Tag-Team Parenting

Do you ever feel like you’re tag-team parenting?

It seems Andy and I do that a lot. More often than either of us would like, really.

I bet you know what I’m talking about… an intricate plan of who’s going to be on kid duty and when, in the midst of life’s other obligations.

We had one such occasion just the other night. Andy picked Kate up from the sitter, they went home together to grab a quick dinner (or lunch-dinner, as Kate called it – I guess a bologna sandwich didn’t deserve to be called ‘dinner’ in her mind), but as soon as I walked through the door after work, Andy had to run out the door to fulfill a teacher commitment. I threw Kate in the bathtub, hastily changed my clothes, and then she and I booked it downtown to meet Andy. As soon as he saw us, he transferred Kate to his car so they could go to story time at the library and I could meet a friend for water aerobics. By the time I got home, Kate was sound asleep in bed and I was ready to crash myself.

Of course that’s not how it goes every night, or even most nights, but from time to time, we do engage in a rousing game of “Pass the Baby.” Tell me we’re not the only ones…

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‘Twas the Night Before My Caesarean

I wrote this one year ago tonight on my old blog. It is very much just a “ramble”, but I thought you might like to hear the crazy thoughts of a woman on the cusp of giving birth!

Well ladies and germs, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is almost here! Ok, mostly it’s the moment I’VE been waiting for, but anyhoo, in about 10.5 hours I’m going to have a cesarean section and deliver my baby girl, Sophia Diane. I….CAN’T….WAIT! Mostly because I am sooo excited to meet my baby and know that she’s ok, but also because I’m preeeettttty darn jazzed about being UN-pregnant! Because let’s face it, the last trimester kind of sucks, and the last 4 weeks or so REALLY suck. Big time. And even though it means getting a ginormous hole cut in my belly, it really is a small price to pay for a miracle isn’t it?? After all, they DO compensate for cutting the hole in your belly by giving you both a baby AND a morphine drip. Woohoo!

So now my house is quiet. Joshua has been farmed off to my brother and sister-in-law’s to spend the night with his cousins or “the Dudes” as he calls them. He was realllly excited about that. Poor kid has absolutely NO CLUE how hard his world is gonna be rocked. I tried to spoil him today by letting him watch lots of tv, cuddling with him, giving him m&m’s and making his favorite meal (Kraft Mac & Cheese EXTRA CREAMY – the boy has tatste!) I was pretty sad when Bobby & I dropped him off at my bro’s house, cause we’re not really going to spend much time with him in the next few days, and I will miss him. And of course I am nervous about how he will react having to share me with Sophie, cause he is a mommy’s boy for sure. But I am reallllly excited to see how he reacts when he first meets her in the hospital! I am not expecting too much, but I am anxious to see his reaction. He picked out a toy to give her and she also has a present to give him. A peace offering, if you will!

On my last night as a prego, I took a shower (because I have to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow and I am NOT showering then! But who knows when I will next shower? Friday at the earliest. Yikes.) and I attempted something totally crazy, which is, to shave my legs at 39 wks pregnant. What was I thinking?? I haven’t done that deed for at least two weeks but something got into me and I thought I should. So I did. And it was all going swimmingly, I made it through my left leg with no troubles, but then I cut the CRAP out of my right leg about 2 inches above my ankle with all three vibrating blades of my Venus Vibrance razor. The cut looks like an advertisement for adidas, the brand with three stripes. And it bled like craaaazy (cause you double your blood volume when pregnant. That’s pregnancy fun fact #427.) It took me about 15 minutes to get it to stop, and since I already gave the hospital 4 vials of blood today, and God knows how much I’ll be giving up tomorrow, I was really anxious to not lose any more. Yee-uck! So anyways, next time, if there is a next time, I think I’ll just use some Nair a few days in advance. Muuuuch safer.

Reason # 738 why I am sooo happy I’m about to be UN-pregnant, is that my feet are fricking KILLING me. All my shoes, even my boring old lady Lands End shoes I wear to mom around in, were painful to wear, but going barefoot is much worse. After I get out of the shower my feet hurt SOOO bad just from standing barefoot for 10 mins. It’s ridiculous! So on Monday my mom bought me some of those ugly plastic clogs with holes in them that everyone wears, and they are my new favorite thing!! And these are the cheap Meijer version. I wonder what a nice pricey pair feels like. They’ve really helped me out a lot, and I can wear them IN THE SHOWER! Hopefully I won’t have to soon, but they really have been a godsend. So tonight after my shower, after I got the hemorrhaging stopped on my leg, I got dressed and did my “ow my feet hurt so bad I might die” routine, which is rub them with “Dr. Scholl’s for her” peppermint lotion (sorry dudes, I guess Dr. Scholl must be a chick or a really insensitive man, cause I didn’t see no male version of said lotion at the store) which is my second favorite thing after the ugly plastic shoes. I slather my poor feetsies with more lotion than is necessary, then put on my socks and my ugly shoes and put my feet up on some pillows and….ahhhh. Very nice indeed. And much easier to do without a 2 yr old climbing all over me!

So now I’m just maxing and relaxing. I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight, which makes getting up at 4 am very convenient. Baby’s room is ready, and it is sooo beautiful, her daddy did an awesome job! Our bags are packed, the house is clean, our laundry’s done, all Joshua’s clothes are clean and I even washed his bedding tonight so he can come home to a nice clean bed. This nesting really cannot be stopped!! Except for by childbirth of course. So now all we need is our baby!! And Mommy couldn’t be happier that tomorrow’s the day she’ll be here!! We really appreciate your prayers that Sophia will be just perfect & healthy, just like her brother, and that my recovery will be good & fast & much better than last time.

See you on the postpartum side!!

(Please see the post below this one for pics of Sophie’s PARTY!!)

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Ain’t No Party Like a SoSo Party!

Well, party # 1 is over and it was a LOT of fun! I present to you, the cupcakes…
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…and the Birthday Princess!
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Going in for the kill!

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Taking a breather…

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Applauding her efforts!

Despite the fact that I forgot to bring a candle and forgot to use the Sesame Street cake plates that I DID bring, we had a great time!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! Your Mama sure loves you and thinks you are the best, craziest, and sweetest girl on the planet!

(P.S. This guy thought he was too cool to come to the party. So please, dear readers, head over to his blog and GIVE HIM CRAP about turning down the hottest invitation in town!)

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