Dear snow,

Listen, it's still March and I realize it's still your turn to do your thing.....

I also realize that you're beautiful, falling in your gigantic flakes. Covering the rooftops of the neighborhood is still charming every time you do it. Scraping the windows....not so charming.

And you had to come again because people started thinking it was really spring (really people?.....) and you have to defend your territory and all.

But you brought this nasty cold with you, and for that I'm bitter.

And angry.

And boogery.

And unable to breathe.

So in order to show you who's boss, I'm not going on a walk today and I'm blaming you. I'm not getting dressed and I'm blaming you.  I'm not leaving my house and the world will know it's all your fault.

Love,
Amy

PS Thanks for deciding what's for dinner tonight - homemade chicken noodle never sounded so good.....

Sunday not at temple square

Josh fell asleep within 30 minutes of returning home. And that's only because it took him 29 minutes to eat everything he could see.

After I put Thomas to bed I woke Josh up and forced him to play with me.

And then I fell asleep within 30 minutes of getting my trash kicked at Rummikub. But only because it took me 29 minutes to clean up enough to have a place to lay down.

Not quite the "lovely Sabbath afternoon" I envisioned.....but not bad either.

Did you know?

Did you know that it is possible to throw together a veggie tray in exactly 11 minutes? That's including dip making time. And assuming you have your husband helping.

Did you know that Easter is next week? NEXT week. I'm determined to celebrate it better than I did St. Patrick's Day. Also I'm determined to put up my March danglers before then.... *sigh* why do I even try?

Did you know that Thomas sits up in the bathtub? As I groaned while lifting him out the other day I wanted to cry over how big he is. I'm not sure how it's possible that one person change so much in so little time.

Did you know that Dallin got baptized yesterday? He's my nephew and it was really cool to be there and remember when I was baptized. I was worried about getting out of my wet clothes and into my dry ones fast enough because I didn't want the person being baptized after me to be waiting for me to get out of the dressing room. Even as an 8 year old I had the urge to "get out of the way!"

Did you know that if you stretch out a slinky to lay down flat it is 87 feet long? How bad do you wanna try that now?

Did you know that I wake up early on Sunday mornings just so I can turn on Sunday music because it's my favorite? I literally get out of bed JUST so I can turn on the good tunes. Today we're featuring a great mix of 6 years of EFY CDs.

Did you know that today is our "home Sunday" which is my favorite Sunday of the month. I think we'll go on a walk, maybe hit Temple Square, take a nap, play games, and enjoy our little family all by ourselves. Or maybe Josh will get bored with me and invite people over. Either way it'll be a great day.

drowning my sorrows

I was supposed to go running last night. (As a side note, you should know I don't really "run". I am not a "runner". and I probably never will be, but I do put  on a sports bra and tennis shoes 3 times a week and waddle around the trail at an embarrassingly slow pace. Then (because of the sports bra) I call it running so I won't be so embarrassed.)


I was feeling exceedingly stressed and grouchy and not in the mood to waddle my oversized tooshie around the trail.

So, instead I tricked Josh into taking me to Walmart. "Just need to grab some veggies and a cool toy" we said. "It'll only take 5 minutes." we promised. "$10 and we're outta there." we vowed.

1 hour, an impromptu home teaching appointment,  25 trips up and down the game aisle later we stood in line for the checkout with a cart more than $10 full.

Why do they build 25 different lanes at Walmart? If every checker employed by Walmart in the entire state worked at the same time, only 2 lanes would be open anyway. And one of them would be blinking. And it would be because our gift card wouldn't scan. And the manager who always has to come use their key for us would be unavailable. And it would be because I just knocked over the end display of enormous Chocolate Easter Bunnies and they're trying to decide what to do with 89 larger-than-life chocolate rabbits. I can't help it, I can't see over the carseat!

