Saturday, May 31, 2008

The sweetest words in the world....

"Mommy, I choose to go poop on the potty!"
I looked up the stairs and there he was. Sitting on the toilet.
Guess what he just did?
The tiniest poop you've ever seen.
So he kept trying.
and he did it.
"Mommy, can you wipe my butt?"
Truly the most exciting thing I have done in a while. I know it will get old, and that I probably need to get out more. But for now, I will wipe his butt with a silly grin on my face.
No More Size 5 Diapers!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Punishment?


"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3-5a

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20
I copied this directly from Saralyn. I believe that she got it from this very thought provoking post.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A very serious concern

A little background is needed so that you can fully understand my concern.

Grace was born on October 25, 2006 at 7:58 p.m. After three hours of back labor with no drugs, one of my first thought was, "LOST starts in two minutes. I wonder if they can get me in a room in time to see it." They didn't and I missed it. I still look at her sometimes and think, "You made me miss LOST."

I LOVE LOST. I watch it religiously. When it's over, I go to bed and think about it for hours. I read the message boards, I even comment sometimes. I read the blogs and comment often. When the writer's strike took it off the air, I wondered if there was a way to raise enough funds to bring the LOST writers back.

Are you getting it? Do you feel my addiction?

The reason for my current concern is that my sister Michelle is pregnant. She was due on Sunday. She wants me to be present for the birth of her son and to photograph her labor and delivery. My concern is multifaceted.

Many of you know a photographer friend of mine, Tabitha photographed Grace's birth. She is incredibly talented. And brave. A few weeks ago, I was looking at the photos from Gracie's birth and I saw one that made me go week in the knees and PIMMAL a little. It shows Grace crowning. It's not cropped or blurred or anything. It is what it is. A photograph of parts of me that I have never seen, with a babies face peeking out (Grace was sunny side up, so it is indeed her face). I saw it and thought, "How on earth am I going to take these kinds of pictures of my sister?" Besides the fact that my longest lens is 50mm, (which basically means that in order for me to get a close up like that, I will have to be standing right next to her doctor. Close enough to catch the baby.) I hate blood and I hate pain.

My concern grew when Sam cracked his head a few weeks ago and needed staples. I almost passed out while trying to clean his wound. Again, I wondered how I was going to pull being present at a birth off.

Today, my concern reached new heights when I realized that tomorrow is the two hour season finale of LOST. What is she goes into labor tomorrow? I called my sister and told her that if being at the birth of her son in any way conflicted with getting to watch LOST, I wasn't going to be able to make it. Know what? My crunchy, all natural, dread lock sporting sister understood. She proclaimed that she'd been thinking about it this morning and has decided that if she has to, she will get an epidural so that SHE can watch LOST.

I'm not sure which of us is a bigger fan.

Double Dipping

If you are ever at a party and wonder if Grace is there, I would recommend checking the table with the chips and salsa, or any finger food for that matter. There's a good chance that if she made it, this is where she will be.

If she is,
you may (I think she's checking to see if anyone is watching....)
want
to think twice
about joining her.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Twenty Things That I Will Never Do

BooMaMa did this today. So did my bloggy friend Beth.

1. I will never win So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol or America's Next Top Model. I am too old.

2. I will never never have a butler, chauffeur or personal manager. I may get a Super Nanny though.

3. I will never live in a spotless house.

4. I will never have 16 children. It is very likely I will never have four.

5. I will never have a child named Seven, Coco, Fifi-Trixibelle, Calico, Paris or Apple.

6. I will never live on the estate next door to Angelina and Brad's new 60 million dollar home.

7. I will never fit into a pair of size 2 jeans.

8. I will never give up carbs, meat, dessert or red wine.

9. I will never fit into a size 4 pair of jeans again.

10. I will never understand how a microwave, the Internet or even television works. I think I'm pretty smart, but there are definitely people 100 million times smarter than me.

11. I will never complain, be upset or lose sleep if Hilary manages to steal the nomination from Obama (I know this is a complete reversal of my earlier opinion. However, after watching months of news coverage, I have come to the conclusion that she is less scary than he is.)

12. I will never water ski or go tubing in the ocean. I've seen jaws too many times.

13. I will never wear ugly or uncomfortable clothing just because it is stylish.

14. I will never wear Lee Press On Nails (do they still make them?).

15. I will never use a tanning bed again.

16. I will never be embarrassed that I saw New Kids on the Block in concert. Tiffany opened for them.

17. I will never think that Napoleon Dynamite was as funny as the rest of the world thinks it was.

18. Unless my family is starving, I will never hunt, butcher an animal, break a chicken's neck or fillet a fish.

19. I will never have a job that pays much money. Sigh.....that MSW was so worth it though....

20. I will never climb Everest or participate in an Extreme Sport. I do however wish I could get my friends to form a Dodge Ball team so that we could play in the league at the Y.

If you make a list let me know!


Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day

We had our first beach day of the year. The kids were in heaven and despite the fact that I have no intention of wearing a bathing suit this summer, I enjoyed myself too. This was the first summer in a while that I was not pregnant or in charge of a baby who eats sand. It's a good place to be.



They played hard
and didn't seem to mind that the water is so cold that it causes shooting pains to rip through your legs.
Then they slept. In the car. For two hours.

We will be going to the beach a lot this summer.

