our new favorite book is one called "mars needs moms." it's by a guy (or girl i suppose) named berkeley breathed. i'm not kidding. my kid's name is weird but that one?
moving on.
i have fallen in love with this book so don't be surprised if you're a mom and you find it gifted to you from me. it's about a little boy who thinks his mom is a tyrant who only tells him what to do. he doesn't understand what's so special about moms until one night, he falls asleep and dreams (although he doesn't realize he's dreaming) that his mom is abducted by martians. he doesn't understand why he follows her to mars (why would he when she does nothing but tell him what to do?) but, alas, he does.
he realizes that mars needs moms to take the little martians to soccer games and gymnastics and to cuddle with them.
he finds his mom and his space helmet falls off and he almost dies from not being able to breath (the book is not as traumatic sounding as that - i'm not a good story teller) and she takes his helmet off to save him and almost dies herself (see above note...not as dramatic as i make it sound)...and the aliens help him get his mom back to earth. he dramatically yells, "but she's my mom!" this is the part that gets me. omg. this kid realizes how much he loves his mom.
now, let me be clear. cashel is in love with me already. he already expresses this to me in many ways, but, i suppose i imagine a day when he won't already know this, and i'll have to be abducted by aliens for him to know.
but today, in the car, on the way home from school...
wait...i should mention...he takes this book everywhere these days and makes anyone who can do it read it...
ok....so on the car ride home from school he says:
cashel: mom..we live in california
me: yes, cashel, we do
cashel: martians don't know the way to california
me: i bet they do
cashel: how do they get here
me: they ride in a rocketship
cashel: (looking perplexed) but....i don't want them to come get you....
seriously....can this kid get any greater?
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
he's free!
not yet cashel!
i can't believe it.
feel's like yesterday you were born....unexpectedly early...
and i was concerned about my hair for our first picture together.
that ER was on while i was giving birth to you.
and your daddy got that great shot of you about 30 seconds after you were born.
and your daddy said, "crap, i have to put a bunch of furniture together now. i thought i had more time."
and we walked down to our second(!) "birthing" class the day after you were born to let everyone know to expect the unexpected.
that margerita's was closed because you were born on a monday and all i wanted was great italian food but we ate chipotle instead and didn't care.
that nana and granddaddy and uncle brian came to the hospital because you were here.
that i called my school and said, "i had my son today and don't have my grades complete."
that i called mimi at 3 in the morning and when she answered in somewhat of a panic i said, "hey, how are you?" then proceeded to tell her i was in labor.
that our nurse, angela, told me that my 8 was a 4.
that i looked at your daddy, told him to go see you (because i still had an iv that had to finish before i could walk) and he got really excited and said, "really? i can go see him?" and i said "duh, you're the dad."
that i walked into that nursery and saw you for the first time and thought, omg, he's so little! and perfect! and sweet! and he has tubes sticking out of him!
and your daddy said, "robin...aren't his arms a little long?" and i said, "i guess he'll be a basketball player."
that true, unconditional love began....
you're three?! i'd better not blink again.
i can't believe it.
feel's like yesterday you were born....unexpectedly early...
and i was concerned about my hair for our first picture together.
that ER was on while i was giving birth to you.
and your daddy got that great shot of you about 30 seconds after you were born.
and your daddy said, "crap, i have to put a bunch of furniture together now. i thought i had more time."
and we walked down to our second(!) "birthing" class the day after you were born to let everyone know to expect the unexpected.
that margerita's was closed because you were born on a monday and all i wanted was great italian food but we ate chipotle instead and didn't care.
that nana and granddaddy and uncle brian came to the hospital because you were here.
that i called my school and said, "i had my son today and don't have my grades complete."
that i called mimi at 3 in the morning and when she answered in somewhat of a panic i said, "hey, how are you?" then proceeded to tell her i was in labor.
that our nurse, angela, told me that my 8 was a 4.
