tales from a social network addict

Mom, you don't need to use an offset spatula, a butter knife will do...

2011-04-19T19:18:00.005-05:00

Obviously, blogging has taken a backseat lately to, oh, you know maintaining a FULL TIME growing business and family, but, I seriously worry that, little moments like the ones below and snapshots of time periods in our life will fade to forgotten memories if not captured in writing. Without further ado, I'm going to really really try to write more down... "try" is the operative word in that last sentence (see how I cleverly bolded and italicized it for emphasis?!), so I'll either see you later this week.. or months..or years... we'll see!

We're on the cusp of Shane's third birthday and it's just a regular old Tuesday night in the Delanty household, save for the major storms rolling through this evening that has the kids joining us for an extended period of time this evening. So, in light of their later bedtime, I decided to let them help me do a little internet research - actually, to let them do some "pinterest-ing" with me, to which that almost three year old asked me, "mommy, where are the internets - where do they come from?" to which I could only answer.. ."uhh... well, I'm not sure.. probably Al Gore... " which seemed to satisfy him enough.

We decide to start by looking for some example birthday cake ideas - I have priorities people. So, from the other room, Bridget hears Shaney and I discussing baseball birthday cakes and comes sprinting in (apparently she has priorities, too) and then the following innocent enough conversation just made me realize how hilarious this time in my life is:

b: What are you making on the computer?
me: We're looking at ideas for Shaney's birthday cakes.
b: What kind of a cake?
m: I don't know, maybe a baseball field or baseball shaped cupcakes.
b: Well, well (said with that four year old - I'm so excited I can't quite get the words out as fast as my brain wants to say them) then you need to (and I swear, this is pretty much verbatem) consult (she seriously used that word) Liv (she pronounces it "leaf") Hansen in the Betty Crocker Kitchens at howdini.com.
m: What? (laughing because she recited it EXACTLY like that - you could tell it was ingrained in her little brain that way...)
b: (frustrated at my lack of knowledge, sighs and says it much louder in hopes that then I will know what she means...) LEAF Hansen from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

I realize she is referring to the you tube videos she watches on cake making on my iphone/and or ipad and is basically a walking 4 year old commercial for videos like this (one of her favs - "leaf" shows up around 30 seconds in) and this (flip flops - her "second favorite" Liv arrives sporting a short pixie cut around 20 secs this time).

While I kind of felt like a bad parent for letting her watch all these you tube videos (usually right at bed time - can you say sleep issues in her adult future) they certainly came in handy this past easter weekend as she advised me on "dome cuts" and "crumb coats" as we worked on our easter baking projects.

so, there you have it, a little snap shot into a tuesday night in the delant household.

who needs lubely's when you have your own personal mini betty crocker?

Cutest little models - even if they did ruin two of the products

2010-10-25T09:01:00.003-05:00

More to come.. I'm saving the real gems for my site.. stay tuned!

Funny Stuff, pardon the sacreligiousness of it all though.

2010-09-20T10:56:00.008-05:00

Subject: If Facebook Existed Years Ago…

Three months almost? Is that right?

2010-08-12T09:43:00.003-05:00

Anywho, not that anyone is out there reading this anymore, but I wanted to preserve this video, cause 1, I love Jimmy Fallon and mark my words, one day he will be one of the funniest late night shows on tv and 2) this is pretty freaking hilarious.

So hilarious in fact, I had to make this:

Jo Frost, I'm banking on you.

2010-05-28T22:24:00.001-05:00

Anytime I feel I've lost control of something I have an overwhelming need to reel that control back in...shocking isn't it? So after my last blog post i thought I'd show my two remaining readers what arrived today.

I'm putting my money on supernanny how about you?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right

2010-05-27T11:01:00.010-05:00

Alternate title: My parents and brother seriously still love me? How is that possible?

Hello friends, no for reals, it's me. Here I am! Hello! Apparently starting a new business endeavor completely on your own and branching off from every form of income as you previously knew it, makes for a pretty busy lifestyle. So, I'm not going to try and make up for time lost and write about all the past three months, instead I'm just going to drop a big, heaping, steaming pile of complaints and poor-me whining on y'all. So, without further ado, here we go...

I wasn't exactly the "easiest" of all children. I'm pretty sure my parents will verify this. I have memories of points in my life, in what I know was very young childhood, where I would purposefully see how far I could push my parents. I needed control, I needed to be in charge and when I couldn't be or didn't get my way, I would TRY and insight anger in them even, try to get them to break. And, when they were completely at their wits end? Oh yeah, that's when I'd push even harder.

As I result, I logged many hours in a particularly awful corner of our living room, in a perfectly awful red velvet chair known only as the dreaded "quiet chair" (basically the 1980's version of time-out). I'm pretty sure if there was a bar graph of time spent in the quiet chair, Erin vs. Mark, my brother's would look like a tiny little adobe home, that barely stuck out of the ground, but that sat next to a towering skyscraper - the largest in the world. In fact, go ahead and just look at what I found when I googled this phrase: quiet chair hours logged erin vs. mark jones. Once in that chair, I would go into silent destruction mode - I would bite, punch and pick at the threads on the chair as if to punish it for being so red and velvet and AWFUL. This sounds pretty harsh, but I'm ashamed to say it's all true. I. Was. Difficult.

Well, guess what friends? Pay back is a bitch. I thought the "terrible" two's were rough. Hahahah what did I know, it's all relative, right? I spit on you and your mild tantrums, terrible twos. YOU WERE NOTHING then and you are nothing now.

The tantrums of the first part of 2010 have been unlike anything I have ever witnessed as a parent, or actually, just as a living, breathing, human being. The only thing they remind me of is... well, myself. Oh, and also a few choice scenes from a particularly well-known movie about being possessed, save for head spinning, at least - knock on wood- so far. Oh my god, the appreciation I have for my parents is beyond words. This is really hard. To watch your sweet, loving, caring little babygirl turn to serious exorcist-type behavior is just heartbreaking. And the cause? You name it - bedtime, nap time, morning time, Shane looked at her funny, she wants her Dora shoes, she doesn't want her Dora shoes, she's breathing.

To be fair, she is not like this daily, but it does happen and honestly it happens more often then I'd care to admit. I hate to be angry with her and I hate to feel any kind of bad feelings toward her, but in those moments, the moments where she's kicking me in the stomach from her bed or refusing to say sorry to Shane while screaming the shrillest most awful screams at the top of her lungs as he stands close by with the most confused little boy look, I have to honestly say, I don't like her much. Don't get me wrong, I love the hell out of that little girl, but those times, oh those times, those times are hard. Sidebar: Li'l g, I, in all seriousness, apologize to you, too. I'm pretty sure you probably wore those same confused little brother - what the hell is wrong with my sister, she's scaring the crap out of me - looks a time or two (or forty or fifty) and honestly, 30 years later, that breaks my heart, too.

I feel like we try every technique in our arsenals and usually all of them at once during one "episode" and while I keep telling myself this is a phase and it will get better, I honestly am afraid, very afraid. Because, well, I know myself. And "myself" took a LONG TIME to stop resisting authority or restrictions, and well, umm, actually maybe I'm still working on that. And, honestly, that scares me, because she reminds me so much of myself. Yikes.

In fact, most of the time, when Tim and I are discussing what to do, or buying the latest book on "scream-free parenting" (which, btw, I do not endorse as I have yet to read this book - finding it somewhat unrealistic for me, but I'm still going to try) he likes to remind me of the unfairness of it all. He was not that bad of a child, he did not destroy furniture out of anger or even kick or hit his parents or siblings, well, except for that one thumb biting incident and I can't even remember if he was the "biter" or "instigator" in that one....so, why is he subject to this cruel karma? Fair enough, Delant, fair enough.

So, there you have it - the big pile of parent (poor-me-and-my-daughter's-tantrums) whining. Now, I would be lying if I didn't admit there's a small part of me that admires this in her. I can't help it. She is determined, driven, full of emotion and opinionated. And, even through these awful fits and scream-a-thons, she is still one of the most loving, caring little people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Who knows, may be one day in the future she'll have trouble keeping up with her blog.. or whatever they are by then... because she is too busy taking on her own business (or even the world) so SHE can be the one in charge.

PS - If any of you have any words of wisdom/advice/so been there/hang in there sister/ about this which does not involve the following duh information:

Don't let them get to hungry/too sleepy
Keep a consistent bedtime routine
Stay calm, keep your voice low

I'd love to hear it! :)

Valentine's Day fun 2010

2010-02-15T08:38:00.002-06:00

Loving the sprinkles and chocolate -
she turned her nose up at the cream cheese frosting.. what?!?!

He, however, did not. Got milk?

I couldn't get this kid in from the snow.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Damn Snucks

2010-02-02T10:47:00.008-06:00

Monday, the highlights: Bridgey is running around super excited that she gets an "extra home day" because, even though she seemed totally fine, we *think* had a fever the night before (could have also been operator error on the new ear thermometer) and was coughing and up a lot so we decide to keep her home anyway; Tim is trying to beat the breakfast deadline at school with Shane since we all woke up pretty late due to aforementioned 3 year old up a lot; and the dogs are freaking out ready to eat and go out.

Tim and Shane finally get out the door and I feed the dogs and let them out while starting to retreat upstairs to finish getting ready when I hear a louder than usual commotion outside, and that's saying something. I yell to Bridget to open and let them in and shortly after she tells me she needs help. Strange, I think, but go down only to be greeted with a terrible smell in the kitchen - a terrible, unmistakable smell of.... skunk... SKUNK - Seriously!!?? SKUNK IN MY BACKYARD ??#$%@#%??!!!

Bridget says her usual bad smell line of, "Ewwwie, I smell something stinkkkkkkkyyyyyyyyy". Freaked out I go out on the deck to barely see a puff of black scurrying (I guess they scurry, right?) under my neighbor's fence. I can't even write what was going through my head or what I might or might not have said outloud as I prayed the dogs didn't actually get - bleechh - sprayed. Thankfully, somehow they didn't (although they didn't smell great) and I quickly brought them in, closed the door. Case closed, right? Dodged a stinky bullet there, didn't we? Well, except... except for the fact I have a three year old. A VERY inquisitive three year old who spent her entire home day asking the following OVER AND OVER AND OVER:

"Mommy, mommy, what is a SNUCK?"
"How did that snuck get there?"
"Where is that snuck's mommy?"
"Did the snuck go home?"
"Did Riley and Brogan eat the snuck?"
"Is the snuck going to eat Riley and Brogan?"
"Why is the snuck stinky?"
"Is it because he ate something bad?"
"Where does he live?"
"Is the snuck going to get in our house?"

Funny for us, at some point, she progressed to yelling at the snuck:

"GET OUT OF HERE SNUCK"
me -yeah, get out of here snuck

"RILEY AND BROGAN ARE GOING TO GET YOU"
me - that's not nice, we don't want the boys to get any animals

"I DON'T LIKE SNUCKS" me - why? snucks are nice, SUPER NICE in fact

"MOMMY THE SNUCK IS BACK - IT'S BAAAAAAAAAAAACK"
this was not true, but did send me running to the back door and then opened a dialogue about telling the truth to mommy

"THAT SNUCK IS GONNA GET ME" me-no it's not, bridgey, again snucks are actually very nice animals, sweet, adorable in fact, they wouldn't hurt a fly...

Finally, eventually, for Tim's sanity (since he mostly stayed home with her that day) she went back to playing with toys and not talking about the "snuck" anymore. Whew, case FINALLY closed? Weeeeeellllllllll, except for that other little problem of a 3 year old's memory....

Me: "Night night babygirl, I love you, see you in the morning..."
Bridget: "Night night, Mommy. Mommy, I can't close my eyes tonight.
(she always says this, btw)
Me: "Yes, you can, just lay here and watch your fishies and think happy thoughts...."
Bridget: No, mommy, I really can't tonight...the snuck is going to get me..."

Update: still sucky, but there is light

2010-01-29T10:14:00.004-06:00

I haven't managed to completely turn off the Josh Groban quite yet, but I have noticed there aren't the darkest clouds floating over my head anymore. Although, isn't it weird when you are going through a grieving process how you kind of feel bad when you don't feel as bad? It's like, wait I should still feel really bad, but it's nice to not feel so bad. Emotions = all mixed up. I'm almost worried that by next week I won't feel nearly as bad and then does that mean I'm forgetting or not caring as much anymore? I know it doesn't obviously, but it's even a little scary to me that someday I'll be "okay" with all of this even though it is soooo not okay.

Allright, that's my update for now, I just noticed New Kids on the Block are on t.v. and grandma would want me to watch this. Although, she would also remind me that having all those pictures taped up all over my walls was not cool with her back in the day.

Happy Friday/Weekend everybody.

Suckerpunched (alternate title - this post is a major downer you've been warned)

2010-01-26T10:56:00.007-06:00

One week ago.

It was one week ago I lost a woman I've admired and looked up to my entire life. It was one week ago I realized things I've known and looked forward to my entire life will never be again. It was one week ago that a piece of childhood I've carried with me into adulthood died. One week ago I lost grandma. One miserable, no good, very bad week.

I feel cheated, I feel sad, I can still break into tears at any unexpected moment during the day. One week and she is gone. She's supposed to be coming up here, she's supposed to be making Grandpa soup in Georgia, she's supposed to be complaining about squirrels eating the bird seed, she's supposed to be watching Sean and Jackson play baseball this spring. She's supposed to be lots of thing, what she's not supposed to be is gone.

The funny thing is I have it easy. I'm back home with my kids, my husband and my "normal" life, even though nothing quite feels normal yet. I think of my Georgia family and the fact that they are in her house everyday where it smells like her and where her slippers and cane sit by the bed waiting for her to come home. I think of Grandpa and how his wife of 63 years is suddenly not sleeping next to him in bed anymore. I think of my mom and aunt and uncles who lost their mommy and I honestly can't imagine how hard that is if it's this hard on me. I think of my cousins in Georgia who are much younger and who are used to seeing her everyday. Maybe all of this is actually making it harder on me since I feel so useless 500 miles away. I can't do anything to help ease the pain there and I'm just supposed to be back home and ok - like a week ago before everything suddenly changed.

My heart is so split right now. I long to be back in Georgia grieving and healing with my extended family, but at the same time selfishly want to be here with my kids who ease the pain just by being them.

When people ask how I'm doing, I say that it's hard but that I was lucky to have her for so long - but the truth is, I'd like to tell them I feel like shit, that my heart is broken and wasn't ready to stop making memories with her. Of course, then I feel selfish because I realize she was 86 and that she did live a very full life, and believe me I'm grateful for that, but that just doesn't seem to matter to my heart right now. It hurts like crazy and wishes she had 96 or 106 years like I would have bet my life savings she would have.

I keep trying to find comfort in something the Minister said. He said that the grief that we're all feeling, the heartache - that's the price we pay for loving someone. It's so true and surprisingly comforting for me. When I cry, when I don't feel like doing anything but curling up on the couch with the blanket she knitted me, I think of those words. I feel this way because I loved her so much. I'm paying a relatively small price right now in exchange for 34 years of loving my Gram.

I think this week is just getting to me more than I anticipated, everything moved so fast last week there wasn't much time to catch your breath. So, now that I'm back home it's just been a little bit of a rough adjustment. I'll be okay, though, I'm just paying the price for love and it's a price I'd pay a million times over for the time I spent with my Grandma. Just don't be suprised if you ask how I'm doing and I tell you the truth....

Hopefully I will return to unregularly scheduled happy blogging sometime in the near future. For now, please excuse this downer post, but this is a good outlet for an emotional Jones like me, too bad I didn't get more of those Schubert genes... Grandma would probably be mad at me for being this much of a downer. She'd tell me turn off the Josh Groban and pull myself together. So, I'm going to try that, I'll let you know how it's going next week.

