This is my first post from my brand new laptop. My old Mac broke about a month or two ago, and I’ve been working from Jake’s lappie ever since.
I saved up, took the subway to the apple store, and bought myself a new Macbook Pro with my own money. It was one of those times that I realized I’m a grown up. I remember when saving up 200$ was hard and took all the will power I had. As I get older, I have the same vices, but I’m able to control them a little more by seeing further into the future. That’s the funny thing about being young (like 17-18-19)…I was only able to see until the end of the week. My parents were constantly trying to teach me the value of working hard and earning for myself, and then spending wisely (or investing/saving) but ultimately, it was something I wouldn’t understand until I grew up. I was always that young 20 year old living off of crumbs until my next paycheck, because I took that paycheck straight to the mall.
Anyway, I’m feeling pretty grown up right now!
First webcam photo. Proud!
(for how grown up I’m feeling, this picture says otherwise…poor Jake lays next to a girl in kid pajamas)
Piper Jane has a huge toothy grin. I love it so much. We’ve been told be a dentist friend that her teeth are a little bigger than her mouth/face proportionally. Nothing to worry about (I was like that too!), she’ll grow into it and it makes for the hugest, toothiest smile in the world. It is awesome. I mean, if you’ve ever seen Pippygirl smile (especially in real life), you know what I’m talking about. It creates an instant smile on everyone in the room. Or planet.
Anyway, sometimes Jake and I do our Pipersmile when we miss her most. It’s not nearly as good as hers, but it makes for a chuckle and reminds us to get excited for the weekend. So, the other day, I was playing Angry Birds on the subway and I laughed so hard when these pigs smiled. They are doing the Piper! haha.
Not bad, huh? That’s what happens when your kid is so cute that she is cartoon cute.
This weekend was full of perfect Pip visits. Jake and I were able to be civil to each other, but we agreed we could have easily fought over Pip’s affection the whole weekend. Tooth and nail I tell you. She was a pure delight to be around. Smiley, charming and silly.
When Piperjane moved rooms recently, they really didn’t want us bringing a lot of stuff with us. Clothes and toys only. So we’ve tried to be good about it, but we finally caved and decided to bring Pip’s chair with us on Saturday. Jake kept mentioning that Pippy would sit on the ground when playing with her toys and since that’s kind of gross in a hospital, we decided it would be ok to stretch the rules.
Piper has always liked this chair that Jake made for her, but this is different. It’s like she suddenly understands it’s function, and that it’s just for her. She laughed when I sat in it, she laughed when her pink blanket “sat” in it and she entertained herself the whole day simply getting in and out of the chair. Sitting down, smiling, standing back up, looking quite pleased with herself, making sure we noticed her grand accomplishment, then repeating. It was hysterical. On Sunday she did the same thing, but added sitting in our laps to the rotation. She had us in stitches. This is seriously great material for a 4 year old.
When it was time to settle down and get ready to go home, we had some snuggle time in her bed. I started feeling the first signs of a cold (you know that little tingle in your nose/throat/ears?) on Sunday and I’m sad to say it’s full force today (monday). I couldn’t go up to visit her, so I’m extra happy to see these pictures and remember that the visits we had were perfect down to the last minute. I’m also happy after realizing she shares my huge love for Alice In Wonderland since she carried Alice around with her everywhere. Piper Jane’s love for little figurines will never falter.
I’ve really been having an extra amped up love for Piperjane lately. Like we have a new bond since she’s been more little girl instead of baby-girl. I’ve always had this fear that the older she gets, the harder this whole thing will be. It’s true in some ways, but it’s not true in others. For one, we still have her, and she is blossoming more beautifully than I ever imagined. She is smart and funny in her own right. She gets things that I never thought her little mind could put make sense of. She’s really a special little thing, my Pip. Excuse me while I go cry in my sick bed.
When I was little, we had a bunch of cassette tapes with uplifting kids songs. We would listen to them and sing along about cleaning up, telling the truth, saying thank you, the value of work..etc. There was even a song about growing up to be a mother. That one is my favorite now, because remembering it makes me realize it was a little on the brainwashy side! It says “When I grow up, I want to be a mooooTHER, and raise a fam-il-y, 4 little 5 little 6 little babies of my own!”
6 BABIES?!??!? That kids song was trying to brainwash me into birthing 6 babies?! hahahahahaha. It makes me laugh so hard to think about little Reagan singing it with a smile on her face thinking 6 babies would be doable. No offense to any of you with a lot of babies, it just seems like more babies than I can keep my patience on. And that is my number one parenting rule, only as many babies as I can keep my cool with.
Sidetracked.
So, there were these tapes called The Safety Kids, and they had all kinds of songs about being safe. One was a song about remembering your phone number and I’ll never forget my phone number in Arlington, VA the rest of my life because of it. Prove it? 237-7383. The area code wasn’t part of the song, so you got me there.
Sidetracked again!! Blast!
Anyway, The Safety Kids had a tape about saying no to drugs. They had a song called Go For A Natural High. It talked about all the fun things you can do to get you high instead of drugs, like go on a roller coaster, work up a sweat, play ball…Unlike the song telling me to grow up and have 6 kids* this one has an awesome message. I will remember it sometimes and sing it when I’m being active or when I’m experiencing serous happiness.
“if you like dancing go out on the floor, and dance dance dance til you can’t anymore!”
So, here is Reagan going for a natural high on a trampoline in Atlanta. This is how I do a backflip! I mean, for me a backflip is something you do sideways, and you land on your head and have a sore neck the next day. For Jake, a backflip is something you do gracefully even though you are 7 feet tall. Even though we prefer different forms, we both get a natural high.
