Losers

Jonathan and I did not win the Best Costume Award at Roxanna and Tim's Halloween party! It was a close call but my father and stepmother beat us. They came as Shrek and Fiona and I have to admit their costumes were pretty amazing. As soon as they walked in, I realized we had some serious competition.

Jonathan was Dog the Bounty Hunter and I was his wife, Beth:



I love that Jonathan is such a fan of Dog. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to dress as Dog at first, because he said he felt like that would be making fun of him! I assured him imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I think he really just wanted to wear a mullet. He put it on the night we bought it and strutted around singing the Dog theme song. Bluebird just stared at him and kept saying, "Daddy wearing hair."

This is my 100th post on this blog! I have decided I am going to start another list--of the 100 things I most adore about my husband. I know, gag, right? But I am so in love with him. So maybe reason number 1 should be that he is such a sensitive soul, he was afraid that dressing up as Dog would be making fun of him. Duane "the Dog" Chapman, meet your biggest, most sincere fan:

Clarification

Just so nobody reads my last post and sends a social worker to my house, I was joking in my last post about being a dangerously negligent mother. I am an extremely paranoid, protective mother. Yes, it is true the Lion has fallen off of the couch, but he is perfectly fine and I no longer put him on the couch ever. Pinky swear.

I never, ever leave my babies unattended in the bathtub, Lion has no blankets in his crib, our windows are always locked, there are outlet covers on all of our electric sockets, we have a lock on the basement door that is always latched, we do not use walkers, our car seats were properly installed at the fire station, we always cut up grapes and hot dogs before letting Blue eat them, we have a baby gate bolted to the walls at the top of the stairs, Jonathan and I both took an infant CPR class, and I call the pediatrician at the first sign of fever.


So there.

Halloween

I can't wait until this party tomorrow night! Jonathan is going to have the most fabulous contest there, I just know it, so I hope the prize is a good one! As for my costume, I am not going as his sidekick this year. I am going to dress as a Brownie this year. I am determined to look hot at least once a year.

Speaking of looking hot, I found this website, MyHeritage.com, and it is such an ego boost. Check it out! You upload your picture and then it gives you a list of all the celebrities you resemble. Apparently I am hot. Who knew? It kept telling me I resemble Katherine Heigl and Angelina Jolie.


Damn. I should be a model or something, right?!?! Why didn't anyone tell me I was so freakin' hot?! So definitely, definitely check that website out!

On a scary note, the Lion tried to climb up the stairs today! I left him prowling around the living room this morning while I got Blue dressed upstairs. I heard Lion growling and grunting down here so I knew he was okay--not choking on anything or trapped underneath anything. When I started to come back down with Blue, he was up on the third step!

I am the most dangerously negligent mother in the world!

Last week, the Lion fell off the couch. Jonathan and I were ten feet away, in the kitchen and we heard a thump and then Lion started crying. We raced over to get him and Jonathan was appalled when I blurted out: "Damn! That is the third time he has done that! He could get hurt!"

100 things

I've seen these old lists on other blogs and I got list envy.

So here's my list of 100 Things About Me:

1. I love lists. Duh.
2. I have one son and one daughter.
3. I had a miscarriage in 1999.
4. I collect books.
5. I am addicted to coffee.
6. Especially the instant cappuccino at Wawa.
7. I am near-sighted and far-sighted, so I wear bifocals.
8. I pull out my eyelashes when I am stressed.
9. I have a very loud laugh.
10. I love to alphabetize.
11. I hate to make my bed.
12. I am stockpiling canned goods in case of bird flu or bombs or whatever...
13. My husband is my best friend.
14. I bite my nails.
15. I love chips and dip. Any kind of party food, really.
16. I am excessively fond of commas, dashes, basically all punctuation.
17. I don't approve of re-makes or cover songs.
18. I know more about Greek mythology than I do about Christianity.
19. I am hopelessly ignorant about geography.
20. I have to get popcorn with butter when I go to the movies.
21. I am a liberal.
22. I used to smoke.
23. I don't like sushi.
24. I hate talking on the telephone.
25. I can spend hours searching for that perfect card in Hallmark.
26. I am a terrible swimmer.
27. I am a terrible dancer.
28. But I sing pretty well.
29. I love the singer/songwriters of the 1970s.
30. I need to lose about 20 pounds.
31. I hate to exercise.
32. I prefer marshmallows that are burnt instead of toasted.
33. I am very pale--I always have to buy the foundations with names like Cameo or True Ivory.
34. I do not like scary movies.
35. They give me nightmares.
36. I love to take bubble baths.
37. I love watching the Oscars.
38. I do not like football.
39. I was raised Catholic.
40. But I am not Catholic now.
41. When I was a girl, I was obsessed with Helen Keller.
42. I dressed like Helen's Teacher, Annie Sullivan, for a Girl Scouts "Women in History" Day at the Spotsylvania Mall when I was in elementary school.
43. There was a picture of it in the local paper!
44. I love to dress up in costumes.
45. I gesture a lot when I talk.
46. I am very impatient.
47. I don't like to wear shoes.
48. The ocean scares me a little.
49. I laugh a lot.
50. There are 2 paintings of me in the book Firebrands: The Heroines of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

