Birthday Things*

You can now find me

2012-01-05T14:29:00.000-05:00

HERE.

I hope you'll stop by for a visit. My new digs are swanky.

Hello, 2012

2012-01-02T21:06:00.000-05:00

Poor Boseph has been so grumpy lately. Hopefully a trip to the doctor tomorrow will give us some idea about whether his grumpiness is treatable with antibiotics or just more wine for mama.

Kidding!

But back to me.

Kidding!

But really. Here's what I've realized in the last few weeks, as December has turned into January: I am not a December person. I am grumpy every December. I never would have realized this except that I actually blogged about my grumpiness last December. And the December before that.

You probably realized I'm not a December person, too, if you saw me in person before December 22. You probably backed away from me in fear of the scowl on my face. [It's ok. I won't hold it against you.]

December is just too busy for me. I could learn to say no to more events, but I want to go to the events and celebrate the holidays with people I love. I just hate the in-between time when I'm tired and have too much on my to-do list to manage with a smile on my face. And this year we had an extra little [big, really] disappointment that grinched some of my Christmas joy away as well.

And then, there was

and

and the best part: riding around with my three favorite people, listening to Christmas music and laughing.

And poof! All of my December worries were gone. It works magic on my soul every year.

So now it's January, and I'm ready to start again. This year I'm going to try my best not to suck. It's a lofty goal for a person such as myself, but I'm waking up at 5:30am tomorrow to give it my best shot.

Wish me luck! I ate my black eyed peas and collard greens yesterday, but I can use all the help I can get.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping you didn't wake up with your Big Girl Panties on your head!

Tales of a Fifth Grade Suz

2011-12-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do when I get a few moments at my parents' house is to go through my old things. I come by my pack rat tendencies honestly.

The other day I came across pure gold.

Love the fake lock and key. This was clearly designed by a nosy mother.


I also listed my favorite band as "Poison." POISON? Really? I had enormous tortoise shell glasses and twisted my loafer laces into curlicues.

In another "WHO DID I MARRY??" kind of moment, Lee asked where the name Soliel came from. UM, HELLO? PUNKY BREWSTER?


I really was pigeon-toed, but not when I was 10. But I also could have circled "over-dramatic" "a tad boy-crazy" and "tendency toward verbal diarrhea" if those had been choices.

Notice that I rated English a 4 [I do all right, but it's very boring]. There was a time when I didn't love English?? Impossible.

And there you have it.

Except all the parts that were too embarrassing to even photograph, like where I listed all the boys I had crushes on. And then marked them out and replaced them with other boys.

Those I'm going to work on getting a real lock and key for.

The Boy Who Cried Marry Me

2011-12-28T23:37:00.001-05:00

I have lots more to say about Christmas, but Lee reminded me on the way home from North Carolina that TODAY [for a few more minutes] is our engagement-o-versary, so I thought I'd share a story from December 28, 2003.

So we were on our way back from this very same trip to see my parents, and we were talking about when we would be getting engaged. Although I knew it was on the horizon, Lee assured me it would be no time soon, and I was ok with this. I wasn't in a super big hurry, and besides that, it was nice to at least know that every time Lee bent down to tie his shoe wasn't going to be IT, you know?

Because Lee was one of those types who would all the sudden look deep into my eyes and say:

There's something I've been meaning to ask you.

And then:

What's for dinner?

You know the type. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be jokesters.

By the fourth or fifth time, I had about had it with the jokes.
But anyway, then we got stuck in traffic on I-95, got home late, had to cancel our family dinner plans at Ruths Chris, and picked up Papa John's instead. Engagement had flown from my mind.

So when he said he had one more thing for me, and it was IN the Christmas tree, I think I responded something along the lines of, What is it? Bird poop?

Or something equally enthusiastic.

And then he pulled out the ring box from among the branches.

What are those-- earrings? I said. More enthusiasm.

And then he opened the box and got down on his knee and said very sweet things that I also made sarcastic remarks about.

And then he opened up the box.

WHAT IS THAT?

Exact words, people. I am nothing if not totally eloquent under pressure.

And then he asked me, and I wasn't sure when the part was when I was supposed to say YES. So we looked awkwardly at each other for a second and I think he had to ask me again. It all got kind of fuzzy after that. And then champagne magically appeared from behind a chair?

I was too confused to even cry, and y'all, I cry a lot.

So that's the story. Not Publix commercial material, but memorable [to us, at least]. If I had it to do over again, though, I would say

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.
[That's a weird looking word when you type it over and over, isn't it?]
YES.
And he definitely wouldn't have to ask me twice.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

Library Field Trip

2011-12-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took one of my favorite field trips ever, to the Main Library via the Jacksonville Skyway.

We did this with an adult to child ratio of 3:8.
Unless you count Maggie as an adult, which as of yesterday, I do.

It took all of our organizational efforts, Maggie acting as a human kid leash, and some major outside voices just to get the kids to the library in one piece, but it was fun to see them so excited.

The library was decked out for Christmas with several thematically decorated trees, but once we were there the main attractions were the books, any structures that could be inappropriately climbed upon, and the huge fountain on the terrace outside.

I didn't get any outside pictures because I was too busy changing poopy diapers and convincing MB that it is NOT ok to strip naked in public.
This argument took much longer than it should have because she already had her shirt off.
I mean, really.

It was a great day, but we all earned a long nap for this one!

Ready

2011-12-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

In our house, there are two statuses when preparing to go on an outing.

There's ready.

And there's ready spaghetties.

This, my friends, is the physical embodiment of ready spaghetties.

Consider yourself edified on this subject.
You are welcome.

God Says

2011-12-14T15:26:00.002-05:00

Lately Mary Bullock has been walking around the house telling us what God says.

God says we don't throw toys.

God says you can't fight, guys!

I've been thinking of how I can work this to my benefit.

Well, God also says you have to brush your teeth and pick up your toys. How about those apples?!?!

Sigh. But anyway.

So yesterday was pretty much a mess from start to finish [or from start to when Lee, my parenting cavalry, walked in the door]. The baby woke up crying and pretty much cried all day [teeth maybe? who knows]. A host of small things went wrong in the morning, and then, when I finally thought I'd get a break, MB decided not to take a nap. For the second day in a row.

Instead of napping she proceeded to make a series of messes, just as I was trying to get the house back in order after my "sick day" on Monday. The last mess just sent me over the edge. Just as the baby woke up [crying, again], I discovered that she had taken four years worth of Christmas cards which I had saved and grouped by year [I love Christmas cards! I promise I'm not a hoarder], and dumped them into a jumbled heap in the middle of the foyer. Because she wanted my basket to put her cupcakes in.

Her cupcakes, meaning the crumpled up napkins she said were cupcakes and that she was taking to school to share with her fwiends.

It was not a pretty scene.

I yelled.

I even-- oh my gosh should I admit it?-- I stamped my foot.

At a three year old.

Then they were both crying.

Then I cried.

It was ugly up in here.

I slammed my door in the face of an unsuspecting solicitor who knocked on the door of the wrong house at the wrong time. My wreath fell off of the door [which is probably just what I deserved but was NOT FUNNY at the time].

So then she went to her room [went, meaning, was escorted] and finally fell asleep until dinner time.

At dinner Lee asked her if she had apologized to me for dumping my Christmas cards.

I'm sowwy, Mommy.

I'm sorry, too, Mary Bullock. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It wasn't the right thing to do.

Yeah, she said, God says we shouldn't yell.

So then I cried again. Because she's so smart. And so right.
And because I love her so much.
And because who needs to keep four years worth of Christmas cards anyway?

Epiphany!

2011-12-08T11:04:00.001-05:00

My FB status this morning:

What I just found in the garage: School House Rock DVD, every paper I wrote for Mr. Cockrell at NNSH, notes from the Milton class I took at UNC, all of my notebooks from grad school, every lesson plan I ever wrote at Bishop Kenny, and all of my old Mellow Mushroom T-shirts.
What I didn't find in the garage: Christmas decorations.

My advent activity for today: making paper snowflakes.

My household goal for today: get out Christmas decorations.

Epiphanic idea of the century: Take old papers. Turn them into snowflakes.

More room in the garage: Check.

Advent activity: Check.

Christmas decorations: Check.

If you pass my house and see me turning the contents of my garage into snow, back away slowly. Check for crazy eyes. Come back with help and/or wine.

Santa Meet & Greet

2011-12-07T21:57:00.001-05:00

I read somewhere the other day that you should definitely NOT make your baby sit on Santa's lap just to take a picture, especially if your baby is crying.

Just another in the long list of parenting tid-bits I will choose to ignore.

Mary Bullock didn't cry this year, but the look on her face is all: Mom. Are you sure he can bring me all of the Olivias? I'm dubious.

For Caroline

2011-12-06T14:26:00.001-05:00

Oooh, I have a lot to say about lunchboxes.

I have major love for Skip*Hop, which has been well documented.

But really if I had it to do over again, I'd go bento, which eliminates the need to bag everything separately!


LunchBots

Kotobuki 2-tiered Bento Box

But if you really must have a bag to hold the box itself, PBK makes a good combo.

Spencer Bento

Made to go in

Fairfax Lunch Bag

Just some suggestions!

He's Coming!

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

So I saw all of these kind of advent calendars start popping up on Pinterest in early November. The sane part of me said: Suz, go to Etsy. Find. Purchase.

The insane part of me insisted I could make it myself, despite the fact the last time I used my sewing machine my efforts resulted in utter failure.

So of course I decided to make it myself.

Luckily, my mom came down for a visit before Thanksgiving and gave me the Advent Garland for Dummies tutorial. The good news is, I did it!

The best news is that I can now work my sewing machine without sewing through my own finger. [I actually did do that right after my mom left me to my own devices. I didn't even know that was possible, but it is not a lesson I will need to learn twice.]

I liked the idea of having an activity for each day leading up to Christmas, so most of the bags were filled with a little scroll naming the activity for the day. The rest are filled with little toys and treats to give myself a break. I didn't want to stress us so much over the activities that we didn't enjoy the season! We already had to reschedule Decorate Christmas Tree, because we haven't had a single spare moment to bring our tree in from outside. Oh well.

I think there is one empty baggie still, and my new mission is to find it and insert activity: Put feet up. Listen to Bublé.

Key to his heart

2011-12-05T14:03:00.001-05:00

Lee and I have a long, sour history with doors and locks.

The first time I locked us out was on our first date, which was an odd first date because we both already knew it was marriage and babies for us or nothing at all. There was never going to be any I-like-him-but-will-he-call-when-he-says-he-will? with us. Thankfully it was marriage and babies, because I had us locked out on the balcony of my apartment within about forty-five minutes of his arrival.

So what was he to do with me, the future mother of his children, besides give me a boost into my roommate's window, watch me tuck and roll, and wait for my face to reappear in the open doorway?

Lucky for me, the future mother of his children, that was the only option.

