1 Second Montage- February

I like to start my work day with TED talks. Recently, I stumbled into this gem, a talk about a guy who films one second of his life everyday: http://blog.ted.com/2012/03/02/filming-one-second-every-day-cesar-kuriyama-at-ted2012/.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it and had to start my own right away.  I began my venture early in February and have now completed approximately 18 days. I plan to post my progress each month.

It's tough to pick a representative moment each day and sometimes I forget until the last minute, but I love the idea of collecting snapshots of my life. I'll get to see Jude grow and remember what my day to day life was like. I encourage you to start your own one second montage!

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #9- Lost Time Is Never Found Again

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #9- Lost Time Is Never Found Again

Don't forget to introduce your child to your past... especially if you worked at a place called Blue Ball Elementary.

Seriously, people. Blue Ball Elementary.

Jude went on his first major trip this weekend. On Thursday night, we headed to PA for the first time since last spring. Jude slept the whole way there, except one feed. The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind. Raf and I had a lovely lunch at 10,000 Villages, then brought the baby to an in-service at Blue Ball. We had a quiet evening at home on Friday. Our trip happened to coincide with a brunch to celebrate the retirement (last year) of my former boss and mentor, so Saturday was a great chance to catch up with some old friends:

Photo Courtesy of Maureen Hogan

I snapped this picture of the home of one of my old students, a famous young man I Google once in awhile for various reasons. As a second grader, if you asked him where he lived he would make a time out sign with his hands and say "apartment this" because he could not identify the number 7.

We spent the rest of the day getting ready for the party. We had so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures! Jude got to meet many (all male!) babies, babies to be, and many of my friends and family, including a surprise visit from Steven and Helen and a reunion with an long-lost childhood friend of mine. Jude also received some really thoughtful unexpected gifts.

 

This shirt from Jen and Matt is one of our favorites.

We also confirmed that Jude is, in fact, Kip's clone:

Seriously.

On Sunday, we had breakfast at one of Ephrata's finest establishments, then headed to the "mall" to buy a lard bucket, eat chicken hearts, and visit the Horbal family. Here's a pic of the kids with G-diddy:

 

Happily, Jude really hammed it up for Bev and she was delighted. We also caught some great PA snow:

 

 

It was a great trip, despite a diaper blow out on the Hardees bathroom floor on the way home (I didn't say traveling with a baby was easy, mothers!) and Jude was thrilled to get home to his guys:

 

 

See you in a month, Lancaster, you old wooden ship, you!

 

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #8- I'll Wager Her Parents Are More Pure Than Yours

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #8- I'll Wager Her Parents Are More Pure Than Yours

Don't neglect your pet just because you had a child. 

 

A friend who is pregnant told me today that when she announced her future parenthood to an acquaintance, the first thing the acquaintance said was, "You're gonna hate your dogs." 

Now, I've heard versions of this over and over, but never stated so harshly. Everyone told me I'd feel differently about my dog after Jude was born, that I'd do less with her, that she'd be miserable, that I'd ignore her.

Let me tell you about Maddy's day.

Maddy woke up with her pack, in the center of the bed with Kevin and I both contorted ourselves so she could fit. She followed me downstairs at about 6 AM so she could watch me do yoga. (By watch I mean lean into me when I was in downward dog, begging for a butt scratch.) She poked around the yard for awhile, wolfed down her breakfast and followed me back upstairs to watch me feed the baby while she took up most of the bed again. 

Tater gave her a long, sorrowful goodbye, giving Jude and I a mere peck in comparison. Maddy took a snooze on her own personal couch (see image above) and waited by the window for her friends Haylie and Tim. She was thrilled to take a car ride to the dog park to play with her friends Hamilton and Tetley. (By "play", of course, I mean watch the other dogs play while hovering near me and the baby... drooling as always). She mudded up my backseat on our way home.

By 11AM, toothbrush (generic Greenie) in her belly, Maddy was back on her comfy couch until I took her to see Tater at work at about 2PM. She loved getting another ride and seeing her buds at station 21. It was about the most exciting moment of her life when they got a call and the alarms went off.  She also got to see Abagail, a friend of the little person variety (her favorite). We took a walk there, enough laps that I had to drag her through the last one.

I ran some errands while she lounged in the car. She sniffed some horsies, then came home to a sun spot on the living room floor, which she moved towards as it swept across the room. She moved back to her couch when the sun went away and stayed there until dinner time. After dinner, she received her second brushing of the day.

It's 6PM now and I'd venture to say Maddy is approximately 2 hours away from heading up to bed after the best day ever. It's not so bad to be a dog in the House of Raftery.

Polar Plunge 2013, F Yeah!

A day that starts like this:

Is sure to end like this:

Man, what a time!

Our Team

 Jude

Kip (Charlie)

Wendell

Karen and Ryan

(Karen also Fancy Fonted Kevin)

Me and Kevin

We call ourselves Team America.

It was 18 degrees when we woke up this morning, but made it up to 40 by plunge time. 

Strangers kept asking Kevin if they could get pictures with him and the whole team kept chanting U-S-A to get the crowd going. These next photos were taken before Kip lost his phone twice:

Thank you BJ and Melissa for the best post-plunge costume ever!

Cooooooooooooooooold!

Thank you to all our loyal supporters! Because of you, Team America raised over $1,200!

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #7- Life is for Living

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #7- Life is for Living

 

Don't expect a lot to get done when you're at work.

I suspect this is what happens most of the day when I am at work. I think I'm okay with it.

Nothing makes a holiday more lovely than forgetting about it until the Friday before, as I did this Martin Luther King Jr. Day... except maybe getting to spend it with these two gentlemen. We had a great day, beginning with Jude rolling over for the first time. It scared the sh*t out of him, so I suspect he won't do it again for awhile...

After that, we took Maddy to the Oceanfront so she could chase birds. It was glorious. (Although, I'll admit it... the crisp air, while fine for a walk on the boardwalk made me want to throw up when I thought about the Polar Plunge in a few weeks...)

We spent the rest of the afternoon napping (us, not Jude), watching the Inauguration and The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents. 

For dinner, we had a romantic meal of ribs at our new dining room table, delivered today. It was made even better by Jude finally falling asleep after a day he didn't want to miss a second of:

If I was Raf, I'd do it all again tomorrow. Especially the making dinner part, okay Raf?

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #6- Better Together

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #6- Better Together

Don't think your relationship with your significant other won't change... It will. In almost every way, that is a good thing.

In a few weeks, it will be 9 years to the day I met Kevin. We are lucky enough to have a picture of that day, courtesy of the mutual friend who is responsible for us meeting. A lot has changed in 9 years!

While graduating from college, surviving a long distance relationship, moving in together, getting married, and having a child makes for some challenging moments in a relationship, they also make for many more great moments. I am lucky who has someone who gets me like Raf does and Jude is lucky to have two parents who like each other as much as we do.

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #5- And It Always Goes On and On and On and On....

Don'ts for Mothers, 2013 #5- And It Always Goes On and On and On and On....

 

Don't expect your baby to stay little forever... or even for a few minutes.

 

Unlike Mandy, , I burned out after exactly 3 weeks.  It was a bit sad today to see how rapidly my little guy has grown in the 8 weeks since I took his first picture. This is the exact same onesie. I comfort myself with the fact that he still fits in it, although it is getting tougher to snap!

 

Week 1

 

 Week 2

 

Week 3

 Week 9

 

Look at those chunky monkey legs!

Recently Jude has figured out how to push himself up and I've been trying to capture it for weeks. Today I was successful! I took about 30 pictures, but these are my favorite. My boy will be doing P90X with Tony Horton and Gfred in no time!