Supporting Our Community

The next town over has been having their firemen's fair this week and what a better way to end the week than with some yummy carnival food. Apparently I am WAY out of touch and figured that Brooks would be able to ride at least one of the rides with one of us, but he was a few inches too short. He doesn't know the difference, but I was looking forward to riding with him. Oh well next year.
After we made a turn around the whole place we decided on dinner, cheesesteak for me and Italian Sausage with all the trimmings for John. We were both in hog heaven with our yumminess.

Our bellies full, we trotted over to the pig, duck and goat races. John was disappointed that it wasn't an inter species race. It was still entertaining and Brooks seemed to enjoy it. Before we got there I felt a little bad for the animals begin cooped up and raced all day, but they all had really nice cages that we could see, which made me feel a lot better about the situation. I could get Brooks to say "suey, here piggy piggy pig" maybe next year.



After the races we were on our way to the waffles and ice cream stand (I know, HEAVEN!!!!!!) when the heavens opened and a deluge started, John husteled the baby to the car and I husteled to the waffle and ice cream stand. The stand had a little overhang where I got some refuge when the hail started, thankfully the hail didn't last long or was particularly long. I ran back to the car, not to save from getting wetter, I was soaked to the skin, but so my ice cream wouldn't melt in my waffle. I jumped in the car and handed the deliciousness to John while I toweled off. It was worth the drowned rat look and I would do it again in a heart beat.









Brooks on the other hand opted for post dinner peas, such a good dude.

No Arguing He's My Kid

Besides being stubborn, and loud, he's also smiley and loves music. His personality is really starting to show through.


















And apparently he likes talking on the phone, OR he sees me doing this to me. I'm going with the fact that this is a natural, innate reaction.

Disposable Toddler Dishes?!?!?!

The hippy in me is totally against most things disposable. I mean how wasteful is that? Just don't be a lazy ass, take your shit home and wash it. Unless of course you are forgetful, an idiot, or overwhelmed like I frequently am. In the past week I have forgotten 2 sippy cups. You know like $5 each. Ugh I feel so stupid. So back to the store because The Dude will only drink out of straw cups, not any of the 5 other types that I still have at home. There they are staring at me mockingly, come one Mary-Tyler 5 cups and straws for $3, you know that this is a better deal and you are idioically going to lose them anyway so you might as well save the money now. I think I cried a little as I threw the package into my cart. One of the biggest problems I've had as a parent is balancing our "hippy" values with ease of use and practicality. I envy my friends who seem all together, have no plastic, homemade foods and snacks, never forget wipes or run out of diapers. I, unfortunately am not that person. I have come to the conclusion that I have made a disposable cup out of something that is not disposable, so I might as well save the money and not have my heart broken twice.

Gratitude

It's the one part of my yoga practice that I always thought was silly, until recently. As I mentioned yesterday, in a very non-eloquent post, Brooks has not been himself recently. Some days he's his normal jovial self and others he is SO clingy and whiny. Even if we are playing on the floor and I sit up on the couch he looses it and doesn't want to play until I crawl back down, he gets snuggles and we can move on.

Because of this behavior I have been trying to keep him very busy with lots of different activities, the local children's museum, the pool, playgroups, parks, etc and whatever. I'm trying to wear him out socially, physically and mentally, so when it is time for bed he crashes. I try in desperation daily to minimize his tears but I feel that I have had more days like this








and fewer days like this







Then I hear about families like The Roth's (warning graphic and heart wrenching) in Ponchatoula, LA. Several of my friends down the Louisiana way informed me of this family and their plight. Their hourly struggles are more than I will go through in a year. And yet they persevere. They cherish every moment with their son, knowing that it could be the last.

Once hearing about Tripp, (also my brother's name) I really started to check myself daily. I have always cherished every kiss and cuddle, but it's harder when he's crying, or fussing. I have decided that everyday when my son isn't at his best I need to appreciate that he has the ability to express that and that I have the chance to hear or feel. No matter how trying a day we have I am grateful for every second I have my son. It is harder during the "tough" times to remember that, but as of late I have made that my priority. So unless I am getting ready to pee on myself (which we know happens), wreck the car, or burn down the house, I'm going to stop and give him an extra cuddle, because I can.

Inconsistancy

Brooks has another tooth. We had NO warning that he was getting this one. He started waking up in the middle of the night and was inconsolable. The best part, he crawls out of his room and down the hall towards our room and doesn't make a peep until he's at our doorstep. I wonder if he knows that we'll come in there and try and put him back in his room. Smart boy.

