Guest Blogger: Jodi McKee

Hello! I’m Jodi from Jodi McKee Photography and I’m so happy to be filling in for a day while Cynthia is on vacation.

Over the past two months, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Austin, TX, San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC. I thought it might be fun to give you my favorite things to do in each city.

First up, Austin. If I were only there for one day, I would be sure to have at least one meal at Torchy’s Tacos and take a nice photo walk up and down South Congress.

Delicious tacos at Torchy’s

Bottle cap art in a gallery on South Congress

A brightly colored wall on South Congress.

Just one day in San Francisco? Man, that’s a rough one.

I would start by heading over to the Exploratorium. It is possibly the most fun museum EVER. Highly recommended. Stop for a drink and a bite to eat at Liverpool Lil’s and then take a drive through Golden Gate Park. Be sure to get out and stop a lot along the way. It is a seriously beautiful place. Finally, as the sun begins to lower in the sky, be sure to make your way to China Beach. It is a magical little spot. Not to be missed.

Fun for all ages at the Exploratorium

Liverpool Lil's on Lyon Street.

Pretty California poppies in Golden Gate Park.

Dusk on China Beach

One day to spend in Washington, DC?

Start off with a tour of the U.S. Capitol Building and then take

a stroll past the White House. Grab a bite to eat at Logan Tavern

on P Street and then walk over to Logan Circle

to admire all of the gorgeous homes. And while you’re in DC, be sure to take a

ride on the Metro. It always feels so futuristic to be down on the platform there.

The majestic dome of the U.S. Capitol building.

My dream house on Logan Circle.

The space-age DC Metro

Hope you enjoyed my picks! Thanks again to Cynthia for having me over.

Thank you so much Jodi!! Check out Jodi's site for more of her kick ass photography.

Dance Party Monday: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I'm out at sea while you read this hopefully sleeping in to the sounds of the ocean. But most likely my J boys and I will up and dancing to this song. I heard Home the summer I was pregnant with the Jbear and fell in love with it instantly! I got the entire album and played it on repeat. This version is slightly different from the album and it's what I listened to before I got their album Up From Below.

The lead singer Alexander Ebert released his solo album in March and it's so awesome.

I hope you all had a great weekend with bbq's and the promise of kick ass summer plans!!

Stay tuned for my first guest blogger- I am so excited!!!

Bon Voyage!

We're heading out on a cruise ship! I wish I could say that I will come back with a killer tan, but really I'll just get red and then go back to being pale pale pale. My freckles will be fiercer than ever though! Have a great week. I have some friends stopping by while I am gone. See you all soon!!

Rooster Hair

Jess of IROCKSOWHAT just posted some photos of her son with hair in his eyes talking about first haircuts. This is the hair that has been happening here these days. I don't know why his hair decided to fly over to the other side. So we're rocking rooster hair these days. And still I refuse to cut it! It's just that some days his hair reminds me of how I wore it in 1990.

singing, dancing and glee watching

I have so much to catch up on! When I saw Season 1 of Glee streaming on netflix I immediately put it in my queue. Oh my goodness, I knew I would LOVE the show! Even though it's fun to be able to watch an entire season at my leisure I kind of wish I watched it while it aired. I love every single character but my favorites are Artie and Kurt. I think the actor Chris Colfer who plays Kurt is so amazing, I absolutely love every single scene he is in. I kind of want to talk more about this show so expect lots more Glee chatter.

My new obsession led me to miss Dance Party Monday because every free moment was spent watching a new episode. This week so far has been chock full of dance parties in Jbears room. I don't know what is with this particular week but every song has got my boy dancing. Even if I just sing this song to him he will stop what he is doing and just start moving his feet.

Maybe its all the time I've spent watching Glee this past week because on top of dancing it's like karaoke central over here. There has actually been a lot of The Farmer in the Dell (even though I can't stand that song) going on but also:

Holiday- Weezer, Bad Romance- Lady Gaga, If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out- Cat Stevens. My poor son, I have a terrible voice! However, he does seem to enjoy my hip hopera version of The Itsty Bitsy Spider.

The sun finally decided to show up but it was so gray for so long. We were stuck indoors for way too long. I am still learning about where we live and what's available for toddlers. What do you guys do when it's so wet and gray outside? What do you do to keep yourself from going batty indoors?

Holla!

The sun came out! You have no idea how much rain we've been getting... or maybe you do because you live in the northeast too! It was non stop over here and it was getting to be a bit much, even for this home body.

