happy birthday coley!!!

i'm going to be totally self-indulgent today and wish my son, cole, a happy first birthday instead of putting up a post about baby products.

for all you parents (and parents-to-be), it's unimaginable how fast the first year flies by, how much your life has changed, how much you learn and how much you realize you don't know.

i understand my parents like never before, to my simultaneous delight and chagrin. i worry about things like bruises and broken bones and hurt feelings and karma. (i was a tough teenager to deal with. let's hope the fates treat me kindly!)

i can't imagine what my life would be like without him and barely remember what it was like before he came along. so happy birthday to my little coley. i love you.

new dictator alert!

congrats to my cousin evan & her husband mike on their beautiful baby boy!

eli ryan was born on july 6 in atlanta, ga.

congrats to evan, mike and "big brother" jonah on their wonderful new addition!

our friend teensygreen on the radio!

http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica/

stefani newman, our friend and creator of teensygreen (the blog that helps you and your kids "green" your lifestyle) is on VoiceAmerica RIGHT NOW! (9-10am PDT)

click on the above link to listen to stefani share her green tips for you and your family.

no post today.....

.....sorry, kids, but we're all a little under the weather here at casa little dictator.

posts will be back up tomorrow!

a public apology to my husband

some of you may have read my post about "porn for new moms," and one of the people that read that post was my husband.

my husband, who promptly wrote me an e-mail saying, "You already have 'a good looking man smiling and holding babies and writing thank-you notes and folding laundry.' Why the *sigh*?"

i apologize.

he is right.

my husband is a great father, always reading books out loud and walking the dog at night and folding the laundry and buying kiehl's baby wash for our little dictator and, quite frankly, doing much more housekeeping than i personally care to do.

so here's to you, honey. i'm sorry. and please consider this your father's day present. :)

happy mother's day!

no products today - just want to wish all you mommies a kick-ass mother's day.

moms are the hardest working people i know.

we take care of our children, our pets and our husbands (hmmm.... probably in that order) and put ourselves last.

we use silly voices and put on puppet shows and read out loud s-l-o-w-l-y and sing the alphabet song ten million times and chase children around the house and take thousands of pictures for posterity and do all of this with mashed banana in our hair.

we kiss babies and boo-boos (and husbands) and can drive (safely!) while simultaneously watching our child in the rearview mirror.

our living rooms now look like a babies r us warehouse sale, our floors are covered in blankets, our clothes are covered in spit-up and we still wouldn't have it any other way.

hope all you ladies have the wonderful mother's day you deserve.

happy mother's day!

pregnancy - awesome or UGHsome?

so i was in this great little store called ladybug ladybug in my neighborhood last week and making friends with the girl behind the counter, as i am wont to do. (check them out if you're in noe valley - they are super cute.)

the girl mentioned that a friend of hers was due any day now and was just really ready to have the baby. she said it would probably be the only baby, since her friend's pregnancy was awful.

"ugh, mine too," i overshared. "i felt like crap."

she said that her friend felt so guilty about not enjoying the pregnancy and that it seemed like this dirty little secret.

let me tell you something, i LOVE being a mom. but my pregnancy SUCKED. i was sick for almost six months, i put on a ridiculous amount of weight, i retained so much water i developed what my friend referred to as "flintstone feet" (you know, straight to the foot from the knee), i had greasy hair, i was exhasted and i wanted to barf every time i brushed my teeth.

BUT it was all worth it in the end.

moral of the story? you are not required to love your pregnancy. it's awesome if you do, but if you don't, you're still going to be an awesome mom. and you'll be surprised at how many people feel the same way.

new dictator alert!

congrats to matt & katrina on their baby boy!

declan john was born on april 22 in san francisco, weighing in at 7lb 2 oz and 19 inches long.

congrats to the whole family on their newest addition! (and our new neighbor!)