i two

happy birthday little tayloe. tomorrow's the real day, but we celebrated on sunday with a little party that was a huge hit. you loved your cupcakes and had fun opening your presents with aunt mary. on sunday afternoon your dad and i set up your new train set and you sat for over a hour playing, giving us a running dialogue of all things choo choo. our favorite is when you say 'all aboard!' and chug the little engines down the track.
i gotta tell you kiddo, your tenderness, fearlessness and passion amaze us. you must fall down 15 times a day and a good number of those are kinda painful crashes. yet you rarely ever complain and when you do all you need to get back on your feet is a little kiss. you've been sleeping in a big twin bed for almost two months and rarely wake up in the night. in the morning you trot into our room, blanket in hand, and pull on my arm. 'hhhiii mama!' when you see me open my eyes.
sometimes the things you say break our hearts, like when you whisper 'wuv you' when we kiss you goodnight.
last friday you and dad and i went to the pool. we were walking through the parking lot, just the three of us, holding hands. i felt a twitch of pain because i know it won't be that way much longer.
without getting mushier, i'll just say you're a beautiful boy. your daddy and i love you so much and we love each other more every day for giving one another the gift of you.

sweet tayloe cuteness

this is probably one of my favorite pictures because it's just oozing love. these two are so cute together.
at night after stories and before prayers, t2 and i wax poetic on the things we're thankful for. DADA! he always shouts first. i say im thankful for dada too and he follows with POOL! i say that's a good thing to be thankful for and he says CHOO CHOO! i nod.
what else i say?
WAWE! (wolly) i agree, although i usually add that wolly fits into the 'sometimes hard to love but we manage to anyway' category.
he nods in agreement.
anything else, i ask?
POP! (my dad, who seems to have permanently entered his memory log). and from here it's rapid fire - BOOKS! JUICE! POOP! (really) SHOES! an assortment of grandparents and aunts and uncles and then anything that he might of seen that day - cows, chickens, fire trucks.
wow, you're thankful for a lot! is that all, i ask?
he taps his little finger on his chin and looks up. hhhmmm, he says.
then, finally, MOMMIE! and then he wraps his arms around my neck.
dear god, thank you for little tayloe.

happy birthday to tayloe (the big one)

You’re the lucky one always havin fun
A jack of all trades a master of none
You look at the world with a smiling eye
And laugh at the devil as his train rolls by
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one

Were you blessed? I guess
By never knowin which road you’re choosing
To you the next best thing to playin and winning
Is playin and losin

you're the lucky one, i know that now
don't ask you why when where or how
You look at the world through your smilin eye
And laugh at the devil as his train rolls by
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one

tater, today's your birthday and i've had that song in my head all morning. it always reminds me of you. i'm glad your luck and crazy spirit are part of us. we love you.

dear little baby

i realized today that in about 8 weeks you'll be here. when you're brother was 8 weeks away from his birthday i remember thinking it seemed like an awfully long time.
it doesn't seem so long with you. in fact, it seems rather short.
there's a bathtub in your room. your crib is in pieces (sans directions) in storage and so is your changing table. our kitchen is about to be destroyed and out of commission for a few weeks and it only recently dawned on me that soon i'll need to buy a few boxes of itsy bity newborn diapers.
on the plus side, your room is painted and i have washed some of your tiny clothes and even put them away for you. but basically if you were born tomorrow ... well, let's not think about it. especially since your dad is leaving for uganda and kenya tomorrow. it just wouldn't be terribly convenient.
that's not to say i don't think about your pending arrival everyday. i do. i imagine you different from your brother and also a little bit the same, too. i'm curious about every inch of you and i can't wait for you to be here. and that isn't just because it'll mean that most of the work on our house will be done.
so forgive that sometimes the details are just lost on me. that'll stop surprising you after a while. just ask your dad.
here's a picture of you and me kiddo. i'm glad you like watermelon.

where hgtv gets you

light green walls.
pea green trim.
homemade chalkboard paint.
happy kid.

