Monday, November 29th. 7:30 pm

My posting here has been sporadic. I know why (I want to spend as much time as possible with my only child while he's still an only child) but I thought I should at least post a little tiny week to week, just to keep track of this insane journey. O shudder to think of how giant my belly will be in 10 weeks if this is how big I am now!



Colin is still the amazingly brilliant, hilariously funny, totally creative kiddo he has been. His personality shines, and while we have power struggles now and then (oh LORD don't get me started on the nightmare that has been potty training), he is overall just a joy to hang out with. He's got strong opinions and is fairly shy, so it takes him a little bit to warm up to people. But once he's warm, you're in. He has been quite enjoying the attention from the college kids we minister to at church. The story of how we found his godfather, an amazing 20 year old guy that Colin calls "Mr. Sean" and who has been unfailingly loving and awesome with my kid, is a funny story in and of itself, but suffice it to say the boys scoop him up and wrestle with him and the girls all want to kiss his face.
He loves building things and is still narrating his play, he does voices now and it's so amazing. He has taken to repeating the most inopportune things so I have had to re-instate my swear jar, just to save our more delicate eared friends the horror of hearing a 3 year old drop an f bomb.



The most wretched bit of pregnancy has arrived. That space of time where most everything hurts as one's body stretches and bends to accommodate the little wiggle worm inside. Babylove is a kicker as opposed to a roller like his brother and the comparison has been amusing. He also seems to be on a specific schedule and it makes an easy going, schedule averse parent like myself nervous. Is this an indicator of a temperament? or just how this gestation is going to roll? It's lucky for my husband who knows to get out of the house before the 8:00 hormone induced meltdown occurs and he only has to hear it on the phone.
Good news came in the form of blood test results, my liver and gallbladder are functioning normally! So while I am still fairly itchy I know that I am also processing toxins like a champ! WOOOO!



Of late I have been fretting over our name choice. This has hit once or twice since we decided and I know it's because in not telling people the name I don't get the constant feedback I like to have. Not that it would change my mind one way or the other I just like to see how people react to the name we have chosen to know how they will react for the rest of his life. Luke finds it amusing and irritating but goes with it, voting on the new names and steering me back to the one we both really do love. The middle name is kicking my ass, I just can't settle...I guess it will have to wait until he arrives. And maybe then it will all be clear.

I hope you all have had a marvelous holiday season kickoff with Thanksgiving. Ours was so low key we didn't even take pictures. We just enjoyed one another and a little Aggie pride when A&M defeated Texas soundly. :)

The numbers

Weeks along in the pregnancy: 29

Age of 1st child: 3 years, 7 months feels like however old a tornado or an earthquake is.

Age of mama: 28, feels like 115

Number of naps 1st child takes daily: 1 if I'm lucky

Number of naps I need to take daily: 7

Number of movies my kid has watched while I dozed on the couch next to him because being on my feet for longer than 10 minutes totally exhausts me: way to many to count

Attempts at potty training we are on: 3 (and surprisingly, I am not tearing my hair out)

My guess at the number of weeks I have left to tie my shoes by myself: 2

Number of creative contortions I have to employ to fall asleep at night: at least 5

Amounts of amusement I derive from the countless configurations our family takes as we share our giant bed (contents include, one very pregnant lady, one 3 and a half year old, one long suffering husband): massive

Ounces of water I drink daily to stave of Braxton Hicks: at least 70

Number of joints in my body that are incredibly painful at any moment of the day: at least 6

Weeks that have felt interminably long despite the arrival of my beloved cold weather: the last 3

The amount of irritation I feel at myself for ceaselessly bitching about being pregnant: infinite

Plans for Thanksgiving that involve Texas: 0 (tear.)

Plans for Thanksgiving that include anything: 0 (thank goodness)

Pies baked in the last month: 4

Pies I am planning on baking in the next month: 6

Cures for non-stop itching attempted: 10

Cures for non-stop itching that proved totally successful: 0

Number of pants I own that still fit me: 0

Number of pants that I borrowed that still fit me: 2/4

Degrees outside: a gorgeous 60

Price I am going to pay for a kids haircut today: $5 (yay!)

Number of weddings my husband will work in November and December: 8 (who knew that winter was such a popular wedding time in AZ?)

Number of weddings I will be at with my husband in November and December: 1

Number of amazing friends and family who have offered to watch Colin and give us date nights, naps, or adventures before the babylove comes along: Innumerable

Thing I have to be grateful for: COUNTLESS...


so now you're all caught up.

