what momma writes

my work isn't exactly stressful. you know, in the sense that i am saving lives, no one relies on me to produce a certain amount of sales, the economy and people's investments aren't weighing on how i fair for that month... but, like any job, i do have some stress. i work a lot with the school system when it comes to children. (collaborating with large institutions isn't always easy...) when it comes to adults i work with folks that typically come from an income level under 10K per year. most of these adults were passed through high school for whatever reason, have undiagnosed learning disabilities, or reading was never a priority in their family life growing up. whatever the reason may be, these folks come to our agency with aspiring hopes to learn how to read. i'm still rather new to the agency so naturally that makes it more difficult. but it's been an overwhelming season as my children's reading program has overlapped with my adult program. in

those little legs. are always on the move. a little explorer, you are- always adventure bound. those little rolly legs, i just can't get enough of them. climbing. cruising. crawling. all over the place. sometimes you wear me out. but i love every minute. love watching you investigate- each.little.thing. you move fast with those little legs and i slowly soak you up.

happy 10 months to the spunky bird! one of my favorite shots of the month.  update on you coming soon...

during the ceremony at meg and mark's wedding   the two exchanged love letters and put them in a box. they will read the letters next year on their anniversary and add to them every year on their anniversary. while mister john and i write nice cards and notes to each other for nice occasions, i asked him if he was ok with copying this tradition. it's a little more formal and i love the idea of having all the token letters in one spot (whether we go back and read them or not). i saved some cards that we previously exchanged if they were especially meaningful or funny and now we will just add to that, with at least one letter every year. it will be nice to reflect on the ups and downs of that year's relationship. on september 17 we will celebrate two fine years as married folk. time really flies and life really changed. i'm excited about this new Versary tradition. happy anniversary to my hunkadunk.  we are pretty blessed.

I NEED SLEEP. I've been trying to be positive for 9+ months here. I'm not mad, just tired. Right now, I'm feeling ok, but I have moments where I realize, yes, I, in fact, need more sleep to function properly. For example this morning while jogging with bird I reached for the turn signal on the stroller while rounding a bend. No, this is not a made up tale. I really did it. I came to the conclusion that although I am still functioning quite well on torn sleep (don't get me wrong we are worlds better than before) I still do "special" things such as this. I can remember this being the breaking point for my sister as well. It was around Christmas time making her oldest 8.5 months at the time.... I remember writing how tired I was prior when I would  forget to shave a knee or say things that don't make sense, but Im feeling the exhaustion on a whole new level. If you include the last few months of pregnancy I guess I haven't sl

i can't believe we are closing in on a year. chapter 1 is almost complete! the older you get, the more exciting it is for moma (and dada)!! here's the lowdown around 9 months for you, bird: your jibberjabber vocab is increasing. your favorite word: mingem, mingem, mingem over and over again. i think it stems form "nom, nom, nom" when you eat your food you say that as if you know what it means. you are exploring new sounds and are "clucking your tongue" more. you are still saying dada and starting what seems like bye bye or hi with a wave and blowing kisses, but i'm not completely convinced if it's just coincidence. you are still easy for me to read. come to moma when you want to be picked up. bang on my chest when you want to nurse. bang on the highchair when you want more food. make loud screechy noises when you want something we took away. pound on books when you want them read or read again. your favorite books are: the o

oh what fun we had! besides the logistical (small)    hurdles   going super smooth, we were blessed with superb weather and surrounded by great friends. we flew into JFK, but were able to spot the city on the car ride  CT. Thanks Janine for picking us up! You are the best. we stayed at my friend Jessie's house and were able to see the lovely bride getting pampered at the salon (and a few others stella's size) after treating ourselves to a pedicure. the dapper groom in the middle there - i don't think he stopped smiling the entire ceremony. they looked so in love. meg and her bridesmaids waiting for photos on the golf course. her colors were gray and yellow. everything looked perfect. we stole a pic of the 3 roomies from E. 27ths street! the good ole days. our friend lyndsay and danny watched stella while i was at meg's wedding. they took such good care of the bird and even sent me a pic of her napping which made me feel

we did it. after many a heads turned and questions were asked why in the world i would travel alone with a 9 month old, let alone travel to new york city with a 9 month old... we just did it. and honestly that was my whole mindset when i booked it.  i know i can do it so i will just do it. (can't wait to post on the trip itself later!) i also, of course like a nice challenge. i think the travel gods were on my side, but i wanted to share some tips from my experience on the road/fly/walk with a babe. baby travel: most people don't understand how i travel with a baby bc they NEED so much stuff. FALSE. it is the parents that think they need all that crap. to some degree, i consider myself a minimalist. (i said, to some degree ok?) packing: i packed everything for the both of us in 1 large suitcase. (45 lbs, but i made it fee-free. i could have even packed less, but did it a little overboard due to fear of stella pees, sweats and