that i looked at your daddy, told him to go see you (because i still had an iv that had to finish before i could walk) and he got really excited and said, "really? i can go see him?" and i said "duh, you're the dad."
that i walked into that nursery and saw you for the first time and thought, omg, he's so little! and perfect! and sweet! and he has tubes sticking out of him!
and your daddy said, "robin...aren't his arms a little long?" and i said, "i guess he'll be a basketball player."
that true, unconditional love began....
you're three?! i'd better not blink again.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
my own personal wipe out...
i always said i wanted to do walks/runs for charity. i finally signed up for one. the malibu dirt dash. i ran a 5k...partly in the mud, while cashel and jason had some fun of their own before doing a kids fun run...check it out....
playing catch up
Thursday, October 20, 2011
what? no september post?
omg. no september post. i'm making a promise to my elderly self to post some video or pictures soon.
hang on old lady.
hang on old lady.
the power?
"i want mama!"
"i want mama!"
"mama, mama, mama! not daddy!"
i should feel good about this, right? special? no one loves me more?
all of that is true....except i'm a working mother who has to be somewhere by 8am.
it's tough.
two issues here.
1) cashel does not go to sleep by himself. full disclosure here - we lay down with him until he falls asleep. it wasn't always this way. you know who might say i created this situation and i will say otherwise. getting into bed with cashel in the middle of the night to sleep with him (cuddle because it's AWESOME) is one thing but actually creating a situation where he must fall asleep with one of us is another. i did NOT create that situation - it created itself. i won't say anymore for fear of divorce. like many parents who try to convince their children that all children get rid of pacifiers by age ___ we're starting in on "all little boys and girls starting going to sleep by themselves at 3 years old. wish us luck.
2) cashel is completely, totally, obsessed with my freckle. i have a freckle on the right side of my face (a mole really) that i've had forever. i never paid it any attention until one day cashel discovered it and has, literally, been obsessed ever since. he rubs it. he caresses it. it's the security blanket he never attached to and it's attached to my body.
when i sleep with cashel (hey! no judgement!) i sleep to his left which means, when we cuddle (which he LOVES by the way...ok...me too) i am laying on my right side with my face facing him. he often has his finger on my freckle and says "mommy, you're hurting me" because my face is squishing his hand. what do i do? i turn my neck to face the ceiling. crazy, right? it's uncomfortable as heck! i've started saying things like, my freckle needs a break cashel. no more touching mommy's freckle OR i turn over so that it's more comfortable for me and he can still touch my freckle.
it's absurd. i'll admit. but it really does bring him comfort. we were at a play date a few weeks ago and i was talking to another mom about this. later on in the playdate cashel was upset about something, crawled into my lap and started rubbing my freckle and the mom noticed! "he goes straight for the freckle, huh?" she says. yep.
this morning cashel was having a particularly bad morning for some unknown reason. he was crying...sobbing...having to catch his breath. jason was explaining to him that i had to get ready for work. here's a sampling of how this generally goes:
cashel: "waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! i want mama!"
jason: "cashel, can you calm down and tell me what's wrong?"
cashel: "waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
jason: "hey bud, what's wrong? can you use your words?"
cashel: "i want mama!"
jason: "cashel, mama has to get ready for work."
cashel: "mama won't let me touch her freckle and i need to."
this is how it goes.
it HAS become a source of power.
me: "cashel....if you get in your car seat right NOW i'll let you touch my freckle."
sad really, but i often feel like the bad cop these days and i'll do what i have to to get things done and have him still love me. i've heard age 3 to 4 is harder. our friend greg has reassured us that it doesn't get any easier.
yey.
"i want mama!"
"mama, mama, mama! not daddy!"
i should feel good about this, right? special? no one loves me more?
all of that is true....except i'm a working mother who has to be somewhere by 8am.
it's tough.
two issues here.
