Rookie Mistake.

What is it that the majority of new moms do, and then immediately regret right after the birth of their first child? No, it's not immediately rethinking your decision to become a parent in the first place (although we all have those days!) It's that we all give birth and then run out and make one of the most drastic changes of all. We cut off our hair. I was no exception to this rule. 

Exhibit A: Me about 8 months pregnant.

Exhibit B: 2 weeks after the LM was born.

Finally 2 years later I am slowly getting back to my "roots."

I think there should be a law imposed that one must wait 2 months after giving birth to make any changes to their physical appearance. Seems to me that the worst time to make such changes is when you are at you fattest, most exhausted, and most emotionally unstable. Hmmmm perhaps I should file a suit against my hairdresser?

 His defense? He did warn me........ I was just WAY to tired to listen. This is one rookie mistake I won't be making again!

Is That Hair Gel?

We all remember that scene in Something About Mary when Mary inadvertently ended up with something (ahem) other than hair gel in her hair. Well, today we had our own version of that. 

I had left the little man eating his breakfast while I ran downstairs to get dressed for the day and when I came back something about him was different. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that his usually stick straight hair was unusually spiky. "Is that hair gel?" I thought to myself. Daddy had left before he had woken up and I definitely didn't put it in, so how did it get there?

Upon further inspection I realized that it was not hair gel, nor was it a bodily fluid, but after a smell and touch test I realized that it was in fact pancake syrup. Yeah, now I was wishing it was anything else. Anything. 

15 minutes of scrubbing later and we were able to get his hair back to somewhat of a normal state. The lesson learned? Do not leave your kid with anything sticky. EVER. 

 

Recipe of the Week: Tomato Basil Soup and Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Fall is here and that means that this Mummy is constantly craving comfort food. Comfort food like Tomato Basil Soup and Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Since going out to dinner is the exception and not the norm (especially when your "date nigh"t sitter goes away for her own date weekend) I figured that I was going to have to make this comfort dinner myself. Well, I'm glad I did because not only was it delicious but I also was able to have a date with my husband sans makeup and in my pajamas. Throw in a glass of red wine and we had the perfect night complete with a 9:30 bedtime. You can't beat that!

Tomato Soup Recipe (Serves 2)

•  2 tablespoons olive oil
  
•  2 medium yellow onions, chopped
  
•  2 cloves garlic, chopped
  
•  24 ounces canned whole plum tomatoes or same amount peeled fresh tomatoes
  
•  3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  
•  2 teaspoons salt
  
•  pinch freshly ground black pepper
  
•  1/2 cup basil

Heat oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened and turned translucent, about 15 minutes. Pour in tomatoes, stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes are soft and begin to cook down, about 10 to 20 minutes. Add the basil. With immersion blender, puree until smooth (alternately, you can work in batches and pour soup into a blender to puree -- only fill blender halfway for each batch). If soup seems too thick, stir in some extra stock to thin. Serve immediately.

Cave-aged Goat and Gruyère-and-Apple Grilled Cheese (serves 2)

• 4 slices Real Sourdough bread
  
• Softened unsalted butter
  
• 1/4 pound shredded Swiss cave-aged Gruyere or any Swiss cheese
  
• 1 medium tart apple (such as Granny Smith), cored and thinly sliced
  
• 3 Tablespoons goat cheese

Butter 2 slices of bread and place face down in a large skillet. Melt the gruyere open sliced and spread the goat cheese on the remaining bread. Place apples on melted gruyere and layer with the goat cheese covered bread. Flip sandwiches until bottom bread is browned. Serve immediately. 

Martha, Martha, Martha.

This is not another post about my favorite Martha (although I could talk about her all day long.) No, this post is about the fabulous Martha Stewart. As in, who knew she was so fabulous? 

Well, apparently Tory Burch did and she has spotlighted some stunning modeling pictures of Martha taken in the 1960's on her website. 

What I find amazing, is 1) how beautiful Martha was/is, and 2) how timeless the clothes are that she was wearing. It just goes to show that good fashion sense never goes out of style. This is also the perfect example as to why you should invest in quality pieces that can indeed last for decades. 

I Think Someone Is After My Job.

Starbucks coffee, MacBook Pro, perfect posture? Looks like we have a future Blogger on our hands!

Let There Be Light.

Our new light fixture finally arrived and at last it is installed. When we bought it I wasn't 100 percent sure if I was in love with it, but now that it's up I am in lurveeeeee! I think it's pretty understated, but it definitely adds a much needed design element to the room. The best part? After a year we no longer have to eat dinner in the dark! Amazing. 

Here it is illuminating the night. It is made of a linen like paper and is cream when the light is off, white when it is on. 

Now the little man can actually see while he is jumping from one end of the couch to the other. (Please tell me my kid isn't the only on who does this all night long.)

