that is so 23 weeks ago

So I've been behind on a lot of things. One of which is mentioning that when I get dressed in the morning, I put on something that looks like this:

Answers to questions you may or may not want to ask:

1. I'm due in July.

2. Genghis will turn 3 years old a week or two afterward.

3. We characterize our emotional reaction to this development as "surprised excitement".

4. It's a girl.

5. While we love all of our children, we strongly hope that she continues Xena's legacy as "most calm and agreeable baby in the universe".

6. I'm feeling pretty well. Physically, things are just starting to get difficult. I almost threw the lasagna at Abe the other day when he told Genghis to sit down at the dinner table like Mommy, and demonstrated by grunting his way into his chair. Emotionally, things have been more difficult that in past pregnancies. I usually feel like my normal self, but sometimes get pretty low (manifesting itself in lots of anger toward Abe, frustration with children, and sobbing while doing the dishes).

7. We have grand plans to fit all 3 children in our sedan.

8. I may or may not be considering how to turn our walk-in pantry into a nursery.

9. I may or may not be considering selling all of my maternity clothes after July.

the last to-do list

After having a long conversation with Abe tonight about what we want life to look like for the first few weeks after our baby is born, and after reading a friend's blog post about her first few weeks after after baby #8, I came to a conclusion.

I want to throw away my to-do lists.

At least for a few weeks (really, much longer than that and they'd probably have to put me on life-support or something).

What I really mean is that I really want to carve out some space after our baby comes for a break from life. Except that I know that life isn't going to really slow down for us. Genghis will still need the help and attention that he always needs. Plus we'll have this newborn that we'll be responsible for, and I have conveniently forgotten how demanding no sleep, breastfeeding, and soothing a crying infant can be.

So I don't want to have any false illusions that I can make this a blissful, stress-free, euphoric time.

But I do want to get rid of the non-essentials. Cereal for breakfast instead of pancakes. Laundry every other week instead of every week. Laying on the couch while Genghis plays on his own instead of picking another area in the house to de-clutter and re-organize.

The best way for me to think of this is to get rid of all my to-do lists. All I really have to do when this baby comes is meet the needs of myself and my family as they come, instead of planning, preparing, and proactively running our household. (Like I said, just for a few weeks, because I secretly really enjoy all of those p-words).

Of course, the best way for me to put aside my to-do lists is to make one final to-do list. Already on the list (you're surprised I've got one made?)...

- Make 1 month's worth of freezer dinners (done! and something to blog about later)
- Stock the pantry (done!)
- Organize the baby closet (done!)
- Get out the basic baby supplies (burp clothes, pacifiers, swaddles, bottles) and have them on hand
- Install both car seats
- Pack hospital bags and overnight babysitter bag for Genghis
- Deep clean the bathroom - I mean, nursery
- Renew our rental contract
- Finish taxes
- Make a double batch of bran muffins and freeze (assuming I can find space in the freezer)
- De-clutter the house and take a few loads of stuff out to the garage

I'm curious. Two questions.

#1. What sort of things would you put on a to-do list for this week if you wanted to get your home in as much order as possible? Thus, making room to take a few weeks off to spend your time with family (or another noble pursuit - reading good books, saving the world, watching Downton Abbey).

#2. Particularly for those who are father or mothers, what would you ideally have on hand to make the newborn stage as relaxing as possible for yourself? (some ideas: bubble bath, a fridge full of chocolate chip cookie dough, good audio books on demand.)

oh, the things we do

Several months ago I received 3 bins of baby clothes from a friend. I knew we were really having a baby girl when I did a full load of laundry today that was just pinks and reds. And that was just for sizes 0-6 months.

Genghis was extremely helpful in today's project of sorting baby clothes. He has been very interested in putting things into boxes and then taking them out again. I think he spends, over the course of a day, about 45-60 minutes taking all of his small plastic animals out of their bag and placing them all in various locations around the room - on the bookshelf, in the storage compartment of his train, on the chair. A grosser version of this ritual is when he takes all of his food out of his bowl at dinner time and stuffs it into his cup holder, then tries to balance the cup on top.

So while I was sorting clothes today, I was able to give Genghis a pile of clothes of a certain size and gender and he dutifully put them all in the tub for me. It was quite efficient, partly because he helped put the clothes away and partly because I didn't bother to do any folding because, well, it was a 17-month old who was handling the clothes.

Really, though, I've always felt a little silly folding onesies that have less fabric to them than a dishcloth.

But not as silly as I felt tonight when Abe and I were teaching Genghis how to do the actions to "Once There Was a Snowman" (hands over our heads in a snowball shape, growing taller and taller and then shrinking smaller and smaller when we melt) and I realized that we were fully facing our front room windows. From the outside, you could get a great view of us, but Genghis was totally out of sight.

friday photos - new addition

In March, we will have a new addition to Friday Photos. Here's a sneak preview of little Kublai*:



*While Kublai is historically the grandson to Genghis Khan, in our family's case she will be Genghis's little sister.

friday photos

Practicing using a Didymos wrap to carry Genghis on my back.


After finger-painting Mothers' Day cards, Genghis decided to take a little soak in the sink.

friday photos

I take my cues from the paparazzi when photographing Genghis because this is usually what happens as soon as he sees a camera.



The New Yorker has an ongoing cartoon caption contest (see a great example here). In a similar vein, if Genghis could talk, how would you caption him in this photo?

