We have a roller!

Big news today... We have a roller! Little miss Caroline can roll over all by herself. And she loves it. She's been nearly there for a little while, managing to roll half way onto her side from her back and tummy. Yesterday, though, she started rolling over all the way from her tummy to her back (several times).

Bob and I shrieked with joy, we were so excited! Prouder parents you couldn't find...

The cool thing (for me) was that yesterday would have been my mom's 60th birthday. I thought that made it an extra special milestone.

p.s. Caroline's other milestone? Pooing in the bathtub. That was fun! ;)

Happy Mother's Day

I am so looking forward to my first Mother's Day this Sunday. Caroline Lou is my greatest gift and my biggest joy. I love her so much and am so thankful that I get to be her mommy. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my little family just lazing around in our jammies, eating pancakes, snuggling, grilling out, playing, planting flowers, and sneaking in a facial (just an hour or so of "me time":).

I miss my mom everyday. I always think about her a lot on Mother's Day. She was the kindest, warmest, most compassionate, and loving person I have ever known. She had a way about her that made everyone love her and feel at ease. She always spoke well of other people and she truly led by example.

My mom told me every single day how much she loved me and that I was the best thing that she ever did. I now understand that kind of love and am so happy to share that special bond with my sweet baby girl. It's unlike anything else. My mom would have loved Caroline so, so much. I am certain that they would have been the best of friends. I can't wait to share all of my memories of my wonderful mom with Caroline. If Caroline loves me even half as much as I loved my mom, I'll be one lucky lady.

The photos above are of my mom and me sitting in the same wooden rocking chair, each pregnant with our baby girl. Pretty awesome, right?

And, a few more photos to share after the jump...

Missing mom

Eight years ago today I lost my favorite person in the whole world. My mom and I were besties. Her joyful and loving spirit continues to live in my heart. Fun memories, like this one, make me smile from ear to ear.

Seeing books

I love the built in bookcases in our new house. They frame one of the fireplaces and are charming, sweet and just plain cool. The other night I was unpacking my books thinking to myself, "man, it's been so many years since I've actually been able to see all of my books." I came across books that I hadn't seen in ages and some I'd completely forgotten I even owned. Just then I came across this book that was a gift from my mom a long time ago... 

...and I flipped through the pages and landed on this one. My eyes fell on the 4th line of text: "knowing where all your books are." 

It was one of those moments when you get the warm and fuzzies and a giant smile spreads across your face. That is certainly something to be happy about.

Mister Misty

Yesterday we had to put Misty, my last childhood pet, to sleep. Misty was a really great cat. When I was in 4th grade, some guys who worked at my mom's office found a litter of three kitties behind the building. The momma cat had abandoned them when they barely had their eyes open and fur on their bodies. My mom, being the angel that she was, brought them home. We bottle fed them (sometimes using a syringe) to health and two of the three of them survived to live long and happy lives with our family. Misty was one of them.
I will always remember the great massages that Misty gave with her paws and just how lovey she was. Now she gets to see all of our wonderful pets again - Shadow, Jenny, Sophia, Domino, Captain and Samantha.
When I was young my mom always told me that Captain and Samantha, our big black German Sheppards, were guarding the gates to heaven. I still find that a very comforting thought.

Memories Wrap Up

Today is my last day in my 20's so it's time to wrap up my top 30 memories...

#3: As silly as it sounds, having my first fight with Bob over the placement of a television in our family room.  We weren't even living together at the time and it was the silliest fight ever, but it was a moment when I fell more in love with Bob - especially when we could laugh about it later.

#2: (This is for you Jo) Crashing a Glamour magazine party in NYC several years back.  I had heard about the party from a coworker and convinced my friend Joanna to check it out with me.  Turned out you had to be on a list to get in.  Jo used her wit, charm and powers of persuasion (read: bitchiness:) to get us in.  We proceeded to take full advantage of the open bar, break a vase and end up face down in the street outside.  That's enough detail for this blog.

#1: Seeing my mom’s yellow roses bloom in November after she passed away.  It was the most amazing thing to see her favorite flowers bloom so long after the season.  They were beautiful and it reassured me that she would always be with me.

