Tires With Zero Death Crystals

This morning, instead of going to church and "singing beautiful songs," The Precious and I left the house early to see Daddy finish his first half-marathon! Sadly, we missed actually seeing him cross the finish line by mere minutes, but we were so excited when we found out he made the run in under 2 hours, a goal he's been working so hard to meet. Go Daddy!


A bonus was that Andrew got to ride MARTA for the first time, which was super fun.


Speaking of fun, Big Brother-To Be is having a fabulous time with the baby paraphernalia that has started appearing. I often find him sitting on the bed that has taken over the nursery, stacking rings, snapping beads together, or requesting that I sing nursery rhymes from a book I keep in there.


And because I have the best friends ever, I have once again been able to borrow so many great things, including the hideous yet oh-so-lovely Exersaucer (thanks Brooke!)


I think the pregnancy has now officially gone to my brain. Phil is out tonight, thus left to my own devices I just finished eating macaroni and cheese and Lucky Charms and watching ... wait for it ... Con Air? Wow. I'm trying to think of anything I could do at this point to erase the sound of Nicolas Cage's version of a southern accent from my head before I try to sleep.

Fortunately, Andrew got a healthier meal in his system than mommy did.

Shankopotamus

Well, I'm thinking having The Nibblet around in a few weeks is going to be a piece of cake with all the help I get these days from My Precious. This evening we attended a party celebrating some dear friends, and Andrew had the most lovely time circling the yard again and again pushing this little pink stroller. He didn't bat an eye when a little girl ran up and took the baby doll that was in the seat, so I'll probably need to review the "don't let strangers steal your brother/sister" rules before I let him loose in the neighborhood.


He still loves to assist me in the kitchen, and I wonder at myself sometimes at the things I let him do. "Sure, honey, you can shake the pepper in your hand and lick it if you want ... just warning you that it might taste weird." "You want to crack the eggs? OK." And then, most recently, "Why don't you go ahead and stir the stuff in that bowl while I'm over here washing dishes."

I totally asked for it. I'm just thrilled the bowl landed right side up! I know you're all wondering what heinous concoction he was stirring - it was batter for vegetable pancakes. "Horror and disgust!" you're now thinking, but he likes them, sometimes, depending on his mood, and it's a way I can occasionally get a green vegetable into that little body. (And yes, he's holding the pepper shaker.) (And yes, he had been licking it off his hands.)

He loves to dig in my knitting bag to find yarn and "knitting noodles." He then jams the noodles into the ball of yarn, and his knitting project is complete. I think The Nibblet will look splendid in this, don't you?

And he simply adores feeding the dog. Actually, I think it's the watering of the dog that's his true favorite. He fills up a little cup of water from the refrigerator door, then slowly and carefully walks to the bowl and pours it in. (He waters the plants this way as well ... my houseplants have never been so well tended). Andrew is usually content with giving the dog 2 or 3 scoops of food, so I'm not sure why he decided Shiloh was so hungry that day. It was Wednesday to be exact, and today is Sunday and Shi is still working on that same meal.

And here I am at 8 months. The countdown has begun! I saw my midwife on Friday and I'm 1 cm dilated and having lots of contractions (all Braxton Hicks, but sometimes they'll start coming every 15 minutes or so, making me stop and pay attention). She told me I just need to make it 'til Tuesday (36 weeks) and they'll consider me full-term if I go into labor. Wow! Her guess is that I still have a couple of weeks yet to go, but Mom (Nina) has started sleeping with the phone by her bed, so that makes it all feel quite imminent. Can't wait to meet this little one! But not tonight ... I don't even know if there's clean underwear in the house.

I Think You Need To Know I Don't Need To Be Here, Do You Think Melvin Snider?

Long time no blog. This would be due to a camera battery issue that I won't go into because it ends up with me finding out I'm really stupid. Anyway, issue resolved, and all that comes to mind to blog about are a bunch of totally random thoughts, such as ....

... look at my sweetie in the dryer. He loves getting in there, and we often have the conversation about how it's really best if I don't close him in and turn it on. A bummer for him in his mind since he's dying to see it go 'round and 'round, but I think he believes me when I tell him it would probably bump his head pretty hard.

... I'm in a junky TV phase and I'm really annoyed that my On Demand cable thingy isn't working since I was planning to watch the next installment of "Toddlers & Tiaras." I don't know why I want to watch it since simply watching the ads breaks me out in hives. Oh wait, yes I do! There's really nothing that will makes you feel like the most super fantastic mom in the universe more than watching an insane woman spray tanning her 10-year-old and forcing her to whiten her sweet little 4th grade teeth saying, "I'm sorry, but this has to be done."

Oh, and if you're feeling insecure about how many vegetables your little one eats, I can also suggest viewing "Half-Ton Teen" where you will watch a mother cart in bags of Big Macs and 2-liter sodas to her 800 pound son who spends his life in a giant chair and can't bathe himself due to his size.



... I know what you're thinking. "Oh my goodness, are those hand-knit wool soakers for your Nibblet?!" Why, yes they are! And haven't I cleverly distracted you from the poor workmanship by having The Precious show them off for me? No matter, I'm so excited that I knit something other than a scarf that I don't care that the waist-band on the first one would give a Barbie doll internal injuries. My mom finds this whole project absolutely hilarious - she can't get over how I'm "knitting plastic pants." Clearly she hasn't been reading up how breathable, antibacterial, beautiful and, well, downright magical wool is. I expect Nibblet will have the healthiest little bum in the state, and will probably be reading by 6 months.

... Andrew is showing increasing signs of mild to moderate OCD, which is cracking me up. He was all in a dither the other morning at breakfast, pointing frantically across the kitchen saying, "Close! Close! Close!" I finally figured out one of the cabinet doors was slightly ajar and wigging him out. I went in to check on him last night after he'd gone to bed and he was in pitiful tears because the blanket I keep folded up against the wall-side of his bed (to keep him from rolling repeatedly and loudly into the wall during the night) had shifted and he couldn't get it put back properly. Where is this coming from? Nannie? Auntie? Uncle Jeff?


... And finally I present to you, Nibblet's Room! Doesn't it look all cozy and ready to house an infant? I'm going to practice tossing some stuffed animals from the door into the crib so I'll be more confident when it's an actual baby. It's funny that I've been carefully washing Andrew's wee onsies and putting them away in the dresser that I probably can't fully open now. But you can't put a price on not moving a toddler from the bed in which he's currently established. And having a sleeping spot for fabulous grandparents who wish to lend a hand to a new mommy is also priceless. If I don't feel my infant tossing skills are up to par the first couple weeks after s/he arrives, I may just keep him/her in the pack-n-play in my room.

We're getting excited 'round here!