The kids and I were treated to a Phillies game by Mom Mom :) We all loved it, and the Phils won!

 Jules got really into the cheering. 

 My sweet boy and I

Bike riding at East Goshen Park. They are getting so big! This was a really fun Saturday morning activity and I hope to repeat it often this summer. They rode over three miles while I pushed Jake in the stroller. 

Well, we are half way through it. I think that today marks the 1/2 way point of Nates trip to Turkey and Hungary. I'm so grateful to the friends who are having us over for dinner, playdates, or bringing meals. You make me feel very loved and very lucky.

I miss Nate terribly. The kids and I are fine, they are being great, its just so different here without Dad around. I really feel it at night and first thing in the morning ~ I miss talking to him about the nuances of the day or the funny things that the kids do. I'm trying to keep my chin up. I had the Broad St run on Sunday and did way better than I had hoped, so that was a bright spot. Again, I was teary at the finish wishing that my family was there to celebrate with me. Next year. I feel like I'm saying "next year" about a lot right now.

Halloween '09

Luke and Jules, under the influence. I can say with confidence that our kids did not have a single piece of their Halloween candy last night ~ they didn't need to. Now tall enough to reach the cookies/brownies/caramel popcorn/candy corn so lavishly displayed at Becca and Rich's, they went crazy on great homemade sweets. This was the fall out. Our kids have sugar occasionally, but it isn't a big part of their diet. It was actually hilarious to watch it affect them ~ when we got home well past bed time and stripped off costumes, 10 minutes of frantic feverish running in circles laughing hysterically ensued. Watching them made me laugh as hard as they were. Post frantic dance party, they went straight off to bed, happy and exhausted.

My Mom, dressed for Halloween as my sister. Fantastic costume, Mom, you get major props for creativity.

Nate and our little animals, walking down the cozy streets of West Chester on a warm and slightly wet evening. It was perfect trick or treat weather.

Pop Pop, dressed as Uncle Rich, holding 60+ lbs of children.

Bec and Rich getting their Juno on = The Awesome.

Our fearless little critters caught on quickly ~ approach door. Door opens. Say "Trick or treat!" with a smile, watch candy be deposited in your pumpkin. Great system.

The Mangan Family on Halloween '09. A Monkey, an Elephant, a pirate, and a tired pregnant lady with a little pumpkin growing furiously under her shirt.

I don't generally like Halloween. I admit it. I'm scroogy like that. It usually just feels like a lot of pressure for very little return. Last night changed my mind.

It was so much fun to see the kids get so excited to put on their costumes, to watch them walk hand in hand down the streets with their little tails hanging behind them, and too see them grasp the completely weird concept that is trick or treating. It was so funny thinking about it from a kids perspective ~ Like, are they wondering today why the heck they don't get to do that every night? Why life is as actually as easy as asking strangers for candy and having them ply you with it ~ and no one ever told the kids prior to last night? What a DEAL! It was so much fun to prowl the streets of our old neighborhood as a family of four and catch up with all of our old friends. Our old street always goes all out with decorating and there were plenty of creepy things/fog machines/creepy lights and sounds to entertain the kids as we talked with our friends. It made me miss the old neighborhood a lot. We then walked down to Becca and Rich's beautiful home for their very first party as husband and wife. They went all out with fantastic decorations, awesome food, and creative original costumes. It was so nice to get to see all of our family (on my side, anyway) on Halloween this year. We came home happy and grateful, tucked our critters into their beds, and got comfortable to watch the Phillies/Yankees game.

Kids ~ If you read this someday, know that your Mom is working hard to lobby for you against the forces of darkness (aka Yankee fans). You live in PA, you will therefore be Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers fans along with your Mother. I am passionate about sports, and until you have the wisdom to choose Philly teams, I am your advocate. I know you will thank me someday. You wear your Eagles green, your Phillies red with pride. Jets are cool as a back up team (like your JV choice ;)) as they are AFC, but the Yankees thing just does not work around here. If you grow up to root for them, I may feel as though I failed you as a Mother, but I will graciously allow you the personal freedom to make that choice. Until that point of sports autonomy, you will remain in your green and red.

