January 2012
15 posts
A Mountain I'm Willing to Die On →
In light of my recent post on the tragic effects of bullying, I can’t think of any better article to share with you today. It is a bit long, but believe me — it is well worth the read.
The prevention of bullying starts at home. Please remember the positive effect you can have on the young people in your life.
Bullying
It makes me sick to write this post.
Yesterday, I received word that the 16 year-old son of a former co-worker (more than simply a co-worker — a friend and mentor) killed himself Sunday afternoon. The reason given for the suicide? Bullying.
Bullying is one of my great fears for Mac. I’ve seen first-hand the scars that bullying can leave behind. My immediately younger brother was...
White Noise
I realized last night that I can’t relax without the sound of the baby monitor. I decided to go to bed early since I had a particularly rough night of sleep at my parents’ on saturday night (or rather, Mac had a rough night of sleep and my ability to sleep is directly tied to his ability to sleep). As I was settling in bed to do a little reading, I found that I couldn’t truly...
Melting
There is a moment every night as I’m rocking Mac to sleep when I’m on the third or fourth round of “Bye Bye Blackbird” where I can feel him just melt into me.
It usually takes a few minutes. When we first sit down and I start singing, it takes him a little while to settle down, to stop looking for objects in the immediate vicinity that he can play with, and to find just...
Today is The Husband's birthday.
And I completely forgot to wish him Happy Birthday this morning.
I’m seriously The Worst.
Musical Education
I never thought I’d be the type of mom to listen to kid’s music. I mean, other than Raffi (my love for Raffi knows no bounds), I’m of the opinion that kid music is pretty much the most grating sound on earth. And after listening to some kid music several months ago for the benefit of a child I briefly took care of, my opinion was very much confirmed.
So given my disdain for...
Eating Out
We don’t eat out very often and when we do, we never order food for Mac. If we’re eating fast food, we bring it home and he gets his own meal that I throw together for him here. If we’re at a restaurant, I bring puree pouches, prepared veggies, shredded chicken, crackers — whatever I have on hand to supply a relatively well-rounded meal on-the-go.
Yesterday, though, I...
I pink puffy heart love MODG →
You guys, there is pretty much no blog I enjoy reading more than MODG’s. Reading her blog is like having cocktails with a girlfriend, wherein you swap brutal truths and see who can make the other laugh harder.
This post is, like, a microcosm of why I love her.
Oh, also, I’m totally a creepy MODG lurker and girl has no idea I exist. I don’t think my plans to make her my BFF...
Being Supportive
Almost 3 years ago, we were on vacation with some good friends of ours. One night, my friend M and I got a little tipsy and agreed that we were both going to start trying to get pregnant once we got home.
I sobered up, entered negotiations with The Husband on the drive home the next day, he conferred with his friend J (M’s husband), and it was agreed that the “competition”...
Turning 30: Reflections on a Day Spent Pouting
The Good
The parents of the kids were super awesome and so sweet today. Every one of them brought me some sort of thoughtful gift. How did I get so lucky as to have these people in my lives? Seriously, I don’t deserve them.
I got thousands of facebook messages (lie — I only got dozens but it felt like thousands) wishing me a happy bday. And even if I don’t actually talk to...
30. Oy.
And that’s pretty much all I have to say about that.
Oh, hi!
Sooo, yeah. I went MIA for a little while. I wasn’t on vacation or anything, I was just busy trying to get life back together after the holiday craziness. Oh, and lazy.
We had a super busy Christmas (as I knew we would) but we actually really enjoyed ourselves and Mac was a superstar. Despite having his schedule turned upside down and missing out on most of his naps, he was a total champ...
December 2011
18 posts
1 tag
It Just Hit Me
For many of you, this is going to be a totally “duh” post. But no lie — for me, it was a revelation. Yes — sometimes my head really is this far up my own ass.
I am never going to get “my” Christmas back. Fiercely as I may try to hold tight to my traditions, the Christmases of my youth are a thing of the past. The reliable patterns of each of my families...
Fitting it All In
We’re in the Christmas home stretch right now. Except for a trip to the dollar store, all my shopping is done. I have two crafts to complete that will hopefully be finished today. The Husband has a half day and will be coming home to be the gift wrapping bitch (he’s so good at wrapping gifts, you guys). The end is in sight.
We’ve got a marathon of a holiday this year. ...
Oof
In 2 weeks, on January 3rd, I am going to turn 30 years old.
I’ve known that 30 has been coming for quite awhile. After all, that is traditionally the age that comes after 29. But it hit me last night that pretty soon, I’m not going to be in my 20s anymore.
