Raina Time!

Finally! 

I've been waiting three years to be able to have one or both of my girls (nieces) over to my house to play all night!

It was everything I wanted and more!  Soon we will have spend the night parties and they will be awesome too!!

Raina came over a couple of weeks ago while her mom and dad went out!  We played outside, took Charlie Turkey on a walk, played hide and seek and built a tent! 

This girl had me in stitches from the time her mom and dad left.  "bye, bye mama..." and promptly closed the door right behind them!  No hesitation!

Raina loves Charlie!  Loves him! She hated that he can't come inside.  She hated that he had to stay outside while it rained (in his house of course). Finally it stopped raining for a bit and we got to go out and play!

 

Charlie loves her too!  He was very excited!

 

Raina spent the week before this at the beach in Florida with Sittee and Giddee and her mom and dad.  From what I hear hide and seek was a big part of that trip!  She didn't skip a beat wanting to play in my small house where hiding places are limited!

 

She started counting, " 1..2....3..4..5.9.10" and then she came running.  I had some pretty good spots for a while there, behind the curtain of my laundry room, in the tub, behind a door.  She's good though!  Found me every time!

 

We ate spaghetti and then bath time! It was a short night in all but I loved every second! 

 

With mom and dad living in town that is the go to place for all the kids.  My house generally can't accommodate the whole family but having the kids over and having little nuggets of time with them feeds my soul! 

 

 

 

Raina is so grown.  It surprises me.  I hate when people say the cliche statements like

 

"it goes by so fast"

"where did the time go"

"stop growing"

"slow down"

"time flies"

 

I hate it.  But man, they are true.  I try not to use statements like that and instead try and completely be in the moment we are in now.  Be here with her while she is two and a half, about to be three.  Write about it because my memory will fade. 

 

Don't waste even the smallest bit of time with the stupid cliche statements.  Just enjoy the time you are in!  I don't get to see any of these sweet kiddos as much as I want.  Between geography, time and you know, my job it's hard. 

 

But this nugget, this night, was awesome!

 



 

 

 

Naked Time Out

Naked time out is my favorite. 

I'll give you a little background first.  I have the greatest pleasure in the world of being an Aunt to four amazing children.  I spent the weekend with two of them.  Betty is 3 and Louis is 6 months. 

Going to Lindsey's for the weekend use to mean something very different.  I didn't pack goodies for kiddos, there were no kiddos.  I packed beer.  And we drank all weekend.  At the house, at the beach, at a bar, in the backyard.  With each other, with Charleston friends, with Tab.  We woke up late, showered and went to eat brunch at 11am with no regard of time or schedules. 

Cut to, three years later...

Wake up call every morning 7:15a.  As sure as the sun rises every morning, you know that you will be up at this time in that house.  Luckily the way you wake up is by kisses from a very happy three year old that wakes up talking in the middle of a sentence.  "...so that's why my mermaid is in my doll house." Wait, what? I think I was sleeping during the first part of that conversation.  Louis wakes up singing.  If you walk in his room his grin goes from ear to ear while he chews on his blanket. 

Lindsey's job is to stay at home with these two kiddos.  She is amazing at it.  She has her schedule and they stick to it.  Betty responds well to a schedule and Louis is beginning to as well. 

The witching hour is between 4:30p-6:30p.  Even with two parents working towards the similar goal of getting the children fed, bathed and to bed it's a task!  You HAVE to have a routine or they will gang up on you and take you out.  I've seen it. 

Like any other "normal" three year old there are times when the body doesn't catch up with the brain.  You can hear mom and dad asking you to eat three more butter beans, but your legs just won't stay still.  Mom and dad are super patient.  That would be their super power!  Superman has nothing on Super Patient Mom and Super Patient Dad!