It's NOVEMBER! I hope that everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! Bring on the Turkey and trimmings.

Take me out to the ball game.

The family M, in the booth.

Julia in the broadcast booth, wearing their actual headset. She took the role quite seriously, as usual.

Jules loves her some baseball. She stood for almost the entire game, bouncing up and down and making her scrunched nosed face of delight.

Luke and Julia, on a cloudless night, getting MLB baseballs while standing on the field during batting practice. Who could ask for anything more?

Watching batting practice from the Phillies on deck circle.

Sitting directly behind home plate.

The whole family. The stair step height set up thing is 100% accidental, and made me laugh when I looked closely at it.

What a night. We went to the Phillies game to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was planned months ago, and was a night out that was offered as a fund raiser for my high school. We decided to treat Mom Mom and Pop Pop to a game, bring the kids, and have a great night at the ballpark. Due to a long story that involves luck, good friends, and good timing, we ended up last minute moving from our mediocre seats into VIP seats and a tour of the field, the broadcast booths and front row seats right at first base. Giant thank you's to the family friend who made this possible.

It was a perfect, cloudless night. The kids were fabulous. To see my 2 and 1 year old standing on the field at Citizens Bank Park being handed balls from major league managers was a treat that I never thought that I would experience. To see Jules sitting in the actual broadcast booth with the headset on her head and the city skyline and the ballpark at her back was surreal. To be able to celebrate in such style with my parents, husband and kids ~ beyond belief. We got to meet the entire broadcast team, and got to say hello in passing to the Phillies hottest two prospects Michael Taylor and Kyle Drabek right before they received the Paul Owens Award, given to the teams minor league players of the year. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Last night, thanks to a friend, we won. Last night, the Phillies did too, as Cliff Lee pitched his way to a shutout. Go Phills.

Happy birthday to Pop Pop (whose actual birthday is tomorrow) and Grandpop, whose actual birthday was yesterday. We love you both so much!

New Games

New games.

1. "School". School consists of putting on backpacks, and running around the island giggling and laughing until someone falls down, then laughing harder. I hear "Mama, I's gonna play school with my Julia now?" 10 times a day.

2. "The Procession of the Species". Luke and Jules were recently handed down this fantastic collection of old school animals. They are obsessed with them. 30 times a day the animals come out ~ Julia pulls each one carefully out of the giant tub, hands it to Luke with the seriousness and meticulousness of a surgical assistant. Luke solemnly takes each one and lines it up just SO. Each of the animals come out and is appointed it's proper place. The creators prance around and look at their procession, then declare it time for the "animals to go night night". The exact same routine is initiated in reverse order. The lid is placed back on the box, and the animals "rest".

Have I mentioned that this whole "them playing actual games together" thing has freed up a lot of time for me? It is fantastic. Baby steps towards actually being on top of things are being taken for the first time in what feels like a long time.

The first picture was taken from our deck this morning. I love our view. It was the first thing that I saw when I came down the stairs before the kids had woken up, around 7 am. For some reason it reminded me of our period of 5 AM wake ups last year, and how bleak life felt at times in that dark phase. Waking with the sun, instead of before it, is a blessing indeed.

The other pic is of Jules in her new attire. She prefers the helmet look now while playing in the driveway. How I wish I had thought of this with Luke and Jules back in the "learning to walk" phase. Many a boo boo would have been spared. Speaking of attire, may I take a moment to rant about the price of children's shoes? RIDICULOUS. We went outfitted them both with their fall shoes this Saturday, and it was painful. Someone could make a killing supplying cute and well made shoes for less......... there seems to be a huge void in that market. Babies are cheap. Kids are getting expensive. And teenagers? I don't even want to THINK about it. Thank you to all of my good friends who have supplied Julia with pretty much her entire fall/winter wardrobe ~ your hand me down's are worn with much love and appreciation around here!!!!

It's a crazy busy week ahead. I am out 3 nights, the kids are going to a Phillie's game with us and their Grandparents tomorrow, we are celebrating the birthdays of Grandpop and Pop Pop, and Luke has his first week of regular school. Buckle your seatbelts...................

Parading Around

We did it.

