guessing game

okay all -

it's already that time again! i'm rounding (har har) into "full term" pregnancy, meaning this little kiddo could be born at any moment without anybody batting an eye. well, that's a lie - i would definitely bat an eye if this baby was born right now.

we're so excited to welcome this little one into our family and can't wait to see what new adventures it'll bring!

now's your chance to cast your vote on a few things. winner gets the privilege of explaining to quincy why she won't get 150% of our attention anymore...

1. when will lil' flagg #2 join us?
to give you some guidance, my due date is january 11. q came a day before her due date

2. what will lil' flagg be? boy or girl
this pregnancy has been almost identical to my pregnancy with q, which would indicate girl, but you know all those old wives-tales...they're right 50% of the time

3. what should we name baby flagg?
because we have no idea...

ready, set, go!

pets for animals and christmas trees

while i can follow most kids' books, i'm having a really hard time with this series lately... could someone please explain to me how a mouse, who talks and dresses and lives in a house like people, can have a pet cat who's just a normal cat??

it really boggles my mind. and she runs a farm, too with a bunch of farm animals that live in a barn and eat hay and poop wherever they want just like normal farm animals. but she lives in a house and is potty trained and these other animals' lives depend on her?

i similarly always wondered why goofy, who seems to be a dog, can talk and walk upright and hiccup-laugh while pluto - also a dog - actually acts like a dog. poor thing doesn't even get to wear vests. what gives?

and speaking of animals in places where it doesn't really make sense... guess which website is home to these chubalubs:

if you guessed a christmas tree farm website, you're exactly right!

the place proved just as fantastic as the website promised... i mean come now - any christmas tree lot with horses to ride...

random hubcaps all over the place...

and these guys selling you your christmas tree...

count me in! as you can tell from the boy's proud "i just cut down my own christmas tree" stance, he was just as entranced.

(isn't he adorable??)

the fun had only just begun though. we went with our friends, who also cut down a good-size tree and we decided we could haul them both the several blocks home on a little red wagon. 

i was very impressed that they only toppled over once and that was before we even started moving! 

and since we were down one red wagon, we also decided to haul home three kids on one sled...

(note quincy's cat hat... see how nicely i'm threading the theme through the whole post?)

now that's what christmas is all about, charlie brown!

(isn't she a beaut?) 

oh and don't forget...

costuming

costumes. i fall in love with that word over and over again. i sure hope whoever invented costumes (it was said to be the celtics...i googled it) got a special spot in heaven.

i love coordinating family costumes for halloween so everybody matches somehow. i'm a dork like that. a quick stroll down memory lane will show that quite clearly:

 2008: mahna mahna guys

 2009: juno

2010: bavarian yodelers - minus the yodeling

so halloween costumes this year took a lot of thought given all the factors at play: a toddler and a pregnant belly... it seems like a lot less factors when i write it down than it did when it was running through my head during the planning process

i landed on what i must admit was true brilliance

a fisherman, who caught an adorable little fish, and has another fish in his wife's fish-bowl belly. feel free to send me doting emails about how clever i am.

and even though the tiny little tail on the backside of q's costume was fantastic, and the fact that the poor boy had to walk around for a couple of days in his fishing waders made for a good story, i'd have to say the best part of the whole costuming was when my sis decided to go into labor during the halloween magic show we were all attending, meaning i got to go to the hospital to check in on them while wearing these pants

i really wish i had a better picture of how fantastic these pants were. full-on sequins from top to bottom made these babies shimmer enough to blind someone in the sun. they were the perfect pants to sport in the maternity ward... *

as if dressing up for halloween wasn't a treat enough, we got a second opportunity to dress up a couple of weeks later at the boy's nephew's bar mitzvah. i forever love this kid - he wanted to have a 50's themed party at the historic car museum in reno. fan. tas. tic.

of course, right when i got the invite, i started looking for the perfect getup.

the boy was a no-brainer. his middle name is "f." that's it. nothing attached to the letter except a period. he used to ask his parents about it as a kid and what it stood for. his dad told him it could stand for anything he wanted it to stand for. so, the boy started claiming that his middle name was...

the fonz

i sported the classic poodle skirt with high ponytail high school cheerleader (the pregnant belly added to the whole ensemble)

and q stole the show with this fantastic outfit

i love my life. the end.


* as an aside, my sis had an adorable baby girl who will for sure one day wonder why she's so infatuated with blue sequin pants, i'm sure. and since i know people can't resist a good birthing story, here's their story

it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown!

i have to admit, i've been dragging my feet extra slothfully these last few weeks in dreaded anticipation for fall/autumn/whatever you call it in the region you live in. not that i don't love fall - i really really do, but i hate that it means winter is coming next. bleck. 

