WANT.

Corso Como Cannon boot. Will have. SOON.

Tano Tribal Master bag. Crazy name aside, who knows when I’ll get my hands on this yummyness. Andy pointed out that I have enough bags already. *scoffs* You can never have enough.

Whoa! Boy!

Zain is going to have a little brother come March (didn’t you LOVE my cheesy title?)! Andy and I are very excited. I had been having daydreams about having a little girl lately, though…you know, the dresses, the tights, the little mary janes. This is strange because I never felt like I wanted to have a little girl and then all of a sudden BOOM. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. Andy, of course, can’t wait for one (yes, we are going to try again…several years from now). I even started looking up girl names and found the perfect one. We’ll use it some other time. And although we’ll have to wait a little longer for frilly things, I’m very happy. I can’t wait to see this kid. I mean, Andy and I already know we make good baby! So this one will be amazing, no doubt. And I’m glad Z will get a playmate so close to his age, plus we’ll save some money on clothes and shoes. We’re still going over names (it’s Andy’s turn to come up with a first name…he takes FOREVER), but there are a few that keep coming back up.

The odd thing is: all of my sisters have boys, and all of my brothers have girls (except for one whose second child was a boy). So it seems to be a trend here. I may end up the lone female in this household!

WHOA.

My kid is cuter than your kid

The evidence:

Andy caught him mid-stride. He likes to drag around his alligator xylophone. He looks so determined!

He poses for the camera now. His preciousness KILLS me.

*merf!*

And here is me, 18 weeks preggers.

Home sweet home

Well, we got back in town on Wednesday night (around midnight). It was hard getting up the next day and going back to work. Getting back into the swing of things. But, I do have to say, we are happy to be home - dreary weather and all! It’s weird, but when people ask me how Hawaii was I feel like my answer isn’t bubbly enough for them : “Well, we survived it!” Meh. I don’t have the time to filter out what people don’t want to hear.

Zain and I outside Primitive Rhythm in Paia. I bought this beautiful bangle from there, so happy that I FINALLY found some silver jewelry that didn’t have turtles, dolphins, or huge gaudy pearls on it.

In some antiques store that sold the usual assortment of household items…and X-Men comics.

We went to Flatbread Pizza Co. in Paia…SO GOOD! Best nitrate-free pepperoni pizza I’ve ever had.

You got pineapple in my poi! You got poi in my pinapple! Together they taste like crap. Actually…poi is pretty nasty on it’s own.

At the luau.

Z was ENTHRALLED.

Waste your brain, wax your board, pray for waves.

Okay, I’m going to try and write this in the two seconds I have before Zain wakes up.

Hmmm. Let’s see. I sort of snorkeled yesterday, but realized that it’s not really my bag. Maybe someday I’ll feel more comfortable breathing through my mouth underwater. I did successfully see some fish and other things that I could see at an aquarium for several minutes before I started freaking out though. I decided I’d rather swim instead. And so I did. And then Andy took the gear and I took Z, who practically climbed me like a tree to keep from touching the water. I ended up speaking with some guy (who lives right across the street from our resort) for a while. I would NOT want to live here. Tourists everywhere. Crowded beaches most of the year. I’d rather live in UpCountry. So gorgeous. There are really cool shops and old buildings, beautiful hills and trees and farms. A LOT of gigantic churches. We walked around Makawao for a bit and drove through Pa’ia. Today we’ll really check it all out, and then head off to a luau later on.

(Oh! Saturday was our 5th anniversary. We celebrated with burgers and fries- courtesy of Cool Cat Diner on Front Street. :P)

Random: everything that could possibly get on my clothes this trip has. Grease, chocolate, grape juice, aaaaand bird shit. YES. I should be a walking advertisement for that Tide-to-go pen. I think my siblings used to call me “hole-in-chin” when I was younger because everything I put in my mouth would invariably leak onto my clothes. I blame this recent relapse on pregnancy.

