Naps

I am always kind of surprised when I hear people say that they don't ever nap.  I love naps.  Like, I seriously love a good nap.  Since Lilly is a light sleeper I was never really able to get too much housework done as she napped.  When she was an infant even the dishwasher downstairs would wake her.  She is a little better now, but will sometimes ask me not to wash the dishes while she sleeps.  I get a lot of reading or paperwork done and even phone calls if I am quiet enough.  When I was in grad school that was my cram time.

Now that I am home for the summer, I try to get some stuff done the first hour and in the second hour....I nap.  Some days she does not nap at all, or very long.  I am dreading the day she gives up her nap for good.  Maybe she will be a napper like me....

temperature battles

Does every couple in the world fight over the temperature?  The more people I talk to about this, the more people say YES!  I like to be coolish when sleeping, but not cold and not hot.  I hate the feeling of AC on my skin for too long and the heat in the winter makes my throat and sinuses ache.  Hubby likes it very warm in the winter and frigid in the summer.  What the heck?  It doesn't even make sense to me, lol!!  But just as with everything else in married life, we are coming to agreements more often.  Unless I am super freezing, I just wear warmer jammies and sleep with my faux down comforter.  (And yes, we do sleep with different blankets.  It makes life so much easier in that regard.)  In the winter the cost rules in my favor.  :)  Plus I am closest to the window so I can crack it open if I need some cool air.

But here's the thing... my husband will also compromise and turn off the AC even when he would rather have it turned full blast.  He will also move the vents away from our bed so that it is not a direct hit.  Those are the little selfless acts that spouses can do for each other that show love.  Sometimes those little acts can get lost in the shuffle of life.  Tonight as I am writing this I am grateful that my spouse is willing to be uncomfortably warm this evening so that I am not shivering under my comforter and sweatpants.  In fact, I think I will tell him that right now!

Friendships

Today's subject is a no-brainer for me right now.  I take advantage of the summertime, when I am on summer break, to catch up with friends - sometimes with our kids, sometimes without.  Before getting married and before kid(s) it was almost as if my friends and I could not go a day without talking or emailing.  Some friends maybe it was a weekly thing, but others, it was seriously daily communication.  Things change when you get married; they change even more when you have a child.  Throughout it all, I know that I always have my friends.  Most of my really good friends, or my besties, have been my friends forever and a day.    There are a couple with whom I still communicate several times a week (thank goodness for facebook and texting!) but with most, it is really difficult to find the time to chat or get together.

Last week I was able to visit my friend Michelle in NC.  Two different nights we spent hours just chatting about life.  It was so great to be able to do that in person.  Yesterday my sister-friend (and her cute as a button infant daughter) came for lunch.  She is my rock.  Sometimes I think she knows me better than I know myself.  She is the kind of friend who can say it like it is, and vice versa.  But she is also the first to lift me up when I need it.  Or drag me, as the case may be.

Tonight I was able to spend a few hours with my friend Caroline who I have known since we were, I don't know, 6ish?  We don't get to see each other often. We really do not even get to chat very often now because we both have chatty daughters which makes phone conversations more difficult. :0)  There is the obvious catching up on what has happened in the past x amount of months, but really, it is so easy to just get right back into our friend rhythm.  Isn't that the mark of a true friend?  And doesn't it just boost your spirit when you get to spend a couple hours with a friend like that?

Tomorrow I am spending the afternoon with my friend Colleen and her two children.  She lives the closest of all my friends and her children are 11 months older and younger than Lilly, respectively.  The three of them get along beautifully and Colleen and I get to have some chat time in between refereeing and getting snacks for the kids.  Sometimes we recruit the guys to go to the park with us so we can chat more.  But sometimes it is not even the talking that is needed.  Sometimes I just need to be in the presence of a friend who knows all of me, warts and all, and who loves me in spite of them.  And believe me, Colleen and I lived together so she knows it all!

I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life.  Each meets a different friend need and all are vital to my happiness.  Tonight my heart feels lighter and I can breathe deeper!  xoxoxo

THE CRANKY AWARDS!!

And the winner of cranky person of the week goes to.....(insert drumroll)  Oh it's a tie!  Lilly and Momma are equally cranky!  Poor Lilly was a dreamboat the entire trip to, while in and home from NC.  Like serious angel action occurred.  But being back home in her own environment is making her nutty and me equally so.  At one point today I apologized to her for losing my temper and yelling.  She told me, "That's okay Momma.  Next time you have to think like a Tucker Turtle and tuck and take deep breaths and think."  Yeah, my 3 year old is so using PBS on me.  ....sigh....Does that mean it is sinking in for her??

