The Accidental Perfect Photo

Sometimes you go to take a picture of your child and they move, the angle wasn't right, the sun was in the way, you forgot to move your fat ass fingers out of the way of the lens, whatever, something happens and it's not the picture you wanted.  Sometimes it's a photo of the ground or an unflattering look at your double chin...

But sometimes, it's perfect.  It's not the picture you were going for, but it's great anyway...You catch them at a moment that makes you look at them and then back at the world with a new attitude for the day...

It doesn't matter that they told you 8 times that morning to "leave me 'lone" or that the stomped their feet like a whole herd of rhinos when you told them they couldn't wear their blue and red Spiderman shorts with their green Polo shirt or that they asked you eleven billion times to "turn something on for me" while they ate their breakfast when all you were trying to do was grab yourself some yogurt...

The Accidental Perfect Photo 9/23/2013

Update on "See My Bed"

We're kinda making progress with Boog sleeping in his own bed...

Night 2 he fell asleep on his own in his bed...but he woke up in the middle of the night and ended up in our bed...

Night 3 he fell asleep in the car and was then deposited into his own bed...but he woke up twice and climbed into our bed...The first time I put him back in his once I woke up to pee...The second time I just rolled him over into the middle lol...We woke up in the morning and I asked him what he was doing in my bed "Nothing" (sounds like nusing lol), asked him why he wasn't in his bed and he said the same thing...

Last night he got right into his bed but it was kinda early for us and he didn't want to go to sleep...he was fussy, I was tired, his dad was cranky and Boog just wouldn't stop whining, so I told him to come on...Once he fell asleep I got up to use the bathroom and put him in his bed...he woke up and climbed in the middle probably three times, each time I put him back in his bed. This morning he woke up before I needed to be up and got into the bed and asked for Barney...I told him if he got back in his bed, I would turn Barney on for him...he didn't want to, but finally did...and that's where he stayed until my alarm went off...

This is him laying in his bed last night...He made me cover him up with both of his blankets...and again this morning when he was watching Barney..."Cover me Mommy"

We'll see what tonight brings...

"See my bed"

Boog has always slept in the bed with me...He has a crib that we pretty much never used...Part of the reason for that is anytime someone other than me and the Boy takes it apart, they break a piece of it...same piece...expensive piece apparently...

So we've started getting his room in some semblance of usability and order...Part of that is trying to get him excited about his room and his bed...Which has been kind of working...He keeps wanting to show people his bed "Go downstairs see my bed" - downstairs really being upstairs lol...

The night before last, he said he was going to sleep in his bed...he didn't lol...we went in there and he laid down with the light off for a few minutes and then told me he wanted to go to my bed...

Last night we brought his mattress into our room on the floor...start out slowly and gradually move him into his own bed in his room...he was tired and trying to go to sleep, but it just wasn't working for him...the Boy laid down next to him on his mattress and he was out in literally two minutes or less...he woke up sometime in the night and climbed up with me...but i think that was more about being cold than anything else...his blanket he was using is small, long but not wide, so when he moved too much, he couldn't easily get covered back up...tonight, we try a bigger blanket and see how it goes...

This morning when he saw my sister Skippy, he tried to take her back upstairs to "see my bed" that was on our floor lol...

Remember, it's .gov and not .com...

So living near DC, I did something today that I'm not sure how I feel about it...

Nothing bad...but not something I thought I'd really care about doing...

I signed up for the lottery for the Easter Egg Roll at the Whitehouse...I feel like such a dork...

I'm not sure how Boog will feel about it if (big giant, major IF) we actually go...Pretty sure he'll be scared and freaked out...Who knows if he'll even unglue himself from me and the Boy...let's think about this from his perspective...it's a big ass crowd of people he's never met, at a place he's never been...and to top it all off there's a GIANT KRIGGER walking around...

Pretty sure it's not something I'll have to deal with, but it's fun to imagine...

LOVED IT!

www.scarymommy.com/a-real-mom/

One of the best ones yet...

Best part of the whole thing...

"Bottom line. What works for some moms, doesn’t work for others. We each have our own strengths, weaknesses, abilities and styles. I like to work, and we need my income. He has a great day, surrounded by loving caretakers who are excited to see him every day. I do the best that I can to spend quality time with him, we have our little special routines, and he woke up this morning calling out “Mama!! Mama!!”. So I guess I’m a Real Mom after all. {sound effect: sigh of relief.}"

When your bridge starts to crumble

So my post the other day was called Building Bridges...But what happens when the bridge starts to crumble?

I want my mom and Boog to get to know each other, spend time together, have a relationship...But I don't like being around her when she's been drinking, and I don't want him around either...

What do you do when you tell your two year old that you're going to Gammaw's house and you can tell he's excited...then you get there and she's been drinking...Do you just put on your big girl britches and deal with it so he can have a good time? Do you just make sure to cut out early before things go south? Or do you just say fuck it and leave as soon as you get there?

Keep in mind that this visit had been planned, only for 24 hours, but planned none the less...

I went with option B, cutting out early before things go south...and it seemed to work...I was getting irritated with her, but Boog was having a good time for the most part...

How do I bring this up to her without her freaking out and cutting off all contact with us/him again? Like I said before (http://lifehereonout.blogspot.com/2011/11/dear-abby.html), she didn't see him for a good bit of months, and the time she saw him that I mentioned that happened in July, was only for about 5 minutes out front of her house...

Anyway, thanks for reading...Open for ideas...

Color Me Surprised

I was a little unsure if Boog was going to eat the dinner I made the other night...I knew he'd eat the corn, and I was pretty sure he'd eat the garlic butter rice...But the chicken had me thinking I'd be popping some nuggets in the microwave for him...

I took two chicken breasts and soaked them in Italian dressing all day, then cooked them in the oven with the dressing they'd been soaking in...Something simple and thrown together at the last minute that morning before we left for work...

I made Boog's plate with rice, corn and cut up chicken, grabbed a spoon for him and his juice...He and I sat down to eat, and the first thing he grabbed was a piece of chicken...I asked if he had chicken and he announced that he had "Yummy Chicken!"

I was right about the rice though, he wasn't thrilled with it...he ate all his corn and then started in on mine lol...I had to break out the ketchup to get him to eat the last few pieces of his chicken, but he ate a good dinner for me.