Grandfather's memories

Today is the anniversary of my grandfather's passing (my mother's father). I was lucky to have met all 4 of my grandparents and even 1 great grandmother. My grandfather was kind of crazy even before the Alzheimer's set in. He was always goofy with us kids, singing silly little rhymes (that were probably inappropriate for kids to hear - "I love to go swimming with bold-legged women and dive between their legs"), making jokes and funny faces. He was ALWAYS in a good mood even when he knew that something wasn't right about himself and he was deteriorating before our eyes. I never saw him angry and he never raised his voice. He played solitaire everyday and cheated most of the time but would never cop to it. We thought it was so funny.
He was in the Army, the Navy, he was in 2 wars, he was a firefighter, a security guard, a baseball coach, he never danced, he wasn't all that handy around the house, he would talk to anybody and everybody he ever met, he always washed the dishes for my grandmother, and he took the best care of her he knew how. He was one of 16 children, had 5 children of his own, had 14 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren. He loved loved LOVED kids and they all loved him. Kids (and animals) were drawn to him. He could sit in his LazyBoy rocker chair with a baby all day long. He never got tired of playing with us kids either. He took us everywhere with him and in the car, he let us put in our latest tapes that I know he didn't want to hear again for the 800th time.

Over the years, he'd had more than 7 heart attacks, 2 strokes, and he had Alzheimers. He would tell us the same story over and over but each time he told it with the same affection and passion as he did just 5 minutes before. He couldn't remember who we were or where he was or how to do this or that (although sometimes I think he faked not knowing how to do things he didn't want to do or not remembering something he didn't care to remember - this made me giggle and I'm sure that's why he did it). He would get frustrated by things that should come so easy to him but wouldn't come at all anymore. Through all the trips to the hospital and the stay in the nursing home the thing I carry with me most is that he never lost his smile, he never lost his spunk, and he never lost that sparkle about him that made him who he was. My only regret is that he wasn't able to meet my son before he moved on. I know he would have loved it and my son would have benefitted from it. He was my Pap. He was everybody's Pap.

Milestones and frustrations

BabyGolightly is slightly over 7 months now. In the past month or so so much has changed. He can now sit up unassisted for super long periods of time, he's crawling, he's pulling up and can stand in place for a couple seconds, and he can take a few steps behind his push toy. Of course he eats like a champ and he's long long long. He babbles on and on and on Dadadadadadaaaaaaaad. Still no Mama. = ( He's sleeping better, only getting up once maybe twice a night. He's overall the best baby ever. Our only problem - he will not sit still to get his diaper changed, get his clothes put on, put his coat on, or get strapped into his car seat - at all. It's a battle where we both come out pretty exhausted and battered by the time it's been accomplished. He's bawling and sweating and screaming and I'm about to do all those things myself. From what I hear this isn't a phase that will pass anytime soon. So, if you see a naked baby on the streets of North Beach, that's my son. Just say hi and remember to wave because we're trying to teach that to him now.

Happy Half Year Birthday!

To BabyGolightly...he is 6 months today. It really seems like yesterday he was still making my belly massive, making it impossible to sleep, impossible to walk, sit, stand, on and on. (He's still making it impossible to sleep & my belly is still bigger than it was before I got pregnant) At 6 months, he has one tooth sticking up from his bottom gums. The 2nd tooth - right beside it - is breaking thru, he can roll over from front to back and back to front, he stands with support for what seems like hours on end, he loves to jump in his jumper thing, he loves to run circles in his walker thing, he eats about 45 ounces of formula a day (we go thru a can of powdered formula ever 4 to 5 days) he eats 3 servings of cereal, fruit and/or vegetables a day, he loves to take a bath and has figured out it's cool to splash in the water and get Mommy all wet, he loves to go out anywhere but especially for walks outside. He loves flirting with all the ladies by flashing his big smile and showing that 1 dimple, he's a drooling machine and will put basically anything that doesn't run away from him in his mouth, he's wearing 18 month old size clothes, size 3 diapers (but we're stretching that, it's time to move up to 4), he's just started banging on his highchair tray, he laughs and laughs until he gets the hiccups, he still squeals when he's excited, he lets out a constant AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH when riding in the car (I guess that's to listen to how the bumps affect the sound), he wakes up in the morning and starts to talking - Dadaaaaddddaaadadeeedeee (I keep trying to encourage ummmmMommaaaa) and has figured out his voice can go from high to low and back again and fancies himself a pretty good singer. He loves it when Mommy dances around like a fool and he's the only person on the face of the Earth that actually enjoys Mommy's singing. He's a good boy, hardly ever a problem except on those few days recently that his teeth are really bothering him. We've been blessed with such a beautiful little piece of heaven but I can't believe how big he's getting, how fast he's growing, and how quickly the time if flying by.

