These are all things that will look ridiculous on my SON.
SURPRISE!!!
busy weekend!
Rough weekend. Someone reading this would assume it was because of my full house over the weekend, but I promise that has nothing to do with it. On Thursday, we narrowed our house-hunt down to 4. On Friday, 3 of those 4 went under contract. Two of them literally went overnight. So depressing. We had no idea that it could happen so suddenly, and I’m not sure whether that is a faux-pas on behalf of the realtor, or naivety on our part. Probably both. She knew how we felt, surely if she thought we should throw down asap she would have said that. So, it seems like we were all caught off guard. Three out of four times.
Mom, Dad, Haley, Starsky, Van, Trudy, Tyler, Bree, Sunny, Nick and Toby were here over the weekend. Now it’s just me and Jasmine, and I’m so lonely. Tom and Dad went to the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races on Saturday and Sunday. The Herolds were here for a wedding. So, let’s see… on Friday Dad, Haley and Starsky got in around lunch time. We went to Speed Street in Uptown and won lots of fun swag. I was a rockstar. I won game after game. I tell you what, ever since Mr. Nasty was removed, my hand-eye coordination and ball-handling skills have gone through the roof.
On the way home on Friday night, it occurred to me that I had left a Chickfila sandwich on the table behind the couch. CCCRRRAAAPPP. I knew that Jasmine and Starsky would have been all over that thing after we left and was positive they’d get up on the couch, spill half-empty soda glasses (also on that table) down the side of the couch, and litter my floor with the sandwich wrapper. Craaaaaap. The covers come off of the couch cushions easily enough, and are machine washable, but it was already midnight. And I have no idea how we’re going to wash the cushion part of the couch…. I felt so sick on the drive home. So sick.
We pulled up to the house, Tom apologized to Haley in advance because it hurts her feelings when we yell at Jasmine. As we made our way to the door, Haley ran to the window and looked in at the living room.
“IT’S STILL THERE!”
I opened the door to two happy, friendly pups and a perfectly intact Chickfila chicken sandwich exactly where I left it on the table behind the couch. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy in my entire life. I felt so warm, almost drunk. Drunk with happiness. It was kind of like marrying Tom, or sitting there with Tom watching the two lines on the pee test form. So good. So wonderfully awesome.
We had dinner at Mac’s Speed Shop (I think), because it’s rated the number one restaurant in Charlotte. It was perfect. A unique Charlotte experience, lots of food for the money – oh yeah – and also it was delicious.
Saturday, I had big plans. Haley and I were going to hit up Old Navy and then paint pottery. We went to Chickfila to get lunch for the Herolds, and Target to get her some pizza. When we got back to the house, everyone was there. It was good timing. That’s what we were shooting for, we wanted their food to be hot. We pretty much got there at the same time, I think.
Turned out we had to dog-sit Tobster. Makes sense. It was really hot out, so he couldn’t wait for everyone in the van like he usually does. Plus, the van was loaded with their stuff for the beach. Everyone was in formal wear. It really wasn’t practical for them to take a slobbery, hairy hot mess with them to that wedding. It just didn’t occur to me until about 30 minutes before they left that Haley, Starsky, Jasmine and I were all in for the night with Toby. Womp wah. (Not that I mind, Toby is always willing to babysit Jasmine!) Haley and I watched the Nationwide race, which I thought was really fun. 🙂 We watched about 6 hours of Jersey Shore in Florence. Haley ordered us a free pizza and breadsticks. She’s a good egg. We had a good time. It’s kind of like when it snows and you decide you have to walk to the grocery store. We felt a little bit of cabin fever because we couldn’t go anywhere, but we made a really good night out of it. My favorite part was our last two hours or so. Haley got a cup of Sammy Snacks and had all 3 doggies sit, lay down, and speak for a treat. She’s really amazing. She is a dog person… she’s an animal person in general. It was like watching Andreas Deja draw in my sketchbook, watching a pro do what they do. Very, very cool.
At 2 in the morning, Dad, Haley and I went to the train station to pick up Mom. And all was right with the world.
Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY. Tom got donuts for the gang. I want to say the Herolds left at 11 for a 7 hour drive, but didn’t hit the OBX until close to 9. (Just a guess based on facebook.) So, I’m real interested to find out how that trip went since I have to do it in a little over a month. I’ve been told 9 hours, so if they did make it there in 7, I want to go the way that they went! You know, of course, what I am thinking. “Nine hours?! I could be at Disney World in 9 hours!” Not just at WDW, but in 9 hours, I could be all the way inside the Magic Kingdom enjoying a Dole Whip.
