My Little Destroyers

I now have two babies toddlers destroyers.

Jonas, the younger- age 1, is systematically making his way around the duplex and ripping off every doorstop he can find. He's had two successes so far and several interruptions. His crib is covered in bite marks. Forget about dust covers for books, you might as well just throw those away before allowing that book to cross his path. Any paper object is ripped to shreds and/or eaten by this guy.

Simon, the older- age 2, isn't quite as disastrous around the house unless he's in cahoots with Jonas. His destructive skills are best displayed when we're grocery shopping. He rips open boxes and chews tags off any item I let him hold in the cart; but today, oh today, he made me simultaneously angrier at him than I've ever been on a shopping trip and want to crack up laughing... Today as I was checking out some multi-surface cleaner I hear, "Mmmmm! Yummy hotdogs!" from the basket of the cart. Simon had eaten a hole through the plastic packaging and bit a chunk out of some kielbasa. Of course this was after I'd told him five times to take it out of his mouth. I think I had to tell him to take 50% of the items in the cart out of his mouth at one point or another. On top of that, somewhere between the cash register and our refrigerator we lost a gallon of milk. I don't know if the bagger didn't load it in the cart or if I didn't get it from the cart to the van. Either way, I can't ever fully pay attention because I'm too busy wrangling the boys destroyers.

I think they're going to end up destroying me soon... or at least my sanity.


***UPDATE 5:00 pm***

This late afternoon Destroyer Simon unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper (with Jonas' encouragement), got a time-out for it, and when asked if he's allowed to mess with the toilet paper he said, "Yesh." I tell him he's not allowed to touch it til he pees & poops on the potty by himself.

Also, together the boys unscrewed at least one bolt from our dining table and Simon was happily munching on it. I guess we'll eventually find out if Jonas ate one...

But Chase & I do get a kid-free dinner tonight! Hooray for babysitters and Houlihan's free birthday entrée coupons! (Seriously, join their email club and they'll email you a coupon for a free entrée, any entrée, for your birthday!)

Yard Sale-ing

With a new baby on the way and Si still being a baby, there are some items that we need would like to have. One of those items is another pack-n-play. When we travel with both kids this fall/winter, Si won't be ready to sleep in a bed or on a couch or a sleeping bag on the floor (mostly, I don't want him to be able to get up and get into things before we're up), so another pack-n-play is something I've been looking for. Particularly, I wanted one with an attachable bassinet feature.

This morning I took Simey yard sale-ing and we found one for $15. Considering most people around here selling them used on Craig's List want $50+ for them (when you can get a new one for around $60 or so), I think that's a decent deal. It does have a stain that I hope I can get out (not a problem), but otherwise, it's in good condition and not girly. We are having another boy and all (Did I mention that here? If not, we're having another boy!)

We went to a big arena yard sale where people bought space and sold their junk stuff. I was highly disappointed for the most part. People were wanting $2 a piece for their janky old baby clothes that looked like they were worn by 3 or more kids and $45 for tiny (kid-sized) wooden chairs with gunk all over them. (Side note: I love, love, love tiny furniture! Kid-sized not doll-sized.) I mean, come on people, it's a yard sale and you should have yard sale prices! I would have paid $2 for a nice or decent shirt for Si, but not for worn-out stuff. There were some people who would have piles of clothes and priced them as whatever you can stuff in a grocery bag for $1, but most of that stuff looked janky and I didn't have the patience to rummage especially with Simon in tow. Oh, and someone was selling their used tighty-whities! Ewwww!

I did find two good deals for Si. He got a pair of new leather sandals (they look like they've never been worn) for $3 and a sweet hoodie track jacket in excellent condition for the fall for $2. I did see one station that had some great clothes that were pretty much my style and size, but only my size if I weren't pregnant and I didn't want to buy anything just hoping it would fit later.

There was one interesting deal that I took a picture of with my phone...

But since our toilets are working and if they weren't our landlord would take care of it, that's another deal I had to pass up.

Here are some other baby-related items I'm on the lookout for (in case you're wondering or happen to come across something):
-maternity dress(es) for me (we have 5 or 6 weddings to go to this summer and my maternity dresses are long-sleeved and the maternity selections are pretty sad around here)
-double stroller (something like this, this, this or this)
-some fall/winter baby boy clothes in size 0-3 months and 3-6 months (we have a few in 3-6 months)

I think that's pretty much it!

Thank You Interweb

Dear Interweb,
Thank you for always being there. Whenever I have a question about what actor played a role in a particular movie or show, you're there. If I want to know how to tell if an egg has gone bad, you're there. When I want to see what developmental milestones my baby will reach next, you're there. If I want to know what my current and former friends and acquaintances are up to without actually talking to them, you're there.

You've always got blogs, blogs and more blogs to read, videos to watch, plenty of places to shop, and I can even use my credit card rewards through you! For these things, I also thank you.

Mostly, I'd like to thank you for the strange things I find using you. Today, I came across this:


Thanks again, Interweb, you've yet to fail me!

We're Having A...

Well, we're having a BOY! As clear as the other ultrasound pictures were, we had no idea what was going on in the between the legs shot. The only reason we knew it was boy parts was that "XY" was typed at the bottom. I had some ladies at church take a look, and they were very sure that the picture was of a boy (one without me telling her first). After them interpreting the picture for me, it's a bit more obvious.

