Uncle Sam has a Fiesta

Yesterday Andrew, Lily, and I headed out to run a few errands.  You know just the typical run to Costco for formula and meat. I lovelovelove Costco, so its one of my favorite errands to run. ;)  

Prior to that we stopped at Party City to get cups for Lily's birthday party.
They were Buy One, Get One Free, so that was a score!

Andrew decided that we needed to play around with some stuff in the store, so we celebrated with a little Americana and a little fiesta complete with sombreros and maracas!

It's always an adventure with them. We laughed a lot!

What's in a Name?

Trying to come up with a name for my new "home" was actually pretty easy...except for the Andrew part. :)  Trying to find something that fit for him in the tween stage and all.

Of course, when I think about him, I still think of all the cutie little nicknames I've used for him since he was a baby.  I didn't figure he'd appreciate that very much though.  And "Little Guy" just made him sound....well, little.  And he's not so little anymore.   So, he was ok with the "Not-So-Little Guy" description when I told him I was using one of Lily's nicknames and he didn't want me to embarrass him with any of his. ha

"Punky Pie" actually came randomly right after Lily was born.  She was soooo teeny, but sooooo strong physically.  So, one late night 3am-ish when she was fussing and wriggling and not nursing although she was STARVING, I was talking to her as I tried to get her to calm down and said, "ohhh you little punky pie..."  Only I called her that and not really anywhere but to her. 

Shortly after, I got a package in the mail from two dear friends who are sisters and one of the gifts was a cd with a mix of songs for me after having a new baby. Yep, I got an awesome mix tape cd and on it was the Punky Brewster theme song! 

You see, I know this treasure of a person in AZ who enjoys and appreciates music in the way that I do...and one time we talked about Punky Brewster. The show.

So, in my postpartum I was listening to sweet music chosen specifically for me having this new little creature in my life, tears streaming down my face and then Punky Brewster's theme starts and made me laugh through those tears. 

So, Punky Pie stuck.

Lily also has a variety of "pie" nicknames.  Different flavors of pie, if you will. haha

Andrew very early on said, "Mom, do you know what kind of pie Lily would be if she were a pie?  A cutie pie."  sweet, sweet boy. I loved that so much, her Thanksgiving shirt for this coming year represents it! (yes, she already has a shirt for Thanksgiving)

She also has "Stinker Pie" and "Lily Pie".

I just adore these two kids of mine: My Not-So-Little Guy & My Little Punky Pie!

Moving On

I've decided to move away from "Got One Past the Goalie" for a variety of reasons.  I'm sure if you've been reading or we know each other in real life, you can guess some of them. However, I love writing, journaling and documenting about my family, so I've moved on over to a new place where I can hopefully just write about my kids and our family without the myriad of garbage. :)  

I'm not private, so I recognize the odds increase for "discovery", but I just wanted to start in a clean place.  My husband doesn't love blogging, but understands my reasons and desires to do it, so we compromise. :)

I'm still working on getting it set up to look the way I like and of course, I'll explain where "My Little Punky Pie" comes from. :)

xoxox~
S

How 'Bout This?

*this is a bitching post about behaviors and comments. skip on over if you need to. :)

I find people to be funny.  Random nuances that show how differently people grew up. 
Sometimes people make me laugh. Other times they piss me off, but then it passes quickly. 
This is about just people in general. Well, then there are some specifics that piss me off.

What is wrong with people who talk crap about kids?  Why is this ok for you--EVER?

~If you are a 19 year old girl speaking shit about my 11 month old baby to fit in with others much older than you, then something is clearly wrong with your self esteem.
How 'bout this? You worry about your life and the babies in your life. Not mine.

~If you are a 20 something married woman who by all accounts seems normal and you take the word of a proven (by professionals) liar and talk shit about my parenting, perhaps you should wait until you have children before you pass such judgment on my parenting.
How 'bout this?  You keep on, keeping on because your writing is actually funny and seems authentic. Stick with what you know because you think you know the whole story, but you have no idea.

~If you are... well, I just don't use those words-- then perhaps you just shouldn't make assumptions. You know what they say, they make you an ass.
How 'bout this? Try to live what you type about your life and how "amazing" it is instead of worrying about how horrific you've decided mine is.  I've been doing JUST fine without you.

