All About Andrew

Since you got to learn 8 things about me recently, I decided I would give you some facts about Andrew. Given that he only reads this blog "on occassion," I don't know if he'll see this. Man, I could say all kinds of things, couldn't I? Too bad that I think he is close to perfect!

So, here are 8 interesting things about my husband...

• "The Cheese," also known as "White Lightening" was Andrew's first car --white 1982 Ford Fairmont. That car was a piece of junk, but the man loved it! The headboard was completely torn out, so it had carboard that we wrote on. We kept markers in the car for riders to leave their mark on the ceiling of the Cheese. Now, this car didn't exactly work properly. Drive didn't work when you first started the car. So, instead, you had to start the car in neutral, revving the car up as much as possible. This could go on for five to ten minutes, especially when it was cold outside! Then, out of nowhere, the entire car would go "BAM," we'd jerk forward and Andrew would throw the car into drive. To this day, Andrew still sees a Fairmont, shakes his head and admires the "beauty" of that fine automobile.

• Have you ever met a man allergic to ALL fresh fruit, raw vegetables, and nuts? Yes, that is my husband. Makes dieting real easy in my household!! The allergist told Andrew the other day that he is one of the most "interesting patients" she has. His body processes all of these things as a hayfever allergy and his throat closes up and he struggles with an itchy throat. The doctor wants him to keep an Epi-Pen on him at all times, but has he even gotten the pen from the pharmacist? No. Ugh, Men!

• Andrew has done all of our floors in our home. We have wood laminate throughout the house and tile in our kitchen, and both bathrooms. He labored through all of that work, never complaining (though cussing when moving the refridgerator back in place and the tile cracked!). I'm a spoiled woman. When something needs to be fixed in my home, Andrew is on it every time.

• Our friends and family call on Andrew every time there is a computer issue. I think we get more dinner invitations too because they know while he is there, they might be able to entice him to take a quick look at their computer issue. Everyone loves Andrew!

• Though he is married to one of the most gregarious and social people, Andrew is not the most outgoing of people. He's quite and reserved and absolutely hates large crowds. We work together well, knowing the other is different. I love to go out and meet new people--he doesn't. We both like small intimate groups of friends and tend to do those type of get togethers instead.

• The thing about Andrew is that even though he is quiet, he is hilarious. He is one of the funniest people I know and has me in stitches all the time. He has a quick dry wit that gets me every time. If you have been around him on those moments, you know exactly what I am talking about. Deb says he is one of the funniest people she knows.

• When we play games, I want to be on Andrew's team. Especially if we play games related to movies or his favorite Trivial Pursuit.

• At the risk of sounding just a little sappy--I'll say that he is the best father I know. I've never seen a man more in love with his two daughters. While I know he loves me very much, I often think Maggie is the love of his life. She has his heart for sure. I love to watch the two of them together and see them laugh uncontrollably. He is active in all aspects of her life, and never hesitates to jump in with her care and do whatever she needs.

See why this man is so great? Love him!

Dictionary of Maggie

As I am working overload right now, exhausted and unable to focus because I'm waiting for news of Baby Lilly to be born (yeah for Larissa!!!), I thought I would stop and blog for a minute.

Maggie will be two at the end of this month. I can't believe my baby (who I won't get to see for the rest of the day due to a crazy hectic work schedule!!) is getting so big! At 15 months, the pediatrician expressed concern that all she said was Mama and Dada. Now, her language has exploded. Many of her words are clear, many are clear for what she has decided to call them, and many still are clear only to those who know her well enough to know what she wants. Everyone tells me to write these down. I'm terrible at the baby book, y'all. Seriously, the last entry was at her two month check-up. Horrible, I know. So, I decided to blog about it. That counts for something right?

Words that Maggie has changed--

GaGa--Grandma

Cockie--chocolate. Also seen with "cockie milk" "cockie i cream" etc

BeeBee--Brandy, our golden

Bobby--Aunt Debbie

Kaka--her best little friend Annika

Aash--yes

Maa--Maggie

TaTa--Andrew's stepmom Jane who we call Sita

Words either a double meaning or a different meaning altogether

Bacon--blanket

Eyes--refers to both eyes and glasses. So, "Mama eyes" are really Mama's glasses (which she obsesses about if they are not on my face)

Pretty--her hair tie to make a ponytail

I'm sure there are others I am leaving off, but those are just a few of my favorites. I don't know if Debbie will ever be Debbie. Bobby is a pretty sweet little nickname! And I think my mom will have an 18 year old still calling her GaGa as we all now call her that. I don't think I've Grandma in the last six months!

