On the Verge of a Tantrum

MY WORLD

First this:

I sometimes take for granted how lucky I am to have Joe as my husband, I guess not every woman has a husband who takes over as mommy when mommy needs a break...

Joe gets up with me every night, all three times (still) when Joseph wakes up crying for a feeding. He doesn't groan, or sigh, or complain. Without having to ask he just gets up and stumbles half-asleep into Joseph's room and brings him to me. Then he burps him and puts him back.

Joseph is going through a phase (at least I hear that it is only a phase) where he prefers mommy. But still, every evening after he gets home from a long day of work Joe feeds Joseph his supper, plays with him, and tries to put this screaming inconsolable bundle to bed (even though he won't without me) just to give me some time to myself!

Joe has made it his personal responsibility to ensure that we have a clean kitchen; 'nuf said.

I am still carrying around some baby weight. Most days I still don't have time to do my hair or put on makeup. I have traded my wardrobe of trendy, feminine, hip stuff in for cargos, jeans and tees (often decorated in baby food and drool). But he never forgets to tell me, every day, how beautiful he thinks that I am.

To a wonderful husband, father, and best friend: Sometimes I feel that I don't deserve you. Thank you so much for your patience, and persistence, and for putting up with me. Happy, happy, happy Fathers' Day. I LOVE YOU!!!

Next this:

It continues to hit me, day after day, how different my life is now that I am a parent. It wasn't so long ago that I would patiently struggle to take an interest and listen to my friends with kids as they would drone on and on about their children. I vowed never to be that kind of parent. I would maintain some semblance of my former self and would take care not to bore the childless with mundane details about my parenting life. But instead, now I find that often I just can't help myself. I spew minutiae about my son left and right to anyone who is willing to listen...and even more surprisingly I find that if someone doesn't care about my son, well, I plain don't care about them!

Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am mean?

All the same, Joseph and Joe are my world, my life, and everything that I live for. I can't imagine my life without them. I dont want to, and I don't know how I ever was such a selfish, self centered person before I had them in my life (that's not to say that I am not still selfish and self-centered in some ways). I just can't believe how much growing up just happens to you when you become a parent. I think I like it!

Big Bag, Little Boy

Fantastic Weekend

As you can see from the photos, Joseph is pulling himself up to standing on just about anything that he can get his hands on. Consequently, he has been spending more and more time in his pack'n'play. He is gnawing on everything (including mommy's and daddy's nose) but no teeth yet.

We had a fantastic weekend in Cedarburg. On Saturday we took advantage of our built-in babysitters in the form of Joe's parents and did a bit of shopping in town. That night the five of us tried Taylor and Dunn's Public House for dinner. The food was delicious, and Joseph really enjoyed his potato leek soup. Sunday was Joseph's first Maxwell St. Days, and he did fabulously. We were there for a couple of hours and he even took a nap in his stroller! We spent the rest of the time relaxing. Grandma Myers has created a monster: Joseph can no longer fall asleep unless he is rocked in my arms (oh woe is me)...

I Can't Stop Embroidering Things

We had the Schwenzens over yesterday for brunch. As usual we had an excellent time. Here are Joseph and Hadley getting (re)acquainted.

I also decided to learn to hand embroider this weekend. I started by putting some stars on the pocket of an old pair of jeans, and I was on a roll. I simply cannot stop! Above are a jacket I embroidered last night and a denim patch that I made this morning. Any requests? Embroidered tea towels or onesies anybody?

The first pic is a lace knit cap slv shrug that I got both the idea for and the link for the pattern from my pal knitting kninja. Made with a lovely plum merino. You really have to request this one, it requires more concentration on my part than my felted goodies.

That's all for now.

"Sunny days, everything's...a-okay..."

Playtime with mommy

PS-Wants Desperately to Stand/Walk

And With Crawling came Sitting (finally)

For months now, I have been watching and waiting for Joseph to sit. Not that he didn't know how, its just that as soon as he was put into a sitting position he would find his way as quickly as possible to his tummy. This worried me a little since other babies seemed to be perfectly content to sit and play for long periods of time. However, these also were babies that loathed tummy time and could not last for longer than a minute or two.

Apparently, with crawling also came the desire to sit and play. Joseph is suddenly so much more mobile all around. He kneels, sits, crawls...I don't know how else to explain it, but he is mobile (it is as simple as that).

My New Model

In case you haven't already noticed the picture on the left from my etsy shop, I have decided to start using Joseph as a model for baby tees. I based this decision on a suggestion from Monica, and of course, my assumption that Joseph is a particularly beautiful baby. My suspicions have been somewhat confirmed: even though no one has bought this onesie, it has had more views already than any other item in my shop!

Crawling

Joseph started crawling last Thursday. I was sitting watching him play on the floor and just as I heard Joe's keys in the lock, Joseph crawled right across the office to a stack of books on the floor. Just like that!

As Joe came in the door I said "Your son is crawling, wanna see?"

Coincidentally, I also watched Joseph pull himself to standing on the side of his crib twice that same day. Now when I go to get him in the middle of the night, he is kneeling at the side of the crib and grasping the rails waiting for me. It is the sweetest thing.

