One

The boy turned one year old today.  We had a little party to celebrate.  I apologize in advance for the ridiculous amount of pics in this post.

Here is the birthday boy helping me get ready for the party this morning...

Sully is totally into balls, especially throwing them at one's head, so a ball themed party it was...

The little "man kitchen" is the handiwork of my awesome parents.

Thank you Kluz family for the birthday Monkey!

The kitchen was a BIG hit!

Sully's crowd...

The proud parents...

Poor kid, hardly got any presents...

It was just after the present opening that he took his first 2 steps!!  I have no idea how I managed not to have my camera for that, but I have about 25 witnesses to corraborate my story.  This is so Sully, he is such a ham and he totally would wait until he had a crowd around him to take his first steps.  Too funny!

And then it was time for singing and cake.  I was not sure how he would do with the cake as he does not like to touch anything wet or sticky but he did very well.

After the party, he had some balloon fun.

But then I realized we never got a family pic!  Foolish!  No worries, just set up the tripod and set the self-timer.  Phew.

 And here is the aftermath, a happy boy playing in his mess of new toys!

Thank you for all who were able to acknowledge this special day for us.  Thank you for making it special.

Happy birthday little Mister- here is to many, many more!

One year eve

Dear Sullivan,

On the eve of your very first birthday, I find myself categorizing, organizing and filing away the memories and pictures in my mind of your amazing year of firsts.  I am carefully filing all these away in a bright, shiny, golden box.  I put it gently on the shelf in my mind to pull out at a later date.  This week I have also been stashing away a few tears here and a few tears there, making sure to hide them so no one finds them.  Because they are not tears of sadness but tears of pride and joy.  Enjoy your last sleep as a baby.

Love,
Mama

Thankful...

In the spirit of this holiday season, it is only fitting that I acknowledge all that I am thankful for this year...

I am thankful for my beautiful baby boy and wonderful hubs.

I am thankful for baby boys who sleep through the night (7 nights in a row now-YEAH!!).

Although traveling with a baby and dog seems like it will take more energy than I have, I am thankful I will be spending the holiday with my family and that I have a loving family to spend it with.

I am thankful for red wine.

I am thankful for my new iPhone.

I am thankful for my health and the health of all my family.

I am thankful for a job that challenges me and that I enjoy.

I am thankful for my stay-at-home-mom Mondays.

I am thankful for those who chose to fight to protect our country and their families who sacrifice so much.

I am thankful for surviving my first year as a mother.

I am thankful that all my friends and family love Sully so much and that so many of them will be able to celebrate his first birthday with us.

I am thankful for all the experiences I have had as they have made me the person I am today.

I am thankful for amazing friends.

I am thankful for DVR.

I am thankful I am not 8 1/2 months pregnant this Thanksgiving (3rd trimesters are NOT for wimps!).

I am thankful for my 8 followers (although I know more than 8 people read this blog).

I am thankful my cholesterol medication is working.

Finally, I am thankful for my most wonderful, challenging, joyful, emotional, happy, sleepless year I have ever had.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Christmas Sin City

Well, it is that time of year.  Its the holiday season.  Which I love and I love to decorate for. 

Normally, the hubs is very against decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving but I went ahead anyway on my day off yesterday.  I set up my Christmas village.  I refer to it as Christmas Sin City as there are only bars, a casino, bowling alley, deli, police and ice skating rink in it. 

And here is our village troll.  Oh, doesn't every Christmas village have a village troll?  Maybe your troll still has his hat.  I need to make ours a new one.

And here is the giant baby terrorizing the town...

On a side note, yes, it is genetic.  The infatuation with iCarly, that is...

The kid won't watch Sponge Bob but iCarly is completely captivating!  To both father and son.

Thirty-two

At exactly 4:53 pm today, I will have been alive for 32 years.  Seems crazy but at the same time, seems normal. 

Turning 30 was difficult for me, I am not going to lie or pretend it wasn't.  It was. 

Turning 31 was, well, was uncomfortable at 35+ weeks pregnant.

