The Creature speaks! Actually he`s been saying stuff like "what's this mama?" and "I want that!" Today we were at Ross Dress for Less and a baby was crying in the back of the store. Young Creature looked at me and said , "What`s wrong with that baby, mama?" I didn`t even know he cared about anybody besides the Creature!

There are 3 things I had to do to make my days more positive. One is no watching E.R. The second is no internet debate sites and the third thing I forgot. Last night I broke rule #1 and watched E.R. Oh boy, it was awful. A baby was trying to come out footling breech and the mom was a homebirther who was a gestational surrogate for this baby. She totally refused a section and then the baby was born severely brain damaged. What the heck is wrong with me that I will sit and watch that? One of her doctors did act like a nut, but it was so sad and now its still on my mind. E.R. hates natural people and all of the natural birthing chicks on Mothering.com are going off on it today.

It`s Friday so that means...its neighborhood freak out cocktail hour in half an hour. I must primp and tidy & get some food ready.

Birthday fun!

It was my dad`s birthday last night, just a small family party, but fun!

Whales

I was reading my 2 bambinos a book about whales before bed tonight. I love children`s books because they sometimes catch you off guard and bring you back into your own childhood. I loved whales when I was a kid. If I talk about how much, I run the risk of sounding like a noncynical blogger and you know that`s rare. I loved this book as much as the kids did. From Whales by Cynthia Rylant:


"Whales love their children, and when they are born, the babies are gently pushed to the top of the water where they take their first breath and see their first sky and gasp at the loveliness of living.
The blues are humble. The largest life God ever made is a blue whale.Yet blues are neither pushy or boastful...They swim past delicately and with impeccable manners.
And whales do not know, as they rise up for a big breath of air, that someone is standing on a shore and his heart is filling up. Filling up and ready to burst. Whales do not know how they change people, how they make them better, how they make them kind. Like angels appearing in the sky, whales are proof of God."

Good thing the older kids didn`t fight back, the Creature is still a pretty kissable little person.

He will only let me take his pic sitting in my lap. I`m still recovering from the action packed weekend.

hoppin weekend

Its another super cloudy day, now finally raining. We had such a super time at the crab feast. Neighbors who like to socialize and are fun to be with, I am so happy about that! Karaoke was brought out & even my huzband sang. It was all fun & games until the 2 year old Creature attacked every older kid and smacked all of them in the face. The Creature had to be removed and forced to sit with his mom for awhile. A certain Frenchwoman got very loud and crazy and it was a good time in the suburbs for all.
Sunday it was a ridiculously crowded church experience followed by a 2 year old cousins birthday party with a bunch of my moms family there. Then it was off to the huzband`s coworkers house for dinner and it was a feast. Cocktail hour on their deck first and then a festival of flavor. I had to do a little breastfeeding-a-toddler public service announcement, ha ha , but it was fun and the boyz were asleep before we got home so no bedtime drama. Thumbs up for this weekend.

In my perfect world , a beautiful place that`s always warm. People that are fun to be with who are nice to their kids.

Its a nice clean kitchen and a calm domestic moment. Brownies are baking, one boy is asleep and one is working on his own project. We are going to our new neighbors for a crab feast on this not yet rainy day. I had a wonderful time with my cousin and friends last night with just a few nagging interruptions.

Friday

I`m taking pictures of pictures again, what a goofball thing to do. This is my beautiful cousin 7 years ago helping me get ready for my wedding. I`m very excited because she is one of my favorite people in the world & is in town right now to meet her new niece and she is coming to my Friday cocktail hour for moms, grandmas, cousins, Trader Joe`s employees and anyone we happen to meet walking down the street. Now its off to meet the kindergarten bus..

why the heck does someone have a blog?

People have asked me why would I start a blog? One person thought it was an ego thing, another thought it was to meet men, haha ha. My mom said I made it sound like I live for cocktail hour. (who doesn`t?)

