I Get By With a Little Help from my Friends

This Beatles fave was humming in my head today as I headed home from a park playdate, Meg just about snoozing in the back seat, windows down and air breezing in.

This morning was quite possibly the worst morning Meg and I have ever had together. There was whining. There was crying . . . with crocodile tears, no less. Just fits over eating breakfast at the table . . . she did NOT want to, under any circumstances. There was even an incident in which coffee was spilled (not by me, mind you) all over my breakfast area.

I don't know if we've hit the 'terrible twos' about 2 months early or if Grandaddy and Nana are still to blame for this sudden fit of terrible toddler rage . . . but whatever it is, I can't wait for it to pass.

Will someone tell me . . . where on earth did my sweet Meg go??

The breakfast routine was a nightmare, but ended with a phone call from a girlfriend saying, "Hey, do you want to come on over and hang out?" DO I? I unloaded on my friend about how awful our morning had been. Then I got dressed, dressed Meg (although, I must admit, I was tempted to just take her to my friend's with her jammies on . . . lest I anger her more by trying to dress her!), and headed out the door.

The coffee playdate sure did make my morning turn around. It was what I needed to keep my sanity between 9:30-11:30am.

When we returned home for lunch, Meg requested a NAP instead of lunch. She rubbed her eyes repeatedly and said, "Night Night" . . . so up to bed she went. I wasn't sure if it was a great idea, but I didn't really care enough to thing about it that much. You want a nap? Sure, that is one battle I won't EVER fight with you.

After nap, Meg woke up a little more on the normal side. She ate a decent lunch . . . at 2:45 pm . . . then we goofed around a bit before heading to the park to meet some other friends. Again, if I hadn't had that park playdate to look forward to all afternoon, I might have resorted to watching a whole lot of TV and letting Meg draw all over the furniture. After the morning (and the previous 48 hours of Meg-Mania), I was spent.

Thanks to my friends . . . morning and afternoon friends . . . we made it through this day.

Please, God, let tomorrow be good. I love Thursdays (Thursdays = Jim returning) . . . I want tomorrow to be a GOOD day.

(And for those of you who don't believe that Meg is being as bad as she is . . . I give you exhibit A, a cell phone picture I took of the grocery-store-meltdown from Monday morning.)

Check One Thing Off the List

32 weeks today . . . and, according to Dr Graham (who I saw yesterday), I have about 5-6 weeks to go. He told me to anticipate having Kate at about the same point I had Meg, which was 37 weeks.

I've kinda already started thinking that way. I swear, if this girlie cooks 'til 40 weeks, I'm not going to know what to do with myself.


Blood pressure? Good.
Measurements? Great.
Weight? No problems.
Kate's Heart Rate? In the 150s, so perfect.

Dr Graham, in his infinite wisdom, gave me some parenting advice yesterday . . . along with the normal belly measure and heart-beat symphony we do on every visit. He's got 3 kids of his own, so I'll TAKE the advice he gives . . . the dude knows what he's talking about. Dr Graham told me to be extra prepared for Kate's arrival. Stock up on diapers, wash everything now, make all my arrangements way ahead of time. Get the car seat out, put the bottles in the cabinet, buy ALL my necessities.

"You're in the home stretch now . . . you should be in those final stages of preparation, " were his words, I believe.

He happily reminded me that life is going to be a lot harder with TWO. Get as much done now because when Kate arrives at her beautiful home, it's promptly going to be turned upside down.

GREAT. As if I don't feel the pressure already.


Today, the paint job in Kate's nursery was completed (thanks to the help of our contractor and his guys). It looks good . . . a little ceiling touch up might be necessary, but it's tolerable for now and WAY better looking than if I'd done it myself.

So, today I checked one thing off the list. Next step is to put the furniture back (on tap for tomorrow) and clean the place up. It's a wreck in there . . . plaster everywhere, paint supplies littering the floor, dust and dirt collecting the bathroom.


And by the end of the weekend, I hope to have put the room back together and 'moved in' to the space. We'll see how far I get with that.


As for the rest of that stuff . . . the diaper stock-up, clothes washing, and random baby prep will just have to take place in between toddler duty and HD Portraits over the next few weeks. Jim told me today that he'll stop traveling on May 30th . . . so whatever I don't get done this month I can get a little help with once he's home for a while.

That is, of course, unless Kate decides to suprise us with an even-earlier-than-expected arrival.

One thing off the list today . . . many, many more to go.





(Oh -- and the neopolitan ice cream? That's what the paint job in Kate's room looks like. There is a crisp white chair railing circling the room that separates a baby-pink top from a creamy khaki-brown bottom. When you see the pictures, you'll know exactly what I mean. Thanks to Tricia -- my very insightful friend -- for helping me to put a name on what I was thinking of the entire time I was painting!)

A Little Sympathy, Please

I should warn you: if you don’t want to hear complaining, then log off the blog and wait for another day. I’ve had a bad week, and I need to vent. Then again, if you want to hear about our trip to NYC, then sift through the complaining and you'll find some of the fun things we did.

