The other day I was in the gym...

working on my arm muscles. I was doing free weights and noticed that my left arm was just getting started at the same time my right arm was about to fall off from exhaustion. Then it hit me. I usually end up carrying Anna around on my left hip, holding her with my left arm. Why? I don't know why. It just feels unnatural to hold her on my right side. But methinks I am beginning to to look like that guy from Lady in the Water with one well muscled arm and one, um, not.

The natural mullet...

Lately, it has sort of started to bug me that Anna's hair is naturally shaped like a mullet. It is seriously short in the front, top, and sides, but long in the back, as you can see here in this photo from the beach. This picture doesn't do her mullet justice, tho, because the salt and the wind really poofed her hair up in weird places and stuck it close to her skull in others. But when her hair is clear and dry, it really begins to resemble this:


(PS. I chose this photo for all the ladies out there. Enjoy!)

On the bright side, she has a heck of a lot more hair than her brother had at the same age. He really looked like Mr. Clean until he hit his second birthday. That is really cute on a little boy, but it would drive me crazy if I weren't able to put little caterpillar or butterfly clips in Anna's hair! (They last about 2 minutes before she either pulls them out or they fall off naturally, but I just can't help myself...)

Marc's doppleganger

While he was on a work trip, a waitress went up with him to say that he looked like Toby Keith. When Marc told me this, I had no idea who he was! But check this out and tell me it ain't so. Freaky!

Heartbreaking...

Did you guys here of the baby humpback whale calf off the coast of Australia who lost its mommy but has bonded with a yacht? On Monday it apparently tried to breastfeed the yacht. Poor thing! According to the story at msnbc.com, the calf appears exhausted but rescuers hope it will continue out to sea and search for its mother or another pod of whales. "The outlook is not good, but we are giving the calf its only option. It can't be fed, and in fact we wouldn't know what to feed it" said a wildlife manager. Poor baby whale. This is the type of story that just slays me. Here's hoping for a miracle.

A family of consumers, that is what we are.

Yesterday, as we were driving in the car to the Great Country Farms, I handed Nate the latest Pottery Barn Kids catalog to look through. After a few minutes, he gave a gasp and looked up, saying that he really wanted this bed. He said that he wanted to sleep high above the ground, and look, there was a ladder! And look!! A little table where he could draw!!! And pirate sheets!! Oh my gosh!!! He said that he wanted to throw his old bed away and get that one. We told him to get used to disappointment, but he tore this page out of the catalog and has been holding onto it ever since.

As for me, I am SO coveting this house. Look! It has a lagoon! Look it has a courtyard and an outdoor fireplace!! Oh, how many happy summer nights would spend at this house! If we ever build the Baish family compound, we will definitely have to incorporate many these ideas into our final design. We each could get a wing!! I would be totally down with that.

What a week!

And not in a good way either. It started with Anna getting the stomach flu on Tuesday. She recovered quickly and I had to just stay home with her for one day on Wednesday. Then, last night, Nate spent the entire night in my bed lying on towels with a bucket in between us which was used every hour or two. He also wouldn't stay on his own side of the bed and kept facing me, so I can't tell you how many times I woke up smelling his stinky, vomit-y breath. Today he spent the whole day watching movies while I worked on a laptop next to him. Then, to top off this great week, when Marc brought Anna home, she had a fever of 101. I think we will have to take her to the doctor's tomorrow morning.

Do I sound just the teeniest bit frustrated?????

Plus Marc and I are feeling guilty because last night, we thought that Nate was crying wolf. Ever since we came home from the beach, he's been calling down after we put him bed, wanting me to lie down with him and pat his back. Every once in a while, it is all nice and good. However, doing that every night would be tiresome so we can't encourage Nate by giving in to his demands even once. So anyway, he kept calling and calling down to me and I was ignoring him (and watching Project Runway) hoping that he would just quiet down and go to sleep, when all of a sudden I heard footsteps on the stairs. He came down and said that his belly hurt, so I quickly hurried him to the bathroom. Unfortunately we were a bit too late and the floor in our hallway got downright disgusting. Well, while he was throwing up (in the toilet), I called to Marc to help out. Marc came but he had no idea what was going on, so he not only stepped in the throw up, he slipped in it and almost fell down! What a mess that would have been! As it was, Marc got pretty grossed out. You are tellin' me, Dubya!



Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Say it ain't so.

Check out this picture I found while browsing entertainment news today at lunch. This fad was so 20 years ago. If you see me rolling up my jeans like that, please someone, just shoot me. I would totally deserve it.

