lunch break

...charlie's thanksgiving weekend trifecta

1. A walk on the beach

2. His first movie. The Muppets. Oh, what an experience to take in his first movie with him at a real movie theater. I think I am the only person who has cried seeing the muppets. Damn post-pregnancy hormones. The finale had every adult in the theater bopping their head from side-to-side (all of us re-living some part of our childhood, I imagine). The combination of that and my little boy all cuddled up on my lap, well, it was just too much.

3. Santa! No tears! High-fives and knucks! Awe, even! Charlie gets it. And it is magical.

...brooklyn flea (or in my mind, brooklyn feeee)

...Brooklyn Flea, the latest from Studio Calico, went live in the wee hours of the morning. In my head, I am always saying, "Brooklyn feeeeee." I have no idea why.

And with it, I created one of my most favorite pages ever, using one of our new family photos from Maria the great (as I call her):

And a few more pages too:

The quote on this is ringing especially true today: "Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else's happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you're not sure what the right thing is...and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong." Donna Ball

...truth in scrapbooking

...For this month's Studio Calico gallery, I have a page that the journaling is crooked. That happens sometimes. And I'm OK with it. And I'm OK with admitting that sometimes I do scrapbooking pages that I don't really like when I'm finished. Most of the time, they go into the album and I call it done. But sometimes the picture makes me want to redo the whole thing. And so I do. Which is what I did for this page (for Elle's Studio November gallery), a photo I had used initially for a Studio Calico layout a few months ago:

(And yes, this page is Raffi-esque-inspired. And if you do not have children, I hope you don't know who Raffi is).

This was another page for the Elle's Studio gallery...Charlie saw Santa this past weekend and I'm happy to report that there was not a repeat performance of this (more on that to come):

...do you have the date?

...I don't think a day goes by that I don't see a calendar I need, errr, want. I have big plans for some calendars in the new house (so I'm waiting to buy in hopes of getting them on sale after the new year). Here are a few (literally, just a few, I have a couple dozen bookmarked):

From here

From here

From here

From here

From here

From here

From here

...twit

...My parents came to visit last weekend and we went into Annapolis for dinner. My dad sat across the table from me and looked at me in all seriousness and asked, "Do you twit?"

(Almost as good as the time my mom combined Facebook and MySpace to ask me about this "MyFace" phenomenon).

I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my dad who is not ashamed of the fact that he is not an owner of either an iPhone or a Facebook account (nor does he Twit, for that matter). Thank you for being my dad and Charlie and Clara's poppy (and for having such dominant genes that both of my children look like you).

...little bundle, big joy

And today:

...undercover toddler

...Ken and I found this little gem on my phone last night and laaaaaughed:

And since it's not the most flattering angle for Charlie (I mean, what undercover camera is?), I'll share my recent favorite picture of the two of us:

Necklace from Carron via Urban Legend.

...meeting mo mo

...I do wonder what 18 year-old me would think about how excited 32 year-old me is to see this:

...When I found out that Kevin Clash (the man behind {or below} Elmo) was from Baltimore, I had a new-found love for the furry little beast. And next week, I might just get to meet Kevin in person here. Think Charlie will be jealous? I know 18 year-old me would be totally jealous. Totally.

...this week in instagram

...I have lots to say and lots of blog posts rambling around in my head. If only my secretary was more efficient I would be able to blog every day. Unfortunately she's sleep deprived. And likes to talk about herself in the third person.

Dr. Charlie on his way back from trick-or-treating. Since we are moving to the woods, I realized this year that we will always be destination trick-or-treaters (got that term from Mary). I like it. Makes us sound exotic.

She is becoming a little girl. And good God is she going to be beautiful. It makes my heart hurt sometimes to look at her and think about it.

Wearing this scarf and thinking about this from last year. Listening to Orange Sky and thinking of one of my favorite couples. (I know it's illegal to talk and text while drive, but is it illegal to instagram and drive?)

Remember what I said about her being beautiful? Yeah.

Charlie, getting pumped to decorate the new house by reading The Meghan Method (found via here).

Sometimes Charlie misses being an infant. And then he remembers he's a toddler and that being crazy is so much more fun than just laying there.

And this isn't Instagram, but oh how it makes me happy. In a few months, there will be a house here, and it will be ours: