If This Isn't Nice, I Don't Know What Is.

The first week of 2013 wasn't kind to us.  The weather was kind of gross, and we were feeling whiny because I had to go back to work, and it seemed that all of our things went in on a suicide pact.  In one week my ipod broke, Matt's phone broke, the car got a flat tire (which I had to change by myself at night in an empty parking lot all pregnant--it's fine now that I wasn't murdered, but it was a little scary at the time), and then on the way to get the tire fixed, the doughnut got a flat.  On top of that, our sweet pup was on too high a dose of his mange medicine (yes, he STILL has mange) and it was making him very sick and unlike himself (and after reading scary stuff on the internet I was sure we'd poisoned him and he was on the verge of death).  Then we found out that our lovely car needed a shitton of work done, work that would cost approximately 3,000 times more than the car was worth.  It was just one of those weeks.

But this last week has been just amazing.  I found out that I'm going to be teaching AP next year (!)*, and our dog recovered wonderfully with a lower dose of meds.  Matt got a new phone, I realized that life does go on without an ipod (though, let's be honest, I'll get another in the next few months), we got a new [to us] car (!!!), our landlord replaced our dishwasher, the weather was amazing, and we were crazy productive.  Everything seems to be falling into place.  We have company coming next week (thus the household productivity--don't want them to think we're dirty barn people, now do we?), we have a refrigerator full of food, a car that just starts every time you turn the key, and a dishwasher that actually washes dishes**.  Add to that some cheap Fresh Market steaks, Downton Abbey, Girls, and the fact that it's 8:00 at night and our windows are still open.  I can't wipe the smile off my face.

Meatball eater.

Meatball beggar.

First family trip to Skidaway Island State Park.  Um, amazeballs. 

Open window dinner prep.  Ahhhhh. . .

Mitch passes out as soon as Charlie goes to bed.  It's hard work looking after a baby brother! 

Haha.  This is Mitch's "We're sorry you have mange" special toy.  We call it his Baby Krampus.  He's obsessed with it.  Has there ever been a scarier toy?

*OMG I AM SO EXCITED AND SO SCARED.

**I mean, who are we?  The Rockefellers?

Love and Marriage

[Today, Charlie took a nap that was almost 3 hours long.  I took a nap when I put him down, and woke up--on my own--about a half hour before he did.]

Matt: Are you so proud today?

Me: Huh?  Why?

Matt:  Your son out-napped you.  I mean, that's like the thing you do best and you've trained him to be even better than you are.  It's probably how Archie Manning feels when he watches his sons play football.

Badass

Hello, friends!  I hope your 2013 is rockin' out so far.  I've realized [after 7 years of teaching] that I get kind of down in the final days of my Christmas break, mostly because break is always so awesome and so relaxing and so wonderful, and then I dread going back to work.  And you don't have to tell me how bratty it is for me to whine and cry about having to go back to work when I 1.) have a job and 2.) just had two weeks off.  I know, I know.  But still.  It sucks.  This year I'm extra bummed because not only was break f'ing amazing, but work is extra hard and stressful this year, and after having two weeks of hanging out with my three favorite boys, I really don't want to leave them.  I might have cried about it like 4 times today.*

But it'll be fine.  It always is, and I certainly have much to look forward to in 2013.

Like the new season of Downton Abbey.

And an upcoming visit from in-laws and my soulmate.

And a less sadistic school calendar for this part of the school year.

And a tidier house.  (I think I love putting away the Christmas decorations as much as I love putting them up.)

And celebrating one whole year with the cutest human boy on the planet. (And making a smash cake!!!  Horray!)

 In our house we have morning hair, eat yogurt with a spoon, and scream throughout breakfast.

I can't handle the cuteness of Charlie's concentration while he drinks through a straw 

And welcoming a new girl into our lives. (Egads!)

Matt and I have some lofty goals for 2013, and if everything goes according to plan this will be a busy, exhausting, rewarding, and magnificent year for us.  There's a lot we're working on, and it's starting with our adopting the so very trendy green smoothie breakfast and pledging to ellipt more**.  Surprise, surprise.

