The Peanut’s nursery is elephant-themed, so cute elephants are on the walls, in his crib and on his clothes.

The Chop refused to let me get a life-size (baby one!) elephant statue, however. Quite rude of him, I know. Because seriously, how cute is this little guy?!

Obviously, in five years, I’m going to torture my husband and son until they do this. 🙂

It’s pretty rare these days that one of us gets to do anything sans baby. Not that it’s a bad thing, just that it’s most definitely a different thing. We don’t live near family and while we have friends in the area, most of them live far enough away that it’s just not feasible to drop him off. Plus, I’m not sure we’re ready to do that just yet. Leave him with family? OK. Leave him with a sitter? No.

Today I went to the grocery store (I know, wow, we’re living on the edge!) and the bank, while the Chop had baby duty. Sadly, duty lately means one must hold and entertain the sad, teething little one. For instance, the Chop today explained (in great and hilarious detail), how one prepares the recycling to go to the curb. The Peanut sat in his little chair and watched and learned. Later, I took a shower while he sat in the same little chair in the bathroom, hugging his elephant and listening to me talk about shampoo.

Poor kid, we’re really not that entertaining, LOL.

The Chop and I had a “very baby” New Year’s Eve, spending it down south with our friends who also have a new baby (he’s 3.5 months older than the Peanut). This meant the babies played, ate and slept while we drank, played board games and generally had a hilarious time. It also meant that the Peanut woke up around 2AM. (We were still awake, fail number 1.) We went to bed around 3, but the Peanut stayed up until 4… fail number 2. And then he was up again at 530, and then 615, and so on, until I got up with him at around 8… fail number 3. After breakfast and another board game, the Chop and I came home and I promptly took a four hour nap… win!

A pregnancy, a baby, a friendship rekindled, a flood and loads of visitors made 2010 an incredibly interesting, stressful, insane, happy, amazing and overwhelming year.

Top Favorites of 2010

1. The Peanut! We adore him. He doesn’t sleep much (’cause he’s a robot), but he’s an amazing, adorable and happy baby. I’ve taken over a thousand photos (actually probably more, and omg, that’s insane), loads of videos and am still constantly amazed that we made him.
2. Being married to the Porkchop. They say a true test of marriage is having kids, so perhaps the ultimate test is having one before your first anniversary. I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather be married too or raise a baby with – we’re still as happy and in love as we were when we met.
3. Finding out I was pregnant. We were shocked and it took us a few days, but it was a pretty awesome surprise. Also, telling my parents 🙂
4. Finding out an old friend was also pregnant, reconnecting and becoming fast friends again. We missed you guys and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be pregnant and bitchy with — or moms and awake at 4am ichatting with. I can’t wait to watch our sons grow up together. 🙂
5. Having so many friends and family visit. If I’d have known all it took was a baby to get people to visit in droves, I’d have had one years ago, lol. It was amazing having so much help and showing him off.
6. Going to my parent’s for Christmas with the Peanut. They adore him and we got some much needed rest.
7. The Chop’s sister getting married! She had one not-so-good engagement years ago that crushed her, and seeing her so happy has been awesome.

Top Bummers of 2010

1. The great flood. Stupid freaking flood that wrecked our basement. Granted we met a great contractor, and increased the value of our house, but what a nightmare five months it caused.
2. Pregnancy, wtf. Pregnancy is a) hard, b) sucky and c) excruciating. He was definitely 100% worth it, but oy. Hard shit.
3. Not going on our honeymoon to Italy. We scheduled it for March of 2011, but now we’re leaving the Peanut with my parents… a whole other set of concerns, lol. As in, can I leave my almost 6-month-old while I go for two weeks to a foreign country? We’ll see!
4. Labor. Wow. I dunno how people do it more than a couple of times. I think after two or three I’ll be all set. Overwhelming and excruciating, it was the worst pain I have ever felt. And it went on and on and on, lol.

The good 100% outweighs the bad. I am overwhelmingly grateful and thankful every day.

The Chop and I brought the Peanut out to visit my parents this Christmas… it was the one thing my mom wanted, and after all her help this year, there was no way we could say no. It went surprisingly well — he slept on the plane and we’ve been sleeping 6-9 hours at a stretch as my parents and sister take turns with the Peanut at night. Magical Christmas, truly.

Sadly the little guy is teething. It started at 10 weeks, and now he is working on tooth #2 and #3. It’s crazy for a baby this little to teethe—there aren’t even teethers small enough to fit into his mouth. He’s pretty advanced for his age, but having teeth already? Crazy. So although he’s having a lovely Christmas, he’s still sad sack. 🙁 Poor little guy.

