Nature-1, Jenn-0

My parents are making the treck down to Nashville today, which makes this girl spit crazy happy. Granted they have to drive through Illinois, which is covered in rain today, so I'm sure they will be happy to get out of that state to officially step into the south where there is...you guessed it...more rain. I am all about having a rainy day or two, but really folks, this is getting stupid. And where in the world is our cooler weather??? Isn't it officially Fall?? Could I complain any more??

One person who really enjoys watching the rain is Sir Isaac. That combined with the trees in the back yard blowing around just sets his little mind a twitter. Truth be told, there is no competing this glorious rain/tree blowing combo when we are trying to feed him. Nature wins every time.




Who? Me?

Lou...Lola...no...Marc...no...ISAAC

When I worked at EMI I had a co-worker who called me "The Lost Tenenbaum". Do you remember that glorious movie by Wes Anderson? Oh the quirky glory! Needless-to-say I took this as a compliment because I love that movie. But he said this because my family has had its fair share of really weird (and I mean WEIRD) things happen to us. Here are just a few things...and I'm totally not joking:

1.) A National Guard jet crashed into my mom's yard in Iowa in 1968

2.) My great grandmother has 22 kids (technically 19 because three were still births)

3.) My parents moved into a house that had a statue in their yard that was carved by a chainsaw that was named "Uncle August" and was somewhat of a town attraction. My mom got into a bit of trouble when she tried to put a cape on Uncle August one year.

4.) My cousins Rebecca and Katie are my "double cousins" because my mom and their mom are sisters, my dad and their dad are brothers...brothers married sisters. No, that is not illegal and not sick and wrong. Draw a map and figure it out....

So that is just a sampling. I'm not sure why I went into all of this detail for this story, but I digress.

Anyway, my grandmother Marie was my mom's mom and she was quite the hoot. She passed away...wow...several years ago. Grandma was famous for reciting nearly everyone in the families name before she got to who she was actually talking to. "Sigr...no...Rebec...no...Ross...no....JENNIFER!" Every single time. She never just came out and said, "Jennifer!" We were just left staring at her, one eye halfway closed thinking, "Aaaaany day now."

Anyway, I had a chilling moment yesterday. I was trying to feed Isaac some sweet potatoes when I said, "Lou...no...Marcus...no...Lola...no ISAAC!" Lord help me....

Peeping Tom...

I think I have mentioned before that I am quite the Peeping Tom when it comes to blogs. I absolutely love looking in on peoples lives, see how they decorate their homes, how they arrange their days, what they are wearing, how they cook a perfect pot of wonderful edibles, and so on. I have gleaned quite a bit and been inspired by many creative types. I'm first to admit that I'm not very adventurous or creative, but dang, I can copy the crap out of them.

So here are a few of my favorite sites that I visit. Some of the people I know, some I don't. But they are all tons of fun and quite inspiring.

Design*Sponge

A few months ago my wonderful cousin/sister Rebecca & her equally amazing husband Tim came down to visit us and meet Sir Isaac. We were driving around Nashville in the rain when they issued a huge blow...my all time favorite magazine, Domino, was going out of print. WHAT?!? I was devastated, I tell you...DEVASTATED. No more skipping out to the mail box to behold a glorious light beaming out of the cracks to see my lovely Domino sitting there patiently for me. Overreacting? Ohhh yeah, but seriously, was quite sad that it was going away.

So a few months later I stumbled upon a fantastic new site that takes the place of Domino quite nicely. AND it's updated EVERY DAY! No more waiting a month to find out how to decorate my coffee table or how to make an entire Thanksgiving meal in an hour. Oh sisters, it is glorious!

http://www.designspongeonline.com/

Dooce.com

I have never met this woman but I want to be her best friend. Heather Armstrong, aka Dooce, is brilliant. Aside from her religious views (she's a recovering Mormon who...well...let's just say she's not a fan) I relate to her on so many different levels. Her husband, Jon, is a carbon copy of Marcus and she has a way with words that leaves me laughing so hard my nose runs. She makes motherhood funny because, let's face it, sometimes being a mom can be freaking hard. She is also an amazing photographer and takes a daily picture of her dog, Chuck, who can balance almost anything on his head.

www.dooce.com

Dreams of Genevieve

I have no idea how I came across her blog, but I truly appreciate Jenni Simmons' writing, style, outlook on life, photography and overwhelming love of books and tea/coffee. She did a story on an artist that I've been working with and it's been fun following her and getting fantastic book recommendations from her via her GoodReads link. She's a lovely soul with talent to boot...

http://jennilsimmons.blogspot.com/

Momversation

I found this site via dooce.com and boy is it fun! It's 7-8 minute videos of various mom bloggers talking about all sorts of topics. They are funny, interesting, and just a good distraction for a few minutes.

http://www.momversation.com/

Daily Routines

This site hasn't been updated in quite a while, but I have really enjoyed it. Like I said before, I love to peek into the lives of others to see how they organize their day. Maybe it's because I work from home and don't have the structure of an office life like I used to have. But I love to see how other writers map out their day and get some insight into how they do what they do. This might not interest you all, but I find it quite fun :)

http://dailyroutines.typepad.com/daily_routines/

Bakerella

I am not a big baker but after finding this site I sure want to be! I haven't looked into who this gal is or her background, but dang, she makes some fun stuff! Everything looks so good and is photographed beautifully. It makes me think, "Dang, maybe I COULD make that without it turning out to be total crap."

