it's past my bedtime

i should be asleep. i am trying to go to bed earlier. but i am not being very successful.

i haven't posted in a few days bc i feel like i have nothing.

sometimes i go through these bloggy phases. i want to put it all out there. but i don't. people read this that don't actually know the all out me and other people read this that i don't want to know the all out me. and some people read this who know the all out me and they come here to get away from her. i really admire the people that can go all out on their blog. but that's just not me. but if you ever come to my house, you can read my journals.

ok not really.

another part of my bloggy phase includes me pretending to have real life conversations with some of you in my head. like you can hear me. and like i don't have to write it to tell you about it bc i already "told" you about it in our pretend conversations.

and sometimes i actually remember they are just pretend conversations so i actually pick up the phone in real life and call the said bloggy friend.

like today when i just randomly called a bloggy friend for the first time. in real life. bc i was at the grocery store and thought of her (do you do this? is this normal? thinking of your pretend bloggy friends in real life?)

this is always a big deal to me. (bc clearly i am a dork) the first bloggy phone call. i am no longer a bloggy-phone-virgin. but still. i mean i have had bloggy-phone relations for over a year now with dear bloggy friends. but there is something odd/funny to me about the evolution of a bloggy friendship. first comes the commenting, then comes the emailing, maybe a little texting, maybe some real hand written snail mail, a package (so fun to see real life handwriting in my mailbox) and then one day out of no where you hear their real voice.

craziness.

thank goodness i don't have every one's real life phone numbers. bc seriously i would totally call you at the most random times. uhm remember like last year when you posted about blah blah, well i just saw it at the store. and you're right. it's dumb. or maybe yum just made that recipe you told me to try - so yummy. thanks friend.

ok so clearly i have issues.

but it really is crazy to me - this bloggy circle. it starts and you think you are just going to update your baby brother in new york. and then somehow a year and a half later i have this amazing circle of girls who i consider to not just be pretend but real life friends. people i count on. people i trust. people i look forward to talking to each day. (for the record i count on my real life friends. and i trust them and i look forward to talking to them - but you know what i mean right?)

and now clearly you know why i should go to bed at a decent time. the rambling. the weird and awkward bloggy love.

but i do. i puffy heart you girls.

the end :)

thankyoumama

friday morning i returned home from a little birthday shopping.

you were still napping so i quietly placed the bags in the dinning room.

fast forward a little bit and you were awake.

after daddy and i got you up, we were in the kitchen talking.

and you are wandering around. just doing your thing.

all of a sudden we hear "thankyoumama"

and we turn around and there you were




apparently you went through the bags and found a few things that belonged to you. and so you decided to give us a little fashion show. with each of the newest pieces of your wardrobe.

yourwelcomebaby

the fourth in pictures

last week we were all sorts of fourth of july crafty. we did a few of our projects with the neighbors, but some were just us, a big cheesy family.

there were pipe cleaner fireworks which included your first experience with glitter.

there were red, white and blue (kinda tie-dyed) star cookies.

there were the homemade pudding pops.

and then there were cupcake liner fireworks
(your first attempt at a glue stick)

and stars with daddy
bring on the glitter - your new favorite

your "artwork" wall

and finally daddy and i tackled the bakerealla
burger and fry cupcakes and cookies.
although super yummy - our house still smells like sugar!

maybe next year we will actually be able to stay awake to watch the fireworks!

happy, happy birthday daddy

you literally have been practicing singing the happy birthday song to daddy all week.

random times. and you just start singing.

even if he wasn't home :)

but today we finally got to sing it for real. multiple times.

it was another perfect day for daddy.

(and me and you too.)

first stop - our favorite donut shop



second stop - the zoo

where highlights included seeing the newest zoo family member - flint the baby zebra. introducing ourselves to tucker, the new hippo. watching an elephant roll in mud. seeing two otters asleep in a log. enjoying your first attempt at feeding the billy goats - from a very safe distance. watching emma the panther show us her tricks. chatting with the ducks. counting the bears 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. playing hide and seek with an eagle. and finally telling the turtles to go eat.

third stop - the train

and honestly i am not sure who was more excited. you repeating "choo choo" and "clickety clack" and just staring ahead in awe. or me and dad, reliving our childhood days of riding this exact train. i guess it was simply beyond awesome for all of us.

the fourth and fifth stop - lunch and then the ice cream shop


which led to another one of these favorite things...

a full, happy belly and heavy cheeks

after taking the long way home, we played inside (where daddy and i may or may not have both fallen asleep while you played happily around us), drew with chalk outside, made dinner, blew out candles and went for a walk to the park.