Then there was the time I locked myself out of my car on Valentine's Day at the gas station with my car running.

And then, there was this morning.
At 6:30am.
With the whole family in our pajamas.
And no spare key.

Thankfully, MB was easy to occupy while Lee pedaled the three blocks to his parents' house, woke up his poor mother, got a spare key, and pedaled back.

I would marry the one person who would get us locked out, he said when we were all back in the house.

It's not like you didn't know what you were getting into, I said.

Lucky for me, he loves me anyway.

But from now on maybe we'll plant a key in the yard just to be safe.

This picture was taken on our second date, just a moment before I accidentally told him that I loved him. I really meant I love that you're here, but by then it was way too late for splitting hairs. This was obviously before I started brushing my hair, but after I started waxing my eyebrows, poor things.

Dear Santa,

2011-12-04T22:00:00.001-05:00

Here's what I want.

I want MB to believe the whopper we're going to tell her tomorrow about how a swingset landed in our backyard without our knowledge three weeks before Christmas.

And also, a special something for the [giant] elf who put it together in a day and half.

He's a pretty good one, if you have any permanent positions. His salary requirement is steep, and he'd have to work remotely, but I can send along his resume if you're interested. As far as I know, there was no cursing in this job! That has to be a plus, right?

In the meantime, I hope Gingerbread is sending good reports on us all. Mary Bullock, bless her heart...she struggles. But she means well.

Really.

Love!
Suz

PS. I believe in magic.

The Birthday Bo

2011-12-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

This Day in History...

2011-12-01T06:48:00.001-05:00

One year ago today I fell completely, foolishly, sort of scarily in love with another man.
He is smart, sweet, hilarious, and lets me kiss him as much as I want.
Just my kind of boy.

It's Enough

2011-11-23T08:51:00.001-05:00

Early yesterday morning I came across this bit of goodness on Pinterest and stored it away in my heart for a rainy day.

And then around lunch time, it started raining. Pouring, actually. And I don't know about y'all, but I don't have the fortitude to take my babies out in the pouring down rain for anything other than a house on fire type of emergency.

Down the drain went my afternoon to-do list, which included a trip to the dry cleaners that I have put off for so long that there is a distinct possibility that Lee will be working naked next week.

So there we were, stuck in the house. As if that weren't bad enough, do y'all remember what an easy baby Bo used to be? I was honestly starting to get kind of smug about it-- like, did I somehow give birth to the chillest kid on the planet? I must be SUPER AWESOME. Turns out, he was just saving up for a Big Mama Smack Down.

I am Smacked.
I am Down.
You win, baby. You win.

But I digress. We were stuck in the house. And we had an empty diaper box. And cranky babies. What else could we do besides turn the empty diaper box into a train? Nothing really. There is no other answer.

The 45 seconds of each of Bo's turns on the train added up to a glorious 5 minutes of the afternoon when he was not crying.

But then I realized that I could turn the diaper box train into a laundry train and get MB to pull it to her room.

I got to mark something off of my to-do list after all.

So today I'm thankful for:

Diaper boxes.

Children who are amused by diaper boxes.

My husband, the originator of the diaper box train.

Laundry to do.

Children to entertain.

A cozy home to shelter us from the rain.

And all of you, who read [and hopefully laugh with me].

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

A Bo by any other name

2011-11-14T14:30:00.001-05:00

Lee and I were chatting in the car the other day about how it is that we came to be the parents of children we call Buck and Bo.

We consider ourselves educated people, for the most part. We gave them perfectly good names when they were born. Names that mean the world to us. Names that we had picked out for them long before we were even married.

But for day-to-day use, it's come down to Buck [two-year-old Mary Bullock's attempt at Bullock] and Bo [Mary Bullock's shortening of Bro], or some variation of these.

So in the car Lee says to me, already laughing: their nicknames have nicknames. Which was almost the title of this post, because I literally [LITRALLY!] snarfed in the face of such truth.

So, I thought it might be helpful to you to have an abbreviated [for space purposes] list of each of their nicknames, just so you can sample our particular brand of crazy. Maybe you named your child Alexander and actually call him Alexander and you can lay your head down tonight and congratulate yourself on not endangering your child's future employability by calling him a ridiculous name that will not show up on his birth certificate.

We really do call Mary Bullock Mary Bullock if we're not using a nickname [like when she's making us late, or when she's in trouble], but we never call Bo Lee. I'm envisioning his first day of kindergarten when he adamantly maintains that his full name is Bocephus Wedekind.

It might be a problem.

Do you think they call the school counselor over things like this?

*Also, I'm sure Lee would like it pointed out that the Bolene referenced above is the RAY LAMONTAGNE version, NOT the LORETTA LYNN version.

Let me ask you one question

2011-11-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

The Girl [nickname #4,347] has started saying this new thing. It's Let me ask you one question. I'm not sure where she picked it up, but it wasn't from me.

So for instance, she'll say:

Let me ask you one question.

I pooped.

Let me ask you one question.

I want one more show.

I think we need to review the meaning of question, for one thing. And the meaning of one, for another, because she reached her maximum show allowance by about 9:15 this morning.

After lunch today she was having trouble sharing her train set with Bo. Then she had some trouble keeping her hands to herself. Then she had some trouble with telling me the truth about the sharing and the keeping of her hands to herself, and so she had to go spend some time in her room. After we had a little chat, she came out and bent down to look Bo in the eye.

Let me ask you one question.

I'm sorry.

*****

After nap we got in the car to go to Costco, and she said Let me ask you one question five times. None of them were questions.

On the way back home we talked to Daddy on speaker in the car and she said Let me ask you one question... I don't remember what she said, but it was not a question.

As we hung up, Lee said Mary Bullock, let me ask you one question.

Yes, Daddy? [She really says it this way]

I love you.

Definitely not a question.

For Kirby

2011-11-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

Saw this

Which reminded me of this

 Which remind

Which reminded me of just how awesome you are. Ow-Ow-AoooOOOOOOooooo!

Potty in the USA

2011-11-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

In case of Potty Miracle, Pixie Hollow will be unmanned.

In other words...SHE DID IT! HAS DONE IT ALL WEEK!

We have a POTTY POOPER*! I even waited a while to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

She also got a princess wand, a Snow White crown, and a new train set. Someone went a little overboard. Actually I'll go ahead and out him-- it was Lee. I think he was extra psyched because he's the one who actually cracked the code. We were too excited to consider whether we'd be spoiling her, anyway.

I often wondered what it would feel like to wake up in the morning and not have a giant mess to clean up. Answer: AMAZING.

We now have a mess of fairies everywhere, but that's ok with me. I did superglue all their shoes on, though, which was as close as I'll ever come to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

This is our shoe shelf in the kitchen. As I was gathering up the last of the tiny fairy shoes to glue onto the appropriate feet, I realized I had lost track of Marina's shoes. I sort of panic about these things, especially since I routinely have to rescue small parts from the back of Bo's throat.

I asked Mary Bullock where Marina's shoes were, and she said on the shelf! And there they were.

Had to laugh!
Have a great weekend, everyone! MB had the stomach bug yesterday, so I'm hoping if I have to get it, I'll get it before our family pictures on Sunday. Wish me luck. :)

*I have considered that perhaps MB will one day be very embarrassed by my public coverage of her potty milestones, but I've already let you in on the frustration, so I might as well share the good news, right? On the upside, hopefully ALL potty talk can now cease for at least another couple of years. That's reason to celebrate!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-03T12:11:00.000-04:00

Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for my children. Their existence is truly a miracle in my life. But I've been thinking lately about something that I'm equally thankful for, and that is the struggle we went through before having each of them.

It's a relatively new thing for me to be able to thank God for a struggle. It's easy to praise God when everything goes my way! But in this case, when I see so obviously what a blessing that struggle has been to me, there is no other reaction than to give thanks to the God who prepared me to be a mother in His own time. To give thanks to the God who humbled me enough to love my children in the way that they need to be loved.

Everything in my life to that point had been pretty easy. School, making friends, even teaching [which ok, I wouldn't call easy, but at least it was a challenge I felt I could control]: I could find a way to make my life do what I wanted it to do. I'd never really failed at anything. [I mean, if we're not counting Econ 10. Because let me tell you-- I FAILED THAT CLASS WITH GUSTO.]

But getting pregnant was inexplicably hard. And, ever so frustratingly, out of my own control. Month after month I wondered: WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? And I grew angrier and more frustrated as the year slid by, and even medical intervention didn't help. And then Nicole Ritchie got pregnant, and oh. That was a dark dark time for me. Couldn't God see that I would be at least as good a mother as an anorexic celebutant who was probably on all sorts of drugs and oh my Lord that awful show with Paris Hilton-- REALLY? HER? HOW IS THIS FAIR?

I was big into who was getting pregnant besides me, but this one really tipped me over the edge [obviously-- I remember it acutely].

And then, finally, I gave it up. I remember waking up in the hotel room in Las Vegas with Jen, and telling her we were going to jump off the train chugging toward IVF. Take some time. Why were we in such a rush, anyway? Maybe I'd try acupuncture. Just chill out for a while.

A week later I was crying again, with needles poking out all over. And for once I wasn't crying over the needles. I was just crying because I was letting go of a year and half's worth of frustration and nonsense. And it felt so good.

I drove home and talked to God on the way: I know you have a plan. I trust your plan. This was odd for me. I didn't usually just talk to God in my head. I certainly didn't usually tell him I was ok with whatever he had in mind. And I didn't cry. I actually didn't shed a single tear [not even over a Publix commercial] for over three weeks. Which, if you know me, you know: that was just out-of-this-world unusual. But I was just at peace. Real peace. Not the peace that comes from knowing I've worked something out myself, but the peace that comes from knowing I didn't have to work it out myself.

In fact, I don't have to work anything out by myself ever again.

A lesson that, as a mother, has been essential. I still forget it a lot, but God always calls my mind back to it right before I can really screw things up.

And so I thank Him daily for my children, yes. But I also thank Him for making me struggle, and for using that struggle to remind me who exactly is in control around here. Some days, Mary Bullock thinks it's her! But it's not. And it's not me, either.

Free As We'll Ever Be

2011-11-02T21:38:00.000-04:00

So, it's taken me a few days to wrangle my pictures off of my phone, but the timing of this post works so nicely with the beginning of November, a month for giving thanks!

Last Thursday we got an email from MB's Aunt Kay Kay that her friend Emily [hi, Emily!] had [FREE!] tickets to the Zac Brown Band show at the arena. AND the tickets included the Eat & Greet. Did we want them? She asked.

I think my response was something like: OHMYGODAREYOUKIDDINGYESYESYES.

Did we have a babysitter? No.

But we said YESYESYES anyway, and I really prayed it would work out. Lee and I rarely go out by ourselves, and it's been ages since we had actually been to a concert.

