Friday, May 28, 2010

TGIF...

...Even though I tried my best to convince Lee that it was Saturday so that he would stay home with us. He never falls for that. :(

For those of you waiting on the edge of your seats, last night's dinner was awesome, as I knew it would be. Unfortunately, I'm having a little issue with uploading my pictures right now, so further gushing will have to wait until I figure all that out.

So I'll have to leave you with this, which is what I did while I was not making dinner last night.



























I'm still working on my collage making skills, so bear with me. But Lee and I have both looked at old [but not too old] pictures of Mary Bullock recently and been shocked by how much hair she's grown in such a little time. We didn't even notice until we looked back at Christmas and realized she was practically bald.

My baby's growing up! Pretty soon I'm going to have to bite the bullet and learn how to French braid. Do people even do that anymore? Or maybe crimping will come back around? Now that would be fun.  Right now, I think we'll stick to pigtails.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, friends!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Something does not belong

Come on. You know you want to play this game with me.






































Hint: No, Mary Bullock, it's not the Coca-Cola. That definitely belongs.






































There it is!

[I had a little help unloading the groceries today.]





Who needs diamonds anyway?

So, pretty much since our wedding, I've had Lee on notice about my next diamond ring. I knew I'd eventually earn it (I mean, I married him. I fold his underwear), so I figured why not give him a few years' head start on finding, saving for, and buying it? I thought that was pretty considerate of me. Don't you?

According to him, I've still got a few more years of hard labor (and I do mean that literally, in one sense) before the ring is mine, but last night he gave me something almost as good.

There we were, lying in bed, thumbing through magazines, blah-de-blah, and he says: [Are you ready for this?]

How about you let me take care of dinner tomorrow night?

Is this a trick question?
If I jump for joy will you realize that this is TOO AWESOME and then try to rescind your offer because surely I don't deserve such awesomeness?
Would you like me to go to the grocery store for you?

YES, PLEASE!

Now if I can just get him to wear his cute little half-apron while he does it, all I'll need is to pull up a chair and watch my dinner appear.



















Ring, schming.


Wednesday, May 26, 2010

When It Gets Quiet

When you're a mother, and your child is awake and minimally mobile, quiet in the house equals doom.

Before your child is mobile, quiet means peace. Contentment, even. Your baby is sitting on a blanket somewhere happily chewing on a puff, and you can do all sorts of things that don't require having your eyeballs glued to your baby at all times.

But when your baby becomes mobile, quiet always spells disaster. Am I over generalizing? Is it only like this in my house?

Back in the good old days, when MB was suspiciously quiet, I would find her making a mess somewhere, thumbing through my cookbooks, or rearranging her diapers for the fourth time in a single day.

Don't misunderstand--she still does all that. It's just that she's now added some new tricks to her repertoire that have me wishing that a mess was the worst I'd have to contend with in a day.







































































Someone tell me that I will look back on this one day and laugh.  Because right now, my mind automatically skips to broken noses and blood on the floor.

Also included in MB's bag of tricks this week: climbing on all fours on top of the dining room table to empty the salt shaker. Coloring on the walls of the den. Dumping Ingle's full water bowl on the floor [which she at least acknowledged with an uh-oooh]. Saying YEAH! But meaning NOOOOOO. Attempting to steal crackers from a defenseless 12 month old.  Really, the list could go on and on.


This too shall pass, though. I just don't know if that makes me feel better? Or worse.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Twins!

I've definitely only got one bun in this oven, but there are two sets of twins making an entrance in my life this year! My friend Caroline is having two girls in September, and my sister-in-law Ashley is having a boy and a girl in October. I'm so excited to hold these precious new babies! And the great thing about twins is that there's always a baby to go around, you know? I'm not good at sharing babies. 

Anyway--a little twin shopping this morning:


























































Both from here.






















From here.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Note to Self

Do not attempt to go to the grocery store when:
A) Your list is at home, and
B) You are starving.


























Because this is what you will come home with. Oreo Cakesters? Really, Suz? Oreo Cakesters?

[They were pretty good, though, if you're wondering.]

Food and I are not friends when I am pregnant, by the way. I need it in order to not spend my entire day in the depths of nausea hell, but I do not want it. If there were some way for me to avoid all food except Snickers Ice Cream bars for the entire 9 months of pregnancy, I would totally do it.

As you might guess, grocery trips are a little difficult for me these days. Which is why this past weekend our pantry, while still somehow ridiculously crowded, contained nothing actually edible. Which may or may not have contributed significantly to my public display of sobbing and wagon pulling on Saturday.

So today I put on my big girl panties and went to the Publix determined to buy one of everything, just to quiet the roaring but incredibly fickle beast that is my baby belly.  Lee laughed when I told him my plan, but I don't think he'll be laughing when he sees the receipt.

Or when I tell him that in all those groceries, there is still nothing to eat for breakfast.
See above "Note to Self" section A.

Also must share:






































Mary Bullock unpacked the grocery bag sitting next to her on the way home. When she got to the Ruffles, she hugged them and said, "Awwww."

I seriously could not make this up.



Sunday, May 23, 2010

Back on track

I'm not going to sugar coat this: our weekend started out very, very badly. Somewhere between months of exhaustion and morning sickness, a stressful "vacation," and a week of house guests, Lee and I found our relationship a little off the rails.  Or completely derailed, depending on how you view my sobbing around the block pulling a very confused Mary Bullock behind me in the wagon. We found out the hard way that that's what happens when you put each other last on a long list of priorities.

I love Mary Bullock like there is no tomorrow, I'm sure you know. But everyone needs a break now and then, and we have been bad about not scheduling breaks for ourselves. Until, you know, anyone in the neighborhood who happens to be looking out his window at 8am can see very clearly that I need to take a chill pill.

