Transitions

Hello! Hello from a place where spring has finally sprung and the Buffalo Sabres are in the playoffs and budgets mean possible job changes (more on that later) and I just had to get new garments for my endlessly changing body. LOTS of changes.

On the pregnancy front, I have suddenly become significantly more winded after climbing stairs. I look at this in two ways, depending on my mood: 1) Oh, dear, does this just mean it will get WORSE before June? and 2) This means the baby is healthy and growing, so it makes sense that he will fight for space with my lungs. I attempt to focus on #2. It makes me happier. Little man bops around like a jumping bean right now. Yesterday he had hiccups--I know this because I was lying down with the laptop just below my belly and he actually caused the computer to move with the force of his own self. Amazing. He also seemed to respond well to the kick-ass David Bowie station T made on Pandora.com--I feel this bodes well for his musical taste. And for those who asked, here are the latest pictures of us:

I know I have no face in these, but trust that I am smiling or looking serene. The ladder in the background marks T and various wonderful, helpful friends' attempts to paint both our dining room and the baby's room. T has done a wonderful job, especially considering that we've learned the hard way that spackle takes a lot longer to dry than we had assumed and ceiling water damage means paint will either not stick or will chip right off. My dad was in town last weekend for my grandma's 96th birthday (awesome) and helped paint the ceiling in the baby's room, which looks terrific. I'm so glad he got to be a part of it, even if it did mean manual labor for him:

I just like this one because it signifies what's to come:

And here's the beginning of the paint; doesn't it look nice?

Thus the rest of the house looks like a bomb hit it while furniture and glassware waits patiently to go back to its old (or new) home, but it all means something new and nicer is on its way. More to come!

How we roll

If you've never gone to www.cafepress.com, it's a site where you can buy and make your own t-shirts--and lots of other items-- for a very reasonable price. We made these two onesies for baby J because 1) we have great and slightly off-color senses of humor, and 2) T wants him to eventually join the Masons, so we've decided to start him out early ("Lewis" is a Masonic term for the son of a Mason. Don't ask me to explain it further, although T did and can tell you all about it):

Who better than Calvin?

That's the primary Masonic symbol of the square and compass

We found the pictures and chose the fonts; we had a lot of fun doing it. I don't always go in for personalizing clothing, but how could we resist when the site makes it this fun?

Springing up

Just reminding myself and others that teeny, tiny signs of spring have finally begun to arrive:

• I've seen shoots coming up in my neighbor's garden, and I'd probably see some in mine if I really looked. The trees have definite buds.
• The snow, while still occasionally coming down, is finally melting and there's more green and brown than white out there. To that end, I've dug out my galoshes and mucked around outside, and I've retired my big winter boots.
• Penny has joyfully discovered every damn mud patch she can find and looks as though she's wearing little dark brown shoes when she comes into the house.
• I haven't worn a wool sweater in almost a week. Considering Buffalo springs are temperamental at best, this is a huge improvement.
• Seniors have begun to pay a lot less attention in class. In a month, some will come to me and ask if there's "anything they can do to raise their grade" in order to graduate. I will tell them, again, to go back in time and do all the work they should've done up to this point.
• Runners have switched from leggings to shorts
• I have begun to consider stretching the budget to include a few more cheerful clothing pieces that will accommodate my own stretching tummy
• Cadbury Egg time has become more and more precious

In other, next generation news, Baby J has become significantly more wiggly and active, and my niece C gets cuter every blessed day. Growth happening everywhere, really!