SO I spent Thursday afternoon calling eight thousand babysitters, who were all busy, because last weekend was also Florida-Georgia, and also apparently some people have LIVES [hello, not us!].

And just when I was beginning to despair, my friend Laura offered up her OWN babysitter so that we could go.

And then we met Zac Brown and his band and they served us an awesome dinner and we sat beside some kooky [in a charming way] women and I stealthily took this picture [no photography allowed, I know-- I broke the rules] so that Kay Kay and Emily could witness.

I promise this is Lee's thrilled face.

This is his super thrilled face.

The only bad part about this is that I tend to get tunes stuck in my head for weeks at a time, so I have basically been singing Zac Brown songs since last Friday. Actually, that's awesome for me because I love to sing/whistle/make noise with my face, but not so awesome for Lee, who enjoys quiet for several minutes a day and never gets any.

So, I'll wind down this post/kick off November by saying:
Kaylan: thanks for the email
Emily: thanks for the tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Laura: thanks for the babysitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lee: thanks for putting up with my musical mouth diarrhea. I could be singing like The Spice Girls or something, so it could be worse.

Halloween's in the Bag!

2011-10-31T21:32:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest: this morning when the streets were wet and it looked rainy and dark, I was sort of hoping for all day thunderstorms. Something-- anything, really-- to make Halloween go away. I'm a total Halloween Scrooge, as we have previously discussed. But of course, the day ended up beautiful and warm, perfect for trick-or-treating [or, in MB's new slang, tricker].

MB ended up with several costumes, but their real costumes were Max & Ruby [Ruby! And her Little Brother Max!] My mom contributed significantly to their costumes. I made Bo's shirt and whined through most of it. Did you not believe me when I said I was a Halloween Scrooge? Because I was not really exaggerating.

This was the last time Bo wore his ears. I think he thought they were his dinner. Why my dinna on my head? he must have thought to himself.

Mary Bullock was serious about tricker this year. She didn't really understand what the deal was with the candy at first, but she figured it out very quickly while swindling four candies out of the nice mommy at the first house we visited.

As it got dark, MB just had to take a little bweak. A bweak from walking, that is. Not from candy. Oh no. That would have been ridiculous.

And then Ruby & Superman walked home. I bet Superman's parents even pilfered his candy. [Not that Ruby's parents would ever ever ever ever do that.**]

And that was that. We didn't even carve pumpkins this year. Oh well.

On a side note, though: I took Bo to a playdate for MOPs this morning dressed like this:

It was a costume party, so I claimed that he was dressed as his Daddy. But really these were just the first clothes that I grabbed out of the drawer and wrangled him into on our way out the door.

Then Daddy showed up to our pre-tricker festivities at Meg's house dressed like...drumroll please?

And though I may be the biggest Halloween Scrooge ever, that was definitely a Birthday Thing.

**TELL ME THE TRUTH: YOU EAT THEIR CANDY, TOO, RIGHT?

Now & Later

2011-10-27T11:47:00.000-04:00

What I've got now:

What I'm going to have to have later (like in twelve years?): an unlisted phone number.

Birthday Recap

2011-10-24T14:59:00.001-04:00

This post is mostly for our family flung far and wide, so bear with me through the gazillion pictures I'm about to lay on you.

We celebrated Mary Bullock's birthday early this year with Pretty & Dadu [Lee's parents]. Pretty made a delicious dinner of Spaghetti and Meatballs a la Molly Wizenberg-- SO GOOD. Easily the best I've ever had. [And if you haven't read A Homemade Life yet, and you enjoy cooking or reading about the cooking you will probably never do, you should read it!]

My contribution to the meal was MB's birthday cake a la Betty Crocker. And by that, I mean the box. Not the cookbook. I didn't even decorate it myself-- I had help with that too.

MB sprinkled the top with confetti between shoving handfuls in her mouth. Quality control specialist in the making.

Of course, the Molly Wizenberg meatballs were entirely lost on the birthday girl. She saved herself for dessert, then took a big old fake nap on her new sleeping bag from Uncle Derbs. I think she likes it. :)

On Thursday she celebrated her birthday again with her class at playschool. I sent owl cupcakes [thanks Pinterest!] and was thoroughly amazed when I picked her up and she had not one speck of cupcake on her hands, face, or clothing. Her teachers amaze me daily.

On Saturday she woke up [very, very early] to gifts and a special breakfast from Daddy.

I thought Bo would be satisfied playing with the balloons, but actually he digs the dollhouse, too. [Which isn't such great news to Mary Bullock.]

After breakfast we loaded up and drove out to Connor's Amaizing Acres. MB and I went last year, but Daddy missed out, so we re-visited.

It was fun, if a little crowded. I asked Mary Bullock on the way out what her favorite part had been, and she said Mommy. But she was also exhausted and probably delirious. Both babies fell asleep in the backseat within 10 minutes of leaving.

After marathon car naps, we came home and put Bo to bed while Lee prepared a tent under the stars, a fire in the fire pit, and a special dinner [burgers on the grill for us, cheetohs and apple slices for her-- this only passes as dinner on special occasions]. Then we all lounged on blankets and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

And there was also an outdoor tea party.

It was such a great, relaxed birthday. Just what we needed. We're so proud of our big girl, and she continues to amaze us every day. Some days we're just amazed we don't pull our own hair out, but mostly we're amazed at what a sweet, smart, and capable little person she's becoming.

Now we're just going to sit back and see what the year has in store. Dear Lord, let it involve a certain something in the potty. Amen.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

2011-10-22T08:32:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to our special-special! Have patience with us while we learn to be parents of a three year old. From what we've seen so far, you teach a rigorous course.
But all the good ones do.

It's the Great Pumpkin 2011

2011-10-19T10:54:00.000-04:00

[Catch It's the Great Pumpkin 2010 and 2009 here and here. Mary Bullock has different colored eyes every year! Wonder what next year will be?]

Our annual October obsession with the pumpkin patch is well under way around here. We were temporarily derailed last week of course, so we're a little behind. We've only had three patch trips so far, but I'm sure there will be several more before November.

It has come to my attention [via Jill] that what we call a pumpkin "patch" in Florida is kind of laughable to the rest of the world. There are no pumpkins growing here. It's just a place for us fall-starved folks to go and pretend for a minute that it's not still in the upper 80s straight on through December.

But we'll take whatever we can get!

We're back!

2011-10-18T16:18:00.000-04:00

Ok, so that little hiatus got ridiculous. We have all been sick, with the exception of Lee, who somehow manages to avoid the germy slobber the rest of us share. He has a maneuver wherein he only kisses the cheek of a sicky with the side of his mouth, and you don't even realize he's doing it until you're in fever misery and he's bouncing out for a quick run. He's stealthy that way.

Lee was also our official grocery shopper during our week long convalescence. I sent him for Pedialyte popscicles, which I remembered someone recommending to me last year during the great Stomach Flu of 2010. But Publix didn't have them. So guess what I did? I made my own.

I know! GET ME OUT OF TOWN. I'm still pretty proud of them. And I've got one left in the freezer if anyone has a sicky of their own soon.

But we're all recovered for the time being. We've had a visitor the last few days, my friend Jill. She just left a little while ago, and the babies are going to be bereft when they wake up and it's just mama.

Speaking of babies waking up, my break is over! Stay tuned for birthday festivities, The Great Pumpkin 2011, and more soon.

Speaking of Heroes

2011-10-07T09:59:00.000-04:00

Lee is [of course] not a Marine, but he did run the Marine Corps Half Marathon last weekend! And he is definitely a hero to a certain girl in our house.

Sorry to have just posted a picture of Lee's backside, but I love how MB stwetches with Daddy. She is a little Lee in the making. She barely left his side once the race was over. Next year, we'll just enter her as a runner.

MB also got to sit in the...tank-y...type...thing? [Don't be jealous of my superior Marine equipment knowledge. You could be this smart if you really put your mind to it.] That picture is especially for my newest reader in Afghanistan.

So proud of you!

Hurry Home

2011-10-06T10:25:00.000-04:00

Uncle Derbs leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow.

I've been sitting here staring at this stupid blinking cursor for a long time, and words are failing.

I can talk all day long about baby poop, but there aren't words in the dictionary for how much we love and will miss you. So, I'm settling for these:

Be safe.
Hurry home.
No tattoos.

Santa Claus is coming to town

2011-10-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

Let's just skip Halloween and Thanksgiving and move right along to Christmas, shall we?

I'm kidding. We'll get back to those holidays [and MB's Halloween costume, which I'm so excited about]. But MB has already started on her Christmas list, and it's actually very short. Want to know what's on it? I'll show you.

MB's Christmas List

Everything in the catalogue

See? She's making it so easy on us. Just buy everything.

Last night after carefully showing me every picture, she snuggled up with Lee to review.
I want dat and dat and dat and dat and dat, she said.
What are those? he asked.
I don't know.

I think we might be in for an interesting Christmas.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any Santa toothpaste yet. Will someone alert me when it's available? We might need to have a chat.

See? Pinterest is inside my brain.

2011-10-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

Source: icanrelate.info via Suz on Pinterest

Pinterest, I just can't quit you

2011-09-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

I have pretty much come to the conclusion that if I'm ever going to get my act together, I'm going to have to quit television.

Actually, I don't watch all that much television, with the exception of Modern Family and Parks & Rec, without which I think life would be much less funny. Oh, and Happy Endings. Also good and most of the time worth staying awake for.

But the real time thieves are Facebook and Pinterest. I'm pretty close to being done with Facebook, although I need to talk myself out of the irrational fear of forgetting the last six years of my life before I actually delete my account. That's irrational, right?

Pinterest, though. Well, Pinterest and I just started, and we're in that honeymoon phase where we want to spend all of our time together and we could spend hours and hours just sitting together, talking or not talking. Either way is good. And I'm not quite ready to give that up yet.

BESIDES, if I quit Pinterest, which would allow me time to get my act together, how would I know just how behind I am in the getting of my act in its togetherness? Without seeing all the pictures of how organized and beautiful and creative everyone else is?

It really is the conundrum of social media.

BOOM.

But anyway, while someone else is figuring out how to solve this mystery of all mysteries, I have been cooking and baking in addition to pinning zing-y sayings and awesome decor.

Want to know what they are? Follow me on Pinterest. It's already made me too lazy to post links myself. Also, if you follow me I can follow you back and see what YOU'RE cooking and then I can spend even more time avoiding getting my act together.

A quotation I found on Pinterest this week is so apropos here: Old procrastinators never die, they just keep putting it off.

Someone who loves me: please alert me when I've hit rock-Pinterest-bottom. But for now, I just can't quit.

I have a confession

2011-09-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

I call Cinderella.

Like-- a lot. Based on phone calls alone, she rates as my best girlfriend. Sometimes, in desperate potty bribery situations, she can mysteriously be reached on my sister's cell phone.

