H: Omma?
S: Yes, Harry?
H: On.
S: What is on?
H: Off.
S: On, off. Good boy!
H: On, off. Omma?
S: Harry?
H: Omma.
S: Harry.
H: Omma, Mom Mom, Momma!!
S: Hi, Harry.
H: Up, down.
S: Good job!
H: Up, down! Down!
S: Do you want to get down?
H: Uh huh, down!
S: Ok, you can get down.
H: All done, Omma.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Mothers
There is Tupperware spread from one end of my house to the other. Harrison keeps bringing me plastic dishes and bowls and making encouraging slurping noises at me while I pretend to eat. When I hand him back the plastic he giggles and runs to the cupboard (where I suppose the imaginary food is kept) and replenishes my plate. When did he learn to pretend?
Like many of you I am trying to figure out what to give my mothers for Mother's Day on Sunday. Flowers? Cards? Chocolate? How does one find a gift to say thank you for the millions of miniscule tasks and events that make up a motherhood? For the love that was given even when we were terribly naughty? For the nights they held us when we were feverish, or heartbroken, or lonely? For putting up with us during the teenage years when we were incorrigible and moody? I don't think I truly appreciated all of the things my mothers did (and still do) until Harrison came home and I realized how very hard it is to balance a child, a marriage, friendships, a household, and everything else life entails all at once.
This year I'm starting to get it. And though I am new to motherhood, I know that Harrison himself is the best gift...I don't want anything but the knowledge that he is safe and well and happy. Perhaps the best gift we can give our mothers is the knowledge that they did a good job...that despite our flaws and indiscretions we are ok, and all of their hard work and late nights were worth it. So, Mom, Cyndie, and Mary...you did good, and we're ok. We're happy. And we understand that you like the chocolates and flowers, so we'll keep them coming, but please know that they are merely a token of the appreciation we feel.
Harry has been amusing himself by pushing my sandal around in his little red car...every once in awhile he stops to take it out to put it on the couch, the chair, the rug, etc. I guess the sandal had some errands to run and Harry is playing taxi driver?
In keeping with Mother's Day thoughts, I can't help but spend time thinking of Harrison's other mothers, his birth and foster moms. I wish they could be flies on my wall for a day to see how happy our boy is, and how happy we are to have him in our lives. He is the sunshine that lights our days. When he smiles my heart surges with a bittersweet joy...sweet because our dreams came true and he is here, making us smile and keeping us guessing as to what he'll do or say next. And bitter because two women who loved him as much as I do are living without him...they are missing his smile at the same time I am basking in its glow. My heart hurts for them both, and as we approach Mother's Day I am extra grateful for the mothers who made it possible for me to be a mother.
Harry has curled up under the table with his favorite blankets, the ones I made for him while we were anxiously waiting for him to come home. His eyelids are heavy and he looks up at me with a sleepy smile. I carry him into his room, read him a goodnight story, and settle him into his crib for a nap. He points to the shelf where his stuffed animals 'sleep' and I bring him his favorite stuffed dog. He cuddles it close, then his eyes close and he's asleep...and I again find myself in awe of what the past year has brought. I'm a mother. Wow.
Like many of you I am trying to figure out what to give my mothers for Mother's Day on Sunday. Flowers? Cards? Chocolate? How does one find a gift to say thank you for the millions of miniscule tasks and events that make up a motherhood? For the love that was given even when we were terribly naughty? For the nights they held us when we were feverish, or heartbroken, or lonely? For putting up with us during the teenage years when we were incorrigible and moody? I don't think I truly appreciated all of the things my mothers did (and still do) until Harrison came home and I realized how very hard it is to balance a child, a marriage, friendships, a household, and everything else life entails all at once.
This year I'm starting to get it. And though I am new to motherhood, I know that Harrison himself is the best gift...I don't want anything but the knowledge that he is safe and well and happy. Perhaps the best gift we can give our mothers is the knowledge that they did a good job...that despite our flaws and indiscretions we are ok, and all of their hard work and late nights were worth it. So, Mom, Cyndie, and Mary...you did good, and we're ok. We're happy. And we understand that you like the chocolates and flowers, so we'll keep them coming, but please know that they are merely a token of the appreciation we feel.
Harry has been amusing himself by pushing my sandal around in his little red car...every once in awhile he stops to take it out to put it on the couch, the chair, the rug, etc. I guess the sandal had some errands to run and Harry is playing taxi driver?
