Wonders, Mishaps, Blunders and Joy.. commentary on my life as a mom in the form of letters to my son
Last year, Natalie of Mommy of a Monster and I did a fun linky to share your Santa photos. We had planned on doing it again this year, but I totally dropped the ball. Sorry, Natalie!
I’m glad Mama Kat included it as one of this week’s Writing Prompts.
Here is a retrospect of Lucas’ last four visits with the big man. 2010 is still my favorite!
This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt #1: Share your Santa pictures!
Oh yeah, they’re adorable and seem like a great addition to the family, but do not be fooled, puppies are a lot of work and will try your patience in every way!
Even more than you think your children do.
I’m dead serious.
Charlie Pasta turned six months old on December 1 and after having a puppy for four months, here are the top 10 reasons I might be regretting it:
10. He digs holes in our backyard.
9. He brought me the remains of a mouse and then licked my face.
8. He continues to wake me up at 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 with a cry worse than a newborn baby’s wanting to go out to pee or just walk around the yard for no apparent reason. Oh, no wait, there are shadows to bark at.
7. He’s jumps when I walk by him and at the jingle of keys presumably because he thinks it’s his leash and wants to go for a walk and then when I do take him for a nice long (almost 5 mile) outing along the beautiful beach, stopping to let him potty, drink water and take in the fresh ocean air, the minute we get home he looks me straight in the eye and then proceeds to pee on my carpet. If that isn’t the ultimate F-You, I don’t know what is.
6. While I was in the bathroom the other morning and left him alone for less than three minutes, he destroyed a pile of Lucas’ art projects.
5. He attacked my beloved olive tree.
4. His toys are squeakier, louder and WAY more annoying that anything Lucas has ever played with.
3. Despite (almost) daily dental care, his breath stinks all. the. time.
2. Although he has never chewed a pair of shoes, Lucas’ toys or our baseboards (knock on wood), look what he did to our vacuum cord!!
And the #1. Why puppies absolutely suck: He has weaseled his way into our family and stolen our hearts.
It’s an annual walk down memory lane that I look forward to each year. There is no rhyme or reason to it, it’s a hodgepodge really. I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried. Each one, a colorful memento that means the world to me.
It’s milestones and sweet memories of my mother and grandmother.
It’s far away places we’ve traveled to, loved and hope to return.
It’s tokens of friendship and some whimsical delights.
It’s a gentle reminders of where we’ve been and dreams we hold for tomorrow.
It’s happy sighs made up of new favorites and old handmade treasures.
It’s messages of peace and joy, not just for the season but all year long.
It’s a growing collection that makes me smile holiday after holiday.
If you stand back far enough, it may look similar to the Christmas tree in your living room, but up close it’s positively us.
This is the earliest we have decorated! How about you? Is your tree up? I’d love to see photos.
Have you ever felt giddy over getting another stamp in your passport?
Have you ever been approached on the street in Yaletown and asked if you needed help with directions, restoring your faith in the kindness of strangers?
Have you ever been caught in the rain on Robson Street and laughed so hard you cried?
Have you ever seen a twinkle in your husband’s eye as he points out the building he used to live in on Georgia Street?
Have you ever sang karaoke to a room full of strangers at Hollywood North and it made your heart do cartwheels inside your chest?
Have you ever tasted the tomato soup with goat cheese at Cardero’s in Coal Harbor and swear you could eat it every day this winter and never grow tired of it?
Have you ever felt as though your problems at home really were a million miles away?
Have you ever pushed your son’s stroller through Stanley Park?
Have Aurora and Qila, the beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium ever smiled at you?
Have you ever walked across suspension bridges 230 feet above the Capilano River while your knees quaked with fear?
Have you ever taken a photo of your husband and son swimming in the hotel pool from your 22nd floor window?
Have you ever celebrated Thanksgiving with filet mignon and chocolate cake at Hy’s Steakhouse?
Have you ever written the top 10 items you are most grateful for on the back of a wine list in crayon?
Have you ever watched your child experience something as magical as snow for the first time and it completely took your breath away?
Have you ever been in 32 degrees, worn four layers of clothing and still couldn’t get warm?
Have you ever heard the delicate sound of snow melting off of tree branches?
Have you ever watched the pastry chef at Chateau Whistler masterfully assemble a life-sized gingerbread house in the lobby?
Have you ever bought souvenirs at Granville Market?
Have you ever been to a place that you just couldn’t describe in words?
Have you ever been to British Columbia?
During our week in Vancouver and Whistler I had all of these sensations and experiences. My senses were truly on overdrive and it was an amazing week. We are already planning our next visit.
Please tell me I’m not the only one in denial about it being November! Mid-November at that. WTH?
How is it even possible that Thanksgiving is a week away?
I can’t seem to get my brain wrapped around retailers promoting Christmas.
Christmas?!
Where did this year go?
After record heat for weeks, it is FINALLY boot season in Southern California!
My poor neglected blog has been a ghost town for days. All I have posted lately are letters for my weekly Letters For You series.
I’m never at a loss for ideas and have dozens of drafts started and should be working on my Thanksgiving gratitude posts and year-end round ups, but I’m not writing anything here.
Instead, I’ve been pouring my heart into articles for SheKnows, a new job that I am truly grateful to have. I am really proud of today’s post, Thanksgiving traditions to start now. I have also been…
basking in the glow of the Mumford & Sons concert my husband and I attended last Saturday night and…
celebrating three years of my Mommy & Me play group and two years of my husband and his partner opening EC on PCH and…
counting down to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 with my sister at midnight on Thursday and…
gearing up for a family vacation to Vancouver!
