Friday Bake Sale

Every week I mention to Brian a new crazy idea of how I plan to supplement our income since I left Nike.  There have been a few inventions or small business ideas, one of those ideas was a bake sale.  He said it better be one heck of a bake sale. Since Jake has been napping a little more and I still have a massive sweet tooth, I have been baking.  I didn't bake anything this week, but last week I made my first pie. 

My Mom makes the best berry pies and I wanted to get "trained" before the height of berry season.  It might not have been the prettiest, but it wasn't too hard and it tasted awesome!  So awesome that aside from maybe 2 pieces I ate the whole damn pie. 

Next on the list is baking fresh bread, this one we have to call in the expert, Antie Tu Tu.  She bakes the best bread ever!

Look at me now, from "I'm nervous about my presentation".... to "I hope my crust turns out ok."

I love it!

Grateful

My Mom has a Blipfoto journal and she posts a picture every single day.  Thats pretty amazing.  In addition to posting her photos, this year she started to add what she was grateful for.  I look forward to reading them everyday.  It makes you realize (although, I truly don't need reminding) that there is so very much to be thankful for.  

You can follow her gratitude...and amazing photography here. 

I saw this idea on Pinterest and I thought it was so neat.  Keep track all year of all the good things, or maybe things you are grateful for and then at the end of the year you can see how much you really have!

I'm not sure where I am going with this, I am not ready to make any proclamations about a daily journal or a big jar of notes, but I thought of this because this evening I feel grateful.  I feel grateful that I get to spend my days with my son and that all of the special moments we have together I get to be present for.  Not just here with him, but really present, because he is my priority and gave up my old life for all these special little moments.  We had a photo shoot this afternoon.  Here are a few of my favorites. 

Grampy- Happy Father's Day to MY Dad!

It's hard to know where to start on why my Dad is so special.  He has spent much of his adult life surrounded by women.  First they were little girls that wanted to play beauty parlor, then they were high schoolers with PMS, bad driving records (me), and a few too many tequilas before a school dance (not me.) Then they were college students, expensive college students who went out of state and abroad.  Then they were young adults who moved to new cities and started their careers.  Through all of these stages my Dad has had a smile and chuckle at his two daughters (and their crazy Mom) and all the girl drama that goes with it.  Finally 3 years ago he got a boy!  A full grown man actually who also loved the snow and the mountain and being out on the golf course.  He struck gold.  To him though, it was just a bonus.  He showed everyday (he SHOWS us everyday) that his girls were all he ever needed. 

Then in October he struck gold again.  When little Jake arrived I don't think he even knew how smitten he would become.  It is one of the best experiences I have ever had to see my Dad with the little boy he didn't get to raise, to see him do "boy" things and love that little guy so much already.  We have so much to look forward to and I am thankful everyday that this guy is my Dad, that I got to be his daughter and I'll keep working forever to make him proud.  I love you Dad, you are (besides my husband of course) the finest man I have ever known.  Thank you for all you have done and all that you continue to do to keep your girls safe and happy. I love you!

A New Dad - Happy First Father's Day

That's the face of a new Dad, a brand new Dad, like a couple hours new Dad.  Brian has been an amazing "Papa" since the moment I called him that Friday morning and told him he better come home because my water broke.  He was calm and funny.  It was just like any other day.  Jake came out and he wasn't breathing right away, Brian was so relaxed (I had no idea) and then he howled and they handed him to Brian all swaddled up.  Brian took him and showed him to me like he was always supposed to have that little guy in his hands.  I am not sure if the roles were reversed if I would have been so brave, so calm, so confident. 

Those first few weeks at home Brian did everything!  He cooked, he cleaned, he did errands and laundry.  He took care of me so I could take care of Jake.  He made me breakfast and nursing snacks and was a bed for Jake when Mama needed to close her eyes for a few minutes.  He rocked Jake to sleep every night so that I could get just a few more minutes in bed before the next feeding.  To be honest, as every parents says, those first couple months are such a blur, but I am certain we would not have made it without Papa.  

