reality.

For all you glowing, happy, new mom's, with your little babies tucked nicely and quietly in their baby bjorn's while you browse peacefully through shops, eat your uninterrupted lunch, and gab on your cell phone without a care in the world...here's what you have to look forward to. So ha.

we celebrated like rockstars.

A few weeks ago was our 6 year anniversary...and we got after it. Ry surprised me with a hotel in the big city, and I'll tell you what, we couldn't get rid of Hadley quick enough. I'm pretty sure we dropped her off at Nana & Pa's without even saying 'hello or goodbye'...just a drop kick from the car. We made the most of every single minute of our much beloved free time. Started at Pike Place Brewery, after a nice little buzz, walked around Pike Place Market, hit up the original Starbucks, then up to Pacific Place, did some shopping, then back to the hotel, freshened up, back down to Pike Street for some cocktails at Cutters, then dinner at Etta's, walked some more, hit up The Brooklyn for another drink, then went to Kell's...too crowded, tried the Owl & Thistle, realized we were much too old for these co-ed bars we once inhabited, so we did something wild, we went to the Can-Can burlesque show at Pike Place Market...there we could sit, park our walkers, drink, be entertained, and just enjoy each other. And did we ever. After that, we headed back 'home', and my wild husband wasn't finished just yet, so he went down the way to the W hotel for another drink...by himself. And the next morning...well, we spent that hungover...much like every Sunday during the first few years of our marriage...before Hadley. And we both decided, life together at 30, it's way more fun.

Enormous.

She's totally a giant. Completely skipped 3 Toddler, and headed right into 4 Toddler...say what?! Probably could wear a 5T. Probably could be in the Guinness Book. God, maybe we could be making some money off of this little circus freak.

oh baby.

This gal loves nothing more than babies...nothing, I tell you. So for christmas she got babies galore...and her favorite of all favorites is her bathtub baby. Hads is a phenomnenal mama to her little bean. She makes sure to warn baby before she washes her hair as to not get soap in her eyes, she pats her baby & tells her 'it's okay, the tubby is just warm not hot', and best of all, she smothers her baby in lotion after the bath. Oh it's all so familiar. And of course, she was thrilled when she and her baby were 'matchers' in their towels.

And in this photo...I'm thinking she is practicing her best 'sorry officer, I know I left my baby in the tub unsupervised, but I swear, I thought she'd cry if she was drowning...and i promise, I've only had 5 gin & tonics' face.

it gets no better.

Obsessed with babies, obsessed with Nana...both held captive in her room...Hadley's dream come true.

oh snap.

Here are some 'oh snaps' we've heard from Hadley lately:

As I walked downstairs to a very quiet Hadley...

Me: "Hadley, who made this mess?"

Hadley: "Ummm, maybe Rudy?"

Me: "Hadley Jane, you better start cleaning."

Hads: "Oh Snap, let me get my broom."

AND

While she was watching Handy Manny, Mr. Loparts (the town klutz) fell down and Hads looks at us and says:

"Oh snap Mama, Mr. Loparts fell again."

AND

Getting her breakfast the other morning she, of course, requested Lucky Charms and when I went to get them I noticed we were all out. So I said:

"Sorry Hads, looks like they are all gone."

And she looks at Rudy and says:

"Oh Snap Rudes, Daddy ate all our Lucky Charms."

best buds.

Someone is going to have to set a bad example, whom better than these two?

a little mother/daughter bonding.

On Saturday, Hadley I headed to Alderwood Mall. We had a limited time frame, the stress of finding the perfect outfit for a date night with my man, and both of us probably had a combined blood sugar of 63. One of those stressors alone is a recipe for disaster...all of them together...a tsunami. We get to Nordstrom's and Hadley promises me if she has chocolate milk she will sit in her stroller while mom shops. I, stupidly, bit. She drank her milk in 9.2 seconds (she is well on her way to becoming a legend at her Mama's Alma mater, frat boys won't know what hit them). And now that she's finished her milk she wants nothing to do with her stroller and looks at me like 'you were so very silly to think I would actually sit here quietly while you shop...did you just meet me lady?' So, in a race against time and a two year old, I am frantically trying to find something that will knock my husband's socks off and also trying to control my child, who wants nothing more than to strip the mannequins, jump on the couch's, and unfold all the perfectly folded clothing. After countless threats, I throw in the towel, and just buy everything in sight for the sake of getting my child out of there alive (because I'm close to lodging her shoe lace in the escalator). As we are heading out, Hadley decides she wants me to carry her to the car. Fat chance, as I have two full shopping bags, a stroller to push, and Baby Huey is pushing close to 40 lbs. So what does she do...well what she does when I always say no of course, throws herself to the ground. But, it's not like we're still in the warm shopping mall where I can just shove her under a rack of clothes, no, she is right, smack dab, outside the Nordy's entrance making cement angels as her body convolts at the mere audacity that I would say no to her...of all people. So I try to get her up, she becomes a paraplegic, I tug her arm (I learned nothing from my poor sister in law), I threaten her through clenched teeth, I squeeze her arm...hard. And then I remember that I am totally in public, and at any moment, someone that knows us could be witnessing all of this award winning parenting (Sarah K, I was thinking of you). So instead of stooping to her level, I just walk away, quite certain she won't be stolen. And as I'm crossing the street, I realize I am, in fact, crossing the street, and a street means cars, and cars hit small children, and that's not a good way to start off the new year. Plus, at that point in time, I wouldn't have been able to come up with one nice thing to say during her eulogy. So I take 10 deep breaths, recross the street, wrap her in my arms, tell her I love her, ask if she wants me to find her mind because I'm quite certain she lost it, that doesn't make her laugh, so I tell her that boys smell like poop, she laughs, this breaks her of her convulsions, we're friends again, she's exhausted, she looks at her now filthy clothes because she's been writhing on the wet cement for what seemed like 6 hours...and says to me "Oh no Mama, I all dirty. We better go inside and get me some new clothes right now before Dada sees." Well played Miss Jane, well played. I've done far worse for some new threads.

