Letters For Lucas

Wonders, Mishaps, Blunders and Joy.. commentary on my life as a mom in the form of letters to my son

What’s In Your Purse?

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I finally took the time to clean out my purse tonight and a lot of mysteries were revealed; like why it has been so damn heavy!! I was carrying around a rock for God’s sake!!

I also realized that without a doubt I am indeed the mother of a boy. See above.

I also have a bit of a lip gloss hoarding problem and a weakness for gummy candy. 

Other surprises included two packages of Wet Ones, an over stuffed wallet, a bunch of trash, two pairs of glasses (one case was empty!), a magazine I swiped from a doctor’s office and will probably never find the time to read, a toy car, a pair little boy’s undies (more evidence of being a mom to a boy), 6 bangles and a pair of earrings from my last date night, an empty(!) water bottle, and a very lovely (yet unnecessary) thank you gift all the way from Canada. Thanks, Robin!

purse

When was the last time you cleaned out your purse? Any interesting discoveries?

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A Month To Remember

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If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram then you know I had a pretty awesome week last week.

Not only was it Mother’s Day, but after nagging (I HATE that word, by the way) my husband for us to do something different for a change, we definitely fulfilled that wish. To his credit, Todd is a great sport, up for just about anything and was as excited as I was about all of our fun activities.

This week was perfect; we had a fun play date, went to a Food Truck Fare, sweated my butt off trampoline jumping, celebrated a dear friend’s birthday at an Indian restaurant we have both been wanting to try and went out on a Duffy boat, but my favorite activity (apart from the Mother’s Day breakfast I shared with Lucas at his school on Friday) was originally a gift for Todd.

For his 40th birthday in December, I gave him 40 days of gifts (one per day) leading up to his big day and one of those gifts was a 90 minute Segway tour.

Due to scheduling conflicts and babysitter issues we hadn’t been able to book it until last week. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait! I had the goofy smile you see on my face below the entire time. Segways are super easy to use, can go anywhere and are a lot of fun.

If you have never been on a Segway, are the least bit interested and there is a place in your town that gives tours, I HIGHLY recommend it!

May is going to be a month to remember…. more details to come.

Linking up with Galit (These Little Waves) and Alison’s (Mama Wants This) monthly link up, Memories Captured.

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Advice To New Mothers

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I certainly do not claim to be an expert, in fact very far from it, but here are a few things I know for sure about motherhood:

1. No matter how many anti-bacterial products you use or times you wash your hands or your child’s hands throughout the day, children are a cesspool of germs and it won’t just feel like your family is sick all the time, you will be.

2. You will go DAYS, especially in the beginning without sleep, a shower, a hot meal and/or make-up. There may even be days when you barely have a free moment to brush your teeth. This is just a phase and does pass.

3. It’s okay to mourn your old life and the days when it was just you and your husband; the days before diapers, Goodnight Moon, the Elmo theme song running through your head 24/7 and apple sauce stains on your shirt. It wasn’t that long ago and anyone that tells you that they can’t remember their life before their baby, is LYING!

4. I am convinced that no matter how sweet and innocent children seem on the outside, they are deviant and cunning on the inside. They may be new here, but they’ve got your number and know all the right buttons to push. Beware!!

5. Babysitters are worth every single penny because date nights and “me time” are absolutely essential to surviving motherhood. Having large quantities of wine on hand is good also.

6. Children are a lot more expensive than you budgeted for. A lot! They grow like weeds and get bored quickly, so the more comfortable you get with hand-me-down clothes and toys, the better.

7. You will lose the baby weight. It may take six months or three years, but you will and you can IF you put your mind to it.

8. You’ll hear it a million times and eventually repeat it, too: it goes by fast, so let the dishes sit and the laundry wait and enjoy the baby days, the milestones, sweet, tender moments and the magic.

9. Trust your instincts and listen to your gut, you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for.

10. As soon as your newborn enters the world and your eyes meet theirs, you will know true love and joy as you have never known it before. Here’s hoping you can recall that gaze at 3 o’clock in the morning when your tot throws up all over his bed and then yours and then his again. Yep, that was a very long night.


Linking up this week with Stasha’s Monday Listicles, a linky right up my alley! This week’s topic: 10 Tips For New Moms was chosen by Cookies Mom.

This post was originally written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, 5.) Advice to new mothers (September 14, 2011).

