These pictures. These are why I blog. These are why I'm the Mocking Mommy.

We recently signed up for an Ident-A-KID ID, where they get basic information on your child and submit it to a national registry while providing you with a physical and electronic ID. I can't wait to carry this around in my wallet... wonder if anyone would even recognize this kid! Drunk and disorderly:

I cannot stop laughing at my son's expense. OMG.

After I got this, I decided to check out his other mishaps... erm, I mean, photos that we've taken throughout his first (almost!) year of life and share the funny with you. These are in no particular order -- they're not dated, and they're all equally hilarious.

I hope you get a few giggles, too. :)

And the parents that raise this adorable monstrosity of a boy:

Now y'all see where he gets it from. ;)

Rumor is, Facebook is now making fan pages (including blogs like The Mocking Mommy) PAY A FEE if we want our fans to read what we post. I ain't payin' no money, no matter how much I love y'all. So if you want to stay current on everything I post, please subscribe to this blog via Bloglovin', Google Friend Connect, or by email. Thank you!! ♥

I'm temporarily allergic to shellfish.

And Tycho? Well... he's probably allergic the rest of his life.

My cousin celebrated his 46th birthday this past weekend. Our family visited with them and enjoyed some good food, sharp wine, and fun company to mark the occasion. One of the foods there was shrimp, and considering I haven't had any in a while as we don't keep it in the house (Matt's severely allergic to shellfish), I decided to really dig in.

About 12 hours later, we started to find hives on Tycho's body. They started on his neck, spread to his torso, and extended onto his arms and legs. They didn't appear itchy, but Tycho is still too young to scratch an itch, so who knows how they felt. But considering he was otherwise looking fine, we decided to just see where it went.

Then started the diarrhea. And the nausea and vomiting. And the screams that pierced the house when we gave him a bath that night. After we put him to bed, we sat and tried to think where all this was coming from, and after some Googling for symptoms, we determined...

Tycho has a shellfish allergy.

The symptoms line up. The shrimp probably really started digesting through me after he was put to bed (and I admit that my stomach was NOT happy with me, either), and his symptoms started the very next morning, when the concentration was highest. Since he breastfed the rest of the day, the allergen kept piling up in his system, leading to additional and more severe reactions throughout the day.

We visited our pediatrician today as a follow-up to his ear infection (which is completely clear now, by the way... and we were rewarded with two bottom teeth! OMG, I don't think I ever told y'all!), and we asked if he thought if it was an allergy as well and whether allergens can pass through breastmilk. In short: Yes, he believes the reaction was caused by shellfish rather than a virus, and yes, allergens can and do pass through breastmilk, so I'm officially allergic by proxy until Tycho has weaned.

In the meantime, we just wait until it clears my system, hopefully sooner rather than later. Apparently it can still be affecting him, even though the shellfish was eaten days ago. It also means dumping all the milk I pumped yesterday, a full 13oz. :( Oh well... it's what we've gotta do!

If you're ever concerned about a potential food allergy in your baby or if your baby has an allergic reaction to a food, contact your pediatrician or call 911 immediately.

Rumor is, Facebook is now making fan pages (including blogs like The Mocking Mommy) PAY A FEE if we want our fans to read what we post. I ain't payin' no money, no matter how much I love y'all. So if you want to stay current on everything I post, please subscribe to this blog via Bloglovin', Google Friend Connect, or by email. Thank you!! ♥

Ostara, Spring, and the International Day of Happiness

Blessed Ostara and happy first day of spring, everyone! Now if someone please inform these northern states that it's officially time for warm weather and to cancel the impending snow for next week, that'd be great.

... ahem. But I'm not going to focus on doom and gloom and the thought of more snow as it makes me fume. Instead, this is going to be a happy post! After all, today is the second annual International Day of Happiness, a day to bask in the glory not of economic prosperity or material gain, but of the little (and big!) things in life that make us happy, to measure our Gross Happiness Index (GHI) rather than our GDP.

Here's an incredibly short list of things that make me happy. What brings joy to your life? Feel free to share in the comments! ♥

The smell of freshly-cut grass.

That "Goldilocks" day, where everything is just right.

Changing into yoga pants after a long day at the office.

(These are actual pants! For work AND yoga!!)

And ditching that bra, too.

This baby.

And of course, this baby.

Margaritas with the neighbors.

When someone tells you, "You make a great mom."

The sound of (or, really, anything to do with) the ocean.

Letting the water rain over you in the shower. (So refreshing!)

Watching an old couple getting all lovey and thinking, "I want to be just like them."

When the butter melts perfectly on your toast.

Snoozing the alarm so you can snuggle with your husband for another 10 minutes.

Going barefoot after a long winter.