Does this count?

2010-01-13T10:47:00.001-06:00

Soon, peeps, soon. I promise. I have much to say (when don't I) but t-shirts and life are taking up too much of my time right now.

Ps - Loaded TONS of holiday pics on my picasa account for those who are closely related and don't mind looking through hundreds of photos of my kids/neice/family.

50% trance, 50% dance party

2009-11-09T21:35:00.004-06:00

My little Taylor Swiftaholic. AKA "the t-shirt song" is all we listen to ALL THE TIME, all day every day. I don't even know how it started, but it's here and surely a sign of things and obsessions to come...the video is kinda long and the sound is bad, but too funny nonetheless, that I had to post it for future posterity.

Halloween Eve - Fun for Everyone

2009-10-30T22:38:00.003-05:00

The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think?

And we're off...the longest most random post of all time.

2009-10-29T08:19:00.014-05:00

It only took almost 18 months, but he has turned the corner, literally...Shane is officially a walker!!! Just one of the many bonuses of this new found walking is that it basically happened over a weekend. He went from one step here and there to full blown no turning-back-now walking. I think I even saw him run a little yesterday when Bridget made a move toward blue doggie (which he has now decided to call "puppy" for some reason unknown to me since I've never called it anything but blue doggie, but whatever...)

So, as we've known since birth, when he wasn't even interested in breathing on his own, he's a little guy with his own agenda. Stubborn from the get go. My theory is that since Tim and I were the ones who decided it was time for him to be born instead of when he was "ready", he decided to stick it to us ever since by doing everything at his own pace, when he's good and ready. All I can say is thank goodness he wasn't my first or I would have spent every spare moment googling "12 month old not walking", "12 1/2 month old not walking", "13 month old not walking", "13 1/2 month....okay, overstating it a bit.... As it was I only had to google two things, "11 month old not really crawling" and "late walkers". See? See how much I improved internet friends? And if you believe that I have a time share in Arizona... no really, I do!

So, just to appease all you Shaneyheads out there (that's what his groupies call themselves) here's a video of my little drunken sailor from last night to show you his progress. Pardon the craziness that is my house and the bitchiness that is me, but, for the record, he never did call the dogs...

One more fun video for the week so you can also get your Bridgey fix - revolves around Halloween. Big day tomorrow for the kiddos as they have their Halloween party and Bridget gets to go trick or treating with "Grandfriends". Grandfriends is a fun program with the Senior Living Center right by her school - they go and visit them every Friday and play games, tell stories, etc. This Friday is the big day! Her first time getting to go on Halloween and we're told by the teachers that they "really clean up there". She is so "exciting".

Here we are last night preparing our treat bags for the big Par-Tay. For inquiring minds, that is strawberry milk all over her shirt...

Lastly, because OMG, this is too funny/embarrassing/horrible/___ fill in your own adjective/parenting... (make sure you click to enlarge)

HAPPY ALMOST HALLOWEEN!!

Cuteness Score = 10

2009-10-26T15:43:00.007-05:00

With a little help from my friend, Photoshop, I love this picture of all the kiddos at the pumpkin patch. The only one missing is Miss Rachel since I somehow don't have a picture of her standing by the fence. If anyone has one, let me know and through the magic of computers, we'll have all five of them.

On another note, thanks for all the dress me help this past week. I've actually had three separate people comment on the fact that I look like I've been losing weight. Given that I've done nothing but gain weight the past few months, I can only attribute their comments to my dressing style. So, I owe you all. Muchas Gracias. Here's one of my new looks:

Except, add leggings, flats and about 40 pounds.

Dress me, PLEEEEEEEASSEEEEE

2009-10-15T12:34:00.004-05:00

I need help, internets. I have a fashion problem (as you may remember). Keep in mind, I don't work in a "real" office so I don't need nice (read: uncomfortable) business clothes, but I am TIRED of my existing fashion style (read: nonexistent style). One can only own so many pairs of yoga pants, t-shirts and hoodies.

I'm turning to you all, my little Stacy and Clinton's, tell me what look should I go for this fall? I do have to go on appointments during the week and I still consult at a very casual office a couple days a week, so I need something.. .but what?

Take today for example, a longsleeve Dave Matthews Band tee (circa 2000) coupled with a Banana Barts t-shirt, blue comfy pants from about 1998, and white ankle socks. I am the picture of style.

I just want to feel better about my clothes and myself and I'm placing that burden on you all now. I know I have stylish friends reading this RIGHT now. Please help, I'm begging... Ideas? Links? Photos? Therapists? I'll take them all!

Is this good or awful? Too old? Too stupid? See, I have no idea...

Or something like this: Too young? Too stupid? Too purpley?

Whatever you suggest, trust me, it has to be better than this:

Screw 'em! I like posting videos.

2009-10-08T08:48:00.004-05:00

This one is in honor of the Blues first 2009 NHL season game tonight. Big sports day, St. Louisians, HUGE sports day in fact, Cards, Blues, Tigers...oh my!

Seriously, though, you will not regret this 1 minute of your life if you watch this, too funny and too cute.

Don't know what this is? This might help:

I don't care, I'm going to try to fight City Hall

2009-09-25T08:52:00.012-05:00

I'm motivated peeps. I haven't been this motivated since taco bell took away the fresco menu at my location. This morning on my usual morning routine I headed to QT to pick up a coffee and get my roomie a diet coke (closer than Starbucks on work at home days and they have a new Pumpkin Spice flavoring that's pretty tasty). Fine, right? It was a good QT trip, even talked to a nice police officer as we joked about the fountain soda machine and wished each other good days. Then we held hands and skipped out the door together in perfect civilian/servant harmony. Okay, that didn't happen but ironically I left feeling pretty good about the nice exchange. So good in fact, I decided to pop across the street to Sonic for a little morning pick me up. This is where things go down hill rapidly.

After receiving my delicious breakfast burrito (of course, what else?) I proceed home with all my morning treasures. Now, this won't mean much to you until I get the pictures and OH YES THERE WILL BE PICTURES, but the Sonic is on the corner of Sulphur Springs and Big Bend. So, to leave you can turn left on to either Sulphur Springs (an easy two lanes of traffic that is not very busy) or Big Bend (a busy four lanes with a turn lane right past an intersection). I proceed to leave the Sulphur Springs way, look both ways there is no traffic, make a left onto SS and proceed onto Big Bend at which point I notice a police officer behind me. Hmm I think, he kinda just ran that light behind me.... didn't take long to find out why as a few 100 yards down Big Bend and his lights pop on and this is where I'm pretty sure I threw up a little. I don't get pulled over, I've only been pulled over twice my entire life and one time was not my fault (I'm talking to you Delanty siblings) and I don't do well with authority as we all know.

I had a feeling it was either my headlight (but how did he see) or a rear corner light (I've got lots of light problems right now). *Please, please let it be a light.* Sadly, it was not a light. Apparently, you are not supposed to turn left across two lanes of slow traffic, but rather risk your life across 4 lanes (and a turn lane) on a very busy section of Big Bend to go left. I thought, ok, surely he will just slap me on the wrist, tell me not to do it again and send me on my way, I mean that must be the reason for my nice exchange with another SLC police officer moments before at QT, right? Wrong. Police Officer Kharma = FAIL.

Only moments after he AGREED with me that it was more dangerous to turn left across all of the Big Bend lanes rather than where I turned, said he didn't understand the no left either, and all but admitted to doing it himself, he handed me a good old moving violation and told me to drive safely. DRIVE SAFELYYYYYYYY???!!!! Really, cause that's what I WAS DOING when you gave me a ticket for it and told me to instead risk my life and others crossing 4 lanes of busy Big Bend traffic. Yes, I did "fail to obey a no left turn sign" BUT I might have saved lives. Okay, I am being just a teeny bit dramatic, but tell me peeps - do I have any case here? (Also, the sign is kinda bent over to the left a bit, but in fair disclosure, is there).

I called the County Clerk immediately when I got home to begin the next phase of the ticket, I like to think of this as the "whining" phase. It goes something like this (be sure to drag each phrase out in your head in dramatic whining fashion as you read):

-But, it's nooooooooooot riggggggggght
-It's soooooooo much more dangerousssssssssssssss
-It doesn't make annnnnnnnnnnnny sense
-There was NOOOOOOOOO ONE arounddddddddd
- WHY WHY WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
-It'ssssssssssssss not fairrrrrrrrrrrrr

So, to review:

There is no such thing as Police Officer Kharma
It is better to put yourself in a more dangerous situation then to disobey traffic signs
Don't eat at Sonic

Any questions?

Also, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Is it even worth it to try and fight this or is it as black and white as sign/left turn? I think I know the answer, but damned if I'm not motivated to try.

Happy Freaking Friday to me.

ps - On a positive note, this did spur me out of my blogging funk, or then again, maybe your thinking that's not even positive either...

Cop Out Video Post for your Wednesday Enjoyment

2009-09-09T12:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry, but this is pretty funny. Especially you Twilight fans out there.

"Don't look at me - I'm bothered!!"

It's her birthday today, tomorrow & the next day, at least if you ask her.

2009-08-26T12:21:00.004-05:00

Such a momma's girl when it comes to birthdays, isn't she?

Happy third, babygirl!

To tube or not to tube, there really is no question

2009-08-12T09:30:00.005-05:00

This post could also be titled: sorry about the gross illustrations. The one below kinda makes me gag. Your welcome.

So, this Friday is Shaney's big tube day. We were originally going to wait out the summer to see if he developed one in the "off" season, but after three or four or five or actually after one seemingly constant ear infection with a week break here and there, the decision became quite clear - tube and tube it now.

After seeing an ENT and looking at the piece of paper which shows how clearly Shane is hearing, the decision was easy. Well, after that and when the ENT said, "whoa, more than 8 ear infections and he's HOW old? Yup, I think this one is a no brainer." And then ESPECIALLY after he told me my baby's been living in a tunnel probably for most of his life. You know that muffled sound when you have water in your ears or as my brother said when you plug up your ears? Well that's about what my baby boy has heard most of his whole life. They said chances are good that even when he doesn't have an infection, he has significant fluid build up causing muffled hearing, inner ear balance issues, etc. I've said for months now, he just doesn't seem like he likes standing or walking. Like it bothers him some. And now I think, maybe it does. Maybe his ear issues have messed up his balance and walking just isn't very comfortable for him. I guess we'll see after this week how much better things get.

It's amazing how many kids/babies get tubes. I've hardly mentioned it to anyone who doesn't know someone that has them or got them as toddlers. So, while I'm not looking forward to the "surgery" as they call it, (I like to think of it more as a "procedure" I like that word better) and mostly I just don't like to think of him being under anesthesia as I HATED that as a kid, hell I'd hate it as an adult, but I know this is what we need to try.

So by friday, well maybe Saturday, we fully expect Shaney will be speaking in full sentences and running a 500 yard dash faster than any of his peers as the fluid will finally be gone, gone, gone and hopefully will not be back to mess with my boy's ears any more!

I'll keep any interested parties on notice via twitter, but I'd love it if you keep the little man in your thoughts Friday morning and send some good ear vibes his way and that his post op will be speedy and we'll have a happy little guy by the weekend! :)

ps - I know some of you readers have first hand experience with tubes in little ones, so any advice/wisdom/presents you can send my way will be appreciated, especially presents, lots of lots of pretty presents!

The Bird Whisperer

2009-07-31T10:38:00.010-05:00

I won't capture this in it's hilarious entirety, so I'm not even going to try, but yesterday Tim came running up in my office with a stunned, worried look on his face saying something to the degree of, "I have a special project for you, no, really you're going to like it..." To which my mind quickly wandered to filling out a form with carbon triplicate (hard to come by these days) or picking off the clear plastic covers on shiny parts of new electronics or something equally as AWESOME as those things, only to hear him follow it up with, "There's a bird in the house."

"Like a real life effing bird?" I questioned as he shook his head yes. People, I like a lot of stupid, mundane things, but bird wrangling has never been high on the list. However, I did realize that out of the two of us in the house at the time, I was definitely the best person for the job. I only got halfway down the stairs before hearing the unmistakable flapping/chirp/splat sounds of a bird flinging itself against the ceiling. I retreated, a bird in your house is scarier than I thought. Even a teeny tiny little sparrow has great freak out power when it's flapping around your dining room.

In the end, though, I was definitely satisfied with the outcome of project "get the bird out of the house without killing it or injuring myself". I used a towel, my best bird "chirp chirp chirp, cheepy, cheep" impression and got him while he was (very heartbreakingly) throwing himself at the window in a desperate effort to get away from the crazy lady with a towel shouting bird-people sounds at him. Luckily, he slowed down for a bit and I was able to gently surround him with the towel and very softly carry him to the front door where as he was flying away he looked over his shoulder and let out the sweetest, "peep peep" in a grandiose thank you moment. Pwahaahah, that last part is such bullshit, but it would have been a great ending. He did fly off seemingly uninjured and untraumatized by the whole experience.

The best part of this story is we can't figure out how the hell the bird got in the house nor how long it had been in there for. Is it possible this bird's been living it up in the house for hours or days? We do leave our back door open occasionally for the boys but at the time Tim saw the bird hop down the hallway and look at him, the door was closed and had been closed for all intensive purposes since last night.

Now for the weirdest part (and no not that picture), this whole bird episode occurred during our work day while the kids were at school and at no point last night did birds in the house ever come up when the kids were home. However, as I was putting Bridget to bed last night part of our routine is to go potty before night night and she usually walks in there by herself no problem. Well, last night she kept trying to get me to go with her. Upon pressing her on the issue, I swear on my favorite Jimmy Buffett t-shirt, she looked at me and said, "No, mommy, I don't want to go by myself, I think the birdie is going to get me." When I pressed her further, she added, "The little birdie, he will jump up on me and get me."

Okay, I think we need to start keeping our doors closed a little more since apparently we are hosting a bird hotel over here and we didn't even know it...either that or we need to enroll Bridget in psychic school...

I can't find time to blog about Vacation or 7 year wedding anniversaries, but...

2009-07-30T10:19:00.004-05:00

I somehow find time to spend 1/2 hour creating the perfect Mad Men avatar for myself.

My love interest Don Draper and me, Lizzy Jones (that's the name I've chosen for my 1960's Mad Men self) Can't you just see me with the other ladies drinking cocktails and smoking:

I don't smoke, but when in Rome (or in the early 60's).

Well, what are you waiting for, go Mad Men yourself, RIGHT NOW.

i blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top

2009-07-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

If you really must know, One Life to Live is the drug of choice.

2009-06-26T10:14:00.012-05:00

Just thought inquiring minds might like to know, I've gotten 3 billable hours in before ten. Unlike last week or the week before that... GOOOOOOOO MEEEEEEEEEEE!

I'm working on updating this site right now. Originally designed circa 2000 by a talented Custom Web Employee at the time who may or may not have been my, recent-grad-looking-for-a-job-in -engineering-but-in-the-meantime-I'll-design-websites-for-my-sister's [very successful]-company, brother. Ha! See how I snuck very successful in there? Very successful indeed, that is if you define success by that ability to watch soap operas all day and make barely enough money to cover the $450 rent I had to pay my parents for the house I lived in with my cousin. Note to myself: you probably owe your parents a lot of money from that "successful" time. Note to my parents: the preceeding was what we in the industry refer to as "blog humor", just so you know.

Anyhoo, back to the present - while I realized it would be hard to top the innovative and progressive web design from that talented designer, I did finally convince my client that it was time to step up the look a bit. (I'm so 3000 and 8, you're so 2000 and late). So, finally, here's what we're working on. Only the home page and outdoor/indoor services work currently. Unfortunately, I did not have as much luck, convincing them to "update" the logo from 1946, so we're working with it and I'm trying to deal with the fact that I cannot control this however difficult that may be, and trust me it's not easy.

