It's a Little...

Our appointment at Baby Waves went well- SO well. 

I blame myself for the first ultrasound fiasco. I didn't prepare the baby. This time, we had a nice little conversation on the way there. 

"Rufio, we are going to be taking pictures of you. It would be VERY helpful if you could move that umbilical cord out of the way." 

Once we were able to see it, our little one yawned, sucked it's thumb, yawned again, pointed to things, and yawned some more. Yawning is it's favorite. Then, just to show me how awesome the baby is- it did the BEST THING EVER. 

Ultrasound tech: "Oh, it's playing with the umbilical cord"

Our baby MOVED THE UMBILICAL CORD OUT OF THE WAY. 

You rock baby. 

She had us close our eyes when she was looking for the gender. We heard her clicking away taking pictures. We smiled and stared at each other...as usual.

She put the results in this envelope and printed off the pictures of the baby doing all its fun tricks. 

We went straight to my sister's house to have her prep the gender reveal items. Yes, she knew before I knew. Weird. 

She was a little excited.

Over the past 2 years I had kept my free color packet from the color run 5k's we "ran". One year I asked for pink, the next for blue...literally for the purpose of a gender reveal one day. Yes, I realize this is insane.  

My sister packed a black bag with the correct color of powder for us to throw at each other.

She also only packed the correct color of silly sting for people to spray (switching the lid colors so they still looked pink AND blue). 

We went back to the Brown's house and made a cute little set-up

We kept it small, just immediate family. And then we went outside to find out...

Yes, a BOY. 

Eli. 

Telling the Brown extended family.

We are incredibly excited- in case you couldn't tell. 

Then- we went shopping. 

Let's just say: Grandmas are AWESOME. 

They did ALL this damage in 2 days.

Fancy pants clothes. Yes, that is a newsboy cap. Yes, that sweater cardigan has elbow patches. Yes those are herringbone overalls. I call Eli's look "old man hipster chic".

Sports clothes, he has some royals gear too- but we left that in KC

Comfy clothes...just so you know- that cowboy outfit has socks that look like cowboy boots. Too funny.

...and other random items

Modest is Hottest

Rico took off early to meet me for our 20 week ultrasound.  We walked IN with excitement- I walked OUT pouting, and yes, crying. 

Our baby is modest. Rufio was hiding behind the umbilical cord and wouldn't move. I was convinced that I was going to have to wait until Rufio was born to find out the sex of our baby. This is not an easy idea to swallow when you are a type-A planner.

Rufio was also, as an added bonus, lying in a way that made it so we couldn't even really get a good profile shot. Come on baby!

Once it was clear that we would be leaving not knowing the sex, the waterworks started.

Just to be clear, I knew, and we even discussed, that this was such a trivial thing to make me so emotional. There were SO many other things that we could have left that appointment crying about that are FAR more life altering and important than knowing if your baby is a boy or a girl. 

That is reality. 

That is logical. 

That is mature.

THAT is not how my hormones let me see it.

I made Rico call our parents/ siblings to tell them that the gender reveal was off. I couldn't do it- I was too disappointed and stuck in my version of reality where I would NEVER get another sonogram (my midwives typically just have moms do a 20 week ultrasound) and we would NEVER know. 

Still crying, I told Rico that I wanted to wallow in food and to head to our favorite bar for my VERY favorite comfort food- cheese dip called "The Steve". 

Yes, I pouted the whole meal. 

Yes, I shed a few tears in the bar. 

Yes, I threw a fit about the fact that EVEN MY FOOD HAD A DISTINCT GENDER. 

I even said to Rico, "I know I am not handling this well, and that's just going to have to be ok for now." 

Rico knows JUST how to handle me when I get like this. He keeps it light- he makes me laugh. 

I do a LOT of crying and laughing at the same time with him.

 He lets me cry. He acknowledges that the situation sucks, but he refuses to let it consume him. He's good. Oh, he's good. At one point he looked at me and said, "Let me try to fix this- you don't worry about it, but I am going to fix this."

