He's just not that into you

She finds him endlessly fascinating, craning her neck and squealing every time he comes in the room. She constantly reaches for him, grabbing jowls, ears, whiskers and whatever she can grasp before he ducks his head.

And him? Well, he tolerates her. He is ever the patient Lab, silently biding his time until she's progressed to table food, which she will surely throw his way. It is the promise of food falling from the sky that keeps him from snapping her tiny little hands off.

Chip Lindh, 32

Happy birthday to my (ahem) younger husband on this very special 07-08-09.

Mary Clare, Buddy and I love you oh so very much.

Come on in, the water's fine

It was only a matter of time, really. Hunter and Holly's water bowl has long fascinated young Brennan, and no puppy pool, water hose or baby pool could come between them. Besides, the dogs' water bowl is mere steps from the living room, which just makes it so terribly convenient and tempting.

Of course, I'm all the more delighted by this picture because Brennan's little bowl bath took place during Brian's "Mr. Mom Weekend" when he and his friend Scott were charged with watching Brennan and Scott's girls, Reagan and Lily. It is also key to mention that during this Mr. Mom Weekend, Scott and Brian took all three kids fishing. Fishing. No outlet mall shopping or playgrounds for these hearty souls. Oh, no. When Brian and Scott are in charge, it's all about hooks, sharp rods and open bodies of water.

Everyone survived, though, and I'd even venture to say that Brennan's immune system is all the stronger for it.

Click here for more photos from the Mr. Mom Weekend.

Firecracker on the fourth

A plug

Our good friend Anne Fleming just launched a site promoting her freelance design business, the aptly named Anne Fleming Design. Woo-hoo!

I know that most of you reading this know Anne and are well aware of her many talents, but in case you aren't and you oh, say, work for a company in need of some updated marketing materials, or you want to send out some swank invitations to your next shindig, well, then, you should check her out at www.anneflemingdesign.com.

Be sure to look for the Anne-preferred version of Mary Clare's birth announcement, as well as the Thole-Lindh wedding invite in the samples section of the site.

Seriously, she's the best.

Six months

For those of you keeping track at home, it has, in fact, been six months since Christmas. I know. Six months since little Mary Clare decided to make her appearance, surprising all of us with her head of dark hair and well, the fact that she was, in fact, a she.

Mary Clare made this past month especially entertaining for us. She grabs at everything, and loves nothing more than to really dig her hands into our cheeks and pull at our hair. She means it in the nicest way, I'm sure. Everything goes directly to her mouth, including sweet potatoes, which she then so kindly sprays back at us. Mary Clare went for her first outdoor swing ride on her very own swing and even gave swimming a try. Neither experience was received as well as we had hoped. She flaps her arms and kicks her leg like crazy, blows raspberries and gives us big belly laughs when the mood strikes her. She loves it when we mimic her sounds, and does what appears to be a complete 360-degree rotation with her head. That one still freaks us out. And, of course, she made her big Catholic debut this month as well.

All of her firsts and little achievements sound a tad silly when I list them out like that, but combined they make life awfully darned interesting. We wouldn't trade it for the world.

Click here for the complete six month set.

Stop me if you've heard this one

A mom walks into a liquor super store on a busy Friday, baby carrier in tow, and the girl handing out the Patron tequila samples makes eye contact and then quickly looks away. Without offering a sample.

I know!

I mean, for all she knew, everyone else sampling away could have had a baby waiting out in the car. But no, because I'm the good mom who brings my baby into the liquor store with me so we can share this special experience, I don't get offered a sample. But I did probably get judged.

Oh, cringe if you must, but when it comes down to bringing your baby to a liquor store or leaving her at daycare for an extra 45 minutes, most moms will opt to bring the baby booze shopping. Okay, maybe not most moms, and definitely not my mom, but this mom thought hitting Randall's instead of staying at daycare was the lesser of two evils.

Besides, it was to get Chip's father's day gift. So that makes it okay.