As a quick continuation from the previous post, see this cute video of my dad doing his baby-talk to Cambry. This was taken on Father's day. Happy late Father's day Pops!
P.S. At the very end of the video he proclaims his biggest worry, that Halie and Steve aren't talking to her enough. For some reason he must think they ignore her all day and go about their business. I am taking notes so I can baby-talk with the best of them.
In other less relevant news, I went and saw No Doubt about a month ago. UMMM, can I say it is was so stinkin fun. They played all their big hits for two hours, leaving all of their obscure music where it belonged, on the shelf. We all know we go to concerts to hear our favorite songs, not to see the band act all deep and play stuff we don't know.
I wore my wife-beater shirt, baggy jeans, red lipstick and black eye-liner in honor of Gwen. Kendall tried to convince me to wear a colored bra underneath since that is Gwen's signature performance outfit, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was brought up right!
Below are me and Kendall singing along to our favorite songs.
What is it about holding babies? Especially newborns. They just lay there. They can barely show expressions. They have no form of communication except to cry when they want something. And most likely, some kind of bodily fluid will end up on the person who is holding said baby. All that aside, holding babies is the best thing ever. Especially when they are little newborn blobs and can barley have enough energy to stay awake. They fall asleep on your chest and it is simply heavenly. This is a phenomenon I will never understand, but will always willingly participate. I have no shame to say that when I am around a baby I love, I will try to hog the baby and not share. I purposely stand and bounce the baby, pat their little bum, and try to get them to fall asleep on me. This gives me a chance to hold the baby in question longer, as responsible adults recognize this and will say “Oh, we don’t want to wake the baby. Just let Summer hold her a little longer.” I am not proud of this, nor do I regret it.
Here is something else that confuses me about babies. Well, not really babies, but social norms when holding babies. I was holding my neice, Cambry, the other day. She woke up from her nap while I was holding her (see above paragraph) and then I was encouraged by my dad to:
"Talk to her, Summer. Talk to the baby!"
Ummmm what? Talk to a 5 week old? And say what? Ask her about the most recent election in Iran? I felt pressure to come up with something to say, so I said something ridiculous in baby-talk (you all know how I feel about using baby-talk) like "Hey there wittle Cambry...." then I trailed off. I had nothing left to say.
"What am I supposed to say to her?" I asked.
"Oh, just say anything!" my family responded.
I drew a blank. Then shortly after, my dad started telling her a well-known story about Bloody Bones (don't ask, it's a story passed down in the crazy Vinson family) and Camby began laughing, smiling and cooing.
*sigh.* I was shamed. I am a baby-talking failure. I understand talking to babies when they are able to respond in some fashion, but talking to a five week old, sadly enough, threw me for a loop. If I ever have kids, will they be verbaly deficient because they have a mom who won't talk to them? I guess despite my protests, I better begin practicing my baby-talk.
Baby talk is the worst. It's like putting ketchup on prime rib..."Stop, you're ruining it!'" ~I will not own up to where I know this quote from.
Eight things I look forward to: 1. Going to Cali this summer for the first time! 2. Some of my favorite peeps coming back to Dallas. ;) 3. No Doubt, Third-Eye Blind and Beyonce concerts this summer. Yesssssssss. 4. Having one job 5. IC reunion! 6. Revelation 22:4 7. Going home from work every day 8. My next plate of nachos
Eight things I did yesterday: 1. Went to work 2. Went to counseling center 3. Unpacked from my beach trip 4. Finished paperwork 5. Became a stalker with my sister (too embarrassing to fully explain on a blog) 6. Listened to Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam 7. Scared my sister when I pretended I was going to beat her up 8. Day-dreamed about going back to Paris and checked ticket prices online
Eight things I wish I could do: 1. Create a zapper that would zap me places without a commute 2. Do the splits (not sure why, but I have always wanted to) 3. Buy a house 4. Go back to Europe this summer 5. Have more control over my cheese intake. (I am making progress!) 6. Play piano and guitar 7. Sing 8. Two-step well. (I always panic when I get turned and then ruin the rest of the dance)
Eight shows I watch: 1. The Office 2. LOST 3. Scrubs 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
This post has alot of babies in it. But seeing as everyone loves babies, everyone should love this post! First up....my sis finally had her baby! Last night we welcomed Cambry Brooke Hodgson into the world. It was love at first sight! Halie is every woman!!! Labor is not for weenies, I'll tell you that! She was a champ. No wonder the government gives people a tax break for kids...they know those moms have EARNED IT!! For more pics go here.
