Moms In The City

For some unknown reason, I had been lying to the pediatrician at each visit about my work status. At one appointment I said I hadn't started working yet, when I had already started working. Then, later, I said I was working part time, when I was actually full time. I also said there were only 4 kids in Jack's class at daycare, when there are really eight. I guess I was fearing judgment, or feeling guilty. Or maybe I thought the pediatrician couldn't handle the news all at once and I needed to break it to him slowly. Regardless, at this 6 month checkup I came clean. Working full time and there are 8 kids in his class at daycare. The pediatrician asked what Jack is eating at the day care and I said that I was pumping, and he was getting breast milk. Reaction: "That is just great. That means you can have a fulfilling career, in addition to the career of being a mother, and Jack can still get all the benefits of breast milk. It can be done, and I wish more mothers knew that. There needs to be something on the television that educates women about pumping at work and continuing to breast feed." I took that to mean two things.

1.) It is socially acceptable to return to full time work when you have a 6 month old. (And maybe even earlier. I don't know because of my truth telling problem.)
2.) I should take my blog and turn it into a best selling book, and then turn my best selling book into a TV show like Sex in the City, but about combining careers and babies. There would be a few differences. Say, more flip flops, fewer Manolo Blahniks, replace Barneys with Gap Kids, fewer designer clothes, more mom jeans. JUST KIDDING about the mom jeans.

I try to follow the pediatrician's advice, and if he thinks this TV show needs to exist, then I need to get started.

Plus, shenanigans at work this week provided enough fodder for the two part season finale. Guys using the lactation room for who knows what, non-interested parties butting in; I don't want to spoil the whole plot but let's just say that one of the best comebacks ever uttered in a fit of rage was uttered, sadly, not by me. "Why don't you eat your LUNCH in the BATHROOM!?"

A Case of the Frump

My spring wardrobe has always been lacking, and now that I still have some pregnancy weight to lose, and I must always wear something that makes nursing convenient, I am really limited. So limited that in the past few weeks I have been ranging from minor fashion faux pas to major fashion don'ts.

It all started when I quit my glamorous career on the cutting edge of database technology in exotic Broomfield. It wasn't the epicenter of fashion, but I only saw someone wearing rubber clown shoes to work once, in three years. And it was close to a shopping mall. Now that I never need to sully my compact car with the dust of Broomfield, and I have actually been trying to bike to work more, and I still have weight to lose, and Old Navy left Boulder, well let's just say I haven't quite figured out my new fashion niche. (Pronounced neeeeeesh by my brother.)

So I end up biking to work in a pencil skirt (with shorts underneath) and heels one day, and then trying to convince myself that flip flops are socially acceptable for work the next day. I did end up wearing my flip flops because during my reverie, I accidentally dropped a chunky heeled sandal on my foot and thought I broke my toe. Here is what I learned about wearing my (really cute) new flip flops to work: I am short. And flip flops make a lot of noise in a quiet office. And they look terrible with the capri pants I should have donated to charity 5 years ago.

Also, when I meet all the local hot mamas and their children for a dinner playdate, I should shower, wear my contacts, and sport something other than my gray fleece.

Will I lose those last 7 pounds? Or just break down and buy some bigger clothes? Can I strike the right balance of bike-wearable-professional-fashionable clothes? Should I just try to meet some uglier friends? Stay tuned.

The Memorial Day Camping Trip Post

I couldn't really put Jack down this weekend because there weren't that many flat places. (Also, the little girls would swarm, swarm!.) I put down the blanket, put Jack on it, tried to reeeeach for my magazine and in that time he rolled, rolled, rolled, grabbed some pine needles and tried to eat them. This happened twice. And that is when I realized that if there were any flat spots in our campsite that we would have parked the van in one and then we could have spread out and not slept all in the tiny down hill corner.

Wellington Lake in two statements:
1.) Slanted
2.) Grossest bathrooms ever

But we had a good time, the kids loved it, and it sure looks good in the pictures!

