Video Lights, Van 2.0, and a BIG Baby Update

Alright, be prepared. I'm cramming several things in this post because tomorrow is THE BIG DAY!! The docs are going to induce Danielle Tuesday morning at 5:30 so we should have us a brand new shiny baby by Tuesday afternoon. YEAH! So before I go any further, please keep Danielle and little Amelia in your prayers. Long days and nights are ahead for us all, but the two of them are doing the grunt work.

There are several things I've been meaning to share lately, but I've wanted to get some business stuff up first. Well, no time like the present because, let's face it, after tomorrow I'm going to be a zombie for the next week or so. First I wanted to share some fun photos of little Maddie. Our good friend Tara (aka Dixie Pixel) gave Maddie a video light for her birthday. Well, being the responsible adult I am I quickly realized that such a gift has no place in a 3-year-old's toy chest and quickly placed it in my camera bag. ;) It's a fun little toy that makes for a some cool images. So who's the best test subject in the world? Maddie of course!

Playing with a hat we had left over from the bridal show.


And in her princess ballerina thing (what? I'm a guy. I don't know what this stuff is called) striking a cute pose.


I know, she'll hate me someday for taking pictures of her on the potty. But come on, this was too cute to pass up.






If you think the look is mean, you shoulda heard the growl coming from her.


And then she took the light from me and decided to play herself.


Moving on... In other big news, we made some changes in the transportation department in the Hope household. Since leaving the daily grind last year, my beloved truck has been sitting in the driveway gathering dust (and pollen, and bird crap, and grass clippings). And the Dodge Caravan we got after Maddie was born just wasn't cutting the mustard as far as convenience goes. So we decided to talk to some good friends out at Rice Chrysler Dodge about trading in both vehicles and getting a new van. Yes, I'm at that point in my life where I get excited about buying a van. Trust me, I was checking out some cool BMWs, but Captain Sensible quickly persuaded me that two car seats, strollers, etc. wouldn't really fit in a sweet looking 5 Series as well as a minivan. Stinkin' women. Always using their brains. So financially it made sense (two payments into one lower payment). Environmentally it made sense (the Hemi got -4 mpg just sitting in the driveway). And family wise it made sense (the new van is bigger and has ever important rear air... something Maddie and Amelia will need). So we went as cool as we could and got one with all the bells and whistles and went with a color that was pretty rare, sunburst orange (I know, but it looks really good in person). Here are some pics.

First, my truck. This Hemi ties with my old Jeep Wrangler as my favorite ride I've ever owned.


The old van.


And the new van. Van 2.0.


The first night we had it, I parked it in the street and did a little lightpainting with the video light (see, it all ties together).


Yeah, I'm a dork. At least that's what Danielle called me tonight when she saw me piecing together these four frames.


Check it out... there's a 20gb hard drive onto which we can store photos and have a custom wallpaper. Sweet!


Maddie hanging in her car seat while I tested out the DVD players. Oh yeah, we're big pimpin'.


But the only thing these screens will be showing will be kiddie movies.


Maddie getting snappy.


Car seats. And no, we didn't purposefully get an orange van because Amelia's car seat is orange. It's coincidence. I swear!


So if you see an orange van cruising around town, give a wave. Chances are it's us. Of course, this just means I need to watch my road rage!

Two more pictures and I'll shut up and head to bed (t-minus 7 hours as of this typing). Yesterday I came into the living room and found Maddie buck naked playing on the couch. She's 3. I guess if she wants to strip down to her nudie booty, she can. But that crap stops when she hits high school.

A word on the baby dolls. She's named them all Millie and has been carrying them around everywhere for the last couple of weeks. Think she's excited about being a big sister?

And lastly, here's probably the last photo of Maddie, Mommy and in utero Amelia together. My beautiful girls!


So again, keep us all in your thoughts and prayers. Crazy as I am, I'm thinking of taking the Mac to the hospital with us. Hey, they have wifi! I can update the blog from the room!

Until then,
love,
Wes

ps: Obviously this means that old orders, emails, and phone calls are going to be on a delay for the next week... so bear with us as we get caught up!