G .... That is Beautiful

Some of you may stumble on my blog via pve design. If you do, you know how talented and charming she is. You may now add that you are completely jealous of me because:

(a) I get to actually be in-person friends with this lovely woman, and...
(b) I have a beautiful piece of her work in my home.

I had asked P (it's de rigueur here on LoveMomWorkLife to go by first initial only) if she could do something special for my daughter's room. G is nine months old, and I've made a genuine effort not to decorate it like a baby's room; pastels have never been my thing. This is G's blanket. (To give credit where it's due, it was a custom order from Maddie Boo via TraLaLa in Irvington. And yes, those are FLOR toy poodle tiles on G's floor.)


I want the room to grow with her; when she saw my frame, she said good-humoredly that it was kind of "baby goth". (Nailed it.)

So I asked if she could do a "G" for me. And I left it up to her. She asked for G's bedding and came and saw her room. Let me show you what she's brought for us.


Isn't it gorgeous! We are too lucky, and little miss G will have the most decadent piece of work to keep in her room, hopefully for a long time.

Well, if you don't know PVE (you poor, poor thing) you must check her out. She does custom work and I have never heard of anyone being anything but unbelievably delighted.

Last look...all together:

You're Going to See This Differently When You're Older

I had a really hard time titling this one.

There's really no way to fully appreciate the insanity that presents itself in everyday interactions with one's children, particularly something that illustrates the amazing change that happens in one's perceptions as they move from childhood to adulthood.

C and I have a running joke that G, our 9-month-old daughter, has a bigger rear end than our 4-year-old son, O. It should be noted O is a little smaller than "average" for his age and requires pants with an adjustable waist, and G is a bit on the heftier side of "average".

Last night, we actually sat them next to each other on the couch, and were like, yup, G's tush is bigger. (She is going to kill me when she is older for this.) She's a baby! She has baby fat. It's the cutest thing, really.

Then it happened. O had a meltdown.

"NOOOOOooooooooo! My tush is bigger than HERS!!! She does not! Nooooooo...!!!!" (crying ensues). Oh God, what did we do.

G, meanwhile, looks at him, and us, in complete bewilderment.

"No, buddy, no, no...it's not a bad thing...why are you getting upset? Don't get upset...she's just a baby, and babies are chubby...."

"NOOOOOOO!!! I don't want her to have a bigger tush than me! (Crying, sobbing, insanity) Nooo!!!" We hug him. Tell him it's ok. Try to explain, and he is not having it.

So, here is my son, yelling at me that he wants a bigger rear. Seriously.

To finally get through to him, C and I point out what is pretty evident to anyone else. My rear is bigger than my husband's. It's a "girl thing", that we're shaped differently, we say. (I know...it doesn't really apply to a 9-month old, but work with us.)

You can't get tickets to anything better.

We Go Out Sometimes

Well, that sounds kind of lame. Okay...we don't get out quite as much with two kids. But we still know how, dammit. But on Saturday night we had a great time at our friend's surprise birthday in Manhattan.


Happy Birthday R! You are a classy chick, a wonderful neighbor, and a great friend.

We hit the roof bar afterwards for a quiet moment of our own, too. Yay.

Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for. Our families are the first. Life may get crazy sometimes but we are lucky to have parents and siblings to share our lives and to share our children with.


I'm thankful for having two wonderful kids and an awesome husband. I love him and he loves me; regardless of what happens, that much I know.

Wishes to you all for a wonderful thanks-filled day.

Aruba 2008

Last week, we came back from our family vacation in Aruba. We have been about 5 or 6 times before, and we always go with my husband's family - his parents, brother and sister-in-law, and usually an aunt and uncle too. (I'm one of those lucky folks who actually enjoys my in-laws quite a bit!)


These are the moments I relish the most on vacation.



We had a grown-up night out with my brother- and sister-in-law. It was a blast and completely silly; after a delish dinner we hit a piano bar. We said "one drink"...I think we left after about 6.


You get to take pictures like this, that you never have time for at home...



The coconut flan finale to family dinner out presented with great flourish by O.

We took O on a submarine ride, which was truly cool - shipwrecks and coral reefs and lots of sea life he's never seen. Down 130 feet and you get the "wow"...



Our last big dinner night out pooped out our little party girl.


Mmm. Happy.

I have been really lame.

I'm sorry, blog. I haven't been paying attention to you, ignored you on vacation, and just haven't kept you up to date with my goings-on.

What's happened in these last two+ weeks since the election? Hmm.

I've been trying to get that free agent thing moving. Working with some very lovely folks and meeting new people. Feeling lucky even though much money isn't coming in yet. I have faith for that. It will happen. More to come soon.

I got myself on facebook. Yeah, yeah, it's about time.

I am on Twitter. Trying to figure out how to have it feed into the blog. Which should be easy enough, I think.

I submitted some articles to a site I'm working with, travelingmom.com. I'll let you know when they get posted.

I met a great gal named Beth who owns rolemommy.com. Check out the site...she has a great sense of humor and if you're a mom, you'll pretty much always relate to where she's coming from.

Oh yeah, and we went to Aruba! Okay, I'll do a separate post with lots of pics on that tomorrow.

Forgive me.

Wow.

It's been a long time since I posted, but I can't help but do this right now, even though I was hoping to catch up with Halloween and some fun stuff first. Anyhow, apologies for the dry spell but you're just going to have to wait for those Halloween shots.

Barack Obama was just predicted to win the presidency by all three major news networks. History has been made.

I have friends and family that I am certain did not vote the way that I did. I, for the first time a good number of years, voted for the president-elect, for Senator Obama. I am thrilled. I'll even admit my eyes welled up with tears as the networks all announced the prediction at 11pm.

John McCain is giving a gracious concession speech right now. Honestly, one of his best of his entire campaign--emotional, inspirational, genuine. The negative vibe from his followers in the crowd is palpable, which is unfortunate and he is doing his best to dissuade...but perhaps it's just a vocal handful.

C isn't home--away for work in Boston. We've been on the phone on and off much of the evening. Kind of in disbelief, and excited.

Entering the election period, I had the usual concern that I was going to have to vote for the least offensive candidate. I tend to shy away from politics, and dislike the negativity that reminds me of middle school torture. I am typically insulted by the level of discourse that they think should satisfy most Americans. While there seemed to be enough of this to go around, I do feel like Obama took the high road, for the most part. Admittedly, both campaigns had their divisive moments, and both campaigns had their high points. One clearly balanced a bit better than the other.

I'm a registered independent. I've voted with both parties in the past, though primarily Democratic for presidential elections.

I feel like, for once, someone gave me the respect I deserve and earned my vote. He didn't tell me how to vote, he told me how it was. He showed he was intelligent and thoughtful and knew more than simply the party-line worldview. He speaks to everyone with the same tone, one that I think will resound strongly with our allies and aid in foreign relations.


This election was more important to me than ever because of my children. I don't want anyone leading this country through anger or resentment, or even someone who uses a snarky tone to communicate to the public. I don't want them to see a leader that believes aggression is a first means of approaching an issue. I don't want them to see us living in a "bully" nation. I want them to be proud and I want them to genuinely understand the value of all human beings and what anyone can contribute to this world.

I am really proud of our country for making this decision. I am thrilled to see the excitement throughout the entire country! When have we ever seen celebrations like this over an election? This is the passion America is supposed to feel, all the time. I took pictures of my TV, as you can see.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. How will the world perceive us now?
Very, very differently.