The Late and the Up-to-date

Um, I found this beginning to blog post that I started like five months ago:

Anton and I are looking for an apartment.  We're being kind of slow about it, because then we'll be so broke it'll hurt.  And no one likes being that painfully broke.  :-)

I am not pregnant.  People keep speculating (not that that bothers me--I don't really mind).  It's not happening, though.  I don't mean ever, it will happen eventually.  But I need several months worth of becoming healthy before I even begin  to try, considering how sick I was from nursing.  So, that's that.

Anton's making borsh right now.  Every time he makes it, he gets an obscene amount of praise from people--it really feeds his ego.  But his borsh is dang good...

My calling as a Wolf Cub Scout leader is turning out to be kinda fun, actually.  I think they like me, too, because I'm in pretty tight with all their moms, and they said there's no way they're ever releasing me...

Andrei is a little sassy pants now.  Sometimes I wish he would not catch on to stuff so quickly, because it takes so much longer to un-teach.  But then I guess my job would be way easier if that were the case.

And now the updated updates:

We found an apartment.  Pretty broke.  But it's cool.

Apparently I got healthy real fast because I got pregnant pretty much the day we stopped trying not to.  Due in March.

All of my Wolves turned nine... and now I'm a Bear leader.

Andrei is way more sassy than he was even a month ago.  He always asks "Why?" or "Why not?"  When I tell him to stop doing something.  Only he doesn't care about the answer.  But he's still cute enough to get away with tons of crap.

Anyway, life is pretty great.  When I don't have to smell the stuff people cook.  ;-)

P.S.  I always give a fake name when I order food or whatever (it started out as an accident, but then it was fun).  My go-to name when I panic because I forgot to think of one is Beulah.  It always trips somebody up.  But I thought I was so clever this last time when I gave Hyacinth.  However, the Barnes and Noble waitress was totally on top of it.  She knew how to spell it, knew it's a flower, and told me she'd never met anyone named Hyacinth and that it's such a beautiful name.  Then I felt lame because my name is Erica instead of Hyacinth.  Heh!


Cleaning papa's shoes.

Bouncy house in Bismarck.

How the mall gets us to stay longer.

He loves the stuffies.

Waking up on the long road trip.

He says "Cheese" when he knows I'm taking a picture.  :-)

Cuddly when he's sick.

The cookie I commissioned when Ashley was selling them.

Help! My baby's getting too big!

Little guy got croup a while back.  He was still playful so it wasn't serious, but at night he was pretty miserable.  That animal-like cough was frightening.  It's been the saddest time of his whole little life... except when Jaxon bites him.

He had a great birthday.  He loved the attention, and mostly the balloons.  He loved Christmas, too.  Although Jaxon liked Andrei's presents more than Andrei did.  Andrei liked Logan's presents.  Greener grass, and all that, I suppose.

I've been sick for like a month and a half.  It's super annoying, and I'm pretty sure I've never been sick for this long before.  I also think it may have something to do with nursing.  I think I'm not keeping any nutrients for myself and that I need to slow it down.  I have been taking sage for like a week, but it's done nothing.  And it hurts to not nurse, so I'm being a little pansy about stopping.  I started with just doing it less often, like only when I'm putting him to sleep (but it still hurts).  My bloody noses stopped, so that's a good sign.

Funny Story #1:
Andrei is fascinated with toothbrushes.  He loves to chew on them.  And for some reason, he always seems to find Ashley's toothbrush.  She's gotten like five new toothbrushes so far.  She thinks someone is giving Andrei her toothbrush to play with.  Sounds like she's in denial about leaving her stuff in the wrong place, but it would be pretty funny if someone were giving Andrei her toothbrushes all the time...