1) cashel does not go to sleep by himself. full disclosure here - we lay down with him until he falls asleep. it wasn't always this way. you know who might say i created this situation and i will say otherwise. getting into bed with cashel in the middle of the night to sleep with him (cuddle because it's AWESOME) is one thing but actually creating a situation where he must fall asleep with one of us is another. i did NOT create that situation - it created itself. i won't say anymore for fear of divorce. like many parents who try to convince their children that all children get rid of pacifiers by age ___ we're starting in on "all little boys and girls starting going to sleep by themselves at 3 years old. wish us luck.
2) cashel is completely, totally, obsessed with my freckle. i have a freckle on the right side of my face (a mole really) that i've had forever. i never paid it any attention until one day cashel discovered it and has, literally, been obsessed ever since. he rubs it. he caresses it. it's the security blanket he never attached to and it's attached to my body.
when i sleep with cashel (hey! no judgement!) i sleep to his left which means, when we cuddle (which he LOVES by the way...ok...me too) i am laying on my right side with my face facing him. he often has his finger on my freckle and says "mommy, you're hurting me" because my face is squishing his hand. what do i do? i turn my neck to face the ceiling. crazy, right? it's uncomfortable as heck! i've started saying things like, my freckle needs a break cashel. no more touching mommy's freckle OR i turn over so that it's more comfortable for me and he can still touch my freckle.
it's absurd. i'll admit. but it really does bring him comfort. we were at a play date a few weeks ago and i was talking to another mom about this. later on in the playdate cashel was upset about something, crawled into my lap and started rubbing my freckle and the mom noticed! "he goes straight for the freckle, huh?" she says. yep.
this morning cashel was having a particularly bad morning for some unknown reason. he was crying...sobbing...having to catch his breath. jason was explaining to him that i had to get ready for work. here's a sampling of how this generally goes:
cashel: "waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! i want mama!"
jason: "cashel, can you calm down and tell me what's wrong?"
cashel: "waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
jason: "hey bud, what's wrong? can you use your words?"
cashel: "i want mama!"
jason: "cashel, mama has to get ready for work."
cashel: "mama won't let me touch her freckle and i need to."
this is how it goes.
it HAS become a source of power.
me: "cashel....if you get in your car seat right NOW i'll let you touch my freckle."
sad really, but i often feel like the bad cop these days and i'll do what i have to to get things done and have him still love me. i've heard age 3 to 4 is harder. our friend greg has reassured us that it doesn't get any easier.
yey.
Monday, October 10, 2011
lost
i am...
somewhere between telling my students "get your homework out'...and they listen...and "cashel, let's get your pj's on"....and he doesn't listen
somewhere between walking the dogs for my pleasure and walking my dogs for their pleasure
somewhere between being the wife who wants to cook dinner and the wife who wants to order in
somewhere between being able to take a nap on a saturday afternoon and sucking it up and cleaning the house
somewhere between making the time to work out and actually working out
somewhere between knowing i should start christmas shopping, birthday shopping, thanksgiving planning and actually doing it
somewhere between wanting to write this right now and wanting to shut the computer and watch tv
somewhere between cashel saying "mommy, sleep with me" and my papers saying "grade me"
somewhere between feeling like i'm a good mama, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher and being all of those things....
somewhere between telling my students "get your homework out'...and they listen...and "cashel, let's get your pj's on"....and he doesn't listen
somewhere between walking the dogs for my pleasure and walking my dogs for their pleasure
somewhere between being the wife who wants to cook dinner and the wife who wants to order in
somewhere between being able to take a nap on a saturday afternoon and sucking it up and cleaning the house
somewhere between making the time to work out and actually working out
somewhere between knowing i should start christmas shopping, birthday shopping, thanksgiving planning and actually doing it
somewhere between wanting to write this right now and wanting to shut the computer and watch tv
somewhere between cashel saying "mommy, sleep with me" and my papers saying "grade me"
somewhere between feeling like i'm a good mama, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher and being all of those things....
