Disneyland

We came.

We saw.

We conquered.

Disneyland 2013!

Parenting Books

Soon-to-be parents from across the land, hear me! Please, when you're pregnant. read about parenting not pregnancy. Pregnancy books just scare you. Parenting books are useful - well, and hilarious - in this case.

I've found THE BEST parenting book ever. I read it when Daredevil was a wee one and I agreed with almost EVERYTHING in the book. It helps you be laid back in parenting, helps you roll with the punches. Pass over the "What to expect" and pick up this instead. How to Have Your Second Child First, it's a good one. It's realistic. Doesn't beat you up for being less than perfect. I loved it. It helped me let go of my perfectionism in parenting.

And, while you're at it, pick up these, too! You won't regret it and when you're up at all hours nursing/feeding it can provide some good laughs.

Bossypants by Tina Fey and I Just Want to Pee Alone.

Lazy Days are Here to Stay

We love the sun. We love the warm. We love the pool. We love the park(s). We love popcorn. We love cousins. We love Gammy and Gampa. We miss Dada.

Big surprise in the works today for the kids! I'm excited for it to.

Cactus Hunting

My dear A decided we needed to seek out the best cactus around in order to have a photo shoot... a night photo shoot. She is hilarious.

Here are our glamour shots.

She even persuaded Daredevil and I to take one!

I still don't know if we found the perfect cactus. I guess we will have to keep looking.

Airports.

I love people watching at airports best. The raw emotion you get to see when people say goodbye previous to departures and the pue joy and love upon being reunited is hard to replicate anywhere else in public.

This scene from Love Actually is one of my favorites. True love is all around us.



Last night when I picked up the Selmer's, I had such a good time watching. A daughter returning to visit her parents. A wife returning to her husband. A brother returning to his brother and mother. So sweet watching them arrive into the arms of loved ones. Sweet embraces. Big smiles. Lots of waving, greetings, excitement! So fun to watch.

And, these four coming to me!

I'm so excited for our adventures!

He's not a fan.

Arizona

Arizona is great. Low 90's every day and sun sun sun. It's in the 80's by 10am until 10pm.

We play the day away. In the pool, in the park, on the porch, in the wagon... and so it goes. You get the drift. Daredevil loves it all, the sun, the water, the food, the attention... he loves it. But he does miss his Daddy. He'll walk around the house saying Dada, dada, dada as he looks for him.

It is so easy to fall into lazy, relaxing days with long naps with my little guy and reading in the sun, eating on the porch. I love when you go "home" and you get that complete sense of being cared for. I love that even as I near the big 3-0 my mom still is that..does that for me... she makes me feel so at peace, so loved, so cared for. I truly hope that I can be that for Daredevil all his life. His safe place to land, his place to rest and be cared for.

But we are really just being lazy, spending too much money, getting a little too dirty, sleeping a little too much and eating way to much popcorn! It. is. fantastic. I can't wait til some awesome people arrive in one sleep!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

The New Golf Pro

Did you hear about the newest golf pro in town? You didn't? Oh, too bad... let me introduce you!

Here he is with his biggest fan. You can call him the new Freddy Couples. I hear the Senior Tour is beckoning.

I know he looks the part but are you hankering for some proof? Oh, good, I happen to have some. Feast your eyes on this!

See? I told you he was famous for his mad golfing skills.

Oh, and I promise that more DIYs and recipes are coming your way... just maybe not until I get back home! Bear with me, k?

No Judgement

When we visit Gammy and Gampa, we have to get creative at bath time since they don't have a tub. No  judgement based on what you're about to see...

... he loves it!!! I tried giving him a bath in the shower before we realized that this sink would be perfect. We have a few toys and it's almost as good as home.

What can I say, I just don't get the moms that pass judgement on other moms? I mean, we've all been there right? Either judging or being judged... but seriously, why? This mom-thing is hard enough as it is without tearing each other down. Every mother is doing what she thinks is best for her child and her choice doesn't make your choice right or wrong. We are all simply doing the best we can. There is no recipe to x+y=great kid or v+p=not so great, etc.

