Snapshots of My 33rd Year- Days 1-7

I really found my voice for this blog on accident.  I started a 30 day photo challenge and wanted to share my thoughts about my pictures.  Since My Favoritest is gone so much and Doodle could care less about my deep thoughts, I put it out there in cyber space.  Two funny things happened, I realized how much I missed writing, and I caught the photography bug.  I enjoyed the 30 day challenge, that I decided I would try to commit to a 365 day challenge.  My Favoritest gave me a camera for my 33rd birthday, so I figured I would start my 365 challenge on my birthday.  All I can say is I hope 33 is as good as the previous 32:)  I am a little behind in sharing these, so here is the first week's worth of photos and a few deep (or shallow) thoughts!

July 22 (1/365)
I spent my 33rd birthday at my parent's house in south GA.  It was a great couple of weeks.  Doodle spent lots of time in the pool.  She took some swimming lessons, and was eager to practice her new skills.  I am constantly amazed at this kid.  As previously recorded, she likes to take things slow.  She likes to know she can do something before she tries.  This day, all the things she learned at swimming lessons seemed to click.  She realized she could be in the water without any one holding on to her.  She spent the afternoon swimming from me to the steps and back again.  I am pretty sure she is growing gills and fins this summer!

July 23 (2/365)

We celebrated my birthday a day late.  I love birthdays and was so happy to be with my parents to celebrate.  While we were getting dinner ready, Doodle played in The Zayde's boots.  I love the softness of her foot slipping into his rough and dirty shoes.

July 24 (3/365)

We headed to Tifton for the final leg of our journey.  We stayed with our friends Mamie, Uncle Brian, and Parke.  Parke was in a talent show and church so of course we went to watch him perform.  I snapped this picture of Doodle and Uncle Brian just as she noticed that I was taking her picture.  I am pretty sure I have a picture of the two of them when Doodle was just a newbie.  We are so lucky to have "family" like this to watch Doodle grow up!

July 25 (4/365)

After lunch with Mamie and Parke, we bought some cupcakes to have as an after noon snack.  Parke was desperate to eat his cupcake.  Unfortunately, he had to wait for Doodle to wake up from her nap.  Parke was eating his cupcake like an ice cream cone and I just had to get a picture.  As I snapped the pic, Doodle decided she wanted to be in the shot.  Sometimes, accidents make the best pictures.  Her look is priceless because of what's going on behind her!  I can almost hear her saying "Mommy, what Parke is doing?"

July 26 (5/365)

We spent a super long day in the car.  I totally thought I had already failed at this 365 thing because I forgot to take a picture.  Then I remembered my moment of bliss late in the evening.  After a 12 hour drive, unloading a car, cleaning a nasty bathroom, paying bills, and cooking dinner, all I wanted to do was go to bed.  Then I remembered I had precious cargo from my car.  Remember the cupcakes, well I brought an entire cake from the store.  It is a million layer caramel cake.  It is my favorite.  In fact, I love it so much that when Doodle was born Mamie and JJ brought it to me in the hospital in leu of flowers.  So anyway, as I was eating this little giant bite of bliss, I decided to make everyone in FB land jealous share the fabulousness of the cake with all my FB friends and snapped a pic with my phone.  Dream about how good it is!

July 27 (6/365)

When Doodle was about 9 months old, we realized she has a crazy eye.  One pupil is bigger than the other.  This can mean really bad things like cancer and aneurysms.  So in the middle of a move we had an MRI.  All was well and her eye is just crazy.  However, she has to be followed by a neuro-opthamoligist once a year.  I dread these visits.  They dilate her eyes and there is lots of waiting and entertaining.  This visit, once they put the dilating drops in, we went back to  the waiting room and Doodle spent the next 45 minutes playing with this lobby toy.  She entertained all the lobby people.  She also amazed me because no matter what I did, she was able to sort all the colors back together.  The rest of the visit was over quickly.  Her eye is still just crazy and we don't have to go back for 2 years!