They are patient because they know what to expect out of their three year old.  They know that she is still learning.  They know that there will be times when she tests her limits, when she breaks down and when she doesn't want to listen.  They know she isn't doing this just to grate their nerves (mostly).  That's what makes them great at their job.  That is the difference between types of parents these days.  The ability to read your child, your patience level as an adult and knowledge of age appropriate behaviors.  This is commonly misunderstood and thought of as "Motherly instinct." It is very different.  Mothers instinct is not automatically knowing what a three year old is and is not capable of.  You have to learn that.  You have to read about it and you have to educate yourself. 

But, I digress.

With all the knowledge in the world, children will test you.  And when you ask your three year old to put on clothes for the day and she doesn't listen and runs away from you, you have a little girl "fake" crying in her panties that say Sunday on them taking the long walk down the hallway to the Time Out Chair.  "You're not crying you are just screaming" says the knowledgeable mom.  And it stops immediately.  Betty is holding the timer and before time is up, she is called back into the den.  And from down the hall you can hear in between some little sniffles "bu-but the timur is not up yet mama." She is honest, I'll give her that! 

Naked time out is my favorite.  I've seen it only once before right after bath time.  And that was a truly naked time out.  It's so funny looking in from the outside.  When Lindsey says "I hope you wake up on the good side of bed tomorrow" and Betty's response, again, between sniffles is "what side is that?"  She looks at her bed pointing asking so she can make sure they are both on the same page.  I die.  I love these stories.  To be able to visit for a weekend and see them in action is pure happiness!

It is different going to Lindsey's house now.  But I re-group and adjust well! (I think)  Wear the kids out all day Friday so they sleep hard that night.  Beer and crawfish on the back porch for me and Lindsey.  Long overdue! We have the kids Saturday (with exception to the morning with just Louis) and Tab takes them all day Sunday while we spend 5 and a half hours on the beach!

It was a fun weekend!  I'm ready to have that little girl and Raina at my house for a slumber party! 

Fancy Garage Sale!

I went to an Estate Sale today in Rosewood. 

It was...fun, sad, exciting.  Yes, all of those!

It was right around the corner from my house.  The only reason I didn't ride my bike is because it was 18642 degrees outside and there's no telling what I would come back with.  It opened at 11am,  and that's when I got there.  Maybe 11:01 or 2 but no later than that.  People were already inside and there was a long line. 

I got my number and waited patiently watching what people were coming out with.  Silently wishing I was a retired woman with tons of money like I suspected some of ladies were around me. 

This happen to fall at a time that I could take my lunch break, but what was everyone else doing there?  I work from home which is another reason it was easy to go to being just around the corner.  Turns out this is a thing people do.  Kind of like garage sales, but fancier!!  I felt fancy standing in line with these ladies, some couples and a random college student.  I feel like they were looking at me thinking, what does she have? How can she be here in the middle of the day? Maybe she is secretly rich.  No one had seen me at any other sale so I was new and mysterious!

I can totally play mysterious!

"61!" she called, it was my turn!  I was channeling my mom and aunts who love to antique.  I never learned the craft because they always wanted to drag me into a huge warehouse when its 18642 degrees outside and mosey through the store.  Ew, no thank you.  But I needed their help now.  Would there be anything in here I think is cute and it turns out to be from the late 1800's and worth the tons of money I mentioned before??? 

It was a lot of old stuff, I know shocking!  An old piano, old plates on the walls, old dishes.  Everything was for sale.  I couldn't even describe the layout of the house to you, there were so many people and my eyes were darting back and forth.  I got to the kitchen and then to this back room, looked up and saw it!

Isn't that great!  I almost had to fight a really tall man for it.  Like, he tried to stop me from taking the tag off.  Nice try buddy but I'm mysterious and for all you know I could have been doing this for years! Side note, I have NO place to put this, so someone reading this may get it as a gift, act surprised!!

It wasn't until I got into one of the bedrooms and saw all this stuff.  There weren't any packed boxes, the whole house was set up.  The bed was made, pillows were on it.  There was soap in the shower, clothes in the closet.  Someone lived here.  Someone laughed here, cried here, had supper here, made plans here......Oooo a coach purse!!