Second up, my trip to Memphis. You guys have met Lisa before. I went to visit her and her little boy Jack and Baby #2 (on the way!) We partook in what bonded us together the first time we met: greasy food and rock and roll. Can I get an AMEN for BBQ Nachos??
Jack trying to decide if he wants to go into the babysitters house or not. Lisa's good friend baby sat for us so we were able to get some quality time together. WHOOP!
He loves Aunt Summer.
Then we headed to Sun Studios. This is the famous studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others began their careers. It was in original condition, even the floor tiles and wall tiles were the same! The movie Walk the Line was also filmed here.
That drum kit behind me is the one U2 used when they recorded one of their albums in this very room!
Inside. This is the actual room they would record in.
The mic and the exact spot where Elvis recorded his famous songs! Sam Phillips put an X on the spot Elvis would stand. Us waiting for a divine milkshake before the tour.
Then if was off to stay with Dawn. Zipporah was so happy to see me!
Ok, so I might have cropped Dawn out of this picture. (I got in a little trouble for doing it!) But I couldn't resist. Look at that little face!!! I needed a close up. :)
I just liked this pic and had to throw it in!
Ok, sadly those were all the pics with we took. What was wrong with us? Basically, I ate, slept, looked at Elvis stuff and squished babies. A great weekend!
You know what I dislike: when I’m walking in the mall and someone from one of those kiosks comes up to me, grabs my hand, tries to put lotion on my nails, while giving me a sales pitch. You know what I dislike more than that: the fact that this annoys me. I don’t like that I am so obsessed with my own time and not being bothered that I want to roll my eyes when I see that I am being approached. In the words of Kidd Kraddick, I need to get over it.
Today this happened to me. However, instead of a teenage girl trying to get my attention, it was an attractive mocha-skinned man with an accent. I was not able to identify his accent; I can neither speak in accents nor tell where other people's dialects are from. His origins could be anywhere from Costa Rica to Italy to Lebanon. All I know is that after he grabbed my hand and began his sales pitch, I said my standard “I am so sorry, but I’m not interested. Thank you. No, no, I am on my lunch break, thank you for offering though.” After my final sentence, I looked into the possible Latino/Italian/Lebanese man’s eyes and went a little weak in the knees. Goodness, he was lovely. He was still holding my hand and was slightly rubbing them with his while looking directly in my eyes and discussing my cuticles. This was obviously inappropriate as he was aware of his attractiveness. Wow, his hands are soft. Stay focused woman! I tried to retract my hand, but I think I did a bad job of resisting. Had this been spring break in college when I was in Spain, I would have flirted and let him buy me an espresso from a local cafe. But this is Dallas; I am 27 and know better. I again politely said no, walked away, and resolved to never again be annoyed by being ambushed in the mall.
Why do I tell this story pointless story? I needed to update my blog and still have yet to upload pictures from my trip to Memphis to see Lisa & Dawn. I had an excuse for a while since my computer crashed, but it is now working again and I am just being lazy. Lisa has every right to disown me since I have promised her pictures every day for the last 3 weeks. To hold you over I sandwiched pictures of me karaokeing (sp?) this weekend. Enjoy. More blogs & pics to come soon!
This weekend a group of us headed out to east Texas for some good times in the woods. 4 boys and 4 girls. You would think the even amount of males vs. females would equal even amounts of estrogen and testosterone. However, if you saw the events of the weekend, you might have been fooled. I felt like this weekend consisted of very masculine (and incredibly fun) activities. Let me list the things I personally participated in, and you will understand why I felt like a boy this weekend:
*
1. Drove in a large truck to the cabin with two other boys late on Friday, while the girl car went ahead and got there early to go grocery shopping for the weekend. We arrived and were met with margaritas at the front door upon arrival! I felt like I had a 1950's housewife!
2. Shot three different types of guns at various things in the woods.
3. Investigated an old abandoned house (with Kevin and Geoff playing FBI agents and kicking through doors)
4. Four wheeling through the woods and almost running over a skunk. (side note: wearing lip gloss while four wheeling insures that you will have dirt and dust stuck to your lips. gloss = glue.)
5. Sitting in a deer lease with guns looking for something to shoot.
6. Snipe hunting (which I still think is not real. )
7. Eating a steak
8. Tracking wild hogs in the woods. (I was told I lost masculine points when I asked if I could take the baby hog back to the cabin, put a bonnet on it and feed it with a bottle. Oh, and also wishing out loud that we had valeted our four wheelers and didn't have to hike back to find them. However, I didn't lose my weave in the barbed wire fence (like Brittain did) when I went under it, therefore giving me some points back.)
