Hannah is...

Sometimes I feel like my life is one long string of Facebook Status Updates. A random sampling from today:


Hannah is thankful the dog (evidently) likes beans and thus prevented her from cleaning them up from under the high chair.

Hannah has never used the big bathtub for the baby until tonight. He expressed his excitement by both pooping and puking in it.

Hannah's baby needs to run around a park to dispel some of his energy. This is problematic since he can't walk yet.

Hannah is very glad the vegetarians didn't accidentally chow down on the chicken-supposed-to-be-eggplant-parmesan sandwiches at the party.

Hannah is committed to starting a 2-week meat-free diet...tomorrow. Today she will enjoy leftover mini Italian beef sandwiches.

Hannah just tried to do a pretty pirouette in her living room after watching "So You Think You Can Dance." Nope, still ugly. And her extension still sucks.

Hannah wonders how long she can go without sterilizing the pacifiers before it's considered child abuse.

Celebration!

My hubby helped me throw a fabulous 30th birthday party at "Pinstripes!"

We bowled, ate, ate some more, and hung by a fire. It was a great time...and now I'm sleepy, my bowling muscle is sore, and I have to let my hubby go to Australia. :o)


This slice of video is entitled, "Queen of the Nine," as that's what I bowled all night long. Nine...nine...nine...nine.


More pics! http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100342

30.

Dear Self,

You are 30 years old today. During the last decade you...

- Earned a Bachelor's degree.
- More importantly, you had the invaluable experience of attending an out-of-state university, in a diverse metropolis
- Taught music for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's ECHO Center
- Scored a job right after graduation
- Won a trip to Mexico through a (free) bar raffle--and went!
- Played violin on Chicago's Symphony Center stage.
- Visited France, England, Canada, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Australia, New Zealand
- Visited AZ, NY, NYC (it's really its own state), MI, CA, FL, CO, HI, MN, NV, OK, VA, WI
- Had 13 roommates
- Moved six times
- Drove a car from AZ to MI
- Adopted your own dog
- Signed your name to the title of a home
- Planned a wedding
- Played in numerous classical concerts
- Performed in nine musicals
- Music directed three musicals
- Attended some grad school in MN
- Married the love of your life
- Enjoyed a pregnancy
- Bore a beautiful child
- Started blogging
- Learned to knit
- Joined three different workout facilities
- Gained a bunch of weight
- Lost a bunch of weight
- Saw countless theatre productions in Chicago, Broadway, West End, and regional
- Planned six Holiday Sings
- Led three 5th grade choruses
- Became more compassionate toward others
- Became more tolerant of others
- Learned to love, deeply and selflessly
- Turned 30

No doubt the list for the next decade will look dramatically different, but let it be your goal to continue to achieve, to keep your body in excellent working condition, to never stop learning, and never stop loving. Happy Birthday.



P.S. from the author: On this day I am grateful to my parents for giving me life, and to my entire family/friends/colleagues, for giving me a LIFE.

All I Want for Christmas is My Two (Bottom) Front Teeth

...and he would like you to know that it HURTS. VERY. BADLY.


(In case you couldn't tell from that pathetic face!)

As I kid, I can clearly remember losing my baby teeth, but I surely don't remember them growing back in painfully. Does this happen? Or does it only hurt the first time? Poor Munchkin. His friend, Huey, also popped one out this week. Those boys are all about solidarity.


(To do: Learn Photoshop for real.)

By George, I Think He's Got It!

We bought the Munchkin this toy several months ago, even though it has the sounds/lights feature that I'm quickly starting to loathe in all toys.

(When he plays with me, those features are almost always turned off. Daddy, on the other hand, is a different story. ;o) )
Anyway, until recently, he admired the roll-around balls, and had figured out the button, but today was the first time he actually got the hang of the whole shebang.

So, enjoy the video--footage compliments of Brad--and I'm going to go work on some sort of witty commentary to include on this blog. I just trolled my own recent posts and realized there's a whole lot of pictures and videos, and not much else. YAWN.

Water Bottle

This mini photo session is entitled, "Why Buy Toys?"

It's a Start

I have admired my friend's effort to "gradually go green" for a long time.

I have been slow to jump on the bandwagon for various reasons, not the least of which is laziness (you mean I have to crawl under my bed to unplug my cell phone charger EVERY DAY?!), but today I *finally* made this effort:



Of course, those reusable bags were filled with paper towels, plastic containers, and diapers; AND I forgot to use them two days later when I found myself back at the grocery store...but it's a start.

Equality

Just so you don't think I'm biased...

Today's Menu

Regular Coffee
Iced Tea
Coke
12-Pack of Corona
Bottle of Wine
Chocolate Bars
Chocolate Ice Cream
Chocolate Milk


Okay, just kidding. But I could.
Why? Because the Human Dairy Bar is officially "Closed for Season."


Tomorrow I'll be sad about it. But today? Today I'm having a Coke.

In Honor of "Mamamama's" Day

There was sleeping in, brunching, pedicuring, TV watching, card-reading, flowering, picture viewing, and cuddling. Thanks to my boys for a wonderful 1st mother's day!


Oh, and, to my Mom...I missed you today. HUGS.