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Project Smile – February

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It’s hard to believe it’s March 1 already! Where is 2011 going?

Some days are definitely better than others, but I LOVE Alicia (A Beautiful Mess) for putting together this monthly meme so that I challenge myself to smile through my frustration, confusion and whatever other negativity I may be experiencing each and every single day.

Here’s February:

1st – Nail appointment! I live for these…
2nd – Fun with aunt Leah on the Santa Monica Pier.
3rd – A walk with a friend.
4th – Play date at the beach and Lucas meets a new friend with lots of “choo choos”. Learning to share is hard work.
5th – Date night!
6th – Recovery and Super Bowl commercials.
7th – A nice long dinner with my dear friend, Lindsey.
8th – Jerk chicken salad at ZTeja’s.
9th – First day of Ritual Cleanse juice detox! Read all about my experience here.
10th – Made it through Day 1 and discovered my new favorite beverage, green tea.
11th – Bouncy house play date with Jackson and Cody and last day of cleanse!
12th – Nothing but blue skies, sunshine and real food.
13th – Family bike ride followed by massages at Pelican Hill. Read my Thoughts From The Massage Table.
14th – Valentine’s Day and play date with Emma and Annie.
15th – First meeting with my new women’s group… more on this in a later post.
16th – Date night!
17th – A weekend visit from Grandma.
18th – A dinner out that was maybe 35 minutes long. You just have to laugh.
19th – 80’s Prom Birthday Party! See then and now photos here.
20th – Deli sandwiches.
21st – A walk along the beach with friends after music class.
22nd – This was a rough week with the entire household coming down with a nasty cold. Lucas has been hit the worst. 23rd – Jammy day, pediatrician appointment and an unforgettable trip to the drug store.
24th – Babysitters, that are hopefully immune to the flu.
25th – One hour in Babies R Us and three baby gifts purchased. Nice to get out of the house.
26th – A visit to LA to see aunt Leah with no traffic coming or going. Shocking!!
27th – Finally starting to feel better and you know what that means? Back on the treadmill.
28th – Headaches that go away, fevers that break, humidifiers that help babies sleep and taking a chance!

Be sure to share your reasons to smile in February by visiting Alicia at A Beautiful Mess, or just stop by to check out her fancy new blog design and smile with some other lists.

See what had me grinning from ear to ear in January here.

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His & Hers

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I gather the trash,
He takes it out.

He cooks,
I clean.

I plan date nights,
He books all our travel.

He watches our stocks, fights with our health insurance company and keeps us on budget.
I do the grocery shopping, pediatrician appointments and play dates.

I buy all the wedding, baby, birthday and Christmas presents,
He makes sure our cars are in working order, washed and full of gas.

I do the laundry,
He deals with the dry cleaning.

He records Top Gear,
I record Oprah.

He waters the lawn,
I buy fresh flowers.

I vacuum,
He dusts.

He handles all things electronic or that need assembly.
I buy Lucas’ clothing, books and toys.

He gets up with Lucas at the crack of dawn so that
I can sleep in.

He works six days a week so that
I can push Lucas on swings at the park, visit monkeys at the zoo, listen to story time at the library and ride on carousels.

I am lucky.
He is lucky.

We both raise our son.

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Long Live The 80’s!

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My fabulous friend, Colleen turned 40 on Saturday and threw herself an 80’s-style prom party. It was an absolute blast!!

Everyone dressed up! There was lots of neon, lace, big bows, arms full of bracelets, skinny ties, flipped up collars, leg warmers and pearls. Even the 80’s cover band, that provided enough dance music to last a lifetime, Orange County’s own, Tijuana Dogs got into the spirit.

All of my girlfriends and I have been fretting about our “prom” attire for months and it turned out for many, Ebay was the way to go. Who knew?

I, on the other hand, being the pack rat that I am still have my ACTUAL Jessica McClintock prom dress! With a little alteration to the bust line, I wore it! Crazy, huh?! I couldn’t believe it still fit either. Or that I even kept it!

I tried to mimic my 80’s hair style: big and curly and make-up: blue eyeliner and mascara. Although naturally curly, my hair doesn’t quite take a curl like it used to. Even with half a canister of mousse.

The cast of characters may have changed, hopefully we are all a little wiser. There were way more beer bellies, wedding rings and crow’s feet this time around, but the music is still the same, my friends make the world a better place and I found myself wishing the party would last All Night Long, just like I did at my high school Senior prom.