Anyway, there we are checking out:
Twisty lids for our 5-gallon buckets? Check.
Powdered eggs? Check. (Did you know that powdered eggs are freakin' expensive? And disgusting? Why did we do that? Stupid impulse buy.....why is Walmart selling emergency supplies anyway? Who do they think they are?)
Easter candy? Check. What's the deal with them not having my Cadbury minieggs?
Toy for the nephew? Check.
New Game for us? Check. Oh wait. Our game closet is full, we have spent a small fortune on games and we don't have time to play any of them.....meh. Too bad.
Vegetables? What? The reason we came here in the first place? Dang. Run over to produce and grab some.

Yep. Definitely more than $10.

We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and I drowned my sorrows in a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and the Reece's candybar that was calling my name in the checkout aisle.

In summary, instead of running last night, I spent more money than I have, ate more calories than I need (twice) and increased my sorrows instead of drowning them.

Oh yeah, and as a special treat we also kept Thomas up an hour past his bedtime with our "real quick 5 minute trip" which of course makes for a very happy baby.

Stupid sorrows - should've waddled them around the trail instead.

The breastfeeding drama continues

Here's the thing.....

I still really hate that I'm not breastfeeding Sweet Baby of Mine. Most of the time it's fine. It's convenient, it's easy, and my boobs belong to me and not the child attached me. So that's a really great thing.

But I hate that we're not doing it. It wouldda been free. It wouldda been healthier. It wouldda stopped me from feeling like I wasn't meant to have kids. (OK That's probably not entirely true.....but it might have helped.)

Last week Josh said something about how we feed him and I sobbed. I cried because I'm not giving my baby the best of the best. I cried because I probably quit and gave up too soon. I cried because I wondered if I should've just tried harder. I cried because even though I did everything I was supposed to I just wasn't enough.

95% of the time it's really not a big deal, but the other 5% of the time - it's the whole world to me and my heart aches for the missed bonding time, the lost attachment, the nutrients he isn't getting, the reminder that I wasn't meant to be a mom, it all hurts.

I've convinced myself again that if I take the herbs all through pregnancy, if I pump longer, if I work with the Lactation Lady it'll be different next time. Things will go better. My body will cooperate and I'll prove that I was meant to be a mom. I know I was.

I just need another chance and I'll do it better.

But this time it hurts.

Lessons in Motherhood: Airplane is a Daddy game

Thomas is 5 months and 16 days old.

For 5 months and 15 days I've been telling Josh to "stop bouncing him above your face...he's gonna puke right on it."

For 5 months and 15 days I've watched Dad dodge the slobber drips on a daily basis.

For 5 months and 15 days I've seen Dad bounce, toss, and spin my baby no matter how recently he ate.

For 5 months and 15 days I've watched dad lay on his back with his mouth wide open playing "airplane" with Thomas.

Today after listening to him scream for all but 20 minutes I laid on my back and played airplane with Tommy as a last resort. This ALWAYS works for Dad.


Thomas cracked into a big fat smile and started to laugh and I started the party in my head. "I'm as cool as dad-dy. I'm as cool as dad-dy." I sang to myself.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere I heard the "splash" of baby puke on my face. I immediately sat up and tried to hand Thomas to Josh who was doubled over laughing on the sofa. Thanks babe. I opened my mouth to say "help me" and tasted what is probably the most disgusting thing to ever enter my mouth. (I say "probably" because I remember certain experience with dumplings that makes my stomach church just to remember.) With vomit running from my eyes down to my mouth and quickly making it's way down my shirt, I thrust Thomas at his father.

Apparently this was the perfect opportunity for our first experience with real live throw up. Not just "spit up". I know because I tasted it.

There is no justice in this world.

Things That Must Stay

More than a week ago I started a list of "things that must go" but I've only been able to come up with 3 things. (1) Cursive (the handwritten kind...not the cute "script-y" kind.) (2) Faxes and (3) Daylight Savings Time (which I'm now appreciating at 7:30 when it's still light outside.....)

So, instead I'm making a list of Things That Must Stay.