Jack and Bean and I hiked to the bottom of the waterfall, while the other, braver moms, with younger dogs took the rest of the kids way up high.

Luke, exploring:


The Sultan gets a diaper change:


Bean stole Luke's sleeping bag, and then Luke stole mine and so on.



Putting your PJs on over your clothes for the next day is way smarter than putting your PJs on below your clothes, and then wearing them for 2 days, which is what we did. We have so much to learn from the other campers:



Perfect cast:



Fishing:



The only flat spot:



WORMS!



Fishermen:



And (Grandmas, stop reading now) Dave built a jump:

Not The Memorial Day Camping Trip Post

The Memorial Day Camping Trip Post will have to wait because I think the camera is in the car and it's raining and I'm lazy, etc.

Nothing new to report on the Deadwood front because I mistakenly forgot to update my queue, and received The Savages (Carrying the emotional scars of an abusive childhood, siblings Wendy Savage (Laura Linney, in an Oscar-nominated role), a long-aspiring playwright, and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a professor of drama, now face the challenge of caring for their ailing elderly father, Lenny (Philip Bosco), despite their emotional disconnect from him and each other. Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) wrote and directed this indie drama.) instead of Deadwood. Hmm. Sounds really fun.

In the future I am going to try not to mix the Academy Awards, alcohol, and my Netflix list. Maybe I'll take notes and then update my queue the next day if the movies still look good.

Dummening to the Nth Degree

I'll just present the dummening in list form.
1.) I forgot all the pump accessories on Tuesday.
2.) I borrowed a co-worker's car (since I had biked to work) to run home for the pump parts, but before I drove away I sat in the car for a full 3 minutes reminding myself how to drive a stick shift. (I could have made a whole post out of this one, but when I told the story to Dave he said I should just keep it to myself.)
3.) I wistfully remembered owning C3PO underoos, only to find out that my sister was the one with the lame underwear and I probably had nothing!
4.) After all the tornadoes, and even calling the daycare to make sure everyone was safe after their field trip, and reading about the devastation, and worrying about the people affected, I got on my bike to ride home and thought, "Ugh, it's so windy." Long pause. Oh yeah.
5.) Lastly, Day 6 of Jack on solid food - we went out to dinner and I didn't pack any food for him to eat. Poor little guy. He didn't seem to mind though.
6.) Just edited this post to correct my spelling of (w)hole.

We are camping this weekend so stay tuned for cute camping pictures, and to find out what we forgot to pack, etc.

Too Much TV

Between 2 episodes of Deadwood and the 2 hour season finale of American Idol*, I don't really have time for the latest dummening story. But tomorrow is another day. Please enjoy the picture. Jack is smiling (grimacing) because I am training him to be a ham for the camera, but he really didn't enjoy the peas at first.

*Don't worry - I watched the American Idol finale on triple fast forward. It took 120 minutes down to less than 5. Before I could remember an A or B or C list star's name, their song was over, and I didn't have to listen to it. I just wanted to see who won, and who cried, and who looked surprised. About 1 second after the announcement, as the hugging commenced, the recording stopped. If there was 2 more seconds of banter before the results were announced, I wouldn't have seen it! This would have been the worst Tivo tragedy since the Broncos won in overtime that bittersweet afternoon last fall.

What a Day for A Bike Ride

On Saturday we rode our bikes to the Farmers Market. Dave had Luke attached to his bike on the tagalong, and attached to the tagalong, was the trailer, with the baby seat strapped inside. If only we had a tandem, then we could have really been a spectacle. Or maybe, in some other town, we could have been a spectacle. But at the Farmer's Market we saw some crazier stuff. There was a couple in matching bike outfits, on matching recumbent tricycles. The man was flying a Colorado state flag. The woman was wearing some sort of desert storm hat/veil that completely covered her face. If she was worried about sun exposure, why was she wearing a sleeveless shirt? Are bugs a problem? Get a windshield for your trike! Maybe she was just trying to look mysterious, which totally worked if mysterious means really weird. Also, she had a tiny dog on her lap, and the dog was wearing a tiny pair of sunglasses. I have to admit that I stared, which I know is rude. But I didn't take a picture, which I now regret.

