Poor Baby!

It is really horrible to watch your child suffer. I cannot imagine having a child with a serious illness. It must be the worst. HaHa spent the entire day in Daddy's arms, and now she is in mine. She cries at every move and touch, and she has had a fever since Friday.

Richard is taking her to the doctor's tomorrow. Mostly because she is just not herself.  I am hoping her fever breaks tonight, but I don't think that's likely.

I took the boys to a birthday and commiserated with some moms about the challenge of raising two boys close in age. Apparently, I'm not alone.

On the way home the boys and I made up songs and had a good time. They beat boxed and I sang.





Outfit:

Shirt:Forever 21.

Sweater: Friend hand-me-down. Alfani.

Pants: Cousin hand-me-down. Gap.

Leather jacket: Friend hand-me-down. Aldo.

Boots: Dansko.

Change is Change!

Seeing that the new format of my ten-year-old Hotmail account is driving me batty, I realize that I am a gal that cannot stand change. At least certain kings of change. And now that I've just written that sentence, I am trying to figure out how I can explain the kinds of change I abhor. Visual change, perhaps. No, that's not quite it...

I hate it when something that works perfectly fine is swapped for something new, even if that new thing is "better". I dislike it when someone renovates my nearly one hundred year old kitchen and replaces the fully functional and lovely cabinets and counters with modern ones. I hate hair cuts most of the time... In thinking about it, I can say that it isn't life change that gets me down, it's more like aesthetic change. Like my husband cutting off his dreadlocks a week after our second child was born. Or Charlie getting his first haircut in a barber shop. I nearly cried. Seeing his youthful mass of hair fall to the floor made me mournful. And nostalgic. Maybe that's it. Maybe I hate changes that lead to nostalgia. That kind of sums it up, but not exactly.
Today I am hating the cameras I am having to use since my usual one is having problems. All of my pictures came out unfocused, so I resorted to using the broken one... Not a high point in my blogging career. I guess it's fitting, because my outfit was no prize either. I actually thought we might be going out tonight, so my plan was to throw a skirt and belt into the mix. However, Richard told me to "save" that incarnation of the outfit, as we were staying home. Too much work this week!

Outfit:

Under Sweater: I got this in NYC years ago at this really cool store that had all knit wear.

Over sweater: Same as last two days! Hand me down, Alfani.

Leggings: I have no idea how these came into my possession, but I've had them forever. I would never wear them out in the world without more coverage.

No shoes today! Yay!

HaHa bear in Da-Da's arms. You can see the wacky shadows on the photo from the broken shutter on the camera.

Maliboo-boo!

I won't go into all the details of the day because it is 1:37 a.m., and I am tired. We got back from Malibu at 10:48, and after I got all the kids ready for bed, I fell asleep with HaHa on Charlie's bed. I just woke up a while ago and had to figure out how to import pictures with the camera I used today. My regular camera is not working, so I've been using different cameras for the past few days. It has made the process more arduous, and very frustrating. I had my little photo sessions down pat!

Anyway, as per usual we had a great time in Malibu. There were dogs and food and friends and good times. Everything was going great until Char-Char said "I hurt my knee". It turns out he cut himself with glass. The cut was not too deep, but it was in a bad place, and at first it didn't seem like the bleeding was stopping. I drove to the store because we didn't have proper bandages. I realized that we have two first aid kits at home and none in our green car. We won't be having this problem again. Will update about C-Dawg's boo-boo status tomorrow!




Outfit:


Charlie took my outfit pics today! Thanks Charlie! 
 

Top: This is the top half of a bathing suit I've had forever. I thought we would be on the beach today, but when we got to Malibu it was chilly! We played at the playground instead.

Skirt: My old high school stand-by purchased at Salvation Army.

Shoes: zoe & zac.

Sweater: Hand me down. Alfani.

The Jonathan Club!

Today, Richard's company hosted a beach day at The Jonathan Club, which proved to be quite lovely. I hadn't really wanted to go, because I hate to schmooze, but I ended up talking to people I wanted to, and it was great! There was yummy food, a water slide for the kids, and cocktails! Drinking on the beach in the afternoon! How decadent! (My exclamation point addiction is rearing it's ugly head!)

My poor husband has been working non-stop for the past few weeks. We actually have not seen each other since I left for Comic-Con. Today was the first time we have spent time with each other in two weeks. Literally. We've talked on the phone a lot.

Last night, he said he would be home at midnight, and, at four a.m, I was startled from my sleep by the cries of "Mama, mama!" I sat up and realized that Richard's side of the bed was empty. I rushed to get HaHa, and then I immediately called Richard. He was still at work. Four a.m. and change. I was relieved he was alive.

Now, another interesting that happened at this four a.m. wake up call was that upon entry to the kid's room, I found HaHa was not in her crib. This was my second shock of the early morn. No Richard. No HaHa. My little not-yet-two-year-old was walking up the stairs. In the dark. That means she climbed down the stairs in the dark. Yikes!

At first I thought that perhaps one of the boys lifted her out of her crib, but seeing that they were asleep, I quickly had to realize that my HaHa bear can climb out of her crib. Richard told me last week that she was out of her crib, but again, I thought it was the boys. They have gotten her out of her crib a few times before when she was crying. I guess that was wishful thinking.

Today, I asked my Ha if she would show me how she got out of her crib. After a little nudging, she agreed. Richard and I put her in her crib an we video taped her escape. Three times she made her exit with perfect execution. Richard is going to try to embed the footage here. We'll see if it works!

Below a shot of the progeny in action!

Outfit:

Shirt: This was a gift from my first grade class. One of the mothers, a gifted artist, had the children draw leaves, which she turned in to stencils, and painted on the shirt. American Apparel.

Dress: I got this at a street fair in New York over 15 years ago. The label is long gone. Seen in: Happy Anniversary!

Slip: I got this at a thrift store a long time ago.

Shoes:Prediction.

Sweater: Hand me down from friend. Alfani. There is still a lot of chill in the air!

By the way, it is 2:30 a.m. right now and Richard is still working! I fell asleep earlier, so I am posting while he works!

The Bu!

After a birthday party Leo had to attend, I drove the boys out to Malibu. Their godfather Brady was visiting, so we couldn't miss out on the chance to see him! As far as birthday parties go, to me, this was one of the best. First, because the family asked for no gifts, only donations to Haiti (or any other charity you wanted to support). And second, because they did not give party favors. I really hate party favors. I dislike them because most of the time they are plastic crap that fall apart that the boys don't need. Or it's candy, which the boys also don't need. The other thing I don't like about party favors is that my children now expect them and ask at the end of every party, "May I please have a goody bag?" I've always felt it weird that you expect a present when it's not your party. Can't the birthday boy or girl have their special day? Does everyone have to get something? I hate it. I also hate the toys that they get at the dentist, the doctor, or the restaurant. Why does there have to be a reward? Why can't the experience be the reward?

On the beach, we had a fabulous time and it ended with Charlie getting hit in the head by a flying  surfboard! Apparently, it had not been properly secured. It knocked Charlie down. Too bad I didn't get it on film because Charlie keeps saying he wants to be on YouTube. I'm sure that would have gotten a lot of views! When we got home and Charlie washed his hair, we realized he has a HUGE bump on his head!
Poor Charlie. Thank goodness it didn't hit him in the eye or mouth!


Outfit:

Even though we were beach bound, it is still a little chilly. Sundays are very hard for me to get dressed. It is the day of rest!

Shirt: Forever 21. This was a pregnancy purchase because it is very stretchy.

Sweater: Clothing swap. Alfani. 

Pants: Old Navy. These are my too big kick-around pants.

Shoes: Fit Flops.


Hat: This was knit by the boys' other godfather Josh! He is multi-talented! It is so lovely!

This is Leo sabotaging my photo!

Surprise!

So, if you can believe it, the secret location we were going to was the Moonlight Rollerway for a surprise party (which is why I was vague). That's rollerskating at the Moonlight two Sundays in a row! Boo-yah! I rock!... and I roll. Just kidding. I go where the love is, and last night we were celebrating the very amazing, intelligent, kind and super-awesome  Jill. She is the bomb-diggety-yo!

On the way to the surprise my stress hormone levels rose 3,000 percent because we left at 4:00, as per Richard's decree, and we were supposed to be there between 4:20 and 4:40. Of course there was traffic, and as the GPS destination time kept increasing, so did my stress.  All I could think of was the possibility that we might somehow ruin the surprise. I mean, we are a pack of people. We can't sneak in anywhere. We are loud, we are big, and one of us is usually crying...

We arrived exactly at 4:40, and there was a line going in. I also saw several other people parking as I parked, so I calmed down. They let us know when Jill and Brian were arriving and when they walked in we yelled "Surprise!" Jill looked amazed and she was definitely surprised.  I am always amazed how the adrenaline flows at that exclamation. My heart beat faster and a euphoria swept over me. I was so happy. That was followed by the elation of skating which was squelched by the horror of watching my almost 5 year old plow through a crowd of skaters with no concept of personal space or speed limit. Ah, the joys of boys! Here Charlie tries to navigate the tricky world of multiple hat wearing:

Today I am working with the 7th graders again. I'm hoping they're happy to see me. They might not be because I did not let them do whatever they wanted last week.

Outfit:

Print tunic: I got this at Goodwill. I wore it in over pants on January 13th. I believe it is handmade. I adore the print!

Sweater: This is another clothing swap score. It is part of a sweater set by Alfani.

Skirt: This is my Walmart score I purchased while visiting my mother in Hanson, MA. It was on sale for 5 bucks and I was working admissions at the time I bought it.  I've said before that Walmart is one of the only stores adjacent to her town. The skirt actually has little flecks of color, but it's hard to see with my photo taking.

Shoes: American Eagle. Had mad photo/camera issues today... C'est la vie!