Very Sweet

These were taken a couple weeks ago, just minutes before calling her grandma.
Just minutes after getting on the phone, she broke into spontaneous hysterics...welcome to the world of two-year olds, eh?

All American Cutie

As I was getting ready to put this one up, Jen's words were, "They are going to think we feed this child nothing but sugar." Eh... Think what you want. She's a cutie!

And this second photo also shows she can still say "cheese" with ice cream.

Up on the counter again

Boy, do we spoil her or what? This was taken a week or so ago. She was being especially clingy and, surprise - wanting mommy and not daddy. And specifically, she had to have her spot on the counter watching mommy make eggs for breakfast. But isn't she cute?

Hunchback Darling

Thought you would enjoy this - appropriate for the time of year. Jen was talking to her sister Diane the other night while Veronica harassed her daddy with new clothes Diane sent. She brought each article of clothing to daddy to tie around her shoulders like a multilayered cape. Ain't she cute?

I forget what she was in the middle of saying...could have been "cheeze!" or "scarey!" (A lot of things have suddenly become scarey, like camera flashes, scuba divers, screwdrivers, etc.) All you longtime parents out there will be happy to know she has also just started the "I don't like it" stage...regardless of whether she's tasted it yet or not. As long as she stays cute... ug.

We are getting excited about spending Halloween with her. Jen's embarked upon ambitious plans ... she actually found material to make a costume. If you are in the family and know of her costuming experience (something about a Tigger suit), you know this will be fun. It will be even more fun because she's not subjecting her little baby to the costume, she's subjecting her big baby to it. Daddy will be some kind of Frankenstein Sully from Monsters, Inc. ;) We have all the faith in the world that the father-daughter team will be beyond adorable.

Piggies

Mommy took Veronica in the outdoor waterfall steps...she kept crying for "my piggies, my piggies!" Until mommy relented and took her for a stroll down the steps. We are not sure, but we think it was a pretty neat representation of the Trail of Tears - we were a little too distracted to make sure Veronica didn't run off in the water or slip down the steps. Of course, the birthday boy was a bit too busy carting the stroller down the dry steps alongside the water steps and trying to set up for a shot at a decent picture. This one didn't turn out so bad...

It was a beautiful day in the really pretty, charming little city of Chattanooga. (We debated its city status, but with Nathan growing up in Vermont and his experience with Burlington as the state's largest city, it wasn't much of an argument to make Chattanooga a city.) Looks like a great place to visit at greater leisure with family.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Let's see - Nathan almost forgot his own birthday this weekend. He turned 35...not much different than rolling over in bed, maybe just a bit more tired than on days past. We attempted dinner out at Nuevo Laredo - great food but boy was Veronica a pistol. We boxed up the dinner after a couple bites. :)

The real treat was on Sunday when we day tripped to Chattanooga for the acquarium. What a fun time. Here's Veronica in one of the aquariums - this one with some massive King Crabs. Is it wrong to get hungry for seafood at the aquarium?

Cheese!

Would you believe she's actually saying, "cheese!" ?
One of the more recent mornings when she woke up not very happy and quite clingy. She had to take her special seat and watch mommy make breakfast. She's a pistol.

Anyway, come see us soon. If you want to drop a comment to any of these posts, sorry for the "word fill in." Some dufus left an advert for a stupid site on one of the more recent posts.

She's a witch in training, ridin' that broom! Just in time for Halloween!

Warts 'n All

Just to prove to you that daddy isn't overly bashful about his scruffy appearance on the weekends. It's easy when I know where the eyes are really drawn to. There I am with my Montana tee-shirt...I'm actually posting this from my room in Montgomery, Alabama, and getting ready to hop a flight tomorrow to visit Montana for a couple days.

Stickers!

If you can't tell, or haven't noticed, we have been long overdue in updating this site. Seemed at first there was someone's thunder we didn't want to steal...can't remember, cuz soon enough, it no longer felt appropriate to celebrate the wonders of our life in the face of Katrina and Rita and others. It all adds up to sloth and entropy, my twin demons.

Anway, if you didn't know, stickers are in with 2-year olds. We succumbed to no longer using stickers just for potty training rewards...they are useful to fend off the little beast when we need to make dinner, wash dishes, or work in general. That, and they are also preferable to her other addiction of the moment...band-aids (whose idea was it to get her princess band-aids, and pooh band-aids, and blues clues band-aids?). Eesh.

Yep, at least she likes tomatoes. I am just glad she isn't yet associating the tomatoe with the dude from Veggie Tales! She posed well for this shot... very vampire-like.

Happy Birthday Veronica! We love you! 

Yes - we are alive and well and really enjoyed Yellowstone. Here is Veronica putting her piggies in the Yellowstone River. It was cold! I don't think we'll be posting all 100+ pictures, but we sure did see some fantastic sights. 

This is the courtyard at the San Xavier Mission just outside Tucson. Beautiful old mission presently undergoing renovation. It was actually interesting to see the damage caused by the great number of birds over the years that nested in the various Saints and such. Missions are neat though. Let's see - I am home in Georgia now, and Veronica's latest addition to vocabulary is "My"...so it's My Evan this, or My Elmo, My whatever. Cute. :) 

I just got back from Tucson, AZ where I attended the AAMVA Region IV Conference (see www.aamva.org if you don't know what an AAMVA is). Great meeting, beautiful area - it was really nice to see so many old friends I have not seen in years. It's also nice to see such a large gathering of civil servants who actually have a passion about their job and doing things better. Commiseration is always good, but so is problem solving. Anyway - Tucson was a little hot...I guess it got up around 110F each day I was there, but it's a dry heat. :) (It really does make a difference...but so does air conditioning.)