Best. Mamma. Moment.

I put Scarlett to bed tonight following our usual night time routine: dinner, bath, pajamas, drink milk, brush teeth, read books, bed.

The one difference from tonight though was that as I was giving her final squeezy hugs and hundreds of kisses before laying her in the crib the following happened: She abruptly pushed away from me, pulled her pacifier out of her mouth, puckered her lips and smacked a big smooch right on my lips!

Then she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck in a perfect squeeze and laid her head on my shoulder. This lasted about 5 seconds as my heart melted into mushy goo on the floor. She then just as quickly pushed away again, huge smile on her face and popped her pacie back in her mouth.

This was all a first for her (and me too, obviously)

I walked out of the room, barely able to breathe and about died from the Best. Mamma. Moment. EVER!!!

Obligatory.

(photo cred to margy)

Notre Dame couple dressing their first born in Irish gear for first game of the season. (I know it's lame but I can't help it, they make you sign a contract when you graduate.)

Let's go Irish!

Sadly, the first game was pretty terrible, but at least Scarlett got to do some pushups after we finally scored.

i can't stop laughing, give me Moore!

how have i never read any of this before? tracy moore is my new fave mom-author-cynical genious. do you think she wants to be my new best friend?

backstory: i recently told my friend beth a story about a mean old humpback at whole food's bistro who was none too delighted at Scarlett's baby babble pointing and screaming tactic to get your attention. (which is a whole 'nother pain in my arse these days, but i digress). despite it's fancy nomiker, wholefies b (as i like to call it) is a cafe opening up to a grocery store, not a michelin rated french establishment or a funeral home where silence and best behavior are expected; children discouraged.

boring story short, the woman turned around with a squinchy face and said, "hhm, it's getting a little difficult..." as she squinched her nose at Scarlett. i don't know what squinch means, perhaps i just made it up, but it's the only word to describe her contorted face, squinched with disgust at my baby.  i stared at her for second because she didn't actually finish her sentence...she noticed and repeated herself, "it's getting a little difficult..."

what's getting difficult, lady? oh, oh, i could tell you what's difficult!...but i kind of have a headache and just want to get to the better part of this blog post...plus, Scarlett was being a little difficult.

fast forward to why i can't stop laughing: last night, beth emailed me an aprapos article entitled, "where, exactly, is it okay to take your kid?", written by Moore, which lists whole foods as an universally innapropriate place to take your kid. touche.

this led me to jezebel, and a pleothora of articles written by moore and other brillantly hysterical commentators on motherhood, pregnancy, pooping and the like under jezebel's motherload subheading. I kept wanting more and more, she's so damn funny! and more importantly, so damn TRUE! spot on, i tell you. hysterical. go read immediately! GO!

some of my favorites (and new anthems on life and motherhood) are listed below:

• how to befriend cool people when you've got a baby 
• how i got all precious about daycare
• pregnant and pulling a deuce, because i can
• motherhood more depressing than ever!  

i'll be checking back frequently for more laughs for sure. you?
now, how to deal with what's getting a little difficult...

 oh, and squinch is a word!



jumping in the pool!

well, sort of "jumping"...

she's so excited about it! 

love her little laugh

(hopefully you can hear it below my loud cackle, eek, sorry 'bout that)

hiking land's end

with baby S and sister Grace

gorgeous day with the ggb in the background

Hipster chic

Thanks Milly for the cool threads! 

You can't see in the pic but the leggings have super sweet ankle zippers! 

tiniest pony tail in the world

finisher!

thanks to my sisters shannon and grace for making the most awesome motivational poster 

(which was completely necessary at mile 12!!)

and to david and Scarlett for cheering us along to the finish line

the hills on miles 11 and 12 seemed

  n e v e r e n d i n g 

but

we finished!

2 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds

and it was worth the hurt for the Scarlett kisses at the finish line

{and if you don't get the poster, it is our new obsession. highly recommend} 

big girls use spoons

Scarlett refuses to let us feed her anymore and loves using the spoon herself. 

Potential left hander just like her mamma?

I love watching her use the spoon with so much concentration and effort, 

her mouth open the entire time, which seems like an eternity, 

for the spoon to make the long arduous journey from bowl to final destination. 

And a yummy bite of yogurt as prize for her hard work! Way to go Scarlett!

motivation!

the san francisco half marathon is THIS sunday!
been trying to psych myself up, but instead feel like i'm psyching myself out...ah!
but i'm really excited, nervous, scared and happy to be doing my first half marathon EVER!

we strarted our training in early may with hal higdon's novice training schedule
with my eratic work schedule and long hours, plus prev planned summer vacations,
sticking to the schedule got a little sticky at times, but we did our best!

not gonna lie that there were more than a few text message convos as follows:

margy: are we running tomorrow?
mags: of course! 6am?
margy: perf, text me when you leave
mags: great, see you then
{next morning}
margy: are you up?
mags: nope

BUT

we actually did a great job training

we got all of our long runs in, either together or

with the help of sisters, cousins, brothers, husbands

{thanks everyone!}

and i'm really surprised with myself and feel good about starting at 3 miles back in may

and thinking it was sooo hard to running 10 miles last monday and feeling great

here are some pics of one of our longer runs

also first time running over the golden gate bridge!

and first time eating gu!

which for you non-runners, gu (pronounced goo) is exactly the consitency that it sounds like

and you have to eat it on long runs to replace electrolytes and sugar.

obvs, i was a little skepical. ick.

