Happy Mother's Day!

Last year, we celebrated Mother's Day with family.  We spent the weekend with Tyler's parents and then saw my parents at my brothers' place in Chicago.  On the car ride to Chicago, Tyler and I bickered over little things- Mother's Day gifts, where Tye would nap, details too small to remember.  I do, however, remember apologizing to him and blaming my mood on by far the worst PMS of my life.  


That night,  we arrived home in Chicago to find hundreds of ants had emerged from the floorboards and were gathering crumbs off Tye's bedroom floor.  I furiously vacuumed them up and applied every possible natural repellant to the floorboards to keep the insects at bay.  I was livid- these ants weren't just pests, but intruders- parasites, even.


Then it hit me- that cleaning spree felt familiar.  Intense.  Hormonal.  And my period, which had been as dependable as clockwork since it returned, hadn't yet arrived.  The rest, as they say, is history.

This year, I got to celebrate with my two girls.

Life is good. 

Things I Learned this Easter

1. Plan on coloring eggs more than once, because it is a favorite activity that will be requested every day for at least a week after.

2. The Easter Bunny should only put as much candy into an egg as a child can fit into her mouth at one time.  Because it all goes in at once, no matter how much is there.

3. When the Easter Bunny is overzealous and leaves too many eggs, the thrill of the egg hunt becomes the task of cleaning up after the Easter Bunny.

4. Never again will Mama ask the Easter Bunny to bring her favorite chocolates (Milka brand, imported from Germany) on Tye's behalf, because Mama eats them.  All.  (Thanks for sharing, Tye!)

5. Egg hunts should be conducted after the girls are dressed and photos are taken, or the risk is run of photo opportunities coinciding with sugar crashes- the kids and mine.

The only Easter photo I managed of both girls.

The Christmas Book

Several years ago, I was given a Christmas themed scrapbooking kit.  I didn't do anything with it immediately, or even for the next few years.  Honestly, it stayed packed in Rubbermaid tubs among our Christmas decorations.  Until this year.

Perhaps it's the pregnancy hormones, or perhaps it was the recent celebration of Tye's second (!) birthday.  It may also have been the time I spent reminiscing about meaningful gifts, like the 12 Days of Christmas photo book my brothers and I made for my parents one year- which is proudly displayed on the coffee table each holiday season for us to flip through and laugh over.  Whatever brought it on, this year, that scrapbooking kit was speaking to me when I opened the green and red Rubbermaid.  

I decided to start a history of our Christmases together as a family.  Each year, we can look at our past Christmases, remember how we celebrated, and then add a few pages of new photos.  

Seriously, Tye was so stinkin' cute, I could look at these all day every day, all season long....

The thought of Tye and her sister sitting around our Christmas book- in a few years as kids excited for the return of Christmas, in many years as young adults reminiscing over years past- makes my heart incredibly happy.  

Upcycled Christmas Cards

Last year, I saved all the holiday cards we received from friends and family and packed them away with our Christmas decorations.  This year, I cut out pictures from the cards and Tye used them to make her own Christmas cards to send to parents and grandparents.  She and I teamed up to put glue on the paper, and then she applied the pictures along with some snowflake glitter cutouts and star stickers.  She especially loved applying smaller photos of objects she recognized, like deer, candles, bows, and butterflies.

I added greetings on Tye's behalf, she added her signature to most of them, and then we mailed off the cards- each one far more cheerful, spirited, and adorable than the sum of their many parts.  

If you happened to have sent us a card this year, next year, you just may see portions of your card reborn in another post here.

Merry Christmas!

The Weekend Recap

Thursday night, bringing home the tree:

 Friday night, trimming the tree:

 Saturday night, at Central Park Zoo:

Recovering on Sunday:

Extending the Attitude of Gratitude

We celebrated our Thanksgiving with a road trip to see both our families in Illinois.  Moving away from everyone and seeing family less often has been a difficult change for us, and there's no better way to spend a holiday than surrounded by the people we love and for whom we are so thankful.  Tye is growing so quickly and noticeably right now that she amazed relatives with her expressive vocabulary and thick blonde hair.

Waiting for dinner...

Throughout November, I kept running into people's daily posts of things for which they were thankful.  I appreciate the conscious effort made to focus on being thankful, especially during the month we celebrate Thanksgiving.  Any way to extend the meaning and celebration of Thanksgiving (other than just extra turkey and potatoes) is, in my opinion, a great reminder of all we have.  

Now that Thanksgiving has passed and we're already deep in the throes of Christmas (though last I checked, it's still November), I hope all those people are continuing to practice their mindful thankfulness.  I've been told it takes 30 days for an activity to become habit.  Thanksgiving was on the 24th, almost a week shy of the 30 days it would require for someone to make a habit of noting something for which she is thankful each day.  Another theory by Dr. Maxwell Maltz suggests that 21 consecutive days is a span long enough to create a habit, but they must be consecutive.  I'm hoping there is truth to that theory and that everyone who noted daily what made them thankful will continue that practice, especially through the holidays.

As I grow older, each year I'm more aware of the stark contrast between Thanksgiving's prayers of gratitude and Black Friday's push for wanting, needing more.  Don't get me wrong- I'm very happy that the economy is rebounding, and I even participated in this year's Black Friday shopping mania.  I think I just notice the attitude shift between the two days much more clearly as I gain perspective.  

