I just looked at my blog tracker for the first time in ages, and I still have people checking us out! Wa waaaaaaaa. Also, as of 10 minutes ago, my blog was STILL titled, "Eric, Jill, and Leo". That blew my mind. Really? No Naomi? This past Saturday, I just reconnected with an old friend Erin Lane, now Erin Butler, and the last time we had seen each other, I was pregnant with Leo. She had never met my two kids and I had never met her now husband Louis and stepson Sam, but it didn't feel like it. We all got along so well. Louis and Eric talked the whole time (2 HOURS!) while Erin and I laughed and covered all of the bases we could! For a long time, Sam watched Leo play Angry Birds on Eric's phone. He never acted bored stiff or like he didn't care. What a sweet 10-year-old! Isn't it great to have friends like that? Filled my well for a while!

A Short Tribute for my Special Grandma

I've never felt so grateful in all of my life. With the passing of my grandmother just a few short months after Eric's grandmother left us, I want to now, more than ever, take in life the way Peggy did. Gram and my grandma had a lot in common, come to think of it.

My favorite words that describe my grandma are fun (the life of every party), warm, spiritual, funny, spunky, engaging, quick-witted, wise, energetic, and she also had the coziest lap where I'd fall asleep on many occasions. We'd pop some Act popcorn and watch movies like Ghost and shows like Star Search late into the night (for me, anyways). She'd lay next to me in bed (the latest National Enquirer tightly in hand) and later sneak out, leaving me with the squeals of piglets right outside my window (scariest sound known to man). I'd wake up (again) to the smell of bacon and there was no better place in the world than Grandma's house. I'd draw her pictures and just as quickly as I drew them, she'd find a frame and hang them up around her house. I want to be like her to my grandchildren. Soft, cozy, loving. Although I'm afraid I don't have the pillowy chest that she had, I'll try my best in other ways.

When Leo saw her one last time, he wished her "Night, night."

Goodnight, Grandma, thanks for always letting me pat your soft hair, the fluffiest hair I've ever had the pleasure of patting. I'll never forget you.

Babies really are the best medicine

Leo, we are so lucky to have you always, but especially during this tough weekend, you helped everyone to heal faster and better. Pop, Grandpa Rory, Grandma Shar, Uncle Brian, Uncle Dave, Aunt Dana, Uncle Reid, Aunt JoAnn, and cousins Jessica and Kelly all love you TONS and even better, were able to show you just how much. In return, you reminded us all about what's important.

Kelly and Jessica would scoop you up, and read you books. They'd get simply giddy over you, and Kelly actually pinched your cheeks! Jessica was enamored with your soft, thick hair and kept petting the top of your head. Uncle Reid rough-housed with you and you (mostly) loved it. Aunt JoAnn held you on her lap while you played with water bottles and plastic cups. Uncle Brian let you watch Elmo on his phone. Aunt Dana observed and laughed at how your cheeks jiggle with every step you take; she also kept her eye on you while we all got ready. Uncle Dave would try to pick you up but is still doing the newborn football hold. Someday. Grandpa tickled you every chance he got, and Grandma fed you kolache, teaching you to say "please" before each bite. Pop kept saying "I love you so much, Leo. Oh Leo, you're my boy." You sat on his lap during Curious George. He also said we need to have a million more babies just like you.

All you had to do was be yourself and we were all happier. Our ray of sunshine when the sun was hiding, you smiled, said new things like "W" and walked up to Grandma for a hug. At Gram's visitation, you ran up to her picture (as how you recognized her), lit up with a huge grin and said either "Gram!!!" or "Grandma!" We couldn't decipher which one, but you definitely said one of the two. And I'm sure she heard and saw you and it tickled her pink. You loved Gram as much as we did. She held and hugged you lots and you showed us right then and there that you remembered her love.

You gave Mommy and Daddy kisses in front of Gram's best friends. They couldn't get over how adorable you are. You sat through Gram's service and made it the whole way through - albeit with the help of your Sesame Street books, fishies, paci and mommy's purse, but you did it! I almost took you out of the room when you got too loud, but that just didn't feel right. Good thing I didn't, because Pop later said you were so good and he wanted you there no matter what. We all loved having you there. Thank you for making a sad weekend wonderful in so many ways.

