Friday, February 27, 2009

Still alive

It's been a weird week. Sunday night E woke up in the middle of the night with what would turn out to be the flu (or something very similar). Poor guy was down for the count Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we tried school, somewhat successfully but with a recount of all of his "sensitivity" and bathroom activity which is daycare speak for "keep your sick ass kid home" Because we're rock star parents, we took him in again on Thursday. In our defense he was acting much much better, and was crying about missing school. Plus, if I watched another episode of Dora or another viewing of Cars I might have hurt someone. Long story short, he puked all over the lunch table and home he came. I preemptively kept him out today and he seems to be over it. Actually, today he was a bundle of pure joy. We ran errands all day without a single fit. The rest of the week we couldn't eat a banana without some kind of meltdown. Today he was charming to the point that I wanted to ask him "who ARE you?" We went to breakfast and he not only ordered for himself, but used the words "please" "thank you" and "ma'am." AND he seems to have potty trained himself while he was sick. We're down to just diapers at night. I knew he'd do it on his own. He's just that kind of kid.

Work is good. There's a lot of changes in the air and I'll write more about those as they play out. For now I'm focused on getting ready for my defense on the 13th. Once that's over with, I just have to avoid getting fired from my internship and I'm done. That still freaks me out if I think about it too long.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Welcome to our world


What a lovely day in the M household! E woke me up this morning hollerin' "Mama I peed!" Turns out he had taken his diaper off sometime in the night, and so had REALLY peed all. over. the. bed. I should've known it was an omen for the day. By 2:00 I was still in my pajamas, E had peed on the couch, and I was far too invested in Project Runway. E came out of the kitchen wearing nothing but underwear and eating a Rocket Pop. C had to send him back to the kitchen so we could laugh at his ridiculousness. Then I put E down for "quiet time" and he was having a hard time laying down for his nap. I went to check on him and he was naked, again. Turns out he'd gotten all of the swim diapers and pull-ups off the shelf and had been trying them on. So on went the clothes. Checked on him later, naked AGAIN. I swear. I finally managed to put pants on him in time for dinner with friends. At the restaurant E announced he had to pee, and as it turns out he meant it, and even was able to wait, or as he told the hostess, "Hold it in my penis!" Unfortunately we weren't 100% prepared and so he peed all over the floor and my boots (made famous in a previous post). I had the pleasure of mopping a public bathroom using my hands and paper towels. Then he announced in the bathroom and on the way back to the table "Mama, I peed on your shoe!" I heard that later he told a stranger "I'm going to poop!" This is a dignified gig, I'm telling ya. C told a hilarious story about getting banned from Great Clips, and for a moment I was worried that one of us was going to fall on the floor laughing. I finished the evening by eating a hot fudge sundae the size of my head. Later, when it was time for bed, E put pajamas on for the first time in weeks. Who knew guessing when the kid was going to wear clothes would be so complicated? We finished off the night with C and I verging on a big fight because I kept recommending that he needed a Slanket. Luckily we recovered.


I love days like this. Full of things I never thought I'd say or do, at home or in public, and the kind of day that makes me giggle a little. Plus, does it get better than a lazy morning, dinner with fun new friends, pee on your boot, and a ginormous ice cream sundae? Not in my book.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Unplugged

Every so often I realize that I am spending far too much time in front of a screen and I make an effort to take a break and get re-grounded. This weekend was perfect because I sent off the final draft (!) of my dissertation this week. I'm always amazed by how many more hours are in the day when you get off of the computer. For example, here is a sampling of a few of the things I accomplished this weekend.
Isn't this beautiful? It started with all the food in a crappy lazy susan cabinet, but now it's all organized and I don't have to worry about counter-balancing my groceries. And I know now that I have 9 cans of tomato soup, 5 cans of black beans, 4 cans of green chiles, and 1 can of tuna.
Also in the kitchen, I finally put all of my loose recipes that I've collected into binders. My goal is to eventually organize these by type, but for now I'm happy to have them unfolded and out of my other cookbooks.

And I baked cookies! This is a recipe that I've been playing with, cutting out some of the butter and the sugar.

Of course, I spent a ton of time with the kid. It was warm enough (finally) to go to the park a couple of times. I love having this time with him. He's such a nut, but so much fun. This kid is pretty cool.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Quick update

We're crazy busy around here, but I wanted to post a quick update. Phoenix was awesome, warm, and the boys are all golfed up. I scored an adorable pair of red heels and a pair of brown boots in the "We pretend it's winter but it's not" sale. Seriously, the boots were $30, originally $170!

So the dissertation is ALMOST done. A few little tweaks, then it's off to the reader. We have a defense scheduled for March 13th. It's been a long road, and there were some bumps near the end, but almost there. Once I pass my defense, I'll just have to avoid getting fired from my internship and then I'll be D.O.N.E.

C is putting in for some different positions at work. It'll mean we lose the set schedule, but he's ready to do something different. I'll keep you posted.

E is starting potty training! This whole thing is a little more complicated with daycare, but we're trying. He wore "unnerware" all day yesterday! Today was not quite as successful, but we're getting there. We were doing the pull-ups thing, but I he's always been a jump-in-with-both-feet kind of kid, and the underwear route seems to working better. It would be nice if we could do it full time, but I doubt his teachers would appreciate that. So for now, nights and weekends. Fingers crossed because diapers are getting to be a pain in the butt.

So that's it. Working hard all around. Hopefully things will slow down a little soon, but it's nice to be busy with good stuff. We are so blessed, and life right now is so great.