But most of the time I call her on a toothpaste tube.

I can't even remember how this started, or why in the world Mary Bullock actually believes I am communicating with a princess in this manner, but she does not question this.

We go into the bathroom to brush teeth, and MB says Mommy, can you call Cinderella?

Then the [one-sided] convo goes thusly:

Hi? Cinderella?
Yes, this is Mary Bullock's mommy.
Yep.
Uh-huh.
Mmm-hmmm.
I know, I told her!!
The back teeth?
Oh, okay.
I see.
Well you have a good night, Cinderella! See you soon.

And then I hang up the ~~toothpaste tube~~ princess phone and MB miraculously opens up and lets me brush all up in there.

Listen, Cinderella and I? We have our differences. Like, that choker necklace that she wears? Is not doing her any favors. However, since her power over my child's hygiene habits is getting harder to withstand by the week, I now consider us at a truce.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my toothpaste is ringing.

Potty Mouth Bo

2011-09-23T14:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I took Bo with me to a meeting. It was a casual type of thing, which was good, because Bo does not yet own a business suit.

He did have one of those onesies with an appliqued tie, though, and I have to say: the days he wore that onesie were the days I mostly giggled through breakfast. Put a tie on that baby he is the tiny, slobbery twin of his father.

ANYWAY-- I took him with me to the meeting, and he spent most of the time in his stroller with this legs kicked up making indelicate noises with his mouth.

It's really quite amazing, if a mama could say so herself-- he has a full repertoire of noises that mimic bodily functions. But the best part is how they all devolve into giggles. He has the best giggle.

I may or may not have made some potty noises myself just to re-enact the giggles.

It was worth it.

Be back soon

2011-09-17T14:44:00.001-04:00

I know-- I've been such a bad blogger that I just forgot my own password. This is bad, y'all. But I'll be back sometime soon.

Just getting through a funk.

I've got a sickness

2011-09-09T09:07:00.000-04:00

And it's called Skip*Hop.

It started last year on my quest for MB's backpack for school.

This backpack just makes me happy. She loved it too [BONUS!] and actually wore it on her back to and from playschool every day. [Ok, I might have carried it after school a few times.]

This year she added the matching lunch bag.

And this week, on a mission to preserve the few articles of clothing that actually still fit Big Bo, I realized they also make Zoo Bibs.

I've never been one for bibs with pithy sayings on them, like If you think I'm a BRAT you should see my Daddy!! or some such. But this eventually led to an apathy toward bibs in general, which has led to a shrinking wardrobe of outfits not covered in peas and squash.

The Zoo Bibs fulfill all of my wildest bib-related desires and are machine washable.

Now he can wear those clothes just as long as his belly-belly will let him!

But I think Skip*Hop needs to start contributing to our babies' college funds. It's only fair.

Cousin Fest '11

2011-09-08T11:09:00.000-04:00

So we got to spend some time with MB & Bo's cousins on our trip to NC in August, and it was so fun to watch. There's something special about cousins, don't you think?

Bo's closest cousins, age-wise, are his cousins Griffin and Gretchen, who are six weeks older.

I think Bo liked having babies his own age to crawl around with. Mary Bullock is a wonderful big sister, but sometimes it's more like Bo has two Mamas, one of whom is very bossy. And the other makes him sit still for diaper changes and wipes his nose against his will, so she's kind of a bummer.

My mom was in Grandma heaven with these three. She got to love on all the babies and didn't have to change any diapers!

We also got to go to the Marbles Museum in Raleigh, finally, after I assured Lee that we would not be looking at exhibits full of marbles all day. Actually, I'm pretty sure this was MB's version of paradise. She played

And played

And played. The pizza parlor was one of my favorite parts. By that time she was sweaty [fwetty] and her hair went into a tangled pony tail that reminded me of my Mellow Mushroom days. I didn't brush my hair back then, so this is pretty much what I looked like. We explained to MB the finer points of the Funky Chicken pizza [the old school Funky Chicken, with pesto and jerk chicken, not the new one- blegh]. She agreed that this was probably the best pizza on the planet.

One of my other favorite parts of this trip was that Daddy got to come with us. Everything is better with Daddy. I know with family far away and a husband who doesn't actually get "vacation" from work, I'm in for a lifetime of solo car trips. So the times when he can come with us are extra special to me.

They had a "soft" play place for babies, which Bo loved for the 20 minutes of our museum trip that he was awake for.

And then my camera battery said KILL ME NOW and died. But not before I could make a note to self: Surround next nursery with mirrors. Instant entertainment, no babysitter required.

Rewind/Fast Forward

2011-08-31T15:08:00.000-04:00

[Lee and I took the babies up to North Carolina for a long weekend this past weekend-- another one of my crazy, do-everything-see-everyone kind of road trips, except this time we decided on one central location (Raleigh) and worked out our visits from there. When you have to drive 8+ hours to see anyone who knew you before age 23, every trip turns into sort of a circus. But a good circus. A necessary circus.
Also, my camera battery died. And I lost the charger. So this is the part of the trip where I had resorted to my phone camera.]

See this? This is my baby on Franklin Street. Actually it's my baby on her Daddy's back on Franklin Street. Mary Bullock's FPE [favorite person ever] Molly just started UNC Law on Monday, so we spent Saturday with her and Uncle Derbs walking around campus, showing MB the sights. See the dark cloud to the right? That's Hurricane Irene. Thankfully, that's as bad as it got in Chapel Hill.

I haven't spent a lot of time in Chapel Hill since I graduated, mostly because I've lived so far away and am not a huge sports fan, so I don't go home for many games. It was strange to walk around campus after so much time had passed, and with my own children. In some ways it felt like nothing had changed [although a lot has changed on campus]. I walked by certain places on campus and recalled specific incidents-- like, getting my books my first semester freshman year and sitting down in The Pit with the box, so freaking excited. Or being in the undergraduate library, pestering Rachel to help me cram for an Econ class I'd only been to twice. It was odd how much came back to me after 15 years-- parts of college I loved, parts I was tortured by [Astronomy- the worst], and parts the older me would have done very differently.

Of course, if Lee has his way, MB won't be spending her college years in Chapel Hill, but wherever she is, at some point, hopefully, she'll be in a dorm room far away from her mama. I'm sure I'll cry dropping her off, just as my mother did. I'm sure she'll make some mistakes, just as I did.

But dear baby, if there is an Old Well, and drinking from it will get you all As, my advice is this:
DRINK FROM IT. Especially if you only plan to attend your Econ class for the month of August.

This is Mary Bullock pouting because she wanted to go to WATE FOWEST. I think she was coached.

From Yesterday

2011-08-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

Mary Bullock has this new thing where she starts stories by saying, Once, when I was a baby... And this always makes me smile [and sometimes cry] because I can't imagine a time in the future when she will not still be my baby.

I try to remember how we got from her being Bobo's age to now, and I swear I can't. She was about Bo's age when I started blogging, and now she has real hair [that she let me BRAID!] and wears big girl panties! And we have real conversations!

Last night, for instance, she had a pink bear sippy cup full of milk.
Mommy! The beaw is cwying!
Huh? I said. Distracted. As usual.

She's cwying!
Aw! She is crying. What do you think is wrong?
She lost her baby! She was very sad about this. MB is nothing if not sympathetic.
Well where do you think she went?

She picked up Bo's hand-me-down pink sippy, which had been tumped from his tray in a fit of gimme my cheesy poofs rage.

I found her, mommy. No worries.

Oh, how I love that baby.

A prayer for her first day

2011-08-23T09:59:00.002-04:00

Dear Lord--
Let her hands be gentle.
Let her words be kind.
Let her mind be opened,
But her heart stay mine.
Amen.

Dear Lee,

2011-08-20T21:42:00.001-04:00

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed

Sing like a bird, dizzy in my head

Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday ni-ight

You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe

Shine like gold, buzz like a bee...

OH! You make me smile.

Seven years is the medal anniversary. Get it? Medal? I made that up myself. Are you snarfing now? I know. This is why you married me. I promise you a lifetime of jokes such as this. Look forward to it!

Love,
Suz

Friday Favorites from Bo & Buck

2011-08-19T16:25:00.000-04:00

Dinnertime with Bo:

It's all well and good till the cheesies disappear.

Storytime with Buck:

She is clearly a better reader than I am.

Happy Friday!

First Position

2011-08-18T12:51:00.000-04:00

I have to be honest: I am not one of those mothers who, upon getting the girl news from the ultrasound, starts imagining her little girl in tutus. To me, that kind of thing teeters too closely to the whole Princess circus that SO makes me cringe. But that's just me. I decorated MB's nursery in blue. I am contrary. I get this from my father.

Even when people started mentioning the possibility of Mary Bullock one day taking dance, I got kind of prickly. Really? With the recitals? And the outfits? And the make-up all over their faces? No, thanks.

But then of course, I have a real child, not a hypothetical one, a child who is starting to have real interests [insofar as a not-quite-three-year-old can have an interest, which basically means she talks about it a lot and squeals when she sees Angelina Ballerina].

And then there's the leotard. If anything will make the mother of a baby girl's heart melt, it is the sight of her in a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes.

Today at lunch she sidled up to me [she's always sidling up for something at lunch, because she hates to sit in her chair] and whispered in my ear: Mama, you want to see my first position? And then she stared at her feet, which were not really in first position, but I could see where she was going with it.

I'm sold. Ballet here we come.

But don't worry. There will be no tutus.
Unless she wants to wear a tutu.
Then we'll talk about it.
But there will probably be no tutus.
Unless she turns out to be a dancing prodigy and her teacher says we have to wear a tutu.
But I'd prefer no tutus.

And definitely no make-up.

Birthday Things is a Big Girl Now!

2011-08-17T21:07:00.002-04:00

Today, my other baby, Birthday Things, turned two! It started out with a bang. Or-- more like, an alarm. As it turns out, the sound of glass breaking and the sound of Mary Bullock shrieking TINKERBELL, DADDY! TINKERBELL! are strikingly similar to the noise sensors on our alarm system. What could I do except laugh and facebook it so everyone else could laugh with me? And pour more coffee, of course?

Welcome to life in our house. Admission requirement: sense of humor.

I didn't set out to make this blog about my family necessarily, but WOW they give me so much to work with. There are few dull moments around here.

I hope you know that there are Things I Hate in this life, but OH! the Birthday Things are so much sweeter for the contrast.

Thank you for reading, for laughing, for celebrating, for commiserating, for encouraging.
For everything.

Well Played

2011-08-14T20:44:00.000-04:00

You probably can't possibly imagine this about me, even tempered as I appear to be, but when I was little, I used to give my mom fits. FITS!

Basically, she couldn't take me anywhere. By that I mean, she couldn't take me anywhere without risking having to remove me kicking and screaming. As much as I'd love to tell you that it was all toddler hysteria, it wasn't. I actually remember some of the fits I threw, so I couldn't have been that young. One involved telling her I hated her in the middle of JC Penney.

