I know, I know! We’ve been here three days already and I have not blogged one little bit. But it’s because we’ve been having so much fun and taking so many photos that I have not had a single spare moment to write about it all.

Our direct flight from DC to LAX was uneventful and landed 30 minutes early. Good job, Alaska Airlines! And for the first time I brought along my iPod loaded with movies for Annalie to watch, which was awesome, and meant I had full access to my computer for the whole flight to enjoy the Gogo Inflight Wifi that I decided to splurge on. It’s kind of a kick to be online when you’re flying five miles above the earth at 500 mph.

After we landed, we caught a shuttle to the car rental place and picked up our car, which I had to call Sonja to find out how to start. It was a hybrid and I’d never driven one before. Luckily Sonja owns a hybrid and understood my crisis, having had the same problem when she’d first bought her car. (I had to insert the key, push a button, AND push on the brake.)

We got it sorted out and drove to Sonja’s house. We’d barely gotten our stuff inside when Brenda showed up with Bug, and she and Annalie had a joyful reunion. Then we went to IKEA and Trader Joe’s, because it’s traditional for some reason when I visit friends for them to take me to the grocery store first thing.

Back at Sonja’s house Brenda brought in her crafting supplies and we all did a top-secret craft that she’ll be writing about for her alphamom craft column soon. Sonja got a little carried away with the craft supplies and robo-ized her toaster. I love my friends.

Yesterday Sonja and I met Madge for lunch at a really fantastic restaurant where I wanted to order one of everything on the menu. Luckily, Le Pain Quotidien has a restaurant in DC! So I can go back there when we go home.

The one in DC probably doesn’t have an uber-cool sculpture/fountain outside it that kids are encouraged to play in, though. We might have to go back there before we go home, just so the kids can play there again.

Yesterday afternoon, Sonja needed to stay home with Noah and make sure he got a good nap, so Annalie and I went to the beach with Brenda and Bug! It was a gorgeous day for it, and we ended up staying for three hours!

It was warm but not oppressively hot. The waves were HUGE thanks to a storm brewing off the coast somewhere, but the tide was low. That created a big, wide shallow area where we could splash and play without worrying about getting dragged out to sea. It was awesome.

We had a great time, playing and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed.

Lots more fun ahead!

Outside my window the sky is a weird orange color, thanks to the thunderstorms that have been moving through our area all afternoon and evening. It’s rather beautiful.

I am thinking about baby names, but not so obsessively any more. Troy and I have narrowed the list down to a handful of possibilities and we’ll roll those around in our minds for a while.

(Thank you, by the way, for all of you who commented with your favorite girls’ names. My goodness, we all certainly do like talking about names, don’t we? And I learned, from reading all your suggestions, that I have a complicated system of rules for naming my children that I wasn’t even aware of having. Which maybe explains why I was going so crazy for a while there.)

I am thankful for perspective, which makes my life so much less difficult than it otherwise might seem.

I am wearing a Gallifrey t-shirt and Wal-Mart maternity shorts that I purchased in 2004. (First person to know what Gallifrey is wins a crocheted coffee-cup cozy.)

I am remembering how uncomfortable all these baby kicks can be. I’m thankful that the baby is active and healthy, blah blah. But I can honestly say that once this kid is born I won’t miss all the internal pummeling one little bit.

I am going to California in 18 days! Yay!

I am currently reading an issue of Touchstone Magazine.

I am hoping that I can figure out this whole homeschooling-a-first-grader thing without going crazy or scarring me or Annalie for life. (Pretty confident I can. Just, y’know…fingers crossed.)

On my mind: the movie Inception, which I’ve heard praised to the skies from so many different quarters that I think it’s impossible I won’t be underwhelmed by it. I’m still avoiding spoilers, though.

Noticing that Annalie has probably been watching too much TV lately. But I like my midday naps, so for now I’ll let it slide.

In the kitchen there are a few cookies left. I’m trying to ignore their siren call.

Around the house is plenty of evidence in every single room that a 6-year-old girl lives here. My attempts to have her clean up after herself are failing to keep pace with her ability to spread her belongings about.

One of my favorite things is the color of the yarn I’m using to crochet this baby her own cuddle blanket—sort of a pale yellow-green.

From my photo archive: this photo of Annalie was taken in March 2007, when she was two months shy of her third birthday. I’m very interested to see if the baby will look as much like Annalie as I look like my brother.

Post inspired by Beck.

Okay, Dana. I’ll bite. Because it’s a good idea for a blog post!

Now that we know this baby is a girl, Troy and I are just starting to talk names. We aren’t anywhere near choosing one, we just have a big list of all the names we sorta maybe like the sound of. At this point it still feels like we’ll never narrow it down to two names because none of them sound quite right when paired with Annalie, or our last name, or they mean something weird.

I commented on Facebook last night that coming up with a name for an innocent, brand-new human is HARD. Apparently this is a common sentiment. The comment thread quickly grew and got hilariously out of control, what with Sonja suggesting Brunhilde and Princess Consuela Bananahammock, and Katie saying she thought & or * (pronounced, of course, ‘Ampersand’ and ‘Asterisk’) would make lovely names.

Then my sister-in-law Dana commented that I should write a blog post about what names we’re considering, and ask you all to discuss and give your opinions of our names. Now, I’m not gonna do that, because I know myself well enough to know that I am Little Miss Contrary. If I told you all my absolute favorite name, a name I loved, and you all agreed that it was fabulous and the name we should use, I would probably say, “Eh, never mind. If everyone likes it so much we’d better pick another name.” I’m not saying it makes sense; I’m just saying I know that’s the way it would go.

But here is what I will do, because apparently there there are others out there, like me, who love discussing names. I can’t promise I’ll join the discussion in any serious way, and it’s very unlikely that anyone will know our kid’s name before she’s actually born. But hey, that doesn’t have to stop the fun! One caveat: don’t feel like you have to tell me THE name you’re saving for your kid, because the last thing I want to do is accidentally steal your name. That said…

What girl names do you like? Why?