THENMy prom date was my boyfriend at the time. He had just given me the watch I’m wearing as a graduation present. Lovely gift, but looks so out of place now.


NOW

Colleen and I and our rad dates.

The birthday girl and Matt, the Tijuana Dogs lead singer.

Does this pose look familiar?

Feels just like 1988!

The totally awesome birthday cake!

I must admit, I had WAY more fun at this prom than at my own back in ’91. Maybe it was the alcohol or the music, the company or the pure nostalgia of it all, but everyone had a permanent grin on their face the entire night and my legs still hurt from dancing!

One of the best parts of the whole evening was being dropped off by Todd’s mother, who was in town visiting us for the weekend.

She waited up for us too!

This post was originally for Wordful Wednesdays and if you want to link up or see some really beautiful photographs, please visit Alicia at A Beautiful Mess and see how she effortlessly turns ordinary photos into a works of art.

This post was reposted for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, Prompt 4.) My prom dress.

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Date Nights

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Last week, I had the honor of publishing a piece on date nights in the Studio30 Plus Magazine.

Studio30 Plus is a blogging community where people over 30 can meet, network, exchange ideas, make new friends and find new blogs to follow.

In case you missed my post, here it is:

I must confess until this past Saturday, it had been over a month since my husband and I had our last date night.

I blame myself. If your home is like ours, I am the organizer/event planner/social activity director. If I don’t schedule a babysitter or call my sister, date nights don’t happen.

I’ve been dating my husband for eight years in May and I have no intention of stopping, but the minute you have children, let’s face it, date nights become increasingly difficult to pull off.

Typically, we only get a sitter for a special occasion; a group function, a friend’s birthday party, a work or holiday event where kids aren’t invited. It’s rare that date night is just the two of us. Plus, there’s the warding off of the guilt, finding the time and funds, booking the sitter or begging family members, etc., etc., etc.

I believe one-on-one date nights are extremely important. Not every week, but certainly and at the very least, once a month. That’s only 12 times a year.

I really get into our dates and by “get into” them, I mean I spend a little extra time on my appearance; washing and blowing my hair dry, shaving both my legs and applying full make-up. It’s the least I can do when I consider 95% of the time, my husband gets yoga pants, sneakers, hair in a pony tail under a baseball cap and a gamey stench.

For us, date nights give us a chance to reconnect, catch up and spend a whole dinner [uninterrupted] gazing across the table at one another and remind ourselves that we are more than just our son’s parents.

We recall why we fell in love in the first place, remember that we are two people with many layers, interests and emotions, all while making a conscience effort NOT to talk about our son, his latest milestone or funny moment, which is always a lot easier said than done. I wish we could find the time to have more evenings out together because they always bring us closer.

By the way, on Saturday, we had drinks and an appetizer at one of our favorite restaurants, followed by sushi at another and then ended up at a neighborhood bar for a night cap. We were home by 11:00 PM.

How often do you and your husband have date nights and what are your favorite ways to spend them?

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Date Night

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I am loving the Hipstamatic app for iPhones and the BlacKeys ultrachrome black-and-white film.

I also love date nights! On Friday night, my husband and I went out for sushi and pool with our neighbors.
This post is for Wordless Wednesdays and if you want to link up or see some really beautiful photographs, visit Alicia at A Beautiful Mess, but bring a jacket because this week’s photos will make you shiver.

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Date Night

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For my birthday this year, your dad got me tickets to see theater production of Disney’s The Lion King and back in June, when you were just three weeks old, it seemed forever away. We went to the musical last night while you stayed with a *paid* baby sitter for the fourth time in your life.

The show was amazing, especially the opening scene. It made me cry. The animals come to life through beautiful puppet-like costumes, masks and music. I kept thinking how much you would have enjoyed seeing all the different colors, lights and dancing.

It was really nice to spend some time alone with your dad, too and we tried our hardest not to talk about you, but somehow our conversation always drifted back to our favorite little topic. 🙂

Last night also marked the first time that you slept all night long! The sitter put you down at 7:30 and while you did stir a little at 2:00, you didn’t wake up until almost 6:00. Hooray!! The best part? After a full bottle, you went back to sleep. I am going to have to find out what the baby sitter’s secret is.

The best is yet to be.

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