My view on the road trip.
Reunited with my girls!
Aggie yell time! WHOOP!
This pic is turned the wrong way, but if you turn your head and squint, you can see Kevin leading me into the woods to go "snipe hunting." I was for sure I was being fooled.
Rise and Shine! Breakfast and coffee time.
Me about to go four wheeling with three boys. Sum, Kevin, Geoff, Eric.
Yes, Kevin and Geoff took their guns.
Sum & Geoff. La Fleur and Freckles. We met up with Jack and Juliette later (aka Kevin and Brittain) while dodging The Others.
Fires at night. The best! Duran, Kensten, and Geoff.
Kristen and Lindsey making us a great dinner!
Summer & Eric. The canooing extrodinare.
Our resident fireman making sure everything is under control.
Balderdash. (Geoff is incapable of seriously playing this game. His defiance rubbed off on Kevin and myself, quickly causing Kristen and Duran to admonish us for not playing seriously and to get it together. Kevin and I obliged but Geoff continued to rebel.) If anyone needs to know the definition of "maccaboy," ask me or Kevin.
Me holding a gun after shooting something.
Don't mess with these two.
Whenever Don't Stop Believing by Journey comes on, all heck breaks loose. Very few things make these boys as excited. I just missed videoing Kent's air-guitar jump off the furniture. It was a sight to see.
An awkward Say Anything homage.
This is my favorite video of all. Kristen is probably the most normal out of all of us when it comes to not acting like a lunatic when our favorite music comes on. The rest of us are certifiable. So I get especially excited when the force sucks her in and she can't resist. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Her most rousing performance during Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody happened when the camera was put down. I also missed Duran's special dance moves during Foot Loose. I feel I failed as a blogger, but I had to participate too!
I couldn't resist putting the video up due to La Fleur's commitment to figuring out the Thriller dance.
All in all, a great testosterone weekend! I have since come home, showered, baked some cookies and cried while planting flowers in my garden. There. Estrogen is back.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ok, so sometimes I get excited. Anybody who knows me, knows this is true. I never claimed to be a laid-back and chill person. I am passionate, sometimes speak at elevated decibels and and am easily excitable (sometimes to my detriment.) I used to try to be consistently calm, mysterious, quiet. To be the girl who nods and and makes polite conversation. But I always blow it and usually end up asking the Lord for another dose of meekness. (I know introversion/shyness does not equal meekness, nor does extroversion equal brash behavior, I'm just saying I can always use an extra helping.) Don't get me wrong, I don't consider myself a 5 year old kid who runs around screaming and has no social graces. But the truth is, at some point in any given celebratory evening, the the silly Summer emerges and I want to stop the talk about the 5 points of Calvinism and have some fun! I fully believe Jesus loves and endorses both. Below is an example when I got *excited at Chavon's wedding.
Right here we are in the middle of the dance floor. "Wait, what is that? I have a word from the Lord!"
"Summer, you have been locked in that counseling office for too long. It's time to let your hair down. No, really Summer...let your hair down!"
Whatever you say Jesus, whatever you say!!!
*excited: this kind of excited usually happens when a sick beat is playing in the background. Specifically, Justin Timberlake or Beyonce. Hey, don't judge.
Moral of the story: Life is too short to sit on the sidelines at a wedding and watch others dance. Get out there and have some *fun! Cheers to Ed Welch!
*fun: dancing can be hard fun to have if you worry what others think about you. I know this from personal experience. Read the book "When people are Big and God is Small" by Ed Welch and hit up your next dance floor as a symbol of stopping the worship of what others think about you. Seriously.
I wore my wife-beater shirt, baggy jeans, red lipstick and black eye-liner in honor of Gwen. Kendall tried to convince me to wear a colored bra underneath since that is Gwen's signature performance outfit, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was brought up right!
Can I get an AMEN for BBQ Nachos??
He loves Aunt Summer.
Then we headed to Sun Studios. This is the famous studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others began their careers. It was in original condition, even the floor tiles and wall tiles were the same! The movie Walk the Line was also filmed here.
That drum kit behind me is the one U2 used when they recorded one of their albums in this very room!
Inside. This is the actual room they would record in.
The mic and the exact spot where Elvis recorded his famous songs! Sam Phillips put an X on the spot Elvis would stand.
Us waiting for a divine milkshake before the tour.
Sum, Kevin, Geoff, Eric.
