Photo of the Day: 04.29.11

Little girl and I spent the morning in bed watching episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" and "90210" that have been stewing on the DVR. I have a thing for sappy, sometimes plain bad TV. So I was whimpering like a fool at the storyline of Callie's premature baby. And I was like "Ohnoyoudidn't!" when Adrianna swapped out Silver's bipolar medication. Ahem. Anyway. Alexa has been sitting up straight on our laps for awhile now, and I went a step further and propped her up with a pillow against our headboard. She sat like that for 10 minutes, cooing and giggling and enjoying her big girl position. Time for a Bumbo!

Photo of the Day: 04.28.11

Before Alexa was born, like MONTHS before she was born, we talked about trading in our Volkswagens for more spacious vehicles. Yep, we talked about it a lot. And still, MONTHS after Alexa arrived, we are carting ourselves around in a Jetta and Beetle. The car seat juts up so far it renders the passenger seat pretty useless. Which means I sit in the backseat with Alexa if the three of us go somewhere. In this case it was the grocery store. We went in for milk and bread and came out with four bags of food.

Don't tell me you actually stick with your shopping lists ...

Her First Camera

She won't smile in front of the camera yet, but that's because she won't stop staring at it. Will my baby girl inherit the shutterbug gene from her mama? There's only one way to find out: put a camera in her hands. But since her hands are still tiny and slimy and always in her mouth, she'll need a starter camera that will stand up to her wear and tear. A wooden camera, or perhaps a smart felt camera (which can do double duty as a spit rag because, like I've implied, it will end up in her mouth). Really, there are just too many good options to choose just one. Which is your favorite?

Smiling Tree Toys

Local Honey

SasiShop • Craft Collective • SasiShop • Wee Woodworks

One Late Night

I Make These

Your votes make me say cheese!

Friday Night Concert

This is the time of year I yearn to return to Myrtle Beach. We lived there for four years, but in my mind it was the longest stretch of time, probably because I loved living so close to a swimmable beach, especially in the hot and humid summers. Going for just half an hour was totally plausible because we were two miles away. Parking was simple (being a local meant we knew where to park for free). Often I would work out at the gym and head straight to the beach to jump in the water for a cool down. When I think about this period in my life I think of Bob Marley. Reggae just goes with the beach lifestyle. Bars were always playing the Rastaman's tunes. So let's pretend we're there tonight, dancing on the sand, listening to "Is This Love."

The It List

Five things I'm lovin' right now ...

Salt water taffy. And this recipe makes me think I could actually do it. [via]


Groovy geometric tights, like the ones circa this 1969 Life photo series.


Bright blue beach signs. You can buy one at Twigs2Whirligigs.


Au naturale coat racks. From Cantilever and Press.


Cats that spew yarn. Maid of Clay is so cheeky.

Flickr Fridays #108

1. thrifted time to be happy embroidery, 2. Untitled, 3. Hot Pink Druzy Necklace, 4. strawberry cake

Happy Friday, friends! Hope you have a great weekend in store. We were thinking about a last-minute jaunt to San Diego. Can the little raspberry handle a two-hour road trip? Or should I say can Mommy handle the little raspberry during a two-hour road trip?


San Diego or stay put? What would you do?

Wish List 04.28.11

This elegant bag by Bayan Hippo is begging to be mine. How many diapers to you reckon it holds?

Photo of the Day: 04.27.11

I received a phone call while I was watching the latest DVR'd "16 and Pregnant" episode (wow, that girl's boyfriend was an epic douche). It was the kind of phone call that made me go "hmm" and scratch my chin in a thoughtful manner. It was a phone call from our soon-to-be daycare provider soliciting money in advance for no good reason. It's difficult enough having to fathom leaving my beautiful perfect adorable baby girl with a perfect stranger when I return to work, but to leave her in the care of a person with questionable monetary motives, mmkaynothanks.

So I got on the ball and found a better sitter. Her heavily incensed home smells like a cross between a yoga studio and a happy place instead of snot and fear like most day cares. Miss Alexa likes this lady, too. So perhaps it was a good thing that daycare No. 1 ended up being Crazyville, or we might never have ventured to find daycare No. 2.