On the way home, it finally occurred to me that the Dave, Luke, Jack train was a good enough spectacle to warrant a picture on my camera phone, but when we stopped at an intersection, I took a picture of a guy on a unicycle instead.


(You can see the corner of the trailer, and Luke's arm on the right side of the picture.)

Boys Will Be Boys

Is the expression, "Boys will be boys" or "Boys will be sort of gross"?*

Dave noticed that Luke has finally outgrown his 2T underwear and that it was time for some new pairs. (He gets taller but not any wider around the waist so it hadn't seemed necessary to buy any new underwear in the last 2 years.) So I took the 2Ts out of his drawer and went to Target. I came home with some tighty whiteys and some boxer briefs last Monday. I washed them Monday night and on Tuesday morning he was excited to try out the boxer briefs. I guess he liked them because it is now Monday again and he just took off the last pair before his shower this evening. Did I mention that was a 3 pack? It is possible that I have my days confused, and maybe he didn't put the first pair on until Wednesday... but the math still works out to much fewer than one underwear change per day.

Secondly, when I was helping Luke dry off after his shower I noticed that my towel was just getting really dirty. After his shower. I think I am just going to start hosing him off in the yard, then I can water the lawn at the same time.

Lastly, we watched some little league on the way home from school/work today and one of the other moms had just noticed for the first time that lots of young boys now have shoulder length hair. Not having to deal with long hair is one of the great things about having a boy! Those poor moms have to deal with all that dirt and lots of conditioner? No thanks!

*MetaMegan does not endorse gender based stereotyping, and I know many dirty girls who probably don't change their underwear very often. In fact, I should strike this whole post. But then how will millions of people read about my lax parenting in regards to personal hygiene and cleanliness?
** The photo is from wikipedia. I think I always wanted Wonder Woman Underoos, but in fact had a C3PO pair instead.

MetaMegan: Now With More Milestones!

We had a really fun weekend, chock full of new milestones! Jack started eating solid foods on Friday night. He was a little skeptical at first but by Sunday night he was very enthusiastic.

Jack also was able to roll back to front and then front to back. Again, not witnessed by me, but very exciting news. The rolling to his stomach and then yelling was getting old. He is such a big boy.

Other than that, my weekend was too fun, and nothing embarrassing happened, so there isn't much to report. BUT, we had our neighbors over for dinner, and we decided we needed to build a corn hole set, ric-rac some corn hole bags, maybe fill the bags with locally grown organic corn, make some corn hole accessories, and play a lot of corn hole, so that should provide a lot of material. Stay tuned.

Prospecting for Liquid Gold

I may be about to jinx myself into writers block, but events transpired today to assure me that I will not soon run out of material for this blog. Earlier today, my friend said, "i just picked up a piece of garbage flying around the yard that says our block party is saturday." And I said, "Can I pretend it happened to me? I don't have a blog post for tomorrow yet. " But then an exciting thing happened. Wine was delivered to me at work! I drunkenly joined a wine club in Napa 2 years ago to get 20% off all my purchases that day. The plan was to quit when I got home. Woo hoo, 20% off! Then I thought, why not just get one shipment and then cancel? So four times a year I get wine shipped to me at work (can't be shipped at home because an adult has to sign for it.) I always think, "Yea! wine! I'll plan a special meal and drink delicious wine with it! Then I make my usual weekly menu of pizza, spaghetti, tofu stir fry, chicken something, leftovers, burritos, and The Southern Sun. I did recently make risotto and had to use some good wine and it was soooo good. But mostly, I am accidentally building up a collection of wine by not canceling my wine club membership, not drinking the good wine because I never plan a good meal, and then buying Red Truck whenever it's on sale and drinking it with pizza.

