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.

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

DSC06605
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

DSC06652
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

DSC06694
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

DSC06679
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

DSC06702
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.

?!?

DSC06484
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

where the hell is spring?

newies

DSC06532
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

DSC06525
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

DSC06551
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?

DSC06558
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.