I know! TERRIBLE!

My mother always told me my antics would come back to me. By the time I had babies, though, the advent of online shopping had me fairly confident that if the time ever came when MB should need physical restraint in the toy aisle at Target, her box of coal could come just as handily from an online merchant such as Amazon.

I can do damage on Amazon.

As it turns out, I underestimated my mother's determination to see me suffer for the tantrums of my youth. In fact, her revenge plot quietly began last time I was home to visit. See, she gave Mary Bullock a gift-- a gift which re-appeared from the bottom of the toy bin sometime last week and became her new favorite thing.

Don't be fooled. It looks like a harmless recorder, but it is a human torture device. Especially when she wants to get the band together at 6:30am.

Well done, Mama. You played the long game, and you won.

Another thing I do...

2011-08-12T15:20:00.000-04:00

When it's way too early for wine, but my patience has run out. I watch videos of MB being cute*.

Y'all, I love my baby. But I am so sick of poop. Thinking about it, waiting for it to happen [in the potty], bargaining, bribing, trying to act like it's no big deal [IT IS A BIG DEAL! IT IS! IT IS!].

I even bought MB some new Tinkerbell BGPs yesterday, and y'all know I am wary of anything coming close to the big P[rincess]. So far today the result has been...nothing.

Keep us in your prayers. I know poop might be a silly thing to pray about, but I've got nothing else up my sleeve.

*She's saying Aurora Borealis. She's not a genius [except maybe the evil kind], she just watches too much TV and learns ridiculous words that make me giggle. That, and the nose picking. It's wrong to giggle about that, though right? It won't be funny in a few weeks. Dear Lord, while you're solving my poop problem, could you also not make my baby the class nose picker? Amen.

Welcome to Bobo's Stroller Body Shop

2011-08-10T15:28:00.002-04:00

Didn't even need to make a wish

2011-08-09T14:53:00.001-04:00

So, my birthday was awesome. So awesome, in fact, it's taken me a few days to wrap my head around actually posting about it.

Last year, if you'll remember, wasn't so hot. I was pretty pregnant, Lee had to work, Mary Bullock ingested Bengay, poison control, blah-d-blah.

Up until last Wednesday afternoon, I was bracing myself for another sad birthday. Lee was in trial in Tallahassee and was supposed to be gone until late Friday night. I had to resist the urge to stamp my foot about that one. Don't judges consider attorneys' wives' birthdays? Ugh.

But I didn't stamp my foot. I waved goodbye to him on Sunday night [ok, I might have pressed my face to the kitchen window and thought seriously about crying] and decided to have a great birthday no matter what. I even planned my own birthday breakfast.

And for this supreme and rare pulling up of my own big girl panties, I was rewarded handsomely. Lee surprised me Wednesday afternoon by calling me from our driveway [trial was done early]. He had re-booked our previously postponed overnight trip the beach, and surprise! he even gave me my birthday present early. And it was thoughtful. And pretty. And had nothing to do with running, cooking, ironing, or children.

And God Bless his parents, who kept the babies and are probably still recovering.

All of my birthday wishes had come true before I even got home to my cake on Sunday, which was probably better because MB helped blow out my candles and it took us several huffs and puffs.

Now I just need to figure out how to keep the glow of these Birthday Things alive till 34!

Did you know

2011-08-05T06:43:00.003-04:00

So, you know that I'm a twin, right? If you know me or have been reading, this is old news. But did you know that I was also a surprise?

On this day, thirty-three years ago, my mother, nearly two weeks overdue with what she thought was her third baby, finally went into labor. She got to the hospital around 7, and forty-six minutes later, the girl that she'd hoped and prayed for was born.

That was my sister.

And then I popped out [maybe she wouldn't describe it as popped. Or maybe she would. She has the convenient tendency to only remember the good stuff. Which has worked out really well for her memory of my teenage years].

But I digress.

SURPRISE! I must have been thinking in my tiny baby head. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

Then she set about getting a second of every baby item she had [can you imagine?] before bringing us home from the hospital.

Later, I thanked her for all of this by acting like a total brat between the ages of 3-10. And then again between the ages of 15-18. I definitely had some bratty years in my twenties.

Even now when she doesn't answer the phone by my second time trying I have been known to get huffy. And how old am I?

Oh yes. Thirty-three.

So Happy Birthday, Sister! Thanks for sharing.

And Happy Twin Day to my mother. Thanks for rising to the challenge, and for always making me feel like you preferred it that way, even in my bratty years.

ABC Book

2011-08-02T09:19:00.003-04:00

At this point, I should probably edit MB's ABC book to make P stand for PROCRASTINATE. First I procrastinated on finding the pictures [Q and I were hard for me, and I didn't want to pose any pictures just for the book.]. Then I procrastinated on getting prints made. And then, just when I was admitting to myself that this project might go the way of my wedding scrapbook, sad and neglected, I realized I could do the whole thing very handily on Shutterfly. And I realized I already had Q and I pictures-- I just had to search back through the blog to find them. Within one nap time, it was done! [We won't talk about the laundry and dishes that certainly did not get done.]

And then I got it in the mail, did a little dance, and procrastinated on writing this post.

Better late than never?

It only took...18 months to complete. At this rate, I guess I better go ahead and get started on LDWIV's ABC book. He'll still need this when he's five, right?

[Edit: I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I got it from here-- so so long ago!]

Dear Kimmy,

2011-07-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I heart you.

Big Canoe + Big Congratulations

2011-07-26T13:57:00.002-04:00

Ashley, one of my best friends from college, got married this past weekend in Big Canoe, GA. Although logistically challenging, we [Aunt Jen, Bobo, MB and I] managed to make it there and back in one [four?] piece[s]. It was great fun with best friends in a beautiful setting, and it was awesome to see the last of The Feet officially become an old married.

There were many favorite parts of the weekend, but I'll just tell you about my least favoritest and my most favoritest, just for brevity's sake.

My least favorite part of the weekend was that Rachel wasn't there. She's 39 some odd weeks pregnant and couldn't make the trip, which was a bummer. She can always be counted on to remember the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to any of us, and then, after drinks, retell it very loudly.

Not that I've ever done anything embarrassing.

Right?

My favorite part of the weekend was this part-- when we decided our last six feet rehearsal dinner poem was way too tame and and actually agreed to use the term in the buff in one verse. The in the buff part was a lie but it was so funny that we didn't really care.

And then Kim made the gesture

which I could not adequately capture on film because I was simultaneously slapping the table and trying to take a breath.

It was not appropriate for all audiences.

Just perfectly appropriate for a bunch of girls for whom the last 15 years kind of disappear when they're together. Seriously, if you could picture us all with a bit more in the eyebrow department, this is pretty much how we were.

Plus imagine Julie in her ubiquitous argyle sweater.

You people make my heart SUPER happy.

Another person who makes my heart super happy: my twin sis, who left her own baby with her husband, flew to Jacksonville, drove 8.5 hours with me and the babies, and then got pooped and peed on for two days while I reenacted my late adolescence with the girls, then drove us all home. This is the same [my only] sister who flew down to help me paint the nursery last November when I had the big freak out. I owe her some major favors now!

Now to tackle the laundry and catch up on sleep! That might take me till next weekend. :)

MADE

2011-07-19T10:06:00.002-04:00

Mary Bullock was slow getting to the doll baby game. Last year, when her friends all started toting their babies everywhere, MB was satisfied stripping all her babies' clothes off and throwing them naked into the corner of her room to be forgotten.

Lately, though, she's always got a few babies in her entourage. She calls them her durls [girls]. She is a tough little Mama, too. She gives them 'pankings and puts them in time out when they get out of hand. And forget toys at the breakfast table-- that is strictly verboten. But mostly she hugs and pats them and invites them to sit with her wherever she is sitting.

Some of her durls came with names, like 'Tewa [Stella]. Others she has named herself, and those are the ones I love the most.

First there was Shewa [Sheila, after one of her playschool teachers]. Sheila has been without clothing for months and months. But she takes lots of baths, so she's not a total baby of the dust.

Then there was Woowis [Lewis, after our sweet neighbor Mrs. Lewis who gave MB a slew of dolls and accessories outgrown from her grandchildren]. This might be my favorite, just because I love that MB remembered who gave her such a sweet gift.

But today-- today I MADE THE LIST.

Meet the newly dubbed MOMMY.
Are you sure you want to call her Mommy? I asked.
It's a good name, she said.

Can't argue with that! Mommy it is.
I wonder if she does dishes.

Dear Bobo,

2011-07-15T09:33:00.002-04:00

Here are a few of the many things I love about you:
1. Your cheeks are cool and squishy.

2. You laugh so easily. It makes me feel like the funniest human being alive. [I mean, next to Sissy. Because she is clearly the humor winner in this household.]

3. You sit down with a toy and play and play and play. And when you've played so hard with your toy that it rolls away from you, you wait patiently for its replacement instead of squawking as another [nameless!] child in our household would have done.

4. You let me sleep until 5 this morning. I would have loved you for 4:30, but that extra thirty minutes really sealed the deal.

Kisses!
Mama

Tear Ducts-2, Mama-0

2011-07-12T14:17:00.004-04:00

5 weeks ago, I stood on the side of the pool watching MB's first swim lesson and cried. I cried because she couldn't swim, but then, I hadn't really expected her to. I mostly cried because she was crying. And because that's what I do: I cry a lot.
Today, I stood on the side of the pool and cried again. This time because she can do it! She can swim. And because she didn't cry. Instead she said Fumbs up, Mama, because Miss Joy can't seem to get her to actually put up her thumbs.

So I cry if she doesn't swim. I cry if she does swim. I cry if she cries. I cry if she doesn't cry.
I just can't win.
But if we're being honest [I try to be honest], I surrendered a long long time ago.

Worth A Thousand Words

2011-07-08T21:46:00.002-04:00

Lee and I recently had a discussion about which pictures of MB really capture her spirit. Some of my favorite pictures of her are ones where she's not smiling, actually. Like this one from earlier this summer--

Something about it just makes me want to squeeze her and cover her face with kisses and get her 10,000 milk cups. WHATEVER YOU WANT, BABY of MINE! IT IS YOURS.

But even I admit this is not a side of MB that we see regularly. What we see regularly goes something like this:

I got sunscream, Mama!

Ok, Mary Bullock, that's enough sunscreen now, sweetheart.

I got it under my dwess, MAMA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yep. That's her.

Half Way

2011-07-06T15:17:00.003-04:00

Is it just me, or did July 4th come sooner this year than it ever has before? I'm still kind of mind-boggled that we're half way through summer. I thought for sure I would have myself together before now.

But no.

