Tag: family

What Christmas Cards Have Taught Me

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I have learned a lot from designing, writing, assembling, stuffing, stamping, sealing and addressing Christmas cards. Here are the highlights:

1. I am totally inept when it comes to accurately assessing how many cards I need.

2. No matter how many cards I think I need, I will always have more or less than what I need.

3. Putting a very cute picture of Baylie on the card only requires more work on my part.

4. The post office and the card people are in cahoots – 10 stamps in a book, 15 cards in a box.

5. 60 pictures centered and taped to cards, 60 envelopes stuffed and addressed (5 of which are still outstanding due to moved addresses) and the  taste of envelope adhesive on my tongue = we need less friends.

The out takes from getting the picture for our card. Note the marker, angel from the nativity scene, my phone and yes even the camera were used to get her to A. smile,  B. pose in a way that wasn’t weird and C. hold still long enough to get a good picture. The winner was actually a little soft, but it met criteria A and B so it wins!

Holiday Magic

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I wrote a few months ago about doing less shopping this year and more celebrating this holiday season in Christmas in August. Last night was a perfect example of why I wanted to get the shopping out of the way and focus on the non-retail part of the holidays.

Peter and I had a date to have a glass of wine (or two), sit on the couch and stare at the Christmas tree. We were snuggled under a quilt (yes we had to open the door so it would be cool enough to do this) and it dawned on me that we were doing the same thing 11 years ago. He was dropping me off at my house after a date our senior year of high school. The house was dark and the tree was lit up so we sat on the couch in silence just staring at the tree. It was so beautiful and it felt like one of those great Christmasy things to do. We were both thinking of what the future would hold; high school graduation, college, grad school, etc. and dreaming of what might be. If we had only known then how good it would be.  How good it would feel to have such a beautiful little girl sleeping peacefully in the other room, to be happily married to each other and to have a cozy house to call home. Not to be worried about what gifts we are getting for our family and friends or if we had spent too much, but rather to sit and let the magic of this season and the memories of the past swirl around us while we enjoyed being in each other’s company.

Pictures from the last few Christmases:

Our first tree in DC:

Our last Christmas in DC:

Bear and Travis being tortured:

Our first Christmas as a family:

How fast they go from this….

To this!

And So It Begins

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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!

iBert is Imazing

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We recently purchased a bike seat for Baylie – I had seen the seat we wanted on other people’s bikes, but couldn’t find out what it was.  It attaches  right under the handle bars and so your kiddo is right in front of you. We finally figured out it’s called an iBert and we promptly ordered one – strategically combining our rewards program number, coupons, a gift card and a free shipping deal from Babies R Us. The verdict? It. Is. Awesome!! Not only do we love it, the kiddo loves it. It took about 10 minutes to install and is very comfortable. It’s not any harder to ride the bike and it’s easy to steer. The part I was most worried about was my knees hitting the seat and the reality is I haven’t bumped it once. It’s very easy to get B in and out and is very stable. So if you’re looking for a fun new way to get around with the munchkin, be sure to check it out: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3006280

If You See This…

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If you see this, it might be time to take away the pacifier….

I think my plan of “wait until she is old enough to understand and say ‘bye bye’ to them” may have to come a little sooner than I anticipated….

Mom V. Dad – Dressing the Kiddo

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This will make sense in a minute.

We all know that moms and dads are different. I think every couple has great examples of what dad does better and what mom does better – everything from discipline to bathing are unique. Peter is great at putting Baylie to bed and I think better at swim lessons with her. I think I can get her to eat just about anything and can usually defuse the worst tantrum.

There is one thing I KNOW I’m better at…and now I have proof. This is how Peter dressed Bay:

And this is how I dressed her later that same day:

Now, in all fairness, it was Thanksgiving morning and they were getting ready to go for a bike ride. I’m not really sure why that meant she had to wear pink socks and shoes of two different hues and a sweatshirt from the lodge where he goes bird hunting (note the pheasant).  But really, there’s a clear winner, no?

