SIRprise!

Confession: I love surprises. Well, surprises that end with water sports, sushi and wine anyway.

For my 30th Birthday Josh had a surprise weekend planned. Here are the clues he gave me:

1. I needed a sturdy bathing suit and water shoes- what a look!

2. I needed something nice to wear.

3. Pman needed to go to my parents for a few days.

4. We would be no more than 5 hours away from our beloved P, but that did not mean we would be a full 5 hours away.

I thought of whitewater rafting, which I love love love, but since Josh thinks that is what idiots do before they die, I knew that is not what the bday weekend would entail. One day, about a week before the trip I said, "Are we going tubing?"

He looked at me blankly.

A month or two before we were engaged I planned a surprise trip for Josh. I told him to take off work from Friday through Monday. He came home that night and instantly said, "We're going to Boston."

He was right then, and for reasons neither of us understood, I was right about tubing. Sometimes, we are just tuned into each like that- weirdos.

So off we went for a Virginia weekend of tubing, wine and all the yummy food we could stuff in our faces.

Josh made reservations at a little B&B called Chester in Scottsville or Scottsylvaina or Scottstown, we can't remember, but we do remember the county was Fluvanna- you just don't forget a name like that. The town had 1 BBQ place, a pizza place that closed at lunch time and all the used broke down cars a girl could want to see in a weekend. The best part was, it was a mere mile away from the tubing place, so at least I knew there were no early mornings on my bday weekend.

Friday: We Arrive.
We got to the B&B an hour early, which threw the Inn Keeper for a loop. She directed us to the BBQ place or the "restaurant with the big chicken in front..." and told us basically to GET OUT and NOW!

We ate BBQ with Scottsylvainaville's finest and headed out in search of some w-i-n-e. We found a cute winery that was also a B&B. That was cheaper than the one we booked. And the people who ran it were welcoming.

We drank their wine, ate their cheese plate and rolled on back to our weekend home base. Now, I realize the Inn Keeper must put on her happy pants at 3p.m. because when we returned it was all champagne and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Josh and I ran upstairs to get ready for dinner whereupon I dropped my blush in our recently peed in toilet. Excellent. I pulled it out. Threw it away and washed the first 3 layers of skin off my hands and arms- up the elbow.

She made an excellent dinner for us- including homemade gazpacho that Josh kept calling Gestapo. She also did a wine pairing with the food- although the wine she gave us was Spanish and not a wonderful local VA wine.

Interesting approach.

J and I capped the night off with a bottle of wine and about 10 rounds of Gin Rummy on the back patio- I won most of them, naturally, it was my birthday.

Saturday: Bumpy Ride
We went tubing in the James River and Josh kept saying things like, "I'm on the James River siiirrrr." In a bad Southern accent, which is weird because all of his family lives in Tennessee, like at the base of the Smokey Mountains- back woods Tennessee? He should have the accent down.

Josh also found (and slammed various areas of his body against) every rock and boulder the James River had to offer. We saw a drunk man puke up-river from all the other tubers and helped another drunk girl look for her camera that became detached from her tube.  After wading through a strangers river puke, we stopped looking.  We did not find it, but I bet you could have guessed that.  Despite all this, I think Josh may have turned a corner in his protests again white water rafting. Yippy!

Saturday was "restaurant night" in Charlottesville, which is where the University of VA is located and was about 30 miles away from our B&B. We dined on sushi, beef based miso soup and glowing- for real Glow-Ing- seaweed salad. Delish. (minus the beef based miso.)

On the way home we found a stray dog. We drove up and back, up and back on the dark windy country back road trying to get the dog to come to us. In the end in ran in the woods to likely be dinner for some fox or deer or muskrat. What would we have done with another dog anyway? I'm kinda over the one we have.
(I did not just say that.)

Sunday: Back to reality
We found a quicker route home to P. We dined on crabs and ice cream cake with my fam. Parker and I blew out a scented candle because my lovely sister and her surfer handyman of a boyfriend do not keep a ready supply of birthday candles in their kitchen. I did discover though, that they have a tub of strawberry icing at the ready- always.

