Saturday we attended a birthday party for one of Madelyn's friends. Seth is on a different nap schedule than Mad, so we left for the party almost an hour after it started. She didn't sleep that late, but had to have lunch first. Then in a nod to her newborn days, she had three dirty diapers in less than 20 minutes (pee, poop, pee, in case you were wondering). As I trudged up the stairs for the last one, I told her, "No more peeing from you." It was one of those World's Best Mother moments.
In a perfect world we would have been on time and I would have left after half an hour or so because Nancy's son was also getting married that day. That was out of the question, so I just enjoyed the day.
***I talk about it like it was so much longer ago than yesterday.
The party was fabulous, as have been all of the first birthdays we've celebrated this year. None of our friends are over-the-top, so the parties were all pretty similar. Playing and eating, followed by cake and presents.
Corey doesn't always attend these things with us. Last time, there were other older kids. Not so much this time, so he spent the afternoon lounging in the yard and texting his friends.
Despite the heat, his own coolness dictated the all black, long-sleeved and jeaned outfit.
*** On a side note, can I just say I'm jealous at Steve and Maija's tomato bounty? They threw them into this area of the garden because they "didn't landscape it this year." We carefully planted tomato plant after tomato plant at our old apartment. In three years we never saw 1/3 as many as you can see just in this photo. And they must have had a dozen plants. Yeah. A little green right now.
This particular party was different, though, because of the amount of water involved. In addition to a lily pond into which Mad threw many a pebble, there was a water table and a kiddie pool.
*** On a side note, can I just say I'm jealous at Steve and Maija's tomato bounty? They threw them into this area of the garden because they "didn't landscape it this year." We carefully planted tomato plant after tomato plant at our old apartment. In three years we never saw 1/3 as many as you can see just in this photo. And they must have had a dozen plants. Yeah. A little green right now.
This particular party was different, though, because of the amount of water involved. In addition to a lily pond into which Mad threw many a pebble, there was a water table and a kiddie pool.
See how Mad's backside is minimally dry? That was because she hasn't learned how to lift the pails out of the water table up and over enough to soak her entire body. Her gleeful laughter was so enchanting, I forgot to take any pictures while she was doing it.
Hopefully Mad's rock throwing wasn't the cause of the dead goldfish found later. Personally, I think Bucket Head might have had something to do with it (not really, just trying to divert attention from the rock flying out of Madelyn's hand in the previous photo... and who doesn't love Buckethead?).
Hopefully Mad's rock throwing wasn't the cause of the dead goldfish found later. Personally, I think Bucket Head might have had something to do with it (not really, just trying to divert attention from the rock flying out of Madelyn's hand in the previous photo... and who doesn't love Buckethead?).
Isn't that a cool backyard? It was helpful to hear Maija and Steve talk about what it looked like in the beginning and how long it took them to get it to this point (4 years!!!). We also got some more landscaping tips. That these people would be knowledgeable about landscaping and gardening is no surprise since they won the contest to design our backyard.
While enjoying their hospitality, Tom and I each engaged in what I refer to as shopping. It's something we do when we're in a new environment. I'm not entirely sure it's polite, either. No, we didn't haggle with them over whether or not we could buy any of their belongings.
As I sat on the stairs (no baby gate at the bottom, so Mad was all over them) and Tom stood on the floor below (for those turn-arounds and no-we're-not-going-back-outsides), I spied their wine racks. Three of them. We have a space and we have a need. I pointed them out to Tom.
"But only two for us, I think, with some other cabinetry."
He knew exactly what I meant and began to tell me about some pieces he's seen at work that might better fill our requirements. (Tom works for a corporation that has a variety of housewares type stores. I refuse to name them because I reserve the right to accurately call his boss a rat bastard at any given moment.)
On the trip home I asked what he thought of the dark walls in one bathroom and the hallway. He hadn't noticed, but is apparently against more than an accent wall that dark. (I wasn't sure what I thought of the color, to be honest. I'll very likely love it next time I see it... it's certainly unique.)
It doesn't seem to be in the best taste to be dissecting one's friends homes, but we do it all the time. And we're not alone. Maija was telling me that she's been trying to convince her mom to paint her cabinets a similar color to ours. It was all I could do not to pull out the color swatch that I happened to have in my purse so Maija could send it to Mom (no, really, there's a good reason it's there... I swear). I was just so excited that someone else loves our color choice. (The list of don't-love-its is growing, but we're standing firm.)
When we came home, I was exhausted. I would like to believe that it's because I'm pregnant (highly unlikely), but I know it's just allergies. Aside from the eyes... the nose... the sneezing and wheezing, I have sores in my mouth. When this has happened in the past, I've usually had to increase the allergy meds. However, I haven't taken any since suspecting I was pregnant with Mad. Between pregnancy and nursing and trying to get pregnant again, there's just been no time to return to my daily meds. Things haven't been too bad, but fall is coming on quick and I'm no longer pregnant or nursing. Those two things give a woman some protection, believe it or not.
Yesterday evening I napped for a couple of hours and still had no trouble oversleeping this morning. Today we straightened up the place a bit and had my mom over for lunch. Afterward, we sat around watching Madelyn and trying not to fall asleep. Apparently the gods have smiled down upon us and it was cool and windy here all day today. Neither of the air conditioning units have been on since this morning. All the windows are open. That meant it was pretty windy in the house, too. Mad's ball raced across the floor downstairs by itself a couple of times.
This evening I took what ended up being a four-hour "nap." Considering that tomorrow's Monday, I've really screwed myself up here. As it nears midnight, I'm only a little tired. I wouldn't have slept that long, but it was cool enough that I eventually ended up getting under the covers. That is the waking soon kiss of death in my world. But that delicious breeze held me in it's clutches and I didn't want to be let go.
In retrospect, the start of this post isn't really accurate, is it? So I've changed the title, too.
While enjoying their hospitality, Tom and I each engaged in what I refer to as shopping. It's something we do when we're in a new environment. I'm not entirely sure it's polite, either. No, we didn't haggle with them over whether or not we could buy any of their belongings.
As I sat on the stairs (no baby gate at the bottom, so Mad was all over them) and Tom stood on the floor below (for those turn-arounds and no-we're-not-going-back-outsides), I spied their wine racks. Three of them. We have a space and we have a need. I pointed them out to Tom.
"But only two for us, I think, with some other cabinetry."
He knew exactly what I meant and began to tell me about some pieces he's seen at work that might better fill our requirements. (Tom works for a corporation that has a variety of housewares type stores. I refuse to name them because I reserve the right to accurately call his boss a rat bastard at any given moment.)
On the trip home I asked what he thought of the dark walls in one bathroom and the hallway. He hadn't noticed, but is apparently against more than an accent wall that dark. (I wasn't sure what I thought of the color, to be honest. I'll very likely love it next time I see it... it's certainly unique.)
It doesn't seem to be in the best taste to be dissecting one's friends homes, but we do it all the time. And we're not alone. Maija was telling me that she's been trying to convince her mom to paint her cabinets a similar color to ours. It was all I could do not to pull out the color swatch that I happened to have in my purse so Maija could send it to Mom (no, really, there's a good reason it's there... I swear). I was just so excited that someone else loves our color choice. (The list of don't-love-its is growing, but we're standing firm.)
When we came home, I was exhausted. I would like to believe that it's because I'm pregnant (highly unlikely), but I know it's just allergies. Aside from the eyes... the nose... the sneezing and wheezing, I have sores in my mouth. When this has happened in the past, I've usually had to increase the allergy meds. However, I haven't taken any since suspecting I was pregnant with Mad. Between pregnancy and nursing and trying to get pregnant again, there's just been no time to return to my daily meds. Things haven't been too bad, but fall is coming on quick and I'm no longer pregnant or nursing. Those two things give a woman some protection, believe it or not.
Yesterday evening I napped for a couple of hours and still had no trouble oversleeping this morning. Today we straightened up the place a bit and had my mom over for lunch. Afterward, we sat around watching Madelyn and trying not to fall asleep. Apparently the gods have smiled down upon us and it was cool and windy here all day today. Neither of the air conditioning units have been on since this morning. All the windows are open. That meant it was pretty windy in the house, too. Mad's ball raced across the floor downstairs by itself a couple of times.
This evening I took what ended up being a four-hour "nap." Considering that tomorrow's Monday, I've really screwed myself up here. As it nears midnight, I'm only a little tired. I wouldn't have slept that long, but it was cool enough that I eventually ended up getting under the covers. That is the waking soon kiss of death in my world. But that delicious breeze held me in it's clutches and I didn't want to be let go.
In retrospect, the start of this post isn't really accurate, is it? So I've changed the title, too.
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