no, i’m not quitting.
i’ve just got my big girl blogging pants on and am self-hosted now.
you can find me at mommymae.com.
no more wordpress in that there address.
it’s like i’m a grown up, or something.
check it out. let me know what you think. change your bookmarks. change your readers.
and go look at miss maria. she’s the one that made me pretty.
i will blog here, no longer, so don’t come back. just go there.
ryan marshall of the incredible blog pacing the panic room has put together an album of kids music for adults that totally rocks. it’s called “do fun stuff” and you will not want to turn it off. not only did he put together an album any parent will WANT to listen to with their kids, but he’s doing it for his littlest buddy.
if you don’t read pacing the panic room, the littlest buddy (lb) is ryan’s stepson who was recently diagnosed with smith magenis syndrome
from ryan:
100% of the proceeds from the sale of this album goes to a grant fund I established with PRISMS. The money will be made available to grad students who wish to make SMS their field of choice, the benefit of this is more hard research being done, which leads to more case studies, which leads to more answers for parents and researchers.
he’s done all of this. it’s worn him out. make it worth his while.
i’ve been following his blog since ohdeedoh highlighted him for his first maternity series with his wife, cole, in april of last year. i’ve been a devoted follower since.
not only is ryan an amazing photographer, but he has a way with words that can catch you laughing and crying all in the same post. his deep and abiding love for cole, lb & their toddler, tessa, seeps through the pores of every word he dedicates to them.
so get over to the site and buy the album. if you want to donate more to a worthy cause, you can. while you’re there, grab the widget to add to your site. if you don’t blog, share it on facebook, twitter, email, snail mail, telephone, wherever.
your ears won’t hate you. there isn’t a song i don’t like, but i especially love “biscuits” by the adorably french scampi.
*two items to add to my lifelist.
-get a song on a future volume of “do fun stuff”
-have ryan get a picture of me at blogher, which means i’ll have to dance at sparklecorn. i don’t dance anymore, but dammit, i’ll do it to get that shot.
i never did update the status of jilly’s tooth or the move because we’re really done with neither. her tooth is not quite done, but we are sooooooooo close and we promised ourselves we would finish the house this weekend after i called daddyjay in a fit about apologizing, for the last time, about the mess in the house.
jilly had her big surgery on july 27th and i after holding her hand while she drifted off to anaethesia-induced dreamland, i waited patiently in the waiting room cutting hexies while they helped my baby get better.
i was told afterward that her tooth had a load of infection in it, more than anticipated, and they got all the yuck out. mind you, she’d been on hard-core antibiotics for 2+ weeks and had started the third round of antibiotics the night before (with a side of diazepam.)
i was so very proud of her for being so calm beforehand. a year ago, i would have said that she was the last of my children that i would have wanted to have any major surgery. now? she can do anything. she was so very brave and i am so very proud of her.
all we’re waiting on now is the permanent crown that is being made by a lab to match the one she owns right next to it, as she currently has a temporary crown that looks loads better than the previous crown since it moved around a bit and gave her a janky smile.
current pretty smile
referrals: 6
root canals: 1 (take that, punk toof!)
also of note: the previous endodontist gave us $400 back from the root canal he didn’t finish. this was completely unexpected, but not unwanted. we were thrown a bit to think we had to pay for the procedure that wasn’t done. a happy day, indeed, that was.
previous installations of this saga are here, here, here, and here.
i’ll give you more of my house once we finish this weekend. none of it is presentable currently, so i’ll spare you. daddyjay and i are setting up the tv wirelessly & we have some guys taking the gazebo and hot tub out in the back (craigslist rulez!) as we speak. i suppose this means i’m not doing anything, but i’d just be in the way, wouldn’t i?
i have tears welling now as i sit to write to you, baby doll.
i have few words.
it seems that the wee baby has grown up so fast and i fear i can’t call you my baby anymore.
you, simply, make our world go ’round and ’round.
and topsy turvy
you ‘glow up’* our lives
you’re a silly goose
and such a tease
you’d fly away with your dreams, if we let you
but you always come back down to us
here’s to you, as you age again, before my eyes
oh, sweet james, you’ll always be my baby.
*family term for let the light shine on it
* per random.org, my winner is (duh dah duh! {it’s supposed to be a trumpet sound})
#5-jenna!
i’ll figure out what colors you want & we’ll go from there
i hope to see some of you next year in san diego!
shawn at backpacking dad started a fun-loving and totally mock real conference on wednesday night called #homeher10. you can follow our antics and non-jealousy at not being at blogher at #homeher10 on twitter, if’n you’re into that kind of thing. it’s all silliness and there are even giveaways!
speaking of giveaways! i want to add to the fray. i’ll give away one personalized shirt or onesie to one person who leaves a comment telling me what they want to see at blogher 2011 in san diego. i’ll pick a winner with the random number generator thingy. i’ll close off the comments sunday night at 7pm pst.
i’ll start. i’d like to see some craft-related panels or royos. there is a huge market of craft bloggers & i think blogher is missing out on that.
here are some of the shirts i’ve made in the past, so you can see what you’re in for:
now don’t let’s forget about blogherathome as well. there’s a live chat tonight. (password: bhah)
(no, i’m not going to blogher, but was struck yesterday about what i’d advise {assvise, whatever} to you lovely folks out there who are going to new york city. sniff. sniff.)
