Archive for April, 2010

dear jackson,

yesterday you and i flew home from mimi and gaga’s house after a fantastic trip and memorable celebration that they hosted for you.

child of mine, you are so loved. and as friends and family members congregated last weekend to spoil you and watch you play, i found myself overwhelmed with contentment.

i simply cannot imagine my life without you, sweet jackson. your smile brings me to my knees. your laughter is contagious. it is already apparent what a beautiful heart you have in your precious little body.

jackson, you are so smart and teach me something new everyday… sometimes you show me that i can actually get through this thing called motherhood and keep my head above water.

barely above water… but i’m still breathing.

all of this flooded my mind and heart yesterday, while we were flying 30,000 feet in the air, just you and i, for the very last time, sharing a seat.

you slept the entire flight. this does not happen often. i basked in the glory of holding you in my arms, resting with you as our chests and bellies would rise and fall together in rhythm. i watched your eyelashes flutter and felt your feet twitch.

your daddy’s feet twitch when he sleeps.

i held you close in your blanket that has been with you since your very first few weeks of life. inhaling your scent, watching your purse your lips and then drop your pacifier out of exhaustion.

and i wept. i don’t know if my tears were of joy or sadness… probably both.

thank you for making my life full of purpose.

thank you for being my son.

happy birthday, beautiful one.

i love you,
mom

This is Nic’s friend, PrincessJenn.

Lately, Nic and I have been talking about the shift in the atmosphere in blogging and on twitter. It’s becoming more difficult to connect with people in a positive way.

Nic put it susinctly when she wrote to me and said

“i’ve never struggled with writing until now. whatever is taking place in the blogosphere, in social media… it’s not what i signed up for. over the last couple of months, i have witnessed more hate than love. more attacks than celebrations. more rifts within a community that i once considered to be quite close… perhaps i have been looking at the world of blogging through rose colored glasses”

Or perhaps it’s just because we haven’t been around long enough, or weren’t as aware before. But we’re seeing and feeling it now. And we’re not the only ones. There is a trend happening across the board. Bloggers, big and small, are needing to step away and take a break. Regrouping and reflecting.

To this end, Nic has decided to take a breather and close her blog down for a bit.

There’s no one thing that has caused her to make this decision and there’s certainly no one person that is to ‘blame’.

This is not a decision that she’s made lightly. It’s very difficult for her to step away from this online world that has, at times, offered her such unyielding support and love.

But right now this is what’s best for her and for her family.

She’s told me at some point she does plan to return to blogging and to her online community, after her hiatus. When she does, I hope you’ll be here with me to welcome her back.

and i will never forget your spectacular maddie, your beautiful family and the way that you are all changing the world in her name.

please visit friendsofmaddie.org to support families supporting babies.

My father-in-law graced Paul and I with the above photographed luscious bottle of red wine a few weeks ago. DeLille Cedars is out of Woodinville, Washington and is a “family-and independently-owned winery.

The bottle we enjoyed was DeLille Cellars D2, which is a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and a touch of Petit Verdot.

I have no idea what any of that means, but you can find a full breakdown of the vineyard blend by clicking here, for those of you who actually are well-versed in your vinos, unlike me.

At $35 a bottle, this is most definitely something that Paul and I would only enjoy on a special occasion (of which we had none) or if it is gifted to us (YAY!!!). The best part was that I got to plan a meal around this bottle of wine that consisted of my favorite carnivorous delight, filet mignon.

I was pleasantly surprised by this particular wine because I am not a big merlot fan. Most merlots are too dry for my taste, though Paul is a fan of a good merlot. Those of you who, like me, are not a merlot person, fear not when it comes to DeLille Cellars D2, because I can honestly say the blend of the various wines and flavors is magnificent and has a truly enjoyable taste and aroma.

Special thanks to my father-in-law for this wonderful bottle of wine. We savored it to the very last drop.

Cheers! Nic

Comments or suggestions? Have your own “bottle of the week” to share? Shoot me an email: mybottlesup@gmail.com

clothing is overrated anyways and too expensive.

who needs clothes?

the weather is warming up. you’re goina sweat after playing outside with your kid(s) and then proceed to go pant-less once inside your home, just like your kid(s).

if you’re like me, you’ll break out the maxi-dresses (i hate that term as it makes me think of kotex) from 2 seasons ago and wear those simply to avoid a waistband.

but my son… he’s goina be 2 in a few weeks. he has to wear pants, shorts now.

nothing fits him.

he’s manorexic.

now before you go all hate mail crazy on me, let it be known that i had and still have friends who battle anorexia and bulimia and referring to my nearly 2 year old son as manorexic is said in jest. if you take offense to that, you obviously have no sense of humor and can close your browser now. thanks for stopping by.

once upon a time jackson’s inability to put on weight was a BIG problem, one that led us to hospitalizing him twice and feeding him via NG tube for 8 weeks.

and now… he eats fine. do i wish he ate more? sure. but i’m not about to have my husband shove another 8 fringe tube up his nose and down his throat in order to force feed him.

so he snacks. a lot.

i snack… a lot… which is probably why i avoid clothing with waist bands and stick with maxi-dresses (ugh! whoever coined that term needs to be covered in wet cement and tampons.)

my manorexic son is NEVER still. not even in his sleep.

he is always moving, always burning calories.

infact, at this very moment, he is trying to take his pjs off and put his sneakers on while chanting “owside. play?” repeatedly.

so… we’re goina go burn some calories.

even though he refused to eat any breakfast and has no calories to burn.

ok, i gotta go roll his 18 month old shorts so they don’t fall to his ankles.

or maybe i’ll just take him out there pant-less.

perhaps the world would be a happier place if we could all go sans pants.

what follows is the evolution of jackson’s current state of baldness… and yes, it’s all my fault, as i was a hair-twirler and puller-outer in my younger years and apparently so is my son.

dammit.

so much for my hippie child. good thing his birthday is on earth day and we can still rock our barefoot hippie magic together on the 22nd… WHEN HE TURNS 2.

what happened????