In Case you Didn't Beleive Me

By The Way

BTW, babies in hoodies and jeans and ponytails are sooo cute!

Miss Brenda posted about shoes and I have to say that I heard something rustling in my dining room and then I saw Claire come around the corner with these bags stuck to her feet and the napkins clutched in her arms and I just busted up laughing! It's the rustling that I can't take... It's good to laugh.

This Hammoky Thing

Friend or Stranger?

Old friends resurfacing is strange. Especially when the relationship is awkward to begin with and then add a few odd years of distance and you have a strange situation. But sometimes those people have an odd way of bringing clarity to your circumstances. They may not know the back story, or any of the current one, but somehow they know exactly what to say to help you get those tears out that you've been holding in and move past whatever is to make you smile. I don't know what it is but friends truly are forever, like once you've bonded that's it for life. You may go separate ways, choose opposing paths or just drift to different sides of the same road but someday your journeys will cross again, at the best time or the worst time and you'll fall right into step, synced up perfectly by the Master who built your path.

Love of Her Life

Sadly the newest love of our life lives in a mason jar and loses his powers to amaze once he leaves it.... She is a strange old bird.

Suba?

Cancun

So, I was holding out for the video from our scuba trip but I don't believe it will be happening anytime soon since our final cut program is sick on Steve, Jimmy will have to edit it at work (although he spends a lot of time there, it's a lot of work and very little time for fun editing). All that to say that I'll be posting stills from our vacation... but not all of them as some of them need Jimmy's attention also.

On our trip to Cancun we did some exciting things, these included parasailing (which my computer says is not a word), scuba diving at the reef, more Spanish speaking than I've done since Scott, and a lot of marveling at the wonders God created. (the water is SO blue).

Scuba diving was a ton of fun I was nervous before we went down, after I had some mechanical malfunctions during the practice session in the pool. But it was so fun! I was close enough to the fish to touch them (against the rules) and I saw a ton of coral that I wanted for our tank at home... Jimmy also enjoyed himself although he got bit by a 'fire coral' which is a type of jelly fish, too bad we didn't know that till we got back to the hotel, (someone could have peed on it)(instead we used vinegar).
Parasailing was also fun, it was kinda freaky too cause we got into this hammock seat thing and they don't strap you in.. like at all, you are just hundreds of feet above the bright blue water, it was awesome in all meanings of the word. (there are pictures but they are some of the ones that Jimmy has to help me with).
Overall it was not quite paradise like they advertise it to be but very close, I enjoyed the time with my family and my in-laws a lot.

Claire Fix

Just in case you thought we left her in Mexico, or you miss her.

Construction Fiesta

So the one thing in Mexico that I got super excited about.. strangely was the construction flags, instead of tape, or a concrete barrier they have fiesta flags! it was so fun to see and it made me miss my littlest sister.. so ami these are for you. Love ya

Muffler Men Mystery

So I'm in the 'States' again. Happy to have arrived back safely, we had fun and I promise pictures and even a video of underwater life soon.

One of the first things that I did when I arrived home was to check out the blogs, to see what happened that I missed. This included new chairs, haircuts and the gazing ball in Wyoming... It also included the discovery of a very intriguing mystery. My mom went to a rodeo. (not a mystery) She saw a cowboy and well read her blog. So I needed to see the one in Kittaining to verify that she was indeed telling the truth (I'm not sure why cause my mom isn't really the lying type, especially I've never known her to lie about cowboys) So I googled 'cowboy Kittaining' and low and behold I found him... however I also read a blurb on the page I found him on that said there was one identical to him in cowtown NJ, this lead to more googling and I found the history of the muffler men. You should read this if you were in any way interested in 20 foot fiberglass cowboys from California.
And just food for thought, what causes you to bid on a 20ft fiberglass cowboy? Maybe this is what miss Brenda needs for her yard. No one would notice the lack of vegetation. it's like one step up from a gazing ball. :) But what would he hold?

Claire Kisses

As Promised the kisses de Claire be prepared, this is def one of the cutest things she has done, it's right up there with 'deedle-deedle' (of which there is no photographic proof. :( so enjoy and remember that it's polite to blow a kiss back.

sorry it's crooked, someday I will master this.

Sisters

This is a sentimental post about sisters. I've been thinking a lot about sisters lately; mine, the ones I hope Claire has, sister-in-laws. Just sisters in general. And I've come to the conclusion that I would like Claire to have a sister. Because looking back at my childhood, I don't really remember all the stuff I did with my friends (who I don't even talk to anymore). I remember what I did with my sisters, plays on the deck, sliding down the slide in the rain, you know all that stuff. I guess sisters are like best friends who you are stuck with for life. With a 'normal' friend you can say something wrong or mean in the moment and then you aren't friends anymore. Sisters are free to tell you whatever you need to hear even when you don't wanna hear it like; that your hair looks stupid or mom won't let you out of the house like that, or he's no good for you. and even if you get mad and want to ditch them, everyone else in the family (namely mom and dad) will keep them around, so you might as well forgive them and move forward. I'm really thankful for my sisters... really, really thankful. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving me the best friends a girl could ask for.