The opposite, actually. Instead of getting myself together, so far this summer I have:
Created a holla hoop monster
Smashed my brand new cell phone to bits
Utterly failed at part 2 of potty training if you know what I mean

Allowed MB to watch ungodly amounts of Toweus Jowges [Curious George] and Mawfa Peaks [Martha Speaks] in the name of my own sanity
Hmm...what else.
Forgotten to get the dry cleaning...oh...every single week. Not even kidding.

I've also:
Taken whatever semblance there was of Bobo's schedule and trashed it
Said some bad words much louder than I meant to
Lost my temper
Lost my bathing suit
Lost various pool towels
Lost some of Lee's brand new work shirts.

Most of that turned back up eventually. We're hoping the shirts are the result of a forgot to pick up the dry cleaning incident, and not a forgot to lock the car door and they were stolen from our driveway incident.

Oh well.

As MB says in potty training: That's o-tay, I guess. We'll just have to teeeeeeep twying.

I learn something new from her every day.

Rules

2011-06-27T15:23:00.001-04:00

Have y'all seen this book? I guess unless you have had a boy recently [or had a friend having a boy maybe?] you might not have come across it. We received it as a gift when Lee 4 was born. Aside from being an awesome color to add to my color-by-numbers bookshelves, I love thumbing through it to see the advice for boys.

I especially love the bits that advise boys to be nice and respectful to their mamas. I have to admit that when I found out I was having a boy, I couldn't really picture how it would be to love a boy baby. If we're being honest, I didn't really know if I could love a boy the same way that I loved my girl.

Turns out, I don't love him the same. Just as much? Absolutely. Same? No. I hope to one day be able to articulate the difference, but I'm still trying to put my finger on it.

I pray that I do him justice in his upbringing.

But if he doesn't call me on his birthday when he's an adult, I can always go over to his house, press my face to the window, and ask him if he wants pancakes or waffles for breakfast.

What? Is that bad?

New MB

2011-06-22T10:07:00.001-04:00

My new favorite MB-icism: Don't cheer for me, Mama. Just clap.

Honestly

2011-06-17T15:28:00.002-04:00

I have felt like whining this week. Summer [i.e. having two babies to manage 24/7] has already blown my mind.
But I don't blog to whine. Whining is boring to read about, I think.
So I'm coping by taking pictures of MB and turning them into collages with commentary.

This makes me laugh [after the fact, of course] at a situation that was not so laughable at the time. Does your baby have a face he/she makes right before the playing ratchets up a notch into violence? This is MB's look. The one that says I might need to go to my room for a few minutes.

I have to remind myself daily that even the best two-year-olds are still only two years old. And one day, I'm going to really really miss my two year old. The one who gives more night-night kisses than she gets, the one who, after peeing the floor right in front of the toilet, hugs my leg and says, I love you in the WHOLE WORLD, MAMA. The one who, first thing upon leaving her room in the morning says, I COMING RIGHT NOW, BABY BROWA! Yes, even the one who cut her own hair this week.

Luckily, I'll have another two year old in about...18 months. Maybe he'll give his mama a pass on the hair cutting, though.

I Don't Care What People Say

2011-06-15T14:06:00.001-04:00

I think he looks like me.

Twinsies!

Really must stop...

2011-06-14T21:10:00.001-04:00

shopping for paper goods. They just get cuter and cuter.

Dear Lee: Can I get a Mother's Day do-over? You know I need these.

Just wondering...

2011-06-13T13:47:00.001-04:00

Would this make me more excited to make my weekly grocery list?

Because I need some serious help in that department.

A Little Bit of Everything for your Friday

2011-06-10T14:51:00.003-04:00

I took the babies to the pool by myself this morning! I hope you are proud of me. I am proud of me. Actually, I'm proud of me most mornings that I actually get all three of us dressed and out the door, even if I leave a hurricane in my wake [which is what happens most mornings].

But taking them to the pool by myself seemed very intimidating. I kept imagining how it would all go down, trying to pre-think every imminent disaster. In the end, I just packed our stuff and walked out the door without worst-case-scenario-ing it to death. And it was actually great--dare I say?--even easy.

This sweet baby makes everything pretty easy. I have honestly NO idea where he got his easy going temperament, because Lord knows it wasn't from Lee or me.

Mary Bullock did her usual pilfering of pool toys from babies whose mothers are more prepared than I. :) She does ask nicely [most of the time] and say thank you very sweetly, but one of these days I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the girl her own pool toys! I've been remiss so far, but it's only the second week of June, right? That doesn't make me totally awful yet.

This was our view of the smoke this morning. Just to give you an idea, we can usually see Downtown clearly from here. The view was sad, but the smell was worse. Pray for rain!

This is one of my favorite new shots of Bobo [can you guess who came up with his new name?]. It probably looks the same to you as the other 1,000 pictures I've taken of him, but this one represents all the practicing I've been doing with my camera. I'm still figuring out how everything works, so I'm always psyched when I learn something new like how to adjust the aperture and the...other...thingy...whose name is escaping me right now. I took these indoors with no flash.

Lastly, if you're still reading, I read this book this week.

I posted a warning on facebook, and I'll post it again here: be wary. I had a two-day stress headache from sobbing, and had to throw away one pair of contacts [a second pair are questionable, but I'm down to my last two pair, and I'm cheap and lazy, so I'm going to wear them another week. NO ONE MAKE ME CRY.]

But someone asked me if the book was "more sad than worth reading," which I thought was one of the more interesting questions I've been asked about a book. Answer: Go ahead and read it. But only if you are seriously not A) pregnant or B) immediately postpartum.

It's definitely a book that I hope will stay with me. I'm not ruining anything you wouldn't gather from reading the book jacket, but the wife/mother dies the day after her first child is born, before she is even allowed to hold her. It's devastating. But because I couldn't dwell on that frightening scenario and actually get out of bed and function everyday, I'm choosing to take something else from it. That's this: life is too short and too uncertain to spend time being mad. After reading this book and thinking of all of the time I've wasted being mad at Lee for stupid things, I feel sick.

And so, my dear, sweet, living, breathing husband: I love you, and I promise not to get mad next time you come home late. As long as you come home.

The end.
Happy Weekend!
PS. Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad on Sunday!

Moment Diary

2011-06-07T15:38:00.001-04:00

Lee and I got new phones recently, LG gX2s or something like that. All I know for sure is that we're a long way from my beloved Iphoneland. At any rate, I found myself at square one in terms of apps, so I set myself up with some of my old stand-bys [Pandora, Facebook] and some brand-spanking-new things to play with, including the Moment Diary.

So far I've only remembered to enter a few times, but I'm hoping that it will be a great way to remember all of the little moments that I don't want to forget. When MB was a baby [pre-iphone] I missed recording so many precious moments when my camera was out of reach. I would try to will myself to remember the exact expression on her face, to burn it into my memory. Sometimes it worked-- like, I can recall almost precisely the moment when she was ten weeks old and she looked me straight in the eye and said a-gooo for the first time. But too many moments were lost, and I don't know about you, but I want to remember everything. Even the bad stuff, like yesterday when she peed the new rug in the den.

How else will I guilt her when she grows up?

Swing Me!

2011-06-07T09:25:00.002-04:00

EVEN HIGHER IN THE SKY, MOMMY!

At long last...

2011-06-02T13:40:00.002-04:00

I saw this on I Suwanee this morning...

and remembered that I have yet to actually post pictures of our new den! You would think it would have occurred to me sooner, but you'd be surprised what does not occur to a girl whose life is a circus of house showings, Doa the Exploa, baby + toddler poop, and constant grocery store runs.

But I have digressed into whining. My apologies.

[Ahem.]

I've done a little more accessorizing on the shelves since that last picture was taken. Now they look more like what you see in the picture above. These bookshelves were definitely one of the most inexpensive parts of the new look, but are easily one of my favorite features.

We still have a couple of projects to go till we're complete. The coffee table needs...something. Either painting or replacing. We need a drink table by the leather chair that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars. We need more art on the walls. But we're giving those endeavors a little break for now-- especially while we try to sell the house.

In case you don't know me at all, and you're actually entertaining the idea that I came up with any of this myself, my friend Rachel helped us with this. And actually she's famous. Check her out on page 52.

Baby crying-- my carriage is once again a pumpkin. More later!

FYI: That is not a gang sign

2011-06-01T15:11:00.001-04:00

I was on the phone this morning trying to make Mary Bullock's first dental appointment [long overdue]. As usual when I'm on the phone, she was hanging off of my back, poking me in the eyeballs, and in general making the receptionist on the other end of the phone lose all patience with me.

Receptionist: What's your home address?
MB: AAAHHH!!! MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMYYYYYYYY!
Me: What was that?
Receptionist: Your HOME ADDRESS?
Me: Oh. Arapahoe Avenue A-R-A---
MB: I NOT A RAPPIN' HO!

Knock Knock, Last Day of School & Our weekend

2011-06-01T09:07:00.001-04:00

MB has a new favorite joke!
MB: Knock Knock!
Me: Who's there?
MB: Bananas.
Me: Bananas who?
MB: Bananas MOMMY.

She thinks this is hilarious. Sometimes she steps on her own punchline:

MB: Knock Knock!
Me: Who's there?
MB: Bananas MOMMY.
Me: Bananas MOMMY WHO?
MB: Ummmma....

Did you just snarf?! The girl is funny. I'm entirely biased.

Remember this girl?

Her first day of school was hard [for me, I mean]. The middle of school was easy. The end of school was hard again, mostly because she has decided that no one is the boss of her. But also because I'm just ready to have her to myself for a while. I'm sure I'll be ready to share her again by August, though. :)

Speaking of sharing her, we had visitors in town for Memorial Day weekend! Two of MB's favorite people on EARF-- Mowwee [formerly Monnie] and Derby.

If you're looking for the way to gain MB's unending affection, take a lesson from these two: pay her endless attention. Mary Bullock loves an audience, and Uncle Derbs and Molly are always very generous with their time and patience. I dreaded this morning when I knew she would ask where they were.

We spent Sunday afternoon at the beach! This was BB's [that's baby bro's] first beach trip.

I think it's safe to say he liked it!

Ok-- I am out of blogging time today unless someone else wants to come and do my laundry! More soon.

Quickie

2011-05-26T21:45:00.002-04:00

Last week was sort of a doozie-- sorry for the long absence. But chances are, if I know you, I saw you in person last week. Because we were all over the place. We're crazy like that.

We started last week with a trip out to Kingsley Lake with the ladies from my Bible Study. It was great fun, and Mary Bullock managed not to make a total mess, which is more than I can say for the rest of the week. And this was probably mostly because she was playing in the water, which lends itself well to Hurricane Mary Bullock.

At the end of last week, I took another crazy road trip like last year's, only this time with two babies. And my mom, because until I grow Go-Go-Gadget Arms, I will not be driving any kind of long distances with two babies by myself.

