doin a lil good in the neighboorhood

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to start volunteering.  Well I have officially started it and I really like it.  I volunteer at the Salvation Army.  The same place I worked for two years before I had Max.

This last weekend we had a BBQ for the community.  It had a good turn out.  I think we fed 200 people.  It was cool.

It is always a weird feeling being on the other side.  In a moment you feel really privileged to be helping others, but then in the same moment feeling really helpless.  Like there should be more you can do.

Little is better than none at all. And everyday I will try a little harder.

dig in!

my old boss, Gary!

ugh............

I woke up today and didn't want to be a mom.

I know, sounds harsh. 

It wasn't that I didn't want to be Max's mama, I didn't want to be any ones mama.  At 5:00am when I heard the monster start to stir in his bed, I rolled over and thought, "not today".  Today I want to go back to bed, back to my dreams.  I don't wanna get up, make breakfast, change a dirty diaper or plan a play date.

Today I want to pull the covers up over my head and fall back into blissdom.

Ever have one of those days?
Maybe?

Well thank god for girls day.  It is exactly what I needed. A little recharge.  I went over to my friends house with my sister for yummy quiche and good conversation.  I even painted my nails.

After a few hours away, I came home to a sleeping monster.  I couldn't wait for him to wake up so I could give him a little squeeze.  And when he did awake, that's exactly what happened.  One big squeeze for mama.

I sure love that lil monster! and I sure love being his mama!

even had a little time for a spot treatment.  Cute, right?

good eats

Do you struggle with finding good things for your toddler to eat?  I do.  I know that variety is the spice of life, so it pains me to feed my monster the same old boring food day after day.  This usually consists of strawberries, bananas, avocados, and cheese.  I try to throw in some flair here and there, like cottage cheese or bread.  But for the most part, that's it.

So at Whole Foods the other day I saw these babies.  Who doesn't like chicken nuggets? I gave them the taste test, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Max seems to like them too, score!  and I will give myself a tiny little pat on the back for shaking things up a bit.

Water babies...

Although Seattle isn't pumping out continuous sunny days, we are taking advantage of what we do get.

Here is Max enjoying his day at the splash pool, catching some rays and eating some snacks.

Enjoy :)

comments, comments and more comments

Hi y'all!

Would love to get some feedback from you! 

Good, bad, and the ugly.

Feel free to babble away on the comment line below.

Thanks,

Mama

google images

Lil family cheese

Two weeks ago we went to the Sculpture Park and had our family pictures done.  I wanna do this every year around Max's birthday to sort of document our growth, either in height or weight :)

I found our photographer through a Living Social ad.  She was super sweet and really busy.  I have a feeling she is really going to take off.

hannahmariephoto.com

Whatcha think?

my favorite

My handsome hubby

playing dress up...

rachelzoe:

“I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.”

- Marilyn Monroe

I used to love me some high heels.  Being 4'11, they were my friend, my partner in crime.  But now, since the monster I totally lean to the more practical, sensible shoe.  How boring right.   My heart sighs a little when I look at my shoe closet.  I think they are mocking me as well.  "and you thought having a baby wouldn't change you", "whats next, mom jeans?"

Oh how I cringe.  I don't want to lose my love for fashion and replace it with it comfort.  But having to get rid of a nice shirt because I've stained it with baby mush or milk doesn't give me a warm feeling either.

Balance?

Well I think once Max is a little older I will slowly bring out the fun shoes.  Maybe?  Maybe Max will appreciate my sense of style and encourage me to dress up? Inspire me? Maybe?

But for now, he just puts my shoes in his mouth.  Good thing they are just flip flops.

teefers

Someone loves brushing his teeth.

Well, at least he loves the taste of the toothpaste. 

 I try to brush Max's teefers when I am brushing my own.  

I think he is finding the similarity. I don't however think I am doing a very good job. 

 He has 6 teeth and I think I may hit one with the toothbrush.

Good habits start early right?

lookie mama, teefers!

The hood-II

Like I mentioned before, we live in a part of the city that may be considered unsavory.  But really it isn't as bad as it seems.

On this day, we decided to get some pastries from one of our favorite cafes.  So we packed the family up and headed out.

YUM

Hubby had to get his chocolate fix

always ventures off on his own

on to our next stop...

