what in the world?!

(i will attempt to share this story with you in as grosslessly a way as possible)

once a mother, always a mother, right? it's a job you don't get a break from. you are a mom 24/7. even, unfortunately, when you are sick!

wednesday night, i was suddenly stricken with a disease that caused my stomach to ache majorly. things came out of me in ways that they shouldn't have. i was ill. this is also the night that my dear little baby j.t. decided to cry like a maniac for 3 hours before deciding to go to sleep. since shad had work in the morning, i had to take the brunt of the baby duties, in between running to the bathroom.

now, to shad's credit, he did come home a few hours early on thrusday to help me out. which i'm ever grateful for. but it's not like my duties as a mother went away. there was a baby that still needed to be feed, and only i could do it. and a baby that still needed to sleep, and usually only allows me to get him to sleepfulness.

motherhood never ends!

WEVER...last night my husband, the father in the home, came home claiming he didn't feel well. yet he was still able to eat some dinner. and he claims he had what i had. with a little bit of an upset stomach. narry a diaper he changed the whole evening. he slept well through out the night. (who was up for an hour at 5 am when she was sick? oh yeah...me!) and today his "back is a little achy" from being sick. (whose whole body throbbed with pain when she was sick? oh yeah...me!) and still, narry a diaper he has changed. he even wants to get out of the house and go shopping!

HOW is it, i ask, that i was for seriously sick and didn't get a break, yet my husband was pretending to be sick and gets a nice daddy va-ca?

(before you go all ww1 on me, remember i'm all about the dramatics. i love my husband, and he's very helpful. even if he did pretend to be sick to get out of some diaper duty. this post is simply for fun so put on a smile.)

10 reasons why you should find a new plumber

#1. he cancels your first appointment because his "nanny got injured."

#2. after he talkes to you the first time, he thinks he called you back and talked to you again, but he didn't.

#3. when he's calling to tell you he's coming over, he asks you to hold on a minute...and you hear him yelling at his kids.

#4. you ask him to take his combat boots off before walking through the house, and he does. and his big toe waves at you all the way up the stairs through the hole in his sock.

#5. he tells your husband stories of past jobs, but never finishes any of the stories.

#6. he doesn't know anything more about the job that needs to be done than your husband does.

#7. he tells you and your husband a story about his childs birth on april 1st that doesn't make a lick of sense.

#8. he won't stop talking.

#9. he tells you the same thing over and over again.

and the #10 reason why you should to find a new plumber...

he tells you that to cure your acne problem, you need to drink more water, because obviously you aren't drinking any. filtered water would be best.

nuffin' muffin

i have a new addiction. and i mean addiction in the very serious sense of the word.

muffins.

but not just of the stud variety.

i kid you not....i could eat muffins for every single meal. every single day. when shad calls me on his way home from work and asks "do i need to pick anything up?" i always tell him "muffins." he's warned me that he won't continue to be my enabler. but it's ok. he doesn't have to be. i will get them on my own if necessary.

lemon poppy seed. chocolate chip. chocolate-chocolate chip. blueberry. banana nut. pumpkin. carrot raisin nut.

the kind doesn't matter to me. if it's a muffin, i'm going to eat it and enjoy every single bite.

which is why i'm glad my husband joined sam's club. and even more glad that on his way home from work yesterday, he picked up a 12 pack of muffins from there.

now excuse me while i go get some muffin devouring taken care of.

peace in the east (coast)

remember the war i have been waging for 2 months now??

well, i'm putting up my white flag. i surrender. i just want peace (still). i just want love (still). i just want my sister back! i'm willing to do whatever it takes. even if that means LoW getting to post her sonic video and being praised for something she never would have thought of doing if it wasn't for me.

because getting praise isn't important. sisterhood is important. and let me tell you, we are sisters from the hood, and we need to stay connected. not let petty things keep us warring.

so, LoW...do you forgive me? will you be mine again (still)? will you be my partner in crime again (still)?

whadaya say? truce??

oh brother!

i love my husband. i do. but i love him like a husband. obviously. so why is it that sometimes he acts like my big brother? i already have plenty of big brothers. i don't need another one.

very often, we are in the middle of watching a tv show. and it will be at a good part. and out of nowhere, he will just change the channel. just to drive me nuts.

he knows that i hate feet to touch my feet. he's known it from the very beginning. which is why he will rub his feet on mine any chance he gets. just to drive me nuts.

he LOVES rolling his eyes at me when he doesn't like what i'm saying. just to drive me nuts.
he thinks its hilarious to tickle me, even though it doesn't make me laugh but makes me angry. and even though i told him his new years resolution should be "no tickling in 2009". no, he loves doing it. just to drive me nuts.





BUT...



he opens the car door for me still. when he's not carrying the car seat out to the car. just to be nice.

every sunday night and wednesday night, he goes around the house and gets the trash together and takes it out. just to be nice.


if i ever ask him for a neck massage, he does it willingly. just to be nice.

he still plans and takes me out on dates. just to be nice.


he gives me great gifts on special occasions. and sometimes for no particular reason. just to be nice.

he takes little j.t. on saturday and sunday mornings and let's me sleep in. just to be nice.
he often tells me i like "nice" or "pretty" or "hot". just to be nice.

for the last several months, he's been the main dinner maker in the house. just to be nice. (or just because he's hungry)

so...i suppose it's worth it to put up with the "big brother" that's instilled in him to be able to be on the receiving end of all of his niceness.

plus, you just gotta love him.

par-tay hard-y

i love traditions. whether it's having the same meal every year for a birthday celebration, or taking a similar picture with people at a certain time every year, or going to LoW's house for Christmas eve every year for a par-tay. for the past several years, that's what the "blacks" have done. and we of course always make sure to take a picture of the group. just in case anyone is too tipsy on egg nog we want to make sure they remember they were there. my favorite part about the picture is that we take it in the same spot every year.

unfortunately, there is no 2004 picture, or group pictures in LoW's first house where we started the Christmas eve par-tay tradition.

but here's the others.

our first picture in the spot, 2005

here we have 2006

then 2007

and the latest, 2008

*it should be noted that we do not partake in alcoholic beverages, and i was only making a joke with the intention of being humorous.