Last week this time, I was super stressed with the preparation for our trip to NYC. I was hurriedly getting out photo shoots, packing, and dealing with Meg and an injury-laden few days. (She stubbed her toe, scraped her finger to the point where some of the nail was lost, and scratched her nose . . . all in about 48 hours time.)

“You’ll make it . . .” I told myself. “It’s all worth it. A few days in NYC with Jim will be so much fun. Just look forward to that.”

Then Thursday came, and the trip to NYC was upon me. The airplane ride was totally uneventful and fantastic, thanks to Jim who put me in first class. The hotel let me check in as soon as I arrived (no delay, even thought it was an hour before actual check-in time), and I wandered NYC for a while . . . enjoying the sights, the sounds, and the solitude.

Jim joined me, we had a terrible $75 dinner (undercooked hamburgers and fries with a yucky spice to them), but salvaged the night by journeying to the top of the Empire State Building to view New York at night.

Friday started off okay . . . I’d decided to take a bus tour all over Uptown Manhattan because I’d really never experienced much of the city north of Central Park. My plan was to hop on and off the tour bus . . . taking pictures of brownstones and interesting people on the Upper East Side.

Well, I had to wait in line about 45 minutes just to get ON the bus. Then, once I was on, I had no choice where I sat . . . I got crammed into the front corner, under the windshield so no picture taking was really possible from the bus. The city north of Central Park was not really the area of town where a pregnant lady should be wandering by herself . . . Harlem, Spanish Harlem, etc. And, I didn’t see any brownstones on the Upper East Side . . . and I was too nervous about being alone to wander around by myself and find them. Plus, I had to get in line for theater tickets at 2:15 pm, so my time was running out . . . traffic plus the 45 minute wait had made the bus tour WAY longer than the 2 hours sited on their brochure.

New plan – just ride the bus the entire route, then hop off and get in line for theater tickets. And that’s what I did. Off the bus in Times Square at 1:30, with just enough time to grab a $15 panini and head to the discount Broadway ticket office.

The best part of the trip is coming up – don’t miss it! Here it is: when I showed up at the
TKTS line to wait for theater tickets, the security told me that I didn’t have to wait. I could come back at 3pm (when the box office opened) and go straight to the front of the line. Why? Because I’m pregnant! Whoppeee!!! I took full advantage . . . wandered down Restaurant Row and found some places for our post-theater meal, then came back and got in line with the people in wheelchairs. Hooray for being pregnant . . . I’ll take any advantages that come my way because of my ‘condition.’ I got tickets to
‘A Chorus Line’ – starring Mario Lopez.

After picking up tickets, I took the subway (by now I’d gotten good at taking it!) to meet Jim in Union Square. I found a Babies-R-Us to kill some time in, and then Jim and I had a delicious Mr. Softee Ice Cream from the truck parked just off the square. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest and dress for our theater night.

The show was pretty good . . . I liked it, Jim thought it was all right. He liked seeing AC Slater in the play . . . but there are no big set changes, no fancy lights, and no chorus of dancers. It’s a bare-bones kind of show, and I think Jim wanted a bit more flare to his Broadway experience.

The restaurant I’d picked on Restaurant Row was, of course, booked . . . so we settled for an Italian steak house. Another $150 dinner that was just OK. Jim wasn’t crazy about his steak, and I was so-so on my duck. Oh well. The night was still a lot of fun (until it started raining!).

Saturday was going to be our day to do whatever we wanted . . . take it easy, enjoy the city. I wanted to go to a Flea Market I’d read about in Greenwich Village. Our plan was to hit the flea market for the morning, then go to Central Park for the afternoon. We found our way to Grennwich Village on the subway . . . 170 vendors, or so the tour guide read, turned out to be about 10 vendors selling nothing of interest to us. BUMMER. So, back uptown we traveled to spend some time in the park. The park was great . . . we wandered and enoyed the people watching . . . but then we got hungry and it became a desperate search to find some way OUT of the park and INTO a place to eat.

Earlier that morning, Jim had a great idea to see if any tickets to the Saturday night showing of ‘Wicked’ – the hottest show on Broadway – might be available on Craig’s List. I thought that was a GREAT idea. That would be an easy place to find last-minute stuff, surely. And, sure enough, someone who had last-minute tickets and couldn’t go was offering them for sale at face value. We emailed the person . . . then we didn’t hear from anyone until about 2:45pm, just as we were leaving the park.

The guy sounded so ligit – I’m so damn gullible. He had tickets he couldn’t use, tried to sell them earlier in the day but the original buyer fell through . . . so they were ours if we wanted them. We arranged to meet him at 43rd and 9th at 5:30pm that afternoon to pick them up. Two tickets, $125 each, so $250 total. Sounded GREAT. Jim and I were excited . . . it was a bit of a splurge for us since we’d already seen a show the night before, but it was our last ‘hooray’ before Kate . . . so why not. I know that Jim wanted to see it because I wanted to see it.

We found some food ($50 lunch, yikes!), spent the afternoon in Rockafeller Plaza, then over on 9th avenue meeting up with the thief, then back at the hotel resting (again) and dressing for the show. At 7:45pm we entered the Gershwin Theater on 51st street, all excited by the festivities before us, looking forward to getting to our seats to enjoy the show.

