All our ducks in a row

from my friend's baby shower. it's a boy!

   

So far the transition into living in another state is going well. We have about a month left here and we've started the process of packing very early. We've discovered that banana boxes are the a mover's best friend. So waxy, and sturdy and have handles. And free. Shawn's called every grocer in town and made appointments to get these babies. (I recall from working in my father's fruit store that tomato boxes are ideal too. Lids & handles.)

   Lots of things are packed. Things we don't use everyday, like fancy glassware & dinnerware, and books we wonder why we've held onto in the first place. Winter stuff, if not already donated to Goodwill.

   Craigslist has been good to us. Sold the couch! Dresser, you are next. As if my clothes don't already live on the floor.

   I've stopped cooking a lot. My plan is to use all the ingredients in the fridge & cupboards, leaving less to toss out at moving time. Other than for eggs, milk, and some fresh items, I have haven't gone grocery shopping in about a month. Our meals are interesting, though. Lately, I'm making lots of Asian dishes because I've found two packs of spring roll wrappers and rice noodles. Last week it was Mexican, 'till I ran out of beans. We swore to keep it up until we're down to an onion, which we'll just have to batter & fry.

One really weird phenomenon is the going away party. Multiple people have asked us, "Are you having a party?"

 Um, as if are we throwing ourselves a going away party? Now my understanding is that one doesn't throw themselves a going away party, or a surprise party or a shower of any sort. I mean, I think birthday parties are acceptable. And people pay for their own weddings.



But, no. And no, we won't slip your birthday celebration into our going away party either. (Yeah, someone actually implied this.)

  If we had time, money and a clutter-free (I just choked with laughter) house, we wouldn't do that anyway. We've played host countless times.


That's what friends are for.

Now, its time to find out who's been really paying attention?

Partying among boxes marked "fragile?" I think not.

 The fact that we haven't locked down where we're going to live or where I'm going to work is reallllllllly, realllllly,  on our minds. Yikes. If I allowed myself to think about it for more than 2 minutes, my brain might explode. Then I'd have to clean the floor for the fifth time today.

In it together, though, right?



On a lighter side of things-

  This weekend was my friend's baby shower, which is an eye opener for those not in baby mode. I mean there are 21 different types of newborn diapers. Swaddlers, Snugglers, Cruisers, Sensitive. OMG. I am out of my element, I am thinking.

But I play it off real cool and talk about babies when my only reference is the 85lb dog I've had for about ten years. Kinda the same?

So

If you like duckies, this segment is for you.


One talented lady hand made this cake. One day this will be me.

It was delicious.

All my loot.

I contemplated photoshopping the bed head. Don't say this blog ain't real.

  There's my friend on the right, due in three weeks... one of my first friends when I moved to Greensboro. Four years ago we were concerned with which club to go to.

And now were both married to guys named Shawn/Sean (who actually have the same middle name, too. Weird).

Baby Talk

I think one at a time will be good. But they are so cute. From here.

 A lot of my married friends have told me that after a year of marriage, you naturally want to start a family. I braced myself after our anniversary, then sighed with relief when I wasn't flipping through Parenting magazine and wanting to hold every baby I saw in public. Whew! I think we'll be ready in a couple more years. Well, maybe not ready, but not so ready to flinch at the idea. I think we have to be blindsided, absolutely forced to confront the impending Shawlani arrival to really, really be ready. 

However, the Hubbs told a friend of ours that Fall of 2012 will be the time. And, AND, I found an article bookmarked on my browser's webpage entitled "How to make my wife pregnant." Plus, he's been more interested in women's health lately. I guess it will be inevitable. Eventually. I hope I can be ready in time. Now, where is that article on being a nurturing, disciplining and hip mamma?

Geez.

For now I'll just laugh about it all, while I can:
(From Facebook)

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids by Amy Lawrence on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 10:24am 

Lesson  1. Go to the grocery store. 

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

 Lesson 2

 Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

News to me...

 Last night my friend Anna came to town and we went out for a few drinks. We caught up and chatted about engagements, marriages, babies, ya know, age appropriate stuff. Then Anna asks when we're gonna have kids, to which my Hubbs announces Shawlani's arrival as fall of 2012.

This is the first I had heard of this.

There you have it folks, my uterus will have vacancy until 2012, and I had no idea.

Apparently, that's about the time his student loans and debt will be paid.

I can actually live with that.

Still am considering adoption. or a Dauschund.

May be a movie night for the Whitmires.