Company

 

 

I realize that I have been missing for a while, however my dear sister is in town, and I am busy soaking up the fun, help, company, advice, fun, fun, and fun!

So far I have had a date with my sis Carrie to a Broadway show (Phantom of the Opera which KNOCKED our socks off), a date with my lover boy to see the Nutcracker,

 

lots of time spent in Times Square, 3 different restaurants worth of pizza, 

a trip to Carlos Bakery, and a visit to the Statue of Liberty.

(which was HUGE and BEAUTIFUL and AWE INSPIRING.)

I am off to go nap now, (did I mention I love having company here?!)  but I promise to catch up with everyone’s blogs and emails + more pictures soon.

Because next week will be SUPER LONELY!

(So who’s coming next?)

Four Questions

 

Trex Mom, my real life friend whom I miss very much!, tagged me to answer four questions for you!

I was just going to talk some more about my awesome throw yesterday…so you can thank her for saving you all.

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Question 1: 1. What is one of your most embarrassing mom-moments?

This was a tough one for me because I tend to have an overactive milk letdown (overshare?) and there has been many a time when a random baby / kitten / produce item has made a crying sound / looked at me / been kind of shaped like a baby and I have leaked all over my shirt.

BUT, for the icing on the cake, I would have to go with: 

One time I was at a party talking to a man I had not met before, and I noticed that he kept glancing at my chest.  I wrapped up what I was saying, and turned around, sneaking a quick peek at myself.  Nothing.  Hmmm..  So off I went to visit with someone else.

About 20 second into the conversation, I noticed that THIS man was also looking at my chest.  A. Lot.  “Awkward that all the men find my breasts so attractive!” I thought.  After getting fairly flustered and uncomfortable, I excused myself to the bathroom. 

I looked in the mirror and noticed that one of my lacy nursing bra pads had worked it’s way out of my bra and up to my neck, where about 2 inches of it was hanging out.

Oh yes, and by then I HAD leaked on my shirt as well.

Classy.

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2. What is the weirdest advice anyone has ever given you regarding parenting or regarding your child? What was your response?

One time an older lady stopped me in all seriousness and told me that if I carried my child in a chest pack, then he would never learn to walk.

Joseph was about 1 at the time and…well…walking already.  I thanked her for her advice, smiled, nodded and walked off.

Pretty much my normal response since people give me unsolicited advice ALL THE TIME!  Seriously, almost every day. 

Maybe it is because I look so young?  Or maybe it is because Joseph carries around a large bayonet on our outings? (I kid!)

The other day I had 2 old ladies separately tell me that it was dangerous for Isaac to be holding a plastic spoon because he might poke his eye.

I’m pretty sure that it is okay for my 9 month old to have a curved, plastic utensil in his hand while he is being held.

Plus, the pirate look is in right now.

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3) While you were pregnant, did you ever have the random stranger stop and tell you the most intimate details of the birth of her child? How did this make you feel and did you say anything in response?

Oh my goodness, this happened to me ALL THE TIME!  And, as a coincidence, everyone who talked to me had labors that lasted for weeks on end and 15 pound babies!

I would always just gasp, nod, cringe, gag, as needed and then say “Thank goodness for the epidural that I have waiting for me!”  as I waddled away!

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4. What do you do to maintain your sanity when you've had a long day and/or night with the kids?

I make myself a large bowl of air popped popcorn (with butter and garlic salt) and try to escape into a different world via movies, the internet, online shopping….

When the kids are awake and I need to maintain sanity, I find a little chocolate can work miracles. 

(“Don’t worry, Joseph, it’s just a little Mommy Medicine…”)

 

I’ve still got it

 

 

(Brian quickly snapped this one of me dancing in my spandex while getting the laundry.  Please do not enlarge it. It is small and dark for a reason.)

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- I felt like a loser today when I poured the half and half that I got at the store YESTERDAY  into my coffee, only to see (and hear- plop, plop, plop) that it was the consistency of ricotta cheese.  Apparently I didn’t notice the lack of liquid sound when I carried it to the checkout line…

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- I felt like a loser today when a certain young, moldable child in my care told me “No way” “No sir” and “You are ridiculous!”  hehe, where does he get this stuff?, hehe…(gulp).

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- I felt like a loser today during craft time when I couldn’t get the glue to squirt out.  And I squeezed it really REALLY hard while looking directly into the spout saying, ”Why won’t this come out?!”…

and yes, it did squirt out into my eye.

A lot.

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- I felt like a loser today when I saw a man pumping out water from a manhole right outside our house

and I said, “Wow! Another perk of living near this foresty area is that there are lots of cool trucks outside our house to pump out the water runoff!”

only to have him look at me strangely and say “It is sewage.”