Possibilities:
"I think I could eat this."
"Please, not while I'm in my jammies."
"There, there, camera."
"Just let me turn the angle to the right - it's my better side."
"Mmm...shiny."

friday photos

Moving picture show!

This week Genghis played the cup game while I tried to make dinner. But it was so much fun we both just ended up playing the cup game.

(Don't feel obliged to watch the whole thing - you get the point in the first 10 seconds.)

twenty-seven inch tyrant, or, friday photos

Things I didn't know a 6-month-old (7 today!) could do:

- Bite a 1-inch thick slice of pear in half, armed only with gums and determination
- Eat an entire waffle in one sitting (who needs baby sign language - grunting and rocking back and forth with mouth agape is quite communicative)
- Stuff his sock in his mouth - chew, suck, and smile happily for 15 minutes
- Nurse and suck his thumb at the same time
- Turn his head while in his baby bath to lap up the bath water with his tongue

Since Genghis now only derives pleasure when something is in his mouth, this week's (okay, last week's) Friday photos are devoted to his first experience with an apple.

friday photos

For Genghis's 6-month birthday we celebrated by thinking about making a cake and taking photos of him sitting up. Maybe for his 1 year birthday we'll actually make the cake. If he's good.

The pictures were all blurry, but he was doing this adorable "make the cutest expressions in the world" thing, so I can't help but post them anyway.

By the way, does anyone know a good way to make a digital flip book? I really wanted to turn all of these photos into a flip book but couldn't find a good tool in 2 minutes of online searching...

friday photos

My mom knitted this amazing 3-piece tweed ensemble for Genghis.




(trying to catch him in his newfound skill of sitting up, but mostly I captured him capsizing)

friday photos

The final installment of Christmas-time photos. Over the holidays, Genghis met many relatives for the first time. I did an awful job of documenting these meetings, but do have photos of...

Genghis and Great-Grandma!


Genghis and cousins!

friday photos

Still catching up from the holidays.

For his first Christmas, Genghis got to partake in my family's long-standing and ... unique ... tradition of wearing holiday-patterned bibs for Christmas Eve dinner. And when I say long-standing, I mean Abe and I both own our own adult-size bibs for the occasion. My favorite part is always when Mom forgets to take off her bib until she goes to bed that night.


Christmas morning gifts.




I could hardly take this photo, I was laughing so much.


A quiet moment with Grandma.

friday photos: a special edition

Merry Christmas! Hope you are having a warm and cozy holiday weekend.

This is the online version of our annual Christmas card. We weren't able to send print copies to everyone we would have liked to (any some of those print copies may still be in transit...). On the plus side, the digital version has linked references.

Without further ado, Merry Christmas from Abe, Erin & Genghis!







Dear Friends,

As our thought-provoking friends the Beach Boys have noted, "Christmas comes this time each year." And so we share with you our annual Christmas card. This year, it comes in 3 categories: Things you probably knew already, Things you might have already known, and Things you almost certainly did not know.

Probably Knew
Genghis (not his real name) Gong arrived August 1, healthy, happy and with a good set of lungs. Exactly 2 days before the arrival, Erin restructured her career by switching to part-time work from home. Abe is still serving in the singles ward Bishopric, and (at long last!) defended a plan for his dissertation.

Might Have Known
Abe and Erin are both blogging. Erin posts life musings and weekly baby photos at indelibleedibles.blogspot.com. Abe posts extremely technical political ramblings at lowlywonk.blogspot.com. Genghis (not a blogger) has mastered thumb-sucking and sleeping through the night. He has also rolled over more than 30 times.

Did Not Know
Abe has written software to explore more than 2 million web sites and conduct the first-ever representative survey of the political blogosphere. Results forthcoming. Erin is currently writing a 1 million dollar grant application and conducted the first-ever convenience sample of people's household cleaning preferences. Genghis turns light switches on and off with his toes.

But what we really hope you know is that we are happy to have you as friends and family. We hope you are well; keep in touch. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!

friday photos

A few weeks ago, I was staying with my sister in Arizona. She collects everything: Newberry award books, aluminum cups, DVDs, shrunken heads. And, as it turns out, wigs.

Here I am sporting a fantastic red number with my now super cool son.







He wasn't as keen on the wig action.


I think he was really just upset because he looked too much like Howard Stern.

friday photos (on time!)

Genghis's first hair cut.

Okay, so the baby bald spot was creating a double-mullet that needed to be dealt with.

Double-mullet sightings.







Ready for the hair cut.


Times of concentration and concern.




Finished!


If you look closely, you'll see that I actually created a secondary bald patch on the right side of his head. Look, it was a difficult operation.

friday photos

still, with the friday photos not on friday...

Here's Genghis enjoing his quilt made by Grandma Susan. I know you'll all realize that Genghis looks a little smaller here than in other recent photos - these photos were taken several few weeks ago.






Here's a picture from Thanksgiving, when we visited the famed Merry-Go-Round Museum of Sandusky, Ohio. "Look into the light, Genghis...look into the light..."

friday photos

I really should have called "friday photos" something else to obscure the fact that I'm often late.

Winter is upon us in Michigan, but here are some memories of warmer times last week in Arizona.

Genghis's first swim.





Also, I got a hair cut. Never gone this short before, but I like it!