Month in Review: June 2022

Main Events

June has been a doozy. To start off, we celebrated C3’s first birthday with a Rookie of the Year party in the backyard! Lots of friends came to celebrate, and C3 had fun. I decided it was also an event to celebrate us and the fact that we kept a human alive and thriving for an entire year. I still can’t believe he’s 1. More C3 updates later in the post.

The day after C3’s birthday party, my mom left for Miami because my grandfather had fallen at home and broken most of his ribs. This was in addition to the existing situations of my cousin Diana and my grandmother both being on hospice. Sadly, Diana passed on June 13, and by the time this posts I’ll be on my way to her funeral. My grandma is also in her final days – as in, I hope she hangs in long enough for me and my sister to see her this weekend. My grandfather is recovering in a rehab facility and seems in fairly good spirits, so at least there’s that. In summary, this has been a hard month for my family and my mom in particular. I do not know how she’s holding it together.

With my parents away indefinitely, our already complicated childcare arrangement got even more difficult. We had been told there might be a spot for C3 at our top choice daycare for the fall, but found out he didn’t get in, which rules out that school for another year. Our other waitlists weren’t moving either. We hired a new part-time babysitter just for the summer, and my MIL was filling in the other days. Then the babysitter took off a week to work a VBS. Then last weekend she had a covid exposure and told us she wouldn’t be returning until July. I arranged for another babysitter, who didn’t show up. At that point Taylor started cold-calling every childcare facility in the area. As a result, I could not be more relieved to report that after a year of daily stress and struggle, C3 HAS A DAYCARE and will be starting next week! We really liked the vibe of the place and are hoping this will work for a while. I cannot express how heavy this burden has been, or the difference reliable, consistent childcare will make in our family life. It never should have been this hard. What a pro-life nation we live in though, right?!?

On a much happier note, in the midst of everything, my brother and SIL welcomed a long-awaited baby girl this month! She is beautiful, and I just want to fly up there and snuggle my new niece. This concludes the triad of cousins born within an 18-month period.

Finally, Taylor and I are celebrating our third wedding anniversary this week. I feel like we’ve been through A LOT in three years. Global pandemic, ongoing national upheaval, massive inflation, three job changes, two moves, two miscarriages, home renovations, one successful pregnancy and birth, first year of parenthood. And a partridge in a pear tree. Thankful we’re still hanging in.

Reading

I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home by Jami Attenberg (3.5 stars) An interestingly structured memoir that’s mostly about writing, but also growing up and becoming yourself.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (4 stars) Apparently a lot of people thought this Handmaid’s Tale sequel was too pedestrian, but I really liked it. It’s told from three viewpoints, one of which is Aunt Lydia’s.

The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey (4 stars) A fun, entertaining memoir with a lot of stories that have also been told on the Office Ladies podcast.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (4 stars) At this point I would read Emily Henry’s take on the phone book. Her latest is about a literary agent spending the summer in a small Southern town.

Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids: A Timeless Anthology, ed. Zibby Owens (3 stars) Read this on the beach and felt meh about it. I think I need to stop reading these types of anthologies, because the sameness of the essays makes me feel like everyone was just writing for the sake of having something published in an anthology. (Not that I’m judging. I’d do it.)

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett (4 stars) This was my first real exposure to Ann Patchett, and I enjoyed it. I loved everything about running the bookstore (Parnassus Books in Nashville) and about what she’s done during the pandemic.

Travel

Early in the month, my good friend Kara and I took a short Moms Getaway to Destin. It was our first time away from our babies (other than a few nights C3 has spent at my parents’ house). We spent a couple of days on the beach, and took a dolphin cruise. We’d like to make it an annual event and bring more friends. Though we probably won’t come back to Destin in June, because the seaweed/algae was absolutely unreal. It was almost too much FOR ME. We made a few attempts to swim out to a patch of clear water offshore, but kept getting stung by something and turning back. Still, any ocean is better than no ocean in my book.

Taylor and I had long planned an anniversary trip to New York, but when the time came, we didn’t have enough coverage to care for C3. We considered taking him with us, but ultimately decided his schedule at this age would make it too stressful. I’m still catching myself making plans for New York and then remembering I am not going anytime soon. It was a big disappointment in an already difficult month.

