Friday Favorites

FAVORITE SITE
What is your Wu-Tang name? Mine is Violent Toilet Thing. John's is Inscrutable Drama Queen. Ha! "Use it wisely, soldier."

FAVORITE TASTE
As part of a church-wide fast, John and I have decided to do the Daniel Fast for the next few weeks. It's essentially a vegan diet with the further restrictions of no yeast and nothing to drink other than water. I have been loving the Trader Joe's Harvest Grains for protein.

30 SECONDS OF EXPRESSION

When we found out we were having a girl we splurged on a fun onesie. Since Lucy turned one month old this week, I figured it would be a good time to get her in her onesie and do a 30 second photo shoot. I hope Lucy is a good storyteller. And so her story begins...

Thought-Provoking Thursday

OBESITY: ALWAYS A BIG TOPIC

Anything public health related will always strike my interest. When it comes to the obesity epidemic, there is no lack of news. Everyday research articles and stories abound on the topic. This week, the NPR story about obesity ads put out by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta caught my attention.
Are these ads on point or too in-your-face?

Check out this super intense ad from Australia.

MOVING OTHERS OUT TO MOVE IN?

John and I are considering buying a house. I know that buying a house for some folks is a natural step and exciting - it is exciting - but it can also be intimidating and scary. The area where we are looking at houses is an area that used to be a place you would most likely not venture into, but now it is up-and-coming. Something that weighs on me when we are considering houses is my opinion about gentrification. I have lived in gentrified areas, and I have seen the pros and cons of gentrification in multiple cities. I love seeing old buildings restored and spaces used in unique ways, but is gentrification really good? I still don't know exactly what I think or how I feel about the gentrification process.

UNNECESSARY OR NECESSARY SWEETNESS?

I am skeptical about flavored apples. Would you buy these for children?



What has been thought-provoking for you this week?

Day Trip

I took the kids on a day trip to see their grandmother and two great-grandmothers today. There is something chaotic that happens when women in their 80s and babies come together. It must be the magnetic pulls of the opposite ends of the life spectrum that make things so crazy. Elderly women love babies and they love to get loud around babies. One of the most intriguing things to me is the things elderly women say, both to me and my children. When Lucy first met her great-grandmother Olga, she was propped on Olga's lap received 20 minutes of life advice. John and I eavesdropped on Olga's lessons to Lucy and heard these pearls of wisdom:

"Become a dancer before being great in sports. You will be great at both, though."

"Don't let anyone ever take advantage of you."

"Wear shorts and shirts, but know that it's okay to get dressed up once in a while."

"You can choose any color to be your favorite (after she listed a variety of colors); just be sure to pick one."

When I got to the house today Granny Olga was getting ready to head out for lunch with her two gal pals, both also over the age of 80. The trio has a weekly date of going to lunch and browsing through whichever stores they fancy. I imagine the lunch conversation being pretty entertaining, even though when I really think about it I can't imagine what they actually talk about. It can be a feisty group, so the topic of conversation could be almost anything.

Today one of Olga's friends took the liberty of grabbing my stomach. I was caught so off guard. She is in her 80s, so I guess she has the right? The dialogue leading up to the stomach grab went like this: "Oh, Shannen, the last time I saw you, you were bulging out pregnant. It must feel nice to have your body back to normal {stomach grab}. . . Well, at least closer to normal than it was."

Few things are more awkward than having an 80 year old woman grab your post baby stomach and confirm that things are not exactly normal in that region anymore.

Burgeoning Book Club About Burgeoning Life

One of my teacher friends - one of the best teachers in Metro Atlanta, in fact - mentioned to me that one of her students is reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. If I was to create a list of pre-adolescent/early adolescent must-read books, Are You there God? It's Me, Margaret would definitely make the list. In college one of my friends and I decided to re-read this classic to see if it had longevity. Unfortunately, my discipline in reading did not have longevity, so I did not get through this coming of age tale. Well, the opportunity has come again to revisit one of Judy Blume's top hits. I have decided to start a blog book club. Motherlode does a blog book club, so hey, I will too.

Tuesday, January 24, will be the first post about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. From there, there will be a book post and discussion every Tuesday until the discussion dies down. I am thinking there will also be some guest posts to spice up the conversation. This will be a test-run of the book club.

Who's in?

Take a look at the many covers of this cult classic.

Out and About

I am going to add a gift idea to my unofficial gift guide for new parents that I posted a couple of weeks ago. Since Lucy was born we have had many offers by friends to babysit the kids for an evening. It has been so great to have a date night each week. The few hours John and I get alone each week have been priceless. This past weekend we went to one of our favorite burger stops, Clocked, and then allowed ourselves to be over-charged for frozen yogurt and one of the many fro-yo stores in town. While we were out on the town we saw a sign that one of our favorite bands, The Head and The Heart, will be coming to Athens in March! If our friends had not graciously offered to watch the kids we probably would not know about the concert. The gift of a night out is probably one of my favorite gifts of all time. 

My handsome date. 

We tend to go for over-priced, yet simple desserts. These "famous" milkshakes set us back $13. 

After dinner we stopped in a thrift store. I found this original sweater from the '70s, a rare jewel. I am interpreting it as a praying mantis fighting a turkey. I am still debating whether or not I should get this. 

Late Night Hashtags

I just discovered The Late Night Hashtags segment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The commentary and the Twitter names crack me up. I can't help but wonder what sort of ridiculous things I am going to say to my children. Enjoy the #momquotes!

Friday Favorites

Here are the sights and sounds from this week that have made me smile and filled my life.

Favorite Sounds
~ BABY! Grayson is beyond obsessed with his new sister, Lucy Faye. We have practiced saying Lucy, Faye, and sister, but the only name that has stuck is "Bayyy-beeee!" This is by far Grayson's most frequently spoken word. It's the first thing he says in the morning, and the last thing I hear at night is, "Buh bye, Bayyy-beee."

~ BURRRP. I feel a big sense of accomplishment when I can get Lucy to let out some big burps.

~ HOORAY! One of Grayson's favorite expressions is, "Hooray!", except he says it as, "Beret!" Grayson is very expressive and has incorporated an excited hand wave to his exclamation.

Favorite Sights
In the past couple of weeks I have learned that everything that is wonderful and exciting about having one child is exponentially increased by having another child. There is such a special place in my heart for staring at my children.

Every morning Grayson runs to see his sister. Every morning Lucy is still asleep when Grayson bursts into the room. All Grayson wants to do is lie down next to Lucy, hug her, kiss her. I took these photos this morning with my phone. I want to get some clearer pictures of them together soon. 

Trying to wake up Lucy. 

 This does something extra special for my heart. When I first saw this photo I had flashes of dance parties when Lucy is older. 

 This will be framed. 

 Grayson won and Lucy woke up. 

 I like to pretend that Lucy is aware enough to know what she is doing and she is purposefully being goofy with Grayson. 

Every kiss Grayson gives Lucy includes a loud, "smooooch!" and lots of spit. Lucy's hair is always matted down with Grayson slobber, remnants of love. 

Happy weekend!