If I had a nickel..........

When Jason and I were dating, we would sometimes go to the Mall to window shop & walk around. There were several times when people we didn't know would approach us and say to Jason: "Are you a Merryweather?" to which he would reply: "Yes, I am." Then they would inevitably say: "I went to school with Pat, Jim, David, Rick, Brad, Jeff." All of whom are years enough older than Jason that he never attended a school at the same time they did, meaning these inquiring people had never met Jason personally. This is how strong The Merryweather Family Resemblance is. I capitalize because it has reached legendary status. People could recognize Jason for a Merryweather a mile away. It might have a little something to do with the eyes, specifically the eyelashes. Merryweather Eyelashes (again, I capitalize) are a mile long. Boy and girl alike inherit these insanely long eyelashes, for which I am truly grateful! Not that my eyelashes are anything to spit at, but there really is no comparison.

So it goes to follow that any children of ours would naturally be blessed with several of the Merryweather physical attributes. For this I am also grateful. I mean, if a person were to attend a Merryweather Family party, it would be obvious to them how good-looking a large portion of the attendees are. This is not my complaint. A friend of mine likes to say that it is in the natural order of things that a baby come out looking like its dad. Then there can be no mistaking, right? So I am glad there is such a strong family stamp on my kids. It's fun, and they have benefited from it. I get many comments on the attractiveness of my children. This makes me feel good! However; if I had a nickel for every time I heard the words " he/she looks just like her dad!" or "Where is little Jason?" or some such comment, I'm pretty sure I could pay off a large portion of what remains of our mortgage. I am not kidding.

At first, it was cute, even though our first-born was a girl, I really had nothing to compare her looks to, so I just take it as it comes. Granted, a percentage of these comments do come from the Merryweather side of the family. My all-time favorite was when a prominent, matriarchal member of Jason's family said to me, and I quote, "The only thing Sidney really inherited from you are the dark circles under her eyes." No lie. I don't even get courtesy comments from my family. I think this stems from the fact that I have no resemblance of my own. I am a blank slate of a gene pool for all intents and purposes. I have mostly been happy that I could not trace my genes further backward than myself, it comes in handy sometimes, but that is another blog altogether.

But after six kids, the number of times anyone has observed that they got anything but big eye smudges from me I can literally count on my ten fingers with digits to spare. I officially have a complex. You'd think that there would be some visible credit for me!! Jason always tells me apologetically and a little condescendingly that the kids got their smarts from me, but I don't buy it!! I've had it!! So I put it to you good people. I have found a couple of representative photos for you to examine. If there is a shred of myself in either of these pics, I would like to hear about it. Honestly. Don't patronize me or give me false hope. If you really don't see it, say so. I'm a big girl. Don't think I won't get over it. I'll be fine.











Me at threeish





Sidney at four





















Me at three days old













Connor at about a week











Me at one month















Connor at one month

Valentine Ephemera

I love Valentines Day. Before it is over and gone I want to immortalize in blog form the quilt I made the week before Connor was born. After taking down my Christmas quilt, my wall looked so bare that I decided to use the overdue part of my pregnancy to fashion some fabric lovin'. Kellie quilted it for me with loops and hearts that you probably cant see but should appreciate anyway because it's so darn cute!!






Connor looks at this quilt endlessly when he is on the couch. It must be visually stimulating to him, I know it is for me!!








I'll be a little sad to take it down!










Valentines Day wouldn't be the same without sugar cookies!! For the last several years, I have made sugar cookies and delivered them to family and friends. This year I was inspired by Erin to photograph them as yummy food!! All yummy food should be remembered in such a way! Here are the most delicious shots I got with the Cybershot. ( A great point and shoot, but really, when is that digital SLR going to drop out of the sky and land in my lap?)

I Heart My Jason!

I think I actually surprised Jason this morning!  Believe me, this is no easy task.  This is the guy that guessed my Christmas gift to him was a sleeping bag--by looking at the 6"X10" box that I had stuffed it in to wrap.  Since he is so hard to trick, I stopped trying several years ago and turned my attention instead to planning Valentines Day parties for my kids classes at school.  Kids are excited wether it's a surprise or not!  Well, this year, as I hibernate after having a baby, I decided to give it another go.  This is what I came up with:

I spent a couple hours blowing up a hundred or so balloons. Hid them in my daughters closet, waited until Jason was sawing logs (really), and snuck them into the shower of our bathroom. It took approx. 30 trips back and forth. Balloons are not easy to transport, by the way. They also squeak when rubbed together.

I then took my list of "101 things I love about Jason" and placed it in a prominent manner so Jason wouldn't miss it in the morning. I composed this list on Wednesday, while attending to other tasks during the day. It was surprisingly easy to come up with so many things--given more time I think I could have thought of at least 202!

I have to say, I consider myself the luckiest girl on the face of the Earth to have such a great guy! Our first Valentines day together was 22 years ago. He gave me chocolate and flowers, I told him I loved him and successfully stunned him into submission! He never knew what hit him and this Valentines Day, I thank my lucky stars he never looked back!

Connor's Two!! (weeks old!)

I'm trying not to hyperventilate at the thought of two weeks being already past.  

Actually, one week was enough to make me burst into tears several times that day. 

I don't know what I would do without pictures of Connor to revisit.

 

 

I spend a lot of time pouring over them, noticing every tiny detail and how he's changed.   I delight in every stage of my kids as they grow, ( not counting any stage that includes whining )  but at the same time that I am loving whatever cute thing they are doing, secretly I'm mourning the passing of whatever cute thing they just finished doing.  

I decided a long time ago that my idea of Heaven will be for me to be able to relive any moment of my life, remembering how the moment felt, any time I want.

Heaven for me now is the tiny moments with my kids that happen each day, and how they make me grateful each day that I am their mother.

 

It's the only job I ever wanted.