I'm right here. See?



Today my oldest, dearest, bestest friend SBD reminded me that I made a promise to update this here blog more frequently. Whoops. Perhaps it is because I am super busy being a mom and a step-in mom (aka nanny) that I've betrayed this promise, but no.. there are plenty of super mommy bloggers out there. Or maybe it's because there's no real direct focus to what I'm blogging about, I really don't know. But I'm going to work on it. I promise.

While I try to think of ways I can improve this blog (aside from updating more often than once or twice every 6 months), I'll fill you in on the goings on in Olive's life.. since I know that's all you all really care about annnnyway!

She is (very almost) 9 months old. Yeah, don't ask me where the time went.. I'll probably start crying.
She's crawling around, climbing up stairs (time to babyproof!), pulling herself up on anything and anyone and "cruising". Cruising is when they walk (WALK!) while holding onto a piece of furniture. These are all activities she picked up at some point in the last month, so yeah.. it's been an anxiety-filled one, and one with lots of bumps to the head.

Other than that, we're exploring the possibility of adopting a Canine friend. More on that later.

Andddddd that's about it! I promise (there's that word again, pretty sure it's lost all significant meaning by now) that I'll update again sometime this week with more pictures.

Until then.

lolly

I won't deny that there's bias involved here, but I honestly see such brilliance in my daughter already. Even just typing "my daughter" makes my heart swell with pride. 

Here's a picture of Olive in her (they don't make these things in any other shade than "ugly") Exersaucer. At 6.5 months she spins around, pausing between each toy, to study it and how it works. After she figures it out, she looks up with ^^this^^ expression on her face to make sure Eric and/or I have taken notice of her accomplishment. Could I be more in love (à la Chandler's voice, but of course)? No, I really couldn't.

I have a feeling she'll be crawling any day now, which at the same time thrills and scares me to my very core. How is it possible that I had her JUST six months ago? It seriously blows my mind to think that a moment between my husband and I resulted in the most wonderful child to have ever been created (not biased there, that's actually a well-documented fact). She babbles new made-up baby words every day, but upon discovering the new sounds she can make, she recites them over and over again with different tone and emphasis. 

An example: "Bwah. Bwah! Bwahhh?? BwahBwahBwahBwahhhhh.." 

(I'm not lying.)

I can't deny that there is a sadness that goes along with seeing my Lolly girl grow up that counteracts the excitement of watching her learning new things. That whole "being-grateful-for-each-second-you're-living-because-it-goes-by-reallyreallyreally-fast" thing.. I guess it's just one of life's lessons that you don't learn until you're actually living it. So I'll just keep on living loving my life, every single second of it. 

/sap

Well, well, well

Look who's back.

After fleeing the evil clutches of the monster named Facebook, I promised I would start keeping track of my life here. I guess when your only means of communication with some (read: most) people is through a social networking site, it might feel somewhat like a death (in a very small, small way) after one closes their account. Or maybe not.

A short recap of the past six months or so:

On January 2nd at 11:51 am, Olive Nóirín Lee made her arrival and my life has been immeasurably better ever since. She brings me such joy, which I cannot say I've ever truly felt before the moment she came into my life.

Underneath that mask of exhaustion, I was in awe.

Soo tiny!!

A few months later, Eric and I relocated to the Manayunk section of Philadelphia. Sure it's chock-full of twenty-somethings who are desperately hanging onto their college days by a thread, BUT we're in a house instead of an apartment and on a quiet little street instead of across from a fire station on one of the city's busiest avenues. It's less smelly and much safer, with lovely Main Street just a few blocks down. So we're sold, for now.

Home Sweet (blue) Home

Other than that, we're really just enjoying our lives together. I've continued to work as a nanny during the week, which allows me to bring Olive with me. Something I couldn't be more grateful for. To top it off, Olive has playmates! 

I hope to start using this blog, not just as a means of communication, but as an opportunity to reflect on just how wonderful my life is turning out to be (I'm sorry, I really tried to word that as un-lamely as possible). That is, if I can remember to post more often than once every eight months. Keep those fingers crossed for me!

peekaboo bunny

my husband's 29th birthday present.

funniest, funniest bunny.

Oh Lovely

3 more months. 

Mommy can't wait to meet you, my little pea. ♥

Mohonk

I want to go back to you.

the morning benders

I really like this band a lot.. or at least I really like this song and the way it is sung.

I really like that voices like this still exist.

