The drain of creation

Does this space seem to have the disturbing stillness you would expect in an abandoned ghost town? It certainly feels that way lately.

I wish I could tell you that it is the result of an intentional move to keep my life more private. Or a decision to spend more time participating in constructive activities with little P. Or a million other morally upright and justifiable rationales.

Don't get me wrong: things have been good. Life keeps chugging along. Jesse amazes me with his hard work. Pen astounds (and at times frightens) me with her new skills, knowledge and talents.




But at the same time, things have just been a wee bit pathetic. The blog has been silent because I assumed no one would want to hear the thrilling tales of what episode of Friends I watched on syndicated television. Or maybe you don't want to know that I woke up from an unplanned, hour-long nap to find Pen marching around the house with Jesse's swimming suit on her head. Or perhaps I am just not proud to admit how many times my husband makes dinner, bathes the baby and puts her to bed because I just can't get off the couch. Did you really want to know about my latest vitamin regimen? I didn't think so.

But you see, it isn't so lame. I am just growing a new baby. And as my awesome husband is quick to remind me, "it takes a lot of energy to jumpstart a human life." So don't give up on me. We will make it through yet another blogging slump. Even if it takes until my due date in early May to get there...

(how we told the family à la Conan's "if they mated.")

In her pack

Pen and I are gearing up for a ladies' trip tomorrow, which means I have spent the last two days doing laundry (can't leave the husband without a drawer full of clean underwear), packing and mentally preparing for a road trip with a toddler.

An essential part of every trip is Pen's little backpack with odds and ends to entertain her during the drive. I was going over what I packed for her with Jesse to ensure I hadn't left anything important, when he informed me that I needed to record this list for posterity.


So, we have:

Story books
Flap books
Books with pictures of things she is learning the words for
A tiny Teddy bear that she won't leave the house without
The burping Shrek toy she loves from a McDonald's happy meal circa 2008
A flashing music toy
A Pez dispenser
A mini football


So she has to be entertained for four hours, right?

My sounding board

I was whining to Jesse about some silly "mean girls" stuff that has been bugging me lately.

"I don't even know why this bothers me so much," I said.

"It bothers you because you're a girl," he said. "And a nice one at that."

This made me feel better for a while. A few hours later, I got in bed with something else on my mind.

"Since you understand that I'm a girl, I have something else that is really bothering me lately that I need to get off my chest," I said.

He put down his iPhone, got very serious, and said, "OK, what is it?"

I breathed a heavy sigh.

"Colored denim is coming back."

"And?" He asks, waiting for more.

"And I kind of like it."

And just like the first time, getting it off my chest made me feel much better.

Photobooth with Dummies

Penelope really likes to see herself on camera. It's one of her favorite things. So every now and then, I try to see if we can get a good photo of the two of us chumming around.

It's not as easy as you might think to get a photo of her smiling and me not looking like an idiot when the camera goes off.

But I think we might have gotten close to a good one.

Sometimes he changes my mind.

It's been a perfect storm of mushy feelings for my husband lately.

First there was Father's Day, and Mr. Jones really deserved some appreciation for his awesome work as a daddy.

Then the wee one and I took off for a week while he finished up his first rotation (and we got to miss him like crazy).

Then he pulled yet another 15-hour day today. And I am yet again missing him like crazy.

Then that one doo-dad I have that lets me listen to my iPod in my car broke (ok, it broke a while ago, so this isn't quite in chronological order), so I was listening to this classic song that has sadly become a cliche.

And really, I have to tell you: When my heart was in the lost and found, this guy came to claim it. I will thank the Lord for that every day for the rest of my life.

Jesse was a real friend to me for years before we started really dating. He listened. He gave good advice -- even when it didn't benefit him. He let me cry on his shoulder. He cracked really great (and terrible) jokes at all the right times. And he never let me believe I was worth anything less than I really was. Then we started dating, and he's only gotten better.

I often tell Jesse that I want all girls. (Honestly, I kind of do.) But today I keep thinking about how great the world would be with another man like Jesse. A real man who loves God, is loyal to his family, and makes some lucky woman feel like the most loved creature on the planet every day.

Today I'm settled on it. What the world needs now is more men like mine. I guess I'd be OK if that meant that we had to have a few boys running around our house in the future.

The jury's still out

One burning question in the Jones house tonight:

Who wore it better...






Mother






Or daughter?

You can't really blame me.

Some days I have about a dozen things I want to blog about. And none of them involve the baby (yes yes, I know it gets old). But then we have dance parties when Jesse gets home from work.

Daddy picks the song.

Mom takes the bad video footage.

Penny busts a move.

And I completely forget that I had something else to say.

Video time: 11 seconds. She gets quite camera shy.

(These toddler dance moves are dedicated to my dear DEAR friend Bitty, with whom I have shared many a dance party.)