• Josh. Because yesterday when I said the words "I really don't wanna yell at you, but I think I'm going to if you don't just give me 5 minutes to hide in the closet by myself." he closed the door to the closet, and the door to the bathroom (where the closet is), and the door to the bedroom, and came out to the living room to make Thomas laugh hysterically before bed.
• Thomas. Because he laughs hysterically before bed.
• My super awesome totally cool raddest ever Menu book. (Copied from Jamie's design.)
• Nap time. What if Thomas decides he's too old for naps? I'm almost as scared of that as I am of the chicken pox. 
• My renewed obsession with reading. I just finished The Help I'm currently reading These Is My Words and I have about 10 others lined up right after it. I LOVE it.
• Sleeping 12 hours/night. 
• Garden food. Technically this is probably a "thing that must come" because it's not here yet....but I have high hopes for a better bucket garden than last year.

Behind.

Thomas holds his own bottle when we feed him now. (control freak)

Josh is officially the boss of dinner once a week because it's "BBQ Day".

I have not grown or developed at all over the past 7 days. Why do I feel so behind?

Speaking of behind:

Goals

Goals. I have some pretty lofty ones. This week they are:

• Go grocery shopping.
• Drink more than "enough" water.
• Buy baby sunscreen. (Have you seen the forecast for the week?)
• Finish reading The Help then stop crying about black people who live in Mississippi who I've never met.
• Work.

One of Josh's favorite songs is "Dream Big". Do you ever wonder why he married me? Sometimes I do.  But then I see a photo like this

And I remember he's a lucky lucky man.

Tagged

Ashlie tagged me and I'm excited cuz this one is fun.

The rules are that you have to take pictures of the following things as-is- no cleaning up.

your favorite room: Thomas's Room. 

To be honest I'm a little scared of posting this....too many people are interior decorators and I'm not....
that being said, here is "The Nursery" in all its glory.

It's my favorite room because it's a quiet peaceful calm place. And that makes me happy.

my bathroom:

No, I haven't put "get ready" things away yet today....or yesterday.....and probably not tomorrow either.

laundry room:

The top shelf is food storage. That's because my husband rocks and built us shelves.

favorite pair of shoes:

You'd better believe it folks. It's FLIP FLOP TIME!!!!

self-portrait:

You have seen like 10 million pictures of me sitting at my desk (which is where I spend 9 hours of my day....) and not nearly enough pictures of me by my favorite painting of all time. So, here you go.

refrigerator:

I hate stuff on the fridge. Josh thinks God made refrigerators magnetic for a reason.

As a compromise I allow "current issues" on the front of the fridge and "lists" on the side. My running schedule and our Home and Visiting Teaching assignments are on front. Grocery lists and monthly menu plan on the side. Nothing else is allowed.

And the inside. I need to get some groceries.

my closet:

The clothes:

Before you get all "you're clothes aren't organized by color or sleeve length" on me, it's because I hang them as I wear them. This means I pull clothes from one side and put them back on the other side and I don't have to decide what to wear every day. I like it that way, so back off. :)

The stuff:

The best part of our closet is the room to store stuff way up high.

kitchen sink:

I had just done the dishes....it's not always empty. Also that's a brand new dish rag, just got it out this morning and it already stinks. What's the deal with that? Anybody know how to make my dish rags not stink?

what your kids are doing now:

Sweet huh?

I tag Aundrea, Stick, Katy Mae, Rachel, Nancy, Eva, Tahnee, Kim and everybody else who is reading this. 

Did you know?

Did you know that Josh has been doing the bedtime routine with Thomas for almost two weeks now? Every single night. On one hand I'm a little jealous - bedtime really is a great time of day. On the other hand I REALLY appreciate that Josh takes care of it for me and I only feel a little bad about making him do it every day.

Did you know that this weekend we were having so much fun playing games, that we stayed up until 4 in the morning playing? And we still woke up the next day. Awesome.