In keeping with Mother's Day thoughts, I can't help but spend time thinking of Harrison's other mothers, his birth and foster moms. I wish they could be flies on my wall for a day to see how happy our boy is, and how happy we are to have him in our lives. He is the sunshine that lights our days. When he smiles my heart surges with a bittersweet joy...sweet because our dreams came true and he is here, making us smile and keeping us guessing as to what he'll do or say next. And bitter because two women who loved him as much as I do are living without him...they are missing his smile at the same time I am basking in its glow. My heart hurts for them both, and as we approach Mother's Day I am extra grateful for the mothers who made it possible for me to be a mother.
Harry has curled up under the table with his favorite blankets, the ones I made for him while we were anxiously waiting for him to come home. His eyelids are heavy and he looks up at me with a sleepy smile. I carry him into his room, read him a goodnight story, and settle him into his crib for a nap. He points to the shelf where his stuffed animals 'sleep' and I bring him his favorite stuffed dog. He cuddles it close, then his eyes close and he's asleep...and I again find myself in awe of what the past year has brought. I'm a mother. Wow.
Tuesday, May 2, 2006
I've been tagged!
So Jen wants to know six weird things about me. Only six? Well, gee, it might be hard to narrow down the field. In no particular order:
1. I have an obsession of sorts for old furniture and objects of interest....not necessarily quality antiques, but old. I love to think about the people who sat in chairs before me, the kinds of clothes that used to fill dresser drawers, and the hands that created the legs of a table. I am currently housing in my garage: five occasional chairs, a headboard and footboard for a double bed, a dresser, a pig trough (I bought it accidentally at an estate auction and couldn't bear to part with it), four window panes, and various assorted shovels from an old farm.
2. I can find very small things when they are lost. Case in point-the button from my camera I found last week at the very big playground. I once found my stepdad's wallet in the woods behind our house, and I also found a diamond stud earring that was lost during a game of volleyball at my cousin's graduation party.
3. I am nice to telemarketers, usually. Sometimes I let them talk and talk and talk because I think it must be frustrating to constantly get hung up on. I never participate in any of their gimmicky deals, but I do wish them a nice day before I say goobye.
4. My dream house would be one of these. I love the curves, the colors, the artistic appeal...don't they look like something out of the Smurfs?
5. When I complain about my cramps during that TOM I am not joking: I have two regular sized uteruses. Uteri?
6. When we were kids my brother and I created a huge "theme park" in the woods behind our house and named it Weirdland. No joke. My mom found the sign I painted for the park's entry in the shed last summer. See? I've been weird my whole life!
1. I have an obsession of sorts for old furniture and objects of interest....not necessarily quality antiques, but old. I love to think about the people who sat in chairs before me, the kinds of clothes that used to fill dresser drawers, and the hands that created the legs of a table. I am currently housing in my garage: five occasional chairs, a headboard and footboard for a double bed, a dresser, a pig trough (I bought it accidentally at an estate auction and couldn't bear to part with it), four window panes, and various assorted shovels from an old farm.
2. I can find very small things when they are lost. Case in point-the button from my camera I found last week at the very big playground. I once found my stepdad's wallet in the woods behind our house, and I also found a diamond stud earring that was lost during a game of volleyball at my cousin's graduation party.
3. I am nice to telemarketers, usually. Sometimes I let them talk and talk and talk because I think it must be frustrating to constantly get hung up on. I never participate in any of their gimmicky deals, but I do wish them a nice day before I say goobye.
4. My dream house would be one of these. I love the curves, the colors, the artistic appeal...don't they look like something out of the Smurfs?
5. When I complain about my cramps during that TOM I am not joking: I have two regular sized uteruses. Uteri?
6. When we were kids my brother and I created a huge "theme park" in the woods behind our house and named it Weirdland. No joke. My mom found the sign I painted for the park's entry in the shed last summer. See? I've been weird my whole life!
The picture that broke the camera, and the long awaited basementpictures!
Here is Harrison on the swing at the playground we discovered last week. It was while taking this shot that I broke the camera, and I later found the broken button in front of this swing. Harrison isn't crazy about the actual swinging, rather he likes the view from the height of the swing. Notice he's keeping a close eye on the little girl swinging next to him!
Here is your first glimpse of our basement room! The walls look a little greenish because we used moisture resistant sheetrock. Before we primed it the whole room was a deep teal color, much like being submerged in a clear lake.
And here is a photo of our cool lighting effect. When Brendan's parents replaced their living room picture window I asked if I could have the old one (Brendan rolled his eyes, I'm sure, as he always does when I scrounge for things...bless him for putting up with me). I had no idea what I would do with it. Make a cold frame for starting plants in the early spring? Paint a scene on it and hang it on a wall?It turned out to be the perfect thing for the basement, and helps make the room feel like an upstairs space. The back of the panes will be frosted so you can't see my junk in the storage area of the basement. We'll also have French doors in two spots that lead to the storage/laundry areas, and the glass in those will also be frosted. I will be painting the room in colors this week....stay tuned!