This is our daughter, Olive (middle name TBD) Lee. I guess I knew it was possible to feel this much love for someone you haven't met yet, but I could never have imagined this feeling. It's almost as if there should be a different word for it other than "love". You "love" a lot of things on a lot of different levels, but this goes far beyond that. It's unreal.. and I still have 4 more months to wait before I get to meet her. :(


A lightbulb went off in my head today. An enormous, dazzling, blinding lightbulb. I can't say much about it yet because there's not much yet to say. I know the basics, but the kinks.. they'll work themselves out along the way (they always do). But I'm verrrrrry excited about it!

ch-ch-ch-changes

Many things have happened since I last wrote. I moved into a lovely home (pictures to follow) with my wonderfully amazing HUSBAND. Yes, we got married in Eric's Mom's backyard in a lovely early-summer ceremony complete with our closest family members and a judge (whose 26th wedding anniversary happened to be on our wedding day which took place on the 26th of May. Coincidence? Fate? We may never know). 

Well just as we were getting settled into our little love-nest, another little surprise landed on our doorstep. I'm growing a little baby inside of me! So many changes in store for us, we'll be moving again into more spacious accommodations and I'm very much looking forward to "nesting". 

So here are the past 6 months in photos!

yule

        

        

        

        

i've been working

all 3 are ink on cardstock (on cardstock, on cardstock.. it's a bit of a process)

otis

If I was the sun, way up there
I'd go with love most everywhere
I'll be the moon when the sun goes down
Just to let you know that I'm still around


That's how strong my love is..


I'll be the weeping willow drowning in my tears
You can go swimming when you are here
I'll be the rainbow after the tears are gone
Wrap you in my colors and keep you warm


That's how strong my love is..


I'll be the ocean so deep and wide
I'll get out the tears whenever you cry
I'll be the breeze after the storm is gone
To dry your eyes and love you warm

That's how strong my love is.

millie does it okay too.

rosy, cozy, home

so in a few short weeks i shall have a new home for myself which excites me to no end. empty houses are basically blank canvases (for the most part, we will be renting). so i keep a rather extensive collection of home photos that inspire me bookmarked so that when the time comes, i will explode into a mad woman, adorning every nook and cranny with beautiful, ornate objects. i will, i will!


this is a holiday-editioned smorgasbord of house pictures (alright, i'm taking a break from my "funk") and yes, most of these are of dining spaces.. but there's so much you can do with a good eat-in room! tables and chairs and centerpieces and place settings and lighting and well, you get the idea. 

**i acquired 90% or more of these pictures from livingetc. 

cruel yule

In my wonderful city of Philadelphia, we had our first taste of the white, cold stuff this past weekend. Only a dusting, but with bitter temperatures (it seems to get colder every year, but I think I just forget what "real" cold feels like in the 6 or so months of warmth we get) it felt like we should have gotten much more. Somehow (and I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way) when it snows, the cold seems so much more tolerable. Well now it seems that while nearly everyone else in the country has gotten a wonderful winter wonderland of snow, all we got was some stinkin' rain. AND A LOT OF IT AT THAT. Seriously, flooding. Everywhere.
In my five years of being a licensed driver, I've never spent a whole day and night without my car (and I've only had old beat-up cars). It figures that when I finally get a new-new car (okay, it's 2 years old but that is as good as new to me), it gets broken and has to spend the night at the dealership for repairs. I MISS YOU CAR. 
As much as I cherish the Christmas season, being broke really dampens the whole spirit of it all. With moving, tuition deposits, and gift-shopping to empty my bank account, my level of yuletide gusto is at an all-time low. Not even Brenda Lee can pull me out of this funk.  Don't get me wrong, I'm no Scrooge but I could certainly use a Christmas miracle (of cash).
This is my last full week working with my "family".  It will definitely be a difficult one, for sure. As much as I am looking forward to going back to school and starting a new chapter of my life, I will miss my kids more than anything. Wah.
And on that note, a happy Christmas to all, and to all a good afternoon.

a brief introductory

this "blogging" experience is one a lot different than that of the livejournal variety.. and i haven't eeeeven really started yet. in fact, i'm not even completely sure where i should start. hopefully, once i get back into the swing of journal-keeping things, my entries will have a little more focus and direction rather than my garbled rambling just to take up space.
it's officially the final month of 2009 and i must say, what a bang-up year it has been. the past 11 months have been shared with the most incredible man i've ever had the privilege of knowing, let alone spending my days and nights with. in january, we'll be moving into our first home together and i really cannot put into words how excited i am to be doing that. yet, it's not moving in to a place with my boyfriend that thrills me. it's moving forward with him and knowing that this is the person that i'm going to spend the rest of my life with.
also in januaryyyy: I'M GOING BACK TO SCHOOOOOL!
yes, yes. again. you see, i think this time i've actually finally figured out what i really want to do and now i'm going to do it. simple as that. just watch.
with my return to school, i'll be leaving the children that i've been taking care of for the past three years. this breaks my heart since i've virtually known them since they were babies and it will be so sad to say goodbye to them.
and so that's pretty much it. 

foremost

this is my first post.

hi.