I realize that some people think piercing the ears of a 2 year old is wrong for various reasons. We shall agree to disagree. My ears were pierced when I was an infant. I was never sorry my mom did that. Lillian loves loves loves jewelry. Her only complaint after her earrings were in was that she wanted to try 27 other pairs of earrings on. But, of course, she has to keep them in for a while to be sure they heal well. She is so fabulous.
I know you may think that because I have the best man in the world this year, that I'm going to be all squishy and sentimental about Valentine's Day. Ha! I still think it's a silly, convoluted Hallmark holiday. That said, it has given Mr. Awesome a reason to come see me this weekend, so I can't be too angry about it. I'm still angry enough to link to this awesome Valentine Greeting, though. Enjoy.
You may have noticed (if you're not reading this in a feed reader) the "insert name here" in the masthead. I'm still determined to find a new name for this here corner of the interwebs, but am horribly undecided. Perhaps I shall have a contest, with the winner receiving some kind of super cool prize.
I leave you with pictures of Lillian, who has graduated from cutest baby in the world to cutest little girl, as she is now TWO years old. Luckily, the cutest baby slot has been quickly filled by her little sister, as you saw from yesterday's pictures.
First thing:
More Lilbitchmore Please.
...can be deduced from these photographs, taken of Lillian in the past few days.
1. My niece is the cutest little girl on the planet
2. The weather is exponentially less sucky and cold there, than it is here
According to the latest pictures from my sister, Lillian is in babysitting training already.
...about having the cutest nieces in the universe is my ability to use them for a "free" post during this month of too-many-posts. Because I know the question will be asked, I will tell you, though I don't really see it either. For Halloween, Lillian was a butterfly. Her paternal grandmother made the costume, and while she is very Martha Stewart (the grandmother, not the baby), she might have missed a little on this creation. The Mr. Potato Head pumpkin by Lillian was much more successful. Violet wasn't quite ready for a Halloween costume yet, but she is festive in orange.
I had planned on blogging all kinds of good stuff for you all during my yoga teacher training, but after 2 days, I can easily tell you that will be impossible because holy crap, I'm tired. The first day was the "easy" day, where we only did 2 classes of actual yoga, with some posture breakdowns. Those are for learning how to talk a bunch of beginner yoga students through the class, and not physically demanding. Today, though, we had morning class, then 2 back to back classes in the evening. That's 4 1/2 hours of yoga, people. My muscles are literally twitching as I write this.
So, while there will be not greatly detailed day-in-the-life posts, I will give you these key points:
As you may expect, lots of yoga people are hippies. That's all cool with me, except for the one dude who described himself as "not having a permanent residence" on the first day. From the looks of him, I immediately thought "How the hell did a homeless guy afford to pay tuition?" Then he was next to me in the first yoga class of the day, and my olfactory senses agreed with that assessment. Attentions hippies: There are natural, hippy-friendly deodorants. Use them. Thankfully I was able to rearrange my spot during classes, so at least his B.O. isn't all up in my business.
I might be the only flesh eater in the training program. We only get a one hour break during our 14 hour days, and the only places that have been recommended to me to grab food in the area are: a health food store, a tea place that has ALL VEGAN DESERTS!!! (oh yum), and a vegetarian restaurant. After day one, I realized that keeping food on the light side would be a good idea for the tummy anyway, so it's not that big a deal, but I'm pretty sure that if these people realized how often I stop at Fat Burger after my regular yoga class, I'd get stoned to death...you know, to repay my bad karma for eating all of those delicious cows.
What I ate (I use that term very loosely) today: 1/2 protein bar type thingy, a fresh mango/apple/banana juice, blueberries and an avocado. This could get rough.
On a happy note, check out sweet little Violet:
There will be more photos of that sweet little girl, but right now, my sister's iPhoto is all banged up for some reason. I'm relying solely on my mom for photos until it's fixed
The boyfriend and I spent the weekend visiting my sister and the family, with the newest little member, Violet. Because he is awesome, he actually brought his camera, unlike me, so thanks to him, I bring you the cuteness.
Lillian holding her new baby sister, who stayed in the hospital a couple of days because she was a little pumpkin-ish. The jauntice cleared up pretty quickly and she's home now, doing great, eating like a piglet, just like Lillian. She will be chunky in no time. Also, her feet are huge. Some of her daddy's genes totally snuck through with this one.
Lillian celebrating the arrival of her new sister, the presence of her second favorite thing (balloon!), and the fact that this coat, which I got her when she was still very tiny, now fits for this winter. Yay! She was also wearing her mommy's Uggs with this ensemble, which made me laugh so hard, there were tears.
