metagestation: what a week!

man, what a cool week this has been! sure, I haven't had as much sleep as I normally do. sure, I'll be a bit behind next week at work. but who cares! I got to spend a bunch of time with Fenix, who - not sure if you know - is a pretty awesome kid. that kid has got it figured out: eat, sleep, snack, nap, eat, sleep. break some hearts with that smile, eat, sleep. he's going to be talking before we know it - feels like next week. in March he'll be riding his big wheels. in April he'll try out for sports. his first date will be this summer and he'll get his drivers license this fall. at that rate I guess he'll be graduating from college before we're pregnant again.

all kidding aside, this has been a really awesome week. it's going to be REALLY REALLY hard to just up and whatever, I'm going back to work next week (though I'm really looking forward to that 7am meeting on Monday!). I'm really thankful that Reese has been able to be away from work since November. it's crazy to think that she's been out of work that long, and awesome that she can continue to take time off.

Me and Fenix yesterday on the couch - for the record we were watching Stargate Atlantis at HIS request. I don't watch that garbage.

Oy, Fenix just peed through his clothes again. He's graduating from this size of diapers to the next, which is such a good thing, though there are some leakage issues occasionally. The next size up will be his 3rd size... crazy to think that he was swimming in the smallest size they make just a few months ago. and most stores don't even carry that size! stupid joke, he was in size "zero" or "N" diapers for the first several weeks, then graduated to size 1. doesn't that seem stupid? why isn't 1 the smallest size? that's like going to the movies and your soda choices are medium, large, and jumbo. what if I just want a small? well, that's the medium. well, if it's the smallest size, why don't you just call it small? look, do you want the soda or not? yes, also some red vines. and is the butter on the popcorn real butter? it's real butter flavor. but is it real butter?! sigh.

typing one handed sucks.

today it's supposed to rain, but it's been such a beautiful, gorgeous morning that I decided to bring His Majesty out for a stroll, just around the 'hood. whatever it takes to get me out of my pajamas, right? so I put him in a warm outfit, strapped him in the bjorn, and out we went. here's us on the trail:

this must be what Fenix thinks of being outside:

he did NOT learn this behavior from me. I think I need to have a little sit-down with his mother. Reese, are you letting him watch HBO already? Not cool! wait until March or April, huh?

generally speaking - and not just about this week - parenthood has been harder than I expected. duh, right? hold on, though, I'm not to the good part yet. taking care of fenix's basic needs - food, rest, keeping him clean and safe - those are pretty straightforward and not overly challenging on their own. it's when you integrate those into, you know, life, that things become hard. It's the little things that kill you, doing laundry, keeping the house clean (hahahachortlesnicker), going grocery shopping, washing the dishes, feeding the dogs and cats, paying the bills, cooking our own food and eating healthy and well. And those are just the basics, so things like Reese working on her sewing or arts and crafts projects, or me doing carpentry or spending five seconds doing yardwork (my hobbies) ... I mean, fuhgedaboutit, you know? And of course we're just on the one income right now so it's not like we're spending a bunch of cash... but the joke is, even though we're on the shoestring budget, TIME is what we're short of.

My parents live in town and my mom's been quite helpful this week, but it's just me and Reese that are running the ship here. There's no nanny or siblings helping out or friends dropping off meals or any of that stuff. We're both pretty independent so for the most part that's to be expected. Also we moved way the hell out to the 'burbs since we're not the type to overextend ourselves on a crazy stupid mortgage. The real estate situation in this town blows. Case in point: the neighborhood we lived in before moving to our current place was very cool, it was in the city, walking distance to stuff, lots of cool things around. Somebody in the neighborhood sold their house to a developer. The developer tore the house down and put up two sets of townhouses, 4 units total. One of those units sold just before we moved up here for ... you want to guess? Seriously, take a guess. Four hundred grand? Five hundred? ha! try six hundred and eighty grand! For a condo with no yard! Shoot me in the head. we can't compete with that nonsense!

Like I said, the real estate situation in this town blows. Regular working stiffs like ourselves can't afford to buy a house "in-city", but where we live (15 minutes from the heart of downtown) there's . . . did you hear that? No? That's because THERE'S NOTHING TO HEAR! Nothing but the tumbleweeds that is. Don't get me wrong, it's been great not paying someone else's mortgage since we bought this house a year ago, and it's such an awesome feeling to know that there's no option for us to come home and find a note from our jerk landlord saying "uh hey guys, I grouted your shower so don't use it for 24 hours, also I peed in your plants and licked your toothbrushes", but it sucks to be so far removed from our friends and civilization in general. Friends: we miss you!

I've heard a few times that a really common parent trap is to have a million photos of kid but few photos of mom or dad with kid. and since this week is all about me and Fee, I give you: