Kathryn. Real.

This made me weep today.  In a good way.

Last weekend Kent and I went to a birthday party for a friend of his.  Ellis went to my dad’s for the night (no, not the whole night).  It was the second time in 7+ months that we went out alone to be adults.  The first time I was still recovering from his birth so that one doesn’t even really count.  It felt like the beginning of being me again.  It’s a difficult thing to reconcile who I was before Ellis and who I am now.  So much of my life is focused on him that I never really looked up and took notice of how his birth changed my core.  (or if it changed my core)  I think I’m doing that now and it feels a little like coming up for air.  Pieces of old Kathryn are still here but there are new pieces that I’m just getting to know. 

It was difficult to leave him, but it felt good too.  Kind of like a hard work out.  You feel like shit when you’re doing it but afterwords you feel really great and can acknowledge how much you needed to do it.  I think we’ll make it a semi-regular thing, this going out and being with just adults for a while.  Of course next time I’ll try not to drink too much and pee in the grass behind Walgreen’s on the way to pick up my son from my dad’s while thinking "if I get arrested for peeing behind Walgreen’s right now I’ll never forgive myself" and while saying "I can’t see my dad like this I feel like I’m 15 years old for gods sake."

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One of the great things about our new place is the location.  There’s so much more to do around here without having to drive very far.  Including one mall with a really kick ass play area.  It’s all cushy flooring and huge cushy plates with eggs silverware, grapefruit and various other breakfast stuff to climb on and the big kids aren’t allowed in.  So today that’s where we went to get out of the house.  I parked right up front and strapped Ellis in the stroller handing him a hacky sack to hold to keep him busy.  We strolled through Bath and Body Works on the way to the playground, and that’s when I looked down and noticed my baby’s face had what looked like black stamp ink on his cheek.  I looked a little closer and saw a giant black stain on his shirt and decided I better take away the hacky sack.  Y’all he looked like he should be on a zombie movie.  His lips and tongue were solid black.  His slobber had made the ink on the hacky run amok.  I didn’t completely flip out or anything but I did call poison control just in case as I washed his hands (which are still black) his shirt (which is ruined) and his face in the family restroom.  Of course they said it was nothing to worry about, thank goodness.

After that debacle we headed to the play land.  I’ve never taken him anywhere like that before so I wasn’t’ sure how he would react.  He sat on my lap for a few minutes at first just checking things out and watching the bigger kids toddle around.  A lot of them looked like they were newly walking.  It was such cuteness.  Soon though he started to get restless so I put him on the ground where he promptly crawled off to play without looking back.  He saw a pretty little 9 month old with big brown eyes and made a beeline for her.  They spent almost the whole time following each other around and batting at each others faces.  Her mom was really nice too.  If I wasn’t so damn shy I would have gotten her number.  Damn it.  I should have.  Oh well. 

He had such a good time we went back tonight so Kent could watch him "run" around.  I’m sure we’ll be going several times a week.  I can’t wait to get pictures.  It was the first time I’ve gotten to see my little guy be independent.  Very cool.

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So how has everyone been?  I’m um, a little rusty over here.  Lets see, hows about we start with the new place?  Overall it’s really great.  It’s a lot smaller but if I’m honest we used the same amount of space in the old house so a lot of that house was just wasted on us.  A couple of things are annoying.  One, the kitchen appliances are the same appliances we had in the house I lived until I was 7.  So the oven sucks but the 21 year old dishwasher works better than the one at our old house.  Mostly they just look old and icky.  Two, the bathtub has a frame for glass shower doors, but no doors AND it is sunken but has a little lip sticking up above the ground which all screams mobile baby hazard.  I don’t know what to do about it but put a gate up.  Oh, and three, there’s only one toilet.  I had gotten really used to the convenience of being able to pee when someone else was in the bathroom.

But overall it’s really cute, and I can see the baby from just about anywhere in the house.  I’ll post some pictures when I get around to picking up.  Which may be never after all the cleaning I’ve recently had to do. 

I want to say thanks to mom and dad for being so generous and helping us with our huge electric bill from the old place and deposits and moving costs and all that stuff.  If it weren’t for both of them we would be living with friends or in the slums.  And ya’ll this is the best part.  Once we pay the last of the big bills from the old house we’ll have enough money left over for savings and a little for spending!!! 

That’s the last installment of money talk I swear.  You’ve all been so nice about not telling me to shut the fuck up and stop whining already!

Almost as soon as he turned 7 months Ellis began changing every single day.  One day he’s able to go from his stomach to sitting, the next he’s frankencrawling, the next day he’s pulling up, the next day he’s dancing, the next day he’s saying mmmmmammmmmma and then leaning over to give me a kiss.  (not that he knew he was referring to me, but still!)  I’m actually starting to get used to him bumping his head on things.

I can’t wait to share his progress with the interweb!

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Well hello!  Here’s a little riddle for you.  What happens when your fuck off of an internet provider can’t get you up and running for three weeks?  Answer: Kathryn gets the shakes turns blue and is forced to admit that she’s an internet addict.  People, I have been without email for three weeks.

No really.  Since I’ve been gone (thanks a lot kelly clarkson) we have moved, officially become non homeowners, fought with Comcast/TimeWarner, turned 7 months, learned to crawl and pull up and generally get into everything. 

Did you know it’s been 100 degrees or more here for something like 34 days?  That makes for fun moving.  Oh look, even when life is going so well she finds something to complain about.

Ellis is eying the fireplace again I’d better go run interference.  But hey!  Woo hoo!  I’m alive and what not.