I didn't believe him. 

I was wrong.

He fixed it. 

Once we got home, he went straight for the computer. Within 30 minutes we had an appointment in our hometown at a private ultrasound place. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and they had an open appointment in the afternoon. Oh, and get this, RICO FOUND A COUPON!

Gender reveal BACK on. 

Hope was restored. Crying ceased. Decorating with bows and mustaches commenced. 

It. Was. On.

Niki's wedding favors came in handy quickly! 

"Mustache or Bow" Silly String and Hershey Kiss Nutter Butter acorns for the gender reveal.

So yes, as of this moment we know if Rufio is a little Maggie or a little Eli.
We have a few more family members to tell at Thanksgiving- and then I'll be back to share lots of photos...and a video of the moment we found out.

Prenatal Vitamin Advent Calendar...don't be jealous

We travel 3 and 1/2 hours back "home"every holiday. That means we have to plan things ahead- things like: When should we put up Christmas? 

Do it when we come home?

Uh, after a long drive and on our only night to relax before going back to work- no thanks.

Instead, we decided to set it up now so it would be ready when we got home. 

I don't know about you, but putting up Christmas decorations ALWAYS ended up with someone crying in my house growing up. In fact, in our first few years of marriage the same thing happened. Determined to change things around- we discovered the formula 2 years ago. 

Christmas carols + spiked cider + breaks to slow dance (or occasionally goofily dance) = a happy, happy holiday

Well, the spiked cider was out for me this year. Would our formula still work? Earlier this week I brought up my concern, Rico said he was wondering the same thing that morning. 

These are the things we worry about. 

Well, I am happy to report that the formula still works...even without Santa's little helper. 

Max was even excited for Christmas decorating...that is, until Rodney took his spot on the couch. 

We went through our usual memory lane walk as we put the ornaments on the tree. We have an ornament to represent each year since we've been married, and some that we inherited in the Brown Family Christmas Ornament Throwdown- including Troy Aikman throwing a pass. I hate Troy, but I also love him. I can't help it- he, and a couple of his other friends, were NOT what I imagined to be on my "adult" tree, but they make Rico SO happy. 

SO, SO happy. 

Troy immediately took his mandatory spot on the tree- facing out toward the couch so Rico can randomly yell, "I'm open Troy!" all through December. (There he is...on the left)

I decided that the little woven mushroom I bought last year at the after-Christmas sales would be our ornament to represent the baby, you know, with the Woodland themed nursery and all. I remember thinking, "What am I doing buying a mushroom...but it's so cute!" Now I know. 

Everything went up pretty much the same way it always does...except my favorite little tweak.

This is my Christmas Countdown gingerbread house. It has doors on all four sides. It doesn't match our  other "sophisticated" decorations, but that's ok because it is going to be on our vanity. 

Yes, instead of candy, this year I get...a PRENATAL VITAMIN everyday. I'm so lucky. 

But seriously, I always get paranoid that I am going to forget my pill, I even bought one of those daily dispensers made for the elderly earlier in my pregnancy. It's like the garage door, you always remember to do it- but that doesn't stop your brain from going insane. So, at least this December, my pill dispenser is a whole lot more fun!

Speaking of the babe...we had our 20 week appointment. Quick and dirty update: 

I finally gained some weight...oh yeah, I gained some weight. 

The baby's heartbeat was  a bit faster...158 ish. Go baby go.

They told us that we might want to start thinking about signing up for our birthing classes- WHOA. Can I just tell you how exciting this is to me? I love to learn, and while I know a lot about birth- I only know the basic medical parts. These classes are specifically designed for teaching natural labor- and THAT is something I am pumped to learn more about. I know random tidbits, but I want to know MORE. 

They told us we could pick a preferred birthing suite! We went from room to room, and they all looked great. They all have big birthing tubs, beds big enough for both of us, and a little couch area for visitors. One reminded me of our home:

One reminded me of a fancy hotel room (and had a 4 post bed which I think could be VERY handy for laboring) and lots of deep brown tones:

and one had some K-State purple. 