July 28 (7/365)

I got to pretend to be a photographer!  My Sisterwife had lots going on (new baby, toddler, upcoming trip, and relatives stopping by) so I offered to take the baby (Butterbean) for a couple of hours while Doodle slept.  Once the little guy was good and asleep, I started snapping.  I have to include 2 pictures because I couldn't pick my favorite. 

Hope you enjoyed!  Hopefully I will get caught up on posting soon and can get pics posted in a more timely fashion!  Thanks for reading!

Three Generation Stay-cation 2011

So, the Southeastern Road Trip 2011 finally came to an end, and what a great trip it was!  It was the first time in a long time I felt like I got a vacation.  I had lots of time to sit back and enjoy peace and even a little bit of quite!  This trip marked the second annual "Triple Generation Vacation" (I just made that title up).   last year after  The Bubbie (my mom), Doodle and I spent a week at the beach, we decided to make it an annual tradition. However, Doodle as mentioned previously, does not love the beach.  Because of this, The Bubbie and I decided to have a stay-cation.  We both made a commitment to spend lots of time together, not go visit a million people, and not have a million people over to see us.  The Bubbie also decided to use the money we would have spent renting a condo doing fun things and spoiling our selves instead.  And that is just what we did.  It was so wonderful to sit back and enjoy my family.  It was great to let Doodle spend lots of QT with The Bubbie.  What was even more wonderful about having a stay-cation was that Doodle and I got to spend time with The Zayde (my dad) and Uncle Hank (my brother).  She and I spent the 2 weeks in South GA making memories with our family!  I had a hard gathering my thoughts, so I ended up with this:

Top 10 Memories and Moments from the Triple Generation Stay-cation

10.  You Are My Sunshine sounds best when sung as a trio made up of grandmother, mother, daughter


9.  Play Doh and Cookie Monster can bring out the kid in all of us

8.  Swimming lessons are more fun when The Bubbie and The Zayde take you

7.  Sometimes you just have to dance

6.  Eagle Brand tastes even better when you share it with those you love

5.  Listening to The Bubbie read one of my favorite childhood books never gets old


4.  Rainy days don't get me down when they are spent at the mall with The Bubbie playing at the make-up counter


3.  You are never to old to have birthday cake and celebrate with your family

2.  The Zayde  has really big boots to fill!

1.  Going to bed is  so much more fun when The Zayde swings you into bed "one more time"

Whoever said you can't go home, didn't have my family!  I am so lucky to have the relationship I have with my parents.  I am also so lucky to have the relationship I do with my brother, it wasn't always this good!  Most of all, I am so thankful that I can share those relationships with my daughter!


P.S.  I seem to remember saying I was going to attempt a 365 photo challenge.  Well, I tried to start on my birthday.  I already missed a day (while driving), but plan to post pics/thoughts soon:)

Lesson Learned

So, Izzy and I are about 1.5 weeks into the Southeastern Road Trip of 2011.  Our first stop on this 3 week journey was a long weekend in Charleston with 2 old friends and their 5 kids.  That's right, we had 6 kids under one roof.  Did I mention the oldest is about to turn 7?  The youngest will be 1 in August.  Needless to say their wasn't a dull moment for 4 days!  It was so much fun to hang out with my friends, let our kids play, and make lots of new memories.

One of our activities was a day trip to the beach.  Doodle and sand, don't get along.  As I stood in the breaking surf, with 22 pounds of whiney toddler clinging to my body, I watched my friend Princess and her daughter Free Spirit frolicking in the waves.  Seriously, they frolicked!  I have to be honest, I was a little jealous.  I love the ocean and wanted to have that moment with Doodle.   The more I watched Free Spirit loving everything about the beach, the more I wanted Doodle to like the beach.

