john's mom works

i know i'm biased, but dear god he's cute. on the drive into school today, john told me he wanted to go on an airplane to the park with the tractor and play with daddy. we've been talking about getting on an airplane a lot, because we'll soon be visiting extended family in florida, so the plane talk is pretty standard. but what the heck was he talking about with the park? this past weekend we went to the playground, so i asked him, "do you mean the park with the rock wall, john?" "no, mommy," he said. "with the tractor. we go on a big airplane and a little airplane and play at the tractor park. i couldn't sort it out in my head. then he said, "with grandpa!" and i realized: he was discussing the park in maryland that we visited with my dad the last time we visited him ... for memorial day. in may. of 2012. eight months ago . i have no idea what memory is like for a 2.5 year old. but i was stunned that...

ever wonder what a bunch of giraffes and a camel looks like? according to john, something like this. i'm thinking pop it in a frame and i could probably sell it at some modern art gallery somewhere, no?

this kid is a rock-climbing champ. and fearless. this was one of those weekends that was so chock-full, i'm not even sure where the time went. saturday was housework a 3.5-mile-run and tasty crawfish for lunch and a trip to the park. sunday was church and painting the float and back to church for the preview of another class of dave ramsey's "financial peace university." (my husband is facilitating again, which is awesome.) but somehow in between all of that was a lot of awesome family time. and lately we've been thinking a lot about how to maximize the time we have together, since two working parents, etc., mean we don't have just a TON of time together. but if we make the time count, that's something, right? even if some of that time was inexplicably spent sitting in a three-by-three area in the hallway just outside the guest bathroom, playing with john's toy sushi he got from my cousin at christmas: "sushi for mommy, sush...

the purple shoes you've heard this song and dance before, but here's the thing: i had a stark realization at the beginning of the year that if i were to get pregnant at the weight i was right then, i would top 200 lbs before i had that baby. and i realized i'm not ok with that. why does 200 lbs particularly matter so much? couldn't tell you. but it does. and it won't happen. so i've been pretty much back on the good foot, exercise and diet wise, since early january. that's not long to speak of, i know. but i am feeling good, so i will just take it as it comes. i'm training for a 10k -- i would like to actually RUN one, instead of run-walking and being ecstatic that i didn't die, like i was back in december. i'm also in the gym several days a week. this makes for good exercise and a lot of good people watching. some days (like yesterday), i'm out of bed in a flash, ready to tackle the day's workout. some days (li...

his mama's child - i used to sleep with a mess of stuffed animals, too. our family is not a group that will every be described as morning people. i've discussed this a little bit before , but it seems to be a recurring theme in our lives. oh sure, when we absolutely must, we're perfectly capable of getting up and running at the crack of dawn -- or before -- to catch a plane, get to a doctor, whatever. but mornings are not typically a bright and chipper time of day for us. my husband and i are "snoozers" -- fans of hitting the snooze button. this is an invention i sort of wish had never graced us. i'm constantly running nine minutes behind (or 18 minutes) and i am always thinking, "if you just hadn't hit snooze that one last time, you'd have been fine ..." (or "if you'd just set your alarm nine minutes earlier you'd be fine ...") as a result, mornings are also sort of constantly rushed and frantic and "oh d...

i think the guitars particularly offset the fuchsia of his tutu, don't you? last night, my husband was taking a yoga class (go hubby - yoga is awesome!) so john and i were home on our own. we were taking it easy, watching an episode of sesame street and snuggling on the couch. this particular episode of sesame street is entitled "dancing day." in the first bit, someone waves abby cadabby's magic wand and suddenly the whole cast of sesame street is dancing around in tutus. it's pretty entertaining, actually. john looked at me and said, "mommy, i not have a tutu on myself!" i grinned at his two-year-old phraseology. "you're right, baby," i said, "you don't have a tutu on yourself." "i want a tutu on myself!" he said enthusiastically. i wracked my mama brain. surely there was SOMETHING in the house i could jury-rig as a tutu. and then a stroke of brilliance - i, in fact, had a bright pink tutu fro...

