Nope, not just her tush.

My Sunshine LOVES friends and that’s what this last week of being isolated ( thank you 800 inches of snow) taught me.

When Noelle came over for a short visit it was like watching a cactus receive a drop of water.

“Do-Dwell, Do-DWELL” she would say. As if to imply “where were you? Why didn’t you come over before? Do you know this Lady has kept me inside this damn house for 5 days straight?”

The minute a friend appears I am no longer necessary. I’m more of an accesory, “Oh her? Yeah, she’s cool- that’s my Mama I play with her when their’s no one else to play with.”

Tantrums have taken on a new look to. Sunny can now say “Why?” So when I take things away from her she first says “Why?” then I, like an idiot, explain why she can not digest a bottle of baby lotion, the diaper genie refills, or the broom! Then she flys into “Why?!?!?!” and straight to flat back on the floor. I step right over her- she can get up, she chooses not to, but she can get up!

At one point we were so desperate for the sun to shine on our faces that I took Sunshine on a walk to the park- I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had better ideas! This is what the park looked like….

But WE can have fun anywhere and happiness is a choice- so WE chose to be happy and play in the snow filled park! I like that about us

This weekend was relaxing. Once we finally got the car out from under the snow we snuck over the Nora’s house and visited RORY! Matt got to hold him, I got to hold him, Sunny got to squeeze him. It was lovely and then we went home!

Today FINALLY we are heading out of this house and to Mommy and Me Yoga, where we will see FRIENDS! Thank you Jesus for friends! Apparently more snow is on its way- so we will spend all of today out and about. Happy Monday!!!!

I  had a different post scheduled for today but my thoughts just won’t let me write what I was going to, so here we are.

This week a friend of a friends child died.  I can’t say that I know this couple very well or at all. Somehow I have been told every last detail of the death of their very young child and I can not get their family out of my mind.

I don’t tell you this to bring you all down, but simply to offer gratitude.

Every single day  in my life three special things will happen.  We all wake up, Matt will have left me fresh coffee downstairs, and Sunny and I will read books in our reading chair where I’ll steal sniffs of her hair and feed her her bottle and sing silly songs.  Everyday that I have with that child is my absolute favorite.  So today I offer thanks for my healthy little girl and a prayer of hope for the parents who lost their child. I don’t know them but I think of them constantly and pray for them always and wish that my thoughts were enough to bring them through this very very difficult and challenging time.

My business is preserving memories. I make videos and edit projects everyday and I rarely know what happens to the people I create projects for.  We tend to video tape the events of our lives, happy events like weddings, family reunions, and the birthdays. I’m reminding you today to video tape the mundane, the un-important, the forgettable, if for no other reason that it will never be forgotten.

I hope this weekend finds you full with love and everyday memories that you will never ever forget.

Everybody SING… oooohhhhhh, I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS!

I do! I do! And so let me introduce you to them.

Blog family meet my Bridal Friends. You’ll find their websites below. If you know a bride, are a bride, or want to someday be a bride, remember this page and visit my bridal friends. You’ll find their information permanently stored on our side tab under: FRIENDS OF LITTLE LOVE STORIES- soon they’ll have their own page! Uh, huh! I told you we’re friends

Beautiful Wedding Tips:  http://best-wedding-tips.com

They do exactly what their title says. See videos, get wedding tips, read about cakes, read the blog, see what’s hot in wedding trends…make us a trend, OK? OKAY!

DJ Mytstical Michael: http://www.DJMysticalMichael.com

A self made DJ, he adds his own flair to your very special day. Take a look at his site and see what his clients have said about DJ Michael.

First of all, it’s not my announcement to make but I’ll do it anyway.

On Saturday Nora FINALLY had the baby. Everyone welcome RORY!!!!!!!!

He’s as cute and snugly as his name suggest. I was fortunate to get to hold him for one glorious hour and I can’t wait for our next snuggle. Mother and baby are doing great-  to see  Nora with Rory was the most natural and beautiful thing in the world.  Rory is calm and cool and handsome like his brother and father, a silent little spirit ready for action.

I didn’t steal him, I thought about it, verbalized it, but I managed to hand him back to his mother without incident. If babies weren’t so darn tough to make I’d have 19 like Mrs. Duggar. Newborns are simply intoxicating- especially when they are as cute and lovable as Rory.

I don’t have a photo for you. I have to wait until Nora sends out an album, gives me permission, and gets so busy at home that she stops reading  this blog and then I can publish all the photos I want of her and her stunning boys! Don’t worry I give it till the end of this week and then we’ll be able to publish almost anything, because she’s going to be very very busy!

We love his name, love his presence, adore his parents and big brother. We’re so honored to be a part of his life.

In other news, its been cold and gross and grosser here in Brooklyn.

So we’ve been doing A LOT of home based activities. Sunny’s favorite is called Make Mommy Push Me Around The House In My Plastic Car! We have to stop often for gas and for extra pairs of sunglasses!

We also made these yummy yummy girls scout cookies- has everyone seen this recipe from the kind folks at Babble?

Here’s the recipe in case you missed it: http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/01/04/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas-or-caramel-delites/

Mine look just like theirs right? RRRIIIGGGHHHHTTTT…..