Maybe it's not a sad story, maybe it's not a death, there could be any number of reasons to sell your entire estate, right?

I walked out with a great gamecock light, a leather weekend bag, a black clutch and two pairs of leather yard gloves! 

I look at it this way, I bought my house from an Estate.  So there are good things that come from these sales.  Like a good bag or a fun light!  Yes, that is the way I see it!  They will be on Rockbridge Road tomorrow, I may become a regular!

Weight Watchers to the Lido Deck

I went to my first WW meeting tonight.  With some bad memories from my first experience with WW I was a little hesitant. 

The meeting had me in stitches!

Miss Kay was the leader of this meeting.  How do I describe her??

She is the lady at Del Vista Boca (or any senior retirement home) that all the old men love!  She is old, but still sassy! She is loud, speaks her mind and still wears short little dresses.  She has on her panty-hose with her open-toe kitten heel and rocks a flower print!

All the members were between the ages of 47 and 70.  Old people everywhere! So each time Miss Kay made a cute little joke about wanting to eat all the potato salad at the fourth of July BBQ, the next 2 minutes you heard "uh? what'd she say?" and then the younger of the old people trying to repeat the "joke" in a louder but equally amusing tone.  Oh it was rough!

I could see Miss Kay working on a cruise boat with no difficulty!  I felt like she was doing a show all night.  Calling people by name, your basic "where you from honey?" Too funny!!

Anybody with big bones to the Lido Deck. 

Our Nation's Capital

Last weekend I went to DC with two friends of mine; KP I've known since 6th grade and KJ since 1st.  We met up with another friend from high school, JS. 

KPis great at picking up one weekend and traveling.  She comes and goes very freely unlike me.  She told KJ and I of her plans to visit DC, where she used to live and still has a lot of family.  We hopped on board and booked our flight.  For me, this was huge.  No over thinking, no second guessing, no changing my mind.  Flight booked. 

How could this trip be anything but a ton of fun?  I've known KJ for what seems like forever.  He is hilarious and always fun to be around.  KP and I are friends again after a little blip in high school (irrational teenage angst and all my fault). And JA is wonderful and fun!

I had not been on a plane since 8th grade when we ironically went to DC for a class trip.  Yes. Hi my name is Jennifer and I don't fly.  It's not even that I don't fly, I just haven't.   

I thought the flight was bumpy.  It was a super small plane, real tight fit.  But when I mentioned that to KJ and KP they both looked at me like really? So maybe I was a little off.  I don't like taking off.  You go so fast and then you can feel the plane dip a little bit when the wheels come off the ground.  Really? Who likes that...well KP does apparently! Landing wasn't as bad, at that point I was ready to get off the plane and go play! 

I won't go through the play by play because quite frankly I think I'll leave stuff out.  On account of all the alcohol. 

JS was an excellent host!  Excellent! I can't say that enough.  He made dinner reservations, although he did miss them Saturday night, but never the less, he did make them for us.  We ate so much good food! We passed our dishes around the table and then our signature cocktails that we ordered, or "fancy" beers.  Every one's was delicious. 

I'm not sure who we thought we were, but after shots, dancing and a hit off the hookah at a lovely Ethiopian bar, we all saw 4am.  Saturday morning came real early!  JS had reservations for us at a great brunch place.  It was actually the bottom floor of one of the dance bars we went to just hours before.  Bottomless mimosa and bloody mary's, you can't beat it. 

Saturday, after we gathered ourselves and gained some strength from some good food we went to a local beer garden, then a couple of others.  They were all local adorable places.  I'm sure KJ and JS would not use the word adorable, but they were! Saturday night, another great dinner and drinks at a roof top bar!

 

No standing allowed in this bar.  Great pistachios!

 

Sunday we decided to go and see some actual sights.  Although JS currently lives there, KP used to live there and we all visited in 8th grade together it's nice to see the White House and a view of the monuments. 