my favorite little tiger. since yesterday was martin luther king jr. day, john's daycare was closed for the day. on most holidays, my husband or i seem to be off on the holidays for the daycare, but last week i saw the posting on the door that they'd be closed and remembered being caught off guard by mlk day last year, too. so my husband and i compared our schedules and realized it would be easier for me to take a day off, so john and i got a bonus day this weekend! and what better to do with a bonus day than spend it at the zoo? so john and i slept in a little, then watched dumbo (twice - hey, it's his favorite movie!) and then loaded up for the zoo. i decided not to bring the stroller, since i usually just wind up pushing the stroller while carrying john, and you know what? he did great. he walked a lot of the way, ran some of the way, and yes, i carried him towards the end, but we had a fine time. we saw tigers, monkeys, elephants (always a favorite)...

ready for pj and movie day! when i was pregnant with john, i really started to think about what was playing on the radio while i was in the car. it all started one day when i was about four months pregnant, driving to work and singing along at the top of my longs to a rockin' kings of leon song when i actually heard the words i was singing. "your sex is on fire" just didn't feel like a sentiment i would want my as-yet-unborn child to be singing on the way to school. so i switched radio stations, and in actual practice, haven't had the radio on much at all with john in the car. but just recently, i started to think about how much he loves music. and how much i have always loved music, and how i remember listening when i was very young and just being amazed by songs on the radio. i remember bopping in my car seat to "beat it." i remember adoring the song "all she wants to do is dance." and i want john to have music - pop, rock, modern...

my skinny little monkey enjoying his breakfast of champions. today for breakfast, john wanted just one menu: mac and cheese and peas. cold, please, all of it.  not one to brook for a fight, i figured - could be worse! so the skinny little fella ate his weight in mac and cheese and peas. cold. -- last night as dinner was cooking, john and i were hanging out and playing on the couch. it was mostly a very pleasant experience - he was in a good mood, he wasn't tantrum-ing, things were cheerful and fun. except for one little thing: he kept using what i can only describe as a very emphatic voice while telling me what to do. a few times i just said, "john, you need to ask nicely for things. mommy can't hear you if you don't speak nicely."  but then he grabbed my chin and said in an angry tone, "look at me! do you understand me? DON'T. DO. THAT. you understand? you listening? NO!" and i shrank inside to the size of a gnat, because ...

"i feeling better, mommy!" last night was soooooooo much better. there might have been a tantrum or two, but nothing like there has been recently. we made dinner together, he ate his dinner at the table like a big boy, we snuggled, he asked me to sing every song i've ever written for him, and he went to bed without a fight. this morning was a little rough - i woke him from a deep sleep, earlier than usual so i could make it to the gym, and he was none too happy. he cried some big fat tears.  but by the time we got into the car, he told me he was feeling better, and all was well. here's to hoping for another good night!! silly little imp ...

i thought i was taking a video, which woud have been much funnier than this static butt hanging out of a suitcase. a brief note on the pic above: john's daddy and i have still not put the suitcases away from our trip. they're emptied, just not put away. so john has taken to hiding inside of daddy's suitcase. i know, i know -- suffocation hazards, could get stuck, bad idea, etc. but DANG it's hysterical. he sits still in there (it's not zipped) for about three seconds, during which time you can't see any sign of him. then he pops out and yells, grinning, "here i am!"  these sorts of bright cheerful moments are especially precious to me right now, because it seems we have finally hit that doldrums that is the "terrible twos."  john's always known how to throw a decent fit - but they were infrequent, and passed quickly. these latest ones, though, are doozies. and this morning, he said something that cut me to the core, as silly as...

john and cousin b draw dinosaurs together i didn't really set out for it to be this way, but i appear to have taken a bit of a holiday blogging hiatus. so here we are mid-january, and i never even mentioned our christmas (awesome) or new years (festive). in a nutshell, we all got awesome presents from santa and our family, john got spoiled rotten, we celebrated new years with bestest buds from in- and out- of town. then we worked for a week and went on a little family road trip! i use the word little very generously. we drove from baton rouge to visit my husband's brother and his family in north carolina. we left friday after work, leaving town around 8 pm with a little stop at arby's for some last-minute dinner: fast-food in my pjs is my new fave, mom. then we drove ... and drove and drove and drove. or really, to be fair, my husband drove while i alternately entertained john, slept, talked to him to keep him awake ... slept some more ... in any case...