I've talked about this here before, but I've spent my life (with the exception of a few irresponsible years in my mid-twenties) in school, and my new year really starts in August or September.  But the January one is fun for new beginnings, too, I suppose.  And I really like how people do the whole "choose one word to live by for the year" thing, except that I'm not a serious enough adult to pick something actually inspirational, so here's the word I'll live by in 2013:

Badass.

I want to be a badass mother and wife and teacher and sister and daughter and friend.  I want to cook badass food and throw badass parties and manage my life in a completely badass way.  So there.  When I look back, I'm hoping to remember 2013 as the Year of the Badass.

What badass things do you have in store for the next year?



*Also, I am a huge crybaby.

**Um, so, at almost 6 months pregnant I am as uncomfortable as I was at about 8 with Charlie, which I think is a combination of this being a second pregnancy after I already had a kid like a week ago and my body's all stretched out and deformed and the fact that I haven't really been ellipting at all.  So I've decided that in order to keep myself from being absolutely miserable in the third trimester, I need to make my body stronger so that I can handle it with more badassery.  Not being such a fatass is just a bonus.

Merry Christmas!

From all of us to all of you, the internet:

Merry Christmas!  May your days be full of wild rumpuses.

Love,

Matt, Mandy, Charlie (resident king of the wild things, though he is actually the most wild thing of all), Mitchell, and young female fetus.

Haha.

Those were the best ones from our Christmas card photo session.  (Remember that we haven't forgotten about our wonderful pup, it's just that he had mange and was wearing a cone and had a swollen eye and no fur on his face when we were taking Christmas card photos.  And nobody wants a mangey dog on display, especially at Christmas.)

But here's my third favorite, though it just wasn't Christmas card material.  Kid's crazy.

Merry Christmas!  Eat too much and drink too much and chillax and wear slippers all day and laugh and take naps!

Annnnnnnnd. . .BREAK!

CHRISTMAS BREAK! CHRISTMAS BREAK! CHRISTMAS BREAK!

Yeah, so if you'd talked to me two days ago I'd have told you about how drained and tired and fussy and cranky I was, how hard this school year has been so far.  And I'd have whined about how the dog still has mother effing mange and how I missed hanging out with my Matt and how I just needed a break and a nap.  (And you probably would have made up an excuse to get off of the phone or out of the conversation because of how unpleasant I was being.)

But that break is here, my friends!  One day in and I can already feel the stress melting away.  Phew!  So I'm feeling happy and fulfilled and not even pissed at the dogs for running off and embarrassing me with the neighbors who knocked on my door at 10:30 at night to tell us the dogs had escaped.  Nope.  I'm not even going to shame them (the dogs, not the neighbors) or deny them treats because it's CHRISTMAS BREAK!  (Now, if those fuckers do it again I will take every single one of those wrapped stocking treats and donate them to the Humane Society.  That'll teach 'em!)

The laundry is done and folded (but not put away because that never happens in this house), the toys are put away, the dogs are sleeping on the couch, the baby is sleeping in his crate, and the tree is perfect.  Life is good.  I might even take a shower tomorrow.

Here's what happy's looking like around here lately.

Our faves stopped by for a dinner visit last week.

Charlie is a texting fool.

Haha, watch this little demonstration of brotherly love and admiration.

That took about two seconds.

I am determined to continue to display my fragile ornaments even with a baby in the house.

Made this crazy ribbon/bunting/banner thing to go over our doorways.  I kind of love it.  

 I also love our tree.  As usual.

This kid is bananas.  Here's a series we'll call, "Charlie Bananas throws things from his box."

And in an event that was ripped straight from the plot of an episode of Roseanne, we're giddy to have been selected as a Nielsen family.  I've never felt so important and powerful and influential in all my life.  Seriously.  There were squeals of delight.  Also, Nielsen paid us $5 (in the crispiest dollar bills on earth) to participate.  Power and influence and wealth?  Well, well, we have arrived.

