I may be a pro at Publix, however, at the Asian supermarket…I look like an idiot. And I soon realized that I was the only person who wasn’t of Asian decent in the whole building. Nobody wore a uniform…I stood there wide eyed looking at all of these people who COULD work there…but DID THEY?!?! I don’t want to be that guy. The racist one. So I stayed quiet until I caught someone going behind the cash register! Success.
2 hours later, and 2 more stores later, I went home to start my experiment. Luckily I took a class from BirminghamSushi a few weeks ago and was well prepared for the actual sushi making!! If you’re interested in taking a class and you are in the Birmingham area, give them a call because Kelly is a GREAT instructor! Funny too. I’m into that.
Today’s creation was a crunchy crab roll (I didn’t have time to make the crunch part) and a philly roll.
Here’s what I ended up with.
I TRIED to write my name in the home made eel sauce…it sort of looks like Bell right?
Check out the little sushi man I found at World Market! Cute…but not totally functional for me. I had to rip his legs off.
Look! Kelly even taught me how to make my own eel sauce and spicy mayo!!!
Hope you all can enjoy your own at home sushi experience!
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“When is the due date?” REALLY??? I think the response to this would be “November, when are YOU/YOUR WIFE due?”
“Oh my baby was sleeping all night at that age.” That’ll make a new mom nearly kick you into next week.
“Oh you’re staying home?? I couldn’t just sit around at home all day LIKE THAT.”
“Well my kids were eating whatever by 6 months – she will be fine if I give her stuff other than what you sent along with her.” HOW DARE YOU!? If she has a bad reaction to something she ate while not with us, who is coming home to take care of her? Who is getting screamed at all day by a sick/fussy baby? Who is going to the hospital with me if it’s a severe reaction? I can GUARANTEE it’s not the said “treat giver”! Think before you do people- or you will never get to see whatever baby you were watching if you blatantly step on the toes of Mom.
“You better get some socks on this baby!” Okay people, my feet are ice cubes all day every day. You know what? I haven’t died from it. As long as she is happy barefoot, I am happy to let her be barefoot! It’s summer.
“Your milk might be bad, or you baby probably just doesn’t like your milk” OH. MY. GOSH. You’re lucky you didn’t get football tackled by a hormonally crazed postpartum woman.
“You can’t breast feed for too long.” LISTEN. It’s actually RECOMMENDED by pediatricians to breastfeed for the first 2 years of life. It has hundreds of nutrients and vitamins that anything produced in baby food does NOT have in it. It is actually the BEST thing you can do for your child. I’m sorry if YOU were unable to do it. But I could. And I would’ve done it as long as I had supply. Even if people judged me. Of course I was pumping so we wouldn’t have to go though that awkward latching every few hours no matter where we were at.
“_______ is what’s wrong with her.” Why thank you, DOCTOR know it all!
“what’s that big spot on her back from” Are you looking for her medical history?? Just assume it’ a birth mark, or even better, keep your thoughts on it to yourself.
“I’m skinnier now than I was pre pregnancy.” Great. I will be going to jump off of a bridge shortly.
Any single thing about weight. AVOID WEIGHT. Avoid it at all costs. It will get you on the naughty list just as fast as you can blink.
There you have it. Soak it all in.
Love,
**These things are my opinion of a FEW peeving comments made by MULTIPLE people to me. If I listed every condescending comment made to me regarding motherhood, well…heads would roll. I must include that this post is not for anyone specific at all. It’s just a “hey I was bored, realized I needed to post yesterday, and thought this was a fun topic.” kind of thing. If you actually know me, don’t take offense to it. Unless you think you’ve said these things to me ten times. Then you can be offended. Go ahead.
I guess first and foremost I need to mention the first man to ever love me AND loved BY me in the entire world, my Daddy.
He is a VERY hard working, VERY kind, Very loving father. I am one of the luckiest daughters in the world, actually.
He taught me how to do belly flops in our above ground pool, taught me to like the taste of a spam sandwich, and is a perfect example of what every woman should look for in a man. He really set the standards high.
Oh yeah, and he’s super skinny. I like that genetic makeup. I attribute it to my metabolism all throughout high school and college.
He’s the kind of daddy that when a request is made, it is usually fulfilled.
I.e:
“Daddy can we get a free kitten on the way out of wal mart? PLEASE!!!!”
“Why doesn’t Santa ever bring me that puppy I asked for?!”
“Daddy, can I have your car?”
“Daddy, can I have another car to replace the completely totaled car you gave me?”
“Daddy, I need new tires. …….Because I simultaneously burst 3 of them on one day.”
“Daddy, will you pick up just 8 items from the store on your way home?”