Did you know that Josh doesn't eat stacks of pancakes? He only likes pancakes 1 deep. If you go to a restaurant with him, and he orders pancakes and they bring them stacked 3 high and on a plate the size of the pancakes, he'll move them all to the other plate so he can eat them one at a time.

Did you know that over 5 billion crayons are produced each year? There are also 5 billion cell phone subscribers as of February of this year.

Did you know that I played the clarinet in Jr. High? Don't you wish we were friends back then? I was cool. [insert hysterical laughter here]

St. Patrick's Day

Last night we visited a family in the ward and the boy (who might've been the cutest thing I've ever seen) was VERY excited to show us the leprechaun trap they set. Did you know that chocolate cheerios work as leprechaun bait? Very cool.


This morning I read about my sister's Irish dinner party. Also cool.

And then I remembered that this is my version of festive for the big holiday.

Amy going "woo hoo" and spinning the finger festively.

Do you think when Thomas is older I'll stop being so lame? Or at least change my Welcome sign from snowflakes & mittens to kits and shamrocks before St. Patrick's Day?

Much ado about nothing

Remember how we were going to remind Thomas that sleeping through the night gets you in the cool kids club? And he better do it right now.

This was the week. And I prepared for the worst.

We didn't start last week because it was a bit of a busy weekend and I couldn't handle any kind of lack of sleep. Also because I needed to have a good book to read if I was going to be up all night.

I finally talked Josh into it and convinced him that babies who are 5 months old will not die of starvation if they don't wake up to eat during the night. *You should know that this is no small victory. It took days, loads of conversation and a bit of internet-based research to get him on my team.


Sunday night approached and I prepared myself. (If the picture in your head doesn't have to do with me in war paint and football pads, you're not seeing it right.) I armed myself with my "mean mom" face. We'd feed the child carrots, have a bath, a bottle, a story and off. to. bed!

I wasn't going to let him out of that crib until 8am. Not for all the tea in China (or even for something cooler that I actually want.....like this totally awesome food scale). I was prepared to sob while listening to his innocent cries and I was relatively certain that at some point I'd have to tackle Josh in the hallway before he got to the child and comforted him and ruined all of my hard work.

Somehow in psyching myself up for this grand adventure, I totally forgot that putting Thomas to bed is easy. (It's the letting him cry in the middle of the night instead of feeding him I needed to prepare for.)

Food, bath, bottle, story, bed. The end. No crying, no sobbing, no war paint, nothing. A bit anti-climactic if you ask me.

Josh woke him up to "dream feed" him one more time at 10 (to appease his "don't starve the child" instinct) after which Thomas cried for nearly 2 minutes and we didn't hear from him again until 8am.

Seriously.

Last night was the first time he woke up before "morning" (As the morning-time-nazi I have deemed anything prior to 8am "the middle of the night" and will not allow any perky behavior during these hours. Josh is not so great at complying.) and I let him cry for like an hour (checking on him every 30 minutes and sleeping in-between) and he fell back to sleep and slept until 8 again.

I could've saved my war paint for something much more exciting. Like our nertz tournament this weekend. Or the chick-flick vs shoot-em-up-kill-em-dead battle. Even the "what's for dinner" discussion* would've been more suited to war paint.

*The "What's for dinner" discussion goes like this:
Josh: Hey babe, what delicious food did you make me for dinner?  
Me: I didn't make anything. We probably have leftovers. Or we could have pasta again.
Josh: OK. Sounds great.

I'm a rebel

I just put a bowl on the bottom rack of the dishwasher when it clearly states "dishwasher top rack only" right on the bottom of it.

I assume that "top rack only" thing is because of the excessive heat on the bottom rack. Which concerns me because I put things on the top rack that I'd really like to come out just as clean and sanitized on the bottom rack.

Is there really that big of a temperature difference in those 18 inches?

Should my head constantly be colder than my feet....after all, the altitude is significantly different way up here.

