summer love--W/W

Random Tuesday Thoughts (and a call for help)

Bug wore big boy underwear for the first time yesterday. I was so happy to find out that there were no accidents during the day and that he was still wearing the same dry undies when I returned from work. Of course, after my arrival he was playing with his buddy in our backyard and had an accident…but all in all a good first day. (Today he specifically requested “Cowboy and Rope” pull-ups…)

Vacation is one month from today!

Last week a neighbor sent an email to the neighborhood offering a free 42” TV (her sister is moving and not taking it with her)…and we got it! I’m so excited because we’ve been talking about getting a TV for our living room but were procrastinating--and it somehow paid off this time. We rearranged the furniture and bought a TV stand over the weekend. Both the cable guy and the TV stand are coming on Friday so we should be able to become couch potatoes in a new room soon!

Why does spellcheck in blogger think that contractions are wrong? I'm I am not as formal as blogger thinks I should be.

Since this is Bug’s first year at preschool, I’m new to teacher gifts. What is the price range? What do you usually give? There’s one aide in his class and an administrative assistant for the school that I think should also receive gifts. I’m guessing the head of the school doesn’t receive a gift…or am I wrong about that? Any tips or ideas are very welcome/needed. Thanks!

Check out The Un Mom for more.

Faded tans, bright photos and a giveaway notice

Our vacation is over but I'm lazy and only now getting around to putting the photos online and posting photos after the tan fades is kind of like reliving the trip. After the first day on the Cape, Bug would often spread his arms and say, "This is Cape Cod." Just a few short hours after we were home, Bug looked me, spread his arms and said, "This is NOT Cape Cod."

Once upon a time the orange popsicle was mine...


Leaving for the beach...


On the beach...


Thinking of reasons why we shouldn't leave the playground...


Apparently, Bug had seen me with food in my mouth on the whole trip that he thought I should eat some of the crap food we purchased to feed the chickens...


My favorite house on Cape Cod. Every year I comment on this house. It's not big or showy, just lovely. Sigh...


One a bonus photo of our little girl who probably enjoyed the peace of quiet of NOT being chased by Bug...


Check this out...another giveaway!

Irregular Tammie is hosting an awesome giveaway sponsored by Just Wine Racks, a store that carries tons of bar accessories, everything from bar glasses to wine racks. Stop by and enter for a chance to win! Hurry though, the giveaway ends Friday August 21 at 8:00 AM (EST).

Cape Cod = Bug

The other night we (Donnie's parents, sister, brother-in-law, Donnie and I) were sitting at the table having pie and ice cream (I know AGAIN with the eating thing!). I commented that the Four Seas' ice cream containers on the table were instrumental in Bug becoming part of our family.

During the adoption process, we had to prepare a scrapbook of our lives--or as I like to call it "the biggest marketing piece of my life"--to share with birth mothers. Our contact at the agency said that it's often surprising the connections that are made through the introductory letter and photos shared. You never know what's going to strike a chord with someone. (Translation: no pressure!)

We made our book and the agency shared it with various birth mothers. Some of the women chose other families and some chose to raise the child on their own. No one picked us. We kept asking if the agency received feedback on our book. "Do we need to change anything? Should we update the letter? Are there too many/too few photos? Should we include more family? Is the Hawaiian party photo too much?" The questions could go on forever. We were told when the match was right the connection would be made and there was simply no way of knowing what it will be. Be patient--the right baby is going to find you. (Yeah, sure, okay...)

When we received the call that a birth mother had selected us we found that among other common denominators there was a mutual love for Cape Cod. She had many happy memories of time spent on The Cape and in our scrapbook there was ONE photo of Donnie, my father-in-law and brother-in-law finishing off ice cream from Four Seas' containers and a one sentence reference to our fun times on The Cape.

It's not as though I needed another reason to love Four Seas (cantaloupe ice cream, remember?!) but I certainly look at those pint and quart containers much differently now! AND great news: we found out their ice cream has no egg in it so Bug was able to enjoy ice cream with us as well!

We had this ornament before we had Bug and no surprise that it's one of the first that goes on our tree every year.

What I'm doing on my summer vacation...

Eating.

The end.

PS. Really, all I'm doing is eating...with a little bit of napping, hanging at the beach and reading. We're on Cape Cod and I've had steak twice. I know, no lobstah yet but that's okay I'm more of scallops girl and those will come soon enough.

Thanks to my in-laws there was a pint of cantaloupe ice cream waiting for me when we arrived (after a TWELVE hour trip...gotta LOVE late night road construction where all lanes merge to one teeny tiny lane on major roads...fun!). It was 2am when we arrived and Bug had just awakened wanting to know where the sun was. He was beach ready--but luckily only for a little while before he went back to sleep. For the past two days after Bug's gone down for a nap my lunches have been cookies (great frosted cookies that I can't find in my neck of the woods). And I'm eating chocolate at the moment. I love vacation!

I've run once since we arrived so the balance is clearly off but I'm really okay with that.