some serious consideration

gray's rainboots, this morning...rainrainrain-
pum's first bite of a biscuit, this weekend
finger and foot painting...making an earth day banner

my new skirt and my feeties, earth day 2006

this weekend at the clothing swap...i've got a sculpture blocking my face

one of the buttons i made for the swap...felt and vintage button- modeled by a lovely lady, who's also modeling joya's coat

all the trash we picked up in my dad's neighborhood on earth day



ok- here are some topics for serious consideration:

first, let me just ask...WHO THE HELL IS IN CHARGE AT THE WHEAT THIN FACTORY?!? my past three boxes have been burnt, and i've been forced to eat them anyway because i don't like to waste and because i bought them because I REALLY WANT WHEAT THINS. but i like to eat lightlybeautifullytoasted wheat thins. so come on wheatie peeps, please! quality control.

ok, with that out of the way, i can move on to more pressing matters.

i'm seriously sleep deprived. something's going on with joey and i'm not sure what. he was up until 3am last night. and while he's sleeping peacefully now, in the middle of the day, this does me no good at 3am when normal mommies of three year old boisterous little girls need their beauty sleep. needless to say, i'm looking less-than-beautiful, and fighting off a big case of the bad-placies and grouchies-in-the-worst-ways. actually i'm feeling pretty blue but trying my best to keep my head above water. my hormones are all out of whack and i just don't feel like myself. and i had a headache yesterday that caused me to miss kim's birthday and i feel really horrible about it, cancelling on my girls.

secondly, i'm thinking of taking a blogging/computer break. i can't really articulate my feelings on this right now, just saying i'm thinking about it. blogging makes me feel wonderful and supported most of the time, but then there's all these expectations, and reading other blogs makes me feel incredibly inadequate and unproductive sometimes. this is all my baggage coming out and i understand that, so i'm trying to figure out if taking a break is the way to go.

in other news, i'm going to the cape on friday for a day with boo. i had a brainstorm in the bathroom this morning that my depressed feelings lately have coincided with boo working 24 hours a day, and us not seeing each other for like three weeks. coincidence? or not? you be the judge. looking forward to driving with husband and kiddies and then going in a hottub (hopefully boo hasn't had sex in it, and hopefully i don't get an immediate yeast infection like always).

i'm also having some other strong feelings related to the following items:
1. feelings about playing happy hostess
2. feelings about wanting to know more people that are breastfeeding...i love breastfeeding and it's incredibly difficult sometimes not being around other people that do it, too. i wish sometimes that i lived somewhere else where more mamas breastfeed, or talk about it, or something.
3. feelings of anxiety about starting/finishing my doula stuff...what the hell is joey going to do for three days without milk for 8 hours when he can't talk a bottle?
4. feelings that i'm being too nasty lately and need to cleanse myself of some toxic crap going on in my head...possibly having some sort of ceremony (jokingly of course)...maybe in the hot-tub?
5. really can't decide how i feel about this whole blogging thing. has anyone out there had mixed feelings about blogging and reading blogs and checking email and keepingupkeepingupkeepingup? i'd really like your feedback on this as it's been driving me COMPLETELY INSANE lately, almost as much as my burnt wheat thins.

in the meantime, stay tuned, stay happy. and thanks heather at four sweet peas for your sandwich idea...avocado, bean sprout, tomato, and fresh mozzarella...i made them for my mom's birthday yesterday!


lubbies,
n.

stop!

DSC07283
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

these past couple of days have been entertaining madness...complete funwhirlwindishness. pum only got up once to nurse last night! so that's a good thing. and now i can drink my coffee black, so that's another notable milestone. in other news, the clothing swap yesterday in boston was just what the doctor ordered...an unattached mama driving into the city, banging in the car (don't ask for all y'all who don't know what this means)-, blasting the music in the car, singing, picking up joya, hardcore debriefing and catching up, walking around the freakishly cccccCOLD city (hi, gloves?), going to femily's house and meeting some very nice ladies, and then trading clothes! wonderful women, wonderful community feeling. i made off with one of femily's sweet little see-through numbers, a tank, a kick-ass bracelet and fabulousfabulousiloveit necklace. oh yeah, and a little beltie. felt good getting rid of old crap that just made me feel bad. and getting new sparklies! i would love to host one of these babies in my hood...so if any of my local ladies are interested, let me know. i liked that some people brought soaps and jewels and i made some of my flower pins...that was it wasn't just clothes to pick from. i like the idea of purging your old crap you hate and getting some fun new stuff to play with.

