One Year

I am not quite done with the Dear Mason post, so if you have some time, take a looky at the last year in photos.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dear Mason - One Year

One Year

Dear Mason,

Where do I even begin? I have been thinking about writing this post for what seems like forever but alas, I still cannot come up with the appropriate words. What can I possibly say about you that I haven't said before? You should know everything by now. You should know how much I love you, my lingering guilt over the first couple months of your life, how you are the love of my life, my sunshine, my rain, my heart.

Your personality is still the same. You are a ball of fire and a breath of fresh air all at the same time. You melt not only my heart, but everyone else's around you. You are wonderful, beautiful and every other adjective that could possibly describe LOVE and BEAUTY. I read over all of the Dear Mason posts. Every single one of them. It is amazing to see the transformation in you and in myself. You changed who I am and I will never be that same. You made me a mother.

Even when you push me away and bite and scratch and pull my hair in frustration, I am still bursting with love. Even when I call you a "little shit" or yell "no no no no no NO!" for a straight hour my insides are melting with love.You are the only thing in my life that is absolutely perfect in every way. And this is what I want to tell you: Your life will not be perfect. Your relationships, dreams, marriage, house, car, bank account, family, etc etc...they will never be exactly like you imagined them. Do not let this take you under. Do not even for one second dwell on any of it. Please be happy. Be the best person you can be. Be yourself and speak your mind. Put 110% into everything you do, even if it is someone else's 10%. That's all I will ever ask of you. I just want you to be you because that is the most important thing you can be. I will always be your mother and you will always be my Mason. No matter what.
This is officially the last post here. Head on over to my new blog for a good time.

Whirlwind

Lesson 13 - BUSY

Adding people to your family, especially little people only makes your life busier, people. I could have sworn that SOMEWHERE SOMEONE must have told me it makes life slow down.

No?

Really?

We have been so busy lately with all the football drafts, friends, friends sprouting multiple babies at once, working, getting ready for the BIG birthday. ::Shock:: my baby is only going to be a baby for one more day. One more day! Then he officially enters toddlerhood. I have a toddler. My God, who let this happen? We took one year photos today with cake and all and it was soooo difficult for a couple reasons. First, he crawls. Everywhere. You cannot stop him. He wants his truck, not the stuffed football. Damnit. Then the cake. Oh the cake. Whoever started this ridiculously cute trend must be found and hugged. And then shot. I will of course be including the results (the not so wonderful results, but whatevs) in his Dear Mason post.

To end, look at some cute twins. Oh my gosh. They smelled like roses and candy and yumyumyum. My uterus moved a little when I held them. Then I smacked myself and told myself to, "Get it together, lady".

They want S'mores!

I will be blogging over at Learning Two Reed today because THE TWINS ARE COMING!!!

A Teaser

Lesson 12 - What spinach? I think a lot of moms will agree with me in saying that the health and nutrition of your child is probably THE most important thing in the first year. You are pretty much setting the standard for the rest of their life. I would much rather get him used to eating healthy things now than arguing with him about eating the good stuff later.
Mealtime has definitely been a challenge lately since my GREAT eater off all things pureed has turned into a picky eater. Enter Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. Works like a freaking charm. I am finding new ways to hide veggies in EVERYTHING. This even makes life easier for me because I prepare the purees ahead of time, freeze and then mix into whatever I am making.

Look for recipes, stories and outcomes on the new blog coming soon! Sorry to be a tease but I am SUPER busy this week!!

Conspiracy Theory

Lesson 11 - Save your money.

Babies totally don't care about toys that were actually made for them. Okay, sometimes they do, but most of the time? Most of the time they think that every day items are waaaay better. Take the remote for example. Do you think Mason plays with his Elmo remote? Hells no. He would much rather change the channel and mess up our input settings on the regular remotes. Paper bags? HOURS of entertainment. Keys, water bottles, trash cans, coasters, cell phones, nail files, etc etc etc.