Funny Story #2:
Sometimes I take Andrei to the mall to get him out of the house.  We go to Barnes and Noble where he plays in the kiddy section and I read.  One time (after he had fallen asleep), I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye, and looked over to see a teeny, tiny bird hopping on the carpet toward a corner (probably looking for refuge... in a corner).
Yes, a real bird in the book store.  Hopping on the carpet.  And she was the cutest freaking bird I've ever seen!  She was about as tall as my thumb, and as wide as three fingers.  I decided she was a girl, and often got lost, and loved books, just like me.

Of course... I had to catch the bird in the book store.  So after about five minutes of me crawling around and probably looking like a creeper, I stood tall and proud with my miniature prize.  As tall as five-feet-two inches can be, anyway.  I named her Dixxy Chickenlegs.

I would have taken her outside myself, but I didn't want to stray too far from my sleeping baby, so I peeked around the corner and caught the attention of the first Barnes and Noble sales associate I saw.  He was a young boy in that awkward stage of life, and I was about to make his day.
I held my cupped hands out to him when he approached and told him that I had a present for him.  He looked uncertain, probably because he thought I was hitting on him (which also would have made his day, I'm guessing).
Anyway, as I began transferring Dixxy Chickenlegs, I told him I had found a little bird and that I would leave her fate in his hands... literally.
His eyes grew wide, he stared down at his hands, and started freaking out.  "Oh, my gosh!"  Then he turned around and began addressing his compadres.  "Guys!  Guys, I have a BIRD!  This is the coolest day, EVER!"
I was sad to see my little Dixxy Chickenlegs go, but I knew that she had to learn to fly and strike out on her own... to live her happy little bird life.

Little smarty pants.


I'm not sure if these videos will work... but I tried.

The Latest and Greatest

Well, we're back the other way, now.  I guess home is wherever I make it.  :-)

I am now the wolf leader for cub scouts...  and I've decided eight-year-old boys do not exist--only imps who posses the bodies of small children.
They're keeping me on my toes.  I got lazy from working with teenagers the past couple years.

Andrei's new favorite attraction is the piano.  He thinks he's pretty good at it (probably because we sit there and act like he's Rachmaninoff when he plays).  He also loves to be chased.  Oddly enough, he is faster at crawling on hard surfaces than I am, so he actually gets away.

And funny baby story:

So, every morning Andrei gets out of bed and plays by himself for a while, and I ignore him so I can get another hour of sleep.  Well, one morning, he crawled into the bathroom and found a razor on the floor, which he carried around with him for like 15 minutes.
Finally, he came crawling back to me in bed because he was a little bit upset.  When he crawled onto the bed, I noticed blood spots where he was and thought that maybe Anton's toes were bleeding last night... weird.
Except the blood was on my baby's hands, and still gushing (it wasn't that much blood, but finger cuts apparently don't clot very quickly).  He had two little cuts, one on each pointer finger, which was surprising to me, considering how long he had it, and how he puts everything in his mouth...
Anyway, he couldn't keep the cute little baby band aids on, so we put some gauze on his hands and duct taped it, taping all his fingers, but leaving out the thumbs.
Then we went to the store.  :-)
He slept almost the whole time.  When we sat down to eat some delicious salads from Extreme Pita, though, he insisted on getting out of his stroller.  So, he sat on the table, getting down on his belly to eat things because he couldn't pick anything up with taped little hands... and yes, that is as sadly funny as you can imagine it.
Finally, a lady came over and asked why this baby's hands are taped.  I told her he'd cut his fingers and couldn't keep a band aid on, so I had to tape his fingers.  She felt so badly for him, she gave him ten dollars to buy a toy.
Yes, the first ten dollars my baby ever made was because of how pathetic he looked with duct taped hands... I still laugh every time I think about it.

Anyway, Anton likes his job.  He especially likes the six days off--he works eight days on, six days off.
And I realized I love Fall.  The realization came when I was going about my business at the grocery store and stopped because of some amazing apples I smelled.  I found they're called Zestar apples, which I had never heard of before, and it hit me that these apples smell like Fall.  They smell like a small-town harvest party outside in the sweetest fall weather.  :-)

Now I'll add some pictures, and I can't put a video in here, but supposedly, if I put the link in here you can watch it...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwGO-4mlyHK5aHduTEttcmMyeGs

His taped hands...

