Help, help, HELP!!!

This little girl is killing us! Don't let the sweet face fool you. She is being a stinker.

She has decided recently that going to bed is for the weak. I take that back. She has decided that sleep in general is for the weak. She has dropped down to one nap a day. On occasion she'll throw a second pity nap in for us, but usually just the one nap. And if it were a good nap, okay, but it's usually about an hour. Not nearly long enough.

And now she's decided to completely ignore all bedtime rules. We have had the same routine for months and months. We have dinner, play a bit, tub, stories, snuggles and bed. Well, all of that is the same except when it gets to the snuggles and bed part. Now she will snuggle and sort of pretend to go to sleep, but as soon as she thinks we're headed for the crib...bad news.

She grabs on like a spider monkey and starts howling. She absolutely refuses to go down. It is heartbreaking. We know she needs the sleep, we know she's tired, but still a huge fight to go to bed. It's only been in the last week or so, but it feels like forever! The interwebs said it's the 55 week development spurt, but I don't know...

Please help! I can't stand her crying and getting so upset before bed. Suggestions, thoughts, high proof alcohol to share?

Flashback Friday {Who Are They?!}

I usually do TRDC writing prompts on Friday, but man, I just can't make my brain...you know...do that thing it does...think? So I'm going to join up with Christopher and Tia's Friday Flashback for the first time. I've seen it around for awhile and love getting these glimpses into people's past. It feeds my nosey-ness :)

You see those kids? Those babies? If you guessed it is Husband and I from a million years ago you'd be right. This was taken in a photo booth in a tiny mall (affectionately called the small) near my college within a few months of us getting together. So I'd say somewhere towards the end of 1997, maybe November...
Don't recognize us? Hang on...let me add Husband's crazy beard and some gray hair for us both. Okay, lots of gray hair.

Better? Yeah, I bet that helped. Heh. And that little heart in the bottom corner you ask? Well Husband and I were walking into the room we had booked for our honeymoon for the first time and something right outside the door catches his eye. He bends down and it's this little confetti heart. We have no idea where it came from, and never found another one, but it's been with us ever since.

You can click on either picture to enlarge. If you want to see much younger us in that much detail. Okay maybe you don't want to click...

That was fun...thanks Christopher and Tia for such a great linky!

Hooray! Free Stuff for 3 Winners!

So continuing the Grand Opening Week of Home Made Happy we're going to give away some free stuff! Who doesn't love free stuff...who I ask you?!

We'll have 3 winners. Yup...3!! HOORAY!

First Place = $50 HMH Store Credit
Second Place = $30 HMH Store Credit
Third Place = $15 HMH Store Credit

Okay so there are LOTS of ways to enter:

1. MANDATORY! Become a public follower of Unofficial Mom. (1 entry)
Sample comment: I follow UM.

2. Go to Home Made Happy and tell me what you'd pick if you win. (1 entry)
Sample comment: I'd get one of each product (heh).

3. Add the Unofficial Mom Button to your blog. (1 entry)
Sample comment: I added the UM button at blahblahblah.blogspot.com

4. Add the Home Made Happy Button to your blog. (1 entry)
Sample comment: I added the HMH button at blahblahblah.blogspot.com

a href="http://www.homemade-happy.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Home Made Happy" src="http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx63/sdenison/HomeMadeHappy%20Elements/HMHbutton-1copy.png"/></a>

5. Blog, Facebook, Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link. ( 1 entry each)
Sample comment: I blogged about this giveaway at blahblahblah.blogspot.com

And don't forget to leave your email so I can get in touch if you win!!

Good Luck!!!

Giveaway ends Thursday, February 3rd at 11:59 pm (Eastern). Winner will be announced Friday, February 4th.

Wordy Wednesday {A Year Later}

January 25, 2010 at 5:00 pm was huge for us. In this state there is a ten day period after an adoption, during which the bio parents can change their minds and regain custody of the child. No questions asked. The way they figure out the days is an odd system, but the big thing is that the tenth day must be on a business day.

It was the longest ten days of our lives. On the tenth day we sat staring at the phone, waiting for the call. 4:45, no call. We just need to wait. 4:47 still no call. More waiting. 4:52, 4:53 no call. 4:55:07, 4:55:28 no call. We were a ridiculous mess. It was 5:01 when we found out that all was good. We called Pie's Bio Mom and she had basically forgotten about the deadline. She had been at the library and had gotten absorbed in whatever she was doing. While we spent ten days (well actually 13 days) on pins and needles, she had gone about her life. She had made the decision and it had been final. There was no need for the waiting period as far as she was concerned. That was so reassuring to me.

This picture was taken about 5:15. There was crying, squeezes, champagne, hoorays, kisses and more crying.
And this picture was taken last night (January 25, 2011) one year later, at about the same time. Oh how things change in a year. This time instead of tears of joy, there's simply joy. This time instead of shock and awe, there is only awe.

Okay, so now I'm crying. What a sap! I am so madly in love with my family. And I am so lucky. So, so lucky.

Good News, Everyone!

Bonus cool points for anyone who thought of Professor Farnsworth after reading that title.

After months of crazy hard work by me, Husband, and the fantastic Laura Jane of Call Me Laura Jane and Laura Jane Designs (who also designed this blog) I'm beyond happy and excited to announce the grand opening of my very own store!

Home Made Happy is the result of lots of encouragement and a desperate need to find a creative outlet. I really hope you guys will take a second and look around. Everything was made by hand and with lots of love!

Later this week there may be some free stuff up for grabs :D

Party Overload

So this is Part 1 of the birthday recap. The post of a million pictures.

I think I mentioned that we did a Winter One-derland theme, so lots of ice blue, silver and white. And it started with the invite that I put together in photoshop. The real version looked a little better spacing-wise, but the blog edit throws it off some.

And there were lots and lots of decorations and goodies around.


The birthday girl made her grand entrance all dressed up, in a shirt Middle Sister had made for her (thanks sisso!) She originally had on some black, high-top chucks too, but those got ditched early on for easier running around.


And then presents...

And then cookies and cake. All made by Kristin at Kuppy Kakes by Kristin. They were gorgeous AND delicious. What more could you ask for?! The little cookie pops (so cute) on Pie's smash cake spelled her name. And were the perfect size for her!

And here's a good shot of the highchair banner I made for the party.
And now...she's ONE!

TRDC - Talk the Talk

This week's assignment:
Hemingway was famous for his super sparse writing. He used almost only dialogue in many of his works. Write a piece in which you use ONLY dialogue.

The Result:

"Uhhh! They're finally asleep," Mary sighed as she flopped onto the couch. "I swear Henry would have had a gallon of water if I'd let him. He kept swearing he was still thirsty. And Mags wanted to read every book she owns."

"Deep breaths, love. Deep breaths. This margarita should help too." Dan said as he joined her on the couch.

"Oh I knew there was a reason I loved you. What are we watching?"

"I don't think there's anything on, and nothing new on DVR. I guess let's check the On-Demand stuff."

"What channel does that start on?"

"I think 400 or maybe 450."

"Oh!" Mary said in surprise, "Hello adult content. Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Nooooo. But since we're here, let's just take a look."

"Well, Busty Booty Bus 2 looks like a real winner."

"We can't watch that one." Dan said quite seriously.

"Why not?"

"Because we didn't see the original Busty Booty Bus. So we won't know any of the backstory, or how the characters made the decision to ride the Busty Booty Bus. Or why the experience was so good that they felt compelled to ride it again."

"Good point," Mary said, "I mean, how could we possibly follow along. And, of course, there's the bigger issue of how involved the bus driver gets. I'm guessing he just occasionally glances in the mirror otherwise they'd never get anywhere...if you will."

"Maybe it's like a tour situation where there are pre-planned stops where the driver can get involved with the bustiness."

"Or the booty-ness depending on his preference."

"Of course. Maybe both if he's feeling frisky. But I think the the more interesting question is whether or not Busty Booty Bus is the name of the bus line, or if it's like a certain tour that Greyhound offers."

"Clearly there are too many uncertainties for us to get involved with this movie. How about we watch Shrek Forever After instead."

"Yeah, that's...that's just as good."

*Blogger is being a total jerk and completely ignoring my formatting. So please excuse the non-paragraph paragraphs.

Pie + Cake = Awesome

*Pictures by Maura Roberts Photography and Waring Studios

PYHO: Struggling

I work. I have to work. I know I've talked about it before, but lately...lately it's gotten worse. I leave the house and work, 5 days a week. 5 full work days. Add to that my nearly 2 hour round-trip commute and I'm gone for the majority of Pie's day. If I'm lucky I get home for dinner, a little play and bed. But, god forbid, I have to stop on my way home and do anything crazy like get gas or run into the store, then I get home in time for bed. It sucks. Hard.

As Pie gets older, it is getting even harder. When she was a baby, I missed her and she was mostly a lump-o-baby. Now I miss her, and she misses me back (sometimes). She wants me (sometimes). She knows I'm gone and she's not happy about it. And depending on how unhappy she is about it, she punishes me. She wants to make sure I know she doesn't like it. Believe me baby, I don't like it either.

At this age she is changing so much, learning so much. And I'm missing it. I missing it for a job that I'm not passionate about. But I am missing it to keep a roof over her head. It's a necessary evil, but that doesn't make it hurt less. I don't know how many more days I can cry in the car, the bathroom, my office because my heart breaks every single time I have to leave her.

Phone it in

Still struggling to catch up after the whirlwind of Christmas and Pie's birthday, so I'm going to do this book meme I came across...

“They had a son, John, in the traditional manner, and they thought their family held just about a full hand when they heard about a bright fourteen-year-old girl named Beatrice who had passed through group and foster homes and was currently bedeviling a nice older foster mother in Jackson, Georgia, who didn't quite know what to do with her.”

in Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other (In Praise of Adoption) by Scott Simon


And here are the directions:
1) Grab the nearest book.
2) Open it to page 56.
3) Find the fifth sentence.
4) Post the text of the sentence along with these instructions.
5) Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

A Quick Preview

Pie's birthday party was yesterday and I'm beat! So here's a quick look to hold you over.

Her AMAZING smash cake, as well as the cupcakes and cookies, are from Kuppy Kakes by Kristin. So yummy!! She has a bunch of great pictures of all the tasty treats she made for Pie. Check it out. So great!

And as a bonus, I actually got to meet Kristin!! Her adorable husband joked, "wow you bloggy people really do exist." We do and it was so fun to meet in real life. I just wish we'd had time to hang out a bit.

More on the party later, but it was a blast!

TRDC - Pantry Raid

The Assingment:
What's in your pantry?

No. Really. What's in there?

For this week's prompt, grab something out of your pantry and write a short piece - using all the words in the ingredients. It can be fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose.

No fair choosing a bottle of Aquafina or a potato.

The Result:
Tara was really nervous about her date on Saturday night. She had so much to do to get ready. In the middle of winter she was as pale as it got. She was Casper, snow, enriched bleached flour. Should she get a spray tan? Could she pull it off? Ummm, no. She really should just accept that she would never be tan, naturally or otherwise.

She also needed to get her eyebrows done, get some new lip gloss and figure out what to wear. More importantly, she needed to stop obsessing about who her date was. It was, dare she admit it, a blind date. Beyond that, all that she knew was that he was outdoorsy, over 6 feet tall, employed, never married, no kids and southern. If the rest was true, she could forgive the southern part.

He was late. Strike one. Tara had been sitting at the restaurant for 15 minutes already, nervously devouring bread sticks. She knew it was a bad choice. She could feel them leavening, softening, her ass as she shoved one after another into her mouth. But she couldn't seem to stop. Carbs were her friends in times of need. No matter how good the bread sticks were, this dude had 5 more minutes and then she was gone.

Just as she was gathering her things and giving the bread sticks one last, longing look, he approached. Outdoorsy, check. Over 6 feet, check. So far, this was pretty good. Well, other than the whole almost 20 minutes late part. She would give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for his explanation on that one.

And then he spoke. "Tay-ruh? Is that you?" Startled, Tara reached to shake his hand. "Nuh-uh honey, we say hello with a little sugar." He must have noticed the confusion on her face. "Sugar...glucose...dextrose? Darlin' I mean a kiss." Strike two. Though she didn't pull away, Tara certainly wasn't a willing participant in the "sugar" giving.

He sat down and begin trying some small talk, half of which Tara missed completely because his accent was so thick. And that's when things went south. If you will. He picked up the menu and a metallic glint caught Tara's eye. It was a wedding ring. At least it was a plain, gold band on his left, ring finger.

He noticed Tara looking at it and said, "Oh right, mah wife and me are on a little break. It's cool though. She's cool with me being out." Strike three. Thankfully the waiter chose that moment to appear and ask what they'd like to drink. Tara couldn't get her order out fast enough. "Lots and lots of tequila, and don't forget the limes and salt."

**********

Here's my pantry item...beer bread mix. Yum.

I am beyond honored...

Production, Not Reproduction is an amazing blog. It is so many things, not least of all an unbelievable source of support and information for people involved in open adoption. For all the people involved, first families, adoptive families and the adoptees themselves.

PNR has started a series of open adoption interviews and I happen to be the first one. Crazy, right? So if you have a second go check it out, then stick around and check out the rest of PNR. I promise you won't be sorry!

Pie Turns 1!!!

My Darling Girl,

Today is your first birthday. It's also the anniversary of when Dada and I finally met you. We had seen you from afar before, but had never gotten too close.

Thinking about that day still makes my tummy drop. Your birthmom allowed me to be in the room when you were born. Seeing a baby born is the most amazing experience. Seeing your daughter be born is something without words. I took about a million pictures and then ran down the hall to get Dada.
There was some shuffling around and lots more picture taking and then the three of us were taken to our own room. There was a moment after the nurses had left when it was just you, me and Dada. He and I looked at each other over your sleeping, swaddled body and I had never felt so much love. Love for Dada, love for you, love for the family that had been created.

At that moment I thought it wouldn't be possible for me to love you more. But sweet girl? I do. I love you more than I thought was possible. Every single day you do something to amaze, entertain and enrapture me. You are the greatest thing ever.

On your first birthday, you have 5 teeth and 3 more trying to poke through, around 10 solid words, with a few more thrown in every once in awhile for fun. You run every where you go. You clap, give high fives, give squeezes (hugs) and kisses, make the okay sign, pat the beat of music playing on your legs or tummy, dance to everything, wave bye-bye, fake laugh, cough and sneeze and holy cow do you make your Dada and I laugh.

You are the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful girl inside and out that I have ever had the honor of knowing. I am the luckiest girl in the world that I get to be your mama.I love you sweet Pie. Happy birthday.

xoxoxo,

Mama

Holy Cow...I still live in GA right?

We are snowed in people! It keeps snowing and snowing...check it out!!

Do you think she liked it?

Trying to eat it? What a shock!
Show that snow those teeth baby! Make sure it knows whose boss!

My internet is a little spotty with the storm, but I'll try to be around. Hope you're all staying warm and toasty!!