Nice trade off.

Happy Birthday to me! Well done Josh! Much Love :)

30!

*Update: All the babies in my life, including the one mentioned in my previous post, are present, accounted for, healthy and home with their respective mommies and daddies.


This is likely my last post as a 20-something. For on Friday, July 16 I will turn 30, which is 100% a-ok with me. In fact, when I was 19, I just told people I was 20 because to me 19 sounded so lackluster. I’ve always been a bit ahead of schedule.

A list to celebrate my birth:

1. I have some gray hairs and I am ok with it. I cover them up with whatever dye-in-a-box is on sale, but I am ok with the gray. Incidentally a friend of mine who is blonde once asked me why I dye my hair from stuff out of a box. Oh blondie- when those of us with dark locks sprout not so dark locks, we must cover them post haste and this bloggers budget can't keep up with salon prices. Sadly.

2. I can hold my head up proudly and say I do not like “The Eagles” (the band or the team) nor do I like “The Who”- Josh says this makes me un-American.

3. My 20's brought me the following joys:

• Parker
• Marrying Josh
• Buying our family's house together
• Having a job I actually like
• A Masters degree
• Post undergrad cross country trip
• My first (hopefully of many) trip to Europe
• Birkram Yoga
• Body Wraps
• Wine
• A love of all things pedicures
• Guacamole
• My love for ice cream was replaced by intense feelings for all things Italian Ice
• Running- I won't say I love it, but it's a darn good workout

• 2 NKOTB concerts

4. What I hope to achieve in my 30's:

• I want to go to a Van Morrison concert

• Visit Italy, Greece, Ireland (again), and any other place that will have me

• Continue to encourage Pman (and any subsequent kiddos) to become happy people

• Possibly purchase an actual minivan- I'm still not sure I can actually do this. I am due for an updated  vehicle. I told Josh (and now you lovely people) that I want a SUV, but I feel like- how can the Minivan Lover purchase an SUV? It's like I am some kind of fraud.

• I desperately want to do one of those zip-line things over the treetops of a jungle

• Drink good wine (or at least decent wine) with the people I love and the people who love me, (Sometimes, if I'm lucky, there is a lot of overlap in these two groups.)

• Work on being more patient, with myself and others

• RUN 6+ MILES IN THE BALTIMORE MARATHON as part of a relay team. I want to run it all without stopping.

• Perfecting my homemade guac recipe

5. If my 30's at least match my 20's, I will be in a very good place.

What did you think I was going to do a list of 30 things? Please, I'm already getting annoyed with myself.

Thanks for reading!

Baby Bubbles

Toddlers get hurt. While it is sad to see your little one bump and scrape themselves, I think all parents know going into toddlerhood that there is likely going to be a bit of blood, a lot of mess and possibly some stitches.


What we don't expect as parents is to see our tiny new baby in any pain or through the clear plastic walls of an incubator. We aren't warned about the possibility of tubes up our newborns nose. No one provides us with any sort of buffer about this horrible place called a NICU. We go into the whole thing thinking the labor is going to be the hardest part and then poof! a baby is here and all’s well again.

I've made no secret of my history with the Hopkins NICU. I try not to dwell on it, but there is something about the NICU experience that stays with me- always. When I meet another mom who has gone through this hellish place, I instantly feel connected to her.

I have 3 friends who I have known for a very long time. These ladies were a part of the shelter I surrounded myself with, after P was born.

On Monday, one of them had her second son- he was 3 weeks early. Eighteen months ago, when she was delivering her first son the labor and delivery part was horrendous. I will spare the details, but the girl had an insanely difficult go of it. This time around, the delivery is what you see in movies- three pushes and POP out came the babe. Easy breezy.

As I was on the phone trying to coordinate a sitter for P, so I could go meet the newest little tyke, I got a call from my friend's husband. The baby was sent to the NICU. He had stopped breathing at some point through the night. I'm hearing this news and asking questions as P and a friend of his play in our melting blow up pool on the deck. They are splashing around and fighting over bubbles and sunglasses. I am fighting back tears.