Clearly I couldn't make a decision. 

And last, but NOT least- they referred us over for our 20 week ultrasound! That's right, Monday we get to see our little one again. We also, hopefully, get to see if Rufio is a girl or a boy! 

Don't worry, there's a plan for a reveal. We won't know until Wednesday- at the reveal, with everyone else. So, I need to get to prepping for this thing. 

Next up: gender AND name! 

Stay tuned.

Rufio on the MOVE

So...little Rufio MOVES now. I can even feel him/her from the outside now!

We spent Saturday night at a wedding. I cried, I laughed, it had it all- including a beautiful bride.

...AND props

and some co-workers acting crazy. 

I woke up Sunday to make brunch (YES Rufio FINALLY let me sleep in past 6 am on a weekend) and in the process realized that my "pregnancy brain" is still in full force. 

Rico: "Is something on fire?"

Me (thinking about it for MUCH longer than I should have had to): "Crap. Yes, yes it is."

I watched Dear John after the bread incident- I bawled for literally 3 hours. Did I just LOVE it? No. It wasn't even good. I wouldn't even watch it again. Yet, tears fell within 30 seconds after each commercial break ended. 

After an afternoon of burnt bread and sobbing on the couch, we decided that I needed to maybe shower and enter the real world for the day (since I knew I would be headed back to work that night to run reports on some electronic babies) 

My husband walked up as I was in the LEAST attractive position a barely pregnant woman could find herself in. Let's be honest, that any human being could be found in.

You know that position. 

The one where you bend over and somehow your cute tight belly gets folds and just looks like blubber. 

The one where rolls appear as if from nowhere. 

The one where YOU won't even look in the mirror, much less let anyone else see you like that.

Not only that- but I had a banana in one hand and was bent over the jacuzzi tub filling the dog's water bowl in the other (yes, he has his own "upstairs" bowl)

 It wasn't pretty. 

"What are you doing?!"

I froze and immediately started laughing.

There were no other options. 

Except crying. SO I did that too.

The ugly cry. 

Sobbing. Gasping for air. 

Not half crying/ half laughing but FULLY crying and FULLY laughing hysterically.

The grand finale? 

I spit up chewed banana on Rico's shirt as we were hugging/laughing/crying (me- not him. It wasn't THAT traumatic for him) 

Glamorous.

We did finally recover and get out of the house to buy this little tiny hat that made it all ok. I mean, come ON!

Last update of the night: 

After a stressful day (car drama- after JUST getting my car back from the dealer this weekend and spending way too much), I decided that Rufio, Max, and I needed to take a stroll around the lake. I think the baby like it BECAUSE

not only can I feel Rufio...but as of TONIGHT, so can Rico! 

Whoa.

KSU Flashbacks

Confession time. All these naughty naughty things in just one weekend.

Friday morning I ran out of my omelet muffins (the ones I make ahead and just heat up for a protein packed breakfast each morning.) I was also out of greek yogurt. I was in a breakfast protein crunch. 

So,  I made do. 

Had you been in the morning commute with me on Friday, you would have looked into my car to see me eating a french onion pork chop. With my hands. At 6:45 am. 

I seem to have a lot of food related confessions. Maybe that's because I know what I WANT to be eating and what I SHOULD be eating. Here's the problem...sometimes a once in half-a-decade opportunity presents itself. 

Like that time that we went back to K-State for my first time in over 5 years.

Actually, we went back to see and old high school friend (who also played soccer with Rico in high school and college) coach our old high school team in the state finals. The game happened to be at the high school I student taught at. Small world. 

Over the past 5 years, I have made quite a long list of things I miss about Manhattan.

Last year I heard about a new place in Aggieville that became my new Manhattan mission. Varsity doughnuts. They have unique freshly made flavors and a unique atmosphere. It is SO cute, and they even rent bikes (with baskets). 

