Proud mama moment...my first card from munchie

Valentine's Day was an extra special one for me. I made my hunny blush and he made me blush and sent me flowers... *big grin*

My desk was really pretty for that day:

But I must admit that the highlight of my day was getting a card from my munchie! It was absolutely adorable! It was a teddy bear cut out with her picture on the front that had a heart border on it...on the inside was her palm print. I love that they put so much effort into it! Her nursery fee is on the higher side so hey...I'm getting my money's worth! LOL

I am sure she had fun trying to get her palm print all right too tee hee. The first of many cards in my future...mummydom is such fun!

This time last year... (munchkin's birth story)

I woke up with one thought on my mind; how am I, at 9 months pregnant, gonna last till 2pm not eating anything?  Little did I know 2pm was actually several days away.

There wasn't much surprise or drama to munchkin's arrival. In fact, boo complained that he felt like he was robbed of all the excitement he watches on TV. Yeah, I wanna kick him too. Our C-section was scheduled because doctors thought my munchkin would be a 10 pounder and because we thought boo had to go back to his job pretty soon. We were scheduled for 2pm. I was under orders to not having anything to eat or drink from the night before. I was ok though, I was happy that the journey was finally coming to an end. Or, beginning...or something.

Anyway, when we got there, we had quite the wait. Thankfully the hospital had free WIFI so I took the opportunity to update everyone on our progress and whatnot. You can see just how READY i was...BB in hand :-D

A couple hours later, I finally made it unto a table, and the fear slowly started creeping into me. You see, I don't think my pain threshold is very high and I am scared of everything. I was scared of the epidural, I was scared of the surgery, heck I was scared of the IV they'd need to put in my hand...That part wasn't so bad though. :-D I was in the holding area for quite a while, anxiety building and boo probably wondering what the hell is going on. I wish they would have made him come into there, anxiety can make one go crazy. But I was keeping my cool.

The Saturday night as a single mom knows it

Technically I'm not single...but I'm in an LDR so I'm definitely living the single mom's life and the weekend drill is way different as a single momma from that of what I'm used to. Back in the old days, my Friday evenings would be spent a sports bar or some other weekly hang out and my Saturday night at some party or other event. Now...my friends don't even call me up no more. Them raggedy heffas. Its cool though, after spending all day with an almost toddler you really have no energy to go stand in nobody's hot, smoky ass club in 5 inch heels all night. How did I do it???

I do not miss the party scene. Old age and/or kids will...or should...definitely do that to you. Now its all about kid friendly events or hosting kalooki nights in-house. My last three weekends, this one included, have not involved me leaving my house and I absolutely love it. I watched some telly, caught up on some blogs, visited my favourite celeb gossip and fashion sites and now I'm writing this post. Oh and I cooked lunch and seasoned tommorow's dinner. That was quite an accomplishment, munchkin napped long enough for me to get that in.

My munchkin's birthday is coming up this Wednesday and we will be relaxing on a beach somewhere eating fried fish and festivals. My favourite dish of all time. Of course there will be baby cake smashing involved. Whats a birthday without a cake? Marley loves cake. Ok...Marley loves food. The only thing I found that she isn't quite fond of is fried ripe plantains...but we'll have to fix that!

Anyway this proud mama wanted to share this video of my little walkie-talkie. She went from sitting as soon as you let go of her hands to full on walking in the space of maybe two weeks. All before her first birthday too. *big grin*

Ok no video...I feel weird about posting videos of her....all my life out there on twitter, facebook and this blog and now I feel reserved...gotta draw the line somewhere I guess...

Anyhoo this is her dancing to the beat of her own image in the mirror...teehee

Christmas on the South Coast of Jamaica

The edge of the property at Jakes

My family is big on vacationing. Don't just work work work...enjoy the fruits of your labour. Many of us die while still working, never getting the chance to retire and see the world. I'm trying to do it while I'm working. Pinch a little now save a little for later and hope we make it to later. I'm passing on the love of travel to my munchie. Not all the while we need to leave our shores. We live in a tropical paradise that people all over the world have on their list of places to visit and many of never stop to take in the beauty of our own little island. This Christmas past, I struck Jake's St. Elizabeth and Little Ochi Seafood Restaurant off my list.

The 2011 to-do list

So...

They say to "put it out there in the universe"

and to put it on paper.

But put it on a blog? LOL. If 2012 rolls around and I haven't struck anything off my to-do list, it'll be a damn shame. So, I'ma start with

• make it to 2012. Hey...sadly, many of us will not. So really and truly it is the most important thing on my list. My biggest fear right now is dropping out and my munchkin not knowing/remembering her mom...