We had yet another wonderful brunch at this place downtown.  Drinks and food at the bar, best seat in the house!  The bar was so pretty with all the colors and the sunshine coming through the windows!

 

We ended up at the roof top of the Washington Hotel.  Apparently it's a popular spot to look out at all the sights!  They weren't kidding! One bar and we could see it all!  That's my kind of sight-seeing!

 

 

KP is a great storyteller, she told us all about the history of The Washington Hotel and who bought it out and when.  She pointed out all the monuments (from our cozy seats at the bar) and gave a little blurb about each of them.  Although not always prompted, she gave us a lot of good historically accurate information! We ended our trip at yep, you guessed it, another bar/pub! The only one we went to the whole time that had your basic Miller Light.  Fancy cocktail to my right and two beers to my left! "Anyone want to try my miller light? No?"

 

 

The flight home was very different.  It was 7:45pm, I was exhausted, a little buzzed and took an excellent 30 minute nap after we took off.  Woke up to the sweet lady smiling beside me, most likely because I was snoring a little.  It was a pretty quiet drive back into town, I think we were super tired!

 

All in all we had an amazing time! KJ is a trooper for waiting on two women in the hotel to get ready, JS is a fantastic DC host if you are ever in the area and more trips were planned!

 

 

Betty is three

Yesterday, Betty turned three years old.  At 8:40-something pm, she was born.  We all sat in the waiting room after the nurse told us they were just going to do some "practice pushes" and there she was. 

Things I remember:

She was so quiet.  She didn't say a word with all the people in the room.  She was so little.  She was yawning in this picture.  Very tired from the trip!

Lindsey put a purple ribbon around her beanie cap.  She was beautiful.  Lindsey was beautiful.  I know now she doesn't remember much of that moment.  But she kept saying, "look what I have!"  Very quietly, just to me like someone may over hear her and take Betty away.  Tab was a natural with her. He was so great holding her and passing her around to everyone. 

He came prancing down the hallway walking on his toes, as he does, with a big grin on his face.
It's a girl!

Three years ago the world changed.  Three years ago Betty arrived and the world will never be the same, and I know it is better because she's in it!

 

Laugh Out Loud

I didn't realize how hard or loud I laughed until I was at my sisters house recently.  With two sleeping children just down the hall she and Tab are on constant watch of noise in and out of the house.  So when a stupid commercial came on and I literally slapped my knee and laughed out loud they looked at me with this "if that woke up either one of those children..." looks.  Scary.  I'm not oblivious, I know what it takes to get these two to sleep.  I see it when I'm there and most times I am a part of the process.  You can't help but be when you're there. 

It leads me to Lindsey, and how she laughs.  In the last three years her number of snorts per year has gone up by at least 74%.  I have a theory for this:

While I choose to open my mouth wide, let my laugh out, not caring about my surroundings it is a full body laugh and nothing is suppressed; Lindsey on the other hand, one, doesn't laugh out loud as much as I do.  She has gotten better about it since we lived together in the pink house.  We actually had conversations about it.  Two, on top of maybe feeling a bit apprehensive about laughing out loud, she is also thinking of the two sleeping children she just spent 45 minutes putting to sleep.  Between the re-swaddles because Fat Man got out of the miracle swaddle (that is literally the name of it) or Miss Bett's ever challenging game of 'I have to go to the bathroom,' Lindsey waits for a quiet house.  So when she does laugh out loud at something it is quiet evident to anyone in the room suppressed and with that comes...SNORT.  Every. Single. Time. 

This is all to say that I love reading the research on laughter and what it does for your over all health.  It's amazing!  While I don't smile all day long (mainly because of how my mouth naturally curves down)-I do laugh AT LEAST once a day.  And almost always more than that. 

While I will not list all the things that make me laugh, I will tell you that going to YouTube and looking up the bloopers of your favorite TV show will not disappoint!  That is just one of the ways I laugh out loud. 

I encourage all of you to laugh out loud.  You have to smile while you're laughing, so its happiness times two!