Around Town

Since our childcare situation has been so bonkers, I just took the PTO I had allotted for the New York trip and had a Mommy & Me staycation instead. C3 and I went to a friend’s pool (he continues to love the water) and romped around Crosstown with Alanna and her son. We all had fun.

At Home

C3’s party was the deadline for at least six months of backyard renovation. Taylor and my dad built a deck and privacy trellis off the gazebo, and a small deck at the back door. (The latter was mostly for safety as the previous back steps were really hazardous.) The newly sodded lawn is also thriving. We got a larger patio table for the gazebo expansion and hope to host some dinners out there.

Taylor built a cage for my tomato plants, but somehow, jerky squirrels are still getting in. They have so far stolen 3 Better Boy and 4 Roma tomatoes that were just about to ripen. At least the grape tomatoes are coming in at a steady pace. My pepper plants in the greenhouse were almost demolished by some sort of pest, but appear to be recovering. Taylor got me a small blueberry bush that’s also in the greenhouse. I have a couple of cucumbers on the vine, and so far, once again, no zucchini. We’ll see how the summer unfolds.

Eating

I enjoy nothing more than a bougie salad in summer, but I gave them up when ingredients like prosciutto and fresh mozzarella got so expensive. This month I felt so down that I decided the joy of a good salad was worth the cost. I will probably continue indulging. This one has the aforementioned ingredients plus arugula, cantaloupe, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Wearing

All Memphis area Goodwills now close at 6 pm, which has seriously impacted my ability to shop for clothes. Happily, I got a few free hours to go one Saturday. I was looking for funeral attire, but instead scored an epic haul of tops and jeans, including this Banana Republic peplum top. (I later found an appropriate dress on clearance at Nordstrom Rack.) I also had to shop for shorts this month, since the stack I set aside last summer still doesn’t fit. Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx had me covered there too. I used to consider those places still a little expensive, but now that I’ve considered some of these brands (Lucky Brand, Democracy) at full price, I’m like OMG WHAT A DEAL. I also tried on some of the Madewell shorts everyone raves about. I keep getting sucked in by the Madewell cult and then remembering that their stuff just doesn’t work on me.

Random Happiness

Since before C3 was born, I’ve wanted this quote from Light from Other Stars lettered for his room. I had planned to do it myself, but am sick of my own lettering. So I commissioned it from Pied Paper Goods and am so pleased! I plan to order from her again in the future! <3

We have so many hydrangeas blooming that I’ve been able to cut a few each week for my office!

I had to get this Peanuts coffee when I saw it at TJ Maxx. They had a few other kinds, too. It was a gamble, but the coffee itself was actually pretty good.

Baby Update

C3 loves to go to the store these days. He sits high in the cart and smiles at everyone. People come to fuss over him. It’s very cute. Here he is at Costco.

This month he had a brief obsession with the red parrot from his jumperoo, to the extent that he even wanted to bring it on our walk.

C3 has become very mobile very fast. I wasn’t ready!! He is now crawling briskly all over the house (favorite target – cat dishes, as seen above) and pulling up to stand with increasing confidence. I think he’ll be walking by the end of next month! He clearly loves being able to explore and get where he wants to go. This week we had our first game of “chase” around and around the upstairs. <3 With these new developments come sleep problems. He’s never been a great sleeper, but between all these new activities and either Taylor or I traveling more, he’s extra restless and clingy. We’ve had a few awful nights. This week has been better, but I always know a regression could hit at any moment. *wavy-face emoji* He babbles in baby sounds all day, but still isn’t saying actual words, aside from the occasional “uh-oh.” A lot of our family members were late talkers, so I’m not concerned yet. He’s communicating and that’s the most important thing.

I wanted to write a whole post about C3 turning one, but didn’t have the capacity. It’s probably for the best. In summary, I love him with all that I have and am so glad he’s here, but this year has been hard. There are a lot of things that I wish had gone differently. I feel depleted and am rarely satisfied with my performance as a mom. On the other hand, I’ve always known that the baby years would not be my finest. I think I’m better suited to be a mom to an older kid. If this is the worst it gets, then overall I’m killing it.

Your Monthly Rufus

Floof on a floof.

Good Words

This prayer arrived in Sarah Bessey’s newsletter and is the best thing I have to share in these tumultuous times.