Is it wrong to be excited about this?

I got a new vacuum cleaner this week and it's purple.

No, not a Dyson. I didn't feel like trading in my firstborn just to get my floors clean. (Get my floors clean and fold the laundry... you may have a deal.) But the nice thing is, since the Dyson has been out for a few years, the technology has started to trickle down into more affordable vacuums. Also, they're making them cuter.

Our old vacuum gave up the ghost this weekend; I'm fairly sure it's at least indirectly related to the 43 pounds of dead spiders Matt sucked up with it in the basement. Turns out, that's not good for your appliances. But, I got the old vacuum for free from my friend a few years ago - when she got a Dyson - so it was probably on its last legs anyway. So I did some comparison internet shopping on Sunday night and decided on this one, not only because of its color (which the manufacturer describes as Black Cherry Fizz. Mmm, dusty soda.) but also because I could get it online from Linens & Things with a 20% off coupon. I had it delivered to the store for free shipping and picked it up on Tuesday morning.

And let me tell ya, this thing really sucks. (Get it? Because it's a vacuum.) I was astonished at the quantity of dirt, fuzz, and dust it sucked out of my supposedly clean (okay, sorta clean) carpets. And sand. Where on earth is sand coming from? We live in Indiana, not Arizona. I've been doing a lot more vacuuming than usual this week.

Let me tell you, if it's wrong to be excited, then I don't want to be right.

I also got to go to my OB's office this week to solve the mystery of the random stabbing pains that have been waking me up at night. The good news is, there's nothing obvious wrong with me. The bad news is, there's nothing obvious wrong with me. But the baby is fine, so I'll take that.

I've actually seen this baby three times already on ultrasound, for various reasons. It's pretty interesting to see it develop almost in real time. At ten weeks, it still had a yolk sac and the characteristic giant alien head. Now it actually looks like a very small person, complete with ribcage and little tiny vertebrae. Think about it: sixteen weeks ago he was two cells, and now he's got bones. Hundreds of bones. No wonder I've been so sleepy lately.

The ultrasound tech was actually looking for ovarian cysts, which fortunately I don't have any of. Seeing my little peanut was just a bonus. The dialogue went something like this:

JONI: What's that?

ULTRASOUND LADY: That's bowel gas.

JONI: Ohh, nice. What's that?

ULTRASOUND LADY: That's your ovary.

JONI: Cool. Hey, I know what that is! That's my baby!

I'm sure I annoyed the crap out of her, but she's gotta be used to me by now. And I love anyone who puts the gel in a nice little warmer so it doesn't shock your poor delicate tummy-skin. I'll be going back in another month or so - I'm pretty sure I'm 16 weeks pregnant right now - and we can find out the sex. Although Ultrasound Lady told me that the baby had its legs closed, so I'm pretty sure it's a girl.

So, to summarize: New vacuum cleaner. Baby vertebrae. Bowel gas.

Just happy

Just plugging along still! I am so sooo tired but the high school has school break later this week... two days of sleeping in for me! Woo hoo!



I got my Thanksgiving layout back from Scrapbook Trends recently and two copies of their Home for the Holidays idea book. Can I just say, I love Scrapbook Trends. Their magazines are beautifully photographed and actually full of ideas. And I love that they publish me sometimes because I get free mags, and I'm not about to pay $15 for a magazine. Anyway, last Thursday I got TWO page requests for their March issue! I was pretty excited. One is a layout I did of Molly and Betsy together with some 7Gypsies quote stickers, and the other is the page I did after we found Porter asleep in a drawer. Love both of those pages - so happy to see them both in print (though it will be hard to wait until March).



We went to the haunted house at the Children's Museum last week. (I took some pictures but haven't bothered to upload them yet. Lazy, lazy, lazy.) Even though it was the 'friendly' hours Betsy was a little scared at first. But she really started to get into the 'scary ones' and it helps that there was some candy, too. The theme was 'Ghostly Grand Hotel' and one of the sponsors was this soap company that makes little hotel toiletries. (I actually interviewed with them when I was looking for my first and only chemist job... they didn't hire me. Poo.) I did think it was a little strange that the goody bag the kids got at the end included a shoe polishing sponge AND a polishing mitt. How many 4 year olds do you know that need to polish their shoes? However, Betsy was excited about the little round soaps, so it's all good.



