Our Backyard Menagerie

By some miracle, even though Damon and I are very anti-animal, Stella loves them. I guess she inherited that trait from Grandmere and Sarah. She is kind of like Snow White, too. Not the pale, pasty skin, but the uncanny ability to draw animals to her. Snow White does it with a song, but I guess Stella does it right now with her shrill squeals. However she does it, we came home yesterday to find a huge turtle and two ducks in our back yard, so we went out to enjoy our own little petting zoo. Look at the size of that thing, Dad! What is that over there?Oh, it's just Donald Duck and the as-yet-unnamed Turtle. Stella and Turtle ponder why the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Heading down to the pond to meet some new friends.

A local mother shows off her new brood. I just love this time of year! Gotta swing, swing! (Should be sung to the tune of "Sing, Sing" from The Producers.)Stella also wanted to show off her nifty new molars.

Just for Fun

Playing with one of the best toys in the world...a styrofoam ice chest...hours of fun.Another family favorite...the stroller...

Dad said I could drive, but he needs to hurry up...
Maybe he'll come if I just toot the horn a little...

What could be keeping him?! I am ready to GO!!!

Napping with daddy...the best pillow of all.

Domestic Bliss Times 8

Damon and I have done some strange things to celebrate our anniversary. Some highlights have been the year that we attended the Angola Prison Rodeo, the trip to Houston to see Wicked when we brought his parents along, and our first adventure race together in the spillway two years ago during which it rained all day and we almost got into a fist fight over a "navigational error." (Thanks, Kirk, for breaking us up. We'll try not to have a repeat this year.) You get the point, we are weird and we enjoy celebrating by doing weird things. Well, this year, we decided to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary by giving one another the gift that keeps on giving: a medical procedure. I think you know that you have a rock-solid marriage when one spouse says to the other, "For our anniversary, we are getting tubes put in the baby's ears," and the other replies, "Thanks!" and the whole exchange is completely sincere and does not include a single hint of sarcasm. On a side note, another tidbit of Damon and Scarlett trivia is that if you count from when we started dating, we have now been together almost 11 years (and by almost 11, I mean 10 and a half, which is only 11 in elementary education major math.) Considering our ages, we have been together over 1/3 of our lives! Wow! What a lucky guy Damon is. It truly boggles the mind.

Anyway, April 14th, 2009, we woke up bright and early at my in-law's house (5 a.m. early) and bundled Stella into her carseat without waking her up. (Go me!) We drove into Baton Rouge to the Brass Surgery Center, and a short while later surrendered our most prized possession into the hands of doctors and nurses who promised to help her hear better and have fewer ear infections. About 30 minutes later we were invited into the recovery room to the ear-splitting, frantic screams of our offspring. As Stella freaked out while coming down off the anesthesia, Damon and I gazed lovingly into each other's eyes and thought, "How romantic! From the sound of these screams, I am so glad that we chose tubes! Stella is acting like it was a truly enjoyable experience." After about 15 minutes of this wailing and gnashing of teeth, we decided to brave the car ride home, but were only willing to go as far as Damon's parents house. Once in the car, Stella fell fast asleep. She woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at her Grandmere and Grandpa's house. We all played for a couple of hours and then Stella and I had a glorious, 3 hour nap/cuddle. Poor Damon spent that part of the celebration holed up in his parents' office working. That night we returned home. So that was it for our big anniversary. We can only imagine what excitement awaits us next year!

Now that you have suffered through my sappy, romantic anniversary tale, (just to clarify, that part was meant to be sarcastic)I will reward you with some pictures.

In our home, cleanliness is next to Godliness. Stella LOVES to brush her teeth. Here is our little dental hygiene nut in action. It is no longer enough for us to go outside and feed the ducks daily....they now peck on the patio doors to get to Stella. Chatting on mommy's phone. Stella really prefers a blackberry, but as Grandma Crane would say, "Beggars can't be choosers."My little senorita in her dress from Mexico. Don't worry. We washed the swine flu germs off of it. These next pictures make me happy and sad. Tabitha and Angie visited us last weekend so that Tab could take her senior pictures in City Park. It was so great to spend the weekend with my other mother and sister! We had a marvelous time taking pictures (Thanks, Dara and Matt for being so patient! You made it such an awesome day!) I was filled with joy to see Tab and Angie, and I'm also super proud of Tab and all that she has accomplished to make it to her graduation, but at the same time, I am sad to see my first baby all grown up! I remember sitting in my living room wearing a neon bandana around my neck and kissing Tab's soft little baby head and now she is a grown woman....too grown, from the looks of some of these pictures...but enough boohooing. Tab and I kept Dara and Matt an extra hour with all our outfit changes, so we ran out of time to take any streetcar pics. Tab and I decided to stop at the end of Canal and hop on a car for some quick pics with my lowly camera. Angie and I love this first shot, but Tab hates it. I think she looks like a model. Don't you love the wind blowing her hair?Damon made this one artsy fartsy because the original accidentally got saved over. Oops! It's still cool...Looking way too grown up for my taste...Same artsy shot, just farther back and with no effects.I allowed Tab to pose for some pictures with my Rolls Royce. Haha!
Hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures. I have not posted nearly enough in April. I will try to give you more Stella in May.

