Five Buckys

Ten months ago, Jared and I sat on the floor of this room putting together crib pieces. Seven months ago, we brought home a tiny new soul and introduced him to his very own room. Three months ago, he started sleeping in it. Those first four months of his sleepless little life were hard. I was stubborn. I would tell Jared, “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for him to sleep in his own room. All the way across the living room. It might as well be a whole other planet!” But alas! The kid has been successfully sleeping in his own room since December. And, I tell ya, that ‘whole other planet’ business is silly because I still hear every sneeze and hiccup. I guess it’s all part of the job. It’s a cute job.

7am 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm

Here’s a little picture of a ridiculously lucky lady and the two she gets to call her own, sitting in their living room, staring at a camera on a tripod with a musical stuffed lion on top in hopes to get the baby’s eye. Success. And here we have a romantic quote from Jared Buchanan himself, a framed portrait that I stare at on occasion and dare someone to pinch me because that family is pretty and that family is mine. Also a record player spinning Willie Nelson’s Stardust because romance, that’s why. Here are my roommates, who also happen to be my dreamboats, being adorable and actively making us the happiest family to ever be.  And then there’s this. And I stand by my statements. Ridiculously lucky lady. Happiest family to ever be. 

I’ll be posting little looks inside of our sweet little home. Mostly for my mom. Hi mom! But partly for me. I hope to remember every inch of this apartment. So much good happens here every single day. For instance, it’s only 10am and already something groundbreaking happened here. Early this morning, August danced to music for the very first time.  I put this little collage together the other day and the muscles of this family hammered it up there. Thanks Jared! The silhouettes are from a vintage shop, the framed illustrations are some that I drew when I was pregnant, the monster is from an artist at the Magnolia School in New Orleans, the card is one that I gave to Jared while we were dating, and the drawing on the bottom is from my artist and poet of a nephew and it reads “Dear August I hope you enjoy your years with the world”. Thanks Sulli!  This is my favorite room. It is August’s too. This room is the most joyful. It is the brightest and most colorful...

It is still very much winter outside. I’m beginning to think that groundhog is a liar. So, we have been hunkering down in our very warm apartment. August spends most of his time nakey-nakey! He likes it best that way. Not to mention it makes for less laundry. It’s a win-win. Kid loves to discover, which has only improved his speed in crawling. Boy, does he love crawling! Will not stay put, this one. We call him little inchworm. He is so independent now. It makes me proud. It also makes me cry. It’s a win-lose. Honestly, this age is my all time favorite! He says mama and daddy, he kisses back, he hugs back, he cuddles back. Oh, and he is so funny.  With everyday he is learning more of who he is, and so am I. It’s a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win. Seriously.

When I was in the 2nd grade, I had a crush on a boy in class. On Valentine’s Day, he gave me a card. It was a picture of a monkey. And it read: “Here’s looking at you, kid”. How rude. Crush over. Despite this experience, I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. Romance is kind of my thing. And so is chocolate. Of all the Valentine’s Days I’ve lived, this year was the tops! With this little romantic how could it not be! He spent the day practicing saying ‘mama’, giving me the biggest kisses, and staring at me until I looked to which he would smile all bashful and dimply. Oh gosh! Not to mention, his incredibly good looking father who pulled out all the stops to make me feel adored. August gets his romantic heart from Jared. That’s the truth of it.

Oh man! If I had a nickel for every time someone stopped me to tell me ‘blink and he’ll be in college’… I just want to say so badly ‘ oh gosh. just stop. don’t tell me that. i can’t. i’m doing all i can to be in the moment. he is still considered a newborn, right?”   But I don’t. I just do my best to smile and answer politely and coax August to flash his gorgeous smile because I know their babies are in college, out of college, have babies of their own. Last week, one very sweet little lady even told me that her baby is now 54 years old. No grandchildren. Just the 54 year old. Her baby. Then she smiled and gently kissed August on the top of his head and that made me so very happy. And it made August happy, too. August is growing. He will always be growing. And one day I will no longer be his. He will have his own. But he will most definitely always, always be mine. And I’ll go around kissing the tops of babies’ hea...

Okay, maybe we already had plans to come to the beach because the Daddy part of this family is a musical rockstar and scores us swanky hotel rooms with ocean view balconies and complimentary late night cheesecake desserts. He is fantastic and deserves to be kissed a thousand kisses. We spent most of today in the van, watching the Curious George movie as many times as it took to get to Myrtle Beach. Jared and I can now recite the entire movie with Jack Johnson songs included. Just one more thing to make us even more awesome. (We know, we know. You wish we were your parents.) This weekend will be sensational. This weekend is for adventuring with my two dreamboats. And for kissing them both way too much. I hope your weekend is filled with adventures and one thousand kisses.

bath-time. He sits in the big tub and splashes at the water. He saves his very best and spittiest raspberries for bath-time.  I’m always impressed. Oh, and he loves a good hair washing, too. (He gets that from me. Both: the love of getting hair washed and the actual hair-washing).  apple juice. If he sees the juice, he will yell at it until it is in his belly. And oh, he is all business with his bottle drinking, complete with big glazed over eyes and petting the side of the bottle. And if you tell him it is all gone, he will not believe you! Always, always have a distraction on the ready if he is almost finished his bottle. music.  He pulls his little body over to the guitar, taps it, and looks around for Jared. And when Jared plays, August watches the strumming carefully. But when Jared is at work, I pick up the ukulele and play the five chords I know and make up songs. August smiles politely, but he’s not fooling me. Even I know, Daddy does it better. green beans. He will ...