Daddy saves Tinkerbell

On Saturday we made another trip to the Renaissance Faire. Last time we went, Carina wasn't even 18 Months old and I was just over 5 Months pregnant.

While wooden swords ruled her inaugural trip, this go around Carina was much more interested in the fairy wings, princess dresses, and magic wands. We dressed her in her Rapunzel costume (her uncle's Christmas gift to her) and pretty white sandals. She pretended to be Rapunzel for part of the day exclaiming, "I turn 18!" and "I gunna try to get married!" to which Mike responded by taking a {rather large} swig of Whiskey.

I made the mistake of forgetting to take out the camera, so we only snapped a few with Mike's smartphone camera.

We bought her a set of fairy wings and a wand and she ran around for hours, flitting from stand to stand admiring the wares and saying Hello to the other princesses. She was greeted as "your Highness" or "princess" on multiple occasions. She loved every minute of it...well, except for when she spied a Tinkerbell doll tied up over a spitfire at a metalsmith's stand.

That really upset her. So much so that later that night, she refused to go to sleep, yelling, "Daddy gotta save Tinkerbell!" 8 PM: "TINKERBELL!" 8:30 PM: "Daddddyyy! Gotta save her!" 9 PM: "We gotta go back to Faire! Daddy gotta save Tinkerbell!"

At 9:15, Mike called Target and asked if they had any Tinkerbell dolls. The employee set one aside and Mike sped off to "rescue" her. By the time he returned home, she had finally fallen asleep. Mike put the doll in her hand and said something I'll never forget: "I won't always be able to save the day for her, so I'm going to do it while I can".

When she awoke the next morning to find herself holding an unscathed Tinkerbell, we heard over the monitor, "Daddy! You SAVED Tinkerbell!" and we melted. She's so thoughtful and sweet and I am so proud she is mine. And how lucky am I to be married to such a knight in shining armor? ;)

On top of the world

I apologize. Cheesiest post title ever, as we were actually on top of a mountain yesterday. Well, not a mountain, but the rather large peak just a few minutes away from our house. We had never been, despite its proximity.

My Mother's Day began with Mike letting me sleep late and making me a lovely breakfast of coffee, eggs, Nutella on toast, and a chocolate chip croissant. Me likey chocolate. After Carina's Noontime nap, we headed out to West Rock State Park. It was beautiful out and Carina had a blast running alongside the stroller (BTW pushing the stroller up the hill was quite the workout). What we didn't realize was that it would take us 45 minutes to reach the top. We were exhausted, but had a nice picnic once we reached the top.

Aurelia was hungry?

Teeth!

For dinner, Mike grilled salmon and shrimp and sauteed 2 lbs. of mussels - 3 of my favorite foods. Dessert was some chocolate fondue and Moscato while we watched Game of Thrones. I couldn't have asked for a better day. My gift was a Garmin GPS -- something I've been wanting for quite some time now. And yes, we used it when we traveled to the park, just 1.5 miles away ;)

How was your Mother's Day?


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This week's Toddle Along Tuesday topic is Mother's Day! What did you do? There are no rules here, except that you link up a relevant post (old or new) rather than your whole blog.

All there is to come

Four years ago today I married my mad scientist.

Today we celebrate. We celebrate our love, our two beautiful girls, and our accomplishments. The last four years have brought us immeasurable joy, but quite a bit to overcome as well. The stress of completing Mike's doctorate, a move half-way across the country, Carina's Failure to Thrive, and my anxiety, to name a few.

But today, we also celebrate all there is to come: our girls growing, adding to our family (as we both agree that it isn't complete yet), and in about two years -- when Mike is finished with his Post-Doc here -- we'll be moving somewhere else to {hopefully} settle. In our immediate future, I begin working on Monday. After more than 18 Months as a stay-at-home Mom I'll be reentering the workforce. Eeek! As nervous as I am, this means great things for our family. But more on that this weekend... :)

One of my favorite things about blogging is the ability to go back and read what I was feeling on any given day in the past. While I didn't start this blog until a few months after our wedding, I did chronicle our anniversary each year (and I went back and posted some wedding photos more recently). Reading through these milestones makes me smile and thank God for Mike, and for all of our blessings.

Our wedding | 1st Anniversary | 2nd Anniversary | 3rd Anniversary

Peeking at Daddydoo's Diary

Hey folks,  Mike here with a new post.  Missie wrote about a few confessions of hers, reflecting on her parenting skills (which are amazing if I say so myself).  Here is my crack at it:

1) Carina takes Disney princess gummy "vimamins" every morning...

...and so do I.  My vitamins taste the way cat barf smells.  The Disney princess gummies taste like gummy bears and have all the same stuff.  Win.

2) Every parent out there probably knows a few cartoon theme songs/songs from kids movies.  In our case, the songs from Super Why were first.  Lately, it's been the theme to Sofia the First, and (thanks to Pandora and a CD my mother gave us) a princess song from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Princess and the Frog, Aladdin, Tangled, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or...  yeah one of those.  Here's the confession part.  I'm not complaining about it - I rock out to A Whole New World, and will probably tear up when, at the start of an episode of Sofia, I don't hear a little voice say "Daddydoo gotta sing it, singa Princess Sofia!!"  Notes are too high for a guy who sang baritone in high school and college you say?  My falsetto pwns yours.

