Not quite the wild weekend of my past, but I'm not complaining....

The Pretend Husband and FunnyKid left town on Friday for the weekend and my wedding rings were off within the hour as I hit the town. Ok, not as bad as it sounds-- I went for a manicure and pedicure to take my mind off how much I missed them which, of course, meant taking my rings off.

While I was kind of lost for the first hour (which included about 10 minutes of sitting in my car trying to stop crying), the rest of the weekend went by fast. And it was fun to be single and carefree again. While there was some cleaning that had to be done and I still had to work, I found some time for sleeping late and getting a massage. But even the cleaning was kind of fun because I was able to do it when I wanted, for as long as I wanted without someone grabbing onto my legs or demanding I put the "choo choo" show on the television.

It was the first time I've ever been away from FunnyKid overnight, but I figure it's good practice for when I'm in the hospital to have his brother or sister. And he had a blast with his cousins and his dad. The PH sent me tons of photos and videos so it felt like I got to be a part of the fun without any of the responsibility.

I told the PH how much I enjoyed the hour to sit and be pampered in the nail salon and he encouraged me to take a break every once in awhile and go for a pedicure or whatever. In talking to the other moms in our playgroup, I realized I am not alone in not asking for time for myself. It's a tough situation because I don't get to see the PH as often as I'd like as it is and when he is home with us, I want us to be together as a family. But I also learned the value of taking a breather from being a mom and having some time to do something for me.

I made sure I enjoyed the heck out of the weekend, not knowing when I'll get one to myself again (while the PH is a superstar dad, I don't see him taking a toddler and an infant away by himself-- and I'm not sure I would either!) But I'm going to make sure I take advantage of the PH's offer in the meantime and get some time out of the house that doesn't involve grocery shopping, playgrounds or the word "no" on repeat. Now that I've tasted it, there's no going back.

We rocked that baby sign language class

FunnyKid and I attended a baby sign language class at our local library yesterday. And while it appeared to be a drop-in-anytime type of class, it was actually in the fifth of six weeks. They felt bad for me and figured I'd have a lot of catching up to do.

Uh, no. Actually, I took a couple of sign language classes in college and even considered continuing my education to become an interpreter. I wanted to go to the class at the library to see what signs people teach their kids and to socialize with the other moms and kids. Plus, I didn't think I would remember as much as I did.

So I became a complete brown noser. When members of the class couldn't get the (Deaf) instructor to understand what they were saying (she read lips), I fingerspelled for her a few times. Then came the moment that I'm sure made the other moms hate me (I hate myself a little for being such a kiss-ass without even meaning to be!)

The instructor wrote on the board that we should each sign a sentence and pointed at me to go first. Since we had just learned a bunch of Thanksgiving signs, I figured we were supposed to incorporate those, so I signed, "My family is going to eat turkey during Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's house." Then the next mom went and she signed, "I cook turkey." The next signed, "This is my son." Oh. Oops.

I think we all know who will be getting the "A" in sign language class!

Party's over, SJ. Start blogging again!

Not to call SJ out right after her birthday or anything, but she's been holding out on you guys. That's right, she knows whether she's having a girl or a boy and she hasn't told you yet. If I were you, I'd be a little miffed that she's been holding out. I mean, it would be understandable that she hasn't been blogging if she didn't have anything to talk about, but she very clearly does. So, SJ, on behalf of the blog readers who still check in with us despite every other post talking about my pregnancy, I'm going to have to ask you to spill it.

But let's make those readers work for it. While SJ and J already have a name picked out for their son or daughter, the Pretend Husband and I are still debating our options (made more difficult by having to agree on a boy AND a girl name). So, everyone is required to leave a comment suggesting a girl name and a boy name for FunnyKid, who is due in less than six weeks and is in danger of being named Herbie if we don't come up with something better. And when we hit five comments, SJ will post her news (I think. I mean, I'm assuming she'll go along with this. No promises, but I think I can convince her...)

How about it? Want to help spark SJ's triumphant return to the blog? Start suggesting names...

You know it's bad when you're more emotional than the pregnant chick

Kat's lil bro is a big dude who wears steel-toed boots and sometimes makes crude jokes (he's a firefighter, so I think that comes with the territory). And, despite being raised with (or, by) two older sisters, he's one of the least emotional guys you'd ever want to meet. Looking for a tear in his eye the first time he meets his nephew? Not going to happen. Want some sympathy when you break a bone/ get fired/ lose money in a Nigerian Internet scheme? He's more likely to call you an idiot.

Don't get me wrong, lil bro is a good guy. But he's a guy nonetheless. Which is what makes this next story so ironic.

Lil bro bought a house that year that has an in-ground pool. It was late in the season when he moved in and it didn't get a lot of use. Well, this year, the whole family can't wait for him to get it opened and running because a.) he-- and the pool-- are within a short drive for us and b.) he doesn't care if we use it as long as we leave any extra beer we brought in his fridge (he's easy-going like that).

But the family is waiting for the pool to be opened because... some frogs laid eggs in the water on the pool cover and lil bro is insisting we wait until the tadpoles mature before evicting them and taking off the pool cover.

I was speaking to lil bro yesterday trying to figure out how long it would be before I can haul my pregnant body over to his house and dunk it in the pool for sweet, sweet relief from the summer heat. He started talking about the growth period for tadpoles and other such facts.

"Wait, did you research this?" I asked.

"Yes, I need to know how long before they're big enough to get out of the water," he said.

"Do you think their growth is more important than your comfort?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Well," I replied. "It's not more important than mine. The pregnant lady needs the pool!"

(I offered to let lil bro collect all the tadpoles and let them loose in our pond, but it led to a discussion about their predators and other facts I had no interest in learning. Somehow, I think the frogs are going to win this one while I make do with a squirt bottle and a fan.)

I did it! I'm an aunt again!

Wait, what? Again with the whole, "How do you manage to make your sister having a baby all about you?" My response is, "Have you never read this blog? It's what I do."

Anyway, I did too do a lot to bring my second nephew (henceforth known as "the other cutest nephew in the world") into the world. I listened to kat's lil sis moan about being pregnant, last night I convinced her Peyton would be OK while she went to the hospital even if he is sick and miserable and I woke up at 3 a.m., 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. to text encouraging words to her (even if my "encouraging words" included, "Why are you texting? You have more important things to do!")

And so I take partial credit for the birth of Wyatt Thomas this morning at 8:02 a.m. (he's a New Year's Eve baby!) I have yet to see a photo. I hear he looks nothing like his brother, but everything like a kid I'm going to love just as much.

(The Wyatt Thomas link will take you to my sister's blog, where I posted the news-- but with different jokes-- and where you can leave congratulations if you'd like)