As soon as we handed the tickets to the greeter, she said, “Oh, honey . . . these are fake.” I could NOT BELIEVE it. The guy that sold us the tickets was so nice . . . a regular guy, about mid-30s, flying out of town that night and not able to use the tickets that someone had given to him. He said he was a doctor . . . the tickets came in an envelope from a theater company that had ‘Dr Danny Kirkwood’ written on it . . . he was just such a nice, regular guy. He even told us the story about the flakey buyer who didn’t purchase the tickets earlier in the day.

“These are totally fake tickets. See? They won’t even scan.”

I must have looked like a she had just told me that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were having triplets . . . or that George Bush had decided to resign from office . . . I was totally and completely shocked.

“We have people outside here all day to prevent this kind of stuff from happening . . .” she said.

Jim asked the manger to take a look, and he conceded that we had fakes. Jim asked if there was anything we could do. The manager was totally unsympathetic.

“You bought them on Craig’s List? Yeah, never buy anything there.”

Not that I expected him to give us tickets or let us in, but . . . a little sympathy, please.

We cabbed it back to the hotel so that we could call the THEIF that sold us the tickets . . . I had his phone number in my cell phone (which we’d left at the hotel). Amazing, but the guy didn’t answer. We reported him on Craig’s List, tried to email (again, the account no longer exists!) . . . then pouted and moped. The guy never called back.

I wanted to believe it was a mistake. The guy was a GREAT actor . . . he had me so duped that I thought it was a mistake and that HE had been sold fake tickets. I thought surely he’d give us our money back. I really and truly wanted to believe that.

Now that 48 hours have gone by, I have texted him some nasty notes because I KNOW he was just a lying slimeball.

The worst part is not that we lost $250 . . . although, trust me, that STINGS. The worst part is that it ruined our night. We’d talked about seeing another show, but we couldn’t because by the time we found out we were NOT going to ‘Wicked’ it was too late to try and see anything else. It was too late for just about any normal plans . . . too late to make dinner reservations, too late to regroup and make a whole new night. Jim and I both felt terrible.

We stayed in our room for about 2 hours, wallowing in self pity and a bit of self-hatred for being so stupid as to buy from a stranger. WE KNOW BETTER. I KNOW it was a stupid thing to do. It was. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

But, I’m still looking for that sympathy that the Broadway manager didn’t give us . . . that none of our family seemed to feel for us . . . that ‘How could he! What a jerk’ response that makes me feel a little less stupid and a little more like this wasn’t our fault.

Can I get a little sympathy, please? Even this ridiculously solicited sympathy will do. I want someone to help ME feel less like a total dumba$$ for what we did.

Anyway . . . we went for pizza at about 10pm. It wasn’t very good . . . no sauce on it at all. Who makes pizza without sauce? And the sauce they gave me on the side was a bit like Chef-Boyardee. At least Jim had a yummy, piping hot Calzone.

We wandered up 8th avenue and had coffee and desert. Then we wandered back to the hotel down SHADY 7th avenue amidst a bunch of loud, obnoxious teenagers that were a little intimidating to me.

Thank God Sunday morning came, and we could try to move on and get HOME. We slept in, grabed a bagel (mine tasted like ONIONS because the guy was cutting onions when I ordered my bagel . . . he didn’t bother to change his gloves before cutting and toasting my bagel), then went to H&M and Old Navy. Retail therapy. Didn’t really work, but Meg and Kate got some cute H&M duds none-the-less.

I could not wait to get home. I didn’t get to ride back first class . . . just coach, but at least an exit row so I had some leg room. I was so happy when we touched down in Atlanta. I made it out to the car as fast as I could and even had some help loading my bags (thanks ATL Airport shuttle guy!).

And then I cried. I hugged the steering wheel and cried. I was so relieved to be home . . . I missed Meg so much . . . . I just wanted the entire weekend to be behind me. I don't really even want to look at the pictures I took (I hardly took any, anyway). I just want to forget it ever happened.

A new week has begun, but I still find myself mopey and bitter about the occurrences over the last week. Meg is a real handful today . . . she's spoiled ROTTEN from Grandaddy and Nana, which resulted in a full-out temper tantrum at Publix this morning. I'm sure my poor attitude is not helping things at all.

So, again . . . can I get a little more of that solicited sympathy? Please? I need to get over this all and move on. I need some help.

Again -- repeated from yesterday -- the moral of the story is NEVER buy ANYTHING from Craig's List. And stay away from New York City. I have no desire to go back for a long, long time.

I *Heart* New York . . . No, wait a minute . . . I HATE NEW YORK

Well, we are back from our trip. And I can't say that I remember a time when I've been MORE happy to be home.

I don't really feel like writing about it all now . . . but you know I will sometime this week, when I can do it without fuming inside and getting myself all upset.

Our trip was OK. Thursday night Jim and I went to the top of the Empire State Building for a late-night look at the city. Friday we met in Union Square, when Jim's work commitment was complete, and we spent the afternoon goofing off. We went to 'A Chorus Line' on Friday night -- starring Mario Lopez, aka AC Slater from 'Saved by the Bell' fame.

Saturday afternoon is when it all went to hell in a handbasket.