ANYWAY, my wine arrived today, and I picked it up on the way back from the lactation room. I always mean to bring some sort of milk satchel, with which to conceal the expressed breast milk, but it's not that hard to conceal 3 ounces in the palm of your hand. Unless you are carrying a box of wine. So I picked up the wine, and laid the ziplock bag of milk across the top of the box and went on my merry way across the parking lot back to my office, contemplating the blood of life, and mothers milk. It was sunny, and I was smiling. I smiled at the VP in the suit when I walked in, and he even seemed about to smile back at me when I tripped and the bag of milk went flying and landed at his feet.

"Ahhhh!"

"Aaaah!"

That was the conversation we had instead. Very professional. I snatched up the milk and ran away. Stopped at my bosses office and had this conversation:

"I just tripped right in front of [VP] while carrying milk and a box of wine."
"I hope you saved the wine."
"I did save the wine, but the milk is more valuable!"
"Is it? You can always make more milk."

Fortunately the milk survived too. My dignity on the other hand? Not so much.

(Photo Credit to either Melanie or Jill who took this picture after we were bullied into a tour at Gundlach Bundschu)

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling Part 2

Tuesday the daycare poured out a bottle of Jack's milk because they tried feeding it to him and he fell asleep. When he woke up the milk had expired. I have milk issues people! You can't just feed the milk to other babies or pour it down the sink! I furiously turned to the internets for backup, but the internets seem to think that the milk needed to be poured out or else it would be spoiled. This never happened when Dave stayed home with Luke! Oh, yeah, he probably did not concern himself with milk storage guidelines and that was fine with everyone.

I left work at 3:15 to nurse Jack. Another baby was being fed when I got there, and I kid you not, the bottle had 10 ounces in it. I struggle to eek out three 4.5-5.5 ounce bottles a day. 10 ounces? Are you kidding me? It turns out there is this stuff called formula. All the babies drink it. All the babies except Jack that is, which may be why they don't realize I'll have a minor heart attack if they waste any milk. Long story short, I am awesome.

But the point is, after I fed Jack, the oldest kid in the infant room, who is anxiously awaiting a space in the toddler room, kept coming over and putting a big cube on Jack's lap. Then Jack pushed it off, then the kid put it back and I realized: It's time to start teaching this kid to play ball!

So, after dinner Jack sat on my lap, and Luke rolled us a ball. Jack picked it up, and threw it back. It was the greatest thing ever! Except when Luke got tired of rolling and felt the need to toss it so it landed exactly on Jack's legs where he'd have an easy time picking it up. OK, that was fine, but when Luke missed it got a little worrisome. Luke was also constantly correcting my method of teaching Jack to roll a ball. I finally said, "Do you know how to roll a ball? Who do you think taught you? Yeah, that's right, I did. I know how to teach someone to roll a ball. Do not question my methods." Then when Jack spit out the pacifier in favor of gumming the ball, it was all over. You know, for someone who has had everything he ever wanted all to himself for 5 years, Luke isn't that great about sharing his toys. Oh. Yeah. Got it. It's only gonna get worse, kid.

Halfway There

It's Wednesday! Halfway through the week, halfway through Dave's business trip to Dayton (miss you honey), but most importantly, halfway through my Deadwood fast. With Dave out of town, I'm not watching any episodes until his return (because I am nice). Attempts at work to strike up a conversation about Deadwood has led to dead ends. (And not because the show went off the air some time ago.) Conversations have gone like this: "never heard of it." and "I like westerns as much as I like outer space". Which, on the surface, seems to mean, "I've never experienced it, please tell me all about it, I bet it's fascinating. But really, it means, stop talking to me about Deadwood. So it was very exciting to have this dinnertime discussion with Luke. (Names have been changed to protect the, the, well, innocent doesn't seem quite right.)
******************************************************
Luke: Montgomery said he has seen every movie.
Me: Really?
Luke: Yes, Montgomery said he has seen Return to the Jedi. And I asked him if he had seen the Pod Races and he said, "Yup!" and I asked him if he had seen the Clone Wars and he said, "Yup." and I asked him if he had seen some other movies and he said, "Yup."
Me: Well, sounds like he has seem a lot of movies.
Luke: Then I asked him if he had seen Deadwood and he said, "Yup. There's a giant in it." Is there a giant in Deadwood?
Me: Nope, no giant. And I guarantee you that Montgomery has not seen Deadwood.
*****************************************************

