Sunday, February 27, 2011

My One and Only

He's an only child. He has been the center of my universe for two years and he knows it. I fall in love every day with this little man who moves me. Who makes me want to be better in every way that I can. He is this driving force created by love, who has stirred up every little cell in my body, has every little cell dancing with excitement at each new discovery of mommy hood. I can't soak it up enough. I can't cram every memory into my brain so that I can replay it when he's not so little. How will I remember the smell of his sweet sweat head when he naps? Or the feeling of his chubby fingers as I kiss each one, telling him they are mine? How do you record that?

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I once read a story about a little boy who goes for a walk wearing a jacket. The wind tells the sun that he is stronger, so strong that he can take the jacket off the boy. And he tried. He huffed and puffed and blew as the boy buttoned up his jacket and hugged himself tighter. The sun took on the challenge and shone her brightest, breathing her warmest breath onto the boy. And he took off his jacket.

I love this story because it shows that just being what you are is that driving force. And my little ray of sunshine moves me to do bigger and better things every day just by being who he is. Someone who makes me want to wrap my arms around him and never let go, but eager to let soar. He has taught me so much more than I could ever teach him in less than two short years. Two years that have flown by. So fast, that I am stunned when he uses a new word or puts on a hat, grabs the IPOD and tells me he is going for a runny run like dada. How does he learn so fast?

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We are all wondering when this baby will make his magical debut. He has been cooking longer than Jack and surely we thought he would be earlier. We are executing the practices of full term fetal eviction: eating spicy foods, walking, squatting, unusual yoga poses and some other unmentionables with little success. Some suggestions are bizarre, but we try them.
Me to Jose: "Maybe I should start doing jumping jacks. Do you think that would hurt the baby? I mean, he's in a sack of water."
His response: "Haven't you seen Finding Nemo? She's a fish killer!" Image of little redhead girl with braces shaking plastic bag with new pet fish pops up.

We'll give it another week.

My Mommy Moment:

I picked Jack up from school today where the teacher insisted I take home a plate of cupcakes. Responsible thought: We still have to stop at Publix, it's eighty degrees out and these will melt in a nano second. "Okay, thanks!"

The thickly frosted chocolate cupcakes were sad, melted mushrooms oozing creamy chocolate icing to the rim of the plate by the time we got out of Publix. I started the car, cranked up the AC and held the plate in my right hand while steering with my left. Queue seatbelt alarm, followed by Jack's, "Oh no, seatbelt, mama, ticket, police man, ticket, oh no, seatbelt, no-no." Well taught, Jack, good looking out. Next light, I held the steering wheel with the best knee crossed over a fully pregnant belly that I could hike up to the steering wheel and strapped on my belt, balancing the full plate of cupcakes.

Victory. We made it the three minutes to Amma's house. I expertly one-handed Jack out of his car seat where he made a quick swipe for a cupcake. And then they toppled... everywhere. Melted sticky chocolate icing down Jack's head, both of our outfits, plopped on my boots and his crocs, sharing with the interior of our freshly detailed Subaru along the way.

I cursed, while Jack, all bug-eyed and big mouthed drove in a huge cupcake for a sweet tooth home run.

And as much as I'd love to post one of the several messy cupcake pictures that were taken by my mother dearest, I can't. They are all fuzzy. So I will close with another fabulous beach photo.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

How Lucky

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Have you ever asked a baby how big they are? They throw their hands up in the air as high as they can reach while you sing soooo big!

If you ever ask me how lucky I am, I would stake a flag in the ground and run as fast as I could to the other side of the world and scream soooooo lucky!

I am. I am that lucky.

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After three weeks of cabin fever and Jose's nerves running a little short, I insisted we take a family day at the beach. We drove out to Clearwater with a canopy and a shovel and dug our feet in the soft white sand. Jack loved it. He rambled about the ocean and Nemo and fishies while we laid back, basking in the sun, entertained by our sweet little one. I dug a hole in the sand to fit my belly like a glove. For the first time in months, I laid tummy down with my hair in the sand. Heavenly.

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Yesterday, I had to bite my lip a thousand times to keep happy tears of gratitude from flowing down. And sometimes, that didn't even work. All it took, was a day at the beach with my favorite people.