Someone -- a seemingly honest guy we found on Craig's List -- had offered us his last minute tickets to the hottest show in town, 'Wicked'. We met up with him, paid him the face value -- $250 -- then got all dolled up and went to the show at 8pm.

The tickets were FAKE. COUNTERFIT. PHONEY.

I've never been so mad at another person. What a slimebag, a low-life, a THIEF. He stole $250 from a really nice, friendly pregnant woman and her smiley husband (who only wanted to go to the show because he knew how much I wanted to see it -- man, I love him).

Karma is a BITCH and I hope it comes back to get that jerk -- big time.

But, what I can't stop thinking about is . . . what did WE do to Karma to deserve this??

Anyway, I'm going to wash my clothes, put everything away, and I try to forget this weekend ever happened. It was an OK trip, totally ruined by some stupid, fat a$$hole that I would love to get my hands on.

So, the moral of the story: NEVER buy ANYTHING from CRAIG'S LIST.
And stay away from New York.

Cross-Eyed and Freaking Out

I'm going a little cross-eyed from the insane amount of editing I've been doing lately . . . 7 shoots across 2 weekends makes for quite a bit of time in front of the computer. I wish I had more time to blog (and sleep, and do other things) . . . but I'm slammed.

I'm also admidst what I'm calling the "30 Week Freak Out" -- I hit 30 weeks last week, and I'm frantically trying to keep my head above water while preparing for Kate's arrival. Her nursery is a mess, the painting is incomplete, and I don't feel like I have all of the baby necessities that I need. A few of these things were sorted out at the end of last week . . . painting has been outsourced, as has my house cleaning for the next few months, and Jim's mom assured me that we'd make a big "Kate Trip" to Babies-R-Us when she comes to visit in about 10 days. Still, I'm wanting everything to be done NOW. I do little things to make myself feel better . . . like washing her bottles and making room for her infant things in our kitchen . . . but I won't stop freaking out until I really feel ready. And I won't feel ready until this place looks like we are actually getting ready for a baby. Right now, the house (is nice and clean!) looks like a toddler who has NO intention of becoming a big sister lives here all by her lonesome.

Jim and I are going to NYC this weekend for one last hoorah before Baby Kate. I'm excited about it -- I love NYC. Jim had to go for work, so I'm tagging along and we're making a long weekend out of it. However . . . that means, on top of all the editing I must do before we go, I also have to pack and make a trip to Newnan to drop Meg off with my parents (What? Why can't they come to ME? C'mon, get real! I didn't even ask.)

Whine Whine Whine. Complain Complain Complain.

I'm sorry.

Anyway, in leiu of an interesting story or some great news about what we've been up to, here is a "One Year Ago Today" segment on the blog . . . a few photos from April 22, 2007. I can't think of anything insightful to write about . . . and my brain is too fried, anyway.

Boy, these pictures stir up so many memories. We spent the morning of 4/22/07 at the East Cobb Park . . . Jim's mom was in town but leaving that afternoon, so we had a few hours to enjoy the warm spring sunshine before her flight back to KC. This was one day after Meg hit the 10 month mark, and she was standing and starting to take a few steps on her own. I remember that we took it all in stride then. Looking back, I can't believe my little baby was nearly walking this time last year.

*Sigh*

Seeing these sets me at ease a bit . . . helps me to forget all the hub-bub that is going on here. It puts it all into perspective . . . all the things I'm freaking out about really mean nothing. We get to grow our family . . . look forward to more warm spring days and more first steps . . . and that's all that matters.

2 Weeks Late

Today was a beautiful day . . . a beautiful day for a spring football game. It just came two weeks late.

I shouldn't be so cynical . . . we did have a great time today at the Georgia Tech 'T Game' -- their spring football scrimmage. Meg had a total blast. She learned to say 'band' and 'cheerleader,' ate a hot dog and popcorn (pa-krn, in her terms), and was terrified of Buzz, the mascot. It was super duper family fun.

I'm just bitter because we got to enjoy this glorious spring (hot as summer!) day . . . but two weeks ago when I was so excited to take Meg to Athens for my Georgia Bulldogs' G-Day game, it rained cats and dogs all day. We couldn't go. The beautiful warm-up suit and brand new shirt Meg had gotten for the occassion still still in her closet, waiting to be worn. It was so sad that we couldn't go -- pitiful, really. My dad took it the hardest . . . he wanted to make a tradition of taking Meg to G-Day every year. We took her on a cold, cold April day last year . . . the weather didn't stop us then, but it wasn't raining this year. Cold we can take; rain sucks.

So, today I wore my "G" necklace to commerate what was not meant to be . . . our spring-time pilgrimage to Athens to see the Dawgs play. And I made Meg say 'Uga' several times in Bobby Dodd stadium today, much to the dismay of the fans surrounding us. It was all I could do, but I guess it was enough.

Go Dawgs!

And -- if I must-- go jackets.

A Pocket Full of Posies

Or, in our case, Impatients.

Meg and I made a fun trip to Home Depot for some new spring flowers (or 'fwow-wahs' as Meg says) . . . then came home and planted them in pots for our front step. I'd like to say that I enjoy gardening -- and I kinda do, at least a little -- but really I felt like I was slacking and needed to do this project. Most of our neighbors have pretty pots on their porches . . . so, keep up with the Jones' we must.