Or, maybe Black Friday is becoming a bigger deal each year- apparently to some it is, like the lady who pepper sprayed other shoppers over an XBox.  This year, as Black Friday edged it's way into the day of Thanksgiving and stores opened at 10pm Thanksgiving evening, the world of shopping seemed to overtake our one day devoted to thankfulness.  

Yesterday, I was reminded it was Cyber Monday when I opened my laptop to 49 new emails announcing huge discounts.  I deleted most without opening, but one caught my attention: from Patagonia*, an email with the subject line "Do Not Buy This Jacket."  Clever marketing, I thought, and opened it, curious to see what spin on the day the company was throwing.  As I read, I was greeted with the breath of fresh air I needed.  From the email:

Today is Cyber Monday. It will likely be the biggest online shopping day ever. Cyber Monday was created by the National Retail Federation in 2005 to focus media and public attention on online shopping. But Cyber Monday, and the culture of consumption it reflects, puts the economy of natural systems that support all life firmly in the red. We're now using the resources of one-and-a-half planets on our one and only planet.Because Patagonia wants to be in business for a good long time – and leave a world inhabitable for our kids – we want to do the opposite of every other business today. We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.

In a world so deeply immersed in consumerism that not even a full day is devoted to being thankful any longer, we're bombarded daily with messages that we need more.  Combating those sentiments requires a conscious effort, because emails like those above are few and far between.  The first step to wanting less is appreciating what we already have, one more reason to continue the practice of being thankful into December.  So while the holiday of Thanksgiving may have passed, I'd like to wish you a season of continued thanksgiving.  Keep giving thanks and maintain your attitude of gratitude.  Before you know it, it will become a habit that changes your life for the better.

*I love Patagonia products and as much as I wish I was receiving something from Patagonia for sharing this with you, I'm not.  Other than a few online orders, they've never heard of me.  But I did spend the weekend stretching out the stomach in my favorite Patagonia fleece....  

Presents and Cupcakes and Candles, Oh My!

We had a wonderful birthday celebration for Tye!  My parents came in to visit Sunday afternoon and were here until this afternoon.  Sunday after Tye went to bed, Tyler and my dad, who Tye calls Coach, decorated the living room with banners, streamers, and balloons and we prepared all Tye's presents.  Like most two year olds, Tye didn't understand what it meant that her birthday was coming, but we would make sure the next day would be special.

When Tye woke on the morning of her birthday, I got to greet her by singing Happy Birthday.  As we walked out of her bedroom, she let out a huge gasp when she saw the decorations.  We said good morning to Coach and Gram and since Daddy was still home, we started opening presents one by one, pausing in between to play with each new toy.  

Other birthday highlights included a walk through Fort Greene Park soaking up the beautiful 60 degree weather, playing The Big Piano at FAO Schwarz,  riding the subway to dinner at Eataly followed by hazelnut gelato, and blowing out the candles (again and again) on pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon-maple whipped cream.

Tye might not remember the celebration when she grows older, but for the rest of us celebrating Tye and the anniversary of becoming parents and grandparents, it was a really special day.  Happy second birthday, Tye!

We've been growing!

Hi everyone!  First of all, thank you so very much for all the kind words and wishes regarding this new pregnancy.  Reading those comments was like receiving a line of hugs.  Thank you!  We're still here, and I'm finally starting to feel a bit better.  My constant 24/7 nausea has eased to morning and evening nausea, giving me a good portion of the day to accomplish things and eat as much as I can.  Sunday marks the first day of my second trimester- I can't believe how quickly the time is flying!  Our baby, who is about the size of a large lemon, now has fingerprints and reflexes and is peeing to create amniotic fluid (which made Tyler proud to hear).  I think I've even felt baby moving a few times, though it's hard to know for sure.


Tye is continuing to develop, too.  She just started creating two word phrases by adding "go" to words.  I'm amazed by the variety of meanings she can communicate by simply adding one word to the rest of her vocabulary- "Choo choo go?" is "Where did my choo choo go?" while "Mommy go" means "Mommy is leaving," while "Nigh nigh go" means "I want to go night night." While I've had to put some effort into maintaining a positive attitude while I've felt so sick, the reward of observing Tye continuing to grow has been well worthwhile.  Just to show how much she's grown, here are some photos from our Fourth of July celebration.

Happy Easter

Orange, Black, and Green Halloween

For Halloween this year, we're dressing Tye up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are and Tyler and I are going to be the Wild Things.  I've found most of our costumes at Old Navy.  For Tye's furry hooded Max costume, I picked up these furry pieces.  

 


I was considering dirtying them up for her so she'd look more like the grey, worn Max, but after a few minutes at a friend's costume party last week, I realized it isn't necessary- she was perfectly grey within minutes of crawling around.  I also sewed on some black whiskers made of thin ribbon, attached a tail, and made a crown out of yellow poster board.  


Tyler will be wearing this sweater from Old Navy, along with grey pants with added grey scales, a tail, and cardboard claws on his hands and feet.

I'll be wearing a brown sweater and brown pants along with the tail and cardboard claws.  I'm in the process of making hats that look like the Wild Things' heads, inspired by this photo:

         

We'll be able to reuse all of the clothes we bought this year, and we'll save the hats and tails for dress-up for Tye later.  The only waste will be the cardboard hands, feet, and crown (which we'll recycle), the ribbon whiskers, and the scales on Tyler's pants.  Can you tell I'm proud of our re-using abilities this year?  I also love all the costume swaps that are popping up for children's costumes, like the specialty site at thredup.com.   What a great way to re-use an item that has only been worn once, and at a great price, too.  

How are you "greening" your Halloween this year?