And all these people. ♥

Rumor is, Facebook is now making fan pages (including blogs like The Mocking Mommy) PAY A FEE if we want our fans to read what we post. I ain't payin' no money, no matter how much I love y'all. So if you want to stay current on everything I post, please subscribe to this blog via Bloglovin', Google Friend Connect, or by email. Thank you!! ♥

Photographer love: Megan Evans Photography

Can I just express my undying love for my neighbor, who is not only raising the two sweetest girls on the planet, but who is also an incredibly talented photographer? I just need to share these with you, they're far too amazing not to! They're all candid shots, nothing posed or staged or anything, so you should see her work when she's really in action. ♥

Pimpage: ||Megan Evans Photography||

Love her stuff? Check Megan out on Facebook, Instagram, and on her blog!


Rumor is, Facebook is now making fan pages (including blogs like The Mocking Mommy) PAY A FEE if we want our fans to read what we post. I ain't payin' no money, no matter how much I love y'all. So if you want to stay current on everything I post, please subscribe to this blog via Bloglovin', Google Friend Connect, or by email. Thank you!! ♥

Make it a double!

We hit a pretty major milestone yesterday! While Tycho has had his fair share of colds and other nasties, we had yet to deal with an ear infection, which I've heard is no small feat.

So of course, we were long overdue for such a travesty of health. He had a little fever the day before, but we attributed that to teething as he was sticking his fingers in his mouth and wincing whenever he tried to eat. But when the daycare called my work number yesterday at 2:30 the next day, I knew something was up -- they never ring unless there's something wrong:

"Yeah... so, Tycho? You're going to need to pick him up. His temperature is 101.7."

(I'd say emphasis here is mine, but they were pretty surprised by the reading, too.)

Note that, because of health regulations, they need to test a temperature using an underarm or temporal thermometer, so I already figured those numbers were probably lower than what his actual body temperature was. I gave myself a moment to panic, took a few cleansing breaths, packed everything up, and took the five-minute drive to daycare, during which I scheduled an appointment with his primary care pediatrician.

By the time I got there, he was in a provider's arms, crying and sticking his finger in his ear. I grimaced... please don't tell me this is an ear infection. As I took him into my own arms and pressed my lips to his cheek, wet with tears, I could feel him burning up; I'm honestly surprised that his clothes didn't ignite from his body heat.

I thanked the providers, gathered all his things, and we headed off home to pick up Matt and straight to the pediatrician from there.

I'm really glad now that I made the appointment. When they checked his temperature (anally, which I'm sure he loved...), it was a blazing 103, and a check of his ears revealed not one, but two infected ears. The doctor tried to make light of it -- "It's your lucky day, bud, both ears are infected!" -- but he knew how serious it was. We were prescribed antibiotics on the spot and were told to give Motrin every six hours if the fever was over 102.

Fortunately, despite being visibly miserable from when we got home to bedtime (he didn't even eat dinner, and we fed him his favorites of olives and coconut milk ice cream), Tycho enjoyed his bath and managed to sleep through the night. He's home with Matt today, blowing raspberries and watching Spongebob, so he's clearly on the mend. And I'm loving the picture updates I'm getting!

Diaper parts and toys strewn about and a child watching baby-equivalent trash TV (meep). Don't judge.

As for me? I celebrated his first ever double ear infection last night with a double serving of Corona. Cheers!

Never gonna give you up... (unless it's Lent!)

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." -- Pope Francis

I will fully admit that Francis' papacy is my favorite so far, so my choosing this quote from him shouldn't be all that surprising. But it may be strange that, as a former-Catholic-now-Pagan, I'm quoting a pope at all, right?

His words spoke to me, though, in a way that the Catholic religion hasn't in quite some time, and I realized that, even though I don't associate with the Catholic church anymore, I can still take its teachings and apply them to my own life.

I've been in a real funk recently, a new mama rut where every day is lived not to the fullest, but with a desire to just get through another hour, another minute. In the process, I've neglected myself and my husband in physical, mental, and emotional ways. So this Lent, while I may not observe the practices of penance, repentance of sin, or atonement (after all, being a non-Christian who doesn't believe in the concept of sin, it's kind of difficult to do any of these!), I will look to other practices this Lenten season.

• Prayer: Meditation, in my case. Giving myself a few minutes each day to reflect on life, how I'm living it, and how I can make each day better. Hopefully this will help me feel closer to the Divine and create a better, less lethargic life.

• Almsgiving: Giving all of myself to my son and my husband, who both deserve all of me at my best and with willingness to give a part of myself. This means occasionally stepping out of my comfort zone to do so... casting away tiredness for their benefits.

• Self-denial: Probably the part of Lent that most people know about, giving up of something to grow spiritually. This year, I'm giving up the bathroom scale and gluttony, as they've both caused me to focus too much on a number than how I feel or to feel less "lethargic".

Hopefully, by the time Easter comes around (which will be celebrated as a belated Ostara and Purim for us!), I'll have pulled myself out of this rut and experienced what it means to give your whole self to others... and to those who, at least in my life, need and deserve it the most. :)

Oh, and a bit selfishly, maybe I'll lose a few pounds in the process. Ha!

How will you honor yourself and others this Lenten season?