But, SEE?!! I still design websites everybody. It doesn't happen very often since I' m kinda busy working on things like this and this and don't even ask about this, this or this (this is still gonna happen someday A-Le, maybe for your third? :)), not to mention bigger clients like this or this or this (we're still in development), but you know, every once in a while I make time for an old friend, the good old basic small business web design that started it all. And, for the record, while I do a little better for myself than I did in 2000, I still watch soap operas all day long. Really.

That's all - Happy Weekend.

It's OFFICIAL - she is daddy's little girl!

2009-06-25T11:06:00.010-05:00

Bridget's room had a "campout" yesterday - we'd been talking it up all week and she was very excited asking Monday and Tuesday if it was "camp day" yet. When the day finally came, the teachers didn't mess around! The campout was complete with a tee pee, tents (made by draping sheets they had decorated over tables), a campout lunch, smores for dessert, and a construction paper campfire brought to life with a mini fan and a guitar for singing songs around the campfire.

The kids brought flashlights, a sleeping bag (she brought her Elmo sleeping bad and was the envy of every other two year old - thanks Aunt Kim and Uncle Mark), and a special "friend" (stuffed animal) to come along (I'm sure none of you can guess who Bridget brought)! It was so cute and the kids were so excited that I was super excited to hear all about it when I picked her up. So, without further ado I give you the conversation concerning the campout:

Me: Bridgey! How was the campout?

Bridget: MOMMY!!!! I went POOP ON THE POTTY AT SCHOOL! (Near screaming)

Me: I know, we already high-fived and talked about that, that's great! But, I want to talk about the campout. Did you go in your tent with your sleeping bag?

Bridget: um, yeah.

Me: Did you eat smores and hotdogs and-

Bridget (cutting me off): Mommy, I don't want to talk to [about] camping more. I want to talk to [about] going POOP ON THE POTTY AGAIN.

And, end scene...

Who wouldn't want to follow that?

2009-06-24T08:35:00.004-05:00

I went to who the tweet today to see about following some folks and finally checked what people might find out about me. It wasn't the best news really, and pretty much confirms I won't be winning any "most interesting tweeter" awards anytime soon:

So, I have a baby that I love, but I am jealous and happy and sometimes need help with Bridget and my husband and I'm excited about my office. Congrats!

If you're a tweeter, go check yourself out, chances are I already have...

Another Friday, another VERY busy morning...

2009-06-19T09:41:00.010-05:00

I've been working very hard again this morning, doing very important things like perpetually obsessing over the black kitty, following a developing story in my front yard concerning the reincarnation of one famous hibisucus plant and it's new role as a brothel for beatles, and lastly, reading up on Donnie Wahlberg's twitter account while searching for NKOTB tickets. Which, can I just say, THANK GOD for my parents (and me) that there was no such thing as social media back in 1990 (but I did have AOL) or I don't think I would have ever surfaced from my room/phone/Donnie Wahlberg trance.

So, I need some help internet friends, in ~~playing around blowing off~~ working very hard this morning, I ~~completely on purpose~~ accidentally stumbled across this teen mag. In fact, I'm pretty sure I owned this one at some point, oh who am I kidding, I owned EVERY SINGLE ONE EVER MADE. But, upon close examination and after an extended Google search, I could not figure out who the hell that Tommy dude is? What am I missing? I mean, obviously this guy was a major catch, what with being the marrying kind and all. I'll bet some lucky gal out there is thanking her Tommy stars right now that she landed this prize. Help me out internet! Who IS TOMMY??

*Sidenote* Check out by Jordan's face - they have a web address!! How funny is that?
hanging-tough.org. First thought, a hypen? Really?! Second thought, .org? REALLY? This coudn't have been before .com's right? And, last time I checked, the hanging-tough non for profit organization was still in development, so this address is a bit of a mystery. I did try to go to this site, but sadly it is no longer live. Even the way back machine couldn't help solve this internet mystery...

Well, guess I better do a little real work, this internet washed-up-teen-idol searching is exhausting. Happy weekend to you all - we're off to KC for our annual (last annual?!) Cards/Royals game. Since Big D/Aunt Meme/my sister in law is moving back to the good ole' lou in a few weeks, this could possibly be our last pilgrimage to the KC for this fun event, so looks like this better be a good one, albeit a hot one. Let's go REDBIRDS!

*The shirtless guy in the background downing a beer is not with us, but he totally could be.

And there was NEVER a question....

2009-06-14T20:52:00.007-05:00

I picked up Bridget's weekly school sheet on Friday, reviewed my usual favorite, "funny things children say", section only to find this gem (click on image to view largest):

To clarify, the spilled beer incident happened AFTER I picked her up as I was not drinking at the school nor were any of her teachers.

Just another relaxing day in the pool....

2009-06-05T22:27:00.008-05:00

I'm single parenting it this weekend (along with Aimee) as the boys are off having their male bonding time playing golf. It's nice really as it gives Aimee and I the opportunity to enjoy special bonding time with our little ones. In fact, I thought I'd share this sweet video of how I'm spending my time while the boys are gone! Don't you wish you were here, too?

Hope you have a splashing good weekend!

This really should surprise noone.

2009-05-29T09:54:00.009-05:00

It's a little before 10am on friday. I'm sitting here wondering how it's 10am and I've got no billable hours in even though I've technically been up for almost 4 hours now. Let's review:

6am - got Baby Shane out of crib (note to babyshane: 6am is NOT COOL) dressed, fed and handed off to tpd to drop off early today.
6:45am - Babygirl is up (another note: this time, while more acceptable still does not fit into my approved toddler wake up time) and I get her dressed and up.
7:15am -Bridget and I leave to go get donuts since today is BS's last day in the infant room (sniff, sniff) - he graduates to the toddler room on Monday! So, we decide a Friday morning teacher appreciation Krispy Kreme donut run is in order.
7:30 am - Krispy Kreme. They are - no lie- out of donuts. Now, to be fair, their donut making machine is on the "fritz", but still... REALLY Krispy Kreme, REALLY?! Maybe we need to call in a 911 donut machine emergency and get it the f*ck fixed, but whatever, they still had a few sprinkled donuts left so Bridget was fine and we managed to leave with enough for the teachers at school. Sorry to all the poor suckas behind us that would get NO DONUTS FROM A DONUT STORE. As we left (we had to of course sit and eat a donut) they were actually turning people away empty handed.
8:30am - Back home from dropping off Bridget and ready to get to work. I finally make it up to my office, sit down with my fresh KK coffee (they weren't out of coffee luckily) start checking/responding to email when a little black kitty catches my eye. Oh! Could this be the black kitty that I've seen signs for all over the area? Probably not.. but what if... it gnaws at me to the point that I can't take it anymore. I'll spare you the ridiculous details, but 45 minutes of kitty tracking and one car ride to find the sign with the owners number and I'm finally back in my office. The kitty wanted nothing to do with me so the owner was going to take over the kitty tracking even though it was hard for me not to see it through. Currently, as of press time there is still no reunion, but I'll keep you posted.
9:25am -Back in the office ready to work. I hear a truck coming up the street (insert lightbulb) "shit, shit, the kidney foundation - I'm supposed to have had my stuff out by 6am... shit" Sprint down to the basement randomly start going through 85 boxes for anything I can donate. Grab two random bags of clothes and a basketball hoop thingy (?!) run up the driveway only to see that's not the right truck. Phew. Cut to me on my porch going through bags of clothes (I realize one of the bags is actually my summer clothes from the summer before I had Bridget) and I start saving random *still good* items just as a hear another truck and sure enough that's the Kidney foundation. The guy catches me hunched over pulling clothes out of my donation bags. The worst part is, there was still more good stuff in there, but I was too embarrassed to let him watch me pull crap out so I only made off with one jean skirt and red cardinals shirt.
9:55am - Brings us to now - instead of going back to work, I just spent another 15 minutes telling you all how I've frittered my morning away and, oh! Black kitty ALERT! She's back on my neighbor's doorstep. Gotta run....

Not even a cake as big as Montana could stop this girl!

2009-05-22T15:05:00.026-05:00

I'm so so late in giving proper props to my most adorable niece on her 1st big birthday! I would blame it on the 87 illnesses making their way through my household this month (which, btw, wtf May?) but let's face it, this is most likely a case of inborn Jones procrastination, always thinking I'll have time to get it done and then never quite getting it done before the deadline. Sound familiar Mark?

Anyway, last week was a very BIG week for Miss Amelia. I can't believe (I know it's cliched) but I really can't that it was a whole year ago that I posted this. What a night...oh man, what a night - you're totally humming that tune now aren't you? Well, if you weren't before, you're welcome now. Anyway, that night was so awesome. My emotions ranged from complete and utter disbelief to complete and utter edge of your seat can't sit still anticipation. I still feel bad I wasn't more excited initially when Kim called to tell me she thought her water just broke, but in my small defense, I was in a newborn sleeplessness haze myself when I got the news and I just couldn't wrap my head around it! I mean, she wasn't supposed to come for 4 more weeks, how could she be on her way - was all I could think. That whole night I texted back and forth with Kim (while in labor, I might add!) and had the best sleepless night ever knowing I would soon have a niece or nephew. Right before I got the news I was in the middle of a dream about the baby who was born perfect and beautiful and it was a girl. I still remember it so vividly to this day. So when the phone rang at 6am that morning, I knew SHE was here, even before my brother officially said it. To this day, that's still one of my favorite all time experiences. Some day I'll tell you about the other ones.

In the past year I've watched that teeny-tiny, little baby girl - who I so excitedly/loudly told the McDonald's drive thru lady the morning of her birth, "I'm going to meet my NIECE today, she was just born 3 hours ago - FOUR WEEKS EARLY, but everything's fine and she's PERFECT!!!" - grow from that little beautiful bean in the hospital into a wildly vivacious spirit. She is so full of wonder and spirit and determination - gosh, that babygirl is driven... a good mix of Mark's sticktuitiveness and Kim's drive. She is the happiest, sweetpea (as her mom would say and I think it fits her perfectly) of a babygirl most times, but can also hold her own with the big boys. I just know she is going to keep giving her cousins Shane (and soon enough Bridget) a run for their money.

So, Miss A, it's been an awesome first year being your Aunt and I can't wait to see you walk, talk, run after the big kids and everything in between - and just think - that will happen this year! I know I'll blink and be posting about how much you've changed this year, so I'm going to keep holding on to today's details and embracing tomorrow's new ones! You will always have my heart as my first Niece, and although someday I'll be more than happy to share that love, right now it's all yours babygirl - I love you! And don't ever forget that while your mommy will hook you up with cakes 3 times the size of your head, Aunt Erin's always got your back when it comes to burritos that size.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, Amelia!

Should I ask for my Cascading Style Sheets back?

2009-05-18T15:52:00.011-05:00

I've tried to write this post 10 times now and keep going back, not even knowing where to start. Today was one of the hardest days I've had over the course of my professional career. None of had to do with too many deadlines or 8 different clients needing something right THIS second (the usual hard days like, oh you know, every third day) - this was different. This was all about being treated with respect, fairness and professionalism. The interesting thing is, while I keep replaying the events of the meeting where things went so horribly wrong over and over like some bad loopy old time movie the ending is the same: I did good. I should be proud.

I was completely railroaded today, thrown under the bus for completely bogus and unfair reasons, the likes of which I don't even want to get into, but it was awful. I was talked down to, yelled at and even had the worst analogy known to man thrown in my face. We're talking Apples to Volkswagens here, people. You see it's like this, friends - imagine that Pujols is the client and I'm -shit I can't even think of a Cardinal pitcher right now -but I'm the pitcher and I throw a slider to him and he swings and doesn't even hit the pitch ANYWHERE NEAR OR IN THE ANALOGY BALLPARK - that is how bad this analogy was! Ah! See how I just used a terrible analogy to describe the worst analogy ever - I'm so crafty like that - who wouldn't hire me?!

Basically, today I went toe to toe with a man with over 40 years experience in business, apparently none of them in professionalism or honorable business, BUT, 40 years nonetheless and I DID NOT let him steamroll me. I was caught somewhat off guard, but I had that little gut feeling this might be coming. Like when a girl is starting to realize that he just may not be that into you, but you keep coming up with reasons why it's still ok. The fact is, I had learned of some circumstances that might lead to him trying to get out of a contract with me. But, here's the thing, I probably would have understood. Be honest, be upfront with me - give me the same professional respect I've always given you. Tell me the real deal. But, DO NOT make me feel like I'm not doing my job so you can slink away under the table and give someone else (who may or may not happen to be your son) business.

I've been lucky. My clients are awesome. I've created lasting personal relationships with the majority of them and I will miss two of the people at this company more than I should in a client/service provider relationship, but that's how I roll. I invest personally in these businesses, I watch out for them, I get involved, I know their kids, their grandkids, what college so and so just graduated from. So, a day like this was more disheartening than anything today. I've been with them for almost 10 years and I walked away, I said I couldn't work with someone that would talk to me and treat me like that. 10 YEARS and I've never broken up with a client like I did today and it seems all too familiar to other personal past breakups. Think I'm exaggerating? I'm sitting here at 11:30pm, listening to sad songs on pandora, blogging about something people don't care about, eating snacks and drinking a beer. What is wrong with me?! I'm full of ickiness (yeah, that's right - ickiness) and all I keep doing is trying to remind myself that I did absolutely nothing wrong and everything right by this company. But, the sadness is still there - the ladies cried when they hugged me (twice each) and walked me out - CRIED, asked me not to go. It was really very awful and yet if I separate myself from it, it's almost laughable. I didn't make much money from this client, I worked with them MAYBE once a month, but that is how much I care about these businesses I work for.

I'm trying to remind myself of the strength and confidence I had today, something the Custom Web Erin of 10 years ago couldn't have even fathomed, but no matter which way I cut it, today was painful and unfair and I think I better go eat some bon-bons now, cause dumping one of my clients has turned out to be a little harder than it should be.

So, internet peeps, got advice? A good therapist? Gallons of wine? What do I need to do to feel better about this?

And I mostly wondered how many people noticed the toilet wasn't clean...

2009-05-15T14:40:00.012-05:00

Well, it's taken me a full week to recap the baby's big 1st birthday weekend, but here it is. I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats.

The weekend started out awesome, baby shane was feeling better and back at school (hallelujah!) after being home sick for two days with a fever and double ear infections. I had one day to try and get caught up on work and pull off a miracle backyard birthday party, which, trust me, had you seen our house/backyard 24 hours earlier you would wholeheartedly believe in miracles.

Friday night, somewhere between the basement cleaning and the dominoes order, the guest of honor decided to wake up screaming. Long story short: all the screaming, inconsolability (is that even a word) and the fact that he had a low body temperature, land us in the E.R. Why this has happened twice when Aunt Meme is staying with us on the eve of a major event (Christmas Eve was the last time we were in the E.R.) is interesting to say the least and enticing me to put a ban on her staying here anymore and major holidays in general! Just kidding, Aunt Meme - you are very helpful and then we didn't have to worry about Bridgey so that was nice!

When all is said and done at the hospital (the new one in Fenton by the way - very nice, well, that is if you subtract the blood that was on the floor in our room - I know, I can't even think about it anymore) it is determined that the ear infections had gotten much worse even after 3 solid days of antibiotics. The doc at the hospital rates them a 10 on the severity scale...out of 10! ouch! Fast forward to 3:17 am, everyone is back from the hospital and tucked in to bed for what will hopefully be some nice hours of sleep... and eyes close... and 6:07am EYES OPEN.... Baby hollering, won't calm down again... Two pain relievers and a trip to starbucks later he's better and we determine it's time to give up on sleep and that we better start getting this place ready for a party.

