SPF - Random and Odd

This week for Stuff Portrait Friday, Kristine has assigned us with the following photos:
1. Washer and Dryer
2. Robe
3. A flower

Thankfully in this new house our laundry is in the upstairs hallway right next to my bedroom. This makes for easy loading and folding. I think if my laundry were in the basement, I would forget it's there and we would be always out of clean underwear. My husband's biggest complaint with the upstairs laundry is that he is constantly going up to bed, only to find a large pile of unfolded clean clothes sitting all over our bed. I can't help that he goes to bed before me!



Kristine said on her blog that she doesn't know how anybody could live without a robe. Well I have four of them for different purposes, but I almost never wear any of them.



They are all from Victoria's Secret, because I love that place. The one on the far left is a super fancy expensive one given to me by my grandmother as an engagement gift along with a matching nightgown. All those sequins are pretty but crunchy to sleep on. The short floral kimono is probably the most practical. The green one was also a gift from my grandmother, also with matching silk pjs. And the burgundy one is lightly lined making it warm and cozy for winter.

Even though it IS spring, there are no flowers growing in my yard, none in any of my neighbors' yards, and I have been too busy this week to pick up cut flowers at the Produce Junction. So I give you my suncatcher in the window over my kitchen sink, which my MIL brought me back from Hawaii. She's so sweet.



Thanks for visiting! Happy Friday!!!!

Tired Mama

One thing is for sure. I have had enough of cleaning up barf, changing liquid diapers, and not being able to get up from the couch without a 30 lb. toddler stuck to my leg. I have had enough of the whining and the crying and the general moodiness. I do not like getting up in the middle of the night six times and then not being able to go back to sleep. I do not like having brief conversations with my boss while trying to talk louder than Barney. I very much dislike having business partners who don't understand the meaning of "my kid is sick, I can't help you." I don't like missing my daily workout. And I really don't like my husband being out of town when Nathan is sick. I have so much respect for you single parents out there.

Ok rant is over. I decided this morning that if I the little dude decides to barf again, let the daycare lady clean it up. I need a few hours of peace and quiet. Before you call me a bad mother for ditching a sick kid and spreading germs, he really did seem quite chipper this morning and I'm only a phone call and a couple blocks away. He had his regular 18 month checkup yesterday and the doc said he looked good, so she gave him two shots, which she said might make him seem sick again. Yeah, she was right. But it's a beautiful day here and if he makes it through the morning in one piece we will hit the park. Nothing like sunshine to heal the stressful soul.

WBW - Unkind Fashion of the 1980's

Well I think this week's title explains it all. The Kept Woman has assigned us to post our bad fashion photos of the 80's. For me this was elementary school and middle school, so bad fashion was everywhere. Searching through the wealth of material for this post, I came up with two reoccuring themes. First, my hair was always always always bad in the 80's. I blame my mother for this. And whoever decided feathered layers were the thing to do. You'll see below. Secondly, I still can't believe how ginormously tall I was. Especially compared to my peers. I was 5'4" in the 5th grade. I grew only two more inches after that. Rediculous.

Disclaimer: My husband is out of town and I am bored so I posted a LOT of pictures. Enjoy.

Let's start with 1980, age 5, kindergarten. This proves I was indeed once cute despite my tallness. Note my height compared to the refridgerator and then look at another 5 year old you know.


Moving on to 1983. Age 8, still pretty cute.



In 1985 the bright neon and pastel colors began. This coat is gross, but I know I loved it. You probably can't tell but I can see how super tall I was for age 10.



1986 brought in the feathered layers. You can't tell but my hair actually does look decent in this shot, but VERY 80's. Also the advent of vests and my braces.



Ok want proof of my giganticness? March 1987, 5th grade. That's my friend Christy and she is not particularly short.



And now for the worst...my Madonna wannabe look. Also 1987. Ugh.



Here's some seriously 80's fashion. Tapered sweat pants, more big shades, big thick bunchy socks, and high top sneakers. Oh my.



That's when my mom decided my hair looked so crazy it should be chopped completely off. I give you my school photo, 1988, 7th grade.



And finally, 1989 brought the pleated jeans, the tucked-in-bloused-out button up shirts, and more fugly vests.



Thank GOD the 80's ended. I was soooo much cooler in the 90's. And I did my own hair and it looked a lot better. Go on internet, laugh away. I did.

Didya play?

