James and Claire

I got a call from my sister Leslie this morning informing me that her child had been born. The 'baby to be named later' is a little girl weighing in at 6 pounds 5 ounces. She was born somewhere around 9:18 EST this morning. She was described to me as having dark hair and a long tongue. Below is the first picture:

As expected, she looks a lot like Gene Simmons. Click here for the real pics: Leslie and Jeff's Baby That Has No Name There is also a 'Baby Q' button on the side that takes you to the same pics. You will see from the pics that she is a beautiful, healthy baby.

The 'baby to be named later' has not yet been assigned a name by her parents. This being a big decision, they said they want to sleep on it. I tried to tell them that sleeping on the baby would not help anything. My mother is on the scene and will call and let me know when the child is labeled.

Meanwhile, I got a call from the doctor today. She indicated that they are going to try to get James and Claire both released on Sunday. After hearing the news, Claire perked up and was eating and breathing like a regular baby. James is still cruising along....he will definitely be ready. I got to feed them both today and they have reached the point where we will be perfectly comfortable taking them home. News of a possible release along with the birth of my niece enabled us to start planning. I got on the phone with Christy, my father, my mother, and Mamaw and here is what we came up with....

Christy cannot take being away any more and is flying down Friday morning. Nicholas goes to Mamaw's until my mother returns on Sunday. My mother and father will then bring Nicholas to their house while Mamaw flies down to help with the trip home....which we are hoping is around Wednesday of next week. Of course, this plan is subject to change. If Claire is not ready, we will have to improvise. If the interstate paperwork ends up taking two weeks, we may all die.

Today's question comes from Laura Manchester, who writes: Compare and contrast the Fuddruckers in Va/DC/Md with the ones in Texas. Are they really the same? Or are they different? Is there more beef in the burgers? Better/worse beer? Different menu options?

I decided that I needed to research this one a bit. I skipped my usual pre-baby-visit dinner and decided I would sacrifice my own health for the good of the blog and go to Fuddrucker's after my visit. About 9:25, I pulled into the Fudd parking lot and walked to the front door, where I noticed the first immediate difference between the Fudds back home and the Fudds here. The Fudds back home would never be closed at 9:25 PM. This was a bitter disappointment. Luckily, I can draw on past experience to answer the questions.

The burgers are pretty much the same. The buns are baked fresh on-site and the meat is of the highest caliber. I am happy to report that the cauldron of 'mysterious yellow pump cheese' is still delicious, and is still labeled as 'hot cheddar cheese'. The amount of beef is really up to you. The standard sizes are 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, and 1 pound. I took it easy and ate the 2/3 pound the other night, and I would say the weight felt about right. For the most part, I have found that Fuddrucker's provides a consistently great meal, regardless of jurisdiction. With the exception of South Carolina, where it is illegal to be served a hamburger that tastes good.