That is such a depressing thought for me.
Rationally, I know that 30 isn’t that big of a deal. But it feels like the...
Kick-Starting My Resolution
After writing this post over the weekend, I decided there was no time like the present to start acting on my resolution to be more productive in my spare time.
I managed to squeeze in some relaxing movie time with my husband, I baked my face off, took a walk with the fam to look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood (verdict: big fat disappointment), and spent some time with my parents and...
Is it too soon for resolutions?
Normally I’m not a new year’s resolution kind of gal, but I’m feeling inspired right now. Except inspired isn’t quite the right word. Driven? Determined? I dunno, but I’ve got a wild hair up my ass to make a resolution this year.
I spend a lot of my life wasting time. Naptimes aren’t put to their best use and by the end of the day, I’m so beat and...
The Airing of Grievances
Let me preface this by saying that my husband is a wonderful husband. He puts up with a lot of crap from me. I don’t kid myself that I’m easy to live with. But even if I was, he’d still be awesome. He is also a wonderful father. He works hard to be the breadwinner for this family while still making the time to bond with and raise his son.
That doesn’t mean that I...
The Upside of Sleeplessness
Recently, Mac has been quite a pill in the sleep department. I don’t know what his deal is, but he doesn’t go down at night without a fight and frequently wakes up sobbing in the middle of the night.
As frustrating and exhausting as this is, I find I don’t actually mind it as much as I thought I would. Ok, the bedtime difficulties can wear on my patience because by the time...
A Pity Party
I’m writing this one last post, and then I’m really going to try to be done talking about this because I know how lucky and blessed I am and it just sounds bratty to whine about this.
I’ve gone through yet another month of not being pregnant. My period was 2 days late and as much as I tried to keep my hopes in check, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least getting...
Words
I just need to write this down so I don’t forget. I don’t know why it’s important to remember, but it feels like I should document the words Mac is saying right now (and how he says them).
Gabba (“Bbbbbba!”)
Hi (“Ha”)
Yes (“Da”…I have no idea why Mac speaks Russian)
Book (“Kkh”)
All Done (“Ah Dah”)
Good...
Obviously, Mac needs this.
For the last few weeks, whenever I’m on amazon.com (which is often), I take a few minutes to browse for some gift ideas for Mac and put stuff on a wishlist. Friends and family are always asking for ideas for gifts for him, and I figure the wishlist is the best way to keep track of gift inspiration.
Today, I was forwarding the wishlist on to my brother, when I realized that one of my dream...
Things I Had to Google:
“My baby ate his own poop”
o_O
Not my finest moment.
Don’t worry, Mac hasn’t appeared to have come down with dysentery.
Yet…
Why is it Monday?
This past weekend was truly an awesome weekend with Mac. I feel like we are at a magic stage with him right now — old enough to do fun things with, but not quite at the terrible twos. A total sweet spot.
It snowed for real in Minneapolis this past weekend and we decided to take Mac outside to play in snow for the first time in his life. He LOVED it, and it was so much fun to watch him...
Oh, you were wondering if my kid is the best? Well...
Recently, Mac has been SUPER interested any time I’m cooking something. He lurks around the kitchen and tries to figure out what’s going on. So yesterday I decided to let him help me make some cookies.
I decided to make shortbread cookies because there aren’t any eggs in the recipe. Seemed safest to steer clear of anything that might give him salmonella. Good mothering...
On Weaning Pt. II
I think it’s safe to say that Mac has been weaned.
That’s right, after 17 months (almost exactly to the day), I stopped breastfeeding Mac.
It was actually easier to wean him than I thought. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have only been nursing him before bed for the past few months. I was so scared to let that feeding go, though, because of the battle scars from sleep...
So then I'm the only one not sending out holiday...
On Monday, we got our first holiday card in the mail from The Husband’s boss. Since then, the cards have been slowly trickling in and each time we get one, The Husband says to me, “See? This is cute? What is it about this that you don’t like?”
Lemme tell ya — I love getting holiday cards. I have no idea what to do with them once I receive them (I have been...
November 2011
15 posts
Poop Confessions
Sometimes when Mac wakes up, I’ll walk to the room to get him and the minute his door is opened, the stench of poop will hit me.
While my instinct might be to take Mac directly from the crib to the changing table and get him out of that stinky diaper, sometimes I find that he is just too cuddly and adorable and I don’t want to break the spell by changing his diaper.
So I take him out...
Mac is Back!
Over a month ago, the plague struck Casa de Jess & Fam. One of the kids I take care of got sick and everyone else got infected and we all just kept re-infecting each other for about the last 6 weeks. For most of that time, Mac was sick with whatever cold strain was hitting us at the time. Just when we thought he was recovering, he’d wake up the next morning with a crusted up nose.