Memory #10: "You're Not Living Here"

One of my favorite memories is when my parents moved me out to NYC after I graduated college.  They were so supportive of me even though I was moving to Brooklyn into an apartment that I'd signed a lease for via fax after never having seen it.  Oh, and the fact that I didn't have a job to support myself.  Mom and Craig took me on a trip to IKEA to get some furnishings and then hauled me and all of my stuff across the country in our van to Brooklyn.  When we pulled off of the BQE and headed off the exit toward my new diggs, we passed building after building covered in graffiti, overturned trash cans and an overall seedy looking area.  When we pulled up to my apartment I went to open the van door to check things out and I heard a click.  The van door was locked and I was stuck inside.  Looking forward I see dread on my mother's face as she said calmly, "you're not living here."  To be honest, I was nearly scared to death myself, but knew showing fear was out of the question at this point.  We had arrived and there was no turning back.  It took some coaxing, and a week of hanging around, to convince my parents that I would be fine.  It was pretty funny, but it came as no surprise to either one of us that I was going to be just fine.

Check out this graffiti bike tour.

photo

Memory #19: Great Balls of Fire

When I was younger my mom would sometimes go cruising around town just for fun.  Some of my favorite moments were when we'd roll all the windows down and slide open the sunroof of the Camry and go cruising down the interstate blasting Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire.”  With the wind whipping through our hair, we'd both sing at the top of our lungs with giant smiles plastered across our faces.  Haha, it was so much fun!

Memory #26: Learning to Drive the Mustang

When I turned 14, my Grandma Jenkins gave me her 1966 Mustang that she had purchased, as she liked to say, right off the showroom floor.  She was so proud of that car.  I remember spending summers with her "garage sale-ing" and people would walk up to her and ask how much she wanted for the car.  Without hesitation, and with a giant smile spreading across her face, she'd say, "it's not for sale."  She loved that.
When I got my learners permit Grandma and my mom decided to take me out and teach me how to drive the Mustang.  With my mom in the back seat and Grandma in the front we headed out.  Things were going OK despite the sticky clutch and I was actually getting the hang of the 3 speeds on the floor.  We pulled up to an intersection with a 4-way stop and we happened to be on an incline.  Three other cars pull up at the same time.  I tried waiting for them to go, but it was my turn and they weren't budging.  While Grandma was calmly giving me instructions on how to avoid killing the engine (again) my mom was in the back seat anxiously shouting for me to go.  As I was rolling backwards down the hill another car was pulling up right behind us and next thing I know everyone in the car is shouting, including me!  Struggling to get going I ended up flooring it and peeling out of the stop through the intersection as my mom is in hysterics, I'm terrified for all of our lives and Grandma was laughing so hard I thought she might pee her pants.  After realizing we'd survived, the three of us had a good hard laugh.  That was so much fun.

Top 30 Memories: #30: Getting Tucked In

One month from today I will turn the big 3-0.  It's hard to believe that milestone is already here!  In celebration, I'm going to recount a list of top 30 memories from my last 30 years.  They are in no particular order and hopefully I don't have any obvious omissions.

Memory #1:
One of my favorite things as a kid was my "getting tucked in" ritual with my mom.  Nice and clean after a bath, I would hop into my Peter Rabbit sheets and lay stiff as a board with my arms straight at my sides.  My mom would proceed to tuck the covers in a tightly around me as possible and say I looked like a mummy.  Then I would quietly ask her to "kiss my face all over."  She would start at my forehead and go from cheek to cheek, eyelid to eyelid and all around my face until my eyes could hardly open anymore. Without fail, it always put me right to sleep.

Moms Are The Best

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!  Moms really are the best, aren't they?  My mom and I were like two peas in a pod.  Every Mother's Day we'd spend hours in her garden planting flowers and then we'd just sit back and enjoy a lovely afternoon sipping sun tea.  Those days really were the best!  Today, in honor of my mom, I spent time planting flowers in my garden and making our yard look lovely.  She would definitely be proud!