I have now officially started my Christmas shopping. Still not listening to the Muppets.

We finished cleaning out the basement and now one end of it is a play area for the kids. They woudl live down there if I'd let them. All the Mr Potato Head pieces are in the basement (can you guess who was sick of picking them up?) so there's really no reason to be anywhere else.

There was a ward party on Friday night, and we had square dancing. Yes, actual square dancing! I made Betsy be my partner and we actually had a really, really good time. I am still wicked sore from all the do-si-doing we do-si-did.

The Primary kids did their program on Sunday. How cute. Betsy didn't sing at all (I think she gets that from her dad - he doesn't like to sing either. Porter on the other hand is Mr. One Mand Band.) but she nailed her one line. "If we study the scrishpures, we will feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost." And she spoke clearly and didn't lick the microphone. That's pretty good for an almost-five-year-old.

We're making Betsy go to sleep without a Pull Up now. Which equals more laundry, but it was about time.

...is it December yet?

It hits me about this time every year. I am so ready for the Christmas season to start. Not physically ready - not a single gift has been purchased (at least by me: Connie brought all the kids' gifts when they were here last week) - but emotionally. I think that the moment the weather starts to turn cool, I am humming Christmas songs.

It doesn't help, of course, that Hobby Lobby has their Christmas trees up already. Or that I got the Scrapbook Trends holiday book the other day (my layout is on page 48, in case you're looking) and I've been drooling over the products and ideas. (As if I didn't have enough Christmas-related papers and embellishments. Seriously, it's kind of embarrassing.) I'm sure that pretty soon, the ward choir will start rehearsing for the Christmas program. I'm tempted to start listening to Christmas music, but I do feel that October 15 is a little early for the Muppets.

So, I've been releasing my pent-up holiday lust by flipping through magazines of cookie recipes. Cookies are pretty much suitable year-round, right?

It didn't always used to be this way. When I was a kid, I was adamant that the Christmas season does not start until December 1st. Period. No negotiations allowed. Not that I didn't love every minute of it - I think it was because I loved it, that I was afraid of seasonal overkill. Now, of course, I see the error of my ways. There is no way that Christmas could ever wear out its welcome. I've revised my hard-and-fast stance a bit... now the season begins the day after Thanksgiving, but if I need to start listening to the music or watching the Charlie Brown special a few weeks ahead of schedule, that's okay too.

However. I do still need to get through Halloween first, right? And it's possible, just possible, that I may be a crazy person. I need to do a scrapbook layout to purge my feelings... just as soon as I can figure out a photo that appropriately conveys the sentiment "I'm so obsessed with Christmas that I want it to start in mid-October even though I know that's wrong. Wrong." How on earth am I supposed to take a picture of that?

Whew!

Just coming off the end of an incredibly busy week. All we did yesterday was lay around and listen to General Conference!

On Monday, I cleaned. And cleaned. Have I ever mentioned that I don't like cleaning? I also watched Chuck, one of the new shows on NBC. I really liked it, and not just because Chuck's Nerd Herd car is a Yaris hatchback like my husband's. (Pam Beesley on The Office drives one, too.)

On Tuesday, my mother and sisters got here. Mom brought books for the kids and hand knitted washcloths with their initials knitted right in. Betsy had her first dance class that night. I found dance classes that are actually affordable; the Tuesday night session is taught in the dining room of an assisted living center. The seniors sitting in the lobby loved seeing Betsy come in all decked out in her dance attire. I left Porter with my mom so that I could actually sit in on the lesson. Betsy was actually the only kid in the class that day. Twenty bucks a month for a private dance lesson? That's not a bad deal! She was really cute, but she's still having a hard time with paying attention.

