"Momma, it's a very fat Caterpillar"

When I was a child I can remember every year at the end of summer my brother and I would go out behind my grandmother's house and hunt for Monarch Caterpillars. Once we found the small yellow and black creatures, we'd stuff them in a glass jar, with some milkweeds and watch them for days. After a couple of weeks of eating and pooping, the caterpillar would climb to the very top of the jar, hang upside down and eventually make a cocoon around itself. Then a couple of weeks after being in the cocoon, the cocoon would break open and of coarse we all know the outcome. My favorite part of the whole process was letting my beautiful butterfly free. After feeding and taking care of my caterpillar for the past month, it had turned into an adult, so to speak, and I had to let it go; it was my first feeling of feeling like a mother. Now as a mother, I get to watch my son experience the same thing.

2 weeks ago uncle Bill took Jordan out behind grammy's house and the found a very tiny and very hungry caterpillar. On day one he ate through 1 green leaf, but he was still hungry. By the second day he ate through 2 green leaves, but he was still hungry. On the third day he ate through 3 green leaves, but he was still hungry. Yeah, you get the point. Anyways, we've been watching out little caterpillar, who Jordan has named 'Mikey', very patiently. I love seeing Jordan get excited and interested in what Mikey the caterpillar will do next. Tonight when I got home, he really had a big surprise for me. Mikey the caterpillar had finally made his cocoon.

3 Years Old

So I started planning out a special blog entry for Jordan's third birthday about a month ago. I had this great idea to putting together a nice little video montage, being as I'm in the video biz, but time and technology has worked against me. Suck! So, just pretend this post contains a lovely video showing my son's miraculous leaps of development from his two year old stage (tantrummy, cranky and most of the time smiling) to his current three-year-old stage (tantrummy, cranky and most of the time smiling), with fancy transitions and shit.

Jordan's birthday was last Sunday. Hey, I know I'm a little late but let's not forget that I'm a working mother and all. Geez! We had a bit of a hard time planning this years celebration. I was all celebrated out after The 50Th Anniversary Party and The Reunion, that I just wanted to stay home, eat lots of cake, watch my son open a couple of gifts, eat some more cake and be merry. But because we're in the days of satisfying all parties involved (grandparents I mean) we pushed ourselves and rented a party room at The Maine Discovery Museum. It was a little last minute planned endeavor and not to sound harsh, but only 2 out of the 7 kids showed up that we invited. I wasn't very happy. I felt sorry for my child who was actually starting to understand what a birthday was and just wanted to celebrate it with everyone. But, he did have lots of fun and the 2 kids that did show up are his best friends. So, we didn't stay home, but we celebrated, watched our kid open gifts and of coarse ate some cake. Mmmm Cake!
It has been a trying, exhilarating, amazing, difficult, and unforgettable three years since Jordan entered our lives. I feel like we've climbed Mt. Katahdid a thousand times over, and the view is ever changing, more marvelous than the day before, but the terrain never gets any easier. I think I have learned the most over the past year and I know we have completed one of the hardest milestones (so-far) just in the past months, as Jordan has finally become potty trained.
3 years ago was when we first met. I still can remember the first look into your eyes and feeling as though I already knew you. The first words out of my mouth "Hi Baby J" and that nickname still sticks today.
The everyday things you do, Jordan, sometimes make me blink back hot stunned tears of pride. I marvel at it all because you did not receive the memo that said your development is not unique, that this is not worthy of open mouthed joy. How could we be anything but amazed by you, when you are so amazing?
I have grown, and my love for my boy has grown; it is a breathtaking thing, holy and fierce. I daydream about him, I moon, I miss him when I cannot see him. I kiss his face and feel as though I could shatter into a thousand pink balloons, just from the touch of his skin.
I want a magic wand to wave over his future, I want to whisper promises of a charmed life into his ear.
It is so big, this job of being his mommy. He is pure, innocent, he embodies a sweetness of life that we humans try to define with gods and myth. Here is my wish for his happiness, and my breath on the candle. Here is the gladness that spills from me. Here is my promise: that I will carry him with me, wherever I go. Here is my plea: that I will do right by him. These past three years have gone by so quickly. I say, stop the earth from spinning and time from passing, for just a brief moment while I sit and take it in that my son is now 3 years old.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jordan Richard

*Phrases that are italicized were taken from fellow blogger Sundry. Nobody says it like she does and I can't take full credit for these beautiful words.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

While at a Maine State Fair that is. Yeah, last weekend we broke down and took Jordan to the Skowhegan State Fair. Here are some things that we saw while there.

*A child, under the age of 5, running around the fairgrounds...with no shoes on. Sigh

*A very pretty girl, wearing a black racing outfit that read "Route 69" as she handed out Pig Pooping key chains.

