Birthday Invite :-)

The party is next weekend, then we leave! So excited!

This is going to be one of the craziest weeks EVER. We can't decide if this is crazier than last year when I gave birth, DH started teaching, and had to play a festival in Bristol the same week.

Today I must :

1. Call our lawyer to get a rider written for the lease
2. Go to lease signing with new (hopefully) tenants
3. Call freezer repair to come AGAIN because it still isn't working
4. Book a strorage space in TN
5. Bring more things to Goodwill
6. Pay bills
7. Pack
8. Do laundry
9. Work
10. Oh yeah, take care of my now-running child

Well, better get to it.

I think I am falling apart..

Just a little bit. And not in a dangerous mental breakdown kind of way, just in a "wow, I haven't looked in the mirror in months" kind of way.

It kind of clicked the other day when my best friend was telling me how she admires what a great mother I am, and how "selfless" raising a child is. As she sat there in her cute new dress with her recently cut hair, perfectly manicured nails and tales of this and that dance party/fabulous event I realized that I, #1. Haven't been dancing in years (not counting baby music class), and #2. basically look like crap, and this was her subtle way of telling me.
p.s. this is the same bff who stopped me from wearing a frumpy empire waist dress to my wedding because "she would look hotter than me on my wedding day" and coaxed me into a fabulous mermaid silhouette dream gown (which thank God I wore because I will never have that body again).

Then I read this post over at the818.com where the blogger actually passed out from dehydration - nursing, sweating, running around. Crap, this could be me. My spare moments when Smoosh is asleep are spent working or researching toys and birthday party themes. I haven't had my hair cut in a year and the spit ends are reaching 3 and 4 prongs. My nails.. I can't even talk about. I am gaining weight again and love handles are spilling over the tops of my jean shorts. :( And now, with the lovely AF coming back, I have having those little neck break out bumps again.

DH tells me every day that I look gorgeous, but I know the stress of the move is getting to us, and I am looking a little worse-for-wear. But what to do? No extra time, no extra money right now. I think I will initiate a simple plan. Here are my new rules:

1. Stretch every morning first thing. This makes me more aware of my body and what I put in it and decreases stress.
2. Make a natural scrub with some sea salt and olive oil and give myself 5 minutes at the end of my shower to exfoliate.
3. Take the bag of clothes I don't want to the exchange shop and get one new outfit for myself with the money.
4. Have DH give me a little trim, for now.
5. Drink MORE water!!

Namaste ;)

Walking!

Mr. Man is walking full speed ahead all of a sudden - crazyness! You know, it just almost doesn't look possible, walking on those fat little feet. Kind of like a worm walking upright.. Know what I mean?
There is the LOUDEST freaking jackhammering going on outside right now, just in time for Smooshie's nap. I am SO ready to get out of here.
We did have a nice night out with friends last night though. Austrian beer hall then Brazilian bar with watermelon vodka! Won't be getting much of that down in Tennessee.

I have been looking for the perfect birthday gift to have delivered to the Tennessee house. Most of the suggestions on websites seem a little bit off. An exersaucer for a 1 year old? Yeah right, we got rid of that months and months ago. I was thinking the Plan Toys drum set, but now I am thinking bigger. What he REALLY loves to do is go through daddy's desk, open and close things, ound on things, and make a big mess. What about a work bench?



This one is Melissa and Doug and gets great reviews on Amazon.

Party Planning!!

It looks like we are already going to be in Tennessee for Smooshie's birthday, but we are going to have a party here right before we leave. And since I have nothing else to do (haha like pack up the house, get it rented, care for the child, oh and work) I now get to obsessively plan the first birthday party I have been dreaming of!
The in laws have moved into a fancy new building in the neighborhood and they were able to reserve the rec room for the party which is AWESOME. At first I was worried it was going to be ugly and tacky, but it is actually done quite well - modern in muted colors. It has a big kitchen, bar stools, big grey wrap around sofa, low table for the cake, a cool pool table (grey and wood!) 2 big flatscreens (And yes, even though it is kind of obnoxious, I think I am going to have to do the photo slide show of Smooshie's first year on those), an i pod dock with surround sound. It also opens up onto a huge roof deck with a grill and cool furniture. It is also pretty much totally baby-proofed which is awesome.
Still, it needs a lot of work to give it the country - vibe I am going for. Luckily, I still have the gorgeous flags my mom made for my baby shower which will look great. Then, I think I will try the tissue paper puffs in white and blue. There is one ugly painting I will need to cover with some kind of banner.
This might sound a little crazy, but I am SO happy that all the parties that have to be thrown for me are over I can finally execute the control I like! Haha. Seriously though, it has been the wedding, the bridal shower, bachelorette party, baby shower. All paid for by someone else (for the most part) and considered in bad taste for the guest of honor to say too much. NOW, I finally have ALL the control mwah hahahaha!! :-)

SO, I love this bandana idea. I am going to look for bandana paper for hats I think.