• visit a country that is not USA. I've been there enough...time to mix it up a little...

• upgrade my car. that bad boy is definitely going

• find a side hustle, the 9-5 won't make it to the next point at all at all

• purchase Olympic tickets (see why i need a side hustle?) gotta be there when bolt makes history again

• eat barbecue in Texas...they say its the best right? I plan to partake this summer...

• lose 20 pounds..........................................

• do a sewing course

• buy a house

Well. There you have it. If nothing else and I only scratch off number one, well to God be the glory! That last one there is a huge stretch but it will remain on my list every year till I get to strike it off. I just may hit the lotto. I wanna put "get engaged" on my list but that damn knucklehead.....

Back to life as we know it: the cycles of LDRs

I've been in a long distant relationship longer than I cared to be in one. We both know that if munchkin hadn't come along it would have long fizzled out and died. We were young and one half of us just wasn't ready to settle down....the other half was tired of wishing and hoping. If he hadn't left the country, we would have surely fought it out but with all the distance between us we were ready to let it go. I was anyway. But with new reasons to stay together and the old ones still fresh in our hearts we decided to "panka" on in the relationship from afar hoping to keep the fire fanned over the next year or so. The say frequent visits help to keep one focused. They're right. Its not so bad...since I have munchkin to keep me occupied anyway...I dunno whats happening on the other end and I'm can't bother to worry about all that.

The part especially that I don't care for right now is the cycle of the visits. If its a short visit, you're giddy right thru-out. You're super-excited to see each other and it takes precedence over everything else. You stifle arguments because you don't want to waste a moment of the time mad at each other and the buzz is higher than what you'd be experiencing if you saw each other everyday. Before you know it, its time to separate again and cross off calendar days till the next. If its a longer visit, then you get more and more comfortable with the person being around and start to work them into your routine then braps!! Theyre gone.

An amazing year

Yesterday I got my adult on and hosted Christmas dinner for the fam at my house. Both my fam and boo's fam were present. I did the mac and cheese (ode to my mama) and the ham. Note...I don't eat ham so this was my first time. I just had to...what's Christmas without ham they said. I also did the 'tato salad and boo did an amazing fish in foil complete with stuffing and bammy and he did the roast chicken. Grandpa (my dad) did some amazing sorrel and lil sis did the salad. We also had more chicken, curry goat and gungo rice and peas. With all that cooking I was completely pooped by the start of dinner but it was all worth it and I would do it all over again...as long as the next time is a year away!

Christmas Grinch...have a seat!

Sigh...I am so tired of hearing how Christmas isn't the same again and its so commercialized. I've been hearing it since high school. You know why? Because it always was. But before high school, I. Was. A. Child. I didn't know what commercialized was yet. As many people echo, Christmas was fun when we were young. Well...thank your mother. Thank your pa...your gammy...thank whoever held the tradition up in your household so you had a Christmas. Now you're grown and know the harsh reality of what Christmas "really is." Like I was crushed the day I found out my mommy was the tooth fairy. CRUSHED! But, I am excited to sneak money under my baby's pillow in a couple years. Its your turn you grinch! The magic is not gone, its now your turn to make it happen. Make it special for your little cousin, your niece your nephew...your mom, your pa...your gammy who sacrificed her December pension so you could feel Christmas.

A worm in the mouth

So there's no furniture in my living room really...that's munchkin's space to roam. I put her toys down,block her in and sit back and watch the telly. But of course with kids, toys only hold their attention for 2.7 seconds and then they're off to find adventure.

Such was the case just now when my little one crawled to the side of the telly. I didn't see when she put something in her mouth, I just said her name telling her to come away from there. When she turned around I knew something was in her mouth and I actually feared it might be something live. I have been seeing an increase in worms and bugs around here. The floors were just cleaned too so there really weren't much options. I grabbed her up and scooped my finger thru her mouth to fish out a worm wrapped around in a circle. I screamed with her in hand as I really didn't know where it fell and I was thoroughly disgusted. I ran with her into the kitchen wanting to find something to wash her mouth with but remembered that bleach or disinfectant would probably do more harm than the worm.

I kid. I gave her some water and resisted from giving her DPH elixir just because. Every time I think about it I get chills all over again. How disgusting. Just yesterday I saw a kid run, trip and hit her head in PriceSmart and I thought to myself "I dunno if I'm really ready for all this drama." Marley is sure to have a few falls of her own and I am just not strong enough to handle them! I want to put her in a bubble.

