In Search of Friends With Boats or Beach Houses

So have I mentioned that I'm not a huge fan of the beginning and end of summer (lesser) holidays? I know what you're thinking, what's not to like? BBQ's, boozin, opening swimming pools and the like. And you'd be right, all of those things rule. But the problem is that I have such high expectations for these holidays. Every year, in my head, I'm thinking "This year's gonna be different! We're gonna bbq and get together with friends or go down the shore or something!" And every year, I'm sitting on my couch at 8pm hearing someone else's fireworks and the voices of our neighbors having a good time. For some reason, my friends and family just don't do the typical summer kick-off celebrations. Of course, I choose not to think that people are doing things and my bad attitude isn't invited. Because I really don't think that's it.  No one has a beach house. No one has a boat. It's always been a tad bit depressing. Some people get the holiday blues at Christmastime, I get them during heat-waves. And apparently, I'm passing it on to my son...

We actually managed to make some plans with my friend Sarah. She provided the pool, I brought the margaritas and burgs. I went out and bought all the things babies need for the ten minutes they spend in the pool: swim trunks, wussy swim shirt and lame-o sun hat that won't stay on for more than 10 seconds. Oh and swim dipes.

Anyway, Gabe hopped (was plopped) in the crab pool with his buddy Maks and proceeded to be depressed.

Isn't this little face the cutest though?

Annnnd the full-on pout sets in.

I'm outta here

I do look pretty cute bundled up in a towel though. But this hat has gottogo!

Ok so maybe that's where he got the look on his face from. Was I not bringing you your margarita quick enough John?

don't worry, totally staged.

So contrary to what these pictures might seem, we had a really fun time at Sarah and Todd's and appreciate them having us over.  So maybe I need to start hosting things on these holidays? Will that get me out of my slump? Or maybe I just need to find new friends with boats and beach houses? Do any of you have those? Can I come over for Labor day? I'll bring babies, brownies and booze!

p.s. I appreciate Mem Day for what it is and am extremely thankful for all American soldiers, past and present, who made and make life awesome for the rest of us. Go USA! Woot! Patriotism is where it's at!

Encyclopedia of Moi: Volume K

Welp, I'm a little late in posting my encyclopedia this week but here we gooooo...

We're up to K. My maiden name begins with K. It always landed me directly in the middle when it came to being alphabetized. And I was okay with that. My poor kids will always be dead last.

1 2 3 4

Kelly & Katie -- These are two of my best friends. They are also cousins. Years ago, they inducted me into their family...who sometimes I like better than my own.. They are both smart and funny, small and cute and generally likeable ladies.  They'll always have a place in my encyclopedia.

Klingon Mind Fuck -- Sorry for the vulgarity but we're all grown-ups here right? (Stop reading Gabe and GO TO BED!). Ok so, back in the day, my friends Kelly, Lisa & I went to Vegas. Kelly had decided that we needed to go to the Star Trek themed bar that she read about. So we went. And it was everything you'd think it would be. People in costume randomly floating around, posing for pics. Trekkie themed everything, especially the drinks. We were the only patrons in the bar besides an obvious lady of the night and her suitor.  Awkward. So anyway, being the lushes we were, we each decide to order up one of these delicious sounding cocktails, that boasted of like nineteen ingredients. They arrive, smoking from dry ice, in punchbowls. They are haaa-uge. We later realize these are the type of drinks meant for sharing. Those nineteen ingredients turned out to be nineteen different kinds of rum. None of us had ever been drunker. Not the sick drunk, or pass out drunk. But the "everything's a good idea kind of drunk that lands you in Vegas strip clubs, sitting at tables reserved for someone else, getting yelled at by the manager for not paying enough attention to the girls, making friends with 'Brianna', almost leaving your pocketbook in the bathroom" kind of drunk. We could never remember the name of that drink so we dubbed it the Klingon Mind Fuck because...well...that's what it did.

Kraft Foods -- Kinda hard to to follow a What Happens in Vegas kind of story....sorry Kraft. You have good recipes.

Kegs -- You're good too.

