1 quarter

25 yrs old

closer to 30 than 20.

Not scary at all, because I have her to do it with:

 

My built-in, forever best friend.  The one person I can talk to about anything. No matter what. Always. Who will always have my back, even when I don’t have my own.

There is nothing like having a twin sister. I can’t explain it. I wish everyone could experience it.

Happy birthday to us, may there be many more quarters (and cookies) to come.

Wordless Wednesday

summer lovin’ had me a blast

Move it Move it

As my most fabulous Aunt Stacey told me, we now have our very own horror story to go along with our closing.  The title company tried to tell me we couldn’t close until Tuesday when all along Friday had been written into our contract. I cried acted like I was smarter than them and clearly, we closed on Friday.

I then had to bitch convince the plumber to be here Monday to hook up our new stove and put in the waterline for our refrigerator because my small child couldn’t go without. 

Next up, painting the kitchen. We forgot to tape the ceiling at first, so that ended with green paint where it doesn’t belong.  Not so terrible.

Saturday, which would have otherwise been a perfectly fine day to move, was already booked up with Grease! and Mike working. So, we got next to nothing done.

Sunday = moving day. A very unorganized orchestration. But, productive. And let me just say, that had we not been moving close by it would have only taken 1/2 a trip to convince me that yes, getting a U-Haul or other large capacity vehicle was the smart choice.  But, we had 1 pickup truck and 2 SUVs. About a million and two trips back and forth. And there is still more stuff to be moved.

But.

We are in.

Boxes are everywhere and the house is in a state of disarray.

But, we are sleeping here. The cable works. The refrigerator and stove work. The neighbors are a bit unique. The living and dining rooms still need painted. And furnished.

It’s all ours to do whatever we want with.

And as hard as I have tried over the past 48 hours to click my heels together 3 times and summon some small elves to unpack and organize, looks like all the elves are busy. Or, my shoes are broken again……

What’s in a name?

When we were picking names for our unborn child it was like torture.

I have all these crazy rules about naming – like the initials can’t spell anything, no alliterative initials (like DD), no silly rhyming etc.

The biggest “rule”, in my mind? NO NICKNAMES.

I am a big fan of proper names – like my name is Andrea, not Andi*.

 

When we choose Gianna I made it known that at no time should anyone call her Gia or GiGi.  GiGi is a name for a poodle and Gia reminds of someone who takes their clothes off for a living.  If, at some point in her life, she decides on her own to use one of these “names”, fine, but she will always be Gianna to me.

 

Then she was born.

And I still call her Gianna.

Except I don’t.

 

I started referring to her by her first initial only when she was really little.  And then, we started calling her “little bug” or “the bug” for no real reason at all except that she was really tiny and liked to sleep no other way except curled up like a little bug.

She is starting to talk and listen to things we say to her.  I noticed the other day that if I called her G, she turned and listened to me. If I called her Gianna, she didn’t. If  I called her bug, she did. 

 

Looks like I need to start using her name more than the nicknames I swore she would never have.

 

*unless of course, you have known me for a LOOOONNG time, or are family, then you are special enough to call me Andi, otherwise, no dice.

Welcome Home!

we are signed. sealed. delivered.

and ready to move!

If you are from ICLW - HAAIII!!

Check out my about me section.

Wordless Wednesday

G shows T her finest moves.

1st generation iPod and other randomness

Moving = Packing.
Packing = Discovery of random things
Discovery of random things = WHY do we have that?!!

Some things that fall under the why do we still have that category:

• 1st generation iPod (that doesn’t work) (would be fun to find out what is on there though!) (that things is HUGE compared to the Nano we have now!!)
• trash. (literally, why was trash hiding in some of the boxes we had in the basement?!)
• A glass platter shaped like a leaf with acorns in the middle.
• Letters from middle school “boyfriend”.
• Cards from random birthdays.
• Broken things. These include: picture frames, binders, flatware and more.
• speakers to a computer we don’t have.
• at least 4 old cell phones.

I have been in weed-out mode so probably a good 30-50% of the stuff we had when we moved in here, is not moving out. Well, it is moving out – to the trash.  I blame the fact that we moved all this dumb shit into this house because I was pregnant and I didn’t want to deal with packing at that time.
This time? Not pregnant and moving a whole new persons ridiculously large amount of belongings too.  G has enough toys for 5 kids and enough clothes for at least 6.  I am not so much into purging her stuff, but she is not immune from me donating a few random onesies, blankets and toys. 
It makes me happy to see those boxes packed and the amount of stuff in the garage to be taken to the curb and donated. 
Also, I wouldn’t doubt that once we unpack all this stuff, more will be tossed. 

Summer Lovin’

A few weeks ago I told you all about how fabulous my posts were going to get, remember?  Next up on my posts of fun – summer time.
Or rather, what to do in the summer with a wild and crazy one year old.
She loves her water table. As much as she can love a big plastic bowl that has yet to be filled with water.

