Tag: milestones

Categories
motherhood photography throwback thursday

tbt: Halloween through the ages.

With tomorrow being Halloween I thought it would be fun to go through pictures from the kids’ Halloween past. Fun for me at least. This task proved harder than I expected because ALL of my 2009 October pictures had literally vanished from my computer – no idea why. And in my 2010 October folder I found no pictures of BB’s costume at all. Luckily I dug deep into the Mommablogsalot Archives and found what I was looking for (and saved them to my computer!) – hurray! How’s that  for blogging power?

So without further adieu, let’s start at the beginning:

2006 : MM’s First Halloween

halloween 2006

MM the Pumpkin and his parents, the Pumpkin Farmers

2007: His second Halloween

Halloween 2007

We went to a little Halloween party with friends – if it isn’t obvious, MM is the little lion.

2008: Halloween Take Three

Halloween 2008

Our Dan’s first attempt at a homemade costume, MM is the Man in the Yellow Hat.

2009: Our First Halloween as Parents of Two

2009 her first Halloween

In keeping with tradition, BB was a Pumpkin – in a ballerina tutu of course

2009 Halloween Costume

This year MM was a Firefighter – we took the kids Trick or Treating at the Zoo!

Halloween 2010: Matching Costumes Begin

Halloween 2010

We went trick or treating with neighborhood friends! MM was Mickey Mouse.

BB's Halloween 2010

BB was Minnie Mouse but this is the only photographic evidence I have of that. When she wasn’t crying she was tucked into a baby carrier sleeping soundly.

Halloween 2011: A hiatus from matching costumes

Halloween 2011

For her third Halloween BB was a sweet kitten and her brother was Woody from Toy Story

2012: A Whovian Halloween

the Doctor & Amy

Meet the Doctor and Amelia Pond: If you understand this picture, we are besties now.

2013: In Which MM Regenerates

halloween 2013

Last year MM regenerated in reverse from the 11th Doctor to the 10th. BB wore two different costumes last year – photographed above she was Rapunzel.

DSC_5950But on Halloween night she was a Mermaid Princess. Obviously.
20131031_175107

Also, this happened.

On (or after?) Halloween 2014 you will meet The Astronaut (the obvious transition really) and The Fairy Princess. I know you are waiting with baited breath.

What are your kids dressing up as this year?

Categories
memes & carnivals

Aloha Friday: When Did You Start?

It’s time for another Aloha Friday, the day that you take it easy and look forward to the weekend, in Hawaii and blog land anyway. As you should know by now, over at An Island Life, Kailani decided that on Fridays she would take it easy on posting and ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Today is my one year blogging anniversary, also known as my blogiversary. I am superly excited. I asked my husband about a gazillion times for a blogiversary cake but he seemed to think that wasn’t as well justified as an “I forgot my birthday” cake – or maybe just too soon after the last cake (and admittedly I might have been pushing it when I asked for blogiversary cake for breakfast this morning)? Either way, nothing. But that’s okay because I still fully intend to party it up today in blog land with or without his help. To kick things off, I’d like to ask you guys:

How long have you been blogging?

Categories
blog-related

Do You Think I Can Get Another Birthday Cake Out Of This?

Remember when I forgot how old I was? There I was, doing my body test on WiiFit when all of a sudden, like a ton of bricks fell on me all of a sudden, I was twenty six. Not twenty five. I can no longer think of myself as “only a quarter of a century old” – I’m older than that – twenty six. I like spelling it out like that instead of typing 26 because it makes it look more important, more graceful and mature – you know, nothing like me whatsoever. Anyway, since that day, after my birthday cake induced sugar coma wore off, I kept having this nagging feeling in the back of my mind… I was forgetting something else. Something way more important than celebrating your birthday twice in two months.

Tomorrow is my first blogiversary! As of tomorrow I’ll be one of those seasoned, “I’ve been blogging for a year,” people. As of Saturday I can say, “I’ve been blogging for over a year now…” And if I hadn’t just now gone ripping through my archives in a panic, I might have missed my own blogiversary (I missed Every Other Milestone along the way – 100 posts, 500 posts, etc. All of them. No matter how hard I tried to commit it to my memory, it wouldn’t stick and I forgot). One day to spare people. That leaves me one day to orchestrate The Party of the Year. One day to bake myself a digital birthday cake. One day to run to the digital greeting card store and send my blog a virtual birthday card. And what about presents? This is awfully short notice and you know we’re in a recession… the money is a bit tight – even my fake cyber wallet is feeling the strain. And of course it might be way too late now to send out invitations.

