Party Clothes

We went to the Party Store on Saturday because that is what sensible people do when the entire family is sick. I highly recommend venturing out into subzero temperatures when your nose is running like a faucet and your baby has an ear infection. That’s what antibiotics are for, right? The party must go on.

Before you label me irrational, you should know that my Dad and his wife decided that they need to visit for Baby’s first birthday. Since they are paying for airfare to be here, they also decided that Baby needs to have a party. The godparents agreed. Evidently, Mommy and Daddy are obligated to host a party despite our fantasy of a quiet day spent reminiscing about the most miraculous and cherished memory of our married life.

So, there is a birthday party to be planned, gifts to wrap, a cake to be ordered, decorations to hang, and food to prepare. We should also clean the house, but that can wait until the week before. It’s just going to get dirty again…

So we went to the Party Store on Saturday to get plates, cups, forks, streamers, and the Very Special Birthday Hat.

Baby tried on the Birthday Boy classic cone-shaped hat with garland trim.
He threw it on the floor.

Baby tried on the Top Hat covered in glitter.
He threw it on the floor.

Baby tried on the blue Baby’s First Birthday hat with elastic string.
He threw it on the floor.

Baby tried on the oh-so-cute powder blue Birthday Prince crown.
He threw it on the floor.

We compromised and Baby agreed to let us buy helium balloons instead. Evidently, he has conquered his fear of balloons, but he can’t compromise on his hat phobia.

Why Toddlers Are Better Than Babies

With Baby’s first birthday less than a month away, I need to convince myself that this is a good change and it is not a reason for Mommy to cry. How sad would it be if Mommy were bawling in all of Baby’s birthday party photos?

As I mourn the end of his babyhood, I remind myself of why toddlers are better than babies:

Toddlers can sleep through the night. Baby hasn’t done this yet, but he will someday and that day will be a beautiful day.

Toddlers eat table food and drink milk that doesn’t come from Mommy’s boobies. That means Mommy can take her boobies into another room and do something constructive, like laundry. (Although baby isn’t giving up the boobies yet. He just doesn’t need them every two hours anymore.)

Toddlers find ways to communicate without crying. Instead of screaming for food, Baby can shake his head “Yes” when Mommy asks him if he wants more carrots.

Toddlers can give hugs and kisses.

Best of all, even though toddlers are so big, they are never too big to cuddle with Mama at the end of the day.

I Almost Forgot...

…what it’s like to have a newborn baby.

The sleepless nights, the days without showers, the inability to remember the last time you fed yourself.

As Baby’s first birthday approaches with lightning speed, I’ve been filled with melancholy over his babyhood that will soon be nothing but a memory.

But now that Baby has another ear infection that has him waking up every hour, crying constantly, and clinging to Mommy and Daddy every moment of every day and night, I remember what those early days were really like.

I’m looking forward to the new adventure of toddlerhood.

One Step Ahead

For this week's edition of Works for Me Wednesday, sponsored by Rocks In My Dryer, we're sharing our favorite online stores.

You may recall that Baby learned how to climb the stairs recently. Keeping him off the stairs has been a bit of a challenge because the bottom of our stairs just wasn’t designed to accommodate a baby gate. One side of the stairway is a drywall wall and the other side is a beautiful, wrought iron railing. For now, we are using a pressure gate, but the railing isn’t strong enough to stand up to the constant force of the gate. It’s also challenging for Bonus Daughters to climb over the gate every time they decide to leave their bedrooms, as infrequent an event as that is, and they don’t have the coordination or the gumption to put the gate back into place.

Desperate, I phoned a friend that has an equally challenging home. Her family owns a split-level house that has a wrought iron railing all the way around the living room, which overlooks the foyer and the stairs to the family room in their finished basement. She not only had a need for a railing at the top of the foyer stairs, but the rails were also spaced far enough apart for a child’s head to fit through. I knew she would have some advice for me and I was right. She referred me to the One Step Ahead store, which sells specialty safety items and other unique baby items that are difficult to find in ordinary department stores.

That’s what worked for me!

Have You Met My Meme Addiction?

I was tagged by Heather at Not a DIY Life for a meme. Hurray! Just when I thought I ran out of things to ramble about, God sends manna from heaven. Except this isn’t manna, it’s a meme!

The rules for this meme are:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) List the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged.

This is absolutely perfect because I knew that you were dying to know six more useless factoids about lil’ ol’ me, weren’t ya? I won’t blush if you admit it.

1. I got married when I was 19 years old and my husband is 16 years older than me. GASP! I just love to shock folks. Can you believe that I was naïve enough to invite my Daddy to my wedding before he met my dear husband and I expected him to be excited? I’m blessed that my father is very supportive of all my decisions, my marriage included. I can only imagine the thoughts and fears he must have kept to himself, but it’s all good. Eight years later, I’m still married to the same gorgeous man with no end in sight. My Dad has also grown to adore dear hubby, so it’s a win-win situation for all of us!

