friday funday and a bit of photoboothlove

in my hood, back in the days (1979?)...photobooths spit out polaroids. this is my dearest old school photobooth polaroid...me completely freaking out on my parents. i was a child that freaked out over lots of things...fireworks, photobooths, flashes, lightning, people in general. i was a scared, freaked out kid. and in a lot of ways, i still am. even though my parents are split and hate each other (well, i could go on and on about this and most likely you've heard me do so, so i'll spare you)...but they were married for 25 years, and were together since the age of 13. mind you, i'm only 27 years old. so that's some serious relationship time together. my mom moved out of the house the day after i got married in '01. this picture is still near and dear to me because in a lot of ways it symbolizes innocence...parents still together, still being scared of the unknown, and all being trapped in a little booth together that i desperately wanted out of.


woah! enough of that baggage (you know how i love myself some baggage...) onto the fun stuff! pink coyote had a great idea for friday fundays. go check it out. usually every day is friday funday around here, especially with gray making things interesting...but here is a glimpse of our day...


oh 5am wake-ups! we made a "mr. nosey" card for nana cupcakes 80-something birthday. we used "all the colors" and it was super fancy.


off to puppa's for some tire-swinging (how trashy is the van in the background? i swear my dad's house isn't the van-on-the-lawn kind of house!...busted!) anyway, he built this tire swing for gray and we had some swinging fun.



a little bit of airing-out-the-nasty-rash time for pum...fun!

we found these bitty purple flowers growing in the middle of puppa's lawn (with the van! oh!)

reading the boston phoenix in the sun, outside- watching grace garden and joey eat his sock monkey-


wearing my "new shirt"-
going out to lunch with the nanas...grace took this pic of nana cupcakes, and i love it. i have no idea what she's looking at, but it looks important. during a lull in the conversation, grace says "I HAVE A NEW SONG TO SING!...CHRONICLES OF NARNIA! CHRONICLES OF NARNIA!" and proceeds to sing it. thankfully, the nanas don't watch saturday night live and don't know how inappropriate this is. they just thought it was cute. i died laughing. if you don't know what this means, watch the clip at milk and cookies -scroll down to "lazy sunday: chronicles of narnia rap". inappropriate? yes. but a bit hit in our house.

some baby-seat lovins. gray is really into invading joey's personal space. hardcore.


our day was awesome and is barely done. yesterday and the day before were even cooler. stay tuned for more debriefing.

starting the day off right

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

here's a bit of pumshine for everyone out there starting your day off. how can you not be happy when looking at this sweet, sweet innocent face? love the green apple get-up...it makes him even sweeter.

first let me say thanks to boo for a wonderful exhausting sunshinyday yesterday. i feel inspired and focused after discussing our nongoals and low aspirations. and thank you for babysitting while i went to my doula (medulla oblongata) class last night. sorry joey puked all over you, grace farted in your face, and i made you eat leftovers for dinner. and sorry if that cheese was bad...poop shoot riots for us all.

on another note, today should be a good friday. stay tuned for oldschool photobooth friday pics. i get to accompany my kids to a birthday lunch for great-grandma, aka nana cupcakes. nana cupcakes got her name because her name is nana cunningham, and grace decided a while back that this should be pronounced "nana cupcake" (even though i thought we should call her big nana...nobody else was diggin' that)...anyway, nana gilbert turned "nana cupcake" into "nana cupcakes"...and every time someone says it, i giggle to myself, because it totally sounds like a porn name, a granny porn name. NANA CUPCAKES in grannies gone wild. i love the secret dirtiness of the name, and love how both nanas embrace it unknowingly.

ok, enough of that! must.ride.bike.around.block.once. must.meet.goals.!

what i did today part 2

first off, let me just say "holla!" to renee...profiled in mvs...you're famous! we were so proud to see your page in the paper!

secondly, boo and i have been furiously discussing goals and making lists of lists all day. here is a glimpse of our "list of lists to make".

here is our list of short term goals. not sure if you can make it out clearly, but one of boo's funnier goals is "try to meditate once" and one of mine is "ride my bike around the block once"-

we're trying.

my new mug

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

oh today...lenny kravitz in the van, driving to portsmouth, sun shining, thrifting and favorite restaurant, my favorite designer's scarfs at goodwill for .99 cents each...iced coffee and new goals and crying kids and front-packs and life, life, life.

this is a shot of my new mug...one of my recent thrift finds...one more reason to look forward to getting up and drinking more hot beverages.

ps...kiddies up at 5am now...makes for a longer, more interesting day to say the least.

yet another great-full list

gray new's skirt that i made her, with new tights and her new cloggies-

this fabulous "new" cup i found for the little ones...there are three of them. vintage goodness.

this cheap-o vintage plates i found this weekend when i took myself on a thrifting date (alone!) while john was at home playing with the fam. the woman in line behind me was whining with jealousy when i was ringing up...part of me wanted to offer them to her, but then i thought better of it because these plates are just so damn cool.