Of note. Things you can convince your husband of: waking up at 7:30 am on a weekend for doughnuts. Things you can NOT convince your husband of: renting bikes to ride through Aggieville afterwards. Especially using the argument "But they even have BASKETS!" 

For my doughnut lovers: A Maple and Bacon Long John,  Peanut Butter and Jelly, Pumpkin Spice, "flat tire"- aka OREO, blueberry, and classic with raspberry filling. I can't choose a favorite- just kidding, it was blueberry.

While we were in Man-happiness, we did all our college-y things. Look what they did to welcome Bill Nye the Science guy at the Union- a HUGE bow tie with powercats! 

In case you were wondering, we were totally those dorks that went to all those union events. 

Grocery store bingo- yep, I won fruit snacks and a loaf of bread.

Hypnotist/mentalist - oh yeah, they totally embarrassed us and asked Rico when he was going to propose after revealing our social security numbers and year and make of both our cars.

$3 movies- we saw our fair share.

I can't describe our disappointment that we were missing Bill Nye. 

BILL NYE people. 

5 years too late. 

We ate pre-game appetisers at So Long Saloon (Rico had a few "Nancy" beers, I had fried pickles- how very pregnant of me). We were literally the only people there for the first hour. If you know So Long, you know this was maybe the weirdest feeling you could ever have. 

We had lunch at Rock-A-Belly (I couldn't convince him that we should eat at the Derb), complete with the tastiest sandwiches and a side of a flashback- the first time I ever made Rico try hummus. I've now made it so often that he is nearly sick of it. 

We drove by all the places we used to live. We took a side trip to Dara's to get a pop slushy (Rico- not me), stopped by Old Stadium, and visited the new stadium. Holy. Moley. That new stadium. Whoa. 

Maybe I'm the only one, but when I think of college I have one thing that sticks out in my mind.

 For me, it is walking to class, listening to music, on a very specific tree covered sidewalk with squirrels running across the path in front of me. To the left, Anderson Hall.  To the right, the Dean's house. Clearly, we needed to re-create this. 

Rico indulged me. He even turned on some Jack Johnson (we both agree that nothing quite re-creates our college years like a lil' Jack Johnson) as we walked the path. We went through campus, pointing to buildings and talking about the classes and professors we had. We went into the library. We saw all the updates to the buildings. We helped a lost freshman. 

Anderson Hall in the back...it was just too beautiful outside to capture it AND us at the same time.

Then, at the very end, as we were ALMOST back in the car I said "But we didn't go into Justin". Justin hall was the hall with all my FACS classes (interior design, textiles, culinary, child development, family relations, sexuality, personal finance...you know all my favorite classes.) So, we went. We were in awe at the new updates as we wandered the new portion of the building. We made our way over to the older portion, where I had all my classes. 

Then it happened.

By complete accident.

We stumbled across THIS room.

Erik reached for the door-and it was OPEN. I showed him where I sat...and then I burst into tears.

I know it doesn't look like much, but to me (apparently) it is everything. 

"You are NOT crying right now!"

"I can't help it!

"Oh honey, why?"

"This is where I learned what kind of mommy I want to be. It changed my life." (don't worry, I am crying right now just typing this)

My child development class. Where I learned about attachment and media influences and Bronfrenbrenner (for the 1 millionth time) and so many other things that molded my opinions on how I wanted to parent. 

Side note, I recently got a VERY sweet note (that made me cry) from a former Parenting student 

(Hi Taylor!) 

and have had some fun conversations with other former students that made me think that some day MY classroom might be a classroom where hormonal pregnant moms go back and cry...here's to hoping. 

That wasn't my last crazy crying fit. I ALSO cried the night before, driving around Manhattan. SO much had changed. Nothing was the same. Oh, and at the grocery store the next day. It had changed too.

Oh, and at the Sprint store to get a new phone the next day (clearly I didn't get a new phone) 

Oh, and on the drive to, at, and on the way home from dinner. 