I have a theory. What if we played with all of their baby toys from the beginning and ignored our everyday "toys"? Would they think that their toys were cool again? I mean, I don't know about you but I get down right giddy in the toy aisles at Target and Toys R Us. There are so many cool toys out there for kids. Maybe that's the point. Maybe the toy manufacturers are onto something. Maybe they are making the toys for the parents. Maybe I need to take my medication now.

The non-bubble baby.

Lesson 10 - As I told my friend Jessica, babies bounce.

I think the first time was when Mason was VERY young. Like, still carrying him like a baby young. I slipped on the stairs and almost dropped him, but he was saved from hitting the ground...that time. The next time was when he started rolling. You know how when your baby gets to THAT age and every time you go to the doctor for a well check-up she says, "Make sure you don't leave him alone on the changing table, he might roll off."? It was somewhere around there. I turned to get a onesie out of his closet and like a dream, slow motion rolling happened. I caught him mid air, but I still think he tasted a little bit of the ground.

We had a break for a while, minus all of the "learning to sit" toppling with little bumped heads here and there. Next up was Mason vs. the stairs. Twice. One incident you all witnessed in the chicken abuse video, the next was a mere two weeks later when Mason decided to climb up three stairs and practice standing by himself. You can imagine the outcome of that one. Let's see, ah yes, next was what we lovingly refer to as "The Bed Dive". Every morning, we bring Mason into bed with us while we work on getting our eyes to stay open for the day. Usually, Mason can see the foot board of the bed, but today it was covered by our comforter. Which happens to be silk. Awesomeness. On this particular day, Mason crawled to the end of the bed and kept on going. All I saw were legs straight up in the air.

Most recently, like this morning, stupid me forgot to fasten the straps on my dear Maclaren stroller. We were browsing in a book store and Mason evidently wanted to check out a book on the nearest shelf he could reach. He fell right out of the stroller, head first onto the ground. He now has a lovely carpet burn on his forehead. After I showed him a nearby stuffed elephant he was completely fine.

Luckily, we haven't had any serious injuries yet. Most of the time, he is watched very closely. As many of you moms know, you cannot be everywhere at once and sometimes things happen. Not even the best babyproofers are completely, well, babyproofed. Do not beat yourself up over it. Shit happens and it will continue to happen. Maybe worse! Maybe you will have to go to the emergency room a time or two. Everyone does. Who wants a bubble baby?

Lesson 9- Babies are funny.

Asleep While Eating...Again. from Tiffany Luc on Vimeo.

The BEST skill.

Lesson 8 - Put down the Windex

Since I suffered from some MAJOR anxiety in the beginning, I felt like my house was in shambles at all times. And it was. Okay, maybe not shambles, but definitely not up to our standards. What I didn't, couldn't realize was that HI! You just had a baby. No, really. You were just in labor for 30 hours before it was decided that you had a "special" pelvis and couldn't deliver a baby. Oh, and guess what else? You haven't slept in EIGHTYBAZILLION years. Chill, lady.
Any time Mason was sleeping, or someone else was holding him, it took everything in me to not jump up and clean. A lot of times I couldn't fight the urge and would clean, forgoing showers, meals and sleep to clean my stupid house. Seriously, how stupid is that?
If there is one "Lesson" you pay attention to and take any little morsel of advice from, let this be it. Step away from the duster. People will understand. Or better yet, have someone else clean for you for a little while - or at least until you get your sanity and clean hair back. You are not a bad mother or wife for doing this.
Who wants to spend any of the "free" time that you get (and it is very little) cleaning, eating, showering, or doing any of the other everyday things that we all must do? How fulfilling is that? The best mothering skill I learned was how to take a shower with Mason watching in his bouncy seat, or clean the house with him happily riding in his carrier on my back, or eating with one hand - or better yet, handing him off to Paul or someone else.
Spend the precious moments while the baby is sleeping by READING, watching TV, napping, grocery shopping, writing a blog - whatever butters your muffin. I cannot stress how much this improved my mood and level of happiness. This doesn't go on forever. I now shower while Mason plays with a laundry basket. I clean while he chases the vacuum. He eats when we eat (and feeds himself!). And when he naps? I surf the Internet, watch DVR'd shows and sometimes !gasp! nap.
My house is clean, my hair is clean and everyone is happy.

