Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Prince Charming
You may recall that I mentioned ASA was christened in a gown made from my mother's wedding dress. MRA also wore the gown and each child has his monogram on the bottom. I think ASA, in particular, looks a little royal.
Here are some comparisons...
The Prince of Norway
The Prince of Wales
The Prince of Sarasota
Here are some comparisons...
The Prince of Norway
The Prince of Wales
The Prince of Sarasota
Sunday, February 26, 2012
A Notorious Baptism
Well, we managed to make it through last weekend's baptism festivities. The good news is ASA has been baptized and I am getting pretty darn good at arranging tulips. Of course, at some point, I will probably have to do something different but I digress.
For his brother's big day, MRA began the celebration being very sweet. As you see here, he wanted to hug ASA and hold his hand during the baptism.
He was also very helpful climbing up to the baptismal font and helping out the minister.
 |
| Oh, wait, that's Reverend Clay helping MRA. Seriously, he really can be helpful. |
See, helpful.
That is until the attention stops being on him. Then its like an internal switch flips and there is PANIC. Its like he is thinking, "HOW, HOW, HOW can I get the attention focused BACK. ON. ME!
Oh, I know, I will roll on the floor!"
Like I said, he was helpful... until he wasn't anymore.
ASA, however, was perfect. He cooed, and smiled ,and looked like royalty in the family baptismal gown (hoping some one will send photos of that for me to post).
He was passed from adoring relative to friend during the luncheon and fell asleep on anyone who held still long enough.
Also at the luncheon, MRA stole tomatoes from the gourmet grocer across the street for which my MIL had to run back to pay for. Bless her heart.
He enjoyed the tomato with a "let them eat cupcake" attitude. The cupcake design was awesome.
I may have had one two three glasses of wine (thank you Mollydooker Shiraz for also being all kinds of awesome.) And, a happy day was had by, well... most.
The. End.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Difference Between One and Two Is Tenfold
It really is amazing how dramatic the difference is between the first and second child... in EVERY way. I mean, obviously, their personalities are different but so is the way that they get treated.
With MRA, we were all in such a hurry for everything to happen. I read each chapter of "What to Expect the First Year" each month and spent the next four weeks ticking off the milestones in my mind. Or sometimes trying not to panic if the milestones hadn't been reached yet.
I couldn't wait for the first smile, laugh, or roll. Every next milestone we eagerly anticipated and encouraged in any way we could.
My parents would have force fed the poor kid rice cereal at eight weeks if I would have let them. And my Dad, my Dad was ready to give him ice cream at three months.
But with ASA, things are different. There is no rush. And although I find myself infinitely busier, I also find myself wanting to cherish the little moments a little longer. Of course some of this may be due to the fact that I had my tubes tied.
Actually, they were cut. No little eggs slipping through a loose knot for me. The nurse even showed me the sections they cut out. (Which, even in my heavily sedated haze, I could have lived happily for the rest of my life without seeing.)
So, yeah, just about zero chance of a third miracle in our lives. This is fine and also what we wanted but there is such a sense of finality to it that in some ways is... sad.
However, I also think that we are so much busier that we don't have the time to sit and oogle over every little move ASA makes. This, too, is kind of sad. And ASA is such a relaxed child, which, I suppose is good since he is often times left sitting alone while MRA demands a cookie, or a pillow, or his feet rubbed (thanks Nana for that one) or time on my lap.
But when I do get time with my little, scrumptious, gummy smiled marshmallow, I savor every second. I breathe deep his smell and try to hold on to the way his little hands feel when they hold my finger. I try to hold onto every wonderful, blissful second because, hoe lee shizzle - next week, my little pumpkin pie will be SIX MONTHS old!
My friends warned me this would happen if I fed him.
With MRA, we were all in such a hurry for everything to happen. I read each chapter of "What to Expect the First Year" each month and spent the next four weeks ticking off the milestones in my mind. Or sometimes trying not to panic if the milestones hadn't been reached yet.
I couldn't wait for the first smile, laugh, or roll. Every next milestone we eagerly anticipated and encouraged in any way we could.
My parents would have force fed the poor kid rice cereal at eight weeks if I would have let them. And my Dad, my Dad was ready to give him ice cream at three months.
But with ASA, things are different. There is no rush. And although I find myself infinitely busier, I also find myself wanting to cherish the little moments a little longer. Of course some of this may be due to the fact that I had my tubes tied.
Actually, they were cut. No little eggs slipping through a loose knot for me. The nurse even showed me the sections they cut out. (Which, even in my heavily sedated haze, I could have lived happily for the rest of my life without seeing.)
So, yeah, just about zero chance of a third miracle in our lives. This is fine and also what we wanted but there is such a sense of finality to it that in some ways is... sad.
However, I also think that we are so much busier that we don't have the time to sit and oogle over every little move ASA makes. This, too, is kind of sad. And ASA is such a relaxed child, which, I suppose is good since he is often times left sitting alone while MRA demands a cookie, or a pillow, or his feet rubbed (thanks Nana for that one) or time on my lap.