So I’m going to make this one of those very intimate affairs, where only the creme de la creme of my blogging circle will be invited. Some nice (alcoholic free for me) wine, cute little zero guilt appetizers and desserts. Probably more wine. We can sit around on our respective comfortable seating arrangements and talk about “when our blogs were young,” the infant years of blogging, staying up all night agonizing over our comment counts, having to google “meme” to figure out what it was, if it was contagious and whether we should worry about exposing our friends to one. We’re so far past that now. We spread memes left and right with abandon, we make our own awards and give those to each other, too. We maybe care a little bit less about comment counts… We’re seasoned blogging professionals, “working hard” every day to bring our blogs up in the very best environment we can, nurturing them and helping them grow. We’re on our game now.

So let’s let loose and celebrate. I hope you’ll come to my little soirée tomorrow and celebrate my entrance into the Big Leagues of 1 Year + Bloggers. Want to know if you’re invited? Man if you’re still reading this post, you are my kind of people and you must come! Gifts aren’t necessary but won’t be looked down upon. BYOB please, and please if you really are drinking during my party (and you should) have a glass for me, too. I’ll be here with my Minute Maid Blueberry Pomegranate juice, pretending it’s wine for all I’m worth.

No need to RSVP. I won’t be making you wear name tags or forcing you sit next to that girl (she won’t even be invited, because you know she’d never read this). Please send all blogiversary cards (like the one below) to: mommablogsalot (at) gmail (dot) com.

Categories
family fun

Bump Report: Week Nineteen: Now With Extra Bumpy Gender-Like Details

Babycenter.com and my ultrasound technician agree,
BB Kumquat is now 6 inches long, roughly the size of an heirloom tomato.

BB’s sensory development is exploding! Their brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch and he or she may be able to hear my voice now, which makes me wonder what they think about their future mother whose most common dialog consists of “Put that down!” “Take that out of your mouth!” and “Don’t jump on that!” And of course the constant, sometimes effective “NO!” I’ll have to remember to balance that out by saying nice soothing sweet things occasionally.

And now I’ll stop boring you with details of BB’s kidneys and how their arms are now in proportion to their body and tell you about my ultrasound this past Monday. You’re welcome. So on Monday I scarfed down half my lunch before shoving the boy and I into our respective coats, drove to dh’s office and left MM with him, then drove to my ultrasound appointment, where I arrived about 25 minutes early, and thought, “Geeze, I probably could have finished my lunch after all.”

The ultrasound technician was a total sweetie. I confided in her that I am nuts and was half convinced I’d get there and the baby would mysteriously be gone. I think I might have actually said, “Oh look, I’m still pregnant.” BB was all sorts of curled up on their back with their legs folded right on top of them which didn’t look at all comfortable to me, but the technician seemed to think it was fine, if a bit funny looking. Next she checked the heart beat, probably knowing that I needed to hear it like stat. Good and strong at like 152 or something. She went on to check the baby’s length (6 inches) and showed me a picture of the foot and all sorts of other cute / boring things, then asked if I wanted to know the gender.

To which, I proceeded to tell her about my Poor Cousin Krista who had been told she was having a girl and bought and received a mountain of pretty pink girly things, only to have a boy on her day of delivery, with no warning whatsoever. Point is, chick needed to know that I was a skeptic. I asked her what the odds were if she saw a girl that it was actually a girl – 95%, 85%, 35%? It’s important, you know. So she checked three times for me and I’m telling you, BB has a vagina. Chick’s legs were wide open. She had “three white lines” which my ultrasound technician said was a pretty sure fire sign that BB Kumquat Etc. is a little girl. A little Baby Blueberry The Awesomest Girl. I’m trying to refrain from being totally 100% convinced, because you know, thou shalt not forget Poor Cousin Krista and all, but seriously – legs wide open people. So I ordered the pig blanket, as a sign of good faith – and it was free.