So we drove up to North Carolina to see my parents for a few days. MB kept us busy on Dada's playground, which is really just a swingset with a slide, but to her it was a whole playground, and it kept her busy so that was fine with me. If you are now asking yourself where the mess is in this picture, I have edited it out.

Yes, I edit out random chocolate smudges on my baby's face. If I didn't, I wouldn't have a decent picture of her past the age of 12 months. Judge me all you want.

Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes. But before all that happened, we put our house on the market. Which was when the whole week kind of got nutty. SEE WHY I HAVEN'T POSTED? You would have gotten dizzy.

After a brief stay in North Carolina, I headed up to NoVa [by myself! I deserve a medal!] with the babies to visit my sis, her husband, and Mary Bullock's best fwend eva [which she announced to me in a heartbreaking voice as we were leaving] Cousin Bennie.

I have discovered that it is physically impossible for me to call him Ben. Sorry, little man. Bennie it is.

They had the best time playing in the yard. I love seeing them together, especially now that they can actually carry on somewhat of a conversation!

I love this picture. That's all.

While in NoVa, Jen and I met up with Rachel to go to Luckett's Spring Market. It was super hot and I had the baby in the Bjorn so I skipped pictures. Definitely worth a look if you've never been, but I wouldn't recommend taking your nursing baby with you. Just a tip.

We made it back home in time for MB's end of the year party at school on Tuesday. This was one mess that is beyond my editing abilities. I just had to shake my head at this one. That paint took three baths to scrub off.

If you're keeping count, you're probably wondering where Baby Brother is in all this. Well, he was probably sleeping. Babies sleep a lot. And they tend to not make messes that require photo documentation. But there's also a good chance that I was too busy kissing his cheeks to take his picture. It's a problem. He did start semi-sitting up last weekend thanks to some coaching from Uncle Jake!

I'm so impressed! He shocked even me with this sitting up skills. I think it helps when he has a full diaper. :) It balances out his heavier top half.

So that brings us up to today, and I'll post on that later.
Hope y'all had a great week, too.

You Know It Will Be Good When...

2011-05-10T16:45:00.001-04:00

Just a picture makes you say out loud the dorky 90's-isms you try to only say in your head.

Like this:

I know what I'm doing next weekend!

For You, My Brilliant Mother

2011-05-07T21:13:00.001-04:00

Once, when I was young, maybe 20 or so--just old enough to be really really stupid-- I told my mother that I didn't think she had been a very good mother. I don't even remember the context of the conversation, but I remember that I wasn't trying to hurt her feelings. I was actually trying to make her feel better. Like, hey-- you weren't the greatest, but LOOK! I'm not a complete disaster as a human being!

Like I said, just old enough to be really really stupid.

I don't remember a lot of the many many stupid things I have said in almost thirty-three years, but I remember that. It has been in the forefront of my thoughts most of the last two and half years, since I became a mother.

I dread the day that one of my children thinks back on childhood and pronounces my best efforts less than stellar. And I'm sure that day will come, because let's face it: some days, my best efforts are just no match for a two year old who is determined to wash her hands in the toilet. And I realize that this is minor compared with the drama of middle school, drivers ed, and teenage rebellion.

But I hope that when that day comes, I respond the way my mother did. Do you know what she said? She said Oh! You think so? Hm!

And then she let me figure out how very wrong I was all by myself.

Why I Will Not Be Riding the Teacups

2011-05-03T14:29:00.002-04:00

Also entitled: Why Keeping MB Home From School When She's Sick is Dangerous Business
[edit: Also entitled: The Vom Collage]

Lee and I have recently started discussing the possibility of taking MB to Disney for her third birthday instead of having a party. In our discussions of what attractions might be appropriate for a three year old, Lee has discovered that it's fun to torture me by mentioning the teacups.

The very name makes me mildly nauseated, but I guess in the back of my mind, I was sort of thinking that maybe I was remembering it to be way worse than it actually is.

But this morning, MB took me on a little teacup-like ride in the desk chair and reminded me that I HAVE NO BUSINESS ON THIS RIDE.

But she was super thrilled, so ATTENTION DADDY: You're it. Have fun! And don't whine to me when you toss your cookies.

Missing Freddy Alert

2011-05-03T10:58:00.002-04:00

SPOTTED FREDDY MISSING

The Wedekind household is currently on a search and rescue mission.

Please help MB find her friend!

TIP LINE: 1-800-MBs-MOMMY

I Love My Family, EIEIO!

2011-05-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

Do you get bored hearing Mary Bullock stories? Because I have enough to fill up several blogs. Her songs, her antics, her witticisms, her sass. It's just never ending.

Even Baby Bro thinks she's funny.

The New Mama list- Top 5

2011-04-26T10:40:00.003-04:00

[Edited: Make that Top 7]

I was talking to my mother-in-law last week about the best things to get for a new mama, and I realized it's been a while since I laid down some totally unsolicited advice in that department. But, if you're reading this blog on your own [i.e., I didn't drag you kicking and screaming], I hope you won't consider this total harassment.

I mean, at least I'm not touching your belly.

Yet.

#1 The Miracle Blanket. I can get on a soap box one thousand stories high on this one. You won't understand why you need it until you desperately need one this very night if you are to get any more than an hour of sleep at a time and if you don't you will punch someone in the face. So go ahead and get one and have it ready. Watch the video on how to use it, and for the love of GOD don't cut out the wings on the inside [true story!!]. I understand that some babies don't need to be swaddled, although I've never personally experienced this. The bottom line is, if your baby does need to be swaddled, don't bother with the other blankets.

#2 Aden and Anais muslin swaddle blankets.

I didn't have these when Mary Bullock was born, but when I had a second chance, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Whoa. Fuss totally warranted. They're soft, they're huge, perfect for swaddling [before your baby gets active enough to need #1.] They're also perfect for just about every other baby use you can imagine: nursing cover, light blanket, burp cloth, changing pad...I've used these for just about everything. And they're so precious they make your heart hurt a little.

#3 Huggies wipes. I don't know about you, but I don't like getting poop on my hands when I change baby diapers. Maybe I'm just weird. But I've used all different kinds of wipes, and these are the best. They're thick and soft and just right. Just make sure you buy them in bulk from Costco or Sam's [NOT from Amazon Mom, where for some reason they are priced astronomically high].

#4 Hanna Andersson sleepers. We've been over this already, I know. But buy with caution: These will totally spoil you and prevent you from ever being satisfied with the $7 Target sleepers. If you do decide to buy other sleepers, though, at least make sure that the majority of them are ZIPPERED. Every time you have to snap a million snaps at 3am on a baby who is squirmy and angry that you don't just FEED HIM ALREADY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, you will curse the person who decided that 27 snaps were just the thing for a baby sleeper.

#5 The Ultimate Crib Sheet. You probably love the crib sheet that you picked out for your baby's crib, but if you're like me, you'll grow to hate it more and more every time you have to change it. It takes super human strength to change a crib sheet for some reason--there's barely enough fabric to make it fit. Definitely something you don't want to have to do often [and certainly not in the middle of the night]. This is not the prettiest solution, but it's definite sanity saver.

#6 The Power of a Positive Mom. This book was an attitude adjustment for me when full-time mommy-ing got tough. I've read it through twice, but it can also be used for great topical reminders of why in the world we're doing all this in the first place. I keep my copy in my car for for on-the-go reference. [Do not attempt to read this on the elliptical at the gym if you are a crier such as myself. Bodily injury may occur.]

#7 A good man to make you breakfast. Mine's taken, so get yours on board the breakfast train ASAP. ;)

That's it for now. Do you have some must haves that I should know about?

Awesome title here

2011-04-26T10:07:00.000-04:00

Last year, after much boasting on my part, Mary Bullock made it to exactly zero Easter egg hunts.

But she more than made up for it this year!

Is it mean that we are now making her earn her own Easter candy? Perhaps. But if we didn't, she would eat all the choc-wit in one sitting, work herself into a frenzied lather, pee on someone's rug, and collapse into a heap in the middle of our kitchen.

Don't ask me how I know.

Thankfully we had learned this lesson by Easter Sunday, so it was actually a peaceful day.

We were hosted by family friends, Raya and Neill.

In addition to her always fabulous flowers and food [must make: Ina Garten panzanella. HOLY COW!], Raya readied her home with MB appropriate toys-- bunny and chicken wind-up toys. She had so much fun with them.

Shortly after lunch, the boy nodded off to sleep in Aunt Kay Kay's lap, and it was time to go home for a family nap.

And now we're on the downward slide toward summer! Mary Bullock is determined to teach herself how to swim, which is my new nightmare. I'm trying to resist the urge to buy her one of those swimsuits with the built-in floaties. [Laura, if you're reading, I know you're snarfing. Don't worry, I won't do it.]

We hope you all had a lovely and relaxing Easter!

May She Play the Drums to the Fiery Rhythms of Her Own Heart

2011-04-21T22:43:00.001-04:00

Have you seen this? Jen sent this to me. Am I the last to read it?

In sickness

2011-04-18T13:54:00.000-04:00

Poor MB has been sick with a stomach bug since Saturday. We've been hanging around the house watching nonstop television in an effort to keep her relaxed. She finally seems to be recovering and has successfully eaten some toast and apples today.

I put her down for her nap a few minutes ago. We read two books: The Giving Tree and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Both are so appropriate in our house.

I climbed out of her bed to leave.
One mo, Mama.
No Buck. You need to rest.
Kisses, Mama.
[She knows which buttons to push, always.]
I gave her a kiss.
Much kisses, Mama.
I cover her face with kisses.
One mo, Mama.
She holds up one finger for emphasis.
I give her one more kiss.
I love you anyway, too, Mama.

Georgia on My Mind

2011-04-12T11:48:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we headed up to LaGrange, Ga to visit Lee's grandmother and aunts and uncles and so that I could attend the bridal shower of my friend Ashley (hi Ashley!) in Atlanta on Saturday.

I told Lee last week that perhaps I could be medically diagnosed with travel induced anxiety. Does that ever happen to you? I seriously get panicky at the thought of packing up necessary items for four days of travel for four people with very different needs. This time I did manage to quell my hysteria long enough to get all the basics packed [never mind that MB ran out of clean clothes by Sunday-- no one NO ONE could have predicted the number of messes that girl made]. But I forgot my camera. BUMMER.

I did get some pictures with my phone camera of Lee's Uncle Jack and Aunt Monique's farm house though. If I ever lose my mind, look for me here.

When we first saw this place a few years ago, I have to admit-- their plans for it seemed outrageous. They said they had a lot of advice to tear the place down, but they were determined to renovate it. They kept insisting that next time we visit it would be "really done," but I don't see how it could get much more charming. Apparently they spend a lot of weekends here, so I'm seriously considering squatting during the week.

[Sorry, Lee-- I know your eyes are closed. But how could I not publish MB's first gator ride? You'll forgive me, right?]

And one last picture-- MB and Meme [Lee's grandmother] in their matching Tretorns. Just ignore my Havaianias in the middle.