So yea! I got to discuss Deadwood. AND I was able finally prove that Montgomery makes up stories. This has been a battle since Luke's first loose tooth, when Montgomery said, "Oh. I have 10 loose teeth." And "The tooth fairy isn't real." Darn that Montgomery!!!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

As you can see in the milestone section, Jack recently started rolling from his back to his stomach. Dave noticed it Thursday or Friday when Jack rolled off the jiminy. Crazy! He moved a foot! Time for the gates to go up. I noticed Friday when I was doing the dinner dishes and Jack really started yelling. He hates tummy time and I usually cave after about 30 seconds and flip him back over to his back. I was very strict about the frequency and length of Luke's tummy time and he was crawling at 6 months. I'm not going to make that mistake again. So when Jack started yelling on Friday, I stopped doing the dishes and helped him back onto his back. By the time I got back to the sink and got my hands wet again, he was back on his tummy and he was yelling. At this point I decided it might be time for some tough love. (Consistency is the key to parenting.) He can roll over from front to back, he just needed to remember how. "It's OK, Jack! Just roll over silly boy!" Sigh. Fine. I went back to help him roll over because I thought the dog might be blocking his progress. Well, that was part of the problem.

"Wah wah wah! I hate being on my tummy!"


"But I appear to be stuck!"


And if you think that consciously trying to delay my son's crawling is an example of bad parenting, what do you think when I see he is struggling to roll over and can't because he is straddling the jiminy and my first thought is, "Wait! Where's the camera?"

It's OK, the camera was right there.

Man of Many Hats

On Saturday we walked to breakfast and it was sunny and sort of warm. After breakfast it was sort of windy and cooler. On the way to the farmers market it appeared as if we were entering a rain cloud, but really, it was hail. I guess we missed the snow. We waited in the car for 3 minutes until the sun came out and Jack and Luke and I hit the farmers market. When we got home it was warm again, but still sweatshirt weather. Then it was tee-shirt weather, then back to sweatshirt weather. And do you know what kind of weather that is? It's bonnet weather. Yes, bonnet weather.

When I was pregnant with Luke, and on bed rest, a really nice co-worker made us dinner once or twice a week. She was so nice that I invited her to my baby shower. In addition to a touch of pre-term labor, I was also afflicted with that other pregnancy thing. You know the one. Where you think everyone is as excited about your pregnancy as you are? Yeah. Poor lady. Anyway, she knitted a very beautiful yellow sweater, with a matching bonnet. I thought a bonnet was an odd choice for a baby boy, but she explained it this way, "It may seem old fashioned, but boys can wear bonnets too."

And I have to say, Jack wore the heck out of that bonnet on Saturday.
Do I like this bonnet?


No, I love this bonnet!


Here is Luke, not a fan of the bonnet!


And here are some of the other hats/ensembles that Jack rocked on Saturday.
Here he is in a sweater that was maybe my brother's, or maybe mine or my sister's. No one knows. Also, his Boulder hippie hat.


And here is his Yosemite Sam look. He says, "Put me back in my bonnet!"

Happy Mother's Day

A year ago today, after months and years, and a harrowing first trimester, we announced to the world that we were expecting another baby. That was a very happy Mother's Day for me. Not as happy as today, of course, since I have had 6 months with one little miracle, and 5 years with the other. Thank you family for another Happy Mother's Day! I am so lucky.

I was not as lucky with my Mother's Day gift ordering, which I proudly announced had been completely taken care of last Monday! Moms, your gift will be late. But for a preview, please click here. (Hint - don't order any yet.)

