clean floors, dirty paws

Caches Michael, It was three years ago today that at 3:36pm, Jeff Buckley sang Hallelujah and you drew your first breath earth side.  We have been talking about your birthday coming up for a few weeks now and you are getting excited.  We have talked about the number three, about when you were a baby, practiced how to hold up three fingers, and gotten excited about presents, but all you really care about is a cake.  Any time we talk about someones birthday, this is your chief concern, and I can't really blame you!  "Yay, it's Lilly's birthday!"   And you're like, that's cute and all, but will we have cake?  "Mommy, when is your birthday?  Will there be cake?"  And not just any cake will do for your third birthday.  No, you want a cake pop, specifically a pink one with white sprinkles from "the store" because, oh I don't know, maybe eight months ago, your grandparents brought one for you and you remember eating it.  Caches, you re...

An average night at my house from 7:00 PM until 7:00 AM...want to visit? 7:00 PM Caches takes a bath, brushes teeth and puts on lotion.  We read stories, give hugs and kisses to every human and animal in the house, drink water, nurse (yes, still doing that), tell two stories that are wildly creative  really silly that I have to make up, tell the story about the magic horse, rock in the rocking chair for the count of twinkle twinkle, lay in bed and rub Caches' back while he falls asleep.  Get up to pee, he squeezes out one drop.  Back to bed.  Get up to poop, he FORCES out a tiny nugget.  Back to bed. While nearly rubbing the skin off of my arm and fluffing his blonde curls in my face, he sleeps.  Marvel at how beautiful a sleeping child is and feel my love for him overflow, they are always cutest when sleeping. 8:30 PM Walk out hoping Ryan got Arlowe to sleep.  If he didn't, give Ryan a break and nurse//bounce/beg her to sleep. ...

This Mother's Day I am blessed beyond measure.  So much so that I don't have the free hands or time to write about how much it means to me that I have the honor of being called, "mama." Here are a few past posts that I have written about moms, enjoy 2012 Thank You! 2011 The Kindness of Strangers 2010 An Ode to Moms Happy Mother's Day to all of you who read this blog, moms or not, I love you all! xoxo

Arlowe Jean Nessier Born April 21, at 1:34am She was 7lb 11oz and 20 inches long I'm working on a more detailed birth story, but I can tell you that it was amazing, and so is she.  

Chickens that is, the human is still incubating... I've wanted chickens for the longest time, but after talking it over with Ryan we decided against it.  Well, he decided against it and I was like okay buddy, but one day I will convince you otherwise.  And that day was just before Christmas this year. Because every girl's dream Christmas gift from her husband is a chicken coop, right?! The coop was assembled and the chicken run secured months ago, but the babies would have to wait.  You see, I ordered specific breeds from a reputable online hatchery and because I only wanted three, I had to wait for the weather to warm up before they could ship them out.  So yes, I knowingly placed my order for baby chicks to arrive exactly one week before my due date.  Because why not invite even more chaos into my home? Well, they have arrive, and...they hatchery sent the wrong chicks.  Yeah, I spent hours researching the best breeds for egg production, friendline...

Today marks 39 weeks pregnant, or as I like to call it, so pregnant that one no longer simply sits down, one plops down.  Between the hours of 7am and 7pm I am feeling great, all things considered.  I have random uncomfortable contractions and brutal bladder assaults, but all and all not bad.  I am one of those annoying people who thinks babies shouldn't be rushed unless absolutely medically necessary, so I try to just go with it and know that she will come when she is ready. But between the hours of 9pm and 6am I am feeling like complete shit.  I can't get comfortable, hips burning, legs cramping, up to pee, up to rub Caches' back, up to move so I can breathe, up because my arm is numb, up because I'm being slapped in the face by a toddler, up, up, up!  I haven't slept in 3 years so this is nothing new, it's the pain in my hips this time that is brutal.  By 1am every night I'm like fuck this whole babies come when they are meant to bullshit, you need to ...

If you will be offended or upset by my stance on punishment for children, I have strong feelings against it,  then this is probably a post you should skip.   To all the people on Facebook and other various social media outlets who are scared of a world where the adults weren't hit as children and were given acknowledgement for only participating, I have good news for you.  You are not now and will likely never live in a world where this is happening!  There, feel better now? Yep, have no fear, there is still an astonishing rate of parents who are hitting their kids as a form of punishment.  I won't even use the word spanking because it is a bullshit, "nice" way of saying hitting.  Let's call it what it is, shall we.  So go ahead and mark this fear off of your list, because the, "problem with kids today" certainly isn't that they aren't being punished enough. I happen to ...