And now we are still recovering. It might not take us as long to recover as it will take our lovely hosts, but hopefully by the time we visit again they'll have caught up on some sleep and steeled themselves for the nonstop circus that is Mary Bullock.

Bye Bye Spring Break!

2011-04-03T22:10:00.000-04:00

I'll admit that the thought of having MB home for a week of Spring Break seemed very daunting at first. She is basically [in Lee's terms] shot out of a cannon at 7am. And she may have inherited some of my stubbornness to go along with her energy. It's an endearing but exhausting combination most days.

But now that it's over, I will really miss her when she goes back to school.

Maybe I'll spend next week napping to keep from crying. A nap sounds really good after th--
[Bonk.]
[ZZZZZZzzzzzzz]

Potty Training is...

2011-04-01T18:54:00.001-04:00

utterly. exhausting.
Please, God, let the light come on tomorrow. My girl is trying so hard.
Last night I put her to bed in her big girl panties and told her if she woke up dry, we'd call Santa and see if he would bring her a special present.
I woke her up early at 6am, and she opened her eyes and immediately asked Call Santa? as if I had that very moment awakened her from dreams of elves on an assembly line.
She wasn't completely dry, but it was successful enough for Day 1.
Exhausting though it is, I still get kind of misty eyed when she goes by herself. She just popped out of my womb yesterday, didn't she?
I'm not blinking for another 40 years.

On being a Mommy

2011-03-23T14:22:00.000-04:00

Sometimes Mary Bullock wakes up cranky from her naps. I haven't figured out any sort of pattern. Some days she bounds out of bed ready to play. Other days, all she wants to do is cry, and there's nothing that will appease her. On those days we spend most of the afternoon with her in my lap crying into my shoulder. It's frustrating that I can't seem to make her feel better, but it's also nice [for me, anyway], because I know these days of my girl on my lap will eventually end.

Have I ever told you about my second day of teaching? If I've known you long, you've probably heard this. But I had just turned 22 [this might be the ONLY thing I remember about being 22!]. I was standing in my hippie Dansko clogs in front of a class of total hoodlums, and I fell down, smack on my bottom, in a skirt. [I know, you're thinking-- that's what you get for wearing Danskos with a skirt.] But I did fall, and it was probably the most humiliating experience of my life at that point. Or else I thought so [because I was 22 and still pretty dramatic].

If you're still reading, you might be thinking--what does this have to do with Mary Bullock? But this day over a decade ago is the day that I think of when MB cries on my lap. Because the very next period after my complete wipe out, I went down to my mom's office, sat down in her lap, put my head on her shoulder and sobbed.

I remember feeling embarrassed, and stupid, and frustrated. But I also remember thinking that I was so glad to be sitting there, way too old to be doing this sort of thing, crying on my mommy's shoulder. I don't even know if she remembers it, but I will never forget it.

One day when Mary Bullock is a mommy, I hope she remembers that I was there for her when all she wanted to do was cry. And I hope she gives her own baby extra hugs and kisses.

And possibly ice cream.

New Favorites

2011-03-22T09:58:00.000-04:00

MB has a new favorite you tube clip, y'all. I would get tired of watching it, except that she does this hilarious dance every time she watches it, and I never get tired of seeing her do this. I have it on video, too, but I will spare her some small measure of dignity.

I honestly can't decide what makes me giggle the most: the hand on the hip, the big girl panty wedgie, or the part where she figures out that I am recording this for posterity.

Here is the clip if you care to enjoy it. But be forewarned: you will have this song it your head for the rest of the day.

What does the dapper baby wear to bed?

2011-03-18T09:39:00.000-04:00

Pinstripes.

What else?

The English Teacher's Daughter

2011-03-14T13:32:00.000-04:00

Scene: Wedekind house, 7:45am
Me: Mary Bullock, how did you sleep?
MB: Well.
Me: Did you just say well?
[I screech into the study to find Lee at the computer.]
Me: OhMiGOSH, Lee. I just asked MB how she slept last night--
Lee: And she said well?
Me: HOW DID YOU KNOW?
Lee: I taught her.
Me: [Bubble. Bursting.]

Reason #457 Why I'm Worthless Lately

2011-03-10T09:41:00.001-05:00

Until this week, I had forgotten that MB used to lick my face. Now Lee 4 has started licking my face, and suddenly I remembered the best game ever.
I put my cheek next to his soft chubby cheek, and he turns his mouth and licks.
I squeal with delight: EEEEEEEEEE!!!
Repeat.

I could do this all day.
Which may explain why the laundry's piling up.
Whoooops.

Round Here

2011-03-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

My sweet sweet boy has the most pitiful cough. Today is day 8. But as much as it pains me to hear him cough, and as much as I don't love that he's waking up again at night, I know this is temporary and minor in the grand scheme. I was writing in his baby book the other day [I try to do this on the first of every month, so I don't forget] and I thought: this cough, however annoying, is something that I will forget about in a month or two. I will look back in his baby book and think: He had a cough? I don't remember that. Weird.

I think about these things now because of Luke.

Speaking of Luke, MB and Pretty went down the street to a garage sale fundraiser this weekend and came back with the best little cookies. MB and I have been having tea/Capri Sun and cookies in the afternoons.

I eat my cookies quickly. MB eats her cookies s l o w l y. Then when she sees my plate is empty, she asks me if I want a taste of her cookies [yes, please!], and then she thanks me for tasting her cookies.
Soon she'll realize that she's confused about all that, but until then I will attribute this to her abundant generosity and trade her kisses for tastes of her cookies.

And that's what we've been doing. You know, plus the usual.

A Game I Like to Play/ WWACD? Answered!

2011-03-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

There is a game I like to play when I go to Costco. I like to call it Fat Chance.
The object is simple: Go to Costco. Get everything I need. Get nothing I don't.

I'm not actually sure why I like playing this game, because I'm really terrible at it.

This morning I was pretty determined, though. For one thing, I'm on a tight budget. We're experimenting with a radical notion called living within our means here in the Wedekind household. Not sure how it's going to go yet, but I'll keep you posted.

So there I was, happily bypassing things that normally would jump into my cart, and then:

And then--- the wheels came off.

So, WWACD? She would stalk Costco to see if her luck would eventually change.

They weren't on my list, but I technically do need these, so I think we can call today's game of Fat Chance a draw.

Except for...a few other things.

Oh well. I'll try again next time.

Strongly considering

2011-02-26T14:11:00.000-05:00

Throwing out all of our heretofore collected kid tableware and replacing it with these.

They even have the bee that matches MB's backpack.

That bee gets me EVERY TIME!

Hanna Andersson is a crack dealer

2011-02-24T15:19:00.000-05:00

And that statement is not libelous because it is totally true.
Proof:

Hanna Andersson Baby Sleepers = crack.
I picked up several of them in size 0-6 at Costco for $11 each. And they are heavenly. The 100% organic cotton is soft and thick. The zipper is sturdy and not annoying. The seams are indestructible.

But eventually, Chunk is going to grow out of them. The very thought makes me a little panicky. And guess what Costco doesn't have?

Any other sizes.

And so, I now find myself in the classic crackhead's dilemma: I'm hooked. I can't possibly live without them. I can't possibly pay full price [$25] for the several of them that I would need to properly wardrobe my baby for sleeping.

I am at a loss. WWACD [What would a crackhead do]??

MB the foreman

2011-02-24T08:11:00.002-05:00

I don't remember if I've mentioned this on the blog, but we've been redecorating our den. I can't wait to show you the results, but it's a slow process since work usually only takes place during weekend nap times.

Last weekend we finally got around the changing the paint color in the den. In order to get the project finished and put the room back together before another exhausting work week, Lee had to bring in some help.

MB: Daddy paint this?
LIII: Yep.
MB: Be tareful, Daddy.
LIII: Ok.
MB: Don't faaaaallll! You hurt you self.
LIII [standing on a chair]: I won't fall. Thank you for the warning.
MB: Daddy, you doing GWEAT!

For the Fink Files

2011-02-23T14:57:00.001-05:00

I remember the day I realized that I had given birth to a fink [fink- n. one who is not to be trusted].

It was this day.

I was sitting at the desk, just as I am now. I had swaddled a weeks-old MB in a Swaddle Me blanket and put her in the bouncy seat asleep.

Or, I thought she was asleep. So I sat down to check my emails and when I turned back around, this is what I found.

HA MOMMY! Fool'd ya.

So I took a picture to send to Lee at work and called him to inform him of our fink progeny.

Today I took more pictures for the Fink Files. Should we ever need proof of MB's total fink-dom, we will be well prepared.

Should I mention that this was 20 minutes before we needed to leave for school and the baby still needed to be fed?

What else could I have done besides get the camera?

Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T14:42:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd try things a little differently this year and post about Valentine's Day after everyone else has moved on. :)
Or maybe I'm just way behind.
Either way, here is my Valentine's Day post.

Lee and I have *gasp* never been out to dinner on Valentine's Day. For our first Christmas together I gave him a grill [I know, great gift, right? He gave me a duvet cover.] Anyway, so for Valentine's Day, shortly thereafter, we decided to grill lamb chops.
And then, on my two hour drive up to Richmond from Rocky Mount, I stopped for gas and locked my keys in my car. With the car running.
And then, I forgot to put the bread in the oven.
And then, [if you know us well, this is not a surprise] we got in a huge fight.
About the bread.
This was the first major fight of our relationship. Happy V-Day, US!
And then we got over it, and we've been grilling lamb chops every year since then. Except last year, when there were no lamb chops to be had.

And every year we laugh about my having forgotten the bread, but I don't think I've ever forgotten the bread again [on Valentine's Day, at least. On other days, bread is no guarantee.]

So another Happy Valentine's Day to Lee!
I'd rather fight over bread with you than eat it with anyone else.

Baby Boy Love, Cont'd

2011-02-15T22:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so what was I saying?
Oh yeah. I love that boy.

We have a telepathic relationship whereby we have the following conversation on a daily basis:

L4: Mama, what is she doing NOW?
Me: I don't know, buddy. I just don't know.
[We share a knowing glance.]
L4: I'm going back to sleep now, k?
Me: Ok buddy. You do that.
L4: [snoring]

I'll make it quick...

2011-02-15T10:31:00.001-05:00

Because there's nothing that wakes up a sleeping baby like a Mama who sits down to accomplish something.

I have to say this about my littlest Valentine: before he was born, people told me it would be different with a boy. Mothering would be different, I mean. And I could never quite imagine what they meant. But now I get it. And I love it.

And now he is demanding his mama, so I'll have to tell you more about it later.

She reads!

2011-02-10T10:28:00.004-05:00

Daddy: MB, what does your shirt say?
MB: Uuuuummmm, I hawt MB!!!!!
Daddy: Nope!
MB: IT DOES!

And she's sort of right. She's gifted that way.