Look Who's Walking

In all the birthday/Father's Day excitement, I forgot to mention that Arden is officially a walker. She's been taking steps and cruising around furniture for a while now, but hadn't been brave enough to put it all together until last week. She made it across the living room and never looked back. And in case you were wondering, yes, she does think she's hot stuff now.

Here is what Arden looks like right before she falls. Which is pretty often. Luckily, she's got a little extra padding thanks to Huggies.

Happy Birthday, Arden!

Arden Kate is one today. I will restrain myself from going on and on about how I can't believe how fast the time has gone, since that is usually the theme of all my posts. Instead, I'll just post some pictures of the day's festivities.

If you think I'm wearing this hat, you're crazy....

What's with the singing? And did you know that cake is on fire?

Not bad....Not bad at all...

This seems more efficient--cut out the middle man--make that middle hand...

That's the stuff.

This is the best birthday ever!

Yeah, these presents are interesting. But did you know there are toys out over there?

Let me know how those presents go....

Arden had a great first birthday. She got lots of clothes, toys and some new sippy cups from Claire (let's just say that Claire has been a little territorial with her own sippy cups). Unfortunately, Jason and I are big losers and forgot, in all the excitement, to bring out the present we got her. Good thing she's only one and not old enough to realize we forgot. Or old enough to remember and bring it up in twenty years.

MRIrrational

****UPDATE****
My MRI results were great--no abnormalities. This means that I most likely had a migraine, even though it didn't get better with the shot the doctor gave me. I would like to take this time to publicly apologize for ever thinking that a migraine was "just a bad headache and can't you just take some advil and get over it already." It took out my peripherial vision, made my neck so stiff that I couldn't turn my head and basically knocked me out of commission for two days. Now that I know how bad my head is capable of hurting, the next time I get a little sinus headache, I'm going to be all "Ha! Is that all you've got?"
***********
So, I had an MRI today. This was my first experience with any kind of medical testing, but I watch a lot of Grey's Anatomy, so I sort of knew what to expect. What I did not expect, and is certainly never shown on GA, is that once you lie down on the table, they encase your head in a plastic cage. A plastic cage, people.
Now, I don't consider myself claustrophobic, although I much prefer wide, open spaces to small, cramped ones. And I think I'm a fairly well-adjusted, intelligent, logical person (I heard those snorts, peanut gallery). But once that plastic cage fit over my face, well, all that went out the window and irrationality took over. I had to force myself not to rip open the cage. I focused on my breathing. I went to my happy place.
Just as I was settling down, it got worse. The tech slid me under the giant circle (love my medical terminology?) and then went to leave the room. "Be very still," she said and then went out the door. I was staring up at the giant circle when I heard the door seal with a whoosh and then lock. WHAT??? They don't lock the face-caged patients in a room on Grey's Anatomy. And where was Patrick Dempsey talking me through this ordeal from his place in the sound room?
My survival instincts kicked in at this moment and I found myself plotting my escape. Could I wiggle my head out of this face cage? I definitely could wiggle out from under the giant circle. Surely the door unlocked from the inside too? Where those windows sealed or could they be opened? Could anyone hear me or was this room sound-proof? Was this all a big set-up and had the tech locked me in here so she could steal my jewelry from the locker I had left it in?
As the questions swirled in my head, I realized the actual test had begun. The tech told me that once the machine started, it sounded like a woodpecker was in there with you. Right. Only if by "woodpecker" she meant "jackhammer". If my head wasn't killing me before this stupid test, it would be by the time we finished.
I could feel the panic starting to rise up again, so I racked my brain trying to think of a song to sing to myself. Something soothing. Something rhythmic. The sound of the jackhammer was making it difficult to think. Something soft. Something slow. Maybe a hymn. Maybe a lullaby. Maybe kumbya?
Anything. Anything, that is, except what finally did pop into my head. I'll leave you with a bit of the chorus: "My humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps."

Safari Saturday

On Saturday, as we were trying to think of a fun family activity that didn't involve yard work or a trip to Wal-Mart, Jason and I decided to take the girls to the nearby Wildlife Safari. Now, I know what you're probably thinking. A wildlife safari? In Arkansas? I, too, had my doubts. I envisioned a dirt road with a couple of caged hogs and maybe a lion or jaguar that had been rescued from the property of some red neck who thought they would make a cute pet until they got to be full grown.


