If it weren’t for Ashley’s eyes… February 27, 2008

These days, Emma is spending a bit more time with her eyes open. They’re a gorgeous shade of dark blue, they’re intensely alert, and they can make you melt.

She takes after her mother.

Ashley has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. In fact, if it weren’t for Ashley’s eyes, Emma wouldn’t be here today.

The night we met, Ashley and I were both at a party at which we didn’t particularly want to be. It was a house-warming party for my colleague and her husband, who worked with Ashley’s roommate. The party itself was nice enough, but it was mostly couples and I knew only my co-worker and the friend I brought with me. In fact, I had a date scheduled that night and had planned to make an appearance and head out.

Ashley’s roommate, Laurie, dragged Ashley to the party with the intention of setting her up with some lawyer. She was less than thrilled to be there and staked out a spot in the kitchen, where she didn’t really have to talk to anyone.

The second I walked in the door, I saw her eyes. And I melted. As I recall, I didn’t even bother to say hello to the host and hostess. I headed straight for the kitchen to stake out a spot next to the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes upon.

My friend Mike and I were dressed to the nines. Sweaters, slacks, dress shoes, tortoise-shell-framed glasses. Ashley always quips that it’s the best dressed I’ve ever been. In all honesty, we were dressed as, ahem, metrosexuals. And in retrospect, our duds were far too similar for going to the same place. (In the literary world, this is known as foreshadowing…)

Mike and I made our way to Ashley and introduced ourselves. She was cordial. We all participated in the obligatory small talk. Eventually, Mike got bored, fixed himself a drink and wandered off.

I stayed to chat. We talked politics and other erudite topics. About an hour into our conversation, I excused myself to the restroom, first garnering a promise that she’d be there when I returned. Nature hadn’t called, but I’d scheduled a date for later that evening so I ran upstairs, dialed and left a message saying I was sorry but wouldn’t be making it back for a date that night — or any other night, for that matter.

I returned for more conversing, and since we were the only sober people at the party, I was recruited to drive to the corner store to buy cigarettes for a partygoer. I agreed — as long as Ashley would keep me company. Not that I knew it then, but I wasn’t going to leave her so that lawyer could introduce himself…

Because of the way I was dressed and because of our topics of conversation, and because I arrived with a friend who was also well-dressed, Ashley assumed for the first couple hours that he and I were gay. It’s a funny story, but I have to say I’m glad she made the assumption. It gave her a couple hours with her guard down to get to know me, to let me get my hooks in her.

By the end of the night, Ashley’s roommate was totally trashed. We fastened a grocery bag to her ears for the car ride home. Before Ashley left, I gave her my business card. Wow. What was I thinking? This is one of her favorite parts of the story. Not only did I give her my card, but I gave her my cellphone number, the cell number I’d have a week later (I was switching providers at the time), and at least two e-mail addresses, just in case.

I was leaving no chance that she’d not be able to reach me. And, I got her number, promising to call. She knew it’d be three days before I’d try to contact her. I was soooooo predictable. And when I did make that call, can you believe what she did?!? Sent me to voicemail and sent a text message saying she’d call me tomorrow.

I thought that was it. She hated me. But within a week, we went on a string of casual dates, quickly growing fond of each other. And, of course, it proceeded to get far more serious.

Now, we have the most beautiful baby in the world, and I couldn’t be happier. And it’s all because of Ashley’s beautiful eyes…

Oh, and as a thanks for following us down Memory Lane, here’s a photo of the Lovely Miss Emma…

A big day in the Cash/Baugh Family, and Grandpa G’s 57th Birthday… February 23, 2008

Today was a big day for us. Monumental, in fact. For the first time since Emma was born nearly a month ago, Ashley, Emma and I went out on a real outing. Not to the doctor or to the nursing store, but to a bona fide restaurant.

 We went to Southpark Meadows and ate at Waterloo Ice House. Emma slept through the entire meal, which was good because we aren’t really sure what we’d have done if she’d thrown one of her fits. But she snoozed in her carrier (draped by a receiving blanket) as Momma and Papa enjoyed some queso blanco, veggie burgers and quesadillas.

Afterward, we met Grandpa G (he decided to add the “G” for a little better flow), Omama (what Emma’s paternal grandmother decided to be called after attending a Barack Obama rally near the Texas Capitol last night), and The San Angelo Baughs (Grandpa G’s first cousin and family) at a frozen yougart shop on South Congress.

We were there for hours.

Since it was Grandpa G’s birthday, he got to monopolize the Emma time. Omama and Mimi got their fair share and cousin Kristin held her for a bit, too. Emma seemed to have had a blast. She decided to cry only when we put her in her car seat when it finally was time to leave.

There’s a dinner in a bit, but Momma and Emma probably won’t make it. It’s a Baugh-rific weekend, after all, and with so many Baughs in town, dinner’s not even scheduled till 8 p.m. Add the Baugh Shuffle element, and it could be 9:30 p.m. before we actually sit down.

Anyway, here are some photos of the day. You know the drill: Click on the picture below to see the entire Web album. 

Cabin fever and Town Lake… February 20, 2008

Emma’s three weeks old today, and recently, she’s not been the happiest child. There’s been a lot of crying and sad faces from her, we think because of gas. When Emma’s unhappy for hours on end, Momma and Papa are in turn unhappy. And when adults get into a funk, it’s a bit harder to break out of than for the Little One.

So today, we took a much-needed outing to Town Lake. We stopped by Thundercloud Subs, got a couple Veggie Delights (by the way, did you know their broccoli-cheese soup isn’t vegetarian???), and headed out. It was our stroller’s maiden voyage. It was Emma’s first trip to Town Lake. It was our first big outing since Emma was born.

