HoboBaby

If a picture is worth a thousand words I’ve got a lot to say

Mar 18th, 2010 by JenniferW

March 10th was Avelyn’s last day, say it with me, LAST DAY of daycare. Yay! And also, yikes! bring on the caffeine!

Of utmost importance is always attending your last day of anything with sweet new kicks.

Friday

Friday morning we woke up, packed up and left San Antonio in the dust as we headed for 4 days in Oklahoma City with my best friend, Katie.

It only took us TWELVE hours to get there, what with the toddler traveling with us and the 3 or 4 horrible, no good, very bad boughts of parking lot traffic we encountered.

Saturday

We started Dance Party OKC in Katie’s living room and rocked out in the A.M.

Afterwards Avelyn got acquainted with JFK.

and continued to blow me away with her awesomeness.

Saturday afternoon we took Avelyn to the zoo for the FIRST time. The Oklahoma City Zoo is amazing and I highly recommend it. She had a hey day in the Children’s Zoo.

We stared at monkeys

and birds

and even touched some! She was way more excited about this than I was, as evidenced by my perpetual sharp intake of breath whenever any of the birds flew toward me. Have I told you about my NOT CRAZY fear of a bird flying at my face and getting it’s sharp little beak stuck in my cheek? It’s almost happened too many times for this to be an irrational fear.

I am not making this up when I say we walked for hundreds of miles. Maybe thousands.

So we made sure to take breaks and be cute as often as possible.

But while the grown ups thought these guys were pretty neat

my daughter went freaking apeshit over this little guy:

I wish you could have seen it. I hope my memory doesn’t ever fail me and erase the image of her running all around the aquairium screaming “Nemo! Nemo! Fishy! Fishy! Oh! Oh! Oh!!!!!” It was pure joy. The kind only an innocent can muster, something that comes from deep within. It was amazing to see.

After the height of fish city excitement died down we moved onto another FIRST – the carousel. Here we are clearly being stalked by the papprazzo.

We lucked out to find a crowd favorite animal to ride on, the peacock.

We were having a great time before my inner ear issues started to migrate south to my stomach (as evidenced by the facial grimace starting here) and before Katie decided to forego all warning by the carousel driver man and hop out of our peacock ride and onto the ostrich in front of us (as evidenced by Avelyn’s frantic cries of “NO, Ka-dee! NO KA-DEE!”.

It did nothing to quell my stomach churning but Katie came back for Avelyn and all was right with her world.

On a side note, don’t we totally look like royalty here?

We finally got a good shot of the family before calling it day. Although not before Hobo ran off all her extra energy at the playground.

That was just Saturday. A day which will henceforth be known as The Day Avelyn Did Not Take a Nap. She promptly passed out in the car for all of one hour before being woken up to go to dinner with Katie’s family at a great restaurant. The food and the company were fabulous, Hobo’s mood was not. I had a great time at dinner amid trying to console the whining and cajole a friendly smile all the while interpret to Kevin via facial tics and head nods that this wasmynightoutwithmypeoplesocanyoupleasetakecareofthisbabynoIdon’tcarewhatittakes soIcanenjoythisdinnerwithmypeople. He didn’t totally catch on folks. I know you’re reading this honey. You didn’t totally catch on.

Sunday

Sunday was the main reason I made the decision to take us to OKC in the first place becaaaaaaws Sesame Street Live was in town!! We prepped before the show with mall walking and Icee drinking. This child of mine is an Icee nazi. Don’t give her yours unless you want your fingers chewed off trying to get it back.

I’m serious and Katie can vouch. Her steely fingers were clamped around that cup and she was not letting go. As a matter of fact, this was the trip that Avelyn became aware of her independence. Everything this week has been “I do it!” This phrase is repeated to infinity with increasing volume unless you do in fact let her do it. She has specifically perfected this phrase when crawling into her carseat. She wants to crawl into the car and up into her carseat and she knows where the latch goes and SHE CAN DO IT! “Okay, I KNOW you can DO IT!” we cry, “So DO IT!”

