Less then 24 hours!

In less then 24 hours, this mommy is going to have a TODDLER!!!! So many feelings!!! SO MUCH TO DO!

I've been up until at least 1 AM every day splitting my time between party stuff, work stuff and blog makeover!

I 'm very much excited about this little Monkey Baby's birthday, but secretly excited about it being over. I always have great ideas, but because I'm a procrastinator at the 11th hour I am always running around like a crazy person! Ugh!

I have a million errands to run today and so much to do but hoping to hit the bed by 8 PM. party is at 10:40 AM! It's brunch and it's at my parents so I want to be bright eyed and bush tailed for everything!

I'm also really excited because I'm teaching myself all of these awesome blog tricks. I'm practicing on my practice blog and hope to have the blog completely revamped by the end of August!

Unleashing the design diva

I've been meaning to post about this for the last few weeks but keeping pushing it off for no other reason then I am a big time procrastinator.

From the time I was wee little girl I've thought about having every single type of career you could possible imagine. Think of a career and I thought about it. Actress? Yup, Detective? You betcha! Teacher? Darn skippy! Doctor? Yes, a shrink. Get the picture (oh yeah and photographer!). But there has always been three constants. Music, Writing, Design. Somehow some way those three things were going to link itself up and I would be a "triple threat" kind of like Beyonce (<---vomit) The music thing hasn't really gone anywhere exactly, but the record label Shawn has partnered with wants to sign me, so we will be starting my demo soon...So check one.

As for the writing I've given myself until the end of the year to figure out how to get my blog up and running. Awesome design, good concept, awesome features, ads, etc. that way when a producer from Oprah stumbles upon it my "writing" career will take off. Somehow, someway...

Then there's design. I've always been stuck with this one. I've tried in my itty bitty little head to figure it out. I even applied and attended (online and for about a month) the Art Institute for Fashion Marketing. But I was working full time and it was hard to keep up with it. I'm not good at follow through so I always meant to get back into it but never did....

However, it occurred to me a few weeks ago that I have nothing holding me back now. No reason to not at least try my hand at design. I have (my biased opinion) great ideas and a good eye. The only thing I lack is not being able to sew and not really being able to draw. So I decided to enroll in sewing and art classes. The very next day after I make my decision in the mail is a catalog for the local community college. Open it right up and there I land on beginner sewing classes! Is that a sign or what?

I also have a spare bedroom that I am going to turn into my craft room :-) The Husband is very excited and almost bought me a craft table but I told him I need to first take a few classes and make sure I really want to do this.

So there it is! I'm finally going to start pursing one of my dreams. I'm very, very excited! Look forward to lots of craft post and tutorials.

The struggles in my marriage

Whenever I write in my blog I want to be as transparent as possible. Showing you all the good, and cropping all the bad pictures where you can still see a bit of baby bulge. But seriously in the vein of being transparent, I think it's fitting I share just one of my huge struggles.

Is it possible that without even knowing your husband can just slip away....? That the person you once had laying in bed with you cuddling at night talking about silly shit can be so far from you? The person who would hang on your every word and now he only responds with "Huh? What?"

I think this is happening....I think my husband is falling more and more in love with something or someone else more then me....

I think he's in love with his Blackberry.....



AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Shawn has a one track mind. On one hand that's a benefit in our relationship and in his career. For us, I know he can only focus on one women at a time so I don't worry there will be others. I know when he's working he has one goal in mind. He's got a lot of drive...But this can certainly back fire big time! Ever since I've known him he's had a love for his phone. Text messaging, emailing, calling people. His phone is always attached to him. But since he's started with this new record label I think he snuck off and had his phone surgically attached to his hand. He has phone conferences for HOURS! Last nights started at 10:30 and didn't end until past mid-night! God bless him, music is great and all, but come one! It's not like he's saving lives or anything!

The phone rings and beeps in the middle of the night. He never turns it off, he's never without it. He takes it into the bathroom and sometimes I wonder if he even slips it into a little baggie and takes it into the shower.