“Daddy, can Mommy bring me to your work so can have Pizza Hut buffet and so I can sit on your bright orange work counter top.”
Oh and here is one of my favorite quotes.
Scenario: My mother just saw the belly button piercing that I had managed to keep hidden for almost an entire year. That’s monumental people. (ya know what’s even funnier is they never noticed I got my tongue pierced. SURPRISE!)
Mom freaks out. (Duh- she knew how trashy that thing looked, not to mention what it cost, where I’d gotten the money, and how I had lied to get it done.)
Daddy says: “Oh, well, I mean….I guess…well… all the kids are doing it these days anyways!”
That comment probably almost made my father a bachelor.
Here’s to the father that catered to my every need as a child! (Especially bringing me sprite every night when I would whine out…..”daaaaaaaaady???????” in the middle of the night, even though he had to be at work the next day. I love you and the person you are. I am so fortunate to have you, and now- so fortunate to have you as Harper’s Poppie!
Yes…that’s me in the squirrel suit.
NOW ON TO THE NEXT DADDY!!
The very first one to love my daughter. Actually, the very first man to hold my daughter.
The man who works hard every day so that I can stay at home with Harper and go to school and hardly ever buys anything for himself so that he can maintain our home. He is the best father in the world besides my own. One day he will fall further into her sweet spell and I have the feeling she will be expecting from him what my daddy gave to me during my childhood.
The day wasn’t about gifts, but let’s face it, I’m not turning down an opportunity for retail therapy on a Sunday!! So Harper and I gave him a pair of shoes he wanted. THEN, being the amazing person he was, he bought me a pretty glass owl I was gawking over!
It made me reflect on an adventure to the Tennessee Aquarium last year. They had a GIANT owl. God only knows how much that thing was. I hugged it and squeezed it and shook it a little…and he looked at me and asked “Baby do you want him? I’ll get him for you if you want him!!” Of course the owl was a little ridiculous- so we opted for something equally as appealing, just smaller.
I love you Daddy and John- Happy belated father’s day!
FYI: ISN’T THIS THE GREATEST LATE FATHER’S DAY GIFT FROM HARPER?!?!?!
Hope you all had a good father’s day!
Love,
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When Harper wakes up at random times, I find myself so confused. It throws off my entire day.
This Saturday Harper woke up at a random time during the night, BUT she slept until 9:30. I say slept…What I mean is: we didn’t hear her whining until 9:30. So either she was asleep, or quietly looking around her crib.
John questioned why she wasn’t up at 8. DON’T YOU DARE GET UP!!! I said. When the baby gods give you an extra hour to be by yourself, in bed, and quiet…TAKE IT. ENJOY IT. NO. MATTER. WHAT.
Once we were up, it was time to scurry off to the park. Ya know since we were “late”.
Here’s what the park looked like:
There’s no judgement in The Dudes Group
SEE THE SIMILARITIES???
Then we fulfilled my craving of Taziki’s and let the girls look at each other for a little longer! 🙂
Why do both of the girls look so concerned in this one?!
Holding hands!!!!
Give it back!!!
They are going to be SO cute when they are older! I love it!!!!
We finished off with naps for all, and a lovely dinner with John’s parents and Harper’s cousins!
She’s SO excited about Pawpaw her feet are going faster than my phone can capture!
She was NOT going to take her eyes off of this big guy…surely he was up to no good!
Kisses from Pawpaw!
Hope your Saturday was just as fun!!
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This title used to mean something totally different to me. It used to mean hair of the dog on a boat in the Tennessee River all day.
Things just got better.
I was lucky enough to have a best friend that cued me in on the new release of Madagascar 3!!! 🙂
SO…I informed John that we would be attending the movie with Harper in tow!
I feel like overall it was a success. Sure…we started out with a poopy diaper in an almost dark theater. I thought it was a pee diaper. That’s what I get for assuming. Anyways, she probably watched 45 minutes of the movie…fussed 15 minutes…THEN slept the last 15 minutes! 🙂 We never had to escort her from the theater as other parents did though! See? Success!!
Hope you had a Sunday Funday of your own.
Love,
Bell
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I find it sad that one of my own family members reads my blog and tries to cause trouble between myself and other family members though its content. This post is simply for that person. I can see every time you search Birminghambell.WORLDpress. 🙂 you can just visit the site by going to birminghambell.com . You know who you are, and your negativity is not welcome. This is exactly why you’ve never met our daughter. I hope you find joy in your own life and can keep away from causing troubles in others. Keep enjoying the blog if you can contain yourself from malice gossip.
Love,
Bell
Yesterday we loaded up and headed out to my hometown of Chattanooga, TN. Just the kid and I. She slept all but 20 minutes of the trip there.
