Gift Wrapping

Gift wrapping.

Journaling...

Dear Noah, Emma and Baby Kate.

This post is especially for you.

YOU GUYS WEAR ME OUT! But I love you so much that it's unbearable. This past Mother's Day was the BEST because I was able to look out and see your three smiling, crying, pouting, cringing, squinting, squirming, sleeping faces.

How is it possible that my heart can contain all the love that I have for you? Each one of you, so precious and unique in your own ways inspiring a love within me that even I am amazed with.

Today was a busy day and we went everywhere. Woke up, ate breakfast, got ready, hopped in the car, stopped by Daddy's office, went to Target, went to the library, grabbed some In&Out, went to Safeway, came home, had a snack, took a nap, went to the bank, went to Costco, came back home, ate dinner, colored, practiced our numbers and alphabets, got ready for bed, read five books, and finally went to sleep.

I just wanted to say that I had so much fun with you guys today.

Mommy loves you.

PS. 'Thumbelina' is out of the bedtime rotation. It's an epic length story for a toddler bedtime selection. We got into bed around 9:30pm and I walked out of the room at 11:22pm. My mouth is parched and dry from reading aloud for 2 hours. But if you asked me to read it again...I think I would because there's nothing I wouldn't do for you...

Bed Time Reading Journal:
'The Little Blue Truck'
'Thumbelina'
'My Heart is Like a Zoo'
'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'
'The Heart and the Bottle'
'Dancing Feet'

Once upon a time...

Hello.

It's been quite some time.

[Is it still considered improper to use conjunctions in written 'stuff'?)

(And what is the difference between brackets and parentheses?]

I have not blogged in ages. Sad because so much has happened and now all those memories will be lost to the great abyss that my mind has become since having given birth to two living beings.

And Hardy was wrong, Time is not the father of Truth. It is just the Eradicator of remembrances so we just never remember the farcities. farcicalities. farcicalnitions. And yes, I have the right to make up words you've never seen or heard.

I'm writing because:

1. I read and old old old blog. In that old old old blog my closing statement was in Latin. It shocked and surprised me - in a not so good a way.

1a. I was shocked that I even knew 'some' Latin in my previous life. I felt like a woman who had suddenly uncovered evidence of her previous life, forgotten due to injuries sustained to the head - severe injuries. I realize that pregnancy = severe head trauma. Multiply that effect by two. I should be thankful that I can breathe without the assistance of beeping machines.

1b. I had to Google what !I! had written. "Amor Vincit Omnia". I wrote it just like that. Enlarged and in purple. I'm not sure what effect I was going for.

1c. "Love conquers all". The Google results offered a rather anticlimactic experience. It also offered some release. I had freaked initially because I feared the worst: my intelligence was slowly evaporating. But upon translation, I felt a wave of relief. Because the Old-Me wasn't smarter or more brilliant than the Now-Me. Just cornier. Let me revise that. The old me was corny. Or perhaps, lame? In any case, the relief is incredibly relieving.

2. I must commit my memories somewhere. Blogger is a great destination since Google handles all the logistics concerning recall. I don't have to worry about storage and backup and form and design and scrapbooking and stuff. I'll send my kids a link! How easy.

3. Your brain is a muscle. My brain is a muscle. (I suspect slightly larger than yours. Note that this comment is parenthetical so no need for offense or the huffing and puffing.) I must excercise this muscle. Because I will need it one day when I grow up.

Executive Summary of our life since my last entry:

March 2010 - Spring Training
May 2010 - David turned 40. Grace quit working at Google. Celebrated 3rd wedding anniversary: looked into couples counseling.
June 2010 - Grace turned 30.
July 2010 - Noah turned 3.
August 2010 - Present.

Throw in a rainbow and symphony of images, sounds, colors, people and places. Because those are the images that remain in my head as I look back on the past months. I cannot remember the specifics but good feelings remain :).