A photo that makes me smile

Day 16 of the blog challenge is a photo that makes me smile. This one goes out to my mama celebrating her birthday next Sunday.

Love you moms.

What would I do if I got pregnant

Well. Last time I got pregnant I was pretty happy. So was my partner. He was elated lol. I wasn't too pleased with the morning sickness.

What would I do if I got pregnant again? I would order him home. And just like that he'd pack up and be home. I'm sure of it. Why? Because last time I was pregnant I went thru much of it without him by my side and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. You neeeeeeed someone to be at your beck and call when you're pregnant. I told him I would never go thru it alone again and he promised me I wouldn't have to. And I won't. If his ass can't come home I'm putting myself on a plane.

I just remembered that I haven't blogged about muchkins birth story here. I still remember it vividly. I'll do that soon.

The next one will be planned. I am extra careful this time around teehee. The next one will come when he's home and settled and we share the same last name. Not before. Or till Will Smith decides he's tired of Jada and wants a spicy Jamaican baby, whichever comes first :)

La Familia

Today's post in the blog challenge is a pic of me and my family.

Hows that for a family photo? My extended fam on my mom's side. I have one of my dad's side too but that was in the old days when we actually printed pics and I ain't got no scanner roun' right now...

But you already saw pops in this post.

This is the family that I created and will nurture and love so that one day I can sit in my own Christmas pic with white hair flanked by a couple generations of youngins.

Fashion Over Life

Ever find yourself browsing clothing websites when you know you have work to do? Ever find yourself critiquing celebrities style and saying if you had that kinda change you would dress like so and so and so? Of course ya do! I can often be found browsing DSW.com or Asos.com and oohing and aahing and planning my virtual wardrobe. Many of us choose fashion over life every now and then. Fashion is fun! Its just idle time...then we get back to work. To life. I have changed the name of this blog probably a dozen times over the past couple of months because my life has changed a lot. At first, it was FashionOverStyle. I gained quite a few readers with that name and with that content but I was never comfortable writing non-fashion content on the blog as I wanted to keep it in context.

My life is much less fashion right now and much more life.This blog will now take that tone. There'll be lots of fashion still, I can imagine, as in my head I'm a true fashionista. But there's lots more life that I want an outlet for and its my blog dangit! LOL I hope you'll stick around for the journey!

To transition from mostly fashion to mostly me, I've decided to take up Aurie on his 30 day blog challenge. Its prolly the longest meme ever and its been a while since I've done any but I feel its the perfect way for me us to get acquainted. It sounds long and boring already! I'll try to keep things irie! Teehehe

If you take up this challenge, mek sure u link me! Anyhoo the challenge is:

Dear 7 month old munchkin

Hi sweetie!

How happy am I that you came into mommy's life and taught me exactly what the meaning of love is! I'm taking a minute to tell you how much I love you. And I know you love me too, from the mere fact that I still can't get you to sleep in the crib. Matter fact, when you're in the bed with me that still doesn't suffice, you have to make sure you're under my chin or kicking my ribs or something.

You're quite the fire cracker darling. At 4 months you were sitting up and at 5 months you were crawling around..you're own little version of crawling that is. Now you can stand and jump and even try to step off but you haven't quite gotten the balance thing down pat. You're eating from the big table now, chomping down on anything that passes your nose. I've yet to find a food that you don't like...and with not even one tooth yet! When will you show off your pearly whites? That's ok...mommy is in no rush to see them especially since we are still nursing.

Rain a fall, breeze a blow

Chicken batty outta door! I'm guessing this saying was just a Jamaican thing but my what a rain eh? Yesterday was glorious as I was home all day with my munchkin. She probably thought otherwise as she got fussy from being in the bedroom all day long almost but I kept her occupied. Waking up this morning to the rain was not as happy because I had to head out to work.

I remember doing a post on FOS about rainboots and how many of yall were laughing at me. I bet ya wish you had a cute and bright pair this morning eh?!?!? A nice bright colour or pattern would have definitely added some spunk to an otherwise dull and WET day and would have made me not so reluctant at going outside to get lunch or any other errand. I see a couple people have taken to them and are sporting theirs...what are you waiting on? Get with it!