I'm Pinning Shit

Ok so it's not like I'm late to the Pinterest game or that I've been living under a rock, it's just that I've been holding off. I had an invite (btw, sites that require invites? get over yourselves) sitting in my inbox for months and I'd been ignoring it. I kept hearing stories of being suuuuuucked into the Pinterest black hole and only coming up for air. I kept seeing people like Michael, Kim and Jackie post pictures of things I wanted. I kept saving pictures of things on the internet to my hard drive and forgetting their sources. So that fateful day when Blogger went down, I gave in. Hey, I needed something to do! And oh man, I haven't looked back. Everything they said about Pinterest is true. It's magical and fun. The only thing I don't like is that I didn't join sooner. It would have helped pass time during those long nursing/napping on me sessions of wee baby yore.

So right before I clicked on over there the fist time, I made myself a promise that this would not be completely wasted time. I would not pin pictures of chocolate dipped oreos, or paper flower garlands, or grilled cheeses stuffed with godknowswhat without a purpose. I would pin things I actually planned on making. I have no use for stockpiles of pretty images that I'll never look at. Or funny words that I totally  relate to...

Source: nudelipsbighips.tumblr.com via Shannon on Pinterest

But I do have use for something like this...

Source: maryjanesandgaloshes.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Isn't it cute? So much better than that stupid p-barn $69 version. Ridic. So I hit up goodwill and made one ma damn self.

I plan on using it for Gabe's birthday party but it's so cute, it can sit out all the time.

Are you on Pinterest? Do I follow you? Do you follow me?

Don't Be Tardy for the Yardy (Sale)

Thanks to my pal Sarah for not only the awesome blog title but for turning an otherwise REALLY disappointing day into a pretty darn fun experience. Let me back that ass up for a second. So you guys know I've been planning the MOTHER of all yard sales for months. I posted my tips and tricks for  a successful sale here. I thought I knew what I was doing. So this past weekend, after a week of torrential downpours, early Saturday morning arrived with blue skies and a high of 80 degrees. Perfect yard sale weather, if you ask me.

But apparently, if you ask everyone else, they would disagree. Because our turnout sucked. Sucked so so bad. I mostly sat around whining, I can't believe this! And Sarah, who was my partner in yard sale crime, would say Yeah, it's weird.  We had perfect weather, we had both quality and quantity of merchandise, I put up multiple neon signs with attention-grabbing sayings. So what happened?

Everyone surmised different reasons for our lack of attendance. It was the first nice weekend, people were heading to the shore. Gardening. Building decks. Maybe they were on the other  ____ St. with the same name, in our town. Who knows. But they weren't in my driveway. Here's what was...

Nicely organized merchandise

Neatly folded clothing

Storefront-quality styling...

But none of it helped.

Ya know what did help?

Sarah being a wackjob. One of the funniest wackjobs I've ever met in my life. She decided to play yard sale dress-up and make costumes out of the crap we were selling. I was dying everytime she'd emerge as a new character.

Her black fabric and grandmother's old gloves combined with my heels, mercury glass candle holder and faux sheepskin rug made for Movie Star lady.

Self-explanatory

My shirt, scarf and vase plus the wig that Sarah just happens to keep in her car equals a little Jimi.

Part of an outfit my aunt gave me to sell plus a bowl my grandmother gave me to sell plus an old fan equals...oh man, I just can't stop laughing looking at this one.

Wrap yourself in a sheer white curtain panel, add a baby carriage mosquito net veil and an artificial flower and you're all ready for your big day.

Or if your bike was stolen, you could go see psychic Sarah. She'd tell you it was at the Alamo. In the basement.

And the day wasn't a total wash. We did have a few customers and the ones that did come actually spent some money. So I made a few bucks. But my favorite customer came while I was packing things up, way after our 1 pm end-time. This woman, probably in her early 40's, walks up my driveway and asks me if I have any dress-up clothes. I point her towards the clothes and from that point on, she didn't stop asking questions. I'm pretty sure she was either not right in the head or on some serious valium. She spoke her words in long, drawn-out sentences and sounded really confused about everything.