Sunday night was Sesame Street Live AKA The Elmo Show. Elmo wasn’t even central to the show but we could get her excited talking about going to see him.

The show got started.

Umm, she was really excited.

And she danced her little heart out. I am not exaggerating nor am I biased in any way when I say my child enjoyed the show more than any other child there. There is no one that clapped louder, danced harder or squealed with more glee than my little Hobo.

For example, here is an image of me holding onto the back of shirt so she would not take flight and shuttle toward the stage.

I think she had a really great time. She was enjoying it so much that I didn’t bat an eye at the price tag on the Zoe doll she picked out. Or the Elmo balloon we had to get at intermission because EVERY WORD OUT OF HER MOUTH WAS “ELMO BALLOON! ELMO BALLOON!” This Elmo Balloon which we left at Katie’s apartment when we left. Wah wah wah. Hope you’re lovin’ you some Elmo, Katie.

After the show Kevin headed to see a basketball game by himself and I headed home for an evening with Katie and strainer head, also known as Baby High on Elmo Show.

She was cracked out, I’m telling you. It was another incredibly long day that ended in another embarrassingly early bedtime. Some of us may have gone to bed before 10 pm every night. What can I say? Kids are exhausting.

Monday

See that mirror in the next photo? The one reflecting the image of the adorable toddler who looks radiant in yellow? That mirror tried to kill me the night before. I have a huge bruise on my right hand to prove it. Just thought someone should know should this ever happen again.

I think we spent Monday morning walking around another mall on the never ending (fruitless) search for Kevin’s new hoodie. After lunch we headed for cupcakes. The Cupcake Lady made sure we knew NO nuts were used in ANY of their products. Thank you for the attitude served with that statement.

Avelyn liked the cupcake and has subsequently shouted “Cupcakes! Cupcakes!” every time she has seen these photos now. Also, she said her FIRST sentence ever during cupcake time. She needed paper towels and Kevin thought he would be so polite as to bring her milk too, and told her so. “No!” she said “No milk, just paper towel.” WHAAAAT? Where the poop did that come from?

Somebody got a better nap that afternoon, followed by some really cold playtime at the park. Mostly I took away from this set of iPhone images that a tapered peacoat makes me look like I have a shape, and maybe I ought to go clothes shopping. (Thanks again for the loaner coat, Kate)

We had dinner that night at a local establishment (actually everywhere we ate was a local establishment I think, so again, thank you Katie for coming up with interesting places to take us) where we ran into Cupcake Lady! What a small world! I hate this photo of me because I look fat and like my face is receding into my neck like my mothers side of the family but oh well, Hobo is too cute not to share.

We ended the day with yoga and hugs.

Oh, and more of this. (Note that the mirror is no longer sitting precariously above us on the couch.)

And that was our trip. We came home on Tuesday, forgot it was St. Patrick’s day until Wednesday around lunch, dressed Avelyn up as THE CUTEST IRISHBABY EVER and have been enjoying our wonderful spring weather back home.

The End.

Posted in Big days, Firsts, Out and about, Pictures | 4 Comments »

Here I go again

Mar 10th, 2010 by JenniferW

It feels weird to sit down and try to write a blog post, like I’ve been gone for years instead of weeks. Bullets seem appropriate today as they don’t require well thought out paragraphs that relate to each other on a singular topic

This is Avelyn’s last week of daycare. Keeping her home will save us thousands, I mean THOUSANDS, of dollars a year. It will be hard and I will be dog tired sometimes but I will try hard to keep the end goal (and maybe some $$$ signs?) in sight.
Work is still going well. I am blessed to enjoy my job and my only regret is that I wasted years and owe tens of thousands of dollars on a worthless degree that brought nothing but grief. Moving on…
No bun in the proverbial oven yet so thanks for not asking. The only thing worse than being unsure if you really want to do this again is being asked about it. If it happens, great, if not, I’m cool with the one I’ve got.
Valentine’s is a holiday I’ve never been into. At least Kevin remembered to get me a card. As far as I’m concerned the only good part about Valentine’s day is the build up, especially with little girls as it involves wearing lots of pink and red and making your meals extra cutesy.