i'm off...pum's crying!

lubbs.

tracy and nina 1989

tracy and nina 1989
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

these are some of my most cherished photos...my dearest cousin tracy and i at hampton beach in 1989. i don't know what my parents were thinking letting me have a mullet. i was a mere 11 years old. and tracy is turning 30, which means she was only around 14. we used to be inseperable...she was older, cooler, and a freakin' MODEL! hello! she taught me tons about who i am and who i wanted to be. i found these pictures while looking for another one of tracy and i when we younger and i had to post these for photobooth friday. despite the mullets, i still hold them dear to my heart.

what a little difference a day can make

sunsunsunshiny tie-dye...a mini-mama tee.

pum holding onto a tiny purple flower

all our crazy tie-dyes...our neighbors think we're crazy and we love it. they refuse to say hi or wave back at us!

johnny's shirt


i know i already posted today, but i just wanted to share with everyone what a little difference a day can make. not only did we have a fabulous day today, but it was PRODUCTIVE! we cleaned up all the trash in my dad's neighborhood, and did fingerpainting with our feet on a big earth day banner. we got our feet filthy, we all smell like dirt, and we loved every minute of it. these pics are from the weekend...our tie-dyeing festivities. isn't it funny how a badbad mood can just lift off of you at the perfect minute, revealing nothing but goodness and swirling colors all around you?

lubbs,
n.

family snuggles

family snuggles
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

how can i not feel like the luckiest girl in the world with a family like this? oh, cheesy, i know, but seriously! yesterday i was feeling hardcoreblue, going down into a badbad ninaplace, but today, i've got the incense burning...i've already had two cups and two chocolate chip cookies for breakfast...and i'm gearing up for a fastcrazyfun weekend and guestsguestsguests. f

irst off, earth day is tomorrow and i've decided that the gilberts are celebrating it like a big holiday. we're having auntie steph and melissa over for part of the day, and the rest of the day will be spent cleaning up the neighborhood, looking at things through our magnifying glass (or microfine glass, whatever you want to call it), and making fairy houses. fairy houses are still a big part of our day here in gilbertland...fairies this and fairies that. our yard (and all the nooks and crannies of the trees) are filled with shells and sticks and flowers and "barks". now if i could just get our neighbors to take down their fake flowers and greens from their trees! (i'm not kidding you, people...they have fake flowers in their trees...and they've taken to draping them over our fence so they still into our yard. not a big fan of this).

the rest of the weekend will be spent getting some serious auntiejotime and femme clothing swap (please clothing gods let me find something hott) and then mom's birthday on sunday with keith here at our house and then kim's birthday party sun night. holy schmoly, poor joey's going to be missin' his mama and his milk. sorry in advance little baby!

as you all can probably see, i'm in rare form today...cracked up and high on sleep! i got sleep! i'm rested! hopefully the high lasts the weekend.

meow!

self portrait tuesday: april fools

self portrait tuesday: april fools
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

feelin' a little nuts lately

working on no sleep, between "mum, i have to go pee"!s in the middle of the night, and joey's constant nursing and growing and nursing, and then add a good dose of insommnia into the mix, i'm pretty much up from 1am on. needless to say, i've been feeling a little nutty (almonds) lately...a wee bit off. and i kind of like it.

xo

how perfectly does this connect to mamasaysom.com, and the theme "careworn"?

pum is seriously this cute

pum is seriously this cute
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

did everyone have a good weekend? here's a quickie listie of all my most favoritest parts of the weekend, gilbert-style:

1. pum's drooling and raspberries, his new favorite thing. see above picture for example.
2. eating way too much chocolatechocolatechocolate.
3. seeing gray and collin hunt for eggies at my dad's house...watching collin drink the water out of the fountain and gray pour sand into her hair.
4. snuggletakkies.
5. our tie-dye extravaganza this weekend...john and i opened up the grill, and simmered the dye for about four hours and dye-ing fun. all our stained clothes are wearable again! and we did some onesies for the twins for easter presents.
6. seeing the twins, the tiny miracle babies who are now 10 months old! snuggles with craigie, and massages for both of them.
7. uncomfortable dinner conversations, including john's quotable "so, how old is your cat?"
8. debriefing
9. lots and lots of photos
10. did i mention chocolate?

