Shannon’s World

I am so excited to share the big news: POSEY AND LAWRENCE ARE ENGAGED!  It happened tonight, just before dinner time. . .I knew something was up when I got back from a walk with Libby and had 5 missed calls!  I couldn’t be happier or more excited for the two of them.  I am looking forward to months more of planning (we’ve been planning for quite a while, but those were more like dreams…now it’s a reality), and celebrating! 

And Lawrence…thanks for giving me a reason to visit Houston ;)  Buffalo Grill here I come!

I think our smallest state gets a bad wrap, but it’s truly a great place and one I would recommend visiting when you get a chance: great beaches, great food and lots to see and do.

Below are a few of my favorite things available in Rhode Island:

Del’s Lemonade - the best treat ever on a hot day. There’s actually a Del’s cart in Las Vegas…I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Here’s a photo as proof.

Coffee Syrup - great for coffee milk and coffee milkshakes

Newport Creamery Ice Cream (Pistachio in particular)

Cain’s Mayo - there’s something different about this mayo….I don’t know what it is, but it sure is good!

New England Style Hot Dog buns - awesome with a hot dog or any kind of seafood salad

Libby tried prunes this weekend and she liked them, but more importantly she NEEDED them and they “worked” (it took about 24 hours for them to do the trick!). I’ll spare the gorey details that my Mom has heard about for the past few days, but Libby is back to normal. Just to be safe I think we’re going to be enjoying oatmeal and prunes EVERY morning! On the menu tonight: PEAS!

For those of you keeping track, Libby enjoys a nice variety of green beans, carrots, pears and prunes. I typically serve half a fruit with oatmeal in the morning. For lunch we have a half of fruit and a half of veggie and at night we have 2, 1/2 veggies.  Libby still gets 4 bottles/day, too.

Yes, we were in Richmond on Saturday (to visit Great Grandma Cross), NO WE DID NOT WIN THE POWER BALL!

Libby’s are for sale!

I haven’t seen this bag in the store, but I am loving the way it looks online!

Special thanks for my neighbors Laura and Heather (the best neighbors ever) for taking me out to a good ol fashioned concert and a fun girls night out last Friday night.  We went to see DAVE . . . I haven’t seen DMB since high school and growing up in Virginia, we saw Dave A LOT.  I had forgotten how good they are live and how much I love the band.

For those of you shopping for some new tunes, the Live Trax Volume 9 CD (DMB live in Las Vegas) is excellent and includes covers of two of my favorite songs: Sweet Caroline and Time of the Season.  The CD also includes a song that REALLY reminds me of high school “I’ll Back You Up”.  I must have listened to that song a million times…over and over again in my room, in the car, wherever (for some reason I have a distinct memory of listening to DMB in Kim Crawford’s basement/indoor pool in the spring of 96, but I think that was right after Crash came out).  I’ll Back You Up is one of my favorites and reminds me of some of my favorite people (TABS) and good times.  I’d also recommend Dave and Tim at Radio City Music Hall.

Special thanks to Mike for being the coolest Dad ever.  He and Libby went to Uncle Jeff, Aunt Amy’s and Cousin Calvin’s for dinner while Mom was out have fun with the ladies.  I must say I was a tiny bit disappointed that I missed Amy’s homemade salsa and guac that she served at taco night!

There’s a chance of rain everyday this week.  Yet even when it’s gloomy outside, these rain boots make me smile! 

Well . . . sort of! We first tried green beans (Libby’s first “real” food) on Saturday night and she did not like them. . .at all. We even tried disguising the green beans with a little oatmeal on the spoon and that worked for all of 5 seconds. Libby got smart to her Mom and Dad and began sticking out her tongue to check to see what was on the spoon before opening her mouth. After about 4 exposures to green beans, she finally seemed somewhat ok with the green beans tonight - opening her mouth and only making a face after she tasted the beans!

We spent a total of 4 days in Maine before driving back to Rhode Island on Sunday. We had a relaxing visit enjoying the company of family along the rocky ocean shore. One of the highlights for me was attending the Winter Harbor Lobster Festival on Saturday. We had a great time visiting some local arts and crafts booths and of course, eating a lobster dinner. Another highlight of the trip was taking Libby in her first back pack ride.

We woke up very early on Sunday and once again Libby did great in the car. We left the Barron Family Compound at 6:15 am and Libby slept until 11:20, as we were exiting 95 to return to my Aunt and Uncles. Libby was able to eat and stretch out for a few hours before it was back in the car and off to the airport.

The flight home was slightly more eventful than our previous flights with Libby. Just as we were about to take off Libby filled her pants not once, not twice, but three times. So much so that she leaked through a onesie and her sleeper! Of course, they had just closed the cabin door . ..we were stuck! I grabbed a blanket to wrap Libby’s lower half in so we could at least save Mike from the poop that would not stop. Mike and I did not know what to do! We were eventually able to flag down a flight attendant who let us get up even though the fasten seat belt signs were on. The Southwest flight attendants were great - they let us use an airline blanket on the floor in the back of the plane so we could spread out and begin to clean up! It was a two person job, but we did it and Libby enjoyed the rest of the flight - sleeping on and off and only fussing a bit.

The fun didn’t end when our flight landed at Midway…when we arrived at my car the battery was dead! It didn’t take long for the maintenance truck to find us and we were on our way down to Indy.

Considering we left Maine at 6 am and got to our home at midnight - it was a long day and needless to say we were glad to (finally) be home!