Handicapped Placard

On January 24th of this year, I slipped and fell and sprained my ankle really badly. I broke off a couple of pieces of bone which really hurt, and I was sent into a tailspin of worry about who would care for Declan if I couldn't. Happy New Year!! It was so upsetting and scary, not to mention the most pain I have been in since giving birth. LOL! I wonder if any new stay at home Mommies out there have hurt themselves and been unable to care for their little one? I am really active, and was just starting to see results from my daily walks and trips to the gym. I have lost most of the weight, I just need to tone up. Being off my feet and depressed is not something I was looking forward to. I could just taste all of the horrifyingly fattening food that I would soon be consuming to drown my sorrows! Luckily I have a terrific husband who took a week off to take care of me and Declan. It was also another opportunity for me to see just how incredible and kind Patrick's oldest friend Kevin is. He and his wife Kate brought over a care package of some beef stroganoff and other yummy goodies like chicken soup. Kevin throws down hard in the kitchen, so you know I was happy! Many good friends offered to come and help, and that was beautiful! I have a "frankenboot" which I must wear for a couple of months, and my Doctor signed off for me to have a handicapped placard until August! Sweet!

ALL CLEAN!

I respect and admire a modern day saint named Mata Amritanandamayi Ma or Ammachi the "Hugging Saint"
as she is sometimes called, and I had the privilege of being hugged and blessed by her in 2005. You should have seen the lines of all sorts of people waiting for darshan! Grown men in her lap sobbing uncontrollably! It was a pretty rare and spectacular scene. I bought a pair of sterling silver rudraksha beads to be blessed by her, and when I finally got my turn, she held me and rocked me and said "No No No No"sweetly and softly like she was scolding a very naughty tiny baby. Let's face it folks, I wasn't living right at the time, and that's the reason I came to see her. I needed to get back on track, and I had read her biography back in '98 when I was in Australia and I finally got my chance. Well, the other day Declan picked up the beads and held them for a long time. He then looked up at me and said "All Clean!" with a big smile on his face and a look in his eye far beyond his years. All clean indeed. I knew that he knew what those beads meant, and here before me was the living, breathing realization of my dearest wish as I sat crying in Amma's lap. Here is a precious video of Declan after a bath with Daddy. Enjoy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Amritanandamayi
http://www.amma.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudraksha

Nunga nunga!

Well, I am just amazed! Ever since Declan was able to talk he has called my boobs "nunga"If he wants to nurse he comes up to me and says NUUUUNGA??? Just for fun, I googled nunga, and to my surprise, it is British slang for BOOBS!!

This is the urban dictionary link where I discovered it. There is also a BOOK entitled "Knocked out By My NUNGA NUNGAS" by Louise Rennison. Wow. I suppose little Declan just arrived in a new body fresh from England! Reincarnation is no joke..how would he possibly know the slang word for boobs - in ENGLAND?

New Home!

Well, we have moved again and there has been a serious gap in my blogging efforts, but I hope to get back on track and be disciplined about writing daily even if it is one sentence!
So much to catch up on! Let's start with the present...we moved to Greenbreae, a beautiful town in Marin close to the Bon Air Shopping Center. Bon Air is off the hook!

It was so hard at the Corte Madera place because we were a one car family when we first moved here, and there was absolutely NOTHING in strollering/walking distance at all. We were on this big, jacked up hill (which was great for losing baby weight, mind you! I called it "the BUTT hill LOL!) and I would just push that frickin' stroller up and down that hill twice a day just to get out of the house. We finally got a second car, so now Declan and I are MOBILE!!! (cue The Who..) Back in my Black Jeep...yes!! (cue AC/DC Back in Black..) The Bon Air Shopping Center has everything, including a Molly Stones, which by the way, is a gourmet's dream! It is a beautiful privately owned supermarket which I had never heard of. They also have fabulous seasonal events in the courtyard like an awesome Pumpkin Patch with gigantic displays of all types of huge squash, Santa, and Christmas Trees!

We moved here in October and our moving day was on my birthday! Some people might have been bummed, but this fabulous new place for my family is a huge present! Declan is saying two word sentences now like; "all clean", "all gone" "back poop", (when you poop so much it goes up and out the back of the diaper!) and "all done". His words are; Dada, Mama, cat, dog, go, bird, grass, train, playpen, din din, belly button, (beh buh) chair, ding, drum, do do, peepee, bear, phone, down, shoe, pants, bug, meat, cheese, and when I think of more I will post them. He hates the swing, and loves his Baby Einstein videos!

All of his big side teeth are coming in at once, and at an alarmingly fast rate! Almost overnight! He has been pretty cranky, but is very upbeat and smiley considering the pain he must be in. We are still nursing, which surprises some people, including my mother. I want it to be his decision when he wants to quit, and it is the only thing that really comforts him during this difficult time. Technically children are still infants until they are two years old, and in Europe it is common for a child to be nursed occasionally until they are three. This is my last and only child, and I am forty as of October, so his needs come first.

Happy to be blogging again!