Comparison ~ '08 to '09

Vacation, week two.

Julia helps landscape by deadheading the flowers.

Luke and Elmo get cozy on the Mall. Luke was beside himself with joy as he encountered Elmo, Hello Kitty (ugh) and a bubble machine all in one place. Who knew?

Pop Pop decided to teach the kids how to do push ups. I don't know why a two and a one year old might need to do push ups, but they are now prepared if a push up crisis arises.

All those push ups make a kid want some ice cream. Julia turned into an attraction on the mall, gathering her own crowd of strangers who marveled at her ability to turn ice cream into a full body sticky suit. Magic.

Aunt Becca and I gave Luke's locks a much needed trim.

Julia practiced her "Jazz Hands" in the garden while Luke looked distinctly uncomfortable at the idea of being photographed in his incredibly stylish Mickey Mouse underwear.

Once the kids had tackled push ups, Pop Pop shared his mad computer skillz with them.

Mom Mom gave a horsey ride ~ one kid per knee in the back yard.

Vacation, week one

My boys atop the giant Ferris Wheel in Wildwood at sunset.

Julia, fearless animal and bug lover, examines the bait (bunker) while crabbing. Her curly blond mullet melts me.

Nate and Luke crabbing.

Julia and Luke enjoy the rides. They laughed the entire way around.

Julia was not laughing while Mom tried to explain to her why Luke was riding the Helicopter without her. She was not tall enough...she was not pleased. Next year, baby girl.

Luke. Helicopter.

Burying a kid just never gets old, does it?

Some Pics

Some pics I stole from my Mom's camera.

Luke is potty trained. Jules appears to finally be weaning. Huge milestones. I went to the beach with a nursing baby and two in diapers, and will be coming home with one in diapers and one who (might) be finally done nursing.

We have sand firmly lodged in every wrinkle. Tomorrow is our last beach day. As wonderful as these long summer days are, I find myself daydreaming of fall and preschool and routine and my girlfriends who I miss. I plan to savor our last day, and then welcome heading home to reality.

Whisper

I am posting this in a whisper, because I know that Murphy's Law of Parenting states that as soon as you speak something wonderful your child is doing out loud, everything tends to go to hell.

Luke wore underwear all day yesterday with nary a single accident. I think that we are well on our way to diaper free living.

Shhhhhhhh.

Hurricane Hunker

The kids are sleeping, and I am about to crawl into bed for one of those luscious cloudy day at the beach naps. The ocean is so rough due to a hurricane offshore that they have closed the ocean to keep swimmers safe, so we are all enjoying a day of rest from the beach.

We had a fantastic first week of vacation. Long days on the sunny beach, 80 degree water, lots of bike rides and runs and big dinners and kids sharing a nap in the stroller for several hours of blissed out peace on the beach every day sort of days. Many sand castles smashed and seagulls chased and waves jumped. We spent one wild night in Wildwood, where I got to watch my two kids ride the rides side my side as they cracked up at everything and anything. Wildwood is like a foreign country, I felt like I should have gotten a stamp in my passport crossing over the bridge from Cape May. My neck still hurts from constant swiveling and gawking and delighted/horrified disbelief at the general sights and sounds. Getting in at 5 and out by 8 seems to be the secret to the entire family having a great time. It was a perfect night.

The kids get worn out from the long days on the beach, Jules slept almost 14 hours last night AFTER both her and Luke took a 4 hour nap yesterday afternoon. We took them crabbing yesterday morning and it was awesome to watch them wandering around in the water pulling up our crab traps and delighting in the seaweed and rocks and old nasty rope they found in the water.

We are going to actively give the whole potty training thing a go with Luke this week. He is accident free when allowed to roam the world naked.....but I think that underwear feels too much like his cloth diapers, and he has accidents while in underwear. So, we are going to just give it a go, starting this morning. We will see. The idea of him starting preschool potty trained is very appealing to me. Anyone with tips feel free to comment, or email or call me or just send me xanax or something. You know me, two hours and three pairs of underwear into it and I was already frustrated ;) Luckily Mom is here to keep me calm and to reassure me that a kid who can use the potty without accidents all day long is, indeed, ready to potty train. Wish us luck. No pictures until I get home as my laptop had a very expensive accident which will.not.be.talked.about.

Note to self:

When your almost 17 month old daughter asks for a plum at dinner, give it to her. When she asks for a second plum, give it to her. When she asks for that third plum, listen to the little voice inside of you that says "hmmmm.......plums are prunes" and do not give it to her so that you can continue to enjoy your own dinner.

