RING RING: "Hello? Mrs. Hadley? Where are you and why aren't you in your classroom?"

Playing more catch up blogging:

Last month I woke up to a phone call that went something like: RING RING: "Hello? Mrs. Hadley? Where are you and why aren't you in your classroom?" Not the best way to wake up. Turns out it was an early day and my entire 3rd period had been waiting for me in my room for a full half hour before they finally sent someone to the office to find out where I was. And where was I? HOME! My worst nightmare come true! Just a few days before I was bragging to myself about how good I was for never having been late to work in 4 years. Bad, bad, double bad. No time to go to the babysitter. I threw Annie in the car and she enjoyed a day of teaching the 9th grade with me as she rode around in my sling for 4 hours of middle school and faculty meeting. She was perfect, thank heaven, and the kids even got some work done. Sheesh! I did NOT plan on bring-your-baby-to-work-late-day for sure. Disaster.

April 22nd, 2011
Which means I am officially 31. Yipes. I think 31 was a bit more difficult to swallow than 30. 30 is still a novelty. 31 is the real deal. So this was the first year in over 5 years that I didn't have to go to school on my birthday. Responsibility wasn't too far away though because I did have my cloggers perform at the Arts Festival in the morning. After that though, we were free to fly to SLC for the day.

Annie LOVES flying in my dad's plane. She loves any movement that doesn't involve a car seat.
...And let me just add how much more WONDERFUL it is to fly to SLC as opposed to driving.
It made for a lovely day trip, not to mention a nice birthday mini-getaway.

The real reason we flew to SLC was to go to Matthew's architecture showing.
He graduated from the U after many long painful years of study.
I have to say, when Dad texted me a pic of Matthew's graduation last week, I cried.
I mean really, how many people get to say they did it- they achieved their dream, they became what they said they would when they were little and people asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Matthew did it. He is a real architect... actually, he's one of the best:

Matthew's art work is really amazing. I mean, really REALLY amazing.
When he was presenting, the judges stopped and told every other student in the room to take a good close look at Matthew's renderings because they weren't computer generated and are what real artists do. Did I mention his project won BEST project out of the 45 grads?! I wasn't surpirsed. In fact, I was expecting it so I perched myself in prime viewing position and readied my Nikon for a photo.

We were impressed with how many of the fam turned out for the event.
We have the BEST family in the world!!!
I thank the good Lord every night for my amazing extended family.
They are my best friends and I admire them so much.
I basically want to be with them ALL THE TIME.

Annie is funny. Even though the twins are identical, she preferred Abby all evening long. Whenever I tried to get her to look at Liv, Annie would try and pull herself back to Abby. Isn't that something? Annie is completely fascinated by the twins! We look at pictures of them all the time and I would bet money on Annie recognizing them as soul mates.

Aero Annie

This is what Tuacahn looks like when
Tarzan gets rained out a week before
closing and everyone is too stubborn
to leave because they know it's sold out.

Luckily Mom's quick thinking landed us seats the next Monday which made 4 Monday nights in a row of getting cultured and Q landing babysitting duty. The babysitting didn't go too well but the 4 shows we saw were awesome. We were one of the few to see Tarzan on Broadway so this was a must reunion viewing for us. BTW: Little Mermaid on Broadway SUCKED IT UP so hopefully Tuacahn can do better next season. Isn't Annie adorable?

Video @ 2 months; Sept. 2010: "Time to wake up."


SO HERE's THE REAL POST. Annie & I went on vacation!

I could totally tell how much Annie had been looking forward to this trip with my mom and dad. Dad is the president of the hospital board so we got to tag along with him when he went to a conference in San Diego at the fabulous Hotel Del Coronado. Thank heaven for travel tubs.


Annie slept almost the entire way there. We put Oxygen on her and covered her ears just in case.

Hello fabulous 80 degree weather all week.

Dad wanted to see the Midway aircraft carrier ship so off we went... for 5 hours.
Good thing Annie loves to sleep inside her wrap because their was no way we
were getting a stroller around that thing. Can you spot Annie?

I for sure got my workout for the day.
P.S. Tracy Hogg would be so proud of my Angel/Text Book baby!

ON TO SEA WORLD; home of Shamu

Mom confided the fact that on my last trip to Sea World 20 years ago, she failed to realize Matthew and I were contracting 3rd degree sun burns. She says she still feels guilty over Matthew's predispodition to skin cancer because of his Sea World sun-stint as a toddler. I told her she had to let go of the guilt. Kids pick up on that kind of stress. Don't you think uptight parents = uptight kids? All I remember is the cool shark toy and Michael Jackson 3D movie. So I may have a few extra wrinkles... None-the-less, we were shade vigilentes when it came to Annie. Live and learn.

Back at the room Annie & I ordered room service while the parentals went out with their board buddies.

The good news is that my wedding band was found this afternoon
even after someone else had been in and checked out of the room. Relief.

The return trip didn't fare so well when it came to Annie and snoozing. She lasted about five minutes like this and then she was up and ready for panaramic viewing. You try keeping oxygen on an abnormally alert 3-month-old. It'll wear you out any day of the week.

I see SGU! ...and so does Annie. She loves to look out the window.
Maybe she recognized this celestial view of home.

Q was beyond thrilled to have Annie back.
They had some moments.

Annie is cool. She eats her hands. Smiles on cue. Never cries. Loves books. Practically jumps for kisses. Likes country music, and looks good in every outfit. Her hair is awesome and her head isn't gigantic like other babies. Plus she has really small features and makes cool noises. I think I'll keep her forever.

Click older posts to see Annie's fabulous Halloween costume.