51. I am always spilling food on my clothes.
52. I am right handed.
53. Jonathan took me to Rome on our honeymoon.
54. I want to live there.
55. I learn languages pretty easily.
56. I was a band geek in high school.
57. I played the sax.
58. My favorite color is pink.
59. My perfume of choice is "Romance" by Ralph Lauren.
60. I love Thai food.
61. I have a very good memory.
62. I think it is because I love to do puzzles.
63. Crossword puzzles, logic puzzles, sudoku... I am a big nerd.
64. I love to work in the yard.
65. I am terrified of spiders.
66. And I hate mosquitos.
67. I crack my knuckles.
68. I can't whistle.
69. I have never liked my name.
70. I hate when people assume I'm into Irish stuff because my name is Erin.
71. I hate that men spell their name E-R-I-N. Men should be Aaron, women should be Erin.
72. I love names.
73. I used to write stories all the time as a kid, but every time I had named all the characters and described what they all looked like, I lost interest and started a new story.
74. I keep a journal, but I haven't written in it in a long time.
75. I am not a huge fan of chocolate.
76. I prefer vanilla, to tell the truth.
77. I hate man-bashing.
78. I adore my husband.
79. I can't imagine living without him.
80. I think I am a good mother.
81. I was always able to talk to my mom and dad about anything.
82. I like to cook.
83. But I am not as good a cook as my husband!
84. I really should call my friends more.
85. I have been blessed with incredible friends.
86. And family.
87. I have a wonderful stepmother.
88. Sometimes I just look at my children and I start to cry.
89. I have never been cool.
90. I tend to over-react.
91. Luckily, I have a very understanding husband!
92. I love creepy shows like "The New Detectives."
93. Even though they scare the hell out of me.
94. I am running out of Things...
95. I am very shy about meeting new people.
96. I had a happy childhood.
97. It scares me, how quickly time passes.
98. I love Fall.
99. Even after all this time, I still can't believe he wanted to marry me!
100. I am very happy with my life right now.

God, I can't believe I did it! That was hard. And I usually like lists! But enough about me...

More Milestones

I feel like I should be earning merit badges for some of these major milestones. I have survived Blue's colic, Blue's first wasp sting, Blue falling down the stairs head-first, Lion's colic, Blue's first splinter, and now, the latest, my first nasal extraction.

Blue shoved a loooong strand of tinsel up her nose. I know it's not Christmas. Little girl's toys sometimes have tinsel on them--little tiaras, little magic wands, God only knows where this particular strand came from, but it wound up crammed up inside my daughter's nostril.

I never realised how very useful tweezers are until this past year. Tweezers. They're not just for plucking eyebrows.

And now for another, much more significant first: tonight is the first night Blue is sleeping in a real Big Girl Bed. We decided to ditch the crib mattress-on-the-floor she had been sleeping on because, well, she wasn't. Sleeping on it, that is. For some reason, she was sleeping on the floor right beside the mattress instead. It was a little pathetic. So I'm wondering if being on a much more substantial twin-sized mattress on top of a box spring with a plushy comforter will entice her a little more. We'll see. She's still running around up there (it's 11:30) so we'll see where she chooses to pass out tonight.

love without love

I love you, because in my thousand and one nights of dreams,
I never once dreamed of you.
I looked down the paths that traveled from afar,
but it was never you I expected.
Suddenly I've felt you flying through my soul
in quick, lofty flight,
and how beautiful you seem way up there, far
from my always idiot heart!
Love me that way, flying over everything,
And like the bird on its branches, land in my arms
only to rest
then fly off again.
Be not like the romantic ones, who, in love, set me on fire.
When you climb up my mansion,
enter so lightly, that as you enter
the dog of my heart will not bark.

Luis Llorens Torres

Creepy crawly

The Lion is crawling now. He started on Saturday. Mom said, "I'll bet he's really fast!"

He isn't.

He is gaining a little speed, but he is still very jerky. It's a little like all those creepy movies, like "The Grudge" or "Gothika" where the ghosts move all jerky and digitalized. But he is getting a little better coordinated every day. He gets really mad if I go into the kitchen and leave him in the living room, even though we can see each other. He will growl and yell and follow me--like an angry puppy.

