The Pros call it "Table Tennis"

Bret and I have been talking about getting a ping pong table for several years, but the conversation has never seriously gone anywhere because of space constraints.  This last weekend, though, I think the onset of the winter doldrums got to Bret because on Sunday around noon, he says to me:  "I want a ping pong table."

So I say my usual:  "You're willing to give up the other half of your garage for this?"  (one half is already taken up by a trailer)

But this time he responded with a simple, unequivocal:  "Yep!"

So I said:  "Ok, get on craigslist and let's see what's out there."

8 minutes later we'd emailed in response to an ad for a free table.

A mere 9 1/2 hours later we were back at home with our new FREE* ping pong table!

Isn't craigslist grand?


It was too late to play on Sunday night when we got home, so last night we bundled up the kids and headed out to the garage after dinner.  We set Abby up in her swing in front of a heater and Gabe ran around us playing with his dinosaur set and generally trying to get underfoot.

So far we are tied at 2 games a piece.  We're pretty well matched - at least when Bret's not trying to perfect his slam/spike move on me.  He says he needs to practice so that he can beat his dad & brother next time they're over...they grew up with a ping pong table and apparently there are some old rivalries just waiting to be resurrected.  My family also had a table when I was a teenager, and I remember Dad & Paul playing a few epic games that included big slam/spike moves.  Whenever either of them would do that in a game with me I would get SO mad and whine "I don't want to play if you're going to play like that!".  It should be noted that I have already whined this to Bret at least twice.

Abby was all smiles for about 5 minutes, then fell asleep. 
Apparently we did not play games interesting enough for
her to stay awake for!



Gabe emptied the contents of his dinosaur box and kept us extra nimble as we tried not to trip over him.



Yes, these are pictures of us with our ping pong table.

What?  Is that strange?

*In the interest of full disclosure I will share that the table was located in Olympia, 2 hours away from our house, so there was an extra tank of gas required...however - since we all went to pick it up together, it's really just like we went on a Sunday drive and came back with a ping pong table!

I Sure Love This Kid.

Animal Instinct

The first time I held Abigail, I had an overwhelming urge to put my nose on her face.  Specifically, to touch my nose to her nose.



yeah, I'll just let that sink in a minute.



...I don't recall being conscious of the urge at the time; it was only hours later that I realized as I held her, I kept putting my nose on her face.  Looking at her, studying her, and then touching my nose to her.  Not smelling her, but just touching her.  

She's almost two and half months old and I still find myself doing this.  And I don't think I can fully describe the need that's behind it.  It's instinctive, it's basic, and usually I find myself thinking "weird, I just did it again!" because it's not something that happens with forethought.

Is it just me?  Is it just Abby?  I don't recall doing this when Gabe was a baby...although now we do Eskimo Kisses (i.e. rub noses) as part of bedtime routine hugs and kisses goodnight, so maybe I did do it with Gabe and I just never noticed it or thought it was unusual.

Oh My Goodness - have I nosed YOUR baby while holding it??  How far does this strangeness go?

And if I never did it with Gabe or with other random babies, why now with Abby? 

I have wondered if it is my subconscious way of connecting with her and reiterating:  "you are mine". 

I have wondered if it's because Abby looks so different from Gabe (dark rather than fair).  In fact, when they placed her on my stomach, my first thought was "wait a second - I don't have dark-haired babies".  Even though we said all through the pregnancy that she would probably take after Bret because Gabe took after me, my first reaction upon seeing her was surprise because Gabe and his coloring had set the standard for "how my babies look".

I have wondered if I'm just really, really odd.

I have wondered how many times I've done this while in public and whether anyone was watching and thinking "Did she just NOSE her baby?!?".  And then I have decided that I don't care, and that it probably gave them a good laugh. 

I have wondered when (if?) I'll ever stop.

C'mon...tell me you don't want to put your nose on that face!



October Fest-ivities

...we made our now traditional family trip to the Corn Maze:


Our fearless leader!



Gabe has no time for a family picture, he's seen the exit!



These two are so cute I can hardly stand it!

Don't we all look strangely happy about getting lost in a bunch of corn?



The farm we went to also had a Trike Track with various John Deere trikes and bikes for the "kids" to ride on.


...and this year we got our pumpkins from Grandma and Grandpa's pumpkin farm!  My parents put a pumpkin patch in their lower backyard and got something like 20 pumpkins from it! 

Searching for the perfect pumpkin



Found it!




Gabe picking out Bret's pumpkin - doesn't it look like he's laughing because "Daddy's pumpkin is smaller than mine!" ?



We picked the white pumpkins for mine & Abby's


...and for Halloween, Gabe was a very unhappy elephant.  He did NOT want to wear his costume and whined the whole time I was getting him dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating with Bret.  Abby and I stayed home to pass out candy, and I was attempting to get a few pictures of her in her ballerina skirt when she decided to have a major diaper blowout all over herself and me.  Talk about an eventful evening! 



This is from the day we bought the costume and were trying it on to make sure it fit.  Gabe had the most dramatic slumped over posed the whole time I was trying to get a picture...apparently the idea of having to dress up to get candy is very emotionally taxing for a toddler.



But, of course, once he was back home in his sweats and looking at a pile of candy, all was once again right with the world!

Abby in her skirt when I bought it - didn't get any good pictures on  Halloween.