Genetics II

So, you can see that my daughter takes after my dad. (When he took her to Idaho with him when she was 12 1/2 months old, everyone there kept telling him how much like him she was...and his aunts kept calling her "Lester". Needless to say- he came back with a huge head!)

However, she also looks a lot like my brother. Let me put up a picture of my brother as a youngster. Look at that little face. Who knew that one day it would have so much hair on it?


I know this wouldn't be complete without seeing some pictures of me as a youngster. I was SOOO cute, afterall! I think I was 3 when these were taken.

Then just a couple for comparison.

Genetics

Some people seem to think that Quinlynne doesn't look very much like me, and that she must look a lot like her genetic materials donor. People also seem to think the only reason she has curly hair because she is part Black. I keep telling people that while it could be very possible that she gets her hair from Donor, she gets many traits from my father. Let me post a couple of pictures of my dad.

Just humorous

I was going through some photo albums this evening for scrapbooking purposes. I found a couple pictures of my parents that were just too...humorous to pass up. The first 2 pictures are of both my mom and my dad on the 1st month anniversary of their dating. Mom's outfit is pretty cute. Dad's...well, mom said when they met the only thing dad used to wear was black because that's the only thing he could match. So, she bought this outfit for him. He brought the flowers that are in the background.

The 2nd picture is on their 3 month anniversary. Check out dad's tie. Everyone should wear their ties that length!

Too vocal?

Yesterday was a day with Quinlynne! I seriously just wanted to hit her really hard. We just were not jiving together very well at all. Near the end of the evening she was sitting on my lap. I can't remember what we were talking about, but I said "what?" The child turned around and looked at me, with huge accusing eyes and said as clearly as possible: "I'm NOT happy,". It took everything I had to not burst into laughter. I asked her why she was not happy, but she never did answer. Getting way too vocal, that one.

Butterfly, butterfly spread your wings

Quinlynne did so well in her 1st dance recital. As you know, she was a butterfly. She looked adorable in her costume, and Sophia's mom put makeup on her (she wouldn't let me). Grandi was a stage mom so this momma could watch the whole thing.

Quinlynne was the 1st little girl on the right hand side, right in front of Miss Leah. She really surprised me with how well she knew her dance. I thought she would forget or freeze up. Nope, no way, not my kid. She sang the little song and did all the steps. I was so proud of her! When the dance was over, not only did I have some tears in my eyes- I had my ugly cry. But I wasn't the only one.

Charlsie, Penny, Aaron, Mandy, Abby, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Connie and Rosie all came to watch her. I know for sure that Penny, Aaron and I all had tears in our eyes.

I was in charge of videoing the dance and Aaron was in charge of the regular camera. Near the end of the recital I'm going through the pictures onthe camera, and I'm thinking "This doesn't look like Quinlynne. Neither does this one. Wait- Quinlynne wasn't standing by Miss Shelly. Oh- if I look closely- I can see Quinlynne in this one." Apparently, Aaron heard me say she was on the end. He did NOT hear me say "Quinlynne's on THIS end, that's why we're sitting to this side of teh stage." SO, I have tons of pictures of some other little brown girl who was at the opposite end from Quinlynne. I wonder if her parents want them? Let me post the two pictures I was able to salvage of my child.

After the recital, we tried to take some pictures in the lobby.


Penny and Charlsie had brought Quinlynne a rose and Uncle Charlie and Uncle Connie had gotten Quinlynne a little boquet of flowers. Aaron, Mandy, Abby & Penny left before we did and I thought Quinlynne was going to have an absolute, complete meltdown for her Uncle Aaron. This is a picture of her crying for her Uncle Aaron.

The child was way beyond needing a nap. The only one she got was in the Jeep though. There was more of the day to come when we got home.

The walk-through

We had to have Quinlynne at the Performing Arts Center in downtown Tulsa by 8:30 Sunday morning for the walk-through. So, I had to drag my butt out of bed (and hers) to get there. Literally, all they did was walk the kids on stage, show them where they would stand, and walk off the stage. We were then free to go.

While we were there however, we did discover that Mayfest was going on and parking would probably be atrocious in the afternoon, and we would have to pay to park. What a fun thing to look forward to!

Getting all excited

Well, we're getting all excited. Quinlynne's first dance recital is this Sunday. She and her fellow Miss Shelly's Baby Ballet dancers are butterflies. Quinlynne is all excited to put on her butterfly costume. I hope she does not get stage fright. If she is anything like her momma was at her first recital, she will have all the little girls lined up "just so", and do her dance perfectly!

Tip-toe in the tulips

Ok, so we weren't tip-toeing in the tulips. We were walking among the azaleas in Woodward Park. Quinlynne wasn't exactly dressed for a photo shoot, but I couldn't resist getting some adorable photos of my child.

Who can resist this face?

Or this face? Look closely and you can see the scratches from her face dive into the mulch.

Look Momma, I found some water!

And I'm going to step right in it how you asked me NOT to do.

Her 1st picnic

We (Grandi, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Connie, Quinlynne and I) went on a picnic a week ago this past Sunday. It was Quinlynne's 1st picnic. Of course, I had to have the camera. We went to Woodward Park in Tulsa. It was a beautiful day- so there were tons of people out.

Quinlynne had to swing on the big girl swing- even though I had my reservations because there were no "baby" seats. I kept on telling her she had to hold on tight with BOTH hands, all the time. She did really well with this...except when Grandi would wave to her! Dang it, Mother- stop waving at my child! She loves to go "faster" and therefore, higher....definitely her Poppa's kid. She has no fear. She did take a dive off once when Uncle Charlie was pushing her and she just planted her face in the mulch. Needless to say- she got a few scratches on her cheek from that. However, she climbed right back on.