i am sure you might think this is silly one day when you grow up - the play by play of daddy's thirty something birthday. but for your dorky parents - these really are our best days.

hanging with you. reliving things our parents used to drag us too. watching you play on old mother hubbard's shoe at the train park. knowing we could dig up pictures of us doing the exact same thing.

these are the days we treasure.

the days we don't want to end.

phoning it in

i have thoughts that i want to share.

but i also have two loads of laundry that need to be folded.

a little dusting. and some vacuuming. (really two u's? gets me every time)

but i can't seem to get these pictures from yesterday out of my head.

so they will have to do.

mmmmm pudding pops

purple brush

this morning i came in to get you up.

the first thing you said when i walked in was

purple brush

it took a couple of times of you saying it before it registered in my mama brain.

oh you want your purple brush?

yespleasethankyou (all one word) purple brush

so i went to the bathroom to grab it.

but on the way there i also grabbed the camera.

silly girl. you were right. you totally needed your purple brush!

and speaking of food

we now grow a little bit of our own. in the backyard. apparently it's called a garden. and all the cool kids have one. and since my hair isn't exactly cool, we attempted a garden.

we really have no idea what we are doing. our neighbors did one last year and we were kinda jealous. so this year we went for it. nothing big. just a few things. green beans. cucumbers. peppers. and four different kinds of tomatoes. simple and easy was our goal.

the first step was tilling. i promised hubby i would do it all. i was wrong. tilling is hard. or maybe i just don't have very big muscles.

what? doesn't everyone have yellow snow/gardening boots?




but thankfully my daughter has muscles and is good with a shovel

after planting and playing this is what it looked like day one

and honestly as a side note here, hubby and i were ready to call it good at this point. just happy and proud that we actually got it in the ground. who needs veggies? we have an official looking garden.


this is also the day the new camera arrived.
so it became a location to take fun pictures.



and then fast forward to our first actual veggies. cue the giddiness.

and yes technically they were on the vine when we bought it.
but hello we kept it alive. that counts for something right?


and now it looks like this....



a real overflowing garden!

and this weekend we picked that pepper.

yup that one. and fried it. and man it was good.

so even though we still have no idea what we are doing,
this whole garden experience has exceeded our wildest dreams.
we love being out there as a family.
playing. picking the weeds. watering. smelling the vines.




it truly is one of beans new favorite places.
she loves to just walk around. looking and pointing.
just taking it all in.

baby book entry: you and food

for the most part you are a very good eater. and we are very lucky.

but you still have some food "quirks"

and bc there doesn't appear to be a page for this in the baby book, i am writing it here. for my sanity and yours. bc i am sure one day i will be all but you used to eat such and such. please for the love of peter pan take a bite.

*you know how to use a fork and a spoon. it depends however on what you are eating if you will actually use them. lately your favorite utensil is your hand. and the spoon and fork are often used as chew toys or things to be tossed overboard.

*currently you are in love with pear applesauce. you like to use your hand to eat it. and a few days ago you learned to drink it. brilliant. and as a side note - sometimes when you ask for pear applesauce we are out and i give you plain applesauce. i know. mean mom.

*you gave up yo baby yogurt awhile ago. just flat out refused to eat it. we ate it like everyday for an eternity and then one morning you were all i am not eating that. so finally i discovered those lovely yogurt push up things. and the drink kind. some days you "push up mama" and other days we drink dora yogurt with a straw. whatever works.

*your best friend is milk. you drink crazy amounts of milk everyday. you puffy heart it. you want it all the time. you truly can't get enough. this amazes your dad and i. neither one of us drink milk.

*your other best friend is fruit. any kind. blueberries. mangoes. peaches. apples. grapes. oranges. i don't think you have met a fruit you don't like. it's like your dessert. we truly have to hide it till the end of the meal. if it's on your plate with the rest of your food, you eat it first and just beg for more. refusing everything else on your plate.

*current favorites - black bean quesadillas, mac and cheese, beef raviolis, pancakes, shed cheese, hot dogs, blueberry muffins, canadian bacon and jelly sandwiches.

*you also love your veggies. carrots are always popular. but you will pretty much eat any veggie we give you. last night you attempted corn on the cob. not such a fan of holding and eating. you did better once we cut it off. you even eat broccoli and cauliflower - which totally grosses out daddy.

*grilled cheese is my most favorite and it used to be yours. now you seem to be on a grilled cheese hiatus. it makes me sad. please like grilled cheese again soon. thanks.

