Sugar and Spice

Fair warning – this post may turn into a saccharine ode to my beloved and not-too-long-gone-and-not-at-all-lost hubby. Sadly, he hasn’t even been gone 24-hours and I’m already doing a tribute. It’s because I’ve been in quite the frenzy since he left, so much so that I double-checked myself in the car to make sure all the appropriate articles of clothing were on the proper parts of my body. Don’t get me wrong, I have always recognized what a good husband and daddy my Hubby is and I appreciate him to no end. But I never realized just how much the little things (like his presence) help me to keep my sanity. It all started yesterday. I picked Pumpkin up from school per usual. Nothing out of the ordinary there. We get home (to a clean home, no less – thank God for cleaning lady Wednesday). I let the dogs out and pour Pumpkin's evening milk cocktail. Again, typical M.O. The trash is sitting out by the door waiting for me to bring down to the big can on my way out again. No big deal – it’...

I had to laugh at myself this morning. Not that it’s anything new, laughing at myself, but this morning I had a good guffaw at my own expense. It was another one of those moments when I realized that I know nothing absolutely about this crazy roller coaster ride called motherhood. What made me laugh was nothing more than realizing, once again, for the umpteenth time this week, that Pumpkin is growing and learning at an amazing clip. It probably isn’t anything any different from any other child, but as my first (and, most importantly, as MINE) it’s downright amazing. Now, that isn’t the funny part. No, the funny part was my memory of a comment I made after Pumpkin learned to walk. I’m almost embarrassed to admit the somewhat-disappointed statement I made just moments after the exhilaration of her finally walking settled in. This is what I said: “I guess the second year isn’t nearly as exciting since she’s had all her firsts now.” Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha. HA! Okay, you can quit l...

After a most lovely weekend with Pumpkin, I was prepared to share with you some exciting news of Pumpkin’s brilliance and her depth of spirit. I was armed with the charming story of her learning where her nose was. That’s right, now you can ask and she can point to her nose, point to mommy’s nose, daddy’s nose, pop’s nose…you get the picture. I was also going to tell you a heartwarming tale about Pumpkin’s beautiful soul and how she finds the utter joy in the simplest of life’s pleasure. I was going to wax philosophic about my thoughts as I watched Pumpkin splash in a puddle for an hour this weekend, as happy as a lark. I was going to speculate on my own lack of appreciation for things like puddles, which I go out of my way to avoid. I’d wrap it up with yet another reminder by Pumpkin of not taking the little things for granted and then let you ooh and aah over a picture. That was what I was going to do. Then, last night, Pumpkin absolutely blew my mind. Seriously, blew my mind. N...

I owe all you Pumpkin fans a big apology for the inexcusable delay since my last post. While I acknowledge it was inexcusable, let me give you my excuses – since we last read about Pumpkin we’ve had Ganny come in for a visit, which coincided with 4th of July weekend, which was wonderful but ended with Pumpkin coming down with another ear infection and croup (in July!), which immediately preceded my brand new car going in the shop for unknown technical difficulties the day before our A/C went out. Having said all that, I humbly apologize one more time. There really is no excuse. It hasn’t all been tragedy and woe on the Pumpkin-front (as if there were any doubt about that). I know I sound like a broken record, but Pumpkin is constantly changing before my eyes and it never ceases to amaze me. She truly has left tiny babydom for toddling little girldom. We’ve come so far that we are even considering a first haircut and are in serious negotiations over the stripping of the paci. Sta...

We had a pretty uneventful, mundane weekend. I was reminded (as I so often am these days) of the one thing I learned from Professor Shelton’s first year property class (yes, I admit, I only learned one thing – it was long before I started practicing civil law that I forgot all about fee simple estates) – that wisdom that was imparted was that “boredom is underrated.” I now long for boredom and have come to appreciate it in ways that I could not have imagined before. So, with that in mind, when I say we had a mundane weekend, I meant that in the absolute best of ways. I truly have learned to savor most things about the mundane, from lying on the couch and watching movies, to eating grilled cheese and playing chase outside in the yard, I can waste away an afternoon with the best of them. Part of my appreciation for these things is that I know they end; therefore, I know I have sweet little time to enjoy them and must make the most of them. Unfortunately, there are other parts of the...

You all know I love writing about seeing the world anew through Pumpkin’s little eyes and having all of her little firsts – from butterflies to ice cream – reflected back to me in her beautiful little smile. Unfortunately, my little human mirror doesn’t just reflect the love and light in the world (though she does reflect LOTS of that) – she also reflects the occasional hard, cold dose of reality that forces me to face some things about myself I am not proud to admit. Over the past day or so, Pumpkin has been what I can only describe as ornery. She’s perfectly happy chasing the dog one minute and then screaming and arching her back on the ground in frustration the next. She’s also started the dreaded whining – something less than a cry but more than a frown, sounding something akin to nails on a chalkboard. Add to all of that a mounting and hair-trigger sense of frustration at the slightest annoyance. Seriously, once her little mind has been made up about something, the tiniest th...

As we walked into church yesterday, I heard someone whisper , “Look at Aly, she’s a little girl.” It made me well up with tears because I couldn’t deny it. Pumpkin is a full-fledged little girl. As has been our struggle for a month or so now, we spent the hour long service trying to find a balance between Pumpkin’s need for freedom and everyone else’s desire to worship in relative peace (while still trying to get something out of the service ourselves). Quite the juggling act, if I do say so myself. We’ve tried trapping her between us in the aisle, sitting in the back by the music, walking her around – all to no avail. As you can imagine, keeping a 13-month old contained for an hour is a near-impossible feat. And when the older kids come in from Children’s Church, sugared up and ready to run, there is no more “near” about it. My mom (also our priest), recognizing all of us young parents’ being a little stressed over our respective children running amok, made an announcement th...