize how much I missed journalism. And this style of writing comes very naturally to me. And of course, I LOVE the extra time I'm getting with Andra by being part-time. I'm hoping to have learned everything I need to learn by next month, so I can start working from home, which will be incredible! Below are links to the four stories in the newsletter.

Indiana is Hub for Personalized Meds

Encouraging Women in the Life Sciences

Rose-Hulman Student Earns National Honor

Indiana Company Plans New Kidney Device