Sticky Fingers

Does this look like the face of a hardened criminal? Yesterday Ben decided to start (and hopefully end) his life of crime so that these are not practice poses for future mug shots.

We participated in a tour of a local candy company yesterday morning and, like any savvy retailer, the tour began and ended in their store. This company specializes in chocolate, so the store was a dreamland for anyone with a sweet tooth, chock full of confections in every shape and size. Even a 35-pound chocolate rabbit ready to be bought as an Easter gift. Being the mean mom that I am, and knowing that we'd get a sample at the end of the tour, I gently refused Ben's requests to buy any of the chocolates. Well, after we finished, I had to step out for a minute and fill a bottle for Lucy. Apparently my lack of supervision provided the perfect opportunity for Ben to help himself to a little goodie.

Flash forward four hours: At 3:30 p.m. Ben gets home from school and asks for a snack. He also casually mentioned that he had a golf-ball chocolate in the car on the way home from the candy factory. Knowing that we didn't buy any, I calmly asked him to show me the wrapper, which he produced from its hiding place in one of the cupholders in his booster seat. I'm sure he regretted telling me about it at this point because I told he we would be going back to the candy store for him to apologize and pay for his stolen item. One of the things Ben struggles with is correction or redirection. He started melting down, saying it was the worst day ever and trying every stalling technique in the book to avoid a return trip. He said he was afraid, which I can understand, but I tried to explain that even though he'd made a bad choice, they'd be happy that he was honest and told the truth (under duress).

So we loaded up in the car and once we arrived, I got Lucy out and had to make a special trip to go back and get Ben since he refused to leave the car. Once inside, I had him show me the candy he took and bring it up to the cashier where I explained the situation and he said he was sorry. She was very nice about it and said he was a good boy. I asked him afterward if he felt better after he returned it and his reply was no. My concern: He never seemed to show much remorse that he stole something or acknowledge that it was wrong. He was more upset that he got caught and that he had to be corrected and return it. He didn't want to tell Andy what happened, either, I think for fear of getting in trouble. Is this normal four-year-0ld behavior or do I need to start watching for other signs of pathological behavior? :)

Have you had any dabbles into the criminal underworld via yourself or your children? How did they/you deal with this? I'll fess up: I have a major lead foot and was pulled over in high school four times for speeding but never got a ticket.

P.S. The above pictures are the proofs for Ben's school pictures. He has an adorable smile, but when asked to do a posed smile it comes off as cheesy and forced. We laugh about this because Andy's older brother also says he lacks a "heartwarming smile" for photographs. Ben said the photographer told him to "show him his teeth."

Happy Six Months Lucy!

To steal a line from the Beastie Boys, "Her name is Lucy, but her friends call her Luce. She's crafty, and she's just my type." In the past six months we've come to love our little Miss Luce and she's definitely my type. From the get-go, Lucy has been such a calm baby. She only cries when she's tired or hungry and is unfailingly happy. She loves to flirt, giggle, and coo and is so much fun to snuggle. She still doesn't roll over or sit up without assistance, so it makes life easier because she stays in one place, for the most part. I never thought I was a baby person, but I'm enjoying her so much. Maybe it was being a stressed-out first time mom, but I feel like I was always waiting for the next stage with Ben, not basking in the moment.

What else do you do when you need to get ready for the day and have a little buddy who needs to be contained? I love her little smile that greets me every morning when I go to get her out of bed.

A typical Lucy position. She LOOOOVES to play with her toes, which made keeping socks on a challenge. That is, until we stumbled on thes tiny knee-high socks.

She was a trooper when we ventured outside in the 20-degree weather so Ben could go sledding. She makes a fuss when we put her in her snowsuit, but once she's outside she loves to look around.

Ben is Lucy's favorite person in the world. She perks up whenever she hears his voice, which has made feeding a bit more of a challenge recently since she gets easily distracted when he's around. He can make her laugh like no one else by tickling her, blowing on her tummy, and talking in a silly or singsong manner. I was worried that they wouldn't be as close because of their 4+ year age difference, but the ways things are going, she follows his every move and I think they'll be good friends.