Dad and Tom left around noon for the Sprint Cup race, the Coca-Cola 600. Mom, Haley and I left Starsky to babysit Jasmine and again I had big plans. Lunch, Old Navy, and Painting Pottery! Woo! We went to Wendy’s and Old Navy. By the time we left Old Navy, Mommy had a “hegg-aig.” We went back to my house and watched… something… what did we watch? I forget. We watched some of the race. Haley and I went to Target and bough the stuff to make PKP and chicken spaghetti. It was a fun little meal. About the time we were done cooking, Tom and Dad came home. Everyone was so exhausted. We ate and passed out.
On Monday morning, I had booked us a breakfast date in Rock Hill. We met Will, Joyce and Sara Beth at 9:30 at Cracker Barrel and sat there running our mouths for about 2 hours. It was so good to see them. I had so much fun. When my food came, I was sad, because it meant we’d be leaving soon. (We actually didn’t, we sat at the table for a loooong time after we were all done.)
We left Cracker Barrel and I whispered into Tom’s ear, “Disney Store?” He smiled at me and nodded.
We headed up I-77 from Rock Hill, into North Carolina and got on I-485 heading east. Dad was fussing at Tom for being in the wrong lane, going the wrong way… he sad something about being a bad driver in front of Mom and that opened Haley up to her Anjelah Johnson, “honeeey, I try to he’p yoo,” impression. We were all dying laughing, wishing Lindsay was with us, and just saying it over and over. So, although Dad thought Tom was going the wrong way, Tom’d just say, “Hon’ay, I try to he’p yoo!” We parked at Macy’s, walked through and looked at luggage. It was kind of nice to just do nothing. Mom hit the nail on the head later, she said that whenever we get together it’s because we have something going on. It was nice to just do nothing. Just shop. Just be together and be funny.
We left Macy’s, walked around that corner and Haley said, “Gah! I know why we came here!” She RAN to the Disney Store. I was nervous, you know. We have a sister that get’s a discount and all of the merchandise is available online. I was afraid they’d think it was pointless to go there. They didn’t. They were excited. We shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped. Dad talked to a Cast Member who said that the stores are making a comeback. Dad said, “Yeah, because you can’t take your kid into an online store.” Dad bought tiny sunglasses for Lil’ Happy. So cute. He also asked me when we find out, because he’s excited about being able to get gender-specific stuff. I am so tickled that he’s playing that Grandpa card.
I bought a Disney Store vinylmation and got the chaser! I wasn’t as lucky with the Snow White minis. I got Sneezy. Not bad, but you know I wanted Dopey.
They were so not-annoyed with going to the Disney Store without our walkin’ talkin’ discount machine, that we went from South Charlotte to Concord Mills to visit the Disney Outlet. The pool in my neighborhood opened this weekend, I was chompin’ at the bit to paint pottery… but the Johnson Family went to the Disney Store. That’s how we roll. That’s what we do. It was pretty fun, as fun as a pool day I’d say.
They left around 4, and I have been ridiculously lonely ever since.
In other news…
I had a BombPop this morning that Tom bought me yesterday from an ice cream truck. It was SO GOOD. The problem? What does a pregnant gal do when her craving is something that rolls by the house at random on weekends? (Or not at all.) What? Go to the grocery store and buy popsicles? Not the same. They’re more watery, more icy. This was so soft. It was a popsicle, but when I broke through the frozen barrier, it turned to some kind of delicious miracle of cushy goodness. The ones at the grocery store don’t slush as much as they just plain drip. Anyway, now all I want is another BombPop. I don’t know what cravings feel like, but this is as close as I’ve gotten to it so far.
It just occurred to me that I have a fridge full of wedding cake from the Herolds! Woot!
Kirk out.
more design
I have a few ideas regarding furnishing the baby’s room. We’ve been looking at houses, so I’m getting fired up. 🙂
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- Ours won’t be in such neutral tones, but I like what they did there with the shelves on the wall.
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- Baby Haley Reads: I like how the furniture functions.
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- Baby Haley Works: She turned her reading nook into a desk. Time to get to work.
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- Baby Lindsay Performs: More functional furnishing ideas. I just feel like the kid could have so much fun in this space.
See also: design.
design
Here’s what’s going on for the baby’s room.
Everything is designed around this mobile… my mobile from when I was a baby. It plays “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Although looking at it, mine is a little faded.