Does this make any sense at all?

Lesson 7 (I think) - You just wait.

Ah. The dreaded three word phrase of parenting and one-uppers. Your kid won't sleep through the night? You just wait - my kid is 7 years old and still not sleeping through the night. Baby refuses to take a nap? Oh honey, you just wait - they never want to take naps until they are teenagers, then they never want to wake up. Not sleeping well because you are nine months pregnant and the baby is sitting on your sciatic nerve? You just wait until the baby is actually here! YOU JUST WAIT!

What am I waiting for, exactly, oh mother-of-doom/debbie downer? Really, I hate this phrase. It may be a little more than hate. There is something inside of you as a parent that kind of clicks once you have a child. You want to warn everyone that OMG YOU HAVE IT SOOOOO MUCH WORSE. Paul and I have done it before - not so much anymore but definitely in the beginning when we were all "NO MORE BABIES!" and "THIS BLOWS THE BIG ONE WHAT WERE WE THINKING?" because we were not sleeping and totally delirious and where is the Ambien/can we still give him back to the hospital? We did this particularly when a friend or family member announced that they were pregnant. How awesome are we?

So there it is. My diagnosis of why parents feel the need to use scare tactics on each other. We are not trying to make you feel better, because if we were, we would say something like: "Baby isn't sleeping through the night yet? It does get better." Even then, that phrase used to annoy the hell out of me. No, my friends, we are trying to make US feel better. Just another reason why we should all shut the hell up and smile and coo over how extremely cute your new baby is. But I write a blog, so I guess I am constantly putting "it" out there.

To sum it all up. God, I hate that phrase, but it's use it inevitable. And since you made it through this rambling/does not make sense at all post (I love BACKSLASHES today) ////////////// look! A cute, snot covered baby!

2

Lesson 6 - A little diddy about birth control.

There once was a young couple in love. One day, two years ago, they got married. They knew they wanted children but were not sure when. They decided it was okay if she went off of birth control because it would take a while for it to clear out of her system....right?

Well, two years later, they now have an 11 month old.

What is the moral of the story here kids? The moral is that fate is real. Happiness is real. Love is real and it cannot be stopped. Not even by pumping your body full of hormones for 10 years.

Happy 2nd Anniversary lovie. I love you more and more every second. Even when you agree that it is probably okay to stop birth control. You are supposed to be the smart one in this relationship. Kidding. Thank you for my beautiful son - he is our love brought to life for everyone to see.

A whole different language.

Lesson 5 - Language Explosion

Okay, maybe not a lesson...but I am sure I can spin it as one. I just really wanted to share this with all of you. Over the last week, Mason has really started "talking", or trying to anyways. He has always been a chatterbox, but none of it really made sense to us. Recently he started saying the following:

-bye-bye
-kitty
-cow
-dog
-dada (this one has been going on for a while, but he gets who he is talking about now HUGE difference)
-mama (same as above)
-"nana" means he wants food...just figured that one out
-papa
-baba & all of the other ones like that.

Here's my spin:

Dear Tiff and Paul,

Stop using bad words in front of your child NOW before he starts riding around the local big box hardware store and saying "fuckfuckfuck" when you ask him how the ducky goes.

Sincerely,

Your Conscience

Golden Books are always too long for bedtime.

Lesson 4: Lying is okay.

While reading Mason his bedtime story...

Paul: Let's read the Pokey Little Puppy.
Me: That's a long one.
Paul: Well, he's not grabbing the pages of the book yet, maybe we'll make it through.
Me: ::snark snark snark silently to self::
Paul: "Once upon a time, there were five little puppies...."
Me: ::yawn::
(Mason starts grabbing the book on the second page and tries to close it)
Paul: (after struggling for two pages to wrestle the book away from Mason and continue reading, but only getting to page 4 of 80 bagillion) "...and they all ran down the hill. The End."
Me: And out into the road where they got hit by a truck. Mason, never run out into the road. That was the best story ever.

It's a sickness.