NC 2011

Last year Vin, Lilly and I drive to NC to visit my college bestie Michelle.  Michelle moved to NC at some point in college after her parents, gulp, moved there while she was studying abroad in Australia.  Where, by the way, she met her hubbie Jason.  I had visited over the years but have not done the drive since Lilly came along.  Last year we stayed in a hotel 1/2 way both on the way down and back.  This year we were road warriors!  We drove all the way down in 1 day!!  Lilly was an amazing traveller.  She seriously did not give us any trouble going or coming back.  We spent about a week there visiting and getting to know her little miracle baby Porter.  From the looks of him (picture to follow) you would never guess that he was 10 weeks early!  He is an amazing baby and has the sweetest disposition.

We decided to take it easy coming home and stay over in VA.  Well, thank goodness we did because it took us 5.5 hours to drive the 200 or so miles from NC to VA.  yikes!  Vin was so hardcore...doing ALL the driving and not even letting me drive a tiny bit.  I was the Lilly helper....food, drinks, snacks, DVDs, books, crayons and baby dolls.  I will add pictures when I can find my wire to download them to my computer.

Now that I have had my fill of BBQ....swoon...I am getting back on that same old, same old bandwagon.  Eating healthy and daily exercise starts tomorrow!  I know, I know....I say that all the time.  But seriously, I need to just fucking do it.  I am tired of not fitting into my cute summer clothes.  Plus, I have some super cute fall skirts that will look so hot (yet work-appropriate) with my boots!  Must. Lose. Weight.  And I really, really just want to feel better about myself and I know I do when I just get the job done.  It is not that I lose weight and feel better because I start to feel better a lot sooner than any weight loss occurs.  I feel better about myself when I exercise regularly.  And then I make better choices.  And then the weight loss occurs.  Or probably it all happens at the same time, but you get my drift.

I am sure this should have been 2 posts but it's not.  My blog, my prerogative.  Kinda like the random profanities...my blog.  So bite me.  :)

p.s.  I was never into the term "bestie" when used by people over say, 12, but it has grown on me.  I always feel that BFF was limited to 1 person whereas bestie may refer to a few people because really, who has just 1 BFF?

busy weekend!

Wah!  I missed 2 blogging days, and right before I go away for a few days.  Oh well.  I am actually in the midst of running around getting ready for our trip.  I needed a little mental break so here I am.  We has a busy few days with family.  My brother, his wife and their 2 children were down in the area (from Saratoga Springs) so we visited with them on Friday for sprinkler fun in our backyard.  Or as I call it when I check in from facebook, the Cappiello Backyard Resort.  Yesterday was my nephew and Godson's 2nd birthday party at my SIL's dad's house down the shore-ish.  I spent the morning preparing potato salad and crunchy coleslaw (yum!) before we headed down for the party.  The kids had so much fun splashing in and out of the baby pool and playing tee ball.  It was convenient that Connor was in his bathing suit since he ended up covered in icing from his Cars cake.

Connor is just the sweetest little boy.  He is all boy but will pause for a cuddle or a stolen kiss and hug.  I am thrilled that I have the honor of being his Godmother!

fun in the sun

I have to be honest.  I cannot write too much today.  Somehow, some way I got incredibly sunburned today.  Like, fluorescent pink.  I don't think I have been this burnt since I used oil instead of sunscreen back in the late 90s.  (so, so stupid, btw for girls of Irish descent to use OIL!!)  I am feeling a tad ill from it...chills, etc.

So, friends, I will leave you with just a picture of the fun we had on this awesome summer day.  We went to my friend Stephanie's lake association and this is her daughter Gianna and Lilly.

Here I am...

...at midnight AGAIN!  It was a rough day.  Lilly, who was ill,  vacillated between cheery, sweet and snuggly to cranky, hitting, pinching and basically wretched.  I probably could have used a glass of wine tonight, if I was prone to such a thing.  The good thing is that I was able to see my friend for an hour alone, sans children!  This may be miraculous.  And seriously necessary today for both of us.

My husband was home but doing his job search stuff while I was home and then at the store during the big meltdown of mom.  Which left me to handle Lilly's ups and downs.  I did not handle them with the aplomb that I wish I had.  I wish that I was able to report to all my readers that I was able to implement all of my positive behavior supports (PBS) and things went swimmingly.  I would be lying.  I actually wrote a whole other post about my feelings about how I handled things today but I am not sure I am courageous enough to post it yet.  Suffice it to say I apologized to Lilly for losing my temper and we were both in tears at one point tonight.  It brought to mind the original reason I was started this blog.  I was just getting so damn overwhelmed!