Favorite things about Lillian this trip:
her obsession with shoes. (or SHOOOSE, as she would say...repeatedly and excitedly).
About 30 seconds after anyone in the room leaves the room, she acknowledges their absence (bye bye, Bob).
"Day-doo" = thank you. So cute.
Note the (quite sudden) big fat ZERO in the baby counter over to the left. My sister had her new little baby last night/early this morning. She was 5lb 12oz, which is little, but over a pound and a half bigger than her big sister, Lillian was when she was born. My sister claims she doesn't look anything like Lillian, but I will find out later today, because that baby was so smart, she decided to be born exactly the day I'm coming to visit. Brilliant way to try to be the favorite niece. I'm very excited to see her and my sister, and of course, Lillian, who has been practicing all kinds of impressive new words for me, including "baby Vi", which is so adorable, I might squeeze her face off.
In case you haven't figured it out, I must warn you...there will be many pictures.
On a completely unrelated note...check it out. He's back. Thanks to the brilliant minds over here for the push.
It seems impossible that it's been almost a year since that picture in the masthead was taken. My niece is so grown up since then, and I am going to get to see her next weekend, along with my pregnant sister, who, if she loves me, will have niece #2 while I'm there. I will do my part by running her around, as she will officially be off of strict bed rest, and exposing her to the hilarity that only my man can bring. I'm pretty sure he may send her into a laughing fit that will spit the baby right out, such is the extent that he brings the funny.
Also, that kind of spontaneous labor would be a great distraction from him meeting my one family member I'm nervous about. He has met my dad, stepmother, sister, brother-in-law, my bestest fabulous gay boyfriend, as well as not one, but two of my exes who remain close friends. I wasn't the least bit worried about any of them. My mother...she is the one to fear. She's a little ummmm unpredictable. She is infamous for saying the following types of things to former boyfriends:
"Sure, you're cute, but I just don't trust you. You have the sort of charm that will wear off in a matter of weeks"
"If you don't treat her better, she's going to run off with someone who is better looking, more fun, and richer than you, and I'll be happy to help her"
Nice, huh? She means well, in her own crazy way, but it's still ridiculous. She wonders why she has never gotten remarried since she and my dad split...which was approximately right after I was born. Yikes.
I've tried to warn the boyfriend as best I can, but really, there is no telling how she will be. She can also be warm and lovely. It's a 50/50 sort of thing. Wish him luck.
who wrote sickeningly sweet posts about weekends away with my amazing man, I would have lots to write.
But since I'm not, I'll tell you some other stuff.
Like how I played golf for the first time. Yes, me. Badass extraordinaire...I swung large sticks at small white balls amongst throngs of other people doing the same. Considering that I've never done that before, I didn't humiliate myself, which was my only goal, really. I'm bad at sucking at stuff, even if doing something for the first time. Also, there was lots of money raised for charity. So I got to not suck while helping a good cause.
If I was that type of girl previously mentioned, I'd tell you now about a silent auction where the amazing man (also previously mentioned) made the winning bid on a week at a sweet cabin in Canadialand. There could be speculation about how romaaaaantic such a getaway would be. But there will be none of that.
Instead, I will give you the latest update on the preg-o sister. Things are status quo. Still bedresting, still hoping the little one stays put for a couple more weeks. And lest you worry that I'm obsessing over the new baby before she even arrives, and neglecting sweet Lillian, I give you this:
It's not even possible to neglect such a face, I assure you. I must admit though, that I'm curious about how she will react to the new baby in the house. I'll be there soon, maybe I'll get to see it for myself.
So much going on, it's a little surprising there hasn't been more written here. I guess it's hard to put it all into words because rehashing it, even in my head, makes me a little crazy.
My sister, mother of the cutest baby in the entire universe, is due to have another amazing child in November. She was in the hospital yesterday though, because she started having contractions. My father called to tell me, which is odd, because my sister is my best friend. She calls me always, about every little detail. When she was pregnant with Lillian, we had a very active dialog about every weird ache and gas bubble...quite frankly, some of it was enough to make me doubt ever having kids of my own. This time around, it's been slightly less graphic, mostly because she has been through it, and though it's all still bizarre and amazing, it's less shocking for her.
So I knew, when it wasn't her on the other end of the phone informing me of the hospital stay, that it was serious. She was scared. When I did get in touch with her (about .3 seconds after hanging up with my dad), she was being all brave and strong. But like I said, she is my best friend, and I heard the fear behind her sturdy words. It is way too early for this kid to be born. To make matters worse, my sister is a NICU nurse, so she sees every worst case scenario there is with very premature babies. These are not the images that comfort you when you're having contractions 3 months early.