She picked up a box of #2 pencils that happened to be black, not yellow. They were sitting with some scrapbook supplies.  In a slow, drawn-out way, she asks "Are these the same as regular pencils?" I reply "yep". " So they're not just for scrapbooking?" "Nope", I say. "So they're just black and not yellow?"  I reply "yep". "So they work the same as yellow pencils?" she asks. "Yep", I respond. And she puts them down and walks away.

Serenity Now!

So needless to say, Goodwill got a pretty nice donation from me this weekend. I made a promise that shit wasn't coming back in the house. And it didn't. Well except for the pencils. They're not just for scrapbooking.

I HAVE GOT to Lay Off the Cuervo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Wait, it's not the 5th of May, you say? It's the 23rd? Have I really been passed out this whole time? That damn worm gets me every time.

Either way, I turned 9 months old this month. Can you believe it? My mom can't. She is literally in disbelief that I've been an outside baby as long as I was an inside baby. But nothin can hold me down, I'm a growin like a big boy. I do all sorts of big boy things but that sombrero? Kinda scared of it.

Anyways my mom calls me up and she's like "Gabe, can you stop by for your 9 month photo shoot? We're already a week behind." So I show up and she's waving this fake mustache and sombrero in my face telling me that I need to wear both. AND she wanted me to sit still. Pshhawww yeah I don't think so. None of that business for me.

So I gave her one or two good shots and I was out. I've got cat tails to chase and cheerios to smash. And empty tequila bottles to recycle.

Adios Amigas!

Happy 9 months Gabe. You're right, I cannot believe that we're on the downhill slide to one. ONE! Your dad likes to say things like, "heh can you believe that came out of you?" I tell him to shush but really, I can't. You're growing into such an amazing little person. You're already starting to look little boy-ish to me some days. Other days, if I stick you in a pastel green sleeper, you'll still pass for a lil babe. I love you either way though. You're my little sidekick. And in the past month you...

- Have started doing the downward facing dog position on the floor, so we think it's only a matter of time until you're up on your two feet without holding onto anything.

- Tried Cheerios, rice and the inside of pizza crust. I'm clearly molding you into a carbon copy of your carbaholic mother. (Scattergories 3 points!)

- Now have 8 teeth and we're thinking your canine teeth are the next ones to come in. We had a few really rough days of teething where you didn't want to be put down but you didn't want to sit quietly either.  Quite the conundrum.

- Are still nursing like a champ.about 6 times a day. Granted it's not easy since you decide to do yoga poses while nursing but it's kinda cute so I'll let it slide.

- Laugh and laugh and laugh so so much. Especially when you're out and about. Whenever we're at the grocery store or Target and you're riding high in the cart, you flash the dimples and smile at everyone. When they respond to you, you start laughing and laughing, usually the high-pitched machine gun laugh that causes other people to turn around and look. The old man cashier said you were gonna be a flirt like he was. Um, let's hold off on that.

- Started dancing! You love Kelly and Chica on the Sprout Sunny Side Up Show and you dance along whenever they sing songs. It's usually an up and down motion but now you've added a back and forth step. I'll put in a call to Britney now for your audition.

- Oh and you climb every stair you can find. We've got 12 of them heading upstairs and you love scrambling your little legs up them. As soon as you get upstairs, you head right for the bathroom, to get your mitts in the cat's water bowl. That's gross. Stop doing that.

- I'm pretty sure you said the word "good". See, for the past few months, you do this thing where you shake your head 'no" randomly. At first it worried me and I asked my mom if I should be concerned. She said no, it was a normal baby thing. So I started asking you if you were a good boy and somehow you knew to shake your head. No matter how many times you do this little "trick" we find it hysterical. So anyway, you hear the word good all the time. So the other day I asked you if something was good. And a minute later, you said it. I swear. I haven't heard it since but whatever.

So that about sums it up, buddy bear. We love you so much. Once again, thanks for being awesome.

p.s. Are you interested in attending the Always Bloggy in Philadelphia meet-up but aren't totally sure if you can make it? If there's even a chance, we want you to be in the loop and reading the blog! Check out this post for the email details and get to emailing us!

