trick or treat.

We had more trick or treaters this year than ever. I'm so glad Cassie came over- before she got here I was a bit perplexed as to how I would pull it off- handing out candy, that is... home alone with Henry; Nico the chihuahua barking her head off at strangers coming to the door; Henry needing immediate diaper changes, immediate feeding... funny how the simplest things become suddenly- how should I put it-- challenging. Yes, challenging. At one point I put the basket of candy on the porch with a note that read "take one".
Alas, I was able to finish the pumpkins and I think the porch looked lovely and inviting. Cassie and I enjoyed talking through the entire movie we settled on watching. Good times, Cass. (For some reason the server isn't letting me upload photos at the moment- I'll try again later)

happy halloweeny.

I absolutely adore halloween, so I'm a bit bummed about not dressing up this year. So here are a couple of pictures from last year. Mike and I were the flesh-eating doctor/nurse duo. I love the zombie nurse idea, because if girls dress in medical gear, it is usually the ubiquitous 'sexy nurse.' I like to take the sexy out and replace it with horrifying gore. Every year I have to be a gory something... flight attendant post crash, a girl scout who went trick or treating at the wrong house... any excuse to pretend like I have massive head trauma and decorate my knees like the caps got blown out. Fun!!! I wonder what I'll do next year? I don't want to scare poor Henry.

I have to finish my jack o'lanterns now- if I don't dress up, I have to do something beautiful for the porch to make it festive for the neighborhood kids. I'll post more pics of that (hopefully) later.

ellie beth.

Please send your love out to beautiful little Ellie Beth Panko. She is a dear friend of ours who just underwent heart surgery. Also, keep Ken and Colleen in your thoughts and prayers. Email me if you'd like a link to their blog- they are updating her progress multiple times daily, and progress seems to be good. GO ELLIE!!!!

space oddity.

Don't let those adorable pictures of Henry smiling so innocently and calmly in the last post fool you. I wish he looked like that all of the time. But he doesn't. For the past two days he has taken to screaming his head off until I stick a boob in his mouth. He used to prefer the left boob, now he doesn't care. He's an equal opportunity purveyor of breast. Any side will do, as long as I get it in there pronto. He used to like his pacifier, but now he just spits it out onto the floor- not in a nonchalant way, but deliberately, as if to say "how DARE you stick that thing into my mouth!" Thank god Mike and I have a large yard surrounding our house, otherwise we'd be driving the neighbors crazy with the noise. When Henry starts screaming sometimes it helps to yell along with him, but in a funny joking way. Howling like a wolf works; periodically beeping loudly like a robot sometimes does the trick. Lately nothing is working. It was funny though- in a desperate moment I started singing Bowie's Space Oddity to him, substituting Major Henry for Major Tom. Totally random- I don't know why this song came to mind, but it worked. I incorporated some dancing- he likes to be swooped around like a bird- and it calmed him... for a moment or two. Long enough for him to wish his mommy had a better singing voice probably.
I went to the grocery store today and practically ran through the aisles hoping to make it out of there without him having a meltdown in public. At the deli the guy was taking his time on the thickness of the cuts. In slow motion he held up a piece of turkey for my approval. I just wanted to say 'look guy, I don't care if you wrap the turkey up still alive, I need to get this baby out of here!!!'. But then I stopped, took a deep breath and told him the thickness was perfect. I don't want to be one of those mean impatient people no matter how tired I am or how stressful things are. And I will continue to breastfeed no matter how exhausting it is, because I know it is the best thing for Henry. I just pray these cluster feedings taper off sooner rather than later.
I can't believe it- this has totally become a mommy blog. Arggh. Sorry folks!

meat on a stick.

Went to Stockley Gardens Art Festival this weekend. Henry enjoyed the art; but I think he enjoyed the thai chicken on a stick even more than the art. Mike is back to work this week- no more paternity leave. I'm sad, but Henry and I are holding down the fort.

biting my nails!!!!!!

It is the project runway finale and I am so excited I have tears in my eyes!!! Tim Gunn has tears in his eyes too!
I am blown away by Uli's collection- gorgeous! Who knew? I can't wait to see Laura's next. Jeffrey's left alot to be desired.

I am SO glad that they showed me once more how to get smoky eyes- after 14 weeks of the same info-bit I will be a smoky eye master!!

FUN!

Henry has become great fun lately- he now smiles and laughs and responds to various toys.
In the morning he will lay in his crib, gazing up at his mobile. Today he is exactly five weeks old!
Here are some pictures from the past couple of days.

fall garden.

Here are a couple of dahlias from my yard. They are supposed to be dinner plate sized, however they fell a bit short this year. You can't tell from the picture, but the orange colored dahlia is glittery gold in the sunlight.

relatives.

Here are some pictures from a recent outing. The meal was delicious T & B!
Henry loves his cousins, Sid and Pinot. He really loves his Auntie Beth.
He thinks Uncle Tommy is a little strange. hah!!!!

not enough time!

My friends have been bugging me to update this blog... I barely have time to wash my hair or finish writing thank you cards, much less time to get online and upload pictures. Henry is napping now, so perhaps I'll upload some photos to post later. Having a newborn leaves little time for anything not related to feeding, burping, cuddling, diaper changing; and trying to maintain all of the supplies necessary for implementing such tasks. Also, Henry is going through a growth spurt or something and wanting to feed every hour- which pretty much means I've become a human pacifier. Add all of that to barely any sleep and you get the picture- without seeing any uploaded on this page. More to come later hopefully.