Happy, Happy Birthday!

HaPpY bIrThDaY to this guy...he's the best one we know!


And a shot of doodle because I couldn't help it.

Tomorrow's Friday....and better yet, some of my most favorites are coming to visit!!! Happy early weekend.

Wrappin Up the Weekend...

We concluded today at lunch that this was the first day of total settlement for me since January 2010 (when I found out I was pregnant, then we tried to sell our house, then not sell our house, then settle in our house, then have a baby, then try to sell our house...again, buy another house, move, get a baby to sleep through the night, then unpack, then rip up rooms and re-do them, unpack some more and create a cozy little nest). So, yes, I think the husband was correct. Today was the first day I have actually felt settled. My kiddo sat in her high-chair eating her puffs and happy as a clam in high tide while we enjoyed some cocktails and ate lunch. Life is good. GOOD.

We wrapped up our great family day with a trip to the pool with our besties. Before we left we shot a few pretty in pink pictures. And I said I wouldn't do princess pink. So much for that...I think this clearly states pink and princess.

I am, however, sticking to no small children on my white chairs. This was a major, MAJOR exception to the rule.

Hope you all had a happy weekend yourselves!

Masta' Phase One

We're still workin on warmin it up over here...but making significant strides. Me thinks.

We left a smaller house with lots of warmth with wood floors throughout. Bigger rooms and cream carpet are proving hard to make cozy. We've gone with some bold decisions here lately.

Here are the completion photos of the Master Bedroom Phase I.








Remember these beauties I snagged for $2.20 each? Jes, that is a pack n' play in the reflection. Hence the Phase I indication, which means there is a Phase II that we haven't tackled just yet.


And remember these sad guys? The husband was pretty positive I was crazy when I showed up with 1980's office filing cabinets to be used for our nightstands. But it works, eh?


And lastly, the dreaded "BEFORE" shot. Brrrrr, I'm cold just looking at this pitiful pearl.

Verdict? You like? Too dark?

Guestie!

Top O' The Mornin!

I'm the guest today over at My Little Happy Place....check it out!

THIRTY ONE.

Thirty one days is more than a typical month. MONTH. I was born on the 31st day of March. I can guarantee you that on the first of April the first of March seemed like an eternity past to my mom.

Yes, I'm about to go off on Casey Anthony.

I've learned a lot about our justice system in the past few days. It appears in cases like this, that it's more about planting reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds than it is proving someone innocent. Our system has been working for a long time, so I guess this is the way it should be. But in this case, it seems a little faulty.

• The smell of death in the truck could equal she took out her trash using her trunk. (I thought she lived at home in a suburban neighborhood. Do they not pick-up your trash? Where in the world was she taking the trash? She couldn't seem to find her child for 31 days, I can't believe she was on top of chores like discarding the trash. Just sayin.)
• The piece of duct tape could have been used to tape the jaw together after decomposition of the body rather than used for suffocation.
• Casey could have been scared to go to authorities for fear of her father after the accidental drowning of Caylee.

I'm still not sure how they are justifying the Internet search of "neck breaking" and "how to make chloroform". And not calling the police for a month? And then lying to them when she finally did call? And I guess her out partying while her daughter was missing and kissing up on a bunch of trashy girls is not a direct connection to murdering your child, but just very, very, very strange and odd behavior for a mother? And the tattoo of Bella Vita...I guess that's just something you might have tattooed on your back as you can't seem to locate your child? Seems reasonable, eh? No, no its does not. Not at all, actually.

Sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me, but I wasn't on the jury. Thank goodness...we'd still be deliberating, and I wouldn't budge on the fact that she needed to be locked away for a very, very, very long time.

Did you all catch the alternate juror on The Today Show this morning? He basically said he thought she did it, but that the prosecution didn't prove their case well enough. They didn't fully connect the dots. (I'm sorry, I didn't know you needed a lot of connection after just hearing she didn't call the police until her child was missing for THIRTY ONE DAYS.) He said the prosecution didn't supply a motive or a definite cause of death. Then when Matt Lauer asked if she got away with murder he said she did not. So which is it? She didn't do it or she did, but the prosecution didn't provide a video tape of her doing it? I'm confused.