OK, too much work to be doing to be sitting here typing away. Think happy thoughts for Larissa for baby Lilly's safe arrival very soon!!

If only it was the dog's picture I needed

Attempt #2 on the photo session still was a little more successful tonight. We at least got this one that actually included a smile!

I still don't know if I have the right picture for the invitation (driving me nuts!!). If only it was the dog's birthday party, I'd be done already....

Maggie was NOT happy when she turned to see her pumpkin turning into the dog's chew toy! She ran yelling, "NO, NO BEE BEE!!" and chanted that the rest of the photo session outside. Poor dog just wanted a snack. And really, could my sweet girl be any cuter? What a good puppy! If only I could tell you properly just what a good dog she really is. Such a sweet love she is.

The Witch and the Super hero

Maggie has two different choices for Halloween costumes--the witch and Supergirl. In an attempt to get a picture that would work for the invitation Megan is designing for us, we dressed in her costumes and gave it a whirl. Jen Weintraub, I am not. Not the most successful attempt. Looks like I will be heading out for another try.

Every Super Hero needs a side kick! Notice the look of torture on poor Brandy ("BeeBee")

Her new mode of transportation

Giving Bee Bee a little love for a job well done

Being like a doggie

Stopping for a snack--side kick waiting for a little kick back

Getting to go off and save the world--one sticker at a time (if only you could see me right now--I'm covered in stickers and she won't let me take them off!!)

A reluctant witch. She was living up to the name during this photo time!

Looking good

Pretty Witch

No more hair tie!! Like the hair?

There's the money shot

Dancing Queen

This season of Dancing with the Stars has started! While others may be voting for Mel B, Mark Cuban, or Wayne Newton, my vote is definitely going to the little Munchie Moo cutting a rug in our living room! How do those hips know to shake like that? Girlfriend has some moves!!

Commercial over--time for dancing!!

Dr. Dennis to the rescue!

First the Scotts, then the Reiningers, and now my mom--we've all switched our doctors to Dr. Dennis Eisenberg! Almost two years ago, Dennis (with my sweet friend Dana directly behind him about to push him aside at any minute and deliver the baby herself) delivered beautiful Margaret Elizabeth. Several months from now, he will gently deliver two Reininger twins, and yesterday, he did surgery on my mom. Hysterectomy, which she has been dreading due to the time and recovery usually involved. But, because Dennis is just as awesome as he is, he suggested a new and up and coming way to have a hysterectomy involving a robotic arm. This procedure can take the recovery from an average six weeks down to two or three!

I'm off to the hospital this morning after our Gymboree class with Maggie. And then Maggie and I are planning to spend the next two nights with "Ga-Ga" (Mom says Maggie is the best medicine!) with a quick break to have a playdate at the Wiggly Playcenter with Maggie's best friend Annika tomorrow morning.

I just hope she recovers quickly! It will be very hard for her not to hold her Munchie!!

8 Things

Well, Jennifer tagged me last week to do an 8 things about me blog. Given that the 5K was last weekend, I pushed this assignment to the side, vowing to complete when I had a moment. The 5K is now over and was so much fun (I'll defer you to the HFC Blog for Tracey's post about the event). Big love to "my girls" for their incredible support on race day. It made me swell with pride to see all of you front and center during the balloon release. How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful friends?

OK, so 8 things. You know, this is a challenging assignment for me. 8 whole things about me? Can't I just take the route dear Amy did? No, Deb, told me, I need to do it the right way. So, last night, we started brainstorming, and wouldn't you know that Debbie was giving me my things to write! She knows me all too well. She wasn't tagged, or we would have done each others instead!

Enough proscrastinating, here goes....

1) It has taken me years, and I mean YEARS, to be willing to walk around barefoot. I prefer "stocking feet," as my mother called them. And God forbid if I walk outside barefoot--no way! Because you know, "you can step on a bee!!" Yes, you can thank Sharon Lawson, my sweet mother, for that piece of wisdom. Because you see, at around five years old, little Sharon stepped on a bee in her backyard and vowed a hatred so intense for bees from that day forward. So bad that it instilled a deep fear into young little Jenny Lawson that couldn't wane even into adulthood. If only you could my husband's eye rolls at this statement.

