Theme Thursday

So I'm going to be a copy-cat and follow Colleen to do this theme... also because I have THE CUTEST Picture of Mary Margaret.

She is a really smiley baby, but even more so now... mostly because we called off the #poopwatch right before this picture. 

It's the little things people...

Here is Cari with the best!

Wordless Wednesday

OK, just a few words...

Poppa George (my dad) and I

Anna Drake Dunkum (Kinda Cousin) and I with my mommy

You know this one...

Father- In -Law seems to have the same fashion sense

Weekend Warrior

I should start out by saying Charlie started (re-started?) his blog and took the hop to get himself a domain name... so if you have a few, maybe, just maybe, would you? 

This weekend was really nice, went by much too quickly and had lots of ups and downs... that were mostly nap related.

I will start by saying Mary Margaret sleeps SO much better at most of her weekday care-taker's houses. And if the stars align and I cross my eyes for 20 minutes... she will take a good 2 hour nap at our house. But it is. SO. RARE!

This is the face I get...

"I'm not going to sleep mom"

Aside from not napping, we went to a new mom's play-date where we had wine with breakfast (took my feast day early, thank you) and then went to have coffee with our dear friend Meredith, who look her lickings well..

Nope, not hungry at all...

Sunday was the first weekend day in.... I don't know how long that we didn't have any real plans... so of course I filled the day with random and spur of the moment plans that could be ill- advised. We took in a rambunctious also non-napping 2 year old for a few days (wait, was it only hours? Oh, just one hour?)

Just Kidding Marina..

Like a glove

She was a good reminder as to what a toddler and a 4 month old would be like together, and it involved a lot more patience than I expected.

We also go tires and went to Costco... but all of that is pretty boring.

So, I hope everyone is as happy as I am that it's Monday. Not

Ohh on a final note, Charlie is beach bound this weekend, so if anyone wants to come over an have a slumber party with the non-napping crowd, let me know.

Until Then...

7 Quick Takes

-1-

As I type, Charlie is taking the Volkwagon (wagon) into the shop to finally get the needed repairs on it. There were a laundry list of them needed one (apparently) being a new tire. perfect. Hopefully we can finally get it inspected... I know, great parenting... driving our daughter around in a car not inspected. We like to live on the edge here at the McCants house.

-2-

I'm really kinda jumping on the cloth diaper bandwagon! I mean if you mean using the small number (5) of pocket cloth diaper combos we received as a gift, and only when we're at the house, jumping on... then yes! We Are!!  I'm not expecting the people MM stays with during the day to want to deal with all that keeping the dirty diapers around their house waiting for me (not that she poops all that often ~ once a week now) to pick them up. But it's fun (?) and we did have a HUGE poop in one of them and we survived .. and it's completely clean again AND the diaper kept it all contained!!! YAY!!

I'm actually considering buying a few more. Anyone know how many I would need to last a few days?

-3-

Charlie and I watched as many episodes of Minor Revisions as are on YouTube! I saw Jennifer tweet out that the other episodes were "live" while I was putting MM to sleep, and I couldn't wait to watch them, in a row, without leaving the couch...

-4-

I know everyone loves when I post YouTube clips... so here is another one. There are a few things I can't attest to... like having to join a book club to drink wine, I seem to do that fine as is... but almost everything else is pretty spot on.

-5-

I know I shouldn't mention it, because it's bound to jinx things, but my fabulous little girl went down SO easy last night, like barely a peep... and then.... SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT I thought my gift was the easy bedtime, but the sleeping cherry on top was a whole night of sleep. Bless you sweet child.

-6-

See, I feel really fancy that I could get that writing on sweet girl's picture up there. I took advice from Clan Donaldson and used PicMonkey to edit my pictures. There are a lot of options, and since we don't have the fancy Photoshop that many people do, this will have to work. I have really no idea what I would do with Photoshop because I don't know how to do anything with the overlays and all that stuff. 

-7-

Like many Fridays here in middle North Carolina, we were expected to get some "wintery weather" this morning. So, like good southerns, schools had a 3 hour delay. There was nothing, ok... some rain if you count that as something. But other than that... nothing but lame 'ole grey skys and a slight chill in the air. Blah

Ok, go see Jen with a few more...

Wordless Wednesday

I'm thinking this lady says it all anyway

Catholic Woman's Almanac

Not that I'm a true "Catholic Woman"

We'll just say "Catholic Family" Almanac 


::Moments of Gratitude -- Thankful for my husband, who is quick to get up to rock Mary Margaret back to sleep at 3am, who will get up to get me a glass of water when I am certainly able bodied (I really just don't wanna see the mouse), and who will send me sweet texts through out the day even when I'm bad at sending them to him.

::Pondering  -- Why Mary Margaret got up at 5 am this morning and wanted to play until 7 am and then crash hard... Also, why MM hasn't done a #2 in close to a week.

::Praying  -- For our friend in the Hospital, for friends having babies, for friends going to PhD interviews. 

::Cooking  --  Nothing, we had pick up Whole Foods salad/ hot bar last night and I have no idea what's for dinner tonight.

::Wearing  -- It's going to rain today, so I broke the "Dress down Friday" rule and took it again today. Target Jeggings, Old Steve Madden boots, Target v-neck faux wrap shirt, Target Cardi with a-many stains on it.

::Creating  -- A department-wide newsletter for work. Obviously working hard on it.

::Going  -- to 3 weddings this year... that I can DRINK AT!! We went to 3 last year, but I was pregnant and more pregnant for all of them. This year I will be able to fully enjoy the events!

::Reading -- Well I'm supposed to be reading my book for Social Marketing class, but that rarely happens...

::Memorizing  --  The words to this parody of the Thrift Shop song.

::Listening to  --  Foo Fighters Radio on Pandora

::Wandering Around the Web  -- To keep myself from eating lunch at 11:00 am.. That's not too early right?  

::Liturgical Living  --  Giving up meat, booze, and a few other things for lent... Charlie gave up 40 books from his ever expanding library as part of his Lenten offerings!!. Hallelujah!!  

::Around the House  --  Honestly, nothing is getting done. Maybe a little laundry now and then. Ohh and I am suspect we have another little friend in our kitchen = me constantly freaking out.

::Looking Ahead  -- We are looking forward to Charlie possibly getting more responsibility at the school where he's teaching. Ohh and a little thing called GRADUATION!!! Please and thank you.   

::A Glimpse

Getting ready in the morning wore her out

Please take a trip over to Suscipio and visit the other daybooking ladies!

7 Quick Takes

Once again the fab, Jen is hosting...

-1-

After reading this post, seeing that stellar mug and being the nosy person I am, I watched the first episode of Minor Revisions, and then nagged Charlie all week to watch it too. Because we are living easy breezy lives and can watch online shows instead of doing school work in the evenings... The show is wonderful and should be on prime time, because I am desperate to watch more episodes...

-2-

There were a few Valentine's miracles that happened yesterday. One being that Mary Margaret only go up once the whole night and went down surprisingly well... I'm sure it will not happen to night while Charlie and I are on our date night. Two being that I finished my weekly assignment for school and didn't feel like a complete fool upon turning it in. Three is three is that our very sweet friend Danielle and Carson welcomed their sweet little girl Ella Jane almost 2 week early at a hefty 8 pounds and 21 inches long!

AHH this makes me want another newborn.... also, I am insane.

-3-

In reference to the previous "take", Charlie and I are going out on a date night to a fancy schmancy French inspired restaurant for a post-MM-in bed dinner. He and I have already scoured the menu to decide what we're having. And since we gave up meat and booze for lent, we can spend that cash on good food. Boo for no booze, Yay for more yummy food.  

