Happy Friday

What made this a great week? Hmmmm, let me think... 

1.  Sunday the 29th we were invited to a great party at my parents' house. So we packed up the little man and drove up for what we thought was going to be a rainy day... but we got lucky and had nice spring time temps. Seeing everyone together was the best part of the party. I usually, only see my cousins, aunts and uncles at Thanksgiving, Christmas and at least once during the summer for a party - so it was nice to see them, and have our kids play together!!

 Arrrggghhhh, matey! Shiver me timbers! I'm a pirate, I am!

                  (dress-up at my parents' house)

2.  Sunday was also my last day with my childhood dog Carlie. She was very happy at the party, enjoying her time surrounded with family who loved her... and who were willing to sneak her some meat under the table! Since it was such a nice day, and I had a good time saying goodbye to my little Carlie-dog, this fits with "Happy Friday".

3.  I don't really allow Lucius to watch TV (unless of course it's Baby Einstein, because don't we all want a little Einstein?) ... buuut lately he gets extremely cranky and tired between 6 and 6:30-before his bath, and I stumbled upon a new show that he just loooves to watch!

It's called "Ni Hao, Kai-lan", and boy is little Kai-lan adorable. I love her monkey friend Ho-ho and her cute little Grandpa. Plus, I like to think that it's a little educational... it teaches children basic Chinese 101!

4.  I LOVE SPRING! It's been very nice weather lately, so we take walks to get the mail and Lucius helps me work in the garden! Can't wait for the pool to be open at my parents' house :)

He loves the wheelbarrow, especially the noise it makes from his little hands banging on it :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

All Dogs go to Heaven

Yesterday I lost my childhood friend... a little poodle named Carlie. She was approximately 12 years old and suffering from a very uncomfortable tumor, which was pressing on her bladder, spine and nether regions. I haven't been able to stop thinking about all the good times we had, and how she could have had so many more. Writing and remembering are very therapeutic, so I'd like to remember her with some words & pictures.

   She was diagnosed with her tumor in the middle of last summer-2008-and we didn't think she'd make it to the the new year. I just remember being very pregnant and only hoping that she wouldn't die before she got to meet my baby. She did meet the little man after all, and in great Carlie fashion, she licked him from head to toe. Initiation into the family of course, "Welcome to the family little Lucius! Oooh, new baby scent... mmm mm mmm!"

We got Carlie from what most definitely resembled a puppy farm, and I remember picking her out with my parents. She was supposed to be a gift, a new dog for my grandmother, who wanted "a nice lap dog". Well, Carlie was most definitely not a senior citizen lap dog! She was more like Marley from Marley and Me, very unruly, wild and spontaneous. 

       (she acted like a "puppy" until the day she died)

   Carlie would literally eat a 3-6 inch circle out of a hand knit throw, loved to rummage through purses in search of hard candy or lipstick, and while pretending to be a lap dog she would gnaw the wooden buttons right off of Nana's cardigans. She got too much for my Nana to handle and she became my family's new puppy. She completed our family: my parents, our older dog Precious, our cat named Kitty and me. Now, I make Carlie out to be a terror, but she wouldn't hurt a fly.  She was the kind of dog that you truly didn't have to protect your kids from. No "Beware of Dog" here. You could pull her hair, lift her lips and get right in her face, but she'd just give you plenty of wet kisses. In fact, we always said "Sorry, she can't hold her licker".

     Before I went to college, Carlie would go outside and often come home covered in tomato sauce or carrying a chicken breast or with cat food on her breath... all from the neighbors' yards/trash. (We think it was from their trash, unless they were feeding the "poor lost poodle that comes to visit" spaghetti and fried chicken!) She also loved to eat, and roll in any animal feces she could find. Goose poop was probably her favorite, hehe :) And even though she had an obvious wild streak, and would run like the wind if you let her off her leash, she did turn into that "lap dog" my grandmother had wanted (just after you had entertained her enough during the day). 

   She was always a fan of riding in the car, too, no matter where you were headed. But her favorite place to go was to the dump... you know, where you take your trash. My father would take her almost every saturday. He would ask "Carlie, do you want to go to the dump??" ..and she would tilt her head 90' or more and then give a few barks to say "Yes! Do I ever!?!"

   Everyone else brought their pick-up trucks and Labs, German Shepherds or Rottweilers. My dad packed up the mini-van and his little toy poodle, but he was never ashamed. She held her head out the window, as if to say that she was just as much a "dump dog" as they were.

   When I left for college, I missed her terribly. Fortunately I lived in the "French House", which was easier for Carlie to visit then a regular dorm. She quickly became our mascot.. our little French poodle mascot.

                                    Carlie's Halloween costume :) she wore it like a champ

Since August, each time I saw Carlie I would say good-bye like it was our last... never knowing if it really was. She never looked sick when I saw her, and just so everyone knows, she wasn't in pain.

Everyone who met Carlie, loved her. Once you got to know her, you realized she was a little dog with a huge heart. I'm quite positive she touched many lives, not just mine.

This is how I will remember my Carlie dog... in my opinion, the best damn dog I've ever had and ever will have.

All dogs really do go to Heaven. To Carlie! Live life to the fullest, until the day you die!

Happy Friday!!

Things that made this week wonderful...