*lately you aren't into breakfast in general. i think you just want to be outside so badly, you think you can just skip the most important meal of the day. most mornings seem to be a struggle. eventually i give up. you win. you drank your milk. game over.

*for snacks you love cranberries and dried mangoes. sometimes you eat goldfish and pretzels. and maybe even animal crackers. but if you have your cranberries you really don't want anything else.

*and last but not least your most favorite thing in the whole wide world - ice cream. you eat ice cream like someone is going to steal it from you. and you aren't exactly the best at sharing the said ice cream. we must work on that. in fact i think i might just have to teach you how to make your own! daddy and i can not afford your addiction :)

friday night random

*today i went to get a haircut. some color. and some much needed eyebrow assistance. i think last time i was there it was march? anyways. i wanted something new and fun. but i am not a fan of the stack look (no offense - i am just not cool enough for it). but there was a freshly graduated high school senior in getting purple highlights and she had this super cute cut. so i was brave and went for it. the stack. not the purple highlights. another mom and her two kids showed up at the end of the cut. super cute she said. yeah, the freshly graduated high school senior said, it looks really mothery. uhm thanks. and kill the new haircut buzz.

*i mentioned homemade donut holes .... uhm so yes. not really. i mean i didn't go and buy them at dunkin but they aren't exactly from homemade bread dough either. remember eighth grade home-ec class? how bout the daisy donuts you made? you know a can of biscuits, cut up? thrown into a deep fryer? smothered in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar? that's what i meant by homemade. but one day. one day i really will make them from scratch. promise.

*things have been a little sticky around here lately. like hot. like over a hundred with the humidity. when it's hot like this i don't want to eat. neither does the bean. seriously she has eaten like nothing in the past week. minus the popsicles i keep shoving at her. hello colored sugar water!

*we made it ten months. and then i folded. cable is back. i didn't go all out and get all the channels, but we are slowly catching back up to the real world. there truly is nothing as wonderful as finding some cheesy weekend movie on during naptime. and for the love of peter pan thank you for mickey mouses clubhouse! ohhhhh tooodles! how fun is that?

*for the record while i type this i am eating some wild berry skittles and drinking a little boones farm. awwww yes the good ole days. take that freshly graduated senior. how's that for mothery?

*this week to beat the heat we have spent alot of time inside. with the air conditioning. which means i had to come up with something to do. we finger painted for the first time. she didn't love the paint on the hands "sticky mama" and voted to use the paintbrush instead. we also made homemade playdoh. super fun and not smelly at all. we used christmas cookie cutters to make shapes. we pretended it was cold outside. brrrrr.

*this week also included my first ever mommy swap. is that what you call them? one of the bff's left her kids with me for a couple of hours. and next week i get to leave beans with her for a couple of hours. how fun is that? a little mommy timeout in the middle of the day! whoo hoo.

*next week i plan on being uber red white and blue. lots of fourth of july crafts. i have no ideas yet. but it's supposed to be hot again so i am sure we will find something to do. actually i already found one thing. only they will say happy 4th of july or something festive like that. yum.

*and i leave you with a question... how is it that cheeks actually get heavier, much like the eyelids, right before a baby falls asleep in the car?

i can not get enough of her cheeks

belated daddy day

as i type daddy is downstairs trying to comfort you. i have been in once already. you and the sleep fairy appear to be having a little disagreement. nothing has worked so far.

but over the monitor, i hear sniffles and daddy singing "his" song.

who knew ice ice baby would one day be a night time lullaby.

.......


when we ask you who your favorite is your answer is always the same.

daddy.


.......


we technically celebrated a little bit all week. each night a favorite thing was placed on the dinner table with a handmade (okay printed and colored) card. for your favorite person.

on saturday we celebrated daddy with a day full of his favorite things. homemade donut holes for breakfast. opening presents. a little window shopping and antique hunting. lunch at his favorite restaurant. home for naps. a walk in the rain. sloppy joes and tater tots for dinner.





daddy's perfect day.

.......

sunday we spent the day celebrating great grandpa and pop pop. there was a mini road trip. a talent show. lunch. fun with your purple ball. a car nap. a popsicle break. dancing. dinner. and an extra long bath.




another perfect day.

.......


i couldn't have asked for a better baby daddy.

thank you. i love you.

beans and i both are beyond lucky.


.......


daddy is still with you. rocking. comforting. soothing.

usually it's mommy's job.

but tonight. it's daddy's.

and i am pretty sure it's his most favorite fathers day gift yet.