After two nights of staying awake for 2 hours trying to get him back to sleep, we decided to take two nights off of and when he wakes we've been bringing him back into bed with us. Two steps forward and 3 steps back. We are getting some pretty good snuggles in the mean time. Silver lining, huh?

Like Father Like Son

While I was showering today Brooks figured out how to crawl in AND out of the tub. No biggie since he was only in a diaper and cover. When I got out of the tub I stripped him down for a little naked time. After a few minutes we toddled over to the toilet, put his hand on the lid and peed on the side. It was SO funny, that I didn't mind that there was pee all over the floor.

First Birthday - Food Edition

Well, it's over. I'm calling it a smashing success. It was chill, the food was good, (mmm Qdoba), but most importantly it was filled with love. About 40 people came, mostly locals, but John's family came up from all over Maryland.

Firstly, I hope that Brooks has fond memories of his party since he won't have another till he's 16 or we uber wealthy and can hire people for everything. We did have the food catered, which, by far was the smartest decision EVER. I love Qdoba, and for a casual event they rocked our socks. I did make all of the ice cream for the sundae bar and the cupcakes. I got a little over zealous with the cupcakes and made 70, thankfully I begged employed my mom to do the icing and I had cupcake toppers which made the decorations minimal, which was another fantastic decision.

I'm going to brag for a second on my mad cupcake skills.












Tell me these aren't drool worthy. On the left my version of the Oreo cupcake, and the right is a chocolate chip cookie in a chocolate cupcake.

I was looking for ideas for the Oreo cupcake, I scoured the internet and talked to people. I found lots of recipes with the Oreo on the bottom and batter on top, or chopped cookies in the batter, but it was my non baker brother that came up with this idea. I separated the cookie and placed the side with the cream on the bottom, cream side up. Poured some white cake batter in the tin and then placed the other half on top of the batter then pressed it into the batter. When you bite into the cupcake the cookie has softened some which allows you to taste the cookie and the cake. I topped it with a little bit of cream cheese frosting and some Oreo crumbles. Between you and me though, I think these taste SO much better without the frosting.

The chocolate was an overload and so good. The batter was chocolate sour cream from here. I used my small ice cream scoop and did two scoops per tin. Before hand I made some chocolate chip cookie batter, using the same ice cream scoop I scooped the batter into balls and froze them individually. Once the tins had batter I pressed a frozen cookie ball in the middle, and immediately put them in the oven. Baked for 17 minutes,(in retrospect they should have baked for 15), and voila, yummy chocolatey deliciousness. In all honesty though, these are best warm, frosting is optional. My neighbor and husband have deemed these the best cupcakes they have ever eaten.

As I mentioned I had the main food brought in from Qdoba. They have their catering stuff down to a tee. The package comes with the chaffing dishes, plates, napkins, utensils (both serving and eating) as well as the food. Using them actually saved me money, since we were doing tacos anyway. I know that we will use them again.

I've gotten an email from the photographer with the pictures from the party and I hope to be able to post some of them tomorrow. So stick around and see the cuteness overload from BabyPalooza.

First Birthday

Brooks’ birthday is in 5 days, (did you hear my tears?) and I have been feverishly planning his party. John gave me free reign on the planning, but has been helping me by keeping the Dude in the evening. Oh, the Dude, he has recently become possessed by a super clingy, whiny, crying, pain in the ass, not all the time, but he losses his shit if one of us leaves the room, he can be held by the other, but God forbid one of us needs to pee. Sorry for the tangent, but I don’t want to belittle John’s role in this party, because it’s huge.

A couple of months ago I came up with the idea of doing a puzzle party, and we created invitations made out of craft foam that fit together. The invitation was glued on top of the foam and then cut into four pieces, recipients were mailed the pieces so they could put them together to get all the details. Pretty creative, huh? I feel that we set the bar pretty high with the invites, and I didn’t want the party to fall short.

We decide on a menu that fits with our puzzle theme, all of the food fits together or in something, so tacos, burritos, a sundae bar and stuffed cupcakes. I then start perusing the internet for inspiration and ideas and come across this DIY sundae bar. Pretty amazing huh and it’s just a concept. JUST A FREAKING CONCEPT, this woman put in all this time in and creative powers towards a concept and this is what I have to compete with. Shit! Fortunately I’m married to a designer and together we have pieced together some AMAZING stuff. Yeah I stole a bunch of her ideas, but go back and look at them, they are flucking brilliant.