flew the coop

this was the scene last week on our front porch. a week or so ago i went to throw out that dreadful looking plant and a female song bird just about pecked my eyes out. i didn't realize there was a family in there.
the other day i was walking by the door and noticed they were moving out.
meanwhile t2's been with my parents while tayloe and i get moved in. we've been up until midnight the last two nights finishing up projects that would otherwise take weeks with a toddler on our heels. who knew working so hard could be so much fun.
the only trouble is, it's getting harder and harder for me to do really simple stuff, like bend over to pick something up. when i drop something, i honestly stand there and look at it for a few minutes, like if i stare long enough it'll spring back into my hands.
getting on and off the floor with any grace is a challenge, too. last week i took little tayloe to a magic show at the library. it was crammed packed and the only place to sit was this tiny little space on the floor. i either stepped on or knocked over every kid in that place trying to sit down. it was like moses parting the waters. when we finally got to the spot, the only way i could figure to get on the floor was to just drop down. and so i did. and the earth shook.
40 minutes later when it was over, i had to wait for everyone else to leave the room before i could get up, partially because i didn't want anyone to watch what was sure to be an episode (nothing as attractive as a pregnant lady on all fours in public) and partially because it honestly took that long for me to regain feeling in my legs and feet.

we're in

what's the word?
we finally signed our contract and we've been staying at our house for about a week now. we even have a local phone number, which to me makes it official.
we're not really moved in as we're waiting for the painter to finish and are hesitant to really get too settled since they'll be doing a lot of wrecking in the next few weeks. so we're kinda camping - clothes on the clothes line because we haven't gotten a new dryer yet, mattress and box springs on the floor, 3 plates, 3 bowls and a few cups. but it works. oddly, the only thing i've really been missing is my toaster.
today as t2 and i were coming home from the library, i met our mail lady, winkie. that's her name, winkie. like twinkie.
she pulled over her red chevy blazer/mail truck to introduce herself. she was sitting on the passenger side but her left hand was on the wheel and her left leg was stretched across the center so she could operate the brake and gas. she told me if i ever needed anything to just flag her down. she also told me she always carries stamps so should i need some, just leave some cash and a note in the box.
while i was out there, the only neighbor we haven't met came over to introduce herself. her name's doris gentry. she's 79, but you might not be able to guess that because her hair is dyed a sort of autumn sunrise color and i'm gonna guess she goes through a compact of foundation and rouge a week. we introduced ourselves and it didn't take long before she was telling me how many people she knows who've died in the last year. my favorite thing about her, aside from her obvious beauty sense, were the clear plastic goolashes she had on over her slippers.
if that wasn't enough to charm your pants off, just step inside our house. from the snow scene painted tin plate that covers the hole in the wall where the wood stove used to be to the special red, orange and white sponge paint in the dining room we're spilling over with character.
it's perfect even when it's not.

We interrupt your regular BLABY programming...

big boy bed at the big house

tayloe's sister and family are at the cottage this week so we're up at the big house on vacation. there isn't a crib up here so we plunked tayloe into a twin roll away in the spacious room across the hall from us and hoped for the best.
damned if he didn't sleep like a baby. all night long and not a peep every night since friday.
i know, i've just jinxed us.
on another note, there are four containers of ice cream in the freezer right now and each one has a serious dent in it made by your truly. i couldn't help it - they were on sale, 2 for $6. plus, it really helps the heart burn so it's kinda like medicine.

the sweetest sounds

just when i'm ready to ring his little neck, t2 says something cute. it's a trait i'm sure he learned from his dad.
the things i love the most are when he says his name - 'taydough' as he points to himself - and 'i do' when i ask him something. as in, 'do you want some milk?' 'i do!' (god forbid he actually say yes)
'mommie CATCH' is another favorite, only he says it as he's hurling a ball at me, rather than just before like i've been trying to teach him. 'pwease' is awful cute too, especially now that he says it very often without being prompted. and somehow when he really wants my attention, he knows to quickly and loudly say 'MOM!'
right now we're watching curious george together and every once and a while looks up at me and says, 'mommie, turious torge' and points to the tv.
kiddo you are crazy and messy sometimes, have selective hearing and leave me very tired at the end of the day, but i love you to pieces.

