H2 {oh!}

The gift he gave me

As Baby Girl and I rode home on the train this morning -- after a long, emotional weekend, I was thinking about what I was going to take away from all of it. There were so many wonderful memories and feelings expressed and so much I wanted to remember -- so much I wanted to share. I thought about how I would write it and what my "resolutions" would be in the hopes of doing right by my uncle.  But whhhhew.  Over thinking it got it all jumbled in my head... and then of course there's my fear of resolutions... that if I fail to continue whatever it was I resolved to do, then I feel like even a bigger loser than before I made the resolution and that just sucks.

So I decided to take one sentiment from the memorial service (that let me tell you had EIGHT priests** presiding over so you know this guy was one-on-one with God) and live it out today, try it on for size, and not make anymore promises than just that. So here's the one I chose, and here's what happened:

"Each day acknowledge your blessings and thank God for each one."

I'll be honest, I wasn't walking around the house looking for blessings to be thankful for... it didn't happen like that. Instead it started with me moaning in my head about all the clothes I had to put away after our trip. I was scrinching my nose thinking of where to get more hangars and "geez how long would it take for me to put all of BG's clothes away," and "ooooh brother look at all this laundry"... when all the sudden I believe Uncle Joe threw a hangar at my head and I realized that all these clothes -- they are my blessing.  I stopped, thanked God for amazing wardrobe I have, for how blessed I am to have beautiful clothes for my Baby Girl, for a working washer and dryer, and finding the most awesome new fabric softener that makes me smile every time I smell it. All of the sudden putting the clothes away felt like a privilege -- and get this, there are NO clothes left to put away!  I rock... I rock!

My next task is "getting" to mow the lawn. I'll be thanking God for the energy and willing body to mow and most of all for the incredible space BG has to play this summer.

I can't say I'm a fully changed woman though... cause I have a feeling when I see all those dandelions in the yard that popped up RIGHT after I sprayed last week thanks to an out of the blue thunderstorm, I'm gonna struggle with the blessings.

On the other hand, when Baby Girl gets a hold of the ones that have all the puff seeds and gets to blow them through the yard -- she'll be counting her blessings, and I'll be counting my curse words.

Thank you Uncle Joe for all the blessings you've given me as my Godfather, Uncle, and friend over the past 35 years. I will miss you every single day.

**My Aunt Sharon will correct me that it was actually 7 priests and one deacon.  She knows the difference because she goes to church every day... another one of God's BFFs.Let's just say, there was a lot of God power up there yesterday!

Early AM Drama

BG woke up this AM and told me -- "Mama, my eye-bwows hurt."

Any suggestions on who to call for eyebrow pain? Don't worry, by the time we got to school her eye-bwows were all "bedder."

Rainy days and PJs always get me down

I couldn't resist -- I'll need this one for ammo when she's 16. Rain boots, jammies, and a punch ball balloon on a rainy Sunday -- who did this to you?

The Potty Dance is your chance...

To get a sticker.  FIVE stickers -- that's right, count'em up.

1,2,3,4,5
But there's a trick behind these stickers -- because if baby girl pottied in her pants, even ONE time, she loses all her stickers. That's Libby's rule at school. So these stickers represent a BIG day in BG's life... the day she had a 100% dry diaper!

First words out of her mouth when I came to pick her up: "Mama! I poopoo'd in the potty!" And you'd have thought I'd won the lottery!

A closer look at these stickers reveals that I need to pay Libby more money. I took a close up shot, but to avoid the risk of crazies finding out where Libby lives, I'll just tell you that they're the free ASPCA address labels you get for making a donation. Maybe when I win the lotto :)

When I grow up...

BG and I met Theresa out for dinner tonight -- THANKS T! and she asked BG what she wanted to be when she grows up.
BG's answer:
"I wanna be a peoples that saves kitties from the trees."

Awwwwwe!

The Hunt!

Thousands of brightly colored plastic eggs filled with treasures just waiting to fill our basket -- uhhh the basked we FORGOT to bring to the Easter egg hunt.
We weighed our odds and figured it would be better to join the 2 and under crowd in the fenced area... considering BG is at the top end of the two category and most of our opponents were just learning to walk -- wobbly at best.

We filled our basket.

Mama slipped in a couple -- hope the chick in the glasses doesn't turn me in.

And then took our treasures home to celebrate!

 

Oooh and as if the day wasn't busy enough -- we also dyed Easter eggs AND planted flowers! That's my toille egg up there on the left  :) 

 

I'm exhausted and the Easter bunny won't come until we're fast asleep, night night!

Happy Easter!

Rockin the Runway -- Chi town style

Who would have guessed my baby girl would be such a HAMbone?!? I mean... the kid who won't climb the stairs at the MCD playground if someone else is within a 10 foot radius marched down a runway with music blasting, lights blaring, and in front of hundreds of people cheering -- oh, and did I mention she did it THREE times?

Grammie held her breath each time it was our turn... praying there wasn't a tantrum being thrown somewhere backstage, but we made it successfully smiling down the aisle and then sacheted with her little booty swaying on the way back.  Even begged to go again!

The models were beautiful and it was such an incredible experience being backstage at such an event! We can't wait to come back next year and see the girl's "senior collections!"  Anyone wanna make an outfit to fit a 35 yr old... er 36 by then mama?

Thanks so much to Jackie for inviting us and allowing BG to show off her adorable toddler wear -- the blue top matching BGs eyes and the skinny jeans couldn't be more precious!  And the teddy bear was a perfect addition!

And congratulations to our cousin Shelley for winning a scholarship as an up and coming designer! The wedding dresses are to die for!  But I'm still holdin out to wear the tie dress!

And thanks to Kerri and Olivia for braving the storm to meet BG and celebrate Italian style... and for finding me the most needed glass of Chard! I miss ya!

And thanks to the girls at Aveda for the curls -- BG's first spa experience!

Here's how our curls turned out!

Baby Prada -- give me a call if you're interested!

Happy 35 Mama

We're home, sweet home, and settling in -- that means piles of laundry and finding places to put all my new BIRTHDAY goodies!  I promise an update of the amazing fashion show as soon as I download the pictures this weekend... but in the meantime, enjoy BGs rendition of Happy Birthday!  We celebrated Chicago style with a homemade Angel food cake (lid left open to dry out -- just like I love it), piles of beautifully wrapped goodies, and a bottle of Toasted Head!  It was a GREAT day to turn the big 35!

Happy Birthday Mama from H2oh on Vimeo.

Chi-Town Bound

In a couple of days Baby Girl and I will head to Chicago to walk the runway in the Dominican University Fashion show. My cousin Shelley is creating two wedding gowns (CAN'T WAIT TO SEE!) and her friend Jackie created this Toddler-wear ensemble that BG will be modeling in the event. She tried it on over Christmas and Jackie's fitting it to match my favorite pair of BG jeans. 

Here are the shoes she's gonna wear -- thank you Old Navy for finding the perfect match!

And here are my matching toes -- ready for the big event!

We've been practicing the walk -- slow, look up, smile :)
I bet you can't WAIT to hear how three shows in two days go with a "trying" two year old! She's just excited to "BLAST OFF" on a plane again.

American Girl -- Watch out!  Grammie's comin'!