SCOOT!

He scoots...backward, but nonetheless.


(I shot this footage a few weeks ago, but just found this post!)

Home Tour

My Aunties ask all the time about seeing pics of my home. Well, this is the nicest it will ever look, so here are the photos the realtor's photog took a few days ago. Enjoy!


Enter on the main level to the den and full bathroom.



Proceed upstairs, look left into the kitchen. The balcony is through the sliding door, off the kitchen.



Look right from the top of the stairs, and find the dining/living room combo


Closer look at the living room


Go up another flight of stairs, turn left into the nursery.



From the stairs, turn right into the shared master bathroom


And into the master bedroom (I just love that I can see my PJs hanging on the back of the door!)

OUCH.

"We are not going to music class today, because mommy hurt herself. Badly."

(And if you're paying attention, you know that music is my (our) very favorite activity of the WHOLE WEEK, so it must be bad.)

The female Richard Simmons (edited to say: is that redundant?) kicked my stepping butt into oblivion yesterday at the YMCA, and in the process I managed to pull the muscle that runs down the right side of my neck, through the shoulder, and--the best part--into my arm, rendering the right side of my body utterly useless today. Oh, and I can't carry my child on that side, or lift him with two arms, and it hurts to sit on the floor and play. Great.

So we're staying home.


WAAAAAAA!!!!

Top Ten

Top Ten Reasons I'm Ready to Move to the 'Burbs:

10. The ginormous inflatable Santa Claus/Turkey/Easter Bunny/Spiders that inhabit our neighbors' yards have lost their charm.

9. At the park, a high-heeled, chain-smoking lady growled, "That DOG needs some WATER," when we walked by her. I bet that doesn't happen in the burbs.

8. I'd like to go to a restaurant in my neighborhood that doesn't have the menu printed on a giant billboard outside.

7. 4th of July firecrackers start on July 1st, continue until all hours of the night, and finally end around August 30 (I'm exaggerating a little).

6. The constant police presence near the high school (which is a quarter of a mile away) is not exactly comforting.

5. Our across-from-the-townhomes neighbors sit on their porches in the middle of the work day, smoking "funny looking cigarettes" and drinking Miller Lite.

4. I'm SO SICK AND TIRED of people's off-leash dogs in the park, when the signs clearly state that all dogs need to be on leashes. Now, I bet this still happens in the burbs, but I bet there are more cocker spaniels off-leash than pitt-bull mixes.

3. The only evidence of gentrification in our neighborhood is the appearance of "Mustard and Onions," the hotdog stand a few blocks away.

2. I am not now, nor will I ever be, interested in eating food from the pork rind vendor. And she hogs the sidewalk.

And the Number One reason I'm ready to move to the burbs....

1. I'm trying to avoid telling the Thai food delivery guy that he cannot, in fact, drive on the sidewalk to deliver food to our door.


EDIT: I removed the link to our listing because I realized that our actual address is posted. Too bad, because there are some really nice photos of my house, if you've never been here. Oh, well. In any case, we're finally on the market, again. I'll try to post the individual pics later, in a separate post (not that you care, but just in case you do).

8 Months

Dear Munchkin,

Well, kid, you're officially growing out of that nickname, to be sure. In fact, you're closer to being a boy than a baby, and it's great fun to witness that incredible transformation.

- You are a great sitter, now. You can reach all the way forward to retrieve toys, and only occasionally lose your center and fall with a kerplunk onto the floor (ouch).

- It's fun to watch you actually play with your toys now, rather than just try to eat them or stare at them. Of course, you still don't play with most of them in the way it's intended (ie: tossing around the block box, rather than the blocks), but who cares?

- You have discovered my toes (and my hair, necklace, and watch). And boy, when you get focused on something--look out!

- A (sad) mark of your "big boyness" is that you rarely permit me to rock you, baby style. You will only sit in my lap, and protest being on your back in my arms.

- You are such a joy to watch in music class. You are intently focused on Miss Mary THE. ENTIRE. TIME. You watch her every move and giggle when she comes close to you.

- You eat green vegetables (for now).

- You are amusingly adverse to certain textures right now, including Oliver's "babies." He does try to bring them to you so you'll throw them, and the look on your face plainly says, "Please don't make me touch that thing." Welcome to a lifetime of THAT!

- You have a strange fear of the sound of running or falling water right now--except in the bathtub; go figure. You panicked at the sound of the surprise ocean wave when we were at the zoo, and a few minutes later weren't impressed with the waterfall noises in the gorilla exhibit either. The river exhibit at the Nature Museum wasn't a hit, nor was the fountain at the restaurant on Sunday afternoon. Hmmm....

- You have taken to sucking your big toe like a pacifier, but only on the changing table. (My theory is that you can only get your feet to your mouth when you're not wearing pants.)

- You are slowly (slooooowwwwlllllyyyyy) becoming more independent during play time. Today I was able to cook in the kitchen for 15 whole minutes while you Jumperoo-ed. This is progress from last month!

- And lastly, you are down to one or two nursing sessions per day. It's bottles all the way, baby! Now, how to keep them from coming back up....


I love you, not-so-little peanut!
Mom