-4-

This. Is. Amazing. As Catchy as the Original, only better

-5-

Go watch that video again it's so freaking catchy

-6-

I can't think of anything to put here... Umm yea, nothing is coming

-7-

I had at least 7 mini cupcakes yesterday... well maybe not that many, but the combo of all the sugar I had this week would add up to at least 7 mini cupcakes... Also, I had a hot chocolate and espresso on Monday with Aunt Callie (She's the one in the blue, the other is her equally as wonderful mother) and it was INCREDIBLE! I was SO hyper from the high caffeine and sugar... ahh it was like being buzzed, but not...with the 'shine 

OK, here are some much more impressive quicks 

St. Valentine's Day

Happy St. Valentine's Day love birds!

We are doing little to nothing for the big day (well Gran is coming in tonight so she can be on monitor watch tomorrow night while we have a very late post-MM-bedtime date... Thanks G)

And Charlie was sweet enough to tell me Happy Valentine's Day while he was brushing his teeth this morning. That's Love.

But his real gift was rocking MM to sleep after she woke up 3 times in a 20 minute time frame at 11:30pm while letting me get to bed. 

Now that REALLY is love.

I thought I would share a little love with a Family Profile today.

This is the Monroe Family

You have dad (Ty), Mom (Bethany), Malachi (Striped), Conley (Pirate Necklace), and Blaise (Straw Chomper).

The very first time I met this fab family of five (wow, alliteration) we were at a Catholic families dinner at Dr. Paul Griffith's house. I was instantly in deep conversation with Bethany about kids, and family, and living in Durham (they had just moved here few months before from Maine). I held Blaise for no less than 2 hours and let him chew and slobber on my watch for the entire time, not to mention playing with the other two boys. They liked Charlie and I so much, they asked if we could come over and play the next day. And the love began.

The parents are the groundwork of this family, so let's cover them:

Ty is hyper-smart and completing his Master in Theological Studies at Duke Divinity (just like Charlie) and has an interview at Notre Dame at the end of February for the PhD program, he is also looking forward to more opportunities at other faraway and cold locals... which we are not thrilled about. We tried our darnest to get him to stay in Durham so we could play more, but that was not in the cards.  Boo. Charlie and Ty have grown to become very good friends very quickly. They have long theological conversation that Bethany and I roll our eyes about, drink similar beer, and pretend to do school work together.

Bethany is so extremely sweet and wonderful. She has to have THE MOST patience with people. Have you seen how many boys she has? Come on, that means something... She is thoughtful, and creative, and puts up with way more than she probably should. Like me, she agreed to put everything on hold to become a poor graduate student's wife, but in a town that she didn't know, without any family close by, and only having 1 car for the whole family. Saint status there people. She is one of the best people EVER, and I wish to be more like her daily. She deals with all of the eccentricities that each child might have, all with at least a 1/2 smile on her face.

I say this to say that they are SO still in love with each other all of the time. I mean I have seen a few arguments between them (yes, we are that close) but you know there is still so much love and support between these two. The itty bitty house they live in (and have essentially completely re-done) is so full of excitement and love (and kids yelling to be honest) it makes you feel so happy! All of the restrictions, and breath-holding that this crazy family has had, these two have made it through with flying colors.

They take the time to talk to their kids about the feast days, how important different things are in the life of The Church, and how to be strong Christians and Catholics.

I don't know what else I can say about this amazing family.

Please pray for Ty and the family as they move forward on their journey to Doctoral programs!

Wordless Wednesday

What I Wore Sunday... Kinda

So I will repeatedly admit that I am really horrible at getting my picture before/after Mass...

I should get a tripod or something like you others out there, cheaters... :)

I did get this one as we were heading out for our first Wog in a while.

Glamourous...

MM was without childcare on Friday, so we went split our day, Charlie taking her in morning and I taking her into work with me. You could expect that very very little work was done while I was there.

99.9% of you won't understand what that means... but it's funny to us weird Clinical Trial people...

We then braved Pittsboro (like you know what that means) and had too much to drink thanks to heavy handed hosts (me not Charlie) and too much baby crying. Of course I had my first hangover since way way before baby... So, I now remember why I never drink that much. And I happened to stumble upon what one of the things I'm giving up for lint. Easy Peasy

I had been proactive this week and got a new recipe for the New Parents group that met today. I didn't even wait until the last minute and  found the Blondie recipe this is the thank I get...

