The Great Pumpkin

Matt made me watch The Great Pumpkin a few years ago around Halloween, you know, the one with Charlie Brown. I have never been a huge Charlie Brown fan, and this movie sealed the deal. Spoiler alert - there is no Great Pumpkin! How dissapointing. I guess it's one of those movies that you had to watch when you were a kid to truly appreciate it.

Anyway, we went to find our own great pumpkin on Saturday - it turns out it was only about 8 inches tall, but it was still great to Claire. We went to a pumpkin patch put on by a family in our ward and although we went later in the day when the pumpkins were almost gone, we did find a nice Claire-sized pumpkin.


She wanted to hold it while we walked to the car, she held it in the car seat on the way to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and then again in the car on the way home. So, needless to say it was a hit.


We are really enjoying this stage with Claire - she is so interested in everything, and she really has no fear - she reached right out to pet a bunny at the pumpkin patch, she would crawl all around that place if I let her (yes, still crawling even though she knows how to walk).

Now for Halloween preparation -we have to get our theme down - Claire is going to be a monkey so we are building around that.

Nicknames

I think that nicknames are a nice way to say, I like you. So much in fact that I want a special name for you that only I can use. At least nice nicknames, that is.

I think we give nicknames pretty freely in our household. In fact, I have heard my sister in law (Meg the Snake) tell my brother in law (Dan Dan Noodle) that he is officially accepted by the Hillers once he has a nickname.

Claire has a ton - some might sound like they aren't nice out of context, but really they are meant with love:

Claire Bear
Clairy Beary
Smuntz (don't ask how this got started - it's a mix between Munchkin, Stinker, Pumpkin, and it just came out that way, and stuck, as you can see from it's many derivatives)
Smuntskin
Smuntzka
Stink

We also gave our dogs nicknames growing up, with my brother Matty being the main instigator, now with help from Matt Hiller. For example, my parent's current dog Duke, a Rat Terrier, goes by these various names:

Dukemajor
Dukis patukis
The Duke
Michael Dukasis
Dukage (with a French accent)
David Duke-ovny

I am not as good at thinking up names for Matt as he is for me - his latest favorite is "sugar lips" :)

So, what is your nickname?

I have something to say.

Soooo,
I want to be more involved in the political process as of late. I did some leg work to discover what each candidate has to offer. I went to both websites and did a parallel/side-by-side comparison of the issues.
Hey, remember when we were kids playing ball in the street? Suddenly, an unexpected car drives up or Jimmy's mom comes to get him for dinner interrupting the game? We'd all yell, "Do over!"

Can we just throw these candidates into the 'do over' bin? I'm not satisfied. I think we can all just admit this election isn't the best it could be and start over with new candidates with new platforms.

Food for thought:
If, and I know for some of you reading this is a big if, we as Americans chose incorrectly, wouldn't it be a better idea to start again rather than make the mistake of choosing between two wrongs? This would require an amazing feat of humility from both parties. Lets be honest now, has your party ever make a mistake? Either party ever really admitted defeat? I regret that starting over isn't an option for us. My concerns are as follows in no particular order:

Illegal immigration-
Mmmkay, should we keep the family together when part are illegal and part are not? I'm all for families AND all for the illegals paying their share of taxes too. Soooo, make them permanent visitors who pay taxes? Make them learn English, pay a fine, and send them to the back of the line for citizenship? We can't even find them. I'm confused. It seems like a border issue more than a 'who is here already' issue.

War-Iraq yadda yadda
How much money is this going to cost us? If the amount sends us to China to ask them to buy up our debt, have we really succeeded in democracy? A Communist country owns us if they own our debt, right? Like a mortgage, right? I mean, here is a two year plan that seems more feasible, beware: I thought of it in 30 seconds. Send 100%of our military to every known location of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Get in, get Bin, get out. Go back to Iraq for a year with 100% of our military. Help them build back govt, police, military, and then begin a rapid evacuation. Still confused.

Guns and Abortion-
One of these I believe to be a right, the other I do not. Barry doesn't say much about guns, except for a section on hunting and angling. He has an aggressive stance on defending Roe vs. Wade. This stance makes it hard for me to vote for him. I can't help but feel these sensitive issues are a facade on Johnny's platform to get me to vote for someone who will spend my tax money in a way I do not approve and give breaks to companies that do not need/deserve them. Not confused, just abused.

Health care-
Maybe those who want public health care can be taxed for it and the people who want to buy their own, should not be taxed and can buy a plan of their choice. I hope we aren't forced to carry the burden the few who abuse the health care system. I admit, I'd like to know more on this subject though.

No conclusion, just trying to rouse the rabble. Post if you want. These views are my own and you are not allowed to use them without expressed written consent. Just kidding. Just didn't want you to think the Hillers collaborated on this. I worked alone. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
-Matt

Got Milk? Not at our house...

So, Claire has refused to drink milk of any kind - formula, nursing, whole milk, chocolate milk (don't tell Matt), etc. I worry about her not getting the calcium and other nutrients she needs so she eats a baby yogurt and a cheese stick once a day, at least. She won't drink much of anything - I have to trick her into drinking water or juice, and then I heard the other day that too much water is bad for babies too... so I try to give her fruit like mandarin oranges that have a lot of liquid. Any ideas for getting her to drink milk? I have tried every sippy cup plus a regular cup since bottles are out too. I should be glad that she basically weaned herself but now what?

Town Square Visit

So we finally got to hang out at Town Square and visit the play area - it is awesome! Now I know why the playgroup likes to go there, and I didn't even hear story hour either. I just thought it was the water area, but it had this really great hedge maze, places for the kids to slide and jump and climb, a stage for plays, and all sorts of stuff.

I was thinking that this was really the first time we just went out and played on a Saturday since Claire was born - and took her out to a park to be outdoors. I think that is a combination of the heat finally going away, Claire getting old enough to really enjoy the playground, and the fact that my sister was in town to get us out of the house. I need to get all my housework and grocery shopping done during the week so I can just play on Saturdays. I think I seriously need to hire a housekeeper to come in once a week and I am so not the type of person to think I need a maid... anyway. Here are some pics from the visit.

Walking

Claire took 8 steps on Friday...

I was at work and Becky and Danny were watching her for the afternoon.

I missed it.

I'm not sure that the BYU Management luncheon and my afternoon client meeting were worth it. Sigh.

She wouldn't walk again over the weekend, although she does stand up on her own now without holding on to anything. Who knows, she might have already walked at Emily's house but I told her to let me stay ignorant of it so I will think Claire walks for the first time at our house. Is that weird? Anyway, now we know she can walk, but just chooses not to. Stubborn.

Cousin Time, Playing Tourist

We have had some more chances than normal to get in some cousin time - from back in September with Cousin Evie's birthday, to hanging out at the Hillers for Sunday dinner, to this past weekend with a visit from McKinley, oh and her parent's too, my sister Becky and her hubbie Dan.







We played tourist yesterday and went down to The Strip, something I haven't done in a long time. I think the last time was a Michael Buble concert at the MGM when I was 8+ months pregnant. We went out to dinner at The Salt Lick in Red Rock Casino, then on to walk on the Strip and see the two new casinos we haven't been to yet - The Wynn (which has been open for a few years, we just never got around to going), and The Palazzo.

And we topped the night off with a Nothing Bundt Cake for Dan's birthday - so good! We had fun with them and can't wait to see them again for Thanksgiving.