And to be fair...It's not just phone calls and text and emails. It's also web surfing. Ebay, allhiphop.com, CNN, Fox News, NY Times, etc. In fact instead of "winding" down at night and reading like a normal person he surfs the Blackberry web.

I had to kick him out of the room twice in the past 2 weeks because I'm trying to sleep and I all I hear a bunch of "click, click, click" as he "makes his rounds" as he says.

And I'm not the only one who notices it. Tonight he was supposed to be feeding Phoenix dinner and I looked over and he's typing away and Phoenix is tipping his food on his head. So I say "Hmm...teaching him to feed himself?" so he fumbles and finishes feeding him. Not 1 minute later Phoenix goes "Ma! Ma! Ma!" and I turn around Phoenix is peering around from his highchair calling me because Shawn has picked his phone up AGAIN! Phoenix kept calling me until I walked over, took the phone and hid it. Once I did that Phoenix started eating again.

I'm a Blackberry widow......

Tag!

tagged!

What is your current obsession? I have a few. Dresses, Etsy, Scrapblog and design

What is your current favorite memory? When my son was born.

Starbucks or Peet's? Starbucks

What's for dinner? No idea. We will be out probably so maybe Panera

What would you eat for your last meal? Big burrito from Chipotle, Chocolate jello pudding with choc chips and sprinkles AND Birthday Cake Remix from Coldstones, Bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys. Last meal right? So no weight gain.

What's the last thing you bought? New baby lovey from The Polka Dot Tot (use posh4baby to get 20% off). I order Phoenix a new lovey because we lost his in ATL. One side a swirl soft brown and the other has a zebra motif. And I got it monogrammed.

What is your favorite ice-cream flavour? See "Last Meal" question

What do you think of the person who tagged you? Spearmint Baby had it posted on their blog

What was your favorite toy growing up? barbies

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? To the beach in Greece

Which language do you want to learn? A lot! Russian, Greek, French, Italian and Japanese

What's your favorite quote (for now)? I dwell in possibility- Emily Dickinson

What is your favorite colour? pink

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?Any dress. But my favorite is a dress from H&M.

What is your dream job? Being a mom and being a designer, singing and being a writer. Yes all of those! One down three to go!

What is your worst habit? I bite and pick my cuticles and they look so ugly!!!! I hate them. I also pray to God He will gift me with new fingertips!

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on? Well I looked this up b/c I was not sure and it is exactly $164.12. I would use this and go get my hair colored.

Do you admire any one's style? The chicks from Gossip Girl

Describe your personal style? I'm a girly girl. I love dresses, heels, wedges. My style is pretty eclectic. And I love vintage inspired stuff

What are you going to do after this? Finish working

What are your favourite movies? Pretty Women and Little Mermaid

What is your favourite fruit? Depends on my mood. Right now, strawberries

What inspires you? so many things! Life, love, Phoenix, the color pink, birds, lace

Your favorite book? Time Travelers Wife

Do you collect something? Clothing

What are you most proud of? Right now I am very proud of my new blog header and the idea I got for Phoenix goody bags!

What do you like most about yourself? I like that I am very loyal and always upfront about people, places and things. Basically I am upfront about nouns!

What is your go-to nail polish color? ah...I should give up my girl card. I haven't had my nails painted in ages! But I usually always get something in the pink family, in winter I go for black...yes BLACK

If you're interested and want to join in, consider yourself tagged by
Me @ beforethebabywakes.blogspot

From Me 2 U: Travel Tips

Phew! Back to the Northern part of the world on Tuesday night. The flight going to Atlanta was a dream. It could not have been better. He literally slept the entire time. Remember I said I was hoping he didn't wake up until they said "Welcome to Atlanta"...well he didn't.