We've always had choices... cloth, disposable, breast, formula, and on and on... but now there is so much scrutiny. Do you breastfeed? Exclusively or do you use a bottle? Do you pump? How long are you going to breastfeed? Then do you ever get judged on how you answer? Yes, a bottle, yes, a year... then do you judge me because it wasn't two years or feel bad because you only breastfed for eight months? Why the competition  I feel like that old African saying is true, it takes a village. If we're all on the same parenting team then why do we feel the need to compare and judge? Why can't we just help and uplift each other on our quests to simply do the best we can. I am guilty of judging and I'm also guilty of being judged (trust me, you can always feel the stares), I'm not saying I'm perfect but I'm saying that we should drop the charade and try to help the other moms.

Here's my for instance before I shut up for the evening. On our plane the other night there was a mom who had an inconsolable 20 month old. You could hear the huffs and puffs from other irritated flyers, and I thought to myself that could be any of us. The majority of the people on the flight had children with them (it's spring break), had children at home (or grown) or will have children. I wish they would've just put theirself if that mom's shoes for thirty seconds. Trust me, she hears her baby and she's doing the best she can to quiet her. She was doing the best she could so why berate her for it, I'm sure she felt (and heard) the judgement.

Try to love one another and save the judgement. We're all just doing the best we can.

Surviving the Red Eye

We made it. Red eye MKE to PHX. Departed 10:45, landed 1:35... that is 3:35 our time/central time! We didn't get back to my parents' home until 4 our time, 2 local time!

I need to document a few things about the crazy adventure. (Keep in mind this is Owen's 9th flight and second solo flight with mama so he's pretty good with airports, strangers and adventure).

1. When your stroller does flying down the security line until it crashes (with everything in it) because you are carrying a baby who will not walk or sit in the stroller, nice people will come to your rescue. You're flying solo with a baby after all.

2. When your son strides up the Harvard Women's LaCrosse team, flashes a flirty smile and then steals their orange, just apologize and laugh it off. Thank God that he's cute and charming.

3. When MKE has a children play area, again, thank God.

4. When people think his drunken sailor moves throughout the entire concourse are cute, even when he blocks people and attempts to steal their straws from their drinks, just apologize and laugh it off. Thank God that he's cute and charming.

5. When your child screams at the top of his lungs because you retrieve him from the KITCHEN of the airport Chili's, wonder why the kitchen door to Chili's is open anyway!!!

6. When your son sleeps on the guy's leg next to you on the plane and/or rubs the guys arm while watching Mickey, just thank God that he's a father of three and takes the time to sing Mickey Mouse to him, tickle his toes and zip up his cooler bag. There are angels everywhere.

After all that excitement, it's no wonder why today has been a blur. It has been nice to have a lazy day for us to catch up on sleep, and let Daredevil get re-connected with his Gammy and Gampa and to re-discover their house and yard.

More later!

Here we go!

From this....

Teens and feet of snow, still!

To this....

70-80s and sunshine!

See you in a few weeks, Wisconsin!

Top o' the morning to you...

We had a great day yesterday even though Daredevil managed to nap through the parade we wanted to take him to, swim class and church. And, I apparently checked a mall in California...not Madison...for Easter bunny times so we missed the Easter bunny, too. C'est la vie.

Daredevil enjoyed his green snack yesterday!

For dessert after our pizza party with Judy, Daredevil devoured a lucky charm cupcake that Mr Tech Guy made. You can find the recipe here. They were yummy.... well Daredevil approved!

How was your weekend? Ours was busy busy busy...Saturday felt like Sunday and Sunday like Saturday. Weird. We spent time with family and friends, shopped at our usual haunts and got quite a bit done off of our to do list. All in all, it was a success.

But seriously? Snow today? It was 80 degrees this week last year.... Ugh. 80s, here I come!

Happy St Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May the luck of the Irish find you today! Our home will be filled with green, lucky charm cupcakes, green milk, a special green present for my sweet Daredevil. We may even sneak a visit to the Easter Bunny.

Have a pint of Guinness today! I know we will as we remember our first taste of it in Dublin. Ahhh, sweet Ireland. Have a fun day, however you decide to celebrate the holiday!