Oh, and at our Redbox that night. Admission. Yes, the comedy with Tina Fay and Paul Rudd.

Oh, and Monday in class. A student showed a Sesame Street clip (to demonstrate toddler emotions) where Elmo was sad...he was SOOOO sad. Clearly I needed to cry. 

I think that is about all the embarrassment I need to reveal for the time being. Let's end on a K-State high note. Literally high. If you are a Wildcat, you'll recognize this spot. This is the view from on top of Manhattan hill that overlooks campus. 

Hopefully I passed on lots of warm K-State fuzzies to our baby. No pressure baby. That's a lie, a little tiny pressure. 

Wheels

We bought a car seat AND a stroller.

We bought a car seat and a stroller?

Yes, we bought a car seat and a stroller.

It was very "parent" of us. 

EVERYONE seems to swear by their strollers. I have YET to meet a parent that didn't think that their stroller was THE best stroller in the world and FAR superior to all other strollers. Most of these parents bought very fancy strollers with lots of features. 

My theory is that people like what they have- no matter how good it actually is. We'll be putting that theory to the test- since we did NOT buy a fancy stroller. 

I am NOT super confident about this theory- just to be clear. 

This could very well be a very big mistake. 

Scratch that- not that big, SINCE WE BOUGHT IT FOR SUCH A DEAL. Also, I hope to do a lot of baby wearing, so hopefully we won't actually use our stroller a lot. This could be a mediocre mistake. 

We saw it for sale used online (yes, again with the used), did a quick google search to check for safety and pricing, and within 1 hour we went from sitting on the couch brainlessly watching Hook to pushing an empty stroller in circles around our driveway to check the turning radius.  

It matches the woodland theme of the nursery (yes, I do realize that doesn't matter), and it makes me happy. 

What makes me even happier? 

Rico came home with a bouquet of daisies for me. 

This hasn't happened since the "Who did you buy these for?" red rose incident about a year ago.

*note: I don't love red roses. I think they're cliche. I love daisies. White daisies, Gerber daisies. Daisies.*

Rico said he was "68% sure" that he bought daisies and "not those ones you hate" (carnations). 

Good work. 

 

What makes me EVEN happier?

Then, he jumped off the couch and said, "I have a surprise- I'll be back"  

10 minutes (and one VERY loud crash) later he called me up to see it. 

He had googled our new stroller and found out how to set it up so we could nest the car seat in there. What a good dad. 

Our baby has wheels. 

No gender. 

No name. 

I can't even feel it yet (I think?) 

But wheels. 

What Our Diapers are Telling Us

On our Saturday jaunt to Lawrence (no one told me we were only half an hour away) we found ourselves on Mass street. 

Someone at work told Rico that there was a baby store that would be right up his alley. We knew we had found it the second we walked in. 

There is a possibility they were talking about the other store, the one with the fancy lighting, multiple rooms, a photography studio in the loft, a nursing center complete with glider downstairs, pristine white walls, perfectly pressed onsies hanging on displays around the wall of ironic baby accessories with a perfectly polished floor and a meticulous window display...

- but if they know us very well, I am pretty sure they were ACTUALLY talking about...

Doodlebugs. 

It isn't glamorous. 

It isn't polished.

It isn't "minimalist" or "simple" in any way. 

It IS, however, EXACTLY the kind of store I can't control myself in. 

At one point, I was literally stepping over playing children and pushing consignment strollers out of the way to try to reach a rack of wraps. This is the place you go for a deal. Ahhh! Mama is home. Let the bargain hunting begin (literally HUNTING- there is just SO much merchandise.)

That's not me, in fact, we never even made it to the clothing- it is pretty pointless when we don't know a gender. 

Then Rico found them. 

With a serious face, "Alli, come here"

"In a second- look at this Bumbo chair....oooh or these Boppy covers!"

"Alli, you'll want to see this"

The cloth diapers. 

