The Kind I Want

So, we're making homemade pizza the other night and I ask Connor if he wants plain or (turkey) pepperoni. He doesn't answer except to say that he's writing up his order. Order above.

Questions About The Baby

I'm going to keep track of them here and I'll edit/update as necessary. I'll not include the ones that you'd expect, such as whether or not its a boy or a girl or when its getting here. I know some of these are comically ridiculous, but trust me, they are real.

1. How big is the baby RIGHT NOW?
2. If its a girl, can she play baseball?
3. Mom, will this baby like horror movies?
4. Mom, if its a boy, can we name it Connor after me?

The Big Shocker

So, that's my uterus up there. And as you can see, it is occupied. Occupied by a very serene looking 12 week old fetus who had pretty bad case of the hiccups when I got to see it on this sonogram about a week ago.

This is a big shocker. A big one. There was no plan for this. There was no remote idea that this would happen. When we found out, it took Bob roughly 14 days to be able to speak in complete sentences. But, God or Nature works in mysterious ways and its going to keep things exciting in Tatertown for quite awile. And my fingernails will look great for another 7 months or so!

Pretty much everyone knows. But we'd held off on telling Connor, mainly because we wanted to get through that first sono and some genetic testing to make sure everything was on - track. But we decided to tell him over Thanksgiving dinner---since what do we have to be thankful for that is possibly more exciting than this?

Coincidentally, I heard a radio show yesterday with a professor from George Mason who talked alot about mindfulness and "being in the moment". I tried to really focus on the interchange between the three of us on this topic, but I have to tell you that it was pretty exciting and it made it challenging. Below are bits of the interchange. Maybe I've got the order wrong, and I'm leaving out the unimportant bits.

To start with, I bought a little baby doll which I tucked under Connor's napkin on the table. We're sitting in a booth and he's inside next to me. He sits up, sees it, grabs it and looks at us and says:

C: What is this?
B: What do you think it is?
C: A doll
D: What do you think it means?
C: I don't know.
B: Take a guess.
C: I really don't know.
B: Connor, you're going to be a big brother.
(Connor's eyes widen and he looks at me puzzled.)
C: What? Huh?
D: Yes. You're going to be a big brother.
(He's still not speaking. His mouth is hanging open. He's holding the doll on the table.)
B: Connor--Mommy is pregnant. There is a baby in her tummy.
C: WHAT? WHAT? YOU ARE PREGNANT? OH MY GOD I AM FREAKING OUT.
(He's breathing heavily. Then, suddenly, he rolls his eyes back in his head and flings himself backward onto the booth bench and then slides slowly under the table. Bob and look at each other and laugh.)
B: Connor, get up.
D: Come on out, honey.
(He slowly climbs out.)
C: YOU ARE PREGNANT? REALLY?
(His voice is high-pitched and stressed)
D: Yes. Really.
C: Let me see that belly. I want to see it.
(He reaches over, lifts up my sweater wrap, and starts to poke and prod all over my abdomen.)

At this point we have about a minute long conversation about how big the baby is right now, etc.

C: Someone needs to take me outside RIGHT NOW.
B: Why?
C: BECAUSE MOMMY IS PREGNANT AND I'M FREAKING OUT AND I NEED TO SCREAM.
(He's smiling and then again does the eye roll and body fling.)

After this, things go on similarly for awhile. He calms down a bit and starts telling all the servers in the restaurant that I am pregnant. We finish up dinner with more joyful hysterics and then Connor and I head to the bathroom on our way to get the car.

In the bathroom, he's calm by now. We're alone and its quiet. He looks up at me.

C: Mom--you're really pregnant? This is not a prank?
D: I'm really pregnant, Connor. Really.
(I now can show him my mildly swollen belly. He touches it gently for the first time. He looks up at me again and looks serious.)
C: Mom. Congratulations.
(He wraps his arms around me and gives me his best hug. I squat down to get on is level and hug him back.)
D: Thank you, Connor. Congratulations to you, too. We will all do this together as a family.
C: I know mom. And when this baby gets here you can love it as much as you love me.
D: Oh, Connor. I'm gonna try. But I love you an awful lot.
C: I know. But we will try.
D: We'll try. But one thing will never change.
C: What?
D: You'll always be my FIRST baby.
C: I love you, Mom
(He is looking at me so seriously with such an eye-lock. Its like a real, adult interchange.)
D: I love you too, baby. Thanks for already being such a great big brother.

We head to the car. When we get there he insists on opening the other side door and telling me that "this is where the baby will sit".

Overall, one of the best nights ever. Don't you think?

Happy Risotto Day!