Enjoy our afternoon in pictures (with a few captions).

Just another sunny day at our local Home Depot :)

If this doesn't make you laugh, nothing will.

Meg didn't want Mommy to take on any heavy lifting . . . so she handled it for me.

When we got home, some friends joined us for the fun.

Naturally, just after I finished planting this pot, the darn planter broke. UGH.

Meg saw my camera on the ground and wanted to push the 'but-bun' and take some pictures. This is what she got.

About 1/2 way through, I lost my helper . . . she remembered that her car was in the garage.

I might have lost my help, but she refused to lose the gloves.

Look what we did!

Keeping up with the neighbors sure did leave our porch looking pretty.

Days like this make me feel so lucky to be a mom.

Baby Explosion

Something must have been in the water about 9 months ago this week . . . at least, in the water that friends-of-the-Dahlbys were drinking.

Three families that we adore have had babies within four days. All healthy, happy baby boys!

Congratulations to the Starnes Family, who welcomed 'Woody' into their family last Saturday, 4/12. His parents, Mary Evelyn and Andy, are BOTH CPAS . . . and her due date was actually April 15th. At least Woody made the tax deadline. Check out Woody and his big sister -- http://www.easysite.com/starnesinc

Congratulations to our Chicago friends, Chris and Tracey Stine, who welcomed their first born, Parker Lee, on Monday, 4/14. Parker surprised us ALL . . . not only did we not know that he was a HE (those traditional Stines, not finding out!), but he was a month early! All is great . . . no problems at all, other than a new mom and dad who might have enjoyed those last few weeks to prepare for baby. Read their story at http://www.babysites.com/sites/babystine/default.asp

And last but NOT least in any sense of the word . . . our fabulous Charleston friends welcomed beautiful William Grady Smith (Grady) on Monday as well. Morgan and Andy are already home and enjoying their little blue bundle. We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet Grady . . . if only he was closer than South Carolina! Check out his head full of blonde hair at http://www.yellowjacketbaby.blogspot.com/

These newest little boys can be added to our list of 2008 deliveries . . . they are in addition to two other families we know that have each been enjoying their new little girls since March.

Next on the list of babies-to-be . . . Jim's great high school comrade Jack is due with a girl about one week before us.

And then Kate Allison Dahlby . . . or maybe Kate first, then Jack's girl . . . we'll have to see.

And then, in July, comes new baby boy Chase . . . the newest member of my bestest friend's family (the friend with two girls -- due 3 weeks after me).

Really, you can just call this the 2008 baby explosion.

Oops

I did it again.

I just agreed to reschedule a shoot for this Sunday afternoon . . . meaning that I now have 3 sessions this weekend.

What the #$&% is wrong with me?

Chatterbox

I went back and reread some of my blogs from 2007 last night . . . I think I was looking for inspiration. I don’t want this blog to be a daily account of what we do. I want it to be more than that . . . what I’m thinking, planning, working on, enjoying, hating, etc. I feel like I may have fallen into a rut of “Today we went to the park . . .” That’s okay from time to time because what we do IS a big part who we are and what I’m thinking about. But I read some old blogs to remind me of the ‘other stuff’ I’d been writing about.

I found a blog in early December 2007 about Meg and her ability to talk. “Wondering” was the title, and I wrote about wondering when Meg was going to bust out with some serious verbal skills. I was a little worried – though I wouldn’t admit it – that my 18 month old was still so quiet.

Here we are, April 2008, and the floodgates have officially opened. Meg is a talker, that is for sure. She’s talking all the time, enjoying her new found use of language, and even strangers understand what she’s saying.



(Okay, so I didn't do a great job editing the video -- but you get the idea!)

She talks a lot. All day – new words flying out all the time. She’ll repeat just about anything you ask her to . . . which is a cute stage that I know will only last so long. She’s funny – sometimes if you say, “Meg, can you say XXXX” she’ll reply with, “Yeah!” but not say the requested word. Like I said, a very cute stage.

Some of my favorites in her vocabulary – sticker, chicken, blueberry, waffle, cheese, milk (I guess we focused on food words!), yellow, work, Mama, whee!, coke, help, Uga, Annie (from Little Einsteins) . . . I could go on and on. Sticker might be at the TOP of the list – it’s just funny the way she says the consonants with such force.

By far, the BEST was when she started calling me ‘Mama’ – it was right after our trip to Charleston, when she was 20 months old. It was worth every minute of that 20 month wait. I love it, and I don’t think hearing it will ever get old. It’s music to this mama’s ears.

She has even reached the ‘broken record’ stage. She will say something to you over and over to make sure you heard her – even if you HAVE acknowledged her. Just the other day, she had her first temper tantrum over Yoplait Yogurt with Diego on the cup . . . and really, I wanted to put tape over her mouth during the whole experience. She saw me pick it up at the grocery store and held it in her lap during our trip. When I took it from her to place it on the scanning belt, I explained to her that it was going into a bag then then into our car and then into our home. (Side note – she gets a little hyped at the store when the cashier/bagger takes her stuff – we’ve been through this before – she thinks they are taking it AWAY from her, but I keep explaining the idea of paying, bagging, and then taking it home.)