Yes, I left them on the counter while we popped over to the neighbor's house for 10 minutes. Charlie came home and Buckley was on his back paws getting his last bites of the Blondies. Of course I had put a 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips and so we freaked out about him eating so much. Then called our vet, which is our default.

The whole family was way tired last night and all went to bed at 9 PM, it was wonderful... MM only got up once and then slept until 7:30 AM. I really think she has a little understanding of what the weekend is, she normally gets up at or before 6 AM.

Right now I'm watching The Grammys, and honestly I'm not a huge Rihanna fan (she's on right now), never have been, and I really wish Florence and The Machine had won for best album. Also I love Beyonce. 

Ok, that's done.  

Ohh yeaaaa! Mary Margaret had THE BEST Mass Behavior A++++++

She peeped once at the beginning, but we used the Paci and she lasted until right before  communion when we had to wake her up. She woke up all smiles and was making friends left and right of us. Hopefully this will last for a while. 

Pretty Please!! 

Stay at Home Tuesday!

Our Tuesday/ Thursday sitter, Molly has gone with her sweet little family to Oklahoma for a family wedding which left me with 2 days this weeks to fill with sitters. We have Danielle (who is about to pop with her second) for Thursday and no one to cover for Tuesday... what is a mom to do? Stay home and be a SAHM for a day.

I couldn't have been a better day for it too, because MM had a beyond horrible night of non-sleeping the night before. She woke up at 9:30, 10:15, 12:30, 3:15, 4:30 and finally was up for the day at 6:45. Each taking 45 minutes at a minimum to get her back to sleep. Doesn't had just sound wonderful? Well it sucked... and the last shift Charlie really just rocked her until they both fell asleep.  The real problem is that every time we put her down, she starts fighting and will grunt for as long as we'll let her.

So... she woke up happy as a clam this morning ready to play, like nothing was wrong.

We played/ fed for 90 minutes then back for a nap that was only 45 mins long in reality. For most of the time I was rocking myself to sleep with her looking at the underside of my chin, what a view. ... I then thought it might be helpful (for at least naps) if we went to get some black out shades for her room. Well when the time came I didn't have a measuring tape, what to use...

A pillow case with washable marker? Like a pro right?

This makes NO sense does it?

Ohh and I was not ashamed to go into Home Depot with the pillow case and have the nice man measure it for me.

I had a better picture of this, which included myself, but the bags under my eyes begged me not to show them. So you get just a picture of sweet girl. I will let you know my outfit consisted of a spit-up laden old Broughton High sweatshirt, Nike running shorts, a too big sports bra I'd worn to bed and a very holey Ziggy Marley shirt of Charlie's and running shoes with no socks. Nothing but the best for this SAHM

I was trying to blame the sleeping problems on the 4 month sleep regression, but that was de-bunked by Nancy. Which kinda pissed me off, but that hopefully means this mess will be short-lived.

When I was at Home Depot I will admit I was looking for more... um, harsh methods for de-mousing the house (yes, there is another in the ceiling...) and I found this. I shutter...

MM is desperately trying to become best friends with Buckley... always grabbing his paws and ears, Gently of course

He is becoming more and more interested in what's going on in her room... I think he's concerned that she is being such a pill to put to bed too.

OK I'm back to work now...ugh

A Veggie Tale

HA! I thought that was the most creative title EVER when I thought about writing this!!

Towards the end of 2012... yea, like 3 months ago... Charlie and I had the "brilliant" idea for us to go vegetarianism starting January 1. We had done the Vegetarian thing years ago after a quick and wonderful trip to Asheville, NC.

We don't mounds of meat on the reg, and honestly, I don't have the slightest idea how to cook a large piece of meat. I can make a chicken breast like a pro, but a steak or roast or whatever... no, not me.

We have had to become creative (and alternatively, not creative) with the meals we have for the week.

