Julia and her Doll

This picture makes me inordinately happy.

Take Two

Luke, May 2007

Julia, June 2008

Think that they look alike?

Things Said

The things you catch yourself saying as a Mother. This is just in the time between waking up (7 AM) and morning nap (9 AM) by the way.

-Luke, STOP climbing up the walls! (literally, he has learned that the molding in our living/dining room is useful as a toehold)
- Luke! Don't put your finger up Julia's nose!
- Hey bud! DON'T Sit on your sister!
- Luke~ Please don't drink the rainwater off of the porch deck!
- Oh no! Julia just pooped ALL OVER my running shoes! And the FLOOR! Ugh!
- Luke, stop dunking your toys in the dogs water bowl!
- Luke, stop rubbing peanut butter into your head!

Julia's Baptism

Julia was baptized on Father's Day. We felt so lucky to be able to Baptize our daughter while surrounded by the family who loves us and our kids so much.

We feel so honored to have Pete and Amy as Julia's Godparents. Pete ~ What you wrote inside the book you gave Jules made me cry. Amy ! The photo album ~ again, brought me to tears! I cant wait to fill it with pictures of my sweet girl. You spoiled my children and it was so sweet and generous of you. Thank you Amy and Pete, thank you Mom and Dad (x2), siblings, grandparents, and everyone else who was part of the celebration on Sunday. We love you!

Unplanned Vacation

Last Tuesday night my friend Dee was over for dinner. She brought Chinese as I have learned that cooking for my friends while Nate is out of town is relaxing and enjoyable for neither the friend, nor I. So now my wonderful girlfriends arrive laden with dinner when Nate is travelling, and we are able to actually enjoy one anther's company, as well as that of the kids. The forecast was for storms. I told Dee as we were eating that I was scared, that I had a feeling that the power was going to go out and leave me in the dark with the kids and no Nate in this big old window laden house. We laughed at my silly fears.

The storm hit with a bang right at 7 PM. The first big gust of wind and BOOM, out went the power. While I was understandably impressed with my prescience, I was also understandably ANNOYED that the lights, the AC, the phone etc were all out. I had already gathered up two flastlights and lit some candles, and Luke had gone to bed just moments before. How he slept through the storm is beyond me, but I am grateful that he did. Dee hung around in the dark with me till 9, then had to head home. I totally confess that I was selfishly hoping that she would stay. I have no idea what her presence in the house would have actually helped with, and it would have been miserable for her, but hey, I'm not above total selfishness :). The garage door was up as it had been up when the power went out. There is a manual lever thing that you can use to close it, but as its a big heavy double door with glass I thought that I might not be able to get it back up in the morning if I was to close it. So I left it open, and checked all of the locks about 18 times.

I talked to my Mom on the phone at this point. She offered to come stay. The little scaredy girl in me was screaming YES COME STAY!!! in my head, but the daughter/mother "grown up" that I theoretically am said no, Mom should stay home in her house with electricity, and I should buck up, put on my big girl pants, and deal with it. I then talked to Nate. He had me look out the window to make sure that everyone elses power was out. When I did this I saw that the lights in Buddy's house/farm next door were on. At this point I logically deduced that the ferocious storm did not knock out our power, but a very smart stalker/slasher person had cut my power and was coming to take my babies. Logical conclusion, no? I crept into bed with Jules, acutely aware of how far away and how dark my sweet Luke's room was from mine. Nate called me back and told me that if Buddy's power was on it could just be that our main circuit breaker flipped and I just had to go downstairs and flip it back. He tells me this from a bar in Witicha Falls, KS. I was safely, if fearfully, ensconced in my bed with a sleeping Jules. I shamefully admit that I burst into tears. I said NO, I'm not going down there (to the scary basement and slasher guy :)) and leaving my kids two floors above me. He told me I had to. I talked to him on the phone the whole way down the steps (when you are carrying a flashlight in a pitch black house its simply scary, I felt like I was begging the scary slasher man to come get me, as he could see me but I could not see him. Remember, in reality there was no scary slasher man, but in my mind there sure was). Flipped the breaker, nothing happened. RAN back up to bed and baby. Felt very sorry for myself. It was only 9.30, and the house was so very dark and so very quiet. I fell asleep with one flashlight on, and one in my hand (To bash in the head of the scary baby snatcher I was worried about, of course.). I fully anticipated waking up to lights blazing at some point overnight. Never happened. I woke up at 4 AM in the pitch black, and started thinking about the things in my freezer and fridge. Specifically, I started thinking about the several gallons of breast milk in the freezer. As any Mom who has nursed knows, that stash represents my FREEDOM. And it was threatened. I could not go back to sleep.

