This guy wins Dad of the Year on this vacation. While I went shopping with Noni, Peter rented the infamous four person bike with the kids. And then proceeded to pedal it on his own. Winner! Winner! Dad O’the Year!
Tag: dads
T Time
On a warm Saturday morning, I had one of those fabulous “this is so much fun” parenting moments.
I was standing on a baseball field in the hot sun, watching friends pull into parking spaces. Each of them had the windows down and the Frozen soundtrack turned up. Little hands reached out of windows waving. Little hands waved back from the field. Suddenly the bleacher bench was filled with smiling faces and little legs clad in baseball pants. There were matching pink helmets, pink bat bags, pink and black gloves. Water bottles were compared and shared. Dads shook hands, took roll and divided into groups. And we were off! T-ball season has begun! And I think we’re off on the road of many years of practices, games, heartbreak and fun. Bring it on, we’re ready.
Do you love these guys?!
Thank you Diamondbacks for the great uniforms! Yea White Diamondbacks! (slight issue when you donate the uniforms to the entire league an every team is the same mascot…hopefully there will be enough colors to make it less confusing….)
This guy? Is having the time of his life. And thank goodness, because the other dads are terrified of taking the girls from the team. There was honest panic in their voices when he was in Montana. Herding cats would be far, far easier.
This guy kills me. His only goal during practice is to get on the field. He generally settles for sitting on the bench. I can’t take the cuteness.
Yelling at Cheering on his sister
Happy Father’s Day
June is a busy month around here – Baylor’s birthday, my birthday, father’s day and our anniversary. Generally by the time we get to our anniversary, we are so partied out and broke, we are happy to have frozen pizza to celebrate!
And true to form, PW bought himself a little present and requested we didn’t spend any money on him. Done and done. Instead, he got to spend some time at the shooting range while B and I recreated the breakfast from her favorite new book Tyler Makes Pancakes! . The book comes with a recipe for blueberry pancakes and calls for cantaloupe and bacon on the side. I happily take my demotion to sous chef when Chef Wand is in the kitchen.
Baylor also presented Peter with her gift she made at school. How cute is the frame with nuts, bolts and washers?? And I love that she has tools and a hard-hat. Such a great pic for dads!
The pancakes were delicious! And we had a lazy morning around the house after breakfast followed by family nap time and then swimming (thanks Missa!). It was a great day not deterred by the “soul crushing heat” (direct quote from a meteorologist). And as I write this post, the Wildcats are winning in the college world series. Life couldn’t get much better.
Happy father’s day to all the dads in our lives!
Christmas Recap
Christmas is always a whirlwind of family parties, church, food and wrapping paper and this year was no different. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family – we were missing a few members this year to their in-laws, but we managed to adjust tradition and make it a beautiful holiday.
We kept with the tradition of the family sneaking all their gifts to one house so that the kids awake/arrive to a sea of presents. This year we hosted gift opening and it was a blast. PW and I both went to Bay’s room when she woke up and the first question out of her mouth was “did Santa come?”. We told her yes and that he had eaten his cookies and milk and that the reindeer loved their carrots. Her response? “did he put his dishes in the sink?”. Clearly she is my child.
She got to open one gift first thing – her new backhoe scooter – complete with a tool kit. What? Not everything has to be pink and pretty! She loved that she would have something that she could get around on quickly (she hasn’t quite mastered her trike yet) when she plays with Britain down the street.
She beeps when she backs up
“rip and tear!!”
Once she was done opening her presents, she asked for a “time out” in her crib. Which I think was a nice way of saying “overloaded”
“Boots like Morgan!!!”
We switched up our usual schedule a bit which left Christmas day afternoon open – which meant plenty of mimosas at brunch and a nice long nap for the whole family. The best part was that we had several friends stop by. Normally getting together with friends means much planning and coordinating of calendars, but the shared day off by all meant lots of very welcome impromptu visitors. We got to catch up with a great friend and best man from our wedding, Ryan and by Baylor’s Godfather Joe and his fiance Brandy. There was also a convoy of new bikes, scooters and cars with the neighborhood kids while the parents sat on the patio and sipped champagne. It was a perfect holiday.
After Bay had gone to bed last night, PW and I enjoyed our gift from my parents, a 2007 bottle of Cakebread Cabernet (we typically by wine base on the fact it’s under $15, not so much on the year). We were snuggled on the couch when PW looked over at the coffee table full of new Legos and said:
“Your Lego tower is pretty wonky”.
“It’s a tree” I replied.
“Wow. That’s a pretty crappy tree.”
“Listen, I don’t work at Lego Land, ass. Use your imagination!”
It’s Happened, G*ddammit
So it’s finally happened. It was bound to happen and I think most parents go through with this (well, maybe not the good parents). I’m talking about when your kiddo busts out a swear word. And even better, uses it correctly and in multiple forms.
Last week after swim lessons, we were home and getting dinner started, laundry done and catching up with our neighbor, Melissa. I was headed out the door to the grill when Baylor walked out of the office and said “Oh no. Daddy forgot his pens for work. Goddammit!”. Melissa and I both paused and asked her what she said to which she answered “Daddy forgot his goddamn pens!”.
I stopped and silently absorbed what she had just said to me. I can’t lie and say that it wasn’t funny that she used it so perfectly – but I bit my tongue and held back the giggle and explained how that was not a word we use. Ever. No matter where she heard it from (i.e. Me).
