Pests

I really need to get a "No Soliciting" sign, because I have zero willpower to say no to smiling, sweating college students when they show up on my doorstep sweetly selling unnecessary items and services. Case in point: I bought a year's worth of pest control visits on Saturday, and within minutes of Starving Student's departure I was having buyer's remorse. But I'd just signed a contract, so I smiled at the bug man (pest control technician) when he showed up this morning, then spent the afternoon feeling guilty not only for spending the money but also for killing the bugs! Someone tell me I did the right thing!

Second time around

When I was pregnant with Truman, new babies made me nervouser than anything. I listened to them cry during Sacrament Meeting and looked forward to that new phase of life about as much as I would an oncoming freight train - which is exactly what I felt was bearing down on me, by the way. I felt totally unprepared and inadequate.

Well, turns out I was a bit of a train wreck after the boy arrived, and I won't bore you with details of the dreading and fretting I did for the first year (and beyond) of his life.

Thankfully, looking forward to baby number two has a completely different feel: I cradled a three-day-old baby last week and positively craved holding my own. I've been lovingly sorting, washing and folding teeny sleepers and socks for a week now. I scoured Target to find Baby Noname a Halloween outfit (here's hoping he'll arrive before then to wear it!). I just can't wait to meet him.

Of course, I'm still worried about how I'm going to divide my time between two children, how Truman will handle the intrusion of a little brother, and how I'm going to survive on even less sleep than I do now, but the gripping fear is gone. I figure I've been at this mothering thing for a couple of years now, and so far, so good. Bring it on, baby boy.

Are all two-year-olds psychotic?

Mine is. And his mommy is getting to be that way.

So we're officially moved in after three weeks, and I can say that because we now have Internet. Ironically though, I feel like I have nothing to say, even after a six-week hiatus from blogging.

The month of July was better and worse than I anticipated; I have a million projects I want to do on the house (and I'm grateful because it's so nice to have something to do); I feel like Truman gets a little bit harder to handle every day, but I have been praying my heart out to have patience with him and this week I have had some tangible Help; my little sister comes out tomorrow for two weeks before she starts school at BYU and I am THRILLED (both about the live-in help and the choice to attend my alma mater); and I would post pictures of the house, but I'm not in love with all the decor yet, plus I'm just plain too lazy.

How's that for nothing to say? It's good to be back.

Anticipating

Truman likes to spend a lot of time on the computer playing letter-learning games and watching Thomas the Tank Engine/Bob the Builder/this crazy penguin named Pingu. This means I spend a lot of time with a second browser window open checking blogs and looking for decorating ideas, and even I'm getting sick of looking at my last post.

I'm restless lately. I feel like I should be getting ready to move, but I have nowhere to put packed boxes unless I want to squeeze around them for the next five weeks. I'm feeling anxious about the month of July, for a few reasons: one, it sounds hard trying to pack and move and be fixing up a house amid four reunions; two, because Truman has been waking up anywhere between 4:20 and 5:40 am (never later, mind you), ready for the day. It's one thing to plop him in front of a movie with some Cheerios at my own house, but when you're traveling and staying with someone else, you have fewer options. I may be spending a lot of early mornings outside...

My mom says I'm an "anticipator," as in I'm always expecting the worst. I like to think it's being prepared, but maybe I'm just being a sourpuss.

Best birthday ever...and ultrasound results

I really ought to go into more detail about the amazing day I had yesterday, but this little summary will have to suffice:

Matt got up with Truman at 5:30 am and announced that he wasn't going to work; instead he had arranged for a sitter (thanks, Amy!) so we could go to the Salt Lake Temple. My first time. What a glorious way to spend a birthday morning. Then I had a gyro for lunch. How could the day get any better, right? Like this:

During dessert that night, we got a call from our realtor. The counteroffer on the house we love (and put an offer on last Friday) was just what we'd hoped for, so for my birthday we...BOUGHT A HOUSE. Matt says he never has to get me another birthday gift since this one was so expensive.

Today, in what I consider an extension of birthday festivities, we had our 20-week ultrasound. The baby was very active the whole time, and the tech told us again and again how beautiful and well-formed the brain, heart, spine, legs...wait, what's that? That's definitely a BOY. I was shocked, and still am, but thrilled that Truman will be getting a little brother. We got a great shot of him sucking his fingers, and I'm already in love.

But I guess that purple nursery in the new house will have to go.

Mind Lost, Mind Regained

In a little twist on Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, I found my temple recommend on Saturday. I knew that if I could just get into my mom's car and snoop around, I'd find it. Even though she had scoured the vehicle herself, I found the blessed little card in about ten seconds between two of the back seats. Turns out my mind isn't completely gone after all.

Another treasure regained this weekend: some measure of happiness in being a mother. Being the mommy has just felt like a grind for the last little while, especially with the weepiness and mood swings of pregnancy. But my sweet husband saw that I needed a break and asked my mother-in-law to watch Truman for us overnight as part of my Mother's Day gift. So on Saturday I slept in past six am, spent time with my favorite girlfriend in the world, and emerged feeling like I just might make it through Truman's toddlerhood. It's tough, this mother business, but I think that smelly little whiny creature is worth it.

And thanks, Matt, for seeing me through the insanity. And for those delicious crepes this morning...

Losing my mind for the second time around

For the three non-family members who read this blog (and therefore didn't already know), Matt and I are expecting again in October. And boy (or girl?) do I have some "pregnancy brain" moments to prove it:

Two weeks ago, I managed to leave my temple recommend in Denver...I think. I have no recollection of what happened to it after I went into the temple with my parents. It could still be inside for all I know, or in a shoe or a drawer or with the laundry. No memory whatsoever.

I was completely stressed about getting my library books back on time this week, but of course I forgot them the first time I went out to run errands. So I made a special trip and found that I was still minus one book when I got to the library. I thought about going back home again to get it (turns out it was under the couch, by the way), but then decided just to renew it using the library computers. I then proceeded to smack myself in the forehead repeatedly as I walked out the door for not just renewing them all - from home!

Yesterday on the way home from the grocery store, I missed my exit. I didn't even see it go by. I just happened to start looking around and thought, "Where am I?"

There are more where these came from, but my foggy brain can't recall them right now. I worry, though, that I am a danger to myself and others and maybe should be locked away for the next five to six months. And, depending on how this baby sleeps, the next five or six after that.