Life in Kansas

Well, today marks one month since we packed up our tiny apartment and headed west to Kansas.  As you can imagine, between buying a house, packing up a house to move two states over, ending a job, parenting full-time, and all the daily BS that just needs to be dealt with, my time for blogging has been, uh, limited.  Well, and also I was also pretty much collapsing in bed every night from emotional and physical exhaustion.  

But now that we are here and mostly settled (minus a lack of furniture, which we are still working on), I have to say that I feel pretty well adjusted.  I mean there has been some lifestyle differences - I went from living in a place where I was afraid to walk from my car to my door at night, to a place where people just leave their garage doors open all day long and kids  say "good afternoon ma'am!" when they ride past you on their bikes. Oh, and people are SERIOUS about their sports here - I mean, I thought Chicago was nuts, but Kansasians (is that even a word?) take it to another level.  Team loyalties are personal identities here, and one I haven't quite caught onto yet without feeling like an uber-poser.  Nonetheless, I seem to have taken to living the small town nicely.  It suits me, if you will.

I mean, I can see a change in myself - I am generally less tense, less stressed (though truth? unemployment sort of helps that), and more willing to do things out of my comfort zone.  I have gone from being a homebody whose social anxiety made it uber stressful to maintain actual relationships (hello, bloggers? can I get an "amen" in unison?) to actually saying "yes" to going out, having people over, and hanging out with people other than my husband, child, computer and smart phone.  

As mentioned, at this point, I am still unemployed (not really been super active on that front, not really ready to put the little dude in day care after being full time with him for the last nine months), so me and my little man have developed a nice daily routine here.  Everyday, after his morning nap, I pack him into the stroller and go for our run.  We are hitting our runs about 6 times a weeks, sometimes 5 if I need an extra day off.  It's the most consistent I've been running since before pregnancy, and it feels insanely great.  It's hella windy out here, so some runs end up being mostly run/some walk, but no matter.  We still get out.  

And - gasp! - I am actually starting to think about racing again.  I actually have a 5k in a few weeks, but am eyeing a half-marathon in November.  The Ironman light has been burning overtime lately, but the logistics might not work out because we still have to make another baby.  Or at least try.  Still getting that figured out...more later....

So getting back to the daily routine - After his afternoon naps, we head out again - this time to walk, explore, check out the neighborhood.  Some days we exchange our walks for trips to the store if needed, but we still get out.  Since it's only rained here two days in the last months, and otherwise has been cloudless skies (oh, and hot as devil balls), we are outside a shit ton.

As a result, my baby weight seems to FINALLY be disappearing (though not entirely, but certainly more than pre-move), and I'm rocking a sick-ass tan.  Well, tan down to my ankles, and excluding my sports bra lines, but still, yo - it's coming along nicely).  

And low and behold - I finally got a decent hair cut.  For realz. I can't remember the last time I had a cut that I actually wanted to wear out of a rubber band, but it happened.  Turns out, I still have uber curly hair that looks crazy good with some shaggy-ass layers.  In fact, between my tan and my new hair, and what appears to be a five-pound weight loss (rough estimate but my jeans still don't fit so I can't get all happy yet), I actually feel like a lady some days.  A real, legitimate female human being and not the doughy, blotchy, depressed housewife who only brushes her hair every two weeks and wears a rotating collection of 3-4 black shirts/yoga pants, all with holes in them.

Okay, that's a lie - that's still pretty much my wardrobe, but at least my cute hair detracts from the holes.  

And I would totally put up a picture, but I deleted the only one I had (sad face).

What I have not deleted, though, is my millions of pictures of my little dude.  I apologize in advance for the upcoming photo blast of my kid (yeah, I'm THAT parent now), but what can I say. Maybe if I ever get back to regular posting, you might get a glimpse of something other than my little man's sweet sweet face.     

 Getting in his morning crawls...

 Hanging with grandma...

 Who gave him a snickerdoodle...

Why is it that my kid either looks like a grumpy old man...

 Or Megamind minus the blue face paint?

One day, I took Matthew to the outdoor mall, where there was a huge fountain. He was obsessed with it.  Or as obsessed as an eight month old can be with shooting water.

"Hey mom! Mom! Did you see that one? That water was JUMPING!"

"I mean, it's crazy right? Jumping water? Go figure!"

"My mom rocks, yo!"

 "Moooooommmm....why does it smell like cake in here?"

"Really? You really made cake?"

"Cake! Cake! I love cake! Three cheers for cake!!"

 "What do you mean it's for a bbq?  Does that mean I don't even get a taste of it? Phewy."

"Imma give you a kiss, dada! Hold still!"

"What's that in your mouth?"

"Here, let me get it for you."

 *melt*

Because feet are the new fork.

"Get in my belly graham cracker!"

 At the farmstead on his cousin's (and namesake) swing.

 Peek-a-boo.