mad skills

lately, there are lots of times during my day--like during the fifth round of "if you're happy and you know it" when my arms are tiring from the motions--that i think back on my college and work days and have to laugh a little at the drastic change in scenery. i mean, i recently finished a book i started almost one year ago. *patting self on back*

it definitely has its frustrating and groundhogs day-worthy moments, but i gotta say, i'm learning and being challenged in different ways for which i am so thankful.

here are a few skills i can proudly say i have gained as a mom.
- tetris-ing together plates, cups, utensils, huge stack of free napkins to corner of table furthest from the kid when eating out
- reading a 6-page book in less than 15 seconds so the kid can have closure before losing interest and getting up off my lap
- hiding the remote control, iphone, ipad, ear picker (sometimes joe has to call me to ask where said things are)
- reaching across the back seat of the car, cirque du soleil-style, to grab fallen [fill in the blank] for crying kid
- coming up with strategies while looking quite crazy to keep kid awake in the car to ensure successful nap at home

and on top of that, it's so awesome to be able to see james growing and developing his own little set of toddler skills every day.

c'mon...marching with bells and rolling (aka being thrown) down an incline? somebody hire this kid, already!

today, joe is 30! and even though he never ever reads this blog named after him, i wanted to take the time to gush about how thankful i am for him and how much i love him. it's so easy to forget in the day to day (especially when that day happens to involve golf or basketball or really lame phone games), but when it comes down to the big stuff, the important stuff, i'm oh so proud that he is the man i follow.

dear joe...i, i love you like a love song baby and i keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat. love, rosie

almost one update (and wish list)

oops, looks like i got stuck in bad blogger mode again. in case anyone's keeping tabs, i'd like to use party planning as my excuse. that, and... teething? (gotta throw that one in whenever we can, right moms? ;)).

but really, i feel like i've been on a conveyor belt going between michael's, party city, dollar tree and the mall (though this one's not really related). and being the type of shopper i am, i end up doing a lot of walking slowly through aisles, deep thinking, calculating, looking items up on amazon and then going home with one pack of glue sticks. true story.

slow as it may be, i do get a kick out of this running around and planning. can't believe a year ago i was on bedrest, surrounded by fans and bottles of water while counting down the days for james to be born! so crazy how fast the past year has gone by. i had a moment today watching james play when i realized how much he's grown and how much he can understand now. his toys are now actually getting some real play instead of being banged together and eaten.

speaking of which, a couple people have asked for help in the bday gift department, so i had james put together a wish list on amazon. i know. already so computer saavy. must be the product of a tiger mom huh? :)

family fun day in la

last friday, joe took the day off from work and took james and me to venice and santa monica for a fun-filled day of good eats and quality family togetherness.



rewind back a week before that though and the picture wasn't quite so pretty. what was supposed to be our fun day in LA instead became a conflict of epic proportions, including (with details to spare): driving out to santa monica, driving right back, tears, anger, el dorado park/marshalls, road kill, boba (somehow got to fit that in hehe), more anger, silent treatment, and santa monica again. whew. let's just say my instagram got to take a nice little vacay that day.

honestly sometimes i feel like my nasty days outweigh the not-as-nasty. marriage, motherhood, family, friendships, church, ministry -- such good things, but when they start to stray from my genius master plan for the universe that revolves around me, it's game over!

i finally sat down and watched this video that's been up, down and all around my facebook wall this week. hello, tears! (very different from the "i hate everything!" tears from 2 weeks ago). what a reminder of how beautiful and amazing marriage is when centered not on the people and what we can bring to the table, but Christ, the ultimate example and embodiment of love.



"when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay."

9 months, baby!

can't believe the little man is 9 months old today. from his slowly but surely growing head of hair down to his carpet-clenching toes, i just love him to bits and pieces!

there hasn't been anything too monumental to update on, but here are some things i did note on james' agenda...

TODAY'S TO DO LIST:
- compete in cheerio-eating contest against myself
- take a ride on the alphabet train
- star in iphone video to send to daddy at work
- pretend to read, then start chewing on books behind mom's back
- get mom to sing "itsy bitsy spider" 10 times in a row
- clap at random times throughout day to make mom smile

GOALS FOR THE MONTH:
- stop army-crawling and learn to crawl foreals
- figure out how to lessen the gaping hole between front 2 teeth
- overcome gripping fear of the vacuum and magic bullet
- find a pool and master drifting in a floatie
- stop being stubborn and finally sign "please"

THINGS TO TELL MOM TO DO:
- start planning my 1st birthday party
- get me into a convertible carseat, already!
- make some prints for etsy instead of watching korean dramas
- refold that blanket sticking out of my bottom drawer