score! my best thrifting find yet! a set of three bowls, three plates, and three cups from sweden. hi, i'm in love. we've used them so much already.

taken this past weekend at the children's museum...grace riding a motorbike in vietnam.


headed off to the city today for a visit with auntie jojo...hopefully to include raspberry lime rickies at my fav lesbian coffee shop and overpriced (4!?!) photobooth pictures and debreifing and prebriefing. more to come.

one final note...i just wanted to say a sincere thank you for all the wonderful comments i've been receiving lately. they are all little gifts to me that get me through the days, which can sometimes be tedious and monotonous. every comment is a present. also, lately i've been trying to comment more on the blogs that i lurk around in...crystal mentioned "delurking" and it struck a cord with me. reading everyone's blogs is also such an important part of my day, and i love the posts, so i've decided to comment more often when something moves me, only because i know how much it means to me.

and with that, and this final gray quote from this morning, i leave you:

"mummi, i love you! you're just like my godfather." -grace (for all of you who don't know, boo is gray's godfather)

xo
n.

self portrait tuesday, time.

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

this is the last and most recent in the time photobooth series, taken this past weekend at the beach. gray is missing from the pic because she was at a birthday party. to me, this picture symbolizes the passing of time...the second child, the first big enough to be at a party, john and i growing older together, passing on family traditions of driving to the beach and taking photobooth pictures, something i did with my parents growing up. now my parents are divorced, and john and i have found a way to make my old family traditions into our new ones. baggage, forgiveness, and the passing of time.

xo
n.

one last thing before goodbye

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

(these pics were taken this morning while john and gray were playing underneath the dining room table in the beautiful sun-)

gray just said to me dramatically

"mumma, my belly's empty. come over here and give me some of your breastmilk from your boobies."

this is her idea of humor...she cracks herself up. at least she can be good natured about her nursing envy, if it exists at all.

xo

until i have more time

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

this may be my most favorite picture ever taken-

until later, i'll just leave you with the beauty of it.

weekend junkies

silly finger puppet shows on toes...stamping and coffee and markers...

cupcakes and milk and maybe more cupcakes...

a glimpse of steph's bday cupcakes...we didn't have candles so i made some...

a glimpse into my trash can...it pretty much sums it up- dirty diapers, coffee filters, and a bottle of wine.




good early morning again! i'm feeling so good today, pumped and creative but searching for an outlet. i've been working on a couple of projects (pictures to come) and packages to send out at the begining of next week. using the sewing machine. working with papers.

my body is transforming due to all this nursing...my stomach is starting to pull in a bit more, especially that weird stretched out part under the boobers. slowly but surely...you'd think i'd try some exercise. but no, i'll just leave it to the nursing. and did i mention how much i love nursing pum? seriously, his new thing is grabbing onto my shirt (sigh!) or onto my finger. that clutching is my foundation (thanks mamasaysom!). oh that clutching gets me every time.

i thought i'd share the poem that john wrote for me as part of our valentines day, in honor of the weekend. later on today we're headed off in the new van to the boston children's museum to celebrate potty training. gray couldn't be more excited. we gilberts are weekend junkies. have a great weekend everyone!

weekend thoughts
(at midnight during midweek)

we save the worst of ourselves for each
other, don't we?
lying beside you, smelling your still damp hair, my
knees kissing the backs of yours; the
cold breathing down our backs.
these are the only moments of the day we are
truly together.

my eyes half closed, beneath the weight of
tomorrows, half awake, mostly asleep,
i whisper to your hair just how much
i love you.

i too fall asleep and dream of us, together,
in the coming weekend-
giving the best of ourselves to each other.

-jrg.

the calm after the storm

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

there is hope, people! gracie and i had a wonderful day filled with snuggling and whispering and dancing and creating and eating and playing and reading and love. oh there is hope. her personality is the best...so complex. i had about 1,000 gracie-isms to report today but didn't write any of them down, and of course i've forgotten most of them. my favorite is:

"mum, i just tooted. you smell it? do you smell it? smell it!"

thank you so much for all the comments...they get me through the day and mean so much to me.

x!

note to self

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

when grace calls from her bed at 5am and says "mummi! mummi! i'm getting sweaty!"...sweaty does not mean actual sweat, it means pee, and she's covered in it, and so are her fresh sheets. what's up with her regression in the bedtime potty training department? we were good for about three weeks, and last night she peed twice and again this morning. maybe it has something to do with her mood swings lately. she's been so nasty to me, to her brother, to everyone. i keep trying to nurture her and giv e her special time. yesterday it seemed to work a bit. and then it all falls apart. other moments are the most touching and wonderful ones you could ever imagine.

thank you coffee.
thank you finger puppets.
thank you coloring books and markers and children's authors.
thank you pbs and pbskids.org.
thank you joey for being patient.
thank you friends for your constant debriefing.
thank you johnny for talking to me in bed even when you are sleeping.
thank you universe and steph for my new clothes.
thank you coffee.
did i mention coffee?

