morning romantacism

Up again at 2 am.

This time at least there were nicer thoughts bouncing through my head. Things like, oh, when I'm at home with Khubz y Bean we'll be able to have messy breakfast foods again.

Breakfast is often rushed. Khubz eating a bowl of cereal or cheese stick or apple while the mommies do her hair and shove shoes on her feet. All this before whisking her away to daycare in time for "second breakfast" at CLC.

Of course there will still be rushed mornings and running late to this or that etc. But there are just going to be a lot more mornings with oatmeal, cottage cheese, peanut butter, refried beans or yogurt. . . All food that feels good when massaged into the scalp and therefore not helpful when we're trying to rush out the door to daycare. It sounds so romantic from here. Messy breakfast--especially the oatmeal. It's cold here today.

In other news, I had my last OB apt with my beloved Dr. Harris. I am so sad that I won't be laboring with her as my doctor. She is kick ass. Completely.

I've lost 3 more pounds but my uterus is growing so I'm not actually worried about the baby. I've also had wicked nausea most of last week so I'm sure I'll make up the weight here. After all, the major stress eating has kicked in. The bean's heartbeat was strong, all other indicators are good. Dr. Harris told me to expect a totally normal, absolutely boring labor.

good job, mommy. good job.

Hi folks,

It's four a.m. which is indicative of my heartburn tonight. Rather than spin in silence I decided to enlist ye innocent readers. I used to post stories here, you know? Now it seems like random and/or bizarre lists punctuated by anxiety. We'll get back to the narrative flow at some point, I promise.

On that note, I neglected to post anything about our adventures in potty training. Khubz usually stays dry at night, often tells us when she goes potty, likes to come in the bathroom with us when we go. . .It seemed like November might be the right time to try. . . Or. . .not. We, perhaps, got things off on the wrong foot when we set the kitchen timer to go off every 20 minutes. NO. NO POTTY. NO!! NOOOOO POTTY!!!!!!

Okay, wailing was not the association we were trying to create. Frequent calls to my mother got us the advice that we (Scully & I) were clearly not ready, even if Khubz was (and it didn't sound like she was.) We tried for several days. Elmo and Dora panties. Shrieking at daycare as well. Reports from Funk over at Growing a Pair that Khubz was crying on the potty. (Even though Funk did offer to hold her hand--sweet girl!) Khubz does have strong bladder control because she'd simply refuse to potty for the 9 hours she was at daycare.

At home, she'd come in the bathroom with me and I'd sit on the potty. "What do we think of?" "Agua." Khubz would report. And we'd talk about rivers and rain and suddenly we'd hear the sound of Mommy peeing!! And we'd both open our mouths in an excited wow!! And then it would be Khubz's turn on the potty and she'd sit and say "ssssss" to imitate the sound. Toilet paper frivolities. High ratio of hand soap to water for joyous, bubbly hand washing. And then she'd run out the bathroom and piss all over the living room. Immediately.

Our only "success" came when she was butt naked, squatted down to poop and I carried her, pooping all the way, from her room to the bathroom. I just felt like we needed to declare some kind of victory, you know? Success in the form of picking up a trail of poops from one room to the next is actually a pretty hollow victory.

Well, fuck this, we said. Who needs the stress? We've got plenty ourselves. So a temporary goodbye to the Elmo and Dora panties. Welcome back diapers! The lasting impact that potty training has had on Khubz? When I potty Khubz will come up to me afterwards, pat my shoulder and say, "good job, mommy. good job."

I'll take it.

Okay, that story actually helped.
And you all do know that I've already polished the kitchen cabinets, right?

In other news, we got in to the townhouse in iowa today and it is all going to be okay. I think the space will work better than I had imagined, we should be able to get most of our stuff into storage in the basement there. Khubz had a great time running absolutely wild around the empty house with her cousins. Most fabulously, we dropped off cleaning supplies and my family are taking shifts over the next week or so to get the place ready for us. (i love them. i love love them.)

Scully has just arrived back in Kansas and Khubz & I head there tomorrow. That means I should really take a couple tums to knock out the rest of the heartburn and sort out my head/list/anxiety tomorrow when there are trained professionals (aka the family) available to help me.

Okay. Good night.

Evidence Based Research

A few things I'm learning along the way

Those who have been proven to be hardcore bitches in the past and who have no connection to their humanity shall remain bitches in the present and foreseeable future.

