It's our dating-versary!

In the kitchen BEFORE we painted!  We were such babies...

TEN YEARS AGO, Tyler and I were official!  Last August was our 6th wedding anniversary, but we've been together for 10 years today.  Although, we argue that I thought we were already dating back on Halloween in 2003, but he didn't quite see it that way.  Psh.  (It's very crazy to think that we've been together for 1/3 of our lives!!!!)

I definitely did well when I picked Tyler; he is an A-MAZ-ING father and he is the hardest worker I know!  I'm excited for the next 60 (or more!) years with him... and it'll be interesting to see what we look like then!  Finding older pictures for this post was hilarious!  And these are only 6 years ago...from my myspace.  Ha!  Our college years were so long ago that they're just hard copies.  OLD lady right here!

Happy 5th!

Yep.

I learned that the hard way after Tyler had been "helping" by doing the dishes.  While I appreciate the thoughtfulness -- I am shocked that he has been living in this house and not even having a clue where anything goes.  For real.  I'm scared to look in his closet after letting him have his way with his laundry for the past 10 days...!

So here I am...

...less than ONE WEEK away from my due date and I have twisted my foot.  AGAIN.  It's the same foot that I twisted last summer.  Ugh, what a pregnancy!  On top of twisting this dang foot twice, I also fell on my baby bump and had the worst sunburn of my life.  Maybe that means and easy labor and delivery?!?!  Or baby 2 will be an angelbaby to make up for her rough pregnancy?!  That would be okay with me!

So now I'm couch-ridden.  With a toddler.  BUT at least Tyler's here this time!

Here's how it went down: Scarlett had her flu shot appointment today.  It was an absolute must that she got it before baby 2 is born.  I was helping her go to the bathroom before we left for the doctor office when I turned funny and heard, "POP!"  It was my foot.  Instantly, I could barely hobble around.  I called Tyler to have him meet me at the pediatrician's and hopped to the car.  We were called right in and the shot was a quick little thing -- Scarlett survived!  (I think that was more traumatic for me than Scarjo; I hate to see her cry!)

After the appointment, we all went back to the house, Tyler set me up with Tums and some ice and back to work he went!  Scarlett had a play date this morning, so at least she had fun then, but with me on the couch, we just turned on Sesame Street.  Thank you, Elmo!

Luckily, Mary was feeling generous and she came (after 2 episodes) and rescued Scarlett!  They're shopping  together with Lulu right now!  Phew!

Scarlett gave me her sticker from the doctor!  Sweet little girl!

On the plus side, I did get to enjoy The View today!  Alanis Morissette was on to perform (the song was okay.) and she was a guest on the couch to talk about her new album.  The topic of attachment parenting came up and the co-hosts had lots of questions.  My favorite part was how confident Alanis seemed while answering all those questions.  She was confident and bold in her answers.  Yes, she still breastfeeds and, yes, she co-sleeps with her son.  There was almost a, "duh" at the end of her statements.  I loved that!!!!

It makes me feel less crunchy in my parenting decisions and like they mean something because I'm just doing what feels right to me.  Love, love Alanis all over again!!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS!

Pinned by Elizabeth von Schlederer -- Postsecret rocks! 

I know everyone thinks it, but this is so hilarious and true!  Tyler and I have fights (that I always win.  for reals.), but we are besties and he'll even admit that.  And we rock as fun parents, mostly, and talk about how much we rock.  How lucky am I to have someone who I can talk to about how awesomely fun we are?!

Best. Postsecret. Ever.

Scarlett's Morning of Fun with her Da!

Da is winning brownie points; he gets her frosted doughnuts!

Scarlett was too short, so he did what any responsible parent would do...let her stand on a chair.  By herself.  Because he needed a picture with Gronk!  I'm glad I missed this! 

Tyler said that he told her to stand under his arm, but all she did was POSE!  

