My Three Favorite Things Today

1.) You've all probably seen this proposal already but I can't resist posting it here. I am in love with this video. I just keep watching it and crying, watching it and crying. Then I make other people watch it (like you!) and get confused when they do not turned into a sniveling, wet, puddle of emotions like me. What can I say? The internet makes me cry on the reg (ex; this, this and let's not forget this). It's all just so sweet and adorable. I can only imagine how much time and coordination and effort this took by this couple's family and friends. Amazing.

 


2.) The Honest Toddler twitter feed. It's perfect. The humor, the candor, the hatred of pinterest. If you are the parent of a small child (or even know a small child) it's worth a look, trust me. It speaks to my soul. And it has a blog now too. Check that out here.

Honest Toddler‏@HonestToddler

Can't remember the last time my mom showered. I feel good about that.

Honest Toddler‏@HonestToddler

It's not that I mind her being clean, I just don't like barriers between us. Doors, curtains, the phone, stranger babies, etc.

Honest Toddler‏@HonestToddler

Want to thank the especially loud bird outside for helping me up. You are not a demon (lol daddy) and I would love to hold you tight.

3.) And MOST importantly I am seeing my lover  favorite musician Talib Kweli tonight at the Grog Shop in Cleveland. Which, if you're not familiar with it, is a teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy club which is crazy for him to be performing at and awesome and is going to make for an incredible show. I even took tomorrow off work, so I don't have to be stressed about getting home late or lack of sleep. I am so old, but also SO pumped.

Three cheers for Wednesday!

xoxo

A Little Cookout

Sunday we decided to have a little impromptu cookout with our siblings.

Burgers, homemade guacamole, a big old fruit salad and general tom

foolery made for a fun evening.  And s'mores made from left over easter 

bunnies turned out to be the best idea ever. (Made over the stovetop 

because of course we ran out of propane at the end of the night). 

Although I should point out Oren much preferred munching on his own toes.

Currently

Oh, heavens.

The Weekend We Did Everything

Alternately titled: The weekend I ate all the ice cream in the world.

It was fantastic.

It felt like summer really arrived this weekend and boy, did we take advantage. We pulled out the kiddie pool, ate here, here, here and here. We slathered everyone in sunscreen and visited four different playgrounds (I highly recommend this one). We visited with family from out of town, took naps, and even spent a little time dipping our toes in the stream here. Also, Wes started requesting to listen to James Brown in the car. It was such a good weekend. And did I mention there was ice cream? And popsicles. Ice cream and popsicles! Hooray!

Software Release Notes

Weston OS 3.9

Upgrades in this release

• Onset of early use/understanding of sarcasm. Ex: "Really, dad. Really?"
• Identifying letters and sounds of letters
• Drawing and cutting out shapes. Especially proficient in circles and squares
• Overall speech and vocabulary improvements. Loves to discuss bones
• Basic addition skills. Ex: "You tell me you love me like 5 or 20 times a day. That's 25 times you know."
• Increased desire to "help" however limited to 5 minute increments and/or distractions due to snacks/tv/ipad
• Excellent memory skills, does not forget anything

Ongoing Issues

• Unable to continue eating without verification of exactly how many remaining bites will be required
• Unable to resolve problems without employing the use of tantrums, fits and overall freak outs
• Incorrectly calls his big toe his thumb toe
• Incorrectly calls a blimp a pimple, although he knows this is incorrect he refuses to adjust language appropriately
• Prefers shoes to be worn on opposite feet and with the use of only one sock

Oren OS 1.1

Upgrades in this release

• Open mouth kisses
• High fives
• Crawling down stairs backwards
• Roars like a lion on command (sometimes, but only when he feels like it)
• Dances at every opportunity possible. Will find rhythm in TV commercial jingles, brother banging on piano keys, even sound of vacuum cleaner
• Drinks from a straw
• Turns off and on light switches when entering/exiting a room
• Increased immunity due to recent onslaught of multiple viral infections
• Identifies own bellybutton

Ongoing Issues

• Requires skin to skin to contact with mother at all times mother is present
• Preferred snack: rocks
• Preferred toy: toilet
• Yells gibberish at parents when angry, frustrated, needs assistance or pretty much all the time
• Generally disgruntled
• Refuses to lie still or even on back for diaper changes
• Unbearably cute

Web Slinger

Recital in t-minus two weeks.

I've seen these monkeys rehearsing...

It will be terrible. 

It will be a terrible cluster you-know-what. 

And awesome. 

SO awesome.

But mostly terrible and a waste of money.

And I can NOT wait.

Mother's Day 2012

 was

-chocolate covered strawberries (and one chocolate covered oren)

-wrapped presents and singing cards with googly eyes

-chocolate chip cookies with sea salt (thank you sisters in law!)

-sunday brunch and we didn't even have to wait for a table

-a surprise trip to niagra falls (my first time!) with my healthy and happy family (a mother's day miracle!)

-running through fields and chasing sea gulls

-losing shoes and gaining a few blisters ;) 

-wildflowers picked by wes all day long

-lots of hugs, kisses and quality family time

 

one very, very lucky mama

 

 xoxo

Enough

Have you guys seen this picture? It's hard to believe you haven't. It's all over the blogging world, call in radio is having a field day, and it's clogging my facebook feed. As much as I've tried to avoid it altogether, it seems pretty much impossible.

My problem with it?

Not the picture. And not the story on attachment parenting. My problem is the sensationalization of the whole topic which seems to be doing nothing more than pitting moms against moms. The title alone, "Are You Mom Enough?" suggests that if you're not attachment parenting you're somehow not as good or dedicated as other mothers who are.

