yesterday afternoon

i'm going to miss that oprah

recombobulating

Have you ever heard about this? This is a real sign in the Milwaukee airport right after you get through security.

I'm in the process of recombobulating this week - cleaning out hundreds of emails, paying bills I totally forgot to pay, finally getting around to buying an age-appropriate car seat for Matteo, you know the drill. If I can get around to switching out my winter clothes for summer wear I'll really have my A-game on again.

And poor Matteo has been teething for days. There are at least two new ones making their way in but there could be more. He hasn't gotten any new teeth since Christmas and they tend to all show up at once, making for one little miserably sad boy.

Here's what we're dealing with. Please ignore all the purple stains. He had blueberries for breakfast Monday when I took this picture.



Ow!

occupied

This week is nuttier than last week. Please bear with me as blogging has temporarily taken a backseat to life.

In the meantime, I leave you with this photo of Matteo on his changing table. He's been freaking out lately when we try to change his diaper, so the only way to distract him is to give him a book. Apparently reading on the toilet is starting from an early age with this one.

the season

The end of May is always the craziest time of the year for me. In Maryland, lacrosse season starts March 1 and with the lovely mid-Atlantic spring weather you're always ensured a nice long season. Here in Wisconsin we can't even get on our field until April 15th because it's still drying out from all the melted snow that was dumped on it. So in April we scramble to teach girls how to play on a proper field after spending the winter in a tiny gym, we endure many cancelled practices and games due to cold and rain, and ultimately end up playing half our season in two weeks at the end of May.

This week we had games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a team pizza party on Wednesday night at our house. I was a little nervous about how we would fit 40 girls in our house but I always forget these are Wisconsin girls who are happy to sit in the backyard in bare feet when it's barely 60 degrees because to them, it feels downright balmy. (My mother calls Wisconsinites 'Viking People', and it's kind of true since a large majority of them are of Scandinavian descent.)

Juggling working full time, motherhood, and coaching has made for an interesting season. I've been more stressed than usual and really lost my cool during a game on Tuesday night, and had to apologize to the team for scaring (and scarring? hopefully not) them. Sometimes I wonder if I can keep it up, but Matteo is in good hands with Matt when I'm at practice and coaching is the one thing I have that's all mine, and can do independent of being a mom. Plus, I love it. working with kids is awesome and I'm lucky to have the opportunity.

The play-offs start next week. Wish us luck and good weather!

birthday party

We had about 25 friends and family over for Matteo's birthday party. We ordered a bunch of pizzas (sooo easy...I have to remember to do this more often), got a lot of beer (it was mostly adults at the party, and hey, this is Wisconsin), and my mom made an awesome Caesar salad. For decorations we had balloons and streamers in the trees. It was all pretty simple to pull together, although that's easy for me to say since I was gone most of the day planting trees for work, while my mom, aunt and Matt set everything up. (Thanks guys!)























We like to make CD mixes, so at the end of the party everyone got a CD of some of our current favorite songs to take home. I originally was going to have a pinata and had bought toys and candy to put inside, but scrapped the idea at the last minute and put the little toys inside the bags with the CDs.



And here is the CD cover. What a doll that boy is.

vegetable confusion

When my mom came to visit she was very pleased with how my parenting skills are shaping up with the exception of Matteo's vegetable consumption. I'm not a huge veggie fan myself so Matteo ends up eating lots of fruit and cheese, like me. I don't think there is anything wrong with fruit and cheese - they're delicious! - but I know this is something I have to work on. Vegetables can be delicious too and once our crazy schedules wind down and I have time to cook proper meals again I'm looking forward to exploring the farmer's market this summer. After all, I don't want Matteo to grow up, go to a friend's house, and experience this:



Speaking of artichokes, when I was in my early 20's I had a boyfriend tell me he liked guacamole. Being the thoughtful girlfriend I was I went out and bought him the ingredients to make it at home including two artichokes because I thought they were avocados. Duh.

birthday party cake

Talented Sara of the blog Sara's Party Perfect is also the mastermind behind Hicks Paper Goods. We've used her invitations for our wedding, Matteo's baptism, and his birthday party. I emailed her photos of Matteo's birthday cake, which was based on the party invitation, and yesterday she wrote about it on her blog!

(More party pictures to come. I'm working on it!)

field trip

Matteo's class went on a field trip to the farmer's market Wednesday. He rode on a special bus for tiny kids, ate an entire doughnut, and crawled all over the place. I love the little orange vests they all wear when they're out together!

skills

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the birthday

Matteo's birthday fell on a Thursday. Because his party was planned for Saturday, his actual birthday was a small celebration consisting of the three of us and my mother, who flew in that morning for a five-day visit.

I took the day off and kept Matteo home from school so we picked up my mom, went out for pancakes, and spent the afternoon playing at home and making his cake. We also took his monthly photos, which turned out pretty freaking adorable. I love this boy.



I was really excited to make the cake myself in a special cake pan in the shape of a one, but due to some technical difficulties it turned out super crumbly and had to be held together with double the amount of frosting. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it wasn't exactly what I envisioned. I also had to MacGyver the decorating frosting since the decorating tips and the tube of frosting weren't compatible.



It may not have been the prettiest cake, but it was made with a lot of love.



While I was working on the cake, Matt trimmed his mullet!



Of course we did the obligatory baby cake eating mess, which ended with him smearing it all over his foot.





After eating cake, we opened presents. Matteo found Christmas unwrapping to be a little overwhelming but this time he was old enough to not find it scary and to enjoy himself. As predicted, he LOVED the Rody!

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One of my favorite gifts was a portrait my brother painted of Matteo. Simply awesome.



It was a very special day for a very special boy. Next up...the party!

12 month check-up

Matteo went to the doctor yesterday for his 12 month visit. He weighs 22 pounds, is 30 inches long, and his head is in the 88th percentile! The doctor actually asked if big heads run in our families. I have a pretty big head so I had to laugh. I always tell Matt it's to hold my giant brain, of course.

my teams

Monday


Tuesday

weekend

It was a crazy wonderful weekend. More to come soon - still trying to catch up!

happy mother's day, mom!

I love you!

one year ago today

A year ago today I was laboring away at home with no idea that Matteo's arrival into this world would take 42 hours. It was crazy, but it's also true what they say about forgetting the pain. I would do it over again in a second.


through the wonders of facebook, people were able to follow along with us


looking back - pages upon pages of contractions in the pregnancy journal

Tomorrow is his first birthday and I don't know where the time has gone. I look at him now and marvel when I see a little boy looking back at me. Who is this boy and what did he do with my baby?

baby mullet

Matteo's hair is very much business in the front and party in the back these days. Matt wants to cut it and even it out, but I think he's too young. I love running my fingers through his sweet silky baby hair and I didn't think his first haircut would come until much later.

But then I see pictures like this, and I realize that he does, in fact, sport a serious mullet. And maybe we should put an end to it in case it turns into one of these. Thoughts? Anyone out there have any baby mullet stories of their own to share?