Some kind of banner would be good..

And the famous puffs see to give good bang-for-your-buck!


There is also a wonderful organic cake baker in the hood who we can order from. Now these are the things I will miss when we leave NY.

First Steps...

Smooshie took his first steps yesterday, and we are taking our first steps in leaving New York. This photo taken this morning sums up how I feel about the daunting task of packing up our life. Overwhelmed.



As for Smooshie's first steps, he was standing by the lamp, holding on. Then he let go of the lamp and was just standing there for quite awhile... then, two little steps over to the sofa! So cute and I am so glad DH and I were there to see it. I don't think he is super interested in taking off into full time walking quite yet, but he is close. :-)

We decided on a Sept. 1st move date so we are selling furniture we don't care about and renting a trailer to bring the rest to store in Tennessee. We somehow have to simultaneously pack up everything, and get the place looking good enough to show renters. I would look better to show empty and with a new coat of paint, but I don't see how that is possible since we can't keep everything in a trailer out on the streets of Brooklyn for 2 weeks! I am really looking forward to taking this as an opportunity to rid myself of excess baggage - clothes, books, trinkets and other things I have dragging around for years and years. I am trying to be Zen, but I guess I am a bit of a hoarder deep down. I have a serious case of "I may need this some day for a shoot!" and I always have.

10 months!

Mr.Smoosh is 10 months! He celebrated by standing up from sitting without holding on to anything, and stayed standing for about 20 seconds. Of course, when I started freaking out and yaying and clapping he quickly sat back down and crawled away. ;-)
I must say, I am looking forward to him learning to walk, so I can hold his little hand and walk up the 5 flights of stairs together. It is HOT and he is HEAVY!
We saw the DR on Friday and M is holding strong on size - 75th % for weight (23lbs) and 95th % for height. Unfortunately DH had to take him in because he woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible cough. Turns out it is the croup, yuck. :-( He got some medicine and is feeling OK but it is so sad!
We have a lot going on right now and we are making some really big decisions.
Namely, we may actually be leaving NYC. I know I love to complain, but I will really miss our friends and my wonderful play group which has become almost my entire social life and kept me sane. I will miss the precious babies I have known since birth who are now Mason's best friends.
However, this life is ceasing to make sense. We pay a crazy mortgage and live in the most expensive city in the country and why? So DH can play music and adjunct teach for peanuts while he tries to finish his dissertation in between all this craziness in our cramped apartment?
My parents have a summer house in Tennessee that is open to us - plenty of bedrooms, fireplaces, a swimming hole, trails. Even an extra car. DH could write looking over the river in complete serenity while Mr.Man and I go on walks in the woods, swimming at the amazing community center. I also have some family and friends there. I could still work from home, I would just need to come to the city every few months.
Another major factor, we could rent our place here and more than cover the mortgage while it hopefully goes up in value until DH gets a job and we are ready to really settle somewhere and buy a house.
I am nervous, sad. excited... We are thinking of going in late September. Will I be able to find organic food? Will I get fat? ;-) I must say, the thought of another winter in NYC is DE. PRES. ING. OK, enough angst. Here is a first - a video! Smoosh thinks playing catch is pretty funny..

4th of July

I remember last 4th of July weekend - 8 months pregnant. hot. no margaritas. no sangria. We went to a BBQ and watched the random fireworks coming from the projects since we couldn't see the Hudson river ones from the roof in Clinton Hill. It's sometimes so mind blowing that we have this little person now who was just pulling on my leg and rubbing his little eyes, ready for his morning nap.

We went to the Hamptons for the weekend with my BFF and stayed at her parents house who are in total Grandparent-biological-clock mode. They wanted to hold Smoosh and keep him all weekend - except for when he woke up at 5AM. Then I was on my own. Anyway, we had a nice time and went to the outlets and Montauk for the day which was awesome. However, we really learned that we are truly our own family now and we really prefer to be in control of our own surroundings. i.e. not stay with people! It is hard having him in our room, trying to keep him quiet in the morning, find him things to eat (like explaining that we only give him organic things without seeming like a psycho)! I guess if things stayed too comfortable we would all live with our parents forever and not have the drive to push ourselves so we can someday buy or own beach house. :-)