2 little things that are #LOVE

i saw this on amazon. baby can chew the cr@p out of it and it's cute. #LOVE.

saw this in parenting mag. #LOVE it too.

Old McDonald had a tortoise. E-I-E-I-O

Today mommy took me to a petting zoo at the Society of the Four Arts. And while I will never remember this experience, I did enjoy it. I mean when's the last time a piggy touched your toesies with its oinker? It felt funny and cold. I checked out chickies, a huge turkey, goats, bunnies and duckies too. When silly songs come to life, life is pretty cool.

four-leaf clover bum.

i am keeping my mommy so insanely busy.

she's sorry she hasn't posted in a bit.

here you go. my chubby bum.

my 1st st. patrick's day!

love,

L

below:

my st. patty poster

& st. patrick's day cupcakes!, made by my friend river's mommy...
mommy & i at a baby's 1st st. patrick's day picnic
i was cranky, so mommy threw me into the sky. then i laughed.

(photo by melanie gast)

i'm really starting to appreciate mommy's holiday posters. i want to rip them to shreds, perhaps.
mine.
yummy little foamy clovers.

my. 1st. tie. (i'm like daddy!)

YAY! Baby has new friends (& by default, so does mommy!)

#naivenewbie

a girl has no bloody idea how important this is until she finds herself sitting at home with a new baby wondering what her kid-less friends/her old co-workers/her friends with much older kids/the mailman is up to, almost obsessively. wondering when she'll get to have another meaningful adult (specifically female-to-female) conversation again, wondering how she can possibly feel alone considering she's got a wee baby glued to her side 24/7. wondering if anyone else out there has been pooped, peed and spit up on eight times that day too, after just getting three good hours of sleep. oh my oh my oh my. it's overwhelmingly insanely mind-blowingly hard to find yourself entrenched in this predicament.

new mommy: if this sounds ANYthing like you, get your baby some friends. ;-) i'm over the moon thankful for my public library system and my local la leche league. without them, i'd have melted down big time by now (OK, i HAVE melted down big time, but i'm talking make-it-on-the-nightly-news melt down here). meeting other mommies with babies has saved the day, time and time again.

say L wakes up 100 times the night before, i stumble into a story time or a lactation tea and SOMEONE there will be able to relate to me. will vent with me, will tell me it'll get better. and as cranky-pants as L might be, he'll cheer up at the sight of other babies. he'll be stimulated, entertained and he'll likely sleep better that very night.

those of you that are already mommies, i know you know all of this, but those of you that are about to be mommies, or are brand new mommies, get dressed and get the HELL out of your house. find your nearest library, la leche league, or mommy group on meetup.com and make your baby some pals!

i'm so very very grateful for becki & quinn, sara & elena, johana & mia, maria & mason, lisa & william, leah & sutton, nadia & aviella, the list goes on, so if i've omitted you, it's just cuz i'm tired. LOVE LOVE LOVE all of L's new friends (& mine too!)

I leave you with raffi's little tune (and some cute pix of L & his buddies). we happen to sing this ALL the time these days, it's a simple song we might not really really -think- about when we sing it, but it's oh so very true.

ah! my #SAHM life, a hellacious comedy at times.

sarah christoph @sunlovey

Wondering why so many days of my #SAHM life are hellacious comedies. Note: comedies once retold, not during. #FML

(above was tweeted earlier today)

Let's see, I began my day with a clogged milk duct. Ouch x10,000,000. Attempted to remedy in shower (bag of marbles massage) & with baby (keep eating, L!). Nope, still painful and rock hard.

Off to story time in posh palm beach, 25 minute drive. No problem. Get there. Get baby in sling. Get to door of society of the four arts, see sign that says "no story time today - presidents day". Great.

Turn around to go back to car, run into another mommy I've me in my new baby-centric circles. She suggests we walk along intracoastal since we both drove so far to get there. Cool. Let me get my stroller. Transfer L from sling to stroller and off we go.

L hates stroller five minutes in. Wish i'd kept him in sling. Too late. Carrying 20 lbs baby and pushing stroller. P.S. its hot out. Fun. Walk is good despite. Get to vent with fellow nursing and anti-cry it out mommy.

Get back to car and spend a good 7 minutes getting all my sh!t back in car. Then decide to hit michaels on my way home since its close and baby seems in good spirits.

Park near a rogue shopping cart, set up said cart with shopping cart cover. It then rolls away as I turn to get baby out. Chase it down with baby on hip. Get baby in cart despite challenge of parking on semi-hill.

Inside... baby happy, fun stuff to look at everywhere. For like 8 minutes. Then baby screaming. Not typical of baby in a fun store. Should have known something was up. Picked him up & carried him through store and check out, then noticed a dreadful moisture on my shirt and hand, nope, not pee. And it's everywhere.

Awesome. My shirt is covered, as is his onesie. Get back to car, get stuff in car (purse, shopping cart cover, purchases, etc.) all whilst rubbing liquid poop into my shirt and his onesie even further. Then, rip off baby's onesie and my shirt. (Had tank on underneath. Don't fret.)

Baby screaming. Clean up and change baby, then feed baby in backseat to calm baby. Oh & duct situation still killing me. Head home for part 2 of this super fun Monday. Baby slept entire ride, which will likely jack up my efforts at a scheduled afternoon nap.

Yay! & happy monday to you, too.

#grrr

the artist wears diapers

saw something similar on pinterest & L just had to create his own. oh my... swift, strong baby and finger paint. no easy task. but what a fabulous little finished product i'll cherish always.
all you need is a happy baby, a canvas & finger paints + wet paper towels on hand galore!!!!
act fast! have baby attack canvas with one color at a time then quickly wipe baby's hands down pre-eating finger paint. let canvas stand over night, then repeat, next day with next color.
of course i completed the masterpiece, i didn't expect him to bang out the bouquet's stem. nevertheless, i love how organic and chaotic the bouquet itself is. he did the yellow background too. very little paint was eaten. ;-)

#FrumpyFighter: making spaces baby & adult friendly

So... I'm digging my new work & play space in mad ways. Ratherthan cover my living room floor with a primary color ABC foam puzzle for L to "tummy time" on, I scored a thick area rug. (I was inspired by one of my BFF's, Heather, to do this).

Next up, I found myself on the prowl for a low-lying cocktail table type piece that was round or oval, with no sharp edges anywhere (this was inspired by my dear mom, I miss you, mom). Table found! By another BFF, Byrdie, at a thrift shop for a mere $10!!! She and I redid it in a boy-friendly, yet living room friendly design and voila! L's play table was born. Ideal for pulling up on, and once he IS up, playing on, drawing on, etc. (note: For now, it works fabulously for my laptop, as he mills about on the floor, I can check emails and such.)

Toss in a few fun pillows (note: must add more! love, the Middle Eastern feel this table surrounded by pillows on a magic carpet creates) and I'll be over-the-moon smitten with this new area in which I currently spend loads of time.

Small baskets of fun baby toys exist throughout the entire space, fret not. We (or let's be real, I) sing the "clean up" song we learned at kindermusik after each play session as we put said toys away in their baskets and bins.

the table, post tons of love & magic in my garage, thank you Byrdie!