Two Exciting and Important Things...

...Happened to Me Today.

One. Al Franken became our Senator representing Minnesota. Finally. It's only been 8 months since the election...but who is counting. Not that I am saying that I voted for Franken. But I am happy...I'm just saying..

Two. I thought I found a HUGE new mole on my chest and completely FREAKED out. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be dried hot fudge. Whew, that was a close one.

xoxo,t

We're blowing this pop stand...

The girlies and I are leaving on a jet plane...don't know when we'll be back again.

Okay, we'll be home in 10 days.

Off to Indiana because my large pregnant body really needs more heat and humidity.


I am leaving the girlies for the weekend to go have a 40th birthday party with 9 of my closest high school girl friends. I will try not to do too many shots. Geesh, I hope I am not the only pregnant 40 year old there...wouldn't that be embarrassing.

Let's hope little Miss doesn't arrive while we are on vacation. Wait, are there hospitals in Indiana?

If I decided not to check-in with you. Have a happy 4th and have a cold one on me.
xoxo,t

Such a Jock...

So, Eloise started t-ball yesterday. She is on the Mets(whomever they are?). Anyway, her jersey is Orange. It isn't too bad really. Most other teams are blue. I don't like girls in blue...especially navy blue.

When her coach called, my first question to him was "what color are the tee's" - he said "tee's? - you mean jerseys?" Whatever. I just needed to know the color so I could buy shorts to coordinate. Not that it matters since the jerseys are made for 10 year olds and will cover any properly matched shorts you buy for your sweet girl. Geesh. I also needed to know if they were getting hats, so I knew how to do her hair for games.

Eloise and I went to Gymboree(shhh, I have been there on occasion to buy PLAY clothes), and we purchased a pair of embroidered denim shorts for $12.99. She has been begging me to wear them all month, but I told her denim shorts from Gymboree are for t-ball ONLY and she can find a nice Oilily or Matilda Jane sundress to wear in the meantime.

Turns out she could be just wearing her underwear since the "jersey" is so big. ..and you know what, Eloise is the TALLEST player on her team - you should see the gowns the short kids are sporting. It is a complete fashion nightmare out there. I tried to talk her into belting it like a tunic or tying a knot on the side, but she liked it gown style. Crazy kids.

I wonder if the league is looking for a fashion coordinator?

Speaking of fashion, I do have to say I am very impressed with our teams 1st base coach. Look at this cute little shift dress she is wearing with the gorgeous flats. I am assuming as Eloise was holding down 1st base, that this coach was admiring Eloise's Hello Kitty necklace. It pays to accessorize.

Oh, and yes, Eloise did bat and did actually hit the ball and she got 4 balls when she was in the field(with her cute little pink glove).

She is rocking the t-ball circuit this Summer. I love sports.

xoxo,t

34+ weeks...

When I go back and read this post of mine just 4 short weeks ago, I realize that it was probably the biggest bunch of crap that I have ever written.

Now I do realize that was like 500 pounds ago and it was like 200 degrees cooler back then...and perhaps I had just watched some sappy chick flick and was hormonally happy. Things like that happen you know...to the best of us.

It is 100 degrees this week, I am huge, tired and just plain HOT. I love my old home, I hate that my old home doesn't have air conditioning. I can barely move and I am not fun to be around. I think I am just about ready for this baby to be on the outside.

I wonder if she is just about ready? She is probably thinking it is much cooler where she is too and should wait until this hot spell is over. I told her that hospitals have air conditioning - it would be like our little spa weekend away. For now, she is not buying it.
xoxo,t
(..and thanks Kristi for the sweet photos you took..xoxo)

The Simple Woman's Daybook, June 22

For Today, June 22,2009...

Outside my window... The rain has passed. Let's hope for sun today.

I am thinking... that I really need to grocery shop today.

I am thankful for... how sweet my girls are and how much they love each other

From the kitchen... nothing - a quick picnic lunch for swimming and then we must get to the store for dinner items.

I am wearing... a towel - just emerged from the shower. I think I need bigger towels for my belly.

I am reading... the Sunday paper again.

I am hoping...to go to Indiana this week. I want to see my nephews play baseball.

I am creating...pillows for the porch. I actually worked on it this weekend. It will be fantastic.

Around the house... quiet - except for the meowing cat wanting to go outside. Does anyone want my cat?

One of my favorite things... fresh summer lemonade.

A few plans for the rest of the week... swimming lessons, packing for our trip, finishing the porch, putting away laundry, haircut and gray covered.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

To read more Daybook posts or to learn how to participate visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Jed is in big trouble...