BUT coming home was a completely different story. For starters after we landed in Atlanta I was completely at the mercy of The Husband and his time management and organization "skills" (notice the quotation marks?) so our flight was at 3 PM what time do YOU think I would want to be at the airport? If you guess 12 you are today's BIG winner. But of course we get to the airport an hour before our flight and if you have ever flown out of Atlanta then you pretty much know their airport is like larger then life. We had to ride the monorail wait behind a skinny rich bitch (kidding, but she was), her nanny and her 4 screaming kids at security and all their crap and then we had to RUN to the gate. Only to get there and be 15 minutes delayed. I had no time to grab Phoenix any lunch so I was feeding him Stage 3 fruit, goldfish, and Gerber cereal bars on the plane. He was an insane mess on the plane. Cranky, crying, screeching, pooping, climbing, hitting, yelling, etc. He finally falls asleep about 10 minutes before we land in Philly (layover baaaad idea). We get into Philly make it to our gate and get the most disgusting burger and hot dog. We barely finish scarfing it down and changing him into his pj's before we had to board again! But this time it was about 6:30ish so he was ready to hit the bricks. But this flight was only like 30 minutes, so by the time he fell asleep we were landing. It was just a hot sticky long tiring day! And of course the week that follows ended up being pretty bumpy as well!

Here are a few travel tips I picked up on the way:

1. Book a suite- If at all possible and you can afford it, do it! You'll remember with our NY trip I had trouble getting him to sleep and had to revert back to the swaddle/bounce/shuffle number. But having a suite this time completely eliminated this. I was able to put him down (when we were at the hotel) and go to the living room to read, watch TV, or work on my blog.

2. Unpack- Maybe everyone else already does this, but for some reason I never have. I'm very paranoid about leaving stuff. But this time decided to unpack. It made it easier because I wasn't digging for socks or diapers. I set us up just as if we were home.

3. Book flight for around nap or bed time- Now this was done completely by default. Since this was a business trip all of our travel arrangements were made by someone else and it worked out that our flight going was at his nap time. Add on the fact we had been up since 6 AM he was ready to snooze once we got on the plane. Now coming back....Yeah a different story.

4. Try to get direct flight- Again this was out of my hands. But next time I will insist on a direct flight. Having to entertain a tired and cranky baby in an airport is not the best thing. No other real explanation needed.

5. Good diaper bag- My Fleurville MotherShip does not close all the way so I knew stuff would be falling out of the bag on the plane. I got a big beach bag type thing with a zipper to use as my diaper bag that week.

6. Well stocked diaper bag- I packed about 30 diapers, two travel wipe containers, 2 outfits, socks, blanket, jacket (can be cold), lots of snacks (that don't make a gross, sticky, wet globby mess), juice cup, empty cup, extra paci, changing pad (forgot this), grocery bags (to put dirty diapers in), bottle of water, bottle of formula (even though he's pretty done with this), lovey(s), and "plane friendly" toys, and bibs (Pampers Disposable are great!)

7. Dress baby in comfy outfit- Just like you want to be comfy when you travel, so does baby. And something that's easy to do diaper or outfit changes. Oh and shoes and socks that stay on! Don't want to be fiddling with having to pick up shoes & socks while boarding.

8. Paci clip- What's the technical name for those things anyway? But you know what I mean right? I don't use them really unless we are out, just because when he sleeps I'm nervous he could choke himself. But using them while traveling is obviously a great idea. No need to worry about "sterilizing" the paci the "mommy way" when it falls {you know the one. pick it up. pop it in your mouth to take on the germs and pop it back into babies mouth...don't lie we allllll do it}

9. Bring outlet covers and other easy travel baby proofing items.

So that's it. Those are just a bit of my mommy travel tips to you.

Silent Sunday-Airplane Edition

Picking his birthday gift from the Sky Mall catalog.

Header Makeover

Look up.....Isn't it pretty? I did it all by myself! I have been dying to revamp my blog since I started it! I was fooling around on line and landed at Sneaky Momma Blog and started reading Blogger tips and BAM 4 hours later I had me a spectacular one of kind header :-)

I'm so proud of myself.....It's so ironic that I was able to figure this out because it falls in line with something I've been thinking about doing since I was 10! I'm going to post about it later, it's 2:45 AM and I need to finish getting us packed up so we can sit at the pool a bit before we fly out....

Stay tuned, for {hopefully} more changes in the next couple days and weeks!

And if you want a custom header just email me! beforethebabywakes@gmail.com

Nap time reading

Way back before The Husband and I had a baby our favorite thing to do was to lay in bed all day and read. We would go to the library and get like 7 books a piece and spend all day Saturday and Sunday in pj's reading. Sometimes we would even get the same books and read them together or we would swap books. It was (for me) some of the best times we had.

