4th of July - summer's bittersweet midpoint

It's sad to say it, but summer is pretty much halfway over. Pretty soon, there will be back-to-school sales, crispness in the air and orange leaves. Before you know it, it's Christmas.

Geeez.

But as much as I bemoan the 4th of July as the peak of summer season (all downhill from here, people), I can't really hate on it too much, because there ain't too much cuter than little kids in Americana-themed clothing. And I do love me some cookout food!

This particular 4th was perfection: hot but not too humid; a parade and fireworks in Annapolis; three cookouts and one crab-feast; two sets of red-white-and-blue outfits; baby pools, water tables, cousins, cupcakes - and lots and lots of sparklers.

Waiting for the 4th of July parade in historic downtown Annapolis. My kids now are obsessed with parades, because they got handfuls of candy thrown at them during this one.

Cheeeeeeeese.

Coincidentally, Tahira and I both brought our families to Annapolis this Fourth! It was really fun to hang out with family unexpectedly.

That's Russy on Reggie's shoulders. Guess whose kids didn't cry about the fireworks this year? That's right. My big kids!

At a cookout at my friend David's house, he handed out sparklers and the kids loved them! Clair called hers a "wand."

Our friends Kelly and Mark had a crab feast and pulled out the baby pool. Lots of splashing with Naomi and baby Jason and then, of course: "I'm cooooooold!!" When cold, must eat popsicles. You didn't know?

We finally got to taste the tomatoes the kids grew in their own little pots at Jason and Kelly's house. "They taste GOOD!" the kids exclaimed. Pay Dean's tart-face no attention. He loved them. Thanks, Farmer Jason!

At a cookout at my Mom and Dad's house, I got to chat with this guy, Tyren, who I used to play with when I was like 9 years old. I haven't seen him in a thousand years! He came from Texas with his parents (my Dad's good friends), his wife and three gorgeous daughters, who are 14, 11 and 9. I felt so old! LOL.

After four nights out of the house until at least 11 p.m., so much running around in the sun, lots of walking, and fireworks, sweet treats, splashing, friends, cousins and hot dogs, my kids did what they almost NEVER do: They conked OUT in the car. It was blissful. (P.S. Dean is wearing my sunglasses. Isn't he the most adorable?)

Lester and I did a lot of talking this holiday about what it means to be both an American and a black person in America. It's an interesting dual perspective to carry around, living in a country that is so awesomely wonderful in so many ways, and also still so intolerant of -- and sometimes downright hateful to -- people who look like us.

We know people who find it hard to embrace the Fourth because of that dichotomy. Some were posting photos on Facebook of slaves picking cotton, with text that said, "This is what my ancestors were doing in 1776." And it's true. American freedom means different things depending on who you are in this country. That was true in 1776, and though things are exponentially better now, it is still true today.

But I am still really proud to be an American. And I am still certain that there are few places on this planet where so many people of all different stars and stripes could have so much opportunity. I look at my beautiful children -- the descendants of people who toiled and bled and died so that they could wave sparklers and eat hot dogs like everyone else -- and I am truly optimistic that our country will one day get to where it needs to be. If any country can do it, we can. 

 "And crown thy good with brotherhood...from sea to shining sea."

Crazy busy weekend with family and fun

So Spring arrived this weekend (finally!) and we couldn't wait to get out of the house. We left the house after work on Friday and didn't stop until the kids' bedtime last night.

Here's some of the things we did.

Took the kids to the Wharf Rat, a Baltimore bar, Friday after work. Beer tasting. Greasy food. No dishes. Winning.

They kept harassing the bartender, who was ridiculously patient with them.

Walked along the water in Fells Point. Found a pirate's stand. Said "Aaaar!" a lot.

Clair? What are you doing here, darling?

Took the kids' cousins Russy, Matty and Kwahli (my sister Kadija's youngest) duckpin bowling. Madness and hilarity ensued.

Almost all of Clair's balls had to be helped along by the alley attendant, or retrieved with a stick, because she rolled them so slowly.

I hate that this picture is blurry, because they were so excited to have knocked down four pins. LOL.

After about 10 minutes of insanity, my sister decided it was necessary to explain the rules to the children, including that they should NOT press the reset button while someone else is bowling, no matter how bad you REALLY want to push it. And that each kid gets to bowl TWO TIMES and then it's someone else's turn. All of the lessons were so ignored.