I am a teacher, yes.  But I also identify myself as a learner.  I have to remember and remind myself that parenting has a big learning curve and it is something that we learn as we go along.  I have to be kind to myself.  Sometimes it is just so fucking hard.

My poor bunny

I think I am in for a long night so I am writing now, hooray, instead of after midnight.  My guess is that Lilly swallowed too much lake water yesterday.  It started with the runs and belly cramps and progressed to vomiting.  Sorry if it is TMI, but this is a mommy blog, after all.  We were out doing errands when the first bout hit but luckily the next was when we were home again.  I am afraid it is not over and that I may be up a bit tonight.  Besides, when we have a sick little one, don't we sleep with one ear and eye open anyway?  Then of course I always worry that she may spike a fever, triggering a seizure.  sigh...Motherhood can be rough!

However, I am so lucky to have a lunch date with one of my best girlfriends tomorrow.  It can be hard to arrange these things when we are moms, but so, so important to our mental and emotional health.

Wish me luck through the night!

Midnight deadline?

It seems as if every night I am posting at or just after midnight. It feels like I have a midnight deadline or something.   I need to get to bed earlier!  I am a natural night owl, but truth be told, I am exhausted every night by about 10 pm.  I just can't get my head to settle down at the same time my body is ready to.

We had a great day at Lake Tomahawk in North Jersey today with the in-laws.  They have a great spot specifically for little ones, so they can romp and slide without getting knocked over by bigger kiddos.  Here are a few favorites from today...

eta: I was having trouble uploading my pictures again so this was not published until the morning, in case the post and the publish time make no sense.  But what is really annoying is that blogger does not recognize recently uploaded pictures until I have restarted the computer.  

perfect summer Sunday

Maplewoodstock 2011
The Smithereens

Today was an awesome summer day.  We had friends over for backyard fun and lunch in the late morning/early afternoon.  We took naps.  All of us!  Then Lilly and I hit up Maplewoodstock for the first time.  Each year we have had something else going on so I was super excited to go this year.  We joined my good friend and her two kids and then some more of her friends.  We ate good food (Crane's deli and The Cupcake Corral), checked out cool artist's booths, and listened to great music.  sigh...I have a big smile on my face right now!

Lilly laughing :)

The day is drawing to a close.

Isn't it ironic?

I can't help myself...I love Alanis Morrisette.  She was my ultimate go-to music after very-bad-dates and experiences with boys-who-suck.  I would blast her loud and long while driving my tiny Hyundai Excel.

But seriously, can you get any more ironic than discovering your first white hair while you are investigating a zit in your hairline?

And by the way, I am considering this Saturday's post because dammit, I am still wide awake!

Summer vacation

Summer vacation always inspires in me a long list of "things I must accomplish" that inevitably include deep cleaning the entire house, organizing the basement, completing a craft or learning a new one.  Why oh why do I place such big expectations on myself?

This week I started on Tuesday with playing outside with Lilly all morning, making a yummy lunch and then taking her nap time as me time.  I started to realize that maybe that is all I need to accomplish this summer: spending quality time with Lilly.  I am a working mom 10 months of the year.  I get to be a SAHM for 2 months and I want to cherish that and use it smartly.  Before Lilly that may have meant cleaning and organizing my basement or learning a new craft.  Lilly is 3 years old and I will never get to have moments like these again.  

So my basement may or may not get organized this year.  But I will organize playdates for Lilly and I.  And I may or may not learn a new craft this summer.  But I will fingerpaint and bake and make playdough with Lilly.  I may not re-read all those wonderful classics (another yearly summer promise) but Lilly and I will participate in our library's summer reading program.  And I'll read some great chick lit and beachy reads!  

So 6 months have gone by....

....without even a peep out of me on here.  Truth be told, I was super busy and life was a little (or a lot) hectic.  More on that later.  For now, I am making 2 announcements.
#1. My goal is to blog every day (unless I am traveling without access) even if it is just one small thing.  I get caught up in thinking it has to be a well-thought out and meaningful post.  But maybe a little something every day will be more meaningful and useful than one long one once every 6 months.  I say this tongue in cheek and blushing ever so slightly.
#2.  I started a new blog, too!  This new one is about how I am learning to grill and most likely some other foodie stuff thrown in.  Check it out here!

I hope everyone had a great winter and quasi-spring.  Seriously, what happened to spring in NJ?  I am on my summer hiatus from work and both hand surgeries are done so I should have plenty of blogging time.  i hope I have some followers after all this time!  Let me know if I do...comments are LOVED!!!!