The Jbear was with his grandparents for most of the day while Joel worked in the backyard and I did a few loads of laundry and tried to sort through the mess that is called our bedroom. I also took the longest shower since I became a mother. It was glorious and I think that is what I am going to aim for more often... time to take a long shower complete with shaven legs. I don't want to jump ahead but it might be time to put away the colored tights. The rest of the afternoon was spent going out to eat for some yummy Irish food and playing at a pretty dope playground.

But first I want to show off my "new" summer skirt! I got this skirt in 2007 but haven't been able to wear it since early 2009 because I was pregnant that summer (and last summer I was still carrying tons of baby weight). I almost got rid of this skirt last year because a. it didn't fit and b. I couldn't find non boring tops to pair it with. However, armed with the "anything goes" attitude I'm excited to find new non matching tops to wear with it!

Top: F21, Skirt: Cato, Shoes: Naturalizer from TJMaxx, Belt: Target, Necklace: F21

Twirling and twirling! Being a dress and skirt loving nanny taught me to always wear shorts underneath! No peep show was had!

Joel said I wouldn't be able to climb the spider web thingy in the shoes I was wearing. I proved to him that my super comfortable wedges could do anything! It's my non existent upper body strength that's the issue.

I hope you all are having a great weekend!!

it feels like ages ago

I never blogged about my pregnancy. At the time I tried to keep things more about my photography, but now I just want to share. Since I just wrote about how we found out I was pregnant I thought I would share some photos that Joel took of me during my pregnancy.

I really enjoyed being pregnant. During the end it did get hard because I got SO big (in fact I had people ask me numerous times if I was having twins. One lady didn't believe me when I said that it was just ONE baby in there) but Jonah was easy on me (except those weeks that everything smelled like bologna, yes! everything smelled like bologna and I seriously do not like bologna). I kind of felt the prettiest I have ever felt! I didn't take weekly photos but Joel did a great job of documenting my belly's growth. I have a bunch of photos but here are some of my favorites!

20 weeks

25 weeks

26.5 weeks

28 weeks

33 weeks

37 weeks

Wordless Wednesday

I finally got a Fuji instax camera! And I have the cutest subject to use it on!!

Bathing Suit shopping. In other words HELP!!!!!!!!!

I briefly mentioned that I needed to do the most fun thing in the world- post baby bathing suit shopping. I did wear a bathing suit last summer but it was for Jonah's swimming lessons and I certainly wasn't hanging out on a beach. The last time I went shopping for a new suit was in 2007, right before my wedding, and I was 15 lbs lighter than I am now. I went last night and honestly it wasn't the worst thing. I went into the dressing room smiling feeling positive and I guess the fake reenforcement worked, at least in keeping my mood up. I walked away with an idea of what I want. Everything was either too short on me or lacking in support. I love being tall but I can't stand having a long torso. Remember when those ribbed tanks from the Gap & Old Navy came in a longer length? They were just hitting my waistband. When I was pregnant I couldn't use maternity tanks because they were still short and just ended up using tank dresses from H&M (as a top).

Anyway, back to swimsuits. I tried on this one:

It's by La Blanca and I really liked the overall fit and how it disguised my belly but for $93 just for the top I couldn't justify it, especially since it didn't support me on top too well and was a tad too short.

I loved how the bottoms fit and the ruching on the top.

Then I tried this one by Jantzen because I loved how it looked online. In person it was incredibly short and if I yanked it up any higher I would have given myself the most unpleasant wedgie! Wait, wouldn't any wedgie be unpleasant. Moving along...

So now I'm back online looking for something that will give me the support I need on top and something that isn't too incredibly boring. I think it's inevitable that I need a tankini because one piece suits will probably always be too short on me.

I saw this one from Land's End but thought the boobie cups looked weird and wished for something around the midsection. I also read that it runs a bit short.

And then I came across this other one from Land's End but they only have it in black. I don't mind black but I am just SO pale.

Can anyone help?!!! Anyone have a tankini that they LOVE? Or a one-piece that doesn't cut off circulation at the legs?

Dance Party Monday: Keep The Car Running

I wish I knew a lot of newer songs to post on Dance Party Mondays but right now I am going through old playlists. Every morning I put on some music for Jbear and I to dance to. Sometimes it's not some rocking song it's more like music to sway to. For the past couple of days I've been putting on the playlist that Joel made for our hospital stay right before Jonah was born. This song has been playing on repeat during our dance parties.

Arcade Fire are just so so so good! The Suburbs gets played quite often in our car.

I hope you all had a great weekend! I am going to have to find different things to do this week because it's supposed to rain all week. My kid is obsessed with being outdoors now and my 45 minute blow out hair doesn't agree. I also have to find a bathing suit. Post baby bathing suit shopping... c'mon what's more fun than that?!!!!