Pictures to follow, but not till Monday, have a great weekend

Snissing

You always hear the horror stories when you’re pregnant of women sneezing and peeing at the same time or as my friends call it, “snissing”. So you wear a panty liner and do your kegels faithfully every day because “this is going to happen to me” runs through your head daily. Then one day your babe gets too big and your bladder has a half an ounce of liquid and you have your first sniss. This is of course shortly followed by 5 nightly trips to the loo. You don’t complain (too much) because you know at the end of your journey is your babe and the return of your bladder of steel. People I am here to warn you that this does not happen.

I have always prided myself on my bladder of steel, I could hold it until my eyeballs floated then I gave birth. Not only did my fleeting hopes of a flat stomach go out the door, but so did my pipe dreams of my steely return. Now when the feeling comes it comes fast and hard and you better get out of my way or bring a towel and a change of pants.

Brooks will be 1 year old next week and I am still having issues with this. Today he and I were shopping, I had a thousand errands to run. I used the restroom and 15 minutes later the urge hit again and HARD. We were in the parking lot so I figured this was easy, 50 feet between myself and the water closet. I parked the car, grabbed my bag, got the dude out of the back seat and tried to not look like I was running into the craft store. Fortunately I knew where the restrooms were located so I made a B-line for their location. I get within 10 feet and have to stop, collect myself and cross my legs. I say to myself, “c’mon Mary-Tyler, 10 more feet you can make it.” Uncross legs, start unbuttoning shorts (yes IN THE STORE) and throw pride out the window and run.

I make it, close the stall door and go to put Brooks down, when he decides to have a death grip on my neck and shirt. I’m thinking to myself, flucking kid, let go! Unfortunately he’s not strong enough to hold his own weight and starts to fall, so instead of pulling down my pants I have to grab the babe. I get a grip on him and start the shimmy, and the gates open, all over my shorts. I sit down and mostly make it, but my shorts are obviously wet. Brooks is looking at me laughing which pissed me off and made me laugh at the same time. I collect my composure and analyze my options.

A) Run out of the store, drive home, shower, change and never return to that store again.

B) Suck up some wet shorts and be thankful it’s summer

I chose B. I am a little surprised by my apathy, but I was too busy today to care. The bathroom didn’t have a dryer, so I checked myself out and it really looked like I had sat in some water. So I sucked it up. I walked ALL over that craft store, then next door to the pet store, and finally the office supply store. By the time I got to the car my shorts were dry.

So friends, I hope that for those of you without children or are pregnant will use this as a learning tool. And to those of you with children, I hope that you nod in agreement and have pity on the chick in bright yellow shorts with an OBVIOUS wet spot on the butt.

Vacation Recap In Pictures

Since I already gave ya'll an update on the first 3 days of our vacation here it is in pictures.









Chick-fil-a has THE BEST playroom. We plan drives around where they are and stop for meals and snacks as needed. Today Brooks discovered the slide, but only enjoyed climbing up it.









With Great-Grandaddy at Uncle Ray's plane at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.











Atop Federal Hill in Baltimore after a fabulous brunch at Porter's, seriously if you are ever in Baltimore you need to eat there, and then roam around AVAM.













The first day at the Aquarium we only got to see the dolphin show. According to Brooks, aquariums are the best place in the world to sleep or scream because he is exhausted.











Second Aquarium day, the jellyfish exhibit is the only thing he stayed awake for, but was enthralled by the whole thing.








Last night, dinner in the Inner Harbor and a grumpy babe.

We had a wonderful vacation. Even though Little Big Dude was sick for a day and grumpy and sleepy for a good portion of the trip, we managed to have a blast. We learned a bunch of what to bring, what to leave at home, when to stress and when to relax.

Is it a parasite?

Nope it's just a Brooks. I was sleeping on my stomach last night and woke up to find that Brooks had crawled on top of me and was asleep on my back. I couldn't roll over, so I had to wake up John and get him to grab Brooks. He was so asleep that he never roused. Such a funny dude.

Happy Independence Weekend

I promise to return next week with funny stories and pictures from our vacation. My computer couldn't be fixed so the past few days I have been backing up everything so we can wipe it clean and start over.

In the meantime, enjoy a BBQ, lemonade, ice cream or just down time this weekend.