I'm still going to bawl all the way to work after I drop her off. Every single day.

Photo of the Day: 04.26.11

For the past few months we've been looking onto our patio, trying to find the plants through all the weeds that sprouted during the winter rains this year. Yes, this is the day we'll pull those weeds, we've said. Or, to be more specific, H has said. A few weeks ago he proclaimed "this is the day!" but he was thwarted when we had unexpected visitors. And so the task loomed in the near future like a vague nightmare. A nightmare that keeps slapping you across the face every time you open the curtains. And then it happened. "This is the day!" Now behold the glory of the succulents, who survived despite weed strangulation. Succulents are the best plants for us because we cannot kill them no matter how hard we try.


It's not like we're TRYING to kill plants. Green is good. *Thumbs up*

Photo of the Day: 04.25.11

How lame will I sound if I bitch about carrying my baby in her infant car seat? It's heavy, you guys. I mean, I know she doesn't weigh a ton. It's just the distribution of the weight that makes me feel like a weakling. I cannot do the one-arm carry anymore. I have to hold the seat with both hands and stare Alexa in the eyes as if to reassure her. "No, honey, Mommy will not drop you. She is strong. Pay no attention to the pained grimace behind the smile." Now picture us after our Target shopping trip. Me, waddling with the car seat cradled in my arms, a heavy bag (of course! there's always a heavy bag isn't there!) cutting off the circulation in two of my fingers, the diaper bag swinging precariously from my shoulder, weighted down with even more shopping bags dangling from some handy loopage which means these bags are not-so-handily banging against my shins as I walk. The door to our apartment is a menacing 100 meters away. But we make it! I think I pulled a muscle, though.


Help us break the top 100, friends?

Written Word: Tornadoes

I was scrolling through Facebook updates when I came across a status from a high school friend: "Wow i feel so old! Watching the news & they said the tornado was 20 yrs ago...20 yrs ago!!! How is that possible?!"

The tornado in question shredded through our suburb and went on to carve a path through several other suburbs of Wichita, Ks. We were in sixth grade. I remember it like it was yesterday for several reasons.

The obvious was that I saw the thing. I was a very cautious 12-year-old, making sure my little brother and mom were hidden beneath the stairs in our basement as the sky turned green. But my dad, a lifelong weather buff, was another story. He was glued to the sliding glass patio door, watching the storm while I desperately pleaded with him to come downstairs. He relented, but not before we both caught a glimpse of that monster tornado. Afterward we collected the softball-sized hail that fell in our lawn and drove through our community, assessing the damage. I distinctly remember seeing a 2x4 lodged into a refrigerator at the hardest-hit site. Needless to say, this F5 tornado claimed several lives.

The other, not so obvious reason this event is ingrained in my memory is that it was the catalyst for me to start my very first journal. I still have this journal: black with pink hearts and a lock that never locked. I added stickers that read "Don't Touch" and "Stay At Least 10 Miles Away" and "Stay Out" just in case you didn't get the hint that this WAS PRIVATE.

Now, I will share with you the entry that started a lifetime of journaling/blogging. Too bad I can't show you the pencil illustration I drew underneath the entry depicting an "angry" tornado and stick figures running from it. And to get the full effect you have to imagine every exclamation mark with an "x" instead of a dot.

"First of all on Tuesday I started my period. OK, back to the terror that happened just last night. There was a tornado. An honest to god tornado! I saw it with my own two eyes! It was the most exciting thing that happened to me! God, how can I say it was beautiful when it was so ugly? It was worse than the Hesston tornado last year. It tore through Andover and I just don't know what to say. Except Chad and I cramped into my small closet. Gotta split like a banana and peel like a potato."

I'm not sure which is more impressive: that I thought the tornado was beautiful or that my first period got top billing.

Photoshoot: Easter

My baby girl is camera shy. Don't get me wrong, she loves to stare at the camera, but as soon as it makes its appearance she stops smiling and cooing. I'm determined to get a good smile photo of her. It will happen! Just not yet.