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/

aVeryStory

I used to work with Sarah at EMI. We both left within months of each other and, sadly, I haven't seen much of her since. But when I found out she had started a website with her amazing (and I mean AMAZING) photography I was allll over it. She is hilarious and insightful...and her two kids are absolutely adorable.

http://averystory.com/

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy peeping in on some of these sites and let me know what you think! BTW, I have no idea why the comment section doesn't work. That's what you get for writing on a free blog :)

Where you been?

Clouds are beginning to lift...I can finally focus....ahhh, THAT'S what it feels like to be rested after having a baby! Ahhh, refreshing...I forgot what it feels like...

Oh, hello. Didn't see you there! Why the cheerful banter? Why the joyous tap tappity tap on my keyboard?

ISAAC SLEPT FOR 12 HOURS!!! PRAISE YOU JESUS!!!!

I almost didn't type this because whenever I put something out there regarding Isaac sleeping, it always seems to bite me in the ass. Well, I say, blow caution to the wind because I feel so flippity flip flip great!!! I am so proud of this little guy.

But let me back up for a minute and tell you about the past four nights.

I have a feeling it stems back to his teeth coming in. The poor little guy. When we knew that was the reason he wasn't sleeping we went to him every time he woke up. Because really, who wants to cry and be miserable all by themselves when they have two huge teeth trying to blast their way out of your gums??

So his teeth are coming through nicely and all should be well, right? Well, not so much. For the past four nights he was waking up every 1-2 hours...and it was killing us. Killing us to the fullest extent of the word. And Isaac was frustrated, tired and just not knowing which way was up or down. On Tuesday when I woke up feeling like I had 17 whiskey shots the night before I turned to Marcus and said, "OK...somethings gotta happen before I permanently turn into Ms. Hannigan and start swimming in a bathtub full of gin."

I know I've gone on my rants about not wanting to raise our child according to what a book says. I still hold true to that, but Mama needed some help STAT. I cracked open a book that I got when Isaac was born called "Healthy Sleep, Happy Baby" which sadly reads more like a textbook and leaves me going, "Ehh?" about every other paragraph.

So I turn to the section for 5-9 month olds and read about 40 pages while Isaac played in his crib trying to walk around the parameter of his bed. Simple suggestions to apply: put him to bed a half hour earlier and let him cry when he wakes up. Oh how I hate the second part. He took a two hour nap that morning and wanted nothing to do with his second nap that afternoon. So I decided to put him down earlier for bed. We are talking 6:30PM...yeah, you read that correctly. I thought it was crazy, but then I pictured Ms. Hannigan again and thought, "I'll try anything at this point."

So down he goes at 6:30...out like a light. I was bracing myself for him to wake up an hour later but he didn't! I nearly cried I was so happy! But 11:00PM came around and he woke up. So we let him cry...and cry...then mama cried. But I stuck to it, with the help of Marcus holding onto my arm saying, "He's OK. He's been fed, he's dry, he's safe. He needs to learn to put himself to sleep." And wouldn't you know it, 30 minutes later he was alseep! ASLEEP WITHOUT ME HAVING TO GO IN AND ROCK HIM FOR 45 MINUTES!!! AHHHH!!!!

The next time he woke up was at 5:30 and I knew he was hungry. So I went in, fed him really quick and put him back down. He slept until 7:30 and happily played in his crib for another 15 minutes. I went into his room and couldn't stop kissing his sweet little cheeks!!! I am so freaking proud of him!!!

I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but there is a big neon sign blazing at my face saying "YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! YOU WILL SLEEP AGAIN SOON!!!"

Quite the way to start a rainy Wednesday. Thank you sweet Isaac...

Pensive little guy, wouldn't you say?

Isaac is very much his father's son. When a TV is on he is alllll about watching it. Doesn't really matter what is on. If it's on, that is where his attention goes. Granted we don't have it on much when the little guy is around. Don't want to rot his brain too much before he turns a year old. We are responsible parents like that. Umm...yeah.

My in-laws got Isaac a little educational video from the makers of Hooked on Phonics that helps kids with reading, learning new words, and instilling a love of reading. This is Isaac's favorite thing...his little legs start going all over the place when put the video in and he just laughs and laughs along with it. I am ALL about educational videos in very small chunks, and this is a good one. Slightly annoying to parents? Yes, but what kids video isn't?? As long as he is learning something and not just a zombie watching whatever rolls over the screen, I can justify him watching 10 minutes a day.

That and it gives me time to sweep the floors. It's the important things you know...

Chilaxin...

Our little Isaac Henry is a vocal kid. Vocal meaning making all sorts of wonderfully funny noises and finally discovering that he can say "bababababa!!" or "mmmmmm!!" after every bite of his food. Who knows what is going on in his head when he says this or what he THINKS he is saying, but I'm sure it's brilliant and hilarious.

So when said child isn't making noises or rustling around in his play pen, I start to get curious to see what he is up to. The other day I was in the kitchen when I didn't hear Isaac playing with his little plastic keyboard (which is is favorite because his Grandpa dePaula plays the piano) so I ventured into the living room to see what was up. And this is what I found:



He was just...there...hanging out...all baby chill like. Usually he moves when I come into the room and I miss the opportunity to take a picture. But I ran to the kitchen to get my phone and he was still like this when I got there.

Have you ever seen such legs?!? Ooooo, he's just delicious!!!