Helping Hands

Claire likes to help around the house, this includes but is not limited to:
1. Laundry- pulling all the clothes out of any basket they are in and then,
2. Cleaning the Floor- with the clothes she took out of the basket, she also does this in the bathtub, it's really cute sometimes,
3. Dusting all table tops- with her hands,
4. Clearing the Table- she can clear a table faster than you can imagine.
After talking to my mom today I am inclined to think that this may be the most helpful she will be for years to come, I guess I should enjoy it.

she also blows the best kisses... working on getting video of this for all her faithful viewers. :)

Am I Crazy?

You may be premenstrual if
1. you eat an entire package of double chocolate double stuffed oreos in less than three days.
2. you cry every time you see your husband (even if you are upset with him)
3. you continuously hear your child crying even though you are watching her sleep peacefully before your own eyes.
4. going out is daunting. even when you don't have anymore diapers because of an over site by your premenstrual mind
Of course I'm not premenstrual so I guess this means I'm just crazy.

How Big?

SO BIG!

Mother Moment

When I T9 '733' instead of the word 'see' being standard (like it is on your phone) mine automatically makes the word 'pee'.

Claire Fix

Three is an Uneven Number

Claire now has three teeth. Not an even four, but three and for some reason having only three teeth makes her look really mischievous. I'm not sure why and am open to opinions on that one, but she is cute, and when she smiles really big you only see the one on the top and not the ones on the bottom... (this is such a mother-post)(sorry)(heck what am I sorry for, I am a mom)
In other news I have a ton of baby girl clothes and I need to unload some of them that we have grown out of, so if you know of anyone that wants them please let me know. (seriously we could cloth twins for their lifetime, even triplets if you did wash once a week)

Claire's First Steps

Here are Claire's 19th, 20th & 21st steps.

Poor Bart is Dead

A candle lights his head, he's looking oh so pretty and serene...

My fish died while I was on vacation. I buried him today. He was a good fish. I'm not sure if I could ever replace him. :(
I may have cried.

Rest In Peace Bart.

Misc.

Notice that the oversized sheep is cleverly placed to cover the dominos that have been spilled out onto the floor. She's sneaky already.

Also, I got Claire a towel that has a mermaid on it, it's kinda like a poncho-towel. Very cool however it is a bit chesty and that's really all you see when you look at her in it. Tell me that wasn't the first thing you noticed in these pictures. But it's cute none-the-less. :) She also got a new pool which causes mommy and daddy to pass out whenever they try to blow it up.

Maybe an air pump?

Bonus: in the second picture of Claire in her mermaid towel, if you look closely you can see her teeth.. yes teeth not tooth. There are two.

Is That A Noodle Bike?

Just because by the time I take it to MD it will no longer look like this and once I put it in front of the hungry masses, I know they won't notice. So for myself, yes, that's a bike cut out of noodles on top of my lasagna for the Lane Family Vacation.

Taking Your Own Picture

Mommy is busy and not feeling well so I am updating for myself, since I know it is me that you are all itching to hear about. I am over the Roseola and glad to be, yesterday I went back to regular napping and that was nice. I am excited to go on vacation starting Saturday! No biking for me, I'll hang by the pool.

sicky

So Claire has roseola which apparently means you break out in this rash and you cry a lot. It also involves the most disgusting sounding diarrhea ever. (oh and did I mention the vomit and crying?) It's pretty miserable for everyone involved. Please pray that this will clear up quickly.

What Does a Hippo Sound Like

Response Required

I am in love with The Weepies, Stasi turned me onto them. They are so soothing to me, good 'missing your love' or 'I'm so lonely' music. Not that I miss my love or am lonely, I am neither but the music is very good for unwinding after a hard naptime or 'I won't eat but I'm hungry' moment. We have a lot of those lately. I'm looking for a method of teaching her to sleep on her own. Any suggestions are appreciated. (and do check out The Weepies)

PS The dry cleaner who was lucky enough to take our throw-up cushions did in fact ask if the cushions were dry clean only, and then checked to ensure we were telling the truth... I feel bad.

Sick

I have my first sick child today. One min. she just has a fever and the next she's puking in my lap and all over her rocker/glider. Afterwards she felt better (or seemed to). I called my mom to ask her if she had any puke cleaning secrets. She said her secret is her husband. The kid pukes, she takes care of cleaning the kid and when she gets back the puke is gone. I decided not to wait till 10 when my husband got home to ask him if he wanted to clean up the puke. He is not feeling well either, and Rachel is sick too. A house full of sickness. Now if only I knew of a good dry cleaner who would do these cushions...

I'm not doing it anymore.

Beach

We went to the beach, Claire liked chasing the waves back into the ocean.. it was fun to see her react when they got her feet as she stood in the surf. :) We will go again.