And now: gaze upon these…

Aloha and stuff

Andy already (!) posted a blog, so here I go.

We. are. in. Maui. There are times though, that we could fool ourselves into believing that we’re back in California, like maybe that building over there reminds us of one in Santa Barbara, or hey…doesn’t this area remind you of Paso? BUT NO. Every radio station (and there are a LOT) plays a helluva lot of Hawaiian music. And Reggae. So we’ve got to be in Maui. America….FUCK YEAH! (Yeah…don’t ask)

Anyway, we just got back from taking a dip in the pool here. I got a couple of tans (the design on the suit was actually TATTOOED on my back) and Andy avoided getting a sunburn. Z splashed and splashed to his heart’s content. There were some annoying lushes there, so we didn’t stay as long as I would’ve liked. Tonight we’ll head out to the ocean. Earlier we drove to LaHaina to check out Front Street (which you can’t get to from jump street, might I add) and shopped a bit. Did I mention that things (i.e. EVERYTHING) are really overpriced here? Yeah. Especially food. ETA: Actually…looking at the receipts now, we didn’t pay much more for clothes/swimwear then we would’ve anywhere else. They were on sale though.

Sidenote: Z is staring at himself in the mirror right now, gurgling and doing this really creepy weezy laugh that he just perfected. He is so precious I could crush him.

So it’s hot and lovely here. It’s definitely weird having a toddler with you on vacation, I never appreciated the freedom that I had before to just get up and do whatever without a thought to anyone else. And-I’m pregnant, so that adds a layer of exhaustion and crankyness. Poor Andy. He’s got two babies on his hands. I’ll let him go snorkeling first.

Toodles!

…Buh?

What is up with all the men in this town who use wheelchairs but navigate with their feet? Yesterday some guy pushed himself backwards across a busy street (Is that jaywalking?  Jaywheeling? ….whatever) almost getting himself killed. Why backwards? I have no clue. Of course he’s crazy, I have no doubt. But I have seen SEVERAL men in wheelchairs now who do the exact same thing, who refuse to use their arms to , I don’t know, navigate their chairs and insist on shuffling their feet madly to move themselves along. What, I ask, the fuck?

Neither here nor there: I’ve also seen an alarming amount of white people with “dreads” here (it’s an epidemic, actually). One big fat mass of matted hair is not appealing. It’s also not dreads. Not really. Give up the fight.

Yeeeah.

Today I went and visited Z at daycare during my lunch break. I ate my chili and he munched on his pasta. One of the kids, a four year old, watched us while we ate with interest. Then she said, “Your skin is darker than his.” And I replied, “Yep.” She then cocked her head to the side and said, “My mom has long hair. Long blond hair.” Then I responded that there are all different types of hair and she lost interest. Ah, four year olds. I wonder what non sequiturs Z will be spitting out at that age.

Speaking of hair, I’ve been wearing it natural for the last couple of days. My coworkers have seen my hair like this SEVERAL times and yet they still manage to ask the same questions. Did you cut it? How do you get it like that? Do you have a perm? I almost want to teach a class on black hair and get paid for it. Listen up ladies, white women get perms to curl their hair. Black women get perms to straighten theirs. No, I didn’t cut my hair, it just shrinks massively when it’s wet.

And so on.

Jeebus.

I don’t care what nobody says, we gonna have a baybeeeeeeeeee

I am currently 12 weeks, 5 days preggers.

That’s really nice to get out. Our families already know, of course, but even then we waited a little while. It’s been hard to keep this secret of ours, but I managed to (for the most part). I told my boss and coworkers last week (as did Andy). Andy and Meg were in town on Friday night, so we got to break the news to them as well. I left the ultrasound on the refrigerator just to see what would happen.

