Random useless tidbits

Iris is talking more and more and more and it is fabulous. Some of it still...jibberish, but mostly they are discernible words.

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This heat and humidity can die in a tire fire. I'm over it.

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This made me laugh the other day:

via

The whole post it is included on at the website is pretty ridiculous.

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In more superficial news, I've been getting the shellac manicures and, holy balls, they are fabulous. Does NOT chip. Is shiny forever. The paint looks great for almost 14 days where as regular manicure maybe lasts about 5 or 6. I am a fan.

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Yesterday T and I had a daydate and it was marvelous and leisurely and just great. We haven't had one since May and we were overdue.

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I think we're going to take the kids to a Sesame Street Live! show in November. The times it is playing are great considering Iris still naps (Ezra...does not), so I'm going to go and buy tickets today.

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Speaking of Ezra not napping, after trying to enforce him laying in bed for at least 30 minutes, having him come out of his room repeatedly, me getting pissed, using a timer, having him read books in bed, having him still come out, etc.--after all that, last Sunday, I told T, "Let's just skip it and see how he does."

He did great! The freedom for us to go somewhere in the middle of the day was freakin' awesome. We went out to lunch and to Target and Costco while T put Iris to bed (and then himself down for a nap) and Ezra never once lost his mind. 

He did fall asleep on the way home and I hung out in the car in the garage for a bit, letting him sleep for 30 minutes so it was kind of win-win for everyone.

I will not mourn the loss of naps. They're kind of a pain to plan around. 

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I am getting very, very excited about going to New Orleans in November. Very. Excited.

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Iris is getting a haircut tomorrow as her hair is crazycakes. It needs to be shaped up badly.

I am thinking that I also want to get her some headbands, if she'd keep them on her melon. Where would I find non-pinchy, pint-sized headbands?

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I am hoping to purge my closet this weekend of some clothes that I have not worn in a season or two. There are at least a few things that I know I can get rid of.

I love a good cleaning out.

I may also tackle our bathroom closet and our hallway closet. Nonsense is crazy in there.

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Typos in my posts that I find later on make me want to reassure you that I really, really am a better speller than all that.

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Do you have a guest bedroom where you live? If not, do you wish you had one?

We have four bedrooms and one of them was a fairly nicely appointed guest room before it became Iris' room, and I don't miss having a spot for guests one bit.

Sometimes I feel guilty about this as there are a few people I wouldn't mind staying over, but mostly...not.

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A few pictures of a long legged boy and a very serious Scrappy Muffin.

Some nonsense that I've purchased

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This stuff is goooood. I spray it on after I flat iron. I spray it on my hair when it's pulled back into a ponytail. It keeps me having fly-aways. Recommend.

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I tried this after finding a sample included in my "Allure" magazine. I am also willing to admit that I might be on the cusp of "mature, thinning skin." Whatever. 

Anyway, this whatnot is THICK which makes sense since they do call it a balm. I slather it on my eye area and neck in the morning and night. I couldn't see doing it all over face since I am a hardcore grease monkey and it would probably make me break-out. It smells delightful. Oh! And the serum (which I also sampled) is nice, too.

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Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter. An awful long name for something that I like. It's not as waxy as lipstick and is soft like tinted lip balm but has as much pigment as a lipstick. 

I don't wear the shade shown above--I am a fan of Sugar Plum which is a pinky brown.

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I loved this dress when I saw it on Old Navy's website, but honest to god didn't know if it would be a hot mess once on my body mostly because, you know, I'm not shaped like the lady above. Ahem.

I ordered the black and the plum color and vetted them through Hillary. We were both unsure.

But! They arrived last week and they fit and feel like jammies and I can wear them to work and they aren't too long and drag on the ground which grosses me out to no end.

The tie belt is a tidgy unformal, so I have a kelly green belt to wear with the black dress and now a gold belt to wear with the purple one. Wedge sandals and ballet flats look good with both. And throw in a denim jacket for cooler weather. 

Ole.

The wedding

A few weeks ago, my brother and J the Fabulous Nanny were married.

And aside from my cute children all snazzed up, pretty much the best part of the entire day was seeing how happy my brother and J were/are.

Their faces. Their faces were happy. J walked down the aisle to John Lennon's "Here Comes the Sun" and I cried. 

The wedding was all them from the Beatles songs to the open bar (holla) to the individual red velvet ice cream cakes for dessert. 

It was a good day.

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right

At the rehearsal picnic

He gets excited about a party.

My dad and Ezra.

The childrens

Sometimes I like to be super duper narcissistic and read through my old posts. The ones where Ezra was a baby and back-crapping and I was kind enough to share that with all of you happen to be my favorites. I like revisiting those things because while I promised myself that I would remember every moment! every time! of their childhood, I just really haven't. 

And so it is with self-indulgence that I give you this post so that I can later remember the whatnot that Ezra and Iris are up to at 4 years old and mere months from being 3 years old.

Ezra

Then

Now

• Ezra loves pretty much all foods and really only finds tomatoes kind of suspicious.
• He is still Cautious Carl with any instance where his foothold may be unsteady.
• He wakes up at 6:30am and goes to bed at 7:45pm.
• Naps really only at school.
• Calls raviolis "rally-ollees."
• Loves parties, all sorts, and going out to restaurants.
• If we get upset with him/his behavior, will ask, "Are you still mad at me?" and it about breaks my heart BUT, DUDE, KICKING IS NOT OKAY.
• Still loves all things space, planets and astronauts.
• Turns completely foul if he's tired (like his mother).
• Is highly observant of people, appearances and all their details.
• Loves his blankies, but just retired his taggie.
• Has a gentle heart and sparkly eyes that I hope remain with him always.