Lesson 3: YAY BOOGERS

The strangest thing happens once you have a baby: you become obsessed with everything that oozes out of their tiny little body. I actually get excited when Mason wakes up with crusty boogs in his nose. I love them. He hates when I try to pick them out. It is totally disgusting and twisted, but I cannot help myself.

Do you see it? Do you see the booger?!

The poop. Oh the poop. In the beginning, it is all "what color is it?", "is it seedy?", "Awww honey look! Meconium!". Breastmilk poops are the FUNNEST. They are runny, gross, but surprisingly don't smell. After that, once I switched to formula, NASTY CITY. Smelly, smelly, smelly poop. And solids? Don't even get me started! Sometimes there is a thick, black fog of poo-smells that creeps under the nursery door and straight up into my nose, burning every tiny hair in sight.

I never thought I would be one of those moms who licks her thumb and cleans her child's face. OH I am. Especially if there are crusty boogers involved. Gagging while you read this? You just wait! (stay tuned for a lesson on that very phrase: YOU JUST WAIT!)

Don't look the crazy person directly in the eyes.

Lesson 2: Be careful what you say.



I don't know how well I hid 'the crazy' at the beginning. Some people probably brushed it off as new mom baby blues, or new mom anxiety, tiredness, bitchiness, or whatever. Some people probably knew, but didn't know what to say. I don't even think I fully knew what was going on for a while.



I do know one thing though: When you are dealing with post-partum depression/anxiety issues, the tiniest things can set you off. I felt like I was constantly being judged. I felt like I wasn't good enough. I felt like a horrible mother. I could go on and on. There were people who are very close to me that I felt were hurting me with their words and actions on purpose. They might have meant it, they might not have - I don't know, nor does it really matter now. I know now that it is very important to watch what you say to new mothers. They are doing their best. Let them do what they want to do. Keep your mouth shut no matter how bad you want to open it. They might be dealing with a monster inside of them, don't fuel the fire.

Countdown to the big day.

I have learned so much this past (almost) year about more than just motherhood - but mostly motherhood. In celebration of the upcoming completion of my first year of motherhood, and surviving a completely new life, I want to share the lessons I have learned - one at a time - as a countdown of sorts until Mason's first birthday. Enjoy.





Lesson 1 - The term "sleeping like a baby" is complete shit.





You will never sleep like you did as a teen again. In the beginning, Mason was up every two hours to eat, took an hour to eat, leaving me an hour to eat, shower, nap, clean, change his diaper, whatever. I have never felt tired like I did in the beginning. This lasted about 3 months (not so much the two hour thing, but just about) and then it started to get better. He started sleeping more, and eventually I got used to it, then after that he started sleeping all night. I forget when this was exactly - I would have to look it up (look for the lesson on "momnesia" soon). We got about a month of peaceful., fulfilling rest - or as close to it as you can imagine, because do you know what catheters do to you? Trust me, just because there is no baby jumping up and down on your bladder anymore DOES NOT mean you won't be getting up to pee during the night. Or hearing the baby. Was that the baby? No? I could have sworn I heard the baby.





Then teething hits...and possible nightmares....headaches?.....separation anxiety....crawling....standing....FUN FUN FUN. He still wakes up sometimes. Sometimes he doesn't. It's a crap shoot. But think about it: do you sleep EVERY night, through the night, without waking up? Hells no. You are an adult though. You aren't scared. Truth is, when Mason goes to college, moves out of the house, and I no longer have to worry about him - maybe I will get some sleep. Maybe I won't. That's only like, what, 17 years away?

Dear Mason - 11 Months

11 Months

Dear Mason,

::shock::..........::awe::..............::speechless::...............::uhm::.............HOLY SHIT!

It was this past month where you really started to look like a toddler and less of a baby. I know I have said this before, and I might say it again - but wow. Just wow. Where did my little homebody go? You know, the baby that would scream and cry the ENTIRE time we were out of the house? Not that I miss him, but this new little guy - the one that enjoys every.single.minute of being out of the house - he's great. Or how about the little boy that quietly sits in his playroom and flips through books and plays with trucks? What a GREAT baby. I'm extremely lucky - I know this.

