This is the beautiful hardbound book my aunt-in-law sent Coraline commemorating her meeting her Great-Grandma Lee for the first time. We think Coraline will grow to love this book as much as we already do.
Category Archives: personal
Grandma Lee
Song Lyric of the Day:
Somebody saved me from the world you left / If you’re gonna cry my tears / If you’re gonna hold my breath / If you’re gonna let me see the sun you set / Oh, I am lost and found / Oh, I am lost and found
Katie Herzig / “Lost and Found“
My grandmother-in-law is being laid to rest this morning in Iowa. Grandma Lee passed away last Thursday after suffering a stroke. And even though she reached the impressive age of 99, I think I took it for granted that she would live forever — she was just so spunky and full of life that it’s hard to imagine that life would ever come to an end.
I first met her back in 1998 when I accompanied Rich to Iowa for the first time. Grandma Lee was a tiny little thing — tiny but mighty. Mighty enough to have raised four kids. Mighty enough to have been a nurse. Mighty enough to beat breast cancer. And lord, was that woman quick with a comeback. Her snappy wit could (and probably did) cause whiplash in those fortunate enough to be witness to it.
The last time I saw her was September 2011. It’s really hitting home for me that the last time I saw her was truly the last time I would ever see her. Which is why I’m writing this through yet more tears. But I was lucky enough that my last visit with her was also the first (and only) time she would meet her great-granddaughter Coraline, which was a wonderful thing to behold. Coraline was almost 1 year old and more interested in running around the nursing home than sitting still, but I still managed to get some nice shots of her with Grandma Lee. While Grandma Lee didn’t quite remember me, she did remember her grandson Rich and knew that Coraline was his daughter.
I wish with all my heart I could be there with our family in Iowa to not only say my final farewell to Grandma Lee, who treated me like one of her own grandkids, but to be there to console my husband and father-in-law and our many other relatives as they lay this sweet, incredibly beloved woman to rest. I may be mourning from afar, but I hope everyone there knows I’m with them in spirit.
After our visit to Iowa, Rich’s Aunt Linda sent Coraline the most amazing birthday present, a hardbound book of photos from our visit with Grandma Lee. And while Coraline will never remember on her own meeting her great-grandma, Rich and I will never forget.
Photoblogging: Angry Face
I asked Coraline to show me her angry face, which first made an appearance last Wednesday (7/3/13). I see this as a somewhat frightening glimpse of the headstrong teenager she is going to be. God help Rich and I. (Photo taken 7/5/13)
Filed under coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
Photoblogging: Mother’s Day 2013
Today was pretty much the best Mother’s Day I could have hoped for. I thanked Rich and Coraline repeatedly throughout the day for making my day so incredibly special, fun, and memorable. Getting to swing by my parents’ house to wish Mom a happy Mother’s Day was the icing on the cake. And now, because it’s late at night and I have to get ready for bed and work tomorrow, I’m just doing a quick little post to commemorate the day. I’ll *try* to write more in depth tomorrow night since we did a lot today. I hope all my fellow moms had a great day, too.
Me with my mom, who I am lucky enough to live close to. Notice the tiny person popping up in the lower right-hand corner.
I absolutely love this photo of me, Mom, and Coraline. She's still wrapping her head around the fact that her Abuela is MY mom.
I love this photo of Coraline and her abuela more than I can say.
During bedtime, I realized I forgot to ask Rich to take a picture of me and Coraline, so I set my camera's timer since Rich wasn't around right then. I got Coraline to smile like this by promising we'd work on a puzzle together. This sweet little girl is my heart and made my Mother's Day so wonderful. (With help from her dad, of course.)
Happy 13th Anniversary to My Husband
Song Lyric of the Day:
I belong with you, you belong with me / You’re my sweetheart / I belong with you, you belong with me / You’re my sweet
What can I say after 13 years together that I haven’t already said? Rich, you are still my best friend, the best friend I’ve ever had, in fact. Not only do you continue evolving as a wonderful, loving, supportive partner, your continuing evolution as a father leaves me in awe. I also have it on very good authority that Coraline is quite fond of you; you are the “fun” parent, after all (or so she tells me). Thank you for being our everything.
love,
me
Rich and I on our wedding day, April 8, 2000. So young ...
Rich, Coraline, and I on our 13th anniversary today.