She sure did chow down on some fried chicken, too.

We then went for a walk where the pretty azaleas are. Of course, there are more photos of that in a different posting. All in all- it was a good time....and the girl was tuckered out.

Funny for women

Check out this site for a funny that most women will find humorous.

http://www.geekoffice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=643&Ite

skinny dip or chunky dunky?

This evening we were at our neighbor's house. Their daughter graduated from high school last night. So, they had friends and family over for cake and ice cream. The festivities occurred in their backyard, which is nicely landscaped and has a pretty pool.

In the past summers, Quinlynne and I have gone to the pool and it has taken for-ever to get her into the pool with me.

So, Quinlynne is sitting at the side of the pool this evening, with some older girls. I look at one point and my daughter has her shoes off, dangling her feet in the water. "How cute," I think. Next thing I know, I look and she has her shorts and panties off. Apparently her splashing has gotten her clothing all wet, and she felt the need to remove them. I go over and ask her what in the heck she's doing. She splashes a little more and gets her shirt wet. Then I have to take her shirt off.

At this point, everyone is looking and chuckling. My little naked skinny dipper.....or shall I say "chunky dunker"? She ends up lying on the top step of the pool. She then decides she needs to tinkle, so she gets out, sits on the deck and wets. Classy, eh? I go across the street to get her pajamas to put on her, and when I return she is playing with a basketball in the yard, naked as the day she was born. What a little ham.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

So- she saw

Quinlynne and I had lunch with the genetic materials donor today. It wasn't too bad. We met at Mazzio's. I thought about Quinlynne wearing a really cute little pink bermuda short outfit....but I figured NO- no need. I let her go in the same little outfit she wore to school. Don't get me wrong- she didn't look like a ragamuffin child, but not her normal fashionista self.

So, I picked Quinlynne up from school and we were a few minutes late getting to the restaurant. She, of course, thought we were meeting Grandi there. I had to tell her it wasn't Grandi we were meeting, it was someone named Adar. She kind of looked at me like "Whatchyou talkin' 'bout Momma?" (Said like Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes.) I was a little shocked that he had actually already paid for Quinlynne and I, and had the plates on the table. I got Quinlynne a slice of pizza and some breadsticks, then went to fix myself a salad.

Quinlynne was very clingy with me. That kind of surprised me....perhaps she sensed the evil! tee hee For some reason, he took pictures of both Quinlynne and I on his phone. He had to tell me a little about his time in the pokey, and I politely listened....thinking the whole time that he totally deserved it.

Long story short- he would like to see her more often. He wants all of his kids to get to know each other (a convention center needs to be rented for that affair!). I'm not sure how I feel about that. He tried to get a hug from Quinlynne when we left and she turned him down. She did tell him thank you and blew him a kiss. So, let me just tell you I still do not trust him any further than I can throw him. But, it was a satisfactory meeting.

Does this remind anyone else of their siblings?

This is so immature- but I laughed so hard I almost wet myself!

Also, for good measure- how could my mother NOT be proud of these two offspring?

What in the heck?

OK, so I missed a couple of calls today on my cell phone. I didn't recognize the number and the person left a voicemail finally. Guess who it was?? It was Quinlynne's sperm donor. He left a message saying that he would like me to call him at my earliest convenience. I just almost puked. I weighed the pros and cons, but curiosity salted the slug (like that saying? I got it off the tv yesterday) and I called him. I SOOO did not want to- the whole time my voice was catching in my throat.

After the ritualistic nicities, he asked me if I knew he'd been to jail. I told him I didn't know. He said that he'd just gotten out in April (which I'm almost 100% positive that he got out in October- but I could be wrong) and he was in there for not paying child support. He said he'd called DHS and gotten everything set up and everything should be back to "normal" soon, and I should be getting child support. I told him I'd never gotten anything beforehand.

He then asked me about Quinlynne, how she was doing, etc. He informed me that he would like to have a fresh start. He apologized for the things he had and had not done. (Of course- I don't think I can trust this.) He told me Quinlynne has two parents and he really wants her to get to know him. He told me that he wants to get to know his daughter. He asked to speak with her on the phone and I let him. I told her that his name was Adar. So she said "Hi Adar". He told me later that he wants her to get to call him "Dad", not Adar. I told him that was something he had to earn.

So here's my question....do I let him see her? I know enough not to trust him. I know it's easy to be a hard nose- but imagine yourselves what it's like to have a child and the father of that child doesn't want anything to do with your kid. It actually kind of hurts my heart a little-
what to do?

Feel free to comment or email me. I would like some feedback. BTW- my email is shandypaige@hotmail.com

Wowzahs

OK, I got on Facebook tonight and I was browsing through a friend's page. She had some pictures from high school up on there. Oh my goodness! I am going to post a picture, and you have to find me in the picture. I was cracking up!

Also, the first boy I ever smooched is in this picture. Can you guess which boy it was?

What the heck- I'll post several of the pictures. These are probably some of the only non-band high school pictures I have. I am such a geek.

Funny?

OK, I was just talking to my friend Angie. She related a funny to me that I have to share.

She was online this afternoon checking out the upcoming evens at the Convention Center (perhaps there would be something neat her kids would enjoy) and she saw listed "Oklahoma Funeral Home Directors Association Convention". She had never heard of the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association and didn't know there was such a thing. She said "Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association- I bet that's a lively group." Then she realized what she'd said and just started cracking up. Needless to say when she was relating the story to me a bit ago- I was cackling beyond belief!