iPhone Blogger

Whoa! I just installed the iPhone blogger app, & here I am typing away on my phone. This probably means 2 things. 1- I may actually blog more and 2- my blog is probably going to be nothing but instagram photos from now on. Fun right?

How Do You Feed a Toddler?

As Adam begins his adventures with finger foods and we move closer to the one year mark and sharing meals as a family, I'm beginning to wonder what-in-the-heck I am going to cook. Almost everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I cook for Ben & I is spicy. I know people say that if you give kids spicy food they'll adapt, and I'm sure that's true. But, until Adam's language skills develop to the point he can tell me his tongue is burning I just don't think it's a good idea. Plus, finger food + touching eyes = owww.

So, who has recipes to share with me that your husband and kids like? Please and thank you!!

Our Song

There is a song I sing to Adam. I've sung it to him since he was a newborn. When nothing, and I mean NOTHING else can calm him, this will. I've sung it in the wee hours in the morning, over and over again on long car rides, and through teething and constipation. I've tried to mix up our playlist and substitute other songs when he's upset, but he will not have it. Few things make me feel more maternal than when my seemingly inconsolable boy immediately stops crying when I begin to sing this song. He knows it's ours, all ours and it means mommy is close by and everything will be okay. And I love that. I know it seems like just a simple tune, but to me it represents the bond between my son and I, and many personal motherhood triumphs. It is a reminder of all those moments that I would not accept defeat, but instead dug into the depths of my soul to find exactly what my son needed from me, then I gave it.

To you, it may be just a song from Mary Poppins. To me, it represents the molding and growing of Adam's mother, formed just for him.

Reunited

Adam & I rolled into Biloxi early this afternoon after spending 12 days away. We had a wonderful time during what my mother called our "Triangle Tour" from Biloxi, MS->Columbus, GA->Suwanee, GA->Panama City, FL->Biloxi. A couple of hours later, Ben arrived. His schedule turned out to be a 9-day-on, 3-day-off rotation, and his first day off fell today. Of course, "day off" meant completing the night shift around 11:30 a.m. today, after which he got in the car and drove 3 hours home. I was less than thrilled with that decision, but Ben wanted to see his family so what could I do? He & Adam had a rapturous reunion and he was in bed by 6 p.m. after about 24 hours of being awake.

Pictures & stories to come, but for now I'm going to go do something I've dreamed about for the past 12 days...crawl into bed with my husband.

Sweet dreams!

Just the Two of Us

Why yes,I did put on entirely too much under-eye makeup, thank you for asking.

Ben left today for his first TDY. He'll be gone for the month of September to Jackson working in the ICU of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Jackson is only about 3 hours north of here, so we're planning a trip to see him in a couple of weeks as well as really hoping that he might be able to make a quick trip back here if his schedule allows. But heck, I hate seeing that guy go! The first couple of hours after he leaves are the worst. There's a palpable emptiness around me. Then I brush it off and settle into my life-without-Ben routine. I've done the month away thing plenty of times, but this is the first time I've done it with a baby at home. I hate that Ben & Adam are going to be separated that long, it just breaks my heart. With Ben's schedule I'm used to doing the parent thing alone, most days he leaves before Adam wakes up and is home after he goes to sleep, but I normally get at least one day a week where I get to share parenting duties with someone. I'm tired just thinking about it. I do have a game plan to get me through the next few weeks:

1. Trip back to Georgia to visit family & weekend beach trip.

2. Trip to Jackson to see Daddy. Excited to visit after finishing The Help, which was set in Jackson.

3. Watch the BBC 5 hour version of Pride & Prejudice borrowed from my friend Casey.

4. Watch Mad Men on Netflix

5. Finally make my window mistreatments and hang them. Oh wait, does anyone want to help me hang some curtain rods? Anyone? Hello? Is this thing on?

6. Lots of playgroups.

7. Painting some furniture.

8. Painting some things with chalkboard paint. What things? I don't know, anything is game.

9. Adam's 1st birthday party plans.

10. Enjoying the fact that we are kicking the 2nd worst month of the year, August*, to the curb and getting one month closer the the best month of the year, October.

11. Getting ready for Fall.

12. Pinterest, I'm pretty sure Pinterest will somehow be involved.

Look out September, I OWN you.

*Official WORST month of the year is March. Yuck March. You stink.

**After drafting this post I got a call from Ben. While checking into his hotel he received an email with his work schedule. He starts Sunday, not tomorrow. Which means we missed out on FOUR WHOLE relaxing days together. Do you know how rare four days are in Intern Time?! Weelll Shoot.

Fleeting Beauty

These days when I hold Adam I feel a difference. Those unmistakable signs that his body is transforming from baby to boy are hard to ignore. His limbs are long, his actions are sure, he moves with intent. His eyes are focused and understanding. I even recognize the first glints of a sense of humor. He never wants to lay on my chest or snuggle in my arms. Whenever I try to hold him he struggles, wriggles, and efficiently arches his back and slides easily off my lap. He wants to be free to travel, explore, chase, and giggle. Most of the time as I watch the adventurous spirit practically bursting from the body of this wonderfully mischievous little boy I feel pure joy. Along with that, however, comes the assurance that this time is fleeting, and that the Adam I knew just yesterday will be different tomorrow. During this season of my life I've come to understand a phrase I read years ago:

"the exquisite pain of fleeting beauty"

The right now is beautiful, but with the passing of one more moment, gone forever. And with that knowledge comes pain. I'm here desperately drinking in Adam's present before it becomes his past. The saving grace is that for everything we leave behind, there is more wonderful waiting for us. The future has yet to disappoint, and some days as I watch my baby become my boy, that thought is my only solace.

Baby in a Box

No pictures of Adam on the blog in 3 months?! That's a problem that needs to be fixed. Immediately. So here he is, in a box!

I will use any tool in my arsenal to contain him for even a few seconds. He is a crawling terror that can destroy my house in mere moments. He pulls up on anything & everything and clears off the coffee table & end tables. I can't find the remote control half the time. He can climb up four whole stairs and hold onto the couch and side step its entire length. He's bumped his head on our coffee table more times than I can count. I don't even get up anymore when he does it. I think this box moment happened at a desperate time one afternoon when I just needed him to STAY STILL. Plus, I mean, come on, really cute, right?

In other news, a husband on call on a Sunday + a baby napping equals massive amounts of time spent on Pinterest. It was ugly. I think I need an intervention.

Have a great week!