Finally, the big arrival..

After waiting for what seemed like forever, the big day was finally here. Sarah Palin was in town. She quit the Turkey Trot early to avoid the crowds but stayed longer for the book signing, so I guess it all evens out. The line was literally almost around the block. Someone made the comment to me that the line just shows how people are starving for common sense. And, all politics aside, I had to agree. Anybody camped out in that long of a line on a cold late November morning just for the chance to spend 10 seconds with someone famous (democrat, republican, actor, athlete, juggler, etc) is probably not all filled up on common sense.










And in other arrival news, the baby is finally here. Not nearly as long of a line to see her. Cora Lyn Hoffman was born on Friday, Dec 4th at 8:21 am.

Two Butterballs

This is what happens when Mommy needs to run to the potty in the middle of making English muffins in our oh-so-slow toaster. In true Paula Dean style, Ally helped herself to a little snack while waiting things out.

I'm okay with this morning's little indulgence for 4 reasons:
1) Ally was being adorably self-sufficient.
2) We figured out last week that she's the same size as her 1.5-year-old cousin and could stand to be fattened up a bit. (Her constantly falling pants and undies have also been a strong indicator of this fact.)
3) There are worse things to be gobbled down than something so
smartly-balanced.
4) Mommy loves her some butter, too.


Although I feel like a hippo most days, by obstetrical standards I continue to measure small. The docs ordered another ultrasound to be sure everything's still okay, but we weren't worried. In my mind, all that meant was an opportunity for Baby #2 to have another in-the-womb photo shoot.
Verdict is: Everything is still all good. She's measuring right on target. She's already got long eyelashes. She definitely looks like a Hoffman; I just hope her head circumference will stay in the 50th percentile. (The weird, deformed Chihuahua paw in the bottom right corner is actually the umbilical cord.) So, now that you know what she looks like, any good name suggestions?

Happy Halloween!

Ten Tips for a Great Roadtrip to Disneyland, part 2

You've read the first 5 tips, all about getting to Disneyland. Now here are the rest, all dealing with once you are actually there.

6. If your wife is pregnant and you've got a little one, bring an extra adult with you so you don't have to go on the grown up rides by yourself. We chose Karen and Ally's best friend, Jessie.













7. Spending all day in the park can be tiresome, get rest whenever you can. Sometimes a quick nap in Pluto's or Minnie's bed is all you need to keep going.













8. Stay close to the park, we were about a 5 minute walk from the main gate. Since we didn't take any pictures of our hotel, here instead are a few pictures of Ally with her "friends."














9. The characters in the parks aren't just for kids, adults can have fun with them too.













10. It's worth it to wait in line for an hour to see the princesses, or 45 minutes to see Tinkerbell. Especially if your wife will wait in line while you run off and "test out" some rides to see if they're ok for her or your small child.














Bonus tip: Five days seems to be the perfect length of time for a visit. We got to see everything on our list, never had to rush too much, and weren't sick of the place yet by the time our trip was over.

Bonus tip: If you can, go during the off season. We didn't wait in line much at all and didn't have to fight through crowds. You don't get any fireworks on week nights and a few rides might be closed, but it's worth it for the smaller crowds.

Ten Tips for a Great Roadtrip to Disneyland

1. Try to start out the trip with a very looong day in the car. This sets up more time later in the trip for previously unplanned stops (like Fishermans' Wharf for example). But still find time along the way to stop when you come across a giant caveman, or any other giant things you might find.





2. When along the coast in northern California, if the fog ever lifts, go see the lighthouses along the way. If the fog doesn't lift, there's still plenty of scenery to see.


3. When taking pictures and videos of the giant redwoods, make sure you've got a person in the shot for perspective, otherwise you don't get a good idea of how massive these things really are.


4.Push your mirrors in when going through the drive through tree, otherwise your child will talk about how "daddy broke the car". Don't worry if you forget, they put hinges on those things for a reason.



5. Just because you get to San Francisco around noon doesn't mean that fog will have lifted for the day. But don't worry, fog at the Golden Gate bridge doesn't mean you won't be able to see the sea lions at the pier.






Bonus tip: Central California is a great place to charge up your camera batteries, there's nothing worth taking pictures of along I-5 between Sacramento and LA. Oh, and that smell when you get out of the car, it's nothing you stepped in. It's just the thousands of cows. Don't worry, it goes away when you shut the hotel room door.

Stay tuned for tips 6 through 10 coming soon!

For more pictures, check out our other web page: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisAndKarenHoffman

Back to Reality

We are happy to report that Princess Ally and her entourage have been returned safely to their proper homes after their grand adventure to the land of the impossible.

I am in the process of editing and organizing the pictures so we can put them up on Picasa. Either Chris or I will eventually post a commentary here with select pictures for those of you who are opposed to flipping over to the other site. For now, here's a cute picture and one that made me laugh:

Beware of Bears.

Even if they appear nice and swear to a diet of only honey-- don't let your guard down. On Monday, Ally got so comfortable with Pooh that she almost fell asleep in his arms. Two days later, he tried to eat her at breakfast.

Living Life

I realize I never finished the last post, and I'm not about to make any attempt to now. If I did, then I'd fall even further behind and you'd never have the pleasure of reading this post. (I'm predicting I'll continue to be a blogging slacker for the next three months. Sorry!) Thanks for the fun times last month, relatives. Ally appreciated getting out of the house and having some new adventures to ramble on and on and on about.

Although I may not have enough energy to blog much about life, I am starting to feel semi-human and have actually begun to live life again. Here's an update of what we've been up to now that I'm not so homebound:



Ally has been dressing up like Tinkerbell and reviewing her princesses and other Disney characters for her big trip. She calls Snow White "Snowflake", but she's cute and can get away with it.





We went to the church campout the second-to-last weekend in August. We pitched our tent right next to the Columbia River. The wind was so bad we had to throw Ally inside to weigh it down while Chris hammered the stakes into the ground. After the hard work was over, Ally and Chris flew their kite. Ashlyn was kind enough to bring her tricycle so Ally could have something to ride on-- She's finally tall enough to reach the pedals with the seat scooted all the way forward!

The next day we took a ride on Ashlyn's boat. Ally wore her life jacket and had no fear jumping into the river and loved being pulled in the tube with me and Ashlyn's mommy. Here she is laughing and waving.

We went to the Benton-Franklin County Fair last week. It was "Fun for the Whole Herd". This is the pig that sneezed on Mommy. Swine flu, anyone?
Ally originally wanted nothing to do with the creature, but I coaxed her into coming closer. I should've just followed my smart child's instinct and stayed away.

Ally got to ride the carousel-- something she's been talking about ever since we bought our fair tickets from the lady. Although she couldn't "buckle up for safety" like Special Agent Oso had taught her, she still had fun going round and round and waving at Daddy. I'd say it was worth the 3 overpriced tickets, but only worth it once.




Ally also got to see some large produce, pretend to be a doctor, hit people with a punch balloon, sample some foods, see a rodeo complete with princesses on horses, and listen to the Beach Boys. What more could a girl ask for? A hair cut you say?






Ally'd been asking to get her hair cut over the past week. I'm not sure where she got the idea from, but I figured it was about time to finally go for it if she's begging. So today was the big day! Don't worry, she still has her curls. She keeps them in a baggy now instead of on her head. They'd make a great toupee for Grandpa.

We went to the library afterward, and Ally paid us back by having a huge tantrum. She finished crying it out in the parking lot (where being quiet isn't so important), and she made a new friend in the process. For all of you who think Ally's always an angel, take a look . . . I am thankful for the kindness (and patience) of strangers.