8 Months

This snuggly wiggleworm and with a super soft belly and amazing pooping abilities is eight months old!?

Excuses excuses

If you are interested in what took a big chunk of my free time in November, check out this article.

A magical Christmas-tical tour: Homes, historic sites open for holiday visits - Salem, MA - Salem Gazette

I'll be honest, all I did was layout the tour guide book. Then, once that was done I got to enjoy the tour with Aaron's parents. This is the major fundraiser for the non-profit historic preservation advocacy group I work for, so its success is pretty important to me!

Then once that was done I had to get ready for Christmas itself. Maybe someday I'll post about that!

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Goodnight

In addition to making a frowny face whenever we try to take a picture Tessa, who can be quite a stinker, refuses to give good night kisses. Generally I settle for blowing her a kiss. Tonight Aaron told her to blow me a kiss, and with complete sincerity and full of excitement she said "I'll give her a bubble". She then walked up to me and blew a tiny little spit bubble. Awwww.....

Magic

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.

We've been busy around here.

Mainly we've been spending our time turning each other into bacon.



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For those who may not catch the reference see below at 0:03:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nT9P8MMpsE

Prediction

I predict that in within two years people will want to know if these two girlies are twins.

You see it too, don't you?

Interior Decorating

Years ago Aaron bought me a wonderful bird cage - purely decorative, of course. It has wandered around our house, hiding in nooks and crannies until I finally had a place in the house that was going to exist only to be beautiful. Enter resident two-year old.

Not the look I was going for.

Tessa Says - Update

(Laura, you may not want to read this one.)

Every parent is embarrassed on occasion by something their child mimics. Curse words top the list. Things that sound like one thing but mean something else entirely. The daughter of a friend of mine called her dad - "sexy." You all know what I'm talking about.

Well, I don't curse and only call Aaron "sexy" in private. So this is what I get - and it tells you way too much about me.

Tessa just came in and said "Mom, I saw it* on your blog."

*I'm not sure what "it" was in this case...but apparently it was worth blogging about.

Tessa Says

Oh Tessa.

Every morning I wonder what she'll say that day, and whether it'll make me want to kiss her or send her to her bed. Frankly, its usually kiss her. She gets sent to her bed when she is wordless, but not silent.

Funny (and/or adorable) things as of late -

Aaron: Tessa, lets talk about...

Tessa: Jesus.

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"Mommy. Tell me sumsing about... ... ... CHRISTMAS TREES!"

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She's started calling Aaron...well, Aaron. I think it is Hi. Lar. Ious. Him, not so much.

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Tessa loves Thomas the Tank Engine, but her first love was the engine named Emily. I'll be honest, I was a little jealous that she loved Emily so much and didn't know that I was Emily. Aaron was trying to "get back at me" for calling him by his NAME, which is how Tessa learned it, by calling me by my name.

She is so not convinced.

Yesterday Aaron asked "Hey Emily, can you get us a glass of water." Tessa followed with "Hey choo choo Momma, you bring me some water?"

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And now for a taste of wordlessness -
this one is addressed specifically to future background checkers...

(I only post this because she was doing that on purpose!
She better learn early the power of blogger revenge!)

New Baby

I have a new little family member.

Laura's baby girl, Hannah Mae, was born today.

I love her.

Halloween

I'm just going to forgo internet anonymity and brag about living in the town that is the 3rd best place in the U.S. to celebrate Halloween (behind San Fransisco and city I've forgotten). You see, while other people (100,000 - I'm serious) are schlepping around in polyester costumes, looking for parking, wondering where to eat, etc. I LIVE HERE. I have a place to park, I have a legitimate right to trick-or-treating on a street with significant architectural history (i.e. the MANSIONS of federal era ship captains!), and I know that hands down "Passage to India" is THE place to eat.

But enough about how cool I am. I know that the real reason you are here is to see pictures of the girls.

Halloween in my town starts off with a Halloween parade on the first Thursday of the month. Tessa's costume was a work in progress the whole month. For the parade she had her fairy skirt to wear.

Meg's costume, a craigslist special, was much easier and oh so snuggly.

AUGH! Slap me. This kid is so cute!

Daddy is a butterfly (and fairy) hunter. He bagged a big one Saturday night.

When it came down to the ACTUAL trick or treat night (as opposed to the downtown retailers trick or treating, or the ward trunk or treating) Tessa was ready and Boo-yah! Look at that load of candy she collected.

Topsfield Fair Rides

Does this make you dizzy? (Or bizzy, as Tessa says.)

Lunchtime.