~If you call me a cow at every turn, guess what? I didn't struggle with my weight when I was in my 20s (like you).  Just my late 30s. 
How 'bout this? You worry about your weight and the growth of your baby. Because the amount of negativity you are putting into that baby while it's growing, probably isn't healthy. Here's me at 17 weeks pregnant at age 37 if you'd like to compare to you and your own self description, as I can clearly see the difference and the scales tip in your favor *pun intended:

I'll Tumble For Ya

Lily took a tumble off the bed yesterday. :( 
I measured how high the bed is.  32 inches high.
yikes!

I was not in charge. 
However, it reminded me and made me sick to my stomach all over again thinking
 about when she was around 10 weeks or so and did a flip off the loveseat with me. 

Poor Lily and poor Da da. 

She obviously landed on her head.
She just crawled right off and Daddy wasn't able to catch her.

To make his day even better, a little while later, he rolled over her finger with his computer chair.

Poor baby girl.

She, of course, cried cried cried at both, but soon enough she was back to her normally happy self!

Just a Lil' Peek

 

Lily's new favorite thing to do is stand at our front door and watch peek at the American flag that hangs on our front porch.  She plays with her toys, crawls all over the place, pulls up on the couch and tables, but inevitably, she'll end up at the front screen door standing there watching that flag.

I have to admit, it makes my patriotic heart swell just a little bit. 

I guess it's just in her.....her daddy was in the army and a former police officer and mama a teacher.

All-American baby.

She's fascinated with the wind and we've found her watching flags at the Pirates games and even when we were stopped for gas on our little road trip last weekend. She's mesmerized by them.

Even though a few months ago, she'd see the flag blow and it would scare her...she would cry which is why she started peeking around to look at it before it turned into full on staring. It's super cute to see her just stand and watch, squeal, and jabber in her sweet little sing-song voice.

Happy Friday!

Seriously?!

~Seriously.    I have a lot to write about. I have zero desire to do it. So I haven't. This is my first post in more than a week.

~Seriously.   What is normally a 9 hour trip to and from Cincinnati, took 12 freaking hours. Did I mention my husband was available to come this time? From "I have to pee" to a torrential downpour making seeing non-existant which led to more delays which led to screaming hungry baby which led to more stops and eventually we made it to our destination. On the return, we'd stop to change Lily's diaper then get back on the road and 10 minutes later she'd poop. She apparently needs clean diapers to poop in. Oh and Taylor Swift was in town playing Heinz Field....TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE.  We made it home...eventually.

~Seriously.  I scooped a dead stinkbug out of my 10 1/2 month old baby's mouth. *gags*  She has become a little goat...everything goes in her mouth. Daddy calls her "LilyGoat" instead of a billy goat. :)  We have hardwood floors. I sweep them EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  Some stowaway dried out stinkbug.  I literally almost threw up. And I'm just simply grateful, it was not alive and didn't spray her.

~Seriously. There is a Furry Convention aka Anthrocon in town this weekend...go on google it.  (totally reminds me of creepy CSI episode)

~Seriously.  When I tell Lily "no no", she's started replying with "Dada"...yeah, kid, you already have dada wrapped...I know.  I think I'm in trouble with that one.

~Seriously.  Regardless of how shitty you are about my baby, I don't talk shit about babies and kids.  But, with the emphasis of Lily only being a HALF sister, I had to give a little genetics lesson about all the other kids involved to explain how they're related biologically and by marriage.  Stupid.

~Seriously.  I don't treat the woman who helps care for my child with his dad like shit.  She influences my son. But, then again I'm smart.

~Seriously. I am in NO hurry for (almost) 11 month old to walk.  She moves fast enough for me now. Growing up wayyyy too fast!

~Seriously.  I used the word "shit" in this post three four times.  That's a record.

I'm Seriously?! linking up with From Mrs. to Mama.

I have a TON of stuff to write about, but I just haven't felt motivated to do it. So, of course, that will just mean lots of continual catch up--story of my life.

Last Day of 5th Grade

Today is my 1st born's last day of 5th grade.... 5TH GRADE?????  How do these babies grow up so quickly?

As I grabbed my camera to take his picture this morning, he said to me, "Ugh...Mommmmm, WHY do you...nevermind. 'Cause you're the mom and that's what you do." (referring to my picture taking)  I just smiled at him.