And even though we were all feeling a little under the weather, we had to go outside and take photos next to the wall of purple flowers for her first Easter. She was not too thrilled to be put into that cute satin dress. Alexa is all about comfort and stretch and softness. But as soon as she got her little fingers on that tulle, she wouldn't let go. Perhaps she will be a ballerina after all!

^^ I get by with a little help from my friends ^^

Photo of the Day: 04.24.11

You would think my Easter Sunday photo would be one filled with candy and Easter bunnies. Well, we did take some cute photos of the little raspberry in her Easter dress, but those still need to be edited. So you get this: me looking oddly somber. Self-portraits are strange, are they not? You either look really goofy or like you're taking yourself way too seriously. In my defense the day was pretty laidback and I even took a two-hour nap in the late afternoon (totally not my style). So there, the pensive/somber look works. Everything in context, right?

Photo of the Day: 04.23.11

Spice cupcakes with coconut pecan icing. I managed to make these with one hand because Miss Alexa was a little inconsolable. Luckily it didn't last long because we took them to a pre-Easter get-together where baby girl was a star, and well-behaved at that. We stayed till 10 p.m. -- I know, late for us! -- and she let us slept till 4 a.m. before waking to eat.


Mmmm, cupcakes.

Steppin' Out

I'm wearing:

Dress: Old Navy

Leggings: Old Navy

Shoes: Target

Necklace: Mom's

Baby's wearing:

Onesie: Carter's

Dress: Target

Bee hair clip: Gifted

Husband snapped a few shots of me and Miss Alexa before we went to a party Saturday evening. Jersey dresses have been a staple for me since early in my pregnancy, and I've found myself still reaching for them every morning. They're super simple but make me feel polished in between baby slobber and changing diapers. Taking an objective look at this outfit, though, those old Target shoes have gotta go. I mean, wow. I look all pigeon-toed. File under: not attractive. But at least Miss Alexa is looking stunning with her cute little bumblebee hair clip.

Baby Talk

Dear Baby Alexa,

Twelve weeks old. You are such a paradox. You won't sleep well unless you're swaddled yet you break out like a tiny Houdini at every chance. You like to sit up straight but you can't quite prop yourself up yet. You want to drink more milk even though you're still spitting up the last milk you drank. You want a diaper change but when we change your diaper you get pissed off.

What Mommy wouldn't do for a little bit of communication. Some sign language, a simple "yes" or "no." But it's a mind-reading job, this parenthood thing. I'd like to think it will get easier when you can speak, but I know mind-reading will be an ongoing skill I will have to hone (especially when you are a teenager).

You are starting to play with toys! Your favorite toys are the plastic ones you can grasp. You have a little ball and lots of little loops you hang onto. The loops are big enough to fit around your wrist. I gave one to you today and you didn't let go of it for hours. And when you did you let it slide over your hand onto your wrist like a little bracelet -- your first piece of jewelry!

Things you love: Being naked (now that it's warm), staring at the bookshelf, the baby aisles at Target
Things you hate: Bedtime. Naptime. Any time you're expected to sleep.

Xoxo,
Mommy



Help us break into the top 100, friends?

Photo of the Day: 04.22.11

"We are going to win the lottery tonight," Husband promises. I've heard this one before ...

We did it! We found good barbecue (specifically pulled pork and beef brisket) here in L.A. You see, I grew up on good beef brisket in the Midwest and we quickly adapted to the oh-so-succulent pulled pork of the South when I lived in South Carolina, so this is big news for us. On top of that we tasted some ribs that fell off the bone. Todiefor. Anyway, enough meat porn. Sorry, vegetarians. The rest of the day was a little bizarre. Miss Alexa turned 12 weeks old and refused to nap/sleep all day. I had to put her down and scream into the freezer* for a few moments, I was so frustrated with her fussiness/crying/lack of sleep. Sigh. And we had been doing so well ...

*I resisted the urge to punch the wall. Help a sista out?^^

The past few weeks

Just some of my favorite images from the past few weeks.


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