Tales of Me and the Husband

sponsor giveaway: shabby apple!

i’m wearing (and loving) the whistlestop dress from the new shabby apple all aboard line.  it truly is one of those dresses that you can wear nearly all the time.  with tights, without tights, summer, fall, winter, and spring.  it might be my favorite shabby apple giveaway yet.  black and white stripes will always win with me.  always!  you and me, classic stripes!  we stick together.
the whole all aboard line is beautiful and classic.  oh shabby apple, you are good at that!
enter to win: 
an item of your choosing from the all aboard line!
to enter:
{u.s. addresses only!}
+ leave a comment below and include your email.
additional entries:
{separate comment for each!}
+ tell me which one you’ll pick!
+ like shabby apple’s facebook page 
+ spread the word in some form (instagram, blog, tweet!) 
and tell me how you did it!
and that is all!
giveaway closed.
emily is the winner, congrats!

some random things. a friday mish-mash, if you will.

1. this stuff.  don’t even.  i mean.  i can’t.  it’s so good.  steve jokes that he should put it in a trough for me when i eat it.  i say WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, STEVE?  no, but really.  trader joes has done it again and it’s dangerous.  with their classic potato chip?  well, 9 pm at the hunts has never been so fun.
2. we’re reading this book in book club–one of my mom’s favorites–and so far, i’m totally liking it.  any of you read it?  it’s fiction, but based on a seriously interesting bit of history. 
3. i love, as you already know, stews and soups and chilis.  do you have any i should know about?  in other words GIVE THEM TO ME NOW.  also, i made the most amazing white chili the other night and i will share the recipe soooooon.
4. i went through a major brian andreas phase in college.  do any of you love him too?  i used to go to his ‘pick a quote for me’ page, almost daily, and read through them.  i love his stuff.
5. i feel like i should begin christmas shopping, but i’m not sure where to start.  sometimes i don’t think we need more stuff and other times i’m all, “it’s christmas!  let’s swim in presents!”  and, as always, i’m totally stumped as to what to get for steve.  what do you guys get your husbands/significant others????  please help.
6. normally i have already started addressing my christmas cards by now.  this year?  don’t even have a family photo.  need to get on that!  it’s practically keeping me up at night!
7. enough about christmas and enough of this list.  have a good weekend!!  and oh!  i think i’m gonna try my hand at these tomorrow morning!

outfitting a baby for cold weather.

snow stoppers mittens(they go all the way up the arm so they stay on!  hurrah!  ps – i got parker a size small and they have some room!) | snow boot(bought these on a big discount on zulily!) | long underwear | puffy coat | hat and mitten set | striped sweater (only $10!) | onesies (underneath nearly everything, of course) | fleece footie pajamas(i grabbed a few at costco!  for like $7!)


i’m pretty keen on a warm baby.  not too cold, not too hot… but erring on the side of hot if i had to choose.  (but i don’t have to choose!  so alas, parker, you can just be warm!)  i blame this on my mom.  growing up it was always: “don’t catch a chill!  keep your neck warm!  put your hat on!”  it is ingrained in me that a cold head means a head cold.  or, pretty darn close.  so you can imagine that upon raising a baby (who will not be dwelling snugly in a baby carrier as he was last year) in the great, and often cold, state of massachusetts, i’d need to have a few tricks up my sleeve.  above are some of the things we’ve actually acquired (sans the striped sweater and the hat/mitten set) recently as the temperatures have dropped here.  it’s pretty near impossible to go a day without bringing the little dude outside for some fresh air, so the snug things were a definite necessity.

now please!  you more well-seasoned cold-weather veterans!  tell me your tricks.  is it even feasible to take parker on a two-hour-plus sledding trip this winter?  do babies learn to keep mittens on?  and warm weather socks for babies?  what are your picks?  so basically, am i fooling myself that my various pieces will make a difference?!

(this recent post got me thinking about this stuff!)

Lindsey’s growing up.

She’s been growing up, a slow process, at times more jarring than others.  And lately, it feels jarring. It’s moving fast, too fast.  Slow down!  She recently pulled a book off her bookshelf–something from the American Girl Club series–and it had everything from hair care, to shaving, to periods.  “When will I get my period?” she asks as we’re driving along.  The questions don’t stop there.  “Mom, can I start shaving?”  I assure her, she’ll have the rest of her life to be doing these things.  And they quickly lose their luster (if they had any to begin with).  Still, the allure of wearing a bra and lipstick is no match for my assurance that the time will come so be patient.

I bought her Taylor Swift’s newest CD the other day.  She’s a huge Taylor fan, and I knew she’d love it.  She ripped it open as soon as I gave it to her, and spent the greater part of the evening listening to it in front of the stereo, CD jacket open, following the lyrics the whole time.  Once she got a better hang of the lyrics, then started the attitude.  Especially for “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”  She has the words down, the head movements, the sway, the attitude.  It’s almost angsty.  She writes songs and stories too, and they often center themselves around a lovelorn girl.  She’s in fifth grade, desperate to be a grown up, and all full of that inner I’m-not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman (Britney came through!).  I remember it a little bit.  And, truth be told, I’d love to go back to that young innocence for a little while.  But, how do you communicate that to her?