Well, as soon as I took it from her and put it on the belt, she started with “Go Go, Go Go, Go Go” . . . her word for Diego . . . over and over . . and over. In the store, in the parking lot (where I got in her face and asked her to STOP), in the car, while I was unloading the groceries . . . UGH. It was exhausting to listen to. She saw me put “Go Go” in the refrigerator, and the meltdown ensued. I’m not a MEAN mom, really – I wasn’t torturing the poor thing – but it was after 5pm, and I’d promised she could have Diego Yogurt AFTER dinner. Well, then came some tears and a whole lot more “Go Go”s. So, she sat in timeout until she was done crying, then we talked about how she could have Diego Yogurt after dinner (again).

This tantrum was brought to you buy the words “Go Go” (which haunt me in my sleep).

Today, my dad brought her a lollipop, and she said ‘candy’ throughout our entire lunch – until she could finally have it on our ride home from the restaurant. Ahhh . . . I see my future before me, and it’s full of a strong-willed child that will beat me down with her use of language.

As you can see in the video, Meg is quite a talker and she’s got quite a personality. She’s just a doll . . . despite her willfulness, we are certainly so lucky to have her in our lives.

No need to worry about her linguistic skills. Something tells me we are on the right track, and Meg will be one of those that doesn’t stop once she really gets started. Next task: two word sentences by the age of two. We’ve got about 2 ½ months to go.

The Weekend

I don't really have time for a post today . . . or tomorrow . . . or the rest of the week! . . . but I'm going to put up a few of the photos from this weekend so you can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

And, if you don't enjoy looking at the pictures of other people's kids . . . well, just don't tell me.

Sunday

7:00 am -- wake up and shower . . . first shoot of the day is in the Highlands area of Atlanta at 9am. Got to get myself up and ready for a newborn and a 2 year old (and spend time with my family a little before I go).

9:00-11:00 am -- Shoot in one of those darling little houses in Morningside (Atlanta). Newborn and 2 year old are not too compliant . . . the sweet little baby girl wanted mom to hold her all morning, and big brother wanted to do nothing more than blow bubbles in the backyard. Hopefully, we managed to get some decent shots.

11:50 am -- Arrive back home to find Meg, Jim, Aunt Julie, and "Uncle" Adam all hanging out. Jim had mowed the backyard (thank you!), and Julie was prepared to babysit while I ventured back out for another shoot. Within 10 minutes of my arrival home, Jim is out the door to play in a golf tournament downtown (which he deserves -- he doesn't get to do that enough). Eat lunch, feed Meg, Julie puts her down for a nap, then off for shoot #2.

1:15-2:15 pm-- Drive to the next shoot, about an hour from the house. Arrive about 15 minutes late because I sorely underestimated the amount of time it would take to get there. DUH.

2:15-4:00 pm-- Work with a family of 4 -- mom, dad, 4 yr old big sis, and 1 yr old little brother. The shoot is, well . . . sometimes they just go like this. Big sister shuts her hand in the door (accidentally, of course) as the shoot starts -- break to dry up tears. Little Brother has 'selective hearing' (as mom called it) and really will NOT look at me, mom, or the camera. The sun is abrasively harsh in all areas around the house, making my job SO hard. Finally, little brother bumps his nose on a windowsill in a fit of rage against the camera, and a bloody nose ensues.

4:08 pm -- Leave the shoot with fingers crossed that of the 148 pictures I took, at least 30 will be good enough for the family to enjoy. (Pray for me, please.)

5:15 pm -- Arrive back home. Meg has been asleep for more than 3 hours!! but wakes up shortly before I come home. She, Aunt Julie, and I play and play for over an hour.

6:30 pm -- Make dinner for 4.

7:00 pm -- Eat dinner. Jim returns 1/2 way through and joins us.

7:45 pm -- Party in the bathroom. Bathe Meg, while Jim and Julie hang out and chat with us.

8:40 pm -- Meg is in bed. Aunt Julie has returned to her Buckhead 'home'. Jim is packing for his next trip out of town tomorrow. I'm so sore from all of the bending, lifting, crouching, crawling I've done on the 4 shoots in the past 2 days, I want to go directly to bed. But I can't. Editing must ensue . . . for there are two more shoots awaiting me next weekend, and I can't get too far behind.

Here's to the weekend :)

PS -- I am officially NOT doing anything like this to myself again. Four shoots piled up because of timing and because of RAIN . . . I can't have another weekend like this, no matter what. It feels too much like WORK -- and it's supposed to be fun. I feel like I didn't see my family, and now I'm overwhelmed at the amount of work I'll need to do this week. I have to get better at saying no, I tell you!

Saturday

7:45 am -- Phone call from a client, wondering if the weather is good enough for pictures at 9am. I convince her (and myself) that it IS because I can't afford to try and reschedule the shoot . . . I'm too booked from now until May.

8:45 am -- Leave for the shoot. It rains the whole ride over to their home. Not boding well for the natural light photographer.