Enter Gritsy, [Lee's mom] who volunteered to keep Mary Bullock for the night. God bless her.

And also*

and also

and voila.
Problem solved.

Now if I could just get someone in here to take care of this laundry situation.

Anyone?
Anyone?


*Not necessarily recommending this movie unless you really like crude jokes, but it wasn't the worst movie ever, and it was pretty funny. Mostly it was just nice to hold hands in the theatre and shove my face full of buttered popcorn.





Friday, May 21, 2010

Backyard Again






































Today Mary Bullock and I spent some more time in the back yard, which meant lots of time with the water hose. I haven't actually put on a bathing suit and plopped myself down in the baby pool yet, but it's coming. I stuck my feet in several times, and it was heavenly compared to the sweltering 90+ degrees we're experiencing.



When I wasn't sticking my feet in the pool, I was re-introducing myself to Fla*Vor*Ice, which I probably haven't had since I was 10. Ahhhhh. Mary Bullock doesn't seem very interested in them yet, but that only means more for me.






































Mary Bullock went down the slide by herself today, which is a big step. She's going to be such a big girl by the end of summer. Maybe by then I can move the slide over to land in the baby pool and watch the havoc that ensues.

Want to come over and play?


Thursday, May 20, 2010

Sewing Lessons







































Did I tell you that my parents are in town? Yes, they got here right after we returned from vacation. So we have exactly no clean laundry in the house, but I'm not worried about that right now. Tomorrow, I will panic.

Today, I had a sewing lesson.

I haven't sewed anything other than a button since my Grandma gave Jen and me Cabbage Patch Kid sewing machines for Christmas when we were 8. I'm pretty sure we sewed a pillow and then gave up. Now I know why--sewing is kind of complicated. And my mom has been doing it since she was 12, so she talks kind of fast, and is all like: DUH, you have to back stitch it, while I pick the lint out of my belly button.

No, it wasn't that bad. But I have so much to learn. SO much to learn.



Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Surprise!

I've had a a couple of months now to consider [and un-consider and re-consider] how I would tell you all this.  It's big information, life-changing information, which many of you already know. Especially those of you who keep tabs on my jalepeno chip habits. Ahem.

Anyway, remember this? I was really struggling then. I had just had a miscarriage--not my first. Maybe not my last. It happened pretty early, and it wasn't exceptionally dramatic or even that physically painful. But if you've ever been through it, you know that as soon as you see two pink lines on a pregnancy test, you have new visions of how your life will be. And when it ends, it is the memory of those visions that hurts the most.
 
But I told myself at the time, and I tell myself often, that God is always working things out for our good. We may not understand how it all works, but then, we're pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Why should we understand? Once you make peace with not understanding, you make room for life's joyful surprises.




























And when I say surprise, I mean: SURPRISE! As much for me as anyone, let me assure you.

So now you know why I've been an absentee blogger for the last two months. My days have gotten sort of difficult--I'll spare you the details. But I hope to be turning a corner soon, and I hope you'll stick out the next 6 or so months with me, even when you want to stab me if you see one more baby-related post.  I promise it won't be a six month virtual shopping spree.

But I may or may not have my fingers crossed.






Monday, May 17, 2010

Home Again, Home Again






















We're back! And don't think I'm not kind of hacked that none of you twerps told me that vacationing with an 18 month old is kind of stressful. But no one can complain about 10 whole days of Daddy time.  Lee mentioned on the way there that this trip involved the most days [in a row] that he'd ever spent with Mary Bullock.  Stressful or not, it was precious time.

I wish we had taken more pictures, but as it turns out, it's hard to wield a camera and chase a toddler over rocky terrain. Mary Bullock has only one speed setting right now, and she's more like the hare than the tortoise, if you know what I mean.

So now we're back to work [Lee] and laundry/vacuuming dog hair [me]. And it's good to be home.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hanging on by a thread






















[Can you believe this is my 15 month old nephew Bennie holding on to that rim all by himself?]

I apologize for my disappearance this week. Life has been hectic as I try to dig myself out of a major laundry deficit. And by major I mean, a few weeks ago I didn't do laundry for...a few weeks. And I'm just now catching up. Truth be told, the most time consuming part is all the whining and moaning that is required before actually doing any laundry. What can I say? Life is hard.

I am in need of a major vacation, which is convenient since we are going on one next week! Our first vacation since Mary Bullock! We could not be more excited. It's supposed to rain at least part of the week, and I don't even care as long as we are not here. I've got books that need reading, naps that need taking, bubbas that need snuzzling, and chairs that need rocking.
















Don't call me*. Don't write. Don't check the blog. Go about your merry ways and wish me rest and renewal. After all, there will be another ten loads of laundry to tackle when I get back, and perhaps then I can tackle it with a smile.



*Unless you are Jen or Rachel. And ok you can email me. But don't expect a snappy response. Unless it's an emergency. In which case, you** should probably call someone else. 

**Unless you are Jen, since apparently I'm the only emergency number on her contacts list.

Have a great weekend/week/next weekend!

Monday, May 3, 2010

You're Going to be Jealous

I don't know how to tell you all this without making you hate me, so I'm just going to throw it out there.

I live across the street from The Pioneer Woman.

Ok, not really Ree Drummond. Her name is Ashley. BUT--she made PW's cinnamon toast this weekend and guess who she shared it with? Moi.




















So yeah, go ahead and be jealous. This is the best cinnamon toast on the planet, I assure you. I ate it for dessert last night and breakfast this morning, and I'm having a serious chat with myself about whether to eat it for lunch also or save some for Lee.

Major internal conflict.



[Ahem. If any of you are inspired to attempt this recipe, I hope you know where I live.]