Ash Wednesday & Other Adventures

First things first.. there haven't been many meltdowns worth mentioning lately but last night Da Bubba SPAZZED out due to extreme exhaustion (still no afternoon naps) and maybe a little tooth trying to poke through. SO...

GOES TO DA BUBBA!

A series of pictures as proof:

Playing, but not smiling.. 

Nomming on a teether & trying to get the puppy.

Couldn't get the puppy.. let the yelling begin!

And the fussing.

Crying into his blanky.

So. Very. DRAMATIC.

 Tonight was pretty much the same thing. Sigh. Once we get back home my goal will be to get him taking an afternoon nap!

My mom, dad, Bubba, and I went to 12:05 Ash Wednesday mass at the Cathedral downtown Grand Rapids. It is so breathtakingly beautiful. Bubba did pretty well, he got himself some baby ashes and liked the way his screamy voice echoed in the big church. I ended up standing in the back with him all of mass. It is a different kind of worship when you are tending to your child. You almost pray through your love for them. Da Bubba was so mesmerized by all the stained glass and different people. He handed out smiles and cooed and blew bubbles. 

After mass my dad had a meeting and my mom and I had hair appointments. My cousin owns a salon in Grand Rapids called Salon Re: It is a salon dedicated to being "green" in any and all ways possible- using environmentally friendly hair products, disposing of their chemical waste in environmentally friendly ways, recycling hair for oil spill cleanup, and much more! My cousin is the ONLY stylist I have let touch my hair for the last 6 years, up until the DREADED 90's bangs incident that is. Today she did WORK. She fixed my bangs, updated my hairstyle, and touched up my color so that I am BLONDE BLONDE BLONDE (Just the way my hubby likes). Bubba was super antsy in the salon (can you blame him?) My mom and I kept having to switch on and off who had him while our color was processing. It wasn't exactly the relaxing salon day that we are used to.. oh well! My dad came and picked him up as soon as his meeting was over so he wasn't forced to be cooped up the whole day.

I think Jack is REALLY starting to miss his daddy! We took this pic to say hi, and he just looks so sad :(

My mom had book club tonight so it was up to me to make dinner. I made fish tacos (no meat today!) that my mom makes, she told me how to do it in the car so it was by memory.. they turned out great.. so yummy!

Bubba ate a banana, half a sweet potato, had a bath, and played with Papa before bed. He loves sitting up - especially when he is higher up than anyone else and can see everything! I love his curiosity, his chubby little cheeks, and his sweet nature. I am a blessed (and VERY exhausted) Mama :) 

Family Visits, the DREADED Dentist, & Paczki Cravings

Last night my aunt came over to love on Mr. Jack. He REFUSES to take an afternoon nap, so every day around 6pm he gets SO sleepy. At that point I just TRY to keep him awake until 8 (bedtime), but normally I fail and end up waking him up at 10 or 11 for one last bottle. Last night he lasted until 7:30, we gave him a bottle, and then decided to experiment with just putting him down for the night and NOT waking him up. I was so sure I was going to be up at the CRACK OF DAWN but Da Bubba slept until 8:10 am!! My big boy, 6 months old, sleeping more than 12 hours a night - this is a HAPPY Mama!

Today I went to the dentist for the first time in almost a year. I have never had a cavity, or any sort of tooth "issue", but nonetheless it is my LEAST favorite kind of appointment to go to. I would rather go see any (and I mean ANY) doctor other than the dentist. I hate the noise the scrapy thing makes on your teeth, how sore your gums get, the nasty warm water they squirt in your mouth - UGH! Since I was pregnant with Da Bubba my gums have been really inflamed and bleed like CAH-RAZY. This hasn't stopped so todays visit was EXTRA brutal. I usually make sure to go every 6 months just because the process is so much worse the longer you wait, but life def got away from me this go-around. It won't be happening again!

When I got home my mom had to leave us to do a little work today. She left me with the task of thinking up things we can do to celebrate this last day of "freedom". I can't believe it's already FAT TUESDAY!! I have been trying to think of something to give up for lent and I keep on coming back to EXCUSES. This will be really tough. It will force me to reflect A LOT and pray A LOT. But I think both of those things will be very good for me!

For now I'm craving a paczki, taking LOTS of pictures of Bubba (He's sitting up all by himself.. kinda) and enjoying this gloomy, sleepy day! We miss Daddy A LOT.. probably going to hit him up for some "facetime" tonight :)

Yucky flash Mom!!

Fall and go BOOM!

Giving some lovin to Miss Riley