We have many many weeks of Dan Good Chili, pots of Lentil soup, No-Noodle All Vege Lasagna, many a Charlie-made veggie pizzas.

Also... Lots and Lots and Lots of eggs.

I get hyper boring resourceful with what I put into my eggy-veggie scrambles.

And I'll say in that same breath that we don't buy the Organic, Free-Range, Brown, I got them from my backyard kinda eggs... We get the plain white large cheap ones... Because we hate ourselves and love the hormones that those poor chickens were given to lay the 3 dozen we buy at a time? No because we're poor.

Anyways... if it turns out we shouldn't have been eating them and I grow a third nipple, that will make breast feeding that much easier.

I am lucky that I married someone who is a veggie liker(like-er because Lover would be a strong word) and is willing and usually encouraging as long as it doesn't involve olives, but he lovingly tolerates
* Pumpkin disguised as something else
* Cottage Cheese in the place of higher fat cheese
* Spinach and/or Broccoli in almost every meal
* Not frying anything

We do make the exception, when we go to someone's house who doesn't know we're not eating meat... and then we have a little (or a lot in Charlie's case) with the hopes that it doesn't ruin our stomachs for the rest fo the night. Last night was a great example, went to a Super Bowl party where we keep MM up WAY too late and it bit me, not Charlie of course, in the butt because she was a pill to get to bed.

Anywho, There was chili, and meatballs, and chicken wings, and buffalo chicken dip.... and we tried it all (somethings a little more than a little) and we're fine. No Harm, No Foul.

What was the point of this post? Not sure... I was sitting at my cube eating the Omelet that I demanded Charlie make me for lunch and thought about veggie tales... Which I love and can't WAIT to show MM one day, I think it will be more for me than her.

7 Quick Takes

-1-

So I joined Vine the other day, I'm really trying to get the hang of it, I didn't even really know about it until earlier this week. If I were at home with MM more, I would have a million more videos than I have now (which would be more than 1) but that is what the weekend is for, right? 

-2-

Speaking of, we have a pretty busy weekend planned so far. Tonight, Charlie is meeting some old teaching friends for the "Feast of Gluttony" at J. Betski's while I sit at home listening to the baby monitor and eating a Kashi frozen pizza (Mediterranean, if anyone cares). Guess who got the short straw for fun tonight!!

-3-

This is breaking news... Our whole house is sick. Including Mary Margaret... It is the saddest thing in the world to see your little baby sick. Cough, Flem, Sneeze... she's sleeping ok, a few hacking coughs I was lucky enough to here after her 2 am and 4 am wake ups... where IS my coffee....  I have been religiously taking her (ear entrance, not "other" exit) temperature to make sure to catch if it starts going up.  Just had a long texted discussion about RSV and we have determined she doesn't have it (yet).

-4-

More Breaking news... MM had THE cutest outfit yesterday. I figured if you're not feeling good, you might as well wear a cute outfit. I copied a twitter friend of mine who had her sweetness of a daughter dressed in it the other day. Tell me who doesn't feel good wearing jeggings? Not this baby!! 

-5-

I have a problem... I'm at work today, MM is in Raleigh (30 mins away) and I am about to run out of bag/bottles to pump into. I was a bonehead and forgot to get new ones before I left the house.

Here are my options:

1) go out at lunch #2 (having coffee with MM's Aunt Callie at 10:30, priorities) and get some bags

2) Not pump for very long, just enough for some relief

3) Empty the ziplock I have my carrots in and use that for the milk

It's going to be a game time decision I think.

-6-

This is just a really cute picture

About 4 seconds before she splashed too much and pissed herself off. Signaling the end of bath time.

-7-

I hope all of you ladies out there are wearing Red with your yoga pants (unless you actually put on real clothes when you're at home) or whatever you wear... because today is the beginning of Women's Heart Health Month and TODAY is National Wear Red day!

BONUS!

I was looking through my pictures and I found them gem... I can't believe I had a belly that big at one point. It seems like a million years ago!

Ohh, I'm supposed to be doing actual work today? I thought we had off because of more "Snow". Wishful thinking..