I remember when I told Andy’s stepmom that we were pregnant she mentioned that her coworker was 3 weeks along. 3 weeks. I totally don’t have that confidence. Or really, the need to be asked every week how far along I am and still not even be up to double digits yet. And it doesn’t even seem real then, not until you’re gripping that toilet bowl and wondering what the hell you were thinking (unless you get to skip that part, you jerky jerks). But that’s just me. It doesn’t really matter though, how you do it. Maybe with the third (did I just write third?), I’ll tell everyone as soon as I see those two lines. Take a walk on the wild side. The funny thing is, some people already knew. Two women from other offices on campus had asked my coworkers if I was pregnant, apparently I already have a big ole belly!!

And speaking of thirds, who knows. I’m feeling a little better today so I can venture down that path in my mind without wanting to punch someone in the face. A couple of weeks ago I told Andy that two would be fine with me. Because really, constant nausea is NOT my bag. I’ve only vomited twice this time, but I’d almost welcome the relief at this point.

I’m fine with another boy, but I’d like to have one of each. Andy and I have already started throwing around names. We had originally settled on Velouria Poe for a girl, but I’m not sure now. Correcting everyone’s spelling, and the similarity to Valerie and Gloria (*shudder*) is almost too much to bear. I do like the nickname “Lo” though. For a boy, we were thinking about Asher or something beginning with A. I love the name Sebastian. I also like the name Hadley for a girl. Andy is “meh” about both of those.

Excuse me while I go eat something. Again.

Movin’ on up

So it’s done. Uh, almost. We’re almost done with the moving process, all that left is 2 carloads of stuff and cleaning the townhouse within an inch of it’s life (which, to be fair, we’re paying other people to do). We better get our deposit back.

*deep breath*

Hooray! We own a house!* We own a house without any help from our parents or relatives, and it only cost us our souls.

And that’s okay.

There have been some big changes in our lives, which is most of the reason why I haven’t been posting lately. Because frankly, the stress of it all was making me ill. But I think it’s starting to turn around, I’m starting to realize that all of these changes are (um, duh) good ones, and ones that I should be supremely thankful for instead of feeling sorry for myself. It’s going to take some time, but I’m getting there.

I love this house. I can’t wait for you guys to see it. More to come (promise).

*Meg, here is the declaration you’ve been waiting for, but you probably already got it from Andy.

California…here we come

Baby, you complete me. But…you make a lot of assumptions. And when you assume things you make an ass out of you and me. Don’t make an ass out of me.

We’re heading off to California on Thursday for a long weekend. I’m excited, but scared that I won’t be able to enjoy myself because I haven’t been feeling that well lately. I have to soak it all up though, because when I get back I’ll have two conferences to go to for work back to back. Ugh. There’s a lot of changes going on in the office, and I’ve been given a promotion of sorts, but I don’t feel excited about it…just kind of wary. And tired. Plus, we’re moving Zain to a new (cheaper) childcare center, so that’s equally stressful. I hate change. Or maybe I should say I hate several changes all at the same time.

In-N-Out is just what I need to soothe my anxiety/fears. Mmmm. How does UTAH get an In-N-Out but not Oregon? Cuckoo. And maybe Andy and I’ll catch a flick for once…Hellboy 2 just came out. We never do the whole babysitting thing so hopefully Z won’t freak out. He hasn’t seen my in-laws in eons.

On the Z front: every single time I look at him, I’m amazed at how much he’s growing. Then I marvel at how beautiful he is. Such a shallow thing really, but can you blame me? I’m so thankful to have him in my life, no matter the stress or worry or pain that comes with being a parent. Moving him to an in-home daycare is nothing short of traumatic. All I can think of is some unsupervised wench hitting my kid on the head repeatedly with a wooden spoon. Why that specifically? Just something I saw on the news once… which is why I don’t watch the news, I’m pretty good at imagining the worst that can happen on my own, thanks. Anyway, Andy and I have made sure to dot all of our i’s and cross our t’s when making sure that the teacher is competent and that the center is a good environment for Z. It’s still pretty hard though.