six years.

I'd totally drink the fat for you.

I don't know how babe, but you just get better & better.

xoxo

good minder.

We were getting ready for the day (something I loathe because it basically takes 7 million years...she has to do EVERYTHING herself) and I told her :"Hads, I'm not in the mood today. You go ahead and get yourself dressed and head downstairs when you are ready...I'll have Handy Manny and your Lucky Charms waiting. But I want you dressed from your head to your toes miss before you come down those stairs." She took me quite literally. And as you can see, was quite proud of herself.

songs of '09...yo.

i totally forgot i did this last year...so now it's a tradition.

Check out this post if you forgot the rules.

Here they are...in no particular order:

MEG'S MIX-TAPE 2009

1. Say Hey--Michael Franti & Spearhead

2. Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)--Jay-Z

3. Breathe in Breathe out--Mat Kearney

4. Blindsided--Bon Iver

5. Poker Face--Lady GaGa

6. The Great Escape--Patrick Watson

7. F*ck You--Lily Allen

8. Rock & Roll--Eric Hutchinson

9. All is Love--Karen O & the Kids

10. Heartless--Kanye West

11. Mr. Jones--Counting Crows

12. Thanks & Praise--G. Love feat. Jasper

13. Hide & Seek--Imogen Heap

14. Everybody Got Their Something--Nikka Costa

15. You and Me--Dave Matthews Band

16. Grace--Kate Havnevik

17. Chasing Cars (acoustic live version)--Snow Patrol

18. Closer to Love--Mat Kearney

19. Black Betty--RamJam

Wow, really hard to only pick 19! Mat Kearney & Bon Iver you really knocked my socks off in '09...definitely the most played guys on my iPod...hands down.

lessons learned.

20 things I learned in 2009...

1. that two year old's listen to everything you say...everything...so watch your mouth.

2. that speeding through a yellow light will most likely end up in you getting pulled over and getting a ticket. This lesson I got to learn twice.

3. that you can be madly in love with a child you never even got to hold.

4. that Tiger Woods is a total whore.

5. that nothing good ever comes out of fireball whiskey, almond tequila, and/or drinking on a sunday night...yes, it took me 30 years to figure this out.

6. that we are never, ever, moving to Seattle. ever.

7. that our parents can't just 'fix' everything like they used to when we were young...and that's a hard pill to swallow...for both parties.

8. that the best kind of neighbor is one that keeps a tidy yard.

9. that you can't change people, so just get over it and move on.

10. that Hadley thinks Ryan is without a doubt the handiest man alive (but we all know that's a crock).

11. that actions speak louder than words...much, much louder.

12. that I spend a shitload of money on iTunes (Ryan was kind enough to point this out to me).

13. that the only way out is through.

14. that family and friends are truly all you ever need to be happy...and some skinny jeans.

15. that reciting 'staying alive' while doing chest compressions is the perfect cadence for doing them correctly.

16. that you should always do sober what you say you will drunk...this will teach you to keep your mouth shut (I just said I've learned this...not that I've perfected it).

17. that dogs will always throw up...on your carpet...in the middle of the night.

18. that buying expensive lotion is 100% worth it.

19. that you should always wear sexy underwear...start the day off feeling good about yourself.

and the most important take home message for us last year was (drumroll please...it's a deep one):

20. that, plainly and simply, shit is going to happen, and there's nothing you can do to stop it or change it. It's going to happen, and so you just deal with it, and then you keep doing what you were doing. You don't forget about it, it doesn't go away, it's just there, and you persevere.

Happy 2010...just be happy. It's amazing how much we can take that for granted.
xoxo

2010 y'all.

We kind of enjoyed ourselves. And yes, that is my father on my husband's lap...liquor makes you do the strangest things.

christmas eve.

The night before the 'big show'.

merry, merry it was.

Oh Christmas...we must have been really good this year.

Rats. Is it really over?