To LoLo on your very first birthday

Dear Lauren Elizabeth,
The results are in... no one can believe that your first year is over!  Although it seems like it happened so fast, the teeny tiny little newborn that came into our lives exactly one year ago is such a distant memory. 

A year ago I hardly knew you.  A year ago you were a tiny and helpless baby.  A year ago you spent more time eating and sleeping than you did awake.  A year ago I was getting used to you being beyond my own body.  A year ago you knew my voice and not much else.

I am so blessed to have spent so many moments with you.  So now I know you.  I've always loved you from the very moment I found out that you were going to be mine.  But to know you means even more.  You aren't a princess, you aren't a mini-me, you aren't a girly girl.  You are LoLo...something EXTRA special.  People are constantly captivated by your beauty.  But it is your charm and personality that stops people in their tracks.  Because you are the type of girl who wears her brother's underwear on her head and her dad's white tank top (cinched in the back!).  Work it!

 

I can't know now exactly who you will be, but the minute you were born Dad described you as "an assertive little thing."  I will never forget the way you taught yourself to walk.  You pushed and pushed until you mastered it.  When you fell you got right back up and picked up a large heavy object to make it even harder.  You walked without a visible audience.  No cheers, no coaching.  You wanted to walk and you decided that you would walk.  At that moment I knew that you could do anything. 

Today we spent the morning at a photo shoot for Fresno Magazine.  It was naptime, snacktime and lunchtime.  You loved it.  It seems like an appropriate way for a one-year old to spend her birthday!

Lauren at the Junior League/Fresno Magazine photo shoot dancing to Stevie Wonder

Then we got your birthday lunch at In-n-Out Burger. 

 

It has been a memorable day so far.  It has been an amazing year.  I will tell you a little secret.  I am sad to see you grow up.    I love the way you scream like a baby girl.  I love your short curls.  I love your (disappearing) rolls.  I love the way you dance.  I love the way you run to the door when you hear daddy come home.  I love way you rough and tumble with Keith.  I love the way you clap when you see Patrick.  I love the way you cuddle when I hold you.  I won't be able to hold you forever but I will always remember the way you put your head on my shoulder.  Being you mom is the loveliest thing in the world.

Hugs and kisses Sweet Baby. 

I love you!

Mama Lou

Interesting Moments from Motherhood

Privacy (especially in the bathroom) is as fleeting as quiet while you are trying to talk on the phone.  Every mother knows this, it is a fact.  The bathroom becomes the family meeting place whenever Mom is in the loo.
So, it shouldn't be surprising that one of my children asked to sit on my lap while I was using the bathroom the other day. 

Seriously?  It isn't enough that you have to be in here with me?  Now you want to sit on my lap?  GET OUT!

Wii Dog:TFTP

Distance: 6:02 miles
Time: 58:37
Avg Pace Per Mile: 9:44

Have you ever run on the Wii?  There is this little dog, he's the pacing dog.  He helps you run at the right speed and he also periodically looks over his shoulder to make sure you haven't crashed into a tree or something.  He's friendly, fun, and oh so helpful.
My run this morning started before 6:00 am..D-A-R-K dark.  Shadows are scary this early in the morning.  There is always something that is going to jump out of the bushes (seriously)!  This morning it was my Wii dog.  A little dog followed me for most of my run.  Unlike the Wii dog, he was tailing me.  I wasn't sure how friendly the dog was so this officially represents my running turning point.  The Wii dog had me running at the elusive pace of 10 minutes or under!!  Thank you Wii dog, come run with me anytime (just don't bite me).  WOOT!

One of those weeks

Have you ever had one of those weeks?  It isn't a bad week, just an organizationally challenged week.  The kind of week when your boys run out of clean socks.
The kind of week when you forget an appointment and spend an extra $40 to feed your family.
The kind of week when you realize on Wednesday that the milk isn't going to last until shopping day on Friday.
The kind of week when your baby pukes on an outfit before you have even put it on her. 
The kind of week when you focus on your to-do list and continue to forget to do things.

So in honor of this organizationally challenged week, I'm going to show you my new organization system.  All of you parents of school-aged children know how much paper comes home every day from school.  I am pretty diligent about sorting, signing and sending it off to where it belongs.  But I hate clutter on my counters and some things need a second look or to be saved for a later date or reviewed by Dad (what do you do other than stack this crap on the counter?).  I also have been trying to save money, use coupons and get better about menu planning.  There's a lot of paper that goes along with this process!  So......