Just sing the damn song!!!!!

If anyone saw the Cowboys/Eagles game last night and was punished enough to catch the National Anthem, please tell me why they can't just sing the damn song!!!!! Why do these performers (not all but a lot of them) insist on adding all these runs - drawing out a 2 syllable word in a song to like 8 or 50 syllables? The only person that has done this successfully (albeit still annoying) is Christina Aguilera. Mariah Carey does this too and it grates my nerves. This poor little girl who thought that's what singers are supposed to do, failed miserably while singing at the game last night. She did so bad, I was cringing, feeling sorry for her, and the fans booed her off the field. = ( I wish performers would just sing the song the way it was supposed be sung and be done with it. Anyway, it felt bad for the chick, but maybe it taught her something and she'll just stick to the script next time.

I was thinking.....

If you were literally starving, would it be better to eat dirt or eat nothing? Now discuss....

Back from our trip to Texas

BabyGolightly and I went to Texas last Friday to visit my parents, my sister, and her newborn little girl. It was a great trip - too short, as always. For his first plane ride, BabyGolightly did exceptionally well - as everybody told us. He was all the rave at the airport, on the plane, in baggage claim, in the parking garage - everywhere he went, everyone was in love. He did great on take off and landing even with the change in cabin pressure, his little ears were fine. He slept thru most all of the flights except the last one where he got a little restless. Luckily there was a little boy across the aisle that kept making faxed at him, keeping him entertained. I had to change his diaper and clothes in the airplane bathroom which is not easy with a squirming 20 pound bundle of energy on your hands but we got it done. Of course he flirted with a few of the flight attendants which got us an offer to move up to first class - he's already learned how to use his good looks, I'm going to have to watch that. A lady in the airport even took his picture. We met up with my Mom, sister, her boyfriend/fiance'/cohabitant/babby daddy/one day to be husband/whatever you call him, and my new little niece at the airport, got the bags, and headed to the roaring town of Lytle. My Dad came home a little while later and we all just hung out. My niece is wonderful - so small. I can't believe mine was ever that little but he was. My sister is feeling the exhaustion of having a newborn and trying to recover from a C-section (I remember how that feels and glad I'm used to it by now) so she's a little miserable but it was still good to see her. We didn't get to hang out and act goofy like we always do and I missed that but it's ok, we'll be able to do that about 18 years from now when our kids are grown.

It was a great time, I wish we could have stayed longer. By the end BabyGolightly and I were both so exhausted and we conked out as soon as we laid down for a nap yesterday. MrGolightly was glad to have us back - he really missed his little boy and today's his birthday so what better gift than to get his son back in his arms.

7 hours

7 hours seems like such a long time when you're talking about some things but not long enough when it comes to others. 7 hours is an extremely long time when it comes to the parent of a newborn baby sleeping during the night. BabyGolightly slept 8 hours straight last night which meant I got to sleep 7 hours straight. I went to bet at 10:30 and when he woke up at 5:30 to be fed, I looked at the clock and was stunned. I was sure this couldn't be the first time he got up during the night so I inspected the room for half empty bottles - evidence that he'd been up at least once already. There weren't any, just the 2 mixed bottles of formula powder I'd left on the night stand before going to sleep. Shit, I can't believe he slept that long. And Holy shit I can't belive I slept that long. That's the longest night of sleep I've gotten since he's been born. You have to count 7 hours on two hands. We'll see if it parlays into tonight. Somehow, I'm not holding my breath.