2) Most already know that I have one older brother, Jeremy. But few know that I actually have an older half sister named Lisa as well. She is my father's daughter who was not raised by us. In fact, I met her when I was seven and she was eighteen. Not great chances for a longlasting bonding relationship. Lisa lives in Indiana with her family and I haven't seen her since my father's funeral. She called around the time Allie was born, talked all about herself and her kids for 45 minutes, and never called again. Nice.

3) I have an issue with public pools. Yuck!!! I can't stand going--they completely gross me out. I have been willing to compromise this in the past few months with Maggie and have actually been in a public pool three times this summer. Three times too many, if you ask me.

4) Between the ages of 18--26, I traveled to Europe seven times. I love France and Europe in general, and if I was a rich woman, I would be going every single year for vacations. One of my favorite trips was when Andrew and I went to Rome. We decided to walk the entire city, going from the Vatican all the way to the Colosseum. Stupid! We were hurting the next day, big time, but we had such a great time. My favorite moment was our taxi ride from the airport with our crazy taxi driver. He was weaving in and out of traffic and then almost hit a pedestrian. So, his initial reaction was to yell "Hey Provolone!!! I KILL you tomorrow!!!" Yes, my taxi driver called someone "Cheese." Classic. Andrew and I were quoting that line for years afterwards.

5) I raised lambs and rabbits in high school. I love animals and was excited to be apart of the Agriculture classes starting in the ninth grade. Resisting the idea of her city girl raising a lamb or pig (what I really wanted to do!), my mom allowed me to get two rabbits. I wasn't very good keeping up with them. Not at all. And rabbit pee smells really bad! One of my rabbits lived until college. His name was J.J--Jerry Junior as he was born on my dad's birthday. JJ got sick when I was gone in college and I told my dad to take him to the vet and that I understood if he had to be put down. My dad, with all the tact he was famously known for (note the sarcasm in my tone please) left a message on my voicemail in college saying, "Jenny, had to do what you told me to do. Rabbit's dead. Call me."

In 10th and 11th grade, I got what I wanted and raised lambs. I had Stewart my first year and Trouble my second. Trouble most definitely lived up to his name and was a giant pain in the rear!! Eventually, while I loved Ag class and raising the animals, I hated the people in Ag group. I never fit in with them and never felt very welcomed. I was most definitely an outsider with that group and finally completely dropped out my senior year of high school.

6) I love desserts, but don't like pie. Anything with a filling grosses me out. It's a consistency issue, I'm sure. Don't like pudding, jello, pie filling, and then my big one that I really don't like--PEAS--just nasty, y'all. It's definitely a texture thing-the mushiness? Yuck. Now, the one exception to my dislike of pies is my mother-in-law Frances' homemade apple pie. Now, that is a slice of heaven.

7) In the past four years, I have been on six or seven diets. I yo-yo bad and have major food eating issues. I overeat and I have no control. Instead of one item, I eat three, maybe four. I do really well on a diet (as I am currently on Weight Watchers and working out at the gym three times a week), but when I fall of the wagon, I fall bad. Many, many food issues.

8) I have a tendency to cuss WAY too much! My dad was a drill seargent in the Army who enjoyed a good cuss word, so he of course passed the habit on to me. From a young age, I can remember one of Jeremy's friends saying, "Man, you're dad cusses a lot!" Jer and I's reaction was, "Doesn't yours??" We thought it was commonplace. So, the words slip out often and if I am angry--watch out!! Those words just start a flyin' all around. Is it bad that my not even two year old said "shit" the other day? Yes, very bad mama! But, really, when you are raised by a man whose favorite saying was the following, you'll understand. My dad told us when we were teenagers that there were "Three nevers in life--#1 Never piss in the wind. #2 Never sand paper a tiger's ass #3. Never, upon ever, F**K with Dad!!!" Now you get it.

So now you know that I am a neurotic cussing traveling freak that doesn't eat pie. Aren't you glad you read this blog?

I am supposed to tag more people to do this, but the people I would tag have already been tagged and I promised to have mercy on the pregnant girl! So, like my friend Saint Richard, I am choosing NOT to tag anyone. You're such a trendstarter, Rich!!