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
compassion
i have another post i was working on. but something has come up.
yesterday i received a facebook message from a my friend maria that an la mom we both know (she knows her much better than me) has had a loss in her family.
her husband died on saturday of a brain tumor.
i'm gonna call the woman who's husband died tessa to be respectful and protect her privacy.
this was not exactly unexpected. i remembered going to a cook out on a sunday afternoon about a year ago, maybe a little longer, and meeting tessa's husband. it was, maybe, a month later that i found out that they had just found out that he had brain cancer. some type of rare kind. my heart went out to them.
i had only met tessa once or twice before then. i joined a mom's group in la when we first moved here and tessa was also a member. i really only know her through her facebook posts.
the thing is, they have a three year old boy and tessa just gave birth mid-august to a baby girl. i can't imagine what this family has been going through and what they will go through. i can't seem to get it out of my mind. the compassion i have for her is so much. one can't help but look at situations like this with a tinge of looking at it with respect to their own lives. since cashel is almost three i can only imagine what tessa's conversations are like with her son about what has been happening with his dad and what happened on saturday. the conversations yet to come. the same for her daughter, although i would imagine these conversations will be equally tough but different since the baby is so young right now. postpartum hormones. that must compound everything. his mom and dad and the loss of a child.
i just feel so much for this family that i barely know.
yesterday i received a facebook message from a my friend maria that an la mom we both know (she knows her much better than me) has had a loss in her family.
her husband died on saturday of a brain tumor.
i'm gonna call the woman who's husband died tessa to be respectful and protect her privacy.
this was not exactly unexpected. i remembered going to a cook out on a sunday afternoon about a year ago, maybe a little longer, and meeting tessa's husband. it was, maybe, a month later that i found out that they had just found out that he had brain cancer. some type of rare kind. my heart went out to them.
i had only met tessa once or twice before then. i joined a mom's group in la when we first moved here and tessa was also a member. i really only know her through her facebook posts.
the thing is, they have a three year old boy and tessa just gave birth mid-august to a baby girl. i can't imagine what this family has been going through and what they will go through. i can't seem to get it out of my mind. the compassion i have for her is so much. one can't help but look at situations like this with a tinge of looking at it with respect to their own lives. since cashel is almost three i can only imagine what tessa's conversations are like with her son about what has been happening with his dad and what happened on saturday. the conversations yet to come. the same for her daughter, although i would imagine these conversations will be equally tough but different since the baby is so young right now. postpartum hormones. that must compound everything. his mom and dad and the loss of a child.
i just feel so much for this family that i barely know.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
we are all in awe
the day my parents, ted bryant and joan elizabeth "toby" long, wed.
july 19, 2011.
four children, eight grandchildren later.
we celebrated this awesome occasion on kiawah island, south carolina.
wow.
all they've ever wanted was for their children to be happy.
we are.
they've never given us grief over not living in north carolina.
they believe we should explore the world.
they bask in the fact that we are all responsible, happy kids with families of our own.
we are in awe of them.
i'm sure they would say that they love us more than we know...
well, i know we would say the same.
we had a great night celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
i think we all hope to make it that far.....in tact...
with cake...
thank you for being our inspiration.
for giving us the love and care and space that we needed.
you guys seemed to have the recipe right.
we had a great party...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
quite an imagination
i'm sure i won't do this justice....at all...i told jason today that i needed to bring out the video camera again and record him but i'm pretty sure that once the camera is out he'll retreat and not be his natural cute self - i mean - he'll be cute but not natural.
he has quite the imagination. not new news to us, but when someone else notices it and says something it really starts to become more and more evident (at least to me).
it all really started when we were in kiawah.
cashel: we're in the forest - how we gonna get outta here?
me (or jason): we're gonna follow the road bud
cashel: there's a bear....and a red hole...the bear's in the hole...and there's a rabbit...
this kind of thing would go on almost every time we were in the car on the island.