In these moments of desperation and helplessness, I always try to observe what is going on around me. It's like I want to capture the moment in my head exactly the way it happened. I want to remember everything, which is ironic because when P was born, I just wanted to forget everything.

Parker and his friend were so busy in their toddler world, sliding around the pool and inhaling bubble solution because they sucked in instead of blowing out.

In the moment, they were delighted and I was devastated.

As I hung up the phone with my friend's husband with promises to pass the news onto our other friends, I saw something profound. Well profound in Parker's world.

After months of trying, Parker successfully blew his first set of bubbles. Once all the solution was out of the wand and P’s bubbles were floating all around the deck he looked at me with a, "DID YOU SEE THAT!?" expression.

It made his day. It made my day. Thanks buddy, I needed that.

**Baby update: It looks like major acid reflux is the culprit, but we will not know for sure until some more tests are done. The baby is doing better today, but will likely be in the NICU for about a week.

** Welcome to the new followers! I'm not always this much of a downer.

Good Thing He's a Happy Kid

Happy 4th of July! I have a brother who is a Marine and spent more than his fair share of time overseas fighting for our freedom and safety. I have an uncle who is a MIA POW from Vietnam. My grandfather, like most of our grandfathers, fought in WWII and liberated concentration camps, and my grandmother was an Army nurse and is honored in a museum in DC.


You are an inspiring, humbling lot and I love you.

Recently Josh and I heard that the Enchanted Forest is back up and running. Though J and I did not know each other when we were that wee of tikes, we both have fond memories of the Enchanted Forest. Yesterday we took our littleP to check it out. In full disclosure, we really wanted to go check it out for ourselves, we just happen to have a toddler with us who provided a great cover.

Here is a photo journal (of sorts) chronicling our day:

Oh the nostalgia!

If you don't know or don't remember, the Enchanted Forest is centered around Mother Goose Nursery Rhythms. Here you see Jack and Jill falling down the hill. That is their pail of water you see in the background. In the foreground you will see Parker, sitting on Jill’s face.

Then he got stung by a bee.  This is a first for him.  It ruined his world for about 10 minutes.

Then it was all feed the goats! Ride the horses!


There was an unfortunate run in with a very large black sheep. (God I wish I had a video of this!) As Pman approached the largest sheep I have ever seen, the wooly animal looked straight at him and bellowed out the loudest "BAAAA" I have ever heard. Without skipping the slightest hint of a beat, P screamed with terror, turned and ran in the other direction. He did not look back to see if J or I followed. He wanted out and quick! When P runs his shaggy blonde locks bounce about his head. When he is running in a fit of terror from a caged-in sheep it makes the hair bounce all the more pathetic and therefore hilarious.

We also enjoyed an uneventful hay ride and every sliding board the place had to offer. Then we went to visit some friends.  While there P leaned on a broken table and fell flat on his face.  Resulting in a fat bloody lip.
 

The day ended about 2 hours after his normal bedtime. I was trying to hard to get him to stay up for fireworks, but really the kid had a loooong day. As I dragged him out of the tub he said, "pee?"
I put him on the toilet and he did just that.
Talk about bounce back!

Defying Logic

1. We have a blow up kiddie pool. I had the idea to blow it up and leave it on the deck, (oh yeah, we got a deck and a fence- it was a nightmare, but it’s all over now) so Pman could go swimming whenever the mood strikes him. We came home today and the pool was....melted? The sides were all caved in and the water was trickling out. I searched and there are no holes. Melting is the only thing I can think of.


2. When Josh and I were picking out everything for our house we opted for standard carpet with upgraded padding. What we got was standard carpet and sub-par padding. The flooring people said they would replace all the padding. Meaning, they would pull up all the carpet- in our basement and all 4 upstairs bedrooms (and closets) and replace the padding.

Is it just me or does that NOT sound like a solution?

