In case you're nosy . . .

I am a self-proclaimed Nosy Nellie, and I'm not ashamed. Even the most boring lives are of interest to me – especially when those people have a great blog. So I admit to being a blog-stalker, and I KNOW there are many more out there (stand up and show yourself, Kyle). Of course there are some like my sister, Amy, who only look at the pictures and others like Ann who will keep me in check if I'm not posting enough for her satisfaction, so I am trying my best to keep to the standards that have been set (at least my own standards). I also feel a sense of obligation because I am all of the above: stalker, photo-looker, and just nosy in general.


This post is for all you other Nosy Nellies out there – it's just an update on my boring little life, as if anybody cares. Promise I'm not a Narcicist (did I spell that correctly?), but for some reason I don't have a problem sharing all my biz with the whole world. Now if I can just talk everyone else into it . . .

1. First thing's first. The pup pup (as Mimi calls them) update:
   So sorry I dropped an emotional bombshell recently about my furry child, Spike. Clint was in Milwaukee and Mimi was at my parents', and maybe I was just a little lonely and extremely emotional. Two vet visits with two rat terriers, lots of immunizations, baths, nail trimmings, preventative meds, and $850 later (did you just choke on your coffee? because I did), both dogs are flea-, heartworm-, and intestinal worm-free. Whew. Don't we all feel better now?


2. The career update:
   Because of the $850 and many, many, MANY other expenses that are popping up absolutely everywhere with this move, I may need to start my own business. We're not drowning, but I am Miss Independent and am having issues with Clint being the only one bringing home the bacon. He's fully capable of taking care of things, but I'm not fully capable of letting him. I'm just a beginning sewer and some of you probably made fancier things in high school home-ec, but I might be up for sewing for friends a little in the near future. Not that I will have much time now, but hopefully I can make a few things a week before too long. If you have ideas or suggestions, just let me know. Before I really begin, I'll post some samples. And what will this "company" be called, you may ask? Mimi & Mack, of course. If I'm going to give my children cutesy pootsey names, I might as well use them to my benefit.
   


3. Clint's job update:
   As of this week, Clint has locked in office space in the Sear's Tower in downtown Chicago! How fantastic does that sound?


4. My current job update:
   Last day is next Friday. Tear . . . but that's okay. I can't wait to find out who takes my place because from what I've heard there are several fantastic candidates. I've been taking my time in my favorite offices and making sure I tell everyone that I'm leaving, whether they care or not. And lucky for me, they usually pretend to care, so that makes me feel better. Oh, and thank you, Laura, for blogging about Audrey Grace. You are on my list to stalk J.



5. Wilson McLain Darby update:
   I feel really, really good this week after feeling a little tired and cranky for the past two. Mack is still extremely low and is breech with his feet pulled up in front of his face. In the 3D ultrasound, we could tell that he has Mimi's sweet little nose and profile, and he's an egg-head – very little hair. I've heard that hairy babies cause more indigestion, and I have had very little with him. He is measuring a little bit bigger than Mimi was at this point, so maybe he won't be as itty bitty as she was. Also, he's starting to have hiccups a little, which is so much fun.
   A few weeks ago I mini-panicked realizing that I have nothing for him that isn't pink and took the time to buy a few essentials. The bumper pads have been made (if you need a good seamstress in Nashville -- I've got the girl. I was too scared to make the bumber pads!), and I just need to get started on the crib skirt. If you're a toile and plaid person, brace yourself for this fabric – it's kinda wild.

I've also gotten a few outfits, and I'll have to say that shopping for little boys isn't all that easy. There may be a hundred racks for girls but only one for boys in a store. Since I have a sewing machine, I think I need to put it to good use for little Mack. Here are some boy fabrics I've racked up on. By the way, they were all purchased at Bumbletees, which you have to check out if you are ever near Germantown. I stopped by during lunch today to snatch up all boy fabrics they had, and the sweet lady asked me if there are any fabrics in that store that I haven't purchased yet . . . hmm, there were only a few. I'm a little obsessed, don't you think?