Topsail Island

The Baish's have been going to Topsail Island as long as I can remember and I love being able to share a bit of my childhood with my two children, passing along the tradition of a fun, relaxing, family-oriented beach week. This year it was just the Masseys and Milins, but next year it gets expanded to include many others. I already can't wait for that!

This year at Topsail, we saw dolphins on an almost-daily basis, took Anna into the ocean for the very first time (she loved it until a big wave came or she got too chilly or bored), and Nate became a bonified beach bum. I could picture him 10 years from now being a pro at surfing, he took the water so well. Although his favorite activity was either running along the beach with his big (in terms of age, not size) cousin Emma or playing with his animals in the sand. It seemed like the kids really blossomed when they were with their cousins. Anna often crawled into Emma's lap and played next to Harrison. This week, I felt that she really came into her own. She has started to shake her head "no no" and really begin to communicate non-verbally with us. She understands about 80% of what we tell her... Anna, show your belly. Anna, don't touch that. Anna, get your shoes. Anna, kiss your cousin Harrison are just a few of the things she understands. As for Nate, he loved being around Emma. I don't think that a kid has ever adored or looked up to a big cousin as much as he adores Emma. And he really dug having a little boy following him around. Emma and Harrison are really great kids and so cute to boot!

As for the adults, we had a great time as well. It was really nice just to spend a substantial amount of time with the children and with each other. As everyone can, I'm sure, imagine, we also went through a copious amount of alcohol. Only Meg got really drunk though one afternoon. (Ha ha!)

Enjoy the pictures! I tried not to duplicate the ones on Tom's blog, but I apologize if there are any similarities!


Bouncing the two littlest ones on my knees. They barely fit!

Harrison has got to be one of the cutest kids in the world. Meg, please notice that I strategically removed the spider bite from his forehead. Ah, the powers of computers. Now if only I can figure out a way to make me look 20 pounds lighter....

You try carrying a 60+ pound kid into the surf. Not as easy at it looks.

Mmm... sand, yummy. I heard it aids in the digestive process. Or maybe that's just for birds and small lizards.

Two hands are better than one!

Nate always seemed to have an animal in hand. Amazingly, all those that went to the beach with us also came home with us!

Three little kids on the bench. The littlest one said, move over! And Emma fell off of the bench. (The oldest always goes first....)

A gap-toothed grin.

I really liked this shot of Emma. Such grace! Such style!

Don't be fooled by appearances - Anna only appears to be her big brother. I guess that not only am I an overprotective mother, but also a cheap one!

The wind was blowing hard that day. Look, no hands!

I am just glad that I didn't get stuck at the little kids table!

Harrison's got his own room at the house. Lucky guy. Okay, it was really a closet. In his parent's room. Honestly, Marc and I would have traded a toe for that arrangement! Instead, Anna took up a big corner of our room.

Okay, that's it for me for tonight. There's a whole other "roll" still stuck on Marc's computer that I need to go through, so there may be a part 2 in the upcoming days. Stay tuned!

Topsail Island...coming soon!

I promise I will write a post soon about our tremendously fun vacation with the Massey family! I am just too busy unpacking, doing laundry, etc. from our return to have the time to really pick out some photos to post. In the meantime, check out Tom's blog! It is at http://masseyx4.blogspot.com/ and he's got some photos up. Enjoy!

Ugh.

Worst! Morning! Ever!

I feel beat. Worn down and weary. Last night, I went to bed exhausted around 9:30. I was up at 11:30 with Anna. Then up again at 2:30. Then Nate came crawling in my bed around 5:30 this morning for some reason. So basically I got 3 naps last night. I told Marc this morning that it was no wonder why I am so grumpy these days! I've slept through the night maybe a handful of times in the last year and a half. Having children is great, don't get me wrong, but what I wouldn't do for a full night sleep. We may have to get medieval on Anna. Its crazy that she is 14 months old and still waking up once or twice every night! Is it me? Am I the worst mommy in the world and teaching them bad sleep habits by soothing my children back to sleep? As soon as we back from the beach, no more excuses. I don't care if she has snot running down her cheek from a cold or if new teeth are popping out, she WILL be sleeping through the night before her uncle comes to stay with us while he's in training. That's my gift to you, PT.... a full night sleep without the baby in the next room crying.

Now I am feeling guilty so I will post a picture of two of the most adorable children in the world. Love you to pieces, Nate and Anna! Sorry for complaining so much! I wouldn't change a thing!! (Well, maybe I should have let Anna cry it out months ago, but other than that, nothing!)