The next day we were at the grocery store. It was particularly windy and her hair was not in her now trademark pigtail “knots” on top of her head. Which meant her hair was everywhere. As I was putting her in the car she declared “my goddamn hair clip won’t stay in!!”. This time I asked her to look me in the eye where I explained that she is never, ever, ever to use that word. It wasn’t funny or ok. She then proceeded to say it 3 more times. I mustered all my strength and said nothing. I didn’t look at her, tell her to stop, nothing. I simply put the groceries away and ignored all further comments until I heard a very soft “I sorry, Mommy” from the back seat.
That was Friday so I’m crossing my fingers that we’ve at least side-stepped this one. That is until the printer wouldn’t print in anything but variations of yellow and blue…PW is responsible for that one.
Say Cheese
I have been on the hunt for a photographer that fit into our budget to take family pictures for us. I love pictures and I like when I get to be in them, which doesn’t often happen when I’m the one taking all the pictures! Plus, I love the candid shots and retouching of professional work.
Awhile ago I “liked” a friend from high school’s photography page – 2 Comforts Photography. I thought she did mostly wedding work but recently saw some family pics pop up. So I reached out to Meredith for a quote and it turned out that not only were her rates increadibly reasonable, they were having a special AND had openings! Jackpot!
So we met a few weekends ago at Civic Center Park and spent an hour snapping pics. I have to say that Bay was quite cooperative. She did start to loose it towards the end of the hour, but Meredith and her husband Travis were able to catch some great shots during that phase. Needless to say, I am thrilled with pictures and I can’t wait to get them up on the wall!
Here are a few of my favorites:
This is the epitome of our relationship – we just follow her lead!
Act surprised when you get our Christmas card, ok?
I love this one
This was when we started entering the uncooperative phase. Thankfully she looks cute when she’s being defiant.
Thank you again Meredith and Travis for the gorgeous family treasures!
Happy (belated) Halloween!
Yeah I know this is a day behind, but trying to create Halloween too far in advance is just too much work!
We had a great weekend filled with lots of pumpkin carving – or drilling in Peter’s case (don’t ask because I can’t explain). We had a blast scooping out the guts, trying to interpret what Baylor wanted hers to look like and watching Peter create a master piece using pipe cleaners. Here’s how they turned out:
{Baylor’s classic “pumpin”}
{Peter’s. Enough said}
{And the pièce de résistance – Cannibal Pumpkin!}
This is the first year that Bay really got the whole enchilada. She likes to dress up and she totally got the hang of trick-or-treating once she realized there were M&M’s involved. We were also lucky to inherit a hand me down Minnie Mouse costume from Bay’s cousin Madi. It was the real deal too; dress, ears, gloves, ring, tights and shoes. She was in love. Minnie is one of the only characters she really knows so she was excited to look like one of her favorite “amimals” or stuffed animals.
The gloves didn’t last long and the tights were too hot, but the important parts were there! Including a Minnie bracelet from our super cute neighbor.
First stop of the night
Aunt Christiane (Titi) and cousin Zoe the Gnome
Enjoying all the candy she could eat!
Happy Father’s Day
We had a lovely Father’s Day weekend. Peter’s one request was no gifts so we went the home made route:
Just what every dad wants – silly glasses! They were a big hit:
Baylor is clearly excited:
Please note the oh-so-cool-improvised wands on the sides. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
And So It Begins
Today began what will be a lifetime of milestones – education wise that is. Ms.B graduated from being a “little bird” to a “big beast” at the Little Gym.
We started attending Little Gym classes when Baylie was about 10 months old. At that time, she was the only baby in the class who didn’t walk. And much like her parents, her ego got the best of her and two weeks later, she walked! Not only is it fun, but I think she’s learned a lot too. Colors, textures, words, throwing, kicking, sharing and patience are just a few of the things I think she’s really picked up on. It’s also a great excuse to put down my ever-growing “to do” list, get down on the floor and have fun. It’s hard to believe how much she’s changed in these last 8 months and how many more changes we’re in for. Today was so fun, but a little sad too to think how fast she is growing up!
A few pics from today’s graduation. Please note that not only is she standing on the podium, she gave all her friends a nice “parade wave” as she got her medal. She’s 18 months going on 18 years!
A Truly Disturbing Story
I almost never ask Peter’s permission to write about him the blog. He only finds out after reading the day’s post and then he calls me to comment and then say “and stop writing about me” (ha, as if everything is about him). However, this particular topic was his idea. It is truly a disturbing story. What is more disturbing is that he doesn’t think it’s disturbing which is why he suggested it would make a great post.
My sweet, loving, smart, magna cum laude undergrad, top ten law school educated, cum laude graduate, bills-out-at-$250-an-hour, big firm lawyer husband eats lentil soup out of a can for lunch at least three days a week. Yup. Straight out of a can. No heating it up. No separate bowl. And he informed me that he didn’t want to walk down the hall to find a spoon so he at yesterday’s lunch with a fork. Insult to injury. The only thing worse would be slurping it directly out of the can or a spork. I think he didn’t use that only because he hadn’t been to the indian food restaurant lately and saved his disposable silverware. The really disgusting part is that he likes it. In fact, he chooses to eat it over anything else.
This is doubly disturbing for me, a person who makes a home cooked meal at least five nights a week. I even pack the leftovers in a separate container so he can take it for lunch the next day, free of the hassle of dishing it into a separate tupperware. I even bought him the kind of soup that you can stick in the microwave without having to find a clean, microwave safe bowl and he said it didn’t taste as good.
I fear the day when I’m going to have to tell Baylor that yes, her daddy is a weirdo. But something tells me that she’s probably going to figure this out on her own. What can I say? He was cute in high school (and still is!).
The Goon Room 