MIA
Emphasis on the Action. Let's just say, I keep Mama busy and leave it that. We also threw in a beach trip to North Carolina, a week at Papa John and Nana Kerry's house, and a bunch of different doctor visits. But mostly we've just been busy with life. And it looks like it's going to continue that way for awhile. Mama can't figure out when in the near future she's going to possibly be able to fit semi regular blogging back into her routine. She can't even get the pictures off her camera. (Right now she has 3 memory cards totalling 10GB that are almost full of pictures and video that have yet to get to her computer.) Of course transitioning from one computer to another and waiting to get Windows 7 installed before "settling in" to the new computer have had a little bit to do with that but mostly it's still just "life."

And so, mostly out of pity for the family back East, here's what you're getting.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Well, if you're my Mama, apparently, quite a bit. She waited about ten years to have someone call her Mama, so whenever I try out anything else - like Mom, or Aunt Bop* - I usually get the line, "That's Mama to you, Mister." She says I have to be AT LEAST five, but probably closer to twenty one years old, before she'll answer to Mom.


*AUNT BOP AND OTHER NAMES MAMA ANSWERS TO...
...FOR OTHER PEOPLE
When Mama first became an aunt, she had a name she wanted to go by: Aunt Beth. She didn't want to be Auntie. Elizabeth is usually a pretty hard name for little kids to say and there are a lot of nicknames for it that Mama really doesn't like, so she wanted to propose one she did. When Lily started trying to say Aunt Beth it came out Ah Bop and eventually settled into Aunt Bop so that's what she and Addy both call my Mama. Sometimes when I'm around them I start calling her that, too. Not that I get away with it, though.

Once when Josiah was really excited to see Daddy and Mama, he shouted, "Uncle Joe, Uncle Bess!" It stuck and so now, to Josiah, Mama is Uncle Beth.


Uncle Arthur and Uncle Stephen like to call Mama names they know she's not so crazy about because that's just what brothers and brothers-in-law do: Eliza and Betty (it's nothing personal toward anyone named Eliza or Betty, though).

***11.02.09 edit: We were recently reminded of one more special nickname. Having spent a lot of time in England, Auntie H has borrowed the name the Queen Mother called the Queen and affectionately calls Mama Lilibet which Mama is quite fond of.end edit***

Annana comes up with her own special name for everyone she loves. She has called Mama Ellie (or sometimes Ellie Bit, a variation on Nana's special name for Mama - see below) since before Daddy and Mama were married.


Mama's oldest special name Little Bit was given to her by Nana Kerry. Nana was happy to share it with Daddy and so he sometimes calls Mama that, too. But it's one of those names that not just anyone can use. I don't recommend trying it out.

I won't say that this is a complete list, it's just what came to mind at the moment.

One friendly tip, unless you already have an established nickname for Mama, she really does prefer being called by her full first name, Elizabeth.




"THAT'S MAMA TO YOU, MISTER"
Today, I got her pretty good. We were in the car and I said something to her and called her Mom. She gave me "the line" and I said, "Aunt Bop." I paused, then said again, enunciating very clearly, especially the T and the P, "AunT BoP." She was speechless and then she and Daddy cracked up.

LET'S TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Hmmm, okay. That plan to post regularly for Annana worked...NOT!

So I'm just going to upload a bunch of our favorite pictures from August so far, no captions or explanations of any kind. It's either this or nothing. Take it or leave it. Your choice. Maybe that's all you really wanted from me anyway.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Monday, August 3, 2009

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Today, August 16, 2009

ARRRGH!!!
I am extremely frustrated that almost two months have passed since my last post. And if you know my Mama, you probably know what an endless optimist she can be. So, of course, we have oodles of pictures and videos from the last two months. And we have been composing the accompanying blog posts in our heads, they just never quite made it to the computer.

"ANNANA SEEPING?"
This is a question I've been asking Mama a lot lately. The answer I keep getting is, "No, Annana went bye, bye and we won't see her for a long, long time. In fact, the next time we see her will be when we go to Papa John and Nana Kerry's house."

What this means for you is that I have a new reason to put some effort into more regular posting again. I hear that Annana misses me something fierce and wants to see lots of pictures and videos of me so I'm going to try to get at least a few posts up here for her sake. We'll see.

