MIA

I've been MIA recently because I left my camera in Dallas a few weekends ago and blogging without a camera seems so early 2000s.  Anyway, I read an awesome article on finding rest, instead of hurry, in your life and thought I'd share it (through a "hurried" medium, because irony is fun).  The article  inspired me to take five minutes to sit outside and watch the sunset, which in turn inspired me to sit down and write about other places of rest in my life as of late.

Caleb and I have managed to find time to ourselves two weekends in a row after seven months of lots of family togetherness.  That is, not a night to ourselves sans baby since New Years Eve.  Except for our anniversary, which we celebrated by having food poisoning, as a couple. SO MUCH FUN! It was also marked by our air conditioner breaking...  For some reason it didn't seem as if that should count as alone time.   

Side Note: {I remember before we had a kid hearing stories from other couples about not having been out since the baby was born and thinking they were just not trying hard enough.  HA!  HA HA!  BWA HA HA HA HA HA.} 

Anyway, it's been really lovely to have some time to focus on each other lately.  And a nice latent effect of that is that when we've gone back to being parents, it's been so much easier to be a genuinely happy parent.  It's a lot easier to appreciate the humor in the things my child does [when I'm not feeling like Jordan in the "My Changing Ways" episode of Scrubs (start at 2:15).]  I can see the humor in the unfolding of all the freshly folded laundry, or her occasional emptying of the diaper pail, making sure to hide one or two diapers around the room.  Or washing her hands in the toilet while wearing a Tupperware bowl as a hat.  Or climbing into the dog kennel for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Or just screaming at every single thing I do wrong... I've been informed it is all wrong.

You're always hearing, with parenting or other struggles, that you will "look back and laugh about this one day."  But I think having some time away from your child every once in a while allows you to laugh right now, in the moment.  And that's a pretty amazing gift.  It's like laughter sent backwards through time.  Yes.  That awesome.

Another benefit? Appreciating the humor in the things my child does also gives me cause to use this maddeningly contradictory phrase from my own childhood "Just because I'm laughing, does not make it funny" and thus get a little bit closer to [inevitably?] becoming my own parents.  But that's a rambling for another day. 

-Sarah-Jean

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

I know I'm super late on sharing Mili's birthday pics, but I had to get this Father's Day post in just under the wire.  No one makes me think of what it means to be a good father like Bill Cosby (or should I say Dr. Cliff Huxtable), so I made this printable to share. 

No one except maybe my husband to Mili...

Or my own Dad... to Me!

Happy Father's Day!

*or in this case, just SJ
**You can click on the "Happy Father's Day" to download and print the PDF.

Mili's First Birthday Preview

I know you all have been waiting with bated breath for Mili's first birthday and I would hate for anyone to pass out, so I thought I'd treat you to a little birthday party preview.  Also, as always happens with parties I'm planning, I've been asked what the theme is, to which I inevitably reply "Uh... um... like color and stuff?"  So here you go.

I call this theme "Beach Ball".

The best part about this party "theme" is that I had all this stuff on hand.  Paint, a whole punch, paper, an absurd number of baby food jars for the recycle…  Hopefully Mili won’t be too scarred by the fact that the most money I spent on her party was for cake mix.  And butter.  Butter is expensive (real butter, not margarine).  Who knew?  

Anyway, if you’re reading this and really upset that you didn’t get invited to her birthday, don’t despair.  You were invited.  Just in my head.  Via telepathy.  That’s how everyone was invited.  

Seriously.   

My husband had to remind me approximately 9 days ago that Mili’s birthday was coming up and to text everyone and let them know.  Forgetting my child’s birthday does not mean I don’t absolutely love and adore her, by the way (eh hem, take note future Mili).  It means that the school semester was coming to an end and everyday I told myself as I worked frantically to finish my projects that Mili’s birthday was “About two weeks away.  That’s plenty of time to send out invitations.”  Every day.  The fact that each day that passed meant it was no longer "about two weeks away" didn't really factor into my planning / invite thinking process.  So if you're still feeling sad about the lack of invite, take solace in knowing that her own great aunt was invited today via awkward text message.  And if you'd like to come, just send me and awkward text message and I'll send you the address and time!