I think men have a harder time with infants in general, women can right away recognize the little personality traits and relate a lot faster.  It has been fun to see Jake get older and his bond with his Papa grow stronger all the time.  That kid's face lights up when Brian gets home from work, he follows him around the room with his eyes, he won't take them off of him.  He loves the games Papa plays with him, throwing him around, dropping the pillow on him, anything to make him laugh!

Before I had Jake I said that if I had a little boy I hoped he was just like his Dad.  I believe that now more than ever.  I married a kind, incredibly, selfless, thoughtful, romantic, hardworking, loyal, and somewhat hilarious guy.  I get to call him my husband and father to our baby.  I am so proud of him and grateful to him for working as hard as he does to provide for our family so that I can be the one spending the ordinary days with Jake.  

Jake knows he loves Papa, but he doesn't know how lucky he is.  These two are going to be buds, my two brown eyed boys.  Was there even a life before these two?  Happy Father's Day Brian, I couldn't possibly love you anymore than I do today. 

The Bus Stop

I am sensing that the bus stop is where a lot of stuff goes down.  Our morning walk is usually right around the time that the bus comes to pick up the kids for school.  Today was the last day of school.  You could actually feel it in the air, the kids literally looked like they might explode.  

A few things I have observed about the bus stop - 

- It is basically all Moms that take their kids, usually one token Dad. 

- If the younger siblings that come along are boys they are running around in someone's front yard, jumping off their rock wall, digging in their dirt, if they are girls they are patiently standing next to their Mom (many times holding hands) until it is time to go

- Everyone waves to the bus when it leaves the stop.

- The bus stop is like a single's mixer in September, but more like a family reunion by June. 

- Mom's (even the sweet ones) are all judging each other, you can just tell. 

- There is an unspoken bus stop etiquette with the kids, they line up as they arrive and they board in that exact order. 

Today's conversation was pretty funny as we passed by.  

One of the Mom's said "Well, the last day! I mean we are all ready for a break, but 13 weeks, I am not sure I am ready for that!"

Another Mom said, "It is actually only 11."

(That's two Moms that actually sat by the calendar and counted the weeks)

Walking away from each other the second lady said, "I just worry about how to handle it, how do I work when my kids are home all day?"

That would be tough.  One parent who works is worried, one parent that stays home is worried.  Everybody has a tough job, raisin' kids ain't easy. 

Which brings me to second rambling of the day... last week on Thursday I was an idiot and published to the world wide web that I had a A+ kind of day on the sleep front with Jake. You just should never write or say that stuff out loud, ever.  Yesterday was basically the total opposite of last week.  I should say that even on these tough days, I still feel like I have the best job in the world to be home with Jake. 

I won't go into all the details but basically I had a overly tired baby that wouldn't sleep, it rained most of the day, our power went out, I got peed on (a lot), and I made pancakes for dinner, screwed them up and had to make the batter again. Yes, I screwed up pancakes. 

My only saving grace yesterday was that Grammy came over to teach me to bake a pie and got a few smiles out of grumpy-pants.  By the end of the day everyone was exhausted, but there were still lots of smiles and giggles to go around! We all survived and now it is Friday and a fresh start!  We are rested and ready to go!

Sing Song Sing

Growing up we would always say that my Mom had a song for everything.  She really did.  They were real songs, many we would refer to now as "oldies", but she could just bust them out on a moments notice.  I totally understand the strength of the song now that I have my own baby.  It is the perfect distraction when your wee one is whining or getting a little grumpy.  Unfortunately I don't know a lot of REAL songs, so over the past several months I made quite a few up.  They all basically use the same tunes, slightly different rhythms, and of course in different octaves to ensure Jake thinks it is new!

Here are some of the most popular:

Every night I sing this...I didn't know any lullabys when we did sleep training and I started with this and now I am too scared to change. 

Hush little baby don't say a word, Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird, 

If that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring, 

If that diamond ring don't shine, Mama's going to buy you lots of wine. 

Oops. 

