So Far, 30 Sucks...

Well, today is the big day and I couldn't be in a worse mood. Had Noelle's favorite dress clean to avoid any possibility of morning arguments and even gave her a choice between that and another "favorite." Started casually conversing while doing her hair and mentioned off-hand that it was my birthday. BIG mistake. Other people's birthdays are NOT good news to a four-year-old. They just mean that someone else is the center of attention, potentially getting presents, and that's BAD. On came the water works that were so successfully avoided fifteen minutes earlier.

It is at that moment that Leo decides to start nit-picking about my family coming on Sunday. This weekend, of all weekends, we are BOOKED, mostly with stuff for Noelle (surprise, surprise.) Saturday she is going to see Sesame Street Live with my Mother-In-Law (ironically, a birthday present). She will be picked up for lunch sometime around 2:30 and won't be home until evening. I was hoping this would be our chance to go to Minado. Well, ok, to be honest I was hoping to go tonight, sans kiddos, but I know better than to think that would happen, as much as I've been hinting at it. But tomorrow wouldn't be bad, either.

Leo however, thinks we should go Sunday, when everyone is here. "Everyone" being my Mom and my older sister Gail, as well as my sister Diane, her husband, and their two kids. That would mean four kids age four and under, one of whom (my nephew, Danny) is just about allergic to everything. Of course, no matter WHERE we go, a separate meal will be packed for Danny, the table and chair will be wiped down, etc., etc...but the fact of the matter is that my sister and her husband are, themselves, not the most adventurous eaters and Minado is a sushi restaurant ( I know, it's a sushi restaurant and I'm eight months pregnant, but I am pretty careful to stick to the cooked stuff and will argue that I'm safer eating there than at McDonald's any day). The restaurant itself is not close to here and as it is my family will already be driving 100-200 miles round trip that day. Plus, no matter where we go we'll need to wait for Noelle to be done with her first swimming lesson (ANOTHER birthday present). Really, though, even suggesting Sunday was just another excuse to rant about my sister and her "demands"...this despite the fact that I haven't even mentioned any of this to her...I was the one who decided that it wasn't a good idea.

So that, in a nutshell, was my morning. Not only am I exhausted, pregnant, and feeling older than dirt, but I am also obviously a huge inconvenience this weekend. Happy Birthday to me.

The Calm Before The Storm

Sometime today it is going to hit her that she's not in school. After two vacation days last week (MLK and a teacher development day), one day in class and then two days sick before the weekend, Noelle was fairly bouncing off the walls last night with the anticipation of finally going back to see her friends. I was a little nervous that her stomach seemed to be upset, but as long as she wanted to go, I was ready to send her. Too bad that we woke up to several inches on the ground and the promise of 7-10" as the day progresses. They don't seem to close school EVER but there was no way I could see myself digging our car out from half a foot of snow this afternoon.

So WE are having a snow day, even if the rest of Noelle's class isn't. And so far, so good. She got up wanting breakfast right away (as usual), watched a little TV, watched the snow come down for a bit, and has been downstairs with her colored pencils ever since. Almost too good to be true - I was expecting a real tantrum this morning after all the excitement about school last night. We'll see how it goes this afternoon when the boredom sets in.

Happy Birthday, Noelle!!!

I am now officially the mother of a four-year-old....How did this happen??!! I look at her and don't even SEE a baby any more. Already she behaves like a little mommy with Simon. They are so good at entertaining each other. When it is time to pick her up at school each day, I just need to say the word and he is running to the door, ready to go. It should be interesting to see what adding a third one to the mix does to change the sibling dynamic.

My biggest concern regarding our newest addition (besides the obvious, that her arrival is fast, safe and that both mom and baby are healthy afterward) is the impact it will have on the current baby of the family. Unlike his big sister, Simon still seems SO young. In reality, assuming I go to term, he will be about the same age she was when he was born. I think the fact that he is still not verbal makes him seem even younger. I remember Noelle at least having a vague understanding of what was about to happen in the weeks preceding Simon's birth. She knew his name, understood (as much as a two-year-old can) that he was in my tummy and that he would be coming out sometime soon.