Ahhh, just in time for mother's day. How nice.

This whole article is just a ploy to sell magazines. To stir up controversy and to make moms on both sides of this issue get defensive. And their use of modelesque mothers shown breastfeeding their kids in these awkward and unnatural poses does nothing but sexualize something that is not in the least bit sexual or unnatural.

...aaaaaand here comes the drama. Just what they wanted.

Look, attachment parenting is fine. Those moms are good moms. There's a whole lot worse going on in the world to get stirred up over than extended breastfeeding. You know what else? Moms that don't practice attachment parenting are good moms too. And those that formula feed. And those that just breastfeed for a month, or a year. What I'm trying to say is, as long as you're feeding your kid one way or another - you're doing your job. And kudos to you, because this parenting thing is by far the toughest job you could hope for. Can't we just agree that we're all good moms? We're all trying our hardest to get what is impossible, right. We're all doing what works for us and our individual family's needs. Let's not get caught up in some competition to prove who is doing it best. Our way is not the only way.

Goddamn, being a mom is hard enough. Everyday we wade through these uncharted waters, trying to keep our heads above water, trying to find our way. Sometimes just trying not to drown. Everyday, we're learning and changing and evolving as mothers. Whether you breastfeed or formula feed, work or stay home or something in between. We all love our kids more than anything in the world. We should hold each other up, support one another. When will we figure out that we're all on the same side? Because it's sink or swim out there and hard as it is, we're all still swimming.

Happy mother's day.

You are trying your best.

You are doing a good job.

What They Don't Tell You

(a brief moment of peace)

You know how when you're pregnant and everyone gives you all these pointless warnings... "Oh, you'll never sleep again. You'll never have any time for yourself now. Forget what you want to do, your schedule is their schedule from here on out"... and so on and so forth. All the standard warnings people mindlessly dole out that are meant to...I dunno, scare the crap out of you (?) that do you absolutely no good since it's obviously too late to change your mind and the baby is already on it's way, like it or not.

Yeah, those warnings.

Well, you know what no one ever mentions? You know what no one ever talks about? How sick the little devils get. No one ever said ONE word about this. Sick, like for real, sick. Sick all day - every day. Morning, noon and night. Ooh, ooh and they get you sick too! That's the best part! S-I-C-K.

Not just the sniffles and a little diaper rash. Sick like, pull over the car, the baby has vomited all over himself, the carseat, the car seat, and the car door. Sick, like stripping his clothes off in a patch of grass in a random church parking lot and the car still smells like vomit three days later, sick. That happened twice this weekend. Twice.

Sick, like a trip to urgent care because your normal doctor can't fit him in for four more days and a massive diaper blowout in the waiting room. A blowout I have to change on the restroom floor because they don't have a changing station - while the baby tries to squirm off of the paper towel "blanket" I've haphazardly lain down in a vain attempt to protect him from contracting any further diseases. Poo everywhere. Just. Everywhere.

Sick, like a double ear infection, bacterial eye infection and gastroenteritis! Sick, like $70 worth of prescriptions, baby advil and pedialyte later. And I'm not even going to talk about the co-pays. And this is after seeing the doctor for this exact same thing one round of antibiotics and 2 weeks earlier.
Did I mention the older one's been puking off and on all weekend too? Oh yeah, that's just what they do now.

It's just a constant state of unrest, crying, clinging, and never ending comfort nursing (seriouslythey'reabouttofalloffandIwishIwasjoking) set to the soundtrack of  "mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamama" spoken in the whiniest voice possible, on repeat, at our house.

Wanna come over?

Is it just my kids? Does this happen with everyone? Because it feels like just me. Tell me this is normal! More importantly, tell me this will not last forever.

An Open Letter To My Pump

Dear Lansinoh Double Electric Breast Pump,

You know, I wasn't so sure about you at first. I knew I wanted to EBF Oren if I was able this time around. Things were going so well in that department that when I had to head back to work after 8 weeks of blissful maternity leave and round the clock nursing, I was sure you were going to ruin everything. I'd never pumped at work before - I thought it would be awkward and time consuming and stressful. I thought everyone would know what I was doing in there and it would be really, super wierd. But guess what? They did know what I was doing in there and guess what else? No one gave a crap. I also worried I wouldn't be able to make it work. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pump enough to meet my hungry little dude's needs. Or that I wouldn't be able to take the time out of every day to get it done and I was so afraid I would have to supplement.

But we didn't! He never needed a single drop a formula! And it was all thanks to you! Turns out we make a really great team, you and me. And besides washing your millions of little pieces-parts every single day, twice a day...I'm actually going to miss you. We had a lot of good times in that little private bathroom together. I actually kind of began to enjoy those twenty minute breaks in my day where I'd sit down with a good book and relax a little while I pumped...I know...it surprised me too!

But now Oren's one, and he's onto sippy cups and whole milk, and our time together has finally come to an end. And it's really unfortunate because I'm sort of going through an Amy Tan phase right now and this not pumping anymore thing is really putting a wrench into my reading time. But the point is, we made it through the year together. A whole year and we made it work. If you can't tell - I'm really proud of us.

So anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and give you a high five or a fist bump or something because, we did it. We so totally did it.

Love,
me

I've Been Waiting All Year For You

hello, little beauties. 

you smell so unbelievably good.

thanks for making my day, today.

...hope you all have some lilies of the valley in your life today, too.

and happy may to you!