3) I am terrified of Aurelia headbutting me and will be so happy once the occasional baby head flops are gone (the loss of other baby phases is sad, but not this one). Why am I afraid?  Because Carina headbutted me when I was a new dad, and her forehead hit my chin.  I left a tiny dent in the skin on her head.  It was barely noticeable, but I sure as hell could see it.  I think it's gone now, but for months, I was reminded that yes, I dented my kid's head.  When we fight during her teenage years, maybe this will come in useful, but until then, I'll still look apprehensively when the light hits her little forehead to make sure the evidence is gone.

4)   I'm afraid that because of the hours I work, Carina and Aurelia are used to me not being there.  As it is, they both giggle when I walk in at the end of the day.  Sometimes Aurelia reaches out to me when she's cuddled up to Missie in our bed.  But on Saturdays or Sundays when I run into lab, Carina runs after me and says, almost exasperated "Carina go to work with Daddydoo, go see Dinosaurs" or Aurelia lets out a whimper or fuss as I give her back to Missie when I leave.  I walk out the door and tear up as I turn the key, and I hope my little ladies will understand that I'm putting in the time to give them opportunities and good life down the road.

5) I want my girls to be better than me.  I have high standards for my own behavior and interactions with other people, and to be honest I don't always live up to them - those moments really stick with me and I try to learn from them but mostly I just feel badly, which isn't helpful to anyone.  I hope my girls get it right way more than I do because, and this applies to many situations in parenting and my career in academia/education as well, I'm not sure how to teach and discipline certain things when I know I struggle with them too.   It's pretty scary and I hope my little ladies one-up their Daddydoo in this one.

Well folks, that's what I've got. Parenting is what I call a "full-life" experience - we run the full gamut of emotions, from being happy and celebratory, to being just a little embarrassed sometimes, to feeling proud, having regrets, being afraid, and being fearless because we have to be.  These early years and I think probably every year to come are what remind us of the range of who we are as people.  I love every minute of it, even the hard stuff.

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This week's Toddle Along Tuesday topic is Dad Confessions! If you can't convince your man to actually write the post, ask him what some of his confessions would be and transcribe! Or? I bet you have a few things you could write about on his behalf, without him even knowing about it ;) There are no rules here, except that you link up a relevant post (old or new) rather than your whole blog.


Next week's topic will be A Day in the Life! It's been exactly one year since we've done this topic, I thought it would be fun to revisit it.

What I missed last Spring & Summer

The better I feel the more I'm slowly realizing that my anxiety {specifically the agoraphobia} may have predated Aurelia's arrival. Last Spring and Summer we didn't get out much. It would have been the perfect time to explore this new city and state we're living in, but we only made it to the park a couple times a week and that was it. I told myself it was because I was pregnant and tired, but in retrospect...that was my easy out.

This year? Nothing is going to stop me from enjoying everything: the fresh air, the sun, this city, my girls.

We went to the Peabody Museum at Yale on Saturday and Carina circled the dinosaur room over and over. She informed me that Brontosaurus is her favorite and that he says, "RAWR!!" She also enjoyed the butterflies, ants, and "YUCKY snakes!"

On Sunday we let the girls play outside while we cleaned up the yard. We also set up the girls' Christmas gift from their aunt -- a water and sand table. 

Helping Daddy

Almost finished!

All done!

I'm not so sure about the sand, though. We might fill it with something a little less messy since sand + water = mud, and Carina discovered mud this afternoon and practically bathed in it. Daddy wasn't quick enough ;)

Any ideas for what to put in the sand side?

The husband's new hobby

Like I mentioned in my last post, I've been enjoying a couple new hobbies. And I'm not alone in that! Prompted by my Valentine's Day present, Mike has been dabbling in something he has wanted to do for years...brew our own beer.

Back in Madison, Wisconsin, some of our friends were quite well versed in home brewing and Mike has always wanted to give it a try. Now that we have more space (read: we're not in a tiny apartment) I thought now would be as good a time as ever.

I figured that getting a kit would be the easiest way to start, so we could get the hang of the process. We were sent a complementary kit from Red Envelope that came with everything we need to brew 1 gallon of beer: hops straining bag, guide to craft brewing, glass carboy, air lock, rubber stopper, siphoning tube, racking cane, thermometer, funnel, sanitizer, malt extract, grain, hops, and yeast. I gave it to him for Valentine's Day because nothing says "I love you" like a gallon of beer.

All of the equipment and ingredients ready to go:

Ready to steep the grains and boil the wort                                                      A-fermenting we will go!           

                                       

Mike says this kit was a great way to break into brewing because everything he needed to brew was included and the instructions were straight forward. It immediately got him thinking about doing it again and trying different recipes. He's already been to the home brew store in New Haven and has bought more supplies. Maybe I've created a monster? Well, at least I don't think we'll ever have to buy beer again.  Okay that might be premature. I guess we'll wait and see how it turns out first ;)

Brew master in training

We're so eager to see how it turns out; we should know in a couple weeks. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again to Red Envelope for sending us the kit and getting us into the exciting world of home brewing ;)

Have you ever brewed your own beer? How did it turn out?

