A Christmas Story...not for the weak

I don't have to tell you that Christmas Season is way over...but I'm going to.  Christmas is over.  WAY OVER.  Christmas 2011 is 294 days away.  And although we are in the middle of St. Patty's Day celebrating, shamrock buying, green beer chugging, and parade watching, I'm going to tell you a Christmas story.  Our Christmas Story.  One that would only happen to us.

Every year at the beginning of December the hunt for "the perfect tree" is on.  CDitty and I scour Hampton Roads in search of an 8 foot, VERY fat, very beautiful, totally awesome Frasier Fir. 
SIDE NOTE:  Christmas 2009 was a total exception.  We got a Frasier Fir off the SALE RACK!  $15 for a "fat" tree, completely dead on one side.  But that's a whole different Christmas story.  One that happened WAY before I was blogging.

Back to Christmas 2010.  Having virtually no days off together, CDitty and I bundle Jack up one cold December morning and head out to find "the one", the decorative centerpiece to Jack's first Christmas.  The pressure was on because my family would be celebrating Jesus' birth at our crib (pun 100% intended).  We were in luck...at our first destination there stood "the one".  Although it hadn't settled and it's branches were still up we knew this was it.  The tree.  Jack's first tree.  Excitement set in as we merrily hauled our purchase home and placed it out back in a water bucket.  A few nights later CDitty and I spent the evening stringing lights and strategically placing ornaments out of the reach of our precious 2 legged creation.  We marvelled at its beauty, high fived, and went to bed.

Baby Jack bundled up and ready to find "the one"

**DECEMBER 20, 2010**

CDitty and Jack were playing in the Living Room.  I come down and am immediately "attacked" by CDitty and Jack.  I fall to the floor while they "get me".  While down on the hardwoods I notice a ring of dirt around "the one".  Hopping up I put on my detective cap, run to the kitchen, and grab a wet paper towel.  This dirt...baby spiders.  Not 1 or 2, but hundreds upon hundreds of BABY SPIDERS. 

Go ahead and read that last paragraph again.  Now let me back up.  Our perfect tree is up, decorated, and in our house for almost 3 weeks before POOF hundreds of spiders.  We spun (pun intended again) ourselves into total panic mode, then frantic clean up mode, followed by pest control mode.  I'm sure after the shop vac, swiffer, wet paper towels,and pest spray if any spiders were alive they were wishing they weren't.

Like straight out of a comedy Chris and I frantically all but poured pest spray over our tree.  Seriously, spraying in each hole, up the trunk, through the branches, around the stand, even the majority of the beautiful needles were covered in pest spray.  We were shocked the tree survived.  Heck, we were surprised we survived.

Why didn't I take the tree down?  Because it was Baby Jack's first Christmas.  His first tree.  It was beautiful.  It was decorated.  We spent FOREVER decorating it.  My family from Missouri was coming in town.   All selfish reasons, but despite the spiders I REALLY REALLY loved our tree.

Spider removal took 3 days.  Although I'm sure we killed them all on Day 1 WE I forced us to spray for 2 more days "just in case".  Day 3 we put the skirt back on the tree, put the presents back under, and pretended we were never invaded by baby spiders.

In true detective fashion I researched the daylights out of spiders and spider babies (thank god for google).  Chances are mommy spider laid her egg of approximately 500-1,000 (I repeat 500-1,000) spiders.  The tree was most likely sprayed with pesticide on a farm, cut down, hauled to Norfolk VA, purchased by us, decorated, and placed in our comfy house for 3 weeks.  According to google the baby spiders, not intended to hatch until the spring (warm weather), were tricked by our cozy house and surprised us December 20th.  Merry Christmas right?

I called and got our tree purchase refunded, but this Christmas story was definitely one to remember.  Going fake next year?  Not a chance.  I mean, seriously, what are the odds?

Post spiders

Too quickly...

I looked at my dayplanner (iPhone) today and realized OHMYGOSH February is more than halfway over!  Soon it will be March, April, my trip to LA, and May... I will probably blink and 2011 will be 2012 and then next thing I know Jack will be driving or worse, married and I'll be a grandma!  Classic me; total overreaction.  Back up..real life...Jack is 1.  And I am in my 20s.  But seriously, February is really flying by.  I think when I'm actually a grandma I want to be "Nonie" or "Nona", maybe "Oma".  Mainly I want to be awesome.  Just like Jack's Nana and GMA.

Back to the point of this post.  Wait, is there a point to this post?  Not yet?  The point is to thank CDitty.  For what?  Being awesome.  That's what.  (Side note:  awesome is my current favorite word.  In a thank you note I wrote this week I used awesome no less than 5 times.  IN 5 SENTENCES!)

Life is funny.  The twists and turns, ups and downs.  Each event is the sometimes direct, sometimes indirect result of another event.  There are endless amounts of scenarios and countless people to thank (Annie Fannie) for leading me to CDitty.  Because of him life's ups are really up and the downs don't seem to be half as bad as they would be alone. 