XOXO, Mommy

Little Treasures

A few weeks ago, we were sitting at the dinner table at Eric's grandparents' home in Cleveland (Gram and Pop's). Gram always has some kind of interesting tableware. She lives for that kind of stuff. So I like to admire and point out things that I find beautiful. For instance, a 60's era glassware orange salt and pepper shaker caught my eye and luckily for me, she had more where that came from (A LOT MORE) and in my favorite color: GREEN! Gram told me she didn't think that anyone much cared for the pieces so she had already given away all of her blue (sigh!), but still had orange, green and red sets. In the 60's, she bought them at glass factories along the Ohio River. I was like a kid in a candy store. We didn't have room in our car to take everything (much to Eric's chagrin), but next time, honey, next time! More photos to come. Jealous much?

I can see the light?!

I was just looking back at my old blogposts. I'm such a sporadic blogger that if you click "older posts" at the bottom of this page, you'll find posts from over a year ago. This one struck me because first off, Leo was conceived that night (sorry, don't want to gross any of you out), and I had ironically titled it "I can see the light". Wow, kind of gives me chills; I had no idea how much my life was going to change. In a good way, of course. Isn't looking back so fun sometimes? Makes me want to check in here more. Out of all the random times I post, I wrote on the day that, unbeknownst to me, started the best thing ever.

Chicken noodle soup really is good for the soul

And so is....

My mom who drove an hour to take care of us for the day and make me said chicken noodle soup

A clean home

Fall light shining through the windows illuminating my clean home

Beautiful inherited green and red and orange glassware (more on that later!)

Planning 1st birthday parties

My grandma's meatballs which I can hopefully talk her into making for the party!

Leo resting his head on my shoulder and grabbing my finger with his tiny, soft hand

The colors blue, green, red, orange, and yellow - the best colors on the planet!

What's good for your soul?

Oh, and this dude:

Ohio

If there's one thing I've remained loyal to, it's the state of Ohio. I haven't lived anywhere else, and I don't plan on leaving. My family's here, and they better not leave either.

In eighth grade, I wrote a speech about how great Ohio is, and I wholeheartedly believed every word of it.

But you know what? From December-March, I don't really care for the place all that much. Without any leaves on the trees and the lack of vitamin D and the shorter grey days, I sort of get depressed.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to fill these upcoming winter days so that my lack of enthusiasm doesn't rub off on my offspring. I sure will miss you in the morning, front porch swing.

Mornings with Leo

Leo's sitting on the floor concentrating on his toys as I admire his cheeky profile. Cheeky as in all cheeks. He loves making noise on the hardwood with his toys. Yesterday afternoon when I scooped him up from his crib, he gave me three deliberate kisses in a row. He does the familiar open mouthed baby kiss. My niece Kyra would give kisses the same way. It's so endearing.

These past few days, I can't believe how much energy and strength he's gained. Yesterday, he kept standing on his own without support and would twist himself out of my arms while discovering he could use my you know whats as handles. OUCH!

Leo also gets REALLY excited to play with Eric at the end of the day. He and I were sitting on the porch swing when he quickly turned to see Daddy waving from his car in the driveway. The boy just gets so tickled, giggling and smiling and clapping his arms up and down.

I also feel better today; I'm that much closer to an organized home. I cleaned out a huge bag of papers. I also requested that the bank start sending paper statements again. I thought I was doing the environment a favor, but I need to hold onto documents (5-7 years, eh? It's true! I've accepted this rule as fact with the rug scenario) for sanity.

These are boring tidbits of my life with no images. We took some of Leo in the beautiful evening sun playing in the leaves yesterday. The next order of blog bizness is putting these pictures up in real time and of course beautifying and updating this ugly plain green template. But I'm writing again and it feels good. Practice makes perfect right? Which today I'm going to practice the piano for the first time in a looooong while.

Writing

It's almost noon, and all I've consumed today is my morning coffee. I may be a little harried in the brain as I write, but that's OK.

Sometimes I have trouble reconciling the old me with the new me. The old me was a hardcore cat lover. The new me deals with the daily struggle of "Should I keep the cats? Should I find them a new home? Do I still 'love them'" The loyalty issue tugs at my heartstrings. With Leo, our house feels smaller, they're always in my face, and the constant fur and daily feedings and dirty litterboxes and Boss laying on me every second I sit down, has become such a major annoyance. Boss is trying to take over my lap as I type. He knows, he always knows. And he's now trying to chew my laptop power cord. Sa-weet. I love you too, Boss.