Stuff for our girl.  I'm really warming to the idea of having a daughter, and while some of the things about having a girl terrify me and cause great anxiety (see: princess crap and the seventh grade), I'm getting pretty excited about meeting her.  Girl baby's going to be awesome.  (Also, this is all of the stuff we have for her because our house already looks like a plastic wonderland/baby gear store/Toys R Us.)

 MALLOWS!

I can't handle these two.  They were telling each other jokes.

 Done and done.  Next on the list: drink a milkshake.

Hope you're having a relaxing and fun-filled week that's full of sugar and dogs and snuggling.

Face Off!

Hahaha.  Do you remember that movie?  Why was it so bad?  And why did my friend Tanya love it so?  I caught it on TV the other day and was amazed that it was like one bajillion times worse than I'd even remembered.

Let's talk about skin.  And getting old.  I'm not gonna lie: I've been pretty fortunate in the skin department.  The universe has been good to me, and with the exception of some dry skin in winter and a brief bout with pimples when I was 14 (back before I discovered that the best thing for my skin was water and a washcloth), I had 30 years of not having to worry about my skin (nevermind the great sunburn of 2008 when my eyes swelled up and were all squinty and I'm pretty sure it was sun poisoning but the only thing that I was worried about other than the extreme pain was that I was going to look like a squinty-eyed clown for Hugh and Cassie's wedding).  Then I got pregnant, and my skin went all berzerk, and now I feel like I'm 14 again, back on the ol' skincare square one.  Dry patches?  More pimples than one a year?  What the eff!?!?

So I'm on the lookout for some good skincare stuff, and I'd like to have some way of keeping my skin somewhat young-looking (started wearing sunscreen after that sunburn even!) that doesn't involve just getting fatter and fatter so that wrinkles can't possible show up.  I'm thinking (hint, hint, Matthew!) that something like this DDF awesome micro polishing system could be what need.  I mean, we don't want my skin to match my hair age-wise, what with all of the gray streaks and all.  But back to the DDF thing.  This thing is really cool and looks fun to use and might even be so fun that I'd actually make time to use it.  (Truth?  Last night Charlie somehow managed to dump a milkshake all in my hair and I have yet to wash it out because I decided that I just don't have time.  It's basically like a foodie verison of hairspray, right?  I could be all, "Oh, this is my local organic cookies and cream milkshake hair product.")  It seems like it'd be gentle enough for my super sensitive skin, but cleansing enough to fight the ridiculous pimples that pregnancy has gifted me with (thanks again for that, the universe).

And extra cool for me and for you, too?  It's on sale and you can get it for $45 (which is more than 50% off--they're running the special price through January 1, 2013) if you go here and use the code DDFMICRODERMA at checkout.  Shoot yeah!  But be careful not to use the microderm brush for too long because if you use it for like 12 hours in a row you'll look in the mirror and see John Travolta looking back at you.*

Anyway, now that I've posted to the entire world about my crusty milkshake hair, I think I should go bathe or something.  Matt, buy me that thing already!  xoxo


*Jokes.  That won't happen.  

If This Isn't Nice, I Don't Know What Is

I won't turn on the TV today because I know that I will become a sobbing mess like I did about a dozen times yesterday, so I don't know all of the awful details of the shooting in Connecticut.  Still, though, I can't get it out of my mind.  We've been trying to focus on the joys in life and not to wallow in the tragedy, but it's hard, especially when every time I look at little Charlie I just think about how those babes were other peoples' Charlies and then, again, with the sobbing mess.  So, anyway, please don't take this as my not caring about it or being deeply affected by the tragedy.  I just can't think about it or I'll have crying headaches for the next week.

Tell me for one second that a dog in a baby swing next to a baby in a baby swing, somewhat dressed like the dog, isn't the best thing you've seen all day.

Unless, of course, you watched this video that makes me want to go buy every single thing that Lego makes.

Oh, also, Charlie has a box.  A giant cardboard box that we draped a duvet cover over and threw some pillow into.  He also has a cup.  Seriously, why have I spent a dime on actual toys for this kid?  Also, spontaneous baby laughter is pretty f'ing awesome.  He also now has a tooth and has tasted bacon.  Bacon jam, actually.  Kid leads a charmed life, huh?