Even before I was betrothed and married to my beloved I would spend hours and hours reading. I would read at the dinner table and read while eating cereal. I would read while walking down the steps. I would read during commercials. I always carried a book with me. And in fact whenever I bought a new purse it had to be big enough to fit the book of the moment.

I adore reading.

But when you have a baby reading sometimes falls to the waste side. It's much easier to fold laundry and roast a chicken with the TV on as opposed to having a book in your hand. I used to try and read when I was nursing, but in the beginning I was so concerned with him latching properly I couldn't focus on the book. Other times I would relish the 30-40 minute break to relax on the couch and close my eyes while he suckled <----this is a funny word. Then he got bigger and nursing time was spent pulling his hands away from my face or breaking his death grip on my nip or holding his hands because he was trying to claw me to death. I tried reading at night but who am I kidding. Once he was out for the night all I wanted was sweet relief of a soft pillow, cold sheets, and War World II stories (Husband watches History Channel at night to unwind) to lull me to sleep. Thus reading again fell to the waste side. When I would finally find a book I was interested in it would literally take me weeks and weeks and weeks to finish it because I could only manage to squeeze in maybe 2 chapters a day instead of the usual six or seven or the whole book I would manage prior. Thus it was easier to close the books and flip on the TV. But with lazy summer vacations comes the zest for reading again. In the past 3 months or so I have been able to complete 3 books. Handle with Care By Jodi Picoult (this book had me in tears for hours after I was finished with it), Best Friends By Martha Moody, (this one. not so great)
and One Fifith Avenue by Candace Bushnell (basically another sex & the city, just with different people and a few graphic sex scences. so if you refer to sex between you and your husband as the "act of marriage" you might want to skip this one. but a satisfying shallow read). I just started American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. This book has been a bit of a slow start for me only because of this week and the constant sessions I am requested to attend (I am currently sitting at another one. But this is ok, because out of this week I forsee that I will bestowed {for random reasons} beautiful pieces of Tiffany's Jewelery , like this Fleur de lis Key Pendant) I haven't been able to dive into the book fully like I want to. But tomorrow is our last full day and Phoenix and are going to make it to the pool, if only for a few hours. I'm looking forward to this book because I heard great reviews. The only thing that has me raising my need to be waxed and plucked eyebrows is that it seems to be loosley based on Laura Bush. I hope that it doesn't shed her in a bad light because I happen to really like Laura Bush and I loved the former President (unlike our current country leader)

Moving along though dearies. I have compiled a list of my some of my favorite books (list on left side column). Most of these books were read prior to the Monkey Baby making his arrival. My favorite book of all time is The Time Travelers Wife. Shawn and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. We both cried. The movie comes out August 14th so you need to read the book NOW!

Hopefully after I finish a few books I can do some reviews.

Silent Sunday-Phoenix's Kate Gosselin Haircut

Debating if this should be his everyday do or just for special occasions

In need of a suit for the monkey

Attention my lovely readers, if you saw my blog post before this one I mention two things I just got from Etsy. But the link to the Etsy shop actually took you to my sisters baby registry. Yeah, no idea how I managed that one. I woke up at 5 AM yesterday and didn't go to sleep until 3 AM so almost 24 hour of no sleep.

Anyhow, you'll see from my time stamp that I am writing this post at almost 5 AM. For some reason my husband likes when I come to the studio and just watch him work. Don't get me wrong, it can be quite fun and salacious when writers, engineers, and my husband give us mere "mortals" gossip on other artist. But this time around it was a little hectic. For starters it was like 900 degrees in the studio, so you know me. I was melting and two Phoenix just refused to settle down! He was loud and crawling all over the place and trying to push buttons and talking to fish. It was also especially stressful because I don't want my husband to seem like he brought this family entourage who was tearing the place up! And they were doing some filming for a possible reality show type thing and I was just not wanting to be caught on camera chasing a baby with a boob pooping out of my low cute summer dress. He FINALLY decided to sleep around 11:30ish, then Phoenix and I ended up leaving the studio around 2. He's fallen asleep and I'm just not that tired...