Mothers

So, Mothers Day is upon us; it is my first Mothers Day as a mother. And as I reflect on these past seven months or so as a mom, I just bet you can picture me swelling with pride and soaking up praise. Not so!

As I look at my son, this amazing, smiling, loving, funny little person, I try to accept responsibility for who he is, and I just can't. He is who he is, and we are lucky to have received such a wonderful gift as he from God. Sure, I clothe him, I bathe him, I feed him and keep him safe and warm, but it is what I know is right and what I Am Supposed To Do.

Instead, my thoughts drift (naturally) to my own mother. I think about how she endured years of picking me back up when I fell (both physically and emotionally). Wiping away the tears, the sick and wiping my dirty bum. Doing all that she can to make me a good person. And then I think about the other women in my life who have been mothers to me. Who have built me up and contributed to my character by teaching me things that my own mother could not. My mother-in-law, aunts, teachers, baby-sitters, family friends, bosses and co-workers.

And my thoughts drift further yet, to women who cannot mother their own children and instead choose to be mothers to children who have no mothers. And I think about the women who choose not to mother their own children, but instead devote their lives to making the world a better place for the children who have been left behind.

These are people who deserve the praise.

I was having a conversation recently about children who live in poverty and war, and how the problem seems so great that the little I can contribute is only a drop in the bucket. But we agreed that when you lack the time and money to make a real difference, the best that you can do as a mother is try your hardest to raise your children to be good and loving people. To add one more good person to the world.

So what about me? Ask again in twenty or so years, I just might be swelling with pride and soaking up praise by then. Instead, this year I am offering my own thanks and praise to all the "mothers" out there.

One image will forever be burned in my memory: the look on Joe's face as he chokes back tears while we are standing in the Midwest Express check-in line two days ago.

That really sums it up. Yes, we missed the Hemingway tour, we decided to skip the glass bottom boat, we forgot to take pictures of the free-roaming roosters that terrified our son, but Florida with the Blackwoods was THE BEST VACATION EVER. We miss the three of them so much already.

We did try some key lime pie, and key lime cheesecake. It was fantastic. We ate tons of fresh seafood. We sweat like pigs in April. We got tan, and our freckles came out of hibernation. But nothing compares to seeing our nephew Ian, and spending time with Monica and Scott.

Florida

Look out Ft. Lauderdale, JJ has arrived...

Fun in Key West

The cousins conspire...






Wiped Out!!!

The Baby in the Mirror

The Finished Product

Here are the pears. Felted, stuffed, and embellished with leaves and stems. I will be posting these on etsy later today!

Would you buy this?

I feel a little weird about pairing my "business" with this family blog. All the same, what are your thoughts on this new pear design I came up with yesterday?

PS-They are not quite finished yet. You have to use your imagination to picture what they will look like finished.

Mr. Photogenic

O.K., say it with me:
"Awwwww!"

Have you had a good laugh today?

Happy Easter

There aren't too many pictures of the three of us together. As a matter of fact, the only other ones that we have were taken on Thanksgiving or earlier. This one was taken yesterday, and although it was hard to get Joseph to look at the camera I really like it!

To all those new parents and parents-to-be out there: It is really easy with a new baby to forget to get pictures of the whole family together and only take pics of the baby. It takes effort to remember and have family pics taken, but I am glad we did.

Joseph Likes...

I have discovered that one of the most amazing things about being a parent is watching your child's personality slowly unfold before your eyes. The transition from newborn lump to little boy is so gradual that I hardly even notice it until I find myself saying things like "Oh, Joseph doesn't like it when..." or "Joseph just loves it when...".

Here is a list of some of Joseph's current Likes and Dislikes. I am sure that if we look back at this list in just a few months it will seem like a completely different place and time. I hope to record such lists again in the future so that we may see how our little boy evolves.

Here goes...

Joseph Likes:

Mommy and Daddy, kitty cats (especially Shimmy), fruit, banging, jumping, being tickled, hair (especially Mommy's), pulling, grabbing, rolling, nursing, moving, his stroller, rides in the car, sleeping, Mommy & Daddy's bed, TV, toys, books, phones, remote controllers, noisy rattles, music, babies, faces (especially noses), crinkled paper, magazines, junk mail, baths, his fingers, prints on fabric, his teddy, being carried, Target, Phoenix (the band), napkins, keyboards, coffee mugs, eye glasses, dangly earrings, yarn, neck kisses...

For a list of Joseph's dislikes scroll down.

Joseph Dislikes...

Gas, waking up alone, carrots (and most other vegetables), strangers trying to make him smile, being tired, "Joy to the World", Michael Penn's "No Myth", cold wind, having his face wiped, being bundled, tight neck holes, boredom

Our Beautiful Boy

Chaos Ensues

Is it ever amazing/amusing to be on this side of the lens. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at Aunt Jane's and cousin Alex's birthday party. Note Joseph's handful of that poor little darlings hair. He does it to me all the time.