2014 Summer Outings: Albany Tulip Festival

A Good Momma day

My month of limited internet turned out well and outside of my deep-seeded addiction to Pinterest, most of the internet holds little to amuse me anymore. So as far as Resolutions go, this one was successful, I didn't stick to every day with no internet, but for the most part I was pretty disconnected. It did help that two weeks ago I cracked my screen, then a week ago we went to pick up the replacement and by the time we got home, realized that it was a demo phone (which supposedly, is illegal for them to sell?) but it took a week for us to get back to put in a request for a new phone. So another week with a phone that interrupts texts with a video telling me how awesome Slacker radio is. Thankfully, Hubby and I both kept our cool at the service desk, considering the money we put into phone insurance but such is life. 

On to a much better topic! Today was a great Momma day. I didn't get to shower, or really get dressed out of lounge wear. I didn't get all of my laundry done for the week. I didn't cook a week's worth of meals today. Really, I did not do much, if we consider chores "doing." But I was awoken an hour and a half earlier then normal by the baby (don't gasp, but it was 7am). So we grabbed the last half hour of Sesame Street, that he has no interest in but I like to use it to gauge his awareness of people's faces, kids, and music. We then had breakfast of mango applesauce, I had greek yogurt with Dove chocolate chunks in it. Baby then got dressed while I threw on my peasant skirt from yesterday and a clean top.

 Since there was no school, my nephew was dropped off so we lounged in front of the tube for a while until Lil Cap wanted to nurse and then he fell asleep for twenty minutes until I tried to put him into his crib. He woke up but I wanted to at least load the washing machine, so I figured that he may fall back asleep. No such luck but he stayed quiet and cooed to his stuffed animals until I went in to get him. He was happy and no crying!!!

Then the three of us played on the living floor with Cap's new wooden blocks ( where I spelled inappropriate things to take pictures of to send to Hubby, I gotta keep myself amused!) and while the two boys played, I swept and mopped the kitchen. By mopped, really I mean I used my new steamboost Swiffer sweeper, which I highly recommend. It is pretty much amazing, with three kids and three dogs, the floors get rough but this thing got them clean. Find a coupon and go get one! 

After Nephew left (all the Whovians can now giggle), I called my grandmother to chat her up about her new apartment and so she could talk to the baby. While on the phone, I scrubbed and filled up the kitchen sink and gave Cap a bath. He loved it and was able to look out the window at the six inches of snow we got. After wearing himself out in the bath, Cap nursed and fell asleep for two and a half hours, so I could sweep and mop the dining room, scrub the counter tops and clean up. Oh, and eat a meal, a hot meal in its entirety. It was awesome. Hubby came home and he got to eat a hot meal, in its entirety as well. The entire day we had Pandora playing Sublime, Alanis maybe a little Nicki Minaj. We jammed out to Teach me how to Dougie and Jagged Little Pill. I love that Cap loves to dance, in his own little infant way and he loves when we have dance parties in the kitchen. Last week, for an hour, we played the Harlem Shake, the Cupid Shuffle and other miscellaneous songs until we were all sweaty and tired and Cap loved it. 

It was a great day. I wasn't worn out and cranky, the baby wasn't worn out and cranky and Hubby got home safely. Thank goodness for good days!

Hanging out in just a diaper, eating his weight in oatmeal mixed with bananas

Handmade Holidays: Five Months old!

While I know this may not be part of a "Handmade Holiday," I did make him and it is the holidays, so here ya go my Little Captain America: 

Dear Baby Boy,

Happy Birthday Steven! I know you actually turned 5 months last Wednesday but Momma has been super busy getting ready for the holidays. I am so happy that you came into our lives, however unexpected you were. You make me smile every morning and exhausted every night but I wouldn't change it for the world. You let us sleep for at least three hours every night before you wake up hungry, then you spend the rest of the night cuddled into my arms, keeping me warm when Daddy steals all the blankets. You used to wake up crying because you were unsure of life, now you wake up smiling and the first hour you are awake, nothing could make you angry. 

Almost every morning we wake up, you spend a little time in bed with Daddy while I take out the dogs and make coffee. Then Daddy gets ready for work while we make his lunch and we wave to him from the front window when he leaves. Then we have breakfast. You have oatmeal, strawberries, bananas, pears and/or applesauce while I have my coffee and yogurt. Then we fill the day with various chores, playing with the dogs, playing piano, practicing crawling, sewing and watching Doctor Who. You were taking a three hour nap everyday for a week but you seem to have given up on naps all together at this point. You will take two or three twenty minute sleeps, just long enough for me to use the bathroom or switch laundry, barely. 