Ikea is the United Nations

We went to Ikea over the weekend, had to get a lamp to replace the one I broke in BabyGolightly's nursery Friday night. It was Sunday afternoon so I expected it would be crowded but holy crap was it CROWDED! Despite the crowds I love this place. I walked in the door and found these little plastic bowls that would be great for BabyGolightly's cereal for $0.99 each! Where else can you find a deal that good? So we went to checkout after picking up not 1 lamp to replace the broken one, but 3 lamps - MrGolightly and I still needed lamps for our bedside tables, some tealight candles, and a rug for the kitchen. Standing in line I saw in one of those big bins with stuff in them trying to entice you as you're camping out waiting your turn to get to the register. What was in those bins? Why a set of 6 plastic bowls for $1.99. So where can you find a deal better than a plastic bowl for $0.99 each - why in the same store, in the checkout line. So I discreetly threw my 2 $0.99 bowls in the bin and picked up the pack of 6. I was so happy with my little purchase.

On to why I call Ikea the United Nations. This is the only place I've been to where you can walk thru the aisles and hear 845 different languages and see people from ALL over the world. I'm hearing Spanish, French, German, Swedish (of course), Russian, Asian languages, African languages, tons of other European languages and I'm thinking to myself where did all of these people come from. Like seriously, what countries are they all from? (That kind of thing interests me. Where are they from and what brought them here and do they like it and so on) Anyway I know that people get bussed into Ikea (because there's a huge parking lot outside full of tour buses with out of state plates) and people come from out of town, state, and country just to go there (because there's like 4 hotels in the same parking lot). I always wonder to myself - if this person came here from say Bulgaria, how on earth are they going to get all this Ikea stuff back home? I would have never thought of doing all this shopping and still having to get all this stuff back home - in another country. It blows my mind!

Bottom line - I love Ikea! I could go there even if my house was fully decorated, furnished, and full to the brim and still walk around the showroom, the marketplace, and go up and down every aisle in the store just because it's that cool!

I'm an Aunt!!!!!!

My sister's baby was born yesterday at 12:43pm, McKinzy Nicole was 9lb 7oz and 19in. My sister and the baby are both doing great and I can't wait to see them in exactly 3 weeks.

Wednesday's walk thru town

BabyGolightly and I headed to the post office on foot this past Wednesday. It was a pretty good hike and when we got home both he and I were really red and sweatty but it was fun for us both. I really think he enjoyed sitting in his stoller without the carseat attached because he could face forward and see where we were going. I love our town so much, there's so much to see and do even if it's just going for a walk. We passed tons of cute little shops and of course the beach and the boardwalk. Here's some photos of what we saw along the way.

10lb 13oz!!!!!

That's the estimated weight of SisterGolightly's baby. She's not born yet but based on the ultrasound yesterday, she's estimated off the charts. Sister is scheduled for some more tests on Monday and will possibly schedule a C-section then. I knew she'd complete with me - I got pregnant, she got pregnant - I had a 9lb 14oz baby, she's gotta have a 10lb baby. That's how we've always been. One thing I'm glad I lost - I gained 50lbs with mine, she's already gained 60lbs. Yahoo she can have that one!

Being a good spouse - Tip #2

For all you guys out there. Just a little tip - if you want to be a good spouse to your wonderful wife who has recently carried around for 9 (almost 10) months then given birth to your child - DO NOT blame your wife's bad mood on post partum depression and think you're going to get away with it! Your wife is probably in a bad mood because she's exhausted from working a full time job, taking care of a new house, and caring for a newborn baby. Not to mention you're probably driving her crazy........Sorry, had to rant and vent a little bit. Husbands, ugh!!!!
MrGolightly and I have had our share of troubles lately especially with the stress of a new baby, a new house, and all the responsibility (mainly financial) that comes with both. Throw in all those Murphys that move into your spare bedroom (that's what my Dad says about Murphy's law - if you have a spare bedroom, Murphy's gonna move right in) and life's been real tense recently. Now I must admit that I have been extra moody lately but it has nothing to do with the baby, the house, or post partum depression or even PMS for that matter - it all has to do with MrGolightly. Of course that option would never cross his mind. To him:
Bitchy wife + just had a baby= PPD. Just a thought men, if your wife is bitchy would it kill you to try to care for her and maybe get to the bottom of it?