Your 15 Minutes of Fame

First off I will tell you that Nathan came down with a stomach bug Monday morning, and of course I didn't discover the barf all over him and the crib until his dad had left on a weeklong trip. Figures. We thought he was just sleeping late, so we let him sleep. I was all ready to hit the gym that morning too, dying for a chance to improve my running some more. I cleaned up the room and gave him a bath and half a bottle, which he puked up all over me and himself an hour later. Fun. So we had a sick day. He slept for 3.5 hours in the middle of the day, didn't eat a thing all day, and then went to bed early at 7. I have heard him wake up a couple times this morning but he hasn't called for me yet so I'm letting him rest. It's 8am. Champion sleeper.

So no daycare for us today :( I think the puking is done but it's liquid out the other end as well. No running, no yoga tonight. If he's doing ok I might take him on a couple quick errands just to get out of this house. Yes I'm whining. I kind of suck at being a stay-at-home-mom, even if it's only part-time. I can only take so much Teletubbies.

On another note, I received an interesting email from a casting director for a new parenting show on TLC (The Learning Channel) who found my blog through some parenting type research. He asked me if I would share his casting call info with my blog audience and other parents of little ones, and it looks interesting enough that I agreed. The show sounds similar to Supernanny or Nanny 911, except instead of bringing a nanny into the home to fix the kid problems, the family goes to some nice house for a week to get fixed. I love me some TLC...especially What Not To Wear and A Baby Story. So here's the info, call if you want. The guy left his real email and phone number so it looks legit. Fortunately I have zero sleeping, eating, tantrum, etc problems with Nathan, otherwise I would call myself.


CALLING ALL STRESSED OUT PARENTS!!!

Britain’s hit parenting series is coming to the States!

TLC and Outline Productions are working
on the first American season of

“The House of Tiny Terrors”

We would like to hear from all families and
single parents with children between the ages of
18 months and 8 years old who wish to take part.
Whatever your parenting dilemmas or problems –

we may be able to help!

If you would like some more information,
contact us at:

tinyterrors@optomenusa.com
or 646.216.4348

No commitment is needed at this stage and
all calls will be treated in the strictest confidence.

I Got Nothing

Beads
Originally uploaded by Pooqueen.

My brain is fried so I can't think of anything to write about. So in the meantime, enjoy this picture of the muncher chilling out on the couch with one of his fav activities.

SPF - Happy Birthday Kristine!!!

Our fearless founder of Stuff Portrait Friday, Kristine from Random and Odd, is having a birthday today! In honor of her greatness, we are celebrating SPF style. Her assignment:

1. A cyber gift of something we own to her for her birthday!!
2. Three words that describe her.
3. Make a dorky face in the mirror and take a picture.

Ok first is my gift. I thought long and hard about what to get Kristine, and I came up with some serious bling. This mega rock ring was inherited from my grandmother. It's hard to tell how big it is in that picture, but it barely stays upright on my tiny boney fingers. Don't make fun of my scrawny double-jointed fingers or I'll kick your butt. I think the blue topaz is maybe about 10 carats and I don't know how many carats of diamonds there are all around it. It's beautiful, trust me!



Ok words to describe Kristine. I think she's great! Great mom, very talented, and extremely funny. But her sad and depressed posts trouble me. I hate to see people in so much pain sometimes. I hate seeing people who have big anxiety issues. My faith, my yoga, and my laid-back personality keep me calm and stress free.



And now for my not especially dorky face. I'm bad at making posed funny faces. Too self-concsious. Here's my best shot. This took several tries.



Ok anyway....did ya play?!!!

Playtime with Nathan

I love this wooded puzzle with the animals.

I'm really good at matching the pictures!

Hey! Here comes Pepper to play with me!

This is the new toy I picked out for Pepper at Petsmart.

It's a frog that goes "Ribbit. Ribbet." If I run away with it she will chase me.

When she tries to get it from me, I fall on it and hold tight!

I taunt her mercilessly and laugh when she barks.

I tease her with her own toy, but keep holding on tight.

I squeal with delight while she tried to tear it away.

And I laugh and laugh when she gives up and just barks at me!

Commonwealth Watch: HRH Victoria Cobb, Queen of Candor

Commonwealth Watch: HRH Victoria Cobb, Queen of Candor

My extremely well-spoken, oft-quoted, diplomatic sister had a stunning remark in the Richmond Times-Dispatch last week. She has been picked on endlessly and treated badly by one state senator for Virginia, Potts, a Republican who ran for governor last year and only got 2.2% of the vote. He heads up the Education and Health Committee which have been the home of many anti-abortion bills my sister works on. The newspaper quoted her as saying, "I am sure he is very frustrated his political career is tanking and he needs someone to blame," said Cobb, who has been on the receiving end of a Potts tirade."Other than his 2 percent base, no one really takes him seriously. While he may think he is intimidating us, it really just provides everyone with a good laugh," Cobb said.