now we're in la
this is what has been happening lately:
cashel: let's play a game
me or jason: ok, how do we play
cashel: you stand on this and do this (waving his arms in the air or something) and i'll do this and then you'll jump and we'll crash
me or jason: ok (of course, doing a version of what he asks
he often say's "red light!" when he wants me or jason to stop walking
he often twirls his arms in our direction and says, "i tied you up" if he doesn't want us to move
we often "turn" each other into things - most often he's a shark and i'm a baby frog. he then proceeds to chase me around the house and eat me. never the other way around.
he often goes to a door (that he doesn't want us to walk out of) and says, "i locked it, now you can't get out"
...and yesterday takes the cake so far...we're at a park in glendale...
we're on the basketball court and this happens:
cashel: let's play a game
jason: ok, how do we play bud?
cashel: you go in the hoop then climb the tree and fly over there and come over here
robin: ok...(I pretend to do all these things)
robin: ok, cashel, you're turn
cashel: no, i'm too little
ok......
cashel: daddy....dance with mama
jason: dance?
cashel: dance with mama
jason: ok...(he and i hold hands and dance while cashel runs away from us)
we let go
he turns around
cashel: (yelling) dance wif mama!
so we dance
we let go as he runs away
cashel: (yelling) dance wif mama!
so we dance
you get the picture....
....who's in charge here?
he has quite the imagination. not new news to us, but when someone else notices it and says something it really starts to become more and more evident (at least to me).
it all really started when we were in kiawah.
cashel: we're in the forest - how we gonna get outta here?
me (or jason): we're gonna follow the road bud
cashel: there's a bear....and a red hole...the bear's in the hole...and there's a rabbit...
this kind of thing would go on almost every time we were in the car on the island.
now we're in la
this is what has been happening lately:
cashel: let's play a game
me or jason: ok, how do we play
cashel: you stand on this and do this (waving his arms in the air or something) and i'll do this and then you'll jump and we'll crash
me or jason: ok (of course, doing a version of what he asks
he often say's "red light!" when he wants me or jason to stop walking
he often twirls his arms in our direction and says, "i tied you up" if he doesn't want us to move
we often "turn" each other into things - most often he's a shark and i'm a baby frog. he then proceeds to chase me around the house and eat me. never the other way around.
he often goes to a door (that he doesn't want us to walk out of) and says, "i locked it, now you can't get out"
...and yesterday takes the cake so far...we're at a park in glendale...
we're on the basketball court and this happens:
cashel: let's play a game
jason: ok, how do we play bud?
cashel: you go in the hoop then climb the tree and fly over there and come over here
robin: ok...(I pretend to do all these things)
robin: ok, cashel, you're turn
cashel: no, i'm too little
ok......
cashel: daddy....dance with mama
jason: dance?
cashel: dance with mama
jason: ok...(he and i hold hands and dance while cashel runs away from us)
we let go
he turns around
cashel: (yelling) dance wif mama!
so we dance
we let go as he runs away
cashel: (yelling) dance wif mama!
so we dance
you get the picture....
....who's in charge here?
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
kiawah 2011
on july 11, 2011 cashel and i headed back east in a jet plane. it was a great ride. we landed in raleigh, nc, and were picked up by my high school bestie, lori. she hasn't changed a bit - she's beautiful.
we made our way to kernersville to mimi and papa's and all the ice cream you can eat. oh...cashel had a super fun time with lloyd's boys - jon and sam.
next stop, kiawah island, south carolina, where we stayed in a beautiful home and were hosted by my wonderful uncle gary and aunt lee.
first night there cashel was in molly and emma bliss. we had delicious food.
we played at the pool, the beach, we rode bikes, we made sand castles, we found a starfish, we saw shrek (about a million times)...we had a great time.