stay tuned for more pics and more love.

photobooth gray

photobooth gray
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i love these old photobooth pics from back when gray was a wee one. they remind me that she's always been a tough one to hold down, box in, keep quiet. and that's why we love her. also love how my dad is peeking into the booth in the last shot. that pretty much sums it up. her new thing (and i really have no idea where she picked it up, i'm not kidding) is that when i tell her something that she's not cool with, she'll say "YOU'RE WRECKING MY LIFE! YOU'RE WRECKING MY LIFE!!!" over and over, very dramatically. i'm going to have my hands full when she's a tween and teen, people. stay tuned for the ride.

pumpum's doctor's appt was today...and he's healthy at 16 lbs. 11 oz.! he's grown three inches in two months which apparently is crazymuch. he was so cute on that stinkin table...with his whiteywhite skin and pink all over. i love our doctor but i'm scared to ask him so stuff because i think he secretly thinks i'm insane, so i may change. plus, he didn't act too surprised when he learned joe's rolling over. um, hello? a three month old that rolls over. let's at least have a simple "wow" or something. throw me a freakin bone!

in other news, we're trying to get outside and do some planting, etc....but our house is a beehive. i'm not kidding you here, either, people. let me say it again...OUR HOUSE IS A BEEHIVE. last fall i found 33 bees INSIDE our house in a matter of hours. i'm down with bees and all the cool things that they do, but IN OUR HOUSE? ok, ok. really, bees scare the crap out of me and give me the willies. not quite sure how to handle the takeover because i don't want to know how many bees live inside the walls of our house. i'm scared of being those people you randomly see on tv that hear this weird buzzing sound in the walls of their house, and then someone comes and takes off the siding and their whole house is a honeycomb.

on another note, anyone know anything about homeopathic treatments and remedies and nursing? any contraindications? on the packaging it says that if you're pregnant or breastfeeding you should consult your doctor. but 1. i don't have one and 2. i was too out of it to ask joey's ped

thanks!

a mini great-full list to end my friday post:

1. pum's white eyelashes
2. grace's breath (just kidding)
3. springy egg hunt tomorrow
4. raspberry seeds in my jam
5. chocolate mint
6. hala's phone call
7. jo's wedding prebriefing
8. honey seasame sticks
9. losing 7 pounds since my goal list posting!

meow meow meow everyone!

xo

a big tall drink of nature

a big tall drink of nature
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

just what the universe ordered (because if you know me, you know how i feel about going to the doctors)

thank you ladies for all my pick-me-ups...how nice to be lifted up, spirit-wise, when i was feel like poopoopanties.

today was really wonderful for a whole bunch of reasons, and it's only 1:43p. lots more living to do!

decided to spend $15 today on a homeopathic treatment, pathouli incense cones, and chai at wild oats in attempts to hardcore take care of myself (ie take caramel). feeling much better than yesterday, even though it's all in my head. long shower, two cups of coffee, tea tree oil and lavender, hot packs...feeding the birds stale bread, recycling, homemade dough. both babes asleep...off to read more of 'the namesake' by jhumpa lahiri with the smell of my incense.

hala...i'm trying to call you...plans with my dad and aunt fell through this morn because of the weather...hope we can connect soon girlie.

and joya...i'm calling you, too!

i could

DSC07300
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i could write a post about all the wonderful parts of my day...like apple turnovers with my dad, how good my coffee tasted, walking around the forest taking pictures, having a picnic of cranberries and nuts, getting my feet dirty in the sand, watching grace playing under baseball field sprinklers, making homemade playdough. i could go on and on.

but for some reason, despite all these wonderful things, today is trying and difficult. grace has been testing me for days on end now...nearly suffocating pum with a towel yesterday, and greeting her daddy with a good morning smack across the face. this picture sums up how i feel. i barely recognize myself. worn down, exhausted. i love being home with the kids, but it's days like this when i just feel so tired.

and judging from this picture, pum is feeling his mama's pain. he always looks so shocked in pictures. little pum.