Try them they are delicious! Today is work and Books & Babies- This will be our first books and babies with my new little walking girl. Hopefully she actually walks and doesn’t default to crawling….she does that a lot!

I don’t need words for this post. I caught her on video- here’s a little snippet.

The best part about my life/work balance is getting to be here for moments like these. I am so grateful.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sunny and I had a fight. Not a big fight, but our first fight.

This week has been especially busy for me. New clients, more work, and less nap time is a difficult combination for any work-from-home Mother. Couple all of that  with the gross weather we’re experiencing and you have a recipe for disaster.

Yesterday my work mixed with freezing rain kept Sunshine and I in the house the entire day. Somewhere around 1 pm I started texting Nora for support and guidance,  by 4 pm Sunny started screaming for her Da-Da because frankly I had run out of games, books, and tricks.

The fight happened so quickly and fiercely that I think I’ve seriously blocked it out you guys, it was so upsetting to me that I’m not even sure I can give you an accurate description of what happened but I will try.

So there I am holding Sunny on my lap, watching Ms.Oprah, when all of a sudden she slaps me across the face, not once but twice. ( As her Mother I feel the need to interrupt this story to say she really is a wonderful little human being and it should be noted that she’s not the slap happy kind, but I digress). I grabbed her hands and very firmly said “No! NO! You do NOT hit Mommy!” before I knew it her little mouth went into a full pout and her big brown eyes filled with tears, one tear, two tear, and then….water works. We’re talking full-on screaming and crying. She pulled her hands away from my grip and raised it like she might hit again, so I said again, “Do not hit Mama! We don’t hit.” She wiggled out of my lap, choosing instead to seek comfort on the rug and away from me after which I started crying. I let her sulk for a little while and thought to myself- pull it together you are the adult she is the child! Eventually she stood up grabbing on to my pants and burying her little face in my lap. I scooped her up for a hug and told her “It’s nice to give hugs and kisses. Give Mommy a kiss?” She started screaming louder and refused. I went into the kitchen and poured a glass of wine, text Matt an SOS, and laid Sunny down for her evening nap.

I needed a time out, and so did Sunny. We needed time a part from each other. *** You will never know how hard it was for me to just type that last line. It’s almost like typing we are not the same person- which of course is not true- we are TOTALLY the same person! Right?

When Da-Da got home and we had dinner together she still was not really speaking to me. She denied my advances for a hug, refused to give me a kiss, and would only say Da-Da- which is a REAL slap in the face because she ALWAYS ask for Mama no matter what!

This, I thought, THIS is what girls do. She ignored me, she hurt me to my core. She will do this to me now and when she’s 13 and 16 and 18. She is demanding in the most subtle of ways. She needs 100% of my attention always and when I don’t comply she goes for my heart…she’s a little woman, a short dictator, a mini me.

After dinner Matt presented me with a gift of a single chocolate cupcake, he brought home form one of my favorite bakeries in the city. I sat Sunny in her high chair and split the cupcake in two. Half for me and half for her. ***This was not a bribe by the way!  I’m a sharing, caring, loving Mother and I just so happened to be given cake, which may or may not be my daughters favorite food.******

I think you can see how well that turned out.

By bath time she was singing my praises. This morning she is still on strike from hugs and kisses- but I stole a few anyway.

I can’t help but think of the tv show PARENTHOOD- we love that show for a zillion million reasons and pause it often to discuss what we would do if we were the Braverman Family. The thing is even though she’s pissed at me, I had to yell at her. I had to tell her no, watch her cry, and let my feelings get hurt. I can not have a kid who hits, or rather I can not have a kid who thinks its okay to hit.

Sigh…this is all a great balancing act. Yesterday I fell off of the uneven bars.

Yesterday we went to visit Nora and Aidan. Nora looks amazing with her little preggy belly. In fact our friend Mary of Tears Of Joy Photography took these AMAZING maternity photos of Nora and her son.

(I said I wasn’t going to post them here but I can’t help it, you must see how cute Nora is and how fantastic Mary is.)

Aidan is a great big brother already. He is 17 months old and can walk, run, talk, spin, throw, grab,  and climb. If you sit on the couch he’ll bring you the remote, if you have a daughter who can’t walk yet, he’ll hold her hand and encourage her to climb into the toy bin too! He’s loving and affectionate, and downright adorable. He makes me want a little boy, but only if he is EXACTLY like Aidan.

When we left each other yesterday we said “See you at the hospital.” I just can’t believe this baby is finally coming, I feel like we’ve been pregnant for forever and I’m just done with the whole thing….I mean Nora is!

In other news there is a new Lonny Magazine for January! If you’re at work and have a few minutes….or an hour take a look. It’s fantastic!

www.lonnymag.com

I really get some great design ideas from Lonny and one day when I’m very wealthy I will put those ideas into action.

We’ve been very very busy around here at Little Love Stories. We’re editing day and night and LOVING IT!

Special thanks to you that have referred friends and family. I’ll be posting some new videos next week. You can also catch updates and videos on our Facebook page and…wait for it…TWITTER @Lil_Love_Story!