Apparently it does not also involve taking pictures of the actual Valentine’s day. Or any day for that matter. My overzealous picture taking days ended when one almost-two-year old starting acting like an almost-two-year old, i.e. CRAZY AND WON’T HOLD STILL.
At least when I do get around to snapping the old camera I have a really cute subject to point my lens at.

I’m scheduled to take some sewing classes that came free with my new machine I got for Christmas. I’m really looking forward to it. Although a big part of me is going numb imagining the chaos that is bound to ensue. If only you could have seen the destruction from the last time I tried loading the bobbin (is that even proper terminology?) and threading a needle. OY. VEY.
Planning Avelyn’s 2nd birthday is both really fun (The ideas! The colors! The endless possible options for themes!) and infuriating. The invitations are so grand looking in my head, and then I try to make them. They just look so MEH. The obvious answer is to seek help but really, does that sound like me? No. No it doesn’t. Why do I have to be so OCD sometimes?
We are going to Oklahoma this weekend to spend a few days with my best friend and take Avelyn to an event I hope she will enjoy. I’m really looking forward to getting away for some quality Katie time. I needs me some belly laughs.
Last week I bought a membership to the Children’s Museum and we had a grand first visit. My only complaint is for all of the inconsiderate parents out there who don’t observe the rules of the three and under section. It very clearly states this section is only for 0-36 months AND that it is an area FREE OF SHOES. That means your EIGHT year old rambunctious son is NOT supposed to be in there regardless of the fact that your three year old daughter is. Especially with his dirty ass shoes on. I mean come on!

Well that’s it I guess. Run out of steam. Consider this my lame attempt to delve back into writing. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Posted in Catching up, Tiddly bits | 2 Comments »

No “hmmm” needed here

Feb 21st, 2010 by JenniferW

Here I have combined my two favorite things: graphs and self flagellation as I realize my decline in writing is directly correlated with moving home, getting happy and having less time to waste. There are pros and cons to this revelation as well as a gigantic sigh because GOD I AM SO BORING.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

There aren’t words to describe

Feb 11th, 2010 by JenniferW

I woke up after 3 very bad hours of sleep this morning with what I remember to be a great idea for a post. I had the best of intentions to write it but alas, it seems like yet again if I don’t write something down I completely forget about it. To my recollection it was the answer to all the lame, boring drivel I’ve been (painstakingly slow at) delivering lately. I’m in a funk I guess. I won’t talk about how busy I am, AGAIN, because seriously, I’m boring myself. (But more later about how I’m about to get busier… and happier… and probably way more tired.)**

Anyway… this morning.

This morning was spent sitting at the breakfast table cheering as an almost-22-month old clapped and danced in the kitchen, stomping her feet with jubilation that can only be imagined by parents of used-to-be 22 month olds.

Studying her perfect pink smile, her rosy apple cheeks upturned in delight, her eyes blue and sparkling while the light dances from above. Those little hands furiously slapping together in the most nonrhythmic rhythm you’ve ever seen. Blond curls that turn darker everyday bouncing on her shoulders.

Tiny feet furiously pounding the cold tile right alongside her father’s great big feet. The look on her face as she ran laps around and around the kitchen. The shouts of joy as her father ran with her. The breathless “Go! Go! Go!” that emanated from her mouth as we all ran together.

I want to remember these moments and the indescribable feelings they bring for the rest of my life.

She is perfection.