You have recently started to stand all by yourself. I have not yet witnessed this, and sometimes think your dad is lying, but it's pretty cool either way. You run to us, well, SUPER crawl towards us whenever you spot us, with a HUGE rat teeth smile and climb up our legs and throw yourself onto us. What a wonderful feeling. You have also started biting. That shit hurts. You usually only bite me or your dad - love bites, perhaps? We are constantly asking you how a doggy goes and you reply with a form of "woof, woof" which usually sounds more like "wooo, wooo". Or the monkey "oooh oooh ooooh" and our next venture: the cow. You are so smart.

Your new favorite game is called PUSH. PUSH the toys across the room. PUSH the water bottle across the room. PUSH anything you can find. You study everything, which concerns me since your father is an engineer. Engineers are dorks buddy. Artists and left-brains are way cooler. You have also started giving THE BEST HUGS EVER omg. We have also officially entered the clingy phase - not so bad, except when one just wants to poop in peace.

I guess I am just awestruck with the speed of your little life so far. And your intelligence and personality. I am so proud. I am so happy. I am so full of love. You make me smile, cry, laugh, learn and be thankful for you. I am finally starting to realize that all of the work, pain and tears in the beginning are paying off. I am being rewarded - and I feel like the richest person on earth.

Moving on...soon!

I want to thank everyone that voted on my little poll - I am glad there are actually real people out there who are reading this and care to read more (even if you are all family and fallens) AND even if you all don't AHEM comment all the time.

I am going to go on. I promise. BUT I am happy to announce that on Mason's first birthday, I will be moving on...to another link, a new look, a new name and some new content. I will explain more later, but I will say that you need to check out this blog, because it is one of my best friends and also the wife of the brilliant person who keeps coming up with some sweet ass blog names. And oh yeah, she is about to bust TWO babies out of her. Enjoy!

Abuse by Chicken Costume

No babies chickens were harmed while filming. Seriously though y'all, he's okay, no need to call Child Services.

Abuse by Chicken Costume from Tiffany Luc on Vimeo.

Mason found this costume in a drawer this morning. I had bought it while I was pregnant and it was too big last Halloween, so what else would I do? Friday Fun!

Coming soon: The decision on what to do with the bloggy blog.

Crazy kids.

Kendall: MASON, just look cute and smile, they love it when you do that.
Mason: Damnit, not the camera again. I know she loves it when I smile, so I usually make myself look like Forrest Gump just to piss her off. Watch how red her face gets.


Mason: Okay, now pretend to be really interested in something.
Kendall: Like this turtle? Will the turtle work?
Mason: YES. Just hurry up and do it, stop stalling woman.
Mason: Dude, I think she spiked the bath water. I feel funny.
Kendall: I already drank like half the bath water...
Mason: WAHOOOO party in da tubby! I think it's Pepsi!
Kendall: I totally have the munchies and this turtle looks delicious.
Mason: Whoa. I feel sleepy now.
Kendall: Where's the camera, SMILE!Kendall: Hold up. You're going to tell my mom about this?
Mason: Yeah, and she'll probably put it on her blog.
Mason: Quick, act normal...da da da ba ba
Kendall: DA BA BA BA NA NA I farted. Mason: Dude, that is a BOY towel.
Kendall: Shut up.

Cha cha cha.

Today Mason and I went to Target. We go there a lot. The kid sees red carts and the big bulls eye and starts clapping and pointing and "ooohhhing" and "ahhhhing". We made the usual rounds: women's clothing, baby section, jewelry, milk, seasonal. I threw what I needed into the cart and as I was swiping my card I got that feeling. Not the Wheeling feeling, that feeling. The one where you are like, "NOW. Where is the bathroom? NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!" Problem is, I had already purchased my loot and I had an increasingly antsy 10 month-old in my cart.

I did not have time to put the bags in the car, I did not have time to drive home, I was not leaving my already-purchased items outside the bathroom (let alone my child), I will not eat green eggs and ham, I will not eat them Sam I am. So I did what any desperate mother who does not wear adult diapers would do: I grabbed my purse, child, gallon of milk, 2 kind-of heavy bags and I ran to the bathroom. I took the handicapped stall, hung up my purse (Coach, haaaallllo), one of the bags and put the rest of it on ::shudders:: the floor. Yes, including the kid. Trust, those rickety hooks are NOT strong enough to hold my little man.