Our July

Things that terrify my child to the point of fitful tears and desperately clinging to his mamma (or papa, whoever's closer):

--Vacuuming

--Blow-drying my hair

--Any kind of water touching him that is not contained in either the bathtub or a bottle he's drinking from.

The first two I understand; he's always hated loud things.  But the water...?  He loves bath time.  He splashes, crawls around chasing his toys, stands up and reaches for everything that isn't a toy... but every time I take him to a splash park, or to hang in the yard with a hose, he totally freaks. Ugh, and it's so hot, I really, really want to go swimming with him.

Things that tickle my child's fancy to the point of hilarious baby giggles:

--Singing and dancing

--Reading to him in funny voices

--Anything that happens while he's upside down.

He's pretty fun, even though he won't let me take him swimming.  :-)

Anton got really good grades on four very important tests this week.  He had been so nervous, and we're so relieved it's over and that he not only passed but did well (not everything's over, just those specific tests).  So, we went to Applebee's to celebrate (the nicest restaurant in town).  Kyle came, too.

When we got home, I touched my eyeball to get a hair or something out. Then I started freaking out (I forgot that I touched a jalapeno from Kyle's nachos).  I found some eye clearing solution... that turned out to have dried up.  So, Anton found one that wasn't dried up and I used it generously.
So generously that it got into my gaping mouth.  Then I had to rush to the kitchen to find something to eat because the solution tasted as gross as the jalapeno burned (and it was still burning, though not as badly).

And that's as exciting as it gets around here.  :-)

He loves books!

Wrapped himself up in Papa's shemag.

Proof that he doesn't hate all water.

Poor kid gets himself stuck almost daily.

He cleans the kitchen floor for us.

He never really knows what to do in the grass.

Still climbing trees.  :-)

Little Rant + Pictures of the Kid

So, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.  Great!  Now, they just need to legalize polygamy, polyandry, marriage between people and animals, and remove all age restrictions so that adults and children can marry, also.  After all, love is the only thing that matters, right?

Who cares if children get thrown under the bus because of this attack on the family?  As long as gay people love each other, everything is A-OK.

Bit of verbal irony there, in case anyone believes I'm serious.

This is the only scholarly article I could post, because I had it downloaded and put it on my google drive.  Hope it works.

https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive

Little rant over.

Anyway, Anton is doing well in school, thanks to his no longer having a night job. And also, probably thanks to God, who might occasionally play jokes on us, but in the end helps us along.

Everything is swell.  Other than the fact that we have no idea what we're doing or where we're going in two months.  But we'll find something I'm sure.  At least the baby's happy.

The little one discovered pickles.  We love pickles.  We love that he loves pickles.  Works even better than a pacifier. :-)  Which, of course, means we find pickles in odd places.

He thinks he can stand on his own.  He pulls himself up, then lets go.  And falls, of course, but it's still cute.

I found the camera cord. Well, Anton found it.  So, here are a bunch of cute pictures.  I also had a few videos but I couldn't put them on here because, even though there is an attachment that is clearly for videos, Blogger doesn't actually want anyone to be able to post videos.  It's a joke, you see.

 The baby and his pickle.  He takes it with him everywhere he crawls until he looses it.

 This is what we wake up to every morning.  :-)

 I took away the pile of rice he worked so hard to crawl to... (the rice I spilled onto the floor).

Homemaker in Training

Well.  We're back.  And it feels like home.  Probably because we own it, and have it all to ourselves.  Plus a baby.  But he's cute, so we don't mind sharing our lives with him.