This is painfully long already so I have to start abridging. No power the next morning. Thankfully Mom showed up with large bags of ice and a cooler, and I got the breast milk and hundreds of dollars of meat safely tucked away. We went to playgroup to get out of the hot house. Nate got home late that afternoon. At that point PECO was saying that it would likely be late Friday night before our power returned. Fabulous.
Nate quickly assessed the situation and declared it "get out of dodge time". We packed the car, took the dog to the groomer who boards him, and we headed to Cape May. We got to the house around 10, put both babies to bed, and blissfully sank into the welcoming couch surrounded by a working TV, working AC, and lights and ovens, and all of the other wonderful necessities that power enables.

We had a great two days on the beach. The weather was wonderful. Town was quiet as the kids were still in school. The dolphins were EVERYWHERE. We took walks. The kids took naps. We spent two long wonderful afternoons enjoying our kids and our Cape May friends up on the beach. Julia was a champ and loved sleeping and simply being held in a lap under the umbrella. Luke loved it when we would dig a deep hole, stand him in it, and then fill in the hole with sand. He looked so funny ~ this baby buried up to his chest in the sand, just laughing away. We got home late Friday night, and the power was back on. We threw away TONS of food. The house was a mess. And 45 people were coming on Sunday for Julia's baptism. That's another story though.

(Our neighbors power WAS on, for the record. A transformer blew and my house was the first one on that line, so it wasnt a scary smart slasher after all, just dumb bad luck that we were the first ones on the street stranded in the dark.)

Happy Fathers Day!

It's your day gentleman. Lots of love and gratitude to my Dad, to my Father in Law, and to my wonderful husband who is an amazing father to our kids.

Thank you guys for for loving my kids, and for loving me. Happy Fathers Day.

Heat Wave

Its hot. Its been really really unseasonably hot here since last Friday. Yesterday was 97, today is predicted to be hotter. We are fleeing to the pool. I don't think that I can keep both of them happy/alive on my own at the pool, Luke is just too quick these days. So my plan is to rotate alone time with them at the pool and in childcare. This will the the first time this season that we have Luke outside swimming, and I cant wait to see him in action.

The pic of Jules is her in her get up from a few moments ago. This whole "girlie chothes" thing is just too much fun. Thank you Tarice for the ADORABLE outfit :) It's almost too cute to swim in.

The pic of Luke and the baby pool cracks me up......its like a fast forward to Spring Break in Cancun in 18 years. He looks like he's creepin in to hit on Macy.

Good luck staying cool today everyone.

Big Brown?

Like my little jockey?

I may have been the only person in the world who was rooting against Big Brown on Saturday.....the whole UPS thing/premature marketing and the media hype drives me crazy. Every year we hear "this could be the first REAL contender for the crown in decades!!"....but if they say that every year, is that really so? Call me a cynic, but sheesh! Anyway. No crown this year.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend. My thoughtful wonderful husband and family and friends treated me to such a great time. Thank you all! Jeannie and Tim were wonderfully gracious to watch the littles for us on Friday night so that we could go see Tom Petty (we were in a babysitting bind, and when Jeannie offered it actually brought tears to my eyes......). J ~ I can't wait to return the favor one day soon :). The concert was awesome ~ for an older guy, he still brings it. Saturday I had a much needed massage at ACAC as a surprise from Nate, and then we spent the day at a Belmont party over at Tracy and Shawns. Luke got a lot of baby pool action in, which was good as the east coast was smothered in a heat wave. Sunday my family brought lunch and cake over, and then my Mom and Dad watched the kids while Nate and I golfed. In a tightly contested match, I won the front, he the back, and me the Match. There was NO ONE out there and we got 18 in in 3.5 hours. I appreciate golf in a whole new way these days. This was (on June 8th) my first whole round this year. Looking at years past, I would have 20 or so posted rounds by this point. How kids change things! Its well worth it as the joy I get from the kids eclipses any that golf can bring....but when I DO get out for a round I appreciate it so much more. The beauty of the course, of the game, all hit me so hard yesterday. It was wonderful.

