Roly Poly

Today Madeline rolled over by herself! At first she was just rolling from her back to her side, but eventually she made it all the way from her back to her stomach. Josh and I were quite entertained watching her swing her legs about to get her momentum going. She's not quite sure what to do once she is on her stomach, though, so the rolling process is kind of anti-climatic for her. She has yet to figure out that she can push herself up with her arms when in a prone position. She's also still figuring out how to roll from her stomach to her back -- sometimes gravity just works too well and she's stuck face-planted to the floor. Then the happy, rolling baby turns into the crying, frustrated, bang-my-head-on-the-floor baby. Someday she'll figure it out...

Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up!

I volunteered again this year at the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, a tournament that benefits the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. I walked 18 holes with a team while carrying around a standard (see right for an example) that listed their names and their score.

This year, my team consisted of John Calipari and 4 hilarious guys from IBM. The North Carolina humidity, the August heat and the hilly terrain at Pinehurst left me exhausted at the end of the day, but I know I'll be back again next year.

Jim Valvano was an amazing man and if you have never seen or heard his inspirational 1993 ESPYs speech, I encourage you to click here to see it on YouTube.

3 months

Books are fascinating....

...especially those without pesky words mucking up the pages.

Weird Science

Madeline was called last week to participate in a study at the Infant Cognition Center at Duke. After finding out that this experiment required pretty low-key participation (no poking, prodding or pushing would be involved), I said, "Sure, why not." Afterall, I participated in various studies at K-State when I was younger and I turned out OK (no comments from the peanut gallery, please). This study involved her sitting in a car seat and watching various patterns of shapes on two video screens for just a few minutes. She was videotaped and timed to see how long she looked at the images on each screen. She was a model participant - I'm not biased, the PhD candidate running the test even said so - and after it was all over they presented her with a certificate of participation (suitable for framing), a t-shirt (see image below), and $5. Josh is excited that there is a second wage-earner in the house again.

Moms and movies

Abby and I had a "mommies-only date" today to see Becoming Jane. Two thumbs up -- especially if you like Jane Austen's books, Anne Hathaway's acting, period British films, or any combination of the three. Next movie in the queue: The Nannie Diaries. We may attempt this one with the babies in tow during a Movie Mom's Club showing.

Game Night

We had Zack (he was solo because Fer was in a class) and Adrian, Abby & Linus over for dinner tonight. Despite the hot weather, I fired up the oven and attempted Maeluen's Shepherd's pie recipe. For some reason I have a mashed potato deficiency (yes, my foodie friends, I am terribly embarrassed to admit this shortcoming), but even my sub-par mash didn't detract from the deliciousness of this concoction. Thanks, Maeluen, for sharing your secrets! The boys were able to squeeze in a game of Caylus before everyone headed home.

Josh, Adrian, (sleeping) Linus and Zack
contemplate their next moves.

A Silver Lining

We received sad news this past Monday -- Josh's Grandma Lingenfelser passed away. We quickly packed up and flew back to KS for her funeral. We are sad to lose her here on this earth, but we know that she is now in a place without pain and suffering. We are glad that we could join the rest of the family in celebrating her life and memory.

The silver lining to this cloud over our hearts is that we were able to spend time with many members of our extended family and share our newest family member with them. Despite the intense heat, lots of time in the car, and so many new places and new faces, Madeline was a wonderful traveler (she slept through both flights!) and seemed to charm the pants off everyone. Thank you to everyone who fed us, housed us, and transported us while we were "home"!