slow it down

This week has been a super slow work week. I keep trying to schedule things, and nothing happens. By Wednesday I was bored and stir crazy and I accepted that the universe is giving me a slow week and I should embrace it.

So last night I spent the night with FG on his couch catching a wine buzz and watching Friends. Then today I went to the park with my mom, sister, and nephew, and had a wonderful, chill day. I am floored by how much Andrew is talking now. I sat for a while and watched him narrate while he played. What a remarkable, cute kid. He's growing so fast, makes you want to soak him up while he's still little.

Since I have ample time at home, I finished fixing up the guest bathroom. I have to say, that tile and grout sealer is great. The water beads right off and everything is so shiny and clean. I have started on the master bath. The caulk was a lot easier in here, but the tiles are a lot grungier. I'm going to have some serious arm muscles from all this scrubbing.

I took a break from giving Pumpkin steroids to see how she would do. For a few days she did great, but the last few days have been rough. No eating, and when she did eat, I eventually had to clean it up off the floor... and the chair, and the rug, and the bed, etc. Yuck.

Poor kitty is not feeling well. I'll start another round of steroids tomorrow.

It's supposed to cool back down tomorrow and I'm so ready for it.

A bunch of random stuff

Have you heard the news?? (of course you have.)

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE TO A LITTLE BABY GIRL!!!
*cue ribbons and bows and glitter*

I am so happy about further solidifying my auntie status, and I would be plenty thrilled if it was another boy, but I sure am excited about this niece.

I had so much swirling through my head yesterday and I thought, "I should blog," but I was too tired to blog. Now that I'm sitting in front of the computer, I can't remember what I wanted to write about.
Maybe it's the excitement of the baby girl. (GAH!)

It was a busy weekend. I really wanted some downtime but somehow had planned my whole weekend, all of it with FG.

Now. I adore him, but it seems like lately he demands a lot of my time, and I get it because I've been gone so much, but this weekend I resented it for a little bit. I like my Me Time and I got none. And I haven't had any for a while.

I did offer to help him do a few repairs on his rent house, because I actually enjoy that type of stuff and he was stressing about it. Then we had social plans Saturday night and he was having a family dinner on Sunday that he wanted me to attend/bring a side.
Normally that would actually be a fun weekend, but after traveling all week I didn't want such a packed schedule. I felt super annoyed at one point, but I was able to vent to Ashley and I quickly shifted my grudge. A lot of that was my own doing... none of it was actually his fault and he's just a sweet guy who wants to spend time with me... Literally I tried to leave Sunday after dinner and he asked if I would just sit on the couch with him for a minute. I did, because nothing is so important that I can't spare a few minutes on the couch, but I was torn because I was enjoying sitting on the couch but was also thinking about how I needed to get to Petsmart before they closed because I was out of cat food.

It's just that lately I feel like I'm being stretched in so many directions. Traveling Monday through Friday leaves only 2 days to take care of everything and it's not enough. It doesn't help that I have plans every weekend from now until the end of September. Some of them are more relaxing/fun plans, like glamping at our friends' property and a trip to Denver, but they are obligations nonetheless.

I think I've pinpointed what I need: a few days with NO PLANS. I equate relaxation with no obligations; I like to simply wake up and do whatever I feel like doing at that moment. I think that if I'm able to spend a little bit of time in town, at home, I won't feel so overwhelmed by weekend plans, but I still blocked off a weekend towards the end of September for pure ME time. Reading magazines, painting, shopping, whatever I feel like doing. Don't ask me to schedule anything, I'll decide 5 minutes beforehand what I'm doing.

Today, what a treat, I got to stay in town. I got a ton of work stuff done in the office, plus I was able to get so much personal stuff done. It's so nice being home. I get to do things like go to the grocery store and pet Pumpkin and go to my brother's house for his baby's gender reveal. (OMG time to start shopping for a little baby girl!)

A couple other things:

Pumpkin- I've noticed lately that if I'm up and doing stuff around the house, Pumpkin will follow me around and meow until I sit down on the couch and pet her. Poor kitty, she just wants some attention. Right now she's on the bar stool next to me, purring. She's doing much better with the daily steroids. Still not eating a whole lot, but overall she seems happier and healthier.