Here's Tahira retrieving Matty, who was running down someone else's lane. Hahaha!

Tried to do a nighttime Easter egg hunt later that evening at Druid Hill Park, but there were 10 million people, and it was a crazy, ghetto, unorganized mess, so we didn't get to find any eggs. But the kids barely cared because they had flashlights, lots of hills to roll down, and a Baltimore Hon on stilts!

Dean: "Is she real?" Then she moved. Dean: "She's REAL!"

At home that night, we did our own nighttime Easter egg hunt with the four older boys. And we let them eat all the candy they found inside their eggs. You should have seen them stuffing chocolate eggs and Gummi bears in their mouths. You would think we NEVER give them sweets. Such drama with the stuffing and the gorging and the mmmmm-ing and finger-licking. Academy awards for all my kids. Pronto.

We put the kids to bed around 9:30 and then sat up like adults, listening to Maxwell, Sade, Erykah Badu and Mos Def, talking into the wee hours and drinking a deeeeelicious cocktail my sister made with muddled blackberries, ginger, lemon, mint and gin. Yummmy!

Sunday, somehow, we peeled ourselves out of bed and took the whole lot to church. THAT was an adventure! But so worth it. You know I like going to church; but I really, really enjoy it right around Easter. So much positive, redemptive energy. So much encouragement to get better, help others, love and be loved.

The rest of the day, we spent preparing for the work week, cooking and cleaning up after the kids (which was useless and I don't know why I kept trying), refereeing fights and "he's not sharing!" fests, and letting the kids play outside with our next-door neighbors.

Tahira left with her family and Kwahil around 8 p.m. Sunday. We didn't even bother to bathe the kids (despite more hill-rolling) and just threw their PJs on and tossed them in bed.

When I left the house this morning at 8:15, they were all still asleep! I love it when we run those kids ragged like that. Can't think of a better way to start their spring break than exhausted and full of family-love.

Posted this photo on Facebook, with this caption: When the house is full of the kids' cousins, I'm thankful for so many things. Among them: Big families. Provisions from God to be able to feed and entertain the band of crazies. Giggles and silliness. My IUD.

Yay for SPRING!

Date night!

Saturday night, Lester and I went out to dinner with friends of ours, Kelly and Jason - a couple who were jointly celebrating birthdays. We went to The Chesapeake and had delicious seafood and potent drinks and laughed and talked for four and a half hours! The time just flew by, we were having so much fun.

Afterwards, we drove to the Maryland Live Casino (my first time there) to meet up with another group of friends for our friend Brent Jones' birthday celebration.

Me, Laurie (!!), Andrea and the birthday boy, Brent!

I'm not a gambler and neither is Lester, but we brought $25 to waste. I decided to play $20 on the Big Money Wheel - $10 on 10 to 1 and $10 on 5 to 1. Can you believe that 5 to 1 came up?? I won $50! On my first time ever playing a casino game!

Risk-averse girl that I am, I took my chips and cashed out. We spent the other $5 at a slot machine and lost it all in a matter of five button-clicks. That was all the gambling my little heart could stand.  We were done gambling for the night, but not done hanging with our friends. We hammed it up for another couple hours and didn't get home until 1:30 a.m.

We had a great night out with friends, eating good food and laughing and talking and just being adults. But - ugh!! I can't do that too often. I was so tired on Sunday, it took me until almost 3 p.m. to feel "awake." I'd wanted to go to church, but HA! I barely got out of my pajamas.

Remember the days when you didn't leave the house to go out until 10 p.m.?? And when the club let out at 2 a.m., you left and went somewhere else?? How on Earth did we do that? As my grandmother used to say, "youth is wasted on the young."

Anyway, the real kudos of the night goes to my sister Tahira who came out to watch the baby Davises while the elder statesman stayed out way too late. She brought her own two with her and handled all five like a dream. Dinner, pajamas, bed and no drama whatsoever. Even Clair warmed up to her, calling her "Nanamommy" by the end of the night.  I'm pretty proud of my baby sister - and grateful!

Here they are all lined up on the bed, watching the Lorax, freshly scrubbed and sleepy:

Russy, Clair, Matty, Superman and Batman.

Tahira did such a good job with the kids, I might consider going out more often if I could convince her to babysit.

And if I could stay up past 10 p.m.

Concert memories

Lester gave up his spot to go see the Legends of Summer concert with Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake so my sister could go with me.