I'm happy to say I was wrong. The drive-through part was pretty long and we saw most of the same animals you see at any zoo (minus the penguins and polar bears). Claire loved it. We let her out of her carseat so she could get a good view of all the animals as we drove around. Many of the animals were roaming free (well, as free as possible given the cattle grates and high fences, but you know what I mean) and would walk right up to the car. Like this guy.

He is proof that God does indeed have a sense of humor.

Once the drive-through part was over, we went on the walking tour. Claire got to hold a bunny, which she said scratched her (but didn't), and pet a baby jaguar (just like Diego!) and ride a camel.

Claire's favorite part was petting the kangaroos, although it was a little too tempting to chase them.
By the end of the afternoon, both girls were getting tired. Poor Arden had only slept about 20 minutes that morning, so she was barely hanging on. Once we got in the car, it didn't take her long to sack out.
The perfect ending to a great day. Unfortunately, nap time lasted only as long as the 30 minute car ride...

Toothbrush Fetish

I told you Arden loves her toothbrush. She also loves everyone else's. Heaven forbid you should brush your teeth in front of her and not give her a turn. And if you're crazy enough to try and wrestle her toothbrush away from her so you can take her 11 month picture, well, you better be prepared for a fight.

I'm outta here. And I'm taking the toothbrush with me.

I shouldn't be too surprised at her devotion to the toothbrush, after all, her big sister has fixations with both toothpaste and bandaids. Luckily, she doesn't carry the toothpaste around all day, although at any given moment she does have several bandaids on...

Conversations with Claire Part 2

Talking to Arden: "Well, I'm sorry, Arden, but that's your only option."

Talking to me: "That is making my very frustrated."

And to me again: "Why are you freaking out, Mom?"

A conversation with my mom, when driving by a golf course:
C: "What's that?"
Nana: "That's a golf course."
C: "Grandad Tracy plays golf."
Nana: "What about Mimi? Doesn't she play golf too?"
C: "No, only boys play golf."
Nana: "Girls can play golf, too. Girls can play anything boys can play." Girl Power!
C: "Oh, maybe I can play golf someday. Then I can wear golf shirts and golf shoes. And golf shorts..."

C: "Where's Daddy?"
Me: "Daddy's at work."
C: "Oh. He has to go get the money."
Me: "Yeah, that's right."
C: "Girls don't go to work."
Me: "Well, some girls don't go to work, but some girls do. Some girls go to work just like Daddy. And some girls stay home like me. Girls can do anything boys can do. " Girl Power!
C: (looking skeptical) "You don't go to work."
Me: "Well, I stay home and take care of you and Arden."
C: "Maybe you could go to work sometime."

Recap

The past few days have been so busy I've barely had time to sit down in front of the computer. Well, I had enough time to check out some pictures of Paris Hilton going to prison, just not enough time to blog. It's all about priorities, people.
In the interest of time, I'll give you the highlights from the past couple of days.


*Taking Claire to the book fair at the elementary school by our house. She got to pick out 10 books (all the books were 50 cents a piece) and also got to check out where she'll be going to school in a couple of years. Unfortunately, the concept of "in a few years" is lost on her and she keeps talking about how she's going to her "new school" after the summer.


*Taking the girls to Storytime at the library. If you live in our area and have never been to the library, you need to go check it out. It's seriously the best library I've ever seen and the kids' section is enormous, with tons of books, board books, puzzles, computers and sitting areas. Claire loves storytime and did a good job of sitting still and listening to the teacher (which is a vast improvement from last year's storytime experience when Claire got on the stage every week).



*Playing outside!

*Claire's day at the Lake with Grandma Becky. According to Claire, her favorite parts were: picking flowers on the bank, getting splashed by a big boat (not sure about that one) and of course, her new Dora the Explorer life jacket. Everyone she's talked to since Sunday gets to hear about the new life jacket. And they also get to hear "LIFE JACKETS! SO WE CAN BE SAFE!" which is what Dora says every time she gets into a boat (in case you've never seen the show, Dora's normal talking voice is actually more of a yell, which is why I felt the need to capitalize that entire sentence).


*Seeing our favorite friends for a quick visit last night. We spent the entire evening outside, watching the big kids run around like crazy people and the little ones try to keep up. We were having so much fun we didn't realize it was after 8:00 until I saw Arden lay her head down in her swing and try to go to sleep.

So much for a lazy summer! This week we've got Ladies Supper club at my house, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese with Max and Riley on Friday, VBS starting on Sunday, swim lessons next week, Arden's birthday the following weekend, plus our weekly activities of gymnastics and speech. I think we're in for a quick summer break.