jack's (early) birthday

we celebrated jack's 2nd birthday last night because we'll be in the car driving back to maryland tomorrow (his real birthday). we all had dinner at the beach club and then ate cake. the highlight was the guitar that uncle dave and aunt tessa got for jack; he has become obsessed with guitars lately. he slept with it last night and hasn't put it down this morning yet. he loves it. some photos from the fesitivities:

a shout out to dan

happy d-day, little brother.

it's been a hell of a year for you. but you've handled it with a strength and a maturity i never knew you had; i'm proud of the man (man?! you?) you've become.

you're not off track - you're taking a different path. everyone's is different and there isn't a right way or a wrong direction; the point is to learn who you are and what you want no matter which way you're going. you're doing that. heck, you've pretty much done it. i know you feel like there is a lot more to discover but you're on your way. the search doesn't end, you just keep refining it.

i'm proud of you. i love you.
your big sister

scenes from an italian restaurant

(actually, scenes from a hilton head playground)

days of the week

you know what one of my favorite things about being on vacation is? forgetting what day it is. i woke up this morning and had to struggle to remember if it was sunday or monday. or thursday or saturday. i had no idea.

i love that.

(i think it's sunday)

boo urns

(obscure simpsons reference)

last night jeff was watching a basketball game. i asked him why there was still basketball on if the heat had already won the championship. then i realized that he might not have watched it and was watching the final on the dvr. oops. thankfully he already knew the heat won but he did ask me, very nicely, to be aware of that in the future so i don't spoil a game for him.

fair enough.

i don't watch sports. i don't root for any teams and don't really care who wins what championships. EXCEPT for the world cup. i've been looking forward to today's usa v. ghana match all week. i recorded it because i knew i'd only get to watch bits and pieces while taking care of the kids. i got to watch the first half when the score was 2-1 (ghana ahead). i planned on watching the second half after the kids went down for a nap. i was really excited - it looked like the usa might pull their heads out of their butts and make a comeback to stay in the world cup.

jeff called me around noon:

me: hello?

jeff: i'm sorry your team lost.

me: (silence)

me: I HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SECOND HALF YET!!!!!

jeff: i'm sorry!

me: when would i have had time to watch 90 minutes of soccer while watching two kids???

jeff: uh, uh, uh....

so boo urns on jeff for ruining the game for me. ironic, isn't it, coming on the heels of our conversation last night? argh.

packing day

it's the most dreaded day of all the days: packing-to-go-on-vacation-for-a-week day.

thankfully, my friend's 11-year-old son is coming over for a couple of hours to play with the kids so i can get stuff done. his mother called me a few days ago to tell me that he had two days without camp activities and to ask if i interested in a mother's helper either day.

um, YES.

the timing couldn't be better. he'll entertain the kids while i do laundry, pack suitcases, and scrounge up sunscreen, swim diapers, juice boxes and DVDs for the 10-hour car trip to hilton head. i'm going to have him come over every packing day from now on :)


(the usa vs. ghana world cup match is on at 10am. i know we're going to get killed and be out of the cup, but i'm hoping against hope for an upset. fingers crossed.)

photos

kate has finally tired of modeling for me. she won't let me take her picture anymore so i apologize for the awful photo posted below of her new earrings.

















this is another poor photo of the kids this weekend; i like the photo only because of what it reminds me of: they wanted to take their naps together at the hotel this past weekend.

















and another (subpar) photo of jack in the tub tonight. it makes me laugh.

dove ice cream

jeff went to the grocery store to buy me a pint of my new favorite ice cream. i dream about this ice cream. i crave it. i NEED it.

all i can think of right now is how to get the kids to bed at 6:00pm so they won't ask for some of it.

summer is over

apparently summer is officially over, at least according to retail stores. i went looking for bathing suits last night (we leave on friday for a week in south carolina) and the little bit that the stores had were all on the sale racks.

um. excuse me? it's june 21. summer hasn't even officially started yet and you're already clearing out the summer clothes to make way for the fall clothes?

judas priest.

i finally found a suit at the bathing suit store in the mall (you know the one that sells suits year round?). i figured i'd pop into target this morning to get a few terry cover ups. there was nothing. nada. zilch.

you know what really bothers me about this? it just reinforces the need to buy, buy, buy in our culture. we stockpile and buy things in bulk so that we don't run out. we're buying bigger houses so we can store more of our stuff. and i'm really trying to stop doing that - to buy what i need when i need it. but it's hard to do that when you can't buy a swimsuit in june and can't buy a winter coat in january.

sigh of relief

we're home. jeff's brother got married yesterday and though it was a beautiful wedding and it was wonderful seeing family we haven't seen in years, it was also exhausting dealing with two small children the entire weekend. we even brought a babysitter with us and i'm still wiped out.

highlights from the weekend:

1. during the ceremony, kate flung her lolipop - by accident! - and hit jeff's brother in the foot during the bedeken which they did during the ceremony so all 250 guests were watching.

2. kate and jack slept in their own beds in an adjoining room for the first time. sniff, sniff. my babies are growing up.

