Danger!

If you have a spray bottle in the house – for plants, puppy discipline, whatever – do NOT use it to squirt your pregnant wife's belly, no matter how perfectly round and adorable it may be.

Trust me. Just don't do it.

Nesting

Lately, BabyCar has been an organizing, reorganizing, cleaning machine. Which means that I have been an organizing, reorganizing, cleaning machine, too.

I'd read about this "nesting" thing in books, but you can't really appreciate the thing until it happens to you.

As just a young married couple, we could let a lot slide. A catch-all room for junk was no big deal (as long as the door stayed shut). The gunk underneath the fridge was fine, just stay out from underneath the fridge. Problem solved.

No more. I always wondered why everyone we knew seemed to be able to keep their houses so neat and tidy. Apparently, a few months into pregnancy number one, a little tidy bomb goes off in the womb and the mom-to-be becomes a mom on a mission.

In the last few weeks, I've pulled up carpet, cleaned out the basement, murdered a small army of dandylions in the front yard, scrubbed floors, replaced a stove (Thanks, MIL & FIL!), attacked the grimy bathroom, and thrown away (no exaggeration) about 25 bags of crap. The neighborhood trash pickers (sorry, "garbage enthusiasts") spent the better part of two evenings rooting through piles of old office paper and funny-smelling carpet padding. I hope they found something worthwhile in there at least.

Anyway, while I was going through my housekeeping adventures, BabyCar was reorganizing the kitchen, scrubbing every smooth surface in sight, and valiantly hacking her way through years of old papers, files, and junk mail.

Needless to say, things are coming together. Ava James has been a good influence on us.