Oh!  And the other theme will be cuteness.  

 

 

 

Flags: Love Vs. Design  

Tiny Bunting: Little House Blog

Paint Dipped Baby Food Jars:  Oh Happy Day

On Maurice Sendak

When my husband and I were mulling over baby names Amelia was an early favorite.  It wasn't until Caleb pointed out that an Amelia could also be called Mili that I was sold though.

Growing up, one of my favorite books was Dear Mili (illustrated by Maurice Sendak).
We have two copies in our home.  One I bought for Amelia's baby shower and the other is a vestige from my own childhood.  An inscription on the title page of the older copy reads:

"Dear Kelly,
A fairy tale for you... for you appreciate the words that I strive to create.  Someday my fairy tale will sit upon your shelf.
Just me,
Josh"

I imagine the book was picked up at a library or garage sale, but the personal nature of the message made the book all the more intriguing.

The story in Dear Mili is dark, written by Wilhelm Grimm of the Grimm brothers.  Raised in a conservative Christian home, this kind of dark did not disturb me.  There are many gruesome, bittersweet and instructive stories in the Bible.  What really intrigued me were the illustrations.  The details - the representation of characters and nature, at once realistic and cartoon like.  The occasional imperfection in proportions.  The colors, alternatively sobering or soothing, reminding me of a nightmare or a perfect sunset, and all the while feeling somehow familiar. 

When I learned that Maurice Sendak passed away today, I immediately tried to recall how this book had survived to make it into my home as an adult.  At first I thought the book was so special to me, that I must have carried it with me to college, moving it through dorm rooms, apartments, across state lines, all the way into the house I now share with my husband.  But when I had put my daughter to sleep and the house was quiet and I'd cleared my head with half-caf coffee consumed far too late in the evening, an actual memory began to surface.  I recalled searching for the title of the book using details of the story and illustrations on-line.  Eventually, successfully searching through the bookcases in my parents house and a box of books in their garage.  I think this memory is correct, although I have been sleep deprived about a year now and it makes it much harder to tell fact from fiction.

Whether it was physically or only mentally, clearly I carried this book, from an early age, in my heart.  And that was the magic of Maurice Sendak.
Whether illustrating or writing, his art captivated young and old alike.

Two years ago I read Where the Wild Things Are to a small group of fifth graders after benchmark tests.  And after testing all day, they didn't talk or whisper or fidget.  They just listened.

Enchanted.

What a gift.

Because I'm a lot like Oprah: My Favorite (Baby) Things

People are always telling me that I'm really good at giving advice and also devastatingly attractive.

Or maybe they're always telling me that my baby is really cute and that's pretty much it.  My point is Mili is almost a year old now and I thought I'd share a list of my favorite things (gear) from baby's first year.  I won't be gifting any of them to any of you though, because even though I'm so much like Oprah, I'm also broke. 

Also, if there's one thing I've learned in the first year of being a young mother, it's that:  1) pretty much all babies are exactly alike, and 2) you should therefore do things exactly the way I did because I've had a baby, and 3) it's now my responsibility to pass on this wisdom to you.  Also, your baby (real or hypothetical) is probably really cold...  especially if the weather is currently in the upper 90s.

Normally you'd have to wait until any and every single time you left your house for the first 300+ days of your child's life to glean these pearls of wisdom from  perfect strangers.  But I'm generous.  And your swollen preggo feet are tired.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy my wisdom from the comfort of your computer screen. 

My Favorite Things / Advice About Stuff You Should Buy:

A Series of Posts  

Because I'm Too Tired to Write This All in One Night.