So as any pregnant lady/mother knows, you are always tired.  Always.  It's just how it is.  And sleeping in is a thing of the past.  Thankfully, now that Scarlett is boycotting naps, she does fall asleep by eight o'clock, so I go to bed then, too!  But last night, I stayed up to catch up on our favorite shows (wild Saturday night, eh?!).  The Office and Parks and Recreation were worth the loss of sleep, and I'm thinking that my free time is about to disappear around October 27, so it was nice to relax baby-free!

And then something magical happened...Tyler got up with Scarlett and took her to Dunkin Donuts and Walmart for a morning of grocery shopping fun!  He let her walk with him and they looked at the Christmas decorations and visited her favorite babies in the toy aisle.  Such a fun dad, but an even better husband!  Those extra two hours made me feel human!!!

But here's a little side story of the morning...Grr!

(At about 6am, I got up for my 4th bathroom run of the night, and as I climbed back into bed, Tyler shushed me!!!!  MURDER.  He gets up every morning with the goal to wake up the toddler, I swear!  He does his nose drops {ew.}, clinks around his belt, and leaves the water running while brushes his teeth {don't even get me started on that!}.  But because he was getting up with Scarjo, he made sure that all was quiet!  And when I told him I was thinking murderous thoughts, he just chuckled!  The extra sleep made up for the shushing, though...at least mostly!)

5 Whole Years!!!

On August 17, 2007, Tyler and I made our way to City Hall on a sunny, perfect day to do the wedding thing!  It was very casual, but I still got to wear a pretty, white Marilyn Monroe dress and hold a bouquet of flowers!!!  Our immediate family was there and we jetted off to Florida (to his grandmother's retirement community.  Seriously.) to spend a week sunbathing and shopping!  My idea of the perfect vacation!

Poor Tyler is absolutely cropped out!

The ceremony.  Short & sweet!

That was all FIVE YEARS AGO!  So much has happened in those five years; crazy fun, arguments that I always win, (almost) two babies, house buying (and trying to sell), a few different cars, and lots of time with my insane family!!!   I am so fortunate to have Tyler, even though I don't say it enough!  He works so hard to provide for our family and he puts up with the crazy that IS my family!  And he fits right in!

Today, Tyler has continued his tradition of bringing me coffee in the morning!  Even with half the caffeine, it was still delicious, and just tastes better because I didn't have to leave the house to get it!

After Tyler left for work, Scarlett and I started unpacking baby clothes from boxes.  I didn't get very far when I noticed that she was trying on all of my discarded items.  Fruitcake!  I have a feeling the next 10 weeks are going to be spent putting stuff away for baby 2/following around Scarlett and redoing everything she's undone!  At least she keeps me on my toes!

It's been an eventful anniversary so far...the rest of our day includes Rhyme Time for Scarjo and then I have to figure out what to get Tyler for a small, thoughtful gift...boys are so hard to shop for!!!

Okay, it's no secret that Tyler and I bought a fixer-upper, but I'd like to keep the nice things looking nice.

For example, no blankets hanging instead of curtains!  It's not that much to ask!  Or so I thought...

I got out of the shower at 8 pm (it was a late night for us; even Scarjo was still awake!) and I heard the drill going.  What??  So I make my way into the bedroom to find Tyler DRILLING SCREWS INTO OUR NICE MOULDING!  There were screws on either side of the window, then he proceeded to clip safety pins into his Eagles Snuggie, and hang it up in front of the window.  I couldn't say enough bad things about it.  Even Scarlett said, "ugly, Da!"  Yup, she's a smart lady!

This was hanging from my window.  Trashtastic!

I swore that it was coming down, but then I moisturized and got all ready for bed and Scarlett was waiting for me to read to her, so I dropped it for a moment.  I feel asleep with Scarlett...and then something magic happened...

Scarlett slept through the night.  That has NEVER happened!  So then I was torn...do I admit Tyler was onto something or throw his idea out the window?!

Well, I owned up that we need a curtain over that window, so Tyler was right.  BUT I refuse to keep that trashy, ugly snuggie over the window, so now we're on the hunt for more light-blocking curtains!!!