We went downtown on Thursday night and stayed at the Marriott. Great decision, in retrospect. I have many friends who tried to take the train down on Friday morning, but got stuck standing on the platform as train after train passed them by, already filled to capacity. The paper estimated the crowd at 2 million people. It was insane.

The city was alive with a sort of optimism and cheerfulness that I don't remember ever seeing before in Philadelphia. We had a giant breakfast and hit the street at about 9.30. We had the double stroller. Jules fell asleep immediately, as per the plan. We tried to come up with a strategy about staking out a spot to watch the parade from. 2 Million people in the streets is a bit insane. We headed to City Hall, and staked out a spot right at the top of Broad Street. We essentially got trapped there at 10 AM. The parade was slated to start at 12. I felt a moment of sheer panic. A "What the hell are we doing" moment. A "oh crap I didn't think this through" sort of feeling. There was no going anywhere.....had we needed to get out for any sort of kid spaz out or emergency issue we simply could not. I remembered a couple of key things about myself that I never took into consideration in my desire to go to the parade.

1. I don't honestly like people all that much. Especially drunk crowds of shoving people.

2. I have the Mama Bear instinct ~ A LOT of Mama Bear instinct. I am the "mother most likely to get in a fist fight if I feel that my child is threatened". Not proud of that, but its true.

Anyway. Some deep breathing got me through a wave or two of anxiety, and the clock started ticking towards 12:00. There were one or two moments of shoving or pushing as people tried to get through, and I felt tense, but they quickly passed as it soon became impossible for anyone to get into or out of the area where we were standing. When Julia woke up I put her in the sling, and she was in heaven grabbing at strangers hair and pulling off their hats. Luke was a champ, he had one or two moments of outrage at the fact that he could not run around, but got over it pretty quickly. The people around us represented both the best and the worst our city had to offer (we had a Dr. from Penn behind us drinking beers after her 18 hour shift had just ended, and a whole contingent of Kensington folks lighting up blunts and chugging beer right next to us.........and I am thrilled to say that everyone got along splendidly. Everyone was happy. Everyone was kind. Everyone was family, yesterday.)

The parade got a late start..........but our spot was fantastic. We got to see the Philly Phanatic, all of the players, and the view down Broad St was something that I will never forget. Julia was actually nursing AS the parade went by (My babyhawk is the coolest invention EVER for allowing me to do this in a gigundous crowd of people without a single person noticing). People were hanging out of their office windows, waving signs, throwing ticker tape. It was a beautiful, cloudless warm fall day in PA, and Broad St. was simply a sea of red, a giant ocean of humanity. It was awesome. Luke watched the parade, laughing and clapping from atop Nate's shoulders, Julia nursed and slept through most of it, and we felt a rush of euphoria for being there, for doing it, and for enjoying it along with our kids. So many things aren't necessarily "easy" to do with children. But I want my kids to be adaptable, I want them to experience life, even when it isn't necessarily easy. I want adventurous and brave and spontaneous kids.

Yesterday was a great adventure.

2008 World Series Champions

Our Phillies have done it.

Wednesday is date night in our house. So last night, Nate and I were amongst the masses out cheering on our Phillies as they won the world series. I will never forget it. For a moment all of the years of misery, heartache and heartbreak were erased as throngs of Philadelphia sports fans danced in the streets. It was a firework laden, cheering, dancing, horns honking sort of outburst of joy the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime. It was awesome.

We have booked a hotel room and are carting the kids down to center city tonight so that we can go to the parade tomorrow without having to contend with traffic.

I can't possibly think of a better way to celebrate Halloween.

I'm thrilled that my daughter was born in a Championship year for my city.

It's fun to win.

World Series Champs ~ 2008

I know I was there. I know I watched every pitch. I have pictures.

Yet, part of me has not yet digested the notion that the Phillies just won the World Series.

It's a glorious thing.

I am so happy for my little girl ~ Jules was born in the year that Philly won again.

Philly.

Philly WON!