I asked her if she was wishing more ire and trouble for her organization and she said it didn't matter because no one likes him, no one takes him seriously, and he is retiring very soon. So much for holding her tongue!

WBW - 70s Style

Couldn't find anything of me dressed up for a costume party, but found some pictures of me from the 70's in some fugly clothes. I guess they're not that bad for a little kid, but they scream 70's to me when I see them. I wouldn't put my kid in stuff like this. Here's me and my grandmother who we lost a few years ago. And my mom's dog Taffy. Look at those pants! Look at the color of that shirt! Look at those stupid red shoes I'm wearing! UGH.

And here's me and my mom. Because of my curls my mom would never let my hair grow long so in these kind of stupid pants people thought I was a boy. In fairness, most of the pics I found of me were in very sweet dresses.

Nearest I can tell I'm about 2 in these pictures, which puts them at 1976 or 7.

So come tell me if you played!

Yogis R Us

Crayonz told me she needed her weekly yoga hottie update. Well there's not much to update. Class has gotten a bit crowded, Mark hasn't taught us, and we don't get to chat much. He kids me a little and gives me encouraging glances when I do a pose well. But the only hands on me these days are Jen's. Jen, the yoga-nazi, has come to be a friend. She's tough but encouraging. Here's Nathan and I on our way out to yoga tonight:

Since it is a new session with new people in the class, she is torturing us with lots and lots of Chaturanga Dandasana, which is a killer and looks like this:

Then from there we worked on our monkey pose arm balances, which are all kinds of crazy fun, and look like this:

Then we did this interesting standing pose called Bird-of-Paradise, where you lock your hands together behind your leg and stand up, then extend your leg like this:

That was really fun because I managed to pull it off. Then we worked on upward bow pose. I kept getting stuck on my head because of my hair, so Jen came up behind me, had me grab ahold of her ankles, and gently encouraged me to lift up into this:

I held it there and stretched out for a long time. Then I had to ask her how to get back down without breaking my neck. Mark thought that was funny. Jen tried to help him stand back up from this pose, but he was too heavy and she couldn't lift him forward. Anyway, that's your crazy yoga update. I wish I had some pictures of me actually doing these poses, but so far that isn't easy to get. I'll have to employ the help of the husband sometime.

3 Hour Naps

Yes, that's right, the muncher has been taking three hour naps lately. Last week I chalked it up to him being sick. But I think the habit may have stuck. Now I just have to hope I don't get spoiled so when he goes back to 1.5 -2 hours I resent it.

Two other milestones of note. On the advice of a professional nanny, I got a potty for Nathan for Christmas and every time he gets a bath I sit him on it for just a second. No big deal, just to get him used to the thing. Well Saturday night after I stripped him down for his bath I lifted the lid and pointed to the potty and he sat down voluntarily. All on his own. He sat for maybe a whole 20 seconds, popped up and then flushed. He LOVES to flush, especially after I use the toilet.

Additionally the past couple of days I have noticed him pooping and then he walks over to me, grabs at his diaper and babbles incoherantly. He never grabs at his diaper any other time. He seems quite serious. I am fairly certain that he is requesting an immediate diaper change, because when I pick him up and put him down on the table, he smiles. Maybe I will be lucky enough to have him potty trained before #2 comes along (no, I am NOT pregnant).

I guess it's probably not a good idea on my quest to shed a few pounds and train for a 5K to skip my run in favor of gorging on pizza and gabbing with a group of other moms of preschoolers. But it is fun!

Random Thoughts

Do you ever find yourself going along through the day when something funny or weird happens and you think to yourself "THAT is blogworthy! I gotta post about that later." and then later comes and you can't think of a single thing to write? That's me. So I will just mention a few interesting recent events.

Our best friends from Reading came over for dinner last night and Nathan proceeded to scream his head off for 20 minutes while we tried to eat until Mike and I relented and took him out of this highchair and let him eat in my lap. This is a BIG problem. It's very hard to cut steak with a kid on your lap. Mike's excuse was that Nathan is sick and we had company. We had to make the screaming stop somehow. Once he got his way he turned into the biggest cutie-pie ever. Our friends don't have any kids and probably think we are nuts. Later we played the DVD board game Scene It! which is movie trivia. My sister gave it to us for Christmas and I've been dying to try it. See #43 and #67 of my 100 Things list and you'll know who won.