So for now, I just tell her: I understand, but slow down.  The time will come.

fall clean-up.

It was inevitable.  The time had come.  We could no longer see the grass, especially after Hurricane Sandy blew through, and try as we might to pretend the leaves would just blow away on their own, they were damp and sticky and heavy and blanketing the grass with no hope of leaving.  So we raked!  And while I hem and haw a bit about fall clean-up, there’s something completely satisfying about raking.  I get the same satisfaction from vacuuming.  There were leaves there!  Just a minute ago!  And now I see the grass underneath!  It feels like such progress.
William and Lindsey worked like dogs out there too.  William’s always been a workhorse.  As long as you’re out there, he doesn’t mind (in fact, he loves it) being beside you, doing what you’re doing.  Lindsey sometimes slinks away and we find her inside reading and looking at you quizzically when you ask her where she’s been.  Who me?  You wanted me to rake?  But, not this time.  She hauled load after load of leaves away on the tarp and, slowly but surely, our grass was freed.    
And me!  I raked too.  Not as much as these guys though.  Someone’s got to tend to Parker who, I might add, was entirely lazy and didn’t lift a finger.

christmas giveaway! one winner!

and one more note!  an important one!  but a boring one!–  the products you win will come directly from the manufacturer/store/business.  (in other words, i’m not a go-between doing the shipping–i won’t even see your winnings!) it is up to the person doing the ‘giving’ to make good on their word and send the winner their winnings!  if, for some reason (i doubt this will be a problem!), a giver doesn’t keep up their end of the bargain, i will not be held responsible.  (but, i will surely be reticent to work with them again in the future!)  and that is all!

a walk with parker.

it’s rare that parker gets to do just what he wants with me tagging along, following his lead.  rare that i am not distracted by emptying the dishwasher, checking my email, or straightening the strewn-about toys to just watch him, listen to him, play with him.  on his time table, what he wants to do.  i’m making more of an effort–to turn off the mental checklist in my head and just be.  just be his mama.  not the housekeeper, the cook, or the driver.  just his mom.  it’s not easy and i think we’re conditioned to move at harried paces, check things off the list, feel accomplished.  but man does it feel good when i give him an hour of my undivided attention.  parker, this hour is for you and only you.  they’re sweet words.
almost every day lately we’ve been taking a walk down the street to see some horses in our neighborhood.  i rarely carry him, i don’t push him in the stroller.  i let him walk and he holds my hand.  he stops.  he picks up an acorn, a twig.  he walks off the sidewalk to crunch some leaves.  he comes back.  he sits.  he stands.  he picks up some leaves.  he lets go of my hand to pick up a pinecone with the other.  he drops one, reaches for my hand again.  he points to a passing truck.  it’s slow-going.  the ground that can normally be covered in five minutes is covered in fifteen by this mom and baby.  sometimes more.  
and that check list?  that constant tapping at your head?  it’s not really that important and my day looks no different in the end for taking a long break.  to be with him going his pace.  and he loves it.  and the horses?  we point to them, i make horse noises, we watch them eat and watch their skin shudder to fend off the landing flies.  they come to the fence now to say hi to us, their frequent visitors.  i pet them.  he doesn’t want to yet.  he knows the way, turning towards their stables without my lead.  for this hour, he’s the leader.   

lately.

well, it’s been a crazy week… or, really, few weeks.  and with more holidays approaching, i think it’s only going to get crazier.  so, where to begin?  we celebrated steve’s birthday!!  we’ve gotten our pumpkins and gourds and, most importantly, apple cider donuts.  we’ve enjoyed the last of the the beautiful weather (but, maybe, there’s still more to come?).  we’ve seen big machines… parker was thrilled.  he is already showing such boy behaviors and gravitating towards the books of cranes and bulldozers and trains.  we have tackled lice and continue to (following a three-week protocol to be sure we are (and remain!) lice-free, thank you to a tip from a friend on instagram!).  we’ve gone to halloween parties… myself as rosie, parker as a dog, and lindsey as the color pink!  we have remained WITH power through sandy… which i’m so grateful for.  kids with olive oil soaked hair (lice treatment!) really could use a hot shower before going off to school, you know?  and thank you to everyone who gave me tips via instagram or twitter or email on the lice situation.  situation indeed.

and finally, my family is all well down on the jersey shore!  my mom and dad, and sister and her family remained with power, and water-free despite being only a few miles from both cape may and stone harbor beaches (have you seen the pictures??  it’s pretty awful.  the beloved 96th street completely underwater as well as ocean city boardwalk.)  sending lots of love to those who remain power-less or worse.  i feel like things are just off lately.  do you know what i mean??  some awful stories in the news (the nyc krim family story being chief among them), crazy weather affecting millions… i’m thinking of all of you out there.  affected by something in some way, dealing with their own sadness or tragedy (makes me think of that philo quote).  we’ve all got to stick together… shoulder each other’s burdens, you know?

happy (early) halloween!

me + the real rosie.  you could hardly even tell.

if you’re still in need of a costume…
rosie’s awfully easy.

you (we!) can do it!

p.s. my whole family lives in nj and, much of them, in the coastal areas.
sending my love and prayers and good wishes for them and the places we love so much.
go easy on us, sandy!  and everybody, stay safe.

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