It's a little disconcerting that he doesn't stay where you put him anymore. I will set him down by the couch and dash into the kitchen for a second, and when I turn around, he is over by the TV. I keep forgetting he is mobile now. The other day, he was almost all the way under the couch when I came back into the room. All I could see was his big ol' Charlie Brown head sticking out from under the couch and one fat little arm waving around and he was so mad!

I am getting so excited about Halloween! The Lion is going to be a monkey and Blue is going to be Elmo, of course. I have no idea what Jonathan and I are going to be--we are going to a Halloween party at my step-sister's house that Saturday. There is a costume contest and I really want to win, but I just realized time is running out for us to come up with something...

Poor Jonathan. All of my ideas so far have been inspired by my wanting to see him dressed up and looking completely ridiculous. He is such a tall, scowly-looking guy, that I love seeing him look absolutely silly. The best was the year we went as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love--and he was Courtney.


He was such a hit everywhere we went, even though Olivia's friends, the Gays, said that Jonathan was the ugliest woman they had ever seen. I asked him if we could go as Paris and Nicole. Since he is so tall, I thought he would make an awesome Paris Hilton. But he said, "Can I not go in drag this year?" Sigh. Back to the drawing board. If anyone has any suggestions, please, I am open to anything.

for Mom

because you requested a better picture of the Lion

The Morning After

Blue looked like a bad-ass rock star this morning. Her room was trashed... toys and books had been thrown everywhere! Then she came staggering to the door:with her jammies unzipped all the way down and gaping open like some hideous catsuit Freddie Mercury might wear!

Alright, alright, for those of you who don't get that joke, here's a little snapshot of the late great Freddie Mercury.

And now for a little funny story... I bought my niece, Emily, a fish this summer. She decided to name him Freddy. Apparently, my whole family are latent Queen fans because every time she told one of us her fish's name, we said, "Freddy? Like Freddie Mercury?" And Emily would say, "No. Like Freddy the fish."

Little Lion Man

I can't believe the Lion is almost 8 months old! He has grown so quickly. I feel like time is passing much faster than when Blue was a baby. Probably because I am so much busier this time! When Blue was little I would read while she was napping... Sigh. Now if I can ever manage to get them to synchronize their naps, I always have something to do and I never ever get to sit down with a book. Or take a bubble bath. I still have tons of bubble bath that Jonathan gave me for Christmas, unopened and collecting dust on the edge of my tub.

But, anyway, about Lion. He is such a doll. He really is the happiest baby. Blue was always so serious.  Lion is almost always smiling and laughing. I could never get Blue to laugh when she was this little. Jonathan could, but he had to tickle her a lot. That made me so jealous! I would tickle her and tickle her and make all sorts of faces--and nothing. Lion will laugh if you so much as smile at him.

He is still not crawling yet. But he just got a second tooth yesterday! The crawling thing doesn't bother me, but I notice Jonathan trying to help the Lion along whenever he gets the chance. I guess it's strange to him because Blue is the only other baby we know much about, and she was crawling at 6 months. But I keep telling him all babies are different. And I notice that I am different this time around, too. With Blue, I was always so eager to see her at the next stage--to see her crawl, to hear her talk, to watch her take her first steps... And I am eager for those milestones with the Lion, too, but this time around I know how fast it all goes by, and I am trying to savor his babyhood as much as I can. So I don't mind if he doesn't crawl for a while yet. For now I just love holding him in my arms.

Tired and Busy

My poor hands. My poor, poor hands.

I have been so busy lately. We have been clearing out our yard--on nice days. We have put down topsoil, grass seed, mulch and peat moss. We've planted 2 crabapple trees, 10 azaleas, 7 rose bushes and 4 holly trees. Man, we have a humongous yard...

On crummy days I have been busy indoors. Jonathan and I built built-in bookcases in the office, and so we have been busy spackling and sanding and washing and priming them. They look awesome and I cannot, cannot wait to finally unbox my books. I have also been refinishing Lion's dresser and night-stand. And the guest room night-stand and dresser.

The scary news is that Jonathan's grandparents are coming to visit next Tuesday (that's in 7 days) and so now I am racing like a madwoman to finish all of these projects so the house will look beautiful when they arrive.

"Mmm, cimmanin"

I am so so excited that McSteamy is back on "Grey's Anatomy" I cannot even begin to tell you... I think I am a little obsessed with this show. I accidentally called Bobby Flay "Bobby McFlay" when I was talking to Jonathan the other morning...

Of course, I watched the show with my friend, Olivia, and I had a few beers. And I got hammered. And I got sick. Damn. Because some idiot had the brilliant idea that I should eat this chocolate Olivia brought. At 1 am. Gourmet chocolate, let me add. Gourmet chocolate with cayenne pepper and cinnamon. On any other occasion I'm sure I really would have enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it Thursday night. Then I threw up an hour later. Blech. I am such an idiot. This, friends, is why I rarely drink.