It's Nothing to Brag About

I've learned a hard lesson this month. Never, ever, ever (even inadvertently) brag about your kid on the internet. A couple posts ago I wrote about how Henry is a great sleeper. Ever since then, he has either refused to go to bed without a fight, or has woken up 17 times every night. And each time he chants, "MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM...." until I want to go sleep outside by the inflatable turkey (because, yeah, he's still afraid of it so I know he'd leave me alone). It's like he sensed that I was talking him up online and decided there was no room for THAT in our lives. 

It's the Most Spendiest Time of the Year

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. That means we have around forty days left to shop for the holidays. I always have mixed feelings about Christmas shopping. Some years I'm all about it, and other years I get all bitter and just want it to be over. Either way, I feel like I've personified each of these types of holiday shoppers at some point:

10 Things I Hate (And Love) About You

Dear Henry,

You're adorable. And funny. And smart. But you can drive me crazy ten ways to Sunday. I love you more than anything, but there are some things about you that we need to work on together:

You've Got A Friend In Me...

So I'm pretty sure I could waste my life away on BuzzFeed. I'm not even going to say how much time I spent on there a few weeks ago when I came across this shared list about best friends. I loved it, obviously, but it got me thinking about BFFs....or at least best girl friends. I love my husband, and of course he's my best friend, but it's just not the same as having a fellow female with whom to gossip, swap clothes (okay fine, I wear Dan's clothes, but I draw the line at him wearing mine), or even complain about how I painted the kitchen yellow but it's just not quite the right yellow, you know?

cobwebs, leaves and potions, oh my!

I used to love the day when our mom would have us bring up the bins from the basement with the season's decorations. We obviously had the most for winter and Christmas, but there was still a large spread for Halloween and Thanksgiving, for Easter, even Valentine's Day and the Fourth of July had their own bins. In the five years since Dan and I have lived in our own house, I have slowly started filling my own bins. I still feel the same excitement carrying them up from our basement to transform our home for the holidays...whatever the holiday may be.

Give a Girl Some Warning

No one ever told me that after I had Henry, random physical characteristics would change. My hair got a little thinner, my shoes went up half a size, and my eyesight altered enough to merit getting a new prescription. I have a blown blood-vessel on my nose that looks like a eternally premature zit, and although the tummy stretch marks significantly faded (thank God), my stomach still looks pizza dough that's ready to be punched down after raising (it's like the sun; just don't look directly at it). For a while I felt a little betrayed by my body, but I eventually got over it.

This is NOT Okay.

Henry got a spa-quality oatmeal bath last night, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't steal the the mix to use for my evening shower. My wash was luxurious and totally relaxing; his, unfortunately, was necessary because he's got an awful case of diaper rash. Like, the blistered and bleeding kind of diaper rash. I feel terrible about it, and never worse than when he screams as I've been changing him lately because I'm sure it hurts like hell. I can't help but think that if I had maybe just changed one of his diapers sooner or something maybe he wouldn't be so uncomfortable. I have a point for sharing this, and believe it or not, it has to do with you.

Just Don't Call Us Cheap.

I always get a little excited when I see a news story teaser for budgeting friendly tips, or when the Parade newspaper insert headlines an article about how to save your family money. You could be pocketing hundreds of dollars more a year with these easy steps! When recent figures show that it costs more $225,00 to raise ONE child from birth to age 18, what's not to like about learning how to save as much cash as possible? Especially when those projections don't even include college costs. Woof.

Then I read or see those stories and I'm almost always let down - Dan and I usually are already doing 90%  of the things they mention. We always joke that if that's the best they've got, then WE should be writing the tips.

You Better Be Sticking the Landing Up There...

So did I ever tell you that I thought our house was haunted after Henry was born? Totally.

The Sweet Spot

Weekends at the cabin are wonderful and also a little bit awful. They're wonderful for the lake views, for how the night fires make your sweatshirts smell, and for watching Henry squeal when he throws rocks, swims, rides in the boat or basically does anything else near that lake. But they're awful for the disruption they cause in my little guy's routine; particularly sleeping. He woke up on Friday night (Saturday morning?) around 1am and flopped around in his Pack'n'Play which is adjacent to my side of the bed. He kicked the wall, talked to his Puppy and poked me in the eye. By three in the morning, and with Dan somehow still snoring next to me, I really wanted to lean over and yell at him, "GO BACK TO SLEEP!", but instead I shrugged on my zip-up, lifted him out of portable crib and dragged us both out to one of the rockers facing the lake in the living room.

Each Peach Pear Plum

Besides this blissful weather we've been having in Minnesota lately, one if the things I love most about summer is the produce. I love how fresh and bright all the fruits and vegetables are, and how sweet and juicy they taste. Last Friday, Dan and I made fresh bruschetta topping with ripe Romas and basil from the Minnetonka Farmer's Market. We doubled my recipe and still almost ate the whole bowl while we sat by our fire bowl out on the patio. 

That tasty treat made me think of other summer treats, especially the ones with fruit.

Don't Ever Tell Me That You're Bored

I see my kid more than I see my husband these days. With summer still in full force, Henry and I spend a lot of time together, and have explored lots of places. I'll usually ask him, "Hank, wanna go on an adventure?" to which he always responds, "YEAH!" while simultaneously scampering off to find his shoes (although I asked him the other day if he wanted to do the dishes for me and he also said, "YEAH!" and ran away to go get something so maybe there's a communication gap there...). 

I've had a couple friends say that I come up with unique things to us to do, and have asked if I would share some of my ideas. Of course! Originally I was going to make this a three-part series, but I figured if you don't have kids, or already have a good routine going, you'd get sick of me fast. Instead, I've written a whooper of a post, so take a peek, bookmark it, and come back when you need fresh ideas because it's a novel. 

The Crowded Beach

Despite all the trees down in our neighborhood from last night's storm, today was a perfect beach day so Hank and I headed over to Shady Oak Beach to put our season passes to use. If you're in the West Metro area and haven't been before, you should definitely check it out (we have guest passes for this summer still if you want to join us one day!).

Forts Rule

This morning was super wet from the storm last night and it drizzled well past breakfast so we couldn't go to the park or even really go outside. 

Our awesome fort

ME: "What do you want to do Hank? You wanna play Legos?"
HENRY: *vigorously shakes head no*
ME: "You wanna read books?"
HENRY: *tosses Little Blue Truck into my lap*
ME: "You wanna go build a fort and read in the books inside?"
HENRY: "Yeah!"
ME: "With pillows and blankets?"
HENRY: "YEAH!" *instantly dropped the toys in his hands and plods quickly and unevenly towards the stairs*
So we made a fort to read books in on a rainy, gray morning.

Vacations are Hard Work

This week we took Henry to Duluth for his first vacation. Well, we took him to Milwaukee last summer to visit Auntie Allie, but he was barely 6 months old and spent most of the time in the stroller or car seat. This was going to be first trip that he could really experience and so I planned the crap outta it.

Life's List

The other day I was organizing the basement (because I'm lame), and while going through a box of old things I came across a bucket list that I must've written around sixth grade. The cursive is exquisite, I lined up to the margins like a pro, AND there's even some long division scribbled at the top.