Category: Being a Mom

Tomorrow we are going to attempt to drive to St. Louis, which is about a six hour drive from here. Anyone want to guess how long it will actually take us to get there??? I’m thinking 10 hours. Maybe more.

We go to STL every year for the 4th, to visit Andy’s grandpa, as Independence Day is also his birthday. This year he will turn 99. We are looking forward to introducing him to Sam, and Kate is very excited because she LOVES her great-grandpa.

We’re also meeting some friends there and going to a Cardinals game. We scored some sweet free tickets due to a disastrous trip there last year, so that will be fun. We are thinking of hitting the science center or Grant’s Farm while we’re there, too, because like many other things in St. Louis (the zoo, the Budweiser brewery), they are FREE. How awesome is that?

So anyway, I am looking forward to being in St. Louis, I’m just not looking forward to getting there. Or packing, which is on the agenda today. I don’t think our car can hold all the stuff necessary to take for two kids.

Anyone have survival tips for me? I know I shouldn’t drug the kids, but I’m thinking that drugging myself might not be such a bad idea. I mean, Andy will drive, so what would be the harm in me knocking myself out? It’s a better alternative than jumping out into oncoming traffic, don’t you think?

So it’s almost time for me to go back to work, and I don’t want to!! Yet, anyway. I’m not ready!

I just don’t know how we’re going to do it. I can’t imagine getting up at 5:30, pumping, feeding Sam, showering, wearing real clothes, and making it out the door before 7. I don’t know how Andy is going to handle both of the kids at home, especially because he does not possess the power of lactation. That is the key for keeping Sam happy, for sure. And how am I going to pump enough to leave for him?? Ugh.

I am looking forward to a couple things… listening to books on tape in the car (instead of Sam’s incessant screaming), going out to lunch with my friends, and hopefully starting to use the exercise room on campus. But I am going to miss them all so much. Especially that little guy.

I have been really fortunate to have this maternity leave… certainly not all women have 13.5 paid weeks off. And it has been so wonderful. I will always remember the time Sam and I had together during his first months, and how much I loved just sitting and staring at him. Ok, I am going to cry.

So anyway, I know that it will work out somehow, and we will all make it. I’m just not exactly sure how.