I'm not sure how we pulled it off, but we did and it looked halfway like a birthday party - mostly thanks to this AWESOME cake by my friend from high school. SIDENOTE: If you ever need an awesome cake, email me and I'll hook you up with her. In the end, Baby/Toddler(?) Shane had a good time and rebounded to open some presents and try the cake...sort of.. and then it was off to bed for the birthday boy for some much needed post hospital/party rest! :) It was certainly a first birthday party to remember (or forget)! We definitely missed Grandma and Uncle Mark who, unbelievably, were at home with ear infections themselves. Guess they aren't quite as tough as the birthday boy (again, just kidding!)

I'm posting a few highlight pics here, but most will be up on my picasa/facebook accounts! PS - anyone else who has some, let me know as I'm seriously going to make a 1st birthday book for him. No, really, stop laughing, I mean it.

Lastly, in wrapping up the big 1 of my #2, I just wanted to highlight things that I notice about him right now. Read: majorly boring for most everyone so you can feel free to skip this part, but I like capturing these details!

Baby Shane, we still call you that and while I'm seeing it phase out a little, I have a feeling you might still be referred to as BS occasionally even when your 24.

You freaking LOVE any and every kind of ball. You have a borderline out of control ball obsession. You flap your little hands back and forth feverishly and omit a high pitched shrieking sound when you see a ball, hear one bounce, hell, probably even when you think of one - which might explain the random shrieking and hand flapping that comes out of nowhere. (Just kidding, don't worry mom.)

You LOVE your sister. Like no one else. She can make you smile almost every time. AND THE LAUGHING. Oh my god, the laughing. I have never been able to amuse you as much as she can and I have to say, that's very disappointing. You'd think I'd be able to pull out a few more humorous stops than a 2 year old, but that's not the case.

You are very clingy to me right now. And while I secretly love that fact, it does break my heart everytime I have to drop you off at daycare or leave you with someone and you start crying and reaching for me. That is not fun, but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless and wonder how long it will last.

You have an infectious smile. All I have to do is look at you most times and you get that big toothy grin. You really are the most gorgeous 1 year old little person on the planet.
You like to feed yourself, but if you don't like something, it will come right back out immediately. The face that accompanies the dislike is akin to how I look and feel when Ann Curry says something stupid, so I get it. It must be REALLY BAD.
You already seem to know when you are doing something wrong. You look at me with this little over the shoulder grin, like, 'how long am I going to get away with this for, mom'? And then you try it again and again each time upping the cuteness factor just a tad bit more seeing if I'll cave then. Those poor girls in your future. They are going to be in trouble with you, I can just tell. Rachel, fair warning, watch out for this one, he's crafty.

You are still my baby. You like to snuggle and I still like to hold on to every minute of every snuggle.

You ROCK and we love you baby boy.
Happy first year, beautiful boy.

To ensure a video overload, I've decided to just go ahead and make three...

2009-05-04T23:38:00.004-05:00

For my second video feat, a quick recap of Baby Shane's (first) First Birthday Celebration Friday night at Happy Joe's. Yes, I said Happy Joe's. Yes, I know he's only one. I have really fond birthday memories from that place, okay? So, I don't want to hear any HJ backtalk!

For my Beautiful Boy

2009-05-01T01:30:00.003-05:00

through joy, tears, sleep, sleeplessness, grins, giggles, fits, firsts and fun...
it's been an awesome first year with you!

Happy FIRST birthday, beautiful boy.

Riding the mushy rails, and I'm not sure when this train is pulling into the station

2009-04-22T08:26:00.008-05:00

I'm marking this day, Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 (still very much in my birthday season in case you were wondering) as a very important day for my first born. To many of you this may not mean much, but a lot of you will understand the extreme significance of the following words Bridgey said after we went in to get her this morning:

"I leave my wawa at home today, Daddy."

And just like that a little part of my heart sank. I'm so proud of her and so excited that all the work we've been putting in to giving her the self confidence and security to give up wawa (her pacifier for those of you who don't speak Bridget) is paying off, but when she completely of her own volition said those words before even getting out of bed in the morning, it was a little more suprising and heartbreaking than I expected.

I then watched her do all the things she usually does in the morning without wawa. She didn't move it from spot to spot as she got ready, she didn't give me a wawa kiss as we said goodbye, she didn't walk out the door with it clutched tightly in her hand or in her mouth and as daddy rolled the window down to waive bye bye and blow kisses, there was no blue wawa to blow kisses around. It was all so strange to me and all so fine for her.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure this by no means is the end of wawa, but it is the beginning of a "bigger" girl time for her. I can just tell. It's been coming for a while, pretty much steadily since she turned two, but every week and every day I see so much more of who she is and giving up such a cherished babyhood item (even for just a school day) is such a milestone for her. Just please, babygirl, don't you dare think about giving up Pinka, my little anti-change heart can't handle that anytime soon!

I must say the real people I am thinking about today are her teachers. While this new found confidence seemed easy this morning, they're the ones that will have to deal with her at naptime and I'm not so sure I won't get an emergency wawa call at some point in the day. You know what, though? You better believe I'll be there in 6.4 minutes with wawa in tow. Baby steps.

My Favorite Time of Day Hey, I'm versed in case you didn't know, and yes, this is as effusive as it will ever get.

2009-04-14T11:15:00.020-05:00

You fuss, you cry, you thrash about while I change your diaper and put on your jammies. Your exhaustion frustration is as evident as the weight of your eyelids. I pick you up, we walk over to your dresser, turn on your Celtic lullaby's cd and the twilight turtle. You perk up upon seeing the blue lights beam through Mr. Turtle's shell and pat it excitedly. I say night night and you squeal in blue light, twilight turtle delight and I know you're still my baby.

I pick up the bottle, you'll only eat 2 or so ounces, but I know you still need the comfort of it as we rock. I fit you in the small of my arm even as your legs drape well over the side of mine and your arms can wrap around my shoulders. I put the bottle to your mouth and immediately see those familiar heavy eyes appear as you struggle and fight to keep them from closing all together. I smile remembering that exact same struggle from breastfeeding you at two days old and I know you're still my baby.

After only a short time, you angrily reject the bottle. I know all you want is to lay against me now. I set the bottle on the corner of your crib and shift your little body upright against mine. Your head falls forward, you don't even try to hold it up any longer and I know you just want to burrow into me. In this small movement I find such happiness and inner peace. I hold you close savoring the smell of your freshly bathed hair mixed with soft bedtime lotion and I know that you're still my baby.

We rock to the Irish Lullaby (too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now don't you cry), I hear the gentle waves roar in and out from your sound maker, with each creak of the rocker your little fingers brush against my arm and I close my eyes and try to freeze time. I take in each creak, each wave, each lyric and each breath. Your breaths grow heavier and deeper until I know I have to lay you down. I lift you up and you barely move at all, heavy in your end of day slumber, you give a little sigh and wimper and I know you're still my baby.

We walk by your mirror, I'm meticulous in capturing the details of your sleeping face nestled between my jaw and shoulder bone, safe in my arms, secure. I want my mind to etch that image, unchanging any detail, of this fleeting and most cherished time of ours. It's yours and mine alone, when I feel most capable of providing you with everlasting shelter and love. This time, this most precious time, when I feel most grateful to be your mommy and when I know you'll always be my baby...

p(m)s - Oh my sweet god, I just reread that

2009-04-13T12:25:00.000-05:00

I think with the sweet baby's first birthday looming on the horizon, I'm feeling a little sentimental. That, combined with some heartbreaking stories I've been privy to lately, add in a extra dose of hormones, and I've been feeling the need to capture my sweet boy the way he is right now. I'm sure most mommies can relate. So, if you're up for it, read away. Otherwise, I'll return to my normally scheduled light hearted, foul mouthed twitter and photo blogging in a day or week or so....

NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY FRIENDS

2009-04-09T10:32:00.009-05:00

This one is for you, tpd - you bastard - you summoned the fail whale!

"~~You're~~ I'm an addict, ~~you~~ I need help."

We interrupt this 6-part series that is so far only a 2-part series, but that we're still hoping will make it to a 4-part series, to bring you this...

2009-04-06T11:32:00.009-05:00

Molina keeps a close eye on baby Pujols as the possibility
of a ball theft is very real and very imminent.

Maybe if I close my eyes baby Pujols will go away and
I can keep the glove and ball all to myself.

Whatever, I still have the glove AND pinka and you're not getting either one of those EVER.

Molina is in position and ready for the pitch.

It's a strike!

Baby Pujols says, "put me in coach, I'm ready to play!"

Let's Play Ball!!!!
Go Redbirds!

SIDE NOTE FOR @strongrhetoric Notice PURPLE couch in background. Jealous, aren't you?

Part II - The part where I get two days behind cause I can't stay on task

2009-04-01T21:34:00.006-05:00

Belize - Our friends are back in action

The "private" beach on Belize - tpd's back is not in good shape this day, especially after the crazy, local speed racer bumpy boat ride to get to this private Belizian island.

We made fun of him a LOT at this point... mmmm... Belikin.

Pretty Scenery - you can see some boats in the background.

Pretty water, I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

tpd assures he is in the BACK of the boat for the ride back to the mainland. it was actually really cool being in the back and we even saw a big manatee.
the water color here is simply unbeliezable.

Kicking back after a day on the private island with some Belize brews and food.

Friends rebounded, a couple of knock off Coach purses and good local brews.
An all-around good day, you gotta Belize me!

The first installment sponsored by Mr. Honduras UPDATED

2009-03-30T22:20:00.012-05:00

TFASNA is kicking off a 6-part series this week entitled, this time last week. In this week long series we'll take a look at what yours truly was doing, well...uh.. this time last week. This first installment is being published a little bit past press time due to airline issues and bedtimes, but without further ado, I present this time last week (last Monday)

Our First Day in Paradise - Roatán, Honduras:

Conversations in Paradise go something like this:
"there's a sailboat."
"yup."

Recipe for true Paradise:

One part beautiful beach setting with loads of palm trees and ocean breezes
Two parts local island beer (you gotta go local, it should be international law)
Three parts - and the secret ingredient to paradise- bacon cheese fries (in HONDURAS can you believe it?)!!!!
Mix the above ingredients together or enjoy them separately, it doesn't matter you're in Paradise now, mon.

Photos of Paradise courtesy of idiot photographers.

This photo illustrates a major problem with asking another tourist to take your photo on a gorgeous roadside stop overlooking lush landscape and panoramic views. BECAUSE I REALLY JUST WANT TO SEE US AND SOME POWER LINES LADY. (PS - I will also blame my traveling companions for this bad photo since they could not accompany us off the boat this day due to some health/boat virus issues.)

Down from the hills overlooking the gorgeous views, aforementioned tourist offers to take our photo again. I gently give her a few instructions this time and, well, you can see this one turned out a little better. ps - giant boat in background is where we are headed back to in the photo and where our traveling friends are camped out while Aimee is fighting a nasty 24 hour bug. In fact, I'm sure Deadlines & Naptimes this time last week memory wouldn't be quite as enjoyable as ours, but she rebounded like the trooper she is and we missed them much this day!

Aaaahhh, beachy beach.

And finally, I bring you "Mr. Honduras"that's what someone called him and it stuck, but he is not in any way shape or form representative of the awesome, gracious locals that actually live in Honduras. See that mom and her two girls? She would not let them turn around at all - can you tell by the look on their faces? Anyway, good ole' Mr. H...yes, he was popular with the locals and tourists alike. ps - you gotta enlarge this photo for full effect

Stay tuned for Part II coming soon....

Come aboard, we're expecting you...

2009-03-19T20:57:00.008-05:00

Sorry for the neglect, apparently it IS hard to get ready to leave and pack everything either one of your two babies might possibly even remotely need, I mean like even if there's one one millionth of a chance they might need it, well THAN I HAVE TO PACK IT cause oh my god what if they needed it and didn't have it aaaahhhh then what would they do?! Guilt, much? And, it's not a walk in the park making sure every client/t-shirt needing person has everything they need from me either - well, of course, I guess they can always call, oh yeah, NO ONE if they need something. So, I'm triple protecting every possible thing that might possibly go wrong from every possible angle because it's not easy to fix websites and email campaigns and launched marketing strategies when you are ON A CRUISE WITH LITTLE TO NO COMMUNICATION... gasp....deep breaths, right A-LE?

Anyway, I'm starting to hyperventilate just giving up the time it took write this entry, so until my babies are snug in their beds and/or ~~wreaking havoc~~ playing nicely at Grandma and Grandpa's and I'm hanging out on a balcony somewhere with a Pina Colada in one hand and some kind of communication device in the other, I am out. Love ya!

I'm pretty sure you could safely file me under the "hyper connected" category

2009-03-09T16:52:00.004-05:00

I have a few things to say on this topic (what? WHAT?!!) but I am too busy Facebooking my diet coke drinking status and twittering about picking up my kids without a carseat right now, so I'll have to come back to this. In the meantime, enjoy Heather Armstrong and the Cafemom chic talk about "digital moms".

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And we won't be seeing that mail carrier around these parts again...

2009-03-04T08:12:00.015-06:00

Alternate Title - Turkeys really make me want to swear.
Alternate, Alternate Title - The fucking magically disappearing turkey

Consider yourselves warned those of you who may be sensitive to cussing. Okay, I'm going to try and make this short, but in doing so really try to capture a fairly typical Erin situation and the potential insanity that occurred yesterday. I'm pretty sure neither of those two things will happen, but here goes....

Yesterday.
Pulling into my driveway.
The Frames playing in the background (that has nothing to do with this story, but I do like the frames).

I was coming from a good biz meeting, lots of exciting projects/potential business opportunities looming out on the horizon (and I'm not even taking literary licensing here, that thought had actually just flashed through my head) and then there it was, out there on the horizon - well, out there on the 30 foot horizon of my driveway - which happens to be the back of a lot of condos.

*Gasp* - then outloud to myself - Holy Shit - there's a fucking Turkey on the roof. A, really big, mother fucker of a Turkey. I guess seeing a monster huge turkey right at the end of my driveway turned me into an even bigger pottymouth than usual, but shit! that was a big turkey or maybe I've never been that close to one and it was really a very averaged size turkey, but to me that mother fucker looked like a sumo wrestler.

I jumped out of my car, leaving it running (in park at least) grabbed my iPhone and prepared to snap "the turkey shot", @jkrums style (some of you will get that, for those that don't go here). So I may not be on the Today show and Dateline for my shot, but to me it was a shot I was really excited to capture and I couldnt wait to show my parents - more wildlife, very literally, in my own backyard. My parents and I have a long standing joke about the amount of wildlife that graces our house vs. their actual wilderness lakehouse. And here he was the, the pièce de ré·sis·tance, a BIG MOFOing TURKEY. He seemed a happy turkey, just walking along, pecking the shingles (I guess they peck?) hanging out on the roof, then briefly, turning to look at me as if, "oh hey, what's up, miss" (he seemed to think I was younger than I really am - I loved that turkey.)

**Newsflash**Already failed my first objective regarding keeping it short, didn't I?

So, back to the iPhone - I point it at the roof, and although through the glare on my phone screen, I can't actually see what I'm shooting, I'm fairly confident I captured him and am uber excited to send the photo to my mom when I hear the mail truck pull up.