Frustrated by her clinging,  we left the water and went to have snacks (even that didn't make the beach better for my little one).  As we snacked Princess and I were talking.  She stares in disbelief at the brave/carefree attitude of her eldest child.  Princess is on constant alert for anything sparkly that might cause Free Spirit to dart in an unexpected direction.  Princess is by no means shy, but she is a little reserved and likes to take things in before jumping in feet first.  She is sometimes perplexed by Free Spirit's running leaps into the world.  I confess to Princess that I always thought I would have a kid like Free Spirit.  My mother always tells people that I suck in the whole world and spit out what I don't like.  I thought I would have that kid. Instead, I have a kid who thinks about the world, turns her back on the world, thinks about it some more and then puts her big toe in the water.  I have struggled with this huge difference in our personalities.  I have forced my self to admit that Doodle is a "slow to warm up" kid.  I say that like it is a disease.  I know it is not.  But it took some getting used to on my end.  She needs time to adjust to new people, places, situations, and experiences.

As Princess ran in to the ocean after Free Spirit, I reminded my self that Doodle is "slow to warm up", not "never warms up".  So, taking a note from Free Spirit I drug my slow to warm up toddler back down to the edge of the water.  But, this time I remembered who I had in my arms and I sat in the breaking waves and held my sweet child.  She layed her head on my chest and clung to me, still slightly afraid I might wiggle away from her.  She squirmed on my lap, refusing to let her feet get near the water, and grinding sand deep into the skin of my thighs.  I kept reassuring her.  Soon, her feet were in the water, and she was telling me "dat was a BIIIIG wave mommy". A little while later, she turned around to look at the water.  By the end of an hour, my lower body was deeply exfoliated from all the sand being smushed between our bodies, and Doodle got off of my lap and walked into the water on her own.   Of course by this time our 4 little companions (we left one at home) had decided they were done with the beach and it was time to go.

As I look back on that morning, I have in my mind the most beautiful picture of me (super model skinny and beautiful of course) holding my child in the edge of the surf.  The gritty sand is forgotten for a moment, and I remember how wonderful it was to snuggle that little Doodle.  It might not have been the moment I expected to share with her, but I will remember it for summers to come.  I hope I will also remember the lesson I learned from Doodle and Free Spirit.  I hope I will remember that Doodle is her own person and I need to go with it more and let her take the lead, even if it is a slower, more round about way to get somewhere.

No cameras were brought to the beach (we thought 5 kids and all their crap was enough to keep up with), but I did find this picture that pretty much sums up my kid.  Standing in the sprinkler thinking about weather or not she likes it!

Creeeepy Crawlers!

I always tell people that Virginia has more wildlife and bug life than I ever saw in good ole Georgia.  Today, I got some of the creepier residents on film.  But, if you know me, you know this didn't happen without some adventures.  After a long afternoon yesterday including a parade, festival, and staying up late for fire works, the whole family got up to a late start.  After getting Doodle out of her bed (yes she stayed all night) and putting her in our bed with a half awake Favoritest and Elmo, I went down stairs to deal with the four legged beasts that live in our house.  As I walked past the mirror in our bedroom, I was reminded why I don't go to bed with wet head....Flock of Seagulls!  Anyway, I went down stairs, got the dogs their food, fed them and let them out.  This involved opening the back door at least 3 times.  While tending to the furry two, I noticed a tiny baby praying mantis on the grill.  I was very excited to take a picture of the little guy, so I got the camera and went out the back door.  As I closed the door, I remembered how STUPID the lock on our door is (Landlords: we love our house).  You can turn the knob inside the house, even if the door is locked.  This has resulted in many, many lockouts.  The most recent of which occurred this morning while I sported serious bed head, pajamas, and a camera.


So I started banging.  The dogs started barking.  I banged some more.  The dogs barked some more.  Did I mention my Favoritest was only half awake when I went down stairs?  I banged harder.  The beagle ran upstairs, and Zoe barked louder.  I moved from banging on the glass to pounding on the door.  The beagle didn't return.  Zoe stood and the foot of the stairs barking up the stairs then looking at me.  A man took his garbage to the trash can.  I smiled and waved and banged some more.  Finally, my Favoritest stumbled down the stairs and opened the door.  He laughed at me and went back upstairs to watch Elmo go back to sleep.  I went to put the camera away, and then remembered about the baby praying mantis.  So I went and took a few pics, making sure to unlock the door.  