Flashback Friday: What Was I Thinking Edition

So it's official, I made the Top 10 for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Baby Blogs! ALL thanks to you guys, seriously you rule. So now I get interviewed and they parade us around their website and whatnot. Kinda cool. So thank you!!!

Last month, at Easter, I saw not one but two different panhandlers at the stoplight at the entrance to my grocery store.  This wasn't the first time I've seen them, they were also there at Christmastime.  I am normally pretty sympathetic to the poor, the homeless and the like. But the fact that these guys are only out around holidays, seemingly preying on the goodwill of the holiday shoppers, well that kind of pisses me off. Sure, they could normally be panhandling at a different location every other day of the year but why only come to my grocery store on the holidays? It's not a fancy store in a ritzy neighborhood. It's actually slightly ghetto. The whole situation seems fishy. And it reminded me of this...

When I was 19, I took a trip into Philly with my friend Eileen. We were walking down the street, in and out of shops, when a young guy sitting on the curb, asked us if we had any change.  I'm sure normally we'd do the noeyecontact Sorry!, but for some reason we stopped. And by some reason, I'm pretty sure if was because he seemed our age and he was kinda hot. So we stopped and gave him a few bucks. He seemed really appreciative and started chatting us up, probably asking us for a cigarette or something. So the three of us stood there, smoking cigs and chatting about why he was begging for change in the first place.

We had never actually spoke to a panhandler before so we were really interested in the inside scoop. He fed us some story about losing his job, losing his apartment and being unable to find a new one (job or home). So he was sleeping in the park at the end of street. Us being the good Catholic school girls we were, we automatically ate it up and felt super bad. So we asked him if he was hungry, if we could buy him something to eat. He said yes so we went to the diner down the street. Once seated, we kinda expected him to order everything on the menu or at least a hearty sandwich or something. No, he ordered chocolate cake. It was a pretty big slice but still.

After we left the diner, we realized that this kid was pretty cool and that we wanted to hang out with him more. Did the whole homeless thing make a difference, we wondered? So we made plans to meet up with him the next day. And we did. He showed us where he slept and introduced us to his other homeless buddy. Don't worry, we were in a very well lit, very well populated part of the city the whole time. His buddy had 40's so, being 19 and always on the lookout for booze, we accepted. We sat around and drank in a park with two homeless dudes. And then I gave him a spare pillow that I happened to have in my car. And after that day, we never saw or heard from him again.

Sure, he might have totally been playing us and yeah, he got a few bucks and a piece of cake from us but we got a good story out of it.

Moral of the story? I only give change to good looking panhandlers. 

 

p.s. Are you coming to our meet up???

Starting Small

Every year, as soon as the sun starts setting a little later, I dream up a mile-long house to-do list. And for the most part, it’s always the outside of the house that bears the brunt of my criticism.  So this year, I’ve decided that this spring, or what’s left of it, I’ll start small. A few easy tasks that will add mucho charm to the casa. Now that Gabe’s here, we spend a lot more time outside and I’m thinking that if the house looked even cuter? We’d be out there even more, getting all the vitamin D we can handle.  So here is my spring/summer to-do list. Annnnnd by “my” you guys know I mean John, right? Okay good, I thought so.

1) We have some ugly bushes that line the side of the house that basically serve as leaf holders. We’ve decided that they do not suit our fancy and that they will get the boot. We’re gonna rip out those two behemoths and replace them with something with a little more color. Got any suggestions on bushes?

2) I’ve also decided that I need some window boxes across the lower windows on the front. Earlier this year, we planted some flowers in some boxes on the guest house windows and they seem to be doing well. I made myself a promise that if I keep them alive and thriving, I can get window boxes for the front. I’m thinking of planting some purple licorice plants because they dig the shade and the front of the house is totally slim shady.

3)And I know you’ve been hearing me beg for shutters for the past two years. You’d think that we’d have them by now. Well we don’t. And the only reason I let it slide last summer was that I was miserably pregnant and cared more about what flavor my milkshake was. So this year, I’m determined to make it happen. I really think they're the key to curb appeal here.

So that’s not too bad right? Can I get a collective “Not at all!” to convince John?

