May 25, 2013

Turtle and her cousin having fun while waiting for Turtle's first "professional" haircut.

Post-haircut....see that traumatized look. Yup, it was that bad. She has marks on her legs from the seat belt digging into her legs as she tried to escape. 

May 24, 2013

Quick stop at Costco for dinner. Can't beat dinner for three for $7.50!

May 23, 2013

Came home to this cool sky. 

May 22, 2013

A group at work is juicing and these were there supplies for the day. It wasn't too bad but the ginger (not shown) was too strong for me. The day that the fruit outweighed the veggies was the best juice. Surprise, surprise.

May 21, 2013

Sculpture in Fremont Park in the beautiful morning sun. There are two sculptures and both are really cool so I'm sure they will show up here again.

May 20, 2013

Turtle started to fall asleep during dinner so we moved her to the couch and she insisted on taking her cheese with her. This was the result.

May 19, 2013

 Got out the track Auntie Bev sent for Turtle. She loved moving the track around for her trains.

May 18, 2013

My niece swimming the 50 free. I only swam in high school so I was not prepared for the craziness of the getting all of those youngsters where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. All of the kids were running around with their events and info written on their arm in sharpie. Quite a system!

May 17, 2013

Robot cow at the TEDx Sacramento event. http://tedxsacramento.com/ The robot is the vision of Graham Ryland who got into robots to get kids interested in the sciences. Very cool!

May 16, 2013

Turtle and I caught a later train so it was empty and I got to play around taking some photos.

I forgot to mention my new logo yesterday. I am really excited about how it turned out. An Etsy find, of course. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/malinaarts) I am playing with the idea of getting back into taking photos for some $$. I didn't like the event photography I did years ago but maybe child/family sessions are what I would enjoy. We'll see. Got logo, will take pics. :-)

May 15, 2013

Turtle is a teenagers already!!! She ran in, grabbed a bag of veggie sticks out of the closet, and flopped down on the couch. Oh goodness.

May 14, 2013

Today was my first non-family photoshoot I've done in years. Luckily it was for good friends so I wasn't too nervous. These girls were so much fun. I love the look on big cousin's face at GC's crying. Two babies and a 2-year-old! A fun way to get back in the game.

May 13, 2013

They finally bloomed!! So pretty!

May 12, 2013

Turtle playing games on my "thone" in her I'm a wee bit Irish t-shirt. So cute (except for the snot tracks on her face...ugh!).

May 11, 2013

Mother's Day Eve homemade ice cream sundaes. Yummy!!!! Hubby is the best!

May 10, 2013

Turtle playing with the huge puppy at Costco. Friday family fun. :-)

May 9, 2013

State building on my way to catch the train.

May 8, 2013

Turtle playing in the backyard after school.

May 7, 2013

You have no idea how excited I am about these tomatoes.

May 6, 2013

Peace Officer Memorial 

May 5, 2013

Beautiful GC. Turtle and I got to go to a meet n greet for this little love today. It took Turtle a little bit to warm up to the new group of people but after she did, she had a wonderful time. She even made it into the bounce house for some "jumping!" So proud of my big girl.

May 4, 2013

Turtle wearing Dada's shoes. She thought she was very funny and kept trying to dance in the shoes.

And some thoughts....
These days I don't get the "How are you?" question, instead I get asked "How's the baby?" My typical answer is "getting so big" complete with a sad face. Boring but true. Well kind of true because my Turtle is only 2 1/2 and not really that big but, you know, it gives me something to say besides "she threw up her dinner last night" or "she got mad at me because I wouldn't let her have a cookie before dinner."

Last week I got the question from a former male co-worker and I gave my typical answer including sad face but it didn't end there. He told me his son is now in college but when the son was younger my co-worker used the phrase "you only go this way once" to remind himself to enjoy every moment and to not waste time being mad or by getting upset over little things. Then he told me to enjoy every moment because time goes fast when raising children and you don't want to miss anything. All I could think of the whole time he was talking was a post by my favorite blogger/writer/mother/warrior, Glennon. Her post Don't Carpe Diem is one of my favorites. Check it out at http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/.

I love she admits she cannot enjoy every moment. I agree, you just can't. As a parent there is no way to enjoy every moment. Maybe once the "raising" is over, parents forget that fact but it makes it tough on those of us with little ones and strong guilt impulses. I try to be the most honest I can be with couples considering adding children to their lives. It sucks. It really does. I love being a mom and I love my baby with the fierceness of a mama bear but it does suck. I haven't gotten to watch a show besides Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the last year. I feel like I haven't had a good night’s sleep since my second trimester.

My favorite part of Glennon's post is the idea of remembering and living in single moments, which she calls Kairos. When Turtle says "Bless you, mommy" instead of thank you or she runs over asking for hugs, those are the moments I want to live in and feel and remember. I know by next year I will forget the frustrations of this year but I will not forget her smile when I walk into daycare. This is one reason I am riding the train into work every day. Turtle LOVES the train and we have a great time as long as I remember her sippy cup and snacks. Years from now I won't remember having to carry all of her "stuff" but I will remember the way her face lit up at the site of the train coming around the corner or the way she leaned back against me like there was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be.

I feel one reason new parents struggle is because of this belief that parenting is a constant amazing experience. It is not! It is the occasional moments that make parenting worth the hard times.

Please, next time you are talking to a new parent, don't tell them to love every minute of their child's life because it only adds another layer of stress but, instead, tell them there will be moments along the way that make it worth the vomit filled laundry.

May 3, 2013

Riding the train home. 

I know the weather will make riding the train inconvenient some days but the time Turtle and I get to spend just sitting and talking and cuddling will always make the effort worth it. Even when I touched the pee puddle someone left on the seat. Ack!!

May 2, 2013

Turtle's clean-up of the sugar packets. At least she did the clean-up...one step at a time.

May 1, 2013

May 1 rally at the Capitol. 

April 30, 2013

First strawberries of the season. Yummmmy! 

Turtle had to stay home from daycare today so we got some mama and me time. We went to Costco and she was so excited when she saw the strawberries. I didn't even know she likes strawberries. Yay! We also played in the backyard and ran through the water. It really renewed my wish to be able to stay home with her. If only we didn't need to eat, like cable or our cell phones, or if I was one of those "I hate to shop" women it might work but for now I just have to enjoy our weekends and few hours in the evenings. 

April 29, 2013

Waiting for lightrail in the morning. I'm not liking the warmer weather but it is nice to not freeze waiting in the morning.

April 28, 2013

Dada and Turtle at the kids park in Golden Gate Park. Turtle wasn't happy with us because we woke her up from a nap to go to the park. Sorrrrrrrry!

April 27, 2013

On our way to SF and the much cooler weather! aaahhhh