6. Mimi, AKA "Trouble" Darby update: Friday morning in the car Mimi and I were listening to The Spectrum on XM when Ray Lamontagne's "Trouble" came on . . . and Mimi started belting out "Trouble . . . trouble." Whew, Girlfriend is some trouble but, my word, I love my little bad girl. Never a dull moment when she's around. I let her teachers Melinda and Angela know her last day will be next Friday, and they said, "But who's going to entertain us now?" Mimi tries to boss them around and gets out of trouble by being cute (for example, she hits someone, her teacher's say her name, she smiles really big and says, "HI! What you doin?"), and just like Clint and me, they laugh. Sigh. She'll never have any discipline – at least not from us. Recently we stopped by Kyle's house, and what did she do to cutie-pie Banks? Banged his head with plastic spoons, hit him when she got mad at me, and threw a couple of balls at his sweet little blonde head. And what did Banks do? He just looked at her not understanding . . . just like boys never understand crazy girls like her.
I've been trying to talk with her about all the changes that are about to take place, and she sooo doesn't get it. We talk about Baby Mack being in my tummy and how he will be her baby, her best friend, her Mack . . . and she just lifts up her shirt and says, "Mimi's baby!" to her belly button. We also talk about Chicago –"Cago" as she calls it – and I tell her that she will have new playgrounds and new friends before too long. No reaction, but what can I expect from a kid who's not even 2?

Speaking of "2," we snuck in her 2-year-old check-up yesterday just so we could see Dr. Mathis one more time. We seriously heart Dr. Mathis and his nurse Cassandra, and I hope we love our new Chicago ped Dr. Chang just as much. Dr. Mathis always lets Mimi play with his stethoscope and makes sure he steals lots of hugs and kisses before we go. I usually get a hug out of the deal too. Everyone needs a doctor like that. So Miss Priss is only in the 30^th percentile for weight and height, but he said she's pretty smart and cute, which will make up for her size!

She's become a little obsessed with her Fisher-Price Doctor Kit and will walk around the house looking for it and says, "Docta Mimi? Where Docta Mimi?"Oh, and on a side note, we took Mimi to her first movie last night -- Toy Story 3!! And she LOVED it! Miss Wiggly Worm sat in our laps the whole time and ate her weight in popcorn and some red sugary, slushy drink. She clapped and said "YAY!!" at the end of all the movie trailers and kept the others near us laughing the whole time. Mimi kept leaning over the the teenager next to me while pointing her finger in his face and saying, "Who's dat?" Scared the poor kid to death. Near the end she wouldn't shut her mouth she was so excited, and needed to ask questions about EVERYTHING -- "Mommy, what's dat? Where's Woody? Oh no, wha' happened?? Where's Buzz?" At the very end she finally wanted down so she could dance and shake her booty all the way out the door to the closing credits. This morning the first the she said to me was, "Where's Woody? Toy Story?"

7. Update on myself:

I'm 32 weeks pregnant today . . . and crazy and scatterbrained and overwhelmed and, well, just as happy as I can be. Friday morning I didn't take a shower. But I still went to work. How gross is that? I wasn't being lazy and this wasn't intentional – it was just an extremely important step that I COMPLETELY overlooked because my mind isn't functioning correctly. Normally I shower before Mimi wakes up, but she was up a little earlier than normal. I immediately got her and her bag ready, and then I went to the bathroom and fixed my hair, put in my contacts, put on make-up, and was dressed. I kissed Clint goodbye, called a handyman, unloaded the dishwasher, and got halfway to Mimi's school before I realized what important piece of my normal routine was missing – the piece that makes me smell better. Thank goodness for deodorant and air conditioning.

On a daily basis I have people asking me if I'm scared or nervous about the move, the new baby, or staying home from work, and I don't even have to think about it – my answer is "Of course not." I don't know if I'm just ignorant or if I just have a really good perspective. Something's telling me it's a little of both. The house is painted, a handyman's working on a few projects next week so we can put it on the market, we have an apartment, and I have an OB and hospital. Everything else will fall into place . . . well, at least that's what I've convinced myself to believe.