Something to note- I really love how FG has confidence in me. Like, I told him that I was really good at caulking (hello, experience). And even though he is a very particular guy, he didn't question me. When I offered to replace the caulk in the bathrooms at the rent house, instead of acting hesitant or wanting to supervise to make sure, he simply said, "Okay," handed me the caulk, and left to go fix the ceiling fan in the bedroom. Then when I was done, he highly praised my caulking skills, although I'm not sure if it was because it looked really great (it did), or he just wanted to take advantage of the obvious innuendo.
Perhaps both. Which is just another reason to like him.

Pursuing peace

Today I had planned to go to yoga. I even set my alarm. Then my sister texted me saying that Calvin had requested to go to the park near my house.

Well, when your nephew wants to go to the park near your house, you skip yoga and you go to the park.

It was a beautiful day for park-hopping. Turns out, it ends up being as good for your soul as yoga.

I definitely found an unexpected attitude shift this weekend. I'm glad I did.

I have to travel next week... which I did not anticipate, and my dad will be visiting, plus the contract on the house has not fallen through, YET.

So it should be an interesting week.

Auntie moment

I'm convinced that your life is not complete until you have a sweet little 4-year-old grabbing onto your leg begging you not to leave.

And, for contrast, a grubby little almost-2-year-old waving and saying "byebye" on repeat.

I thought I'd have to do spectacular, special things to get those kiddos to like me, but all I do is show up and play a little, tell them I love them way too much, and bring a present every now and then.

Mostly I just drink wine and gossip with their mom... and they think I'm great.

I'm okay with that, but I don't get it, haha.

Little chunk 2.0

Andrew Conrad

Remember this? Haha Suze you're such a good sport.

Well, I didn't think it was fair for Calvin to get a bunting and not Andrew. We don't want him thinking that his Aunt Nen doesn't love him. Even though his amniotic fluid's on one of Aunt Nen's towels from the very focused car ride to the hospital. I ran red lights and everything. I'm kind of a badass.

Oh, kid. Your birth story is pretty good. But that's for another day. Just remember when I answered your mom's midnight phone call asking for a ride to the hospital, she started by asking, "Whatcha doing?" Like it was just another day. How ironic!

This kid

The stickers Calvin chose after going pee in the potty.

No glow in the dark zombies or googly eye pumpkins.

Leftover garage sale stickers. He insisted.

Ok, kid.

2 year old logic

Solid Auntie status going on right now.

Painty paint

Last night Chris and I headed over to Ashley's to help paint Calvin's bathroom. Well, Ashley and I painted and Chris watched a movie with Collin.

We severely overestimated the need and bought a huge can of green paint back when we did the grass on his bedroom walls.

Since then, Ashley has been trying to use it up. So, she decided to paint his bathroom this bright kelly green. At first, it looked like it was going to be a bit much. But then, it started to look really cool!

I think it's going to look so fun and bright when it's complete.

We finally entered the final stages of the house-buying process yesterday. Painting over at Ashley's has made me so excited to start painting over there! The possibilities are so endless. I keep going to the listing online and looking at the pictures and imagining what it would look like once we move in. I really love that house.

Family

While I'm waiting on the realtor to respond to my inquiry about closing costs before we sign a contract, I figured I'd talk about this topic.

Over the past few months, since Chris has been home, I've been asked by nearly every person I talk to: When are you going to have a baby/ get pregnant/ start a family/ Are you having kids?

It's always acquaintances, because the people that know us already know the answer.

We don't mind, except for the constant stream of it. I've come up with quite a few jokes and funny ways to respond with a definite NO. Most of the conversations go the same way: We explain that we have no desire to raise a child, and that yes we might change our minds one day but we don't see that happening.

Surprisingly, we've learned a lot about what other people's thoughts about children are, and how their own situations turned out.

At this point in our lives, I think it's a natural question for people to ask.

I can see, though, how it can be a difficult question to address. For example, I work with a girl that I went to school with and she has not started a family yet. The other day we were in the break room and someone asked her about it, and she nearly burst into tears because they've been trying for a long time with no luck. Such a simple question that turned out to be so loaded.