Filed under anniversary, marriage, personal, relationship
Popcorn Brain
Song Lyric of the Day:
We’ll end up numb from playing video games / And we’ll get sick of having sex / And we’ll get fat from eating candy / As we drink ourselves to death / We’ll stay up late making mixtapes / Photoshopping pictures of ourselves
The Limousines / “Very Busy People“
A while back I read an article on CNN that introduced the concept of “popcorn brain” to me. It’s the term researcher David Levy coined to describe “a brain so accustomed to the constant stimulation of electronic multitasking that we’re unfit for life offline, where things pop at a much slower pace.” And when I read that, I realized that I had it. I had popcorn brain.
I had all the symptoms: I couldn’t just wait quietly in a line without surfing on my phone; I got online when I felt anxious (who knew that was even a problem?); I couldn’t watch a TV show without playing a game on my iPad at the same time while texting someone on my phone; I’d surf the Web on my iPad while simultaneously checking into Facebook on my phone — the list went on. So I had to force myself to really pay attention to what I was doing, in the most literal sense. Was I reading a book? Then I needed to not play on my phone and just read the book. Waiting in line for something? I’d people-watch instead, or, you know, actually talk to someone — in person instead of online.
And it hasn’t been easy. But I’ve improved some and continue to work on being more focused and present in my actual life versus my online life. And I can honestly say that Coraline has never been unsupervised because of my popcorn brain. EVER. Watching her closely and making sure she’s safe and well taken care of is something that I’ve never let TV or online activities interfere with — she’s been my number one priority since she was born. Plus, she’s just a really great, fun kid to hang out with who deserves to have her mom completely present. Hence the sporadic blog posts written late at night after she’s been tucked in bed (including this post), my neglected Facebook page (I’m not dead, guys, just not on FB a lot anymore), and my ridiculously long DVR backlog.
So what have I done to combat popcorn brain? I instituted a rule that when we are eating dinner at the dining room table, neither Rich nor myself are to be on our phones or iPads. We can stream music via Spotify or Pandora or use our nearby stereo system, but that’s it; if we’re streaming music, the phone/iPad is placed out of arm’s reach once the music starts playing. I’m making a point to turn off the TV when Coraline and I are playing, hanging out, or “doing art” as she calls it. I do my best to not hop on my iPad during commercial breaks when I’m watching TV (this one is proving to be a hard habit to break). And I’m resisting spending my lunch break at work surfing and am instead turning away from my monitor and reading a book. I also try to get away for at least one solo lunch date every week where I just sit and eat and read my book for an hour.
I still have a long way to go, but I think I’m on the right track. At least I can say with certainty I’m not addicted to being online*. I’m just really, really used to it.
Image courtesy of a Google search
*Here’s a Virtual Addiction test if you’re curious and/or worried if you have a real problem.
Filed under personal
Smack My Rich Up: Happy Birthday to My Blue-Eyed Boy
Today is Rich’s birthday, but we celebrated yesterday with brunch and a nice walk around downtown Knoxville. It’s hard to believe this is the sixteenth birthday of his I’ve celebrated with him, 13 as his wife. We’ve run the gamut of birthdays, from surprise parties to restaurant dinners with family and friends to quiet evenings at home with just the two of us (pre-Coraline) and everything in between. Through them all, I’ve witnessed the evolution of newlywed husband to trusted partner to best friend and, lastly, to amazing father. So it is with boundless love that I wish Rich all the happiness in the world and that his birthday wishes come true. I love you to the moon and back, honey. And so does our wonderful little girl. Happy birthday!
Sharing a joke with Poppa (2/21/13)
Smiling for Mommy (2/21/13)
At the park after his birthday brunch (2/24/13)
*Rich — TOLD you I’d use “Smack My Rich Up” someday. Bwahahahaha! 🙂
And Bajingo Was Its Name-O
Song Lyric of the Day:
You want me to change, change, change / You want me to change
Several months ago, Coraline started expressing interest in and naming body parts: “Mommy’s nose! Poppa’s eye! Coraline’s bell butt!” (In case you need a translation for that last one, “bell butt” is her way of saying belly button.) Her unrelenting interest in learning the names for various body parts led to an interesting discussion between Rich and I. We decided easily enough that her butt was to be called either — you guessed it — “butt” or “tush.” As for her girl parts, well, that was a different story.