We had a great Christmas and made off with quite a bit of loot! We got some things for Baby R2 and I got plenty of maternity clothes. Chase got some gift cards to his favorite place to shop. Most unique gift we received: Abraham Lincoln bookends from Miranda, who did most of her Christmas shopping at a flea market. We appreciate all of the gifts we received.

Since we're past the halfway point in pregnancy now, we also started a registry at Babies R Us while we were in town at my parents' because we don't have one close to where we live. Picking out a crib, bedding, stroller, and all kinds of other stuff seemed super overwhelming at first, but we got through picking out the big stuff. We also decided to go mostly with an animal/jungle/rainforest type of theme with our decor and whatnot. Thankfully, my parents have decided that they will purchase our crib and bedding for us. We'll do some more registering at Target sometime after we get back home.

We're totally pumped to be having a son. I can hardly wait to dress him in clothes that make him look like a tiny man! (My aunt got us the shirt pictured above and I love it!)

Baby Stuff

I know you've just been waiting at the edge of your seat hitting the refresh button on the computer to find out if my Belly Bands have come in yet. Well you can relax now, they're here and I'm wearing one today! I have to say that it's working pretty well; it's keeping my (unbuttoned) pants up and is pretty comfortable. They're not really worth what they're priced, but they are worth getting for free via Amazon rewards! Hooray for extending my wardrobe for a while longer! I think my belly grows on Sundays...

Typing of shopping and baby-related whatnots, if we have a son, he will need these jammies from Old Navy, or these.

Our next doc appointment is on Wednesday afternoon. We should be able to hear our baby's (or possibly babies'?) heartbeat for the first time then!

Belly

Usually by the end of the day my belly sticks out a lot more than it does at the beginning. I pretty much attribute that to the food I've eaten throughout the day and with my growing womb my insides are being mushed around. I'll go to bed and when I wake up my belly is back to regular size... except this morning. I now have an itty bitty bump. This has inspired me to make my first maternity purchase. (Actually, because of our Amazon.com rewards from our credit card, it cost me nothing!) I just ordered two of these:

They're belly bands! They'll allow me to keep wearing my regular pants and skirts unbuttoned and/or unzipped while hiding the unbuttoned/unzipped part. Also, they will allow me to wear maternity pants that will currently be too big. The bands are stretchy and will hold my pants up! Plus, I'll still be able to wear my regular shirts (which are looking shorter and shorter) and it'll just look like I have a t-shirt layered underneath. As Keli's grandma would say, whoever dreamed that up had a good dream, they did!

Now, don't get too excited about the itty bitty baby bump; if you didn't know it was there, you probably wouldn't notice it. But I guess now that I've put this on my blog, people will stop making eye contact with me and just check out the belly.

Oriental Trading

Does anyone else like to look through the Oriental Trading magazines? I do and have for as long as I can remember. I think we started getting them after my mom ordered some stuff for a Halloween block party. I always knew it was a bunch of junk, but I always enjoy looking at it.

I mean, look at this:
Who actually buys this? It's absolutely ridiculous! Really, I'm serious and want to know who buys this! I've seen this costume in more than one edition of the magazine, so someone must be buying them!

Travelling Junior's Section Graduate

I guess I should update. Chase and I have been super busy lately. Let's see, so far since the end of May, we've been out of the country for two weeks and then back home for almost three weeks (more like two and a half), then we were at a youth camp for a week and then home for almost four days, and then we went to visit family and friends in Kentucky for almost five days and now we're home for three until we go up to St. Louis to stay the night with a friend before flying to Atlanta for an interview* Thursday and Friday and then it's back home again.

Phew! Just typing all of that makes me tired.

We actually got to see all of our brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents this past extended weekend as well as some friends from highschool and college and some cats. While we weren't particularly active during this trip, we didn't really get rested. It's hard to get rest when you're in a house full of people you want to spend time with and visit.

Something fun, my mom took me birthday shopping while I was in town, and I got this super fun top. I just tried it on for fun thinking it wouldn't look right on me, but it looked great and is now one of my favorite tops! (I don't tie the sash around the waist, though; I just tie it in the back and let it hang- it looks much better that way.)

I've recently moved up from shopping in the junior's section and now shop in the women's department. Yup, that stylish top came from the women's department. For the longest time I thought that only moms shopped at the women's department and I wasn't about to step foot in that place until I, too, became a mom. No, I'm not a mom yet, but I've discovered that there are lots of great clothes in the women's department! This discovery happened sometime last summer when I was fed up with not being able to determine my size in the junior's section. See, in the junior's section, you can be three different sizes depending on the clothing brand, and even sometimes within the same brand! It was just getting too frustrating to determine what size to try on, so I just moseyed** on over to the women's section and not only were the clothes just as stylish, it was easier to find less trampy clothes and I could tell what size I needed to try!

I'm finding more and more of my friends are shopping in the women's department, too. I, along with most of my friends, have become a Junior's Section Graduate and a Women's Section Advocate. I challenge you, young ladies, to venture out of the junior's department with the extra low rise waists and shirts cut for the bodies of 12-year-old stick girls, and march into the women's department where a size 14 in one brand is not a size 6 in another! (Just imagine me standing behind a podium shaking and pounding my fists as I proclaim this.) Where you can find stylish yet comfortable pants! Where the shorts are a reasonable length! Join me, sisters, in the women's department and be free!

Okay, that might have been just a little over the top.... but it's true!

*No, we're not moving to Atlanta; that's just where the interview is. We'll be staying right here for now, and this opportunity would really only change the way Chase is compensated- plus, we might have to do a bit of travel.

**Is "moseyed" the past tense of "mosey"?