My mom bought a beach house last week. Her husband's parents own one in this ginormous condo development called Sea Colony in Bethany Beach, DE. My mom and her husband go there quite often and had been occasionally looking at real estate, but not too seriously. So last weekend they found one for a good price and she bought it. Which means lotsa free vacations for me YIPPEE!! I love the beach. I also love all the pools they have to use.

Now I'm off to the fabulous Target store to buy myself a vacuum, a swimsuit, and some sexy undies. I heart Target.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

Ok I'm not really very Irish...just a little...but on March 17th even a little counts!! I started a new tradition in the household this year. I got this St. Patty's Day hat at the fabulous Target for only $1.00!! Now everyone in our household must wear the hat sometime today.

First up is the adorable Nathan, who does not like to wear anything on his head.



Next comes Mainline Dad, with Nathan in his festive green sweater. Mainline Dad had to wear flame retardant clothing to work today, which apparently doesn't come in green.



Next comes me, in very festive green. This picture made me realize I need to get my eyebrows waxed and my hair done again!



And finally, I even made Pepper wear the hat. She really didn't like it. And she really is looking scrappy...time for a haircut for her too!



So Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

SPF - "C" is for Cookie...It's Good Enough for Me

I wish I knew the rest of the words to that cookie monster song! Anyway, this week Kristine has assigned us for Stuff Portrait Friday to show

1. Our couches
2. Our coats
3. Our candles

Well my couches are in every other picture of Nathan or anyone I post here on my blog. I have matching dark green ones in the family room and matching blue ones in the living room.

The green ones, both the couch and the love seat, have recliners in each end. I wanted a more formal pretty couch, but Mike fell in love with the recliners. I hate the goofy abstract pillows that came with them, but other people tell me they like them.

I don't have any pictures of me IN my coats, and I didn't feel like modeling last night, so here it hangs on the kitchen chair where it spends most of its life. I can't wait till it turns warm again so I can go buy a new spring coat.

And I love candles and have them all over the house, but here are the ones I use the most, on my nightstand.

So did you play?

On the Event of Your 18 Month Birthday

Nathan,

I can't believe you are 18 months old! You don't look at all like a baby anymore, you look like miniature man. I keep expecting you to walk up to me and tell me in a full sentence that you're going off to college already. Please don't. I was walking down the street with you today, holding your hand and standing upright, and I suddenly realized that my role as your mom has changed dramatically. I am no longer simply the provider of your basic physical needs. Now I must be your teacher, your role model, your source of guidance. That's scary.

You are an excellent walker now and have lately taken to running full speed with your head down which causes many collisions. You say Pepper all the time, pronouncing it exactly right with the "R" sound and everything. The other day we were playing in the living room and I asked you to go into the family room and bring me a book. It took you much thought and much repeating of the command, but you accomplished the task without any demonstration or pointing from me. This means you understand me, even when you pretend otherwise.

You certainly understand the word "No", which I don't say all that often. Lately you've taken to melting into tears when Daddy or Nanna say it and running to me for sympathy. I know this comfort from me undermines your father's scolding, but it's good to know you think I'm your #1 fan. It's true, I am.

You've been having a good time playing with Vanessa at Miss Jeanne's house several mornings a week, but Miss Jeanne is hanging up the fingerpaints this summer, so we have to find you a new crew to play with. There are lots of nice schools around to pick from, so I'm sure we'll find one that suits you. I hope being around more kids your age for longer stretches will encourage you to interact with them more, instead of just hanging back and watching them all the time. But I am grateful for the days and afternoons I get to have you home with me, even if I seem distracted on the phone or computer a lot.

You've just discovered belly-buttons and take great delight in sticking your finger in them. As well as putting your fingers in my mouth to feel my tongue and in my eyes to touch my lashes. Pepper is your best buddy, despite her standoffishness towards you, but you probably wouldn't think twice about trading her in for a Lilly or a Jackson who lick your face and let you pull their tails.

You are a professional sleeper, a pretty good eater, and an all-around good natured little boy. Look out, because when your little brother or sister comes along (no, I'm not pregnant) I'm sure we won't get so lucky twice. You are the best addition to our happy little family ever, and I hope we get to keep you for at minimum 18 more years.

Love, Mama