We leave in less than four days and my To Do list is beyond scary. I know it will all get done somehow and between now and boarding that airplane, I am going to make sure there will be moments to stop and savor like this:
Linking up with Galit (These Little Waves) and Alison’s (Writing, Wishing) monthly link up, Memories Captured.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Halloween.
I don’t like dressing up, covering my face in paint or dyeing my hair green.
I couldn’t make a homemade costume, like my mother did for me, to save my life. I just don’t possess that kind of creativity.
We have a few decorations up around our house, but the lawn isn’t covered in fake spider webs or ghastly ghouls that scare the crap out of you when you walk past and we reserve the twinkle lights for Christmas.
We didn’t even carve a pumpkin this year. Lame, right?
But, I do LOVE to dress Lucas up!
And I enjoy candy corn and fun size candy chocolate bars just as much as the next person.
Here’s what Halloween has looked like the last four years…
The pit crew guy is my favorite because Lucas was very particular about what he wanted to be this year and the blue makes his eyes pop!
Children make the holidays, don’t they?
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween.
Chances are Lucas won’t remember the details of last Tuesday, but they will stay with me.
I woke up with a wicked sore throat and we tearfully bid his Daddy farewell for five days as he headed off to Pennsylvania for a car event.
We went to his swim lessons and I captured him on video swimming the entire length of the “big” pool earning him a promotion to the next level and a visit to the treasure chest. He excitedly chose a little rubber ducky, which has been a permanent fixture in the bathtub ever since.
We shared a turkey sandwich at Subway and then stopped at the super market for Kleenex, green tea, OJ and wine (for good measure, of course).
By the time we headed home, I was worn out and wanted to do nothing but lie down. I asked him if he would take a nap with me and as usual his response was, I’m not laying down, I’m not resting, I don’t need a nap.
Sigh.
I collapsed on the couch and put Scooby Doo on TV. Before the episode was over, Lucas got up and headed towards his bedroom. After a few minutes I crept down the hall to see what he was up to and this is what I found:
It suddenly didn’t matter that he wouldn’t take a nap.
I love this boy and we both love books!
Linking up with Galit (These Little Waves), Alison (Mama Wants This) and Tracy’s (Sellabit Mum) monthly link up, Memories Captured.
At first I was reluctant to join a Mommy & Me group. Lucas and I had a good thing going with our daily walks, bi- and tri-weekly outings to Target and counting down the hours until Daddy got home; why on earth would we need a playgroup? At three months old, he wasn’t even playing yet.
The first meeting we attended was at a Starbucks on a warm August morning, there were maybe 10 of us. 20 if you count our children. Our babies unable to do much else just laid in their car seat carriers. The eldest child was seven months old and gave the rest of us a preview of what was to come.
Our conversations were exactly as I had dreaded, but very much needed to be a part of; from how old was your baby when he first sat up/rolled over/discovered his feet/slept through the night/smiled and you knew it wasn’t gas? to where did you get that toy/onesie/hat/play gym and what do you think about that stroller, those diapers/burp cloths/setting up a college fund/diaper bag?
Sort of mind numbing stuff to anyone but a new mom, but all the topics that weigh heavily on the minds of novice parents as we navigate through that first crucial and confusing year of mommyhood.
It’s was comforting to share with and learn from other new moms and a relief to know that they were going through the same frustrations and concerns that I was.
Right from the start, there were a couple of moms in the group that I could see being friends with (i.e. participate in activities outside of the group) and I definitely relished in the social interaction and adult conversation!
Our group celebrated it’s third year, much like many of our children, this past September and now most members have added a younger sibling to the group. It has been a joy to see our babies grow into little people and I wish that Lucas and I could see our friends more often.
I can’t remember when Jenn joined our group but I liked her right away and her son Jackson is darling. He is the subject of the fourth shot in my Instagram queue:
Jen isn’t a blogger or on Twitter, but she is a fellow mom and friend.
This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt 5.) Open Instagram and scroll down to the 4th photo shared by a friend. Share the photo, link to the person who posted it, and let it inspire a blog post.
Trying with all my might to hold on to the calm that I experienced from my time spent with my family at the sea over the weekend, feeling incredibly blessed today at my good fortune (and even better friends), a bit under the weather and slightly overwhelmed at the rest of the week ahead with a traveling husband, I have this to share…
and remember.
If just for today.
My husband has taken Lucas on his own several times, but for the first time we went camping as a family this weekend and it was nothing like I expected.
It wasn’t that I was anti-camping before, I just simply had zero interest. Zero interest in going without a shower, sleeping in a bag outdoors, on the ground and wreaking of camp fire smoke.
There was a lot of sand because we were at the beach, but we had access (and used) a coin operated shower within footsteps of our camp site. Other than that, it was delightful and didn’t feel like “roughing it” at all. By morning, I wished we were staying one more night.
There were stars in the sky and that wonderful camp fire aroma, which I do wreak of and probably will for the next couple of days but it’s a small price to pay for the joy in Lucas’ face as he rode his bicycle around the camp grounds, we jumped over waves in the ocean together, devoured s’mores and snuggled up close in a bag on the floor of a tent. Well, in a bag on an air mattress on the floor of a tent.
Being on the beach was my favorite part; hearing the waves last night as we slumbered, watching the surfers early this morning, using our toes to write our names in the sand and feeling the warm sun add a little healthy color to our skin. It was like therapy.
A lot of work goes into camping, between all the gear, shopping, meal planning and preparation, assembly and packing. It’s a delicate balance of work and reward. Todd did the majority of the work for this one night trip, in the hope of (I’m assuming) my return. Next time, I will share the burden. This is one family activity that we will definitely be doing again and soon.
It’s hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much. Everything about it is renewing for me, almost like therapy… Beach Therapy. – Amy Dykens