When you disregard that still small voice of wisdom, you may well wake up to a really, REALLY gross mess.

As requested.

I got six emails or facebook messages asking me what sort of veggies/quantities/whatnot we actually got each week from the CSA (this does not include the fruit share), so I decided to provide a literal example based on what we got yesterday. See what I mean about liking to cook?

No one requested pics of my poor sweet (sweet enough to eat, apparently) daughters mosquito bites, but here is a pic of a paltry few of the bites. Last night my dear darling much loved friend since 9th grade Jen was in town from MN with her astonishingly beautiful and sweet children. We brought the kids along so that they could take advantage of seeing their "cousins" Will and Julia, who they have not seen in a year. We had no idea that sweet Jules was being eaten alive as she romped in the grass with Mike, Will, Nate and Luke. Luke had not one single bite, while Jules has 24 (who else would quantify the actual number of ravishes but a Mother?). Hey skeeters? I HATE YOU AND I WILL LAUGH WHEN IT GETS COLD AND YOU SHRIVEL AND DIE!

In other news, I am officially a mom-who-does-things-fast. In much the same way that I procrastinated writing papers until the last minute in college, I leave off packing until the last minute in motherhood. I have officially packed up the kids and myself in 20 minutes for the next two weeks at the beach. The beauty of the kids getting older is that we literally need few things: some clothes, some diapers, some sippy cups, and a giant dose of patience. We get the vacation off to a raging start with a 2 hour drive to go to a water park with 25+ cousins and grandparents and family tomorrow....only to drive 2 hours back home, sleep, and drive 2 hours to the beach the next morning. I am interested to see what it is like taking a 2 and 1 year old to a water park when we arrive at 11 am, given the fact that my kids generally sleep from 12.30 to 3.30 every day. A learning opportunity which I am sure I will report on. I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow, and I can't wait to be at the beach for the next two weeks.

I am longing for the respite of the beach, August has been wrought with travel galore and I am anxious to put the keys to the car away, forego the gym, and the pool, and play dates, and settle in for some fun and food and family.

Happy 1/2, big guy.

Happy 1/2 birthday to my big guy. How did this get here so quickly? Here is where we were a year ago today.

We are halfway through the "terrible two's" and thus far we have had very, very few terrible moments. I could not imagine an easier toddler than you, Luke.

Kid, if you read this someday, I have to tell you that you are just a ray of pure sunshine. You have a sweet spirit, you literally love to laugh, and you epitomize not sweating the small stuff. Today I yelled at you *hangs head in shame*. I then apologized to you, and you came right over to me and said "That's okay Mama, I love you Mama, Mama you sad?" as you kissed me, wrapped your arms around my neck and started patting my back. You made me cry with your kindness following me losing my patience with you. You are so your Dad, kiddo, and you make it impossible not to love you to the point where I feel as though it might make me lose my breath.

From the day that you were born 2.5 years ago you have made me smile every single day, and I love the little person who you are becoming. Mothering you is a joy and a privilege.

Cupcakes for all, tonight.

The Little Tomato

Also ~


Proof that cooking and eating the food is as much fun as picking it :)

Luke actually wore this get up (sans oven mitt) for the entire trip to the grocery store today.

Farmin.

These pictures are of the kids helping us pick fruit and veggies last Friday at our CSA, Maysie's Farm. We coupled that with a fruit share this year (we split a share with friends) and we are eating almost 100% local and organic produce this spring/summer/fall. Our weekly ride to pick up our vegetables is a fun ritual, and I have loved watching the kids learn to pick and eat warm sunny vegetables right off the vine. The blackberry's were just turning ripe this past week and we had a blast picking together as a family. I love feeling like my kids know, understand, and participate in the process of growing and eating food. I know that it gives me a lot more appreciation for what I am eating, and I hope that it does the same for them.

Food was/is a huge part of my childhood and my relationship with my family. Most of our family celebrations are centered around food, and I associate almost all of our fun childhood memories as being linked to some sort of food ~ The 7 fish dinner at Christmas or eating crabs in old bay at the beach, etc. My Mom always cooked, and I grew up cooking along with her. One of my big goals when I found out I was pregnant was to raise good eaters. I believe that enjoyment of food is a big part of enjoying life, and I wanted to share that with my kids. I don't know if its just dumb luck, or lots of cooking, but our kids love food. Luke has just one food he will not eat, raspberries, and I can't think of a single thing that Jules will not eat. They shovel in things like kale, or salmon, or salsa hand over fist. I get a lot of pleasure out of watching them eat, and I feel like it helps them in innumerable ways.