I`ve been reading people`s blogs and websites for years and it just occurred to me last week it might be fun to have one. I think its here to remind me to enjoy life. My whole life I couldn`t wait to be in my 30`s and 40`s and now that I`m here I want to be present for it and have fun whenever I can, lots of fun happens just being with little kids. Its not reality though, which is a good thing. I`m not going to name names or talk trash about people (unless they`re famous!). I `m not going to share all the stuff that stresses me out or make anyone look bad. Its just fun to have a spot on the net to keep it light.

many moods of muffin

Happy, wistful and beginning thoughts of toddler evil.
its just me and him in the mornings and now we will step out into the Shire for a long walk together.

All the things I could be doing right now & I`d rather watch my 2 year old get happy about a popsicle BEFORE lunch.

Breast is best in a disaster

"In emergency relief operations, breastfeeding for infants should be protected, promoted and supported. Any donated supplies of breastmilk substitutes (or other products covered by the Code) may be given only under strict conditions (if infant has to be fed with breastmilk substitute); the supply is continued for as long as the infants concerned need it; and the supply is not used as a sales inducement." From LLL`s fact sheet on disasters, emergencies and breastfeeding

I am going to focus on this tonight at my meeting, the topic is advantages of breastfeeding. What better advantage is there than having the food to get your baby through a disaster, right on your body? Not just OK food, but food that is vastly superior and will help your baby avoid so many scary illnesses that lurk in crowded situations.

I am happy that I have my meeting figured out, now I can run around town and buy stuff for my 5 year old to bring to snack day & get myself some new makeup. Time to turn on the techno & motivate!

Emmy`s best/worst dressed

I don`t watch that much TV so I didn`t watch the Emmy awards last night, but of course I had to see what people wore even though I don`t know who these people are for the most part.

The first 2 ladies here look like a million bucks, great hair, and wearing the right colors for them. Their dresses are flattering. They look perfect. The third one... what the hell?

hmm, I`m going to the Emmy`s, what shall I wear? I`m out of clean clothes, maybe I`ll connect a bunch of cloth diapers together and make a cute outfit. Or maybe just go nuts with a toilet paper roll.

Take the nerd quiz for fun. Its over there in the links. My husband scored a straight up 90, pure nerd to the max. I got a 5, supposedly I despise nerds and 95% of people are nerdier than me! How nerdy are you?

Not the clearest picture, I guess I should start saving for a real digital camera. The Shire is right outside the door next to me, complete with the Hobbit party tree in the distance. I need to get out there in my lounge chair soon!

Rock star # 3

Any song is good when Don Henley is singing it.

My mom makes me nervous with that teeny computer camera!

A family freak out. I am good at cutting everyone`s heads off, but this time its only mine. It was a great neighborhood mama cocktail hour with a husband there too for once. We have some new friends and they are super fun and easy to hang out with. Pretty fun and its only 9:30.

It could always be worse

I am ridiculously high risk when I`m pregnant, I can`t give birth without major surgery, I can`t leave the hospital on the same day as my babies, and I definitely look pregnant for a while after giving birth. All of that just sucks, but today I`m going to think about all the stuff I never had to deal with because its never all bad..
I never had postpartum depression, sleep deprivation or a fussy baby. I never had engorgement, never had a kid with an ear infection, no mastitis. Not too shabby!

A boob`s eye view, ha ha. Breastfeeding is cute.
The creature is a happy creature today.

another day in paradise

Unfortunately my tropical fantasy land has to end soon. Then comes fall and all my plants come in inside. That leads to a whole new kind of fun though, warm clothes look cooler than summer clothes, wineries are more fun in the fall and lots of fun fall things start to happen. Now I have one power hour to clean up and get ready for tonight`s Friday night cocktail hour for neighborhood school moms, although we don`t leave guys out-they`re just not around.

So maybe this blog isn`t as action packed as one by a busy OB/Gyn

redstatemoron.typepad.com/red_state_moron//"> but I`ll try to show how super cool it is to be a full time mom. Like today, after cleaning up since I`m more domestic now, I napped for one hour with a cute but mean 2 year old. Then quickly primped and loaded up the car with children to go over to an old friend`s house to drink wine and have a nice dinner on her deck.