*A man looking the age of 80 sitting close, with his hand on the leg of a woman looking the age of 25.

*Vendors trying to sell socks.

*A guy with earring holes the size of the tires on my car.

*A girl, wearing the baggiest black pants I've ever seen. Sporting more chains then the Tour DE France. (Think about it.)

*A man, weighing probably over 300 pounds, wearing NO shirt, with a flesh beard and his protruding nipples pierced. I know, I threw up a little bit in my mouth too.

*Cows Shitting, Horses Trotting, Chickens clucking...

Pigs Sleeping

Sheep Bathing and...

Giraffe's Eating.

Gotta love a good ol' Maine State Fair. All in all we did enjoy ourselves, especially Jordan who even got brave enough to go on some rides.

And The Giraffe's were wicked AWESOME!

I'm Back!!

Yes, I know, it's been so long, but trust me I've had good reason. I've been trying to figure out the best way to blog about why I haven't blogged in so long, without boring the heck out of you with a too long post, and being the obsessive creative person I am, I'm can't think of anything good enough. So, I'm going to take a bit of easy way out and list (by day) what I've been up to.

• Saturday, July 19Th - Spent the entire day at work, on my own time, digitizing 4 hours of video into edit machine. This entitled me to watch it as I digitized it, and if you know what it was that I was watching you know why I had a headache by the middle of the day.
• Saturday & Sunday, July 26Th & 27Th - Spent the entire weekend at work, on my own time, editing that said video. Because I was a little crunched on time the only thing really consumed this weekend was lots and lots of coffee. This weekend was full of tiredness, worryness, tears. What this weekend lacked was....Jordan.
• Monday, July 28Th - Worked, but took 2 hour lunch break to run to Sam's club and iParty to get last minute condiments for what was happening in the upcoming weekend. Stayed up until 11:30 wrapping silverware.
• Tuesday, July 29Th - Worked, but took 2 hour lunch break to shop for a dress that I realized I didn't have for the event going on for the upcoming weekend. Stayed up until Midnight wrapping silverware.
• Wednesday, July 30Th - Worked, but worked on finishing up my little personal project for the big event for the weekend.
• Thursday, July 31st - Worked, but worked on personal stuff (Shhhh). I was also told this day that I was walking around with my eyes bugged out of my head, I had developed a twitch and slightly shook from nerves. Did laundry till 11:00 then layed in bed until midnight going over last minute details in my head.
• Friday, August 1st - Dropped Jordan off at my grandmother's house and left as though I was going to work. "Har!" That's what she thought. I actually went up to the Knights of Columbus hall in Old Town to decorate the hall for the big weekend event. While she thought I was editing local commercials, I was really hanging up streamers, filling bowls full of pretzels and blowing up gold balloons.
• Saturday, August 2ND - Slowly got out of bed around 9am, after laying there since 6am. Wrote down a few special words I didn't want to forget, and headed for Old Town around Noon. At 3:30, I ran to the ladies room to literally throw on my dress. The next hour, which flew by, (as did the rest of the night) I mingled with family and friends, double checked everything and then it time. When I got the cue that they had arrived and I grabbed the microphone, my heart began to pound as though I was going on stage or something. I didn't know what was wrong with me, I knew every person in the room. They arrived in a Stretch White Limo (it was the best way we could think of to get them there.) They got the red carpet and all. And because the Limo set so low to the ground it was a little difficult for some of the arrivee's to get out. This was good though because it let my heart stop pounding a little. They walked in the door, and I was in plain site to them "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you. A couple who's been though it all, through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, for better and for worse and a couple who love each other and continue to love each other till death do them part. Ladies and Gentlemen Celebrating 50 years of marriage today, Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Goody!" Later on, was when all my hard work really paid off. Since January when I did an interview with my grandparents 5 kids I have been working on a very special video for my grandparents for this day. I wanted to give them something they could cherish forever. After months of work my video was played for everyone to see. It contained lots of laughs and even got some tears from most. My video was the talk of the night, and I think is still being talked about a week later. And at the end of this night, as I layed my very tired head onto my very comfy pillow I came to realize what I had gained in this. Now knowing the history of my grandparents life, I have a new respect for my marriage and my life and know that if my grandparents can make it through 50 years together so can Darric and I. I can only hope that maybe someday we'll have a grandchild that will do something like this for us.
• Sunday, August 3rd - I did absolutely nothing except sleep and be a mom.
  This week has just been spent regaining consciousness and catching up on ya know, stuff! But I'm back to blogging now, I promise. I hope you missed me because I missed you. Oh, and here's some pictures from our big event.