Countdown!

Countdown!

The countdown has begun! It is Friday August 22^nd and the scheduled cesarean is on Friday September 12^th, so if you are quick with counting or math or dates you know that I know have 3 weeks until my little baby boy arrives. I am wrapping things up at work and getting everything set for someone else to slide in and easily take over. At home the room is almost ready, some furniture from the garage will be moved in this weekend and I can start to put the last of the baby items away. I am making an origami mobile so that when he comes home he can watch something his Mother made.

Speaking of all the new baby things we had a baby shower earlier this month and had a great time with family and friends. Allison and Emi helped us open presents; we had a taco bar, ice cream sundae bar and a diaper raffle. It was great fun and for me actually relaxing.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

Photo courtesy of Tim Miller.

As summer comes to a close we are enjoying some great cousin time before the kids start back to school. Allison, Emi, Gabriel and Xander have been having fun at the pool, birthday dinners and just regular hanging out. I am so excited to let William hang out with this wild bunch too.

Enjoy your weekend! I only have two more to go, EEK! 

My Life Is Not Over

My Life Is Not Over

I have just read two “Mommy Blogs” and I feel confused. I told you just yesterday to only read three a day and I think I have come to my limit today unless I see a funny one come up. I do like to read the funny ones about Mom’s chasing naked babies through stores screaming like a banshee, “Put your pants on! Nice babies wear pants!”

I have just read two blogs about how other women lost their identity and friends after becoming a Mother. What is that about? I really am confused. This seems to be a common theme with many women. I don’t think that I lost my identity, I gained a new facet of my personality but I don’t think I lost anything. Yes, I currently cannot drink due to that fact that I am pregnant but don’t think for one minute that I am not looking forward to that first cold beer on a warm night. This baby will be here in a month and I know it will still be hot, I own a pump and I know how to use it!  I also still go out when and where I want to, within reason I understand that not all restaurants want a screaming child at them but I didn’t really go to that kind of place to begin with. My husband always jokes with me that I am a 90 year old trapped in a 30 year old body. I like to go where the old people go to eat; most places have a kids menu with a sign next to it advertising their new pie. Yum … pie. So what have I lost? Nothing really because I just love taking my little baby, who is no longer a baby but a “Big Girl” as I was informed of the other day in the cutest high-pitched sing song voice ever, to all of the places that I want to go. When I first had her I couldn’t wait to get out of the house, I was going stir crazy and she was too. We loved jumping in the car and letting the day take us where it wanted. We shopped and got coffee, went to visit friends and generally played the entire time I was off of work.

Maybe the difference in my experience and most other women’s was the fact that I literally was the last one of my friends to have a baby, literally. We are still having a few more kiddos but I was the last one to have the FIRST one. I had gotten used to kids running around all of the time. We had a gaggle of little girls trailing us for the past 15 years and although some of my friends may be entering the teenage years and I will start once again with diapers and midnight feedings that still doesn’t separate us it just brings us closer. I will be dragging my tired body out the door to hang out in the evenings when everyone gets home from work to show off my new little goofball and let the older one hang with the gaggle. I would not want to let all of this family go just because there is a new person that will demand my attention. I love giving my children attention but I can do that at home or at my friend’s house.

Going back to work was horrible; there was endless pumping and missing my little girl. I would receive pictures from my sister during the day so I could see what they were doing but that would make me want to run out and get her right then. It made me happy and crazy all at the same time. I did not lose myself though because of this, I don’t really like being at work anyway. This was just another reason for me to want to go home. I have had a steady job since I was 15 years old; at 36 I have now had a job for over half of my life, with the only time off being vacation, sick and pregnancy disability time. I know I have not worked as long as some people but it is still a long time.  I really don’t like working but it is a means to an end. I want to have a home and a family, for that you need money. Period. I will continue to work and enjoy my family, my children, my friends and all of the wonderful experiences that I have with those people without losing my identity.

Technically there is a “before baby” time but that does not mean that it was a better time. Technically there was a “before baby” body that I will never get back but there was also a “skinny body” that I had that I will not be getting back either and that has nothing to do with getting pregnant. For a time I was fanatic about weight and keeping a certain size, I was over weight (not really fat that would be an overstatement) and I decided to lose weight. I met my goal and was crazy about maintaining that goal, some people thought that I was too skinny but I was following the guidelines for my height and age. After a devastating break up (it was devastating mostly because I was losing my dream of having a family, I was going to have to start all over again and that was the most frightening and hurtful part of the break up) I just let that fanatical attitude go. I wasn’t necessarily doing it for him but it was part of the steps I took to gain the dream of a family and since that dream was dying I just let that attitude die as well. Later I met my husband and a few years after we got married we had a child. My dream was fulfilled but I was never that skinny girl again. I certainly don’t blame my daughter for that because it is just a change that comes with living. Changes come to everyone; having a baby is not the reason, time is the reason. We are all growing older every day. We are all learning new things every day. We are all experiencing new people and places every day. Even if we work with the same people at the same office, things change every day.  

So again I say beware of reading too many Mommy Blogs, you just might get caught in a soul searching moment while you try and hash out the details of short term disability and employee services on your lunch break. (I may have read those blogs while waiting on hold with a few different departments.) Thank you for taking the time to listen to my crazy mind meandering through some thoughts. Don’t let things like having a baby make you less of a person, embrace all of the changes and add them to who you already are.