Btw, you know what else I need to make a to-do list for? Birthday and graduation gifts. The month of June is just one big wallet-suck, isn’t it? Oh and add in somebody’s first Father’s day too!

So you know who can handle all these types of events? My pal Shutterfly. Yeah, you know them. They hooked me up with some adorable Christmas cards. Well, you can get the cutest graduation announcements, Father's day cards, or even a cool gift for either one, like photobooks.

Do you want in on the Shutterfly action? Well if you have a blog, you can  register for a chance for 50 free cards from Shutterfly during their spring promotion. But you have to do it quick, summer will be here before you know it.

Life With a Baby

I'm always fascinated with how other moms go about their day to day mothering so I decided to give you the general gist of my life in current time. Lately I've been feeling like Gabe is a little Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. During the day, he is an absolute joy to be around. He's always in a good mood, he takes his naps, he smiles and laughs like nobody's business. But then the sun sets. And my darling boy turns into a little hellion. Every night is a crapshoot. Some nights he sleeps all night. Sometimes he'll wake up at 11:30 then sleep until 5 but not want to go back to sleep then. Sometimes he'll sleep until 2, wake up and scream and yell then not want to go back to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up then goes back to sleep. It usually means I'm nursing him back to sleep too unless I want to hear the screaming banshees again. This sort of thing is not fun. I've tried the whole sleep training thing again, trying to let him cry it out. But now that he stands up in his crib and just yells, there is no lying down and quieting down on his own. It sucks. I'm hoping one of these days something clicks and sleep comes easy to him. It never has so I think we're due.

While I think that I've finally gotten used to motherhood, I sometimes find myself thinking a certain way that surprises me. Like in a way that leads me to believe that I haven't gotten used to it. Does that even make sense? Basically, it'll be the middle of the night. I've just been woken up by Gabe, fed him and carefully put him back in his crib. I've crept back into my room and fell into bed...only to hear him start crying again.  I look at the clock and realize I've now been awake for close to an hour. I sit up and out loud say, "what the eff". Only I'm dropping f bombs like it's my job. For a split second, I am mad that I can't go back to sleep. But then I walk in and pick him up and hold him tight and feel bad for getting mad. It's like you're supposed to love every single second of time with your baby, no matter how little sleep you're getting because, as you know, they grow up so fast and all that. But I'll be honest...I don't love that time. I'm wishing it would go by faster so that I can finally fall back asleep. I know lack of sleep goes along with the parenting job description but c'mon, every night?  This girl loves sleep too, I can love both, right?

But then the morning comes and Gabe wakes up. I'll go in and get him and bring him back to bed. He usually eats then flips over and crawls over to John and starts banging his hands on his back, dadadadada. So while it might be annoying to get woken up in the middle of the night, getting woken up by that little face with the sun streaming in....there's nothing better.

We head downstairs and I put on the tv...always PBS so that I feel slightly less guilty for the tube running all day long. But it's mostly on for background noise. Or to get in my head and leave behind theme songs to things like Cat in the Hat, Super WHYY and Sid the Science Kid. I get some coffee and check all my social media while Gabe plays and trys to pull the laptop cord. Then we head in for breakfast. Meals are also becoming increasingly difficult. Besides the fact that since Gabe is getting an extra meal or two at night and is less hungry for apples and oatmeal, he's also a lot more distracted. Mealtimes take longer and longer. I don't mind though, I just sit there and talk to him like he was a functioning adult. I run ideas for things past him and tell him our plans for the day. I also sing Where is Thumbkin while I'm spooning cereal into his mouth.

Then comes playtime. And a lot of crawling. He's all over the place. I've been able to coralle him in the living and dining room without having to watch him like a hawk. I can usually fold laundry or vacuum or tweet at this point. But now he's started climbing up the steps...and since we're slackers with no gate yet, it's back to following him around doing the whole no, no, no, no, no Gabe. But canvasing the house tired him out and once he starts getting cranky, he has a quick snack and goes down for a nap. Then it's a mad rush to get a shower and complete as many tasks as possible in the normal 45 minutes.