Our new back of the pantry door organization system.

 I implemented this system before school started and it has worked brilliantly.  All you need is:
1) A pack of file pocket folders
2) 3M picture hangers
3) Letter stickers
4) Clips

 The boys got red and yellow (obviously).  I put the folders low enough so that Patrick can reach his.  Patrick's folder is mostly homework. Having one place to put things makes the whole process so much easier.   I also clip any items for the week (money for snack shack, reminders about school events) to the outside of the folder.  Smaller items also get put on the front clip.

 Keith's folder has information for the month about Kindergarten, speech homework and coloring pages. 

 The food folder contains: coupons, menus, Costco coupons, recipes and weekly ads.  Thing of beauty.

 I wasn't sure what I would use the fourth, unlabeled folder for but it has quickly become the MISC. folder.  Field trip information, school menus, any information that comes home and cannot be sent back or trashed gets stuck in this folder. 

Here are my Mod Podge clippies.  Easy.
EDITED TO SAY: The clips serve a dual purpose.  Since the expanding folders like to expand, the clips keep everything nice and tight.  Otherwise the folders gape open.

Do you want to know how I know this system was a good idea?  Patrick said to me, "Mom, why didn't you think of this before?"

Treadmill Musings: TFTP

Distance: 5.14 miles
Time:54:04
Avg Pace Per Mile: 10:39
Lauren and I have been heading to the gym a couple of days each week to run on the treadmill.  Am I the only one who is afraid of the treadmill.  My run on the treadmill is an attempt to not fall off the thing.  It is so scary. 
Also, what is up with people who don't give you a treadmill buffer.  Endless treadmills and you have to run right next to me?
The good news is the treadmill has improved my time and I am finally closing in on the 10:00 minute pace that I've been coveting.  My hip still hurts but I'm stretching and praying.

Bad Mommy Chronicles v.2598

There is a running joke amongst our friends, all of whom have kids about the same age as ours.  The joke is that we rely heavily upon Patrick and his inclination towards taking care of, protecting and "mother henning (every noun deserves a shot at being a verb)" the kids.  He often shows the moms up by corralling the kids and making sure they are all going in the right direction.  Saturday night and you don't have a babysitter?  Call Patrick.  Need to run into the office and you don't want to wake up the sleeping toddler in the car?  Call Patrick.  Can't find the baby?  Call Patrick.

He really is a very caring boy and has a sort of golden retriever quality to him.  anyway.  My JLF friend Emily (love her) made some yummy zucchini bread for our provisional brunch and sent some home with me to share with the people in my house who happen to love baked goods for breakfast.  One morning I was serving it up to my eager carb lovers and Patrick starts to scream at me! "That has pecans!  He's allergic to pecans!"

After some confusion on my part and a bit of consternation on Patrick's part I finally figured it out.  There were walnuts in the bread.  Some more confusion from me and I eventually remembered that last Christmas we discovered that Keith has a mild allergy to pecans.  i forgot 

Survey says.... 47 people think Patrick is a better MOM than I am.

Tank tops and zucchini bread

Fashion Confusion

Yesterday I asked my husband to take me to the Walmart.  Something weird ALWAYS happens when we go to Walmart.  This time it was something that I just can't seem to shake.

The woman in the denim jumpsuit.

The state of fashion in 2011 is confusing for someone like me.  Jumpsuits and anything one-piece (that isn't a dress) are an odd creation.  I don't dislike it, in fact I own a little one-piece strapless shorts romper. Nevertheless, I am still confused.

First of all, I think it is a difficult look to pull off.  You have to have a certain body type and the jumper/romper/onesie has to be cut just right.  Otherwise you risk looking like an over-grown baby or like this....
 
Second, head to toe denim is just a hard look.  A darker wash seems easier than a lighter wash.  And shorts and/or short sleeves keep you from looking like a convict or some kind of "worker guy" as my boys would describe it.

Third, is this 1970?  The thing about the lady in the denim jumpsuit that really had me going is this: I couldn't figure out  if she was really fashionable (shopping at Walmart) or just a throwback.  Everything old seems to be new again and it is tough to judge from a side angle.  I sort of chased her down (fast walking) and checked out her shoes, hair and bag.  Turns out that she was just wearing an ancient 1970's light washed denim jump suit.  Accidentally, almost fashionable, and certainly distracting!  A testament to why I should save my clothes.