Maggie, Month Nine

Cutie Ma-goo-tie!

Nine months already, my little Sugar Magnolia? You've been out as long as you were in! No fair, growing all up and stuff while I was busy unpacking boxes. You've handled this move far more smoothly than the other two, who are constantly trying to mortally injure each other. Nope, you just sit back and watch the action, nap when I put you in your crib, eat when I spoon you some food and smile every time you see my face. You even had a smile on your baby face when we got trapped at a furniture store until almost 10pm. Why? Because you're the best baby ever!

Just like brother and sister before you, you've developed a love of remotes. I can't keep these buggers, or the phones, away from you. This amuses me because for the first time in your life, you are annoying your big brother. He's four and already has the, 'I'm a man so the remote is MINE!' So I let you have it just to bug him. You don't get it and just love the attention he gives you when you have the remote in your hands. So cute!

Somehow or another, your eyelashes have doubled in length this month. I remember when you were born, and you had no brows or lashes, and your forehead was covered with tiny brown hairs (look at the picture in this post). I thought for sure you were going to be our little hirsute baby. But then your forehead hair fell out and your brows and lashes came in, and now they're longer than mine! Are you secretly using that scary Brooke Shields stuff?

Even though you're crawling to beat the band, this is where you can most often be found. You are a stage four clinger, but in a good way. If you see or hear me, the squawking begins. Then you start crawling around to find me. Once you do, it's all 'holdmeholdmeholdmeNOW!' If I try and give you to someone else like dad or grandma, your fine until you see me again, and then you lunge at me like a wild beast. I secretly love it. Plus, when Lucy was this age she was a Sherman tank, but you're long and lean like your brother, so holding you is a piece of cake!

You have finally mastered the art of self-feeding, and now you suck up puffs and cheerios lickety-split. I'm just glad that I no longer have to pop them into your mouth like a little baby bird.

Honestly baby girl, it just keeps on getting better with you. I wouldn't trade a single second of time with you, not for the whole world.

Love, Mama

Ego Boost

I know it's silly, but I love when I get any sort of impartial validation that I occasionally take a nice photo or two. So when I was skimming through my feed reader this morning and I saw that The Pioneer Woman picked one of my shots (again!) as a favorite from her current photography assignment, I just about turned cartwheels in my kitchen.

Doo Doo Doo Looking Out My Backdoor

I'm exhausted today, but I wanted to share with you this vision. When I wake up in the morning, this is what I see as I drink my coffee:

It's only blurry until after my second cup.

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For more Best Shot Monday, visit Tracey Clark at Mother May I.

Odds and Ends

Obviously this has been a crazy week. Let me share with you some of the more, shall we say interesting, moments thus far.

*My son got a splinter on his testicles. While in his bed. How the fuck does that happen? Though we've shared the names of his genitalia with him, he can't seem to remember 'penis' and 'testicles'. When he alerted me to the splinter, he said it was in the wrinkly part near his bum.

*The other day my elder daughter thought it would be a good idea to share a bowl of black raspberries with her younger sister in the 39 seconds it takes me to pee. Maggie was in this contraption we call a walk-around. It basically is a seat that satellites around an activity table, like an inside-out exersaucer. Well, Maggie was smart enough to not eat any of the berries, but she did dump them out and then walk and roll all over them. Her feet are still a pale shade of purple. I just thank jesus they were on the wood floor and not on the white carpet.

(PS: Who the eff has WHITE CARPET?)

*Speaking of Jesus, we were accosted at the DMV by some kee-razy evangelical christians. We were waiting in our third line of the day (DMV, remember?) when the kids started to get a little rammy. SOB took them out of the way as I filled out some forms, and when I went to join them a young man in black pants and a short sleeved white shirt was sitting on the floor with them telling a story. The kids were quiet, and so we stood by and listened closely. The story was vaguely biblical, but not in a beat-you-over-the-head kind of way. But when we were leaving, he ran back over to us and gave us a DVD called "CONFRONTING EVOLUTION." A small and evil part of me wanted to lean in and softly whisper in his ear, 'We're atheists' but I'm not that cruel. Besides, the DVD should be good for a few laughs, right?

*This didn't freak my shit out at all...

Do you see the evil wasp larvae there? Have you puked yet, because I have. Like, three times.

THESE LITTLE FUCKERS WERE LIVING THREE FEET FROM MY BACK DOOR. In case you're new here, let me assure you that I hate and fear bees/wasps/hornets/anyfuckingthing that flies and buzzes more than pretty much any other thing on this here earth. Luckily, I called upon a gem of a fella who dispatched of them quite handily. Suck it, bees.

*My older children are conspiring to send me to the nut hatch. That's all I can say about them without getting myself into big trouble. *Cough-anyonewanttobuyakid-cough* Love ya, Sam and Lu!