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Jana Banana

Not much to say today, except that I have this great friend Jana who deserves a page of my gratitude. My sister from the trenches. Her and I met for breakfast a little over two years ago to share good news. One and the same: we were pregnant.

She told me she was having her baby naturally out-of-hospital, and I said, "Girl, you crazy! Why would you do that?"

"It's safer."

And from that day on, I became a new person. I took my ignorant head out from where the sun doesn't shine and did some research. She was right. Having my baby at home would be peaceful. Avoiding interventions would allow for a smooth birth and a healthier baby. Having my baby at home was safer. Having Jack at home was the best day of my life. And I could go on and on, but I'll safe Jack's birth story for another blog.

This is my Jana and I love her. And what makes her a super cool mom? She risked breaking her neck going down this slide a hundred times with our kids.

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Oh, and I'm growing a chia pet! Ch-ch-ch- CHIA!

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Loving Love

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I love being a mama. There are so many things that I want to try in life, but I could easily tuck them all away in drawer in order to do mama things first. Jose tells me on Saturday that Jack has to bring twenty Valentine gifts to school on Monday. My first real Mommy Project! And I wanted to do it up. Really do it up. I wanted to get lost at the craft store, draining every staff member of all their creative ideas. I wanted to go all out and create something beautiful. I would have tacked on cupcakes and cookies, dressed Jack up in red and pink and topped him with a giant hat covered in hearts.

But I'm on bed rest at the mercy of everyone else to run my errands. And it blows, but my post will not be about that today. I have a great tribe. After rounding up some ideas to keep it simple and sweet, Jeffrey went to Michael's and scavenged the aisles.

Heart crayons, courtesy of one of the moms from Connected Mothering. Find a cute heart muffin pan, crumble crayon pieces, bake in the oven for about 10 minutes and you get a super cute my-momma-made-these-from-scratch-because-she-loves-me Valentine's gift!

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I have limited ways of entertaining my little man from bed. We read and play games, but a lot of times, I end up grabbing whatever I can find in the drawer beside me, like LIP UM. That would be lip balm for those who are unfamiliar with Jack's sophisticated toddler accent.

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Orange season is over according to our local orange man. Craving his delicious organic oranges, I told Jose to go knock on his door and see if he has a secret stash somewhere. He did! He was so welcoming, he invited Jack to pick oranges, key limes and grape fruit.

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My Jack is coming home, so I'm cutting this short to love him up! Go kiss someone today. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Bed rest and Scotsman



What can I write while laying around all day on bed rest? It stinks. It really stinks. And today was tougher than yesterday. I tell Mom that my legs are beginning to atrophy and I'm starting to resemble a whale. I feel like the whale that got washed ashore, desperate to wave my tail and be free, begging for water. My skin is a shade lighter than the make up I bought last month and I haven't dried my hair since becoming sedentary. Has it really only been thirteen days?

My Jack has become so cuddly. He comes into the room, hops onto the bed with me and snuggles. And I love it. Somehow, he understands that I am confined to the bed and doesn't try to pull me out. He is a caring and affectionate boy, all of how I think Attached Parenting benefit him.

For those who have never heard of Attached Parenting, it is a parenting style. We aspire to be an AP family. Jack sleeps in bed with us, we never spank or use physical discipline. We try (very hard) not to raise our voices at him. We breast feed. We birth naturally at home and we wear our babies. We share love, show love, speak love, act love and breathe love. We love love.

A fun weekend in January comes every year when the Highland Games set up stage and field and wait for thousands of modern day Americans to put on their kilts and blow their bagpipes. We like to start our weekend off with the burning of the Christmas tree and hot chili on Friday night with all our good people. On Saturday, it's the Scottish festival.

Two vital necessities that make our day best: Kirkman and a kilt. Oh, and beer. So three.



Do you think any of these men are wearing underwear? Doubt it.




The stage sets up at the bottom of a big grassy hill. Rock bands with bagpipes aren't nearly as entertaining as Daddy teaching Baby the Irish Jig.


And how to head bang.



To be authentic, one must appreciate the fine delicacy of sheep heart, liver, lungs all blended with onion and spices: haggis. Vomit.










This happy couple just found out they are expecting their first baby! We are so happy for them. Congratulations Eric and Ashley!