The old me was disorganized but could deal. The new me cannot take disorganization and it's a daily struggle to try to stay on top of things while constantly looking for something. I need organization in my life. I can't remember things like I used to. Sometimes I wish that some organization pro would come knock on my door and whip me into shape.

The old me didn't have to think so hard about what I liked to wear and how to decorate my house. The new me gets overwhelmed by fashion and decorating, especially for the holidays. Although I still love these artforms, I'm personally overwhelmed by all of the options out there. I will stick with what I have. However, when I think about how little holiday decorations we do have in comparison to what I had growing up, my heart breaks a little. As a child, I loved getting out these little treasures every year. I've just never been able to stomach paying for and storing holiday decorations (back to organizing). I know I will have to get over this in an effort to start family traditions with Leo. We've always celebrated holidays out of town with family which is one reason I always justified the lack of decorations.

The old me could handle the burning rubber smell of our Pottery Barn rug. With Leo crawling around everywhere, the new me wants it out of our house ASAP. After doing some research online, I've discovered this was a latex issue with their rugs from '06and earlier. PB told me over the phone that they'll issue a credit if we bring the rug back to the store with proof of purchase. Now if only I hadn't shredded my bank statements from four years ago in a useless attempt at organization (I hate papers) while nesting last year. The bank will mail us the statement for 5 bucks (crossing my fingers it was my debit card and I have the right time period.).

I'm hoping I can figure these new me things out; maybe some sustenance (other than coffee) will help. If any of you has any advice, please share.

Sunny weekends

Fall weekends stir up the warm and cozy feelings inside of me. That's why I'm writing about this one. Temperatures finally died down in Cincy from the low 90's to the tolerable but still warm mid 70's and both Saturday and Sunday brought blue skies and sun. Now if only I could tote a camera around to capture some of these awesome happenings.

Saturday morning I met up with some old friends, Kat and Rachel at the hole in the wall joint Anchor Grill in Covington, Kentucky. I hadn't seen Kat in almost two years and Rachel in over two years. When Rachel lived in Cincy before moving to San Fran, some nights we'd get together and cut a serious rug into the wee hours. We bonded over our white girl dance moves. Kat and I went to gradeschool together at MHC and that's how I met Rachel (my MHC friends went to the same high school as Rachel and that's where Kat and her became best buds). We're not the kind of friends who stay in touch on a regular basis but when we do see each other, we always have something to talk about and our conversation is never forced or boring. That's why getting together when we can makes for some good times.

For lunch, I met up with Emily (another gf I met through my beloved MHC friends. Em and Kim were in the same hs art class), and Sarah and Sarah, both good friends of Em's from UC. We ate at Take the Cake in Northside and gabbed about girl things. The book Taking Charge of Your Fertility made for some lively conversation. Women of the world, you need this book.

After I got my girl fill for the day, Eric, Leo and I headed north to Lebanon for the Apple Festival. We waited in a long line for some Apple Flappens which were fried apple rings covered in cinnamon/sugar. The woman serving these flappens looked a little hardened and wasn't wearing a bra either. The apples weren't the only things flappin'. Her assistant was wearing a shirt that said "I've got an attitude and know how to use it." After finally grabbing our orders, I walked behind some man who bumped into me causing two of our flappens to flop out of the box, bounce off of my shirt and jeans and then finally hit the pavement. I (dumbly?) decided to ask for replacements. The braless flappen lady obliged but definitely not with a smile.

We stuffed our faces with the long awaited flappens while Leo sat in his stroller; he was a little annoyed watching us eat the wonderful smelling treats, and I'd forgotten to pack his Cheerios. Man, I can't wait until he can enjoy the horrible things we do.

On a scale of 1-10 with the Waynesville Sauerkraut Festival being a 10, I'd give the Apple Festival a 5. So after eating, we left. The street was not wide enough and the food not as impressive as the Sauerkraut's huge selection.

That night: Weeds on the tube.