So last night, she and I trekked through horrendous traffic, climbed to the top of M&T Bank Stadium (where the Ravens play) and danced, sang, rapped, clapped and screamed along with a sold-out crowd. It was a hugely diverse crowd -- black, white, Asian and all of the above -- and very eclectic -- from teenagers to soccer Moms, hip-hop heads and college co-eds, lots of couples, but also lots of groups of homeboys and giggling girls.

It was a lot of fun -- but I am dragggggggin' today. I didn't get back to my car until 1 a.m., and I didn't get to bed until 1:30.

Cary and Dean were up at 6:30 -- par for the course for them lately -- and my whole body hurts from all the walking Tahira and I did. (Yes, I am that out of shape.)

But the whole experience reminded me of my younger days, going to concerts with my friends or my Dad, boyfriends or wanna-be-boyfriends.

Best concert memories:

• Michael Jackson - Thriller concert! 1987. I was 13 and I spontaneously burst into tears when he came out on stage, just like they show during documentaries. I also wore one silver glove to the concert.
• Prince!!! in Philadelphia with my Dad. Seriously, like, BEST. CONCERT. EVER!  I cannot say strongly enough what an amazing concert that was. As a bonus, Morris Day and the Time opened up for Prince, and Patti LaBelle was in the audience and Prince brought her up on stage to sing a duet with him!
• NEW EDITION - every single time I see them! Helllooooo! Candy Girl for life!
• Maxwell with Lester on the eve of an anniversary trip, just before we discovered we were pregnant with Cary and Dean. We went for tapas before we went to the concert and something I ate made me strangely queasy. I was pregnant - just a little bit -- and didn't know it. And that was the first and only queasiness I had the whole pregnancy.
• Sade, with my mom and sisters. She put on such a good show and her voice is sooo lovely. She made me want to be elegant. (That didn't work out.)
• Outdoor festival concerts with Frankie Beverly and Maze, or Erykah Badu, or the ultimate legend, Chuck Brown!

There are probably lots more I'm forgetting, but those are some of the best ones.

Concerts are a lot of fun, even if I am too old to be packed into a stadium with a gazillion screaming people, walking along busy streets trying for an hour to hail a cab, and getting home in the wee hours on a worknight.

Wait. I take that back. I'm not too old.

The last song JT and JZ performed was called "Forever Young." I hadn't heard the song before, but it seemed to be a bit of an anthem for the kids in the audience. By the end of the song, even I was singing along.

Forever young, I wanna be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever and ever

Forever young I wanna be forever young

My achy muscles and tired bones might be saying something to the contrary right now, but I like the sound of that.

High-Low weekend

Saturday, we all had a blast hanging out with my sister and her family at Maryland Day 2013. Tahira's a Maryland alum, and her hubby attended for two years before transferring to Morgan State (which is near our house in Baltimore).

The kids got to run around, eat junk food, and frolic in the grass.

The boys got to sit in a real police car, with its lights flashing (ZOMG!), and talk to real policemen, and also hang out in a tractor/bulldozer contraption thingy.

They had ice cream three times in one day (kids' best day ever!) First they had a Popsicle that turned their lips green, then a cup of soft serve and finally a scoop of creamy deliciousness from the University's own dairy. Dean said to me at one point, "Mommy, I loooove ice cream." He's a boy after my own heart.

And they got a skateboarding lesson!! (They were totally stoked about this and cannot stop talking about how they rode on a skateboard. They have been "riding" their guitars and Clair's xylophone at home ever since, saying "Watch me skate!" But you would never ever know it from watching these two stoic boys in this video).


At the end of the day, after our third helping of ice cream, we gathered in a grassy spot by the Dairy, under the trees, and relaxed while the kids played. It was really a lovely day. To commemorate the sweetness of it all, we decided to take family photos.

Here's my sister's beautiful family:

Hot mama!

 And here's what happened when we tried to take a family photo:

Madness and hilarity.

Everyone was fall-on-your-face tired when we got home, so Lester had the inspired idea to pick up Mexican take-out from Los Amigos and put everyone to bed.

But then we realized that poor Clair was burning hot. Her temperature was 102.5 and she was crabby. Here's where the "low" part of the weekend comes in.

