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.

Five Years and Counting

Blogging from my phone... takes a lot longer.  Dang.  I just sneezed and woke up my baby.  He thinks he's old enough to fight sleep, now.  But even when he does his sleepy whine, he's still cute!

I'm starting to regret the haircut...! *face-palm* I can't tell Anton because this is what he was afraid of, and he'll never let me try anything again.  It took LOTS of time and persuasion to get him to okay this one.
I was doing fine until I saw a wedding photo as my lock screen background, and noticed how long and pretty my hair looked in the picture.  Aaahhhh!
My kids will be in high school by the time I get it that long again!

*sigh.  My anniversarry is this weekend.  Five years!  Where has the time gone!
I made sure Anton had our anniversarry off.  Today, I casually mentioned that he had the weekend off and asked if he had any plans... "Yeah, I might go off-roading," he said.
I'm considering the position he's in.
I could either let him forget and hold it over him--use it as leverage or something-- or I could kindly remind him...  I haven't decided yet.

Oh, I've been singing to my baby!  Biggest smile I've seen from him yet!  He smiles a lot, actually.  In the afternoon when he wakes up, when Anton reads to him, when he gets a bath, when I sing to him... I think he might like it here.  Earth, not North Dakota.
It's such a strange place.  North Dakota, this time.  Tiny podunk towns generally have smaller crime rates... but since I've come here I've known people who've been stabbed in attempted robbery, assaulted, and held hostage at gunpoint.  I didn't actually know the girl who was held hostage, but that happened in the trailer court where I live.  I have never seen so many cops.  And they were all standing around, looking quite bored.  Maybe it wasn't that unusual of an occurance for them.

And that's my life lately.  Mostly, this little guys is my life--he gets what he wants cause he's so stinkin' cute.

All About Andrei... and me, too.

Well, I love my baby.  I love staying home and taking care of him, and I love seeing my husband be a daddy.  Just as I expected.  :-)

I think my focus has changed.  I spend less time thinking about how much I dislike living here, and more time doting on my baby.  I feel happier.  And more tired.  And hungrier-- I am amazed at how much I can eat now.  And kind of frustrated at how much I feel like I need to eat.  I really need to start cooking more.

My baby has started to have "things" he does.  One of his things--super cute-- is that when he's laying on my chest (which also happens to be his favorite way to sleep) so I can burp him, he finds footholds, and pushes his little legs, so his little butt sticks in the air.  And just stays like that for a while.  It makes me laugh.  But also sad that he's so strong.  He's not staying tiny like I want him to.

Another of his things... from about 6 p.m. to 1. a.m. he won't let me put him down. 6 p.m. is when his daddy leaves for work. He has to be held for a few hours after Anton leaves.  Makes dinner kind of difficult for me.  Last night my dinner was popcorn and carrots, because that was what I could do with one hand at the time.  Little bugger. I think he likes Anton more than me... he smiles more when Anton picks him up than he does when I pick him up, especially when Anton reads to him.  And when he fusses in his sleep, if I put him next to Anton, he sleeps better.

I'm okay with it, though.  Anton's eating it up.

Something I'm writing down for future reference for me... my baby makes noises when he's sleeping, especially if I move him, and he sounds exactly like a baby goat.  Exactly.  It's hilarious.  I'm so going to tell his girlfriends about that when he's older.  I'll have to make a recording.

Anyway, that's my baby in a nutshell.

Here he is, calming down after I put him next to daddy

Here he is in a cute outfit that Mom got for him

And here he is smiling because Anton is reading to him

Also, I just barely did this to my hair

I feel so crazy!  Biggest change of my life!  Other than getting married and having a baby, of course.

Anton was super nervous about me cutting my hair.  He was afraid I'd hate it and cry for weeks.  But he loves it!  I do, too.  Hard to get used to, though, after having such long hair for so long. :-)