She has one of the old school townhouses, lush jungle of a yard with huge trees all around, but smaller than these bohemoth townhouses that are all around here. No soaker tub but very homey anyway. Anyway, we had an all around fun time and the older 2 boys have known each other since they were born, so its easy for them to be themselves around each other. Now the boyz sleep soundly while their mom wastes time here on the bloggity and ignores a few dishes in the sink, waiting for the huzband to get home from work. Except for the part where there`s not much money, being at home is great.

Another rock star

They just don`t make them like they used to anymore!

My second son

I love that I can finally put a picture of my precious boy, Alistair, on the computer. I had 3 kids in 3 years, with 3 social security cards to prove it. Only 2 live with us though. If I don`t bring him up though, you`d never know about Alistair. Compared to the other 2, he was born with almost no hair and a very clear dimple in his chin. He was extremely cute. Since its been 3 years I don`t talk about him as much yet I think about him every day. One of the hardest parts of being a parent of a child who dies is that you are always their parent. We had him with us for 7 weeks, this photo was 2 days before he died. Of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. That`s really all I have to say about it today.

The plant I love the most, the elephant ear. I have one in front of my house that looks like it will eat the house up soon.

Now this is a rock star

don`t ask me why he`s here 3 times, but I`m not complaining.
Michael Hutchence is pretty hard to forget and even harder to replace.

Reality tv, so cool to hate it

Its like the trendy thing nowadays to talk about how lame reality TV is. I agree shows like the Bachelor are pretty lame-o but regular TV is no better. Sitcoms are super annoying to me and every other show is about death: Numbers, CSI, Law & so many different Orders, Bones, The freaking Medium, you name it. DEATH every night of the week but in real life nobody will talk long about death. The non death shows are mostly about teenagers, yawn. Whatever happened to the art of TV, shows like Miami Vice? Reality is filled with death and yet the reality shows are pretty superficial. I mean, does every single girl on Fear Factor have to have implants?

Anyway, the INXS show got me thinking about this. I loved INXS when I was a young teen, unfortunately I think their singer made them who they are. Their reality show was something good to watch in the summer, it was my only show. Now that there are only 4 singers left, its painfully apparent that a real rock star can never be found in this manner. None of the 4 have a real swagger, a real presence like Michael Hutchence. I still watch, but it is way too "feel good" to be called reality TV. Reality would never be so nice. Personally I will watch Survivor over Friends, but no TV & real friends & drinks outside on the deck is my first choice. Real reality is still the most interesting of all.

playing around with the small people instead of cleaning like a proper domestic goddess. Now that I have a school age kid I really do need to get domesticated and maintain an immer orderly enviro for the kids. I`m just glad my boy loves kindergarten. As a former Waldorf parent I have to say I have NO complaints about public school. So far, its all learning thru play, healthy snacks and a real good mix of kids who all seem so nice. I wish school could have been so good in my day.

Just another Lake Winnipesaukee sunset. The name makes it sound like the kind of place where you have a sucky time at camp when you`re a kid, but this is the most gorgeous lake on earth. Or at least the most civilized gorgeous lake I`m sure there are some remote lakes that are better. My brother Paul took this pic b/c we knew he wouldn`t screw it up. He takes the best photos! Anyway, we had a family freak out, 2 weeks with 3 families, 2 small children, 2 twin teenage college students, 2 sets of parents, 1 younger gen set of parents and many of the people ONLY bathed in the lake! Sounds like fun? It was.

That is one good looking man and one good looking woman! If you haven`t seen Queen Margot, then watch it. It has all the drama, hotness, violence and everything else you eve wanted in a fine foreign film.

My 2 gardening in the early summer. Too bad all the weeds had to grow back. Now it doesn`t look so good, but fall will be here soon & I can have a rockin garden next year.

Its a beautiful day and like a loser I`m on the computer. I really want a blog so I can link all the links in the world. I love links a lot.

little thug