It...
Whatever could go wrong, did.
Thanksgiving. Not my favorite holiday. Plus it’s the day that kicks off all the stress and busyness of the holiday season. It’s nifty that it’s not a religious holiday so you never run the risk of offending someone if you wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, but that’s pretty much all the day has going for it.
This year’s Thanksgiving got off to a particularly bad...
Confessions
I love Camille on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. There. I said it. And I’m not ashamed!!
Ok, I’m a little ashamed.
In order to get my kid to eat green beans yesterday, I had to feed him Lady and the Tramp style. We shared green beans like those dogs shared spaghetti. Whatever, he hadn’t had a vegetable in two days — I was going to do whatever it took.
...
Oh, another post about Christmas? Why not!
You guys, you wouldn’t know this by the amount of time I’ve spent thinking about Christmas-related things, but I’m actually a total grinch come Christmas time. Between agonizing over the right gifts to buy, plotting how to maneuver our way through tricky family waters (as I attempt to put my foot down and pout about wanting Christmas my way or the highway), and stressing over...
A Change
This morning I read an extremely troubling post on GOMI. I know that GOMI gets a bad name, but I actually find it to be helpful and entertaining. Today it went above and beyond, though, by bringing a completely disturbing site to my attention (and bringing it — and others like it — down).
I have always thought of tumblr as a very small community. We all come on here, sharing bits...
Oh Christmas Tree
I know, I know. Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet so I shouldn’t be talking about Christmas, but I’m trying to be more organized this year so Christmas has been on my mind quite a bit lately.
For the last 4 years, The Husband and I have spent one night in December hunting down the perfect tree. One that is tall, but not too tall. Full, but not too full. Green, aromatic,...
Houses
When we first got married, it was important to The Husband and I that we be close to the city and thus close to the action. We were still in the phase where we were going downtown most weekend and we wanted to be a cheap cab ride away from home.
We bought our little house on the park just a few blocks outside of Minneapolis proper 4.5 years ago. We turned it into a home and The Husband in...
2 tags
On Penn State
I assume by now that everyone has heard about what’s going on at Penn State. I assume all of us have heard of yet another kid coming forward, making that 9 victims that Sandusky allegedly molested. I italicize allegedly because, I mean, c’mon — dude did it. Not a doubt in my mind. Not a doubt in anyone’s mind.
I assume that the whole situation makes you as sick as it...
Old Friends
I have a great circle of friends and within that circle, I have a few very close friends. But I only have one childhood friend.
I met my best friend when we were 14. It was freshman year of high school and despite an early hiccup in our friendship (she hated me), we managed to cobble together a friendship that has lasted the last 15 years. Other than my family, she is the only tie to my past.
...
It's Friday Night
The baby is fast asleep.
The TV is turned off.
The Husband is downstairs watching hockey.
I’m upstairs listening to my dad’s radio show and reading a book (and clearly messing around on the internet…)
I’m in my comfiest pair of sweats.
In 45 minutes, I’m going to bed.
It may not be an exciting evening, but it’s pretty typical for us and I can think of few...
Where Do You Draw the Line?
Yesterday night, I found myself in a completely irrational white-hot rage over a picture that was posted on facebook.
As I scrolled through my newsfeed last night when I was having trouble falling asleep, I was shocked to suddenly see a picture of my son posted. A picture that I had taken. A picture that I hadn’t sent to the person who posted it.
I have a…strained relationship...
Mac's Will Be Done
Mac is at a phase right now where he’s super duper interested in asserting his will. He wants what he wants when he wants it. And he will whine incessantly until he gets it.
I’m not the biggest fan of this phase.
The thing is, if he could say more than 4 words, I might be a little more tolerant of this new attitude of his. But as it is, he simply employs a variety of whines while...
Halloween Recap
Last night we decided to take our little giraffe trick-or-treating.
After spending the afternoon forcing Mac to take pictures that he was none-too-thrilled to take…
{look at that dissatisfied face next to his lovely lady friend, The Strawberry}
…we shoved some dinner in the kid (lets not discuss what a battle THAT was) and got him all ready for some twilight trick-or-treating.
...
October 2011
25 posts
1 tag
On Weaning
I need your help. Your suggestions.
How do you effectively wean your child?
For the last two months, Mac has only been nursed at night. No more morning feedings, no more pre-naptime feedings, no middle of the night feedings. One nursing session before bed and that’s it. Weaning him off of the other feedings (especially the morning one) was sort of tricky, but basically as long as I...