I was talking a friend of mine recently. We were talking about the importance of food, and cooking and being a conscious consumer. We live in a country where food is manufactured and marketed specifically to toddlers, and where it is normal for toddlers to eat special "toddler food" instead of just "people food" like we eat. It has just been resonating so much with me how true and how strange that is. I went grocery shopping today and was just amazed at the entire aisle of "pick ups" and pre packaged "toddler meals" and whatnot. I know a few of you who read this live in other countries, is it that way there? (Wen, Carrie, Jen etc????) or is this a USA thing?

I hope that my kids grow up continuing to love going to the farm, and that we can continue to get closer to our goal of using 100% local pastured meats as well (They are SOOOO expensive it makes it painful to get there right now). Hopefully as demand goes up prices will go down. I encourage anyone who reads this to look into joining a CSA, this site is a great resource. I will say this ~ Do NOT join a CSA if you do not like to cook. I feel overwhelmed with the quantity and variety of things we have coming in right now, and spend pretty much every nap time cooking and freezing to ensure that nothing gets wasted. From purple green beans to garlic scape's to Oullins Plums and Delight Pears, the variety and quality has just been awesome. Its a lot of work, but well well worth it.

A wonderful life.

We miss you, Grandma.

You lived a beautiful life as a Mother of 7, a Grandmother of 15, and a Great-Grandmother of 13.

You shared your love with your family generously and without reservation or judgement. You shared your love with the people who you served as an R.N for so many years. You taught us all how to love better, and more completely.

Your marriage of 63 years was a blessing to us all. The way that you welcomed me into the family, the way that you shared your books, your love of knowledge, and your love of family, was something that I can only hope to emulate.

You were a beautiful woman, who lived a beautiful life, and I thank you for all that you were to Nate, and to our family. You lived a life of grace and dignity, and you will be sorely missed.

We are heading to Scranton tomorrow to celebrate the wonderful life that you lived. While we weep, we will celebrate, and be grateful. Thank you, Grandma.

Goshen Fair, 2009

Last Thursday night we took the kids to the Goshen Fair. A tiny, small town, relatively filthy but fun little fair. Luke is tall enough to ride the rides, and I still am not sure who enjoyed it more, Luke, or Nate and I. Watching him go round and round on the rides while laughing and waving to everyone (we still call him the Mayor) Nate and I were cracking up. We ate dinner there, had ice cream (disaster was quickly averted when Luke's scoop fell to the ground in a soggy PLOP and we grabbed Jules cone and threw half of hers onto his cone), rode the rides, saw all of the farm animals (the kids love, LOVE cows) and then packed some hot, sticky kids back into the car and off to bed.

We went up to the Burg where Carolyn was kind enough to watch the kids so that we could play in a memorial tournament for Uncle Rick, who passed away two years ago. We had a great time seeing family and friends and were lucky enough to win the tournament! We loved the opportunity to remember Uncle Rick, who we miss greatly. We came home exhausted on Saturday afternoon. This traveling thing is great, but MAN being away every weekend with Nate gone most every week is tiring. The pace of life just feels a bit too fast right now. Summer is slipping away from me and it is making me sad. I have caught myself thinking wistfully about the NFL, and giant vats of food cooked on Sundays, and friends and fires and jeans and pumpkins.......then I chastise myself as I know that winter follows close behind. We are trying to get to the pool several times a week, and are loving going to the farm and getting our produce, play dates at the park, and have two weeks at the beach coming up. I fully intend to milk every moment of sunshine and warmth out of August, so that I will look back upon this summer with no regrets.

#1 does #2

This is (in actuality) Luke playing at the Please Touch Museum.

This is (in my mind) Luke dying with shame one day when he reads how his Mom posted about his potty news on the interwebz.

Luke did the much mistrusted deed in the potty tonight for the first time. Un-bribed, un-pushed, un-forced, un-waited out. We have been very intentionally laid back on the whole potty learning thing...........and tonight, out of nowhere, Luke decided to do something entirely new. He has been diaper free during the day at home for a while now......but had been asking for a diaper when it was time to go stand in a corner and take care of business. Who knows just where we will go from here, but this was a big day round these parts.

Much celebrating was had in the form of some strawberry sorbet.

We are one step closer to only having one in diapers! Go Luke!