*it should also be noted that it must be really awkward for LoW that she was wearing the same shirt for the par-tay two years in a row

but seriously

i've gotta give it to corn. they are trying really hard to get people to eat foods with high fructose corn syrup. but let's be honest...how many of us would have had this conversation on a date...with these "facts"?



i wish i could have found the one with the two teenage boys. it's much better.

gotta get away

shad and i have pretty much come to terms with the fact that we won't have many visitors. yes, our parents came after little j.t. was born. and a couple of my sisters came before he was born. but we are well aware of the fact that our days of having visitors are over now that the grandparents and everyone else have seen the little guy.

but people!

check out our cozy guest room.

don't you feel like you are looking at pictures of a room in a cute inn or something? like it's a cute little serene retreat away from the craziness of the world?

it is!

so come visit us!

and be thankful it doesnt look like it did when we bought the place.

things i love

i love presents under the tree. and i am in shock by how many are under there.

the siblings in my family decided to draw names this year. (or i convinced them to) so instead of buying for everyone, i was buying for one...yet somehow there are more presents under the tree than probably ever before.

oh yeah, that's right...i have a child now.

i love my favorite canadian, shelley. thanks to her it's Christmas on my fridge too! and even though she tries to deny it, she obviously loves me too. sending magnetic cute manger scenes to someone is a true sign of love.

when you're out on your own

if digital television is supposed to be so great, then why did this keep happening when i was trying to watch gilmore girls??

Christmas comes this time each year

(which happens to be my most disliked line from a Christmas song)

this time of year means one thing (among all of the important things). shad asking me what i want for Christmas but not being willing to get it for me. i say, if you don't plan to get what i want, don't ask.

but i digress.

while shad and i were dating, i often spoke of my love for animals, and more specifically for cats. i've always been a cat lover, from a very young age. just ask my mom. and the whole time i lived at home growing up, i had a cat...or two. that's just how i rolled.

shad however, was not a cat lover. and often spoke of that. so when things got more serious between us, we would often "fight" (we've never officially fought) about whether or not we'd have a cat in our marriage. i, of course, said YES we will. while he emphatically said NO we won't.


that is, until one fateful night, shad walked me to my car. and there, standing beside my car, undearneath the glow of the moon, he lovingly told me "you can have a cat when we are married." "promise?" i asked. "yes, i promise." he replied. i was sold. i'd marry him!!


fast forward to a couple nights ago. when he asked me the yearly "what do you want for Christmas" question. i responded...."a cat." to which he responded "no, we are not getting a cat." to which i responded "yes we are." to which he responded "no, we are not." to which i responded "you promised." to which he responded "no."


and last night, shad again asked me what i wanted for Christmas.


i declare, boys will say anything to get you to marry them!!

hee haw

i think shad and i will draw names for Christmas this year. i hope i get him, because i already have the perfect gift picked out.

it's not who we are but what we do

i'm a person that plans in advance. plan.plan.plan. that's what i do. write things down, make lists, know what will happen way before it's due to happen. in fact, i plan so far in advance that i know what my son will be for halloween next year. a chicken. that's right, i already planned that out.
yeah, either that or i found this costume at burlington coat factory a few weeks ago for 5 bucks. yeah, it's one or the other.

gracias

i would like to publically thank jo-ann fabric and crafts for having their Christmas stuff already marked down 60% so i could add these cute little items to my holiday decor for a fabulous price.

taggity

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..."

1 embarrassing moment: every time someone talks to me and knows my name and i have no idea who they are and what their name is

2 best friends: shad and LoW

3 things you buy regularly: diapers, milk, cereal

4 places you want to go (and might actually REALLY go): germany, hawaii, ireland, the beach

5 goals for the upcoming year (that you might actually do): make dinner regularly, take more pictures, finish painting the house, finish decorating the house, grow my hair out (c:

6 things most people don't know about you: unless i know you pretty well, i dont want you to stand close to me. i love buying holiday decorations, i'm not shy, i was engaged before shad, i want to be crafty, i was in musicals in high school

7 things you would never say: "i love tomatoes", "i dont want to go on a date", "no thanks, i dont like pie", "i love my current haircut", "family schamily", "no, don't come visit", "changing diapers all day long rocks!"

8 things you love about the Christmas season: family, decorating, Christmas trees, egg nog, giving presents, my moms Christmas morning breakfast, the music, baking

9 things you say to your kids: "you're stinky", "you're so cute", "go to sleep", "i wuv you", "why are you crying?", "use your big boy words", "shhhhh", "its ok", "that was a short nap"

10 things you do a lot: blog, laundry, shop, take pictures of baby j.t., watch tv, talk on the phone, cut baby j.t.s finger nails, change diapers, sleep, eat

11 things you would rather not live without: shad, baby j.t., family, friends, the mall, ice cream, computer, music, pumpkin, my car, heat

12 people to tag: cindy, LoW (even though we are still warring), jess, melissa, shelley c., chira, erin, morgan, lauren, chris, megs, paige