**Based upon texts and comments received within hours of this post, I realize that this very vague statement may have given some of you the wrong impression. I am NOT, in fact, pregnant. That I know of. Give me some time.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

February 7th Resolutions

Feb 7th, 2010 by JenniferW

So, it’s 200, sorry, 2010! Which really has no significance except that it’s two thousand AND TEN. I’ve now been living in 4 decades and I’ve yet to turn 30. Sweet!

When I used that line on Kevin he liked to rub it in that he’s been living in FIVE decades now and he’s not yet 40. Yeah, I told him, but I’m still not even 30, let alone 40. (Bring it on 30.)

I have a lot of hope for 2010 and I want to strive to do my part to see that all these things happen.

I hope it brings change.
I hope it brings prosperity.
I hope it brings revelations about our future.
I hope it brings a baby.
I hope it brings Kevin opportunities.
I hope it brings guidance.
I hope it brings a stronger marriage, a stronger family.
I hope it brings more TIME.
I hope it brings peace, strength and independence.
I hope it brings pride.
I hope it brings laughs.
I hope it brings health.
I hope it brings a strong back, a strong heart and the wisdom to take care of me and my growing family.
I know it will bring love.

My short list goals for this year:

To eat better, eat less.
To trust my instincts, when they’re loud and when they’re quiet.
To protect myself from the people that continue to hurt me.
To make more of an effort to spend grown up time with my husband, sans kids.
To excel at my work, which I’m not ashamed to admit that I love and that I think is one of the most important jobs a person can do.
To always remember that the responsibility I have been given to be Avelyn’s mother is a gift and I should embrace each second as it flies by.
To love my first born unconditionally, draw on patience (as often as humanly possible) and wrap her up in my arms as much as she can stand.
Okay the last few aren’t really goals, but more of a this will happen until I breathe my last breath.

Finally, I plan to love stronger, live harder and embrace this beautiful, brief opportunity I have been given on this earth. Life is so, so short and I don’t want to waste another minute on anything or anyone that takes away from my ability to live a happy life.

Happy New Year everybody!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Chats

Feb 4th, 2010 by JenniferW

On the seriousness of games:

Katie: what fun are games if you dont follow the rules??
its not a game anymore, its just a bunch of ppl effing around with no purpose. which is a condition games attempt to remedy. you cannot just play games for fun, you have to play games to win and follow the rules!!! or its just not a game. i dont understand people
me: uh oh. hope it’s not trivial pursuit you are playing. that usually ends in bloodshed
Katie: no. we are playing a simple game called catch phrase. if everyone shouts out answers, including people from the opposing team and people not playing, then you cease to be playing catchphrase and are just a room full of morons yelling out words
am i wrong?
me: ha ha ha ha. i agree with you. sounds like the people you’re playing with don’t understand the seriousness of games
it’s a sport people!
Katie: it just isnt fun if its chaos. i dont expect world poker series level seriousness, but if you arent even following like the ONLY rule of the game you cant really play it
blurg
mmmmm thanksgiving. everything smells so good
me: Avelyn is napping. having a kid to use as an excuse NOT to come over first thing in the morning is finally paying off
Katie: haha
glad that kid thing is working out for you
me: it’s about time she earns her keep
Katie: k gonna go help set up. happy thanksgiving!!!!
me: you too! enjoy!

On why I love him [while driving around town]:

me: Those pants look uncomfortable.
Kevin: Everything about that guy looks uncomfortable. [Puts hand up for a high five.]
Kevin: Bitch you best put your hand up and high five me.
me: Love you too dear.

On proving her status as “best friend for 15 years”:

Katie: ho
that is all
you just need to hear it
sorry

On Gmail status updates:

me: are you REALLY starting a fire?
Kevin: yes
me: you should stop it
Kevin: never
me: then maybe you should seek help
Kevin: Are you really hopping on your bike and G – Oing
me: i think we both know the answer to that question. YES.