See you guys there!

Dr. King would have been 82 years old today  and if his life had not been cut short he might have seen some things that even he could never have imagined.

He might have lived to see how his voice changed each of us, how it shaped my future.  He might have lived to see how because of his dream blacks and whites and every color in between attend school together, live together, teach together, eat together, join together, and its no longer news worth; its simply the way it is. I know Dr. King would be proud of us, of this country.

Because of Dr. King, Matt and I are legally married and it’s not something that we take for granted or lightly.

There was a time when I wouldn’t have been considered a human being with the same rights as my white husband. There was a time when he and I would have lived as outcast, fearing for our lives, and unable to be seen together in public. Maybe even more disturbing, there was a time when our daughter could never have been accepted in common society.

In this family, in this household, Dr. King’s birthday is more than just a birthday- it’s a day of thanks. We are, each of us, free to love whomever we want, however we want and wherever we want. So today instead of thinking of how far this country has to go, and we do have a far way to go, we’ll celebrate how far we’ve come.

There is a little mixed chick in this house who knows that love is an ability, that comes in ever shape form and size. She knows that her Mommy loves her Daddy and her uncles love each other. She’ll one day know that all of her grandparents survived an ugly time in America and yet they all raised their children to appreciate the content of every persons character. She’ll know that when she grows up she can choose to love any person she wants and every single one of us will support her and praise her for her choices.

Words are silly when trying to discribe what your life and existance means to you. My best friends on this Earth are of every color and nationality. They are brilliant, and beautiful. They are wives and mothers and teachers and leaders. They share their lives and children with me and they too have Dr. King to thank. They preach his message of love and tolerance, and they love me for exactly who I am, the choices I make, and the child I raise.

Today, like everyday, my heart is full of gratitude. It may have taken just one mans voice to change the minds of an entire country, but it has taken every single one of our voices to keep it alive.

I want to thank each of you who read this blog and share in my families happiness. By being here and sending your positive energy and making your comments and emailing me questions and thoughts, you support progress and tolerance and love. I am so grateful for the life that I have gotten to live. I am blessed beyond measure and I am so in love with my family and extended family. Thank you God for Dr. King, for my in laws who raised an amazing man, for my parents who raised me where they did, how they did, for my friends parents who were there to hear Dr.King while he graced this earth and trusted in his message, for my brother in law who is as amazing and big hearted as the family he comes from and for the way he loves my brother, for the child that you blessed me with, and finally for the opportunity to teach her how to love too.

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are so very very very grateful to you. ( I forgot the Jr. part, but Matt upon reading this corrected me- sometimes I’m less grateful for how smart he is!)

Sunny has a new wake up time. It’s 5:00am! I’ve always been a morning person but being in Mommy mode at 5:00 is a little tougher than one might imagine. While I’m sleepy eyed trying to shhhhh her back to sleep, she’s darting from one end of my bed to the other. ( I bring her in to my bed every morning to cuddle and sniff her Billy Crystal hair.)

A little cake to celebrate 13 months

She has the energy of a rocket. She is so excited to witness a new day and  soak in the morning. She knows that we’ll go downstairs, sit in the reading chair, and cuddle up with a bottle and two books. At the moment she’s obsessed with Dear Zoo and Peeny Butter Fudge ( which is about a Grandma who makes fudge with her grandchildren) she says Yummm about 100 times, that’s my hint that it’s time for breakfast. We venture into the kitchen where I scramble eggs, toast her waffle, and hand her a half of a banana.  Lately breakfast is followed my Club crackers-a new obsession, then play, play,play  (always with a tu-tu on)

….until she starts screaming Mama!Mama!Mama! Bye-Bye! Which means it’s night-night time and suddenly she’s my baby again in my arms, head on my shoulder, whisked upstairs to her crib. I will never grow tired of coffee and an arm full of sweet baby first thing in the morning.

My Sunshine is 13 months old today. She has a life, a routine, friends, words, new shoes, and a lot of attitude. She’s a little woman now. She babbles non stop and pretends that she’s on the phone all of the time. She picks up her baby dolls and gives them kisses, lots of kisses, and strokes their backs. It makes me think that maybe she thinks that’s what Mama’s do, and I’m grateful for that. She’s brilliant and perfect and wonderful and I love her in an unfamiliar and strangely addictive way. She’s a jumble of smiles and giggles and zerburts. Simply put she’s my favorite girl.

Here are our 13 month rocking chair photos, notice the ponytail!

We say our prayers at night, where we rock and sing a medley of The Dixie Chicks and Beatles hits, while we cuddle in her baby blanket-that once belonged to Uncle Chris. She is safe and loved and protected. She is the most important person in the world, as is every other child on this Earth . Last month I was obsessed with loosing my baby to father  time, but as they say, “I’m not who I was, I’m doing much better.”

So welcome 13 months, lets see what else time brings us.

Yesterday, like much of the rest of the country, we got snowed in. My Sunshine and I made the best of it.

There is something wonderful about fresh snow, a warm house, and a perfect baby. Tomorrow Sunny turns 13 months old, time really does fly when you’re having the time of your life. Happy Thursday.