Either way, I just have to wonder who is going to enforce the "top rack only" rule. Probably the same people who will find me if I don't MAIL BACK THIS CENSUS THING TODAY.

I also watched Full House today. Sorry to disappoint you mom. On the plus side I reused a Ziploc bag - there, I'm redeemed. Right?

**Update: The suspense was killing me. The first thing I did this morning was unload the dishwasher and guess what? My bowl is fine. [eyes rolling].**

Got one!

Yesterday I earned my first laughs from this sweet child.

Josh was at work so I get to claim 100% of these shrieks of joy.

Best. Sound. Ever.

Things I can hear

During naps I experience (and enjoy - which is totally weird for me) silence. Total and complete silence. I share my "office" with nobody. Josh isn't home to talk to, and I've stopped the annoying habit of talking to myself.

However, when Josh (and the rest of the neighborhood) comes home it's all a different story.

In the past 15 minutes I have heard all of the following:

• The last of "Old Dogs" in which some dude is singing "I'm all out of love" while being cradled by what the viewer can only assume is a killer gorilla. (What do you know about gorillas? Enlighten me.)
• Josh singing "I'm all out of love" cuz now it's in his head.
• Thomas shrieking with laugher.
• Splashing in the bathtub.
• Josh singing "splish splash I was takin' a bath" which somehow lead to whistling "a dream is a wish...your heart makes" which then morphed into "scrub-a-dub-dub my baby's in the tub-a" which of course leads to that "Trashing the Camp" song from Tarzan. If you've never played Encore or "String of songs" you should. But you should be on Josh's team or else you'll lose.
• Microwave beeping.
• Phones ringing (3 of them).
• Car alarms going off.
• Garage doors opening.
• Some kid crying the middle of the road because he fell off his bike. Poor kid.

carrots = a smashing success

Based on this photo, I know you don't believe he liked them, but he really did love the carrots.

And look at me all stupid brave in my Sunday duds feeding my baby something orange!

I wish I could say this was his first taste of something other than rice cereal....but dad and baby had a bonding moment with brownie batter over the weekend. *sigh* 

[Let the record show I threw a gigantic fit and said mean things and yelled and screamed and threw stuff....but at least I didn't give my kid brownie batter.] 

[Also let the record show that Thomas is fine. F.I.N.E. He still ate vegetables later and he didn't die or get sick  or anything. He's fine. All that energy into throwing a big fit for nothing.] *sigh again*

Did you know?

Did you know my mother in law turned 50 yesterday?

Did you know that papaya is supposed to taste like that? (sick!)

Did you know that we pulled of an awesome surprise party for the MIL? We're cool like that.

Did you know that the blue whale's tongue weighs as much as an elephant?

Did you know that Josh just got a new calling in the Sunday School Presidency? I sorta think it was because he's bored (insert hysterical laughter here). I also think he's going to be really great. Because that's just the kinda guy he is. I think baby brother has the same calling. Which means my dad and 2 brothers-in-law have the same calling, and kid brother and hubby have the same calling. Maybe we need to have a diversity day in my family.

Did you know that taking an enormous fruit tray and setting it next to a plate of mint brownies at a party makes for less leftover fruit than you'd expect? And zero leftover brownies. (OK that's not entirely true, I had to bribe Megan & Taylor to take them home....so I didn't bring any home, but there were leftovers....)

Did you know that between presidency meetings, visits, activities, and family stuff we have exactly 1 free night this week? Rad.

Did you know that Thomas will be eating carrots (the first "real" food) for the first time today? Don't you worry, I'll keep you posted.

Do you think we'd be friends?

Sometimes I forget that some people know my only by my profile picture. And for whatever reason they think I look like (or sound like) a person they'd like to be friends with - or at least blog stalk.

And then I wonder, those of you who I know in real life, based only on this photo (the current profile pic) would we be friends?