On frugality:

Katie: sup dude
me: nothing. sup wich you?
Katie: paying bills. i kinda like paying bills. it’s something that one can finish. at least from month to month
me: i’m in class. i hate bills
Katie: downgraded the netflix account so as to afford wine. it’s sad i cut out 7$ from my monthly budget and i see it as a small victory
me: sweet. you are my financial guiding light
Katie: thanks. i also stopped giving 10$ a month to public radio. i mean, dental insurance seems a little more important than NPR. but it was a tough call

On why she’s called a Hobo:

me: i’m going to spy on the daycare webcam. ahh the server must be down
Kevin: dang.

me: what’s she wearing?
Kevin: She’s got a pink onesie and black pants on. Unfortunately the pink onesie has brown letters on it.
me: KEVIN!

On poopadox:

Katie: yo dude. here is that link
me: gmail chat is telling me you are busy. i might be interrupting by chatting with you
Katie: damn straight. gchat knows i’m important
me: thta video is hilarious. i’m at the jamie lee curtis activia he he he
Katie: i really like when she tries to feed Hillary Clinton yogurt
Katie: in this one, she uses the word “poopadox”, it’s about Number 2, check it out
me: poopadox. ha. i can’t ever use the word poop enough.

On the very first Gmail chat of our lives:

Katie: boo whore
gmail chat!
who knew?

Posted in Randomness | 4 Comments »

The life I’m making for myself doesn’t suck*

Jan 19th, 2010 by JenniferW

Again, so much to say and not enough time to write it! Avelyn has been down for nearly an hour now so I’ll see what I can pound out.

I can’t believe how much more I love this child everyday. I didn’t think it was possible and then, poof! She grows a little taller, pops a brand new word out of her mouth, busts a move and I sigh and think how on earth did I get so lucky to have this kid? She’s utterly amazing. And growing up so fast. Do you know what happened last week? DO YOU!? In case you missed the World News Report here it is – I broke down and HAD HER HAIR CUT. Her FIRST haircut. LIKE ONE WHOLE INCH, PEOPLE!!!!

Before. After. Totally different, right? I’m torn between thinking it’s not that much hair and she looks exactly the same (in which case WHY did I do it) and screaming OH. EM. GEE. It’s like I shaved her head or something because her hair! Look at my baby’s hair!! It’s gooooooone! Or maybe it just feels that way. Tough call.

On the fertilization front, I grow more and more convinced everyday that adding to our family is the right decision for us. I look at my Hobo growing up and can’t help but get excited about what another one might be like. Avelyn tends to agree, showing what a great big sister she might one day make by taking such good care of her baby…

Of course she also throws the baby on the ground, into the crib, out of the stroller… Hurling is pretty much her mode of transportation for “bay-bee”. (She’s yet to figure out this “name your baby” thing). Kevin continually wonders aloud how a new little person might survive with our Amazonian first born running amok. I’ve begun to wonder that myself given how much she enjoys “workin’ out” with her dad these days.

I’ll be damned if that’s not the cutest push up I’ve ever seen. Also, does anyone else notice the high waters? He he he.

Anyway. We paint. We play. We build houses for homeless-people. We read. We are sweet. We are crazy. We know how to rock. But above all, we know how to dance.

*The title that seemed most appropriate after reading this post.

Posted in Firsts, HoboBaby, Tiddly bits | 3 Comments »

Do I really want more buns in my oven?

Jan 3rd, 2010 by JenniferW

To procreate or not to procreate. That is my question.

I used to want 5 kids. FIVE. Back when I was crazy and newly married and had no idea of how much debt I would incur with two degrees and a husband with a dream. Back when I thought staying home with my kids would be the only thing I ever wanted to do (in which case why did I bother going to school and accumulating debt in the first place?). Back before I birthed my first baby and went a little crazy and felt like I might die everyday.

Fast forward a few years and I’ve got one kid, one fantastic kid mind you, and the stomach churning questions I wrestle with every five minutes or so.