Another view. 

It was rather inexpensive even though we had to get it custom made for our tall ceilings. The plan was to leave it behind when we sold our home, but I don't think I'm going to be able to let this baby go. Sorry future owners but this light is mine!

Hair Love.

Ever since I saw this picture via twitter from my extremely fashionable friend The Missus I have been obsessed with this side braid. In fact, I have already worn this hot new hair trend twice this week. I love how messy it is, and what a perfect hairdo it is for a busy mom. Hey, I barely have time to wash my hair as it is and now I have a reason not to! A little dry shampoo, a minute in front of the mirror AND a stylish new look....what is not to love?

picture from here.

A Spare Room????? Not Any More!

File this under duh.

We have three bedrooms in our home. Two are downstairs are are a fairly good size. In fact they are probably too big and we should have divided them into three, but there isn't much we can do about that now. These rooms are the Little Man and our bedrooms. Upstairs we have our living area with an attached open kitchen. Also upstairs we have the third bedroom. I use the term "bedroom" loosely. Yes you could fit a bed in it, and yes it is a room, but really that's about all that make it in the small space. 

While it might not be a perfect full size bedroom, the space screams nursery. Seriously, it's upstairs, away from where all the noise would be and easily accessible from the living room. It's small enough to be cozy, but large enough to fit a changing table, crib, and rocker. It's what we envisioned when we bought the place, and it is certainly what we envisioned when we moved in and I was pregnant with baby number two. Well, we all know how that went and since we weren't putting a nursery in there any time soon, we were kind of at a loss with what to do with the space. We didn't want to furnish it as a guest room or an office because we wouldn't have anywhere for that furniture to go when we actually needed to use the nursery. So basically we did nothing. 

We had an old pull out couch that we bought off some friends and a TV and stand that we really didn't want to throw away, so we just stuck them in the room and figured that when we did have guests this would be an easy space to house them until we needed the room for something else. Besides, we thought, we'll get pregnant soon enough so we won't really even notice. Yeah, well now it is over a year later and the room is still the same. Sad and unfurnished. 

For a year now I have pretty much kept the door shut. All the while I have been lusting after a playroom with the same fervor that I used to lust after a Birkin bag. Yes, I want one that bad. The fact is that all of the LM'S toys live in our living room, and most the time it looks like one big mess. How great would it be to have a room that you can just shut to door too? You can see where I am going with this. 

A few rubbermaid bins, a switching of the train table and viola!

Before: Sad Room

After: Awesome Playroom.

The best part? My living room now looks like this: 

An actual living room! I kept a few toys out, but I have a feeling they will be going in the new space soon enough.

The second best part is that the LM loves having his own space. This morning he watched his favorite Blue's Clues in there while playing with his trains. I sat on the couch and watched the news and drank a cup of coffee. I know, I could hardly believe it myself! 

I'd like to get rid of all the furniture in there, but the husband insists on keeping it a semi functional guest room. That is until I finally get my nursery. For now I'm just happy living in a toy free zone! Why I didn't think of this sooner is beyond me.

For those of you out there with a "real" playroom...oh how I envy you!!

101 Things I Have Learned From The Little Man.

# 97 Kids. They don't walk, they ONLY run. 

We, like most new parents, just couldn't wait for our little blob of a baby to began to morph into a little man. We would squeal with delight at every milestone, and we would do crazy things like encouraging our little guy to talk and walk. Those of you out there without kids probably think that this is very normal. Those of you with kids are thinking the exact same thing that I am; rookie mistake. 

At the time we bought a "mail cart" so he could learn to balance on his feet. We would put treats just out of his reach, encouraging him to take just a few steps on his own. The Pièce de résistance was when we would hold out the clicker or my blackberry and he would give it all his might just to get his grubby little paws on one of them. We would get so excited that we would even (gasp) photograph these occasions. Here is the little guy taking a few of his first steps. 

Why is walking a problem you ask? Because kids don't walk, they only run. And while they may seem little, it is amazing how fast some of these buggers can be. As in, oh my god my child is tearing through the store and I just can't quite catch him....shit, now he is running out the front door.....please someone else stop him.........nooooooo now he is sitting in the water bowl for the dogs out front.....yuck that cannot be sanitary.  True story, one of many. See the problem is once they realize they can walk that's all they want to do. Once they realize how fast and nimble they are? Well, that is the exact moment that I lost all the power in this relationship. 

Finally the other night I figured out how to get it back. It hit me as I was watching the dogs running in the dog park. When they would arrive they were jumping and running all over the place. Their owner would throw the ball a few times and after about 10 minutes they would be so exhausted that they would lay down. Hmmmmm I thought to myself, that may just work for my wild little animal. 

You thought I was joking, right? 

