I have no egg-scuse for my absence

I'm back, and yep, you're getting a bad pun and no good excuse as to why I didn't post last week. Unless organizing counts. Because if using four vacation days to organize the hell out of your basement and piles of baby stuff counts as a good excuse for neglecting the old blog, then I am so in the clear.

While I would love nothing more than to show you photos of my organizational accomplishments, I've learned over the years that not everyone gets giddy at the sight of a color-coded closet or a basement lined with neatly labeled Rubbermaid bins. So I guess I'll go the cute kid route and show you photos of Mary Clare's first foray into the world of Easter egg hunting.

Click here to soak up the springtime beauty of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the chubby cheekness of Mary Clare.

Hello, old friend

When we drove to Kansas City a few weeks ago to visit the Jones family, we made a pit stop in good old Columbia so Mary Clare and Buddy could stretch their legs. It was a nice day to be on campus. The sun was out, the temps were reasonable, the campus looked glorious and there was 25% off all Mizzou gear at the book store. Score!

It wasn't Mary Clare's first visit to Mizzou, but it was my first time on campus with a stroller. And a diaper bag. And a big ass camera around my neck. (Which I still managed to drop.) We didn't make it to the columns, but I did get a few good photos.

Ah, how I love thee, Mizzou. It's always good to see you again, no matter how brief the visit.

The most serious leprechaun you ever did see

While Chip has quite the mutt-tastic pedigree, he hasn't an ounce of Irish in him. And me? All German, baby! So maybe that's why I couldn't get a smile out of Mary Clare this morning. She felt like a fraud in her green T-shirt.

Or maybe she was just blinded by the color combination. Or maybe she knew what I meant when I said, "You're having corned beef and cabbage for lunch."

Irish or not, we hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!

Bottom's up

Top o' the morning to you! Now, let's fill this bad boy up and get the party started.

Just don't try slipping me any of that green beer. I'm a Guinness kind of girl.

Whew

If you cruised by the blog today, you may have noticed that it looked like I was renting out the site to a vitamin supplement company. Apparently that's what happens when you don't pay attention to your spam filter and miss emails from Google Apps telling you that your domain registration is set to expire.

Seriously, though, when my sister called late this morning to ask what was up with the blog, I panicked. I had visions of battling some cyber squatter so I could get back all the posts about my beloveds, my OCD issues and my shopping habits. I mean, what if 20 years down the road I couldn't show Mary Clare the posts about my crazy OB and how her daddy wouldn't spring for a chandelier in her room. Can you imagine?

Thankfully, it was an easy enough fix. I just had to pay my $10 and I'm good until 2012. I am so putting a reminder on my Outlook calendar, though. And I will most likely start copying and pasting these posts into Word docs or something. I can't handle this kind of stress.

There, that's better

It's amazing what you can do with a vacation day and Google.

I'm kind of digging the new design. You know how I loves me some damask. And nothing says Team Botanical like damask.

The sun made me do it

Hi. Yeah. How about that color?

For those of you not reading this via Google Reader or some other type of device, you surely could not help but notice the green background and cherry blossoms that are now adorning this blog. In a burst of sunshine-induced enthusiasm, I changed my template, and Holy Moses, it's a bit much. And I'm not even talking about the reversed-out white font. (Which by the way, has the font always been that hard to read, or is it just time for my yearly "Here's your new prescription. Only four more to go until you're legally blind." visit to the eye doctor?)

Anyway, I have nothing but the sun and my lack of blogging experience to blame for this little episode. So, until I can figure out how to change it to something else, please, by all means, enjoy it for what it is: A puke green background covered with cherry blossom branches and pictures of my child.

Totally a toddler

Although the wise folks at Babycenter.com told me that turning one made Mary Clare a toddler, I was like no way, not my baby. My sweet little baby still goes to the infant room at school with all the other sweet little babies.

Well, no more.

Not only does she have an increasing amount of not-so-sweet moments, but she is now a proud member of the Sunshine Kids toddler room at school. Her actual transition was last week, but as her teachers told me, there really was no transition. She just motored in, didn't cry and slipped right into the toddler routine, which, entertainingly enough, involves lining up at the sink for hand washing before every meal. It is ridiculously cute. (And hygienic!)

A large part of this smooth transition has to do with her infant teachers, who realized that if left to her own devices, Mary Clare would jam her binkie into every crying baby's mouth, and gosh darned it, babies in the baby swing will swing with authority! So, in order to keep her entertained and the little babies safe, Mary Clare spent a lot of the last two months visiting in the toddler room. While she was also kicked out of the toddler room (sometimes in record time) for standing on the tables or pitching balls out of the ball pit, I still think it helped with the transition.

Oh, and about her not-so-sweet moments? She's becoming a tad aggressive. This week alone she knocked my glasses off my face, pulled my hair, pulled Buddy's hair and took a swing at Buddy when he wouldn't move out of her way. So now I'm taking a cue from my friend Sue and walking around saying things like, "Nice touches only!" and "We use our hands for clapping! We use our hands for waving!" I sound ridiculous. But hey, whatever it takes to keep Buddy and I safe, right?

For more photos of Miss Sassy Pants, click here, and be sure to check out the last few from her trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens with Grandpa and Grandma Thole, which, surprisingly enough, featured more puddles and fewer flowers than one might think.