My life these days is simultaneously exhausting and delightful. Every time I go to write about it, I find myself coming up with a jumble of words that don’t make any sense and that surely don’t add up to a blog post.

I think it’s safe to say that my standards have sunk pretty low when my only requirement for a post is coherence and I’m having trouble doing even that.

Moving right along!

I’ve officially left the endless worry phase of my pregnancy. This doesn’t mean that I don’t worry, but something about crossing that 12 week mark makes me breathe out a little. I’m letting myself say “babies” now. I go in six weeks for a growth and anatomy scan and hope to find out the gender then. I’m going to try not to die of anticipation in the meantime. I have no idea how people wait until their children are born to find out the gender. I’m chomping at the bit wondering how I’ll make it to 18 weeks. Do I get to buy frilly dresses or not? I’m dyyyyyying.

Charlie, meanwhile, is flourishing and growing in ways that make me smile almost every day. People ask me how he’s doing and there just aren’t words. He laughs and smiles often. He likes school, he likes his routine, he loves going out to eat and singing songs. It’s like he’s waking up to the whole world. He turns his head when people talk to him, he makes decisions, he expresses affection. It’s a million tiny things that just don’t do justice to the joy that he’s bringing us these days.

Besides all of these things, I got the genius idea a while back to start another business. I never get to paint any more because I found myself spending more and more time fixing up the writing on people’s website, teaching people about Twitter and Facebook, writing reports about the same, and generally writing and talking about the Internet a lot. It’s fun, I enjoy it, and there seems to be a need, so I started selling my services. I’m working with a friend who lost her job recently and is a fabulous business/paperwork kind of gal. We’re a good match and she keeps me from giving away my time for free. Things have been going wonderfully and I’m teaching small business owners and crafters things like building a blog, creating a Facebook fan page, and using Twitter. It’s a blast. I have missed teaching and I come home from a session feeling worn out and completely blissful.

And speaking of Bliss, I’ll be headed to Blissdom next week, which makes me both very happy and totally scared. I’m flying, which I hate, and because I’m knocked up, I won’t be able to take or drink anything to calm me down. I think the flight will be about an hour, so hopefully I’ll make it there without having heart attack. I get to see the lovely ladies met last year, and I’ll be rooming with some new friends I’ve met over the last year. I just hope no one gets upset when I fall asleep at 8 pm.

So, I’m busy, but in a good way. Things are happening and moving and going. I’m predicting a slow-down around April, but right now I’m enjoying myself (and taking lots of naps).

He looks at Dad like, "what are you doing with that thing?"

If your kid is  like mine, they’ve got a lot of “professionals” in their life. As a baby, Charlie had four therapists that came to the house. Now, his classroom at school has one main teacher and three aides–all of whom could carry the title “substitute mommy.”

A lot of people struggle with good ideas on what you can buy your children’s teacher. You want to show that your appreciative, but man oh man, that Christmas budget is already pretty tight.

Soooo. . . I put together a little video blog about the gifts I made for Charlie’s teachers this year.  My favorite part is that you are completely in control of the amount of money spent–it’s up to you completely and this can be done at almost any price point.

A word about my video blog:

no makeup? check

wild and crazy hair? check

slouching? sadly, check

Charlie making noise in the background? again, check

If you were hoping for a professional video, this isn’t it.

For those of you who can’t/don’t do videos–the concept is simple. Take a cute holiday container and fill it with the sorts of snack that you really wish you had at about three o’clock on a week day. Schools have heaps of legislation that prevent them from offering yummy snacks and even if they do, they’re usually expensive. Fill a container with small sized trail mix, granola bars, etc. and most teachers will be thrilled.