Have Passports Will Travel

Daddy and Claire

Jim has discovered something that he AND Claire can enjoy... Blocks!
Jim plays 'with Claire' for hours now:

Claire gets in on the action once his creations are done, she likes to destroy them


Claire Kong:


Claire destroying the building where Daddy's new job is!

Home Sweet Home

Jim and I went on a dinner cruise around NYC. It was really fun and I learned a little more about this city I call home now. For example there are these BIG vents for the tunnels that go under the East River and the Hudson. They look like buildings on the water and they house really big fans that can suck all the air out of the tunnels whenever they need to. Who thought of that? (People like Ami) Also they are building waterfalls around the city, I thought that was weird, they look like big tall towers right now, I'm reserving judgment till I see them in action.
It was also nice to take a break from mothering for a night. Thanks Jen.
Also for those who are inclined to care; Jim quit his job at VP and is taking one at Taylor PR, so we will be staying in NY.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We took Claire to her first Mets game. It rained all over us. But we didn't lose; they called the game. We went to the stadium and sat and pretended to cheer..

Then we went home.

Fun was had by all!

How Big

Look how big!

No Comments Make me Sad

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
Guess I'll go eat worms...

Pool Honey

Of all the things we ever did besides baseball,
going to the pool was what he tolerated best.
Even though none of us had ever seen a Playboy magazine,
which we constantly lied about,
we figured going to the pool
was the next best thing to being there.

It wasn't really the pool honeys like we said,
because if any one of them had come up to any one of us,
we'd have just peed our pants.

Claire Can Clap

So Claire can clap, I swear.. I have the video to prove it:



See.

A Tribute to My Mom

My mom always has the coolest fungus pictures on her blog. But even she was impressed when she saw the fungus I was able to grow in a cup in my house. There are three different kinds. And they are happy in the picture. As I was showing her I wondered if they would eventually get unhappy and start to fight and then I was sad that I had destroyed them. Which would win? The world will never know.

Claire Fix

For those of you needing a Clarie fix:

you just have to flip you head sideways, or on a laptop just turn it on it's side.

Teaching

I drove to Brooklyn. It was very freeing and felt good to be out of the house without my husband. I know that sounds mean but I really don't get the chance to get out without him often. It makes me appreciate him even more when I see him. I took his sister instead. She is like having a husband with you, in the ways that she helps but you don't have to worry about being a wife to her. Which is all coming out kind of strange so I'll move on.
I went to see Mary at work
**Side Note**
I have decided to call my mother-in-law Mary. It is nice sounding and since I don't call MY mother Mom it just doesn't seem right to call my mother-in-law mom. When you get married decided before you are married 7 months what you will call your mother-in-law.
****
I went to get things in order to get a job. Yes there is still more. So far I have
1. Completed a State Certified Teacher Training Degree (My BS)
2. I have moved to the state in which I am certified
3. I have completed the State's application including lots of money, and fingerprinting
4. I have completed the N Y City application including lots of money and essays
I now have to
5. Be fingerprinted again for the NY City applications (including the $115 charge to do it again)
6. Make a trip to 65 Court St. to get said fingerprints and submit my application, a different one than the one I completed above
7. Wait to hear weather I am a criminal (I am not)(can't they take my word for it)(that would make this much faster)
8. Get a 'smart card' (which sounds eco-friendly)
9. Get a teaching job.

This is much more involved than I ever imagined. Please pray this all gets done so that I can get moving, when I can find time, toward employment. I'm beginning to get overwhelmed by the process and how unprepared I feel for this job search. Also pray for relationships with my 'in-laws' this process is stressing them as well.

Thank You

Thank you though to all of you who responded to my question, that makes me happy. and tomorrow it will make me really happy, almost as happy as if these guys are away from my house.
Stupid ConEd. Stupid Alien Bug Fart Smeller.

I know why people murder complete strangers

I know this because if I had had a gun or some weapon that allowed me to attack and or mame (which my computer tells me that's not the right way to spell it) these men or the whole dang ConEd company INC! Or perhaps I should go straight to the man/woman that called the fire department and reported a 'gas smell'. Maybe it wasn't gas at all, maybe it was a giant bug farting.. maybe it was an alien invasion. Maybe your meter thing is right and there is gas somewhere around here. BUT LEAVE ME AND MY FAMILY SLEEP!


Apparently this will continue throughout the night until they have satisfactorily awakened EVERYONE in QueenS! Or until they move somewhere where someone is smart enough to have a gun handy.
I was just informed that you can't have a gun in NYC, this is why stupid people still exist here. Anywhere else in the world the above would have been weeded out by natural selection long ago.
I'm tired
very tired.
I will write them a nasty letter and if my daughter wakes up I will go outside and stand there with her screaming the WHOLE TIME and I will get their names and I will find out where they live and then I will go to their homes and wake them up with a flashing strobe and a jack-hammer.
I hate ConEd. and now we smell gas at our house, it wasn't here earlier. Stupid ConEd.
This is outside my window. like 20 feet outside my window!