And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
When Simon's family left last Saturday morning, he turned to me and, with a deep breath and a sigh, said, "And now 'real life' begins." For three weeks we'd had visitors and caretakers and distractions up the wazoo, and then, all at once, in a whirlwind of grandma kisses and British toddler "bye-bye"s, we were alone, just me, him, and the baby (and the cats), left to fend for ourselves, and with no more excuses to leave the house in shambles or eat take-out every night.
So..this is real life, eh? What do we do now? Answer: We promptly hopped into bed and took a two-hour nap, only our second since the baby had arrived, that's how busy we'd been celebrating and shopping and spending time anywhere but in our own home (see above re: shambles). Looking back I'm already astonished at what we were able to do with one newborn, one working father without paternity leave, and one recovering mother, whose sciatica has mysteriously returned *insert string of profanity here*. I measure our accomplishment based on how many comments we get from strangers about what terrible parents we are for taking our four/seven/twelve-day-old baby to the Burrito Shop/Target/the Crate&Barrel outlet; by that yardstick and my reckoning, we are the champions, of the world.
As special and fun as this extended holiday season has been for us, though, I think we're both glad it's over. Simon's back to work on his normal schedule, I'm getting used to being a full-time mommy (gah), and Wombat now has more hours in the day to devote solely to growing and learning and figuring out all the ways in which Being Cute can be used to his advantage. Hold me closer, tiny dictator. Call it Stockholm syndrome if you like, but we're happily catering to his every whim.
The metaphorist in me says: 2008 was a draining bathtub. At first I noticed the level of water lowering little by little, barely perceptible, but then the less there was of it, the faster and faster it went down until at last everything around me was caught in the vortex swirling down the drain--a whirlpool, a liquid tornado, an exclamation point of bubblebath water. In the same way, the months and weeks and days of this year that at first passed by so slowly have, in the past month, rushed around me like a flood. I lived a lifetime in one December. Four weeks ago I was a thumbtwiddling gestational timebomb. Three weeks ago I became a little boy's mom. Eleven days later I became a fiancee(!!!!!!). And here I thought I'd just lived the best year of my life...
Congratulations! I'm delurking to say that! I became a fiancee in 2008 as well, something I never ever imagined happening in 2008!
Congratulations pretty lady!
HOLY COW! Congratulations, Leah! And Simon! Whooo-hooo! What fun news!
yeah, congrats you two!. . .
Wait! Whoa! What? Way to sneak that last little tidbit in there. :) Congratulations!!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!! OMG!!! Congratulations!!! Sheesh lady, ya think you could have put that in at a less conspicuous place?!?!
many happy congrats to you and simon!
Wow, way to bury the lead :) Congratulations to you and Simion and the Wombat!
Yeah, what Cora said. You can't just sneak "fiancee" in there like that! Congratulations - on the cutest little wombat that ever lived, on getting to spend the rest of your life with Simon, and on living your life on your own time schedule.
You guys are just so awesome. Congrats, congrats, congrats!
A new baby AND an engagement!!! Woohoo! That's AMAZING news! You go girl! Congratulations on everything lady. You guys deserve it. Lots of love and BIG hugs. xxx
This is how you tell us you guys got engaged???
CONGRATS!!!
Congratulations! What a happy life you're living.
Fiancee! I like how you just stuck that in there at the end, all sneaky-like. Congratulations!
VERRRRY sneaky, that engagement news in there. Congratulations!
Such great news! Congratulations!
way to sneak it in at the end! congratulations!!!
Sneaky! Sneaky!!!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS, you guys are fully spilling over with so many wonderful, wonderful things. Big things. AWESOME THINGS.
(And I also wanted to say: friends baby who went out almost every day from the time he was 4 days old has never been sick. Not once. Friends baby who stayed home FOREVER went to THE PARK one day when he was over two months old and promptly caught a cold. So I say EH to all those commenters. They can get their own damn baby (even thought theirs won't be as cute).)
Way to sneak that in there. WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!
So excited! More happy news . . . . another huge congratulations coming your way!
Awesome, congratulations!!
Oh yes I did just call you! YOU ARE AFFIANCED! Congratulations, you two lovely, lovely people. I am so damn happy.
Congratulations!
