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!