I got

Fund Raiser for CF


Tricia and Gwyneth are out of the hospital!


In their honor, Lisa Leonard Designs will be donating 20% from all of today's sales to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Go treat yourself! I'm going to.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

The only word I can think of is

Wow. Read it. Grab a box of tissue and read her whole blog. You will be blessed.

Friday, May 23, 2008

She Sews...sort of

I got a sewing machine in January and took a sewing class over the winter. In class, I learned how to make envelope pillows, a tote bag and a pair of pajama bottoms for myself.

I had visions of being able to make Gracie beautiful, boutiquey looking outfits like the ones I admire on Etsy. Let's just say, I'm still having visions....

I started this outfit in February. I think it took me at least 15 hours to complete. The FIRST time I made the pants, I managed to sew a front leg to a front leg and the back to the back. They may have worked on a very bow legged child...It took me two hours to take them apart.

The top however, was the real killer for me. The final product is nothing like what the pattern was supposed to help me make. That shirt has a "front yoke" and "back yoke" that I have attempted to attach for several weeks. I believe that the person who writes the directions for "Sew Easy" patterns, does not speak English and has never seen the pictures that accompany the directions. Last night, I gave up and turned what I had into a pillow case top. I think it's cute and now that I've done it, I think I should be able to make the next one in less than an hour.


She's all girl....
I may need to make the waste band a little tighter...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Haircuts

Sam needed his bangs cut and ended up with this.
Fortunately, mommy was able to control herself when it was Gracie's turn.

What?

Doesn't everyone play with their Geo Trax naked?
This is what I found when I got out of the shower this morning. I have no idea how Grace managed to get out of her pajamas and onesie. Sam said he didn't help. I'm not sure if I believe him.

The real reason why I am not skinny...

It's either the critters or the 13x9" pan of the most amazing and sinful brownies in the world. They are so rich, that you can only eat a 1/4" piece at a time (which means, you can eat a 1/4" picee several times a day for MANY days).

I wish I could take credit for these, but I actually got the recipe off the back of the Ghiradelli brownie mix. Try them! They're so good, I have committed the recipe to memory.

Make brownie mix according to package instructions.

Melt one stick of butter in the bottom of your brownie pan.

Pour brownie mix on top.

Cover brownie mix with

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips (I used white chocolate instead)

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup diced pecans (I didn't have any so I used sliced almonds)

1 14.5 oz can of sweetened condensed milk.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the top is bubbly. The top will be a little wet but firms up as it cools.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

WIll he ever tire of them?

Do you know how dangerous it is to wear a Yankees shirt in the heart of Red Sox nation?
Very.
I was actually concerned that an adult might elbow my kid. Or spit on him.

sitting in the scoop of a bulldozer

He no longer wants to be a teacher. After this, garbage man has climbed to the top of the list.

He's also like to have his own flat bed.

He's still a Yankees fan though...

Friday, May 16, 2008

"The real reason why you are fat"

I get emails from Dr. SPAM several times a day. They all have subject lines like the one above, "I know why you're so fat", "I can make you skinny", etc.... Usually, I just delete them. Today, I read it because I was feeling particularly frumpy and would like someone to tell me that there is a reason other than lack of discipline that I cannot get rid of the last 5 Grace pounds. What I read disturbed me. Is there any chance that there is a bit of truth to Dr. SPAM's pitch?

Hello Subscriber (I'm not one),

It's me Dr. Suzanne G. here , and I wanted to let you know a very scary fact that every single person MUST be aware of if they every want to lose their fat:
Did you know the average person has 6-10 undigested meals resting in their colon?

Also, Every Single Person Has Disgusting Plaque and Horrible Little 'CRITTERS' Living in Their Colon!

I'm Going to Show You How to Get Rid of All of It so You Can Shed 10 lbs, 25 lbs, 50 lbs even 100 lbs or more - and Keep It Off FOREVER!!

Press here and I will show you how:
(The link was here)

Thank you, and allow me to help you lose weight as quickly as possible!
Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Nothing deep,

funny, or remotely interesting to write about. Grace has been sleeping for 75 minutes, Sam is at a "Father's Cookout" (with Brad, obviously) at his school and I am on my second and a half glass of red wine, enjoying the silence and writing run on sentences.... Life is good and this is what we did yesterday. I love New England in May.










Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Cole

Today I took pictures of my friend Jenn's three month old son, Cole. He stayed where I put him and looked at the camera. It was a nice change...




Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

He handed me a handful of dandelion heads and a few violets . I told him that they were beautiful. He said, "This is what Mother's Day is all about, doing nice things for your mommy.I love you mom." I looked at the handful of weeds in my hand and then into his beautiful, big brown eyes and I felt so unbelievably loved and lucky to be his mom.

Not one to be outdone, my sweet Grace ran over to the tulips. I smiled as she leaned over to smell them.

And then, she pulled the head right off and brought it to me. The grin on her face was priceless. She knew exactly what she was doing. Loving her mommy.

I am so incredibly blessed that God chose me to be their mom.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends and family. I hope that each of you had a special moment today that reminded you that along with the chaos and frustration that are part of this mommy job, we mommies are a lucky bunch. There's nothing in the world like the wonder and joy and love that children bring into your life.

PS. Mom,
Thanks for being such a good example. You were the best teacher. I love you and really wish we could have spent the day together. xoxoxo