Darn it.  Moxie’s boyfriend Owen and his family are skipping town.  It has nothing to do with the warrants out for his arrest.  Absolutely nothing.  Our mama friends, and particularly the Hostess with the Mostess Alex threw a fabulous going away party.  It was really fun.

You’ll notice in the last few pictures that Moxie has something stuck to her hand.  Yep.  Someone else’s snack cup.  She stole it, reached in for a cheddar bunny, and got her fist stuck.  For most of the party she had a cheddar bunny in her free hand and her other fist stuck in a cup.  She didn’t mind too much though.

Also: forget I said anything about the warrants.  Seriously.

Yay!!  This month Moxie and I were hosts to all our favorite babies and mamas for brunch.  We busted out our fabulous foam floor (thanks to the Riccis) and all Moxie’s best toys.  Our brunches are once a month (as all of you know) but this one was special because Steph and Rory are moving to Nairobi and we wanted to send them off in style.  We busted out some kangas and kitenges as table cloths, drank Fanta from a bottle, and had an oddly decorated cake that said, “Safari Njema.” (*see below for story*)

The babies at mum-mums and played piano.  There was also a baby pile up in the hallway because everyone wanted to play with the Ikea push walked Strider bought for Moxie about 8 months ago.

I have to say, again, how important this group of moms is for us.  We appreciate being a part of the community so much.  Now if some of the babies could just talk Moxie into crawling…

Big thanks to Strider for helping with all the set up, clean up, and taking the dogs on an epic trip to the dog park so they wouldn’t be too jealous of all the absolutely cuteness happening at Lombardy.

We put up all the pictures on our flickr page.

Here are some of our favorites:

*The cake has a story: I go to the Grumpy Bakery to order a cake.  Here’s the conversation:
Jessica Chantelle Lee (JCL): Hi, I’d like to order a cake.  May I see a list of the kinds of cakes you offer?
Grumpy Baker Lady (GBL): We don’t have a list.
JCL: Ok.  I’d like a cake for about 15 people.
GBL: What flavor?
JCL: What flavors do you have?
GBL: What do you like? (here-you might think she is being helpful–she’s not.  she’s annoyed)
JCL: Chocolate?
GBL: Fine.
JCL: With buttercream frosting–do you have that?
GBL: look at all the cakes.  that’s what they have on them.
JCL: Oh ok.  I’d like to use the colors of the Kenyan flag (I show her a picture on my phone).
GBL: Why?
JCL: it’s a going away party for a friend.  They are moving to Kenya.
GBL: Well, black frosting tastes terrible.
JCL: Ok.  Well please use green, red, and black–but try to make sure it doesn’t look like a christmas cake.
GBL: fine.  What color flowers do you want.
JCL: I don’t want flowers.  How about stripes and lines?  
GBL: You have to have flowers.
JCL: Really?  I don’t really want flowers.
GBL: There have to be flowers.
JCL: Um. Ok.  Can you do something besides roses?  Like those flowers there (pointing at another cake) can you do those in red and green?
GBL: No. Those are pansies.  They don’t come in red and green.  How about roses or daisies.
JCL:  I don’t think roses work.
GBL: Why not?
JCL: They don’t really look African.
GBL: WELL THE WOMAN IS MOVING FROM AMERICA!!  Why are you so against roses?!  
JCL: Whoa.  How about balloons?
GBL: Fine.

Moxie and I had a great baby brunch with our friends.  Moxie and her favorite friend Owen had a moment where first he tried to love her and then she poked him in the eye.  Moxie was really great.  She sat and laughed at her friends, watched me while I interacted with other babies, took a little nursing break, and then got right back into the action.  It is fun to see all the babies grow.  Some babies are crawling or scooting, others are still learning to roll over, and some, like Moxie, are just learning the magic of sitting up.  Everyone shared toys–if there was a cold in the house they all caught it.

These brunches are so great.  I learn tricks from the other moms, commiserate about various baby related challenges, and watch really cute babies do their thang.

Moxie pats her friend on the back.

Hopefully this isn’t what I always look like when I am listening.

Rolly Pollies
The making of a mohawk.
One of the few children as big as Monster Mox
Moxie and I practice looking down.

If Mox could crawl she would have stollen his drum
View from above
Mox let’s me know I should slow down on the juice.
Watch out boys!

Moxie and I spent a few hours on Saturday with some fellow moms and babes.  Our host’s husband made us waffles and fresh whipped cream.  Everyone brought stuff to share.  We brought a pastry from the Grumpy Bakery at 4 Corners.  It isn’t actually called “Grumpy Bakery” but the old ladies running the show are almost never friendly and almost always grumpy.  They do, however, make some seriously delicious stuff.  Strider loves their apple fritters if anyone comes to visit.

Anyway, Moxie and I had a great time hanging out.  Moxie, being one of the youngest, hasn’t caught up with her friends on rolling over.  But she still destroys all of them with her hair.  The mom who hosted took pictures of the brunch and here are a few: