Am I still tagged?

I waited so long, and now everyone else's random 10 things about themselves are all done. Oh, well. I am turning in my homework late!
Here goes:

1. I drink pickle juice right out of the jar. This is not a pregnancy thing, it's something I have always done. It's just so dang yummy.

2. I have a serious hair complex. I was teased beyond belief as a child for my unruly, frizzy hair. It made my entire school experience less than what it should have been. I wore my hair up almost every day in high school and usually still do. I am working on getting over it.

3. In my early twenties, I was in a 3 year relationship with a man who was twice my age. It was something that most people did not understand, but it was not like you would think. We thought we were pretty normal, for the most part, and we had some good times.

4. When Adam and I were in Paris on our honeymoon, we went to the Louvre. We were in the room with the Mona Lisa and people were getting yelled at constantly for taking photos. The guard was scary mean and was taking cameras from people. Now I am not very rebellious, but something in me had to know if I could do it. I turned off the flash, held the camera just at my waist and clicked the shutter. I was holding my breath until we were safetly out of the museum. Once alone, Adam said, "Did you get it?" I grinned at him. I now have a tiny, fuzzy thumbnail of the famous painting, and I feel kinda guilty about it, even now.

5. I am envious of people who have unfaltering faith in their religions. I have always felt like I am searching for the thing I can believe in without thinking in the back of my mind..."really? that can't be it!". I don't want to have faith just because I should, I want it to be real and true, and so I am looking and waiting.

6. I have always been very worried about how I am viewed by other people. I have recently become aware that some people, even those close to you, may secretly not like you, for whatever reason. The more settled and happy in my life I become, I give a shit less and less.

7. I always wanted my name to be Julie. And maybe people would call me Jules. Sigh.

8. When I was in middle school (I can't believe I am telling this) our group of kids at the bus stop saw something weird in the sky. (Yes, really). There were about 10 of us. One girl's mom called all these UFO people and we ended up in a magazine and on the Fox show, Encounters. To this day, I really don't even remember what it looked like. (I guess TECHNICALLY, it is unidentified, right?)

9. As a child, I really wanted to see a ghost. I checked out books in the library on how to find them, and I would ask my grandmother constantly if anyone had ever died in her house before she owned it. (The answer was no.) I searched for secret passages in every house I went in, and checked all our photos for strange happenings. The closest I ever got was...see #8.

10. When I saw Seigfreid and Roy in Vegas when I was 21, President Clinton was 2 tables away from us. He had 284673 people with him. It was pretty cool. The show was just "eh".

Okay, mine are pretty random...! It was tough to compete with the fab ladies that came before me. :)

And now, for our reading pleasure, I would like to tag...
Jessica
Catherine
Jennifer
SarahC
April
Cathy
Erin
Rachel
Carrie

What a Week!

Last week flew by, and every night I was jonesing to blog about our events. That video pretty much took all my blog time, so let's catch up!
Wednesday
was our 3rd in a row weekly playdate with our good buddies Owen and Catherine. We took the boys to lunch at Chic-Fil-A and then to the city park. It was Owen's first time, and it was so much fun to watch him take it all in. Charlie is an old pro, and ran from slide to slide making Mommy nervous. I know we looked like the paparazzi, Cat with her Nikon, and me with the camcorder. Hey, new moms, what can you do?



The week before that, Cat invited us over for pizza and painting. It was a blast!




Wednesday
night, Charlie and I trekked up to Atlanta together to meet some of our wonderful Ethiopia group at Queen of Sheba restaurant. (Can you say YUM?) We got to meet Diane and Atticus in person! What a great pair they make. We also visited with Stephanie, and talked about wonderful hypothetical things with her. The people who work there are amazing and warm and it just brings me back to being in Addis. Charlie really took to one of the guys, who pretty much babysat while I mingled and ate dinner. It was so nice to see that connection is still available to us. CF ate a boatload of injera, and made some great new friends. On the way home, the sunset was hitting the buildings downtown, and everything was pink and orange. Charlie was in his carseat, barefoot, laughing and pointing at all the "big bewdins!" The city has never looked so beautiful to me. Needless to say, once home, good sleep was had by all.
Thursday
afternoon was our big 20 week visit with the doctor. Unfortunately, it was the first visit Adam has not been able to make. So, I thought it would be great fun to share it with my MIL, Alice, my mom, and Charlie. Alice and I drove up and met my mom, who managed to sneak away from taxland for a while. Mallory is now DEFINATELY a girl. (So there, hubby! Hehe.) She looks great, and we have been declared...drumroll, please...totally normal!!! (Well, pregnancy wise, anyway). We go back in 4 weeks, but the next time we see our girl will be when she makes her grand (and surprisingly easy and painless.....?) entry into the world.
The pictures are blurry, but here she is:




After the appointment, we rushed home to meet our social worker, who was coming over for our 6 month post placement visit. Yes, 6 months! How did it happen? I have no idea, but we had a great visit and she was (of course) impressed with CF and my amazing mothering skills. Ahem. Hopefully we will see her again with our next adoption! (There, I said it!).

