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.

home sweet home

well.
we made it.
we packed up everything and left california, tayloe and me and lawrence, two cars & a huge uhaul pulling a small sports car strong. tayloe single handedly dropped gas prices from 3.59 to .59 cents in st. louis with one foul swoop of the truck to the gas sign and we stayed in a very scary 'inn' in stringer new mexico (call it, friendo), but other than that it was happily uneventful.
my mother & dad are destined for sainthood. they had big times with t2 and he had BIG times with them. he's still calling for his 'janjane' and runs around looking for her. seeing him again after 8 days was amazing. he looked huge.
and i gotta say it, it's good to be home. it's funny how you don't realize you felt vulnerable until you don't feel vulnerable anymore. like having itchy pants all day and then realizing that night when you undress that you've had sand in your panties.
we've even found a house we like in c'ville and made an offer.
little tayloe's in hog heaven. lest you forget there's a huge river right in front of the cottage. one. giant. puddle. today he had the best time at low tide running into the little waves that i just didn't have the heart to stop him from sitting down in it. soaked, sandy and happy, we eventually wandered back up to the house for juice and cookies.
it's peaceful and happy here, but two things are driving me crazy.
first, where is the gold chicken toilet topper?
and second, the permasoft conditioner is all alone in the shower without it's mate, permasoft shampoo. where'd it go?

thumpa, thumpa

i had my 4 month appt today and for fun i took t2 with me.
he sat on my legs as the nurse poked around my belly looking for little baby's heartbeat. t2 watched intently, glancing worriedly from me to her to the heart beat apparatus. when we heard it i said, 'that's your brother' and his eyes got big as grapefruits.

last week

this time next week we'll be on the road, little tayloe will be safe on the east coast with his grandparents and it'll be my last day being 32. hm.
i had my last swim classes today, which made me very sad. the kids are so cute and they're so much fun in the water. i'll have to find a place in virginia to put my kiddie swim knowledge to good use.
packing is going so slowly. one day i think i'm really on the ball and the next it seems like we've hardly made a dent. it's so easy to get caught up in other stuff like canceling bills and saying goodbye to friends and getting the cars ready to make the trip that packing easily slips to the end of the list. nevermind that this week both our washer has broken and we had an electric problem that required a handyman be here all day yesterday. (tayloe and i fixed the washer on our own. bravo for us!) oh, and little tayloe has occasionally and without warning been barfing since friday. more on that later.
i keep thinking about monday night, when it'll all be done and tayloe and i will be in a hotel waiting to shove off the next day. come on, monday.

easter, part 2

happy easter

we had a big day on sunday. the easter bunny brought baskets and hid all the eggs we dyed and then we had brunch and another easter egg hunt at a neighbor's house. i even made jellybean cupcakes.

favorite pastimes

when little tayloe isn't helping me unpack boxes, he's begging me to turn the hose on in the backyard so he can spend hours filling and emptying pans and buckets, making puddles and watering the picnic table. honestly, hours.
i can't wait to take him up to mt.airy to water paint the exterior. oh kid, have i got a job for you.