More Birthday Pictures

Here are some more shots from Stella's birthday and birthday party. They are from my mother-in-law's camera. First, Stella posing in her princess tent. Grandmere and Stella playing in the tent.I think Sadie thought the party was getting too noisy...

I love the fact that I am smiling and totally don't realize that I am not in the picture...

Unwrapping some gifts. She finally got the hang of it!

Gift opening help from the Welch's and Guillory's.

Reading a card with MawMaw Shirley.

Since the unwrapping was going too slow, Sadie had to step in and use her expertise...This shot was LITERALLY taken 2 seconds later...that kid is like lightning!

Spending some time with Uncle Benny and Aunt Eloise. Stella did not want Aunt Eloise to put her down.

Grace and Madison helping with more gifts.

Emma is always so sweet to Stella. She is such an awesome big sister to Sadie and Talia!

Awwww...

Give me that cake!

Crawfish, anyone?

Cheese!

I think Stella figured out that I fibbed a little bit about the "delicious" non-dairy birthday cake

The 1st Annual Celebration of Stella

As an English teacher, I realize that "First Annual" is an oxymoron, but I ask you, is there any more appropriate usage of the phrase than a first birthday party? I think not. You have heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, I have a new pearl of wisdom to share: "It takes a small army to throw a one year old's birthday party." Feel free to quote me. Over 60 guests turned out for Stella's First Birthday Bash, and Damon and I responded by putting most of them to work. Here is a shot of Stella's birthday cake space walk. She was not a fan, and we actually tumbled head first out of it together into the mud before the guests arrived. (Photos by staff photographer Buddy Boe)Stella's cake. This cake was for Stella to share with her dairy lovin' guests. She had her own much smaller dairy-free cake to smash that was not as photogenic or as tasty. Her high chair standing ready with her "The Big 1" bib and "I'm One!" party hat, which she also hated. She screamed when I put it on her, so there are no pictures of the birthday girl in her hat. Jamie and Moe were optimistic about the celebration....this is before we told them they were in charge of refereeing the space walk...Grandpa and Chad preparing the pots...little did we know just how long we would be waiting for those crawfish...I love this picture. Mainly because this is a look of confusion that these two exchange all the time. Poof! No eyebrows! Jamie, Courtney, and I. Sweet face I'm making. Thanks, staff photographer. Next time I demand a retake. This photo is a good example of why we use digital cameras.

Tristyn being saved from her dad's "hovering baby" trick by her mommy. Courtney was in charge of entertainment for all party guests, and you can see that she did a fabulous job.

This could be my favorite picture of Matt and Jamie ever. It looks like a photo from an all-American family spread in W magazine. If Stella was smiling I would be very tempted to photoshop Damon and I into this one. Jen, Nathan?

Kids everywhere! New friends Danny and Anna. Danny, you made the blog! Now, if we could only share some frosty mugs of soy milk together, your life would be complete.

John was in charge of grilling. Everything was delicious, as it usually is when John cooks it.

Feeding the birds...

Even Aunt Sarah squeezed in a visit after work and before her hot date.
One of my favorite gifts that Stella received. Miss Chung MADE this out of sugar! She is amazingly creative.
She also made Stella this exquisite Easter egg.
The birthday girl taking a little swing the day after the party.

In conclusion, Stella's first birthday party turned out to be wonderful, just like her. A few friends weren't able to join us, and we really missed them. It is so humbling to stop and try to number the people who have supported us as we set out on this great adventure of parenthood. Five years ago we arrived in LaPlace and knew no one, and now we are surrounded by friends who feel more like family. God has blessed us with each of you. Thanks for all that you do for us; please know that we realize we could not make it without you.

In closing, some specific thanks: Thanks to the Boe's for arriving early and being willing to help out in any way you could, thanks to Lori for sending over Damon's favorite treats and entertaining the kids in the space walk, thanks to Kirk and John for catering the party (it was delicious, guys!), thanks to Brian and Casey for fetching ice when we ran out, thanks to Sheila and Lacie for helping out in the kitchen, thanks to everyone for the sweet and thoughtful gifts, and I am sure that I am leaving so much out! Thanks to all for celebrating the anniversary of the best day of our lives with us and for being the best friends anyone could ask for! We love y'all so much!