Do I really want any more children?
How long do I want to wait to have another?
What if I wait too long?
What am I waiting for?
Ohmygod this child is so adorable and look! Look at her baby pictures! I want another one! Oh wait, there goes the screaming and annoying-ness. Do I want another one?
Loads of people do it everyday, some do it well, some not so well, but can I handle more than one? Emotionally? Physically?

Some days it feels like an easy decision and I think back to my life before Avelyn and wonder what I’m waiting for. I really had no life before her. Kevin and I weren’t living some free and fancy “I want to live before I have kids!” mentality of so many young people. No friends in town to go out with, no money to travel, heck no money to go out to eat. Pretty much NO MONEY PERIOD and we had a baby anyway. A “not planned but not prevented” baby and I thank God everyday for that unexpected blessing.

Now we have a little more money. Heck, we have a lot more money. This working thing has a few really great perks, one of which being a REAL PAYCHECK. We’re paying bills on time and paying down debts. We’re eating out when we want to and buying things for the house without checking the account to make sure we can make it to payday. We’re not rolling it and we still don’t have much leftover at the end of the month but we can provide for ourselves and it’s amazing.

Now that we’re more “prepared” (whatever that means) we’re trying to “plan” this next potential baby. Although it’s not like you can really “plan” to have a baby. I mean it either happens or it doesn’t and not necessarily on your time. And maybe that’s my problem. The planning. The waiting. The believing I’ll be more prepared in [insert time frame here].

I was totally unprepared and broke the first time. And over the moon with excitement. Now I’m “prepared” and theoretically in a position to afford having a baby this go ’round. And I’m petrified.

What if it’s too much? What if this time I have a baby that’s reallysick? What if Avelyn has a hard time with it? What if I get depressed again? Working is hard enough with one, how will I work with TWO kids? Kevin wants another kid but “not right now… maybe in a year”, how can I put up with this worrying until both of us are ready? Gah! The sheer amount of questions!

If I do have more kids I don’t want them to be too far apart in age. My siblings and I are all four years apart and that gap caused all sorts of problems growing up. Four years is a huge difference developmentally, especially in same sex siblings. I know there is no magic age, that every family is different, every kid is different, yada yada so save me that schpeel. But still, I don’t want to wait too long. She’s old enough now that a baby at any time would be the “right time” in my book.

Maybe this little “problem” won’t end up being a problem anyway. Maybe I won’t even get pregnant. Maybe it won’t happen on my timeline and we’ll put it on the back burner another year. Maybe.

Speaking of my insane delusions timeline:

April is out. All three of our birthdays are within six days of each other in April. NO MORE APRIL BABY’S, BABY.
September is out because again, too many birthdays and it would kill me to have to hear for the rest of my life “Oh! That’s [insert family member's name here] birthday. How neat!” No, well meaning dummy. NOT NEAT.
May-August is out because Kevin goes to Chicago during the summers to run the film program at NHSI. He loves it and it pays well so I don’t want him to not go ergo having a baby due right before or after he leaves is a bad plan.
That leaves October through March. But December is out because, hello! it’s Christmas and no one in their right mind should plan to have a baby at Christmas. It’s just mean.
And January, well January means even more family birthdays as well as being the month after Christmas. As Angella so eloquently stated, “January is the dullest month of the year and if I could have my way I would get a petition signed to rename it “Meh.” He he he. Meh.

So there we have it — the only months that I would *ideally* like to have a baby is February/March or October/November. And if I had my *perfect* way in my *perfect* world, February/March would be out completely because February/March sucks big A and is cold, wet and rainy. There’s a reason why so few people have birthdays during that time frame. That and I guess the month of May/June is a really boring time for potential parents to be getting it on.

Okay. That leaves October/November. My ideal time frame. The best of the best times for ME to have another baby.