I turn around walking back to grab the mail from her excited to have someone else to witness and cuss along with me, cause OMG, did i tell you there was a sumbitch of a turkey on the roof? I *interrupt her cell phone conversation* (which, whatever mail lady, what if I had a REAL mail question and didn't just want to show you a big fat turkey?!) point to the condos while still looking at her and say something to the *cleaner* effect of, "Look at that monster turkey on the roof there, isn't that crazy?" I see her face look midly interested as she stretches around me to get a peek and then see her expression change to confusion as she says, "Oh, well, he must have flown away or jumped down". OH NO WAY, I turn back around as she's saying this and sure enough there is no GD turkey anywhere - of course, OF COURSE(!!!). "Umm... he was just right there... he he.. I promise he was" I shout to her as she pulls away returning to her phone conversation, surely only seconds away from telling the caller on the other end about the effing crazy ass who just tried to show her a turkey on the roof of some condos in BALLWIN.

To try and wrap this up, even after peering over the neighbor's fence and looking everywhere for Mr. Turkey, I give up, grab my bread co. and head inside to at least review my photographic evidence. I mean Miss Mail Lady may never really talk to me again, but I'm safe in my own sanity, right? Sure. I was. I know what I saw.. that was until, I downloaded this from my phone:

Yup, blow it up, strain your eyes, whatever... you just keep on looking for that turkey cause
YOU AIN'T GONNA FIND ONE in this picture.... ???!!!!!!!

So, in honor of my upcoming admission to a mental hospital for turkey hallucinations, I'll help you visualize what I am pretty sure I did actually see, even if he magically happened to elude proof. Imagine the turkey in this video up on that roof and, see, I'm not the only one who cusses upon finding a turkey near their house:

(ps - this gradually becomes funnier and funnier the more you watch. to the point of imitating the stoner video taper and the turkey as well - whoooooaaaaa dude)

Place your orders now - get your tweepshirt! *UPDATED

2009-03-02T11:09:00.009-06:00

I present for your viewing enjoyment - my tweeps in mosiac form. Are you on here? If not, then you are not *gasp* following me on twitter! I wonder how they rank my followers. It's all my real life friends up towards the top (yes, I'm including Starbucks in my list of real-life friends). Then there are a few random people up at the top, too, but how does it know that? I doubt it's a coincidence that my sister in law and @muldrowa are my two first friends and certainly @strongrhetoric and I have our fun share of exchanges in the twitterverse? Of course, then there's some random dude right before @shguckes and my husband, but so the twitterverse is not perfect. Either that or it's trying to tell me something.... Seriously, where does that come from?

* Wait - stop the twesses (like the presses... reaching, i know) - I am an idiot. It shows in the order they followed me. I just couldn't figure that out before since I was sure @mcdelanty was not my first follower. But, then I remembered a LONG time ago before twittering was what all the cool kids were doing, I made her follow me. I remember her bitching about it the whole time, too. But, she was my first. So all of my random stuff above no longer applies. Twitter is no longer trying to tell me anything, thank goodness, my marriage is safe.

Anyway, I'll be making tweepshirts later today. Place your order now. He he he.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Isn't that suh-weet?! :)

What happens when I let her pick out her own clothes?

2009-02-26T16:19:00.008-06:00

She repays me by channeling Cindy Lauder? Not cool Bridgey - oh,and the red/pink/purple combo was just about more than I could take. At some point during the day I believe I told my 2 y/o I was having a hard time looking at her...

At least she's patriotic, right?

Yes, this is what stealing a blog post looks like.

2009-02-20T10:45:00.007-06:00

Thanks @deadlinesandnaptimes. This is just too funny not to post in case we have any different readers, which I really don't think we do, I'm pretty sure all 9 of my readers (up 25% from last time) read your blog, too.

Anyway, you just gotta love the onion, doncha? I'm pretty sure I won't be needing this particular drug anytime soon....anyway, truly hilarious.

FDA Approves Depressant Drug For The Annoyingly Cheerful

OMG - ROTFL

2009-02-19T11:36:00.005-06:00

click to enlarge

Thanks @strongrhetoric. Wow - I just automatically added that "@" sign. Seriously, I might end up here sooner rather than later.

Applejacks don't even have a Prize Inside!

2009-02-17T09:35:00.009-06:00

While we're getting ready this morning in the bedroom Bridgey is singing a song that went something like this, "over to the ballgame, over to the crowd, buy me applejacks, ever back back back BAAAACCCKKK"

I listen a little closer and sure enough it was her own rendition of "Take me out to the ballgame", I have no idea where she learned this or why she is singing this song in February, but obviously the right thing for me to do was to join in... "Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crow---"

Bridget: "MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!" she abruptly interrupts my singing. "You, know that song, too?"

Me: "Well, yes, actually I do know that song. And, to be clear it's cracker jacks, not applejacks, there is a very real and important difference between those two jacks".

Bridget: ..pauses, thinks about it and then...."Oh, that is soooo cool - over to the game, over to the crowd, buy applejacks and come BACK BACK BACCCCCCKKKKKK"

From Polaroid to iPhone, I guess some things never change

2009-02-09T23:26:00.014-06:00

When I was around 3, I was fascinated by my parent's Polaroid camera. On at least one occasion there is a long standing family story about me going up to the camera, pushing the button and taking a picture of myself. When dad confronted me about taking pictures of myself asking, "Erin, did you push the button on the camera?" Without thinking it all the way through, what with only being 3 and all, I confidently answered no. That would have been great save for the whole POLAROID picture part of it... you know the tangible photographic evidence that was simultaneously spitting out of the camera. It would only be 30-45 seconds before my squished up little face would start to appear on that flimsy polaroid film and I would be completely busted.

Flash some 30 years later to last Friday. I got a little bored waiting for tpd to return home from a seemingly never-ending happy hour with some co-blowoffworkonfridayers. So when the St. Louis February weather was warm enough to sit on my deck and enjoy a cold brew, what else could I do but to take pictures of myself with my way cool iPhone (ps - that's a rhetorical question)...

In the beginning, things were going great and I was getting some killer Facebook profile shots, don't you agree? The lighting, the freshly washed hair, the 18 ounce Schlafly glass... it was a Social Network profile photo dream come true...

But, just when I think taking pictures of myself can't get any better, an all-too-familiar cigarette smoke smell and barking little ~~rat~~ dog sound snapped me out of my iPhone photo shoot...

Internal dialogue running through my head will be brought to you courtesy of Italics... Maybe she didn't see you holding the phone way out in front of you and tilting your head in that no-double-chin sort of way... Surely the shutter snap sound you recently adjusted to the highest volume can't carry that far. Don't turn around. Don't. Turn. Around. And then.... I turned around.

I saw the puffs of smoke before I saw her. Dammit - she's outside smoking...dammit she totally saw the whole thing. Drop your phone, hide it, put it down now, you moron. She probably didn't see it or even if she did she didn't know what it was, right, RIGHT?!

"Hi!" I call out in such a self-assured, confident sort of way, that surely she won't know I was taking pics of myself (that same stunt I had tried to pull on my dad - at least this time the evidence was safely hidden IN my phone).

"New phone?" She answers back. Dammit, dammit - she totally knows what was going down just now who are you kidding... just come clean, idiot, make a joke, chill the eff out, everyone takes pics of themselves, right, RIGHT?!

"Um, oh yeah, I just got the new iPhone (so not true) and I was just sorta playing with it... you know, taking a few pics of the dog and what not..." I say back to her. Dammit, dammit - who says what not? Why did you just say that to her? Is 'what not' the new word for "myself'" cause SHE KNOWS that's what you were doing. Now she thinks you're a complete idiot, pack it up, go inside and for the love of god, STOP TRYING TO OVERCOMPENSATE BY TAKING MORE PICTURES OF THE DOG NOW, you're starting to freak him out, too...

Sorry Brogan, I had no right to drag you down with me.

The bottom line, I blame all of this debacle on tpd. Long withstanding issues of photographing myself aside, had he not been late, I could have made him take the pictures of me (yes, I do that, too) and then it wouldn't have looked quite so weird. So, yup fault = husband. Husband FAIL.

ps - I'd ask you all to tell me that you do this too, but you won't will you? No one does this, do they? Go ahead, tell me, I can take it.

R.I.P. Snowy 1/31/09 - 1/31/09

2009-02-01T13:58:00.020-06:00

Yesterday was a ridiculously perfect day for building a snowman. The weather was warm enough to spend more than 10 minutes outside and thus the snow was the perfect big ball rolling consistency (that's what she said).

So, we got to work:

Actually, I got to work, since mostly all Bridget wanted was to lay in the snow and look cute. (Insert a lot of hard work from yours truly here as Bridget laid in the snow and tpd carried in the obscene amount of household items purchased from Sam's only hours prior) and then... TA DA.... "Snowy" the snowperson was born...

Snowy wasn't just any snow person, he was a freaking monster big snowperson with a big snowperson heart to match. However, he was missing a few necessities like, oh you know.. eyes and nose and a pipe to immediately start tarring up those virgin snow lungs. So, we obliged and brought Snowy to "life"....

Bridget was finally thoroughly impressed with my hard work and quickly warmed up to Snowy - amazing for her considering she's usually so freaked out by strangers, but not Snowy. They were fast friends.

Oh, how mighty and strong you were, Snowy, standing there so happy and stoic with broom in your little stick hand.

Snowy spent the beginning of his life doing what snowpeople do - chillin' with his corn cob pipe and watching the world through his eyes made out of coal... life was good for Snowy...for a few hours....

We quickly learned however, that what may be a "perfect" day for snowperson building, may not actually be the perfect day for snowperson living. Something ~~unexpected~~ totally expected happened as time passed... those nice temperatures got even nicer, so nice in fact that entire beings made out of snow didn't "stand" a chance.

The blow to the head was so severe, his eyes even popped out of his head.
Oh, Snowy, the humanity of it all!

I'd like to tell you that no snowpeople were harmed in the making of this blog entry, but that would be a lie. Because one was. One very special snowperson suffered TSBI (traumatic snow-brain injury) and was never really the same snowperson again...

I did learn a valuable lesson from Snowy, however. It is definitely best NOT to talk about snowpeople in relation to human emotions. Using terms like "bring him to life" and "let's name him Snowy" will only result in 2 year-old lifetime trauma when said "friend" ultimately meets a snowy demise on the corner of your step.

We'll miss you Snowy, but we know you're in a better, colder place in that big snow playground in the sky.

Books?! I couldn't even believe he said books...

2009-01-30T09:16:00.010-06:00

Last night, while sitting on the couch with my laptop researching deals for a possible upcoming vacation, tpd and I had the following conversation (paraphrasing, I may have been a little more rude - if that's even possible - and used a few more cuss words in real life):

me: tpd, how about this one...(insert long desc. of trip here for XX amount of dollars.) that sounds like a good deal, doesn't it? that even includes airfare...

tpd: well, yeah, but look behind you on the end table there.... i put some books there. i got those books from the travel agent today, why don't you look through those?

me (almost spit out my wine): books? seriously? did you just suggest i look through books to find pictures and cruise packages? (insert creeping giggling here) i mean, i have the entire internet with 3-d zoom on the SPECIFIC stateroom we would get in front of me (giggling turning into big time laughter) and you want me to look through "2008/2009 Cruise Deals" books.

tpd: i hate you.

So, I was harsh, right? Yes, definitely harsh, he puts up with a lot. But, in the light of the morning, this little exchange really got me thinking about technology and how people have substantially different mentalities about life events because of technology. My immediate reaction was, "Books? Seriously people, do we still use books to research vacations?" After thinking though, I guess my mentality was more why would I use a book IF I have a fast-as-a-T1 internet connection, a Firefox tabbed browser where I could simultaneously be checking 4-5 different travel sites AND have the ability to get real reviews from real people who have ACTUALLY been to these locations. But, his point of view (equally as valid, I might add) was that these were from the travel agent and were "up to date" and not a bad place to start a vacation search in a more relaxed, unplugged way. Totally valid and probably a good idea, but so not where my mental state would be when starting a vacation search. For him, though, it would be his first stop. So, basically my point here (if there even is one-this definitely falls under the Erin's Ramblings category) is just how differently people can think about things these days. Where one mentality about a simple thing like planning a vacation can be so differently viewed because of things like the internet and (I hate to even mention the phrase around tpd) Social Networks.

Take the other night, I was having trouble finding a vacation planning site that I could really connect with. The sites I was searcing on - the old school travelocitys, expedias, etc just weren't working for me anymore. So, I turned to one of my newer BIF's (best internet friends), Twitter (cause after all, you're no one if you're not on Twitter, right tpd?) for suggestions on a good site to look for vacay deals. Within an hour, I had about 8 different suggestions from my tweeps of sites I'd never heard of (bookit.com, vacationstogo.com and more!) I'm now possibly having a small internet affair with bookit.com, but that's a whole different story.

Things like this just remind me of how rapidly technology is changing and that I'm at a very unique point to see it happening. My generation is one in which we can still very clearly remember a life before technology, but is now very much a part of today's tech as well. We're neither too old nor too young, it's a very unique age where we can see both ends of the technology spectrum. We can remember AAA books and trip planners, route maps, and even going with our parents to AAA where the lady at the counter would highlight the road construction hazzards and alternate routes. My kids will never know that. They will more than likely only know what we know now - real-time traffic on their GPS or mobile phone/laptop, etc and MORE! And planning a vacation, I can almost promise by the time Bridget and Shane are my age, no one will think of picking up a book first. I'm definitely not saying this is good thing, there is plenty to be said for being unplugged and the calmness of thumbing through pages, but if I already am having trouble thinking that way, imagine how they will think.

Lastly, I'd love to hear what you think - anybody have an opinion on this particular rambling of mine? I'd love to hear it since this is a big source of debate in our household - leave me a comment!

Happy Weekend Bleeps! (I just made that one up right now bleeps - get it? Blog-peeps, oh I crack myself up...)

One big one, One small one

2009-01-28T11:38:00.005-06:00

Those of you Dooce readers have probably seen this, but for those of my family members and non-blog reading friends saying, "Dooce? Huh?" Then this video is for you. If you love animals as much as me, you'll love this video. Fair warning to reader L-Dawg (the combination of pregnancy and animal lover in you may be a bit much, but it's worth it sister!)

It is a little emotional, but don't worry, there's nothing sad - believe me I wouldn't be posting it if there was, it's just a sweet touching little animal story for your Wednesday. Your welcome.

Does the glove thing really surprise anyone?

2009-01-27T09:31:00.014-06:00

Not the storm of the century here, but some nice little snow and definitely fun for a two year old. So, here are some pictures of my little snow angel as she put it, "I help daddy broom with my broom". Okay.... you go do what you gotta do, kiddo.

Really, she just wanted to eat the snow.
Artsy fartsy of course

Will someone please get this girl a matching set of gloves?

2009

It's not like she had matching ones last year either.
(Same coat, by the way - how value driven of me, no?)

2008

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby

2009-01-25T21:39:00.010-06:00

For a while now (8 months or so), Shane has struggled to find his own personal style.
He was initially a fan of the traditional, straight laced, comb over:

But then, between months 4-6 really got into a whole skater dude phase:

More recently, feeling a little rebellious, he experimented with this look:

And, finally after being inspired, settled on this one:
For some reason, he thinks this one gives him the most respect.

This is America Happening (title stolen borrowed from CNN)

2009-01-20T08:54:00.013-06:00

This is so cool sitting here watching the inauguration of a new president. I've said it before, but really no matter who you supported, this is still such an amazing moment, but personally because it is Obama, it is our first African American president and it's generational change the likes of which we haven't seen since Ronald Reagan (that last part was just what the guy on tv happened to be saying as I was typing) but, seriously, because of those things it really does feel so incredibly significant. To watch the current President hand over the reigns in such a peaceful, gracious way really just makes me feel proud to live in this country and to be an American. Sorry, I'm being pretty cheesy, but it really just feels pretty emotional watching this all happen live.