Alright, here… here’s what I’ve got so far.
The mobile:
The crib quilt: 
Yeah. Ya’ see what I did there? Here’s another shot of the blanket and some other things around the room. We’re going with primary colors and lots and lots of Disney characters.
This kite flew in my room for a really long time.
I found this at Ikea and bought two of them. We’ve got lots of stuff, so we’ll hide some of it under the crib. I like bright patterns with numbers and letters. Look! Not even born yet and we’re already prepped for a play date with Aunt Haley!
I sent Mom a picture of the crib quilts, and she said, “Wow! Should have known it would be perfect!” It doesn’t feel perfect. It feels very scattered and unorganized and mismatched. (So, please – if you think it’s perfect, stroke my ego. If not… I am open to suggestion.) There are so many things that I love at Babies R’ Us, but none of them match this mobile I’ve been holding onto for 28 years. The mobile, by the way, which will not function until I get a new hook to put it on. I could very easily ditch the mobile and go with the Noah’s Ark theme that I always imagined. Classic. Simple. Most likely well-executed… but noooo… I’m going with this obscure little thing from 1983.
Funny story about the crib quilt. I think I first saw it on Etsy. It’s actually made from a twin sheet and there are a bunch of them out there. I mean, I’ve seen them pop up a few times over the years. People just have one sheet, either flat or fitted, and that’s useless so they make cute vintagey looking blankets and quilts out of them. I saw this particular design, with all the characters in the air and fell head over heels in love with it because of the mobile. With no baby on board (this was YEARS and years and years ago… probably right after we got married) I watched the item and eventually someone bought it. Then, of course, it and everything like it dropped off the radar for a couple of years. When I saw it again (this time on ebay), I pounced on it. “Is that stupid,” I asked Tom, “$30 for a crib quilt when we don’t have a baby?” He said, “we’ll have one eventually.” So that blanket has been in the closet of the guest room for yeeeears. We moved to Charlotte and I put it in the closet of this guest room for a year.
Then, we went to Goodwill. Guess what I found? Same sheet-turned-crib-quilt. This one had a red border instead of yellow and the back has some needlework firetrucks or some nonsense… but that’s the back, and it was $5 or $7. SOLD – to the crazy lady with no baby… yet. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!
***UPDATE*** Alright, I looked at the back and had to share it with y’all.
I know, right? Random. But I appreciate the craftsmanship anyway. It looks like a lot of hard work went into the random back of this $5 or $7 quilt.
I was just thinking about that little thing wiggling on the ultrasound and something occurred to me…
I’m having a baby.
Like, it might ACTUALLY pan out. Not might… it probably WILL pan out. More likely than not… unless something terrible happens… we’re really going to be parents by Halloween.
Generally, I am of the mindset that we could have this baby. Very seldom do I really feel like we will have this baby. But today, thinking about that ultrasound, I had a will moment.
—
I can’t decide whether to register at Target or Babies R Us. Here’s the thing, we registered at Target when we got married. Since then, I’ve been on a crusade to save my cousins (and eventually sisters) from making the same mistake. If I had it to do over again, it would be Crate and Barrel all the way. So naturally, when it came to registering for this baby, I went to Land of Nod. But the funny thing is, if you aren’t interested in $700 cribs and you already have your crib bedding (vintage Mickey Mouse), they don’t offer much that I wasn’t able to find at, you guessed it, Target. The same Puj tub, the same BabyBjorn travel crib, the same Skip Hop Hare Comb and Brush Kit…
The stroller we like is at Target. I honestly don’t know of anything Babies R Us has that Target doesn’t, but it’d be fun to shop there. BUT – my main argument when I tell brides not to register at Bed, Bath and Beyond or Target is “don’t pick a place just because your guests like to shop there. Get what you love – from a store YOU like.”
So, I don’t know… I’m open to suggestion. I don’t really want to fool with a bunch of crap. I mostly want to register for the crucial items, and not fill the registry with a bunch of cutesy crap that will distract people from investing in what we really need.
holy great bargain, batman!
I found a great deal on All-In-Two (I think) cloth diapers on Totsy today.
Mom said that I should try out the cloth diapers and see how I feel about them. I totally agree. 100%. But part of me also thinks I should buy two-dozen right now because it’s such an incredible deal.