I am astounded every day how big you have grown. Seventeen pounds already! Over twice your birth weight! You are eating tons of baby food, handmade by your loving momma, with no known allergies, high five! You like to help me sew but want to touch the needle, so you don't help too often. You might be starting to teeth since you put everything in you mouth now but I have thought that since you were 3 months old. You love eating paper and your socks. You like it when the dogs lick your feet and face and hands and legs and arms and hair. You laugh when I nibble on your baby fat neck and chubby little thighs. You prefer when Daddy changes your diaper because he made up the Diaper Song that I can never remember and when I try, it sounds lame with no rhythm at all. 

Thank you Steven, for helping me find a life that makes me the happiest, for being happy even though I have no idea what I am doing and for helping Daddy and I continue building our family together. We love you a googolplex!!!

- Momma

using our newly found arm muscles, but mostly getting angry at being on our belly!

Wearing a tux to Brother's winter concert!

the happiest baby and the best thing to wake up to every morning (sorry Hubby but it's true)

Handmade Holidays: Holiday Party #1

Hubby had a company holiday party this past Sunday so there was minimal crafting done, with all the pumping and prepping and showering that I had to do prior to leaving Steven with his grandfather. This was really the first time that I have left him alone. I have left him once before, for an hour for a drink with friends but he stayed home with his Dadda. This time, Hubby and I were both out from 6:45pm until 11:21pm. Not that I kept track of the time or anything.  

It was tons of fun, James even bought me a new outfit and I got to wear shoes that we bought two winters ago for the first time. I absolutely love the top that we bought (thank you Target), it was light and airy, glittery and just drapey enough to cover the baby belly without being frumpy. James insisted on wearing my Van Gogh- Doctor Who skirt from Hot Topic, very cute and not something that I would have bought without him, but it turned out to be really comfortable. 

The food was awesome, the people he worked with (he just transferred to another store so we have another party next week!) are awesome and fun, we danced and other then a sore on my toe the night was awesome. Halfway through, my best friend (since fifth grade) went over to the house and dressed the baby up for bed and she finally put him to sleep, after my dad tried twice! They both said that it wasn't too bad so I am hopeful for next week. On the other side of that, Steven might have been horrible and they are nicely lying to me. James' mom told me when she was over that James was four before she left him with anyone else. They left James with his grandmother and she swore that he was happy and perfect the whole time, while his aunt tattled and told his mother how he wailed the entire time they were gone. I imagine that it was somewhere in between. My friend also bought Steven two new pajama sets and she sent me a picture of him in it, which made me cry in front of a table of James' coworkers, embarrassing but I missed him!!!

very blurry because of the poor lighting, but yey us!

Terrified face on my little reindeer baby!

One of my favorite ever pictures of us

Monday Morning: Autumn Day!!!

      This past Thursday marked Steven's 8 week birthday. I am unsure exactly when you stop counting weeks and start counting the day as his birth anniversary, either way on Wednesday he will be two months by the calendar. So, Happy Two Months, Steven! I truly do not remember what life was like before you, and I mean that in the best possible way. My days are completely filled with spending time with you, while you nap I creepily stare at you, amazed by how wonderful you are. I was not sure that I was made for this job of being your Momma, but I can not imagine doing anything else with my life. I love looking at you and feeling how much I love and how much I love your Dadda. I love that you have a little attitude, that you know what you want and if we let you cry a little, you give us angry faces when we do pick you up, just to let us know that you are upset with us. I love how you are now starting to talk, we spend a couple hours every day just chit-chatting with each other. I am bent on making your first word "moon," since your Zodiac sign is Cancer so your ruling planet is the Moon. I love how much you love baths and getting your diaper changed. I love how much you smile, even when I am not sure if it is our of happiness or a gassy belly. I love how much your older siblings love you and want to take care of you. I love how you spend every night asleep in my arms, even if it has put our love life on hold a bit (we will make up for it when we retire *wink wink*). But I love how you are becoming your own little person with your own personality and how much our family has grown since Dadda and I first met five years ago. Thank you, Steven, for bringing me the joy of motherhood and absolute love each and every day.