Nope, the little guy and I now have a new game. It's called "catch."  It should be called, "you just woke up from a  3 hour nap and we need to go grocery shopping so I'm going to take you to a wide open field and throw a tennis ball repeatedly until your little legs slow down to a pace that I, your mother, can actually keep up with or until you pass out, whichever comes first." Or something like that. Okay it's actually kind of fun to watch him chase the ball, and the truth is that I end up chasing the it as much as he does, but this is definitely the way to burn some of that energy. I swear, if I could find a way to bottle it I could make millions. 

Well, I have learned my lesson. The next baby? Yeah, he/she can take her sweet little time in the walking department. That or I'm going to have to consider a leash. Okay...that may be taking the dog thing a bit too far, but man one would sure come in handy!

My Kid Is a Rock Star.

Yesterday was the LM's first day of nursery school. I woke up feeling anxious and nervous, and I ended up going to bed with the biggest smile on my face. Why was I so elated? Because my little man is a rock star. Yep, not only did he have a great first day at school, but he also made so many new friends I think we may have to change his name to Bono. If U2 ever needs a new lead singer, I'm pretty sure my little guy would be on the short list. 

Transitions are never easy and I was more than slightly worried that my man (like his mother) would be resistant to change. "School" is two afternoons a week and it is smack in the middle of his usual nap time. This challenge has given me more than a few sleepless nights. I was so worried that he wouldn't nap if I put him down earlier leaving me with a tired and cranky little man at drop off. I thought there would be lots of tears (his and mine) and I would leave wondering what the hell I was thinking. Then he would hate school, and the whole thing would have been a waste of time and money. 

If that was my nightmare, yesterday was a dream. He woke up with a smile on his face, and I rushed us out of the house an hour before we would usually leave. We then went to get coffee and spent about 2 hours at the park. I ran, and ran, and ran my little guy until he just couldn't run any more. Then at 10:45 I put him down for a nap (2 1/2 hours earlier than usual) and he slept for 2 hours! I couldn't believe it. He woke up right when we had to leave again with a HUGE smile on his face asking me if it was time for school. When we got there he was so excited and pretty much pushed me out the door. 3 hours later I arrived back at the school and he ran up and gave me the biggest hug ever. The teachers said he was so good, and that all the kids loved playing with him. In short, my kid was a ROCK STAR. 

Here he is getting ready for his big day.

This is the face I got when I asked if he was excited for school.

And here we are waiting for the T to take us into town the 2 short stops.

I was able to take one picture of him playing before he pushed me out the door.

Once we got back home he just couldn't stop playing...he must have played by himself for about an hour while I made dinner.

Of course I had to get a shot of his new "school" shoes that made it just in time for the big day. Yes, those are Vans....the same ones I used to wear some 20 years ago.

I know it was only a few hours, but I am just so proud of my little man. This was a really big change for him and he handled it with ease. Just looking at him now he seems so much more grown up. I tell you I couldn't be more proud than if he actually was Bono!

What Would PETA Say About This?

To fur or not to fur, that is the question? For me the answer to that one is easy. This Mummy is faux fur all the way! No, the real question is whether or not a "real life" person can pull of one of this season's hottest trends; the fur vest. I'm thinking that sadly,  I am going to have to give this one a big thumbs down. 

Okay, I must admit I'm intrigued. I see celebs like Rachel Bilson,  Elle Macpherson, the Olsens and Kate Moss wearing these fierce vests and they really do look amazing in them. It seems like such a easy way to really style up a basic outfit and stay warm at the same time. Living in New England this would be a very good piece to wear. The thing is that if I saw someone (including myself) walking down the street with a big ball of fake fur on their vest? Well, let's just say I don't think I could take them all too seriously...if you know what I mean. A little too much Bigfoot and not enough Rachel Zoe.

I'm going out on a limb and am going to say that this is one trend that is better suited for the runway, than it is for the everyday. That, however, is not going to stop me from trying on EVERY single one that I see... just to make sure. 

Ugh.

I find myself with not a whole lot to say today. 

Today I start clomid cycle number 5. I've pretty much given up hope that the clomid is going to work and I am anxiously awaiting October 15 when I can finally be deemed "infertile." While this title is nothing to look forward to it does mean that, for insurance purposes, we can finally start getting more aggressive. I'm again convinced that maybe I have a blockage or scar tissue from the D&E that I had to get after my miscarriage last year. Now that I will be "infertile" I can get this checked out. I also can start, in about 2 months, doing injectibles and moving towards IVF. I am hoping things don't have to get this drastic but at this point I would do almost anything to get this ball rolling. 