But when I do get time with my little, scrumptious, gummy smiled marshmallow, I savor every second. I breathe deep his smell and try to hold on to the way his little hands feel when they hold my finger. I try to hold onto every wonderful, blissful second because, hoe lee shizzle - next week, my little pumpkin pie will be SIX MONTHS old!
My friends warned me this would happen if I fed him.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
With love
It's Valentine's Day. I am not Valentine-y. Neither is Jonathan. This works well for us.
I think it would be weird if he did something uber romantic on Valentine's Day because, well, he does things for me that are really nice on random days throughout the year. So, if he did something on Valentine's Day, it just wouldn't feel authentic.
But now we have children and they celebrate Valentine's Day at school. We don't want to be the parents who don't let their kids celebrate, but... I think I would rather teach my children that when you love some one, it is important to show them that love throughout the year. Not just on February 14th.
And, as a mother of boys, I hope they will be the kind of gentlemen that treasure their loved ones year round. If their father has anything to do with it, I won't have to worry.
I would like to acknowledge that maybe if I did not have a great husband who made me feel loved (usually) throughout the year, then maybe, Valentine's Day would be a bigger deal.
But back to the dilemma... how do you instill the value of love without the commercialism. I don't have the answer this year. I will work on figuring it out.
In the mean time.... we are sending you all lots of love!
I think it would be weird if he did something uber romantic on Valentine's Day because, well, he does things for me that are really nice on random days throughout the year. So, if he did something on Valentine's Day, it just wouldn't feel authentic.
But now we have children and they celebrate Valentine's Day at school. We don't want to be the parents who don't let their kids celebrate, but... I think I would rather teach my children that when you love some one, it is important to show them that love throughout the year. Not just on February 14th.
And, as a mother of boys, I hope they will be the kind of gentlemen that treasure their loved ones year round. If their father has anything to do with it, I won't have to worry.
I would like to acknowledge that maybe if I did not have a great husband who made me feel loved (usually) throughout the year, then maybe, Valentine's Day would be a bigger deal.
But back to the dilemma... how do you instill the value of love without the commercialism. I don't have the answer this year. I will work on figuring it out.
In the mean time.... we are sending you all lots of love!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Dr. Ferber, redux
It's that time again. We revisited Dr. Richard Ferber and once again are very, very thankful. Dr. Ferber has given us our lives back and changed parenthood for us, for the better.
You may recall me gushing about him two years ago when we were sleep training MRA. Not much has changed. ASA took a little longer with the program than his older brother but we started a few weeks earlier, so maybe that was the issue. In any event, the following photos are of MRA and ASA post- Ferberization.
Can you tell who is who?
I told some one the other day, "I think I would leave my husband for Dr. Richard Ferber. Actually, the truth is I think Jonathan would leave me for Dr. Ferber!"
Sweet dreams and fingers crossed this continues.
You may recall me gushing about him two years ago when we were sleep training MRA. Not much has changed. ASA took a little longer with the program than his older brother but we started a few weeks earlier, so maybe that was the issue. In any event, the following photos are of MRA and ASA post- Ferberization.
Can you tell who is who?
I told some one the other day, "I think I would leave my husband for Dr. Richard Ferber. Actually, the truth is I think Jonathan would leave me for Dr. Ferber!"
Sweet dreams and fingers crossed this continues.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Hey, Hey Jealousy
Last weeks Wordless Wednesday was ASA's 5 month photo. I shot the same monthly photo series of MRA; that is until spelling out the number of months became too dificult.
In the begining, it was rather fun to dress MRA up and sit him down. It became a little harder, however, once he could pick up the blocks and knock them over. It seems that I spent a lot of time setting up and resetting up the blocks.
Now, I am trying to do the same for ASA. And, at five months, it should be easy. Or so I thought. I did not count on MRA being a saboteur. You see, once MRA figured out that I was trying to take pictures of just ASA, he began knocking over the blocks. Then, he decided to start adding blocks to the set up. This is why there is an H on top of the FIVE MONTHS.
I gave up and let the H stay, took some shots and went on my merry way. Little did I know, MRA was not done with his brother just yet.
When I walked back into the room, this is what I found:
In the begining, it was rather fun to dress MRA up and sit him down. It became a little harder, however, once he could pick up the blocks and knock them over. It seems that I spent a lot of time setting up and resetting up the blocks.
Now, I am trying to do the same for ASA. And, at five months, it should be easy. Or so I thought. I did not count on MRA being a saboteur. You see, once MRA figured out that I was trying to take pictures of just ASA, he began knocking over the blocks. Then, he decided to start adding blocks to the set up. This is why there is an H on top of the FIVE MONTHS.
I gave up and let the H stay, took some shots and went on my merry way. Little did I know, MRA was not done with his brother just yet.
When I walked back into the room, this is what I found:
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
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