Mom and I watched NCIS, or tried to anyway. Somehow - I think Porter changed the settings on the VCR - we were getting the audio commentary for the blind. It was kind of funny at first - "Ziva gives Tony a scathing glance." - but it got super annoying. So, I muted the TV and we just read the captions which are, you know, for the hearing impaired. We all applauded when Tony threw the note into the fire. If you don't follow the show you have no idea, but if you do watch NCIS you probably hated Jeanne as much as I did.

On Wednesday, we had a fun girly day of shopping. I took Mom to the sweet new fabric store that's opened up near the library. They have Amy Butler fabric! I still didn't buy anything, because yeah, it's like $9 a yard. But my mom came out with an armload of fabric, plus we left a trail of drool all through the store. Had Steak & Shake for lunch, because that's what you do when Cindy's in town. The dark chocolate milkshakes are delicious, are they not? We hit up the local Goodwill, but no spectacular finds this time. Wednesday night, I watched another new show, Pushing Daisies. I've been really looking forward to that one because I'm one of the approximately 19 people in the world who watched Wonderfalls. Mmm, I loved it. Bryan Fuller is still a genius, Lee Pace is still very tall and funny, and pies are delicious. (I did actually make pies a little later in the week.) We also saw Life, mainly because it's got the guy from Band of Brothers in it. I'm liking a lot of the new shows this fall - like I didn't have enough to do, right? But I haven't watched Cavemen.

This is the dress we made, when we weren't watching TV. I really need to get my own serger.

Thursday my mom & sisters left in the morning, so I had a little time to regroup before Matt's parents arrived that night. I made a big old pot of chili. Wally and Connie exercised their grandparental right (that's a word, isn't it?) to bring the kids candy and toss them in the air. Porter loves his grandpa, they are like two peas in a pod.

Matt took Friday off from work (I am having a little too much fun with the bold tag, can't you tell?) to spend some time with his parents. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning (everything looks good, baby's heartbeat is 165-170, and I am NOT going to tell you how much weight I've already gained) and we went to the pumpkin patch. It felt slightly un-autumnal, hayrides notwithstanding, because it was like 85 degrees.

Had Chinese buffet for lunch, and then I went home and napped for a long time.

We started listening to General Conference on Saturday. Also got to see Mark (Matt's brother) and Jenny again, for the first time in over two years (when they moved to Texas). They were stopping in on their way home from Cleveland, where they went to a neuroscience conference at the Cleveland Clinic. Jenny was answering questions about her stroke and the aftereffects. It sounds like it was pretty interesting. Anyway, I learned that two things have happened in the last two years: 1)Jenny can finger spell really fast and 2)I'm actually slightly better at interpreting what she says. (I found that Sesame Street sign language book at the state fair, and I've been practicing. I still mix up G, H, P, and Q though.)

While the guys went off to Priesthood session, we had sort of a girls night in. A lot of Jenny's friends from their old ward came over. That was also the ward that Matt and I were in when we were first married, so I knew everyone too, which was pretty nice. It was just a really fun time. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. They guys didn't get home from conference until after 11 at night, though, which was crazy. But not too late to eat pie.

And on Sunday, everyone cleared out. And now it's Monday and I'm sitting here writing this.

the cat's out of the bag...

Yep, I'm pregnant. It seems to be working this time, and I can't really conceal it any longer, unless I start wearing muumuus. And caftans. Maybe I could sew myself a long flowing caftan and a really kicky turban to match. Or, maybe I could just come out of the gestational closet and start wearing my elastic-belly pants, which is what I'm doing now.

Anyway, I'm having a pretty busy week, which is why I haven't updated in forever. My mother and the little girls just left for Rochester. They got here on Tuesday, so it was a short visit: just long enough to go to Goodwill and the sweet new fabric store, eat lunch at Steak n Shake, and sew a dress on Mom's serger. But don't be sad, because my in-laws will be arriving later tonight. Also, Mark and Jenny will be passing through on their way home from Cleveland. That's a lot of visitors in one week. But the good thing is, I've only had to clean my toilets once.