back to blaby

well, it's a good thing i have you people. there were so many good ideas for what blaby meant, i've forgotten all about it's LA roots and given it new meaning in my mind. so i changed it back. blaby it is.
if i'd of placed bets on which of our fish would die first, i would have bet on mac. he was swimming upside down a few weeks ago and i thought then he wasn't long for this world. he's also had a few 'out of bowl' experiences, including one that was very close to an open drain.
but i'd of been wrong. cheese got the flush last week while we were gone. it was death by shrimp flakes we think because tayloe said he gorged one night and then was belly up the next day. shrimp flakes will do that to ya.
i was moderately devastated because all week t2 had been talking about him. every fish is named cheese and i still get such a kick out of hearing him say it.
so i asked tayloe to try to replace him before we got home. not for the kid so much, you understand. for me.
and he did replace him. with three minnows. river minnows. only one died today so we're down to two river minnows. and mac. and to help improve their chances for survival, we added an air bubble maker (i'm brain dead -- what are those things called?)
little tayloe and i changed their water today. i put them in a tupperware bowl on the counter, which happened to be next to the dog's bowl.
i was washing rocks and tayloe was making a mess when we both heard a SPLUSH, PING, PING, PING. i looked over and minnow no. 2 had jumped from the tupperware bowl into the dog bowl. there he was, flipping around in some purina crumbs.
dumb fish.

new name

we don't live in la so blaby doesn't really make sense. so i changed the name of this blog to bvaby. good thing we didn't move to to colorado. or kansas.
i also changed it to reflect our new address even though it won't be official until next week because our closing was pushed back again. and so we wait ...

very important call

tayloe in the car on the way to greensboro monday.
hello, grace? yeah, clear my schedule this week and hold all my calls. i'll be busy going to the pool and picking strawberries.
no. yes. no. no. no. yes. for reals? yes. yes, i fed cheese. uh huh. yes, yes. ok. when i get back we'll go out for french fries at that place we like.
um hum. ok. i will. no, frog catching and worm gathering is next week.
alright then. thank you. please. ok.
oh and grace? no no monkies jumping on the bed.
bye bye.

walking pumpkin

there's a good chance if you near me in the next three months you'll hear me lie about my due date. you might also hear me say i'm having siamese twins. just play along.
did you know that pregnant women get hot in the summer? or that august is a really miserable month to be pregnant? or that having a baby in early september means that you have to be pregnant in the summer? maybe you didn't know that june, july and august are really humid months in virginia.
tag along with me in public for a few minutes and you'll get a full-on weather report along with some kind, inspiring words like 'better you than me' and 'i don't envy you.'
isn't it weird that people respond first to misery and second, if at all, to joy?

back online

we're back online! horray!
we close on our house next friday - originally we'd hoped it'd be the 15th, but it took a little longer than expected. then it's renovations and painting and a short vacation for us and we get to move in. i can't wait.
meanwhile back at the ranch, there's a baby boy coming our way in three short months. i can't help but be excited about it, especially because little tayloe is so much fun to be around. double the pleasure, double the fun.

chics dig me

ouch my wrists

big tayloe had carpal tunnel surgery today. poor fella. it wasn't supposed to be the kind of surgery where you get totally knocked out, but i think maybe he was a little too wordy with the nurses. the anesthesiologist came out after it was over and said in a really sympathetic voice (sympathetic like he was sorry that he was going to have to send him home with me), 'he seemed, um ... a little uncomfortable, so we went ahead and sedated him.'
good idea, i said. better for everyone.
it only takes him being down for a day for me to realize that our team isn't complete without him.
tater you're hell on a nurse, but you're my guy. love you, mean it.

mac & cheese

sweet aunt mary talked me into getting a goldfish for t2 a few weeks ago. and as it goes with goldfish, one turned to two.
mary and i each picked one out (who are these fish for, anyway?). she picked the pretty calico one. i picked the orange one with part of its top fin missing.
i need two fish like i need a hole in the head. but my little boy? he loves them. 'ish' he says as he walks by them. he loves to stand up on the kitchen chairs and feed them. he kisses their bowl. he even helps me change their water. you should see his eyes when we net the little boogers out let them flop around in the air for a second. 'flip flop' he says.
a few days ago he started calling the orange one by his name - 'cccheeeese!!!' i must ask him 12 times a day what his fish's name is just to hear him say it. who knew $8 could buy us so much joy.

house photos

see the blog below for more details!

almost happy homeowners

if all goes well, we'll be homeowners in 15 days. there's a little cottage in scottsville, about 15 miles from charlottesville, under contract with our name on it. it's in need of some love - a little paint, a little shifting around and new kitchen counters - but after that it'll perfect and best of all - ours all ours.
so basically thinking about this new baby and new house and chasing t2 is taking up all of my brain space. what color should i paint the baby's room? it keeps me up at night.