Thanksgiving preparation

"Mr President, Christianity is not demonstrated through a recitation of facts. You're seeking evidence of faith. A whole hearted acceptance of God's promise of a better world. For we hold that man is justified by faith alone, is what St Paul said. Justified by faith alone, faith is the true shibboleth."

West Wing Episode: "Shibboleth"

no joke, this scene had both me and my husband in tears. It's a lovely lovely episode, from a lovely lovely show. That has never been replaced on TV.

For Sale

Selling our broke ass 1996 Honda Civic on Craigslist?
worst. spur of the moment. idea. EVER.
With one broken front brake, one rear taillight out, an interior that is shot to hell, and the fact that it has been parked on the side of our house for almost 6 months, we really couldn't in good conscience ask for more than like $800.
I listed it this morning after double checking with Luke that he wasn't just going to donate it. Within 20 minutes I got 10 emails. 3 of them wanted pictures of me in the pictures of the car (ew), 4 of them used text message shorthand to request information on the car that I couldn't actually decipher, and 2 of them just wrote "96 civic, call me, xxx-xxx-xxxx".
Oy vey.
Couple that with not actually knowing anything about cars and not wanting anyone to come over when Luke was not home, I did a lot of emailing and deleting this morning.
sigh.
No buyers so far but if we can transfer title and get cash for this hunk of junk today I will not only be impressed but I'll be relieved.

9 PM update:
HEY! Look at that! For a lady who never really got the whole "capitalism ROCKS. Buy sell! Buy sell!" mindset, I get shit done! 9 hours from posting to sale (to a very nice young ASU student)

Morning Music

oh me oh my, this made my morning. I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Weepies. And this tune is so sweet...this video is marvelous!
It helps that I call my boys "honeypie" fairly often. Just the sweetest...

AWESOME!

After a rough week last week for a variety of reasons (the incessant itching of my skin being high on the list, thanks random pregnancy weirdness!) I decided that I would begin my day with a little note:

Dear Today: Let's bring the awesome. Love, Meg

And sure enough, once I started focusing on the things that made my day awesome, it turned out that it was!
So without further ado, here is my list of awesome things that happened in my day thus far:

Awesome thing #1: Saving almost 50% on my groceries this morning.
Awesome thing #2: Sharing a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast with my little buddy
Awesome thing #3: my aforementioned little buddy jamming out to the Foo Fighters. He calls it the "bow bow song"
Awesome thing #4: measuring slightly smaller than my 27 weeks! Maybe this baby won't be ginormous!
Awesome thing #5: Taco Bell tacos.
Awesome thing #6: Cotton Candy leftover from the fair for a snack with the buddy.
Awesome thing #7: Dinner with two dear friends (one of whom is Colin's godfather!) tonight.
Awesome thing #8: Dinner will be delicious delicious Mexican food.
Awesome thing #9: At this very moment I do not hate my hair. This is subject to change.
Awesome thing #10: Luke got the buddy all ready to go whilst I wrote a blog post.


Thing with an awesomeness level that is to be determined: The results of my blood draw to test my bile salts. Turns out random itchiness on places other than one's pregnant belly (like one's palms! Or FACE! GAH!) are something to be looked at closely...I'll let you know what the outcome is. Probably it will be one of those times when my lovely doctor says: "you're going to want to kill me but it's not really anything we can do anything about so just look forward to February" and then ducks as I chuck things at her. Poor dear.

"He's gonna a be a soccah playah! Yes he is!"

One of the best parts about being pregnant (who am I kidding? If you're me it's like the only good part aside from the whole baby thing....oh and the fact that my grays fall out) is feeling the baby move.
I love laying down and watching my belly jump and shudder, knowing that in a couple months it will roll like the ocean at all times day or night (if this little guy is anything like his brother). A couple of the college aged boys at our church have felt Internal Son kick and have expressed awe and alarm at it. "It's like an alien! It's so cool!" (as a side note: I have enjoyed being able to share this pregnancy with them, the young men at our church are proving to be gentle souls who really love the little ones. I am so thrilled to see the college girls I mentor dating such good guys. Because let's face it, a guy who thinks a baby kicking is cool and who will listen to a three year old babble for a half hour without shushing him are really good guys) And all my girls, college aged and 8th graders, put their hands on my belly whenever it is around just for a chance to feel the little guy say hello. Luke loves talking to him and watching him respond, and even Colin has warmed up to the idea and cuddles up next to his kicking belly brother at night.
Internal Son is a kicker, whereas Colin was a roller. It's been fun to compare and contrast the two and I am really looking forward to the next couple of months as he grows and stretches and runs out of room in there!