*Even though I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite posies, I have these guys to help me adjust:

*I re-joined Weight Watchers today. This will likely end up a post of its own, but I wanted to put it out there for accountability.

I wish I had some more drivel for you, but I guess it's time to call it a night. A good weekend to ya'll!

S is for Spaghetti

I didn't think I'd get this one together this week because my hard drive, where my spaghetti photo was located, was somewhere in a box. Luckily, I found said box and was able to extract the pasta shot! Chrissie's awesome S is from Spain, which is like a bonus!

For more Team Up Thursday visit Megan, Melody and Flickr.

So Far, So Pleased

Things have been going so well with the move and all that I've been hesitant to say anything. We have so much going on tomorrow (furniture delivery, appliance delivery, bug spraying, deck inspecting) that I don't want to jinx things. But aside from the brakes on my minivan crapping out (because I didn't get it inspected when it was due back in JANUARY!) everything is great. The kids love the house, we love the house (aside from some horribly dated wall sconces and ugly stained glass windows with roses in vases in the bathroom and the upstairs, which is entirely blue and yellow (including blue ceiling fans) for WVU) the cat even loves the house, though I suspect it has something to do with all of the canned cat food I've been feeding him lately.

Life in West Virginia may not be too wild, but so far it sure has been wonderful!

Send Off

Today is my first Monday in our new house. I'm eating lemon scones our neighbor baked for us and looking out over the hazy green hills and feeling pretty good. The move went smoothly, we made a huge dent in the unpacking, and our new furniture is arriving on Thursday.

Before we left, things were going pretty well, too. One thing that made me so happy was that all of my flowers blossomed before the move. I didn't think I was going to see any of the rose of Sharon flowers, but on Wednesday morning I found a single bloom at the very top of one branch. It was like they had all come out to say goodbye.

It was the perfect send-off.

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For more Best Shot Monday, visit Tracey Clark at Mother May I.

R is for Rose

Here is our offering this week. Interestingly, the rose photo is actually a photo of a photo that Chrissie took with her 35mm a few years ago. Cool, huh? And my little 'r' is the faucet from our tub. I think it's kind of fitting that I feature something from our home the day we're saying goodbye to it. Right now I am somewhere en route to my parents' house, and tomorrow I officially become a West Virginia Mountain Mama. Thank god for scheduled posts!

For more Team Up Thursday, visit Megan, Melody and Flickr!

Boxes! Boxes! Boxes!

Today the packers arrived. They got here at before 8am and they've been working solidly since then, with just a few quick smoke breaks and a brief 20 minute cheese steak lunch. I can say, with absolute honesty and respect, that I don't know how they do it. There are only two men, and they have about 80% of my house packed in seven hours. Even if we shipped the kids off with the grandparents, it would take us at least a week to pack the house up.

(With all of these boxes around, I kind of feel like making a fort.)

Tomorrow morning me and the kids will ship off bright and early, or at least by 10am. SOB is going to stay until the loading is done and sweep up. We'll spend one night at my parents' house, and then on Friday morning we close on the new house! According to the main mover man, our belongings should be waiting for us once we get done signing the papers. If all goes well, my parents and the kids will join us on Saturday and we'll actually live there. In Morgantown. In our new house.

This shit is crazy.

And a Good Time Was Had By All

At Sesame Place

Making Memories

Today is our final Monday in Philly. Over the weekend we went to a bowling birthday party, spent time cleaning and tried to squeeze in just a few more visits with friends. On Friday my two best girlfriends from college came over and we had lunch and a playdate. Towards the end of the afternoon I got out the camera and started snapping. Lucky for me, Allison was also here, and she snapped this shot of me with my kiddies. Anyone with kids and a camera knows how elusive the 'mom with kids' photo can be, so even though it's not perfect, I'm so glad it exists.

I also managed to get off a few shots of all five of our kids together. In the end, this was the most successful, even with little Nino pouting and Lucy staring at the ground. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be.

These kids have known each other since before they were born. I can already imagine how, in five years, the girls will all be braiding each others' hair and playing jump rope, and Sam and Nino will be making 'no girls allowed' signs for their clubhouse. And in ten years how Lucy and Lily will be annoyed that little Maggie is following them around when they're trying to impress boys, and Sam's voice will be changing and maybe he'll blush a little when he sees Lily, and Nino will be trying to impress Sam with his awesome video game skills.

I refuse to think beyond that, but I know that there is a 'beyond' and that's what matters.

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For more Best Shot Monday, visit Tracey Clark at Mother May I.

While You Were Out...

Last night we went out to dinner, and when we got back Allison said to us, "It's so cute how Maggie crawls!" SOB and I looked at each other, confused, and then my head exploded.

Needless to say, we are totally FUCKED! But in a terribly cute sort of way.