Yes, Rico is on board. In fact, he's been the "finder" of all our diapers. I'm sure he would secretly prefer that we do just one thing the "normal" way and just save money by becoming couponing masters. Once I showed him a few charts detailing the savings he was basically sold.

We hunted through the baskets looking for the types we wanted. I literally sat down on the floor to sort through them for about 10 minutes.

If you don't know much about cloth diapers here are a few basics: 

We are NOT talking about these. 

Most people who find out that we are cloth diapering want to IMMEDIATELY lecture tell us what a bad idea it is. The sad thing is, they are usually basing their very strong opinions on a 20-30 year old knowledge base so I get an earful on how cloth was a nightmare for them even though 

we aren't even talking about the same thing 

(unless you want to go old school..in which case, knock yourself out. 

I support you. 

I do not want to lecture you and make you feel judged for your parenting choices even before you have a child. 

Hooray for you.)

There are LOTS of kinds of "modern" cloth diapers. 

They range from very simple and a little more work:

 

Prefolds that you fold into a diaper and hold with these t-shaped Snappi's. You then use these cute covers to hold it all in place and provide an extra layer of protection. Cuteness optional.

to the "fancier" ones that basically do it all for you and should fit your baby from birth until potty training (cloth diapered babies tend to potty train a little earlier than disposable- an added bonus):

An all in one "pocket" style where you slide in a maxi-pad (for lack of a better descriptor) shaped absorbent cloth into the diaper.  The snaps (or some use Velcro) adjust the diaper size as baby grows. The legs are either elastic or snaps up the front that allow you to adjust the leg size to the baby. You slide the pocket part out before putting in your pale to make washing/ drying more efficient.

I won't bore you with the rest. Although there are some cool gadgets that we'll use too- including a spray gun (think the sprayer attachment on your kitchen sink) that attaches to the toilet. 

Come on- that's cool.

We made our first diaper investment before we technically even knew we were pregnant. Rico saw a woman on a Facebook selling her whole lot. We jumped on it. 

Now, at this point you are probably putting together that these would be used diapers. 

Some of you are gagging right now. 

I realize that used is not for everyone. 

Rico even tries to keep this hush hush. 

Sorry babe. 

Here's my thought on it: cloth diapers are MEANT to be used. They are designed to get clean. 

Once you use them once they are used anyway. 

I will "strip" all the diapers (a little more hard-core cleaning) before using them- so I am not worried- or ashamed. 

It saves money. I love saving money. Saving money is what will allow me to stay at home with my babies- so yeah, I'll buy used diapers if it helps us to reach that goal.

I love the feeling of getting a deal. 

I'm not sure that I have bought a full priced clothing item in the last 5 years...maybe longer. Even at Target. 

So, we bought a WHOLE lot of diapers from this woman- for quite the deal. Many were the simple prefolds and covers (which now we just plan to use in emergency situations- and Rico has said he will NOT use), and then there were quite a few of the heavenly "all in one pockets" (Just like the fuzzibunz picture) that are onesize. 

Yes, the fancy diapers. 

Oooh la la.

Well, at Doodlebugs we found MORE of the fancy ones! The top and middle row are the most ideal  and the bottom row are two that we could have lived without- but they were too good of a deal to pass up.  

I also found a Hooter Hider (in the pattern I have always wanted) and some herringbone maternity dress pants for work (technically the maternity pants are from a City Thrift that we stopped at on the way there. 50% off Saturdays. I even get deals at the thrift store!) 

So what ARE our diapers telling us? 

First- let's look at the diapers we actually plan to use from day 1- assuming that our baby is over 7lbs- which in my family, we can put pretty good money on. 

Arranged. By colors.  Specifically, 

Pile 1: boy-ish colors

Pile 2: girl-ish colors

Pile 3: gender neutral colors

 

Our diapers say, "You're having a boy!" 

or maybe that we are having a girl that likes baby blue and HATES pink. 

Thanks for solving that mystery for us diapers- waiting until Thanksgiving to find out sure was getting old.