Geek meets geek

Taking it back to where it all began today. Where we began.

It was our Senior year at Villanova University, outside of Philadelphia. My roommates and I were throwing a party. My roommate (and best friend) Maggie invited her study partner who lived down the hall from us. He brought his cute, dark-haired roommate whom I had never met.

We talked for a little while but then Mike had to leave in order to GO DO HOMEWORK. Yes, dude leaves a party where he's chatting with a "cute blonde girl" {his words} to go finish up some assignment. ::shakes head:: I told him to come back when he was done. And? HE DIDN'T. ::shakes head again::

About 2 months later we ran into each other again at our favorite bar - Brownie's in Ardmore, PA. I miss the $5 cover for a night filled with free pizza, wings, fries, and $0.50 beers/$1 drinks...those were the days, but I digress. He bought me a beer and we talked for a couple hours. We left for different parties, but his roommate put his phone number in my phone, slyly called him from my phone, and told him to save the number he was calling from, because it was important. Little did he know... ;)

One of the first times we hung out - plus weird drunk guy photobomb

A large group of us, including Mike, ended up back in my apartment that night. We watched TV until 4 AM and starting hanging out a lot more. Since we were both so busy, our daily date was usually watching Family Guy reruns from 11 PM until midnight...oh to be in college again. We started dating each other more seriously after New Years' and the rest is history.

Kinda looks like a giant snowball is about to hit my head, doesn't it?

Our first real date - at a formal

How did you meet your significant other?


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This week's Toddle Along Tuesday co-host is Holli from It's an Ordinary Blog and topic is how you met your significant other! Let's take it back to where it all began! There are no rules here, except that you link up a relevant post (old or new) rather than your whole blog.

I would really like to continue with my weekly Toddle Along Tuesday topics because these posts are so fun for me to write. However, worrying about posting at the exact same time every week and coordinating with co-hosts is getting stressful. So...I think I will be going solo for a little while, and posting whenever I get around to it, either on Monday night or Tuesday. I'll probably skip some weeks here and there, too, if I can't think of a good topic. So TAT will go on, but just not quite as formal as it has been. Sound okay?

A rare date night and Milk Diary - Review & Giveaway!

It's no secret that Mike and I do not get out alone very often. While we are much closer to our families {who are eager to babysit} than we were in Wisconsin, we are still over 2 hours from mine and almost 4 hours away from his. Finding babysitters is a little bit of a challenge around here, and we can't often afford to go out and pay a babysitter. When one of Mike's friends at the lab offered to babysit, we jumped at the chance faster than I run {with my pants down} when I'm in the bathroom and hear an ominous "BOOM!"

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate our 7 year dating anniversary, which was on November 1st. Confession: it has been a little while long time since I've made a concerted effort to look nice. Most days I consider it an accomplishment to get out of my pajama pants, so I was quite excited to wear something that made me feel pretty - a dress from Milk Diary.

Their story:
Milk Diary was founded by Lana Hegstrom who initially struggled to nurse her son so she started a tedious Milk Diary (hence the name of the company) and tracked everything on her Excel spreadsheet. After numerous hours of pumping, visits to a breastfeeding clinic and many tears, she was finally able to successfully nurse her son! But, she had difficulty finding functional yet sophisticated nursing clothes that she could wear without announcing, “I am nursing!” She created Milk Diary designs, which can be worn by professional mothers who are pumping at work and by stay-home mothers who want to look fabulous on a day out with their babies.

Since I still think I might return to work next Spring, Milk Diary really caught my attention. I received the Wrap Knit Dress in Onyx (black) which - in addition to being a fantastic date night dress - would double perfectly as a functional and stylish outfit for work. Before we left for dinner I had to pump and I was impressed with how easy it was! The nursing openings at the armholes are large enough to even make pumping a breeze, but are located in just the right place so you never have to worry about an errant boob hanging out in front of your boss ;)

My dress and a weird super-blurry Carina photobomb?

This classic dress features a shirt collar, tie belt, and three-quarter sleeves which have two buttons just below each elbow. Made of 92% Rayon and 8% Spandex Jersey, which is super comfortable and surprisingly warm in this chilly Fall weather. Machine wash and dry flat. This dress is perfect for so many occasions, I plan on wearing it even after I'm finished nursing. No one needs to know, right?

Front detail close up

How often do you get out with your significant other?

Shop
Milk Diary offers a number of fashionable nursing tops and nursing dresses, suitable for work and/or every day wear!

Win
Lana is generously offering one of my readers their choice of either the Pleated Button Front Knit Dress in Charcoal Heather or the Deep V Knit Tunic in Onyx (black) - both below:

How to Enter:

This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click "Read More" below and then follow the instructions on the widget. Make sure to click "Enter!" after you complete each entry. All currents count! The giveaway is open to residents of the US and ends at 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, November 17th.

The first entry is mandatory - Visit Milk Diary and tell me your favorite style! Once you complete this entry, the widget will give you the option of completing the rest. Complete more steps for more chances to win!