Lists do help prevent me from spinning out of control.

Polishing the kitchen cabinets only brings into sharp relief the other woodwork in the house that is gasping for attention.

If you clean the door of the fridge too early you will only have to clean it again.

And finally,

It's Scully's Birthday! Yay Scully!!

New Improved To Do List

I was going to start by bragging that I did, in fact, polish the kitchen cabinets but it seems I've already said that. But I did. Polish the cabinets, I mean. For real.

Here's the list floating through my head right now (in no order whatsoever.)

• CLEAN OUT THE OFFICE AT WORK FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!
• Gestate
• Get emails out to non-bloggy friends
• Call moving men and get them scheduled
• Clean up the kitchen (this shows up on every list, every day)
• Stretch my perineum
• Sort my clothes with bitter honesty about what I will or will not ever wear again
• Pack up the chachkas in the basement
• Pack up the pantry
• Pack up the linen closet
• Email the new landlord and set an apt for our walk through
• Pack for our thanksgiving trip to Tx
• Get over this cold
• Sort through my dry goods
• Pack up the chachkas in our bedroom and the living room
• Pack up the medicine cabinets
• Clean sweep & pack up the extra coats/jackets/etc in the front closet

In other news I had my OB appointment yesterday. Scully & I got to hear the heartbeat (135) my blood sugar, blood pressure were all fine. I've lost about 5 lbs in the last two weeks so I got to do an ultrasound this morning.

The Bean is doing fine--4 1/2 lbs. By size I'm due on Jan. 10th=perfect. Plenty of amniotic fluid. Everything is looking good. Al-Hamdilallah.

And we saw the Bean's face so clearly that I now touch my belly and feel like I'm stroking the Bean's face.

So everything on the list will happen. We have many beloved friends and will definitely be taking them up on their offers to help to get through our to-do lists (with the exception of that perineum stretching. I have to draw the line somewhere.) And it will all be okay.

So keep growing, Beany.

We can't wait to meet you!

omfg

So a few things have been happening around the fruit basket.

We had an october that we are likely to never see again.

Scully took & passed her comps. She interviewed for a new job. She took & passed her orals. We all voted for Obama and will have the first ever African American president of the us. She got the new job.

In Iowa.

We are moving to Iowa. In four short weeks. OMFG.

And not just to Iowa. To the new not-to-be-named town where, actually, the vast majority of my family lives. Khubz is going to grow up with MajPaj and the rest of the tribe. The Bean is going to come into the world and straight into Grandma's arms.

Scully is going to positively kick ass in this job--pretty damn near her dream job, in my dream location. She is ABD and will be able to work on her dissertation remotely. She is going to be insanely busy but I will have the support of the tribe as we all adjust to a new schedule, a new home and a new baby.

Completing this perfect opportunity? The university has partner benefits. So I will get to stay home with Khubz & the Bean and even keep up with MajPaj once we've adjusted. This will be our chance to get well adjusted. It is also my opportunity to either decide I should be staying at home with the kiddos or to stop bitching about daycare. One or the other will happen.

Yes, it is a bit scary to move when you are ridiculously pregnant and quit your job when the entire world is nestling in for an economic depression. And it is also scary to be having another kiddo at the same time you adjust to being a one-income family. And it is a pretty hideous time to try and sell your house. And it is scary and also feels sad to be leaving our community of beloved friends here in Kansas. And I do truly suck with change. And there is a to-do list that is positively overwhelming.

On that note, I have made some progress on my previous list. The office is still a hole and a complete hole and it really, really, really has to get cleaned up today & tomorrow. For real. But I polished the kitchen cabinets. And I've cleaned out the door of the refrigerator. The rest of the fridge needs to get actually cleaned but I've at least cleaned it out.

And I've decided that I need to add "gestate" to any to-do list that I'm working on. It just feels more honest, you know?

Anyway, there's the news.
OMFG.

Because when you're cool

The sun shines on you 24 hours a day

Cheater post

There is so much going on.
This is just not the time to write about it.

Instead how about some pics?

It has been a very good month for us.

Possibilities seem endless.

She may become a

Gardner or Archaeologist?

Puppy Dog or Furry?

Politician or Human Weather Vane?

Farmer or Corn Pool Olympian?

We'll all have to wait and see. . .