Here is how Piperjane gets a natural high. Actually, here is how Piperjane gives everyone else a natural high. By getting daddy swings. Look at this picture! Her little smile peeking through Jake’s arms, her little legs so happy they have to tangle themselves up into each other, her little hedgehog critter being tightly grasped in her little Pip-hand. Piper Jane, the natural doobie.
And if anyone is curious, I found a youtube of The Safety Kids! (song starts at 1 minute)
*I have a serious problem with a song telling everyone to have 6 babies. What if that song got into the wrong hands? What if I don’t have a job or what if I my mental stability is questionable or what if I didn’t have health insurance or I lived off of orange soda and cheetos? What would I do with all those babies then?
Living in NYC is definitely different from living in any other city in the US. Tiny tiny apartments, walking everywhere, laundromats, expensive groceries, public transportation every day, no yard…etc.
When we leave town, I sometimes imagine leaving the city. Seeing how easy life is in other places sometimes gives me this fever of having that. I want to go shopping and have good customer service, I want to go to a grocery store and have it be a REAL grocery store-instead of a corner bodega, I want to work normal hours instead of 11+ a day. Sometimes I even want a house…a nice small pretty house with a small yard and a place to put our car. Hearing that a nice beautiful house with a garage and 4 bedrooms costs the same to buy as a 1 bedroom apartment in a scary neighborhood here in the city sometimes makes me just plain annoyed.
I love the city so much, and I’m certainly not ready to leave yet. Jake and I have always been here together, and we have careers, friends..and not to mention Piper Jane’s doctors. They are amazing-world famous doctors that I trust so much. The city is exciting and adventurous and dazzling. There is so much going on all the time, I don’t even have to be creative to have fun. In NYC, the fun is presented to you.
Also, people want to come see you. Two of my best guy friends and their wives are coming to the city in March at different times. My family and friends are always popping in, either for work or vacation or just to see us!
So this might have been a ramble. It might be the winter blues causing spring-moving-house owning fever, but I’m still a city girl.
Do you ever think about moving?
(below, two photos from our trip because the others would upload. Karaoke for Erin’s bday, and brunch with my Jessica)
But if I can’t find good shrimp and grits in the city soon I might change my mind.
(I’ve been trying for 20 minutes to upload the cutest picture of my toothless niece, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow.)
When Jake and I didn’t go to Atlanta for Christmas, I missed my family more than ever. Then I realized that we hadn’t been to Atlanta since December of 2008! So, we went to Atlanta. With it being Presidents’ Day weekend, my sister Erin’s bday it just seemed like a good time! (Spoiler alert, it was. Yay.)
My nieces are awesome and so so smart. We were pretty busy playing and having a blast. I brought them presents because when you’re little, the best part about relatives visiting is getting presents. Even if that’s not true, I’m not going to risk it. I’m campaigning for favorite aunt here.
Meg got busy making a list of things to do while we were in town. It’s a strange but exciting list that deserves to be posted.
Unfortunately, we never got around to #14, but we did do some climbing. Well, they did some climbing, I did some being climbed.
More things that happened…
This is just me stuck in the doggie door. Proof that I’d literally do anything to make my nieces laugh.
Shrimp and grits were consumed.
And we celebrated my sister’s birthday!
It’s hard living away from family. We decided we’re going to go to Atlanta more. It’s so close! I’ll be posting more soon.
Now that that’s out of the way (“that” being my above encouragement for all you non celebrators) I’ll fill you in on what we’re doing! Nothing, actually. Valentine’s is at the tail-end of our anniversary/Groundhog’s/my birthday and we are all partied (partied=tired, cold, hungry and broke) out. We never really do much to celebrate Vday, but I like to pretend we do. We hug and say “Happy Valentine’s day, love!”. And then smack each other on the rear and maybe eat something heart shaped…And call it a holiday.
I guess you can say we did more to celebrate this year, because we made tutorial for Hairdresser On Fire yesterday. I was laying in bed like a bump on a log and this Sweetheart Braid just came to me. Like a romantic flash of lightening. Lucky me! I love hair inventions. Or “hairventions”.
No? Sorry.
Anyway, I think this is our cutest video yet! Please go to Hairdresser On Fire to check it out!
Hairray!
*fact: Jake and I shared our first “date”ish on Valentine’s day 7 years ago! We had just met 3 days before and it was mostly a timing thing rather than seeking out a V-tine…but cute! 7 years later and we’re still cute-ing around together!
Lately, Pip is all about her suede loafers. It might have something to do with the fact that her feet have recently had a major growth spurt, and these are her only shoes that currently fit*…but who’s to say she wouldn’t be wearing them anyway? She especially loves to pair them with her tall striped boy socks. That pip, so hip….so darn hip.
The other day I was yawning and not covering my mouth like an ill-mannered vulture, and by pure accident, I gleaked on Piper’s arm. We were watching the Backyardigans and she was totally glued like she usually is when the tele is on, but she noticed! I snort laughed when she looked at her arm and wiped it off. I’m sorry that this story is a little gross, and that I’m admitting to being such a cretin, but every time I picture her pausing from her show to curiously look at her arm, I start to laugh. You know that laugh that turns into a 15 minute smile? That’s the one I get from this memory.
I love blogging for this reason. I get to remember these weird, silly and kinda gross stories that make me smile so big.
*New stash of shoes has finally arrived! We’ll do a runway show slowly but surely.
Here are a few little pics from my birthday night. I had 4 girlfriends over and got dressed up. I actually posted about it twice on a Hairdresser on Fire so I’m kind of bored of writing about it. Also, if you read both blogs, then you’re probably bored of reading about it!