 And then I might have said, “Yuck!  What a Dirty Job!” as I walked away, meaning the tv show, but meaning offensive to the stranger who was already having to stand their pumping out my…sewage.

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-I felt like a loser today when I talked to a friendly elderly couple at the park for a while before noticing that they were smiling and nodding NOT because they wanted to be my best friend, but because..well…they didn’t speak English. 

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So, needless to say, I was feeling a bit timid when some middle schoolers hailed me at the park to throw their soccer ball back over the (high!) fence to them.

 

I wasn’t having the best day, coolness-wise, and I didn’t think that I could handle it if that ball hit the fence and flew back into my face…

 

But I set my baby back down to enjoy a tasty acorn-leaf-dirt buffet, said a quick prayer and gave it all I had.

And…

that sucker SAILED over the fence!

And all the kids said “WOOOOOAH!”

(I SWEAR!)

(IT’S TRUE!)

and then “THANK YOU!  NICE THROW!”

Ha.

Thaaaaaaat’s right.

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So, maybe I came home to find that I had a poop-colored mud stain on my butt,

and maybe Joseph said “No way, Jose” to me this evening (double gulp)

and maybe even both of my arms ache as I type this ( “t” oww! “h” oww! “i” oww! “s” oww!),

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But for that moment,

man that ball SOARED.

 

Spyscope

 

Check out Joseph’s “spyscope” (his words) that he has been carrying around almost non-stop.

Can you tell what it is?

Now?

Now?

HAHA!  It’s my breast pump’s breast shield.

You know, the part that suctions to my boob and vacuums out the milk into the bottle.

A boob vacuum.

A spy scope.

Sometimes I really REALLY love that little boy.

 

This is New Jersey..Do you copy?

As you have no doubt deduced (take that mom brain! I can use words like deduced!) from my latest influx (and again!) of postings, we are now moved in to our new house!

And by moved in I mean 90% unpacked.

OKAY, 75% unpacked.

You’re right it’s more like 68%, but I decided that I needed, nay DESERVED, to start spending some time on the computer again.

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So here we are!  Living in the upstairs portion of a two-family home.

See those stairs inside the front door?  There is a door at the top of them that is our apartment.  The downstairs neighbors (poor souls. Can you imagine living below us during Joseph’s unfortunate “jumping stage?”) have their own entrance around the side of the house.

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We have our own front porch, a good sized back yard, and we are cozied up to some random foresty area, which is awesome.

 

 

And the apartment itself is almost as big as our old house, with new wood floors and lots of storage.

We are also right down the street from a great park!

Basically, if I had a bunch of friends/family nearby, and some sort of never ending chocolate supply-spout, it would be perfect.

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I will take more pictures of the inside when it is a little more “finalized,”  but I wanted to give the ol’ fam a few pictures to tide them over.

So there you go!

New Jersey, over and out.

 

Christmas Card Take 1

 

Not a single one was useable. 

Seriously.

All we got were muddy pants!

Here’s to Take 2!!!

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(PS: Brian, we have to do Take 2 this weekend.  Christmasy clothing, pretty outdoor background, clean(ish) faces, smiling children. You in?)

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(PPS: Can you spot the photos where Isaac noticed a random stranger walking by to his right?)

Left Behind, 11:46 am

 

Isaac is starting to notice that he is a bit slower than his idol brother.

He was still picnicking happily, and FLASH!, Joseph was a mile away on the play structure.

You’ll catch up soon, little baby.  I promise.

Running the Boy Out of Him

As I have mentioned earlier, Joseph has entered a stage in his little-boyhood that involves lots of physicality.

Read: he spends the majority of the day punching/kicking/jumping off of things and trying to wrestle me to the ground.

So, today, instead of screeching “GO PLAY QUIETLY BEFORE I LOSE MY MIND!” (note to self: not real constructive when the person you are screeching at just turned 3), I decided that I would actually try to do something about all of this boy-energy.

We set off to find a park.

And I spent the entire time telling Joseph to RUN! JUMP! STOMP!  KICK THE FOOTBALL!  THROW THE FOOTBALL! PUNCH THE PINECONE!! 

 

Then, I started chasing him around the playground,

while Isaac chewed on the stroller wheel

and ate dirt

What?! It’s good for his immune system!

(says the mother of the baby with a mystery rash)

  

When Joseph finally told me that he was tired, I raced him to the van.

We arrived home and he said, “That was fun, Mama, I played and you chased me!”

See?  It’s a win-win.

Here’s to a long nap and a peaceful afternoon.

Maybe.