6 month mom

my sleeping 6 month beauty

Wow six months in. That's her fast asleep beside me as I type this right now. These moments are few and far between at daytime unless I bring her to the pool or find some other activity to get her real tired. She's a real busy body. She's been sitting and climbing for a while now and for about a month now she mastered crawling. When we're in the room together one of her favourite things to do is to climb up and hold on to the headboard and look outside. Sometimes she "sings" sometimes she's chatting...to the birds I guess, but she loves it.she loves the outdoors in general, always jumping out my hands when I open the door.

Back on my OSAG: More on the Post Baby Body

So there's this blog I read every now and then by a guy who is absolutely hilarious. He's a brooklyn native who seems to have worn him some kangol caps and knows what a dutty wine is so hey, appealed to me right off the bat. He started to blog about his "Operation Shrink a Gut" which has always stuck with me because of its catchy name. Well, I'm back on the wagon and I'm hoping to make some real strides this time around. I'm a yo-yo dieter at its finest. I have a weight that I get real uncomfortable with that whenever I see it staring back at me, I wild out and hit the gym and cut crazy things out of my diet. Then my jeans will start to fit better and I fall right off that wagon.

Well, I don't have that luxury this time around for several reasons:

1. I still look like I'm pregnant, which means my bottoms can't zip up/button  and my dresses look 6 months going...
2. My stomach is so out of proportion with everything else that shedding only a few pounds really won't cut it
3. I really want to be healthy. I seriously think that this is something I can control, why open up myself to diabetes and heart attacks and all those health risks for the sake of a donut?
4. I never want my munchkin to go thru the weight struggles I went thru as a teenager/young adult so I'm hoping to at least show her the way to eat right and make healthier choices easy for her. 
5. And of course, I want to look hot..well...hotter ;)

Babies Bring Families Together: A quick note to dad

Isn't it just grand how babies make every one go "aaawwww" and just kinda melt and get all warm and soft?


My Pa turned grandpa has been hilarious throughout this whole experience. I've always had a great relationship with my father. He's the "cool" dad who would allow me to have all my friends over and pretty much do what I wanted within reason. Not much fussin' plus I was a good girl man. ;)

As a teen I pushed the limits further and further till he basically got on my nerves as the 'rents tend to do until I branched out on my own. Since the birth of my little munchkin, I moved back home so I could get all the help I could with munchie's father being out of the island and it warms my heart to see grandpa so excited with my little one.

She lights up when he is around as its guaranteed playtime, rough and tumble as if she's a boy and she loves it. He is utterly amused at every little thing she does: "she going walk early you know," "she understand you man, she know what you saying," "you see dat? how she know to do that?" and the incessant "she do it!" after he tried to get her to do something. If ever he thinks she has mimicked some action of his then the next 5 or 10 minutes after will be spent trying to get her to do it again. Bless his heart.

Its almost time: Sex and the City 2!!!

I, for one, am very excited to go see the movie SATC2 (well...not excited enough to go before the 2for1 showing...recession) I can't wait to see how Aiden comes back and of course I can't wait on it to dictate my immediate fashion choices...yes, I'm a slave to Carrie Bradshaw...get over it.

Of the four, when it comes to fashion I am definitely Carrie. I love to be different,  I'm way out there with my choices and I'm never apologetic. She's funky, she's trendy (yes she's fictional...you're point?) She's so me! When it comes to romance I may be a little Carrie too...after all I too just spent the last  hundred years pining away for someone who's just not right for me...are blue manolo's in my future? Or better yet, a fine young Aiden? (yes please!)

Anyhoo, in honour of the movie I am bringing out pics of my copy of the Christian Dior gladiators Carrie wore in the movie. They of course were sold out immediately after and a zillion copies sprung up from Steve Madden to Nine West to the chiney man. I wore mine very recently actually, to a wedding of two of my very good friends. Oddly enough when I bought it, it was to be paired with a dress of a very similar colour:

Single and dating with a kid in the city

Image credit

With one of my favourite movies (Sex and the City) coming out soon I got to thinking about how people always knock it for the old ass women in the movie still out acting young and doing young things. I looked at myself wondering if I would one day end up in the same boat.

As we love to do, I threw another twist in the plot. I added a kid. I didn't plan it this way, none of the 78million (off the top of my head, sounds about right) single mothers did I'm sure. I too thought that my partner had my back and truly cared about my well-being as well as the kid's. Hmmm. Ok so it was just the kid's...my bad. But I choose not to be bitter about mine. No baby-mama drama thisa way. So back out in the dating world I go. It does pain my spirit to have to be doing young girl thangs when I would really rather be planning sunday dinner and saturday's family outing but hey...life goes on.