I kind of wish Bridget was a little older so I could talk to her about the real significance, but for a two year old, I really think she summed up best how I'm feeling this morning, "Yeah, President Bar-ACK OOOOOOOOOOObammmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Bridgey like him."

*Updated to add* I so would have written this paragraph, too, if I was president:

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Why Wine and Facebook will never be "friends"

2009-01-19T15:30:00.012-06:00

The setting: my comfy big-mistake of a purple couch, a roaring fire, dog at my feet, husband doing laundry.
The perpetrators: yours truly, a bottle of Nathanson Creek Chardonnay, and my laptop
The crime: FUI - Facebooking under the Influence.*

You may think it's a good idea at the time. You are probably pretty convinced that you have the wittiest, most exciting comments to post, but the truth is, YOU DON'T. You are not as funny as the Chardonnay would lead you to believe. People, Chardonnay is a liar - don't believe a word the little bitch says, no matter how convincing she gets (I think of wine as feminine most days).

In fact, you are more than likely not funny at all and there will most definitely be a written record of your moments of Pale Ale brilliance for "friends" to throw back in your face the next day. Yes, gone are the days when you woke up not even remembering who you called the night before - now catastrophically replaced with an oh-shit-what-have-I-done, morning-after inbox full of flashing friend requests and *worse yet* friend acceptances.
Oh my god, I requested to make him/her my friend?!

I'm in the process of speaking with an inventor right now that would halt my laptop from performing without first passing a breathalyzer. The unfortunate part of this plan is that I'm guessing that little Gin and Tonic tease would immediately remember the four other computers capable of connecting to the internet in this house and I would be right back where I started from. Looks like I might have to think broader to combat my Merlot muse. I may even have to put the whole electrical system in the house on breathalyzer lock down...maybe that would do it. I mean we'd all freeze, but at least my morning inbox wouldn't be such a scary place.

*Facebook was my most recent drug of choice, but this may also apply to blogging, twittering, linked-in, friendfeed, texting and emailing as well. I am an equal opportunity Drunk Social Networker (trademark pending), well, except for MySpace - we broke up a couple of months ago after I left him for Facebook so I definitely won't be drunk MySpacing anyone anytime soon.

Too long to Twitter...so I guess I have to post it here.

2009-01-18T11:33:00.006-06:00

me to tpd (jokingly): stop it tpd, seriously.

bridget: stop it tpd, shuroushly

(tpd still being annoying)

me to tpd: knock it off, you're really starting to piss me off.

bridget: YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF daddy.

isn't that impressive the way she changed tenses of the word "piss" like that? gosh, my baby girl is growing up.

Totally Inappropriate, but what the hell.

2009-01-15T10:48:00.004-06:00

I would have 1) wanted to punch these kids in the face immediately (Tommy you could have starred in this - in fact, I'm pretty sure you WERE these kids in high school) and 2) Well, now I forgot what two was cause I got so angry thinking about smartass kids like this.

Tag, you're it

2009-01-08T17:15:00.006-06:00

I usually don't do these tagamabobbers, but I thought this one was kinda fun and since so many of you (I'm talking to you, Deadlines and Naptimes) aren't on facebook, I thought I would share this over here, too, plus it's totally a great blog post filler. (Right, strongrhetoric - head over and read hers when you're done with mine!)

Oh boy - I know you can hardly wait!

I started my own business at 25 and never looked back. I work most days in my pajamas or "comfy clothes" and I love it and love what I do.
I was born and raised in St. Louis and have only lived in one other town and only for 2 years.
The other town was Columbia, MO, approximately 140 miles from St. Louis
I am very lucky.
I worry too much about: my weight and what other people think about me.
I don't like having bosses, I like being the boss.
I've been known to go to Walgreens for the fun of it.
I have two kiddos, 20 mos. apart a girl and a baby boy. Their personalities are already eerily similar to me and my younger brother.
I like to cuss. A lot.
My husband (tim) and I went to high school and even prom together although we never dated during that time. We also went to college together and only talked/saw each other there a handful of times while there.
I have designed over 100 websites, but only am really happy with about 5. Can you say perfectionist?
Everyone in my immediately family (mom, dad and brother) graduated from Mizzou, as did my hubby.
I was very close to my extended family until something went wrong when my grandpa passed away and now I don't see or talk to them much. This makes me very sad at times and I miss them a lot.
I hope my kids never let their relationship get off track by hurt feelings and ultimately lose an invaluable brother/sister relationship. That will never happen with my brother and I.
I had a really, really awesome childhood and family and I still do. That is my wish for my kiddos.
My nickname in middle school and high school was, Ernie. It was awful.
I hate Ann Curry. A. Lot.
I love Jimmy Buffett, Margaritas and Mexican Food.
I spent most of 7th and 8th grade on crutches and learned kids can be really cruel.
Besides my hubby, my brother and sisters (in law - but I don't even think of them that way) are my very best friends.
I love sports - to play them, watch them and keep up with them. Fantasy football and ping pong are particularly obsessive and I am ridiculously competitive...to a fault.
My next door neighbor once called me a snickelfritz when I was 2 or 3, it still suits me perfectly to this day and also suits my 2 year old daughter perfectly.
I honestly can't believe there are people in this world that have never had a burrito... a hem.. strongrhetoric.
Secretly, I kind of like ABC soap operas and have since I was about 12.
I think I might be addicted to all things internet, social media and web design.

There you go, 25 things about me. It's really fun and kinda cathartic - give it a try and then link back to me!

This has been "weighing" heavily on my mind for some time now...

2009-01-07T13:52:00.012-06:00

Ha ha! Genius, isn't it? How I just used "weighing" like that when I am going to write a post about weight? I am so good at this writing and punning thing. So, in keeping with the new more open, more out there blog o' mine, I'm letting you in on a usually very private element of my thoughts and life: my weight.

I'm really private about this and frankly that is totally annoying to me. Why do I get so weirded out about it? The short answer is I don't really know why. The long answer is that I believe it stems from a lifetime of hearing thin people talk about how much they weigh and how "fat" they are. When you really are overweight, it's hard to hear thin people talk about it, especially when you'd do anything to be their size. I was in a dressing room once and I heard the girl in the room next to me say to her friend with such despair, "Oh my god, I'm getting so fat! I think I might have to go up to a size 6". At the time, I was trying everything possible to squeeze myself into a pair of size 18 jeans- the largest size they had on the rack. I was so filled with envy and anger, I actually contemplated crawling under the stall, pants barely zipped, button not even close to fastening, shaking the girl and her giggly friend and saying, "Look, you don't even KNOW fat. THIS is fat." I think it's that kind of stuff (and I could start posting examples of insensitivity and insults dating back to early childhood) that really starts to build up over the years like a bad plaque that leads to gum disease. I have weight discussion disease.

Honestly, I don't even claim to know fat that well, but , I have been 226+ pounds at my highest recorded weight (I stopped weighing myself after that painful 226 day and I KNOW I got bigger before I got smaller) and that qualifies me to wear an Invisible Scarlet "F" around for the rest of my life.

When I was 25, I lost 75+ pounds and kept it off until about 30 and then... I had a baby and I let my guard down for the first time in a long time and when I did finally start getting back on track working my way back down into a comfortable (for my body) size 12, guess what? Yup, another baby, and a "surprise" one at that. At first I was so worried, I had finally gotten back into shape and things were moving in the right direction, how would this pregnancy affect things. Well, it turned out I didn't need to worry since this pregnancy worked in my favor. This one brought about a magical little thing called gall-bladder sludge which actually helped me to only end up gaining 10 pounds the entire time (even if I did throw-up the entire pregnancy and have major stomach pain)..okay, so maybe it wasn't THAT magical. But, once Shane was two weeks old, I was down even more than when I started, and then, well then I don't know what happened.

For no clear cut reason, the wheels began coming off over the past 6 months. I didn't drastically change my habits, in fact, I started working out again (albeit 2 under 2 didn't lend itself to daily workouts) when I could. My eating habits didn't change much either, although I did reintroduce a little thing called alcohol back into my lifestyle, I wasn't pounding them back all day long, but there it was - the weight. And the weight was slowly creeping up on me and then it picked up the pace to a slow jog and before I knew it the weight finished a marathon in 1.5 hours and here I was back at almost the "2" number. I saw the Doctor who, after some blood tests, confirmed I had a "pretty sluggish" metabolism, but just not sluggish enough to benefit or qualify for any treatments, just "extra hard work" and a "good diet". I so wanted to punch the adorable 5'3" 110 lb Doc in the face, I knew it wasn't her fault, but god it would have been nice to hit something, anything right then.

In the scheme of dealing with difficult health issues, weight (and having a hard time losing it and a very EASY time gaining it) really isn't the worst thing in the world. If that is my burden, so be it, I am lucky, I get that, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating some days. So, I'm opening up this pretty private area in my life to all of you, either for support or just so you can see how freaking crazy I am in my head. Either way, I'm putting it out here as a topic I will be writing about off and on as tpd and I have been and will continue to work out intensely and try to eat more balanced as often as possible without completely sacrificing (I think that's so important - I learned that lesson losing all the weight the first time).

So, like Oprah, here I am still talking and thinking about my weight and now I'm dragging all of you down with me. Grab an Oreo and kick back, it's probably going to be a long, bumpy ride.

All you gotta do is say 'earmuffs' and then you can say whatever you want...

2009-01-05T13:18:00.007-06:00

You're in the right place oh loyal Bridget's Mommy readers (all 7 of you - up 47% from last year!) It's a New Year and I'm going a new direction. 2009 is the year of Blogging 6.0 and this year, it's going mainstream. The look and name are changing and while I'll still write about those two lovely little munchkins that make up sooo.. much of my life, there will also be a fair amount of other discussions on the other big part(s) of my life - from being an entrepreneur whose brain NEVER stops to relationships to how I think social networking can and will change all of us - even us old people. You'll thank me some day when I'm keeping you up to date with what all those young whippersnappers are up to.

So, link to me, forward me, block me, do what you will, but this blog is officially uncensored. For anyone who may be offended by the use of occasional off-color language, you may want to choose the block me or turn-the-other-cheek option. But, after much reflection and a desire to continue to grow my businesses and make money to support my social networking habit, I need to break out of the shell - a little - and let's face it, IRL (in real life), I'm still a total Pollyanna, but one who has a little bit of a f'ing pottymouth. Baby steps - see how I just used that euphemism for (*earmuffs*) fucking to break you all in slowly....

Where did everyone else spend their holidays?

2008-12-30T19:07:00.008-06:00

Ours went something like this:

Doctor's office
Walgreens Pharmacy
Call to Doctor's office
Emergency Room
Walgreens Pharmacy
Christmas dinner
Doctor's office
Walgreens Pharmacy
St. Joseph's Hospital Lab
Doctor's office
Call to Doctor
Walgreens Pharmacy
Out to lunch
Doctor's office
Walgreens Pharmacy

I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING THIS, or as my parents might say, this is not an Erinism... tpd will back me up.

Will try to return to regularly scheduled posting soon. Despite all this, I do have some PFA (pretty... bleeping... adorable) pics from the holidays! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and here's to a Happy and HEALTHY New Year!

Tweetpeeps or Tweeps - this one's for you.

2008-12-29T20:59:00.000-06:00

And just like that, a star was born..

2008-12-19T09:44:00.002-06:00

Thanks ~~Grandma and Grandpa~~ Santa Claus for this microphone I got at the lake.

I REALLY REALLY like to sing into it...

Hold your applause audience, I'm just getting to the good part....

I may still live with my parents, but that doesn't make me any less of a ROCKSTAR

See I told you all this was only a matter of time... next stop... video camera.

Ear Infections, Sinus Infections, OH MY!

2008-12-09T15:22:00.005-06:00

So, in the meantime, please enjoy some pics of the healthy one in the family... looks like we may have a sweet tooth on our hands...

Chocolate Coma
(or Gerber baby prune coma for those who were concerned).

ps - If this seems familiar, maybe this is why.

Must. Decorate. Now.

2008-12-03T13:08:00.005-06:00

I couldn't take it anymore - I had to "decorate" my blog for Christmas. I have no time for anything right now (much less the 38 loads of laundry that keep piling up since the whole Branson extravaganza) but I needed the holiday spirit on the blog. (PS - I'll be happy to do this for my blog friends, too, just let me know. I'm a little backed up for this week, but this weekend I can help you out. I'm totally payable in Starbucks giftcards. :)

More to come about Branson, hosting a Turkey Day party for 28 people and Christmas festivities being kicked off... but for now, here's a too cute picture of what we did last Sunday:

Isn't that look ridiculously cute? You just want to pick her up and put her in your pocket and carry her around anytime you need a dose of adorable. .. at least for the 5 minutes that she wasn't laying on the ground sobbing hysterically that she "needed" that other tree...

I MIGHT even ride Fire in the Hole

2008-11-20T10:03:00.007-06:00

Here's my quick photo post for the weekend since we're leaving our kids in the very capable hands of Grandma and Grandpa J while we take off to Sin City err.. well... I mean... Branson is kinda like Las Vegas right? I plan to log lots of hours in the spa, indoor pool and outlet malls. And, can I let you in on a little secret? I am SOOO going to go to Silver Dollar City..by myself. AND I'm excited about it. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, three full nights of uninterrupted sleep are enough to make me giddy with excitement (sorry Mom). I haven't had a full night of uninterrupted sleep in like 14 years (see the sleep deprivation is affecting my ability to tell time).. .or since May 1st at least.

So, while I'm catching up on rest and relaxation this weekend over here, you all can catch up on the last three months of my pictures over here. They include such exciting events as Shane & Amelia's Baptism, Halloween, Shane's first "real" food feeding, random photo shoots (of course) and my Castlewood photo shoot. It should keep you busy for at least 8 hours.

Happy Weekend to all!
ps - (tpd - that's what she said)

Hi, My name is Erin and I'm a Social Networking addict.

2008-11-18T10:27:00.008-06:00

Twitter is down and I have SO MANY IMPORTANT things to twitter. It's NOT COOL, I can not chill, Twitter. And your cute little caterpillar/ice cream cone graphic (wtf, btw) will not convince me otherwise.

I wonder if 5 years from now people will have to go to Social Networking Rehab. I can see it now - you all (and by you all I mean my so called "friends" and "family") will say someone wants to film a "documentary" on me being an internet marketer who is immersed in the world of social networking and they want to follow me around with a camera and highlight the way my 2 year old sticks peas up her nose to get me to look away from my laptop for JUST TWO SECONDS and how my husband has to say things four and five times before I respond from the iPhone trance I'm in and how I have to have surgery on my thumbs for excessive texting and typing and then before I know it I'm going to my final interview at a hotel room where you ambush me and read emotional letters and try to convince me to give up my laptops, desktops & iPhones and get on a plane right that moment. I'm on to you people. You won't get me away from my internet...you just won't.

Must. Try. To. Work. With. No. Twitter. Aahhhh.

Carbon Footprint this, Rational Erin

2008-11-14T15:22:00.005-06:00

I've been trying a little to be more eco-friendly lately - now, before you go all Hybrid on me little brother, this mainly includes saving an aluminum can here and there, turning the water off and on when brushing my teeth and only leaving 8 lights on overnight. But, this morning upon walking into my bedroom where the tv was still turned off (a rare occurence in this household) the following internal struggle occurred between the irrational-emotional-dogs-have-feelings-too-Erin and the jebus-get-a-hold-of-yourself-woman-they-are-dogs-Erin:

IEDHFTE: Oh! I should turn the tv on the boys (dogs) like it on during the day when they are laying on the bed.

JGAHOYWTADE: Now, seriously, does it make the boys feel better or does it make you feel better?

