My Most Frequently Used Phrases

(I had another post partially written and saved as a draft, but upon rereading, it just sounded like a bunch of whining, and if there's anything I hate, it's whining, so *poof* it went away. Instead, please enjoy this list of things I find myself saying almost constantly.)

In no particular order:

1. No. No.......NO!

2. Nathaniel!

3. Are you hungry?

4. Come on, let's change your diaper! You got poops!

5. Do NOT drop that off your tray. Eat it or leave it.

6. STOP. Just.....stop.

7. Hey, Stink Pot Pie/Stinkeroo/Natrox/Natrox the Indomitable/Boo-Bah/Nater/Naterator/Pumpkin Belly/other nonsense nickname!

8. I love you.

9. You are so goofy!

10. Please stop stepping on my feet.

11. Yes, that's your penis. Good job having a penis!

12. What are you doing?

13. Have a nap, baby.

14. Yes, that's your belly button!

15. Yes, that's Mommy's belly.

16. Please don't touch that. Okay, thank you.

17. No, that's yours. You eat it.

18. Child, you're going to drive me to drink. More.

19. Gentle!

20. You are so freaking cute.

Empty Well

I promised I would blog more, and now I'm reminded why I don't blog that often. I've got nothing. Sure, things happen around here, but they don't tend to be too interesting to anyone but us. Sure, I could wax poetic about my child, but no one on earth finds your child quite as interesting and wonderful as you do; that's just a universal truth. I could talk about projects I'm doing, but I can't really do any, because I've got an 18-month-old who's into everything, meaning the only time I have to myself is when he's napping, and that time is spent exercising and showering, both of which are pretty essential.

Wow, this is sounding an awful lot like whining. "Oh, woe is me; I can't doooo anything because of my horrid child!" I don't feel that way; I love watching Nate discover the world, and I'm grateful that I'm able to be here to see him do it. It's just that right now, that's really all I can spend time doing. And that's okay. It just makes for really boring blogs.

So, all--what, three of you?--who are reading: do you have any questions you want me to answer? If not, I'm sure I can mine my past for some interesting anecdotes (the story of my first wedding alone could be a couple of blogs, probably). I'm just going to have to rehash the past until I can do a little more in the present.

Because I promised...

We just got back from visiting Windy and Margo (who shall henceforth be referred to as "Fargo Margo," because it's funny, and she's a Dakotan, so there you go), who made me promise to blog more when we returned.

A fantastic time was had by all, and I'm sure I'll write a more substantial blog about it at some point, but two of my favorite moments were finally getting a brilliant smile and a big kiss from Ray, my gorgeous, wonderful godson, and this exchange:

Me (to my son): This is Ray. Ray was Mommy's godson before she had you. So it's kind of like you're related.

Storm: Yeah, because you're both white.

Every adult within earshot: *muffling hysterical laughter*

If you have the chance, go visit their crazy commune. There are kids and animals and toys and chaos everywhere, and it's incredibly, spectacularly fun. I never feel like a visit with them is long enough. But we don't want to move to Florida, and they don't want to move to Mississippi, so visits are just going to have to hold us for now.

Windy, Fargo Margo, I love you both. Thank you for sharing your house and your children and your friendship. You are absolute treasures, the both of you, and I'm proud to say I knew you when.

And now, I've got to go put my kid in the bath. He carried some Pensacola (god, I'm tired--that took me three tries to spell correctly) home in his ears.