Lucy has always been very observant. She takes everything in with her big, beautiful blue eyes.

It never ceases to amaze how tiny babies are when they're newborn!

I really do feel a special connection with Lucy, the mother-daughter bond. It's not so much a desire to dress her up in cute clothes or looking forward to sharing girlie secrets when she gets older. It's deeper. Like we're kindred spirits, if that makes any sense. My mom said that my temperment was much like Lucy's when I was a baby, so maybe that's it. Does anyone else feel that way toward their daughter(s)? Lucy just isn't as busy as Ben was and I feel like I can engage on her level better than I can with Ben on his. Perhaps it's just that all she really demands is snuggling and some food, versus more intense interactions.

Fresh from the hospital. How time flies! We'll take the next six months a day at a time and are so happy Lucy is part of our lives.

Snow Much?

Aargh - Another snow day and no school! Between teacher conferences, school holidays, and snow days, we've had one out of seven possible days of school in the past week and a half. Hilliard seems a bit trigger happy with the whole cancellation thing, but maybe that's just me. Thankfully, Andy's sister is here to play with the kids. Her flight out last night was cancelled so now she'll be here until tomorrow morning. Hooray! Yesterday we met Andy for lunch, went bowling, stocked up at the grocery store, then drove home 20 mph in the snow. Today I think we're going to hit the library and then go see "The Princess and the Frog" at the dollar movies. This afternoon we might head over to the church gym to let Ben run off some steam.

What are you doing to keep the kiddos or yourself entertained in this wild, wintry weather?

Aspiring Beauty Insider

I've always been a beauty outsider. Or, as it sometimes comes out in a very non-PC way, I'm makeup retarded. I'm the person who can stand in the beauty aisle at Target for half an hour staring at all the options and come away with nothing because I don't know what colors look good on me. Does this happen to you? I've mostly defaulted to what I like to call the "Makeup for Dummies" approach, where you just buy the eyeshadow palette that they say works best for your eye color. In the case of green eyes, mostly purples and greens that promise to make your peepers "pop." Lipstick is a particularly fearful creature because you can't try it on beforehand and you don't know if it will look hideous or fabulous when you get it home. Therefore, I don't buy any and just stick to fairly neutral lip glosses. When I was growing up my mom had a drawerful of lipsticks that she didn't wear because in her search for the perfect red pigment, they all "turned pink" on her.

But salvation from a life of makeup woes came in the form of a gift card to Sephora from my sister-in-law Betsy. Aaah, Sephora. The beauty superstore extolled in every woman's magazine but that has been, up until now, too intimidating, and (in my mind) too expensive for little Nollie. I had fears that I'd walk in the door and they'd smell the fear on me and spot me instantly as the makeup neophyte and wannabe that I am. But on Saturday I took the plunge and headed into Sephora to get a beauty intervention. The goal: To find a flattering neutral look that works for every day, but that can also be dressed up. Here's what I came home with.

1. NARS concealer to cover dark circles (hello!) and serve as an eyeshadow primer.

The first thing I did upon entering was to ask for a guide to help me navigate the rows of perfumes, foundations, mascaras, and more. Up came my sensei, armed with a bona fide tool belt full of makeup brushes and a faceful of dramatic eye shadow and bright red lips. I don't know if that was supposed to make me feel confident that she could create such a confident look on her pupils, or scare me a bit that if I didn't take her advice with a grain of salt I'd end up with a similar over-the-top finish. She steered me straight to the NARS section, which from reading enough magazines I know is a great brand, albeit on the pricey side. After she showed me their concealer, I opted to splurge and then asked if they had anything on the less expensive side. So she steered us to the Sephora brand stuff, which was hiding in the back.

2 & 3. Two eyeshadows. No, I didn't get this color but shout out to the woman who can pull it off. The colors I bought are below.