Hello again. It's good to be back.

Noah Smacks One...

Ball. Ball. BALL!

Enough already!

Now that we're married, I feel like it's time for the truth to come out. I know...I know...David could very possibly feel like he bought into a lemon, but one can only hide behind a mask for so long before the ugly truth comes out.

And since we're married, that makes it a done deal.

I feel that under the safety and protection of marital contract, I can now be honest and show my true colors. Because what's he going to do? Last time I checked, though children come with return policies, spouses do not (I think unless you're Catholic?)...

I *like* baseball. And that's about it. And as the end of baseball season slowly comes to an end, I feel as though there is a light at the end of the tunnel and soon our family can function like a normal one without the ever present lurking of MLB -- hovering around us, in my home, my car, my husband's soul, and my child's young and impressionable mind.

I am almost afraid of the day that the Giants win the World Series. David could very possibly request that we permanently mark our bodies with the orange and black letters to memorialize the monumentous occassion. Thank goodness we are not of Hispanic descent; GIGANTES is a lot of letters.

Oh, gosh...

Now, I'm feeling guilty. Sorry, David. I know, I am violating the vows I made on our wedding day:

I, Grace, take you, David and the SF Giants, to be my husband and home team, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

Minds grow less and less malleable over the years. So David's attempt to completely brainwash me has been marginally successful. Like I said, I *like* the Giants. Since Omar's retirement, there has been less of an appeal, but Lincecum is fun to watch on occassion. Most entertaining are the idiots who scramble and clamor all over each other for a worthless foul ball. I was at Walmart the other day and you can buy a whole bucket for $20 bucks.

But take a brand new baby with a blank canvas for a mind; a person could do horrible things. David has been programming the child to be a Giants FUH-NAH-TICK. He insists that it is inate. An inborn, internally driven interest that we should nurture and cultivate. But I think some foul play is at work when my two year old screams "COFFEE!" whenever we pass a Starbucks and cries out "Giants!" at the sight of the Bay Bridge.

Members of the Jury, I present to you my case:

At two years of age, Noah has developed an obsession.

He is OBSESSED with baseball. And, yes, I would categorize it in the fanatical range. Possibly requiring some rehabilitation.

1. The first thing he asks for in the morning is milk and ball.
2. The first thing he does in the morning is grab his ball, bat and glove.
3. He plays ball when he wakes up.
   
4. He plays ball before he goes to sleep.
5. His favorite movie is 'Fever Pitch'.
6. He sees YouTube on the browser and expects to watch 'Ball'.
7. His bed time song is 'Take me out to the ballgame'.
8. He prefers KNBR over 'VeggieTales'.
   
9. His preschool teacher noted the Giants backpack, Giants lunchbox, and Giants jacket.
   
10. We fulfill his vocabulary quota at doctor's visits with baseball terminology. The average 2 year old should possess about 50 words. At our last visit he had about 15. 10 of which were related to various activities on the field: ball, pitch, homerun, 'Caught it!' (that counts as two), bat, 'Out!', 'Go Giants!', 'Strike!'.

I know...it's cute right?

But, put yourself in my shoes. It's not just my kid. David's all up in that madness too. Fo' reelz do! Now, is it home fritters or home fries? See, I get so worked up, it makes the ghetto come out in me.

I leave you with these images as my closing statements:

Facebook vs. Blogger

Since my (relatively) recent adoption of Facebook, I haven't been blogging as much. I love the social aspect of Facebook, but I think I prefer blogger yet still. Probably because I feel like the quality of social interaction on blogger is 'quality time'.

I wish more of you blogged...and if you do, I wish you'd tell me where you blog so that I can keep up with your posts.

If you don't blog...well, my loss I guess.

Noah and Emma are growing up. I've introduced solids this past week and unexpectedly while I was feeding her yesterday, Noah wanted to participate. It was an interesting moment that made me realize how fleeting these years are, how quick life passes us by.