Indoor waterfall.  

ohhhhh

The Hood-I

We moved into our condo in Pioneer Square six years ago.  I am not a fan of staying any one place for too long, so when we bought I figured we'd be here for 3-5 years.  5 being the absolute max.  Well, now 6 years later I am singing a different tune.  With the market being what it is it would be silly for us to sell.  So you make the best of it right?

Pioneer Square isn't what you would label "kid friendly".  But it is fun.  We have a little corner market we lovingly call crackmart.  Now I don't think they sell crack there, however I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Details. Details!

My point to this post is that although we don't live in your typical neighborhood with parks and such, we live in a very colorful hood, filled with lots to see and explore.  And when we move one day, I will miss our little piece of the city.

Some sights from our trek today....

Alaska bound...

In six days we are flying to Anchorage.  I grew up in ANCHOR-town.  Lived there 18 long years.  And as soon as my ass turned 18, I was off like a prom dress.  I know that sounds harsh, but you try living there.  It aint easy!!

With that said, lately I've come a little reminiscent of my ol' stompin grounds.  Originally I blamed this mushiness on being preggo.  But damn it, its still lingers.  Like bad Thai food.  Anyways, Max and I are making our trip up there, and I am uber excited.

If only we didn't have to fly.  I HATE FLYING.  I usually medicate myself with a little Valium and a wash that puppy down with cocktail, but now that I have a little monster I am thinking that isn't very "responsible".   I am not super excited about this part of the trip.  I keep telling myself its only 3.5 hours. I can do it!!

I can do it!!!

I've been on the hunt for something to keep Max occupied while we are in baby jail. It took me 5 stores but I think I found it.  He is really into zippers and snaps so when I finally found this I did a little happy dance.  And its made specifically for the plane!

I think I should win an award or something.

snaps, velcro, buttons, oh my!

Boo Boos

Max fell today.

Ugh, I cant explain what torture it is to hear that sort of screaming.

And I know I need to get used to it.....

I foresee much more wine in my future.

Sincerly,

mama

meatless mondays

Now I know today isn't Monday, but I've never really been good at keeping my days right.  So piggy backing my last post, I am trying to create healthy meals for my family.  This also means trying to be environment friendly.  Did you know that eating meat free on day a week really reduces your carbon footprint?  Well it does.  Read more here, http://www.practicallygreen.com/actions/join-meat-free-mondays-or-eat-vegetarian-one-day-a-week

Doing this meat less day isn't as easy as it seems.  One, I can't ever seem to get the Monday thing down, and two, I always seem to forget somewhere along the day and end up eating a little meat. Dang it!  Like today. Started off strong, and then, silly me, made myself a ham sandwich. Whoops.  Oh well, progress not perfection right.  Thankfully I was able to get on track again for dinner and made this little tofu dish I saw on pintrest.

Check it out....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/02/vegetarian-lettuce-wraps/

pioneerwoman.com

It wasn't too bad.  I would probably add more veggies to the dish and maybe a sauce.  But the hubby and I ate it all up.  And it felt really good to have an almost complete meatless Tuesday :)

Whole Foods=Whole Paycheck

Today I went to Whole Foods to recharge my original motivation to eat better.  AND DAMN! I went way over my food budget and only got four bags of groceries!!! It hurt a little, I'm not gonna lie. Needless to say, I can't shop there every time and it really sucks that eating well, clean, and humane costs so frickin' much.

I'd say that for the last 5-10 years I have been slowly becoming more and more concerned with what I ate, and where it came from.  This was a slow process as I was a proponent of ignorance being bliss.  I slowly dabbled in literature and documentaries on the topic of food welfare, and what mass consumerism has done to the food industry.  But like I said, I sort of watched it will one eye open.  Its pretty overwhelming. And its pretty disgusting.  I knew that I couldn't continue ignoring what I was being exposed to.

Now as a meat lover, I knew eliminating that from my diet and my families wasn't an option.  So on to plan B.  I've started slow. I try to buy only grass fed beef. (watch the video posted below and you will see why) Now ONLY is big word.  I do get lazy and when I don't hit up a grocer that carries grass fed, I go for the next best thing, "organic", which doesn't really mean a lot, but I suppose it cushions the blow. Also, I try to only buy organic dairy products.  When you learn about all the hormones pumped in to our cows, you cant help but reconsider your dairy sources. Of course, I haven't gotten around to buying organic ice cream, but I do know Ben and Jerry's does a great job using organic cows :).