Ah, Sunday....the sun is less intense these fall mornings and makes me feel like I'm getting things done at 7:30 a.m. vs. 9:30 a.m. We jammed out to some Sunday morning music on Cool TV, chugged our Trader Joe's dark roast coffee, got cleaned up and headed to McDonald's, (coupon for buy one get one free McMuffin - YES!) Target, and Petsmart. The cats were sick of eating our tuna and had been stalking us all morning for some real hard as nails cat food. After Eric and Leo did the pet duties, they found me in the aisles of Target. Nothing makes me happier than running into my two favorite people.

As we left the store the air was chillier and obviously telling us to take it easy the rest of the day. We got home, Leo napped and I caught up on a few Season 3 episodes of Weeds that Eric watched without me the night before (I had zonked out). The rest of the day, Eric got out the blower and blew the acorns off the driveway while Leo and I chilled on the porch when I noticed a present from one of our neighbor's five cats: a dead chipmunk. I'm pretty sure that means they (the neighbor cats) like us.

Then Eric washed his car and brought home Skyline which we devoured. Flappens and Skyline, yes, this weekend brought out the gluttony in us. Although the food hit the spot, bathtime was even better. Leo LOVES getting clean now, so I thought he could finally use some toys in the tub. I happily unveiled his first bath toys, a rubber duckie and dolphin that I bought that morning at Target. He loved them, smiling and laughing while swooshing the toys in and out of the water with his little hands.

We got some face time in with Eric's family on the webcam, then put our shiny boy to bed, and then what'd we do? Watch some more Weeds. Ah, gluttony, family and the lazies. It must be Fall.

What'd you do this weekend?

Hello...and a bit on mamahood

I've been thinking about starting a new blog but figure I'll just fiddle around with what I've got. Although Blogger doesn't always get high marks, a lot of blogs I admire have stuck with it. So here goes, Blogger. Let's get to work.

Since I've been home with Leo this past month and a half, the days are flying faster than ever. I can only imagine the old saying "time flies when you're having fun" was said by someone with children.

What Leo gains in agility, our house loses in decoration. He's cleared our bookshelf, and the lamp with shelves including a vase, some pottery and stack of books is now a skeleton. As far as eating, he loves my goulash (Rachael Ray's to be exact) and will down a whole bowl. He likes to say ball (favorite word), bye bye, kitty cat (more like kit cat) and mama (my favorite). In the mornings after breakfast, we love to sit on the porch swing, which is the only place he'll let me hold him for a considerable amount of time. This time of year, early fall, reminds me of his impending birth and after his birthday, I won't have the pleasure of saying "At this time last year when I was pregnant...."

I've always been a sentimental person, but Leo has brought this feeling inside of me to another level. Whoever says that parenting is a thankless job is anything but positive. Everything is a thank you. Leo's smile, his cuddles, his perfect skin, chubby cheeks, soft hair, and giggles (my favorite sound) are bigger than thank yous. They're out of this world indescribable.

New Blog to Come!

Out with the old! Just a little foreshadowing for my buds that care. Love you guys! And I mean it. xoxoxoxo

Because I'd like to win some Fuzzibunz...

That's all! Check them out: Fuzzibunz.com

If I link to Fuzzibunz on my blog via the blog Pacing the Panic Room and then leave a comment there linking to my blog, I am automatically entered into a contest to win a whole bunch! Wish Leo and us luck!

Times New Roman stinks.

Check out www.yellowbrickhome.com.

My blog needs a designer and an editor. I'm accepting applications. I'll be my own blog boss, work from home, won't have to worry about finding a sitter for the baby! Perfect, I knew I could come up with something really cool and efficient like that.

Sitting here this lovely Thursday evening, I'm wondering if I'm feeling a cheeseburger or a baby. Probably the former.

18 weeks along and still dumbfounded. I've figured out what lamp (with a dimmer) and crib to buy at IKEA. That's all we pretty much need, right? And then maybe a sitter if this blog career doesn't pan out.

Baby sweater

Em is a crafter, a REAL, honest-to-goodness crafter. I just pretend to be one. She took this photo of her first sweater creation that she recently sent me in the mail. Check out her newly acquired Flickr account. Upon opening, this little cardi just about broke my heart. Look at those wooden buttons! Em's coworker Andrea also gifted me with some yellow polka-dotted baby leggings. What they really are, are super long full-length leg warmers. These people know me too well, because I want to have a fun dressed baby. I already have a couple of Charley Harper T's.

Blogging.