It's a _________!

Want to know something fun?

(I mean, besides the fact that Charlie is insanely cute.  Also, I am putting pictures of him on here because I like them and because I want to drag out this reveal.)

We found out what the next kid is.

And in addition to it being, "a naked baby," as my [crazy, crazy] doctor assured us it would be (seriously, no clothes showed up on the ultrasound). . .

It's a. . .

GIRL!  Charlie and Mitch are getting a sister!  And I'll get to play with Barbies again!

Says Shecky:  "I'm kind of excited that you're having a girl, because, like, bringing an independent bitchy girl into the world is a good thing.  Like, your girl can balance out some dumb bitch."

Here's hoping, Shecks.

This and That

1.  So here's a perfect example of why you should read a recipe all the way through before starting it.  Today I was bound and determined to make the Homemade Franks & Beans recipe that I saw on Dinner: A Love Story a few weeks go.  I picked up the few ingredients that I didn't have at that store (why is maple syrup so expensive?), and decided that I'd get started after I put Charlie to bed.  Yeah, except that they take 6 hours.  So unless I am planning on setting a dinner alarm for like 3 a.m., I guess that one will have to wait until tomorrow.  Shoot.

2.  Um, let's talk for a hot second about how I'm 20 weeks pregnant, which means that I'm halfway through being pregnant with this delightful little spawn (and STILL don't know what it is, which is completely unacceptable, by the way).  More exciting than being halfway finished with this pregnancy is the knowledge that I'm 3/4 of the way finished being pregnant FOR LIFE*.  Eff yeah.  And I really can't wait for everyone else I know to be pregnant, and to hear their complaints and woes and joys about the experience, and to do all of that listening with a large glass of wine in my hand.  I'm a much better listener when I have a glass of wine.**

3.  I love flipping the calendar in my planner to a new month, partly because it's so clean and sparse and only has a few meetings written in.  Lately I've been getting bitter every single time I have to add a meeting to my calendar because, well, I hate meetings, but also because it makes my month look all cluttered and messy.

4.  Here's the problem with finishing Christmas shopping early: I want to keep buying stuff all month.  Really, it'd probably be most economical for our family if I just waited until Christmas Eve to do all of the shopping.  Charlie's only getting a few things from us (granted, they're really a few REALLY AWESOME things), but I keep finding more and more stuff to get for him.  He needs ALL THE PUZZLES and ALL THE PUPPETS and ALL THE CUTE PAJAMAS.  You know, except that he doesn't.  And really, he'd be happier with some dirty flip flops (which are apparently the tastiest thing ever to exist), the computer cord, and the tags from Mitch's collar.  Is it covered in dirt and germs and does it pose risk of death?  If so, it's Charlie's favorite thing ever.  He's been telling us lately that his name is not Charles Spencer, and that it is, instead, Charlie Danger.  Charles Danger Spencer.  Has a nice ring to it, no?

5.  Been making my own granola.  It's totes easy and way cheaper and super delicious.  I've been using Ina Garten's recipe but modifying it according to what I have and what I want at that exact moment.  And I always double the salt because I am an addict.

6.  Someone doesn't like green beans.

7.  Hilarious hand.  When speaking for young Charles now, Matt and I often describe things as being fabulous.***

8. Probably time to get an automatic focus 50 mm lens.  Lately too many of my pictures are looking like this.

*And, no, I will not be getting accidentally pregnant after #2 graces us with [let's face it] her presence.  There are ways not to get pregnant.  They work.  Don't even get me started on my rant about how if people would use birth control correctly, then it would work for them.  You don't hear me bitching about how advil doesn't work for my headache when I, oops, forget to take it, you know, ever.  Geesh.

**Also better at Spanish when wine is involved.

***And why is it so cute when Charlie's belly hangs over his diaper, but when my belly hangs out of my  pants in a similar way, it's gross and puts me at risk of ending up on one of those People of Wal-Mart emails?****

****Except that I would never be on one of those emails because I won't go to Wal-Mart.