I did...well I did what I needed to do all while keeping Mason in the standing position by securing his little hands on my knees and off of the toilet seat. When finished, I grabbed the boy, and the purse and I washed my hands. It was then that I turned around and realized that the stall door had shut AND locked itself behind me. MOTHER! I wanted to cry, I wanted to run, I wanted that new bathing suit that was in my bags! What else was I supposed to do? I sat Mason on the ground and army crawled my ass into the stall, unlocked the door, grabbed my shit and ran. I barely made it back to my cart without dropping my child. I must have looked SUPER classy.

At least it was early morning and the store was filled with other moms that needed to escape their homes. At least I am not showing any signs of infectious diseases, yet. Lastly, as least I didn't poop my pants.

The end?

Mason's first birthday is approaching, and although he will always be my baby, I am coming to the realization that he is pretty much a toddler. So I must ask, dear readers, what should become of this blog? Please take a moment and share your feelings with me by voting in my poll or leaving a comment. I will ultimately make the final decision, but I would love your input!

No pleads in this post.

We really haven't been doing much of anything.Which is why I haven't written a worth-while post in a while.I do have a lot to catch you up on, a poll to do, some "loose ends" to tie up, if you will.But I don't feel like it tonight.Because we swam all day. Neener-neener boo boo.

UGH.

Some of you may have had some issues voting for Mason on Monday...evidently the website was VERY unprepared for the amount of traffic the contest was drawing and so now they are STARTING OVER to make it fair. Seriously.

So please - I am on my knees here peeps - vote ONE MORE TIME for Mason. I will give you cyber kisses. Promise.

CLICK HERE PLEASE

You now have until August to vote, but I suggest you do it now so you don't forget. Make sure you tell all of your friends and family - I give the bestest, sloppiest, cyber kisses EVA.

I never ask anything of you...

...readers. So I need this one little favor from you. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote for Mason in this local photo contest so he can win $5000 for college. Because, we all know college will cost like, $100,000 by the time he is ready to go. Unless he is a child genius, then I will use the money to buy booze and cigarettes. KIDDING.

Here's the deal: Click the following link and vote MONDAY, JULY 6TH...this is the ONLY day you can vote, so don't forget! Don't pay attention to the horrible grammar mistakes that the entry person made, they wouldn't let her edit it...heh heh...::nervous twitch::

Pass the info along to your friends, family, bum on the street, WHOEVER. You are all looking REALLY skinny today, btw.

Click here --------> ME! ME! <-------------Did you?

And just because you are all so wonderful for doing this, here are some !NEW! photos of Mason for ya. KISSES!

Dear Mason - 10 Months

10 Months

Dear Mason,

I realize that the majority of this month's letter is probably going to focus on the last couple days of month 9 of your life. As you can see, mommy hasn't had much time to update her blog lately because somebody has become a holy terror. I know, readers, "JUST WAIT" you say. Well, I am waiting... this is NOT a CAN'T WAIT! situation. This is a PLEASEIambeggingyounottowalk any time soon situation.

Mason, do you know that in the last week you have visited 3 new states, rode a Metro, rode down an escalator, went on your first amusement park ride, stayed in not one but THREE hotels, visited your nations capital and made countless otherwise-grumpy people smile? Well, believe it. I will admit, taking a 10 month old baby on a road trip in theory sounds like the working of a crazy person, but you were WONDERFUL. You only had one meltdown, and who wouldn't after being through what I put you through last week?
You swam your little heart out. I am going to predict that you are the next Michael Phelps. I have never seen such a little man want to swim so badly. You scream (happy screams) every time we get in the water and you kick your legs until you fall asleep - which you did on the last night of our trip, in the pool. Hilarious. You are into EVERYTHING these days. In fact, I have to make a trip to the big baby store to buy more locks for the cabinets since you think it is funny to mess with mommy's wine paraphernalia - hint: NEVER mess with mommy's wine paraphernalia.