As I came back in, I was greeted by this:

Please do not be distracted by the amount of dog hair! Look at the bug!  I ran the vacuum  right after I took this picture.

It was up high on the wall, and I was a little worried about it.  Then it fell on the ground and was quite the fast crawler.  Not at all sure what it is.  I took a picture and stomped it with a shoe (one belonging to my Favoritest).   Here's hoping tomorrow is without such morning adventures!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Sorry I have dropped off for a few days!  I didn't totally loose my steam, just been busy.  And OBSESSED!  Last week I posted about being so ADD that I got nothing done.  At the end of that post I mentioned that sometimes my ADD makes me hyper focused on a task.  It is a feeling that I can't do B,C, or D until I finish A.  And that is what has happened over the last few days.  I became so obsessed with a project that I have done little else.  After taking these pictures of Doodle climbing into her crib, my Favoritest and I decided that it was time to convert the bed.

Since he worked all last weekend, the change got put off until this weekend.  I have had a toddler sized comforter for months.  It was bought with the intention of making a duvet cover to use when we converted the crib.  So Thursday I went to the fabric store, got some great fabric, met a friend for lunch, picked Doodle up, and came home.  


Once she was in bed, the obsession began.  I ripped two of her bumper pads apart so I could use the fabric.  I planned it all out.  Sent photo texts to a friend for consultation (of course she was at work and I was left hanging for a while).  By the time Doodle woke up I had a plan.  The good news is that since I was obsessed, I did a lot of talking about the very special blanket that I was making for Doodle's new big girl bed.  She watched a little extra Elmo and I made friends with the seam ripper.  I'm sure I fed her dinner, but I don't remember what it was.  I only had eyes for Duvet!   


Before reading the rest of this post: Please, don't get any crazy ideas about me and my sewing past.  I have made 1 pair of pj pants, a dress for Doodle and a half finished skirt for myself. 


As soon as she was in bed for the night, I went to work with the sewing machine.  I worked and toiled and sewed and ripped our a few newly sewed seams.  At 1:30 AM, I realized I had not cleaned the kitchen and that I had to quit.  I couldn't see straight.  I also had hit a bump in the road.  I suck at math and the ends of Duvet were a couple of inches short.  Since I was so exhausted I could not come up with anything.  I went to bed. 


At 6:30ish when my Favoritest's alarm went off, I rolled over and my first thought was "Why do I feel hungover, I didn't have anything to drink".  Then I remembered I stayed up way past my bed time!  Then Duvet took over and all I could think about was how was I going to fix the problem!  I ended up adding some fabric to the bottom.  I had several choices and decided to let Doodle choose.  It is her blanket after all!  The morning was spent at the pool with friends.  Once again, as soon as Doodle was down for a nap, I was back to work.  By the time she woke up, I had a finished product!  She watched Sesame Street while I sewed on buttons and talked about the special blanket for Doodle's new big girl bed!  


This morning, My Favoritest and I took the plunge and converted the crib to a toddler bed.

We took one last picture of Doodle in the crib!

Put her and all the "frwends" in our bed with her babysitter Elmo while we went to work!

One toddler bed with homemade Duvet cover ready for a sweet Doodle

Doodle checking out her new big girl bed! 

As I write this post, Doodle is taking a nap in her new bed.  Tucked in with all her "Frwends", her paci, her new special blanket, and stern warnings not to get out of bed!  So far so good!


Here are some up close shots of Duvet incase you want to be really impressed:)

Pink and white fabric is the bumper pad that i deconstructed.  This is also the piece that I had to add because of my bad math!  The pink ties were also take from the bumper pad.  The buttons are just for show!

Top part of Duvet.  I love this!  Also, please not the small pink bit of fabric on the very edge.  That is the piping from the bumper pads.  I had to add it to either side to make Duvet wide enough!