Personally, I think that girl is guilty as sin. I don't think her father ever molested her. I don't think she had some terrible upbringing that caused her to be a pathological liar, and I don't think that little girl drowned in the family swimming pool. I think little Caylee didn't fit into her mother's 19 year old partying lifestyle. I think she got pregnant and loved that little girl, but got tired of being a responsible mom. She didn't like choosing her child over herself. I think there might have been some abuse in the years prior and Caylee might have been getting old enough to start talking about it. Just my theory. No matter what happened, that little girl should have never been found as a bag of bones in a swamp. NEVER.

I can't believe out of seven women on the jury that they so quickly decided to let her walk. That was shocking. At the very least is it not neglect? Abuse? She didn't report her child missing for 31 days. THIRTY-ONE DAYS. If I couldn't find my child for 31 seconds I would panic. Caylee was 2.5 years old. Three minutes is a long time for her to be walking around the house alone.

It's all very sad. I hope that all this indication that Mr. Anthony is a monster isn't true. And I hope that Casey and the defense team can clear their conscious of all of that. That's a terrible thing to try to pin on someone and especially your own dad.

I hope justice is one day found for Caylee, but sadly, I don't think that will ever happen. The least we can do is pray her little soul is in heaven and maybe that's a better place than where it landed on earth.

Routine

I looked down yesterday and realized I typically do the same things at the same times each and every day. I suppose that's more likely than the norm when dealing with a very scheduled nine month old.

I wasn't a psycho about a lot when Julia was a baby, but getting a schedule was one thing I was very particular about creating. Those first few weeks threw me for a loop. From one day to the next I had no plan. No clue. No ability to forecast. Not to mention, anxiety out the roof. Fear she would die of SIDS. Fear she would choke to death. But back to the schedule, or lack thereof, sometimes I'd wash bottles at 2 am and sometimes at 2 pm. FINALLY, we got that nailed down and now for the most part I can tell you what happens every second of the day. For my personality, that works. Very. Well.

We do a lot of highchair time these days. It takes a while for a little one to explore, eat, drop and get silly while eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's such a precious time of the day for me. We chat. We dream. Sometimes we call dad. Sometimes we look for Guinney.

Being routined, we do meal times in the same spot three times a day. I have a drink holding station next to the highchair. The morning starts like this...and progresses through dinner as follows.

The Today Show is playing in the background.
Most of the time it's quiet during lunch.
We get spicy with some happy hour tunes for dinner.

My mom came last night to babysit so the mister and I could enjoy a dinner sans bebe. She also volunteered to cook up some dinners to freeze and be the wonderful Mimi she is. On her way over I began to think about my earliest memories of schedules and routines.

I have the best memories of my mom cooking dinners, the smell of onions sauteing, music playing and my parents discussing their days over an evening cocktail. I have an overall fuzzy feeling about my home life. Then like a brick in my face, I realized that's exactly what I'm doing with Julia. One day she'll know my music like I know Neil Diamond, James Taylor and Carly Simon. She will (hopefully) have warm and fuzzies about dad coming home from work, me cooking dinner and playing in the living room. And isn't it our job as her parents to see that she is exposed to life, love and happiness? As cliche as that sounds.

Do you recall the mundane of life as a child? Do you do things the way your parents did? Are you instilling those things in your kiddos?

Baby Spock No More!

"Another day....another doll-ar". Do ya'll sing that in your head every morning? I do and especially on Monday.

We were busy around here this weekend. We celebrated this guy....

It was his first Father's Day!

We picked-up these beauties....

If you're detailed you might notice my curtains got pulled down while the built-in was being finished. And if you're really, really detailed you can catch a sweet glimpse of me in the mirror reflection wearing a "I heart NY" shirt. It's sweet. Keep your eye on the prize...that's the safest spot.

And we're getting ready to rid of Baby Spock tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning my sweet pumpkin goes in for plastic surgery. I can hardly think about it. I have friends and family that have had much, much more invasive, scary, lengthy procedures performed on their children, and I'm now really seeing how strong they really are. This is a small ear situation that will be easily corrected, but I'm scared silly. It's the anesthesia that makes me shiver. And the fact that it's not a necessary surgery, but a vanity/elective situation. I'm not trying to make this a bigger deal than necessary, but if you say some prayers tonight we'd love to be added to your list. For our sanity for the hour it will take and for the most precious gem in our lives...that she does great!