don't get me wrong...gray is a wonderful, caring, loving little cherub most of the time. and with everyone else she's usually so well behaved. but lately with johnpigs and i, she's just so testy. we literally need to take her to the track and let her run around it to get all over her energy out. she's had a fever lately, too...with blisters on her lips. her hair has been untameable. she looks like a wild woman bursting at the seams. i love these parts of her but it's difficult being a mama to someone with such a fire burning in her...a girl on the verge.

torture

new way to freak out my kids:

http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/?mid=7068261

self portrait tuesday: fun with shadows

fun with shadows
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

being silly with gray in the springysun...shadows on the side of the house

sowing the seeds of love

buddha love
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

yes people, i love tears for fears! i don't care what anyone says...i'm a fan.

anywho, spent the day in greenhouses smelling the flowers with the kiddies and my dad, teaching grace the names to all the different types. we're not anywhere near ready to plant around here...way too cold still, and there's always a danger of frost (or snow). so we were just browsing mostly, looking for sunflower seeds (although i've got bags of salted ones in my cabinet...can't i just use those?)

this weekend was a whirlwind of guests and excitement and food and love as usual. boo's birthday was fabulous and i actually (yes, actually, surprisingly!) had fun at the bar! i'm over ethiopian food costing $170 but i liked meeting boo's coworkers and being a nondrunkbreastfeedingmama...we all got to make breastmilk jokes. nothing like a good boob joke! em's visit was great...my kids were well taken care of by their aunties and grandparents this weekend. at the end of it all, gray had a huge meltdown (due largely to the two slivers she has in her hand that she is refusing for me to touch) and is currently still melting down. accident in the bed last night, too. i'll be spending the week doing damage control and trying to get our family back to some semblance of normalcy (hum) and control (ha).

weekend preview

gorgeous girlie
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i love this pic of gray. i love the sun on her beautifulbeautiful skin and her wide-eyed wonder. i miss her! can't wait until 10a when i can pick her up.

i have some serious sleep deprivation issues. serious. the night before last, joey woke up every 45 minutes-ish to nursenursenurse. last night he woke up about three times, but i got up at 4am this morning for some unknown reason and couldn't go back to bed. i'm not complaining (yet) but dear, dear body...can you please sleep when you have the opportunity to? i'm worried about my energy levels for the weekend, but since it's BOO'S BIRTHDAY!, this also means that there will be plenty of cooking, chocolate frosting, and of course, coffee to get through the day.

yesterday we spent the day tromping through the black-fly infested forest. i got one stuck in the tiny folds in the back of my throat and i wanted to either throw up or kill myself. then my mom took gray for the rest of the afternoon and i spent the day with joe in the library stacks, reading poetry and magazines, then at home watching him sleep, kissing his face. i felt like a lost soul without grace. last night gray went with her mimi and slept over (they went to see ice age and when i talked to grace on the phone she was all "mami, it was wicked scary...the squirrel hit the fishie!" i have no idea). anyway, gracie was gone, and puppa insisted on watching joey for a bit, so the adulties (john and i:) got to go out for some dinner by ourselves. of course we had to pick somewhere close and cheap, so we went to the dirtydirty china tea house. before we entered the building i literally said "please god don't let us see anyone we know", and as soon as we open the door, denny is standing there! i gave him a big hug and told him that i just said that i didn't want to see anyone but he was an acceptable person to see. love that kid so much.

anywho, ate disgustingdelicious food and talked with hub and then picked up joey. i'm so tired i don't even know why i just wrote that story...

ok, happy happy happy birthday trollspotting! can't wait for em's visit. dad's pruning my tree today (that sounds dirty), em's coming, steph's coming over for a bit, and then it's into the big city tonight for dinner and then to a bar (hi, have i ever been to a bar in boston with the exception of the bachelorette parties this summer? i don't think so...i'm scared!). here's to a wonderful weekend. please send me energy and stamina and good hostess and baker and friendfriend vibes.

what are you doing this weekend?
xo
n.

things i love part 5,000

the hugest strawberry ever at my dad's house for lunch...and sosososweet

steamysteaming beverages in my christmasgift mug

buttons buttons buttons...and grace sorting and resorting into cups, making "jimmiecoffee"

grace's gap teeth

my ridonkulous new sunglasses that are so un-nina but work so damn well...this is why people wear sunglasses! can't believe i've missed out for all these years! i'm a convert.

steaming beverages (sorry for the sideways pics again, peeps!)