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Shaking My Fists at the Heavens Part 2

I had to shake my fists at the Gods on Wednesday, not once, not twice, but thrice.
Wednesday had been proclaimed "Picnic at the Park Day" so I packed a picnic and Jack and I headed to the Southern Sun for a growler of beer. I felt sort of weird carrying out a jug of beer in one arm and a baby in the other, but why? Jack and I headed to daycare to get Luke and then straight to the park. And I brought other parents along with me, "Come to the park! I have a growler of beer!" (Aside, what is the law in this case? Having a beer with your picnic at the park? Legal? Illegal? Legal but sort of unseemly? I consulted two experts and these were the answers I got:

1.) Who cares?
2.) Of course it's legal. That's why we always see homeless people there.

But back to the story of my wholesome family picnic. We got to the park and Luke took off to play with friends. I put Jack in the stroller with the sling, some blankets, fleece jackets and sweatshirts. (It was raining and cold.) And I carried my awesome new picnic basket (Thanks Aunt Nancy!) over my arm and then I think I grabbed the cooler with that same arm and made one trip with all my stuff. I met up with friends and excitedly removed the lid from the cooler and said, "Oh no! Noooooooooooo!" while shaking my fist at the heavens because the cooler was filled to the brim with foam. If I was as good a housekeeper as my picnicking friend, I suppose we could have just dipped our cups in, but as it was, I accepted an offer of babysitting and went back to the bar. Short story long, they refilled the growler, but the service was less friendly than at the grocery store earlier that day. And I spend the same amount of money in both places each week! (Kidding.)

The third time I had to shake my fist at the heavens was later when I was telling Dave the story.

And then a fourth time yesterday when I discovered my mothers day gift orders appear to be lost. But I'll spare you that boring story!

I didn't take any pictures at the picnic, so this one is from a few days ago.

Self Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

On Monday I ordered some mothers day stuff online and then left my credit card on my desk. Then on the way home I stopped at the bank and put my bank card and cash in the pocket of my jeans as I left. Tuesday I noticed my credit card on my desk and thought, "What a terrible place for my credit card!" So I put it in the pocket of my (different pair) of jeans.

This morning Jack and I headed to the grocery store and as I was getting in the car I hit my head. Hard. Why were we going to the grocery on Wednesday when Wednesday is clearly laundry day and not grocery day? Well because I needed stain stick, because the stain stick I have fell behind the dryer, and when I asked Dave to get it for me, he suggested that I add stain stick to my grocery list. I also needed some yummy bread for our picnic at the park this evening. And yes, I know it is raining, but I have picnic on the park on the agenda for this evening and the agenda cannot be changed.

I think I was still a little woozy from my head injury when we arrived at the grocery store, and I decided that I couldn't bear to lug the car seat around with me so I should just put Jack in the sling. But the sling was at home, so I decided to carry him, as that would prevent me from getting anything that wasn't on the list. Like a donut. Minutes later, in the self checkout, with a baby on my hip, wallet in hand, stain stick in Jack's hands and a loaf of bread balanced on my knee, I remembered that my credit card, bank card, and cash were in the other two pairs of jeans that I own. I did the only thing that was really possible in that sort of situation. I leaned my head back to look up at the heavens and said, "Oh Nooooo! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" As I remember it, I may have even shaken a fist at the Gods, but that doesn't really seem possible because my hands were sort of full. A nice King Soopers self checkout clerk came over to see what the problem was. I explained that I didn't have any money. Then I looked in my wallet, "Oh! I have 2 dollars!" He said, "Let me have those two dollars and we'll see how far that gets you and then I'll see what I can do." I needed another $2.5o or so and then I remembered that I had gotten a roll of quarters for the campground showers at Fruita, and then took only one shower, so I had a 16 quarters too. I just shook a bunch of change into his hand and he fed it all into the self checkout until the bill was paid.

And then he put the stain stick and bread into a bag and I said, "Thanks so much! But I don't need a bag, I gave up grocery store bags as a new years resolution. It's one of the many ways I like to make my life complicated. But thanks so much." And then I made Jack carry the stain stick to the car.