And, this is just the beginning of the best years of your life.
what a lovely end of the year it was for you! congratulations!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Wohoo!
I got goosebumps o'er here! Congratulations, you two (three).
Ahhhhh!! Congrats! I don't know if you remember this, but we emailed back and forth a few years ago about wanting certain things, knowing they'd eventually come, but that it felt like waiting for Christmas morning but without any idea of when "Christmas" would arrive. I am SO happy that your Christmas morning has arrived twofold. :) Incredibly happy for you.
WHOA.
NO. WAY.
WAY!
SO. WAY!!
+ YAY!!!
Congratulations! Enjoy this time with wombat.
Enjoy! That's all I can say, enjoy!
Best wishes to you both!
I know saying "best wishes" is old skool, but I (occasionally) kick it like that.
Delightful news. I can't think of two finer people.
I am so happy for you guys. What great fortune! What great people you are!
Congratulations!! You guys are having such a great time, lets hope it keeps getting bigger and better! :)
Yay again! I screeched Simon's ear off on the phone the other day. CONGRATULATIONS to two lovely people.
PS: there's a Crate and Barrel OUTLET? Seriously? Take me there and I'll babysit Wombat for the rest of his life. Well, until he's 18 and gets a little embarrassed about it.
That's so exciting! Yay a Girl and a Boy (and Another Boy)!
Fiancee! Eee! Congrats, and thank you for posting... need reading material over here, badly. Thumbtwiddling gestational timebomb and all...
wow!!!! What a special time for you guys. Being engaged is great but not as good as being married. So happy for you all!
hey, wait, what? Congratulations, Simon, and best wishes, L!
Holy crap, I love the internet.
Brilliant, brilliant news. By my maths, that's a Christmas Day proposal then? Awww. Congratulations!
Congratulations Leah and Simon! What a big year it was for you guys!
Congratulations Leah and Simon! All the best for 2009!
YAY! Congrats!
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations! (way to sneak that in at the end for extra surprise factor...)
Congratulations! Am still laughing over, "hold me closer, tiny dictator." Also: Your wombat is beautiful. Best in 2009!
Well, COME ON! We need some DETAILS here.
Congratulations, it's really, really wonderful news!
(EEEEEEEE!!!)
Congratulations and blessings to all three of you!
Congratulations, you two! Wow, a lot sure has happened in the last year. 2009 is gonna be amazing.
I've been away! Congratulations on everything!
WHAT?! Look at you, bein' all sneaky, sliding that "little" detail into the last few sentences - haha!
CONGRATULATIONS! That's wonderful! Looks like 2009 is gonna be another big year for you guys!
Oh my goodness! So much happiness, so much love. Gah, I couldn't be happier for you. And I can't wait to read what's to come.
Wow, congratulations on your engagement! I know you wanted both that baby and to be married to Simon so bad you could taste it, so I am glad you got all your wishes granted. What a wonderful year-end for you -
How exciting! You guys will handle all of this new-ness with aplomb, I just know it. :)
woohoo! Congrats girlie!!
EEEE! So many wonderful and beautiful things have happened!
Congrats on the engagement!
No fair teasing us with so little, though!
you became a fiance! amazing! CONGRATS, you three ;)
congrats!! woot! :)
I love how you just threw that whole "We're Engaged!" bit in there at the end. Sort of like...other good things at the end of things.
Hurray! I'm still working on your archives and I've resisted the urge to cheat (until today, what a great day to cheat) and look at the current posts so I didn't even KNOW you two weren't married yet. I'm so excited for you, congratulations pretty lady!
PS. Way cute kid you made, way!
Congratulations! So exciting! Love the way you slipped it in there at the end...
Congratulations! and now you can enjoy that bottle of champagne to celebrate!
Congratulations!
and now you can enjoy that bottle of champagne to celebrate!
Congratulations to you all! You were already a family and now you get to have a big party to celebrate that fact!
SHUT THE DOOR! Awesome. I am pro babies and pro marriage in whatever order. YAY!
Love to you both
xo
Oh oh oh how wonderful and exciting!
wow! add me to the list of screaming fans whooping it up!
Congrats! That's really awesome! Baby, a shiny bauble, and a fiance! Triple score!