Monday, May 1, 2006
Well, hello! How have you been?
I guess I took a break for awhile there...April turned out to be a very busy month! Things should settle down for awhile now, I hope. Let me catch you up on our news:
The basement has been sheeterocked and taped (we hired this part out) and now sports its first coat of primer (which I applied last night)!!! We hope to be moving furniture in by the end of the month. I am beyond excited to be able to have the room finished and usable!
We brought back the furniture from Cape Cod...once the basement is complete we'll be able to set it up in the spare room. We have to shift couches, futons, and such before there will be room. The plan is: futon from loft into basement, queen bed from spare room to loft, new (old) furniture to spare room. Our final days at the Cape house were bittersweet, but we did have a very nice dinner at Tugboats, where we sat on the deck overlooking the harbor and ate some of the best seafood I've had in years. Yum!
We found a new playground and consequently broke the digital camera. Oops. Harry loved loved loved the playground! He had so much fun in the sandbox and on the slides that we're moving "outdoor play area for Harrison" up on our list of priorities this season. And while taking a picture of him on the swings I must have bumped the camera wrong because the zoom button fell out. I didn't realize it was missing until later in the day. We went back the following day to try to find it - which we did (a miracle, I'm sure) but it had been stepped on and squashed. Bummer. I researched the Kodak website, called a representative, and quickly found out that it cannot be fixed because Kodak stops making replacement parts for their digital cameras as soon as they come out with a new model. So they are basically becoming a very expensive disposable product. We're just going to tape the button over the spot where it goes and hope we can eke some more life out of the camera. Maybe if I'm a good girl this year Santa will bring me a new one?
Harrison has discovered the joy of running through a sprinkler! We're trying to grow grass (or anything green and mowable, really) for the third spring in a row (we have crappy sandy soil that refuses to hold water) so the sprinkler has been running every day. He thinks it is great fun to run through the falling drops, and the look of delight on his face is priceless! It's a mixture of surprise, self-satisfaction at his discovery, and pure joy...it melts my heart because when I was little my grandparents had the nicest lawn in the neighborhood because we (their grandchildren) insisted on running through the sprinkler every day all summer long, and I remember the feeling of delight at such fun. As an adult I cannot imagine what their water bills must have been like!
I am sure there is more to report, but I can't think of anything right now, and Harry needs to take a nap. I'll try not to be such a stranger this month!
The basement has been sheeterocked and taped (we hired this part out) and now sports its first coat of primer (which I applied last night)!!! We hope to be moving furniture in by the end of the month. I am beyond excited to be able to have the room finished and usable!
We brought back the furniture from Cape Cod...once the basement is complete we'll be able to set it up in the spare room. We have to shift couches, futons, and such before there will be room. The plan is: futon from loft into basement, queen bed from spare room to loft, new (old) furniture to spare room. Our final days at the Cape house were bittersweet, but we did have a very nice dinner at Tugboats, where we sat on the deck overlooking the harbor and ate some of the best seafood I've had in years. Yum!
We found a new playground and consequently broke the digital camera. Oops. Harry loved loved loved the playground! He had so much fun in the sandbox and on the slides that we're moving "outdoor play area for Harrison" up on our list of priorities this season. And while taking a picture of him on the swings I must have bumped the camera wrong because the zoom button fell out. I didn't realize it was missing until later in the day. We went back the following day to try to find it - which we did (a miracle, I'm sure) but it had been stepped on and squashed. Bummer. I researched the Kodak website, called a representative, and quickly found out that it cannot be fixed because Kodak stops making replacement parts for their digital cameras as soon as they come out with a new model. So they are basically becoming a very expensive disposable product. We're just going to tape the button over the spot where it goes and hope we can eke some more life out of the camera. Maybe if I'm a good girl this year Santa will bring me a new one?
Harrison has discovered the joy of running through a sprinkler! We're trying to grow grass (or anything green and mowable, really) for the third spring in a row (we have crappy sandy soil that refuses to hold water) so the sprinkler has been running every day. He thinks it is great fun to run through the falling drops, and the look of delight on his face is priceless! It's a mixture of surprise, self-satisfaction at his discovery, and pure joy...it melts my heart because when I was little my grandparents had the nicest lawn in the neighborhood because we (their grandchildren) insisted on running through the sprinkler every day all summer long, and I remember the feeling of delight at such fun. As an adult I cannot imagine what their water bills must have been like!
I am sure there is more to report, but I can't think of anything right now, and Harry needs to take a nap. I'll try not to be such a stranger this month!
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