I told them I was ok with changing the padding in the basement because it is still fairly empty and their being in my basement will not disrupt my life as much and them being in our bedrooms. My other thought was the basement will, over time, get more foot traffic than our bedrooms. I told them I wanted to be reimbursed for the poor bedroom padding.

Within the next few days I should be getting a reimbursement check. When the guy called to find out exactly who to address the check to and where to send it, he ended to conversation by saying, in a surly tone I might add, “Are you happy now, Mrs. Phillips?”

Yes. I am. So there.

3. I have been running a lot and while the numbers on the scale aren't changing all that much, my clothes tell a different story. Things that used to fit are a bit too baggy after a couple hours of wear. Pants that were too tight, are no longer. This makes me happy, but my Pham is on a budget which does not allow for a new wardrobe for mommy. Unless...mommy wants to push back baby #2 by about 4 or 5 years, which she doesn't want to do.

I'm not the thinnest I've ever been, but I'm happy with how healthy I am and how I look and that self-contentment feels good, especially after my body took a bit of a hiatus after having Pman.

4. I officially am the mother of a 2 year old boy who will be starting school very soon, 2 days a week 9a -4p. He is ready. I am (mostly) ready. He has a Batman backpack that lights up and a lunchbox. I have little Tupperware containers that I will fill with lunch-like food stuffs and place in his lunchbox. He will sit with his new friends, not me, and eat his lunch. He will learn and grow and develop a world outside of Josh and me. I am (mostly) ready.

Josh and I are activity discussing baby #2. But how can that be when baby #1 is still a baby?

A friend, a mother of 2 boys who are two and a half years apart, told me today she can see that I am ready, but nervous. I think she was being kind.

Happy 2nd Birthday

Dear Parker,

I'm the luckiest mommy around because I get to watch you do your Pman thing everyday.  You are so amazing now, but I know it is just going to keep getting better.

When I was pregnant with you I used to always sing this Tom Petty song "Wildflowers."  Everything in the song is what I want for you and your life.  I swear you still respond to it when I play the song in the car.  It will forever remind me of when I found out I was pregnant and with a BOY!.  After you were born, I sang the song in my head when the silence in the room and the beeping of the machines at Hopkins became unbearable.  It is my soundtrack to all things you.

Happy 2nd Birthday Parker!

Love Love Love you
Mommy

OR
(click Happy Birthday to see video)
Happy Birthday

Simple

In Pman's world, all colors are blue, all numbers are two and every dog's name is Abby.


However, we are on the cusp of the threshold of something I've heard is very complicated.

Potty training.

He will tell me when he has to poop or that he just pooped, it's a toss-up really whether the declaration comes before or after the actual act. He will pat the -to be pooped in or already pooped in portion of his diaper enthusiastically as he informs me of the goings on in there.

Recently, he has taken to brushing his teeth, post bath, in the nude. Before this new development he would allow me to wrap a towel around him in an attempt to contain any errant Pman trickles while he brushes.

This is no longer acceptable to him. In the words of some of my guy friends in high school, Pman like to free ball it.

A few nights ago as P handed me his toothbrush, signaling he was done with the brushing business for the evening, he raced into the hall. This portion of our house overlooks the down stairs foyer. I usually use this feature of my house as a great way to drop things from the top floor to the bottom floor and vice versa, so that I do have to carry them- all- the- way- downstairs.

Well, Pman went over to the railing and tried to pee in between the rungs into the downstairs foyer. His aim is not quite what it could be, or rather it is not what he was hoping it would be. Instead of an arching stream, it was more of a trickle and puddle.

He looked at me. Pointed to his little puddle and said, "I PEEE!"

I'm taking this all to mean he is gearing up for potty training. My parents got him a potty as an early birthday present. So far he sat on it for 15 minutes while we read books. Nothing happened, so I put his diaper back on and he pooped. Like right away.

And then this happened:

You've heard of bird poop facials? Presenting Toddler Poo Pedicures! Coming to a pedicure spa near you! 

Also, the seat can be a fun hat.

This potty training thing may take a while...

Teaser: Parker's second Birthday is Thursday.  I have big things planned for my blog post that day!