So, I compromised. I bought 7 diapers and 6 extra liners (I’m hoping the 7 that I bought actually come with liners in them, but just in case they try to screw me, I have a back up plan. Plus, I hear extra liners are good for overnight.) The total retail price is about $100. Cheap by cloth diapering standards. These retail for $12.95 a piece, whereas the BumGenius AIOs (All-In-Ones) on my registry are about $20 a piece. Of course, Totsy is a sale website. They don’t sell at retail price. So, the diapers are $8.75 a piece, with the exception of white and off white which are only $7.50! (I spent the extra $1.25 for colors because they are so damn cute. In hindsight, I should have just stocked up on white/off white. It’s not like the kid’s not going to be wearing clothes over these adorable bright colors. And either way it’s a poop sack.)
SO… the order subtotal is $77.25.
Because I have about 30 different email addresses, I signed up for Totsy and sent myself an invitation. Once my second account made a purchase, the account that sent the invitation had a $15 credit. Woot! That took my diaper purchase from $77 to $62. Sweet!
I never buy anything online without first visiting RetailMeNot.com and searching for coupons. Wouldn’t you know it! Found a coupon for $15 off a $60 purchase at Totsy using coupon code VIPMOM. That’ll cover shipping and take my grand total down to $55. Schweeeeeeet!
Just thought I’d spell out that whole procedure in case some future aunt or grandma would like to grab a couple as shower gifts or something. They’re not as cute (or as high quality) as a BumGenius AIO, but they’re also less than half the price. We all know that I’m all about the Benjamins. (I guess if YOU buy them, I’m not spending the money anyway – so feel free to splurge on the diapers on my registry.)
If you sign up through http://www.totsy.com/join/woowedstiger, I think you get free shipping and I will get a $15 credit once your stuff ships. (At that point it’ll be too late to buy more diapers, but there’s always some awesome deal over there.) Don’t forget, promo code VIPMOM!
This whole thing has fired me up about the cloth diapers!
mama’s got a brand new bop! …py
Looky what I got! Retail: $39.99, the awesomeness of me: $15.
Similar deal with Bumbo. Wow, we’re learning all kinds of new words today, huh?
a funny thing happened on the way home…
I think Haley’s on to me. And I’m worried I doth protest too much. She asked me yesterday if I was going to do “BabyWithoutDebt.” Hm. She’s too smart.
Speaking of BabyWithoutDebt… funny story. Tom, Jasmine and I rode out to Toys R Us last night because they have the best deal on the Lady and the Tramp 3 Disc Blu-ray set. As it turns out, they were out of Lady and the Tramp, but we saw a changing table for $25. It was already assembled, and looked like it would fit in the car. Maybe. I took a second glance – no way, it’s too big.
We went out to the car and looked at the trunk, the backseat. It should fit! Even if I have to ride home with the dog on my lap, we can make it work. Tom said, “I don’t know, it’s also pretty beat up.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but it’s like we’re making $50.” It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but for $25… I had a hard time leaving it at the store. So, I sent Tom back to pick it up. He walked out of the store beaming, but as he got closer and closer, the changing table got larger and larger. Shit. It’s not going to fit.
We popped the trunk, and tried every angle to make it fit. Okay, alright, fine. So it doesn’t fit in the trunk. No problem! Surely it will fit in the back seat!
Don’t call me Shirley.
I put Jasmine in the front seat and we tried to shove it in the backseat. No dice. By now, Toys R Us is closed, and we have an audience of people sitting in the parking lot watching our shenanigans. Did you know that Dollar Tree is open until 10 pm?! Neither did I. We’re art majors. We’re creative. Maybe I can find something in there… maybe a rope. We have the blanket for the dog in the back seat, maybe we can put the blanket on the roof of the car and strap the changing table onto it.
At first, all I could find was yarn. Then I found a pretty sturdy clothesline. I’d better grab scissors… what else… A SCREWDRIVER… just in case. Although I really don’t want to take that whole thing apart.
This time I was the one walking out of a store beaming. I sauntered across the parking lot, holding up my Dollar Tree bag above my head in triumph. I felt like a hero. I told Tom the plan, and he said, “Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I think I’ve figured it out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Will it compromise the structural integrity of the changing table?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
I sighed, “…alright.”
And there we sat, Tom, Jasmine and I, in the middle of an almost vacant parking lot, taking this changing table apart one screw at a time under the watchful eye of laughing strangers. About a half an hour later, we got the damn thing disassembled and in the trunk of my car. It really wasn’t too tough, and breaks down to practically nothing.
For a while, I really thought we were completely sunk. It was a lot of work, but hey – we made $50!
That La Kid 