Superior, Speed Fly from Marshall Miller on Vimeo.

We’re currently having our shower re-tiled (there was a crack, which led to a leak, which led to a duct tape patch job until the contractor could get to it – thank god I have more than one bathroom, otherwise FML), and every morning at about 830-9, our contractor shows up. It’s nice, except that half the time we’re still in pajamas (Chop always is) and half the time the Peanut is sleeping… out in the living room, after having been up since 5, but still sleeping.

Sadly ripping out tile and re-installing it isn’t a quiet job, or surprisingly, a quick one. They started last Friday, so it’ll be at least a solid six days before all is said and done. Of course, we did have to bring in a plumber because I wanted to change the fixtures. Apparently there are valves for each particular company (Symmons, Pegasus, etc.), and one has to have that particular valve installed in order to match up the fixtures. So if you switch to Pegasus fixtures from Symmons ones, you have to bring in a plumber to change out the valve. Yeah. Who knew?

I know you’re thinking, just get Symmons fixtures, but they are all kind of blah… except for the bronze I wanted. Where the shower combo was $500. WTF. So the other bronze I found that was $150? Worth bringing in the plumber. All the fixtures I got (including towel bar, robe hooks, shower curtain rod, grab bar and shower/bath combo = $330. The same in Symmons? $1200.

Why does this matter? It doesn’t. But this is my life now. Home all day with the Peanut, doing work when I can and dealing with contractors. I know, you’re SO jealous. 😛

Things I’ve learned so far:

• Too much vodka will make you feel very, very good. Then very, very bad. Combine that with fresh citrus-type fruit juice, and you’ve screwed the pooch for two days.
• One should elope. No matter what you do or say, your mom will commandeer the wedding. Elope while you can.
• Working for yourself is awesome. Until you want to take a vacation, or have a long weekend, or a baby, or a wedding… then you’re screwed.
• Planning on getting pregnant? Pregnant already? Take a vacation. Now. You might think that it will be too much of a hassle, but trust me, you haven’t experienced hassle yet.
• Having a baby before your first anniversary is definitely an experience. Don’t do it if you haven’t been together very long and/or haven’t been getting laid regularly. You won’t know what being married is like… being married with kids is a vastly different animal.
• Moving across the country to a place you love is perfection… until you have a baby and you realize that having family around might be really helpful.
• Pregnancy sucks. Also labor. It will be worse and hurt worse than you expect… for both of you. You have not felt pain. Plus the hormones afterward are a nightmare.
• Sleep is magical. Sleep in, sleep late, go to bed early, etc. Get it while you can, because if you a) get older, b) get pregnant or c) have a kid, you will never get as much as you want again. Ever.
• Having a great camera is key. Particularly one that can also take video. One of my favorite mementos from our trip to Ireland is a video of me driving a tiny car in the country. 😀 A smart phone is good too… especially if you have kids and there are grandparents involved. My mom now expects a picture every morning.
• Visiting Santa at Christmastime with an infant is a freaking nightmare. Prepare for everything.
• Children require constant stimulation and attention. Want to get some work done? Invest in every type of baby toy imaginable. Particularly the play mats with things that move and mirrors. And mobiles. I’ve currently reached the end of the attention span of a two month old.

One year ago I married a really awesome Porkchop. I had big plans for today, but we didn’t anticipate having a Peanut before our first anniversary, and toting around a 12lb bundle of joy makes most of them hard, if not impossible, lol.

Fortunately my my sister surprised us by showing up on our doorstep Thursday morning, so our anniversary involved sleeping in a bit (we gave her the Nut at 8AM and went back to bed until 1130… heaven), getting laid right about the time we got married last year (the sister went for a run, the Peanut decided to finally nap = win) and going to dinner out — complete with gorgeous one-year anniversary ring. 🙂

We’ve had one hell of a year, with all the ups and downs that come with getting married, getting pregnant and having a baby all within eleven months (not super highly recommended, but it has it’s pluses).

The Chop and I did our normal Thanksgiving, one that I’ve been doing, save twice, since I moved out here in 2003. Stay home, sleep in, watch the parade and eat in your pajamas. Before Chop, I would eat pie and drink coffee — then when he moved in, I started cooking. The first year, everything; the next two, just his favorites. Last year my family was here, so we did a big to-do, but this year we scaled down. Our local turkey farm sells fresh, sliced turkey and sides… no cooking, no cleaning and we eat about 15 minutes after we decide we’re ready.

I also didn’t get to sleep in (hello 5AM, you and I are close personal friends these days), but I was in my PJs and the Peanut and I did watch the parade (is it just me, or has it gotten kinda boring?). Later we’re heading down to visit friends and eat pie.