lucy smiles just like her mama, all teeth, gums, and beautiful joy. she thinks her big brother hung the moon and she’s right. she fell right in step with my girls and they had a great time running around like mad chickens, hanging out in the gigantic bathtub, watching t.v., and just being little girls.
jackson isn’t shy (like some children i know. ahem – jilly.) he gave me an arm pump and a “yes!” when i told him that he had a firm handshake. it’s an important thing for an young man or young woman to learn, methinks. he explained the game he was playing on his DS to justice, all the while not minding that my boy had his head on his shoulder to see, see, see!!! what he was doing. he played with the youngsters with no complaints and unbridled fervor.
jenna is as warm and inviting as you’d want any friend to be. right off the bat, i felt like i knew her. and even though i wasn’t much of a conversationalist, i still had a good time hanging out. she has adorable glasses and some beautiful skin art. i love her sleeve & should have looked at it more, but don’t wanna be creepy, ya know? maybe next time. right? next time, jenna?
and bhj? well, he’s just a person, just like you and me. a person, who i’m lucky to have now met through this blogging community we’re in. i still know that he writes like his life depends on it and i eat up his words and cadence like candy. but i also know that he’s just a guy on the other side of the screen, swimming in his words. i knew that before, though.
he’s exactly what i expected. they all were. and they were fantastic.
and you know what?. the black hockey jesuses may never wanna see me again, but i still had fun, enjoyed the red rocks of sedona, and had a nice break from the flood clean-up of 2010 (more on that later.) they’re always welcome in our house and can have their pick of couch space. we do have a mormon couch. two, even.
here’s where my advice comes in.
if you’re going to new york this week is to say hello, grab a coffee, go out for a drink, sit in your pjs and talk. i hope you’ll remember that the bloggers you meet are just people on the other side of a screen no matter how much money they make or how many page hits they get or how popular they seem. so go up to whoever you want to meet and say hi. enjoy it. because i know at least one gal who wishes she was going, but can’t. and i’d be soaking up all of the glorious rays of sun from each and every one of you if i was there.
and if you can’t have fun with 2400 other people who have come to learn, hang out, party, and take pictures, you’re doing it wrong.
oh, and he has nice feet.
see?
(jamison took that one. i could show you the utter ridiculousness of what this could be, but really, it’s just a leg, man. they have legs, people. just say hi. it’s just a leg, an arm, a face, a brain that writes really funny/poignant/heart-felt/thought-provoking/delicious blog posts. but still. just a knee.)
my gorgeous mama-friend, joy, has an etsy shop and blog, both called freckletree. she is hilarious, beautiful, a mama of twins, and genuinely one of the people on this earth i most want to meet before my days end.
i want you to go to her etsy shop & shop. buy something. she upcycles adorable wee baby clothes & has some smokin’-hot mama gear. if i hadn’t just said i’d not buy any clothes for myself until my shopping extravaganza in l.a. with bec from girls gone child, i’d clean her out. i want one of everything. i mean look at this adorable dress:
the colors are to die for & there’s a spider!
in the pocket! more swooning.
and for me?
and how seriously cute is she? look at her adorable pony on top of her head.
you’d better hurry, before i change my mind & buy it all.
of course, miss jamison wouldn’t wear any of the dresses, since she’s obsessed with her brother & only wearing his clothes.
but that could change any day now.
while you’re at it, go enter her giveaway here.
the little dude just came into our room, crying, “milk! i need milk!”
i took him back to his room, with a pit stop in the kitchen for a cup of moo juice. once we got back to his room and he drank his milk he started chatting me up.
“my teeth hurt.”
“i need more milk.”
a quick trip back to the fridge and he tripped my brain again.
“ah, that’s better.”
“my brain fixed it.”
“i had bugs in my brain.”
then, he talked to me like i was jilly, proceeded to explain that he thought i was jilly, and told me he was done and that i could leave.
all with a sweet smile and a laugh on his lips.
and a tug on my heart.
these simple moments are the reason i blog. so i don’t forget the sweetness in the midst of this crazy-whack-a-doo life.
because nothing says “welcome home” quite like a busted AC and a hole in your roof where a skylight once was.
especially if you live in the desert.
during the monsoons.
that there’d be straight-up sky.
i’ve been busy. it’s all i can say. i’ve been doing important things like watching weeds moving, sure, but couldn’t i fit a few minutes in to blog every now & again?
to be honest, no.
i’ve felt a bit overwhelmed by the packing, moving, unpacking (that is still not finished,) packing for our midwest trip & flying here that i haven’t even really sat down to think about blogging.
i’ve been hitting “mark all as read” on my reader.
and i feels really good.
so quickly, we’re in illinois this week, st. louis next & enjoying our family time. soaking up all the moments we can get until we see them next time.
she was scared to death of the street fireworks my sister let off
loves
fishing at uncle john’s is always a favorite pasttime
found a quilt my great grandpa made. gorgeous.
pool fun has been had & catholic-turning is saturday.
and we’re letting the green humidity seep in to our bones.
mommymae 