The rest of the day is spent playing, or running errands, taking walks, making lunch, prepping dinner, cleaning up, making craft projects, wasting time on the internet, etc...Then by 5, we're counting the minutes until Daddyboy comes home. I usually have Gabe's dinner ready to go so that John feeds him as soon as he comes home while I'm finishing up our dinner.  That's my favorite part of the day, the 3 of us sitting at the table, eating dinner together. Once we're done eating, I'll start cleaning up while John and Gabe hang out. Soon it's bedtime. I usually have about 2 or 3 hours to myself at night after Gabe goes to sleep, but once again I get annoyed. All day long, I'm thinking I can't wait til bedtime so I can do this or that...but then I realize I'm beat. So I head to bed praying that I get a good stretch of sleep. And we start the whole thing all over again.

And in other news, the Top 25 Mom blog thing ends tonight so I won't be hustling for your votes anymore. But if you wouldn't mind doing it just one more time today, before 8pm EST, high fives all around.

It's Always Bloggy in Philadelphia (Encore)

One more time for the cheap seats! Thanks to Blogger's epic FAIL, this post had disappeared in the crash. But back it is! And so is my incessant begging for votes! Only 3 days left!

Oh it is on! When I asked you guys the other day if you wanted to come to Philly to hang out, I never expected the responses we (me & Bethany) would get. You guys are into it! If everyone comes who expressed interest, we’d have a nice little crowd going. Not too big where you wouldn’t get to know each of them, but not too small where it might be awkward. Juuuuuust right.

So welcome, officially, to the It’s Always Bloggy in Philadelphia Meet-Up!  It will kick off on Friday October 7, 2011 and end either on Sunday or Monday October 9th or 10th, which is Columbus Day, depending on your schedule.  This weekend seemed to be the best weekend for everyone involved.  So, here’s the deal. If you responded to the survey, or if you didn’t and are thinking you want in on this amazingness after all (and I know you do), we need you to email us at alwaysbloggy@gmail.com with the following information:

Full Name -

Age -

Blog Address -

Found Via Shannon, Bethany or Both -

Traveling Via -

Housing Preference: Host Home/Hotel/Either/Neither -

Diet/Allergies/Weird Habits We Should Know About You - 

Have you been to Philly before?

Any other info you think would be helpful or any questions you have -

Once we receive your info, you’ll be directed to a private blog made just for this occasion. Think of it as the cheesy VIP room with bottle service. Except not cheesy and we won’t make you pay 130 bucks for a bottle of Gray Goose vodka. This blog will be where we communicate about all things meetup so that we're not emailing everyone 800 times and getting confused. We'll discuss travel plans, itineraries, how to order a cheesesteak, what to pack and all the shit you need to know. Sound good? Good. Now email us!

Alwaysbloggy@gmail.com

Encyclopedia of Moi: Volume J

Real quick, can you throw a vote in the ring for me? My pal Jackie actually asked me what I would "win" if I made it into the Top 25 of this mom blog contest thing and I realized I had no idea. I was just doing it to see how far I could make it. A lot of the blogs on that list are pretty big and have tons of ads and hundreds of followers. I kinda feel like a small fish in that pond. But you guys are making me feel super awesome and have kept me in about 17th or 15th place, which is amazing. So I went looking around and found out that the Circle of Moms site will show off the top 25 to their billions (or something) of subscribers with an interview of each blogger. Um, ok. That's cool. So obvs. I'm not doing it for the prize but purely for the popularity, I mean competition.And I appreciate you guys voting.

Moving on, it's time for...

and we're up to J! Apologies to everyone whose name begins with a J that I didn't include...like my brother Josh who will probably call me, I probably won't answer and then he'll probably leave me a voicemail about not including him in my round-up of J's.

