Ruh-roh

Don't tell Mikey, but Britt announced this afternoon that she doesn't like her new room. She wants a Spongebob room instead.

She is, however, sleeping in it right this minute.

In other news, Britt dropped a huge load in the potty this afternoon. She needed to go, she went, and then she came and told me about it. I went, looked, flushed, did the happy dance, and changed her skidmarked panties since she hasn't really grasped the concept of wiping yet. Then she announced that she was ready to go to the park, which was her promised reward for pooping in the potty.

Poppa was so happy when he came home from work that they immediately headed out to the park. Except they didn't go anywhere. I came in here to enjoy a few precious minutes of free time, and I could hear them talking outside the window. WTF?

It turns out, our front yard is turning into a danged aviary. We still have the nesting duck, and now there was a baby mockingbird on the sockywock (that's BrittSpeak for "sidewalk"):



Of course, Britt totally wanted to pick it up and cuddle it but was firmly ordered not to touch.






Anyway, her trip to the park was delayed until almost dark, but she did get to go so hopefully that reinforcement will encourage her to do it again tomorrow. And the next day, and the next...

Except that she wet her pants twice while she was gawking over the bird, until I finally put a Pull-Up back on her.

(***sigh***)

Pretty in Pink

We've been planning to switch the office back to the bigger bedroom, so Mikey can keep all his guitars and amps and stuff in there too, and fix up the smaller bedroom really special for Britt. So that maybe Britt will actually sleep in there. So that Mikey and I can have our marital bed back.

Ahem.

Anyway, Bob took advantage of the three-day weekend to take Britt to Wichita for a visit. What better time for bedroom-switching and redecorating? I mean, can you imagine painting a room with a rambunctious three-year-old underfoot? I can, and it makes me shudder.

So, we got busy. First, furniture shopping! Unfortunately, Mikey didn't get home from work on Saturday until 6:30 so, after a nice dinner at Trapper's, we were only able to hit the two biggest furniture stores before closing time. And neither had anything good. The next day, after a nice lunch (it really was a holiday for me; no cooking all weekend!), we had to go to four more furniture stores to find what we wanted. I had no idea it would be that hard to find good-quality kids' furniture. Really, the selection was pitiful just about everywhere we went.

With a much lighter wallet, we hit Target next and found bedding, curtains and a lamp, and then we were off to buy paint. Mikey wanted pink, I wanted anything but pink. I lost. Then we went home and got busy. By this time, it was late Sunday evening, and Britt was due back Monday afternoon.

First, we had to clear the computer, books, videos and everything else out of the room. Fortunately (not so much for her) Bridgie dropped by, so we put her to work and the three of us managed that pretty quickly. And then, time to paint!



Mikey gave the ceiling a fresh coat of white and then me and Bridgie started on the walls. We could still see white through the pink, though, so I had to do a second coat. By myself, since Bridgie crapped out on us. Gah, it was only 3AM! What a lightweight!



Certain members of my family would call this Titty Pink. I call it Strawberry Shake. This is Titty Pink:



Okay, I may still be a little loopy. You know, fumes and all.

Mikey floored me with his suggestion to paint the woodwork white, which is something he wouldn't even consider in any other room we've decorated. Not the closet doors, though. He thought that would be too much white. So, what to do?



Hmmm...



The little shithead at the paint counter neglected to mention primer. It sure would have helped.



Because it took many coats to fully cover the wood. And each coat had to fully dry before the next was applied. I was up all night. Mikey slipped off to bed about 6:30 AM, and when he got up around 10:00, I still wasn't done.



Same with the back of the door. Many, many coats.



Eventually, the door will have Britt's handprints sprinkled across it in assorted colors. Not today, though. We're kind of painted out. Imagine that.



The switchplate was a lucky find. It was the last one in stock.



We were close to being done, but didn't manage to get the furniture in by the time Bob and Britt got back. Which was okay because Bob got to help lug stuff around and put it together instead of me.

(My old bookcase will sit against the wall on the right, as soon as Mikey finishes painting it.)



Then we hung the curtains.



And, once everything was as put together as it was going to get that day, we turned Britt loose.



And she loves it! She actually slept in her new bed last night. Until a thunderstorm woke her up and she came and crawled in bed with us.

We still need some little touch-ups on the trim, a new light fixture, and some cute knobs for the closet doors. Also, I'm supposed to paint a few flowers and butterflies randomly around the walls. But I think we did a pretty good job, considering that it was less than 24 hours from buying all the stuff to the "reveal."

What do you think?

Which witch?

This costume was in a batch of Kayla's old clothes that Sarah's parents passed along to us:



The color-coordinated cowboy boots really make the outfit, don't you think?

Hey, Britt, what are you?
I'm a weech!

Just ducky

Can you see her?



No? Can you see her now?



We have a duck nesting right outside our front door. Britt, of course, is absolutely entranced.



She's always wanting to go outside to see the duckie.

(Can you tell she put her own shoes on?)



All. Day. Long.

(That orange thing on the porch is her bubble barbecue. She stuck a popsicle stick in the fan and burned out the motor.)



So we go out once in the morning so she can feed the duck a piece of bread. We go out once in the afternoon to make sure she's still there. The rest of the day I fend off demands to go out and see the duckie. All. Day. Long.

The duck is apparently sitting on some eggs, since she doesn't get up and run away. Duck eggs take a month to hatch. I looked it up.

It's gonna be a very long month for me.

It's a girl!

According to the sonogram this morning, Britt's gonna have a little sister.

You'll never guess when.

Go ahead, guess!

You'll never guess.

Why, September, of course! It's practically required for any child or grandchild of mine.

It's a happy Mother's Day

We aren't breakfast-eaters, so breakfast in bed isn't something I would expect. But Mikey did bring me a nice lunch from Applebee's. Also, he washed a sinkful of dishes for me.

Britt brought me a rose from one of my own rosebushes. Sweet little Pooh.

Bridgie brought me a card and a balloon. She said the balloon was actually for Britt, to keep her out of my hair for a while. It worked, until Britt snuck her balloon outside. She came running to tell me, "My beyoon fyew away! I need a hewwicopter to get it! Hurry! Let's go get one!"

I'm still waiting to hear from my son, who forgot my birthday. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

Anyway, Mikey and Britt are off to round up gifts and visit his mother and grandmother, so I'm having a peaceful afternoon. I've already called my mom, and sent her flowers earlier in the week, so I plan on spending the rest of the day doing as little as possible.

LATER: Well, my plan didn't work out. Mikey and Britt brought me cards and candy and not flowers but five Variegated Euonymus bushes to plant in front of the house. Which is cool, except that we spent the evening digging holes and planting them. But now I plan to spend the rest of the day doing as little as possible.

And Bob still hasn't called.

EVEN LATER: He finally called. So, yeah, I had a pretty happy Mother's Day. I hope you all did, too (where applicable).