9:00-11:10 -- Work with a family of four -- mom, dad, 2 girls. The girls are Payton and Taylor. I totally and completely thought I was going to shoot two BOYS. Needlesstosay, I was a little surprised to find two pretty little princesses all ready for photos when I arrived at the shoot. The shoot goes well and we do make the lighting situation work just fine.

11:20- Driving back home, Payton and Taylor's mom calls me on my cell to tell me that I left one of my lenses at her house. DUH. Turn around, drive back, get the lens because I have 3 more shoots this weekend, and I cannot afford to be without it.

11:55 -- Arrive back home. Jim and Meg are out. *Sigh* 10 minutes of peace and quiet. (Could have been more like 35 minutes of peace, but I wasted all that time going back to get that stupid lens.)

12:05 -- Jim and Meg arrive home. Meg snuggles me, then we quickly eat lunch. Meg goes down for a nap.

12:40 -- Afternoon client, scheduled for 1pm, calls to postpone the shoot by 30 minutes. We (Jim, Meg, and I) are going to a 3:30pm birthday party at which I've been asked to take pictures, so I can't really postpone. Client finds a way to make 1pm work.

1:00-3:00 -- Crazy, insane, high-stress shoot with a family of 4 young boys. Plus grandparents. Plus aunt and uncle. Plus big sister home from college. (It was a baptism for baby boy # 4.) All goes pretty well . . . except for the part where we had everyone all ready for a big group shot and my camera memory card was full . . . I panicked and had to delete a few images while everyone stood there looking at me. Nice.

3:05 -- Back home (the shoot was very close to our house). Wake Meg. Dress Meg. She says, "Cake!" the whole time because she knows we are going to a birthday party.

3:40 -- Arrive at the birthday party. Take about 250 MORE pictures of the birthday boy and his cake-eating extravaganza. I think my camera might explode from all the use, but I keep taking pictures anyway.

6:00 -- Leave the party.

6:15-7:00 -- Read, play and love on Meg, who I really haven't seen all day. Jim makes her dinner, and I sit in the office downloading and converting images. (And writing an account of my exhausting day.)

7:00 - Bedtime -- Let my camera cool, charge the battery, and repack for TWO MORE shoots tomorrow.

At least I'll make a nice chunk of change this weekend.

Always a Learning Curve

Another day, another park. Meg and I woke up to sunny skies and a warm, warm Georgia spring day. I slept good knowing that I was 100% caught up with work . . . at least until my next shoots on Saturday. Meg and I were ready for a fun day. So, off we went to meet Ryan, Daniel, and my buddy Tricia for a morning at the park.

Meg learns a lot when we are enjoying the park . . . gross motor skills, how to take turns on the equipment, how to socialize with other kids. But today, it was Mommy who had some learning to do.

What I learned today was: it’s really hard for one mom to take TWO kids to a big park.

Tricia (my dear friend) is the mom of two fantastic boys. Big brother Ryan, age 4, and little brother Daniel, age 1 ½ . They both loving playing at the park, no doubt. But . . . Ryan loves playing on the ‘big kid’ equipment, while Daniel (whether he likes it or not) must play on the ‘little guy’ stuff. Ryan is an independent kid, while Daniel is still a toddler in need of some assistance. This scenario was hard to manage, to say the least.

Daniel would get to climbing up a toddler ladder or venturing down a slide, and Tricia would lose sight of Ryan. She’d have to stop Daniel, locate Ryan, then let Daniel continue playing. Ryan would wander off . . . Tricia would scoop up Daniel (pissing him off immensely in the process) and take off to find her older son. Tricia would put Daniel down, he’d wander too close to the swings while she was scouring the playscape for Ryan . . .and some stranger would have to get Daniel out harm’s way.

Lather, rinse, repeat . . . for the nearly 90 minutes we were there.

Meanwhile, it probably looked like Meg and I were frolicking in a meadow of daisies . . . all calm, collected, and enjoying the park together. We stopped and had a peaceful snack, chased each other around the playground . . . had a great time. I’m sure Tricia looked over at us with much disgust and disdain while we skipped and hopped all over the equipment.

I felt terrible. I had no idea what I’d drug Tricia into. Note to self: three kids, two moms, and a huge playground FULL of families is maybe not everyone’s idea of a ‘day at the park’ (pun intended).

I learned a lot this morning . . . I learned that I should think of the TWO kid scenario next time I conjure up some grand plan for a morning with Tricia and her sons. I learned that big playgrounds may be fun, but they prove to be quite a supervisory challenge . . . maybe a smaller playground would be a better idea.

And I learned that I have a LOT to learn when it comes to taming TWO kids.

Boy OH Boy. Or, in our case, Girl OH Girl. What am I in for in just 11 weeks??

Girls Gone Wild

Meg and I have had a very, very busy week . . . forgive the lack of posts. We’ve been having a great time enjoying Spring Break (whoohoo!) with our friends that have some time off from work/school.

Monkey Joes was on our agenda for Monday with a friend and her two boys. Meg jumped her heart out and is still talking about it today (I’m NOT kidding).

Tuesday we ventured to Newnan where – although we can go there any time, not just on Spring Break – Meg enjoyed some time with my mom and dad. I guess enjoyed some time there, too . . . even if my parents have literally said that they prefer visits with ‘just Meg.’