People on the DC Metro generally keep to themselves and are not willing to smile, make eye-contact or any kind of acknowledgement that other people, do in fact, exist around them. BUT, once they saw you, or heard you they SMILED. And asked how old you are. And commented on how happy and adorable you are. You have a gift, little man. NEVER lose it. Keep smiling and talking and making people smile - we need more people like you in this world.

*there will be more photos and stories from our little adventure, soon!

First Father's Day awwwws.

For Father's Day we visited the one place that I will only go to if I ABSOLUTELY have to. Since it was Father's Day, I kinda had to. I will admit that it wasn't that bad, actually kinda cool to read about all of the history behind the game. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy football season, but that is usually reserved for the fall.One of the people that work at the HOF told us to set Mason on the hologram of a Superbowl ring and watch him try to grab it. It was pretty hysterical.

Your next inductee?

It was a very fun way to celebrate one of the best dads in the world. Grandpa is fishing right now, so he couldn't come but he was missed very much! Hope all you dads out there had a wonderful day as well!

Pain is love.

This post brought to you by sunshine.

I figure I haven't done a favorites post in a while and I am loving my first summer as a non-working person/mom so here it goes:

Flea Markets! What could be better? You get to spend some time outside (most of the time), get some good stuff and support local vendors. FleaPortal is a nifty little website to look up flea markets in your area. Check it!

Wading Pools! (and just pools in general) Mason and I have been trying to spend a lot of time outdoors of course and some friends introduced me to the wading pools in our area. They are a foot deep, free, and usually connected to a park. It is so fun and we both get to cool off.

Bike Rides! Mason loves going on bike rides and I get a good workout too. We are lucky enough to be connected to a wonderful trail so we usually ride on that for safety. As far as trailers for your bike, check Craigslist and Target for cheap options. We have a Schwinn trailer and it works perfectly and was only about $150.

What are your favorite things to do in the summer?

Finally, here are some of my favorite products that we are using right now on our big 9 month old boy (sniff, sniff):

Take-n-Toss Section Bowl - this baby has 2 sections for food and a place for a spoon. What could be better? I am really digging this right now since I am giving Mason more than one flavor at once.

KidCo BabySteps Food Mill - This is great for introducing new foods to Mason. I just throw in some fresh stuff, or something we are eating and it grinds it right up. Lately, I have been milling peaches, plums and bananas as well as chicken and beans.

Leachco Easy Teether Rail Guard - "Oh hell no, you are not gnawing on your crib!" Problem solved.

Nobody said anything about hills.

Yesterday was perfect. Absolutely gorgeous. Low humidity. Nice breezes. We got to the hospital about an hour before the race. I picked up my packet, Paul registered. My mom met us there to watch Mason while we ran. I went pee, we walked around a little, took some pictures with some sucky college mascots (this was as good as I could get, the Golden Flash wasn't there). We started stretching a little, grabbed a couple bites of banana and a drink of Vitamin Water. Before I knew it, we had to line up for the race. I waved goodbye to Mason and Paul and I decided that he would run with me for at least the first one or two miles and then he could take off - of course we don't run at the same pace.

They sounded the air horn and the 450-some racers began running - including myself. The first mile was fine. Paul and I ran together and I was feeling really great. What I wasn't noticing was the fact that we were running downhill. A lot. There was a guy blaring Queen on a boom box and cute little kids at all of the drink stations. If you have ever tried to drink anything while running you know it is near impossible - so I took a little sip then dumped it on myself. Much better. I was told that I had ran my first mile in 9 minutes - my best EVER. Soon after that I realized it may have been a little too fast. I was cramping and had to walk for a bit, telling Paul to keep going.

I started running again once I felt better, maybe after a minute and now I was all alone. I kept thinking about Mason, all of the kids in the hospital that might never get the chance to run and I kept pushing myself. We were now running through a cemetery (creepy) and there were HILLS. WHAT? Tiff doesn't run up steep hills. I walked some of the hills, but the longest I ever let myself walk was 3 minutes - I am no marathon runner.

