Writer's Workshop a few days late

While I'm busy working on the behind the scenes work here, I thought that I would get another post up this week. Of course, I had every intention on getting it up on Thursday, but life got in the way.

3.) Married? Tell us the story of how the question was popped.

It was the holiday party time of year, and on Tuesday I decided that I had nothing to wear to my boyfriend's office party that Friday. So off to the mall we went.

But I was not having a good night, it felt like the fates were conspiring against me. First, my boyfriend was late coming home from work so we got a very late start, then I couldn't find anything that I liked. It felt like everything I tried on just made me look awful. So when we returned home empty handed, I was in full pout mode.

That was when my boyfriend said to me "I'm sorry you couldn't find anything, but I hope that you'll wear this," and he knelt next to me with a closed box in his hand.

I was not sure what to think, after six years I had convinced myself that since he wouldn't open the box it had to be earrings.

That was when he asked me to marry him. Turns out he was late because he was meeting with my dad.

I may have worn an old outfit to the party, but I was busy showing off my new ring all night long.

Linking up with Mama Kat

And it just kept coming...

A bit over a year ago, while I was still a blissfully sleep deprived new mother, there was an "incident". I had never had to deal with a blow-out diaper, but there is always a first time for everything. Luckily, I was at home. Unluckily, it was a work day, so it was just me and the baby.

I was shocked when I discovered that "stuff" had come out of the diaper, up the back and even at the legs. I believe that there was a bit of yelling on my part as I pulled off the diaper. The baby found this wildly entertaining, which caused him to laugh. And pee. Which made me yell even more. Which lead to more laughter.

Cue the pooping. Across the changing table. I don't think that I ever knew how forcefully that could happen. At this point, the baby as stopped laughing and started to cry, probably because of how much louder I was now yelling. I'm standing there, cleaning up the messy (again) baby, as well as the poopy changing table cover, and trying to stop the baby from putting his feet in it. All the while, swearing that my husband will be changing every diaper from here on out.

It was not long after the "incident" that we started to use disposable changing pad covers.

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com.  Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

I promise I wasn't lying (exactly)

I know that I said that I would be back soon, writing regularly. That was months ago.

This week I am planing on working on the changes and at least get them started. It's my goal to get the redesign finished in time for the new year.

But first, there will be new posts. Starting this week. So stay tuned.

Anybody there?...

I know, I've been MIA. For months.

I want to say I've had a good reason, but that would be a bold face lie.

I do want to come back, and I'm going to start posting regularly soon.

I am also going to do a major update here. New look, new address, new everything.

So stick around, it will be worth it.

And Now Some More Snow

I thought that the snow was over. Not sure why, it is only February, so winter is really not yet over. I guess it just seemed like we have had so much snow already that we couldn't possibly get any more. I was wrong.

Another six inches...

At least this time, it wasn't measured in feet.

What we were dealing with at the end of January

Also, this time, the Baby got to play. Every other snowfall has been too deep. This one was perfect.

At first he was curious. Then he discovered that it wasn't as easy to move around.

Then he decided it was time for spring.

Writer's Workshop: A Vacation to Remember

It wasn't so much a vacation, as it was a trip. Vacations are supposed to be relaxing, and this was anything but. It was the Baby's first time on a plane, and it wasn't even a short ride. Traveling from New York to London with a nine month old was interesting to say the least. The fact that we flew out after one of the big January storms, but thankfully not the biggest, made it all that much more stressful. Our flight wasn't canceled, which was great since we had a very important reason to be traveling.

My grandmother's one hundredth birthday.

Yes, she turned one hundred years old. And she did receive her card from the Queen.

More importantly for me, she got to meet her fourth great-grandson. And he got to meet his great-grandmother.

And they loved each other.

Linking up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

What I Love About Me

Sometimes I forget to appreciate myself. It is especially easy in this bad weather, where nothing seems good anymore.

When my husband came home yesterday with a dozen gorgeous roses, it showed me how much he loves me. He doesn't do flowers, he's very allergic, so I've accepted that I just don't get them. That made me start to think about why I should love myself, which I seem to have forgotten.

So in the spirit of The Mommyologist's Mom Sexy Valentine's Day Bash, here are ten of my reasons to love myself.