  

Part One:  Baby Carriers

My Fave:  The Ergo

I have used a Baby Bjorn, Infantino Carrier, a sling (of unknown brand), and a Moby Wrap, and the Ergo is hands down THE BEST BABY CARRIER EVER INVENTED.  You should believe that because I typed it in my shouting font.  

Check out all the chumps using their arms to hold their kids in this picture...  Lame.** 

I just included this picture because I was having a god jeans day. 

Yes, they're pricey, but they're cool (temperature wise), easy to put on and take off, and can support infants 7 - 45 lbs.  The best thing about the Ergo though, is that it distributes baby's weight across the hips using ergodynamics  aerodynamics(?) ergonomics magic so that your back never hurts while carrying baby.  And that's not even a lie.  The Ergo = Winner.


Runner Up:  The Moby Wrap


The Moby is a really great carrier and nothing beats it for keeping your baby extra close and snuggly.  However, extra close and snuggly is not so pleasant during April, May, June, July, August, September and a good part of October if the state you live in often turns a deep orange, or worse, purple/pink.

From: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/heat/images/bchi_day3.gif

The rest of the year though, the Moby really is great.  And an added bonus is the Moby is an excellent tool for making other parents feel slightly incompetent.***  Especially if  they've ever seen the wrap fully, um, unwrapped.  The website (or some website) tells me the wrap is 5.5 meters long.  That's 18 feet (6 yards).  Seriously.  I did the math.  All by myself.   

So it is probably wrong. 

So this concludes Part One of the "Because I'm Like Oprah, Only Broke" series.  Be sure to stop by frequently for more guru-like insights.  

**Just kidding of course.  I'm pretty sure we're friends with some of those "chumps."  

***I found that, as a first time parent, it helps to occasionally feel slightly more competent than some or any other parent.  Particularly if you just hit your kid's head on a ceiling fan by mistake.  Or because you've given up on making your own baby food, at least for now, because you burn food a lot... even peas... even in the microwave.  Just hypotheticals. 

March in Pictures

March has been a lovely month.  We're moving on Saturday and a nephew was born.  There are more  words that could be said, but I'll let these pictures do the talking.

The New Place

Dear Kitchen, I love you.

 

Musings

You probably haven't noticed because I am horrible at updating my blog, but I have been spending less time on the Internet lately.  Particularly on Facebook and design blogs.  Now if you went on my Facebook page now, you'd probably be all:  "SJ, what are you talking about?  Clearly you still have an updating and 'Like Button' addiction/real problem".  But I promise you I've been over there less than usual lately.

Go New Year's Resolution! (sort of). 

Anyway, the results have been:

Spending more time "in the moment" with both my husband and daughter.  More snuggle time with my man + more clapping, singing, and silly game playing with the Bean.  Truly awesome.  

I've also been spending less time thinking about the things I don't have and want, and more time thinking about the things I do have, and how I can make my space more livable, safer for Bean, prettier and happier for me  ...using what I do have, and getting rid of what I don't use.  And I've spent less time looking for inspiration and more time doing things.  Pick-up-the-house things.  (Still not laundry things).  Crafty things.  Creative things. 

With all this doing, by now I really should have a plethora of DIY tutorials and "YES IT'S TRUE I MADE THAT... err... THING" bragging pictures, but my camera seems to be perpetually "exhausted."  Or at least that's what the camera says about the battery.  Lazy camera.  <I'm exhausted too, I don't just quit for days at a time Camera!>.  So sometime soon maybe I'll remedy that and you can be so very amazed at how awesome I am / what I devote my time to.  <See amazed is a great choice of word because it has both positive and negative connotations... right now you're probably amazed that I spent time pointing that out.  I could go on>.  

Anyway, I forget where I was going with all this, beyond the ironic posting about being happier without the Internet on the Internet so I'll just wrap it up by awarding this post the "MOST BORING UPDATE EVER" certificate of unachievement and say later taters! <-- Bringing it back.  <Nope.  Nope.>

Thanks for reading!