So here is a toast to CDitty.  Thank you for being my 100% complete opposite.  You are my dark haired, handsome, calm, and spontaneous hubby.  Thank you for being my goofy, studious (ha), hardworking partner.  Thank you for picking me and loving me.  Bust most of all, thank you for being an awesome dad,  an incredibly generous father, and a total role model for Jack.  There is not a person in this world I would rather share life's twists and turns with.  Because of you life's ups and downs seem like a fun roller coaster and sometimes (I repeat sometimes) aren't all that stressful.

Today...

...is going to be a good one.  We've had plenty of bad ones already in 2011.  Today??  Not one of those bad ones.  3 signs of a great Friday:
1.  Jack slept in until 6:45 (He must have known dad and mom are going to be out late tonight)
2.  I have gone to Sonic 3 days in a row for a Diet Dr. Pepper with crushed ice.  Each day they have been out and I've left empty-handed.  Don't get me wrong, the cheddar peppers were tempting as were the onion rings.  I just wanted the ice...AND the Diet Dr. Pepper.  Not only did I score DDP this morning at Sonic, but the manager gave it to me for free.  She apologized for being out the past 2 days and applauded me for my persistence.  Awesome.
3.  CDitty and I are going on a real live date tonight.  We are headed out to dinner and then to a concert with friends.  CANNOT wait!  (Thanks Grumps for monitor sitting tonight!)

I have lots to blog...I'll do more later.  For now I'm going to celebrate this Friday!

LOVE HIM

Who you might ask?  Well if you think I'm talking about either one of these two then..well...guilty.

But on Sunday (and sometimes Monday) afternoons my heart is taken by none other than...

Tom Brady.  It's ok Chris loves him too.  We agreed to share.  

I WON I WON!

I'm not much of a contest "enterer".  I don't win, so I just don't play.  Can only win if you play right?  One the flip side you can't lose if you don't play!  I've always subscribed to that theory.

Last Friday Jack and I were having an impromptu playdate with Baby Dean (who by the way is EXACTLY 5 months younger than Jack). Jack loves him some Baby Dean. I totally see future football games and playing war in the backyard, or maybe fishing at Baby Dean's house. Look how much Jack likes Dean. He just wanted to touch his face, chew on his feet, and take his paci.

Phone rings and the following conversation ensues:

Dan: "  Hi, this is Dan from ODU Athletic Department.  Congrats on your win!"

Me:  "Won what?"

Dan:  "You obviously didn't get me email."

Me:  "No, won what?  I never win anything."

Dan:  "You've won the dinner and a game contest."

At this point I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about and I don't even try to play it cool.  Dan keeps explaining the contest.  I finally vaguely remember signing up.  He probably thinks I'm blonde.  I then squeal and squirm and tell Dan he's made my day.  I keep going on about how I have a 9 month old that doesn't sleep, Chris and I don't go on dates, and my husband used to work for 456FISH (the dinner part of the contest).  Wait?!?!  That doesn't disqualify me from the contest does it?  No.  OK!  Great!  WE WON!!!  He most definitely thinks I'm blonde. 

We went to the game.  They played High Point.  Nobody was there, but we did get to sit 10 rows back  It was a total blowout.  We saw a kid that obviously never plays play.  And he dunked it.  The players went wild.  I bet it was his best basketball moment to date.  I may or may not have teared up.  We got ice cream.  And headed home.  Grandma babysat while we were gone (THANKS A MILLION x infinity for that).

We're saving out gift card for a special night.  I'm going to order the crab cake...and the fried green tomatoes...and a bottle of wine...and the bread pudding.  It's going to be fabulous.

Now that I've won I'm a contest playing fool.  What's a little junk mail in the inbox?  YAHOO has a SPAM filter anyway!

I'll keep you posted...I'm definitely ready to win again.

Shameless

I know you all have been waiting in GREAT anticipation for the next posting. Well here you go!

No it's not Jack's letter (which is written, picture taken, just waiting the Dr. visit on Tuesday so I can fill in the stats), not any funny posting about poop, breast feeding (which I still do--TMI I know), and it's DEFINITELY not another sappy post about a family member.

It's SHAMELESS promotion. I am SHAMELESSLY promoting my husband's store, PROVISIONS. For those of you that don't know CDitty owns a clothing store. PROVISIONS became his baby in October of 2008. He has since become a slave making his own dream a reality! In the next short weeks we will be launching his new website: www.shopprovisions.com and EVERONE will be able to FINALLY shop online! =) Hooray! You can buy items like this:

Or this: Great denim:

One of my personal favs:

Men's stuff too:

But this is perfect. Perfect for football games, tailgating, BBQ's, and more:

And yes you can buy one too!

Father's Day

Jack, Fenway, and I have a superhero that lives right at home with us. Dad. He's our hero, knight in shining armor, and our partner in crime.

Here's a little insight into SUPERDAD!

