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Who Cares

Who really cares, right? Who cares that these images are weeks old and that when looking at them I can hardly remember what we’d been doing before we hooked up the hose and ran wild in the pool. Ever since we blew the pool up in June, it has been a go-to toy for us to play in on these hottish days. And the popsicles?  I should have bought stock in popsicles this summer because I consider it a State of Emergency when we’re running low and head to the store as soon as time allows.  I figure with this pregnancy if I’m craving popsicles, I don’t have to keep track of how many I consume. Because it is WAAYYYYY better than eating burgers, as I did all too often when I was pregnant with Maggie.

This pregnancy is already going so much faster than the first time. I don’t necessarily think that I’m busier, but I have less time to ‘think for myself’ these days. As anyone with a 2 year old knows, time to contemplate and twirl your thumbs doesn’t exist. But the other night as I was reading in bed, one of my favorite times of day, I swear I felt B2 (as we’ve been calling him/her) move and it was exhilarating. I’ve thought on more than one occasion that I’ve felt movement, but it was fleeting.

I’ve mentioned before about being photo-challenged in the Daughter & Me photo department – and I’m determined to change that. Maggie has a fake camera that she loves to take ‘pictures’ of us with. A couple weeks ago, she asked to use my camera, which her little fingers can hardly reach around. I set it to a very basic mode and showed her the button to push…..we’re going with major close-ups, but she got the idea and I’m pretty sure we’ve got a budding photographer. I’m so proud.

And when I mean close-up, I mean CLOSE-UP. . .

And a picture of us wouldn’t be a real ‘HB Girls’ picture without a Sydney photo bomb. Bombs away, Syd!!!

Who really cares if a Pug butt is in your photo when it’s a picture of a cheese-ball little girl and her mama, right? Who really cares that soon after, the said mama and daughter went and ate 3 or 4 popsicles between them because it’s what made them happy….who cares.

As with any blog post that I write while Maggie is still awake and our house is still humming with activity, I am distracted by the game that Maggie and Barry are playing in the other room. Maggie and I made a fort today and she’s convinced him that’s the best place to have their nightly love-fest of games. He’s currently asking Maggie for different shapes as if he is Piglet – and he’s using a very high, hilarious voice for Piglet. It is, as always, beyond adorable.  Poor little Piglet seems to always get stuck with the highest, most awkward of voices.

Who really cares? We all love Piglet.

Thanks to The Merks for Maggie's first Pull-Ups!
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The Random Files

RACING

We pulled out of our driveway last Sunday morning at roughly 5 a.m. to make it to Seattle to watch Barry’s 6:30 start of his race. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go – me carrying Maggie around in the backpack while we watched the swimming, biking and running; however, she surprised me with how much she loved watching all the action. The night before she had helped Barry clean his bike and lay out all his gear, which meant that she was well versed in what he’d need for each portion of the race. 

When he transitioned from his bike to the run, she was very worried that he might not change into his running shoes and when we saw him at the finish line, she immediately checked his feet to make sure he had the right shoes on. She’s quite the little boss-hog. Not sure where she gets it from….must be Barry. 

Barry did great at this olympic-distance race, as usual. He’s so humble and would never tell you all the hard work he puts into training, but I’m here to tell you that most mornings he is up by 5:30 and off working out.  It became especially inspiring to me durning my first trimester, when I wouldn’t have traded a million dollars for a few extra hours/minutes/seconds of sleep. 

And by the way, isn’t he hunky? 

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES & PICTURES

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be 80 degrees and when I heard that I instantly checked our popsicle supply ~ worry not, we’re good to go. All joking aside, it is supposed to warm up tomorrow and I can hardly contain myself. We’re going to meet up with some friends and I’ve already set out the cooler, sun screen and towels.

(Really gross side note: I have a bit of a rash and was talking to Lara about it today and we wondered if it was heat rash. Wouldn’t that be AWFUL if I got heat rash in 60 degree weather. I would equal a TOTAL Weather Wimp if that were true. I think I must have eaten something weird, or at least that’s what I’m hoping.  Sorry to share my rash with you. Gross. )

I feel energized again in terms of taking pictures, but recently came to the realization that I have almost zero photos of me. I need to get better at handing the camera off to people or even setting up the self-timer for some shots with Maggie. Right after I had Maggie I read a compelling article about The Invisible Parent – the one who usually takes the pictures – and how children often don’t have pictures of themselves with that parent. For the first year of Maggie’s life I worked really hard to get an image of us together at least once a month, even if it was posed, and I have totally slacked off since.  This is my declaration of trying to take more pictures of us together…and letting go of the image in my brain that I hope the photographer will get. Just having images should be enough. 

CAN YOU FIND ME?

CAMPING

We’re finally going camping in a few weeks. We’ve been putting it off – sadly I’m not sure that we went at all last summer – and now we’ve actually got some time on the calendar. I’m excited, but after setting up the tent in the backyard, I’ve determined that any excitement that I have is superseded by Maggie’s. I went to run some errands last weekend and came back to find that Barry and Mags had set up the tent. As I walked through the door, I could hear Maggie yelling, “Mama! Mama! I working in here! I working in here!” 

By the time her frazzled head stuck out I was doubled over in laughter. The sweet little Nugget was so excited to have the tent up that she was literally bouncing off the walls. I really don’t know why we’ve waited so long, since we love camping so much. The last time we went, Maggie was 3 months old. Geesh. 

 

 

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All Good

TIMEOUTS

And she’s back in full force – better than before, if that was possible. The last two days have been perfectly perfect, with hilarity found in the most random places – a roll of tape, the bath tub, and even timeout. As she’s regained her energy back, she has decided to test the limits. Which makes me both proud and frustrated.

She’s landed herself in timeout a few times for simple things, like not helping to put away a puzzle, to really big things, like hitting. When I tell her she has to “go sit by herself” her reactions vary from devastated to ho-hum-la-de-da. The highlight of this new phase, aside from the conversations that follow, is the singing that she belts out from the rocking chair. It comes at show-tune volume, even through the bedroom door. So far her specialties have been “Puff The Magic Dragon” and “Take Me home, Country Roads,” her latest two favorite song books.

I have to work very, very hard to gather myself before going into see her – because if she’s singing, she’s in a hilarious mood and I love a hilarious mood. She now grasps the concept of time-outs and so far it has been effective, we’ll see when it needs to happen in public sometime, which I’m hoping won’t be for a long, long time.

FAMILY LOVE

I meant to write about how amazing both my mom and Barry were last week, during The Week That We Shall Forget, and maybe I did? But both of them were rocks. Barry was calm,  steady and reassuring, as always. He also spent his days divided between home and work, a stress in its own right. My mom was all of those things as well, but in a flurry of activity – prepping food, wetting cloths, and jumping at a chance to hold Maggie. I felt kind of like a wet rag, full of emotion and on edge, just wanting it all to be over.

When it seemed that we’d finally turned the corner for the better, my mom came down again and Maggie finally was alert enough to appreciate her presence. This meant that I got to take a long, long shower and even go to the store. When I was showering, and even when I was at the store,  I kept thinking to myself how similar the feeling I was carrying was to having a newborn. That shower made me feel like a million bucks and being at the store made me feel like I’d flown around the world in the hour I’d been gone.

When the clouds cleared and our house started to feel like the same old house again, we started to get visitors. My grandparents arrived with jam and a bouquet of flowers from their garden, my grandmother claiming that she’d held my grandfather away as long as possible. They played hoops in the backyard and we all ate popsicles.

Greg came by as well and worked with Maggie on her sticker book and went over the ins and outs of playing catch. Maggie delighted in the attention and was zonked out after both visits – still recovering. Aside from having visitors, we also started to revisit toys that we’d forgotten about. Maggie worked on covering her rocking horse in tape and we dug out some old favorites, but it’s hard to beat some simple cuddle time with Papa….