Brotherly love

Tonight as I was putting Kate to bed, I was thinking about this post, in which I asked all of you lovely readers just what, exactly, having two kids was like.

The responses were mixed (Aunt Diane said it would be lovely, Jenny said it was going to be TORTURE. And yes, that is a direct quote). Now I can see that you were all right.

While there are many, many times I feel like I am in over my head, and so often it’s hard to know exactly what to do first when the baby’s crying and EVERYTHING is an emergency with the four year old, times like tonight make me so thankful that we took a leap of faith and decided to have another baby. (There’s also a post rolling around in my brain about the often-unasked but ever-present question of “How can I love another as much as my first?” but I don’t have the insight for that one at this hour).

Tonight, Sammy and I went in to tell Kate goodnight. I sat down on the edge of her bed, holding Sam, and he dove head first into her lap. This struck her funny and she laughed and laughed as she held her little brother. And Sam, well, he LOVES Kate. He absolutely lights up when she is around, and tonight was no exception. Seeing them bring such joy to each other absolutely warmed my heart.

This love-fest ended abruptly when Kate pushed him off her lap and said “Mom, get him away from me, he looks like he’s going to throw up.” But it was nice while it lasted.

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‘Twas Blissful at BlissDom (and Epson ROCKS!)

BlissDom!

I’m back from Nashville and tickled pink at what a great event BlissDom ’08 was! First off I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Epson for sponsoring the event and making it FREE for me and all the other bloggers to attend. They provided us with great food & drinks, a team of photographers who documented our participation throughout the day (and then printed the pics for us to take home on the amazing Epson Artisan printer!!) and an awesome musical guest, the very talented Jessie Baylin. (That girl can sing, peeps. And she’s adorable also, and had a great style. She had these blue boots on I just wanted to rip off of her pretty little feet. After she was done singing of course!)

Thank you EPSON!!

I am happy to report for all of you that were just chomping at the bit to know, the ladies behind Blissfully Domestic are class acts. The real deal, yo. Just sweet and smart and funny and gorgeous! So thanks to Alli, Karla, and Robin and also Barbara Jones from One2One Network!

At BlissDom we learned a lot about all things blogging. The info was great, the speakers were insightful and sometimes very hilarious, and the topics were tres, tres applicable, from making your blog your own, to developing a brand, to how to make big bucks on the internetz without taking your clothes off!

Here are Megan of Velveteen Mind and Alli (Mrs. Fussypants) imparting great wisdom and laughs to us all.

Megan and Alli

I know, you are reading this and weeping with shame and regret you missed the event. Never fear, my dears. Mark your calendars for BlissDom ’09 in February!!

Of course, since I am a social outcast butterfly, my favorite part was the PEOPLE. I love, love, love meeting and making bloggy friends! I was thrilled to meet bloggers I already loved like Mishi (aka Secret Agent Mama). Here we are posing with the electric breasts in the lobby of the Hotel Preston. She is like, the coolest. I want to have a weekly coffee-and-photography lesson date with her!

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And then there was Lotus, who I love to read over at Sarcastic Mom because she is just real, real, real. Luckily, she is also hilarious and a great writer. I even got my pic with her and her famous bloggy toddler Braeden!

Me & Lotus and her famous toddler!

Ooh and guess what – I got a preview of Fussy’s next “Fight the Frump” post! She’s going to be talking about must-have accessories. Her current favorites are ME and her baby Jeremiah!

Two Chicks & A Babe

I made a new bloggy friend that I really, really like. Go give her some love. It’s Moriah from Please Pass the Salt. She came and sat next to me at BlissDom and I am so glad that she did! This is the photo the event photographers took of us. Isn’t she adorable?

Moriah and I - the official photo!

So, in summary, BlissDom was amazing, EPSON rocks, Fussy needs to photoshop my head onto Britney Spears’ body, the SWAG kicked butt, and I may or may not have had a sip of the special drink they made us called a “BlissTini” that had pink sugar all over the outer rim of the glass.

Mmmm…sugar.

The only thing that would have made BlissDom better is if my favorite loving cousin Emily could have been there. I mean we need to appear together at these things cause we are confusing the CRAP out of the blogosphere since there are two of us who run this disaster blog!

One other thing, if Jill could have joined me that also would have been SPECTACULAR! I mean, she IS my bloggy BFF. When Fussy asked me to be HER bloggy BFF, I was like, “Sorry Fussy, you’re really cute and all, but Diaper Diaries already asked me, so…” It was a little awkward, but I am a loyal BBFF, right?? I don’t just give it up to anyone.

Got more questions about BlissDom? I am sure I forgot to mention lots of great stuff! Ask me in the comments and I promise to answer!

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BlissDom, Here I Come!

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I’m Nashville-bound! This afternoon I am leaving (all by myself *ahem* EMILY) to attend Blissfully Domestic’s BlissDom, which is an all-day blogging conference tomorrow in beautiful NashVegas, Tenessee! I am so, so, SO excited to meet and hang out with Fussy, Karla, Lotus, and Mishelle among other great lady bloggers!

Oooh-wee, and word has it, there’s gonna be SWAG, baby. SWAG! I loooooves me some SWAG!!

I am also going to meet up with one of my best friends from college who lives in Nashville. I have not seen her in THREE YEARS!! I can’t wait can’t wait can’t wait!!

Of course I will miss my babies and my hubby. But he did such a great job of taking care of them all when I was at Hearts at Home two weeks ago, I know they will be fine. AND Little Miss Sophiepants is down to nursing only ONCE A DAY, first thing in the morning, and I am hoping this weekend’s separation will help her give that up as well. Can you believe that?? For once, I can see the light at the end of the nursing tunnel. I’ve been wearing a REAL BRA for a week, people! It’s liberating! I can’t go back now!

So, here, I go…don’t worry…I’ll take lots of pics and regale you with my adventures. But I am NOT sharing my SWAG. 🙂

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