1 2 3 4

Junk Food -- I know, I know, it's not cool to like junk food. Partially hydrogenated oils, white flour, non-organic whooseywhatsies. Everyone is all hopped up on the least amount of chemicals and shit being in their foods and sure, that's a good thing. But man, do I love me some processed foods. Velveeta shells and cheese? Yes please. Taco Bell nacho cheese chalupa? Give me two. Philly soft pretzel? I'll eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Justin Beeeeebs -- Okay so for the longest time, I dismissed Biebs as a useless tween pop sensation. My Kris Kross if you will. I knew he sang a song with the word Baby in it and pretty much only the word Baby in it. But that's all I knew. Then I caught him on an episode of the Ellen show and he was surprising a tween girl fan at her home, in her Biebs poster covered room. And he was just the nicest, normalest kid. The tween was like, omgiloveyoubeebs and he was like, yeah i love you too. How awesome is that? He made her friggin childhood. I was automatically 12 years old again, thinking how cool it must have been. So now I like Beebs. And most of all, I like saying his nickname Beebs. Of course, like any other American male, John thinks Beebs is a d-bag and that it's only a matter of time before he falls. Sure, he might. But until then, I'll just run around the house and screem Beebs!!!! to annoy my husband.

Jean Jackets -- I think they're timeless. Love em.

Jeff Lewis --  If there were anybody I could follow around and hang out with for a day, it would be Jeff Lewis. He'd not-so-subtley insult everyone and I'd give him knowing looks. He's cross the line and hurt someone's feelings and I'd set him straight. We'd share a finicky but free meal at Casa Vega. I'd try to learn things from him because I think he has great taste. But then I'd leave because I usually want to punch him.

The Best Laid (Mother's Day) Plans

My first official Mother's Day didn't go as any of us expected. It turns out, the very person that caused us to celebrate the day in the first place (ahem, Gabe) was the one who threw the wrench in all of our plans. Motherhood at it's best, I suppose.  Anywho, this past week, Gabe had come down with another cold. Since I can't blame daycare, I blame the weather. One day we're sunny and 85, the next it's a rainy 50. With his wee little immune system, he doesn't stand a chance. Luckily besides the river of snot flowing from his nose, his demeanor hadn't changed and he was pretty happy-go-lucky. Then came Saturday, we spent the evening at my goddaughter's First Communion party...where she looked so so pretty (and just like her daddy, Gabe's godfather).

Anyway, Gabe's mood finally turned. See look above. It all went downhill from here. Snot + tears = a big ol mess on my shoulder. Anyway, we brought him home, put him to bed and headed to bed early ourselves, exhausted from dealing with his clinginess all afternoon.  Unbeknownst to me, this was actually the first part of John's Mother's Day plans to go awry. He was going to be sending me over to our guest house for the night with a new book and I wasn't going to come back until breakfast was made for me. But since Gabe was sick, John knew I needed to be here so those plans went out the window.

We got our first wakeup call at 3am via a screaming baby. I woke up, fed him and went to put him back to sleep. Only he decided he wanted to stay up and crawl around. Ughhh. Luckily John took him and went downstairs, letting me finish out the night in a deep sleep. However, when i got up at 8, there was none of the breakfast waiting for me since John needed to get some sleep himself. So I took over and me and Gabe hung out for awhile until John woke up. We decided to grab some Panera and go on a picnic. I grabbed our red & white picnic basket and had visions of a cutesy photo shoot in the grass.  Well every park we went to was packed and by the time we found one that wasn't, Gabe had fallen asleep. So we ate in the car out of the brown bag.

We waited for Gabe to wake up and we headed over to the playground. The poor kid was a classic dirty baby with dried snot and drool all over but since I'm constantly attacking his nose with wipes, I let him alone for a few minutes.

He humored us by going on the swing for a few...

Oh and to add to the dirty baby syndrome, he's got a sweet little bruise on his forehead from having a collision with the tv. I should probably get used to that right?

Then he went down the slide for the first time. Of course, this playground is all new and wussified. I need some hot metal swings and slides baking in the sunshine like when we were kids.

But really, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Saddest kid on the playground.

Luckily I got another break when we got home while the boys went to the grocery store and I hung out with the Real Housewives of NY. I was able to watch an entire episode while lying still on my couch. It was real nice. And so was dinner. John cooked me his signature dish, Chicken Saltimbocca and homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert. So while the day didn't go as planned, I got to spend it with my two dudes and that's pretty much all I can ask for. Besides a parade.

and a vote :)