Crazy times on the crazy bus.

The all time winner, "pink horses".

October 9, 2008

Tonight I stumbled across something I wrote a year ago.

Here it is.*

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October 9, 2008

This time I am crying more. And I think it is because I know what I’m getting into. Not that this is about the dreary life of a new mother with the late night feedings and the diaper changes, although I am less fanciful about what it will mean to have a baby than I was the first time.

But the first time, I didn’t cry.

I cry now because I know how much I can love. I cried when I got the call that said “it worked.” I cried when I saw the little flickering heartbeat for the first time, and again two weeks later when I saw my olive sized baby wiggly around. The first time, if I cried – it was as much from relief as joy. Relief that I wasn’t infertile anymore. This time, as I watched that little gummy bear kick and wave on the ultrasound screen, I already loved her. Because of the first time, I know what it feels like to love her.

The first time, I looked forward to loving my child;, but it took awhile to move from loving the idea of a child to loving that child. This time I instantly love this specific child. My baby. Our baby.

Meg.

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*I did some editing - I had to. I had written "him" in a lot of places. So much for mothers intuition. And of course, I added the last word.

Free Cookie

Tessa thanks the Elderly Lady at the Grocery Store as well.

Hey Mister

Hey Mr. Garbage Man:

I saw you take that "Boxtop for Education" off the cereal box in my recycling bin. And it made me decide to try and get my kids into the same school that the garbage man's kids go to.

Hey Mr. Foods Purchaser:

Am I the only one who sees the problem with these organic bananas?

Hey Elderly Lady at the Grocery Store:

Thank you for commenting on my daughters singing, and telling me about the free cookie that the bakery gives kids. Thank you for telling me that you are about to go crazy shopping with your husband - that he takes so long, that you would have been out of there 30 minutes ago. Thank you for telling me that even if you can't grocery shop with your sweetheart without an argument, that you can still be married for 62 years.

Brewster Beach

Day two of our annual Cape trip (2008, 2007)we decided to check out the beach on the inside of the Cape. We've always gone to the National Seashore which has great waves that crash into the beach. Its fun, but not exactly kid-friendly.


Truth be told, Tessa doesn't like the beach. It might be the waves, Daddy swimming in the waves, the hard-to-walk-on sand, or the bright sun. I say that because this none of those things were at this beach and she had a blast. At low tide the wet, firm sand stretched out as far as the eye could see, which wasn't far with the cloud cover.

Second truth be told, people as white as we are shouldn't be seen in full sunlight. Go ahead and agree, we aren't offended. (Unless the fear of seeing one of us in a bikini is the real reason our friends all decided not to join us on our camping weekend...hum?)

(Its a good thing I have Aaron around to do the really tough things, like ask the locals tending their oyster beds to take our picture - locals love that)

The video below makes me laugh so much. But you really may have needed to be there. Daddy and Momma had great plans for the architectural wonder they were going to construct. Tessa had a great time smashing any attempt (just like a little planning and zoning board). Aaron challenged me to stack the small bucket on top of the large bucket. At 0:10 seconds notice my attempt to distract Godzilla/Tessa.

Rain Shmain. Sharks - Bah!

For a few years now, we've gone to the Cape just after Labor Day and have had great luck with the weather, the beaches and the (lack of) traffic and crowds. Last year we considered camping but I was early pregnant and in no mood for it. However the hotel we got was damp, dingy, and had a bug in the bed. Regardless of the low price we got, it was a rip off.

So this year we decided to take advantage of the low low rates of the DCR camp sites at Nickerson State Park. I'm giving it 5 stars. You know what? No. I'm giving it the 5 billion stars we would have been able to see if it hadn't been so cloudy and off-and-on rainy.

And there were sharks. Not at Nickerson State Park so much, but at some of our favorite beaches.

But because we are so hearty - we had a great time.


The trip started with the biggest miracle of the month. I MANAGED TO PACK THE CAR BY MYSELF (with a three foot tall helper). If you had any idea how my days usually go (a handful of half finished tasks littered about the house) you'd know this was aMAZing!

Actually - I think that anyone can appreciate this - the girls and I rolled out of the driveway 4 minutes after my target "leave time." This NEVER happens - tell me, does it happen for you? Because I don't believe it! I'm still on a bit giddy from the experience? (Of course, the high diminished bit by bit everytime we discovered that we didn't have x, y, or z. Luckily this is is Massachusetts, not the Yukon, so we just stopped at the store as needed. True adventurers.)

The camp site was great. Right on the pond, very near the toilets - what more could you ask for?

