one more baby...

When I was in Dallas, I also got to visit with Brooks and Greg and meet Sophie! She is also very cute and very hungry. And VERY stylin in the cowgirl socks that I gave her. Alas, stylin does not necessarily mean happy in baby world:

But it didn't take long for her to get happy and snuggly. What a pose!


After her nap, she was all strapped in and ready to go. We had some good times at dinner! Brooks managed to get about two bites of her sandwich before Sophie got hungry again. She thought she was going to get some food from me, but I explained to her that she was nuzzling the wrong person. Back to mama she went. Babies eat a lot!



When Greg came home, he also got some Sophie action. Babies are a great accessory!

A break with Captain Finchley

We don't have our baby yet, but we do have a rather large and fluffy furball named Captain Finchley who loves us like he's our baby. He prefers sleeping in the bathtub to sleeping with us and his favorite toy is a horse whip (kinky!). To comemerate his unique personality and action hero-ness, our next door neighbors Maddy and Joe created two custom made capes for Finchley to wear. Pictured below is Finchley in his "good" cape. He also has an "evil" cape, for when he does things like claw open the bag of kitty litter that I left sitting on the floor, thus making a huge and unnecessary mess. He also has a water fetish and splashes almost all of his bowl of water out onto the floor before he deigns to take a sip. But that doesn't count as evil--that's just a quirk. Anyway, here is Finchley being good. Evil pictures to be added at a later date. (and for the record, he doesn't seem to even notice when he's wearing his cape. This is not another case of 'Buster in the hot-dog costume' which was clearly not something he enjoyed, but something that brought us great joy because he looked so cute and funny. He makes a great hot dog! Also, Finchley's girth is not an optical illusion. He has suddenly become rather obese. We think he might be getting food somewhere else while he's out catting around.)

Dallas

After almost two years, I made it to Dallas to see my friends! It was HOT, but great to see everyone. First stop was to visit Cameron. What a cutey he is!

He was hungry, too! Rachel knew how to handle that!


Then I headed to CI where I made the rounds and saw everyone before we all went to Chuey's. It was great to be back in the old 'hood'! A festive time was had by all at Chuey's. Especially by those who could drink margaritas. I watched the margaritas enviously, but there were no restrictions on enchiladas, so I hogged out on those. I love Tex-Mex and what better place to get it than in Texas, where it doesn't have any weird things added to it (like an olive on top)!


There was no competition when Anissa and I had belly wars. She won hands down. In fact, she had her baby the very next day! I'm glad I got to meet him in the womb and that I got to visit with his mama a little, too!


And then I met the REAL baby: Hitsuguya (I'm not sure I'm spelling that right). This dog was a charmer and his ability to get to food makes Buster look like an amateur. He may have short legs, but he's got a long body and a really long and sensitive nose. I've never seen such counter surfing! But look at that face! He could be forgiven for any silly behavior I think.

I think he might have Susan charmed, too. He's a 70 pound lap dog! I love him!


The next day, everyone stopped by to have some sandwiches and chips and dip and white cake with white icing (like wedding cake...delicious!)and to visit and to meet my ever expanding stomach. Marilu and Carolyn were the first to swing by:

We had a small crowd eventually. I have made a note to myself to take off my giant flip flops when posing for pictures with all my smaller friends. I look like an Amazon woman!

Last, but not least, Andrea stopped by with little Luke. My friends sure do have cute babies--human and canine alike! It was really fun to visit the CI Dallas crew. It's great to have such good friends in so many places!

Animal Farm

It wouldn't be a blog about going home if I didn't feature all the pets. I'll keep it brief.

Scooter Loves Buster. Buster doesn't know that Scooter exists. Mom calls Scooter 'Buster's sucker fish'. They DO match.




Emma's glamor shots:




Cat Party! Our cats (and Will's cat and Mom and Dad's cats) could be in one of those kitty litter commercials where there are a million cats hanging out while the owners are in town. Except, unlike the commercials, our cats leave evidence of their mass existence everywhere they go (mostly through the sheer amount of cat hair that they generate).


Scooter and Chowder snuggle up:


We did abandon them, but none of our American pets seem to be very upset about it, I have to say. Our cats were happy to see me, at least!

Tallulah

After all the fun with Billy Bob teeth, it was time to go home for a while. It's always relaxing and animal friendly on the farm. The nightly dog walking ritual was fun for all.


Mom and Buster were far ahead of the (human) pack.


Picture time with Kate and Dad:


The possibilities are endless if you can figure out how to get past the confines of the leash. Sadly, some members of the family have proven many times that they can't be trusted off leash. Sorry Buster.


First the only dog who has to stay on the leash and then this humiliating picture. Had he been more cooperative on the ground, he would have looked more civilized.


Larry knows how to pose for a picture (and go for a walk off leash without disappearing into the sunset)!

Atlanta

After Cleveland, we went to visit Kate and Andy at their new house in Decatur, GA. Atlanta was off in the distance, but we mostly just hung around the house doing exciting things like:

Making drinks


Relaxing with a book


Being happy


Having important conversations


Practicing good oral hygiene


And keeping in touch with Jim throughout via the World Wide Web!

All around America

Now that we live in London, America is an international destination! My solo trip to America started with a visit to Cleveland, where Mom and the Shug met me at the airport. My trip over was dominated by armrest hoggers and people who insisted on grabbing onto the back of my seat to hoist themselves up. So, I was VERY happy to be off the plane and with my family!

We headed straight out to VA and Grandpa's where I said hello and then promptly took a much needed nap before we went out for half priced burgers. Unfortunately I was still jet lagged and forgot to take pictures of the half priced burgers, but they were good. There are many British foods that I enjoy, but the British hamburger is not one of them. It was great to have some big ole American burgers and fries as soon as I got there!

The next day, after the requisite visit to Target and a visit to the grocery store, where a grumpy old lady was rude to me, we celebrated Grandpa's 87th birthday! It was festive if a bit fractured.


The Shug was there


And so was Mom and, of course, her constant companion Buster the Traveling Wonderdog.
I like to think he's still our dog, but he's not. He did consent to posing with me for this picture, despite his new god-like status. (in motels, food is ordered in so that Buster is not left alone. And Buster ALWAYS goes on trips. He is a lucky dog! It's no wonder he prefers Mom to me.)


Buster also works his charms on Virginia. She's almost as big of a pushover as Mom.


It took a while, but Grandpa opened his presents. He found the presents I got for him (chocolate) before I was able to wrap them up. He's fast when there are grocery bags around. In addition to chocolate, he got some nice shirts and some new shoes.


The cake was festive and Grandpa blew all the candles out (there were not 87 of them).


It was a happy day and Grandpa was so excited by it all that he stayed up all night continuing the celebrations. We left the next morning and headed to Atlanta.