Oh and after I found out that BB is a girl and you all probably stopped reading by now, but anyway, afterwards I had to run back to dh’s office where I was planning to have Dan drive MM and I to my other appointment which for some screwy reason was in a different town than my first one, but apparently a disaster had happened of the Work Persuasion and I had to take MM to that appointment by my lonesome, which meant driving in the city and parking in a terrible parking lot, and lugging around a 2 year old who really should have been napping, but instead was asked to sit quietly and read books and please stop asking all the strangers in the waiting room their life stories, and then sit in the exam room with me and wait while my doctor delivered some other woman’s baby, then finally came and confirmed that BB was a girl and wasn’t that wonderful and then left and I was like, “Seriously, I could have sent you a letter,” but then I had to get blood drawn anyway which MM thought was fascinating and boring all that the same time and we finally got home at 3:30pm at which point MM was pretty much ape shit and tried to tell me he didn’t need a nap and I laughed and said something like, “Sucks to be you.” And then he napped. And I had a baby girl growing inside of me. And it was awesome. And I was starving. I really should have finished my lunch before I left that morning.

Categories
op ed

He’s Leaving On a Jet Plane…

This morning my husband woke up at the butt crack of dawn (or like 6am or something, I don’t know, I wasn’t really awake) and left for his business trip, on the other side of the country in warm, sunny San Diego. Which I told him about 800 times is where The Zoo is, because having seen Madagascar 800 times in the past couple weeks, I’m an expert on these things. And no, I don’t imagine he’ll have any time to go to the Zoo. But if I were going to San Diego, that’s exactly where I’d want to go first. Obviously.

I think I’ve been pretty good about this whole thing, trying to focus on the positive like being able to hog the bed for a week, and stay up reading as late as I want, etc. I’ll be able to cook dinner whenever we’re hungry and won’t have to wait if dh is working late or something. But let’s be honest, this sucks. My husband is some kind of terrific and he really makes my day easier, every day, in a million ways. My sanity relies on him coming home at night, being able to veg out with him on the couch and watch our favorite shows, and vent to each other about our respective shitty days. If he were home right now we’d probably be planning some kind of terrific family adventure since we already have all our errands done. I will not be embarking on a similar adventure without him. I’m a tired cranky pregnant mother of a 2 year old. We’ll stay home and watch movies and eat meals and hope the day passes semi-quickly. And then we’ll do the same thing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Basically, today might as well be Monday except it’s the worst, longest Monday in the world because dh won’t be home until so late Thursday night that it might as well be Friday morning. That’s my silver lining – when he does get home, it will be Friday. One quick day of work and then the most well needed weekend EVER. But it’s kind of a lame silver lining. I’m seriously dreading this week, while trying to remain positive, but I’m pregnant and hormonal so mostly I’m just dwelling on the negative and trying to refrain from eating my way through all 30 cookies that I baked for Game Night last night (okay so after the ones people ate, it’s probably like 20, but whatever) before noon.

Last night we got into a fight over like, nothing. And we realized after I finished sobbing like a baby that we were both tired and really not looking forward to this week. DH may be going to sunny California, but it’s not like it’s for fun. It’s for a Trade Show, which for Engineers is I guess like the 3rd circle of hell, because they are expected to socialize. Or something. I don’t know. All I’m hearing is warm, sunny California. Without me. I’d take that over cold, boring here pretty much any day. But point is, we had both been putting on brave faces for weeks since first hearing about this trip and last night we were DONE pretending. And I won’t pretend now. This sucks.

I will admit, that so far, we’re doing fine. But dude, it’s 10am. He’s only been gone for 3 hours. We’ll see how I’m doing at dinner tonight, or breakfast tomorrow. Then we’ll make a call as to whether or not I’ll escape from this week with my sanity. And yes, I know, it’s only a week. Some of you probably do this all the freaking time – military wives, I know. I could never be you. I’m not that strong. And also, we’ve only been married 2 years. We’ve never been apart this long since we started dating. This is huge for us. It’s a milestone. A sucky, awful stupid pointless milestone that I will go kicking and screaming through. Or I’ll be fine. We’ll see.

Categories
family fun

Hello 2009: Happy New Year!

Now that 2008 has officially left the building, it’s time to party like it’s 2009!

Hope you are all having a safe, silly celebratory good time!