(In retrospect, I now wonder what would have happened if I hadn't come up with the money. An I.O.U? Free stain stick? Would I have had to bag groceries for 10 minutes until I worked off the cost?)

Working 9 to 5

We are slogging through the Milk Memos in the lactation room, and I had planned to give a copy to a friend at the daycare with a 3 week old who doesn't want to go back to work. But the more I read it, the more I am not so sure she'll be convinced. I am starting to think it is a good book full of useful tips for women who have made the decision to be back at work. And all views of how you might feel once you have returned are represented, so you can find someone to sympathize with, but the main point of view is how tragic it is to leave your baby. So much so that I was starting to feel guilty because I don't feel that way.

This morning Jack was so cute when I was getting ready that I felt a tiny twinge. But he was still pretty darn cute when I picked him up too. I wonder if my flexible schedule is the reason that I don't feel like going back to work is the worst decision ever. I used to think that only women who were curing cancer or helping the needy should work. Somehow I got past that. The world needs databases administered by women!

But just because I feel like this today, doesn't mean I will tomorrow. Tomorrow I might think, "Wah wah wah. I want to be home all day with my baby." Or I might think, "I wish I was nursing my baby in the bath." Or "I think I'll sweeten my coffee with some breast milk." Wait, what? No I would never think those second two things, those are from the book.

Part of the issue here is that my local circle of working-outside-the-home mommies is very small. In basically includes my lactation room buddy and people I know from the daycare. So calling all role models! Why is working-outside-the-home the right thing for you?

Weekend Recap

"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time." OK, it was one of those weekends, but we had fun. I actually fed Jack this morning at 6am and the next thing it was 9:45 and the boys were home from the first trip of the day to Home Depot and they had a latte for me. I don't think I have slept that late in years. (Of course I fed Jack at 11pm and 6am, but I feel very lucky.)

We took a lot of pictures this weekend and posed for a lot of pictures this weekend. I can't wait to see how they all turned out. We gardened and painted at the daycare work day and then gardened all weekend at home too. The school Luke will attend in the fall has a community garden, and I came just short of volunteering to help out. But I thought, "Ugh I have to work in the daycare garden. I'll just wait until next year to work in the kindergarten garden. But then I remembered that Jack will be at the daycare for another 5 years so I might as well volunteer now and figure out how to manage.

Segue to big news! Luke had kindergarten orientation on Friday. I think I was more nervous than he was. I had to describe Luke and I tried to describe him in an accurate, non-bragging manner. I said, "He likes to be outside; biking, hiking, and skiing. He also likes to build things and read books. But he doesn't know how to read, but you know what I mean." I felt very proud of myself when other parents were naming each individual word that their child can spell, but also sort of dishonest when one of the parents said their child was into "all things that fight, like knights, pirates and star wars." Oops, I forgot about that sort of thing. But we both liked the teachers and the school so I think it is going to be great. The photo of Luke and I was from our big day.

Da da da da AAAA Da Da

I have spent this week trying to capture Jack's babbling on video, but it's been complicated. If he sees the camera he just stops talking and stares. Also, if I am talking to him, he stops talking and stares. So this leaves me with two options. I can pretend to ignore him and secretly aim the camera at him and hope to record the video without looking when he starts to babble. This has resulted in a 2 second video of my lap while I say, "What, it's just starting now! I missed the whole thing?!" Or I can get someone else to try to get him to talk while I hover in the background. This has resulted in a video of Luke saying, "Jacky's tummy looks like Mommy's." and then I can't turn the camera off fast enough.

But I got a couple good ones at dinner tonight. Jack was getting sort of frustrated by this point, so his babbling is on the screechy side, but still so cute.

April Showers May Flowers

If April showers
Bring May Flowers
Then May snow
I don't know...
Sorta blows.


In other news, my first full month of blogging produced 23 posts. As 23 is the cosmic number, that makes me happy. I'll try not to let my current obsession with Deadwood interfere too much. Although I can see that happening. We have watched 6 episodes since Sunday.