I also am thinking of joining a support group (thank you dear reader for the suggestion!) if only so I can feel like I am not the only one. I swear it sometimes hits me at the strangest times. Like yesterday for example. I was walking down Charles street with the LM on the way to the park when I spotted a woman who I hadn't seen in about two years. She was in one of our baby classes with me and the LM in the early days, and she used to often comment about the "science" that went into to making her miracle baby. When I spotted her I rushed up to say hello and then from across the street until I spotted her swollen belly. Seeing this I was overcome with disappointment and cut away another street. Clearly this is good news for her, but I just couldn't help thinking WHEN IT IS GOING TO BE MY TURN? Obviously, this kind of thinking is not that healthy nor is it rational and I think that it would be helpful for me to be in an environment where other women are having similar emotions. At a minimum maybe it will help me to stop staring at every pregnant woman I see. I swear, one of these women are going to call me, or the police, due to my eye "stalking."

So begins another cycle. Ugh.

Have You Ever Been So Tired.....

....you just had to take a nap?

As a mother of an active two year old I feel this way ALL DAY LONG. My little guy's new favorite game? Chase. As in he will run and run and run and run, and in turn he demands that I chase him. Seriously, if I could bottle that energy I could make millions. 

The other day I was able to find this sweet little girl who was more than happy to take my place. She chased my little man for no less than 45 minutes. I could tell she wanted to stop but they were having such a great time she kept on going. Going until my little man did this.

Yep, he just came right out of the tunnel and decided to lay down to take a "nap." The little girl didn't know quite what to do. When it was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere she adopted the "if you can't beat em, join em" philosophy and laid down right next to him.

They stayed there for about 5 minutes, until I had to break up their slumber to go home and make dinner. I have a feeling both kids had an early bedtime that night...

Feeling Fall.

Okay, so outside it already feels like Fall. As in it's COLD, and it's only the middle of September! I know you are all expecting me to complain about what a short Summer it has been, how I hate the cold, and how unfair the weather in New England is, yada, yada, yada. Well, guess what? I'm not complaining! Not at all. The fact is I'm actually feeling fall this year. Whoa, I know, I'm as surprised as you are. The following things may have something to do with my chipper mood. 

The first is this pair of extremely delicious deep purple leather gloves that I found at J. Crew this morning. I have been lusting after a pair of leather gloves since I dropped one of my black ones in Vermont....4 years ago! Yes, it stung so badly at the time, I just couldn't bring myself to get another pair. Each year I have been buying a pair of wool or cashmere gloves, and each Spring I am forced to throw them away because they are completely tattered and torn. Well, not this year. This year I decided to bite the bullet and get a new pair. I figured I would just get black, but when I saw these deep purple beauties I knew that they were the one. Finally I will have warm (and fashionable) piggies as I push the stroller in the freezing cold for the next 6-8 months. The 80 dollar price tag also sweetened the deal considering that they are made of real leather and cashmere. I guarantee you that I will be guarding these babies with my life!

I'm not the only one who is loving the Fall fashion. My little man finally has the chance to wear all of his new school clothes. I can't believe I ever thought that you only needed a girl to have fun playing dress up with. This was, of course, before I figured out how many amazingly cute boy's clothes there are! Cute and cheap, this whole outfit was about 30 bucks. Thank you Old Navy, Gap, and J Crew kids! You can see the little guy is pretty happy with his new "look."

I don't know if it's just me but the minute the temperature drops below 70, I all of a sudden become obsessed with cooking. All week I've been dreaming of soups, and stews, and last night it was some fresh Spicy Clam Linguine. This was an easy dinner to prepare and something about the warmth of the dish and the flavors of the sea was the perfect meal to transition from Summer to Fall. This dinner only took about 20 minutes and would be great if cooking for a large group. The recipe is from Ms. Martha Stewart herself and can be found here. I am on a major cooking kick so you can expect plenty of new recipes to follow. 

Finally, my favorite memory as a kid was wearing fleece footie pajamas. I grew up in Colorado and I swear I must have lived in these things. They are so warm, and so cute, and I absolutely love snuggling up to my little man when he is in his pj's. Last year I was able to find a wide assortment of these comfy pieces. That was until the LM grew out of a 2T. In that size I just couldn't find any jammies and I was beginning wonder what the heck he was going to wear all Winter. Any of you with a toddlers out there know that it is impossible to keep covers on these guys so I was expecting a higher than usual gas bill so I could keep him warm and toasty. Luckily, Old Navy came through this year and made a few fleece footed pj's in sizes all the way up to 5T. I picked up these ones today and I can't wait to snuggle up to my little guy while he is wearing them. Now if they only made them in adult size!

 

I am officially loving fall until after the second snowfall. After that I reserve the right to begin bitching about the weather. Hey, I wouldn't be a true Bostonian if I didn't right? For now I am loving riding boots, chunky sweaters. hot chocolate, and the chance to wear my trench from last year. For now......