Calling her girl parts “vagina” seemed awfully formal for such a small child. So me being me, I suggested “bajingo.” For you non-Scrubs fans, that’s the term the uptight female doctor, Elliot, used for lady parts.
Everything was hunky-dory for a long time. Then we started potty training and lo and behold, our preliminary research taught us that in addition to not giving your child a complex about bodily functions (no “Oh dear God, what just came out of you?! So gross!”), you’re supposed to use the proper (formal-sounding *cough*) terminology for private parts. This is where I should mention that Coraline pronounces “bajingo” as “bingo,” leading to my recurring nightmare in which I get a call from her daycare about Coraline grabbing her crotch when the class sang “B-I-N-G-O.” So, on a subconscious level, I guess I already knew that it was time to teach her the proper word.
Coraline now knows that the correct name for her bajingo is vagina, although she will occasionally use the wrong term for it. We gently correct her when she does. God help me, though, because last Wednesday when I was getting her dressed for the day, she placed her hands over her chest and said, “These are my boobs.” I won’t even get into how she thinks her nipples are boo-boos.
At least we never used the term “whizzy winkles” with regard to potty training.
Cousins!
Song Lyric of the Day:
Ev’ryone can see we’re together / As we walk on by / (FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather / I won’t tell no lie / (ALL!) all of the people around us they say / Can they be that close / Just let me state for the record / We’re giving love in a family dose
Sister Sledge / “We Are Family“
On Saturday we celebrated my niece Miranda’s first birthday party. We met at Build-a-Bear, where Coraline surprised everyone by not choosing Hello Kitty but instead choosing a pink snowflake-covered bear Rich and I, in a stroke of genius, named Snowflake since Coraline wouldn’t commit to a name for the birth certificate (and yes, I took the opportunity to remind Mom about this again). After Build-a-Bear, the kids hitched a ride on the train that runs around the mall, making Coraline’s day because she LOVES riding that train.
We then adjourned to Chili’s for lunch to be followed by birthday cake, which Coraline and her big cousins Elliott and Stephen all wanted as their main course. Like that was going to happen. And then, by the grace of God and my family — who helped do the wrangling — I got a picture of all five cousins together. Sure, they weren’t all looking right at the camera at the same time, but I got a shot of all five of them. Together. In one photo with five takes. Finally.
The kids had a blast spending time together this weekend, and I love seeing my baby girl having so much fun with my other babies. For all intents and purposes, these kids are each other’s best friends. I hope they know how lucky they are to be close enough to get to see their cousins as often as they do, something my sisters and I were not as fortunate to enjoy growing up. They’re lucky, lucky kids.
***
Here are a few shots from Saturday’s festivities. You can see all the photos here.
Coraline's bear gets stuffed
Coraline squeezes her eyes shut tight while holding her bear's heart in her hands and wishing good wishes for her. I love that she looks like she's praying.
Birthday girl Miranda, who has a little cold, fell asleep waiting for lunch. It looks like she's saying grace.
Miranda gets her sugar rush on
Clockwise: Coraline, Stephen, Elliott, Sabrina, Miranda. This was the fifth shot I got of all of them. They were so over it by then.
Filed under coraline, family, personal, photography
Photoblogging: Princess Coraline
A couple weeks ago on my day working from home, my schedule opened up enough that I told Coraline we could go visit her poppa at work over lunch. She surprised — and thrilled — me when she said, “I want to dress like a princess for Poppa.” We chose the beautiful black-and-white polka-dot dress (and matching sunglasses) her Titi K gave her for Christmas, white tights, and Coraline’s black sequined slip-on shoes. I styled her hair (as best I could) in a top-knot, which Coraline deemed worthy of calling “princess hair.” She couldn’t wait to grab one of her tiaras out of her toy bin, reminding me that princesses wear crowns. She had to look extra special for her dad, of course. She then melted my heart when I finished putting the tiara on her hair and looked at me and said, “I’m beautiful!” Yes you are, sweetie. Yes you are.
Caleb inspects Coraline, who he thinks looks like a princess every day.
Princess Coraline races down the hall after getting all gussied up.
Coraline beams at the thought of her poppa seeing her all dressed up.
Coraline hooks her stroller over her arm, ready to go at last. Because of course Baby Miranda went with us.
Filed under coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
