Happy Halloween!

Already enjoying the spoils of a fruitful trick or treating experience.

On an unrelated note, several times when we have told someone that Little A is going to be a big sister they have said, "Oh, you already know it's a girl?"

Um . . .

Tomorrow we find out if all those people were accidentally right.

Please don't put your life in the hands of a rock and roll band

This is what came right off the top of my head when I was trying to explain to LCD who Noel Gallagher was. Edit: is. I should say is, huh?

The nineties, you guys. It was a simple time.

What's that?

Little A's new favorite phrase. She says it all day long, whether she already knows the thing she is pointing to or not. I like to vary my answers. "I don't know, what is it?" when I am sure she knows what it is. "Is it a X?" when I think she probably knows/knew but forgot. She always responds to that one with "Yes! It is a X, mommy!" (It's hard to explain Little A's voice if you haven't heard it lately, but she is VERY expressive.) And if it's something totally new I tell her. We have definitely entered the inquisitive age, and I gotta say I like it.

We even went to the library the other day and though she acted just a little bit crazier than any other child there, she did not pull down every book off the shelf! And after about twenty minutes of running around, talking to everyone, playing with the stuffed animals they have, and "reading" through books in 2.5 seconds, she sat down and read two whole Curious George books with me (complete with many instances of "what's that?") and we even checked some out and took them home with us. It's okay, Abz, I think I'm even going to return them on time.

Hurray for learning.

Budgeting 101

This is going to be the most obvious thing in the universe, but I just feel like responding on MY BLOG to the crap I always see posted on facebook (I just don't like getting political on fb). Today, for example, I saw this:


I get their point and it's all well and good. Current budget cuts are inadequate to solve the debt problem. I completely agree, but would go further to say budget cuts of any kind are going to be inadequate to solve the debt problem.

You see, we had this issue in my house, too. Once I quit working full-time and we looked at our budget we saw that we too would go into debt if we did not do anything about it. So, should we slash our auto repair fund? Should we stop saving any money for retirement? Should we make all of Little A's toys out of materials we gather outside? Let her run around diaperless like the kids from the African village in that documentary Babies? Should we never go visit family? Etc. etc.

Well, we decided that though we could reduce the amounts in all of these categories and others, we could not get rid of them completely because they were TOO important. So our only option was to increase revenue. And since LCD was already working his bum off to make ends meet, the responsibility to make the difference fell to me.

Would I like to be able to nap while Little A naps and would LCD like for me to give a thorough vacuuming to the house every day? Sure. But sometimes solvency now and in the future requires that we make more money instead of just cutting expenditures. It's a balance.

Are budget cuts inadequate to solve the national debt? Yes, but so is income/revenue. If the meager underprivileged in society need to give up some of their services then the privileged wealthy are going to need to give up some money. Fair is fair. THE END.

Toddler at Mommy's Dr. Appt.

Had a checkup at the dr. today and brought Little A. She mostly wreaked havoc, grabbing and pulling down everything in sight and shouting "Mommy, get down!" (I was told that all the kids say this) when I had to sit on the table. Finally she calmed down when the dr. let her wear the stethoscope and seemed to be somewhat intrigued when she got to sit on my chest and help the dr. hold the doppler microphone on my lower belly to hear little brother/sister--a precious moment to make up for all the screaming and havoc-wreaking. Then the dr. had her wipe the jelly off Mommy's belly, after which she lifted up her own shirt and said, "Want jelly on there!"

Pregnancy #1 appointment: Time to savor and quietly listen to my precious baby's heartbeat.

Pregnancy #2 appointment: Damage control with the toddler, and oh yeah was that a heartbeat? Cool.

child labor

Could migrant farm worker be in Little A's career path? Maybe so.

Yesterday we went apple picking and of course all the low apples were picked over already from earlier visitors to the farm. But, we had our secret weapon with us. LCD would lift Little A up just about as high as he could reach and we would coach her "No, not that one. A little higher. Okay over a little. Yes! That one! Now reach with both hands and hold on tight. Pull! Pull!" And she delivered every time. The child is fantastic at that "game." Luckily, she loved it. So does it count as child labor when they are having a great time?

Since she was so eager to eat one, we washed one off on the spot and let her chomp on her victory (don't worry--we still paid for the half-eaten apple). So, at least she received her wages, right?

Forget the fancy machinery, just get a (n almost) two-year-old!

Does something have to be done?

At best I tolerate cooking. At worst I loathe it. Okay, sometimes I like baking.

Anyway it is a major stress for me most of the time to figure out what to make for dinner. I make dinner for the family Monday through Friday and half of Sundays. It's fair because I am the one here to get started on it so it's ready at a decent hour. It's the thinking of what to make that may be the worst. I look a ton of stuff up and realize we don't have the ingredients for any of it. We have plenty of food in the house as is well-demonstrated by the husband when it is his turn and he whips up something new and exciting with whatever we have on hand. But I don't think of these things. I have a mental block for cooking.

Hasn't it gotten easier yet? Well maybe. I know how to make more things and I am more competent when I do it. But then I get tired of those things. Or maybe I have six weeks of nausea during which it is especially un-fun (thank the heavens it was only six weeks) after which I can't seem to climb back out of that rut. I know the days when LCD comes home early and cooks I feel to shout hallelujah.

So I should probably get into meal planning or something right? Only, I have little to no interest in it. Maybe if it would relieve my stress it would be worth it, though. I do care about my family eating healthy food and a good variety. And I do think it's totally fair that I should do the majority of the cooking. I guarantee you I don't do that much cleaning so I oughta do something.

I know I sound like the perfect candidate for being a working mom while LCD is a stay-at-home dad, but in reality I love being home with the munchkin. The part where I play with her and teach her things and explore the world with her is almost universally awesome. Maybe I should just focus on getting rich so we can pay someone else to cook and clean? There are so many possibilities . . .

I just can't figure out if this problem really needs solving. We're still alive after all. And I'm happy about 22-23 hours a day so that's not too shabby.

And so it begins

I'm doing a lot of editing this month, some of which is quite intense and science-y. Little A is getting more babysitter time. I always miss her at first when I drop her off and then the time just flies and I'm worried I'm going to be late picking her up. Today she started whimpering when I picked her up to go home because she didn't want to stop playing. We've been wondering when Little A would stop being so sweet and lovey to us all the time (we really are spoiled in that area). So far she asserts her independence but still wants us around and seems to prefer mommy and daddy to anyone else. But, she's starting to get more interested in separate play. It's pretty weird that her babyhood will officially end in two months.

Really I should share some pics of our recent trip to KC. Maybe someday.