7 Quick Takes

1. Locked mah kids in the car today in the TJ Maxx Homegoods parking lot. More accurately, John Paul locked the pair of them in moments after I slammed the trunk shut. Upon hearing the fearsome 'beep, beep' I stuck my nose to the window to see a grinning 1 year old clutching a key fob and hitting 'lock' over and over again. 23 minutes and many, many mommy spectators later, we negotiated a tense and delicate cross-aisle handover from little to big brother, and my genius 3 year old (not quite smart enough to unbuckle his carseat on his own, however) correctly interpreted our frantic demonstrations of pushing 'the lefthand button!' and clicked them both free. Strangers were hugged, cheers erupted, and froyo was purchased and doled out to the survivors. The hugger complimented me on my cool collectedness throughout the ordeal, and I just wanted to be all, "thanks for not calling the cops."

pretty much.

2. Dave's boss came over for dinner tonight, which is kind of intimidating in its own right, considering, but in this case, was mildly panic inducing to a pregnant mama who is averaging maaaaaybe 3 cooked dinners per week. He is a lovely and affable gent, however, and a certain 3-year-old may or may not have had him under his spell before the night was out. In my opinion, it was Joey's impressive theological knowledge (he kissed his ring) coupled with the very winsome way he scooped the toppings off of several pieces of bruschetta before offering bare bread to our esteemed guest that cemented the friendship. That or the forced read-aloud of 25 minutes of Mother Goose with "Joey" replacing every actual name in the book. What can I say? We throw killer dinner parties.

"Can I kiss your ring?"

3. This baby be getting crazy up in here. She is flipping and flopping all over the place, but while the boys felt violent in their movements, she feels more like I'm smuggling a pack of kittens under my shirt. I'm really hoping all this wiggling around results in some flippage before out next ultrasound appointment, but after hearing from some lovely friends including sweet Ana and Mary, I'm less intimidated about the spectre of a 'breech' baby which my erstwhile Bradley education had me fearing with every fiber of my being.

4. My South Bend native sweetheart is going Han Solo to the Air Force/Notre Dame game, and I'm trying to think of fun ways to pass the Saturday afternoon/evening alone with the wolf cubs. So far I've come up with 1. volunteering via conscription in the parish nursery during the 4:30 pm Mass (should be a dream) and eating a very early dinner somewhere Mexican-y. Any chick flicks lurking around that I should be queuing up for my introverted evening in?

5. I happend upon a newly-opened H&M in my neighborhood the other night, and I scored some of the cutest maternity clothes that I've ever purchased in all my gestational years. With the deafening Euro house mix bumping on the speakers and all the confusing sizes, I felt right at Rome sweet home. Even down to the not-so-minor detail that my big American butt doesn't fit into their pants, at least not in any size I'd care to take home with me.

6. John Paul and I spent 10 minutes snapping selfies when his nap ended early this afternoon, and he took great delight in modeling several (clean) pair of Joey's undies on his head, cackling with unmitigated glee at the sight of himself. Joey was less than amused upon discovering the evidence...

7. How cute are my parents? I made my mom's Christmas cards for her when I was home last weekend, and this shot was perfect for the flip side.

Head on over to Cari's to see what the rest of Jen's minions are up to today.