Really must stop...

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...

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

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

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!

EVEN HIGHER IN THE SKY, MOMMY!

At long last...

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

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!