I'll tell you what you can ask for. Smores for your 10 am snack. The good life.

The first day we went to the beach was not too cold, but uncomfortably windy. We went to Race Point (far far away from the sharks) and sat on the beach a bit. Just as we got back in the car the sky opened up. Just as we got back to camp, it stopped. Another camping miracle.

Tessa at Race Point

Meg at Race Point -
can you tell she would strongly disagree with my statement that it wasn't "too cold."

Who packed galoshes for this kid? Give that person a gold star!

Stay tuned for pictures from the beach.
(Don't fear, no swimsuits were donned for these photos!)

Single U Single U F(amily) Wrestling

In this corner weighing in at 14 lbs and exactly 2 feet long is Meg "So Cute It Hurts" U**.

And in this corner we have Tessa "The Boss" U** who measures a full foot taller with exactly twice the weight.

Who's winning?

Its amazing the difference a foot and 14 lbs make.

Here's Tessa using her signiture move.
Let her roll herself over for the easy pin.

We've hit that stage...

While I'm doing okay at keep the girls alive, I'm find this "mother of two" business to be...challenging.

Why?

Well, you don't have to ask in "that tone." I know that others manage two just fine. And other-others have 3. Or 4. Or 5. Or 8 - happy, adjusted, dressed children. (Approximately 74% of my blog readers fall in one of those catagories.) But for me, two is kicking my trash.

Why?

Sibling rivalry has reared up in the form of an sweet, loving and uber-whiny/tantrumy pre-schooler and it is exhausting.

Why?

I really want to give Tessa a lot of attention because she is at such a fun age.

Why?

She has just hit the speech breakthrough that happens at this age and talks in complete, if not completely understandable, sentences. She is so sweet and loving towards Meg and is just plain silly!

Why?

Well I could go on about that forever so lets get back to the question at hand. It is exhausting to feel like I am not teaching/playing/challenging Tessa enough while in reality the the happy, content goo-goo-ing second born sits in the bouncy chair being neglected. (We refer to her as the PNSB.)

Why?

Because PNSB stands for Poor Neglected Second Born

Why?

Its an acronym.

Why?

It saves time - unless you have to explain it.

Why?

{exasperated sigh} Moving on.

I thought I'd like to have a big family (somewhere between 2 and 8 we were telling people) but now - - well, you might want to wait a few months before asking if we are going to have any more.

Why?

Because if every single child goes through this stage I don't think I've got enough answers to make it out alive.

Why?

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P.S. Tessa hasn't been sleeping well AT. ALL. and this has contributed to the overall whiny/tantrumy levels here at home (both her and I). Aaron and I turned to "the google" to find out how to help. I searched "2 year old sibling rivalry" and this "article" claims that "As for the advantages of having siblings, I can think of none if the spacing is narrow (less than two and one-half or three years)." I'm completely dumbfounded by this statement. Yes - it is tough going at the moment, but seriously - NO advantages?!!? Thanks for the support.

Jerk.

Spell check

Um - BREATHE fresh air. How embarrassing.

The U**s breath some country air

A few weeks ago I gathered random stuff from the fridge to make a wrap.

Wheat tortilla, hummus, turkey, mozzarella, mustard and pesto. Something in the wrap just did not mix well. It may have been the hummus and mustard, or the pesto and hummus, or just the wheat tortilla, but whatever it was prompted me to txt Aaron to say that my lunch tasted like the horse shed at the fair smells.

Then one night in August when I was at my parents house I realized - that is also what Idaho smells like. {grin}

While in Idaho we took an opportunity to go on a very small hike, with some very small hikers.



Then we headed to dinner at Aaron's aunt and uncle's house is Ririe. Trust me, It dudn't git much mo cun'ry then that*. And Aaron proved to be the definition of "city kid" when he "stepped in it."


Tessa once again cast off the "timid" label by eagerly feeding year old cookies to the goats.And by running full speed back and forth on the trampoline. Next year - summer camp at Uncle John's house!

*Thanks to Heather for correcting my grammar and suggesting this vernacular spelling.

Puffy eye

Sunday morning - 3:30 am - I woke up to feed Meg and OH MAN my eye itched. I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed, then ran to check the mirror to see if I had pink eye. Nope. It was just my eyelid and it was nearly swollen shut.

This of course led to a middle of the night reading of my baby/breastfeeding reference guides to see if I could take benadryl. I did take it, the lowest dose of childrens benadryl - and no, it didn't work. And yes, it may have made me and Meg drowsy but it was 3:30am so...sue me.