We medicated Clair and put her to bed, but around 4 a.m., she woke up screaming. I picked her up and couldn't believe how hot she was. The poor baby was so hot, she even touched her hand to her chest and said, "Ott!" I peeled her out of her pajamas, gave her water, and took her temp -- 102.8.

The next morning, after a fitful sleep, we noticed her breathing was ragged. I took her to the pediatrician -- they have weekend emergency hours, thank God -- and he prescribed albuterol. Clair fought that mask so much, the doctor and the nurse both were amazed at her fiestyness. They called her a "firecracker" and said that she was worse than trying to ride a bucking horse. She really performed.

So when it was time to do her treatment again at 4, I just skipped the mask and used the tube we use for Cary, sat her and her brothers in front of Yo Gabba Gabba, and got her to sit (somewhat) still that way. (Note: I now have two children on nebulizer treatments...)

But by the middle of the day, we realized her fever wasn't going down, it was going up instead. She was listless, refused to eat all day, and had vomited twice.

Here's how miserable and hot and weak my poor sweetie looked all day:

Talk about a heart-breaking look.

When I took her temp after she threw up again and the thermometer read close to 104, I called the doctor again and he advised us to try ibuprofen instead of acetaminophen, give her more water and see if it helped.  I was skeptical, of course. But I guess I am learning that Dr. Bodnar knows what he's talking about (most times).  Because it did help, a bit. Half an hour later, she perked up just enough that we could see the old Clair in there somewhere, and Lester and I have never been so relieved to watch our child smack at her brothers. :-)

Needless to say, we did not get to go water-taxiing, so the boys' Synapse Checklist remains unchanged. Sigh. But it was worth it to stay in the house, so we could hold and rock Clair all day long, and try to keep her comfortable.

She barely slept last night, though, and she vomited again this morning. So I'm keeping my sweetie in my prayers today that she will kick this thing really soon. I've got a big weekend planned for the two of us girls (we're going to Atlanta!!) so I need my baby girl to be back to normal.

Thanksgiving thankfulness

I am thankful for SO many things. When it gets to this time of year -- when everyone is posting about gratefulness -- I find that I can't actually list them all.

I mean, there's my relationship with God (ever-evolving), my seriously amazing husband and friend, my beautiful boys, my sweet daughter, my supportive and loving parents, my wonderful family, my devoted friends, my awesome babysitter, financial stability, good health, a safe and happy home, a job I enjoy, etc. etc. etc. And those are just the big things. I could go on and on and on and on about the small things (heated seats, helllllooooo!) 

So I usually don't participate in the gratefulness postings. It sounds silly, but I just get overwhelmed by being grateful.

But after spending three days at my Mom and Dad's house this Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to post about three things for which I am grateful (Mom's sweet potato pie is always on the list, so just imagine that item as 1 a, b and c.)

1. I am grateful that my boys so LOVE being at their "Nana's house." All of my sisters' kids have lived with my parents for some period of time. So I always worried that our every-so-often visits to Mom and Dad's would never compare to actually living there, and that my kids would not be as comfortable running around their house as their cousins. Suffice it to say, I was so wrong. These boys think Nana's house is like Christmas, Halloween and birthday parties all rolled up in one. They have so much fun. And my Mom always finds ways to up the ante each visit. This weekend, she pulled out old costumes she had lying around and put them on Cary and Dean. The little dragon and the little doggie were the happiest two critters around! This makes my heart so glad! Just because we're the only ones who live more than 20 minutes away from my parents doesn't mean we miss out on all the fun. Hooray!

Having a very important discussion, clearly.

2. I am grateful that my sister Tahira enjoys doing little girls' hair (because I am still so bad at it). And that Clair sits still for the hair-and-beauty session. I am grateful that my sister, who is one of my best friends, loves my children so much. I am getting teary just thinking about it. (See? Getting overwhelmed!!! Ugh!)

Clair is going to have such a special relationship with her Auntie. It reminds me already of my relationship with my Aunt Fern, who I used to stare at, when I was a little girl, thinking, "She is the most beautiful, most stylish, most fun, most wonderful Auntie ever!"

 3. And I am grateful for my nieces and nephews, who are a loud and wild bunch, with attitudes and sassy personalities and who never, ever, ever sit still. But that's not why I'm grateful for them. I am grateful for them because -- despite having challenging lives and growing up way too fast -- they are still so super sweet. They love C, D and C to pieces. They give us all hugs and kisses and ask a zillion questions and are always so, so glad to see us. And this weekend, when the Davises put all our kids down for a nap (and decided to steal a few winks with them), 6-year-old Alahna put this note on our bedroom door.