1. I'm a geek. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and I have been since I was little. Friends know not to question my Star Wars knowledge, and I still can't get them to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit with me (which I own more than one version). But I don't limit myself to Star Wars! I'm pretty much into science fiction in general. I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who, Stargate (all three series) and even Star Trek.
2. I'm good at computers. In another life (pre-baby), I was even a web developer. I wouldn't be able to jump right back in without bringing myself up to speed, but I'm still the person that gets called when anyone has a computer problem.
3. I'm a huge Broadway buff. I miss the days when I would perform in musicals, and was serious about dancing. Now I really just get to sing along to the music in the car.
4. I'm smart and I love to learn. I worked hard all through school, and it paid off. Even now, I still like learning new things.
5. I am a wealth of random knowledge, and I love to share it.
6. I'm a reader. I love books, and I love to read. I just need some more time to do it.
7. I'm hot. I'm back in the shape that I was at the end of high school, at the peak of my dancing "career". Due to a very restrictive diet because of a dairy/soy allergy I've managed to loose all the baby weight, the first year of marriage weight, the post college weight and the freshman 15...
8. I will do anything for my baby. He's allergic to dairy and soy, so I haven't had any in over eight months. That was huge, almost everything has dairy or soy. And I'm a big fan of cheese and chocolate.
9. I am fiercely loyal. I stick by friends when they need me, and even when they don't.
10. The Baby loves me unconditionally. Anyone that perfect must have a good reason to love me like that.

Explained in Thirty Seconds

Day 1 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge on SITS (a few days late).

I had a hard time with this, mostly because I'm not sure where I am going with this blog. Today (if today was Monday, which it obviously isn't, but let's pretend) I am supposed to write an elevator pitch for my blog. How do you explain in thirty seconds something that you aren't sure about?

So I pulled from my "About Me" page, which I had worked so hard on.

It reminded me of where I started. Even though I haven't been blogging all that long, I had lost what I wanted to do here. I'm afraid that I was starting to think of this as a "baby" blog, which it was never intended to be. This blog is supposed to be my release, my path. While I will talk about the baby, and some of the things that we are doing, he isn't my focus here. I am.

So, my new (work in progress) elevator pitch:

A new stay-at-home-mom trying to guide her family through the changes of their new lives while not loosing herself in the process.

The Challenge

To help motivate me, I'm going to join the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge with the SITS Girls. I'm late starting, so I am going to be playing catch-up, and I hope that it won't take me too long.

This is me throwing my hat into the ring.

Early in the morning

About a month ago, I had to take an early morning trip into the city to fulfill some bridesmaid duties. Due to the limited Sunday train schedule, I arrived much earlier than I needed to. Since it was one of those rare times when I was sans baby, I grabbed a hot tea and explored. It was cold, so I was glad to have the tea. At least it wasn't snowing, being the weekend before the storm(s).

I had forgotten how peaceful the city can be, especially early in the morning. There are fewer people, and less traffic.

Taking in the sites and sounds reminded me how much I miss the city.

Sometimes I miss my old life where I could quietly walk around Manhattan, not having to worry about where I can change a diaper, or when (and where) I can breastfeed.

Not having to worry about how to get around, if the subway didn't go where I wanted, I could easily jump in a cab.

And while sometimes I miss walking through Times Square before it gets crowded, I wouldn't change my life now for anything.

You Capture: Happy

I'm a little late getting this up, but I couldn't resist.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

This weather is killing me. We've had snow, snow and now some more snow. To be followed by freezing rain. This winter has been awful, we've been stuck inside when I really do have an outdoor baby. We are going a little stir crazy not getting out. I miss my mommy group, I miss the baby classes at the library and I really miss the stroller walks that I took with friends when the streets weren't covered in snow and ice.

To make it all even more annoying, we came so close to going to Florida this weekend, but the plans fell through. I was really looking forward the sun, to not having to bundle up, to being somewhere that I have never been before.

Oh well, I know that we can get through this. How long until spring?

I'm Back!

I mentioned that I would be busy in January. Well, part of that was that I was traveling to England to visit my grandmother for her birthday. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, and I have a few posts coming soon. I am also still working on the redesign and would like to have something new to show in February.

Looking forward to this year!

The End of the Holidays

January 6th. The twelfth day of Christmas. The day my family would take down the Christmas decorations, as it really was over at that point. The day that my house goes from this:

to this:

I know it's a mess. I need to clean. Please don't judge.

But while it is the end of the season, it's also the beginning of a new year. While January 1st is technically the start of the new year, it is surrounded by the holiday fog. So I am getting a late start on my resolutions.

I have a very busy January, and probably won't be around too much, but that will change in February.

My plan is to have the redesign completed by the end of this month. Starting in February, I'm going to be starting anew. I want to do more and explore with the Baby, and I want to figure out the balance between being "Mommy" and being "Me". I plan on coming here for my release.

See you all on the other side.

Resolution FAIL

Happy New Year everyone!

One of the things that I had promised myself was that I was going to start posting regularly. Here it is, January 3rd, and I've already fallen behind.

I have a cold, and in the past, I've always been able to stop and rest to get myself better. Unfortunately, the Baby doesn't seem to like that plan. So the cold is lasting, and I'm now about to enter a very busy part of the month. I'm hoping that I'll find time to post, but chances are I won't.

So maybe I start posting regularly in February? Hopefully sooner, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to swing it.

This is also screwing with my plan to have the redesign completed for the new year. Fail number 2.

I don't know how everyone else seem to have time for all these projects. How do you get everything done?