Avelyn will be 2-1/2 years… going on 22.
If I had a baby in November I would have December and January off for maternity leave. (!)
The baby would miss half of RSV season and sweet mother I am up to HERE in RSV babies at work and the less I have to deal with it the better. (Note to babies under 12 months – STAY HOME and tell people to WASH THEIR HANDS AROUND YOU.)
Avelyn would be three and the baby would be about 7 months old when Kevin left for Chicago next summer, meaning we might be in some kind of rhythm by then and my brain mightbe starting to recover from the liquefied mass it became after childbirth.

So okay, after writing this damn thing I think I might have talked myself into having another baby if for no other reason than I don’t want to have to think about it this much ever again. So November it is (recall: IDEALLY). But since October wouldn’t completely suck maybe I’ll sabotage the prophylactics a few weeks early and get a head start. I mean you can’t ever be too *careful*. Right?

Oh, and in case my husband is reading this and FREAKING. OUT. (!) Close your eyes and think back to this day, and how unbelievably excited we were, and will be again.

Posted in Just me, Pregnancy | 14 Comments »

A post, finally*

Dec 30th, 2009 by JenniferW

I have finally accepted the realization that I will never “catch up” on my blogging so I should stop pretending and just post something already.

The fact is I AM BUSY*. I work between 36 and 50 hours a week at night, sleep a few hours during the day and still manage to be a full time mom every other waking minute. That leaves very little time to sit down in front of a computer and spend time typing.

Not to mention the fact that my husband is always hinting that my few precious evenings at home with him should not be spent in front of a computer screen romancing the internets with my wit. Especially since (if all goes according to plan and you internets people keep prodding me in the right direction) I may or may not be persuaded to possibly admit that I am kind of sort of maybe or maybe not hoping to embark on another nine months of water retention and swollen ankles sometime in early 2010. Maybe. MAYBE. But anyway. Ahem.

I started this post days ago with the attempt to fill it up to HERE with pictures. Pictures galore! I tell you but then… sigh… then my laptop started freaking out LIKE IT ALWAYS FREAKING DOES and it was taking 10 minutes to open a single file and I quit. I did this several times before I wizened up and just started updating my Flickr account. SO. Without further adieu…

Airplane watching.

Finger pointing.

Generally looking cute.

Wheely bugging.

No really, REALwheely bugging.

Hot chocolate.

Hot breakfasts.

Early morning attitude.

Practicing for the street life.

Growing up a little.

Growing up a lot.

I’d love to post the 2 1/2 minute video of her first school program performance but I am choosing not to for several reasons. 1) There is very little “performing” from the Hobo unless you consider a generally uncomfortable facial expression and sitting like a lump in the teachers lap a performance and 2) There are a ton of other kids in the video and I’m not one to post videos of other peoples kids without their permission. Let me just tell you, it was really, really cute and she was REALLYREALLYREALLY-NO REALLY, I REALLY MEAN IT! -SHE WAS SO DAMN CUTE!

I would also like to post a clip from our Christmas morning but it’s on Kevin’s HD camera that is only able to be uploaded on his (not a fraction as crappy as mine) computer and the odds of it ever being seen by human eyeballs is slim to none. I’m still waiting on my wedding video he promised. SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO.

Love that guy.

But really, the footage from Christmas wasn’t all that bad considering I had worked until 3:45am Christmas Eve and didn’t crawl into bed until 6am Christmas morning. Oh-and Avelyn and I were fighting the BIG BAD COLD OF ALL COLDS.

Do any of you watch 30 Rock? If you don’t, START WATCHING. It is one of the funniest shows on television. For reals, y’all. (That was me channeling Britney Spears there, so you’d know how serious I was). Anyway, after the “Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001″ episode (Watch it. NOW. And not just this episode. THE WHOLE SERIES.) I was more than a little worried about the sandbags of fatal exhaustion I had hanging beneath my eyes that the HD camera would surely emphasize. Turns out HD decided to go easy on me and my sandbag eyes. Probably only because it was Christmas but still.