I've been working on the 1st Birthday Monkey Extravaganza and have come up with three cute ideas. 1. I am going to make a photo sign for people to sign and then hang it in his room. Not completely original but it'll be a cute keepsake. and 2. I decided to take some photos (so far 196) and string them on a clothes line with clothes pins all around the house. Kind of like "picture garland" or "picture streamers". I also want to then take those same photos and videos and make a DVD. Shawn did a song (just the instrumental) about the three of us when he was born that I'll probably use in the background. Either that or the Phoenix and Mommy song.

After Phoenix fell asleep at the studio I started hunting the web for his birthday outfit. I have no idea what I want it to be. I don't know if I want monkeys on it or just the colors of his party...But I found this cute Morfs Cheeky Monkey set from the Target Baby Boutique





So isn't all of that really cute together?! The Daddy doesn't like it, but I've checked all my usual places. Gymboree, Jack & Janie, Gap, Old Navy, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus, and Crazy 8 and didn't see anything.

So I'm thinking the Mommy might just have to pull rank on this one folks

The Husband just got in and now I will go to sleep

Monkey's galore!

Two more weeks until my little Bubba Monkey Cake is 1 and officially a toddler! He's already so toddler now, it's crazy. All he does is walk around and talk. I love it. My favorite music has now becoming his voice.

Two weeks until my baby is one and two weeks until I can stop stressing over the party.

Here is the finished sketch of his cake


Doesn't it look absolutely delicious?! I've been craving cake ever since Thursday.


I also order this hat and these shoes for his party. The hat he will wear while eating his cake. The ribbon tie and the hat colors will match his invitations.


I ordered these from Etsy which is slowly becoming my new obsession. Anyhow the shoes and hat were ordered from lilcubby. There was also an adorable monkey pirate shirt I want to get and all the little girl booties are so precious! I'll be ordering those as well for my new niece Penelope :-)

Now I just to figure out what he's going to wear...I have Gymboree Bucks to redeem so I'm going to hit the website and see what I can find.


I am now going to invest in hotel blinds and curtains! Phoenix went to bed at like 9:30, 10 ish woke up at 8 AM and then came into bed with us and slept until 10:00 AM and that was only because we made him get up. Shawn didn't get back until 5:30 and me trying to be the dutiful wife tried to stay up for him because I knew he was going to be excited and raring to talk, but I crashed at 3:00 AM, so I was so glad Phoenix decided to sleep in. And now he's sleep again for his nap. It's either his old age catching up with him or jet lag, even though we are still on the same time zone. LOL.

We've landed and I'm melting

In last nights post my goal to minimize our luggage was not meet, and as I found out this morning I should have used MORE suitcases. Since when did airlines start charging $90 dollars to check a bag that is over 50 lbs? Our first suitcase was like 64 pounds! We spent 30 minutes rearranging stuff so that we did not have to pay the $90 dollars. Once we arranged the checked bags, we then find out our carry on suitcase of computer and studio paraphernalia and a song book (that weighed 10 pounds! I told the Husband that book better be used so much this week that when we return home it is tattered and stained from all the "using") was putting us 2 pounds over the limit. So we then have to pull my purse out of the large suitcase and stuff crap in there to distribute the weight. It took us about 30 minutes (thank God I insisted we get to the airport almost 3 hours early! Yes THREE HOURS. I told you...I'm a stresser...) , but I would much rather do that then have to pay an extra $180 to bring my luggage with me! The biggest problem was one suitcase was literally filled with Phoenix's breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner stuff. I didn't want to be stuck in a hotel without having food for him in the event Shawn worked from the moment we landed until we head back home, but who am I kidding, this is exactly what's going to happen. He left the hotel at 3 PM and it's 12:45 AM and he just called saying he has the studio until 5 AM....so yeah.... But I am cool with it. Gotta make money to spend it right?

Once the weight distribution debacle was over we sat and had some breakfast and let Phoenix just chat up a storm. He was absolutely EXCELLENT by the way. Being all friendly and flirty with the people at the gate while waiting to board. He was walking around and waving and talking. He's a charmer our boy. Our flight ended up being delayed like 30 minutes because of a bathroom mishap and he was still great. Once we got on the plane he started flirting with the 10 month old in the seat in front of us and then fell asleep as soon as we took off and slept the entire time! He was an absolute doll when we finally meet up with the music execs. He made the momma very proud. We then arrived at our hotel/mini apartment (I'm going to be totally spoiled after this and only insist we stay in suites from now on. The problem we had in New York with a small room and the sleeping issue is totally solved!) he walked around playing ate lunch and then slept again until 7, woke up and was out again by 9:45, I think it was a verrrry long day for him. He's been up since 6. But he did a great job. Mommy was stressed and sweating like a whore in church (Atlanta is beyond words HOT. Thank GOD we don't live here. I would melt) but, I'm looking forward to tomorrow to just hit the pool and read.

I have a few photos already. I decided to create a Flickr account so instead of only posting a few pictures on the blog (Blogger only lets you do five at a time) at a time you can see the whole album. Aren't you excited?! I am also setting up a YouTube account because I finally got strong long lasting batteries for my mini-video camera.

The internet connection is so slow here. Like dial up slow! Videos and pictures are taking hella long to post, so I'll post the links once I get them done.

Almost time to go

In about 17 hours I am hoping to be swimming in a pool with the monkey and working on my tan. This week preparing for our trip was pretty relaxed up until today. My mom wanted some Phoenix time before we left so he was on a mini vacation with the grandparents. It was equally nice and sad at the same time. Nice because I slept until 10:30 everyday and got all my work done and just started checking things off my list. But also sad because my Bubba's was gone. I was so happy when they brought him home today :-D so happy that I almost decided to let him stay up late and hang out with us....then the over flowing suitcases and to-d0 list started calling my name!

In planning for this trip my goal was to pack as much as I could into ONE big suitcase for all THREE of us. Yes, you heard me. I was planning on packing all of our clothes, shoes, and toiletries into one suitcase so that another suitcase could be filled with Phoenix's "miscellaneous" stuff. I had even decided to forgo my normal travel mentality of "pack twice as much because you never know if you'll be stranded somewhere" just so Phoenix could have everything he needed...But I quickly realized that was NOT happening. Shawn will be at the studio and in meetings most of the day leaving Phoenix and I to fend for ourselves. I don't know how close we are to any Target stores or markets, and we aren't renting a separate car (other then what the company has for the ahem..."talent") so I needed to make sure Phoenix had enough breakfast, snack, lunch and possibly dinner stuff for the 4 days. I obviously could order room service but that is a bill that would rack up rather quickly! And me...well I don't eat (hey! I've lost almost 20 pounds!) Add on top of food all the diapers, wipes, pacis, juice, cups, bottles, milk and toys and that takes up an entire medium size suitcase! PLUS Shawn needs all of this stuff (I will refrain from saying what I really want to say) so that now puts us at 1 large suitcase, 1 medium suitcase, 1 small suitcase, a big diaper bag, car seat and stroller! Also adding to my stress level is I have a tendency to be a little Kate Gosselin, meaning, I think she creates a lot of her own stress, and I do the same thing. I can take the smallest things and spazz out and make them seem like bigger task then they really are. Plus, yes this also leads into another Kate Gosselin attribute. I can be a big whiny bitch for no good reason. Example giving my husband attitude today for a good hour for buying a hat and a shirt (yeah shut it! I know!).

I'm ready to just get on the plane and pray that Phoenix sleeps until they say 'Welcome to Atlanta....'

Sheesh! Wish me luck!

Progress on the Monkey's birthday

Aren't they the most adorable little birthday invitations!? I am (slowly) checking things off the birthday extravaganza list which is 17 days away! I got the invitations from & Everything Nice.
They had some great choices and the delivery was super fast! I literally paid for them at like 5:30 PM on Wednesday and Thursday at like 10 AM they were sitting in my living room!