 |
| fun with aimee and eli |
 |
| fun with reagan and addison |
 |
| fun with family |
 |
| naked on the beach |
 |
| aunt mary's birthday fun |
 |
| more fun with molly and emma |
 |
| i love the pool |
 |
| aquarium with mimi |
|
| more beach fun with aimee and eli |
 |
| emily and marc's anniversary |
 |
| spontaneous pool dance |
 |
| trying to push papa into the pool |
 |
| beautiful sisters |
Monday, August 1, 2011
oh say can you see....
the fourth of july was a fun filled day this year. we started off by sleeping in! yes! i said sleeping in! well.....if until 7:00 counts then it was sleeping in. jason did bikram yoga, i walked the dogs and enjoyed a new neighborhood in atwater village then we drove to pick cashel up from nana's. they had had a sleep over so that jason and i could attend a wedding the night before. we had a great time at the wedding by the way. while we were at nana's we went to her pool to cool off and have a cook out at her house.
afterwards we went home to hang out before taking cashel to his first fireworks! we went to south pasadena high school to watch a fireworks show. it was a great place to watch and we'll probably go earlier next year...there was a bunch of food and a band before the fireworks. jason had cashel practice saying "oooo.....aaaaa....." for the fireworks and he was ready to go when the fireworks started. he loved it! he wasn't scared at all. it was another great barnes family day!
afterwards we went home to hang out before taking cashel to his first fireworks! we went to south pasadena high school to watch a fireworks show. it was a great place to watch and we'll probably go earlier next year...there was a bunch of food and a band before the fireworks. jason had cashel practice saying "oooo.....aaaaa....." for the fireworks and he was ready to go when the fireworks started. he loved it! he wasn't scared at all. it was another great barnes family day!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
on memorial day weekend 2011....
....four girls had a blast in seaside, florida.
coming from georgia, pennsylvania and california we celebrated...
we ate...
we drank...
we had a photo shoot...
we bathed in the sun...
we talked...
we talked...
we talked...
we listened to music...
we played on our phones...
we danced...
we gazed at the stars...
we did headstands on the beach at night...
we hugged...
we cried...
we laughed...
we loved being together to enjoy these moments all for one special girl...wende leigh faulk...
happy birthday wende...
we love you.
coming from georgia, pennsylvania and california we celebrated...
we ate...
we drank...
we had a photo shoot...
we bathed in the sun...
we talked...
we talked...
we talked...
we listened to music...
we played on our phones...
we danced...
we gazed at the stars...
we did headstands on the beach at night...
we hugged...
we cried...
we laughed...
we loved being together to enjoy these moments all for one special girl...wende leigh faulk...
happy birthday wende...
we love you.
 | |
| sushi and tapas |
 | |
| photo shoot |
 | ||
| saturday night dinner |
 | |
| deep in discussion |
 | |
| showing off her prettiness |
 |
| has anyone seen my schlitz malt liquor shirt? |
 |
| the dirty guvnah's |
 |
| girls just wanna have fun |
 |
| ahhh....seaside |
Thursday, July 7, 2011
tax day 2011
pay our taxes?
check
get outta town even though we just paid our taxes?
check check
where?
san diego!
we spent two nights at a great little motel on the ocean. it was a super cute motel, but as we learned, was not very family friendly. scratch that....not very family with a toddler friendly. people were up hanging out until 2am or later but you know what? we were so tired saturday night that we all fell asleep at 8:30pm. funny thing....we had the best seats in the house for a wedding that took place saturday afternoon at 3:30pm. i probably could have touched the pastor outside of our window. i sent cashel into the shower with jason at 3:30...i figured that as funny as i thought i might be for cashel to babble throughout their ceremony, they probably wouldn't appreciate it.
the next day we went to the safari park northeast of san diego. it was like a zoo, it had a zoo but then it has an open, safari-like experience. we loved it!
check
get outta town even though we just paid our taxes?
check check
where?
san diego!
the next day we went to the safari park northeast of san diego. it was like a zoo, it had a zoo but then it has an open, safari-like experience. we loved it!
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