In the morning my eye was still swollen and Aaron declared I should get back in bed. Was I contagious - no. But I was vain.

I took this picture around 11:00 am, after the swelling had gone down by half.

Just for you Mom

They always hope you end up with a kid just like you but, I never thought that sounded so bad. I'm an alright person and as a kid, well, no real rebellion, running around, or general naughtiness from me. Good student, adorable.

Bring it on, I thought. Bring it on.

Then this week Tessa became the me that my mom was looking forward to seeing.
So, if you are my mom, or any of my (younger) siblings AND you can handle the sideways image (I'm still figuring out the new phone) I think you'll get a real kick of this.

Behold - the oldest child.

Museum of Science + Mommas favorite purchase of the year

Yucky Economy = grossy
Daddy Working 80% = grossy
Daddy having Fridays off = Sooooooooooo Cuke
Free passes to the M.O.S. for Salem residents = Soooooooo Cuke
New (to us) Stroller = Soooooooooo Cuke

Here is a picture of the stroller (and eager occupants) when we got to the Museum of Science.


And on the way home...


What the pictures don't show (because sometimes you just need to live the moment, not watch it through a viewfinder) is how amazing it is for a two year old to be able to push ANY button SHE WANTS, as OFTEN as SHE WANTS.

Or that Momma's amazing craigslist purchase can be steered with only one hand AND cost 1/5 the price as the other strollers I've been eyeing. Okay, continue to eye. In fact, eyed while at the museum and realized that I GOT A SCREAMING DEAL on a great stroller. This is easily my favorite purchase in recent memory. Granted, I can barely remember this morning...

(At the risk of sounding materialistic...my 2nd fav purchase is my new phone (free with rebate...and lifetime servitude to Verizon). The 1st picture was taken with my in-phone camera - the second with Aaron's. The resolution on mine totally eats his for breakfast.)

And lest you think Meg has nothing cute to say

(This talking is also how Meg wakes me up when she is hungry at around 5-ish in the morning. Daddy thinks it is adorable, as he pulls the blankets tighter around his sleeping body. (Okay, I do to...but it is 5 AM))

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Auntie Laura posted some cutie pie pictures of the girls and their cousins so check them out.

A Glimpse: Funny things Aaron says

Aaron, absent-mindedly yet completely seriously, to coworker:
Hey D**, wanna catch the choo-choo with me?

Coworker (with daughters): Sure.

Coworker listening in (no kids): (insert laughter and ridicule)

Mooching continued

When I was in Idaho I pretty much relied on my sisters to do all the childcare while I took a nap.

That shirking of responsibilities continues in blog-ville.

Read this hilarious post by my sister Alicia.

(And now comfort me in my guilt, Tessa fed this little guy a LOT, a number of times while we were visiting...I wonder if he died of high cholesterol or something.)

Trip/Picture Catch-up Part 2 of ?

I knew waiting to post about our trip would work to my advantage.

Once again - please visit my sister's blog for pictures of one of our first days in Idaho Falls.

Laura's Blog - Living a Little

A Glimpse: Funny things Tessa says

We once told Tessa not to give Meg her binkie if she was happy - now the Binkie Nazi holds us to our word by saying She happy is and if we don't comply she POPS it out of Meg's mouth, usually resulting in she happy isn't.

No coz ee door (translation: Don't close the door)

Grossy (translation: Gross, but cuter)

Wha-ar ye doin' Mom? (yes, MOM - I got less than a year of momma) She asks this one over and over while I'm cleaning up potty training accidents, as if to make me contemplate if I really want to do this.

It is Sooooooooooooo CUKE (this applies to Meg, clothes and pictures of slides, aka Wheees)

After cleaning up numerous potty-training accidents AND a diaper explosion from the little one I was feeling ganged up on and abandoned (I mean who GOES TO WORK when there is potty-training a foot?) The solution for feeling sorry for myself was a trip to the store to buy something, anything (can you say lysol spray and lysol wipes?) so I sat with Tessa to put her shoes on and she says, clear as a bell, "Thank you for helping me Mom" Instant mood lifter.

She also melted my heart a few weeks ago when she declared Thank you. Momma. Food.

Current Events

Well, it turns out that Senator Kennedy's funeral procession drove through the neighborhood that Aaron's office is in. He office took the opportunity to watch it pass by.

(Taken by our own agent in the field)

My thoughts on the late-senator? Well, he did some really bad things, and some really good things. What to think? I don't know...but this week/stage-of-my-life all I know is...I wonder how Teddy Kennedy's mom (or nanny, whatever) potty trained him?