This Just Happened.

Ok, so really it happened a few months ago, but I found it this AM and am a little angry with Tyler all over again!

It's just me and the roomies are here, sitting in the living room, drinking a glass of sweet red, and watching Modern Family.  I glance over at Mary to tell her to look at their counter tops (for inspiration...hint, hint, next project maybe?!) when on the television, I hear Phil Dunphy say to Claire, "You're easy on the eyes when you put in a little effort."  (Or something close to that)  Tyler's eyes swing over to ME right as Phil says that.  Whoa.  We're fighting!

Christmas Cards

It's so funny how our opinions change over time.  I look back at my old myspace page and wonder what I was thinking when I posted those pictures or wrote a cheesy update.  What I didn't realize was how opinions could change in just a year!

Just about this time last year, I was sending out the best ever Christmas cards.  (also my first ever!)  In my mind, this year, I was bound & determined to out-do myself.  The first attempt at Christmas pictures ended with frustration on my part and a messy Scarjo.  Not sure why I thought I could sit her down and have her stay still for longer than a few minutes!  Crazy!  The second attempt was completely accidental; Scarlett was in her jammies and had her hair all over the place, but she was cute and posing, so we went with it!

I was so bummed because I didn't feel like I had improved the Christmas cards of last year, but accepted that this year was a wash and we'd try again next year.  (Oh, the stresses of a SAHM!  Haha!)  The cards were ordered with the best pictures that we had.  Boom, done.  I was over it!

Then...I was looking through Scarlett's baby book and came across this bad boy:

Add caption

I still love how much we captured Alyssa and Scarlett's playful relationship, BUT I am less in love with it than I was...it makes me happier with 2011's card!!!  Yes, Tyler's contribution was the back...he thinks he's hilarious! ;)


Oops...well that was a big tease!  Ok, here is this year's Christmas card, for reals:

Front

Back

Just Another Thursday in the 'Ville.

Okay, let me preface this with explaining that Tyler, the man with two jobs, is on vacation this week.  After cleaning out the garage, he was planning on relaxing and playing Madden...until I kindly reminded him that he has a one-year-old and a tiiired wife who wants to sleep in and have help taking care of Scarjo.  Sads for Tyler, but Mary and I were pretty much loving the idea of spending our Thursday afternoon perusing the aisles at Target.  (Did you know they have Missoni baby flats?!)  So Tyler, trying to be a good sport, climbed on into the Escape and came with us on our shopping spree to help with the babies!

While we were at Target, we ran into old co-workers and their super-cute (not as grumpy as Scarlett) babies, walked around in said Missoni flats, and stocked up on strawberry-filled panda cookies that Alyssa loves (and are only $1!), but then Scarjo started to lose her S-H-I-T.  Sooo...

We left Target, ate fried pickles at Texas Roadhouse, and then we went to THE CHRISTMAS TREE SHOP!!!  So. much. fun.  They have everything!  While we stocked up on crazy brand-named deep conditioner, discontinued best ever mascara (FYI, I paid $2.99 for mine.  F.), and mats for Tyler's wet boots, Scarjo walked around the store trying to apply men's deodorant.  It's her new thing; she witnessed me applying spray deodorant and has made it her everyday ritual since!  So strange.  (and hilarious!)  Luckily, the deo had the protective shield on it, so she didn't reek like a man all day.  Scarjo also noticed a rack of "shoes" and proceeded to sit in the aisle, take off her own shoe, and try to stick her foot into the "shoes" that she had discovered.  Those "shoes" happened to be doggies' chew toy shaped as shoes.  Smartest Funniest baby ever!

Second most entertaining Scarjo move of the afternoon was when she requested the hand mirror while sitting in her car seat eating her toddler Mum-mum.  I look back and this is what I witnessed:

Oh yes, she is watching herself eat in the mirror

Fruitcake baby!

The MOST entertaining Scarjo moment was probably so awesome because I am her mother, but still...the whole way home she fed her baby it's bottle and gave it love.  Cutie-cutes!