They stopped the contractions, she was told she'd be on some form of bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, and she didn't say much else.
Today, the phone rang and when I saw her number, I literally dropped what I was doing, almost burning off a toe. Thank God for steel toe boots. At the other end was exactly what I expected from our first conversation. She was sobbing. A worried mommy, paralyzed by all of the what-ifs of this little life. She also has a year and a half old little princess who needs care and attention, and for the first time in Lillian's life, my sister cannot pick her up or scurry after her as she goes exploring. It is both frustrating and frightening, and add all of those crazy pregnancy hormones, and what you get is a heartbreaking storm of emotion. It made me want to jump on a plane, abandon everything here and just go. Go take care of my niece so my sister doesn't have to worry. Go make her feel better by just letting her cry on my shoulder. Go fetch things for her while she is where she should be, where she needs to be...sitting on her ass and not moving.
I can't make things ok for her. I cannot fix every feeling she is having, and all of those emotions are completely valid. All I can do is reassure her that Lillian was also premature. She was just over 4 lbs when she was born. She is now the healthiest chubby little toddler, and I know that this baby, even if she is early, will also be fine. I have to believe that, because the alternative is just not ok.
I'm thankful that she married a man who will dote on her and who will tell her all of the things I want to. He will bend over backwards and work his ass off so that she can take it easy like she needs to. Most importantly, he will make sure she does just that, because making my sister sit still is a lot like trying to stop a tidal wave with a paper cup. He will be a great daddy, making up for every toss in the air my sister cannot give to Lillian. He will also tell me if and when it is time for me to hop on that plane, and I'll find a way.
If you've gotten through all of that rattling on, you totally deserve a giggle. My most favorite blogger ever has graced us with a guest post over at Obituarium, and though it deals with something equally terrifying, he will make you laugh about it. Because he's awesome like that.
Note the jewels. She was quite smitten with their shimmery goodness.
They really do think stuff like that, don't they?
Just an example of why I'm happy to announce that my sister, bestest sister and mother of the cutest baby on the planet (see below), is having another girl. 
Ok, so I'm not thrilled with the choice of eyewear, but I'm leaning toward my mother as the culprit for that bad fashion choice. You should see her reading glasses. Hideous things. Also, she owns a pair of pants with a multi-colored, bright pastel print of shoes on them. Why? I have no clue. Maybe it's something that happens to women when they become grandmothers. In any event, the glasses are not Lillian's fault. She doesn't know any better yet. I will be seeing her in a few weeks. We will have a chat about allowing the "adults" to put silly looking things on her.
But I digress...
I'm going to be an aunt to another adorable baby girl, and now I'm at a loss. You see, buying stuff for the first baby was easy. They didn't have anything. Now, they have all sorts of baby girl stuff. Lillian's closet is full of adorable things she never even had the chance to wear, so clothes (and shoes) are out. What am I supposed to get the new kid?
I like this shiny thing. 
Ok, how do I keep it on me? It's mine, right? I like it.
I know, I know. Unfortunately, I've had so much work to do...both in my fake job, and in my art (yay! real!) job, that I have found it difficult to muster words for this page. Besides, I figure if I'm absent enough, Wheezy will step in and I will open my site and giggle at stuff I didn't even have to put there. (I'd just like to point out that the flowers, they are very cute, and if you don't like it, you should create your own masthead, so there!)
Just 2 days until the weekend, though, which will be filled with goodness. Until then, I leave you with this super cool link. If you are, or ever aspire to be, a parent, and you don't laugh your ass off at it, you should give up all hope of raising a child with any sort of success.
Oh, and speaking of kid stuff....
Guess what perfect, beautiful, genius little girl is going to be a big sister to a new perfect, beautiful, genius new baby? Uh huh, I'm going to have a new little niece or nephew to twist and adore.
baby's first picture:
I don't recall giving her permission to grow so much while not in my presence. Good thing she's so damn cute, or she'd be in big trouble.
This tattoo is so brilliant. This is also one of Lillian's favorite games I play with her, and by the time I get to the "wee wee wee...all the way home" part, she is shaking with laughter. The fact that this reminds me of her is probably why I like it so much. I miss that baby. Must find a way to steal her from my sister. I promise to give her back when she gets to be about 12 and all bershon on me.
I've discussed before my fascination with tattoos in general, because some are so cool, but they're so damn Permanent. That freaks me out. Besides, I couldn't tattoo my toes, because they are way too cute.