Iris

Then

Now

• Has so much personality. So. Much.
• Is sure of herself and also very sharp.
• Loves all stuffed animals and will often say, "(x) is SO TUTE!"
• Is slowly getting the eating and drinking thing down.
• Will be shy around new people.
• Adores her new classroom at daycare and is keeping up without any issue.
• Goes to bed at 7:15pm and wakes up at 7:00am.
• Naps for about two hours.
• Loves to play "I spy..." in the car with Ezra on the way to school. 
• Adores books
• Is a hardcore fan of "Winnie the Pooh"

No one really ever answers my questions

Best of intentions

Work has been redonkulous (I don't generally like this word, but this week? It fits.), so I am a day late and dollar short with weekend-y whatnot.

At any rate, last weekend was the first weekend since early July where we've not had something planned. It was open and free and my husband practically skipped around town. 

We went out to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and Ezra about lost his damn mind. The boy loves the Crack Shack. Then we went and bought both kids new shoes and played at the playground and went to the library where Iris became a crazed Turtle Girl.

And I'd like to point out that we were able to do all of this without perishing because it wasn't balls hot outside. In fact, Iris wore a sweater and we all had pants on.

This weekend for my brother and J the Fabulous Nanny's wedding, the high is only expected to be 73. I told J that this is a good thing as now A, my brother, won't have to burn his suit afterwards due to sweating in it all day. T is also relieved.

So happy about his big boy Nikes.

He finds swings really untrustworthy.

This is about when the turtle mania began.

Turtle creepin' on Ezra.

Turtles in the tank!

"TURTLE 'DERE, MAMA!"

And here she is swimming. " 'Wim! 'Wim like
the turtles!"

I almost feel bad for the guy.

Wrinkled nose and dimples and a toy power drill

Brace yourselves, one and all.

Fine line

Growing up and being 50-50 French and German heritage, I had strong eyebrows that veered more than a little into uni-brow territory. My dad has the same eyebrows as does one of my younger brothers. Pictures of my birth mom and my grandma show distinctive brows as well. I didn't stand a chance.

I hated having such heavy eyebrows and was teased in junior high. (Sidenote: why is everyone such a dick in junior high? Man.) I eventually took matters into my own hands and over plucked them horribly. Talk about feast or famine.

I'd like to think that being strong and resilient enough to weather the teasing then made me who I am today: someone who can think on her feet and deflect negativity with relative ease and grace. However, I mostly think that experiencing the teasing was just kinda shitty and would like to prevent this any way I can for Iris because, oh, my sweet girl has the same eyebrows. 

Where I struggle is this: I would've loved for my mom to gently step in at age 12 or 13 and say some variation of, "Hey, what would you think about going to the salon and being fancy and having your eyebrows shaped with me?" I would've adored it more than I would've felt comfortable showing at that awkward age. But that is/was me. 

And while I want to maybe say the same thing to Iris whenever or however that arises (or even if she straight up asks as both Ezra and Iris are much more assertive than I was a young person...), I want to also be able to tell her just how beautiful I think she is exactly as she is. One of my greatest fears in raising my daughter is errantly planting any seeds in her head that she'd more beautiful IF. There will never be an IF.

Alternately, I don't want avoid mentioning a change to her appearance just for her to suffer through teasing for something/a cause? that can be rectified and make her even more confident.

I know have time to figure this out, but time seems to go so very fast.

Thumbs down to mank; thumbs up to crisp

It is always about this time of the summer, early August-ish or so, that I become weary of summer.

I'm tired of sweating. I'm tired of always having to dry clean all my blouses because I am manky by the end of the day. I'm tired of running the air conditioning at home and in the car. I'm tired of scrubbing sunscreen off the kids at the end of the day. I'm tired of it allllll.

I have visions of lovely, non-humid air. Of crispy leaves. Of wanting to drink cider. Of light sweatshirts and long sleeves. Of tights and short-sleeved sweaters. Of not being greasy. Of open windows at night and while driving. Of not caring what the hell my flowers look like outside.

Sigh. Basically all of this makes me a giant boo-hoo baby because, for the love of pete, snow kinda pisses me off. And snow is what directly follows crisp fall air. 

At any rate, I have been prepping my shopping list for the upcoming cooler weather and I have decided I have many needs (T is going to roll his eyes when he eventually reads this post but he can shut it his face) for fall clothes feeling cozy.

Okay, so this is what I am eyeballing. Also, perhaps a bit related: I have decided, more than ever, that I hate pants and just may turn Duggar and wear only dresses.

What are you eyeballing for fall? Or are you content being toasty-ass warm?

In the Mulberry color.

In the denim color.

Not sure of the color.

Black

This looks comfy.

This broad looks SO HAPPY
to be wearing this dress.

Again with the cozy.

Kiiiinda pricey, but boots
last forever, right? Oh,
and in black.

Love/hate Thursday

Love: When we pull out of the driveway, Iris waves and says, "Good-bye, home. See you laterrrr!"

Hate: Sometimes I still have zero idea what she's saying. I forgot that small people sometimes have full sentences and sometimes still sound like they're speaking in tongues.

Love: Some stressy things that are finally no longer stressy.

Hate: Not having any motivation to do things at work.

Love: I am working this evening, but took the afternoon off and not only did I do all of the laundry, but I also made Iris' purees for the week, followed-up on some phone calls, got my nails done, ate donuts and became thoroughly sucked into "You're Cut Off!"

Hate: People who are nincompoops.

Love: This image which I cut out and taped to a co-worker's computer.

Hate: I've had two headaches this week.


Love: This picture that T sent to me of Iris self-feeding and digging into mashed potatoes and gravy.

What are you loving and hating?