ben harper's song "better way"

ben lee's song new song about love...the lyrics floor me every time

the way shakira's song (i know! how embarrassing to admit) "hips don't lie" is stuck on repeat in my brain

the fact that my van broke again yesterday and today was the second time in two weeks we've had to bring it back (just kidding that i love this, but trying to stay positive). at least it was free

watermelon for dessert tonight

thin mints

grace's priceless quotes...new ones: "read those books while i go pee. that's acceptable!" -geg
and when she's disappointed or frustrated, she says "that's fair!" instead of "that's not fair!". i laugh every time

visiting auntie donna in the hospital today and watching her smile, giving her hugs and kisses and cards

both kids sleeping right now

thanks

grace the nature lover
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

this picture is from this weekend. we took a long nature walk at harold parker state forest, with identification books (trees and butterflies) in tow, along with a "field journal" (hi, grace made that up) and a antique magnifying glass that puppa gave us. it was sunny and gorgeous until we made it all the way into the forest, and then it turned cloudy and cool. grace wanted to "swim" in this stream...she was having the time of her life, singing at the top of her lungs and throwing rocks. against our better parental judgement we let her go for it. hence her cold yesterday, and us having to stay home. at least it was rainy, and i got some craftypresents done, and some button sewing. i really felt like the stereotypical housewife when i took the shepard's pie out of the oven! anyway, grace dubbed this pine needles "tickle-lillies". the cutest.

thanks for all the great comments yesterday and always...i felt like it was lovefest 2006!

we've got incense burning this morning, spring cleaning, getting prepared for a fabulous femme clothing swap coming up in a couple of weeks...boo's birthday festivites this weekend, along with emily's visit. lots of preparations in the works. i'm at my best when i have houseguests. planning the food shopping list is always a treat.

in other news, pummers discovered his feet...his new favorite toys. i secretly get off watching him struggle to get them in his mouth, which he can't do without my help.

also, really feeling good about being back in touch with one of my favorite ladies in the world, d.b. haven't really been in touch since she was in my wedding party!, but got reconnected recently and i'm so happy. d.b...even though you're not computer saavy, i love you and i'm so happy you're checking in here!

and c.d., i've got nothin' but love for you. sorry about yesterday.

what else? oh, the goal updates! i actually rode my bike this weekend around and around and around the valley...it was rusty and creaky and one of the best mornings of my life! my legs were burninghot. i rode to my dad's for some much-needed wd-40. he tried to get me to eat some bacon but i just wouldn't break down and do it. i also did some serious yogatime with gray, which is always a treat, because she's always pooping and announcing it to the world. "i tooted, mumma, i tooted!"

xo
n.

self portrait tuesday: this aint no april fools

locks of love
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

first let me start off with a gray quote from the morning: "i don't like your trainwreck hair!". my bedhead style just doesn't agree with the little critics around here. joey keeps looking up at my hair and smirking. grace doesn't like me stealing her clips. evidently i'm just a big ole trainwreck.

so a little bit of the backstory to this self portrait creepy april unfools tuesday. i found out my cousin's girlfriend, who is only 18, found a huge lump in her hip (malignant cancer) and tests showed she also has cancer in her bone marrow, and now her lungs. only 18! my cousin had an engagement ring for her previously and when this all came out a couple of weeks ago he asked her to marry him. i can't stop thinking about their story...how the world is such a crazy place, how sometimes people take their health for granted, etc. etc. i obsessed. i decided to just go for it and chop off my hair and donate it because it was the only thing that i could do. locks of love actually deals primarily with kids with alopecia, but it will hopefully be put to good use. it's just hair. i feel so much lighter without it. and even when i look in the mirror and don't feel so hot with my new short hair, and my daughter's calling me a trainwreck, i still can feel good because i know it was the only thing i could do.

xo
n.

goodbye hair

goodbye hair
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

early self portrait tuesday...a little bit of a self portrait sunday night.

goodbye long long hair...you're being sent off to locks of love in honor of someone special going through some tough times...more story to come. in the meantime, i am back to my short-haired self and feeling FREE! loving it. and i love knowing that my longass hair might help a small one get a wig if they so choose.

xo!
n.

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

DSC06795
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

DSC06831
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.

salisbury06
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

DSC06819
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

DSC06820
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.