Fresh start, please.

In the past week and a half,

• I burned the bejesus out of my finger and got a blister the size of a nickel
• the Christmas cards I ordered and the complimentary reorder arrived with Andrew's face and Sadie's legs half cropped off
• Sadie got some sort of food poisoning and puked her guts out for 5 hours
• I tried to schedule a check-up for Sadie and learned that her beloved pediatrician has left the practice
• I found out that our seat assignments for our holiday travel were apparently a figment of my imagination and that we are going to be charged for checking any bags
  

and last but not least (and probably what's on my mind most at the moment)

• I have had serious communication problems with three separate friends, resulting in lengthy, emotional emails which made me feel like I am in high school again
  

I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but I feel like my stars are misaligned or something. I'm very much looking forward to a fresh start of a new week tomorrow.

First haircut...by Mom and Dad.

Sadie's hair is lovely. It's blonde, soft, and seems to have a little curl coming in at the bottom. But it's getting pretty messy and it's been in her eyes a lot lately.

I have friends whose toddlers' hair goes up in little pigtails, so I tried that.

Kinda cute, but when her hair is this length,
pigtails are a pain for me and for her!

We've been using cute little clips, but she gets obsessed with
taking them off and putting them back on again.

I'm not interested in the whole "surfer baby" or "hippy child" look for her. I'm also not interested in allowing the first haircut to become some sort of traumatic event for her. So, instead of making a huge production out of it, I decided to buy some shears, watch a couple of YouTube videos about toddler haircuts, and just go for it. I figured that it's like most other things we've learned with Sadie's life adventure so far:
the sooner she is exposed to something
and with the least amount of fanfare, the more readily she accepts it.
No fuss, no muss. Right?
Well, almost.

(Before)
Here are the action shots:

She actually did get a little bit weepy, which surprised both of us.

Nothing a good snuggle couldn't fix, though.

(yes, we both agree that she looks like a boy in this shot - bad angle)

I was grateful for Andrew's assistance - I think mostly because
if it turned out horribly, I wouldn't be the only one to blame!
We think it looks okay.
But I think I need to work on my technique before next time.

Christmas card photo rejects

I attempted a photo shoot with Sadie after her nap yesteray. These are just a few of the dozens of shots that won't make the cut for the Christmas card this year...

ooh, new shoes!

Hey, I can't get to my belly button in this outfit.

I'm not sitting around for this!

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.

.

uuuuuuhhh....

Are we done yet?!

Give it up, mom.

(I did.)
We'll try again very soon. Dad promised he'd do a family shoot, so stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year and every single day. I know there are people all around us who are struggling with one thing or another, so I'm even more conscious of the fact that right now we are nothing but blessed. I am so very thankful to have a happy, healthy family.


And we're both thankful for a kid who enthusiastically eats anything and everything we present to her!

(of course it helps that Grandma is a phenomenal cook!)

My blogging inferiority complex

I am finally ready to admit one of the big reasons that I don't write in my blog frequently. I have an inferiority complex! I have a handful of friends and acquaintances who have blogs and they write really, really well. Not just cutesy, funny, anecdotal stuff here and there (although there's plenty of that) but great, profound, really lovely things. All of the time. It's times like this that I wish my competitive streak/jealousy tendencies would die!
Every time I start to compose a blog entry in my head, I'm rarely satisfied enough to follow through. I literally will get hung up on my opening and closing sentences, my overall approach, my waning vocabulary, etc. I struggle immensely with whether what I have to say is even remotely interesting, let alone relevant or thought provoking!
Back to my complex - my blogging friends write beautifully! Some are downright poetic and truly moving. I also worry that I'll inadvertently plagiarize one of them somehow. A few of them are fellow new moms who are experiencing some of the same things I am (or will) and I just think they are somehow always going to say it better/more cleverly/more eloquently than I ever could.
*sigh*
Get over it, Janine. Right? I know that's what I should say to myself. And I know that writing is like most other things; the more you do it, the better you'll become at it. I have always been this way with writing, though. I remember sitting up late into the night over English homework in high school, too stressed out to even begin writing a paper because I couldn't come up with a stellar first sentence. I would labor so much over just putting pen to paper to get started.
The reason I started this blog in the first place was to document this transition into my life as a parent and to have something permanent for Sadie (and future sibling/s?) as a record of this incredible journey of parenthood. But as I read other people's blogs - even the other "parenting" ones - I'm struck that it can be so much more than that. I know enough not to air my dirty laundry here, but I do see it as a huge outlet for musings on all sorts of things; not just "a day in the life" type of stuff.
For example, I read a ton of really great posts surrounding the recent election, and I feel that I should have put more of my thoughts down about it. I'm certain someday I'll wonder what I was doing/thinking/experiencing during this historic time, and I don't have much. I actually feel guilty about that! Crazy.
Anyway, let me just stop this whining right now with a shout out to K-Lo, Crystal, B.c., Gillian, Nicole, and Melissa for your wonderful blogs (as well as countless others belonging to complete strangers that I've stumbled upon). I'm inspired and blessed to read your words. Thanks for sharing and for providing the impetus for me to get a little more serious about this.

Past and Present

First of all, a belated Happy 90th Birthday to my Grandmother, Harriette. You are such a positive spirit and a treasure to all who know you. It was our honor to celebrate with you.




Secondly, happy 40th anniversary to my parents. My siblings and I pulled off an excellent surprise party complete with out-of-town guests, similar floral arrangements, pictures, etc.



Four of their wedding party members were in attendance; two of whom flew in from out of town. (the women, of course!) So Margaret Ann and Suzy - thank you! Your being there made it so very special. I was particularly pleased to see the pictures of spin-the-bottle from 5th grade. Priceless.


I did some research about 1968 in order to have some talking points during the party, as well as to throw in a little bit of trivia during my toast. When I pulled up a list of events from 1968, I was appalled - partially at my ignorance of some of it but mostly by the sheer number of awful things that were going on that year. I got most of my information from one of my favorite websites, Wikipedia. I came away from it with two main focuses. First, I'm so glad that something happy did happen in 1968: my parents got engaged and married. Secondly, the current Gay Rights/Marriage Equality issue is the Civil Rights movement of our generation, and I need to get involved. But I'll save that for another post.

Election Day 2008

I voted.
I voted for Barack Obama.
I voted because I believe we need change.
I voted because I know that there are people who desperately want to but can't.
I voted because I know that there are people who think it wouldn't matter if they do or not.
I voted because I want America to pull together and get back on the road of progress.
I voted because I want to see strides being made for peace, equality and social justice.
I voted because I want good health care and great education for my daughter.
I voted because I believe I need to protect my reproductive rights.
I voted because I want separation of Church and State.
I voted because I know that it matters.
I voted for Barack Obama.
I voted.