My next big task is to get my idea executed for the gift bags. I won't mention it because I will probably jinx myself (and if I can't get it done, I'll just do some generic bag of candy) and not get it done! But it's quite an undertaking for someone like me who does not have one crafty bone in her body. Next week however when I get back from Atlanta I am in full "gift bag assembly" mode!

And I still have not found a monkey! I'm getting really sad, I doubt I will be able to make it happen :-( One guy did say he had one and could travel from Boston for $3500! Yeah, no thanks. I will have my little brother just dress up.

First plane ride

This week is looking to be pretty stressful, at least for the first few days. We fly out Friday to spend like 5 days in Atlanta. Shawn has business meetings and sessions in Atlanta with a new record company he just became a partner with. We are both SO excited about this opportunity. It came out of nowhere and it looks uber promising. When you go on business trips you should always take your brain/memory/secretary, which is why I am going and a cute accessory, which is why Phoenix is going. But seriously this is going to be Phoenix's first plane ride and I'm really excited about that, but also equally nervous. Flying is not always my favorite thing to do. Whenever I fly I'm always stressed out about losing my boarding pass or luggage or getting on the wrong flight. So add a baby and a stroller, car seat, carry on's, diaper bag, snacks, drinks, bottles and suitcase I am just really stressing that I am going to forget something or Phoenix is going to completely show his ass on the plane and make us look like frazzled parents. Ugh! Phoenix hates to be restrained under any circumstances. Diaper changes, getting dressed, feeding, car rides, stroller rides, teeth brushing, is all a challenge because he doesn't want to be still. I imagine he's going to want to crawling and now (officially!!!) walking all around the plane.

On top of getting ready for a trip, where I plan on just laying around the pool all day, not shopping like I did last time! Hey I gotta a awesome first birthday to get ready for. But I also have work to stay on top of so they don't bug the hell out of me while I'm gone and my sisters baby shower is the Saturday right when we get back so I feel a little stressed out at the moment but I'm going to remain calm, focus on my to-do list and let things just flow the way they plan on flowing.

We fly out Friday morning so if you think of us, pray we get either an empty plane so as not to annoy the other flyer's or a plane full of other first time parents with 11 month olds!

Silent Sunday-

It's all just noise unless...

1 Corinthians 13:1 (The Message)

¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

The husband that cleans

Does anyone else who has a husband who likes to straighten-up? Mine loves too, we both can sometimes go a day or two with messiness. Not filth, just kind of messy. But then we get crazy and it has to be cleaned up or we can't function. This weekend it was messier then usually with the holidays and we had a lot of packages delivered. There were boxes and tools, and shipping peanuts and mail just kind of scattered. Saturday night after getting home from the 4th festivities we put Phoenix to bed and I did a quick power clean while directing Shawn to certain areas. Then Sunday morning we went to the pool in the afternoon and again in the morning the house just kind of got turned upside down. But this time it was mostly Shawn's stuff. So when we get in from the pool Sunday he decides he needs to clean up. I'm sure a lot of wives would love for their husband to offer to clean up. But I am so obsessive compulsive that I loathe when he starts straitening up. He just piles things in different areas and throws stuff away that's not trash. To me it makes what was a simple 10 minutes power clean into a 2 day long search of where he put stuff. But my bitchiness and the fact I was extra tired from the sun and pool got the best of me and I kind of slightly spazzed and went upstairs and locked myself in the bathroom to wash my hair. I don't know why I get like that. I know he was just trying to help. I seriously either need to relinquish some control and be gracious and accept the help or "teach" him my way.

And have I mentioned I have a TODDLER!? He's walking! Not completely consistently but close. He does it more at his Yaya and Papouli's house because I think he doesn't like crawling on the hardwood. But when we are home he goes straight back to his knees or does this crab crawl. I'll have to catch that on video soon. It is terribly cute!

Baby needed {more} shoes

Mommy likes shoes so it's only natural her baby would too. Well he might not looove shoes. I actually suspect he hates all types of apparel because getting him dressed is literally like trying to wrestle with an oily pig! Maybe I should say, Mommy loves shoes, so baby has a lot of shoes. I love little boy shoes especially because they come in such cute bright colors!