Finally, once I made it back up the huge hill and across the bridge, I knew I was close. Once I saw the finish line and all the people I got a HUGE smile on my face (the announcer even commented on it as I ran by). I did it. I finished somewhere around 35 minutes (the results aren't up yet). That means I was running (on average) an 11.3 minute mile. Pretty damn good for "training" for 3 weeks. Imagine what I could do if I really focused! The best part for me was seeing how proud Paul and my mom were. Mason also clapped for me, but he might have been clapping at the fact that he was eating cheese puffs. I couldn't have done it without any of them. I am going to keep running. Keep racing. I know I didn't run a marathon or anything and who knows when or if I ever will, but I feel like I did. I am proud.

A monster in my house.

There is a monster living amongst us. The evidence:

-Toilet paper rolls are being unraveled.

-Cheerios are strewn about the house.

-There are snot stains on EVERYTHING.

-Coasters from the coffee table are all over the living room.

-Trash cans are being toppled over.

-There are fingerprints, errr paw prints all over anything that is glass in nature.

-Sometimes, I hear faint gasping noises, whines and growls.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do it."

If you, or anyone you know is dealing with the same kind of monster, please let me know so we can begin documenting its behaviors for future reference. With your help, this monster can be stopped.
In other news, a different, less tangible monster is emerging tomorrow. Its name is FIVE-K and I will be slaying that bitch with all my might. I don't know how prepared I am, but I will make good on my promise and do the best I can. Pray for me.
Weight loss so far: 4 pounds! Slow and steady wins the race.

Dear Mason - 9 Months

9 Months

Dear Mason,

Lately, I have been finding myself craving to hold you. I think it is because since you started crawling this month I am realizing that you are becoming your own little independent person. Soon, you will probably want nothing to do with me. It makes me so sad to think that my body was such an asshole in the beginning and blocked me from realizing what I was missing. I was too busy worrying about SIDS, BPA, nipple confusion, sleeping patterns and what everyone else thought about my parenting skills to see that my little boy was growing up FAST. One day, I woke up and you were no longer a newborn. Soon thereafter, I woke up and you were looking more and more like a toddler. I feel like I missed so much because of my disease (or whatever you want to call it). Now that I am better, and able to think more clearly, I know that it does nothing for me to dwell on any of this. Instead, I choose to congratulate myself in overcoming all (okay, most) of my anxiety. So what if I caught flack for not putting my son to sleep on his stomach right away, he's still alive. I started buying everything BPA free and now you cannot find anything that has BPA in it - guess I was on to something! My son HATES pacifiers - at least I never have to worry about taking them away from him. And finally, you sleep like a DREAM - guess I did something right there too!

Your dad and I still go to bed every night and gush about how much we love you, how cute you are and how we cannot believe how big you are getting. You clap, you lift your arms when we yell "touchdown", you crawl, you wave, you say "dada" among other things, you pull up to stand on everything, you cruise and more that I am sure I am forgetting. I really think that I even heard you practicing the word "cat" quietly to yourself a few times. Going out places is so fun now because all you do is flirt. You get so excited when you see new people and love to look around. You are so vocal and are constantly making some kind of noise.

You have a very analytical mind, which is not surprising given who your father is. You study EVERYTHING and love to open and close, open and close, open and close whatever you can find (which includes my laptop, good times). You have more personality than some adults I know, which you of course got from your mother. Another lovable trait (or not) that you inherited from you dad is the ability to fall asleep at pretty much any given time- as long as you are tired. You have now fallen asleep THREE, yes THREE times in your highchair during lunch. I remember when I used to cry, yell, beg and plead for you to JUST GO TO SLEEP. Sometimes I wish I could remember those early days (or months) better so I could document what EXACTLY I did to cause this.

Every day gets better and better with you. You laugh over nothing, you still cry over nothing (it's okay, momma does too), you make the best expressions and cutest noises. You are becoming a cuddler (I am doing my damnedest) and an ornery little boy all at the same time. I hope and pray that you will be a momma's boy, because so far I have been jipped in this whole thing. Your dad's looks, brain, athletic ability and narcolepsy versus my personality. I just need to know that I am doing an okay job and that you are happy - and your favoritism. Is that too much?
I love you.