Friday
brought Adam home to us! We spent some time together in the morning and afternoon, and then it was time for our much needed Girl's Night Out. Our "sorority", Alpha Beta Phabulosa, meets once a month for a night out. This month we had pizza (I eat a lot of pizza) and bowling (which I sat out, but watching was just as fun). These ladies, wow. I cannot imagine my life without them. We have a bond between us that is easy, fun, real, honest...everything you could want in girlfriends. Plus they are all crazy fun....See for yourself:












Saturday
we headed for a visit with our friends L and B and thier son...(also from Ethiopia). L & B were the very first friends we made in this journey, and their advice and support has been priceless. Charlie and their son have had an arranged best friendship for a long time, and I think it's actually starting to work! They are so cute together. You will have to take my word for it though. I think L and I were all camera'd out. We had a nice visit, and great pizza. (Yummmm). Then we braved the weather to head home. It wasn't bad...just a little rain.
On the way home, we dropped of Prince Charles at my parent's house for a sleepover! They were excited to see him, and we were excited to sleep in today. ;)
Next we decided to give in to our cravings (Adam- Chinese takeout, Heather- PIZZA and a salad....and a chicken sub....hehe) and veg in front of the TV to catch up on Survivor and Lost. It was a great night together, and YES, everyone...Lost was awesome, and yes, I cried! We went to bed and slept from 11 pm to 11 am. I feel like a new woman today. Between this gorgeous weather, my sweet family, and all the exciting plans we have coming up, I don't know what else I could ask for.
Happy Sunday!

Please.....no.............more.........googling....

5 hours.

Countless web video geek forums.

3 bottles of water.

27 straight minutes of hair twirling.

43.5 curse words.

1 major headache.

I give you....

a grainy, 3 minute clip of my son, eating Spaghettios in his high chair.

Yes, you WILL watch it.

If you can't complain to your blog....

Grrrrr. I am having a pity party, and you're invited, like it or not!
Let's bitch.

1. Adam is gone until Friday and I already miss him too much.
2. My back (sciatic nerve?) is on FIRE. I cleaned all day and I guess that triggered something. Just sitting here is painful.
3. My "fabulous" new camcorder software is NOT as easy as I had dreamed. I spent 2 hours on my first video, only to not be able to convert the random .ppp file extension to ANYTHING else that can be uploaded to the web. So, I burned it to DVD, which of course, did not play.
4. I have no breath! I can barely go up the stairs without panting.
5. I feel guilty for not being as much fun as I should be for Charlie. I don't think he notices, but I hope he is not bored. Today he helped me fold laundry and we watched Shrek and played with toys. Well, they can't all be days at the zoo, right?
6. This sounds silly, but I miss my mom. She is working allll the time and I wish I could see her more. It's only because of tax season, so soon we will be able to spend time together like we used to. I love you and miss you!

Now back to our regularly scheduled happiness:

1. My body hurts because there is a beautiful little girl inside it.
2. Adam will be home all weekend.
4. Tomorrow we get to play at the park with the Parks (hehe) AND eat Ethiopian with our group. Mommy and Charlie day! (PJs not included.)
5. JVC has a helpline that can possibly help me with the .ppp file from hell.

Onward!

Coming Soon....

...Beauchamp family videos!!

Party like a Toddler!

I am busy planning Charlie's birthday party, and I can't wait! I decided to do the invitations myself, and here it is! I got it done, and then sent it over to the Photoshop master, Catherine, for some tweaking. It's perfect! Thanks, Cat!
And hey, anyone who wants to come to the party is welcome to join the fun! We are going to cook burgers and hot dogs on the grill, slide on the big inflatable slide, play in the yard, and eat cake! Just email me for the details. Come on, 8/31 travel group, book your airline tickets now. ;)

70 Degrees? Saturday? I'll take it!

Not that I am out doing anything particularly outdoorsy, but we have been running errands and doing some yard planning, and it is beeeeyootiful. Only in Georgia do we use the heat one day, then flip to AC the next. ;)
What's up with the B-Champs? Well, there is a very cute boy in my bed:





Last weekend we finally got the foyer and upstairs hallway painted! We worked WAY too long and payed for it the nexy day, but it was worth it. Now I do realize that at least 80% of people will hate this color scheme. That's okay, though, I won't be upset. I really really love it.




I like how you can see all these colors as you come down the stairs:




Let's see....OH, yes, the belly. She is definatly growing! I can feel her move a lot now. It is pretty amazing...The first time I felt it, it all became much more real....She is really coming! I can't wait to meet this baby girl!

Last night I wore my regular jeans to dinner, with my hairband twisted through the button hole, paired with a long shirt. This has been my strategy thus far, but when halfway through the meal, I realized my band was gone and my jeans were, well...open, I decided that was that. Haha. My old jeans are now officially retired for (IhopeIhopeIhope) future use. So here are my oh so fab maternity jeans. The belly part is great, and the wide leg is cute, but my butt gets lost. I have a case of noassitol. ;)







Okay, we are running out the door to get to hubby's haircut appointment!
Have a great weekend everyone!
OH, Virginia and Ben are HOME with Kai, and Erin and Jason are in ET now!!
AMAZING!