Isn't that the sweetest? Good grief, those kids are sweet. (Getting overwhelmed again. Oy!)

We "lov" you, too Alahna. And all the rest of you crazy kids, too. And the whole darn family of crazies. And we're so, so grateful that you're in our lives.

Happy post-Thanksgiving all!

St. Paddy's Day surprise: Matthew is here!

Clair's soon-to-be BFF Matthew was born yesterday, St. Patrick's Day. I told my sister he's her little good luck charm! Awwww.


(Yes, Matthew's sleeper says "Kiss Me, I'm Irish." That's his big brother, Russy. And Tahira will probably kill me for posting this photo of her. Oh well. I think she looks like a little swollen version of my Mom here. So the photo stays.)

Matthew is a total sweetie, with huge hands and feet, despite being 4 weeks early. He has the teeniest little cry, which cracks me up, especially since Clair's wail is piercing and has been since birth.



Looking at him -- all 6 lbs. 8 oz. of preciousness -- I can't get over how big Clair has gotten in just one month. It is really amazing how fast they grow and change.

See for yourself how much less of a newborn -- and more of an infant -- she looks now:

Welcome to the world, Clair's new bestie. Can't wait to hang out with you and watch you grow! Auntie loves you!!

Showered with love!

Yesterday, my Mom and two of my good friends threw me (and Curve Ball) a little baby shower.

I had hoped to post some of the great pictures I took at the shower (using my actual camera, and not my phone, for once) but of course, I left my camera at my Mom's and who knows when I'll see it again. Sigh.

So this is the only picture I have, sent to me by my sister from her iPhone:



She's 6 weeks behind me, but you could never tell that by looking at us. She's huge!! (And I mean that in a good way!) I have the feeling her son and my daughter are going to be best of friends. They're probably in there in this picture, talking to one another, plotting to take over the world (and our hearts).

It was soooo nice to be around good friends and family and to open up the most adorable little dresses and sleepers for my soon-to-be-here daughter. I had SUCH a good time, I can't even tell you. And I truly, truly am blessed because you have no idea how many lovely things Curve Ball got. I was expecting a "sprinkle" and got a full-fledged shower!!

Everything was just beautiful, but a couple things just really touched my heart:

My friend Kelly bought me this book, which she said always makes her cry when she reads it to her daughter -- a sweetiepie who is exactly a month younger than Cary and Dean.


I read it today, when I had time to really sort through her things, and got all choked up. I mean, with lines like this, how could I not?

Words can be worrisome,
people complex,
motives and manner unclear,
grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
free from unkindness and fear.

UGH!! Talk about tear-jerker verses. I love it.

Then, my friend Stacey gave me four soft-as-can-be onesies that she personally embroidered, with sayings like, "Sweet" and "Darling." Look at this oh-so-sweet gray one, which says "Love"! Oh, yes, more tears ensued when I opened these.


And THEN, my sister hand-painted wooden letters to spell out my lovebug's name! The letters are adorably whimsical and made-with-love and are absolutely perfect. This is the last letter in Curve Ball's name -- R -- and on it, Tahira (my sister) wrote her a little personal note. Isn't that the sweetest???


I'm going to put the letters up on the wall in Curve Ball's room, in the empty space you see here, between the crib and the changing table-dresser-thingy. I'm thinking vertical. Anyone have thoughts on that?


And here are a couple other photos of Curve Ball's room, which is, finally, basically done. Yay!
It's hard to get a good angle of the whole room, because it's small and configured in a way that is not photo-friendly. But you get the gist.


Here's the reading/rocking nook. The frame on the wall holds two of her sonogram photos, and has space for three of her newborn photos, when we eventually get those done.


I'm going to order a dust ruffle for the crib and obviously we're going to put sheets on the crib mattress, and a Boppy cover, and put the hot pink changing pad cover back on, after they're all washed. But other than that, this is pretty much it. I'm pretty happy with it. I hope she will be too. :-)


P.S. Speaking of washing, this is just ONE of the baskets of Curve Ball-related stuff I have to wash, fold and put away before she gets here. I think I need to take a week off from work!

OK -- gotta go. The Super Bowl is over and my husband is demanding the laptop. And I need a snack!

G'night!