Nate gave me the best gift (barring my kids, that is) that he has ever given me. Months ago he asked a local artist who we are friends with to paint a picture of our old house on Biddle St. Laura paints a lot of pics of the borough, and after going to one of her art shows last year shortly after Luke's birth I was smitten with her work. He supplied pics of how the porch used to look when we lived there, and Laura painted and framed the most lovely perfect glowy beautiful painting I could imagine. Its our sunny little porch, with the three big blue pots and yellow flowers, the sweet blue door, wicker chairs, gracious tree out front and the hydrangea that I so loved all captured. The moment that I opened it I burst into tears. That house holds such a special place in my heart. Its the first home I ever bought. Its the place where Nate and I lived when we got married. Its the house we brought Luke home from the hospital to, and the house the we moved out of when I was 6 or 7 months pregnant with Julia. To have this beautiful representation of that home on my wall in this house brings me so much joy! More of Laura's fabulous art can be seen in the movie Marley & Me when it comes out.

Luke also woke up this morning and while I was changing him he said Pop Pop........Methinks all that time spent with Grandpop and Mom Mom yesterday afternoon included some intensive name teaching time???? It paid off!

Just Cause

Luke and Jules sharing early morning giggles.

Three little birds

Birds made a nest in the wreath on our front door. We didn't notice it until a few weeks ago when we heard the frantic cheep cheeping of the little hatchlings. There are three of them. I love them. Somehow I'm overly emotionally invested in these birds....they remind me of Luke and Julia or something. They have already changed so much from the fragile almost transparent little critters they were at first....the nest now looks very crowded with their three feathered bodies crammed in it. Mama bird appears to be doing a good job, as all three thrive in their front door home.

Playgroup was at our house today.......there is nothing funnier than seeing 12 little critters creeping all over the house. I love my playgroup.

We left both kids with our babysitter for the first time today. We snuck away to Glen Mills to play a wonderful 9 holes. It was so good to be outside with Nate and to have a couple of carefree hours to ourselves. Its amazing how as much as I loved getting away, I could not wait to walk in the door and see their little faces.

I have absolutely not one creative thing to write.

Wait. I have one creative thing. I was looking through the WS catalog and my jaw hit the floor when I saw this meat brander thingy. WHO THE HELL wants to sear their own initials into a side of beef that they picked up at the grocery store??? Is it just me or is this really really weird? Is this some testosterone thing that I just don't understand? Would you ever monogram your meat? Anyone else utterly grossed out by this? Please comment.

A Boy. And a Girl

My son has seems particularly boyish of late. If he can't climb or push it over, he does not seem to know what to do with it. Like his new "muscles" pose? Try not to be intimidated.

Ms. J got all dressed up yesterday to go to Courtney's bridal shower. The hat simply made the outfit.

I cant wait to see what they turn out like, these kids of mine. Being such a tomboy myself all of this girly stuff is fun, if foreign, to me.

Ive already caught myself being acutely aware of how I speak to my daughter. For every time I say "You are so pretty sweetie" I hasten to throw in "And you are SMART and STRONG too!". And then I laugh at myself, because, after all, she is 10 weeks old so its not like the subtleties of gender roles and societal pressures are really getting through to her yet :). The whole gender thing is so strange. Encouraging Luke's masculinity seems so normal and natural, but somehow with Jules I feel the need to counterbalance the message so often found in society that "Pretty" is all a girl need strive after.

I'm rushing, I'm rambling, I'm tired. I have a million things to do, so none of this is coming out the way I mean for it to. I will get back to this post down the road, when I can better explain what I mean. Any Mama's out there know what I am talking about? Do you mind your words more carefully or encourage your sons differently than you do your daughters? Please let me know I'm not alone in feeling some responsibility in not making everything about "pretty".

Luke gets a golf lesson

Grandpop and Luke had a playdate at the park last week. While I slept blissfully under a tree with Jules, Grandpop went over a few of the fundamentals of the game of champions.

Lesson #1 was "No, Luke, the golf club is not a javelin".

From there some basic tenants of form and etiquette were addressed. Note the attention to detail, the form, the concentration on Luke's face. Far be it from me to call him gifted, but I am anticipating a few calls from Ledbetter once these pictures get out. (**Please know that I gag every time I hear a parent say that their child is "very advanced" or "gifted" at the age of 1 or so....so understand that this is all tongue in cheek**) Luke is a sweet adorable goofball who doesn't know a hockey stick from a golf ball.

Grandpop is a good teacher however and I have no doubt that Luke will be beating me on the course as a teenager. Lookout.

Luke loved it. Mom loved her nap. Julia was oblivious to everything, as par the course.