Monthly Archives: July 2012

Aside

Changes in the House.

I mentioned a few months ago that I gave my remaining beloved cichlids to Fish Whisperer.  I have moments these days when I miss them, but then I remember all the maintenance and random acts of violence they had and that niggling feeling rapidly disappears.  Also, the removal of their tank opened up a corner in our living room that is now a devoted play area for William and the removal of the two cycle tanks opened up space on our kitchen counter for William’s bottles.

We do still have the original 12 gallon tank where my cichlids originally lived.  We use that tank to cycle the water for the remaining tank of guppies that we have.  It seemed a waste to just have it sitting empty, gurgling water around, so I put some fish in it.  Fake fish, that is.  Please meet the five plastic fish that now live in our cycle tank.

Occasionally, I will walk by and say to Tony, “You know, I’m worried about these poor fish.  They’re hiding in corners and aren’t eating… it’s just not good.”  He’ll nod sympathetically and tell me he knows and understands.

So, you see, their behavior is pretty much the same as the real fish, except these fish don’t poop, don’t get sick, don’t kill each other and I don’t have to change their water or medicate them.

I think I’m really over being a fish momma.

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July 25, 2012 · 9:58 am
July 18, 2012 · 12:56 pm

Parks Aplenty

Who knew that having a kid was a good excuse to get outside on a beautiful summer day? Did I ever know that before? I’m not sure… but the weather was beautiful over the weekend, and perfect for picnics at the park.

Coincidentally, our birth class instructor held her Birth School Bash at a local park. She’s hoping to make it an annual thing, and I’m hoping that she carries through with that.  It was so neat to get together with our former classmates, as well as other families who have attended her classes.  I switched due dates with one of the moms in our class, William was due on 12/9 and her son, Alex, was due on 12/8.  She went into labor on 12/7, but Alex wasn’t born until 12/9 (ugh!).  I went into labor the morning of 12/8 and William was born just 6 hours and 43 minutes later.  We had also hired the same birth doula, so that made for an interesting couple of days for her, running on exhilaration and adrenaline vs. sleep.  So, here’s William, Alex and Ellie.

You know what else is really cool? The women from my class decided to form a working moms support group. New moms are always looking for mom groups, and so us ladies, we made our own. I love that!

We also managed to fit in a visit to the county fair, although I am somewhat disappointed this year… the two things we love to visit at the fair, the elephant rides and the ice museum are not there this year. FAIR FAIL! We managed to make do, though, so at least we can say we checked it out this year.

The next day was a reunion of sorts for Tony and some of his former high school bandmates, again at a park. A different, bigger park, but still, lots of grass and trees and sunshine.

I remember having a conversation with Tony just after we’d married.  We discussed the odd phenomenon that we had expected for things to slow down once we’d married, and have to do less driving and going places.  That’s not what happened at all, in fact, it seemed as if being together and living in the same house presented even more opportunities of going somewhere.

Now that William is in our lives, it seems as if we’re entering warp speed of things to do and places to go.  I can’t say that I dislike it, but it’s an interesting observation.  At least to me.

More pictures, here, if you’re so inclined.

 

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Filed under Best Husband, Our Kid is Cute

July 13, 2012 · 9:23 pm

Beautiful Random Summer.

There’s something about the 4th of July that captures my imagination year round. Christmas does, too, I guess but in a different way. Maybe because I kind of look at the 4th of July as sort of a kick off for summer? Or maybe it’s just a wonderful holiday that kind of sneaks up on you… there’s no month-long (or longer) prep for it. It just stands there, all by itself, proclaiming how wonderful freedom is.

So, here we are mid-summer already. I noticed this morning, through the warm rain that we were blessed with — which, by the way, confused everyone around here, FB updates were plentiful about “humidity” and “rain in July, WTH?” — that my plumeria tree was blooming.

And then tonight Tony brought home some more yellow crookneck squash.  He planted seeds that were in a pumpkin seed package and yellow crookneck squash grew from them.  Methinks someone at the seed distributor got confused.  Clearly these are not pumpkins, but … how can I complain when I love squash?

Since those two pictures are yellow, how about some greenery? I went to Ikea last month for something and saw a big leaf decoration that matched the decor in William’s room perfectly. They had several on display, and they didn’t look all THAT big, so I bought one. What I failed to factor in is, Ikea is kind of like Costco in that it’s an enormous store. Things that look “normal” there are, in fact, huge. Like, Jack in the Beanstalk proportions. So, now, William’s room is all about The Leaf. The Very Big Leaf. For size comparison, please note that William is in his crib in this picture, staring raptly at The Very Big Leaf.

And lately, because I no longer know which room I’ll feel more comfortable sleeping in, I got tired of shlepping my sleep mask from room to room and then getting to the room where I’ll be sleeping and realizing it’s in the other room. So I bought a second sleep mask. Now, tell me this isn’t the sexiest sleep mask you’ve ever seen.

Tony thinks so, and don’t you let him tell you any different.

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Filed under I feel Amused