BDGD 2/35

Donated some clothing and one of my favorite purses to a very deserving young lady. 

BDGD 1/35

Helped a darling, sweet woman pick out produce in the grocery store.  Believe it or not, people approach me in the store quite often asking for help.  I love it. 

BD + GD = HD

That makes total sense, right?  No?  Ok, then, in other words...


Birthdays + Good Deeds = Happy Days.  Better?  Good deal.  Birthday's involve cake.  Win!  Good deeds involve making others (and usually yourself) feel super awesome.  Win!  Happy days result in all of the above.  Winner, winner, ice cream dinner!  Or something like that. 

Now where was I?  Oh yes, this... 


My 35th Birthday...it's ah-comin'.  This year (inspired by my friend Katy) I plan to do one good deed each day leading up to my actual day of birth.  I should have started on the 12th of this month in order to do 35 deeds but, alas, I'm late.  SO, I'll start now and do more than one on a few days in order to get caught up.  I'll be writing about them here.  PLEASE, feel free to give me ideas!  I'm worried that my brain will stop working all together and I won't be able to think of super cool things to do.  If you were the recipient, what would you appreciate someone doing for you?  I'd like to hear all of your ideas.  Especially those which could remain anonymous or don't cost a lot of cashola.  GO!

One day...

I WILL own this! 

It's my dream!  Scott, if you're reading, buy me this and I promise to make you a cake like that. 

Reminders From Unexpected Sources

I watched the Diane Sawyer interview with Jaycee Dugard this past Sunday.  Jaycee's mother, speaking through tears, was expressing regret because she had not kissed Jaycee goodbye before leaving for work the morning Jaycee was kidnapped.  She was in a rush to get to work because she had been late the two previous Monday's.  She then said something that I needed to hear at that exact moment.  Basically, she said, take time for your children, even when it seems inconvenient.  A short and simple statement that resonated to my core.  There are lots of times as parents that we choose not to do something because it's a pain in the a$$ too much of a hassle.  I had a particularly rough afternoon with Landon (frackin' teething), who did not want to nap and decided it was best to scream and cry and pick on Mommy.  Hearing the words from Jaycee's mother, watching that interview of all the adversity Jaycee overcame, gave me a renewed appreciation for Motherhood.  I have always felt uber blessed to have been given the gift of life.  However, that appreciation sometimes wanes in the chaos of daily life of a little one.  Our reminders are everywhere, the key is being open to receive them. 

Fussytown. Population One.

Teething.  Need I say more?  This kid must be getting like all of his teeth right now!  He's had the nastiest diapers for, going on, two weeks.  The diaper rash gets awful, then heals.  He's never had much trouble with diaper rash.  Until now.  I am ready to have my "Happy All The Time Even When I'm Not Supposed to Be Happy" baby back.  He's been a trooper really.  Mostly, he wants to sit on my lap and read books.  I will NEVER get tired of that! 

Recently, instead of me rocking him to sleep, he prefers to simply lay on his own in his crib and go to sleep.  Stab me in the heart why don't ya?  Ok, that's more than a little dramatic.  Tonight I could tell he just wanted me to put him in his bed and I totally bawled.  While holding him.  Hey, it's ok for him to see that Mommy cries too!  He was just the sweetest.  He kept touching my face and looking at me all crazy like.  Ah, Motherhood.  Nothing prepares one for all the insane emotions, runny poop, smiles, tugs at the heartstrings...I'll stop there.

Here's Landon from one moment...

To the next....

To the next....

To the next...

 To the next...

There's today.  I am looking forward to tomorrow.  Even if that means more runny diapers and another day with the Bi-polar Boy Wonder.

A Special Someone is ONE!

It's true, as of April 26th, Landon is 1.  I still can hardly believe I have a ONE year old.  Hell, sometimes I find it hard to believe I'm married to a great guy, let alone have a kid and house too.  That's part of my life though.  We had so much fun celebrating our first year with Landon.  On his actual birthday I took the day off work and Scott took the afternoon off so we could have some good family time together.  Here's a look in to how our day went...

I went in to his room in the morning and we started the day with me singing him Happy Birthday...and I cried...go figure.  He just wanted to get outta the crib!

Then he had breakfast of yogurt and applesauce.

I actually had time to get my shower and make up done before getting him up so after breakfast we took a couple Mommy and Me pictures.

Landon woke up happy, as usual, and a little clingy, which isn't usually him.  I like to think it was because he, on some level, was remembering what we were doing a year ago.  :-)  We rushed around to get his 1 year picture appointment.  What an experience.  I will NEVER go it alone again!  Not only was this kid just a tad clingy (apparently he didn't get the memo that Momma didn't want to be in the photos), he was also not in the mood to smile much.  By the end he was screaming and I was drowning in sweat.  Frustrating and gross.  You would never know from these pictures though.

We had lunch with Nana at Old Chicago.  That was a lot of fun and, after the whole photo shoot fiasco, Landon was actually in a great mood!

   

I made his cake for the big party and a little cupcake for him to have on his actual birthday.

He hated it!

After the cake, we all (yes Scott and I too) took a nap.  We had planned to go to the park to play but the day turned rainy so we ended up at the mall.  We let Landon ride a couple of kiddie rides for the first time and he had so much fun!

By the time we got home to open the presents from Mommy and Daddy, he was pretty much over it.  We snapped a couple photos anyway. 

It was a wonderful day!  I rocked him for a long time before laying him in his crib for bed.  Then I went downstairs and wrote a letter to him, which will go in to his baby book.  I am extremely lucky to be his Mommy and am forever grateful for him!