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone. Jenn

P.S. And being pregnant is not rainbows and unicorns for me, I know that some women love this but I am SOOO over it. Again I am not letting that change the person that I am, I am just getting really excited and anxious to have this baby out already so that I can enjoy all of this kicking from the other side of the bed instead of my spleen. 

Here is Our Summer!

Here is Our Summer!

I started to write a blog and then was unable to get it posted but I thought that I would still use it and now you can get all of the updates I promised … immediately.

Mommy Blogs

Well, I am just sending out a quick post because in 20 minutes I will be leaving for the RIVER! We are going for the weekend and this will be the only trip for me this year. I am having a baby in two months and I don’t want to get caught out in the heat too far from home … just in case!  

Update! It was SO great! I was a goober and didn't take any pictures but my friends did and I am borrowing their handy work. I am very sad now that I will not be able to go in August for the big week long trip but I have to save my vacation time, baby is almost here.

Next week I will have a post all about our trip to South Carolina but I need more time to get my pictures and thoughts together. It was such a wonderful time. We participated in a beautiful wedding and were able to spend time with a great couple at the start of their new family. Jake and Lauren we loved enjoying out time together.

Update! I have pictures, keep reading.

Today though I want to send out a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the hazards of reading too many Mommy Blogs! Don’t get me wrong a funny entertaining post about crazy naked toddlers at Target or crazy Mommies can be very enjoyable and a good way to lighten your mood but reading too many at a time can make your outlook a bit cynical. So here is the announcement …

Read only three Mommy Blogs a day.

Trust me, last week I read too many and started to feel like I wasn’t a good Mom because I am still working. I have nothing against Stay At Home Mothers, I think they do a great job and it is a real job that takes all of a person’s energy and time. But reading all of the posts made me feel inferior, every day I go to work and I drop off my daughter all day long with another woman that handles all of the crazy baby things that happen. She handles three other toddlers as well! I started thinking that all of those Mommy moments were being lost, especially when I pick her up and I am so strapped for time to get all of the other things done that I need to do. So for all of you Moms out there: Read only three Mommy Blogs a day. Don’t feel guilty about working or not working. Don’t feel guilty about what you cannot do because really the point of all of this blogging is not to judge or condemn but to include and embrace.

Lake Havasu City

I just love the heat, the desert and the water. My baby had a great time too.

Pictures courtesy of Genevieve Linde.

Picture courtesy of Genevieve Linde.

Picture courtesy of Noelle Negrete Tracey.

Picture courtesy of Noelle Negrete Tracey.

Picture courtesy of Jason Tracey.

Our House

Take a look at all of the before and after pictures. I am so happy to be in my own home, all of those hours of watching HGTV are finally getting put to good use!

From a little sketch on paper to a beautiful kitchen.

Everyone should have a happy sponge!

South Carolina – Jake and Lauren’s Wedding Weekend

Terry, Allison and I traveled across the entire nation to attend and participate in the wedding of Terry’s brother Jake and his beautiful bride Lauren.  Meeting and making connections with new family was the best part of the trip. As you may know from previous blogs I just love the connections that I have with all of my family/friends and getting to expand that circle just thrills me. Charleston South Carolina is a beautiful state full of green, green, and more green! That is because it is wet, wet and a whole lot of wet! We stayed inside and enjoyed the air conditioning then went to enjoy the sea breeze on the Carolina Queen where Jake and Lauren exchanged vows. The skies were grey and the wind did blow but right as the couple was saying “I Do” the sun shone through the clouds and lit up the entire wedding party. It was spectacular. Thank you to everyone for making our stay so memorable and fun.

Who is that peeking around Daddy?

First time on an airplane!

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Picture courtesy of ImLady Stetson.

Our feet on the East Coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

Crab Cake, yum.

Eating ice cream on top of Daddy's head. 

Disneyland

Hi Uncle Tim! We just love spending time with you at Disneyland. Allison also enjoys all of the stickers, pretty soon all of the furniture in her room will be decorated in Mickey Mouses’ face. Hahaha!

Hidden Mickey in California Adventure.

I love stickers!

Ice cream sundae in a sink bowl that looks like Mickey pants, what?!

Orange County and Ventura County Fairs

Who doesn’t love the fair? Last week we went to two; the Orange County and Ventura County Fairs. I just love eating my way through the aisles and checking out all of the baby animals. We had the best thing ever at the Orange County Fair, a pickle dog. Go to Pickle O’ Pete’s and get one, don’t argue with me just do it! You will not regret it. Later on in the week Grandma, Papa, Gabriel, Xander, Emi, Terry, Allison and I took the Amtrak Surfliner to the Ventura County Fair to play all day long. Allison and Emi were big enough this year to ride the rides … all by themselves. Gabriel and Xander took Papa and Terry to the bigger rides and daredevil bungy jumping. Grandma and I got to take home our very own Macadamia Nut trees from the “Macadamia Nut Guy” in the agricultural building. We can’t wait to see them grow. My advice to everyone … GO TO THE FAIR!

Circus – Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Baileys

 Every year we go to the circus when it comes to town. It always comes to town around my Dad’s birthday and since he LOVES the circus it is a perfect fit. This year the theme was Legends and they did not disappoint: the steel ball of TERROR, a Wholly Mammoth and the Pegasus made an appearance. Rounding out the summer with performing pigs, dogs and lamas is really fun.

We are enjoying our last summer days and I am getting excited for the arrival of my new little baby, making my family even bigger. I just love family and I hope that he will too.

Enjoy your summer! Jenn