Being a good spouse - Tip #1

Want to be a good spouse? Just a tip - if you are at home especially with children and especially if those children are newborn babies, if your spouse is out of the house at work, shopping, fulfilling community service requirements, or whataver - ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE! You know how your Mom used to say, "I didn't know where you were, you could be dead in a ditch somewhere..." Well if I was dead in a ditch somewhere and I'm needed to call you for some help, it would be nice if you could answer the phone. If I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere, I may just be calling to check to see how things are going. You are afterall, currently at home in the care, custody, and control of my first born child who, if you haven't noticed, I'm really fond of and have a great concern for. So to summarize - want to be a good spouse - just answer the phone if your significant other calls you. And if you can't answer right away, give 'em a call back soon as you can. Thanks.
(This public service announcement brought to you by the Be a Good Spouse Network - you may now return to your regular programming)

BabyGolightly's new measurements

BabyGolightly had his 4 month doctor appointment yesterday. It was originally scheduled at 9:30am but on the way to the office driving MrGolightly's stupid truck, that damn thing broke down in the middle of a really busy intersection. Left me and BabyGolightly on the side of the road until two nice gentlemen came by and helped us get on our way. We got the truck back home and went later to the doctor. All in all it was a pretty crappy day and I loathe that stupid stupid truck. Anyway - BabyGolightly is weighing in at 19lb 2oz and is 27.5 inches long. He's in the 97th percentile for both height and weight and is all over healthy. Once again, doctor confirmed we've got a giant on our hands.

My new diet

I decided I'd try a new diet to lose these last 6 pant sizes of pregnancy weight. I've been doing it for 4 days now and it's been rough but I'm trying to hang in there (only cheated once - so far). My new diet consits of only drinking water and decaf iced tea (sweet tea of course). I've cut out all sodas and juices. That's it. That's my miracle diet and I expect it to help me lose like 30 pounds in 30 days. I know it's ridiculous to think that it's going to work but dieting is FREAKING HARD!!!! I so feel for all those people that have had to watch what they eat their entire lives (or longer than 1 meal for that matter). This is the first time ever in my life I've had to try to lose weight by dieting and/or exercising. How do people do this as a part of their lifestyle? I know I'm a whiner and it's completely ass crazy for me to be complaining about this and I should just have more will power and motivation. I have plenty of motivation by the way - I should be motivated by the entire closet full of size 4 and size 6 clothes that I have that don't fit my size 12 thass (that's thighs and ass). If I could only fit into those clothes, I could stop rotating the 4 pair of pants and 1 dress that currently fit me along with wearing mostly long sleeves and sweaters in the middle of summer. My motivation is to fit into those clothes but my will power is slim to none when it comes to denying myself food and drink. The stretchmarks and completely new and foreign shape to my boobs weren't enough to remind me of my pregnancy? Ugh, well - I'm off to drink my cup of coffee (oh yeah - part of my new diet allows me one cup of coffee - with flavored creamer per day, but this cup is getting pretty cold so I might have to top it off...just to warm it up).

All out laugh

I got an all out belly rumbling laugh from BabyGolightly yesterday evening. That was his first real hard laugh. It was the most awesome sound ever and it cracked me up to hear him laugh so hard. Bad part - he got the hiccups and was pretty cranky thereafter.

I LOVE this camera!!!!!

So after having BabyGolightly I decided I needed to break down and buy a digital camera. We had a camcorder that took photos but because there's no flash, they always come out dark and grainy. I spent the $100 or so at Walmart, got the Kodak Easyshare and I love love love it! I specially love the KodakGallery website where I can crop and edit the photos with special effects. It makes this photo taking idiot seem like a real photographer. So - without further ado, here are some of my fav photos....

4th of July BBQ review

Our 4th of July BBQ went off great. All in all, we had about 30 guests and had a ton of food. We're still eating leftovers as of last night even after sending guests home with plates. By the end of the night I was so so exhausted and BabyGolightly was extremely cranky because everybody was still there past his bedtime. The last guest left around 11pm and clean-up wasn't so bad. We staying in the house trying to rest up the Saturday and Sunday after (skipped church - shame on us). I think both MrGolightly and I are glad we had the party and would do it again but MrGolightly says we're not having another one anytime soon - unless it's a grown-up party, no kids.

I'm posting a picture of my little sparkler. We went to the boardwalk Thursday night for the fireworks show which was wonderful. BabyGolightly loved seeing the fireworks and wasn't scared by the sound at all (I was afraid the loud boom would scare him).

Love these baby socks

Just got these little socks for BabyGolightly yesterday. They're so cute, love them! I'll post photos of him wearing them later. I may be a little biased but I think he's the handsomest, most sylish baby ever.