4. Dark brown eyeliner (yes, the one pictured is green).

The eyeshadows: Peach Beige and Babydoll Nightie. Va va voom. She also recommended a coffee brown color for a smoky eye look, but I already own a similar color so I thought I'd use that up first. She showed me some lipstick options and I was sorely tempted to spring for face illuminating powder to get that "glow," but I know I can get that at Target.

All in all, the experience was great. She showed me how to apply everything and I walked around looking glamorous all yesterday afternoon. I will definitely be back for more goodies. Plus, I signed up for the Sephora Beauty Insider Club so now I have some faux street cred.

If only I had a hair stylist and makeup artist to come over routinely to help me get ready. But really, who am I kidding? I wash my hair every third day and often stay in PJs (let's call it loungewear to make it sound better) all day so such an indulgence would probably be wasted at this stage of life.

Where do you stand with makeup? Are you an insider or an outsider? Any tips for picking colors?

Food, Glorious Food!

After a few weeks of Lucy looking longingly at our food and grabbing at everything in our hands, we decided to bite the bullet (no pun intended) and start feeding her solids. First food: Peas!

Trying to figure out the whole tongue thing. More came back out than stayed in.

Anxiously awaiting the next shovelful.

I love the sparkle in her eye - she seems to know that a whole new world of gustatory delight is opening to her tiny palate.

Girlfriend loves her food. A woman after her mother's heart.

Because Lucy loves to grab her toes to much, she ended up with peas on her pants and toes.

It's the Little Things

During the freezing winter months, it's fun to sprinkle a little luxe into the standard uniform of jeans, sweaters, cardigans, etc. These are some of my favorite go-to accessories as of late. As most know, I am helpless to the siren song of purple. Thanks to either serendipity or Lady Luck, Bekka, my fashionista sister has drawn my name not once, but TWICE in the past two years in our family gift exchange so I've been the happy recipient of her (mostly) flawless taste. Last year, the purple scarf, this year...The buffalo plaid flats. Another sister of mine hates to wear socks as much as I do, so we freeze our toes off all winter long in flats.

Andy's sister Charlotte, gave me these adorable earring for Christmas. When I first wore them, I asked Ben if he thought they looked like earrings Autie Char would wear. He replied, "No, they look like ones you would wear." True, true. Maybe he was secretly trying to tell me that Char is more hip than preppy. Yes, if money were not an issue, I would shop at JCrew, Banana Republic, and Ann Taylor with reckless abandon. Oh, and Nordstrom would probably become my new best friend as well.

I absolutely adore these shoes. They are red patent leather with a little wedge heel and the best part is that I got them for...wait for it...$5.75 on the clearance rack at Target! Sometimes it pays off to have really big (9.5, baby!) or really small feet since fewer people fit them.

P.S. Photo courtesy of Ben Haws

P.P.S. Sorry to subject you to my feet closer than you probably ever wanted to see them.

Cabin Fever

Have a child that is sick ALL week and not sure what to do with yourself to avoid going crazy? Why not grind some flour?? I borrowed an electric grain mill and tried my hand at making oat, rice, and bean flour for Ben-friendly baking.

The finished product: A canister of oat flour. Cost: 99 cents for the canister of whole oats. A similar quantity at a specialty store would be upwards of $18.

The WonderMill, a.k.a. "The World's #1 Whisper Mill." I would give it high ratings for its ability to quickly dispense with large amounts of grains, but I don't know what kind of whisper it's talking about. I wish I would have worn earplugs. But I guess that's pretty standard for these kind of contraptions.

Still trying to figure out how to use the pinto bean flour I ground. Any ideas? Have you ever ground your own flour before? Do you think it's worth the time/effort/money?

I'm also a big fan of making my own baby food and am excited to start whipping up big batches of baked sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, and peas for Miss Lucy. She will be six months old on Feb. 20 and we'll start her on solids. We started Ben before a little before four months old because he was so big and our witch doctor (no joke) at the Harvard Health Services told us it would help him sleep through the night (big joke). We think it mostly exacerbated his allergies, but I do have fond memories of spending one night a week in the kitchen slipping baking sheets loaded with veggies into the oven, mashing them up onced baked, and partitioning them into ice cube trays for individual servings.