We are a little over half-way to having all our diapers (ideally 28-30 for a newborn)

In theory, all the diapers we will need for the rest of our lives. 

I went ahead and put the rest of them in the under-the-crib storage too, but they are either larger sizes or the higher maintenance pre-folds with covers (on the right.) 

Sneak peak at the nursery colors too...it's a woodland theme. Think BEYOND owls and into foxes, porcupine, raccoons, garden gnomes, mushrooms,  maybe even a deer. 

We could actually be fine with just these diapers. It would mean doing laundry every day instead of every other or using the pre-folds and covers, but it would be do-able. We'll just see if more of those fancy schmancy pocket all-in-one one size diapers find their way into our lives. 

A parting thought. 

I know most people think I am crazy and that this will be a train wreck that I will quit after a few weeks of frustration. 

That's fine. 

If you are right, then you are right- but there is no point in trying to bring me down now. 

Let me learn on my own. 

But, I WOULD like to remind you that I am VERY cheap and VERY stubborn. 

Those are two powerful traits to have in my corner. Add that to all the people I know that cloth diaper that I can bug with questions, and the amount of investigating I did before making this choice and I think we'll be just fine.  

We always are.

And if not, you can "nanny-nanny boo-boo" in my face all you want- just wait for me to fail FIRST- no jumping the gun here people. 

Finding SOMETHING to Like about KU

We went on a day-trip to meet up with our grandparents, Aunt Di, and 2 cousins at KU (where one of our cousins is a freshman.) Our baby has decided that it doesn't believe in letting me sleep in past 7am, so we had plenty of time to kill before meeting them all for dinner. 

First, we went out to breakfast at a place in our town's little "downtown" that feels VERY quaint. We dropped off his leftovers at work on our way to Lawrence and I got to see his office. I was super impressed. Sometimes I forget how much fancier his job is than mine. Also, after seeing where the secretary gets to sit - I've decided that maybe I need to be a secretary! 

We went shopping on Mass Street and bought some baby things. 

We saw a goat dressed up on the sidewalk outside of Freestate Brewery.

We stopped in a pizzeria (so I could use the bathroom...ah pregnancy) and Rico enjoyed an IPA.

We walked around campus. Rico refused to take a picture because "people would KNOW that we were at KU and they might think we liked it" Ok, ok. It IS a pretty campus though, especially in the fall. We thought back to our college years and realized that they were a little further back in our past than we may have realized. 

We saw a middle aged couple on a romantic scavenger hunt that ended at the little pond (Rico says "swamp") where he had balloons tied to a bottle of wine and a picnic set up. SO cute. In my mind it was re-tracing their love story.

We met up with our family and saw her dorm room. 

We ate at Merchants on Mass with the grandparents, Aunt Di, and our 2 cousins and talked about everything from the ark of the covenant to date parties while eating some of the best/ fanciest Mac-n-Cheese I've ever had.

We drove home and stopped at Cheesecake factory for a slice of cheesecake and a beer (the slice for me, the beer for him) on the way home.

You know what makes you feel old? Carrying a bag of diapers down Mass street. 

You know what makes you feel even older? Realizing that you could have been the teacher of even the college seniors. 

You know what really seals the "I'm basically geriatric" mentality? Going into a dorm room...of the child you both babysat when she was so young that she made you stop the Lizzie McGwire movie because she thought it was "too naughty." 

She loves KU- and I love that she loves her school. I hope she graduates feeling about KU how we feel about K-State.

College was a great time in life, and I would love to go back to that time for a few hours or so- but I really like this part of life too. 

You know, the part where I get a thrill from finding a deal on diapers. 

Where I am on the lookout for a coffee shop/ bar/ pizza place so I can pee and Erik can order something cheap so I don't have to feel guilty about it. 

Where I walk by (or even into) 4 candy/ cupcake/ ice cream / cookie shops and don't get anything. 

Where I walk around trying to show off a bump that in reality just looks like I gained the freshman 15 and decided not to buy new clothes that fit properly. 

THAT time in life.