But turning 32 has been....great.  I can't complain.  In fact, it has been my best one yet and it is only half over.  This morning I had a health screen for my insurance company and my cholesterol numbers were fantastic- the simvastatin is working!  Also, I was 3 lbs lighter than I thought I would be and that was with jeans and a sweater on!!  (I credit this to my elimination of soda from my diet the last couple weeks)

But more importantly, it was my first birthday waking up to this little joy...

And here we are in our jammies...

I mean, how can I complain about anything with that little Mister around.  What a silly guy, always making me giggle.

And at 32 years old, I have learned many, many lessons:

Birthdays are special and are worth celebrating.

No one can read your mind so if there is something that you want, desire, wish for, YOU need to make it happen. 

It is ok to take time, an hour, a day, whatever, to yourself.

Pedicures and manicures are occasionally necessary.

You should always take off work but not cancel your daycare on your birthday.


Now on to the rest of my day- a little Sully time then a much needed night out with the hubs!

Rub-a-dub

It was bath night again tonight.  And oh how some one loved it...

My very own little Mister Lou Who...

He loves, loves, loves baths.  Gone are the days where I do not get completely soaked while bathing him.  His new move is taking the wet wash cloth and flinging it back and forth, in and out of the water for extra soaking ability.  He now cries when we take him out of the bath.

I know it is a bit ridiculous to still have him in his baby tub but he does not seem to mind and I feel like it saves water as I am not filling up a big tub.

I have been a busy bee getting the boy's party organized and I am so excited!  Can't wait to share party pics!!

Stay-at-home-mom Mondays

Mondays are my stay-at-home-mom days.  As the rest of the working world starts their work week, I get to pad around the house hang out with my little Mister (and catch up with whatever housework is left over from the weekend).  I get a little taste of what it would be like to be home with him everyday. 

Most Mondays are great.  We play and eat and nap and everything falls into place.  On those days, the housework may or may not get finished, we may or may not get the grocery shopping done if it was not done over the weekend, we may or may not have a cute photoshoot.  Whatever we do or don't do, it is ok and we just live and enjoy the day. 

However, some Mondays are incredibly difficult.  There may be endless whining, temper tantrums, he is unable to play independently, bored and he needs to be on my hip at all times.  It is on these days that I look forward to Tuesday when I can go to work.  I feel terrible about that but I am trying to cut myself some slack and not beat myself up about it.  Not all days are supposed to be easy and simple.  It makes the days that are easy and simple so much more enjoyable. 

I have learned much about myself and it is obvious I would not survive the full time stay-at-home-mom job.  This was made painfully clear to me during my maternity leave.  I don't have the creativity, patience or discipline for it.  I had a lot of anxiety about this in the beginning of my return to work.  Was there something wrong with me that I was ok with going back to work?  Was I a terrible mother because I did not cry after leaving him that first morning?  I truly struggled with these feelings of guilt of not feeling what I thought I should have been feeling. 

Luckily, time and experience have allowed these feelings to fade and I was able to gain confidence in my abilities as a mother.  I am now able to not feel so guilty about everything, but it did take awhile.

Whatever Monday we have, come Thursday, I am already anticipating my three day stretch of Sully 24/7.  I know I am incredibly lucky to have my one stay-at-home-mom day and I wouldn't change it for anything...except maybe 2 stay-at-home-mom days per week...maybe?

Crack for Babies

I am back with a new addiction post.  However, this is not an addiction of mine so much as it is for Sully (although, I do really like them too). 



Wait for it...






Wait for it...

Yep, Gerber Cinnamon Maple crunchies.  Oh my, you would have thought they slipped some sort of baby nip into these given the way he reacts to the mere sight of the container.  If he spots them, it is all over and there is no way he is not getting some.  He eyes get huge, he pants, flaps his arms and squeals with delight.  I must say, they are pretty good but I don't have quite the same reaction to them as he does.

I would like to wish my hubs a very happy 32nd B-day today!!!!  We love you!

Have a wonderful Sunday all!