So, today is the last day to vote! Thank you so much for voting for me and this blog of mine.

new love and sticker hearts

Part 1 of this story

I woke up on the 15th (may 2009) touching my belly feeling overwhelmed (ha, that's part of the song To Zion- "... I touch my belly overwhelmed by what I have been chosen to perform") and so incredibly blessed that this was happening. Although I couldn't walk 2 blocks without seeing a baby and giggling to myself (or to Joel) like a baby crazed woman, we were not trying to get pregnant. But here I was looking down the road ahead of us knowing that it was time, this was our new plan.

I knew I wanted to take a photo that morning. I wanted to stop time and record the swirls of feelings going on in my head.

At that time I had just discovered the blog Color Me Katie and was totally digging her joyful & radiant quirkiness. I think that kind of influenced the purple sticker on my cheek. When I posted that photo on flickr I added the lyric- "I've never been in love like this before", however no one but Kristin and my best friend Kate knew what was going on.

A year later I decided to include the boy (4 months at the time) responsible for all this craziness.

Two years later, the boy is still amusing me with my silly antics.

dorky moms love votes too!

May 14th 2009

I had mentioned how on Mother's Day 2009 I was walking around the park thinking to myself how one day I would love to be a mother. I had no idea that it was already starting. The week leading up to May 14th 2009 should have been been a clear signal to me that something was going on.

-I was listening to a mix I made for my friend's baby girl and would always cry when "To Zion" by Lauryn Hill came on. I listened to "When I Grow Up (to be a man)" by The Beach Boys on repeat as well.

-My mom mentioned, out of the blue, how someone in our family was going to have a baby soon (I'm telling you Dominican Voodoo lady).

-My dad called me saying how it would be nice if Joel and I had a baby soon so we would move closer to family (to which I replied, "daaaaaaaad, I'm not having a baby!!!!").

-My mom kept telling me that she had an extra pack and play from work and if only I was pregnant then she could get one for me.

I had a doctor's appointment at 3:30pm on the 14th and I truly felt that I wasn't pregnant but I was going to tell him that I was late. I had to share this info because of the blood pressure medication I was on. He immediately wanted me to get blood work done and was already looking into an alternative prescription, all the while I am telling him, "I'm TOTALLY not pregnant". The nurses told me just to go take an at home pregnancy test.

When I met up with Joel after the appointment I definitely said something along the lines of, "So, yeah guess what I have to go do now?". We laughed all the way to Target to pick up the cheapest pregnancy test we could find. I took one out of the box peed on it and after 5 minutes without an answer I realized I did it wrong. Out of all the times NOT to read the instructions. Joel was forcing water down my throat so I could go try again. I was all, "chill man, please". I waited 20 minutes or so to take the other & last test in the package and actually did what I was supposed to do. Bam, Bam, Bam, within seconds the result pops up and I run back into the living room shoving the test into Joel's face (okay not literally because that would be gross) demanding, "what the f@&k is this?". And Joel just screams, "We're having a baby!!!! That's AWESOME". I thought he was totally faking but the look on his face was pure excitement and joy. He asked me if I wanted to get another test and I did so we drove to a Rite Aid and now picked up the most expensive test we could find. Two more times peeing on a stick and two more IMMEDIATE answers that I was indeed pregnant. I was beside myself with happiness, fear, and uncertainty.

Joel and I had all these plans and weren't going to think about babies for another year or so, but Jonah changed all of that. I don't think it's something I need to hide from our baby that he wasn't necessarily planned. Although it was an accident that we got pregnant, it was by no means a mistake. I instantly felt blessed that this was happening, in a way it was as if all the stars were aligning. I wanted to tell everyone but truly wanted to tell our parents in person first, which is hard when you live 3 hours away. I couldn't sleep so around 3 am I emailed my friend Kristin because I had to tell someone. Before I even knew I was pregnant I would "blame" her and her beautiful family for making me so baby crazy in the first place. I finally fell asleep grateful for what our future held.

I'm all for thick eyebrows, but OH MY GOODNESS! Posing with the 2nd test that actually told us our fate.

Why not pose with all three pregnancy tests, right?

The contest is ending on the 16th. We would love your vote!

this boy of mine...

brings the biggest smile to my face! And at this time 2 years ago I was oblivious to the fact that he even existed. I really can't wait to share that story but I'm on my way to a bridal shower (a wine tasting bridal shower, how cool!!).

for the love of cute baby teeth vote for us!!