I’d like to make a toast to good times, great comments & a very bloggy new year!

I’ll leave you with this questionare that I saw at Simple Mom…

20 Questions For a New Years Eve Reflection:

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? I’d have to say finally getting pregnant – it seems like we were trying forever, but we did it & I’m now 10 1/2 weeks pregnant!

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? Deciding that babysitting my friend’s three year old son several days a week really wasn’t working for me like I’d thought it was – and then telling her – it all worked out fine, but learning that wasn’t easy and doing something about it was even harder.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? We finally bought a Wii this Fall – we totally hadn’t planned to, but the money was there and we realized we had to go for it!

4. What was an unexpected obstacle? Any of the several plumbing incidents we had in the apartment this year – thank god for maintenance!

5. Pick three words to describe 2008. changing, growing, learning

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2008 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you). pregnant, healthy, successful

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2008 (again, without asking). hard-working, successful, quick

8. What were the best books you read this year? I read SO many great books – for a full list read this post.

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships? my husband and son – they kept me sane – and all my new bloggy friends

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year? Getting pregnant!

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally? I really think my husband and I came into our own marriage-wise this year.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually? I finally accepted my personal views on religion (or lack thereof)

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically? I finally found a diet that works for me!

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others? I really learned to trust in my relationships and not be constantly scared they’d slip away.

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home? having a dishwasher has been a godsend.

16. What was your most challenging area of home management? keeping up with MM’s toys

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? um probably blogging, but let’s say I didn’t say that, okay?

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year? any time spent with my son

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year? that my son is amazingly smart and learns far more than I realize sometimes

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2008 for you. Changes all around.

Categories
family fun

Looking Back: 2008 In Review

January 2008

Shortly after ringing in the new year we were still kind of getting used to life in our new apartment, enjoying watching MM learn new things every day and taking way too many pictures of nothing in particular. Since I wasn’t blogging yet I don’t really have any specific notes on what was going on then, but I suspect it wasn’t much.

February 2008

This month my husband bought me flowers for Valentines Day and I discovered a fun new way to preserve that memory long after the flowers died. We also bought MM his first set of ABC magnets which spurned a very fast and furious learning of the alphabet – he now knows his ABCs inside out and upside down and it’s really rather amazing.

March 2008

During a snow storm that month we made our first snowman as a family and MM had a blast helping daddy to roll snow balls. I had a blast taking photographic evidence and devouring hot chocolate afterwards.

On March 13 I started this whole blogging thing. I went from “never blogged” to “can’t stop blogging” in one fell swoop. We also bought our first pet, Freddy the Hamster in March AND dh’s coveted Nikon D40.

April 2008

MM turned 2 this month and we had a big party at the apartment with friends and family. After feeling racked with guilt for not wanting to bake a cake, I bought a Friendly’s Ice Cream Cake which was absolutely delicious and decided that whether I bake or not shouldn’t be important, as long as we all have a good time.

In April we started seriously talking about having another baby but at that point it was mostly just talking. My husband’s company also began talking about moving to another state – we’re still just talking about that one, although dh and I both wish it would happen asap.

May 2008

For Mothers Day we took my MIL and family to the nearby zoo and although we all had a fantastic time, MM still didn’t seem to actually notice any of the animals. He did notice and enjoy the orange stuffed monkey and cute sun hat that we bought him there.

I started baby sitting for a friend of mine that month a few times a week and it was certainly interesting spending so much time with someone else’s child – and letting MM learn how to interact with another young child his age.

June 2008

In June my friend had her first baby, and his complete utter cuteness really kicked me baby craving into high gear. We’d already been sort of trying for a second child, but the birth of my friend’s baby probably boosted my determination tenfold. We also took down MM’s crib finally starting him out in his first big boy bed, by putting the crib mattress right down on the carpet. He loved it and took to the whole concept right away. MM also got his FIRST hair cut this month and although I was hesitant to cut his hair which to me it seemed had just started to finally grow, he looked so cute afterwards that I was all weepy and lovey dovey and officially a big fan of the hair cut concept. That month my father also performed in a play for the first time on Fathers Day Weekend – Seussical the Musical!