3. after the ceremony we went to take family photos in a park. halfway through the photos, kate told me she had to go to the bathroom. there are no bathrooms in sight. i was in heels and a dress and kate was wearing a poufy silk dress. i scooped her up, kicked off my heels and ran across the park to a huge oak (?) tree. i took her underpants off and taught her to squat. when we were finished, kate said 'mommy! i learned to pee in the trees!'.

4. hanging out with our babysitter, michelle. she is best friends with jeff's cousin, jordie. jordie and michelle have, over the years, become part of our family and my kids adore them both. this morning when jack got up and didn't see michelle in the hotel room, he ran to the other room and came back asking 'where ma-shell go?' he loves her which works out well because kate thinks jordie hung the moon. we're really lucky to have michelle and jordie in our lives.

5. coming home we made the trip from philly to columbia in under 2 hours. record time and i didn't really speed.

pierced ears

kate got her ears pierced last night. my own mom wasn't going to let me get mine pierced until i was 13 but relented when i was 9 because everyone thought i was a boy. i never thought piercing your ears was a big deal so i always said that when kate asked for it, i'd let her.

we've been playing this game for a few months: i ask kate if she wants to get her ears pierced, she grabs her ears with a look of fright on her face and says 'maybe tomorrow'. clearly not ready for it. but last night we met jeff at the mall to run some errands and we passed libby lu. i asked kate if she wanted to get her ears pierced and she said 'ok!'. i wasn't quite prepared - i really thought she'd say 'maybe tomorrow'.

so we went in. we picked out a pair of earrings. she sat in my lap. i told her again and again that if she didn't want to do it, we could leave. she said she wanted to. the woman pierced the first ear and kate let out a blood curdling scream that the entire mall must have heard. my heart sank into my toes and broke when it hit the floor. the woman quickly did the other ear which brought about another scream and i hugged kate to my chest, trying to absorb the pain.

she was fine 5 minutes later - as soon as we told her she could choose where we went for dinner. she chose the cheesecake factory (how is she my daughter??).

i'll post a picture later today.

self important

i had to go to the grocery store at 4pm today which is something i never do and especially not with two whining, tired children. but i needed a few things (milk and diapers - i really did need them). so i went.

as i was coming out with the kids and a full cart (that always happens, doesn't it?), i noticed a car was blocking the crosswalk. i had seen the woman ahead of me, saw her put her groceries in her car and get in. i thought it was was rude that she parked in a crosswalk - ESPECIALLY since she was wearing workout clothes. what? she couldn't walk an extra 5 steps?? - but wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. maybe she was late to pick up her kids or had to run into the pharmacy to get medicine. something, anything that would give her a reason to be rude and park in a crosswalk.

but no.

as i reached the other side of the crosswalk where her car was sitting, she was sitting in the front seat of her fancy european car, talking on her cell phone. i glared at her as i tried to manuever my cart between her car and the cart barriers and almost couldn't fit. i turned around and gestured wildly (no, no that gesture...just a good old wild waving of the hand to say 'what the HELL are you doing??'). she turned her head and kept talking on her cell phone.

i was so mad. i'm still mad. who does that woman think she is? who ARE these people who think they can do what they want and are above common courtesy? (above LAWS for chrissake - last i checked, it wasn't legal to park your fat ass in a crosswalk). i just don't get it.

sometimes i'm jealous that these people can go through life so easily ignoring what i'm always aware of (standing at the top of the escalator after you get off so that people behind you run into you, walking three abreast on a narrow sidewalk...). it must be nice to feel the world revolves around you and you can do whatever is easiest for you.

argh.

glad to be home

had a great weekend with my parents, but was very glad to come home to my jack jack and kit kat.

heading home

i have a 5:55pm flight home to ohio tonight (i'm not from ohio. my parents moved there when i was in college. everyone asks me that). very excited to see my parents. i've been in a weird funk lately and it will be nice to have my mom baby me this weekend (not that she babies me, but you know. it will be nice to be with MY mom instead of being someone else's mom for a few days).

i'll check in this weekend. or not. i plan on sleeping a lot and getting foot rubs and polarity treatments from my mom.

bliss.

what a feeling

relief, that is.

i had a photo shoot yesterday with a client who is a graphic designer (and a very good one at that). so she knows all about color and composition and has a very refined eye when it comes to anything visual. i was totally nervous about the session but also really excited because i knew she would be up for trying anything. plus, she's art directed wardrobes for television shoots so all three of them had on the perfect clothes (and colors!) for a photo shoot.

i sent her the link to her proofs this morning and bit my nails and paced the floors thinking that she'd get them and think 'eh'.

but she didn't.

she loved them.

and i breathed a huge sigh of relief and moved one step closer to my goal of becoming a photographer.

(photos are here.)

feet

i hate feet. i don't like to touch them, don't like them on my bed or near my pillow or anywhere near me. i think feet are gross.

but.

i love to have my feet rubbed (my mom gives the best foot rub. hands down, no contest. the best.) and i absolutely love to photograph feet.

that's weird, isn't it?

drunk parenting

jeff just called me from his cell phone to tell me he was on his way home (after a long, hectic day at work).

jeff: i'll be home in about 15 minutes

me: hurry. jack is on my last nerve today.

jeff: well, i can't promise you that i won't have some work to do when i get home.

me: so i shouldn't start drinking yet?

jeff: well, you can but you might have to feed the kids drunk.