I've definitely only got one bun in this oven, but there are two sets of twins making an entrance in my life this year! My friend Caroline is having two girls in September, and my sister-in-law Ashley is having a boy and a girl in October. I'm so excited to hold these precious new babies! And the great thing about twins is that there's always a baby to go around, you know? I'm not good at sharing babies.
Do not attempt to go to the grocery store when:
A) Your list is at home, and
B) You are starving.
Because this is what you will come home with. Oreo Cakesters? Really, Suz? Oreo Cakesters?
[They were pretty good, though, if you're wondering.]
Food and I are not friends when I am pregnant, by the way. I need it in order to not spend my entire day in the depths of nausea hell, but I do not want it. If there were some way for me to avoid all food except Snickers Ice Cream bars for the entire 9 months of pregnancy, I would totally do it.
As you might guess, grocery trips are a little difficult for me these days. Which is why this past weekend our pantry, while still somehow ridiculously crowded, contained nothing actually edible. Which may or may not have contributed significantly to my public display of sobbing and wagon pulling on Saturday.
So today I put on my big girl panties and went to the Publix determined to buy one of everything, just to quiet the roaring but incredibly fickle beast that is my baby belly. Lee laughed when I told him my plan, but I don't think he'll be laughing when he sees the receipt.
Or when I tell him that in all those groceries, there is still nothing to eat for breakfast. See above "Note to Self" section A.
Also must share:
Mary Bullock unpacked the grocery bag sitting next to her on the way home. When she got to the Ruffles, she hugged them and said, "Awwww."
I'm not going to sugar coat this: our weekend started out very, very badly. Somewhere between months of exhaustion and morning sickness, a stressful "vacation," and a week of house guests, Lee and I found our relationship a little off the rails. Or completely derailed, depending on how you view my sobbing around the block pulling a very confused Mary Bullock behind me in the wagon. We found out the hard way that that's what happens when you put each other last on a long list of priorities.
I love Mary Bullock like there is no tomorrow, I'm sure you know. But everyone needs a break now and then, and we have been bad about not scheduling breaks for ourselves. Until, you know, anyone in the neighborhood who happens to be looking out his window at 8am can see very clearly that I need to take a chill pill.
Enter Gritsy, [Lee's mom] who volunteered to keep Mary Bullock for the night. God bless her.
And also*
and also
and voila.
Problem solved.
Now if I could just get someone in here to take care of this laundry situation.
Anyone? Anyone?
*Not necessarily recommending this movie unless you really like crude jokes, but it wasn't the worst movie ever, and it was pretty funny. Mostly it was just nice to hold hands in the theatre and shove my face full of buttered popcorn.
Today Mary Bullock and I spent some more time in the back yard, which meant lots of time with the water hose. I haven't actually put on a bathing suit and plopped myself down in the baby pool yet, but it's coming. I stuck my feet in several times, and it was heavenly compared to the sweltering 90+ degrees we're experiencing.
When I wasn't sticking my feet in the pool, I was re-introducing myself to Fla*Vor*Ice, which I probably haven't had since I was 10. Ahhhhh. Mary Bullock doesn't seem very interested in them yet, but that only means more for me.
Mary Bullock went down the slide by herself today, which is a big step. She's going to be such a big girl by the end of summer. Maybe by then I can move the slide over to land in the baby pool and watch the havoc that ensues.
Did I tell you that my parents are in town? Yes, they got here right after we returned from vacation. So we have exactly no clean laundry in the house, but I'm not worried about that right now. Tomorrow, I will panic.
Today, I had a sewing lesson.
I haven't sewed anything other than a button since my Grandma gave Jen and me Cabbage Patch Kid sewing machines for Christmas when we were 8. I'm pretty sure we sewed a pillow and then gave up. Now I know why--sewing is kind of complicated. And my mom has been doing it since she was 12, so she talks kind of fast, and is all like: DUH, you have to back stitch it, while I pick the lint out of my belly button.
No, it wasn't that bad. But I have so much to learn. SO much to learn.
I've had a a couple of months now to consider [and un-consider and re-consider] how I would tell you all this. It's big information, life-changing information, which many of you already know. Especially those of you who keep tabs on my jalepeno chip habits. Ahem.
Anyway, remember this? I was really struggling then. I had just had a miscarriage--not my first. Maybe not my last. It happened pretty early, and it wasn't exceptionally dramatic or even that physically painful. But if you've ever been through it, you know that as soon as you see two pink lines on a pregnancy test, you have new visions of how your life will be. And when it ends, it is the memory of those visions that hurts the most.
But I told myself at the time, and I tell myself often, that God is always working things out for our good. We may not understand how it all works, but then, we're pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Why should we understand? Once you make peace with not understanding, you make room for life's joyful surprises.
And when I say surprise, I mean: SURPRISE! As much for me as anyone, let me assure you.
So now you know why I've been an absentee blogger for the last two months. My days have gotten sort of difficult--I'll spare you the details. But I hope to be turning a corner soon, and I hope you'll stick out the next 6 or so months with me, even when you want to stab me if you see one more baby-related post. I promise it won't be a six month virtual shopping spree.
We're back! And don't think I'm not kind of hacked that none of you twerps told me that vacationing with an 18 month old is kind of stressful. But no one can complain about 10 whole days of Daddy time. Lee mentioned on the way there that this trip involved the most days [in a row] that he'd ever spent with Mary Bullock. Stressful or not, it was precious time.
I wish we had taken more pictures, but as it turns out, it's hard to wield a camera and chase a toddler over rocky terrain. Mary Bullock has only one speed setting right now, and she's more like the hare than the tortoise, if you know what I mean.
So now we're back to work [Lee] and laundry/vacuuming dog hair [me]. And it's good to be home.