If you haven't watched it yet, check it out.  takepart.com/foodinc  What I like about this documentary is that it's not all in your face and trying to shock you with gore and horrific images.  It just states facts, and it's a game changer.

Oh, and something I tell myself....Its progress not perfection.  Doing a little is better than doing noting at all, right?

Distillery Tour

For our Birthdays our friends Megan and Paul bought us a Living Social for a local distillery tour.  We hit three.  Sound Seattle, Batch 206 and Mischief.  It was pretty cool to see it all, however drinking straight booze is a little hard these days. Or ever. 

Here are some pictures from our adventure.  Quite the artform making booze is.

Loving this collage option in Picasa. Can you tell :)

Hair cut #2

Max's hair is growing like a weed.  His first haircut was a few months ago, and already he was due for a trim.  We headed to Wallingford to this cut little shop. lilklippers.com. I walk by it often when dropping off clothes to the consignment shop next door, and thought we should give it a try.  We were not disappointed!

 How cute is this salon?

Happy Anniversary

July 23, 2005 R and I were married right here in good ol' Seattle.  We were married at the W Hotel and tonight we are spending the night there again, seven years later.  My sister is watching Max overnight, YIPPEE!!! This will be the first time in over a year that I will sleep through the night.  I can NOT wait!.. Oh and staying at the W with my hubby will be nice too.

Happy Anniversary

paint paint paint

I am not sure bout you folks, but I constantly look around my place and think, can I spray paint that???  So far I have spray painted a dresser and pictures frames.  This weekend I sprayed some iron plant holders and a side table.  Spray painting is a great cheap way of adding new lustre to an old piece of furniture.  I just can't seem to get enough.  

Any projects you guys are working on?

I like Rust-oleum

planters

Ikea side table

me, not being careful

Balance

I read a lot of blogs. Mostly about parenting, motherhood and DIYing.  One topic I haven't seen a lot about is household balance.  And what I mean by this is how a couple maintains a balance in the household once a child enters the picture.  The hubby and I have been married seven years next Monday.  And it has been a great seven years too ( no itch yet, lol).  Before we had Max we talked at lenght about how it would look, being parents.  Who would sleep or not sleep, who would work a 9-5 job and who would be good cop vs. bad cop.  We went around and around on some issues but I knew I wanted to stay home.  I didn't know how the rest would pan out, but I was ready for what ever came my way.  Max is now a year old, and the hubby and I have a pretty good system worked out....a well oiled machine one might say.  With the exception that about every few months I tend to come undone.  This usually manifests in me becoming a little withdrawn and little short.  The hubby typically picks up on these signs.  I then usually break down and go into a long explanation on why I need a break, and how I feel overwhelmed.

Now I have to believe that most mothers feel me on this.  We do A LOT of work.  My question is, how do we balance this so its divided fairly, and so one parent doesn't feel like they take the brunt of it???
Now R is a great provider and a great dad so I feel awful after my quarterly break downs.  How do I not let myself transcend down the rabbit hole? How do I not get resentful?

What the hubby suggested, and what he always suggests, is that I ask for help.  If I need a little extra help or an escape, ask for it.  Easy enough right?  Why is it then that I don't?  A computation problem for me I suppose.  Something I probably need to look into more....

But my goal is to ask more so that I can have more balance.  So that our household can have more balance.  I can see how this slope can get slippery.  How couples stop asking for help and slowly get weighed down by resentment and bitterness.  I do not want to travel down this road.

So I will continue to ask.  And I love R so much for simply reminding me to do so.

The escape artist?

Well, well, well. What do we have here?  Max has been watching Ozzie go in and out of the doggy door with more and more interest lately.  Today he actually stuck his arm out of it.  CRAPPERS!  It won't be long till he finds his way out.

But as my sister pointed out, "we did it too". Yes, but we were teenagers sneaking back in on a school night. Totally different.

Mommies night out

I think I have mentioned Twirl Cafe here before.  It's a cute lil cafe on Queen Anne that has yummy treats and a little play area for the kiddos.  Its clean and Max really likes it.  On Friday night, my friend Leigh and her daughter Stella went out for some dinner and play time.  Mommies had some wine, while the babies noshed on sunflower butter and jelly sammiches.  Tasty!!! 

cooking

Yummy

wha????

adult refreshments

S and L

mom, can I eat this???