All of My Favorite Things

What a morning I've had! Anja MUST be teething. For the past few days she's just been a real grouch, but also she's been randomly biting me, chewing on her hands, and chewing on toys that she normally doesn't put in her mouth. I'm wondering when these teeth will pop through... and how long this teething phase will last. However, today she seems to be MUCH better. No biting so far, and she's been in a delightful mood--which made my morning even better than it would've been anyway!

I've fallen behind in the laundry a little bit so I really had to scrounge to get Anja dressed today. However, she came out looking ADORABLE in a little brown skirt with pink polka-dots, a pink sweater, and pink tights with white and brown flowers on them. Also, her brown shoes. !!! She is such a cutie. And the outfit totally inspired me... to go shopping!

I thought Once Upon a Child opened at 9:00, so we drove out there a little after that, but as it turns out, they don't open till 10:00. No big deal, since Goodwill is right down the road. We popped in there and I came out with a wonderful Moses Basket for the new baby marked only $12!! It's great because it's wider than I'm used to, but it still has the cute hood on it. I'm not sure if the reed is synthetic, but does it really matter? No, it doesn't matter at all. Twelve dollars is a bargain whether the reed is real or fake. Now I just have to figure out what to put in the bottom of it... I'm thinking of possibly splurging on a sheepskin.........

Anyway, also at Goodwill I found myself a post-pregnancy Fat Shirt. It's cute and springy, blue with flowers and a cute square neck, but it ties around the middle so it will hopefully be kind to my post-baby figure. (figure=pooch.) Those were my only purchases from Goodwill, and I just checked the reciept and I spent less than ten dollars. I KNOW! That means I didn't pay full price for the Moses Basket!! HOORAY for sales!

On to Once Upon a Child, with a pit-stop at the gas station drive-thru for a cherry coke because we still had a few minutes before 10:00. Yum yum, and then we get to Once Upon a Child where they were pretty much giving everything in the store away for free. There was a whole rack of clothes for a dollar! A DOLLAR!! From that rack I got Anja a cute yellow sundress for the summer and a very cute pink skirt. From the Maternity section I got myself a nursing shirt for a few dollars and a really cute pink cardigan that is lined with kimono-type material. Kind of weird, but really cute at the same time. Then we looked through the new-baby things and I got the first article of clothing that is just for the new baby: a little white sleeper with monkeys all over it!!! Perfect for either a crazy little girl or a crazy little boy, whichever we get. The grand total? $15.30. So I came out this morning having only spent about $25 for ALL THAT STUFF!

Anja was soooo good in the car and when we got home I was getting her out of her seat and she said, "Bot-bot. Bot-bot." Even though it was only a little after 10:30, I put her down easily for her nap. She is such a sweetie pie. And now I'm blogging! Another one of my favorite things!!

My blogging has really fallen off lately, which is too bad. It's because it's so cold back here and I totally got out of the internet habit during the weeks when we didn't bother to get it working again. I can't even remember the last time I checked my emails, so if any of you has sent me an email to which I still haven't responded, I'm sorry. But don't hold your breath waiting for a response, cause I probably won't ever read it in the first place.

Yesterday Martin called me after he got to work saying he'd forgotten that it was someone's last day at the office and he was supposed to bring something for the carry-in party. Silly Martino! This happened ALL THE TIME when he worked at Wabash, but he would never tell me--he would just stop at the gas station on the way to work and buy a box of gas station doughnuts. Um, gross. I was pretty happy yesterday when he called and asked if I could bring something out to him before lunch. I tried making some chocolate peanut-butter-filled desserts that are from my Hershey's recipe box, but after I got them started I realized there was no way they'd be done in two hours, since they chocolate had to be in the fridge overnight before I filled them. Oops! But it was okay, because I made Tabouleh! And since there aren't that many people in his office, he brought the uneaten stuff home and it was the perfect amount for my lunch! So now I'm eating one of my favorite things for lunch and still drinking the cherry coke I got this morning, and I am one happy camper. Also, Martin just wore a light jacket to work today, which left his House Coat here, so that's what I'm wearing to blog!! I'm toasty warm!

On Tuesday Martin forced me out the door to go to Knit Night at Barnes & Noble and he stayed home and PUT ANJA TO SLEEP. This is wonderful! He's never been able to do that before, and now suddenly she is going to sleep for both Martin AND my mom! And she's staying with people who aren't me and not freaking out!! She stayed with my mom on Tuesday during my doctor appointment, and she was wonderful and happy the whole time!! After my appointment I picked her up and we all went to the grocery store together. From there, Martin called me and invited me to meet him out for a lunch date, but on the way there Anja fell asleep, so we just went to the Wendy's drive-thru for sandwiches while she slept. It was festive and fun! Anyway, it was nice to go to Knitting, but it felt kind of strange being out without either of them. Then last night Martin went by himself over to Vienna to prepare stuff for his class today (did I mention on here that he's teaching a class at Ivy Tech? He is.) and he texted me and told me that it felt weird to be there without me. I guess it's been a pretty long time since either of us have gone to a coffee shop by ourselves. Anyway, I feel like I've been leaving Anja a lot lately and even though I know this is a good thing and I know I need to do more of it, it's very hard. I just don't want to. I like being around her, and if I leave her when she's in a bad mood, I'll worry, and if I leave her when she's in a good mood I'll feel like I'm missing out on her cuteness. But I KNOW that it's very important for me to leave her because in about a month we'll get to the "well, I guess it could come at any time" point, and even though it might not come for six weeks after that, it's best to be prepared. But I still don't like leaving her.

Martin is going to start competing in Power Lifting competitions! I'm so happy for him. It takes some courage to take your hobby public, and I'm glad he's finally doing it. Depending on baby-related circumstances, he may compete at something in April, and if he does that, then there's a chance we'll go to a National competition in July out in Virginia! If that happens, we can visit people, which will be fun. Also, there's something lined up for him to compete in November near Muncie. Go Martin!

I'm getting so excited for this new baby. Buying things for him/her makes it seem so much more real!