BUT, all that moping about came to a close this past weekend with a little something called, the-greatest-pumpkin-patch-that-isn't-much-of-a-pumpkin-patch-at-all-but-rather-a-carnival-with-rides-and-a-petting-zoo-and-bounce-castles-and-all-sorts-of-wacky-stuff-i've-never-associated-with-pumpkin-patches-before.

  

i knew what we were getting into to some degree. there was a big part of me that needed that kind of over-stimulation to get me in the autumn spirit. especially after our pumpkin patch upset last year. see, when i hear "pumpkin patch," i can't help but think of hay rides and apple cider. oh yeah, and pumpkins... but not JUST pumpkins - that's way too bonnet and butter churner for my overly-commercialized brain. so you can imagine the sad look on my face when the pumpkin patch we rolled up to last year looked a little something like this

(it didn't really look like this because we don't live in the mojove desert, but in my mind it did)

so, this year i purposefully overcompensated just for kicks and giggles. and, maybe it's just the cotton candy talking (yes, at a pumpkin patch), but it was a lot of fun!

the bug and her hubs joined us for the festivities, and between our two pregger bellies, we must have heard something to the effect of "looks like you're trying to steal a pumpkin under your shirt there" at least 468 times. maybe more.

the highlight of the day was definitely the train ride though. imagine a fantastically old metal train with perfect kid-sized "cars" that look like giant empty soup cans turned on their sides with a hole cut in them for kids to poke their little heads out of. then imagine that soup-can train inching along through the scattered pumpkins so everyone in the whole place can see it.

(this is the size you should be to fit in one of these cars)

and then imagine two grown (and pregnant) women squeezing themselves into those little soup-can cars. i mean, we couldn't not - quincy wanted to go for a ride and it was an otherwise empty train, aka an opportunity! we asked if adults were allowed to ride, to which the kid driving the rig replied that if we could get into the car, we could ride. so ride it we did

it was sheer bliss. feeling the wind in our faces, the sun on our backs. like heaven really. but then it stopped. and we had to get out. and we suddenly realized that the driver never mentioned anything about being able to get out of the soup-can cars. (the boy just informed me that he actually did mention that, but we obviously only hear what we want to hear and were already scrambling into the cars without even hearing that part of things)

here are three things to keep in mind if you're ever considering going for this train ride. 

1. soup can cars are a tight fit. and they're made of metal and can't be shifted around in any way

2. it's probably better to be smaller than the sum area of the car in order to ride it. and to not be pregnant

3. if you decide to get in one anyway, remember not to wear slippery maternity jeans

it took me a good several minutes to wiggle my way out of that thing, which involved twisting and turning in ways that i never thought would be associated with a simple train ride. of course, in my own agony, i completely failed to remember how bug's legs are significantly longer than mine and her belly's a couple of months ahead of mine. 

i escaped only to find her completely wedged into her soup can, not able to move one way or the other. 

to add to the situation, during our ride, we emoted so much joy that several little kids ran up wanting the next ride. so the whole train quickly filled with eager children. except one poor little kid who couldn't find an open seat...because bug was stuck on the train. 

before long, an entire crowd had gathered around to see this 9-month pregnant woman jammed into a soup can. she should have gotten paid, she was one of the carnival's main attractions. she kept trying to wiggle out. and kept failing. and then she'd try with the help of the boy and her hubs, each hoisting one side up in vain. still no movement. 

like a true soldier, she hollered bravely at the driver, "just start driving these poor kids around. i'll figure something out!" but, the mom of the boy without a seat would have none of that. her son needed that soup can car emptied for him asap. 

i was a terrible sister. i stood right next to her car and laughed my head off. i couldn't help it. 

i laughed when the guy sitting behind us said, "welp, looks like you bought yourselves a new train!" i laughed when the moms of all the kids waiting for the ride to start started to tap their feet and get upset. i laughed when i pictured bug needing to be sawed out of that thing. i laughed when the driver just grinned - knowing that was bound to be the end result and letting it happen anyway because it would be the highlight of his day. heck, i'm even laughing out loud right now as i'm typing this

by some autumn miracle, the bug finally freed herself from the terrible grasp of the soup can car, only to practically lose her stretchy maternity pants in the process. and her supportive husband's only comment was, "don't worry, sweetie. i think i'm the only one you mooned." it was fantastic.

her only battle wounds (other than a battered ego) were some fantastic bruises on her knees. at her midwife's appointment today, they saw the bruises and got really worried about her iron levels and she only nodded and looked at the floor. she didn't have the guts to tell them that even the most iron-rich person in the world couldn't get out of that predicament without purpling up a little bit.