We’re all happy campers now. Here are some photos commemorating the event. (As always, click on the photo to see the entire album…)

Weekend update with Emma Baugh… February 17, 2008

It’s been a busy weekend for Miss Emma. Just two-and-a-half weeks old, she had a slew of visitors this weekend.

On Saturday, Great Uncle Darwyn, his fiancée Debbie and her kids came for a surprise visit. We all had a wonderful time watching Emma, who is becoming more and more alert every day. She’s really starting to focus her gaze on people, and we’re all trying to get her to make faces now.

I also noticed today that her neck strength has really begun to come along. She’s able to hold her head up more and look around a bit. And she’s showing a little bit of strength in her legs, too. Crawling, here we come!!!

On Sunday, Auntie Amanda and Emma’s paternal grandparents came for a visit. Since she lives in Chicago, Amanda got the most Emma time. My mom, who has yet to pick a grandma name (we’ve taken to calling her Bubbe BuJu and Grandma BuJu), was second in the running for Emma-holding time. Pops, who has finally picked his moniker — Grandpa, he’s selected — didn’t get to hold her as much as he would have liked.

My guess is that he’s biding his time for next weekend, when he’ll use the excuse, ahem — reason — of: “But it’s my birthday weekend…I should get to hold my first grandchild for hours on end…”

For Momma Cash and Papa Josh, we’re thrilled that so many people love our daughter so much.

Emma’s big weekend wrapped up with a visit from my good friend Ray Simpson, who took a Sunday drive from Houston for some business and decided to stop by. Ray’s a new father. His son, William, is seven months old. And as soon as he gets a Web site for little Willy, I’ll link to it (hint, hint, hint)…

Oh, and here’s the best part: More Pictures!!! (just click on the photo below to go to the entire web album…)

 

Can’t help but smile… February 13, 2008

Only two weeks old and already a trip to a specialist… February 12, 2008

Today, Emma hit the two-week-old mark. And she celebrated it with a trip to the ear-nose-and-throat doctor. He was a character, smart as a whip and kind to our daughter. When he came into the exam room, Dr. Connolly was wearing exactly what he has on in this picture, along with one of those things around his head that ENT docs wear. Only his was much more high-tech…He looked part doctor, part spelunker. If Emma were four or five, she undoubtedly would have laughed.

Dr. Connolly was nothing like my ENT, who has a long, drawn, sad-looking face. Mine still wears one of those old doctor gadgets around his head, you know the one — it’s in every 1950s Hollywood film that includes a scene with a doctor — the round, silver disc that has a hole in the center. Like a mid-century futuristic CD glued to a leather headband.

Dr. Connolly’s looked more like something invented for travel in Deep Space.

He wasn’t concerned about Miss Emma’s breathing. As newbie parents, we were concerned that our daughter might be laboring too much to breathe. She snores like her Papa. But her pediatrician and her ENT voiced no concerns. The pediatrician sent us the ENT, saying it would likely take a month to get an appointment. She saw nothing of concern but wanted to err on the side of caution. It took just a few days, and Dr. Connolly also had no real concerns. He suggested that we do a swallow test, which would determine whether Emma has any reflux, but he was luke warm on the idea, and we’re probably not going to do it.

Being parents for the first time is a difficult task. We want to make sure our daughter is tip-top, but we also don’t want to be vicarious hypochondriacs. So, we’ll continue to walk that fine line…

–Papa Josh

Variety will come, after a while… February 11, 2008

Here are a few photos from the weekend. I know, I know, I know…They all seem the same. But our routine hasn’t changed much yet. When Emma gets a bit older, we’ll venture out to Town Lake and get some great outdoor photos. But until then, I’ll keep shooting every chance I get… Click on the photo below to go to the album.

 

And another round of photos… February 9, 2008

If you ever browse the Sunday inserts, you may have noticed that electronics stores are now selling external hard drives with a terabyte of storage space. That’s 1,000 gigabytes. At the rate that I’m taking photos of Emma, et al., I think I’m going to need that kind of capacity.

Click here (or on the photo below) for another slide show of the Wonderful Emma.

 

Not getting e-mail updates??? February 9, 2008

If you happened to sign up for email updates but haven’t been getting them, check your junk mail folder. Apparently the emails are getting caught by some people’s spam blocker, and if that’s the case, you have to add the address to your safe list so that the updates make it through…

–Papa Josh

Are these stories getting old??? February 8, 2008

I hate to bore you with another poop story, and if they’re getting old, just tell this tired papa and I will find other things to muse on, but when you have a 10-day-old child, her time is vastly consumed by eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing and crying.

Sprinkle in a few doctor’s visits, and you’ve got the life of Emma thus far. Don’t get me wrong — every time I see her laugh, and every time I see her cry — it brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. Yes, her loudest and most animated fits are adorable.

But onto the poo.

Here’s the story: Last night. Five minutes. Three diapers.

‘Nuff said.

Oh, you want details? OK, OK…

Ashley finished feeding Emma around 4 a.m., I think. It’s hard to keep track of time in the middle of the night. So she handed our daughter off to me for a quick diaper change. We went to the nursery down the loooong hall (yeah right!) from our bedroom, and I put my daughter on the changing table. Opened her diaper. It was dirty.

So I cleaned her up, and put on a fresh diaper, but before I could even get the little sticky tabs on to the close the thing, she’d already gone again. That diaper comes off, she gets cleaned up, and another goes on. This time, she wets it. So that diaper comes off and a third goes on. This is all in a matter of minutes.

Momma Cash and I are quite grateful for the plethora of diapers we received as gifts. They’re surely getting used…