Boy or Girl?

Okay y'all, I promise I'm in the process of creating a post with actual words and pictures that'll catch you (and me?) up with everything that's been happening in Stewzie-ville lately. So much!

In the mean time, guess what? Today's the "big" ultrasound day! As in, the one where they determine this baby's gender! Just to be clear, we won't actually be finding out the gender today - we're having the ultrasound tech write it down in a very well-sealed envelope, to be opened at a later date (more on this soon). This way, we can be surprised in a setting much more pleasant than a hospital exam room. I mean, who likes hospital exam rooms? You? Well, you're weird.

So, for fun, look over at the right side of your screen. See that gender poll? Feel like making a guess? Go for it. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks. For the record, no, I have no intuition about the gender. And honestly I don't really have a preference. Just as long as it grows up, gets a job and makes enough to fund Mama & Daddy's retirement is healthy.

What goes down must come up

Dear Baby Stewzie,

Today is a good day. Wanna know why? I have now gone an entire week without puking. Thank you for easing up on me. Your mama is not a very pleasant puker to be around. Just ask your father. Or maybe just take my word for it. Want to know the coolest thing I puked over the span of the last 3 months of multiple daily pukes? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Why? Because I'm your mother, that's why. Chewy Sweet Tarts. It looked like tie-dyed puke. A work of abstract art, if you will. I apologize if those last few sentences embarrass you some day. I have a way of using sentences to embarrass people I love. Just ask your father. Or maybe just take my word for it.

So now that I have moved on from using every ounce of energy I have to keep from vomiting up my spleen, I plan to use all that leftover energy to do something productive. Like napping writing embarrassing sentences to you. I never would have thought that 3 months of nonstop nausea would be the most awesome 3 months of my life, but they have been. Did I mention the time I barfed in the drive-thru of Krispy Kreme? Yeah, that was fun. Not the part where I had to apologize to the cashier who witnessed me in action, but the part where I knew that all of this unwanted barfing was happening because YOU. ARE. REAL.

Love,
Mama

These are days

Dear Baby Stewzie,

Today is May 3rd, your mama's birthday. I mention this only because it was around this time last year that I heard the words to this song and wondered if I would ever get the chance to experience them.

These are days you'll remember.
Never before and never since,
I promise, will the whole world be warm as this.
And as you feel it, you'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.

Would I ever feel lucky? Would there ever be a you to grow and bloom inside me?

These are days you'll remember.
When May is rushing over you with desire to be part of the miracles you see in every hour. You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.

Would my desire for a miracle be enough? Would another May come and go without the blessing of you?

These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break.
These days you might feel a shaft of light make its way across your face.
And when you do you'll know how it was meant to be.
See the signs and know their meaning.
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be.
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you.

This May 3rd, a year later, I know it's true. Meant to be. So many signs. I see them. I hear them. I see you. I hear you. I am blessed and lucky.

Today I feel the light and laughter you are already bringing into my life. These are truly days I will remember.

I can't wait to meet you on your birthday.

Love,

Mama

SnoBloggery

Stew = Spearmint (thus the green teeth)
Suzie = Black Cherry
Snoball Stand = Juju's in River Ridge



Small snoball = $1.25
Condensed milk = $.50 extra
Knowing that THREE people are enjoying a snoball in this photo = PRICELESS

Second Line

second line (n), is also the name of a "unique dance", performed to the beat of New Orleans’ traditional jazz…The second line's style of traditional dance, in which participants walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called "second lining." It has been called "the quintessential New Orleans art form"…

It’s sometimes hard to describe the unique traditions that take place in New Orleans. It’s sometimes even harder to realize how truly special certain traditions are, because when you grow up doing them, they seem normal, routine. One of my earliest memories is sitting on the linoleum kitchen floor, singing “Mardi Gras Mambo” at the top of my lungs. I remember thinking that the whole world ate king cake, and woke up at the crack of dawn to stake out a good spot for Rex. When I finally realized this wasn’t the case, I felt sad for people in other cities, but at the same time really, really lucky it was the case for me. For me and my city.

One tradition that has always intrigued me is the Second Line. For New Orleanians, second lining is second nature. Nearly any time a group of people gets together, a second line can occur. Funerals. Weddings. Mardi Gras Balls. Impromptu Street Parades. Any occasion worth remembering is an occasion that justifies a good second line. As soon as the first few notes of the song are played, the anticipation is palpable. Excitement washes over you and immediately you jump to your feet, grinning from ear to ear. You grab a handkerchief or napkin, but it’s not for drying tears. It’s for waving jubilantly in the air. At funerals, second lining celebrates life. At weddings, it celebrates new beginnings. At Mardi Gras, it celebrates pride of being born in the greatest city on earth.

Perhaps that’s why it’s fitting that on Mardi Gras weekend this year, Stew and I took part in the most important second line of our lives...



...and we haven't stopped celebrating since.

Baby Stewzie: Due 11-13-11 !!!

Tis the Season

It's SNOBALL TIME...

So, to kick of the 2011 snoball season, I took my brother Tim to my all-time fave Ro-bears. I had raspberry. He had orange. We kept it simple. And it was perfect. Ro-bears never disappoints.

This season I want to branch out; try some new places. So tell me...what's YOUR suggestion? Where to go? What flavor to try?

Happy snoballing,

Suzie

Louisiana Iris

Finally blooming nearly a year after being planted.

One of the many reasons springtime makes me smile.