Or do you look at this picture and think "What kind of idiot wears a bandana and puts photo evidence on their blog." Or maybe you think "Why are they sitting in the dirt". Maybe you want to know why "my" profile is a picture of "us". Or maybe you're my brother and you think "I remember when we went camping that time. They cheated at the game we were playing."

When I look at this picture it's totally me. Yes we're sitting in the dirt (by a river), we had played cards, we were camping with my little brother. AND you can see my wedding ring (which I'm having a renewed-love-affair with this week). It's all the things I love most in one picture.

What does your profile picture look like and why do you think it represents you?

ksl classified

I'm thinking about buying something on ksl.

But then I thought "what if it's broken?"

Then I thought "if they say they're selling it cuz it's broken I won't buy it. but if they're selling it because they just don't need it anymore, then it's fine."

Then I patted myself on the back for being such a genius.

Then AND ONLY THEN I realized that nobody is stupid enough to say "I'm selling this cuz it's broken" It's always because "they're moving" or "doesn't go with the decor" or "they're done having babies" never EVER "because it's broken".

Then I patted myself on the back again....you know, cuz I'm a genius.

Thomas: 5 months

Back, by popular demand.......[drumrolling] the LIP SUCKER!!!! [cheers erupt]

Oh yeah, he also smiles too.

But only until he's had it.

He's loving his rice cereal again (we had a brief falling out for a while).

He's going to re-learn to sleep through the night (again with the falling out).

And he still thinks that 6am is a perfectly appropriate time to wake up for the day (if he doesn't knock it off, he and I are going to have a falling out).

He laughs very best for Josh (I'm talking air-sucking, squealing, bowl-full-of-jelly laughing) and occasionally for me. (Perhaps a small chuckle or a pity laugh. He and I had a "this is how you pity laugh" session because if he's gonna be in this family, it's an art he'll have to master.)

He still doesn't roll by choice and it hasn't occurred to him that by rolling he can get places (anybody trying to get rid of that obnoxious gate that's still blocking your stairs even though all your kids are grown? anybody?).

He refuses to believe that laying on the floor playing with toys is a perfectly acceptable way to spend the afternoon (it is) and instead prefers to scream until I hold him then immediately stop screaming and smile at me (he's lucky he's so cute). People assure me that eventually he'll want nothing to do with me, and I believe that....but I'm not sure I can wait 12 years...... Fortunately he's a Seinfeld junkie.

This kid's smile will melt your heart (assuming of course that you have one...) and force you to act like an idiot just to try to make him smile again. And it's totally worth the whole idiocy thing....even if you are walking down the aisles at the grocery store. 

One thing I love about the rain

One thing I love about the rain is street puddles.

Go ahead and try Aundrea

You just try to tell me there's no God. 

I double dog dare you.

One thing I love about sunshine

Is sunglasses.

Items of business

1. My baby is still asleep (it's 8:45am this is highly abnormal). I should wake him and feed him so we're on a good schedule for the day. I'd rather blog and blow-dry my hair in peace.

2. Saturday evening I had exactly 40 minutes to change, run (I did 2 miles!!!), shower, get dressed and get to our friends house for game night. It was already dark outside, but since I didn't have time to talk myself into it, I just went.  As I walked out the door Josh told me that if I insisted on running outside in the dark, he'd like it if I invested in a can of mace. I love Josh.

Did you know?

Did you know that the training for a 5k might be the death of me? Or maybe it will save my sanity. I haven't decided which yet.

Did you know that it's impossible to feed an infant rice cereal without chewing on the air in your mouth?

Did you know that at least 2 years after reading a post about Nancy's launch pad, I finally got my own? Lookit how pretty! (I love it. You don't have to because I do.)

Did you know that a dime has 118 ridges and a quarter only has 1 more (119)? I didn't count, did you?

Did you know that I found 11 cents in my washing machine this week? That's how I know Spring is right around the corner (not here....just near....) Josh has started picking up coins off the sidewalk again.

Did you know that I have freckles? Me neither. I think they're new.