Snow Fall

The first snow is here.  It was beautiful and quiet.  I took advantage of having my morning off and grabbed my camera to shoot the scene using different shutter speeds and exposures.



There is something magical about the first snow and I was happy to enjoy it this morning, alone with a cup of coffee.  Sometimes it is the simple things in life that offer moments of clarity and peace.  These moments make us feel more connected to everything around us, make our hearts swell and fill us with gratitude for life. 

Hemangioma update!

I just wanted to give you a close up of what Sully's hemangioma looks like at almost a year.  It is fading, fading, fading bit by bit as the months pass.  It is strange to think it won't be there someday.  (I am sure there will be some mark that you will be able to see if you look real close)

Newborn

1 month

6 months

And now, almost a year.

Seriously, someday I will wake up and it will be gone...and I will be sad.  It is part of what makes Sully, Sully.  Uniquely him.  Ahhh, I won't fret too much about it, Sully is very unique in many ways.  There is not one thing, feature, personality trait that defines him.  I won't have to worry about him not being him because his hemangioma is gone, faded...

I also want to update you on the Name Bubbles.  Yup, they are still on all of the items I placed them on and have stayed there through countless hand washings and dishwasher runs.  I love those things!

  

Toy Camera

Hey, I am so excited about this feature I just found on my camera I had to share!!  I was flipping through the index of my camera's user manual (because I have so much time on my hands) when I came across a subject called "toy camera effect".  (To be honest, I was looking for "timer" in the index to learn how to set it.  "Timer" was not there but "toy camera effect" was.)  So I flipped to the page to read what this feature is and it is a "creative filter".  You can apply it to your photos after you take them and you can then save the original and the one with the filter applied on your camera and then download them to your computer. 

Here are some examples of original photos and then the photo with the filter applied:

 Basically it gives the pictures a vintage-y, hazy quality and I LOVE it! 

Happy Monday!

Birth Month

November- do you think it was made just for my little family?  Ok, maybe not but it is quite an important month for us.  You see, it is the month we have all made our debut into the world.

First came the hubs, at 1:02 pm on November 13, 1979.  He is the youngest of 4 kids.

Then, 5 days later, I arrived at 4:53 pm on November 18th.  I am the oldest of 2 kids.

And 31 years later, Sullivan James joined us at 5:27 pm on November 27, 2010.  He is an only child so far.

Sully was not supposed to be here until December but I am guessing he wanted to be just like his parents and have a November birthday.  I have seriously debated whether to institute cake for dinner every night in November to celebrate our month but I decided against it as I would probably be deemed an unfit mother and terrible wife in addition to packing on several more pounds.  (Maybe just cake for dinner starting the 13th and ending the 27th...maybe)

I have been busy planning this very important 1st birthday for the little man.  Invites went out friday, I finished the large bunting banner last night and now I am planning the menu.  I also picked up some plates, napkins and other little decorations yesterday.  I would love to show you the invites and the finished banner and the other decor but you will have to wait until after the party!  No peeking!

Life

Well, normally I would not blog on such a day that I am in such a foul mood but if I didn't blog about it once in a while, I would feel like I was not portraying myself accurately and honestly. 

Some days I just feel overwhelmed.  The list of things on my to-do list continously hovers over my head, my energy level wanes, individuals at work involve me in drama, traffic is heavy and the monotony of daily life rests heavily upon my shoulders and clouds my vision.  It feels like breathing is a chore.  My arms feel so heavy I can barely lift them.  Walking takes all the energy I have...

But I know having some days like this is normal.  I try very hard to put my feelings in perspective on days like today.  I try to focus on my blessings and all of the wonderful things in my life.  I know days like these are necessary so days that are better will feel better. 

Today, I counted down the minutes of my work day until I could get home to see my little family because I knew being with them would pull me out of my funk.  And it did. 






Days like these make me wonder if other people have these days and how they deal with them.  How do you cope with the monotony of daily life and the seemingly endless to-dos- laundry, vacuuming, cleaning, work, dinners, etc?  What if I didn't have a helpful partner at home?  What if I was a single mom?  Would I be able to handle it all?  How do single parents do it?