It's always fascinating to me to see how much he changes from the beginning of the year to the end. This year with Lily, it's so clear how quickly time has gone by.  She was 6 weeks when school started for Andrew and now 10 months.  My babies are growing up tooooooooooooooooo fast!

Andrew 5th grade:

9.7.11:                                                            6.14.11:

 

 

Rockin' the Bump

link up & share yours!

I truly love pregnancy and the miracle that it is. 

When I was pregnant with Andrew, it was pre-digital camera, so I only have one picture of  me pregnant here with me in Pittsburgh. (The rest are in storage still in AZ) and as many pictures that y'all may think I take of Lily, I did just the same with Andrew, only I had to get them developed!
So, I have 923838216 pictures of him too...just printed.

Both of these pictures are the night before my children were born....I went into the hospital late Friday nights and delivered on Saturdays.

late night November 26, 1999

my hands resting on my bump. ♥

nearly 11 years later...

late night July 23, 2010

Lost Treasure at the Pirate Game

Yesterday we headed to the Pirates game as a family.  The weather was cooler than it had been, we'd gotten free tickets, it was Boy Scout Day-- Andrew would be getting a patch, a bag full of snacks, everyone in a good mood.

Before we made our way into our seats, we slathered everyone up with sunscreen by making use of a closed concession stand counter.  George held Lily while I sprayed Andrew and made sure he was covered.  I just spray it on Andrew--no rubbing involved. 

With Lily, I spray it into my hands to rub it on her arms, face, neck, ears, head and only spray directly onto her legs and feet.  I was carrying the diaper bag and big bag o' snacks that I left resting on the counter.  I took my wedding ring off to rub on Lily's sunscreen and placed it in between the diaper bag and big bag o' snacks, so I wouldn't forget it. 

Everyone sunscreened up, we headed up to our seats, settled in and enjoyed the game and Lily entertained the people around us, as always.  About 45 minutes later or so when I was holding Lily and getting her to wave, I inhaled sharply, shouted "oh no!" as I suddenly realized... I had left my wedding ring on that closed concession stand counter at the bottom of our entrance.

The ring that is a 5th generation heirloom from my husband's family.

Irreplaceable.

And while my husband does not LOVE it, he knows I do and I love that our daughter will be the 6th generation to receive it.

I ran down the steps, praying the entire way and when I turned to corner to see whether my ring was still sitting on that countertop, I took a deep breath...

and THERE. IT. SAT.

a lone ring sitting on a silver counter at a closed concession stand.  THANK GOD!

When I headed back towards our seats, I looked up at George from the bottom of our section. He held up his hands to say, "Well?" and I nodded yes.  When I got up there, he said, "You are so lucky. That was your dad looking out for you for sure."

I was a much happier person after my near panic attack. :)



Lily was worn out and beyond sleepy at the end of the game, but you can clearly see I am still thrilled!

(and you can see my ring...whew)

1st Pirates Game

Lily hit PNC Park for her 1st professional baseball game on May 25, 2011!

It worked out perfectly! Andrew had a field trip to the game, Oma and Brayden were here, so we figured, we'd head to the ballpark all together.  Of course, the one thing we didn't count on...the ghastly humid weather that came out of nowhere.  Just the week before, we'd had the furnace on!

We made the best of it and enjoyed the game!  Ticket in hand, we headed for our seats.

We had a few snacks.

We took in a little sunshine and it was just plain hot.

And Lily did get a little crankypants...

But soon enough we were in the shade and happy Lily returned :)

If you've never been to PNC Park, it is truly one of the prettiest ballparks. The views are amazing and it's a good thing they are--something has to make up for the Buccos record.

Andrew enjoyed hanging out with his friends and Brayden hung out with them during the game too.

All those girls in front of them kept talking to them too. :)

The end of the game, the boys were still happy and Lily was just worn out from fighting against giving in and napping. Sleepy baby.

 

The Pirates were playing the Braves and the game went into extra innings. 

Bucs lost 4-2 after 11 innings.

 

We look forward to heading back to the ballpark again soon!

 

 

365.days150-156

5.30.11: i love splashing in the pool!

5.31.11: i love cords so much i haven't realized that i'm not holding on to stand up

6.01.11: i have to have my blankie to sleep...and my toes to stick through it.

6.02.11: always happy

6.03.11:  my mama and dada

6.04.11:  cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

6.05.11: mama, i'm sleepy and not impressed with this heat