The Scoop on Poop

Luke, AKA the Mad Kisser, swoops in for another big wet smacker as Julia tries to get away :)

We are officially using free diapers from here on out. The money that I spent on the cloth diapers is now less than I would have spent on disposables over the past 5 months. With a little time under our belt now, I am thrilled to say that the decision to switch to cloth diapers was the right one for us. They are easy. They are cute. They make me happy when I put them on my kids, or pull them out of the dryer, clean and fluffy and warm. There is a little bit more grossness involved than when using 'sposies, but not enough to really bother me. Motherhood is filled with so much grossness anyway that after a while you start to get rather immune to it. We use several different kinds of diapers, bumGenius 3.0's, Thirsty AIO's, Happy Heiney's, Haute Pockets, Dream eez fitteds, prefolds, and Imse Vimse and Bummi wrap covers. There are some that I like better than others, but overall there is not one that I do not like. I am a convert, and so is Nate.

In other poop news, Luke now uses a potty every day. Maybe once, maybe twice, or even 4 times like a couple of days ago. I don't know what to think. I am proud of him, but feel a little (lot) blindsided by this. I'm not ready to even think about potty training Luke. At this point I'm just following his cues and not pushing anything (I have nightmares of hearing "Mom I have to go to the bathroom" for the next gazillion years whenever we are on long car rides or in stores or really just anywhere in general......I don't feel at all ready to go there yet.) Changing diapers may get old at times, but it doesn't even compare to dealing with "accidents" and disgusting public restrooms, and all that comes with the potty trained young child. Not. Ready. Am I a terrible Mother for not so secretly hoping that this is just some weird phase and he forgets all about his current desire to sit on and pee in a potty?

While on the "am I a terrible Mother" kick, I have another confession to make. I'm not excited about Halloween. I'm really just not. I have a little of the "want to be the perfect mother and hand make the perfect costume" bit in me. I'm not proud of it, I wish I didn't have it, in fact, but its there. Last year, with the ease of just one child, I actually did make Luke's costume. This year, it just ain't happening. So I trotted off to the costume store and picked one. Blah. Its just not as much fun. The whole idea of taking the kids out trick or treating isn't even exciting to me. Jules goes to bed at 6.45 ~ all I can think about is "Why am I planning on trotting my infant around in a costume past her bedtime, she has no idea what is going on, what is this all about???".

In other news, Julia has settled into her schedule. She sleeps from 9-11.30 or 12 every day, than again from 2-4. She goes to bed by 6.45 or 7. She sleeps straight through the night. BUT ~ she wakes up at 5.30. 5.30 is a cruel time of day. She is happy as a lark, and wants to chit chat, and nurse, and play grabby face with me, and crawl around and get into everything.......but the child is UP. Which means that the Mama is UP. And you know what, I hate it. I hate 5.30 in the morning. Its still dark for several HOURS. And with the Phillies in the world series and the late nights that watching that is demanding, I am toasted at the moment. Just bone tired.

Should the Phils win, my children are going to the parade with us.

Please win, Phils.

Go. Just GO.

World Series Here We Come

Go Phillies

Phils kick off the NLCS tonight. Luke, Nate, Julia and I all hope they win.

15 Minutes

So Jules had her 15 min of fame the other night at the Phillie's game. The Philly Phanatic accosted her for a dance on the big screen. He shook his mountainous green belly at her, and kissed her head, and generally had a little party with my 8 week old daughter on the jumbotron. I don't know if it was on TV or not....did anyone see it? (Everyone I know was watching the Fly Guys lose :() We did not get pics. (I could totally throw Nate under the bus here as *cough* someone took a bunch of pics of the players, filling the camera card and putting the camera back in some un-findable place in the diaper bag)....but I would never do that to my wonderful husband. This pic shows us post dance, Jules wearing her big brothers Chase Utley shirt and blue socks (that's the camera dude behind us). A million people asked me "How old is HE" ......it clearly shows that I am a second time Mom in that I didn't even bother to correct them as to my sweet girls gender. I know you are a girl Jules,even when we dress you a little bit like a boy. Mom rocks blue all the time, and it was a welcome break from your pink wardrobe, truth be told.
I would love to say that you were your usual sweet easy going self at the game....but MAN would that be a bold faced lie. You were a pain in the neck! I love you so, but.....wow. My little girl subjected me to my first honest to goodness taste of a "fussy baby". (if fussy is defined by screaming inconsolably, that is). For the first time in my mothering career I can say that I had no idea what was wrong with my baby. I am someone who has no trouble nursing my baby in public. My kid has a right to eat, and I have a right to feed her. That said, the forced intimacy of stadium seating is about enough for me......I hate being that close to/touching strangers in the first place, let alone with a relatively socially taboo part of my anatomy exposed. I had brought a bottle of pumped milk, but my little one wanted no part of that in her fervent anger and discontent...... SOooooo, I spent 3 different nursing sessions standing up inside of the public restroom of the stadium. AWESOME. Nothing quite so humbling as trying to nurse a screaming baby inside a stall at a public stadium. I got to overhear some fascinating conversations....mostly those of drunk young women....further stressing me out as I started thinking about the sweet (if angry) baby I had at the breast one day becoming one of THOSE. Argh.