Wake up soon, Annana?

PLAYGROUP, PARISH GROUP AND IN BETWEEN
This morning before we left to go to Auntie Leah's house for playgroup, Mama happened to catch this on video. What can I say? I spend a lot of time with girl cousins. They like to dress up and dance and sing. I've learned from the best. Mama thinks this video has a good chance of ending up in a wedding montage someday. She, Daddy and Annana have already watched it multiple times...whenever they need a good laugh, really.

After playgroup, we had to stop by my allergy doctor's office to pick up some supplements. Much to her delight, Mama has been finding me quite willing to pose for pictures these days.


The family that usually hosts our Parish Group has been out of town for the last couple of months so we have been meeting in a few different homes. Tonight we were hosted by Damaris, Moriah and baby Jake (and of course their Dad and Mom). They have a fun play structure in their back yard and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

Once this swing stopped moving, both Moriah and I were at the mercy of a grown up or big kid to get going again.

OUT AND ABOUT
We started our day by heading down to Dr. Cullen's office. She wanted another one of the doctors in the office, Dr. Wells, to listen to my lungs to see if the homeopathic tablets I had been taking had helped my wheezing cough. Dr. Wells had her seven week old baby, Owen, with her. He was in a bouncy seat and toward the end of our appointment he started crying. So I went over and put one arm under his neck and one arm over his chest and just crouched over him hugging him motionlessly. He quieted down pretty quickly, much to Mama and Dr. Wells' surprise. They both thought it was pretty sweet. Oh, and my lungs sound fine. Yay, I got through that cough without antibiotics!


Since we weren't too far away, Mama couldn't resist going back to visit this place Aunt Rachel had told her about. As Aunt Rachel put it,"I came across this online and since I cannot partake of what looks like incredible goodness, I am passing it on to you so you may perhaps enjoy a baked goodie at some point." Mama can't decide whether or not she should thank Aunt Rachel for introducing her to something new to crave. We had stopped by there a week ago when we saw Dr. Cullen and Mama has been looking forward to going back ever since she knew we had a follow up appointment.

Oh, did I mention they DON'T really have anything gluten/casein/corn free?
Yeah, not really MY kind of place.

Mama's Favorite Cupcake - The Salted Caramel

I managed a quick little nap in the car on our way north where we stopped and said "HI" to Daddy at work before heading to this grocery store that had these awesome little carts that were just my size.

Then it was time for a late lunch/early dinner while Mama picked up some pictures at Costco. I'm sorry to disappoint but this time I didn't actually manage to finish all zero point two five pounds of hot dog. Oh well, maybe next time.


Our last stop before finally making our way home was the second Wal*Mart of the day to see if we could find me a t-shirt to match one of Daddy's in a size that might be remotely closer to fitting me than a boys XL. We were successful and Mama discovered that I have an intent interest in bicycles. We had seen some on our way in that I had wanted to ride but she coaxed me out of the rain. When we saw this one in a random aisle, though, she indulged me for a few minutes and pondered when they might get me a bike of my very own.


All in all, a very full day. Mama says I was a delightful companion. I loved getting out of the car whenever we would arrive at a destination and I was just as eager to "GO!' when we had done whatever we needed to do at any of our stops. And all that with only a half hour nap.

A TRIP TO THE AIRPORT
Annana is leaving us. But only for a week. For now. She's going to visit Papa John, Nana Kerry and the rest of the family back East. Not to mention a bunch of her friends. This morning we took her to the airport. Then we headed to Auntie Leah's house.


HAIRCUT, ERRAND DAY & PARISH GROUP AT MAX'S
Mama was dropping me off at Auntie Leah's house because it was Mama's turn for an errand day. But when we got there, we started by both getting haircuts. Mama got hers first and then it was my turn. I wasn't happy about it but I didn't put up nearly the fight that I have at times in the past for which both Mama and Auntie Leah were thankful.

In the evening, I went with Uncle Arthur, Auntie Leah and the girls to their Parish Group (a small group from our church) at my buddy, Max's house. His mom has a great post about the evening on her blog. Here are a few pictures she e-mailed Mama which also kind of show off my new haircut.


Needless to say, I came home in a great mood.