this is not the greatest ink in the world.

This is just a tribute.

This is not the greatest photo in the world, either. I know.

Oh, and, by "not the greatest ink" I am in no way saying anything about the quality of the tattoo.
I love it, it's perfectly exactly what I wanted/had pictured. (It's a quote.)

it was bound to happen

Oliver is a pretty good traveller. We drove 3 hours south this past weekend for my best friend's son's birthday party. We took a little break about 2 hours in, changed a diaper and ran around the rest area a bit, after which he crashed out for about 45 minutes.

have squeezy "appa sauce", will travel.

Despite getting a late start, we got there just a few minutes after the party started. It was SO CUTE - with Dr. Suess decorations and Cat in the Hat all over. (Oh! And Swedish Fish! Which I forgot to bring home. Boo.)

this is the only picture available for me to steal from Facebook.
yes, it was a first birthday party. yes the cake topper got fixed in time.

The party was lovely, all three babies in attendance were well behaved and (most importantly) they went to sleep without a fight leaving all parents free to enjoy each other's company (and beer) (and whisky slush).

Sunday morning was also full of happy, with three babies and 6 adults having breakfast and some good playtime.

wheee toys!

So after all the good time feelings and rainbow words, you know there has to be something, right? Right.

passed out with Lightning McQueen on his shoulder

We drove home shortly after lunch time, and Oliver fell alseep almost right away. As soon as he woke up, we stopped off at a McDonald's for a diaper change and some french fries.

When we were about half an hour from home Ollie looked at his daddy, held out his hand and said "what's iss?" And Nick said, "What is that? Let me have it..."

It was poop.

It had exploded out of the side of his diaper and down onto the car seat, of course. So I pulled the car over on a side street and get him out. Nick took him and changed his diaper and shorts, while I attempted to get the car seat cover off. Would. Not. Budge. I don't know what the hell I was doing wrong, or maybe if it was just because I wasn't the one who installed it, but I couldn't figure out how to get the cover off of the seat.

So Nick and I switched, and I watched Oliver (which meant keeping him from climbing all over the front seat and/or pushing too many vital buttons on the dashboard) while Nick got the cover off the seat. Turns out, you have to completely disconnect the seat from the car and thread the straps through the cushion and... let's just say there was poop everywhere.

We switched places once again so I could attempt to scrub as much poop as I could off of the straps and buckles before putting him in the seat again. There was a lot of poop.

Did I mention that during the 20 minutes or so that we were stopped on the side of the road it went from a light mist to full-on downpouring rain? Yeah.

I just have to say here that I am SO GLAD my husband is super awesome and dealt with the poop and carseat-challenged wife like a champ. All we could smell the rest of the way home was poo, obviously, but I really would have been sunk without him there.

We were never so happy to be home and see and smell Dial antibacterial soap!

thought I'd save my breath for you

More video! Yay!




I will have words next week.

Happy Foo Fighters Friday!

(oooh that's a good idea!)

dear Trent...

Happy Birthday to the sweet son of my best friend.

See you this weekend, Mason family!

moment

I am sitting in my chair. Our chair. The one we have both grown into, grown accustomed to. As he has grown, gotten heavier, the shape of our chair has changed, flattened out to make our spot.

I sit in our chair and I rock. I feel his chest rise and fall. I hear his breath in my left ear. He is almost asleep, I can tell by the rhythm of his breathing. I feel calm.

We rock, in our chair. My feet on the floor between the chair and the foot rest, just so.

I push us gently back and forth, back and forth, like a pendulum. I am reminded of a clock. The slow, gentle passage of time.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

I don't know how long we've been in our chair this evening.
I am reminded of another time, another chair.

A story I heard, joyously told about a moment in a chair.

She said it was the perfect grandma moment.

A tear slips down my cheek, lands on his perfect little shoulder.

He is so peaceful, angelic.

And so is she, now.

Wordless Wednesday: bounce house

Hey people.

I'm not quite ready for words again yet, so here's some fun for you - from just last night.



Oliver's daycare had a "carnival" open house last night. Can you feel the happy?

Oliver's Labels

I first read about Oliver’s Labels while blog-hopping and I thought, this is something I need to try! Not only is the name of the company enough to receive my undying admiration, they are super cute too.

The idea is awesome: super strong personalized labels that even stay on after being run thru the dishwasher or put in the freezer!

I contacted the folks at Oliver’s Labels and was super stoked when I got an email back saying they would send me a few of their new Date Labels to review. The Date Labels come with a nifty pencil to write the date (and contents if you plan on freezing homemade baby food or breast milk, for example).
When Ollie was still using bottles we had to use masking tape to put his name and the date on every bottle, every night. I wish I’d had these labels back then!

They are perfect for sending sippy cups or snack containers to day care, or taking along to birthday parties when there would be a million other kids around that have the exact same Gerber sippy cups.

I chose the Transportation theme, and put his first and last name on there. They are totally customizable, so if I’d wanted to put “Ollie Stinko Supreme” on there I could have.

Their other products look super awesome too… mini labels for smaller things like taking a toothbrush to a friend’s house for a sleep over, iron-on clothing labels, and labels that are designed to stick to the insoles of tiny shoes!

Even better: most of their products have what they call a “Found-It code” so if someone finds something with one of these labels on it they can go to oliverslabels.com and enter the code… you get hooked back up with your stuff without giving out your address!

I put Ollie’s labels on his sippy cups, and have run them thru the dishwasher at least three times now and they’re still going strong.

it's first thing in the morning, MOM

When we’re getting ready to go in the morning, packing the diaper bag and mama’s lunch, I always pick a cup with a label on it for his morning drink while he chills in his high chair. He hasn’t been able to peel these off, and not for lack of trying, which is more than I can say for the masking tape!

P.S. If you're inclined to shop and maybe order some Oliver's Labels for your own self, please go to www.oliverslabels.com/sarapanza and I'll get a little kickback.

P.P.S. Yes, I liked these so much I signed up to be an agent and tell everyone I know about how they're great and give you a better chance of getting your kid's stuff back home.



I received the product mentioned above for free by first contacting Oliver's Labels, then ultimately through using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for people like me.