Dad's day

“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad”



Happy dad's day to Daddy-Jim and to Grandbobby! Thanks for all you do!

labor of love

This was a productive week. I was in the studio with the inventive Don Henry, putting overdubs on the song "Mud Mama". . . you can tell by the pic I took from my blackberry, it was a VERY serious session! We will mix this song on Tuesday, then we only have two more songs to go and then this "baby" will be DONE!!!! Don is so uber-talented all the way around, it is quite the experience to see/hear him at work. Hope you all can hear the super cool "bullfrog" vocals and percussions he put on that song! (A song named Mud Mama has gotta have a swampy vibe afterall, dontchaknow?!)
I also finally met my wonderful editor, Lianna, in person yesterday while she was in town. From the countless emails and female bonding I completely felt like I knew her already and we had a great visit, talking literature and life! (Disclaimer, this post has not been edited by her, if it were, it would be flawless!)
And, my new publisher, Two Harbors, has been truly jamming to get my galleys together. The new release date, Oct. 1. It has been a long labor of love (over four years!), but, boil the water and tear the sheets 'cause this baby is a 'comin'!

Mom says OM

The kind of a thing that can drive a "young" mom to drink, or, to start chain smoking after not inhaling since right after college (okay, so in this instance, I am GLAD to admit that that was a long arse time ago) Last night at bedtime, DH and I both in bed with little man, me poised for another bedtime storytime reading of Llama Llama Red Pajama when DH says "what is that"? pointing behind our little boy's right ear. We see a big lump on the bone right behind his ear. With another one under it. "It's okay honey, I just want to look at it" I say as he giggles and squirms from my exploring hands. My heart sank as I tried to go through the motions of finishing the book, not freaking out, and putting him to bed. Downstairs, after bed, I quickly googled and saw some reassurances. Then my friend/aunt the pediatric nurse assured me that they get calls about that all of the time, that it is very common. Probably a lymph node doing it's job because of some kind of assalt. (Likely from his first tick bite on his head last week) I took him in anyway and the pediatrician concurred that that was probably all it was. To say thank goodness is definitely an understatement.
Breathe-release-OM!!!

a round of apple-ause

I should have known it was inevitable, descending from a long-line of afflicted punsters, little-man just cracked one of his first puns.

A couple of days ago for lunch at Applebee's he listened to the server drone the list of beverage options for the kid-menu crowd.

"Milk, sprite, lemonade..."

by the time she got to the juices his face lit up.

"Wait a mimute..." he enthusiastically chortled.

A little finger came up to his head at the delicious thought and a grin crept over his face as he quipped

"APPLEbee's APPLEjuice!"

kissing and telling

I have been in a flurry of switching geers as my old publisher is closing it's doors. Therefore, I have scurried to find a new publisher who can still get my book out on schedule this fall. Luckily, this appears to be the case! YAY!
I have kept my old book cover, a picture of my little boy, when he was not quite two, giving me a sweet little kiss. This is one of my favorite pictures ever, as it captures a loving, yummy mother and son moment. A friend of mine shared the cover with an associate who asked if she was "open to critisism" about it and then said she thought it was "inappropriate" to kiss your child on the mouth. WOW! This thought had never, ever occured to me. (Because that is so far from my realm of thinking) DH and I are just so thankful to have him, and love him so much, that we kiss him all of the time. I was very surprised to hear that someone would take issue with that and am kind of amused that, even before the release, something I found so innocent could already be controversial! Oh well, I guess it is always going to be something. I have polled a few mommy friends to see how they feel about smooches with their babes and they do the exact same thing with their four-year-old boys and girls. I am sure his kisses will naturally dwindle as he gets older, and I will respect that, but I will savor every moment for now!

movin' on to the next stage

We got Sweet Pea his new big boy furniture and moved him into the big boy room. Now there is a nursery awaiting a new baby and a little boy who loves his new "boat" looking bed and actually stayed in his room for the first time in months last night- progress!