So Much to be Thankful For

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I hope all of you lovely readers had a great Thanksgiving. We had one of the best yet. We hosted for the 4th year in a row and had 18 guests. And I think it’s safe to say we’ve finally worked out a lot of the kinks we’ve run into in the past. The weather cooperated (I rented two heaters, just to be sure) and our family and friends were in festive and happy moods!

One of the things I’m so very grateful for is my sweet little niece and nephews. Well, they’re not so little any more, but still. They are all at the ages and stages where a 17 month old could very much be in their way, but they all choose not only to be nice to Baylor, but they include her in almost all their activities. It makes my heart happy to see her face light up when she sees them and for them to be so sweet to her is something I think everyone loves. Here are a few pics from this year’s dinner:

Dear Mother Nature…

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Dear Mother Nature,

I find it adorable that you decided to make it finally feel like fall THIS week. I’m sure you remember Thanksgiving ’08 where you thought it would be cute to make it cold and rainy. I can fit 20+ people into our house for dinner, but it’s not pretty. You know what is pretty? Our backyard. Which is where I intend to feed 18 people a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Now, MN, you know most of us are natives or have lived in AZ so long, we’re considered natives. We can deal with 110, but 60…60 is just too cold. My mom can’t eat dinner with gloves on.

So let’s make a deal: you make it 70+ for Thanksgiving and you can do whatever you want for the rest of the year. Sound good?

Kisses,

Beth

Kiddo Milestones I’m Grateful For

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I read another blog this week called Ironic Mom. She is a Canadian mom of twins and writes very funny and honest posts about life with her kids. I also hear her read with her Canadian accent in my head which makes it even better. Her post last week was about ten milestones that her twins had reached that she was grateful for and I started thinking of my own list. There aren’t ten of them, but they are huge milestones so I figure a few will do.

Sleeping through the night – Baylie might be the only kid I know that waited until she was almost 7 months old to finally sleep for a consecutive 8-11 hours at night. I am not a person who deals well with a lack of sleep, and after roughly 210 weeks of rarely sleeping more than 4 hours at a time, I was near death. I looked like a zombie and felt like one too. Finally, the excitement and exhaustion of getting together with family let her sleep for 10 hours Christmas Eve.  It was a Christmas Miracle!

Taking less than 40 minutes to drink a bottle – I never knew it would take so long to feed a baby. The first month of her life, it felt like it took hours to feed her. I remember watching reruns of talk shows at 3am willing her to eat faster.

Feeding herself – for a long time, Bay was a really picky eater. I would have to trick her into taking a bite of food and then push her to finish a few bites so that she would actually eat solid foods. Once she could feed herself finger foods, all that went away. She could feed herself what she wanted and at her own pace. I wasn’t locked to a chair but could make coffee, feed dogs or, gasp, feed myself!

Walking – I was so excited for B to walk. And then when she did, I was ready to jump off the roof. She was into everything that had previously been out of reach. She was also suddenly silent – there were no more hands slapping the ground as she crawled so she was able to slip away when I wasn’t looking. She instantly knew how to climb the couch, chairs, tables, walls and proceeded to do so often. After 2 days of baby proofing,  I was suddenly back in love with her walking. We could play chase, she could carry things, push things, be set down in a public place without me worrying about her contracting something horrible off the floor.

Understanding what I’m saying – We have been at the point for a few months now where Bay can comprehend what I’m saying. It’s amazing to be able to communicate with her. I love asking her where her nose, ears, fingers, belly button and booty are and she can find all of them. She understands that “bye bye” means that the person, place or thing is going away – or more likely that we’re going away. So when it’s time to leave the park we say “bye bye park” and she gets it. No tears, no fuss, just time to go. Mostly I like asking he to pick up all the toys out of the living room (one by one I identify them, but hey, it’s a start) and take them to her room. Some might call it child labor, I call it creative parenting.

I can’t wait for what is coming next. Although I’m concerned that when we get to the talking phase that I’m going to really regret not curbing my snarky remarks and swearing…

A Truly Disturbing Story

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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!).