{devilish deeds}

Much to my dismay, the Yoda costume was out of stock. This seemed more appropriate anyway.

{backyard adventures}

Mikus Arulius Patricles III, enjoying nature with his trusty sidekick, "Gud Girl Sammie Dodgey."

{random acts of randomness}

*random kidneys: Baby has something going on with his kidneys. I haven't talked much about it, but apparently the official term is "Renal Pelvic Fullness." After all that has gone on with my father's health, hearing the word Renal just makes me want to puke. Best case scenario, baby will no longer have any issues at the 28 week follow up ultrasound. Worst case scenario, baby will require surgery after he is born to remove whatever obstruction is causing the problem.

*random neighbor: The next door neighbor lady (I believe she is single, or at least living alone) has taken a fancy to our sweet old lady, Sammie. One random Saturday she knocked on our door and asked if she could come into the backyard to pet her, as they had apparently struck up a friendship over the wall while she was doing yardwork. I'm pretty "meh" about that kind of stuff. Whatever you want to do! I'm sure Sammie won't fuss about the attention. I knew their friendship was growing, because Mikey finds all the treasures she lobs into the backyard. When I hear the words "Mmmm, good" and look up to find my toddler eating doggie biscuits, I had to laugh. That explains why Sammie was randomly turning up rawhide bones out of thin air in our backyard for a few weeks. Anyway, the most recent event to occur was when I opened the blinds to the sliding glass door to find Sammie snuggled up in a nice comfy HUGE doggie bed, lol, along with a note from the neighbor saying she hoped we didn't mind her getting Sammie a present.

*random reunion: Our old neighbors from Maricopa have moved to Chandler, and only live about 10 minutes away now! She sent out an invitation to her son's 2nd bday, and we ended up reconnecting much sooner. Yesterday afternoon our boys had a 'playdate' that involved chasing eachother in circles around the house. Fun was had by all. We hadn't seen eachother in just about a year, so it was great catching up.

{so many things}

It only seems fair that if I spent the last three blog posts complaining about the insane heat in AZ, that I in turn give AZ mad props for the last three rainy days with highs in the 70's/80's. It was a nice chilly 65 this morning on my way to work. Of course, AZ does everything EXTREME, so our rain also included hurricane strength winds, TORNADO'S!!! and oh yes, marble sized hail. WTF?!

But, I'll take hail and tornado's over 108 degree October days EVERY TIME!

In other news, had a follow up ultrasound yesterday to get a better look at the baby and also to check out his placenta. Baby looks great, growth is great, still a little boy for sure (I could actually tell this time :o), and heart and brain look fantastic. Only thing is the durned placenta, and where the umbilical cord inserts into it. Everything on the cord itself looks fantastic, but placement is just abnormal. Just because it is abnormal doesn't mean anything will be wrong, they just need to keep an eyeball on it. So far it isn't hampering the little dudes growth in any way whatsoever. Oh, and little dudes name might not be William anymore. I've recently fallen in love with the name Thomas. So - we'll see what we end up with, lol.

Other things? How about fruit and vegetable things? How about finding awesome solutions to irritating problems. My problem was that I wanted to give my family a variety of organic fruits and veggies, but I didn't want to participate in a lame co-op or go to a farmer's market. Solution? Nature's Garden Delivered. For an extremely reasonable price, this company delivers a box once a week full of organic produce. I get to set my preferences so they never stick mushroom's or ocra within inches of my box. Each Friday they send me an email with a list of what will be in the box for the next week, so if there is anything I object to, I can swap it out. Awesome! The perfect solution for the woman who wants organic produce for her family yet is too lazy to go about obtaining it. Now all I need to do is get J to set up an herb garden on the wall in the dining room and I'm ready to rock!

What about holiday things? Because it is fall now, in case you didn't know, so my head is swirling with all the fabulous holiday projects I want to tackle. Baking and crafting (check out these awesome ghosts!. I'm thinking pumpkin cupcakes are in order. Make some halloween sugar cookies. And lots of spooky decorations. Mikey's little buddy Zander is turning 1 on Halloween, so we actually have a Halloween/Birthday party to go to!!

Finally, it is officially "owshide" time. Expect lots of pictures from me capturing our outdoor exploration now that our shoes won't melt to the sidewalks.

{hot hot heat}

I hate to wish the days away, but these last few weeks of September have been simply dreadful. I can't remember a hotter September, so I continued looking forward to October and playing pretend indoors that Fall really was right around the corner. Imagine my dismay when the high for October 1st in my neck of the woods is 104.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so devastating if I hadn't spent the last few days of September getting a handle of Mikey's closet. Out with the old, in with the new. It was amazing to discover exactly how much clothing we have accumulated for our son since his birth. I have approximately 20 large garbage bags FULL of various sizes of little boy clothing, ranging from the unopened newborn onesies that Mikey never fit into, to the most recently filled bags of size 2T that Mikey outgrew before he even turned 2.


{Mikey's 2T's - purchased when he was 12 months old}

My now 21 month old is fully rocking the 3T, and I took great delight in emptying his closet of what no longer fit, and refilling it in an organized as possible manner. I'm sure he doesn't really appreciate it, but it helps me to know that my Husband (who is in charge of dressing Mikey in the mornings) can now easily find an outfit for the day that fits.

Even though it is fun to unpack a new wardrobe for Mikey, putting away the smaller sizes struck my squishy mom heart in an odd way (like always when it suddenly slams into me that Mikey isn't a helpless infant any longer) and it reminded me that perhaps there would be some cold and dreary days ahead in which I might long for these warmer days we are currently experiencing. So, with that in mind, I looked to our 10 day weather forecast to determine how many *hot* days we had left so I could plan to use them according. And what do you know, folks. Tomorrow. Tomorrow is our last triple digit day. Followed closely by two days in the 90's, and then a quick jump off into the 80's. Supposedly.

Break out the sweaters, people!!! In 3T, please.