Did you know that in 85 days we get to celebrate the beginning of camping season?

Sometimes my heart takes a picture

And sometimes (but not as often) Josh takes a picture.

I like finding surprises on my camera.

Aunt Aunt Amy

She doesn't seem old enough to call a "great aunt" although I suppose she is....but if she is "that old" it means I'm only one generation away from "that old" and I'm just not sure how I feel about that. Strike that, I am sure how I feel about that, and it isn't good.

Aunt Amy, who I was named for, happens to be pretty dang cool. She's always making fun things happen with our family, and it's no easy task. If you're ever bored on a Saturday call her, and I can pretty much guarantee that she'll be doing something cool that you've never thought of doing before.

Also she likes to hold the babies. And not for the sake of taking picture, but for "playing with them" purposes.

Thomas: "Hi gramma. Would you like to taste my fist? Too slow! Ha ha ha suckah!!!"
Aunt Amy: "Hey Thomas, what's up?"
Taege: "I bet I can dig a hole through the table with this plastic spoon."

Thomas: "Seriously gramma, you can't have some. I'm eating the whole thing."
Aunt Amy: "Oooh sorry Taege - I didn't mean to neglect you!"
Taege: "Turns out you CAN'T dig a whole through the table with a plastic spoon."

Thomas: "Seriously. Mine. Not sharing."
Aunt Amy: "Hey....it's OK."
Taege: "How will I ever get to China?!?! WAAAAAA!!!!!"

Nothing prettier

Than rain drops sliding down my window.

Nothing.

It wouldda been a sick day

We kindof had a long night around here. Not a productive long night either, just a stressful one. Full of thoughts running through my head trying to figure out how I was gonna get everything done (I finally decided it isn't possible. Because there are ONLY 24 hours in a day!) and feeding my apparently starving child. (Seriously, the kid was up every 2 hours....what's the deal man?!?!?)

So this morning I didn't wake up early.

I didn't see the moonset or the sunrise.

I didn't go running.

I didn't even take a shower (until 11).

If I still had a job outside the home, I would've called in sick.

If I didn't have an adorable child who needs me for everything, I would've sat on the couch curled up in our sickie blanket watching Disney movies and eating ramen noodles. All. Day. Long.

If I didn't have a firm commitment to walking with Ashley every day, I wouldn't have left me house, or even opened my blinds.

As it is, I didn't call in sick. I "napped" (or slept in....whatever) with the earlier referenced adorable child until 10am. He cuddled me in my bed and whispered that he loved me in my ear. He told me he was sorry he was up all night and that he'd be good today so I could get something done. He told me he loved sleeping next to me because he knew he was safe there. He told me that not only am I a "good enough" mom, but I'm the perfect mom for him. And he told me he was glad I didn't have a job to call in sick to.  Amazing what one tiny hand wrapped around one gigantic thumb says, isn't it?
I didn't eat ramen, I ate spinach salad - because in order for 1 person to go through a Costco bag of spinach before it goes bad, a salad must be eaten each day.
I didn't watch Disney movies, I'm working and trying to schedule appointments for people to be visited (can we come visit you?!?!?! Please?!?!)

Fortunately my firm commitment to walking with Ashley stands, and we walked. And I talked. I'm not sure why she puts up with me....I chatter and whine and vent at her for a solid hour, then go home feeling much much better. I'm sure she listens to me chatter and whine an vent for a solid hour wondering why she does this to herself and goes home feeling better - because you know...at least she isn't me. How long do you think before she starts charging me for therapy?

It wouldda been a really great sick day.

Instead, it's just a normal average common not bad pretty good day.

I'll take it.

The other side of sunrise

I took my camera on my run today. In case you weren't out and about, here's what you missed:

Moon-set

I love the moon. Love it.

And of course, the actual sunrise

Sometimes Dad bathes Thomas and does his hair:

Baby's first mowhawk

 And sometimes Mom bathes Thomas:

Cutest little man on the planet