This was kind of a trip with the sole purpose of some quality friend time! I wanted her to finally get to meet some of my awesome friends- and that she did! Charmed every single one of them!
Harper loved D! And I think he was pretty fond of her too! Just like a natural. Like I thought it would be any other way!
D’s parent’s finally got to meet the little girl they’d been sent all the pictures of! 🙂
Harper and E swimming!!
Common interests
Watching Poppy’s fish tank!
Of course she plays with cats. Have you met me?
N meeting Harper for the first time!
Harper meeting little H! He was super excited to meet her from what I hear! 🙂 He was sweet with her!
Harper meeting H …she LOVES hats!
Lunch and meeting a new face – Miss A!
My new hair compliments of N.
Back of my awesome new color.
It was nice to have the support system of my parents. It’s not everyday that people are wanting me to leave the baby with them and let me get away! Living so far away from them has proven more difficult than expected. But hey- I’ll make the best of it- I live here! We have a couple great babysitters! 🙂
The first thing I did was clean our downstairs area…all the while listening for Harper to wake up from her nap…only to realize “oh yea…she’s not here”…
John went to play golf (and have dinner) for 9 hours with his husband. Needless to say- I got to pick the movie we saw. 🙂
The house was SO lonely. The kind of lonely you can almost see.
I was able to get my study on…but further than that…SO LONELY. I’d forgotten what it was like to be completely ALONE. Things hadn’t been that way since I was pregnant. I’m not so sure I like it.
I’m glad there is a baby in my nursery sleeping now. I’m glad to be on high alert for any peep coming from that way. No peeps for 2 hours hopefully.
Here’s the face I missed so much for the past 26 hours:
This Memorial Day we spent eating BBQ with John’s parents and grandfather! Harper enjoyed herself!
And as you can see below- SO DID NINA!
She LOVES paw-paw’s mustache!
She was REALLY interested in the things that Boom-pa had…like his hat and his drink! yahoo!
After all that grub and fun we went car shopping for John. He says he NEEDS a bigger vehicle. 🙂
Then we all went home for a family nap…WELL…My TWO babies fell asleep.
What did I do when I noticed I was the only one awake? I GOT THE HELL OUTTA DODGE!!!!!
True story. Grabbed my keys and RAN! To publix. They didn’t even know I was gone. But it was a lovely shopping trip since I had room for groceries with no baby in the buggy!!
I came home to make squash casserole (fresh from Nina’s garden),
spicy shrimp kabobs, texmati rice, AND………… a little thing called blueberry grund. Weird name…good taste. It’s sort of like a pot cooked blueberry cobbler! Yummy.
That is all.
Love,
Bell
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It’s happening. That newborn amnesia. I can’t even remember what she was like at 6lbs 5 ounces!!! I would’ve never imagined shed be this mobile, THIS SOON, when I first brought her home. When she first came home she was like a little pile of mashed potatoes. MUSHY. I loved it. She was my smooshy little bunny. NOW she’s my kicking, rolling, sitting, and pseudo-crawling monkey!!
NEW THINGS FROM THIS MONTH:
If I hand her the binky a certain way, she will put it in her mouth and leave it there! wahoo!
She is SO close to legit crawling. She can get up on all fours and rock back n forth as if she is gearing up to go full speed! Her arms are just not cooperating…AS USUAL!
She can sit up without support for longer periods, but still needs help after a while!
She can hold her bottle to feed herself much longer than she ever has! She held it and ate throughout a WHOLE diaper change yesterday! TEAMWORK!
She makes a lot of sounds that sound like daddy. I keep telling myself it’s an accident. No LEGIT words yet. We are practicing all day though!!!
She eats stage 2 baby foods like a pro! Her favorites are the chicken kind in any brand! She still doesn’t like bananas or prunes! Even when they’re mixed with the food she likes!
She is still fascinated by her toes!
She has started to display an emotion I’m not too fond of. FEAR. I absolutely HATE it. HATE!!!!! It hurts my heart when I hear the cry she makes when she feels afraid. She’s done it a handful of times and the cry is so distinct and full of fright! UGH I just want to take it away from her! She will do it if she is put down too fast and thinks she’s fallen, or if a stranger approaches too fast for her, or if she thinks something is going to fall on her,….oh and the occasional dog bark will scare her too. Usually with the dog barking I can go ahead and make sure she is looking at my face to know she is safe and nip it in the bud.
She is entertained by the TV. This is glorious. If I find an extra interesting show, she will be entertained long enough for me to make lunch or do a load of laundry! She doesn’t stay glued to it for much longer than that- but it’s enough!
She’s taken a special liking to MY BLANKIE. I am working on breaking that…because….well I NEED IT!!! LOL
I was just thinking the other day back to my pregnancy and how I never got to touch her, smell, her or kiss her back then…and how sweet it is to have her here in the flesh! I never imagined how great I would feel here with her! We are so LUCKY!!! We have such a perfect and HAPPY baby!