IEDHFE: Oh, but they like the sound and the shows and I always put it on something good for them to watch.

JGAHOYWTADE: But, if you don't turn the tv on for the dogs you are actually saving energy and money and thereby contributing to the overall ecological health of our planet.

IEDHFE: Shut up - I want the tv on for the dogs.

JGAHOYWTADE: Whatever, just stamp that on to your carbon footprint and nevermind the 14 other tv's the dogs could go lay by if they really need the tv on.

IEDHFE: storms off - tv stays off

Smiley and Stink Face

2008-11-06T20:50:00.011-06:00

How funny are these pictures? These are their first real "school pictures" and they are exactly what I would have expected. Let's start with my little stink face:

And, being the parents of the year that we are, we totally forgot it was picture day, hence the shirt she was wearing. Luckily Miss Kim took good care of her hair with dual Elmo ponies!

Next, comes SPD, aka The Smiley One. I don't think they could take a bad picture of this one:

And, then finally here are both of them - I shall call this one the stink face and the smiley one:

You'd think she'd be okay with a camera pointed at her, wouldn't you?

U-G-L-Y You ain't got no alibi... UPDATED

2008-11-04T12:24:00.011-06:00

It's gotten ugly these past couple of days. I recently saw two ads that were so disturbing, I can't even believe that our society would use such ridiculous fear tactics and call them "moral" values - but I don't want to get started.... I was going to post the awful direct mailer I received, but I am so offended by it, I couldn't begin to subject my [4] regular readers to it...SO, I will just say that I am glad that after today at least that ugliness will be over either way.

BUT, I am nervous today, jittery even - and not just because of the free Starbucks I got for voting. I want the candidate I'm supporting to win so badly. I'm sure John McCain supporters feel the same way. It's such a strange thing really, that people can feel so strongly on different candidates, but without getting too mushy political here (is that even possible?) that's what I think is great about this country. We can all voice our opinions (some of us more loudly than others) but in the end, the country as a whole gets to say who will take over and what direction we will go. Personally, I don't want another four years like what we've just been through. I do want change, I do buy into Obama's rhetoric at times, but I truly believe he is the better choice of the two. I don't think he's perfect and I personally wish I was casting my vote for Hillary today, but I still believe he can make a difference and I personally do hope Dixville is a small sampling of how the rest of the day will go, but enough, we've hashed this out plenty over the past two years and there's not much left to do now rather than sip on my FREE coffee and let the country do it's thing.

So, lastly, on this historic election day, I leave you with the 47th picture of me with a Starbucks cup - did I mention it was a FREE one? Here's to being an American and being able to cast your vote for YOUR favorite candidate, regardless of who that might be. Now, get out and VOTE!

ps - Does anyone actually research all those judges? Man alive, did I feel stupid when it came to all those. I hope I'm not in the minority on that.

WOO HOO! I can't believe I just witnessed Barack Obama become president. This is certainly just the beginning of what will be a very difficult and challenging road, but I'm so excited to have witnessed this and to be a part of it - I feel very excited to be an American right now! Cue the "Proud to be an American" music.....

Who doesn't appreciate a big baby belly laugh?

2008-10-25T13:01:00.010-05:00

Apparently, Shane is mostly only amused by his big sister, cause I've never gotten that kind of reaction from him (just excuse the sound of my laughter - I think there might even be a snort in there - and my dog chewing on a bone loudly)!

What? What do you do when your spouse goes out of town?

2008-10-23T21:24:00.003-05:00

I make delicious Mexican feast... *updated* perez hilton style

All this - and it's made with turkey meat and 2% cheese...but 100% delicious...mmm...

Sad (you seriously might not want to read this downer post)

2008-10-19T18:57:00.010-05:00

We had a great visit to the lake this weekend and tomorrow or soon I will post all the pictures, but tonight I am so sad and I thought writing about it make me feel at least a little better.

I'm watching my across-the-street neighbor's house as friends and family come and go bearing food, cards and flowers. I learned Friday, as I was packing up the car to leave for the lake, that my neighbor's 23 year old son was killed last week in a tragic accident. It was shocking and just so heart wrenching to witness a mom tell me she lost her son. She came over and told me personally and even said, 'well I'm sure you can understand how it's every mother's worst nightmare come true'. Needless to say, it's been sitting in the pit of my stomach all weekend.

In a way, it brings me back to when Ryan (a childhood friend of mine) died and watching my then across-the-street neighbors go through the same thing. Although I was much more personally involved and grieving for Ryan, this still makes me hurt and is so hard to watch as I can understand the pain they are all feeling over there and how it will never really go away.

It's just such a hard part of life to try and understand and I've never been very good at this kind of stuff. And to witness it with a front row seat tonight is sinking in pretty hard. I'm sad and achy for my neighbors and for every family that ever has to go through something like this. It reminds me of people I've lost and how much I miss them. So, it's another Josh Groban kind of evening and unfortunately, it's just heartbreaking...

Sorry - see, I warned you. I promise a happier lake post tomorrow when I'm feeling a little better. Hope everyone had a good weekend - I know on a night like tonight I certainly appreciate spending quality time with my family and friends.

Q. Is there anything cuter than a baby in big boy pajamas?

2008-10-15T20:12:00.001-05:00

A. Yes, when those big boy pajamas are halloween ghosty pajamas! (Thanks Matthew!)

The Obligatory Fall Pumpkin Patch Post

2008-10-12T21:45:00.003-05:00

I think this was one of my first visits to a pumpkin patch other than an Eckerts, but since Eckerts is mostly Apples, I'm guessing that doesn't count. The only reason I got Tim to go this year was due to a certain 2 year old whose finger he is pretty tightly wrapped around. Personally, I would have gone to these kids or no kids, but at least now he doesn't have a choice. This year, the weather was a little warm and the babies sometimes got a little cranky (except for Rachel, I think she got the good baby award that day), but all in all we had a fun October outing. Pumpkins, funnel cakes and friends... a perfect October Saturday...

Take a look at all the pics and commentary here.

Oh, and here's a little tip to pumpkin farmers, you might want to consider having
~~Anheuser Busch~~ Inbev sponsor your patch in the future - you might have a little better attendance from types similar to my husband.

Foreign Policy, Silly...

2008-10-09T11:10:00.004-05:00

See you at the fake inauguration, bitches. And don't forget to support this highly qualified candidate, at Team Paris!

In this case, Immitation is NOT THE sincerest form of flattery...

2008-10-08T10:28:00.011-05:00

Okay, I've had things similar to this happen before, I think it's just the nature of working on the interweb. People see your stuff, they like it and they make designs that are very similar. HOWEVER, this one is definitely a little too close for my comfort. Tell me internet friends, am I over reacting here or doesn't the design on the left look just a little bit too much like MY ORIGINAL design on the right.

My favorite part is that her shop boasts this little gem right below the product:
"This shirt features my own original design which I first drew by hand and then converted to a computerized vector image." Oh, really, that's funny because I'm pretty sure YOU JUST STOLE MY ORIGINAL DESIGN AND CONVERTED IT TO YOURS. Sure, you added a personalized name and switched the brown and blue bars on bottom, (probably cause you know it can't be proven then), but come on really? Both of us just came up with that EXACT SAME IDEA? Hmmph. (Sorry for all the uppercase yelling, but I'm one p.o'd designer.) AND I'm totally fine with finding "inspiration" (tpd) in others ideas and designs and then making them your own, but she clearly did not make this her own. She took mine and made it hers. I just would not do that. period.

Anyway, before I go off half-cocked (or even full cocked - stop laughing now) on her, please tell me that:
1) I am totally overreacting or
2) You would be throwing hot steamy piles of dog poop on her facebook page right now (cause that's what I want to do) or
3) Yeah, so she took one of your designs and she's making a little coin off of it, no biggie or
4) Other - insert your own reaction here.

And, my favorite final thing - if you blow up the image, you'll see she went so far as to put a copyright watermark over THE IMAGE SHE STOLE FROM ME. HA!

Whew, after all that internet yelling, I need a shot of tequila and a little Jimmy Buffett music - even if it is only 10:50am.

Life in a Corporate Toddler World

2008-10-06T10:10:00.005-05:00

Bridget: Bye, Mommy, Bridget going working now.

Me: Really? Where do you work?

Bridget: Outside

Me: Nice! Must be a freelancer like your mommy, eh?

Bridget: Uh-huh. Bye Mommy Bridget needs go bye bye now.

Me: Well, have a good day - I sure don't know too many corporate execs who go to work with a pacifier in their mouths, but more power to ya, sister.

Sunday Dreaming

2008-10-05T12:42:00.010-05:00

Things I would like to do/should do today:

Finish uploading the expired Froogle feed for all my CP shops.
Work on my new Organic Baby onesies for the wholesale accounts.
Print t-shirts for personalized orders, Volleyball team and for fun.
Work on the little bow project I started 6 months ago and never finished.
Make the cute little newborn bows for Baby Rachel
MAKE A DAMN DECISION on Halloween costumes
Go to Target and stock up on those cute $1 Sesame Street pony holders, they look so good in my hair.
Finally fix the letters in Shane's room so they look cute and not like a drunk person (or at least sleep deprived) was in charge of decorating his room four weeks after he was born.
Finally read these two magazines so I can feel somewhat more educated
Clean carpets (just added after looking at that picture)
Compose a highly spiritual and deep post about Baptism.
Compose a highly intellectual and deep post about Politics
Delete aforementioned posts after deciding they are too controversial
Beat the Ratbombs at FF.
Watch 8 games of football at once with my NFL Game Mix channel.
Take a nap
Take a shower
Go to Lowe's and buy mums
Plant mums
Work out with my WII fit
Replace all the fake families in my frames with actual family
Eat terrible-for-you food and not feel guilty during and after
Put the 19 + laundry baskets overflowing with clothes away
~~Finish~~ Start thank you notes from both Shane's BIRTH and Baptism
Spend time doing something fun with kids outside on gorgeous Fall day
Plan a vacation
Hang fallish looking thing on door in place of still hanging 4th of July
~~Finish~~ Start Bridget's baby book

Things that have a small percentage of probability that they might actually get accomplished: #'s 15, 16 and 22 (minus the not feeling guilty party)

This is one heckuva flow chart, Lil Bro.

2008-10-03T10:36:00.006-05:00

Let me just preface this by saying, I actually thought Palin did way better then I was expecting. I was actually nervous for her as she walked up to the podium to face off against a much more experienced Washington insider. I thought she held her own well, acted like an experienced pro while dancing around certain questions (specifically the gay marriage one) and was generally way less ummmy and trippy than I expected her to be.

That being said, she did annoy the crap out of me with some of her phrases and all around "cutesy" ness. Plus, WE GET IT you guys think you're Mavericks. Anyway, regardless of your political views, you have to find a little humor in this gem:

She's totally going to hate me for this when she's 12..

2008-10-01T19:38:00.004-05:00

But how cute is this? And all she keeps saying tonight, is "potty, pee pee, I get a star". Sigh... my little babygirl is now a walking, talking in sentences, using a potty big girl. Let's not make a habit out of this potty thing just yet, kay? Mommy's not quite ready for this!

PS - I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some of those beanie weenies some day...

Throwback Thursday: Welcome Back Edition (and then there were three)

2008-09-25T11:10:00.012-05:00

April 11th, 2008
Oh - Mom and Dad - this pic reminds me, 1994 called and it wants it's living room back.

September 6th, 2008
Shane Patrick - May 1st, 2008
Amelia Mabel - May 20th, 2008
Rachel Elizabeth - August 27th, 2008

No matter how many times I go through this or see close friends and family have babies, I still won't be able to wrap my teeny tiny little brain around it.

Welcome back Throwbacks. Even if no one else has, I've missed you.

ps - The countdown is on people. T-minus 8 hours and counting until the OFFICE PREMIERE!!!!

I swear my picture WAS right next to this definition.

2008-09-23T09:44:00.008-05:00

sore (sôr, sr)

adj. sor·er, sor·est

1. Painful to the touch; tender.

2. Feeling physical pain; hurting: sore all over.

3. Causing misery, sorrow, or distress; grievous: in sore need.

4. Causing embarrassment or irritation: a sore subject.

5. Full of distress; sorrowful.

6. Informal Angry; offended.

1. An open skin lesion, wound, or ulcer.

2. A source of pain, distress, or irritation.

tr.v. sored, sor·ing, sores

To mutilate the legs or feet of (a horse) in order to induce a particular gait in the animal.

adv. Archaic

For other definitions with my picture, see also:
whiner, complainer, wii fit kicks your ass, poor baby and suck it up sister.

Sweet Mother (and Believe me, that's not the exact phrase I used)

2008-09-21T11:25:00.003-05:00

I let the dogs out this morning to find this monster:

I swear the pics don't even do it justice, but I was too scared
to put anything next to it to give it perspective:

It's busily (it is so a word) working on it's pray. I think that might be a
baby goat, that's how big this mofo is.

Aaaah, what big teeth you have Mr. Spider, all the better to eat me with.

There was even an Indoor pool, but of course we didn't bring our suits...

2008-09-15T22:29:00.008-05:00

My awesome sister in law got us two, TWO! adjoining mini-suites for our trip to Chicago this past weekend. Thank god for all the traveling that Molly does and those wonderful points she has stored up cause honestly, had it not been for the nice rooms and space we had, surely someone may not have survived the weekend.

This past weekend, we made the annual pilgrimage to Chi-town for a Delanty family golf tournament and banquet in celebration of one of their cousins who passed away from Leukemia many years ago. It's always a great time to catch up with extended Delanty family and raise money for a great cause. We've only missed one and that was two years ago when Bridget was only 3 weeks old - and that's not even why we missed it, we would have gone then, but I had a good friend getting married that same weekend. So, we were excited to go this year and show the newest Delanty member off to the rest of the family. However, that never quite happened.

People, it rained. Like monsoon, hurricane rain. Oh sure, I know what you're thinking - well it rained a lot in St. Louis, too. It did, but did it rain over 9" in a 24 hour period? Okay, maybe so, but this is my blog and I want to whine about poor us stranded in Chicago with two teeny tiny little humans that need A LOT of attention. Actually, while I'm on this subject, I would also like to lodge a formal complaint with the tiny human department. It would be nice if on weekends like this when there is a 48-hour torrential downpour and where certain larger humans did not pack the right clothes or nearly enough supplies or toys for that downpour, if for those incidents only, tiny baby humans would all of a sudden not only understand the concept of pulling covers over the head and settling in for a Law and Order marathon, but they would welcome and encourage it. Whew, I know I feel better now that this formal complaint has been lodged.

But since a L&O marathon was not to be, we instead watched the rain fall like the events we were supposed to attend. First to succumb was of course the golf tournament. TPD was of course sad, but we did manage to find the Mizzou game on at a bar that served something called a Table Tapper, so things had started to look up a little - at least until Molly and him took a little drive to the location of the evening's banquet dinner and found this:
That's the entrance to the park UNDER THREE FEET OF WATER where the banquet was supposed to take place. Suffice it to say (after they did try unsucessfully to find another location) the dinner was called off, too.

So, we bucked up like any little camper in a monsoon would; we hung out in the hotel room and watched a lot of CNN Hurricane Ike coverage to try and make ourselves feel better about our situation. Although when the weather man chuckled, "Well, if you're in Chicago, you're not technically in a hurricane, but you might as well be" that didn't make us feel much better.

So, this was definitely a BDI for the record books. While we endured many crabby moments between all of us, we also had a lot of fun together and have a funny story to tell for years to come and we ate out a lot and that's always fun, right? To, see a photo recap of the soggy weekend, check out my picasa pics.