Q is for Quilt

'Q' was one of those letters that both Chrissie and I were really worried about, and it turned out to be one of the first ones I found. You'd be amazed what you can find mixed in with bicycles and shoes and bookshelves when you take a closer look. If you'd like to take a look at everything we've done so far, click here to see the whole set.

And to see more Team Up Thursday, visit Megan (but not Melody this week as she's "trapped" on vacation!) and the Flickr Pool!

Serendipity

SOB and I have been crossing items off of our Philly bucket list in the past few weeks in anticipation of our departure. Most of the things on there involve food and friends, but not all. Last weekend we visited the Barnes Foundation. (I've written about this place before, so I won't bore you about it again, but I will recommend checking out The Art of the Steal.) Then on Saturday I had dinner at Morimoto with my college girlfriends, where we consumed eight courses of amazing food, followed by a sleepover.

Some remnants of our meal

But on Monday, things really got crazy. SOB and I headed out to the Standard Tap, one of our favorite pour houses. SOB wasn't sure he wanted to go, because it's beer week here in Philly, and the crowds are unpredictable. But we lucked out, and we got our favorite spots at the bar.

After we ordered our first round, we were just checking out the crowd when in walked Ben Franklin!

Well, not exactly Ben, but The Colonial Brewer. Which honestly? Was even better. He took SOB out to the brewing site of the first American Lager, which was just down the block, and they talked shop all night. He also pointed out this abandoned brewery, which has a lot of local history.

On the way home it was almost sunset. The light at dusk made for the perfect photo of the Philly skyline.

All in all, it was one of those perfect nights. I hope we have a few more before we leave.

Now excuse me while I go and find some tissues.

Mah Beautiful Babee

I was shooting my lovely baby this weekend, and got some pretty sweet shots.

Here she is demonstrating her sitting prowess.

And here she is gazing up adoringly at her mother.

But this was my favorite shot, hands down. I love those ornery little squishy in between faces. LOVE! Definitely my best shot from last week!

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For more best shot Monday, visit Tracey at Mother May I.

Tick Tock

We've started getting mail for the new owners.

Everything was just fine and dandy. We had vacation, which did a great job of preoccupying me. The weather has transitioned to full-blown summer, which makes me happy in general. The kids have been sweet as pie. Life was good, and any thoughts about changing it was totally off my radar.

And then that damn letter came, and it was like the dam broke. The reality of the whole 'we're moving to West Virginia in less than two weeks' came crashing down on me. And the question of 'why did I just buy a month's worth of groceries at Trader Joe's' also occurred to me. D'oh.

I had to cancel my Y membership. That was a toughie. I've been going to the Y at least four times a week ever since we moved here. I've made some amazing friends, as have the kids. Initiating the termination there makes everything seem more real.

And then the new owners just popped by one day to take some additional measurements in 'their' bedroom. Cue my stifled sob.

And while I'm super excited about moving to our new house and being close to our families, I've had to spend a few hours every day on the phone setting up all of our new utilities, which is so much effing fun I can't even explain! Throw in there a trip to the ER with all three kids due to Lucy smashing her face and maybe you can understand why, occasionally, as in right now, I'm ready to scrap the whole move and just stay put.

Thirteen days.

Maggie, Month Eight

Maggs!

Guess what!?! This month, a whole lot of stuff happened! How crazy is that? After what seemed like an eternity where not a whole hell of a lot was changing, you've gone and become a pro at sitting, clapping and you got a tooth!

The sitting is especially nice for me, because you remain stationary. You haven't yet figured out how to get back down to roll about, other than accidentally falling over, which pisses you off. So I can plop you down, happy as a clam while I empty the dishwasher or something. But I'm going to be totally screwed when you figure out how to get down!

Can you see that little white dot on your gums there? That's where your tooth popped up unannounced. It was crazy. With Sam and Lucy the teething was epic. There was crying and snotting and drooling. For you, it was all sweetness and giggles and Oh hey! There's a tooth! I can deal with that!

You are totally a mama's girl. You want to be on me whenever possible. It doesn't matter how comfy you are with whoever is holding you, once I enter the room it's all about me. Even when you're on the ground, you want to grab onto my legs and feet. I'm not going to lie, it makes me pretty giddy to know I'm you're #1 girl.

See? This is how you look when daddy is holding you so I can take a picture. I feel like your expressions is saying 'put down the electronics and HOLD ME, BITCH!'

You've also learned to chew. Or at least gum things to death. Messy, but adorable!

Your eyes are such a crazy color, still. I love looking into them, trying to figure them out. I know that they will keep me intrigued forever.

I love you baby!

Mama

P is for Potatoes

For more Team Up Thursday visit Megan, Melody and Flickr!

Who Says Romance is Dead?

The following is a transcript of text messages exchanged between me and my husband this morning.

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Me: Happy anniversary. First! Lubya!

Him: Happy anniversary. I can't believe you first-ed me.

Me: You know it!

Him: Lubya.

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Eight years of marriage and going strong.