7 Quick Takes About Mom Stuff

1. So, the blog creeper is back. This time, the jerk is violating the comments section of my Baby Blog. So, I took that blog private again which is super sucky. I really enjoy sharing every personal detail about my pregnancy with the world! I've talked to several blog friends and none of these gross comments every happen to their sites, so I'm not sure why I'm the lucky winner here. I like sharing my thoughts with the Internet and I've made some great in-real-life friends through my blog. But ... those comments just ick me out and make Andi go very Protective Husband on the situation. So, private blog Baby In My Bubble is now. If the comments start happening here, I'll go underground altogether which means my poor mom will never be able to follow my life (she never can figure out how to access my blogs when they're private). Sigh.

2. So, hey! It was 98 degrees here yesterday! That's right, it was just sleeting at the lake cabin on Saturday and now it's full-on summertime. Minnesota weather, you're drunk. (But stay right here, we love your warm, sunshine-y days). Tory and I played outside for much of the afternoon. We were both a sweaty, sunscreened mess by the end of the day and we loved every minute of it. I bought her a new, bigger pool for the summer but I didn't have the energy to blow it up yesterday so I dug out the old baby one for her to play with instead. She had an absolute ball. Never mind there were Teddy Grahams and rice from her sand table floating at the bottom by the end of the day. That's what summertime is all about, right?

3. I'm back on the wagon for involvement in my neighborhood mom's group. The ladies meet once a month at someone's house and yesterday, I offered to host the gathering here. Attendance was low since the weather was so nice outside (can't blame people for wanting to stay home and enjoy it with their families) and one of the coordinators just had a baby last week. In any event, I had a really fun time chatting with the other neighborhood moms about life and kids and events around our 'hood.  Every year the group organizes a Neighborhood Parade in August, complete with a kid's bike parade, firetrucks, police cars and a visit from the Mayor. One of the ladies said it probably wasn't going to happen this year since no one wanted to take on the planning aspect or stuffing fliers into neighborhood mailboxes ... so, I kind of volunteered to do it! I think it'll be fun (and maybe a lot of extra work) but I just couldn't see the parade NOT happening this year -- it's the 25th year! So, I'm now scouring the Internet for block party ideas and making calls to our local service providers. Wish me luck!

4. I posted a job description on Care.com (the site we used to find our nannies) for a part-time babysitter once a week. Our current babysitter, Taylor, is moving off to college this fall and I'm 100% sure I'll need help with Tory once Baby #2 enters the picture. Once again, I'm floored by the number of applicants I received within 24 hours of posting the job. Once again, I am also floored by the email etiquette of other people. "Dear Family: I would like to apply for your job." NOPE. If you can't address me by name or read the job description correctly and respond accordingly, you are not suitable to oversee the care of my child. There were also some really promising candidates and I've got a few phone interviews scheduled for this week. I know I'll have no trouble finding someone great to babysit Tory this fall.

5. I'm taking Tory on my first solo road trip this weekend to Des Moines, Iowa. I'm so excited to meet up with my family there, but a little nervous (okay, a lot nervous) to drive in a car with Tory for four hours by myself. I know she'll be fine watching the iPad (I'm just not sure who will re-start her episodes of Bubble Guppies over and over again) and I'm hoping she takes a nap at some point during the drive. I think I'll load up the front console of my car with lots of snacks and several sippy cups to toss back to her when she drops them. I'm also left wondering why someone with technological experience hasn't invented a way for 20 minute shows to play continuously on the iPad without manually re-starting a new episode every time. A movie would be the logical solution, but unfortunately Tory won't watch anything but Bubble Guppies. First world problem, clearly.

6. I'm thinking about signing Tory up for Preschool this fall. I finally found a school that accepts two year olds (vs. three year old starting age) in our area that's not just a glorified day care. I don't really need the child care so much as I'd like Tory to have some structure for a few hours a week in a school-like setting, make some friends and have something lined up in her day other than watching me nurse a baby every two hours. The school's requirement is students must be two years old by September 1 and Tory will be two on August 30 (she'll make the cut-off by just two days). At quick glance, I thought she wouldn't make the cut-out by two days for some reason and I emailed the teacher asking if they'd make an exception. Then, almost instantly after I sent the email, I realized my mistake -- that Tory will, in fact, be of age by two days. Then I felt like a complete idiot (see Quick Take #4 - read first, you dummy!) so I sent another email to the teacher explaining my mistake and asking for a tour. They'll probably reject us just because I'm such a fool. GAH. Embarrassing.

7. Speaking of my smarts, I've had several instances in the last few weeks where my husband looked at me like I was a complete idiot because something of common knowledge is just making it into my brain sphere. Like, did you know ducks have bird duck houses? Big bird houses that are made for ducks. Did you know this? Apparently, we have them all over the cabin and I never knew that's what they were for until I saw a duck fly into one this weekend. Also, did you know ducks FLY?