Tony is so brave.

Even though a snake was sighted in the backyard only hours ago Tony braved the wilderness and cut back an explosive shrub at the request of a neighbor. I was really worried that he might get some sort of creepy crawly on his toes and asked him to use boots instead of sandals.
As it happened Tony found the boots to be no protection against nature. I'll let him tell you what happened.

"I was cutting a branch off a bush by the back fence, and when I was tossing a felled branch out, I saw and felt something fall from the branch into my protective boot. Then I felt a little something scrabbling in it. So, rather than freaking out, I looked down and saw a gecko trying to climb out of my boot, but one of his feet was stuck to my sock. Then he saw me and decided to retreat further into my boot. So, I gently took off my boot and he dropped out and ran away into the bush. The boot went back on, and I finished cutting the branches."

My Hero!

THE FREAKING SNAKE!!!!

The snake has returned. Tony came home for lunch today and my Mom was on the phone with me when I happened to look out the back door and what should I see???

Writhing up from the slots in our deck was (a much smaller version of) The Snake I saw in our garage! I blithered "SNAKE!! SNAKE!! TONY COME LOOK!!" Which totally freaked out my Mom until I explained that the snake was on the other side of our sliding glass door. Tony ran to the door and saw the snake wiggle out into our overgrown yard and disappear. So I'm NOT crazy! It does exist! In fact Tony is outside trying to find it again to take a picture even though I am scared he will be eaten whole.

Ok, no luck on the picture but we found this similar looking snake at texassnakes.net:

The website says this bad boy is non-poisonous, thank goodness...

Tony says I must link you to this site in celebration of the snake: badgerbadgerbadger.com

Thanks again Moma

As I mentioned before, my Mom came into town and made curtains for our new home. Here are Mom and Tony carefully determining the definition of "level". The resulting curtains are lovely and a huge relief, because our back door faces directly into our neighbor's back window. Nice folks, but I think they were tired of avoiding eye contact with us every evening.

Check this out!

Speaking once again of great family. This was the gift from Tony's brother Toby and my Sister-in-law Karen. They got us this combo stroller/car seat/ base unit for the kid. Karen was very careful to get the stroller that I was most interested in (for safety reasons) and she even made me specify which colors I liked best. We were thrilled by the gift. Also a little bit terrified, because now we have a concrete "There is definitely a baby coming" sign sitting in our living room. No backing out now.

They also agreed to be the Godparents for our baby which was a great thrill for us and had nothing to do with the lovely gift. We cannot be bought. But we do love presents!

I am playing the part of Vanna White in this picture because of two requests for "bump progress" pictures. As you can see, I am pretty round.

The Gift of Tony's Parents

Like I said in my last two posts. I have been very lucky in the in-law department. My Husband's parents not only helped us purchase this house they also helped us move all our furniture from the crappy apartment. My Father-in-law was actually ill at the time but he still made the drive, rented the truck, and lugged furniture. My Brother-in-law Mike (for the second time in 5 months) moved all of the really heavy stuff, including a huge steamer trunk that we bought on a whim years ago in Chicago.

The folks also brought us an antique chest from my Mother-in-law's family that my own Mother found very impressive. My Mom told me that I am forbidden from changing the baby on such a fine piece of furniture. My Mother-in-law suggested that a glass top for the dresser might be a possible solution. Tony suggested that we purchase a changing table from IKEA, which was the eventual solution.

They even brought us four excellent dining room chairs that were "liberated" from a college storage unit. Really these chairs wouldn't have been used by any other human being if the folks hadn't found them. It was meant to be.

The photo above is their latest baby present (there have been several already). My Mother-in-law knows that one of my fondest wishes is to rock our baby to sleep in a comfy nursery chair. She suggested the chair that had rocked Tony and all of his siblings. The family rocker had in fact been rocked into the ground and is just barely hanging on at this point. So the folks bought us a new one! My Mother-in-law was very careful to make sure that I really liked the chair and wouldn't prefer another. As a rule she doesn't believe me when I state a preference. Seriously, I love this chair and I can't wait to use it!

The kid in my tummy is blessed with a great family on both sides of her genetic stream. She should have nothing to complain about in the family department. So...she's never going to rebel...right?

The Shower

One of the hosts had just moved into a beautiful 1950s condo a few days before the shower, the other host was herself 8 months pregnant. Together my glorious sisters-in-law threw me the prettiest shower in the history of time! They made tiny cupcakes and had cookies frosted with the shower details. My sweet Mother-in-law made lovely finger sandwiches (a nod to the traditional X-mas tea mentioned in the last post). They invited all of the friends and family that they could find in the DFW area. A few folks missed out due to my failure to give a proper address. See, I suck at party planning.

It was incredible good fun! The ladies even handed out "advice cards" for my baby book. Here are some of the best:

"I suggest making some quiet time to just listen and feel your baby moving inside you."
"My advice to you is just to ignore everybody else's."
"Once she starts eating solid food - avoid giving her corn!"

Awesome.

The best part of the whole event was having an occasion where my family (my Mother, Grandmother, two Aunts, and two Cousins) was able to interact with Tony's family. They all know each other but they rarely have time to all relax and enjoy (spiked) punch together.

Of course I brought my camera. Who wouldn't on an important occasion like this? However, if you were to ask me "Holt, did you take the camera out of your purse during the festivities?" The answer would be, "I'm an idiot."
Happily my Sis-in-law Karen (who is very clever) gave her camera to one of my energetic cousins and she took loads of pictures. I haven't downloaded these pictures from Karen's camera yet, but when I do I will post them.

It was a wonderful party, and I hope I can repay these ladies for their kindness very soon.

A Lucky Duck

My Grandmother used to tell me,
"You don't marry another person, you marry another family...so make sure you choose people you can live with until everybody's dead."

Sage advice. Though it is tough to vet all possible relations before you sign onto a joint checking account. I have listened to many a horror story from friends and family about the in-law(s) that seemed delightful in the wedding haze but was in actual fact, the devil. Right now I have a flurry of friends who are coming to this realization.

A smattering of rage-filled comments I have been witness to recently:
"His brother sells crack! Why did no one tell me this a year ago?"
"Apparently I am too white (asian/hispanic/native/catholic/gay) for my father-in-law to deal with."
"My Mother-in-law hasn't spoken to me in seven years."
"She addressed the package, 'To Paul and his Whore'...what do you think that means?"

Don't you just want to sympathize with these folks? Maybe give them a snuggle and say, "I know just what you're saying, in-laws are tough. We're in this together buddy." Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to reassure anyone.

The thing is... my in-laws are Magnificent.
Here's a for-instance: My Sisters-in-law? At our first Christmas gathering as a new family these girls realized that my Birthday is close to X-mas and were worried I might get overlooked in the present department. So they decided to take me out to English Tea for the express purpose of giving me birthday presents. Then they repeated the tradition EVERY YEAR.

When I became pregnant these two wonderful ladies deduced (accurately) that I was planning on skipping a baby shower. I had just moved to Austin and didn't know many people here. Plus my parties always suck. I am not gifted in the party planning department. Check out the next post to see what they did for me.