That month I also participated in the It’s Real Life photo meme hosted by Jessica @ Farm Fresh, the meme that started it all for me – after that I was hooked and I now meme regularly – maybe more than I don’t meme. We bought our first GPS that month – a cute TomTom who changed the way we drove as we knew it.

July 2008

In July I stumbled across Twitter and became infatuated with it for several weeks before suddenly burning out on it entirely. I almost never use it now but for awhile I seriously couldn’t tear myself away!

August 2008

My husband and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary – he bought me Breaking Dawn and I bought him The Princess Brideon DVD. That month I started the Looking Fine by 2009 challenge @ Daily Mish Mash. I still had no idea what I was doing but I knew that I needed to lose some weight and I was hoping the ye old internet would help me find a way.

September 2008

In September we took a family vacation to the White Mountains, visiting Santa’s Village and Storyland and taking hundreds of pictures along the Kankamagus Highway. We also took MM apple picking for the first time, and I learned that I LOVE fuji apples.

That month my best friend Ange started her own blog @ Red Knows How and I was so excited introducing her to this fun new world which had flipped my life upside down. I think she’s at least half as hooked as I am now. 😉

October 2008

In October I finally convinced my husband to let me go self-hosted and we bought mommablogsalot.com! Also, after the success of apple picking we decided to take MM pumpkin picking and although it wasn’t quite as successful a trip, we did get a pumpkin and some cute pictures. We’ll definitely go back next year. That Halloween MM dressed up as The Man In The Yellow Hat (a costume we made) and the whole thing was a big hit and really fun to take pictures of.

November 2008

In November I scored a much needed hair cut and bought the family a Nintendo Wii – we haven’t been the same since. We also found out in November that I was finally pregnant with Baby # 2. At the end of the month we made our first Gingerbread House, ringing in the holiday season.

That month was when my Looking Fine by 2009 progress finally started to improve as dh and I began calorie counting paired with a small amount of exercise, I finally started to see the weight drop!

December 2008

In December we had a huge ice storm followed by a very big snow storm. Hundreds of homes lost power from fallen branches and power lines – many members of my family were without power for at least one week. Luckily we were somehow spared from this and only lost our internet and cable for one weekend – nothing in comparison.

This month I learned how to make a party hat from a Trader Joe’s flier, went to my first OB appointments for the baby, took numerous pictures of the Christmas tree with varying success, and thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas holiday. I wrote more about that here.

And that, folks, was 2008. Right now it’s 2:56 p.m. and there is approximately 10 hours left until 2009 arrives. I’ve enjoyed my fill of ’08 and I’m ready to make some new memories in ’09 and share them with you along the way. Thanks to another storm it looks like we’ll very likely be staying home for the bell drop, but to those of you going out (and heck those of you staying home, too) have a safe and happy NYE tonight and sleep in late if you can!

Categories
family fun

Giveaway Alert: Starbucks Gift Card, Anyone?

I know a lot of people do a big thang for their 100th post – take for instance Feather @ Yes It’s My Real Name – she’s giving away a $25 gift card to Starbucks! That’s a lot of Peppermint Mocha Twists (or you know hot chocolate since I’m all prego and off coffee for now) or Chai Lattes – Starbucks makes THE BEST chai lattes by the way.

Anyway so I totally entered to win her giveaway and congratulate her on her 100th post because I think milestones like this are so fun and it’s always fun to celebrate things. Me? I passed 100 so quickly I never thought to notice (it happens fast when you post almost 5 times a day, so I guess it’s my own fault). BUT my 500th post is coming up and I’m thinking I should do it up and celebrate and whatnot. So be waiting. In the meantime, go congratulate Feather and sign yourself up for a chance to win butt loads of yummy Starbucks beverages.

Categories
family fun

It’s Like Our Date-Iversary

I won’t be around much to blog while I should be doing important stuff today, because the hubby and I are taking MM to Boston for the day! The last time we went to Boston was about 3 years ago, we were dating at the time and I believe it was also Columbus Day weekend. I also believe I was pregnant with MM so this is kind of cute. We can be all, “The last time we were here mommy was in her grumpy first trimester. Awww….”

We’re planning to hit up the Children’s Museum, as many parks and playgrounds as possible, and Quincy Market, because it’s not Boston to me without Quincy Market. So what are YOU supposed to do while I’m in Boston all day? Why not look at these cute pictures of my kid…