best. day. ever.

flying in little planes, and other acts of patriotism

(showing off her best impression of an american actress fending off the paparazzi)

there's something about summer that just seems so....american... which is funny because do they not barbecue in other countries? no hose water fights? no absurdly giant balls of ammunition being shot up in the air and then exploding into a bunch of lights and sprinkling depris back down on all the voluntary spectators? (okay, i already know the answer to that one) 

in any case, summer = america. which is why the boy really went all out this year with his fourth of july getup. well, that and he lost a bet to me...

these two looked just fantastic (said with a lisp) at the telluride fourth of july parade. there may or may not have been american flag speedos involved too, but that footage has been burned... just look at 'em waving their flags with pride...

q was proud to be an american but opted for a tutu instead of a speedo. thank our lucky stars

 

next on our list of patriotic activities...and i'm not even sure why this felt patriotic to me - maybe because of the red and blue stripes on the side... was our near death experience in a 6-seater prop plane. 

okay fine, it wasn't a near death experience at all - our pilot definitely knew what he was doing, but if you saw the way we were all gripping to our seats for dear life during the flight, you would think it was. let me rephrase that, the boy and i were gripping the seats for our lives while the pilot was casually flipping through pictures on his ipad!!

at one point during the flight, the boy asked the pilot, "so, what would i do if you suddenly died of a heart attack right now?" i can't say for certain, but i'm guessing the pilot sensed our tenseness...

let's back up. our friends invited us to stay at their family cabin with them in montana (see - doesn't that just sound american somehow?) and we've been wanting to see what flying in a small plane was all about (isn't that a normal curiosity?)

so we connected with a pilot who could take the whole fam out and back to the montana boondocks. because that's just the type of thing we do as a family - load up a carseat with a toddler and a pregnant woman on a teensy little plane for a 3 hour flight. i seriously considered wearing depends. by the way, i'm pregnant again in case i haven't mentioned that yet... yay!

(check out how patriotic i am)

the last, and only, time i was ever in montana was with bug on our way to seattle back in the day. we stopped in butte, or as we called it, butt (no offense to any butteons out there. butteites? butteys?) it was pretty sketchy, but that could have just been because we had about $4.23 to both our names and were looking for the cheapest place we could find to spend the night. i guess anyplace would be pretty sketch when that's your criteria. 

we were patriotic back then too though and went to see the site of the battle of little big horn and custard's last stand. It was a powerful scene, and as we soberly drove away from it, bug reverently and in all seriousness said, "wow, what a battle that must have been between big horn and colonel mustard." ...in the conservatory...with the candlestick... 

anyway, back to montana. q liked the plane. especially singing "la la la" over and over again into the headphones for all traffic control people across the country to hear. so i guess she's more adventurous than her parents in that sense

i'm so glad we lived to tell the tale because when we landed back in colorado, there just so happened to be 70-something parachuters jumping out of planes AT THAT VERY MINUTE trying to beat a world record of some sort (also seems oddly american, huh?). so we got to see them do their thing, which looked something like this:

i know, i know. the jumpers look like little tiny spots in the picture - like when you laugh out loud at something you see while on the computer and eating an oreo and it sprays little crumbs on the screen...

so, i took the liberty to make the jumpers feel more personal to you so you could really get a sense of it all

god bless america and all of its bizarre quirks

canada oh canada, i s'il vous plait

(aren't we hot?)

i could go on for years, maybe centuries, about reasons why i think colorado's so great, but i'll save you your entire lifetime and hone in on just one reason: red rocks amphitheater.

ah red rocks, you're the home to many a great memories - the most recent being mr. peter gabriel. "peter gabriel?" you say. "isn't he someone your parents listened to when you were just a wee tot?" yup he sure is - and that's why my dad was sad we didn't invite him to the concert.

i actually remember one day after school in probably the 2nd or 3rd grade and my best friend (until she left the friendship bracelet i made her at the park months later ON PURPOSE) was sad for some reason and i went over to her house and sang her "don't give up, you still have friends" that's how much of an influence the ol' cassette player pounding through our house was on me, mom and dad. be proud (p.s. how great is this music video??)



anyway, yes we went to the peter gabriel concert at red rocks. and yes, it was raining like we were standing  in our shower. with clothes on. and no rain jacket (in my case). so, i decided to throw on the old ratty bath robe that just so happened to be in our car, because doesn't everyone keep bath robes in their cars in case of emergency?