The Pie Distraction

photo via Flick User Cobalt123
I forgot to post yesterday. I have been a bit stalled out creatively and since the weather has been nice (ok, yesterday it was nice) I haven't wanted to be sitting in front of the computer. sigh.
Let me make it up to you with a story:
About a week ago I applied on a whim to make pies for a local restaurant/vintage shop. I did this because I quite like making pies (and quiche and whatnot) and assumed I would never hear from them because I am not at all a professional pastry chef. Not by anyone's stretched imagination.
Imagine my surprise when they called me Thursday night and asked me to come down to interview for the position! I gathered up some recipes and wore comfortable clothes and prepared to tell them that yes I was 6 months pregnant but luckily baking is something I can do (and do often at home!) up to and after I have the baby! Woo!
I drove to the most awesome converted warehouse space just south of the big ballpark in downtown Phoenix. Inside I found a very harried building manager and heaps of gorgeous vintage clothes, an old school gym, a soda fountain, and an Airstream trailer that housed a full kitchen...amongst other awesomeness.
I spoke very briefly to the building manager who has been making the desserts. As it turns out she needs someone to take that job from her so she can do her 1,000,000 other duties. I spoke to the kitchen manager who was a lovely man who really thought I could do the job and liked my style and showed me the whole space.
As it turns out they are just a bunch of people who have a passion for this and are trying to make it work. None of them are professional chefs, have ever run a restaurant, let alone an indie mini-mall (it will eventually house a local flower shop, a record store and another clothing section...and of course a pie shop!) and they are looking for someone with just as little experience and just as much passion as them to do it too!
The kitchen manager told me I was at the top of the list for the letter I sent along with my resume (which is WOEFULLY short on food service experience). That they would love to have me come in and try to do the job...once they nail down what the job is. But they want my help with that too.
So I am going back to The Duce, hopefully the next week, to talk with the owners of the building and the building manager again. To try and figure out what they would pay me, when I would work there, and how I can help them become a force to be reckoned with in the downtown scene.
And truthfully? If it doesn't work out, I will totally patronize them anyway, they have awesome stuff and their food is to die for! If you're in downtown Phoenix anytime, go check them out, try the lemonade (holy delicious), pick up some vintage clothes or have a burger and check out the sign for "The Pie Whole" on your way out, it's next to the coffee shop...maybe that will be my space! :)

Stalled.

516 words in and my 5th attempt at NaNoWriMo is stalled out. bah.
Maybe if the shortest external member of our family would take a nap and let me work in peace I'd have a chance. Here is what he does instead of quiet time. PLease excuse the state of my home.

Halloween Belly!

a million thanks to Mama for the lend of the orange top, made the punkin belly seem like QUITE the punkin. It was terribly warm for our Halloween weekend, these were taken Saturday before embarking on an AWESOME Saturday adventure with Mama, Papa John and Colin. We had the best soy chai ever, did a little maternity shopping at a fabulous boutique, and enjoyed the Irish Cultural Center Fall Festival. If only downtown Phoenix wasn't super far from Luke's work. We'd move there and walk around enjoying the culture every single day!

Trivia

this is the first midterm election I have failed to vote in since I have been able to vote. I almost cried when I realized I wasn't getting to the polls today. We vote in the PRIMARIES at our house, that's how crazy we are about doing our civic duty.

sigh.

This means I don't get to complain about the government for 2 years. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with myself.


I hope you were not like me and made time in your day to get to your polling place and vote. My polling place offers free candy as an incentive. I personally vote because I have control issues and would like to see government run exactly the way I imagine it should. :)

Monday Link Distractions...

the Where the hell did you get to? edition

Oh me oh my, I have been resting my typing fingers because this month I am going to attempt NaBloPoMo AND NaNoWriMo....because I have lost my ever loving mind. If you have no interest in my endeavors perhaps you would be more interested in this stuff?

Just in time for said endeavors (via Not Martha)

Yeah, this is going to be made and perfected in time for Thanksgiving because holy yum.

Lovely thoughts on being one of the many women (like me!) who don't all that much enjoy being pregnant...but who love their babies anyway.

SO. AWESOME. (via my friend Sam)

This is the best piece of trivia ever.

1001 books you must read before you die. Agree or disagree?

Lovely baby shower, wedding shower, or just every day present

I am making a version of this for the boys room before internal son arrives

Fabulously interesting blog

It's like the creators of this website are friends with me on Facebook and Twitter...

Want, want, want.

Also lots from here

Fascinating question. Several people point the asker tothe fabulous, "Lies My Teacher Told Me"


Still cranky? Here's a picture of our fierce Halloween lion.