Rambling on

Goodness, either I'm nesting or I'm losing my darn mind. I have been doing nothing but organizing, cleaning & desperately wanting to buy things. Anything, quite frankly - I just want to buy, buy, buy! Unfortunately that requires money, money, money so I'm just going to stick to browsing. My etsy favorites are filling up fast & I keep coming up with new, more genius solutions to space problems like squeezing visiting family into our tiny house with Ben & Fonzie. I'm trying to implement as many of the ideas as possible this week so Marcel can't poo-pooh them when he sashays back into our lives on Friday. Sadly, the more I organize, clean & implement grand schemes (I am going to use the word implement as often as possible until I forget) the messier this house becomes.

On the plus side, as I was cleaning out Ben's dresser to store stuff that no longer fits & make room for Fonzarelli I went through his drawer of things that don't fit yet. Hallelujah, it's all his size now! It was like discovering an entire new wardrobe - I'm very excited because it's like acquiring things without using money. SCORE!

I also did a small trial run of how the nursery corner shall look by moving out my bedside table, putting the bassinet in, the diaper bin, moving Marcel's bedside table beside the bassinet & my bedside table to his side. I think it's all going to fit perfectly. Like freaky puzzle pieces perfect. I'm astounded. I even came up with the brilliant lighting solution of using the giant star light pendants from IKEA that I bought months ago (& should have gotten a 75% off bargain but the sale price didn't come up & when I pointed that out to the cashier she said that was the sale price but I realized on my drive home that meant these cardboard stars were originally like $80 each & that is not possible so now I will not let this grudge go) - they will be my late night lamp for breastfeeding so I won't need the bright normal bedside lamp, which would wake Marcel up but I can actually see what I'm doing. Genius & adorable.

Now I did the trial run yesterday while Ben was supposed to be napping but it was day 3 on his Refusal to Nap Marathon so I spent the whole time running back & forth between rooms & lots of yelling "GO TO SLEEP!" So helpful that is. I finally totally lost my cool & actually spanked my son, which I am very ashamed of. I know plenty of people believe in spanking & that doesn't bother me - I was spanked & turned out fine but it shouldn't be done out of anger like this. My father used to go so far as to SCHEDULE SPANKINGS so no fun could truly be enjoyed in those hours (sometimes a whole day) before the spanking because it was just looming over us but at least he wasn't doing it out of frustration like I did. It didn't seem to phase the boy for what it's worth & minutes later I got my comeuppance when I threw my purse on the table, which knocked off the giant gorgeous jar we keep there & it shattered into millions upon millions of shards & what can only be called glass dust. It took me an actual hour to sweep, mop & dust that shit up. Plenty of reflection time at least.

Today is much better. Ben actually ate some lunch like a real child! He had a turkey & cheese sandwich - well, one piece of bread folded over. And he picked off the turkey & cheese after a bite & a half but he ate the bread (wholemeal) & the whole little tub of yogurt (Toy Story branded, I am not ashamed to admit) then marched over to the cabinet & demanded I open the wraps & he ate about 3/4 of one of those. I was mightily impressed. I was a bread-only eater as a child so I'm not too worried that he'd rather focus on that instead of the fixin's but I do hope he branches out eventually. And now he's napping! I should actually be waking him up so he doesn't miss out on sleep tonight.

Extra bonus points today go to Coles supermarket for having caffeine-free Diet Coke, which I have never found in Australia before. Makes this pregnant lady a happy one.

Ben has a gosh-awful cold these days - lots of snot & now a hacking cough. It doesn't seem to be holding him back energy wise but I know it has to be knocking him down a little. I've been avoiding anything too strenuous since the coughing started yesterday so it doesn't get out of control & I was already feeling guilty enough dragging my little germ carrier to all the local playgrounds, probably infecting other children left & right - the coughing would have given us away, I'm afraid. No one wants to be recognized as Typhoid Mary.

Speaking of IKEA (late segue), we went on the way back from the airport the other day. I had two things I wanted - the $14.99 step stool & the $2.50 spice shelf to use as a front-facing book shelf. Both were sold out. Why does IKEA have it out for me? We did get an adorable second duvet cover for Ben's bed after months of panicking every time he wet his blanket. Why on earth we didn't get a second set ages ago is beyond me - we had extra sheets, why no extra blanket? Anyway, I think everything I've bought in the last month has been striped so I may as well include Ben's room in the mix:

I don't know why on earth anyone allows me to photograph things - it feels like the crib is flying. And please ignore the chewed off edges of it, which proves that Ben obviously loved chowing down at some point in time. Oh! Speaking of chowing down, I went to bed last night at 7.15pm. Not to actually sleep but with a book, magazine & computer ... & a very large piece of chocolate pie. It was the last piece & I didn't want to waste another plate so I just left it in the pie plate, which is extra classy. While sitting in bed, reading my sketchy novel, eating my pie out of the pan, I start hearing weird noises - I always hear weird noises when Marcel is away. It is always the neighbor's cat or the other neighbor getting home from work & fussing around but I always think it's a gang of thieves hellbent on stealing my worldly possessions. And all I could think was "This is not how I want a gang of thieves to find me, in bed with my pie & my novel in my ugly pj's that Marcel makes fun of so I wear them when he's away - how embarrassing." Ladies & gentlemen, I officially do not have my priorities straight. 

Anyway, I think I've run out of things to aimlessly ramble about. I have one more load of laundry to throw in the dryer or hang up, then about three loads to fold & put away, plus need to pull together the last of Ben's drawers. He is awake now jibber jabbering to himself & singing a merry little jig, which delights me to no end.