Our little baby army-crawls all over the place now.  He laughs when we hang him upside down, he can sit up by himself, and he makes little cough-squeal noises when he's excited.
He also dives right for my phone every time he sees it.  Makes me a little nervous that he's already so interested in phones...

I baked some squash to feed him because I decided he's ready to cut down on milk feedings... turns out I'm the one who's not ready.
Yeah.  I got all emotional and crap.  When I nurse him, he plays with my hair.  And I think it's sweet.  It's also WAY easier than preparing real food for him, and then trying to feed it to him with a spoon. Which takes forever!

I may have to revisit that issue soon, though, because The Beast is beginning to eat every hour and I occasionally run out of milk.  And that makes the poor kid livid.

I had some cute pictures to post, but I can't get them off the camera because I have no idea where the cord is, and my computer's card reader doesn't show anything.

Anyway... Anton brought home another porcupine.  We cooked it.  The last one tasted better.  At least he has something fun to distract him from his boring homework.  Even if it does involve bringing home odd-tasting small game.

We're participating in Bountiful Basket.  I love all the cool fruits and vegetables we get!  It's like Christmas every week!  I got purple carrots.  Purple!  They're my favorite carrots.  And all the cute tiny watermelons make me so happy!

Also, I'm starting to question my resolve about not having another kid until I want to.  I keep having dreams that I'm pregnant.  All the time!  And they seem so real!  I wake up every other morning and feel my stomach to make sure there really isn't anything moving around in there.  It's so weird.  It's probably just one of my greatest fears manifesting itself in my dreams...

In other news, a friend I've known here for a little while happens to be a hairdresser.  I told her about my regrets and dreams (all concerning my hair of course), and she told me I could pull this off... so we did it.

 I know my face looks weird in this picture.  But my hair looks cool.

 Yep.  My hair is a color that's not a real hair color.  Teal.

When she was doing this to my hair, I told her this is the craziest thing I have ever done in my entire life.  And I realized... that's how boring my life is.  I need to get out more and do stuff.

Friday, March Thirteenth

The most exciting things in my life as of late:
--I stole some jam from walmart
--I'm heading back to Rexburg
--I'm not pregnant
--I may become a poet

If my career as a poet fails, I could always fall back on theivery.  Although, it was an accident.
A friend and I were using the same cart and checking out at the self-check out.  When we got to the car, I was putting the groceries in and found an unbagged jar of jam... having forgotten that I even put it in the cart, I realized I stole it.  I ran back inside and paid for it.  No one even noticed.  But it was kind of funny.

We are definitely going back to Rexburg in April to finish school.  Yes, my life is so boring that going to Rexburg is actually exciting... ;-)

I was having tons of pregnancy symptoms (like I always do... except when I'm actually pregnant), and then a girl I live with started having them, too, so I thought it was just a bug.  But it kept up and didn't go away... turns out I'm not pregnant.  But she is.  Maybe I have sympathy pregnancy symptoms.

Today is Friday, the 13th.  Which I realized after a bunch of crap happened and I was wondering why... and then something good happened at the end.  And I wrote a poem about it.

It's called, "Friday, March Thirteenth"

My face is marred by your tiny, sharp nails;
I never can cut them all.
My ears are ringing from your "little" wails-
I didn't mean to let you fall.

All that expensive makeup I used to wear,
Now is getting dusty.
I don't recall when I last brushed my hair,
And why does it feel crusty?

My favorite pair of shorts is in the sink;
They're covered in your poop.
How I have tried to give up on sleep,
But my eyes begin to droop.

Is this reality, or do I dream it?
I might be going daft.
But I'm happy, and I really mean it,
Because today... my baby laughed.

Yep, that is correct.  I made him laugh for real, today.  And I was so happy, I teared up.  A lot of things make me tear up, though... I had to explain to Anton that the crazy hormone that made me cry a lot while pregnant... still there.

Anyway, that's the sitch.

 Baby's first campfire.  He loved it... okay, he slept, and we loved it.