..and better start preparing to be a dad of 3 teenage daughters...

I look at her at 6 and see the window to 16 already.

Oh heaven help me now.
xoxo,t

If I can share my miracle this week...

After 6 years of swimming lessons, many tears, tissues, yelling, crying, blood, sweat and just plain frustration...

...somebody is finally SMILING (and actually getting wet in the pool).

I think we may have success. Measured by the fact that I read 4 magazines this week during swimming lessons....in a lounge chair...by myself...and I got to stay dry.

Gosh I love being a Mom.
xoxo,t

A moment of silence please...

As I was taking these pictures, I started tearing up a bit as this is the last season Room Seven will make these Saffron skirts. Say it isn't so.

Oh yes, I know their new designers are brilliant and change is good, and I must move on. But still..look at them.

For 5 seasons, the Saffron has been a wardrobe staple of ours. What is a girl to do knowing her darling daughters will never have a fresh and new season Saffron to wear and twirl in?

It's painful. I need a life.
xoxo,t

Simple Woman's Daybook, June 15th

(a good blogging and shopping friend of mine at House of Estrogen introduced me to the Simple Woman's Daybook blog as a great way to start the week - so I thought I would give it a good try to keep me organized and focus for each week ahead.)

For Today...

Outside my window... the sun is rising and it is going to be beautiful today

I am thinking... that I shouldn't still be drinking a pot of coffee every morning

I am thankful for... a refreshing weekend and that my Aunt took my girls overnight

From the kitchen... coffee - lots of it

I am wearing... my too small jammies with my belly hanging out - sexy.

I am creating... a Target shopping list.

I am going... to shower soon and find something that fits

I am reading... oh yeah, gotta start that Summer reading.

I am hoping... that the girls like swimming lessons this morning

I am hearing... Esther singing to herself, what can't that child sleep past 6am?

Around the house... I NEED to get my porch done. Help.

One of my favorite things...coffee.

A few plans for the rest of the week....Swimming lessons - all week.

Here is a picture that I am sharing...

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

You are Not as Think as you Old you are...

Me: "Hey Eloise, your T-ball coach called last night. He says we have to be to practice by 5:45. You will get your jersey and hat that night too."

Eloise: "Did you say 'he' - my coach is a boy?"

Me: "Yes, I am sure it is one of the kids' dads from your team. Most of the coaches will probably be dads."

Eloise: "Well, there could be mommy coaches too. I mean YOU could never be a coach because you are old and everything. But some of the younger mommies who don't have gray hair and can still run might be coaches."

Overwhelmed...

Last week it dawned on me that I am having a baby in 6 weeks...and this growth in my belly is not just a nice turkey dinner that I consumed.

In that moment that I realized I was having a baby, I also realized that I have NOTHING for the baby in our home. NOTHING.

So last Friday, I hauled the girls to the ginormous baby store to shop. I walked in, saw all of these 20/30 somethings soon to be new moms with their registries and lists and girlfriends and moms and carts full of shit that they need for baby, and that they were actually PURCHASING for baby..and then I walked a few aisles and realized how unprepared I am.

I started sobbing and dragged my girls with me quickly out of the store and back to the car empty handed and defeated.

How had I forgotten how much a baby needs - from the bathtub to the crib to the stroller to the diapers to the ointments to the teeny nail clippers... Oh, and let's not forget mom...the sanitary pads, the nursing pads, the breast pump, the nursing bras, tops...

Seriously, I freaked. We have nothing. I sold it all, threw it all away, gave it all away. Disposed of all baby thoughts and baby evidence away completely forever and gave up last year.

Now here I am a week later still afraid to even purchase a diaper or nursing pad. Deep down I know I am still scared that a baby is not really coming. Why go and spend time and money on something that doesn't really exist. If this baby really does come - I will just run to Target that day and get a few things. Not to be negative, but I still can't stop these thoughts from racing through my mind and weighing on my heart? How can she be real? How can I be this lucky? Impossible.

I even tried to sit and make a list of what I could possibly need and never got passed the list title. I am lost, hopeless and not even sure where to start. And, if I did buy all of this stuff, where would I put it? We don't even have a room for a nursery set-up, a crib assembled, walls painted.....

Sadly, I have been here before. My most vivid memory of having Eloise, is immediately after getting home from the hospital I walked with my baby upstairs to what would become her nursery. It was bare. Yes, the pink walls were ready, but nothing else - no crib, no rocking chair...just a few bags of diapers and changes of clothing. I sat in the middle of the floor with her and just sobbed and called my mom. "What am I suppose to do? She came so early..we have nothing for her. She doesn't have a room, our home is under construction, I don't have a place to even lay her down. No crib, no bassinet, no floor space not full of dust and dirt."