The next morning I took the kids to the zoo. My wonderful awesome playgroup Mama's do an outing once or twice a month, and this week we went to the Philly Zoo. I didn't really think twice about going solo with two babies until I was about to park....but I suddenly felt a flash of Mama fear for the first time in quite a while. Just a moment of "Oh SNAP what have I gotten myself into?" as I negotiated city traffic, and thought about small details like: Luke, Jules, me, keeping every one of us alive, lunch for me, lunch for Luke, nursing Jules, sunblock, diapers (for two) wipes, change of clothes, hats, sling, stroller, water for Luke, water for me, camera, wallet, zoo membership, cell phone, money, keys, diaper bag etc etc etc......

As I hustled from my car (I don't think that I could have possibly parked farther away from the main entrance) careening past herds of schoolchildren on the sidewalk as I off-roaded, passing the slow moving flock in the grass on the side of the sidewalk with Jules in the sling and Luke in the stroller, I heard three different Moms or teachers remark "Wow, she's got her hands full" as they looked at me. Really? I wanted to say? REALLY? You think? Anyway, that's when the fear hit. Holy Crap. I'm responsible for all of these lives. Its hot, and I'm in the city, and I'm alone, and IM SUPPOSED TO BE THE GROWN UP..........but I still feel like a kid sometimes.

Anyway. Long story short, we lived. Better yet, we learned! Luke loved the Monkeys, and the elephants, and just about everything. Poor kid got so excited about seeing the animals that he started pointing out every pigeon to me, shouting DUCK! I tried to explain to him that they were no more than filthy disease ridden sky rats....but I think that it went over his head. So huzzah all you filthy flying city DUCKS, my son loves you. Lunch was a bit of a mess, as I tried to nurse Jules, feed Luke in his stroller, and even occasionally shove a bit of food into my own mouth at the same time....but we all survived.

I'll tell you what. No one ever told me how physically DEMANDING motherhood is. Pushing the stroller up hills, heavy with the diaper bag and Luke, while Jules was strapped to my chest in the sling, in the 80 degree heat and picking up Luke over and over again to show him the animals was a flat out workout!

I came home exhausted.

Nate is away. Jules problem came to light when I thought through things and realized that it had been a day or two since she had pooped. THAT issue was remedied this morning, shortly after I bathed and dressed both kids in anticipation of going to Longwood gardens....as I nursed my girl she unleashed a torrent of 3 day built up baby poop.....up to her neck, down my leg, and generally all over. I can tell you that I have come a long way as such a disaster would have driven me straight to the shower (or tears) with Luke....instead I grabbed a towel, made a mess undressing her.....cleaned her up, redressed her, and got on the road. We had a wonderful time exploring Longwood (my son is such a treat, and Jules had to be feeling like a million bucks after, uh, unloading herself of her burden this morning).

I feel bad talking about this very private issue of hers very publicly, so I will also say that my sweet girl has slept from 10 PM till 6 am the past two nights in a row. Way to go, little one! I appreciate the sleep. AND, its 8 AM and Luke is still sleeping. He went to bed at 7.15 last night. I love that I lucked out in the sleep department with my kids.

Something is wrong with the website as I can neither spell check nor add pics at the moment. Zoo pics will follow.