4th of July BBQ, so excited!!!!

Our 4th of July BBQ is next weekend, I'm so excited!!!! Since we've been in our new house, I love having people over. Half because it's just fun - half because I love to show off our house. I'm still completely in love with it. Even the 3 flights of stairs haven't gotten on my nerves yet.

Fireworks are set for Thursday night over the bay and I can't wait for that either. This will be BabyGolightly's first 4th of July. I got him a cute little outfit and everything. One irky thing though is hardly nobody has RSVP'd to our invite. Lots of people have viewed the online invitation but noone except 3 guests have responded. Am I the only one that gets totally peeved by this? As soon as I get an invite, I figure out if I can make it and respond. How hard is that? Ack - anyway just a little vent. I don't know if we're only going to have 8 people or 80 but we'll see....

I wish I would have never heard that story

My Mom told me a story yesterday about one of her students' sons. My Mom said he was such a sweet, smart, boy. He's been into the school to visit a few times and really attached himself to my Mom. She said he was always so well behaved and happy. When his Mom picked him up from daycare last Friday, she noticed a few bruises but the daycare told her they were already there when she brought him in. All throughout the weekend he seemed to be ok except he was a little tired. Sunday evening he had a seizure and they took him to the hospital. After examination, the doctor found that the baby had bruising around his neck, a skull fracture, and swelling in his brain. He's basically a vegetable now and won't ever be the same. The Mom, the Mom's live-in boyfriend, and the daycare are all under investigation for child abuse. The Mom and her boyfriend were arrested and aren't allowed to see the baby w/o supervision. The doctors say based upon the size of the bruising and the damages to the baby's skull, an adult had their hands around the baby's neck and were banging the baby's head against some hard surface. I've always felt children were so innocent and pure and any abuse towards them is wrong on every level, but now being a Mom myself of such an innocent, beautiful, pure angel - I fell it all the more. Hearing that story brought tears to my eyes and I wish my Mom hadn't told me about it. It's so painful to think of this baby being hurt in such a way that he will never be the same and I can't begin to understand what would bring a person to do such a thing. I can only pray that the person that did this will feel such guilt and be haunted by it the rest of their days. I also pray that the Mom isn't responsible and that she'll be exhonerated. It makes me all the more grateful that my son doesn't have to go to a daycare center and makes me want to hug him and kiss him a thousand times over.

I was thinking.....

Sometimes these stupid little thoughts come into my mind and I just can't let them go. I was laying in bed last night watching the news, feeding BabyGolightly and it hit me out of nowhere - If a set of twin sisters marry a set of twin brothers, would their children look exactly alike too? I mean the twin sisters have the same DNA and so do the brothers and if the sisters look exactly alike and the brothers look exactly alike that would mean that both couples' children would have parents that look exactly alike, so would they look exactly alike too? Someone please give me some answer to this so I can let it go.

Baby shots round 2

Baby Golightly had his 2nd round of shots yesterday. We split them up because of the things we've heard about them possibly causing Autism and I'm so glad we did. If he got all those shots in one day, that would have been 4 shots and 1 oral injection! I can't imagine how he would have handled that. He's a pretty tough cookie. He cried for just a second when the doctor put the needles in his thighs but as soon as the needles were removed, he started laughing. The rest of the day was pretty rough - no sleep from 1p.m. until 9p.m. That makes for a really tired, cranky baby. He was up quite a bit last night too not really wanting to eat, just grouchy and I feel so bad for him. This morning though, he was happy, smiling, laughing, and so much better. That little guy just makes my world.

Brand new blogger!

Welcome to my brand new blog!!!!! I haven't ever really tried my hand at this but I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up and keep posting. I love reading other people's blogs and I can only hope I have enough intersting things to say to keep it going.



Anyhoo - we had terrible terrible storms in the area yesterday. We faired out ok at our house but there were 14 North Beach homes damaged, 5 are completely uninhabitable. Neighboring Chesapeake Beach had a roof torn off a restaurant and some homes damaged. There were lights out everywhere, trees down, and tons of traffic. I'm grateful we didn't get any wind or rain damage to our house and SweetBaby and I got home alright and MrHusband got home not too long after. Today most things seem to be back on track - it's sunny and bright and the drive in to work wasn't so bad - no street lights out at all.