So Fall, So Good

The Boys of Fall aka Backyard Boys
#maybethatwillbetheirboybandname
#dontworrytheywillplayinstrumentstoo
#theirfirstsinglewillbequitplayingamesinmypark
#amamacandream

It's no secret that I love this time of year (as previously mentioned here)! The weather (in California) is still lovely and warm during the day. The boys have a blast being able to play in the backyard any time (translation: Kellan tries desperately to crawl after his big brother who is busy catapulting himself from one end of the yard to the other), without the intense Summer heat interfering. The evenings are cool and crisp and at dusk you start to smell the first fires of the season cropping up around the neighborhood. What is it about the familiar smell of a wood burning fireplace in the cold of night that is so comforting? And the cooler nighttime temps can only lead to cozier sleep thanks to an extra quilt or two on the bed.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE me some long days of Summer. And Winter brings the best holiday of them all, as far as I'm concerned. But there is just something about Fall. It truly is the best of both worlds (sorry, Spring, you haven't been around much in the last few years so I am nixing you from this blost).

Fall is in the air. WAY up in the air.

AND, the scenery is amazing. Although Mr. Razzi (my husband and resident leaf raker) would beg to differ (we have three ginormous trees in front of our house that shed from the end of August until the end of time), all the leaves, that come in a plethora of Autumn hues, are just fantastic.

Enough about my favorite season. What is yours and why? I'd love to read what you share in the comment section below!  

Not So Creepy Crawler

Things that go bump in the night? No, I am more scared of the thing that goes "waa" in the night. And now . . .  IT CRAWLS.

When he started rolling over (and just kept rolling and rolling), they told me to be afraid.

When he started rocking back and forth on all fours, they told me to be very afraid. 

I knew the day was going to come before I was ready, but I thought to myself, "I'm sure I have another month before he REALLY gets it. He's only 6 months old." Boy, was I wrong. My second baby has zero interest in being a baby. He has a big brother to keep up with, after all.

Last week, Kellan started crawling and hasn't looked back (except that one time when I am pretty sure he turned around, mouthed the words "eat my dust", laughed in a rather maniacal fashion, and kept going). And we're off!

Security footage that I obtained of the suspect at large.

IF YOU SEE THIS BABY, please stop him from crawling under the table.
He hits his head EVERY time.

Lyrics I Love

'Tis finally time to enjoy one of my favorite seasonal cinematic treats!

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!
Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween"

-Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

If reading the lyrics aren't enough, click below to feast your eyes on the movie's introduction to Halloween Town!

You Know You're A Mom When . . . #2

The biggest S.O.B. you have been dealing with lately is that Silly Old Bear aka Winnie the Pooh. 

And I have no complaints about that! He is so wise, and so quotable.

"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" 

-Winnie the Pooh/A.A. Milne

Willoughby Wallaby WHAT?!

Poppin bottles of every kind. Photo credit: My husband.

Cade is heavy into Raffi these days. So heavy that when the CD ends, he immediately requests that we "Start it over please, Mama!" I am a Raffi fan gal myself (from so far back I can still hear that familiar crackling sound of the vinyl mixed with the strangely mesmerizing timbre of Raffi's voice, and trusty guitar), so who am I to deny my first born the gift of "Singable Songs for the Very Young"? Plus, anything to give "Call Me Maybe" or "I'm Glad You Came" a much needed break from their constant rotation (C did NOT get the memo that this is the summer of 2013, NOT 2012). But, as always, I digress.

Yesterday, while playing a serious game of Lightening McQueen meets Thomas (I've decided it's his live action equivalent to The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones), he started singing the Raffi classic "Willoughby Wallaby". He rhymed Wenny with Jenny and remembered Wennis went with Dennis, and then came time to rhyme Woosen with Susan. But my 3-year-old son could not remember Woosen. So, he went to his ever expanding arsenal of vocabulary, pulled out the one word that would make most people shudder with disapproval (Raffi included) and belted out: "Willoughby Wallaby BOOZIN', an elephant sat on Susan."

While I am confident that the word has been used in my home, and that my echo (aka Cade) has heard it quite recently, it could have also just been C being C and "making up" a word that rhymed and worked for him in the moment. Either way, I laughed. I laughed because it could always be worse. It could have been "Willoughby Wallaby Trucker" that he had to find a rhyme for. And I REALLY don't want to pull him out of preschool before it even starts.

Are You There Blog?

It's me, Marja.

It has been exactly one year since my last post. Unacceptable but unavoidable because life happened. Literally.

Within the month of August 2012, my hubby and I were thrilled to find out I was expecting baby #2. And then, just like that (*snaps fingers*), my body betrayed me and the Hyperemesis gravidarum reared its ugly head (much more severely this time around) and set up shop for the long haul. I was sick my entire pregnancy (but thank you for some relief, Zofran!). On the days the meds worked, I thought about pulling out the laptop and getting back in touch with my creative side. Alas, they never worked THAT well. I was far too nauseous, barfy, and all around exhausted to do anything beyond taking care of Cade (thank you, Disney movies!). And that even became difficult on many occasions (thank you for making the trip so often to help, Mom!). That is the super short version. Ahhh, the miracle of life.

Of course it was ALL worth it. My wonderful husband picked up the slack everywhere (thank you, David!) and our adorable, amazing, wide-eyed, and super smiley second son, Kellan, joined the party in April. He arrived a little over one month early but I delivered him via successful VBAC (*high fives everyone in the vicinity*). Although he has had some unfortunate ailments to overcome since then, he is growing bigger and stronger every day and we are SO in love with the missing piece to our family. Cade is a sweet and loving big brother and so smart and funny and . . . (I'll save it for future blosts). We are blessed.

So it's not like I have been neglecting my writing on purpose. It just became less and less of a priority as Cade got older and we got busier and then it wasn't a priority at all . . . until now. Because I miss it. I need it. Writing challenges me, gets my synapses firing, AND is something I love. All in very different ways than motherhood challenges me and uses my brain. Plus, it's an amazing way to vent, share, keep in touch, and work through things. We all have "our thing". This is mine.

I love being a stay at home mom but having a second baby seriously steps things up a notch. It is HARD and it is WORK and I want to be doing it but I don't want to lose myself IN it. This week I reached a point where I realized that if I don't create some me time away from my kids, the line between "want to" and "have to" will become blurred and I don't ever want that to happen. So I NEED to be writing. Whether it's once a day, once a week, or once a month. Whether or not anyone besides my husband (I love you!) grandmother (thank you, Nomi!) or dear friends (#imbackbabies #blessyourhearts) ever reads it.  

Mama needs this. But, more importantly, Marja needs this. It feels good to be back.