While we are quite happy with our little family of three (kitty included), and there are no future plans to add another (unless it's a dog), the constant inquiries are astounding. If we had an issue with it, it would be heartbreaking to answer that question all the time.

On a related note, I've got cupcakes that need decorating so we can take them over to sweet Calvin's 1st birthday party. I can't believe it's been a year since the little babe decided it was time to come hang out.

few weekend pics

1. Calvin interested in the pictures on my hand.
2. Work wardrobe update: 6 tops for 37 bucks. Kohl's.
3. Coffee with Pumpkin.
4. Project near completion

The last few days, in pictures

 CAP Blood Gas Proficiency Testing

 Auntie Hens clucking over Calvin

 GHETTO ass extension cords

Collin's new riding lawn mower

Plus, what happens when Aunt Nen sings to Calvin:

Ha! It's not a video.
Wish we would have gotten one, though.
The boy cracked some adorable smiles & made the cutest noises.

rugs, ikea, girls

Today I got new rugs and I love them. One's chevron.
I also got some cushions for the back porch chairs, and some lights to string up. I love having a festive back porch.

Suzy and I trekked spontaneously to Ikea to get a bookshelf that was near perfect dimensions to complete a little nook near the window seat. I'm mostly happy with the way it turned out. Still need to switch out the hideous curtains.

Things are feeling more like home. I really think it's all about the rugs.

Then we headed over to Ash's and caught up on Girls, and Aunt Suzy got to bond with Calvin. He took a serious nap on her lap:

And we cooed over him and watched him move his little gums in response to (most likely) a dream about eating. Cutest. Baby. Ever.

Calvin

I just can't get over how cute my nephew is. He's so tiny. Just look at him in that big ole crib all cute and little. 

He's changing so fast. He's looked a little different every time I've seen him; only a few days apart. He's looking less like an infant and more like a baby, if that makes any sense.

He looks just like his dad, with a little bit of his mom. I suppose that's best; he'd be way too pretty for a boy if he looked just like Ashley, haha.

I'm amazed at how cool their baby monitor is. It's got video and sound, and you can talk back to the kid like a walkie talkie if you want. We spent most of naptime yesterday staring at the monitor every time we heard a noise and he'd wiggle around a bit before going back to sleep.

It's also neat how I'm not afraid to hold him. With friends' infants, I'd be a little nervous to hold them. With Calvin, it's like, "I WANT TO SNUGGLE HIM" and it feels much more natural. There's been much good-natured fighting over who gets to hold the kid since he was born. My mom usually wins. After Ashley, of course.

I can't wait till he gets big enough to play with, but I also don't want him to grow up so fast, although I know he will because he is. Being his aunt is going to be SO MUCH FUN.

Crafts, worries, boring stuff

-I came home from work yesterday and started working on some sewing projects. The first, which I stayed up late to complete, was a bunting to use for Calvin's baby shower/ bedroom. I used this tutorial, which is really awesome. I've made two buntings using this method and they both have turned out really great.

Suzy is obviously very impressed.

It's the first time I've done anything "applique-like," and I managed to pull of a decent finished product.Yay meee.

-Purchased the baby shower invitations today. That's going to come up quick.

-Starting the house hunt. I'd much rather rent a house than an apartment, so we will see what happens. I have a feeling my purse strings are about to tighten. My sister reminded me about deposits and pet deposits and first/last month's rent and those aren't cheap.

-Speaking of purse strings, I cancelled my birch box subscription, and I'm going to start using regular coffee in the reusable Keurig filter because that will make Chris happy. Trying to save a little bit here and there and hope it adds up to something noticeable. I figure next week I'll call USAA and see what I can do about car insurance, since that's the next large expense that could use a trim.

-Going to try and see if I can put off grocery shopping until my next payday, which is in about 2 weeks. Time to use up a bunch of freezer food and see what is even in my pantry. Of course, to cook I've got to wash the gigantic pile of dishes in the sink...

-Trying to get some kinda of organizationals going on. I have a box that I just put all my filing in and then ignore it. It works pretty well, except with multiple years in there, it gets kinda confusing. Maybe I can pair that with some wine and it won't be so boring.

Calvin

By the way, this is my nephew, just chillen out in my sister's belly. Gah, the widdwe feets!
I can't wait to hold them for real.