(however, i really did feel better and reenergized post gu)

trying to take a running partners shot, but i was still mid-gu-swallow

please try not to pay attention to my awk pose (i think i was too hot and sweaty to have skin to skin contact with myself) and instead focus on the gorgeous day the and GGB!

alright, a little trip down memory training lane is helping with my motivation for sunday. i know i can finish, i'm more worried about finish time and keeping pace and not pooping out in the end but also pushing myself and...

oh! i just can't wait to give baby Scarlett a big smooch when i cross that finish line!

any tips or motivation greatly appreciated!

see you at the finish line!

gap deal: ends tonight!

40% off at gap.com!!

ends tonight, tuesday 7/26

{thanks to shelley for the tip}

enter code: GAPLOVE

i LOVE dressing babyScarlett in babygap!

party on a stick

party: Scarlett's first birthday

location: park on top of the hill in our 'hood

challenge: make food for 30+ people with no kitchen or grill on site

answer: party on a stick!

longer answer: premake everything at home (day of or night before), place on kebab sticks, transfer to party site on platters, do absolutely no work during party except eating and enjoying time with friends!

menu

 turkey meatball kebabs

chicken kebabs

roasted veggie kebabs

fresh fruit kebabs

and

cake pops!

cake pops were pretty labor intensive, so they were made first

totally worth it though because soooo good!

i used trader joe's chocolate cake and frosting mix with wilton's candy melts for the coating.

 i followed this recipe, which has good tips.

(i tried once before making cake balls and they were a disaster.

the above directions, using candy melts instead of baker's chocolate,

 and the addition of the stick made it all easier.)

unfortch, i don't have many pics of the food,

 but easy peasy directions below.

it was so easy i don't even need to write the directions, but here they are...

chicken: marinate chicken breasts in trader joe's island soyaki sauce (or sauce of your choice)

bake 30 mins at 350 or untl done, cut into cubes, place on bamboo kebab sticks.

if pre-making day before, on the day of cover with more sauce and reheat in oven  

turkey meatballs: place trader joe's frozen meatballs in large oven proof pot

cover with island soyaki sauce (or sauce of you choice)

bake 30 mins at 350 or until done, place on bamboo kebab sticks

veggies: cut fresh veggies of you choice into 1 inch pieces

 we used zucchini, peppers and onions

place on bamboo kebab sticks

drizzle with olive oil and season with salt

bake at 350 until done

fruit: cut up fresh fruit of your choice into 1 inch pieces

we used strawberries, watermelon, apples and bananas

place on bamboo kebab sticks

voila! party on a stick is ready!

it was actually a lot of fun making 200 kebabs and 45 cake pops!

special thanks to my sis shannon for all her help.

more scenes from the day...

sweet puppy Beau, a swiss mountain dog,

made an appearance and was a big hit with the babes

and then Scarlett opened her present from her bestie, Milly.

with Milly's help, of course.

thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the day

it was a great first birthday party for Scarlett!

shh, i'm on the phone

Scarlett has been obsessed with the iPhiz pretty much since she was able to understand object permanence and i could no longer hide it from her. she mastered the one finger slide around 6 months.  she giggles when she pushes the home button making the screen change like its magic. when she turns music on (which she does too often for it to be just chance), she immediately starts dancing. she even made her first international call at age 9 months. such an iBaby.

but this week, at age one year and three weeks,
she holds the iphone to her ear and has very important things to say! 

and now, EVERYTHING is a phone. constantly. 

computer mouse, shoe, bath-time animal toy...

picnic at stanford

i had a meeting (and by meeting, i mean therapy session) down in palo alto the other day.
since david works at stanford, he watches the babe while i am in said meeting.

it was so positively gorgeous that we could not resist a picnic
on stanford's front entrance lawn before heading back to the city.
what could be a better way to lift a mood than a picnic with my love?

here are some quick pics and new tricks from the day!

Scarlett LOVES strawberries.

but she gets mad when you cut them up. seriously.

so i let her eat the whole ones when they are really soft and mushy

just with a careful and cautious-please-don't-choke-eye.

it's really quite impressive watching her eat it.

her lips while she's eating! oh my, i'm so obsessed!

next up: we had some practice standing time

she's literally doing repetitive squats! ouch!

trying to stand on her own for one of the first times

you got it! you got it!

why did i cut off half the picture?

hurry, zoom out.

aaand...she's down.

good try my girl! work those legs!

what a fun picnic. thanks love!