I was more than a little impressed with myself, which is rare for the self deprecating hate monkey I carry around on my back. Maybe I really will start taking better care of myself in 2010. It would be about time. Maybe I’ll hold onto the one true thing I can always count on in life. That this day, and every day I wake up, is a day I will look better than I will the day after, when I’m older, wrinklier, and more dried out than I was just one day before.

Hope your days have been as merry and bright as mine.

*Alternate title: Oh my gosh. That idiot finally wrote something.

Posted in Catching up, Just me, Old people stuff | 5 Comments »

Make new friends, but keep the o-old

Dec 10th, 2009 by JenniferW

The day after Thanksgiving we drove to Austin and had lunch with a friend of mine I haven’t seen in 11 years, back from my days in the MN. Here we are at my 17th birthday party she threw for me, sometime after midnight given the date on the photo. The other photos from the party all say 4/18/98, which is only significant since that is the day the Hobo was born 10 years later. Prophetic? Probably not, but cool.

And no, I can’t believe I am posting this picture either because
    a) check out the metal mouth (5-1/2 YEARS of metal mouth mind you)
    b) we look like infants and
    c) it is yet another example of why I should never EVER take self portraits

Unfortunately there are a lot of photos like this, most of which have been burned if you know what’s good for you Katie Richey!)

Anyway Stef’s daughter is 3 months younger than Avelyn, and they were clearly meant to live closer together so they could be BFF’s and scream their little heads off with each other everyday. The introductions were a little rocky, with Avelyn refusing to speak to anyone or sit further than 1 inch away from me at the table. I also suspect I’m not the only one who noticed her penchant for scowls and silence when she’s uncomfortable. Who knew it was genetic?

Once lunch was over and we got the girls to an unoccupied room in the restaurant they discovered they could run free and really hit it off. And by hit it off I mean Avelyn decided that not only was running around really-super-duper-freaking-cool but running around with her mouth wide open screaming was FREAKING AWESOOOOOOOOOOME! Like a natural born big sister (and don’t read too much into that statement; it’s not ANYTIME SOON) she set the example for her little friend who quickly followed suit.

It turned out to be pretty cold in Austin that day and I started to wish I had worn something warmer than my old maternity sweater and my black leggings (Of which I am starting to think make me look fat. Still considering this prospect). Regardless of the cool temps, we felt it would be in the best interest of restaurant go-ers everywhere to take the screaming girls outside, where they proceeded to do two things very well:

One: look ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod-SO-CUTE!

And two: continue to run around screaming.

I had such a good time catching up with an old friend. It was loads of fun to see Stefany again and introduce our husbands and A-dorable baby girls. How lucky am I to have friends that would drive 200 miles to have lunch with me(!) after they already had 2,100 miles under their belt that trip. (Really lucky for me is that I like her, as it is probably true that I might know several people who would do that, but not necessarily many that I like. But anywho…)

(This picture has nothing to do with anything I’m typing, I just love it. Isn’t she a doll?)

After lunch I rounded out the afternoon with a genius plan I’d cooked up months ago when Stef told me they were coming to Texas. There is an Ikea just north of Austin and we would just happen to be 15 minutes away the day after Thanksgiving. SCORE! I spent too much money and didn’t get nearly enough stuff but now I have an excuse to troll through my thousands of pictures on my computer and print out some good ones to be framed. I also purchased a set of glass jars that I thought would make great craft supply organizers. I was right. AND I ONLY BOUGHT ONE FOUR-PACK. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I could have bought 100 and found uses for all of them! Now I have to make a point to drive back up there. Ohhhhhh noooooo.

So, that was my day after Thanksgiving. And it was great. And free of stress. And to top it off I didn’t have to work that night. What a difference a decade makes.

Posted in Big days, Holidaze, Kith and kin | 4 Comments »

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