Here's the only pic I have of us actually outside the hotel room, it was usually raining too hard for me to even want to transport my camera along with everything else, so this was taken from tpd's cell phone:

Oh, yeah, and this is taken moments before I spilled that $9.00 margarita all over the place. Yup, that about sums it up...

After today, I could use an extreme MAKEOVER This post sponsored by the National Euphemism Society

2008-09-10T21:08:00.031-05:00

I don't even know where to begin. I should probably be worrying about the clients I blew off or the baptism invitations that need to be finished or the major t-shirt order I should have been printing, but instead of all these things, I am still reeling about going to the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house reveal. If you don't know what I'm talking about, take the time to educate yourself here or here. Oh, yeah and my main motivation, Ty Pennington, would be there - don't you remember him from (one of my favorite TLC shows), Trading Spaces? I actually even own a T.S. t-shirt & book (read: HUGE DORK) so how could I not go?

I met Libby and Matthew there around 10:30 am thinking I'd be back in plenty of time to prepare the final touches on the D.I.D. project launch and/or fit in a few extra bonus billing hours. Ha! That proved soooo not to be the case.

We had a good day, really we did. I think Libby would agree. It was hot and crowded, but overall it was exciting and fun and a little sweet even. There was this totally deserving family and being there to witness it was pretty cool. Even Matthew loved it and as you'll see in the photos he was totally the ladies man, thank god for Faith and Grace (no pun intended, but coincidental names? I think not).

BUT.. then there was the other side of people. You know that side that sneaks out in mass-chaos, crowded events? The seriously seriously sucky side of people comes out. It's a shame that events like this can bring out the worst in [bad] people. You have the line butters, the passive aggressive commentators, the careless kid watchers, the no regard for others, the - I'm the most important person here - others, etc. I'm too tired to even begin to go into all the details, but let's just say, PEOPLE SUCK sometimes. I don't think there is anything in life that frustrates me more than blatant unfairness and lack of respect for others around you. We're ALL PEOPLE, people!

We soon realized it apparently TAKES FOREVER TO MOVE A BUS. There are lots and lots of hours spent on "practicing" moving the bus and then they even practice with stand-in families and you scream and cheer A LOT about a limo coming down the street that doesn't even have the real family in it and your feet start to hurt from standing so long and your face gets 1/2 sunburn and there are a lot of false starts, so when the actual moment comes, your so tired of screaming it was kinda like, "yeah, bus driver, move the friggin' bus".

My favorite part of the whole day came when as the moment finally freaking came, BOTH of my camera's batteries went dead. Yes, my friends, I waited 6+ hours in the direct sun with crazy, rude rule-breaking people and NO FOOD only to miss the actual big moment on film... thanks a lot kharma, what did I do to you lately? I've of course got [more than] a few pics and videos to keep you entertained (or bore you to death with).

I guess there's no doubt, one of the perks of working for yourself, is the kind of flexibility like I had today. Doesn't mean I'm not paying for it tonight and tomorrow, but there is definitely a certain sense of freedom in the path I've created for myself. I mean, otherwise I couldn't have spent ALL DAY YELLING MOVE THAT BUS and seriously, what's better than that, right?

So, here's to me blowing off work today and lucky you - you get to reap the benefits (or endure the pain) by indulging in my photos and dorky tv show commentary, Perez Hilton style. Will post the rest of the photos later today/tonight.

Thanks for finally moving the flipping bus, Ty.

All the pics are up: check em out here.

God, football is such a great waste of a Sunday

2008-09-07T21:10:00.014-05:00

A wise man (or at least a man) I know just uttered the above phrase and I must say, he is absolutely right. First off, we started the day with our new Direct TV NFL package. Sure, he blamed the impromptu switch to Direct TV on a pure hatred for all things Charter TV, but now I can't believe I was so stupid not to see it before - The Direct TV football package (conveniently not available through Charter) was clearly all part of his master Fantasy Football plan. After days of counting down to the start of the regular season, and after finally learning how to work the 234 channels of football, he very emphatically announced that this would all be MUCH BETTER if we were watching it on a brand new 52" flat screen tv. I must say, I'm inclined to agree.. maybe he is a wise man after all. Below is a shot of the CLEARLY no longer acceptible mere 36" HD tv complete with an 8 game broadcast.

Unfortunately there were some casualties to the first big day of football. After realizing she was rapidly becoming second best to Fantasy Football and her parent's laptops, #1 daughter found new ways of amusing herself in a desperate cry for attention...

I was impressed with her ability to multi-task all WHILE WEARING A BUMBO on her head.

After all the exhausting hours of holding a bumbo on her head, it was finally time for some lunch. This devoted fan, made sure she had her laptop close by to keep up on all her player's stats.

Lastly, newest ~~team~~ family member, Shane P, dolls out the advice: "Sorry dad, but I still think Grandpa got the better end of the deal. Tomlinson alone isn't going to account for even a 1/3 of all the points Burleson, T.O. and Williams are going to put on the board and you really took it on the chin today with only 13 points from L.T. Look, stick with me dad, I'll show you the ropes."

I don't know about you all, but I think this one's a little cocky already. Just look at that sly smile, don't you just hate a little 4 month old know it all...

Happy FF Kickoff day to all. Go Webmasters!

Big Week Sunday, FINAL RECAP FINALLY

2008-09-04T20:12:00.012-05:00

All I can say is WOW! What a week. I don't know if there could have been a better, more fun, more exhausting week.

I won't lie, Big Week kicks this week's ass. Compared to last week's tidal wave of activity, this week is like a pebble skip in the lake of life. (Yeah, I just typed that, wanna make something of it?) It was exhausting (especially with a baby that still doesn't like sleeping at night and parents who like partying a little too late into the night) but it was simultaneously exhilarating and so exciting. We got to see our babygirl really enjoying her birthday for the first time, then we welcomed Baby Rachel into our play group and helped her celebrate her real BIRTHday (not to mention the industry's biggest balloon that was totally the bomb), next we got to watch the Tigers kick some serious Illini butt (I can't use ass twice in the same post..) and we even caught up with some fun girls-only bonding on the deck (we missed you A-Le), and finally it was Big D's turn to celebrate 31 years of life. Whew, tiring but awesome and, well, really, it just doesn't get much better then to recognize and appreciate all these kinds of awesome life events.

So....sigh.... farewell Big Week Sunday, I don't know if you will ever be topped. We'll miss you around here at Ivy Trace, especially all the "But, it's Big Week Sunday" comments. But we also know it's time to settle down - we recognize we're a little out of control over here, believe it or not. BUT, here's to you, future Big Week (raise your glasses everyone). I can see you looming out there like a Typhoon in the Pacific Ocean of time (uh-huh, I totally typed that, too.) and until we meet again, it's been real....

Big Week Sunday, Day 5 The Birthday Celebration

2008-09-02T20:08:00.014-05:00

It wasn't going to be an Elmo party, but it just sorta happened that way. I sold out - Damn you Elmo and your cute little red face. Why does she have to say "emo" in a way that I just can't resist?

Unbelievably Bridget's BFF was there to share in some of the festivities. Even a newborn baby sister's first day home from the hospital couldn't stop this devoted friend !

Just like she did at his birthday party, Matthew was happy to lend Bridget a helping hand with a few of her presents. These two are just too cute. Can't wait to see what the future brings with 5 helping hands at parties! Oh, hello Mass Chaos, we've been waiting for you....

Finally, it was time to get her some cake! It was a quick few bites and then off to bed for this tired two year old and as of press time, this enthusiastic birthday girl is still requesting "happy birthday cake, bridgey's happy birthday"...

It was a great day for her and us! Thanks to all (and especially Aunt Aimee and Uncle Mike for making the party - can you believe next year our babygirls will be celebrating their b-days only one day apart?!)

Big Week Sunday, Day 4

2008-08-31T13:32:00.005-05:00

Sheesh - Big Week Sunday is exhausting. I'll bring the events of BIG WEEK up to date tonight or tomorrow as we are capping off the week with yet another party today.

Until then, here's a pic to hold you over:

I'm wiped out from all this partying! Somebody stop them!

(Notice he's just starting to sleep swaddle-free these days and enjoying every stretched out moment of it! And, yes, I also realize the AAP probably does not recommend stuffed animals be placed on either side of the baby's head, but he really likes it!)

Big Week Sunday, Day 3 Another day, another Birthday!

2008-08-27T20:15:00.006-05:00

I just returned from meeting this beautiful little babygirl and have the pictures in hand to prove it. She is so cute and has a full head of black dark hair. Big brother Matthew seemed to approve of his new little sister and was happy to show her off, pointing to "Baby Rachel". He was especially enamored with her after she gifted him with a way cool Thomas the Train set.

Oh, the flashes... enough.

Yeah, I'm talking to you camera girl.

Sweet pea

The new family of four. This is apparently only minutes before the new mommy decided to give everyone quite a scare with some clotting issues. I don't know all the exact details, but I do know everything is fine now, but I have a feeling it was a little stressful and upsetting for a while. Other than that, Aimee was doing great and looked so unbelievably good for just giving birth a few short hours before. We are so glad everything was fine, but please no more scary moments like that! :)

We love you sweet Baby Rachel! Welcome to the World -
you are one lucky baby and so are your mommy, daddy and big brother Matthew!

See all my pics here:

Rachel Elizabeth

Happy Birthday Rachel Elizabeth!

2008-08-27T13:09:00.004-05:00

She's here! I can't wait to meet her - Rachel Elizabeth born at 11:31 am, 7lbs 7ounces. (eerily similar from what I can tell so far to her big brother's birthday). Mommy says she's a little more worn out, but generally doing well!

I'll update more after I've seen the new little lady, but we're so excited you're here babygirl! Now, Auntie eej has GOT to try and do some work today - I'm just too excited by you're arrival FINALLY!

Big Week Sunday, Day 3

2008-08-27T08:54:00.003-05:00

What a great night! I got practically no sleep, but got fun updates via text and in between baby shane awakenings I had crazy dreams that the new babygirl was born with pigtails, but she was adorable!

Aimee is such a trooper so far - texting and posting! I just got word her water is broken and things are moving along... It's gonna be an exciting day!

Big Week Sunday, Day 2 - The actual Birthday!

2008-08-26T20:51:00.007-05:00

Day 2 of Big Week Sunday was just as exciting as day 1! A little more exhausting than I expected (I blame my little man for that as he has decided that sleeping through the night is suddenly NOT COOL), but babygirl had a great birthday and got lots of attention, especially from her friend "A.J." at school. Which - note to A.J. - I'm keeping my eye on you. I'm not sure if there's something going on here, but Bridget talks about you quite a bit. In fact, between A.J. and Matthew, I'm not sure who she is more infatuated with currently. DO I smell a baby love triangle?

Anyway, so the actual BIRTHday is over, but the fun of BIG WEEK SUNDAY is just beginning. I just got word that A-Le might be starting pitocin tonight so we could be celebrating another birthday sometime in the wee hours of the morning (just like Bridgets!) so that has got me all excited! Maybe when the aforementioned baby night owl has me up in the wee hours of the night again, I'll get updates on baby m's progress like Kim and I did just 3 short months ago...

So, until then, here's a recap in pictures of day 2. Enjoy!

Getting ready to leave for school with her birthday cupcakes!

(Insert lots of hours in between at school and work here... boo...)

Finally home and ready to party with the family (and elmo)!

Big present - her "bike" - she knew what it was even though we've never talked about one before?! We were set to surprise her with this as the big present, but my hiding place in the laundry room didn't work out too well when we had a cranberry juice incident and she followed me in there to change her shirt. All I heard was, "bike, bike" and I knew I had busted that play big time!

Tim snuck this little license plate in our cart, but I can't blame him - how cute is that?

Capping off the evening with yet another piece of "appy earthday cake"
... all is right in her 2 year old world!

Happy Birthday babygirl - you are "two" funny!

Big Week Sunday, Day 1

2008-08-25T23:57:00.006-05:00

Day 1 of BIG WEEK started out with the backyard being finished FINALLY! It's fully fenced, the sod is in and both Bridget and the boys were free to run...

Can you even believe this is our yard? We're taking bets on how long it stays green...

Of course a photo shoot broke out at some point in the day. This pic is about 1.1 second before she said "all done" and Shane flopped to his side hitting the stairs. It was not our best moment of the day...

We then spent some time making cupcakes for her "school" birthday party tomorrow... Isn't it impressive how she not only knows how to spell her name, but how to decorate cupcakes, too?

And, then of course we had to eat one of those for "practice".

Then, we took pictures of ourselves and ate Pirate's Booty - God, isn't it uncanny how much we look alike?

Lastly, we capped off day one with a little song...

Stay tuned for more from BIG WEEK SUNDAY! (I don't know why I'm calling it big week sunday, I realize that doesn't make any sense, but that's what I called it in the previous post, so I'm going to stick with it.)

Closing ceremonies open BIG WEEK Sunday

2008-08-24T20:02:00.010-05:00

Normally by Sunday nights I have one of a few emotions; these emotions can range from exhaustion from a full weekend with two kids and two dogs and lots of events to sadness that the weekend is over to, honestly, sometimes happiness that the weekend is over and I'll get a break from the house and kids by being back at work! But, anyway, my whole point is this: NOT THIS WEEK, PEOPLE!

This Sunday is different. This Sunday I have a different emotion. I am jittery and shaky (and no I haven't been drinking caffeine again) with excitement. This is one of the biggest weeks I can remember in some time and I'm even including the week of May 1st in there, although that was a big one, too.

This week we get to celebrate TWO big birthdays! Not only is my babygirl turning two on Tuesday, we will also be welcoming a new member of the playgroup the very next day. Well, that is unless that babygirl gets her act together and decides to come in to this world tonight. (Which, by the way, baby r/k, could you please do that? I know your mommy would appreciate it and Bridget would really like her newest BFF at her birthday party).

I just can't believe sometimes how fast this time has gone and how in such a short amount of time so much can change (see that - I used the "c" word - yeah me!). I remember back to last New Year's Eve (wiggle your fingers here and make that doodly doo sound Wayne and Garth make when they're having a memory) when just Matthew and Bridget ruled the roost and we had three mommies to be at the party - which by the way doesn't make for the craziest new year's party, but it was fun nonetheless. We sat around talking about how things would change - ah! there it is again - by next year and how different having two kids would be and how much fun Mark and Kim would have on their first go around and on and on... Now we are about to come full circle with the newest babygirl joining the other two new people that we didn't even know that new year's - Shane and Amelia. It just seems so unreal to me at times, almost more so when I see other people like Aimee and Kim go through it then when I go through it myself. Such an amazing thing.

Okay, to stop the sapiness (can you see how thick it is -yuk) I'll just say I CANNOT wait for this week! Bridget actually understands it's her birthday and walks around singing "Happy Birthday Bridget" which actually sounds more like "oppie earthbay ridgey" but we know what she means, and we're cutting her some language slack again being only her SECOND birthday and all! I'm so excited about the presents we bought her and to have a birthday party for her where she'll have more of an idea about what's going on AND on top of all that, then we get to go meet the new babygirl and shower her with birthday presents, too! What a great week! I almost can't stand it.

I can see next New Year's eve now - 5 little munchkins running around (okay, well two running around and three just looking adorable as three little babies can look) and three new-ish mommies with a camera in one hand and a well-deserved cocktail in the other.

So, as I watch the closing ceremonies tonight, I think I will always remember these Olympics and the end of Summer '08 as being the beginning of a new chapter. One part the kick off of a new age for babygirl (terrible twos and all, I have a feeling this is also going to be one of the most hilarious and fun times with her to date) and the other part, the beginning of another brand new life that I just can't wait to have be a part of mine. Ah, isn't is all amazing, and oh so much fun?!

OMG, I just reread this and I better stop now before there's no more sap left to make maple syrup ever again...