Almost 3 years ago CDitty and I said "for better, for worse" & "I do". Although very happy in his marriage (I hope) CDitty was struggling. He was trying to find a job he enjoyed. He had been bartending until we got married, left bartending for a brief stint in insurance (gag), and was taking a few college courses here and there. After years of dreaming, followed by months of discussion and planning CDitty quit his job to follow his dreams of owning a clothing store. In 2008 his baby, PROVISIONS, was born. Here we are almost 2 years later, PROVISIONS has endured one of the worst recessions and CDitty is still in business. To make it work he is the only employee and is open 7 days a week, calling Sundays his "day off" (working 4 hours instead of 8). 7 day a week slave to the store? Definitely not something I could do. But he loves it, wants to see PROVISIONS succeed, and in turn heads up to the store every. single. day.

On top of being a 7 day slave to the store, we decided it was time to grow. So...

Just over 5 months ago we expanded from a family of 3 to a family of 4. CDitty held my hand (or my leg) throughout the entire 6 hours of labor. He excitedly talked with our families, nurses, doctors, and friends. And at 6:24pm, we shared the most special moment of our lives together when we looked into the eyes of our baby boy. Since then CDitty has been nothing short of amazing. He helps, cook, clean, diaper changes, bottle feedings, and even more. He has slipped into his role of dad flawlessly, never missing a beat. Jack is one lucky dude. I'm one lucky lady.

On June 20th we celebrated his very first Father's Day! Jack was baptized, we left for vacation, and mom ALMOST got CDitty the perfect gift. This was definitely a day to remember.

Happy Father's Day to our very own SUPERHERO! We are lucky to have you at home and in PROVISIONS!

Love,
Mom, Jack, and Fenway

The Aspirator

A mother's best friend. A baby's worst nightmare.

Baby Jack has been snotty for the past few days. He seems to be feeling fine, just can't quite breathe with his paci in (See Post below about Jack's love for the paci). When he can't have his paci, he can't sleep, when he can't sleep we can't sleep, you get the picture.

The answer to snotty nose, no paci, sleepless nights? That's right folks, the good ole aspirator.
It's like straight out of a horror movie for Baby Jack.
Let me set the scene: Baby Jack is snorting, paci falls out, crying ensues. Then, "The Villain" (dad) comes in with the blue bulb in one hand, burp cloth in the other.(insert scary music) He then sneak attacks the snorting baby trapped in his crib. The Villain proceeds to hold said baby's head still while sucking every last ounce of snot out of his nose. Baby then WAILS like you've never heard wailing before. Finally villain leaves and Goddess/Hero/Beauty of the night (mom) comes in to save poor baby from THE ASPIRATOR. (insert beautiful sounds of the harp) Goddess/Hero/Beauty of the night, rocks WAILING baby back to sleep.

Jogging update

We've been running. Ouch.

We are into day 4: Ran 1.5 miles today. It's getting a little better.

Getting a little better = not crawling up the stairs, no limping around to avoid all use of my calves, and I can breathe without whimpering. All in all I'M. OUT. OF. SHAPE.

Oh a positive note: WE GOT A JOGGER!!! It should be here in a week or so and I couldn't be happier. Running by yourself is no fun....I want to share the torture with the 2 guys I love the most.

Everybody Poops

Except my child. Seriously, there have been days (that feel like weeks) that he doesn't poop. Lots and lots of gas, but no dirty diapers. UNTIL, The Big One. We measure those days in wipes. Example:
Me: Jack pooped today
Christopher: Oh yeah?
Me: It was a 5 wipes poop

Last night was the mother of all. I lost count at 6 wipes and 3 diapers. Seriously, the kid wore 4 diapers in the span of 20 minutes. Thankfully Chris was there to hold the new diaper under him while he kept going and going and going. His rearend was like a commercial for the Energizer Bunny. As I'm sure you can all imagine, I'm dramatically squealing "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh" and Chris is calmly saying "Really? Do you need to panic?" YES I NEED TO PANIC, the kid has poop squirting out of him and we are "catching" it in a diaper THAT IS NOT ATTACHED TO HIS BODY! Seriously though, it was really funny.

Serious note, he really doesn't go. Hardly at all. I've called the doctor and have been told that many strictly breastfed babies don't poop very regularly. They've even heard of babies that have gone 18 days without a dirty diaper! Our record is 6....and I was panicking all 6 days. Can you imagine?

Mr. Wonderful

Mr. Wonderful is exactly that...wonderful. Most importantly he's MY Mr. Wonderful. And sorry ladies, I'm not sharing! =)

Having a baby is the single hardest thing I've ever done. Physically having him was cake compared to the days, weeks, and now months that have followed (See post below about Dr. Mah & the miracle drug). I don't know where I would be without Mr. Wonderful (aka CDitty). I know we both had this fairytale dream about how life with a newborn would be. We also both know that this fairytale sometimes isn't so fairytale like...and I'm sure CDitty's fairytale didn't start with, "Babe can you do me a favor..." or "Can you please help me do..." But CDitty, you never cease to amaze me. You take on any "favor" with a smile, never a challenge to big, small, or gross. I am thankful I can call you my husband. Proud I can call you my best friend. And incredibly excited I can call you Baby Jack's dad. Jack sure has a role model to look up to and I have a best friend to share the rest of my life with. Awesome.