Here are his newest pairs that came today from TinySoles

These are Robeez Mini Shoez. I really like Robeez. He has like 15 pair! They go on easy and always stay on. This particular pair have cute little skater boyz on them.


These are by Rileyroos. My little sister and husband did not think they were very cute, but the little boy who was modeling them looked adorable in them, so I am sure the monkey will too!
I also ordered some little girl Robeez for his cousin Penelope who will be here at the end of September! TinySoles was very quick shipping and actually has a very large stock. It took me a little while to decide on what to get. And all the shoes were wrapped in cute bright colored tissue paper and they also threw in a little lollipop shaped like a foot!

Momma needs a new diaper bag

So Momma's how long do you carry a diaper bag for? This is the question I am asking myself. I know it's not a big life changing thing but I'm really wondering. The diaper bag I have been carrying since Phoenix was born is the MotherShip by Fleurville. It's white and trimmed in brown. When I got it I loved it. Now it's starting to fray on the inside and it doesn't stay closed so it can be a real pain in the bottom. So I have been on a hunt for the last couple weeks for a new bag. I admit I am what you might call a "purse whore" (and now also a "stroller whore" another post...) I love expensive, big flashy bags. So of course shopping and picking out diaper bags I have become a "diaper bag" whore. I love Coach and always try to get a new Coach bag as soon as my current one starts to show some wear and tear. But the one I got for Christmas is hanging on so well that I'm not ready to get a new one. Now I want this bag to replace the Fleurville diaper bag, but because the monkey is almost one and we are thinking of starting the potty training around 14-16 months I'm wondering if I should even bother to get this beautiful bag. I still think I want to get it, because even if I only use it for a diaper bag for a few months I can always use it as a purse or travel bag later on.

But isn't it soooooooo pretty???

Silent Sunday-Phoenix the Pimp

My son the pimp. Make's mommy so proud.... (kidding). Another pool day. My son flirting with the 1 year old (he likes the cougars). Crawls right up to her, put's his hands on her shoulders and kisses her. Does it again, and again. Then crawls away and ignores her. She tried following him. Heartbreaker, the love em' and leave em kind...Oh geeze! He then falls asleep in the car, pimpin' ain't easy.

the swimming monkey

Phew! This week went by very quickly....(I almost typed 'clickly' uh why?) anyway. Last Saturday I loaded my Monkey Baby and 3 of my 4 sisters ( the other was moving) and 2 of their friends in my parents SUV and we headed to the pool. We used to have a pool when we lived in Virginia and you never really know what you have until it's gone right? I have been missing that thing like crazy! When I was pregnant last summer I didn't crave a bunch of crazy foods, I mainly craved fruits. But the oddest thing was the intense desire I had to be submerged in water. Every time I would see a pool commercial or big bodies of water I would want to be in it soooo bad. We went to Minnesota last summer and I was finally able to hit the hotel pool....Well this summer the desire has been just as intense. Plus I wanted to see how adorable Phoenix would be in all his swim gear. So last Saturday we hit the pool for a few hours and had a GREAT time. Phoenix wasn't loving it at first, but warmed up to it. He enjoyed the popsicle he got after a lot more.


Can you believe my baby is 11 months old? 11 months old on Wednesday! He started taking his first steps Sunday standing on my parents dining room table and ever since then he's taken several more threw out the day. His new tricks this weeks are clapping, sharing his food and paci, giving kisses when asked, and dancing to the music on the Noggin shows. I'm starting to get a little stressed and anxious about his birthday party. I have all of my ideas down and now I just need to get things executed. But if you know me, then you know I am the world biggest procrastinator I'm order his invitations (rush of course!) this evening and I will be working on his gift bags hopefully next week. Then I have this crazy idea of wanting a monkey at his monkey themed bash. Shawn wasn't to excited about this idea. He thought I wanted to get like a chimp like the one that chewed that ladies face off. But I don't want one like that of course! I just want a cute little like spider monkey kind. But of course I am having ZERO luck in finding one in the DC/Baltimore area. I mean aren't there like underground monkey clubs or something?! I need a monkey for my kids party people! Anyone in the area know of a monkey? I'll pay good, I promise!