Another Crew Member Joins the Cast

Meet Jellybean (formerly known as Baby Monster).


He is Monster Mama's (here out known as Tatas...you'll see why) first baby.

Notice the Tatas...well, I guess you can't really see them. But anyone who has delivered remembers the tatas (the very good part of having a baby is having an excellent chest to go with it). Okay, I guess I just took my blog to PG level. Sorry y'all. But I'm all about keeping it real. (Speaking of real, isn't she pretty?)

Uncle Man Beast holds Jellybean for the first time. (You can't tell from the look on his face, but he's lovin' it!)


Uncle Boy - Jellybean makes him a cousin



Aunt Gurl - in 7th Heaven. She was almost excited as Iva to hold Jellybean. Almost.



The proud Aunt...the first baby makes Iva an aunt. Oh happy day!



And the coolness doesn't stop there! Baby Brother (that's Iva's ... well, BABY BROTHER) is having his first boy in May. Check out the cool 3-D! (sorry it's so small...it's what I had to work with)


I love you!



Until next time...

Nothing Like a Baby Shower...

Saturday was my SIL's, Monster Mama (MM), baby shower. Three of her best buds showed up, as well as her boyfriend and my MIL (TCWA). It was small and it was nice.

But it made me think. It made me feel nostalgic. But it made me feel a little sad, too.

Remember, with the exception of the moms there (the BBF's, MIL and myself) and my kids, everyone there was in their teens. All are still in school (except for MM) and I believe they all have jobs and cars (again, except for MM).

Now, when I was 17, I didn't have my license or a car - but I did the next year. And I remember the total awesomeness (yes, it's a word) of going to school, working, driving my car to go see the Man Beast (of course, at the time, he was MBIT - Man Beast in Training) - in a word: just being a kid. I loved it. (And I really loved that the only 'bill' I had was my car insurance. My whole paycheck - which wasn't much), was mine.

It is the one time in one's life when they really have no responsibilities and they can just exist and have fun. That's what I did when I was 17.

And this is what these kids are doing, no doubt. No worries. Live for the day. Let tomorrow worry about itself.

But in a month, that carefree and easy life is going to cease to exist. Sure, a baby is a great thing. But I feel like Monster Mama's carefree life is being cut a bit short because of her little monster. Please, don't get me wrong - babies are great thing. I know she's going to be a fabulous mommy (and I am going to be a fabulous aunt, thankyouverymuch) - but I know what she's going to be missing - and it makes me sad.

Of course, all of this will be much easier to take if her BFF and other friends stick with her. I was talking to a friend earlier today - my BFF - and she said that she lost a lot of friends when she had her boy. (I was lucky, she stayed with me even after I had The Boy and she was still single, footloose and fancy free. In fact, if memory serves, I ended up making her an 'aunt' and she loved every minute of it - spoiling The Boy before he could even walk.)

Single friends - especially those without children (or other responsibilities) - don't always understand why you can't do something. No, I can't go out to eat, Jr. needs diapers. No, I can't go to the movies, I stayed up all night with Jr.

I could be totally off base with MM and her friends - and I pray that I am. But after revisiting my early years in the way of a teen baby shower, I've decided that I really want The Kiddos to experience that time of wild abandon (well, almost wild) of the teen years.

'Cuz there's really nothing like them, ya know?

Until next time...

Great Visit

If you remember, today was the day that TCWA, Monster Mama and Jack's Bean Stalk (JBS for short) came for a visit.

They just left not too long ago.

The visit in short - was awesome! Of course, it usually is.

I have permission from Monster Mama to talk about her - and her little Jelly Bean (my self-imposed name for the Little Monster. Because I'm the aunt - that's why). Be prepared to hear a lot about her. I would have taken pictures, but I think hope my camera is at school. TCWA took pictures and since The Man Beast fixed her computer (yes, she brought her CPU), she should be able to email me a few. And you know I'll just have to post. (But first, TCWA has 974 email messages to get through - 900 of which are probably from me. Her computer has been busted for a long time. )

MM looks great. She's got the cute mama belly. She has a couple more weeks to go - her first due date is on Thanksgiving. Won't that make for an interesting post? Her second due date is in December...but I'm about 99.999% sure that this will not be a Christmas baby. The good new is that since we live in a small city, the hospital is literally just 5 minutes up the road. She could walk...but since that makes labor move faster (and walking tends to be painful during labor), you'll be glad to know that we won't be making the mama of my nephew walk to the hospital. We're just cool like that.

We'll I'll be seeing Monster Mama for her Halloween themed baby shower in two weeks. (I'm sure Linda would love to see that!) TCWA will be making treats. We tried Googling Baby Frankenstein cakes. Would you believe there aren't any? No worries - TCWA has more talent in her little finger than I have in my whole body...she'll come up with something...and it will be awesome. Like always. Which is just why I had to give her the nickname The Coolest Woman Alive...because she is. But you can't have her. She's my mother in law. Get your own.

Until next time...