Wednesday (today) we spent the day with my dear high school friend . . . the friend that is also pregnant and due about 3 weeks after me. Her girls LOVE Meg. They spent the day entertaining her . . . and getting a taste of what life might be like when their little brother arrives in July.

More blogging soon, I hope . . . but no promises. I’m behind a bit on HD Portraits (still, yes, sadly) and I’m fearful the work will only get worse . . . I have FOUR shoots this weekend and at least TWO next, so I’ll be working a lot the next few weeks. Like the holiday season, people are booking like crazy . . . this time it’s because everyone wants in before the prego-lady stops taking photos.

We’ve gone wild over here, I tell you.

More when we can . . .

Dogwood Disappointment

Each April in Atlanta, 100s of 1000s of families look forward to getting out and enjoying the warm southern spring, the blooming flowers, and Piedmont Park at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. This festival has been ‘in business’ for 72 years – it’s a staple in our city calendar. It’s a wonderful festival . . . one that boosts the city moral and makes you feel great about living in Atlanta.

What a bummer that this year they did not host the festival at our beautiful downtown Piedmont Park . . . but instead in a mall parking lot.

You know what else takes place in mall parking lots? Carnie festivals . . . traveling Midways that attract only the upper echelon of our community (I hope you’re picking up on my sarcasm). Poor Dogwood . . . so many people loved that festival and looked forward to it all winter. But, in a mall parking lot, it just wasn’t the same.

I had to blog about this because it was such a disappointment for Jim and I. We went with the best of intentions . . . hoping to enjoy the festival once again, even at it’s new (and HOPEFULLY temporary) location.

Let me give you some history . . .

When Jim was in college, his fraternity at Georgia Tech was incredibly active in the running of the Dogwood Festival. The guys would donate their entire WEEK to the set up, maintenance, and take-down of any and every aspect of the festival. It was their ‘philanthropy’ for the spring . . . the festival is a totally FREE, not-for-profit event that fits with the fraternities goals for volunteer projects. And there were perks . . . free food, free beer, and a lot of fun at each and every festival for all the Beta guys.

Jim, the overachiever that he is, was the head of his fraternity volunteer clan when he was in college. His success in this role prompted the Directors of the festival to offer him a seat on the Board after graduation. Jim was young – much younger than the other Board members – but intelligent, helpful, and quite a resource for their cause. And he loved it. Jim really and truly enjoyed volunteering and working for the festival.

Of course, this roped me into the festival . . . being the doe-eyed, I’d-love-to-volenteer-for-YOU girlfriend that I was back when we started dating. Jim and I became so close with the festival coordinators and volunteers . . . we are still great friends with the former Event Coordinator and her husband. It was great . . . everyone knew us, and we knew everyone. Dogwood was a really fun event for us every April.

As life got busier and we started doing more things . . . like having kids . . . Jim’s commitment to Dogwood took a bit of a backseat. And there was a lot of ‘politicking’ going on amongst the Board of Directors, eventually resulting in the departure of our dear friend, the Event Coordinator. When all of this happened, Jim (with a little nudge from me, I’ll admit) decided to let his term on the Board expire and not run for office again. He was going to say good-bye to his active involvement in the Dogwood Festival.

So, this year was the very first year that Jim did not spend 4 or 5 days working at the Festival. He wasn’t involved at all, which I know was hard for him.

It was also the first year (maybe in event history – not 100% sure) that the Festival was moved from its home sweet home in Piedmont Park. The Piedmont Park Conservancy . . . which has ALWAYS had issues with Dogwood because it is a large event that damages the park . . . was able to convince the city of Atlanta to deny the Atlanta Dogwood Festival the permit they needed to hold their event in a city park. The drought was the reason sited . . . with no extra water available in our area to repair the park following this event, it was just not feasible to host the huge Dogwood Festival at Piedmont. (Other LARGE landmark Piedmont Park events for 2008 have been moved – including Gay Pride and the annual Peachtree Road Race).

I think Jim is relieved that he does not have to shoulder any of the stress or burden of this year’s Dogwood Festival. We went today – to the new location in the Lenox Mall parking lot – and it was really a flop. The PARK is such a part of the festival . . . you roam, people watch, listen to live music on several stages, watch the Purina Frisbee-Dog Competition (dogs catching Frisbees – a very fun site!), each ‘fair food’ and ENJOY being outside. At the event today, there was no place to sit and eat – no green grass to spread out on, no trees to lean against. There was one stage with really lame music (seriously people, grown men and women dressed as pirates and playing renaissance festival tunes). No dogs at all . . . the Frisbee championship was moved to an entirely different event on a different weekend at a totally different location.

When we got in the car, I think the exact words my husband said were, “Well, that was lame.”

Oh, what a bummer. I just hope that the city of Atlanta realizes what a big deal the Festival is to the members of the Atlanta community. I hope it moves back to Piedmont Park next year. Above all, I just hope that this year does not damage the Festival in such a way that it goes ‘belly up’ and does not return for a 73rd year. That would be a real, true shame. A serious loss to Atlanta.

The one good thing I managed to get out of our barely-two-hour experience was some fun photos of . . . you guessed it . . . Meg. :)