sara mccarthy! are you reading this? i need your snail mail address if you get a chance!

it's so early right now it's not even funny.

xo
n.

mantras

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

my mantras of the day, which i keep cycling over and over throughout my mind are as follows:

1. "imitation is the highest form of flattery."

and

2. "it's just a phase. it's just a phase. this too shall pass".

trying to stay centered amidst gray's chaotic tough times...doing lots of family storytimes and drives in the van and snuggling despite the tears.

xo

inspiration station

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

from the book "eat, love, pray" by elizabeth gilbert-

"the bhagavad gita- that ancient indian yogic text- says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection."

these words were so powerful to me when i read them the other night, tucked under the quilts in my bed. sometimes when i feel the world crowding in on me, i will remind myself of these words, over and over, a grounding chant in my mind. "live your own destiny imperfectly"! the best foundation, true words to live by.

mamasaysom.com

chubby bubby

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

happy birthday auntie em! we didn't send your treats yet-

also, who needs diets when there are thighs like this?

spent a great night at lawrence general hospital last night surrounded by pregnant mamas, talking about breastfeeding. doula doula doulaness. love learning about everything there is to learn about. i could talk about nipples for hours and hours.

and the good vibes van is offically on the road! you know it's a good thing when you get in and your favorite jack johnson/curious george song is playing, followed immediately by stevie nicks.

xo

self portrait tuesday: time

at around 3 or 4p in the afternoon, i hit a wall. after being with the two little ones...the energy and excitement and crying and ups and downs...it's at this time when i just want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. time passes so slowly from 3p until 8pish when j. gets home. time.

?!?

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

where the hell is spring?

newies

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

new links in the sidebar for any of y'all who are looking for some inspiration-

em, i want one of your belts! i lllllllllllooooooooovvvvvvvvveeeeeee them! can you at least teach me, mrs. birthday girl?

gotta love pum in a turtleneck-

off to make a birthday torte for dianne's son jay's 18th tonight-

xo

secrets revealed

my big secret is that i'm going to be an auntie...not to one baby...but to TWO IDENTICAL TWIN BABIES! auntie stephie is going to be a double mama! we're all so happy for her. the reason why it was a secret is because we had a birthday party for her here yesterday and she was waiting to reveal the secret to the girls in person...so i had to keep my trap shut. the whole identical twins part was the secret part 2 that we just recently found out.

great-full list:
-my new clothes! steph, i've never had better clothes in my life...i feel like a new woman. you need to promise me that whenever you get rid of clothes you give them to me. seriously, i feel so awesome! i'm wearing a "new" outfit today!
-debriefing with j.
-snuggletakkies
-thoughts of my new van, "the 9's"

good thing

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

good thing pum is this freakin' cute, because the little bugger was up all night (well, eight times to nurse, compared to his usual once or twice)...and if he wasn't cute, we'd be having some problems. i've been up and about drinking coffee since 5am, so i should be nice and ready for my party guests at 4pm today. hello! also, you got to love the post-preggo belly shot of me in this pic, too. and ps, never got to the hair cut place, maybe today, maybe not.

bursting

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

bursting with excitement over my secret

and we got a new used car today! i'm offically a minivan mom. our car broke down 100 times on the way over to the dealer, and they still gave us $2,200 for it. shh, that will be another one of our little secrets.

on the pum front, he's a complete snugglebum.

and i may just be headed off to get my hair cut off, locks of love style. maybe.

xo

does it get any sweeter than this pum?

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

note to self: don't wear orange on st. pat's day...(i thought i was being cute...a green shirt with an orange sweater...the colors of the irish flag...um, no. my dear irish friend almost ripped my sweater off, and i was left sulking around newburyport wondering who secretly hated me)-

off to make a big corned beef and cabbage dinner for my three sons and gracie-

also got the BEST news in the whole world today from my bestest fetus friend, but i must keep it a secret for two more days-

also, i may have gotten the worst compliment of my life today, which was as follows...."your face looks really great." basically it's a nice way of saying "your face is cute and tiny and back to normal, but the rest of you still needs work...basically you're a fat shit." i totally called the person out on it and they informed me that i should give up hopes of ever being skinny again. hum.

anywho! pum is getting cuter and cuter by the day. look at his face! he smiles and laughs constantly and has his own little language that will make your heart melt. sigh.

happy st. patricks day!

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Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

here's a bit of green for everyone out there...a new skirt that i made gray and eventually tore about and reconstructed with some pink fabric, too. and can you stand how cute her new clogs are? i really don't think it gets sweeter than little clogs on tiny feet.

cheers with corned beef and cabbage!
xo

hunger part 2

my nursing boy...nursing nursing nursing the days away-

i especially love how you can see a box of cheez-its (and a nursing pad) on my table behind us...an example of my hunger, too.


mamasaysom.com