2. My hair is not really red and it’s not really curly. Well, it is a little wavy, but the curl is a perm. This is why I laugh hysterically when folks tell me that Baby has Mommy’s hair. Actually, Mommy has Clairol and Baby has Daddy’s hair. Daddy has brown hair, but his goatee is red. Isn’t that cute?!

3. I suppose this wasn’t meant to be six confessions, but I’m on a roll.

4. I was born in Florida, but I do actually love the snow and I have no desire to move back to a tropical climate. I love to cuddle up in the house, light candles, wear slippers, drink hot coffee, go sled-riding, take a steaming hot shower and hop out onto ice-cold tiles, scrape ice off the windshield of my car, wear gloves, and on and on and on. I love the change of seasons and I love the way God washes the whole world in white after a snowstorm. No matter where you are, the great outdoors looks pure and clean. Besides that, I really hate to sweat. I absolutely abhor sweating. Why do you think I love going to the gym so much? (note: read the sarcasm in my voice)

5. I’m shy, despite my career in Human Resources. And yes, I did meet dear hubby while I was working as a waitress at Denny’s during college. Imagine his surprise when he discovered my shyness! I am most comfortable in situations where people expect me to be out-going. People expect their waitress to be friendly and initiate conversations with them. People expect their Human Resources department to be full of humane and sympathetic folks. Just please don’t expect me to chat up the cashier at the grocery store or start up a conversation with my seat-mate on the bus. Terrifying!

6. I’m a step-mom. The focus of my blog is my baby-addiction, but I also have two bonus daughters that I don’t mention often here, so it’s possible that you may have overlooked that fact. I could talk about my addiction to adolescent angst, but I would be lying to you. We are currently enjoying that stage of adolescence that makes parents wonder why they had kids in the first place. It makes us look at Baby and imagine him hating us in 12 short years. It’s enough to make me cry, but I assure myself that Baby will never hate me. All the parents of teenagers are falling off their butts laughing at me right now.

Gosh, that was fun!

Now I have to tag six random folks to jump in on this meme. And the victims are (drumroll, please) :

4 Little Men. She is addicted to her boys just as much as I am addicted to mine, but she has more skill with her camera than I do. Go check out her blog and see why I have photo envy.

SAHMmy Says. This girl is so wise and always offers legit advice. I can’t wait to hear six more things that are on her mind!

Plain Jane Mom. She tells it like it is. I’m always thinking the world could use a little more honesty, so I enjoy reading her musings. I’m sure you will, too!

I Should Be Folding Laundry. Her blog title says it all. You gotta love a fellow procrastinator.

Chased by Children. This gal has a wicked sense of humor. I’m laughing already just at the idea of reading six of her random thoughts.

Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit. I would love to read six things they know about weight loss. Heaven knows I need some inspiration!

Thanks again to Heather at Not a DIY Life for inspiring my post!

Excellent Blog Award

Heather at Not A DIY Life thinks I have an excellent blog and she has bestowed upon me this lovely award! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside and I want to spread the love.

By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, I have to award it to 10 more people that have blogs that are Excellent Award worthy. If chosen, you agree to pass this award along to 10 more bloggers. Keep sharing that bloggy love!

My Excellent Blog Award nominations go to:

Wonder Mom. I have to give credit to the woman that inspired me to blog. This is the first blog that I ever read. I started reading when I was pregnant with Baby, and this blogger inspired me to keep a bloggy journal of my pregnancy. She rocks!

On Pans and Kneadles. Not only is Heather an awesome bloggy friend, the girl can cook, too! I love to steal her recipes.

Rocks In My Dryer. This girl is going to Africa to blog about the babies there, so you know she has tremendous love in her heart. Stay tuned to read about her adventures and say a little prayer or two for her while you’re there.

Daddy Forever. I love to read about baby addiction from a Dad’s perspective.

Dorky Dad. Every dad needs a sense of humor and this dad is a professional.

Heavenly Homemakers. Now, here is a woman that inspires me to organize. I wonder if she is for hire?

Pennies In My Pocket. I am a sucker for a good deal. Evidently, I’m not the only one!

The Lactivist. I just love the reassurance that I’m not the only mama still offering the Milk Duds to my toddler. It gives me strength in the face of my critics.

Trish Berg. This generous lady gives away a book each week. Why are you still reading my blog? She is offering prizes, people!

Girls Gone Child. I love her fresh perspective on motherhood. This girl lives in reality and she wrote a book all about it.

Now you know what I read during my lunch break at work. As if you were dying to know just one more thing about the Baby Addict…

Video Link for Caregivers

I work in corporate America, which means that I am constantly bombarded with forwarded email messages. I can’t really complain because I do get a good laugh out of some of the jokes and videos that I receive. Some of them are just lame and end up in my Deleted Items, but I do enjoy an occasional gem.

Yesterday, a co-worker forwarded me a link that made me tremble to the depths of my soul. I’m grateful to her for sharing it with me. It’s something that every parent, grand-parent, and caregiver should see. For that reason, I am sharing it here.

Warning: If you are suffering from Post-Partum Depression, please note that this video could be a possible trigger.

Please, pass this along.