Life plans

Oh, gosh.

Today when we were eating breakfast Olivia said, "Before I go to a different house I'll have to get all my stuff."

I was confused and asked her to clarify, so after a couple of repetitions she said, "When I grow up and live in a different house."

And so I said that yes, of course, when she grows up and moves to her own house she will be able to take all of her things with her.

Olivia looked relieved and said, "I'll have to find all my cats and put them in my kitty tent." Then she went through all the other things she'd have to round up before she moved to her own place: heart clips, her yelling toy (Sing-a-ma-gig), her stickers, books, and princess dolls.

She then noted that she would have to get a big car in order to move all her stuff, so we talked about how maybe when she goes to high school she can get a job and save money so she can buy a car, and she will drive it herself and go to college. And maybe while she's in college she can get a job too so she can make more money and save it, and then after she graduates she will get a job too, so that when she gets married and becomes a mommy she can buy a house.

Then Olivia noted that she will leave Black Kitty behind for Daddy to play with, but maybe she could come back and visit us and play with Black Kitty. I assured her she would always be welcome.

It was just so cute, and just so...real?

Bumpity Bump Bump

Some people have recently compared my belly to a basketball. Well, I'm here to refute that right now.

See? A basketball has black lettering, and my belly totally doesn't.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mom

Yeah, I know that some people put flattering pictures of themselves online. Well, by gum, not me. This was some lunchtime last week. I promise that after the photo I went and actually took a shower and got dressed. (I think I got Carmen dressed too.)

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

I keep meaning to mention this on here. Especially since I've entered the home stretch with this pregnancy, people have been asking what we are calling our little boy.

Hungry Hippos.

This is what Olivia christened him soon after we found out he was a boy. We thought it was a one-time answer, but she was apparently more serious than we thought, because she started telling everyone that our baby was called Hungry Hippos. And, when they laughed, she confidently replied that she thought it was a good name.

I promise that "Hungry Hippos Brown" will not appear on his birth certificate. But, for now, it's actually been very convenient to have something to call him. And, I will confirm that he does seem very hungry, and is also a bit of a hippo: on Friday I was measuring 2 weeks ahead, which validated my having felt very full of baby. I'm planning on staying pregnant all through April, at least, but I'll tell you - Hungry Hippos is running out of room.

*Also, I wanted to mention that I am not being coy with the name thing: I'm no good at keeping secrets. We really haven't decided on a name, or even narrowed it down to a chosen few. Suggestions are welcome.

Money, money, money

I have been in major spending mode lately. I guess it's part of my nesting? Anyway, I just ordered some more stuff off of Amazon. It's all practical stuff, and not really for me: a birthday present for Olivia, a water filter for our food storage, and a KidCo Travel Bed that I've wanted for a long time (more portable than a pack 'n' play!). And, okay, I also got some Pilot Frixion pens that I heard about during my machine quilting class a couple of weeks ago. You can iron the marks away! I can see my mom and me going crazy with these when she comes out in a few weeks.

The good news is that I finally did our taxes, and what I'm spending is nothing compared to our rebate (yay!) I'm always proud of myself every year for doing our taxes. It makes me feel smart to understand how the process works and how things are calculated. This is the first year I have e-filed, so I felt smart for figuring that out too, especially since we couldn't do the IRS's FreeFile (we also don't use TurboTax or any other products - just the long forms and instructions). These accomplishments may seem petty, but it's nice to have something that's cerebrally validating beyond understanding phonics (which does make me feel like a big deal when I'm teaching preschool).