She loves to go for wagon rides, if they are short, because she is a big girl and wants to run walk into the street.
The park is fun. Until she wants to eat the various ground coverings.
I would kill to take her to the beach for a long weekend, but the whole moving/becoming homeowners is putting a damper on that plan (or wish, really).
Some things I actually hope we get to do:

• go to a few of the zoos in our state (we are lucky to have a handful of them very close by)
• swim at my mom’s house (every day)
• visit a children’s museum on a rainy day.
• enjoy playing outside and going for walks

What do you like to do with your little ones?  Especially if you work, what is fun to do after work but before the meltdowns begin (which for us, is a window of about an hour…)
What else is fun to do? What are YOUR plans? Inspire me!

Wordless Wednesday

Tools of the trade.

Ice Cream and Cake and Cake

 

It’s a very special person’s birthday today.

She’s funny.

She has excellent fashion sense (especially when it comes to jewlery)

She is smart.

She is hilarious. 

She is VERY good looking. 

She is inspirational.

She is a wonderful friend.

She is the best baby sitter in the whole wide world.

 

She is a strong women of God.

She is known to say silly things. Ask lots of questions. And break into song for no reason.

She is my baby sister.

Happy birthday baby sister.  Let’s eat some ice cream and cake and cake.

Happy (grand)Mothers Day!

Mother’s day again, so soon!  I can’t believe this is my second one. 

As I was thinking about what kind of mom I have become, I can’t help but think who helped to shape me this way.  And that means thinking about my mom, grandma and all the other motherly figures I have had the blessing to share my life with.

We were watching old videos today of my grandparents and mom.  If I have said this once, I have said it a thousand times, it breaks my heart knowing that my grandma didn’t get to see me as a mother, or even as a young adult.  Watching those videos, put a little tear in my eye, not because she is gone, but because I cannot believe how much my mom emulates her. 

My mom has become the best grandma in the world. Just like her mom was.  I might not like that she sneaks her snacks, juice and chocolate or that she lets her stay up too late.  But there is nothing better than seeing her with Gianna.  She is wonderful. 

Which is no real surprise, because she is a fabulous mother and friend.  Each time I see her (which is a lot!) I see the relationship between them growing.  There is nothing that can replace the bond between a mother and her child, or her grandchildren.

 

There is also a new grandma in my life.  My step-grandma.  She sends me emails all the time from Florida, and this was in the latest one!

Her and grandpa are hilarious. And fabulous with Gianna.  Which is no surprise because they are great with their “real” granddaughters and have taken my sisters and I as their own from day one.  We miss them when they are gone playing with their friends all winter! 

My daughter does not lack wonderful female role models in her life.  These two women are some of the best around and I just hope that I can live up to their standards one day.

When do you have time for THAT, and by THAT I mean S-E-X.

Apparently, once your child turns 1, the most common question to be asked is “so, when are you gonna spit out another one?”* 
Let me ask you this question people, When the hell are we supposed to have sex, or even have a second to think about having sex? 

See exhibit A, also known as incredibly rambunctious small child:
 
I mean, I know that I may be busier than the average bear, but STILL!  I can barely fit dinner into my day, let alone sex.

Also – there is the issues that have surfaced over the actual act itself. 

You see, since the birth of exhibit A, the lady parts are not all they used to be.  I actually think that the doctors possibly swapped out my vagina and replaced it with the Sahara.  Totally ridiculous.   Totally a buzz kill.

We have tried everything to turn the Sahara into the Pacific without success.  Again, totally ridiculous.

Pair the Sahara with the Tired and we have a recipe for something that does NOT equal sex.  Then, when the Tired is paired with the Extreme Stress, just forget it people, there is no hope.  This is not the sexy threesome it appears to be.  Poor husband.  He makes the effort, I fall asleep.  He tries to get me liquored up in an effort to get to the sex help me forget about the Extreme Stress, I fall asleep on the couch at 9:30pm.  

This brings me back to my first question, again, HOW do parents of a one year old have time to even think about adding to the crazy?!!  We want to have more kids, one day, but as the days go on I wonder when that day will be?  Can I really love anyone more than I love this face:
  
And, will my vagina, the Sahara & the Tired ever get their stories straight long enough for it to even be possible to make a college effort at procreation?!!



*I swear to you, I was asked that exact question

Birthday Month

May is the best month of the year.

Because it’s my birthday month! (and my sister’s, renee, danifred, jj and a few other fun people!)
Also because it’s the beginning of warm weather. Sunshine. Almost summer.

I have been pretty blessed when it comes to birthday months, they have pretty much rocked for my whole life. And, since my birthday is at the end of the month I get to celebrate longer!
This year, my birthday month is even better. Because the big thing I told you about here, is happening. It’s the biggest, best birthday present ever.
Approximately 1400 square feet big.

After what felt like forever, we finally found a house.  I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are about this. 
What I am not excited about, is packing.  I hate packing. A lot. There will be many bitch sessions posts regarding this topic, I am sure.

Wordless Wednesday

Which is cuter?

The pigtails or the baby carrying the babies?