TGIF, GTFO, TFAS and AW

I don't think any explanation is needed for TGIF.

TEE.
GEE.
EYE.
EFF.
'nuff said.



and twin girls from Ben's class at daycare, I noticed this morning, were in the Toddler1 room. That happens at
 18 months. That's US in just over 4 months.
GFTO. 





And part CarRide Chronicles (since it was on the drive into work this morning that I was pondering this all - on CD2...)

the big one: TFAS

I kept feeling anxiety and a need to rush into TTC again this summer.  I would look at E's cousin (whose son turned two in April and who I predict to be the next BFP announcement) and think, I definitely don't want my children that far apart! But did that mean I needed to get pregnant before her?

Or the fBFF who admitted a few months after her son (who will be two in December) was born that, if they could have afforded it, she'd have had her second (and third?) in very quick succession.  But not because she wanted close age, no - because she theorized, "Why get my body back in shape PP only to ruin (her words!!) it again with the next one?"
Why did I feel the pressure to be pregnant with #2 before her? to show her that she could still have gotten back in shape PP after #1?

(ok, saying that part outloud - yea, I'd love to just show her that it's possible to keep a fit & healthy body, even with less than 24 months between pregnancies...)

but it was during my work commute this morning that I recalled being in the hospital hours after Ben was born, watching family file in and rush to stroke his soft cheeks, and marvel over his teeny little ears (still tucked nicely in!) and glance my way, giving me a figurative THUMBS UP MOM! You made a beautiful little boy!

THAT'S what I love. 

And the comments from strangers during our Lake George vacation (at 27 weeks pregnant) of how cute I looked with my bumpin' bump.

I'm an Attention Whore.

I loved the attention I got in cute maternity dresses (ok and stilletos... I have good balance!).
I loved the attention I got in the hospital and in the following days.
I still love the attention I get when I take Ben out dressed like this:

 (older picture - mustache recently fell off the pacific (RIP Stache!))

And all of that is a very selfish reason to jump into TTC & (hopefully) bump-dom again.  So I remind myself, as I sip my chilled Clos du Bois Chardonnay, of the timeline E and I both settled on a few nights ago.

I have the rest of summer to enjoy cold Coronas.
I get all of Fall to wrap my fingers around mugs of spiked cider.
and I get all the way through New Years to clink flutes of bubbly!

CHEERS!

Ass vs Shoes

CarRide Chronicles:
Another difference between Men and Women:

E and I were traveling (pre-baby) and were seated at our gate in the airport.  We were seated near the edge of the walk way, and watched a woman saunter by in like, leggings & stilettos.  (while I was like, kudos to the comfy leggings, I was baffled as to why anyone would want to wear heels while traveling, as cute as hers were!)

And they were really cute, so I turned to E and said, "I don't know why anyone would want to travel in those shoes, but they're really cute!"
Almost simultaneously,  he turned to me and said, "DAMN did you see her ass in those pants?!"

(apparently, only anime does "Deadpan"...)

CarRide Chronicles - The Stank

So I was at the pediatrician's office (see recent coxsackie/ear infection drama).  Ben had been de-diapered, weighed by the nurse, quickly RE-diapered, and deemed ready to see the doctor.
(At that point,  it was the waiting game - how long can you keep a toddler entertained for with medical equipment??)

We're playing with those wooden popsicle sticks they gag you with, when I fart...

And holy something-died:
It really stank... =\


And then, of course, seconds later the doctor entered the room.

CHEESUS that's bad - I wonder if she can smell it?!
 
About 30 seconds later, while the doctor was checking a screaming Ben's ears, she asked him in the baby voice, "did you do a poopy? or just poot?  Cuz boy that stinks!"



I grasped for it like a life-saver:

"Oh yea, I just changed a poopy diaper... it's rank huh?!"

Copy Kat!

I am so jealous of the success this gal has had on her What's Growing Wednesdays, I've decided to do a one-time What's Growing Wednesday myself!



Because I'm so stinkin' proud of our cute little pumpkin! 
E lovingly cultivated the plants, and unfortunately has to battle that white you see in the picture - a "dry mildew" he discovered a few nights ago... hopefully we make it to a full-crop this fall!

And a quick Wardrobe Wednesday:

All the pictures I post for WW are best approximations I can find online as I either have had it so long I can't remember where I got it (cardigan!) or it came from a thrift store somewhere (green skirt!)...

And to show you how close I get when I do these approximations, an actual live WardrobeWednesday gratuitous work-bathroom shot:

P.S. apparently fabric rosettes make my boobs look big.  Note to self!