the second best part of the concert was when the rain clouds broke and opened up to reveal a perfectly amazing full moon right over us. while that was cool in and of itself, the very best part of the concert was the guy sitting in front of us watching when the moon came out and crying, literally crying through great big (likely drugged-up) sobs, "are you kidding me?!?" while hugging (clobbering) his concert-mates and whoever else was in a five mile radius of him. it just further confirms my theory that any event is only as good as the people watching.

the boy immediately called his friend - a true peter gabriel fan - after the concert and told him to run, don't walk, to the next show wherever it might be. little did we know it would be in toronto, canada a few days later...and that said friend would call back five minutes later with four tickets asking us to go with them.

so, we did what any reasonable and sensible people would do and canceled everything we had going on to leave our daughter with our nanny and fly to canada.

i was excited because i had never been to canada, although i for some reason told every person i met the first year in college that i was born there. i'm not quite sure why, but it was fun and only backfired once. you do stuff like that in college. or at least i did...

embarrassingly, the only thing i really knew about canada came from 11th grade geography when we were assigned to write a "travel journal" after "traveling to" (aka, researching) a foreign country. there's no way i should have even passed because i'm pretty sure canada cannot under any circumstance be considered "foreign," but that's beside the point.

the point is, i still shouldn't have passed because the only "research" i did was listening to this song over and over again. i'm once again pointing my fingers at you, mom and dad - thanks for teaching me early that song lyrics are an appropriate way to communicate in the world.



i'm not kidding. my travel journey consisted of me talking about how i drank milk from a bag and watched lemmings falling into the ocean. i got an A

peter gabriel was almost as good in canada, except there were no crazy sobbing men peeing their pants about the full moon. but, our flight attendant's name was cake, so that has to count for something.

ode to boy

if you'll recall, i'm pretty into the boy. i'm thinking for father's day, me and quincy will write him a card that says something to the affect of,

"dear the boy, we are pretty into you. mushystuffmushystuffmushystuff, etc. love, us"

in the meantime, it feels like time to pay another tribute to this wonderfully random man in my life. here are some recent examples:

1. automatically opening doors.
have i mentioned before how right when we moved into our house, the boy set up half the lights to be sensored? so, when you walk into the room, the light automatically turns on... 50% freaky, 50% cool, 100% the boy.

i should have known it wouldn't stop there. the boy recently received a giant mystery box that turned out to be one of those handicap automatic door openers. you know the ones i'm talking about? like this

we have a balcony off our master bedroom and we love opening the doors on a nice sunny morning and also during nice nights hoping that a mountain lion might sneak in like this. just kidding, mom.

"wouldn't it be awesome if we didn't even have to get out of bed to open our doors by remote or something?" the boy said in quick passing a few days earlier. while most of us say such silliness and then forget about it, the boy actually acts on it.

so, lo and behold, he jerry-rigs this machine to the doors and before i know it, they're opening via remote control. so easy, even a baby can do it

isn't that awesome? needless to say, that first night, the door kept randomly opening and closing during the night. okay, it wasn't that random - i always knew when it was coming because i'd hear the boy click the remote control...


2. the muffin man -
we went out to dinner with the ever great katie and john the other night to what we've decided is now our favorite restaurant, the pinyon (shameless promotion).

imagine you're looking at this restaurant menu. my biggest regret in life right now is that i didn't actually get a picture of the menu and i can't find a picture of it anywhere... so, use that right brain of yours and get to imagining. very foreign looking stuff that's hard to pronounce mixed with small plates of pickled such and such that still cost a pretty penny. and then this:

"english muffin. $1"

(i'm so lame, i don't have any pictures of the night... just this random cartoon of an english muffin...)

while the rest of us skimmed right over that item, the boy couldn't get over it. "this is fantastic! a nice dinner menu with a $1 english muffin on it? i'm for sure getting one! or maybe $5 worth..." the banter grew until he stated,

"i can't believe what a great deal this is....english muffins for everybody! on me!" of course, we egged him on and did the math for him - it'd cost him about $10 to treat every table to an english muffin. so he asked. and our waitress, who at first thought it was a joke, agreed to give every table an english muffin, courtesy of the guy sitting at the table outside. (we were the only people sitting outside because it was kind-of a dreary night. so i'm sure we were already dubbed "the crazies.")

let me interject to ask, how much would you have loved to have been a customer at this restaurant that night and received a complimentary english muffin? you know it would have made your week.

so one by one, as the muffins were delivered around the restaurant, people started giving the boy the thumbs up and even coming outside to thank him. it was hilarious.

when we finally decided it was too cold to sit outside and moved our table inside, we were greeted by a round of applause and people patting the boy on the back saying, "thanks, muffin man!"

let it be recorded that i never want to be any more of a celebrity than "the muffin man's wife." it was the best night ever.

i love the boy