1.  The little Saint Baby turned 6 months old on the 25th. Happy 1/2 Year Birthday Baby!!

2.  Monday we started our little man on gruel.. uh, I mean rice cereal.. and surprisingly, he can't get enough! It really doesn't look appetizing, so why was I so tempted to stick my pinky in the bowl and grab a taste? Well, it made me gag. A lot. But it doesn't matter if I like it...

"Please sir, I want some more."

2 1/2.  In addition to his gruel, we discovered that teething is a lot easier when you have a freshly chilled carrot to gnaw on :) Happy Baby.

3.  The weather was beautiful today, and I got to go outside and garden while the little man took a nice long 2 hour nap! "Adventures in Gardening 101" with Professor - no call me Doctor - St. L  ~  Today I started to weed the garden in preparation for spring planting. Tools? Check... gloves (Keep in mind not to wear them too long for fear of a glove tan! OH the horror!), a trowel-or mini shovel (isn't it a funny word though.. trowel trowel trowel), a 3 pronged fork/trident used for stubborn weeds, and a wheelbarrow for lugging the weeds away! Now, do not leave the "weed fork" upside down on the ground, because you are sure to step on it wearing flip-flops... which almost happened today. Instead, I, your absent minded professor/mommy kicked the wheelbarrow while pushing it and sliced open her big toe! The gash is about a mile wide & deep, and was eventually treated with the works, since Lord knows when my last Tetanus shot was. (Did we need those to get into college.. or was that elementary school?) I say "eventually" because I shook it off, not thinking it was bad, then realized the footbed of my flip-flop was wet (with blood) and my feet also happened to be covered in dirt. Nothing a little soap and Neosporin can't cure.. right??

4.  Today was also a fabulous day for a hair cut! I left the little man with his grandmother & finally got to the salon to get a shorter "Mommy 'Do"... not too short, just a cute bob with side swept bangs. My favorite stylist Lisa also gives the most amazing head massages while putting on your conditioner.. it makes you forget where you are and sends chills down your back. That massage alone made it a good day :)

5.  I discovered Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms... mmm mmmmm. Chocolate is definitely one of my vices, and I can't seem to shake cravings for sweets - left over from the pregnancy diet of ice cream, cakes and cookies, for sure. Healthy, I know. But the way I see it, peanuts are potently packed with protein AND dark chocolate has an abundance of appetizing anti-oxidants! So bring on more M&Ms!!!

Until next Friday... Hope everyone has a nice weekend :)

(Even though they're calling for rain - poooo.)

Officially a Mommy

As of yesterday, my little man is 6 months old (man does time fly!) and I think I finally feel like a real mommy. Don't get me wrong, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I felt like a mom. Growing my little bundle of joy inside of me was all I could think about for the 9 (truly 10) months he was there. However, something happened yesterday that made me feel I'm "in the club". So, I figured this is a good story to start my blog off right.. here we go!

It was a dark and stormy night, down a dark and creepy alley... 

Well, not really. What kind of baby story starts that way? None-I would hope! Unless some super-hero came down that alley to save a little baby from utter peril! But I digress...

The little man and I decided to celebrate his half year birthday by going to the grocery store! Yaay! Not like we don't do this every week or so anyway, but he loves running errands with his mommy. So we get to the store, take our time going down each aisle, learning new things, taking it all in... reaching out for the bright colored veggies & cool looking cereal boxes, you know-basic 6 month old stuff. I also don't know what it is about paper and mommy's coupons in particular, but he loves them. The second that I lay a coupon down within his reach and turn around a couple times, it's vanished. Then I find crumpled up paper coming out of the corners of his mouth... not to mention all the coupon's ink staining his fingers and mouth. Here's hoping there are no long term effects to digesting ink. We've made our way to the check out, where we finally get to use those coupons (those soaking wet, crumpled coupons that barely scan - which I hand over to the cashier with a sideways "one of those days" smirk) and we're almost in the clear... when it happens.

I'm digging through the diaper bag, trying to find my wallet, when I realize it's in my real purse at home."No big deal honey" the cashier assures me, as I am actually tearing up and apologizing because I'm so embarrassed.

Now, you think this is bad.. just wait.

I decided to trek home, with the little man in tow, to retrieve my wallet and then pay for my groceries... I couldn't waste an hour of shopping and the use of my soggy (but still valid) coupons! So I drive home (cautiously with no license) and decide to get the mail on the way into our driveway - which is almost a mile long. I pull up to the house, grab the mail from the passenger seat, and put it on our coffee table. I get back in the car, turn around to pat my little man's head and then continue down the driveway, on my way back to the store... that's right, without my wallet.. again.

Needless to say, I get about 3 miles from home when I realize what I had done. I can't thank the heavens enough that no one, especially my husband, saw me or was with me when I did that. It was just a little secret between my little man and me... until now, of course. I did finally get my groceries which they left up front for me (the mint-chocolate chip was a little squishy, and I hope that meat didn't sit out too long, 'cause I'm still making that lasagna tomorrow). This just made me realize how much of a "Mommy Brain" I have now. I barely remember to take the keys out of my car when I park it somewhere - I've put the Old Bay in the fridge, and the opened strawberry jelly "back" in the cupboard with the peanut butter - and apparently I leave my wallet at home, too. I guess this is just part of being in the club!

If you have had "Mommy Brain" experiences, please share... I'd love to hear your stories (& feel a little better about myself )