Texas, oh Texas!

Seriously, there's this big song that starts with "Texas, our Texas - all hail the mighty State!"

*really.  The lyrics page I found has "State" capitalized all proper-noun-like... T'Aint No Joke!


So yea, we flew down to the state known as it's Own Country on my birthday the first week of August - no better birthday present than drinking margaritas with your Momma!!!

We had an ass-early flight (ok we've had worse, but having to get Ben up over an hour earlier than normal, I just knew, was going to make the day interesting!) from Newark to Dallas.  We had a bitch-of-a-non-grandma sitting in front of us that, when Ben let out the ONE and ONLY seat kick of the entire flight, turned around and glared at us.  To which E responded, "sorry, we're doing our BEST!"
(but really - it's not like he's leg-pressing 100lbs here to be a strong seat-kicker...)
Anyways - after the glaring not-a-grandma, we were lavished with praise upon deplaning at DFW with the "OMG I didn't even know there was a baby on the plan!" comments and the "He was sooooo good!" platitudes...
(see third pic - he slept, LIKE A BABY hee hee - for almost 1.5 hours!)
Then, with a quick 21-minute flight from DFW to Waco, we were ready to get our drink on... AND SWIM!

This was Ben hanging out in the floating cooler I bought my parents for Xmas... he loved it!

(E has all the pictures on his phone of Ben in his actual little turtle float...)

It was great - the pool was warm enough (high 80's) that Ben could hang out with us for a lot longer than at NJ-grandma's pool (which has been hanging around the low 70's - brrr!)

Other highlights of the trip were:
Shopping at Spice (this awesome warehouse of a store with tons of different vendor booths, one being Blue Flamingo where I found the cutest tribal-print shorts, geometric-print leggings, and adorable navy-white striped nautical dress... Also, um - flower earrings and two earring-cuffs from a booth where everything (jewelry) was 3 for $5.  THREE for FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!
(I wonder now, how did I stop at just three?!)

A good 'ole Southern Shrimp Boil - and if you're saying it correctly, "Boil" is all one syllable.  Like Bowl. =P

Instructions are like, super easy:
Boil Water.
Add spice-packet (you can buy at grocery store!)
and then every 5 minutes or so, start adding the above ingredients! (potatoes, corn, sausage, onions,, lemon, shrimp and/or CRAWFISH!)

 Yup, you read that right - we all (Ben included!) had our first taste of Crawfish!

Once everything is all cooked, it's gets strained and then dumped onto a table from which everyone prepares their plates:

"Noooo please don't eat me!"

This is how babies stay cool in Texas... And they're "nekkid" - not "nayked"

Another highlight was Ben's first real haircut from Grandma (and "real" means that Mommy didn't just snip-snip here and there, leaving crooked hair lines and uneven bald spots above ears...)

Overall, he loved Texas:

BigTop Birthday (Part II)

ok, enough of this commenting and fun stuff about where I bought what, or how drunk I got making that...
Without further ado, Benjamin's Bigtop Bash:

CarRide Chronicles

I was jamming along to Mirrors by JT (aka the BoyBand king) the other day.

I waited to make the left turn en route to daycare drop off, when I was waved through by some random hunky guy in a sedan, probably in his later 30's.

And then I realized that if I'd passed the same guy, same age but 10 years ago, younger-me would have thought that he's TOO OLD.

Attractive, but too old. (like, silver fox old.)

Then I remembered being young and having crushes on older celebrities (Cher's adorable older brother! the creepy but still-so-sexy stalker! the heroic astronaut!)and thinking, no way in real life (real life?! seriously lol) would he want someone as young as me!

Of course, a few years' difference in your teens makes a MUCH bigger difference than in your twenties, even LESS in your thirties... and by your forties - what age gap?!

Anyways - then the song changed and I started serenading Ben with "Oooooh Oh OOOOOh! You don't know you're beau-ti-fuuuuul!"

And I realized that One Direction is my Nsync - older women were like, aw they're cute! but too young!

And now I'm one of those women going, "Harry Styles? He's cute, just a leeeeee-ttle too YOUNG though!"




**10 minutes later (of avoiding-work at work...)
It's even worse.

Pierce Brosnan has a son. (as do a number of other actors - well duh K, lots of people have sons - I mean, actors that are delish and so are their sons... their OLD-to-young-K sons...)

WHO IS 30 YEARS OLD...

While I have slight issues (as he of Mrs. Doubtfire fame used to be a SilverFox Crush!) I will gladly switch my admirations to his son!

YUMMY!