Love,
Bell
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Believe it or not…traveling with a baby is NOT as easy as some of my friends and family had previously tried to convince me. In fact consider yourself flipped the “double bird”.
The only thing that eased the crying was a big ole ice cream cone from McDonalds! 🙂
The trip home wasn’t as bad, but the trip there wasn’t good at all! It seemed like she screamed three hours of our 8 hour trip. Not a bad ratio in general terms…but bad when you’re on the receiving end! Oh well. Lesson learned. We won’t be doing that anytime soon again!
BUT she did learn how to put her binky in her mouth! PRODIGY CHILD. DUH.
We made it to Florida (John’s sister’s house) around 4am. (I know, right.)
Everyone was super excited and even got Harper super excited…AT 4 AM!!!! lol She had a total meltdown when we let her know it was time to actually sleep after she was awoken to so much excitement! Rough night/morning!
The next day was spent mingling at the beach and later on mingling with some new friends. Harper was a good girl almost the whole trip minus the initial freak out of course!
The last day was spent at Simon’s parent’s home- which was amazing! We saw lots of baby deer, neat artifacts, stunning views, and even armadillo hunting!!! 🙂
It’s great to be home in my own bed, and Harper in her own familiar crib!
Love,
Bell
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Today was as eventful as most days. We were up bright and early at 8am. A lovely breakfast was prepared for her highness. I tried to get some online business done while she transported herself around the room with a mixture of almost-crawls and complete rolls until she got to my location. Baby gates here we come!!!
She got a new Bumbo cover that is cute as the dickens! So that possibly, JUST POSSIBLY, I won’t have to scrape baby food off of it EVERY time she eats if I forget to do it on the spot. And hey, it’s cute! She was overly excited to be in the new and improved bumbo. Seems to suit her fanny fine.
THEN she got to discover her first two sippy cups! I’ve been reading that now is the time to introduce them. She doesn’t understand completely, but lets be real, she’s a genius and she will probably have it down pat by next week!
Today I was super pumped about reading her bedtime story to her! THE LORAX!!! It’s been sold out of stores since the movie was released…but today I finally found a copy! She was even able to look at it in her LORAX ONESIE (of course she threw up on it 10 minutes after wearing) from target! She’s such a book worm.
Tomorrow we will embark on a fun journey to see her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins! I’m sure she will have a blast and will get lots of attention! We are going to ATTEMPT to keep her on her normal schedule, but that’s hard when you are out of town and have lots of distractions from her normal routine.
I keep seeing posts on facebook about how MTV’s show “16 & Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” are promoting teen pregnancy. They say that now, girls want to obtain the same fame that the cast of the show have by getting pregnant on purpose. That’s such a crock of crap. A friend of mine informed me of a research paper she recently did showing that in the past couple years teen pregnancy has declined. So all of you that think MTV is to blame for so many teen pregnancies -SUCK IT.
It’ s a show that lets other young women see how hard, heart breaking, and lonely teen pregnancy can be. The 16 & Pregnant casts don’t get paid I don’t believe (but the teen mom casts do now), so I’m not really sure why they even put themselves out there, but I do know that they would be pregnant whether MTV existed or not. That’s just the world we live in today.
I come to the thought of : Would I let my daughter watch these shows when she is a teenager? YES. They really do show how hard it is to have a teenage life while raising a newborn.
I love watching the first group of girls from 16 & Pregnant (Now, Teen Mom). You tell me that if you were offered 75 grand per season to let a film crew follow your young family around that you would say no. I sure as heck wouldn’t! This gives them great opportunities to have a home on their own and to attend school without worrying about a full time job. It is a good thing for their children! These girls are realizing they should’ve made better decisions, but what was done is done, and now they are having great opportunities to speak to other young girls about abstinence. Sure, they obtain a little fame. But the season I watch the most take care and love their children, MTV can’t alter that- it’s plain as day.
What made me think of this is a little photo I saw today criticizing Maci Bookout for getting implants. They posted the before and after picture and said “I don’t see why girls do this to themselves”.
A. Why are her plastic titties any of your business to share online if you aren’t friends with her?
B. She deserves to do things that make her feel good. If this is it, and she can afford it, do it!
C. Getting implants doesn’t alter your ability to be a parent. I do pretty well for myself. 🙂
D. Review your own decisions of how you alter your own body before judging others for altering theirs.
C. She looks beautiful in both pictures that were shown!
Maci, if you’re out there: Just know Bell has your back. You already know you have haters so I’m sure you’ve learned how to just ignore them!
birminghambell 