Kim thinks I don't have anything to blog about until I have a baby. Au contraire. I have TOO much to blog about! And never enough discipline to gather my thoughts into anything cohesive and even after that, put fingers to keyboard. Although I do like that speed typing game found here: http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/ I've gotten over 100 words a minute! But that only happened once.

Plus, I have a fear of the mundane with blogging which is a trap I just about always fall prey to (you'll see down the line). CANKLES, anyone?

I found a nursery that I want to emulate - found via the Cookie Nesting blog and blogger Abbey Goes Design Scouting. Too bad that rug costs AS MUCH as the crib! But the wall decals are totally doable and so are the crib and changing table.
Feeling better now, which means packing my lunch with PB&J most days since my ankles and pregnancy don't agree. My circulation has always been fine, but for some reason salt HATES me, but I LOVE it. Ate dinner at BW3's last night and after consuming some boneless wings while sitting on a barstool, my feet burst out of my flats. Man, I can only think of what will happen when I'm huge. Hopefully proactive measures NOW will save my ankles and feet. Then I went to bed and while my ankles looked better this morning, all of the fluid swam up to my eyes. I'm a hot mess.

When times are tough.

You can still count on buying a cheap T to make you happy. Following one of my favorite fashion blogs, I discovered just in the nick of time the last day of an online sample sale at Built by Wendy. Normally I just drool over everything, knowing it's out of my reach. Well, a 10 dollar T and purse were just what the dr. ordered. And super fast service!

This T is the best handcrafted henley and looks way cooler in person. Bright white rubbery buttons tightly sewn, thick cotton, navy blue and grey stripes (love this combo), the perfect spring/summer little sleeves that pop out, Buit by Wendy felted embroidered arrows logo. This shirt is going to get a lot of play; you can tell it's a quality T.

So the moral of the story:

You can never have too many Built by Wendy pieces for 10 bucks! And keep up on your fashion blogs so that you don't miss out on the T in this color too. (and other swoon-worthy pretty floaty tops - dangit!)

However, the white buttons really pop against the gray and the navy T. Here they get lost.

Another moral: A girl can never have too many stripes. Just don't wear striped pants and a striped top together.

Flowers to come!

I forgot that these will be greeting me in the morning soon!

I can see the light

Things to look forward to:

New U2 album, which means CONCERT!!! Karen are you game? Father-in-law, are you game?

Chicago and bikes this summer!

Playhouse in the Park volunteering! More FREE plays! When I helped take down the Playhouse holiday decorations, the volunteer coordinator gave us all a backstage tour including rehearsal rooms. The costume design area was my favorite part; I wanted to steal one of the colonial looking jackets for my own wardrobe!

Cousin's birthday on Friday!

Luncheon with the Cous Saturday!

"Crafternoon" later that day at Em's! - how do you like dem play on words?! Em's a genius!!!

At said crafternoon party, Em's mom's going to teach me how to knit! She's already bought big needles for me to learn. How sweet is that?

Kitchen backsplash!

Seeing Christina and Ryan next weekend!

Seeing Kim and Scott not too long after!

Lupson's wedding in May!

Planning a BIG trip somewhere!

SPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you looking forward to? Anything I wouldn't know about already? TELL ME!

Sweaty hands, sweaty feet. And tears too.

I've never watched a movie before that made my hands and feet simultaneously sweat. Man on Wire also made me cry. Sweat, tears, that's a lot of bodily functions for one movie.

The pictures atop the World Trade Center (WTC) are captivating. Footage of the massive buildings going up are totally awesome. The whole story is really awe-inspiring, from the creative process of the Frenchman Phillipe Petit and his friends figuring out how to get the wire across the 140-foot gap between the WTC to accessing the roof with guards manning the then unoccupied top floors.

And to know that he was up there on the tightrope for 45 minutes, going back and forth 8 times, doing tricks like lying down and kneeling.... all I can think is unbeliavable as my hands start to sweat a little even now.

The walk between the towers happened on August 7th, 1974, on my mom's 20th birthday. The movie never goes into 9/11 but that makes it all the more thought provoking. Times were different then, even though one of the Frenchmen called America at that time, a litigious nation. He, one of Petit's friends, was expelled from the country, while Petit comparatively was let off with the sole punishment of entertaining American crowds.

Man on Wire is an amazing documentary with piano music at all the right times. The only thing I desired was some kind of closure at the end. There have been 34 years since the event took place, after all.