My mom told me to just hold her, and that a baby doesn't really need very much. Lots of love, lots of diapers, and I could do the rest...and that we would figure it out. And we did.

...and I am sure I can figure it all out again.
xoxo,t

Dear Psycho Dance Mom...

I apologize that it has taken me 2 weeks to write you this letter. Really you have been on my mind.

I am writing this letter to apologize for laughing hysterically in your face when you yelled at me in the dressing room of our daughter's dance recital.

First it was your passive aggressive comments, and then your blatant bitchy yelling that got me. Really, I am sorry for laughing back at you.

At the time it was really all I could do.

Sure, I could've jumped on you all "8 month pregnant hormonal lady crazy" and taken your ass down and beaten you up and made you my bitch.

But no.

I just laughed. Because it was quite humorous.

Really, weren't we all just in the same boat? Trying to get our 100's of girls dressed and ready for the big recital. Aren't we doing this because they are just so darn cute and so they can have some fun at the age of FOUR! Isn't it really just for the kids to have fun? We are just pawns in this silly recital, child make-up game? Right? Why take it so seriously.

Now, I do realize that I laid my purse AND god forbid sat my daughter down exactly 5 inches from "YOUR" chair - and somehow this impeded on your day so much that you chose to get the vapors and yell at us.

But you know, after 3 days of listening to you yell at your precious FOUR YEAR OLDS about how they were doing nothing right, I actually appreciated you yelling at me and NOT THEM for once...and it kind of made me smile.

We all just try to do the best by our children - even when they are wearing blue eyeshadow. I understand that this whole 4 nights of dance craziness evidently stresses you out beyond repair. I feel your pain.

I promise not to laugh at you next year. I will bring the vodka.
amen.
xoxo,t

It's like losing my best friend....

If I may digress into a sad shopping post please. Sorry, this is something so near and dear to me. If you are bored already, please move on with your day with more enlightening activities.

It all started nearly 7 years ago, July 2002 when I found out I was pregnant with a girl. A girl. A week later, I found myself entering my first Oilily store at the corner of Peiter Cornelisz. Hooftstraat, next to the Vondelpark, a short 6 block walk from my apartment in Amsterdam. It was love as first sight. By the time I moved home to Minnesota, I had filled a nice sized crate with just Oilily baby girl clothing.

...my love has continued for nearly 7 years as Oilily being my first love of children's clothing. The whimsical style, the fun prints...I could go on....

In the past few years, there has been management and ownership changes, design changes, manufacturing changes. There has been some lapses in quality and in design. But, I have held onto my hope.

Oilily filed Chapter 11 this Spring, and now worse, Oilily USA has closed "my" local store. I am feeling a bit lost now and am tempted to hold a candlelight vigil outside the shuttered shop.

I am afraid that would label me a crazed shopping loon though. But everyone needs a cause.

xoxo,t

32 weeks...

"Hey Mom!" says Eloise laughing hysterically. "It just dawned on me what you look like. You look like a camel but with a hump on your belly instead of your back."

nice.
xoxo,t

Classy am I?

I have to say I feel pretty special this week. My very dear friend brought this peony to me - her plants' first bloom of the season.

Now, most people would find their nicest crystal bowl or perhaps a lovely hand-painted china bowl to display something so lovely.

Not me. I went right for the classic Santa's sleigh in leaf shape painted in pumpkin spice and avocado. Homemade by my mother in 1967.

That is just how I roll.
xoxo,t

She is sooo old...

Eloise went to her first sleepover last night. Barely kissed me goodbye when I dropped her off. I can't believe she is only 6. Gosh, she is only 6 and going on sleepovers?

At dinner last night, Jed told her that he didn't sleep away from home or with anyone but relatives until he was 15.

Eloise laughed at him.

Just wait until she hears how old he was when he first kissed a girl.

Oh wait, let's just hope she never asks me that question.

xoxo,t

Flattered or Embarrassed?

Last week, I received this letter from a local toy store. Many times during the year, some other retail establishments call me with special sales and thank you gifts.

When this happens, I first feel so flattered they have thought of me...but quickly it turns to "holy crap, how much did I spend there this year?"

xoxo,t

Wordless Wednesday...

...well, okay I have to talk I guess because I cannot help myself...
Yesterday was the first official day of being home for Summer break and I heard "I'm bored" 475 times. I wonder how bored they will be locked in a closet while I sip margaritas in the backyard whilst reading People Magazine. Let's hope they find some toys and/or friends today....