Happy Old Year

Tonight as we put Jake into bed and did our little kisses and silly nightly routines (gather the binkies, give him his bottle, crawl under the crib to herd his tossed toys, kiss him through the crib bars), I realized this would be the last time in 2007 that I would kiss my little boy goodnight.

I scooped Jake back up out of the crib, asked for a hug, and held him tightly. I put him back in and held his perfect face in my hands and just spent a moment taking all of him in.

We put our hands together and prayed for a minute and I made sure that the last words I spoke in 2007 to my son were, "I love you."

I hope that each of us can pause for a moment to tell our little ones (and big ones) how much we really do love them and what a precious gift they truly are. (Yes, you, reading this right now!) Have a blessed New Year.

Christmas Fun

We were out in Pennsylvania with my family for Christmas and it was a whirlwind of cookies, pies, gifts, visitors, and fun! In the middle of it all, Jake tripped while wearing Dada's shoes and managed to get his first black eye :(

This was taken on the 23rd, but I'm trying to remember exactly which day we got "Baby's First Shiner"



By the 26th, it was looking a lot better, and the swelling had gone down...



He still had plenty of energy to play "Kissing Cousins" with Maddy...

Playing Dress-up

Jake has been imitating everything lately - and seems to love playing dress-up. Everytime I go into my jewelry box, he snags these two beaded necklaces and wears them around the house. Dada isn't thrilled about it, but he still looks darn cute, right? He's also been obsessed with wearing adult shoes lately. So obsessed that he tripped at my parents house the other day while wearing Ralph's shoes and took a nasty spill into the coffee table. Pictures of baby's first black eye coming soon...







Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

P.S. - If you're the praying type, please send a few thoughts and prayers to my friend Jennifer and her daughter Maisie, who is spending her first Christmas in the hospital.

Eating Wearing Pasta

Ralph is the chef in our house and he whipped up some delicious Shrimp Marinara last night with some wholesome whole wheat pasta. We all enjoyed eating it, and Jake also enjoyed wearing it.

Spaghetti Face:



All-New Tricks:



Messiest Baby Ever:

Somebody....

...Met Santa Today!



And doesn't he look thrilled about it! :)

Shameless Plug

Y'all baby blog visitors are gonna have to check out what I've been up to over at the Photography Blog.


When I get super busy, I get more productive. I've been churning out the blog posts left and right lately! :) As of 2 days ago, there were 61 things on the to-do list. Now I'm down to 'only' 29. I might even catch up one of these days!

RANT

So I was all giddy over finding my Passport. Oh, happy day, I can go back to the DMV and get my NY license! I was prepared for the awful DMV picture, but whatever. I haven't had a decent picture taken since the wedding day (I stopped trying - lol!).

It started snowing on the way to drop off Jake at Mema's house. I am not brave/stupid/crazy enough to try to bring a toddler to the DVM. So I schlep down there to this crappy strip mall in an otherwise nice area (downtown White Plains) to visit the DMV. Again. They turned me away last time because my current out-of-state license and social security card is not enough to get a new NY State driver's license.

The DMV turned me away today with the following documents in hand: Valid Delaware Driver's License, US Passport, Social Security Card. In NY, apparently this is not enough to be able to allow me to drive legally. The passport is in my maiden name, and there is no "proof" of the connection between maiden name and married name. (Will the ring and the wedding album suffice??) The thing that really bugs me is that I had the marriage certificate in my hands LAST NIGHT! My passport was stored with it! ARGH! I HATE the DMV almost as much as I hate moving....

So I went back home to grab the marriage certificate and the weather got worse. With the sleet and my four so-so tires on the SUV, I decided to stay home and do work instead. Plus, the Passport happens to have expired over the summer, and if I had gone back to the DMV again and they turned me away for a third time, I'd end up as one of those crazies on the news that snaps, and my neighbors would say "She seemed quiet, mostly kept to herself."

To make things worse, I realized that I was a whole lot cuter ten years ago.....