When I need to run to the bathroom and he isn't sure what is going on I sing:

Tinkle tinkle Mommy tinkle tinkle (repeat)

When I am burping him after nursing and I just want to see him smile:

Burpsie, burpsie...(deep voice) burpsie, burpsie, burpsie (faster speed, some bouncing involved)

Time for a bath and little man is already getting tired:

Bath time for Jakey, yes it is, yes it is (repeat second in much lower octave)

Lastly after a diaper change:

All tucked in and ready to go, ready to go, ready to go (repeat)

You get the idea...if babies had thought bubbles I am sure Jake's would say "Mama, please stop singing, your songs are dumb, I laugh because you look funny"

But babies don't have thought bubbles, so I sing.

Nailed it

In my old job I would have good days where I felt like I could accomplish anything.  These were the days that I would "nail it" - that presentation, that meeting, that project...

In my new job success comes in a slightly different form, but today I nailed it.

There was no crying before the morning nap, the afternoon nap, or bedtime. Not even any moaning or whining.  He also took his longest nap ever in his crib - 2 hours and 15 min.

There is a good chance this will never happen again, there is also a strong possibility that it had nothing to do with me.  This success can most likely be attributed to a developmental milestone of Jake's, but since he is too young to claim his accomplishment, I will steal it.

So today, because of my motherly intuition, careful eye to tired signs, and flawless pre-nap routine (singing included)...I nailed it.

Bloggy Fun

You might have noticed a slightly updated look to the blog.  Well, with Jake taking a little longer naps here and there I have had sometime to make some changes and explore somethings online.

On Pinterest I keep a board called For a Rainy Day that I have added stuff to that sounds interesting, but I never know when I might get to it.  One of the pins I added was about blog headers.

It lead me to this blogging site. This is a great tutorial on how to use Pic Monkey.

This is why I love Pinterest, it can lead you to things you never knew existed.
First, a website actually about blogging and resources for that and then to a site where photo/collage editing is totally free (unless you want some of the fancy stuff.)  The collage feature is what I used to update my title header.

An iPhone and iPad app I am loving right now is called Over.

It looks like this in the App store.

It can do things like this to your photos:

Poop

I'm obsessed with poop. 

Thankfully it is really only Jake's poop I am interested in. 

What color was it?

Was it soft?  Was it hard?

Was there a lot?

Did he look like he had to push hard?

Did it smell?

What did it smell like?

How many times did he go?

Is that enough?  Is that too much?

When was the last time that he went?

These are just a few of the questions that I ask myself, my husband, or whoever has the pleasure of encountering the dirty diaper.  Why am I so obsessed?  Well, that is a tough one to answer, some would say I clearly need some more to do.  I would argue it is the job of any caring, poop-obsessed Mom. 

Four Decades - My Parent's Anniversary

Dear Mom and Dad - 

I'm only here because forty years ago today you became husband and wife and decided to build a family and life together!  Forty years!!  Thats amazing!  Congratulations on your fantastic marriage, your amazing children (had to add that), and the fun lives you so deserve to be living together.  This is your day and I hope you take some time to reflect on what an incredible accomplishment it is to be celebrating this milestone.  Together over the last four decades you two have proved that to make a wonderful marriage you not only have to love your partner, but you have to like them a lot.  It takes growing up and maybe even marrying someone myself to truly appreciate all that you both are as parents and a couple and all that you have done. Stephanie and I could not have been luckier to be your kids.  We had parents that would have sacrificed anything to make their daughters safe and happy.  For a better part of your 40 years together you have put the two of us first, always first.  Whether it was Kick-and-Chase soccer games in the rain, ski trips with tons of gear, long weekends of volleyball in Medford, evenings listening us complain about dinner, wrecking our cars (maybe just me), going to out-of-state college, planning a wedding, or looking for a job we always knew we could count on both of you.  You make marriage look easy, you are great friends, you laugh at each other, you laugh at yourselves, and it is obvious to anyone that spends time with you that you were really meant to be together.  Thank you for choosing me as your daughter and for being an example everyday of what it means to build a life together.  Keep laughing and keep loving. Cheers to 40 more!

I love you!

- Elizabeth

Hooray for Mom and Dad and 40 years together!!