Fine, all right, I'll do some grats. Because I'm feeling ungrateful about my nursing grizzly bear who takes 1.5 hrs to fall asleep, and because I completed the epic journey from my house in TX to my parents' house in WI today and just need to focus on the good, little things, instead of all the things that made today hard.

1. watching my 20 month old take off running when we finally got out of the car, into the still wet from rain, still lightly drizzling early evening light of the acreage of my parents' luscious back yard.

2. this honey vodka from my parents' liquor cabinet tastes divine

3. my 4 yr old fell asleep before her brother

4. 20 month old was pleased as punch to pee like a big boy in the gas station potty (well as much a big boy as you can be when mommy is holding you business-side tilted over the toilet) It was like pouring water from a watering can!

5. the little joys of cheap wrapped presents doled out to children over the course of a long flight and equally long car ride

6. leaving a love note for dh (who is not on vacation with us) on top of the coffee machine where he'll find it tonight

7. getting 3 weeks to relax and explore

Since when did nursing start to feel more like enabling? Somehow over the past few months, nursing the now 20 month old has become more of a battle of wills, more physically challenging, and less enjoyable. I vaguely remember hitting this mark in the late teen months with the first child. She was weaned by 2.25. This little monkey seems more addicted to it than the previous one. With the first one, it was all so sweet and peaceful. She loved it, gently and tenderly. But my son seems more like he's addicted to it. He clambers up and kind of roughly pulls my shirt down or up, often screeching loudly in the process. Then he does somersaults, hangs off of me, does cartwheels, walks and kicks his feet up the wall, kicks me in the neck... you get the picture. I'm having strong urges to wean, yet this would be totally disastrous to him and the only sense of relative calm he enjoys throughout the day. Sigh. I know I can't deny him now. But by 2 I will surely start to cut him off. I'm definitely not made for nursing the 2-3 year old. That's as far as I'm willing to go. That is all... just wanted to whine a little about my commitment

What kinds of snacks do you all keep around for your partner? I'm so sick of the whining, "there's no food in the house!" when I've got a half full pantry and a fridge full of possibilities. So to dh baby carrots dipped in almond butter, or baked spinach nuggets do not make a good snack. Some things that he likes: ritz crackers with Cheeze Whiz, string cheese, jalapeno poppers, cashews. Think of this as a challenge to come up with snacks for a large toddler, lol. Are there any appetizers, think classic American, not necessarily healthy, that I could premake and keep in some refrigerated tupperware? Thanks for your help,

Create and post your own Obamicon, mamas!

Hooray momentous day!

My local kids clothing resale store just sent out this message:

BREAKING NEWS:

We are SAFE!! The CPSC has just announced new clarification regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

I know there's been a shoutout for this before, but I didn't have my store up yet. I got some stuff going just before the holidays; two of my favorite necklaces that I made that never sold and the two silk screen designs that we make that people in Austin just cannot seem to get enough of; The Godchild and Give Peas a Chance. Can we have one more roundup of mamas with Etsy stores here? Please post your links.
new EtsyNameSpace.Mini(6143551, 'shop','thumbnail',1,4).renderIframe();

They are 1 and 4 now! I'm going to start working full time in January, but still need to find a job and childcare. I'm still in a band and lovin it. Mini update, I know, but I'm pumping and it's too hard to type.

I haven't posted in forever, but I was just telling someone how I've been "on" here for over 4 years and I got nostalgic. I don't have a big diatribe on one single subject, but for anyone wondering what's up with moi

1. been going to co-op preschool with 9 month old R and 3 y. 10m M, and we love this new source of mama, toddler, and baby friends. The nicest group of parents with relatively the same parenting goals as me. We'll do this for at least another year, if not two. meets Tuesdays for class and Thursdays for field trip

http://www.thebirthsurvey.com
If you have a moment, let your voice be heard about your birth experience. These people are very thorough in their questioning, it's a great project whose aim is to improve the birthing experience for mothers.

Okay, I made it 4 weeks, technically. But today I have 3 birthday parties and I didn't want to avoid cake that many times in a row. I've been really active lately, but I was shocked to discover yesterday morning that my total weight loss for the past 4 weeks is 10 lbs. That's like 2-3 lbs a week. It really inspires me to keep the diet going just as it is. However, I know I need to put a few key things back in: bread & probably mayo for sandwiches, an occasional sugar treat, cereals, butter for my mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.