Apple of My Eye...For Now!

                             

Meet Baby Addison, the newest member of the clan and daughter of my beautiful cousin Kathleen and her fabulous husband Eric! 

Eric & Kat, the new parents!!!  Xmas 2010

Unbeknownst to them and the rest of us, they were preggers at my wedding in April, and sent out a family email blast a couple weeks later with the exciting news and a disclaimer that this was not, in fact, to steal K and my's thunder!!! 

The funny story behind all this is that I had been going around for weeks telling every married couple I knew that they needed to get on it with the baby business because I was ready for a baby in my life...just not one of my own!!! I have always LOVED babies ever since I spent 1 summer babysitting a 6-month old named Ella. She and I had the best time and it was then that I realized that there was nothing more relaxing than holding a sweet sleeping baby. Simply priceless!!!! Kathleen and everyone else weren't too sold on my plan, but little did they know that God had a different plan than their plan!  

Kathleen and Eric are both teachers and are also doing grad school! They are 2 of the hardest working people I know, and I know Addison could not have been blessed with better parents! Even though Kat informed me that contrary to what doctors may believe, new mommies do not know everything about babies (even if they have had their heads burried in What to Expect When You're Expecting for the last 9 months) and the road might be a little scary, the blessing of new life is beautiful and fabulous and all things good!

And ya'll, she is the most precious baby I have ever met! Beautiful brown hair, Eric's tan complexion, and what a stylish bambino she is! She is sure to be spoiled rotten as the first of the next generation in our family! I am so excited to be a part of her life and watch her grow up, especially because she will be the first baby I will know from the day she was born!

                                          Kyle & Addison...so adorable!!!! Xmas 2010

                                         My first time meeting Addison, Xmas 2010

 Kyle and I left our family gathering with  2 thoughts on our brains:

1. We really, really, really want a baby but also really, really are not ready (aka... I'd actually have to learn to cook and actually have to clean every once in a blue moon), so we'll stick with the 5-year plan!

And... 2. How on earth are we ever going to have a baby as beautiful as Addison!? Lucky for us, Kyle's claim to fame is that he was asked to be a baby model...Ay Caramba!!!!

How Lu Came to Be...

I have rarely been called by my actual name, Laura. In fact, I get a little scared when I hear someone call me Laura because I'm either in trouble, or someone is upset with me and therefore is refusing their affectionate nick-name for me! 

In turn, I don't call anyone or anything by it's real name, just like I abbreviate most everything. The example that gets brought up at every family gathering is how at graduation is screamed to my friend "We'll get a pic in a min!". Harris Teeter is "the teeter," Family is "fam," dinner is "din-din". My teaching assistant is "Whitey," my best teacher friend at my school is "Mojzi," my mother-in-law is MILLIE, my brother is "B" or "Beevus." That's why I've never minded being called nicknames. I think they are terms of endearment   

To my brother, I am "La-poo." 

                                                  The brother and me, Xmas 2010!

To my dad, I am "Rah", short for "Laur-ra", which my dad always follows up with "The Sun Goddess." 

                                                        Daddy and me on my wedding day!

To my high-school friends, I was "Bark" or "LB" which played off my last name and my initials. 

                                         Pagina, JP, Ally, KG, and me...HS reunion for my 21st!

To my 3rd graders, I am "Mrs. A," and I honestly debate changing that name, oh let's say, about 300 times a day...but I swear, that's the only one I sometimes want to change! 

To Kyle, my fabulous hubby, I am "Schnooks" or "Lala." 

                                                    The hubby, Kyle, and me Xmas 2010!

But my most famous nickname of all is "Lu" or "Lulu." And, like everything, there is a good story behind how Lulu came to be!

My mom called me 2 things growing up..."Lala" and "Lulu." And they weren't just said, they were sung. As in "Luuuuuuu-luuuuuuuuuuuu" or "Laaaaaaaa-laaaaaaaaaaaa." Cute when you're four, totally embarrassing when you're 13. 

                                         My beautiful mom and me, before LEG's wedding 2010

 Growing up, I had 4 best friends, and we pretty much did everything together, including set up our Hotmail email addresses in 8th grade. Julie was the most tech-savvy of us all because she had her own computer, so I let her go to town. And you know how they make you enter your first and last name so that when you send emails, it says that its from "John Doe", well Julie thought it would be hilarious to put my first name in as Lulu. I didn't think twice at the time, but about 5 years later, when I was doing all that college stuff, it came back to bite me...and give me a good laugh!

You see friends, I was so excited when I found out who my roomate was! The idea of college and new friends was so exciting to me! I immediately emailed my assigned roomate, Christa, so we could get to know each other over the summer before school started in August. Boy was I surprised to get the email back that said:

                 Dear ?,

                       Is your name Laura or Lulu? The name on the sheet says Laura, but when you emailed me, it said from Lulu. etc etc etc

WHAT!???? WHAT on Earth!!!???? Kill me now! Here I am trying to be all cool and impress her and she thinks my name is Lulu! And I immediately remembered that day in eighth grade when dear old Julie had set up my hotmail account!

The good news is, Christa totally loved that I was called Lulu. She even added "kins" to the end of it so I was "Lulukins," so I, of course, had to call her Christa-kins. 

                                                     Lulukins & Christakins, freshman year!

Christakins and I had a great first year of college together. I met my 2 GREAT  bff's from college, Beebs and A.Stew, who still call me Lu! 

                                              Me, A. Stew, and Beebs at our college graduation!

I actually went through a little withdraw period after college graduation when I entered the working world and exclaimed to Kyle with over-dramatacized sorrow, "No one knows me as Lu anymore."  It's my favorite name to be called, and I really want to name my first dog Lulu....but don't tell Kyle that....because I really don't want a dog...I just want to name one....but more on that later!

Ciao for now, and as always, lots of Lu love!!!