Clearly unfazed by the screaming "Nene" sitting a foot away from her!

So SWEET!

Yeah, it was a pretty fun day for me and the roomies!  We ended it with sleeping babies (who skipped their baths and went to sleep quickly), revisiting fun purchases as we put everything away, and a large-ish glass of wine with Molly.

Apple farm & open swim are on the agenda for tomorrow...I'm already excited!

Happy When Caffeinated

Today didn't start out as a fantastic day, but it's shaping out to be pretty fun, in an uneventful, happy baby type of way. 

I woke up thinking about the Dunkin' Donuts coffees (yes, plural!) that I was going to get as soon as Scarlett woke up and we could drive to the nearest drive thru.  I had decided to get the usual Great One with a turbo shot and then to get a small iced coffee to drink on the ride home.  This time of year is tricky because it's finally so sunny, buuuut it's still pretty chilly, so I can never choose between hot or cold coffee...decision, decisions, I know.  Ok, so I was clearly excited for my gallon of coffee...until I got this call:

T:  "Ihaveyourkeyinmypocket.  I know, I can't believe I took it.  It was still in my pants from last night.  I am wearing the same pants.  I called you at 8 o'clock to get this convo over with assoonaspossible, but you didn't answer."  (I have no idea why he wears the same pants 2 days in a row.  I don't do his laundry.  Maybe that's the problem!)

M: (surpirisingly calm) "Are you serious?"

T:  "Yes, I'msosorry.  I cannot believe it!"  (he knew I was excited for coffee)

M:  "Murdermurdermurder.  I was cleaning the toy room, not sleeping when you called.  FYI."  (I could totally hear the judge-y-ness in his voice!)

So, needless to say, DD was not in my immediate future.  Saaaaad for me.  But then my day started to look up...I found a bag of ice and decided that I would make my own coffee.  I cleaned my entire kitchen.  It's super-sunny here and so Scarlett and I are heading to the playground soon...after I blog with insane amounts of caffeine coursing through my veins!  

Yesterday was pretty nice, too.  Scarlett took her first walk around the neighborhood.  She was hilarious as she teetered her way over the uneven sidewalks.  It made me so happy that we are deciding to fix our house instead of move; we live in the best dead end neighborhood that is perfect for kids who play outside all summer!

 

There were neighborhood kids riding their bikes outside and Scarlett kept looking at them, willing them with her eyes to come play with her.  They were busy.  (Luckily for Scarjo, Lulu will be here soon, so she'll have a playmate whether Lulu wants in or not.)

On top of being ignored by the neighbors, Scarjo had a spill once we got inside.  It was a rough one for her!  She climbs on her pink adironack chair in our livingroom all the time.  Normally, she's pretty smooth, but last night she tripped on the carpet and bashed her face into the corner of the chair.  :( She has a bruise on her cheek...poor baby!

Ok, off to the playground...

PS--My daughter chews on paper towels, napkins, diaper wipes, you name it...is this normal??  Fruitcake baby!  I literally have to catch her before she eats it!

3 Years Ago...

I was about to marry my best friend! In front of our families. On a Friday morning. At city hall. After our vows, we took pictures, had cake, and flew off to Florida! Happy 3 years, Tyler!

And here we are in Florida!!!

Happy Father's Day!

It's Tyler's first Father's Day! He made my first Mother's Day really special, so the bar has been set really high for his first Father's Day. Shoot! For something special, I painted Scarlett's feet and stamped them on a paper that says, "Happy Father's Day! Love, Scarlett." Hopefully he appreciates the effort! It's quite a challenge to get decent footprints from a 5-month-old!!! But she loved having her feet painted--so fun! And so far, Father's Day has been great for Tyler! My mom brought him coffee & breakfast first thing in the morning! Now we're walking downtown with Scarlett, then we're grilling for dinner! It should be a fun day:)

Tyler and Scarlett<3

Scarlett turned 5 months old yesterday--and she rolled over for the 4th time--woohoo!!!