Okay, I know its "Turkey Day". But I'm having risotto. It's just the three of us this year we're dining out at Chef Geoff's in Tysons Corner where they have a lovely Thanksgiving Day three course prix fixe menu. I've studied it and the butternut risotto with pumpkin seed oil and grilled scallops is on my agenda.


We're hanging around the house this morning, and sadly, cleaning. It's a day off at home with bad weather outside and it seems like a good idea. Another good idea would be to never buy cloth honeycomb blinds for a kitchen in house where a child lives. I spent 30 minues scrubbing stains off them. Gross. And Bob just went crazy on the microwave. How does it get so dirty?


Here's Connor in his first grade native american costume. Too funny. The vest is made from a shopping bag with handles. I told him he had to wear it to the restaurant today and he freaked out.



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

First Grade Thanksgiving

On Thursday we got to enjoy the first grade Thanksgiving show "The ABCs of the First Thanksgiving". That's the letter M on the boys head and he had to read two sentences that were something like: M IS FOR MANY. BY SUMMER THE PILGRIMS HAD BUILT MANY HOUSES. THE GREW MANY HEALTH VEGETABLES IN THEIR GARDENS. Too cute. And, that's his desk right in front of him with the feet of Wally (the BoSox mascot) sticking up in the air. His teacher is a Sox fan and the group with the best behavior/perormance for the morning gets Wally for the afternoon. Kind of like an immunity idol on "Survivor", I guess.

After the show we enjoyed (I think) turkey lunch in the cafeteria. He sure loved showing us how the place runs. It wasn't too wild or noisy, but it did remind me of prison: no knives, food on beat up "teal" colored plastic trays, and little gangs everywhere. They had a teepee set up in there as well as photo opportunities such as the one below:


If the Pilgrims had seen this when they landed at Plymouth they'd have turned around.

Love This Song

I am like my Dad. I get a song I like going and I can listen to it over and over again. He used to record the same song over and over on a 60 minute cassette tape. He drove us, and I'm sure everyone on his tug boats, INSANE. But I definitely have that genetic mutation. I just try to not subject others to it.

I missed the CMAs this week but my husband, who hates country music was the first to tell me about this performance. Then two people that I work with mentioned it, too. So, I watched it on my TIVO and WOW, what a great song. I love Chris Daughtry. What a great, powerful voice. And what a great song. "The first and last bad call that I ever made." Ahhhh.

"Tennessee Line"

No Title Comes to Mind. This Is Just Funny.

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I ask Connor this once in awhile. Last night we were eating dinner together at Moe's while waiting for his portraits to be printed. The answer?

"Umm. I'm pretty sure I want to work in Orlando at the Hilton running the water slide, Mom."

Okey Dokey. Way to aim high, kiddo!

HOTlanta Girls Weekend

Had a great weekend in Atlanta with my mommies. Wow, was it fun. There is literally nothing that was discussed that is appropriate to post on the internet. It was that much fun. We ate, drank, talked, and had makeovers at MAC. I looked like RuPaul when we were done, but I asked for it!

Thanks to all my girls for loving me and spending time with me. It means more to me than you know. And especially thanks to Shawn and Lisa for letting me have my own bed!!!

Frightfully Fun

About three weeks ago it dawned on us that Connor had two days off of school in early November and that we should go somewhere. We jumped on the web and checked out our options and ended up going with our old standby--Disney World. Yes-we know. We go there all the time. Can't we be more creative an open minded? NOPE. We love it there. We're not cynical enough to be unable to surrender to the joy that is Disney. It truly is the Happiest Place On Earth.

We stayed a the brand new Hilton Bonnet Creek and it was just lovely. Fantastic pool with a long lazy river and water slide. And only $75 a night! Great poolside restaurant with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary french fries. And a lovely breakfast buffet where kids eat free (rare at resort hotels).

So, it happened to be Halloween weekend. Luckily, we were able to find tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party for October 31st so we planned our weekend around a fun celebration at the Magic Kingdom. We wore our costumes to the park (as did about 70% of the people there) and had a blast. We felt like stars because so many people asked to take our photograph. The castle looks fantastic for Halloween, all the Disney villains make a special appearance and do a big show right before the fantastic and spooky Halloween fireworks show. The park is open until midnight only for people with the special tickets so the lines are very short and there is trick-or-treating throughout the park. An absolutely fantastically fun time.

In the end, despite our grand plans to hit several parks over the four days, we ended up only doing the MK and Epcot. At Epcot it was the International Food and Wine Festival which was fantastic. It would be great to go there without kiddos and drink and eat your way around the World Showcase. People were having an absolute blast.

Other than that and some miniature golf, we spent the rest of our time just chillin' at the pool. It was a great, fun, and relaxing weekend.