Simon, on the other hand, is in for the biggest surprise of his life. We talk about the baby all the time and he loves to lay his head on my tummy, but I doubt that he really knows there's a whole 'nother human in there. Hell, I think Leo even has trouble with that concept sometimes. It must be so strange to be on the paternal side of the parenting fence. One night you have sex and nine months later a baby is born with half your genetic code. In my current state of perpetual heartburn, it certainly seems like a sweet deal, but it must do a number on the head. As impossible as I know it to be, I was certain that I was pregnant the very morning after this baby was conceived. I woke up and I just KNEW. Since then, I have felt her kick, punch, roll and attempt to stuff various body parts through my cervix. I have thrown up my breakfast and felt her hiccuping afterwards in empathy. I know her already, just as I knew Noelle and Simon months before they were born. And I have a feeling that, just like them, little Sophie is going to shake things up around here BIG TIME.

Nesting 101

A first-time mom has all the time in the world to prepare for her new arrival. By this point in my pregnancy with Noelle, we had a freshly-painted nursery, brand new furniture, and coordinating bedding that my best friend Heather and I made together. These photos were taken nearly six weeks before Noelle was born:



TWO showers had been thrown in her honor and every inch of closet and drawer space was packed with brand-new, freshly-laundered baby clothes, bibs, and blankets. A bassinet was set up in our room and my hospital bag was already packed and ready to go. Even though I planned on breastfeeding, our kitchen cabinets were lined with sterilized bottles. The diaper service was ordered and on hold to start on my due date. We literally had everything but the baby.

Preparation for Simon was slightly less coordinated. Two years of Attachment Parenting had taught me that a crib and bottles never get used and a simple sling was my most valuable piece of baby equipment. We had recently moved into a new house and boxes still remained to be unpacked. A co-sleeper was set up in our room to ensure that there would be enough space for a new baby while our toddler still slept between us in our bed. Thanks to generous grandparenting, my little guy still had his share of new things, though many of his clothes were nearly new hand-me-downs from my sister who had her first baby Danny just six months before. My cousin Christi bought us a new carseat which made its way out of the box about a week before I gave birth. I was still working from home and that, coupled with chasing an active 2-year-old and countless trips to the doctor kept me too busy to stress over the details.

Fast-forward two more years. The last three babies born into the family have been boys (my sister had her second son Sam last April) and most of the baby clothes that haven't been passed down to cousins or friends are decidedly boyish. This has not stopped them from all coming back to me as Sam outgrows them, stuffed haphazardly into bins and bags. Those need to be sorted, along with some bins of girly things passed down from Christi's almost one-year-old daughter Alexis. Of course, there is nowhere to put them until the things my own children have outgrown have been packed away. Simon's STILL unfinished bedroom serves as a temporary storage closet for all this and more. Of course, he still sleeps with us. Our Christmas tree and other assorted decorations still need to come down and boxes still need to be unpacked from the time our water heater exploded and all the carpeting downstairs had to be replaced. I have long since quit my job and yet seem to find myself busier each day than I ever was before. Busier and a lot more tired.

Sophie, my dear fetus, if you can hear me, Mommy needs you to stay put for EIGHT MORE WEEKS. You will be welcomed with open arms and joyous hearts no matter when you make your grand entrance.... However, if you'd like a place to sleep and clean clothes to wear, I would make that sometime after March 8th if I were you.

Life As We Know It

It's been nearly four years now since this little adventure began. Noelle reminds me every day that her birthday is THIS SUNDAY - she couldn't be more excited. I think the idea of a whole day dedicated to just her is almost too much for our little princess to handle.

Meanwhile, I am just a few weeks away from turning the big 3-0 and just eight weeks away from welcoming our third child into the world. How does all this make me feel? Old. Old and FAT. Yes, I know that "pregnant" is not the same as "fat," but the fact that my belly can move of its own free will does nothing to change the fact that even my maternity pants are beginning to get snug. Leo does an incredible job of making me feel less old and fat, though it would really help if he would a least have the decency to turn 30 before I do. At least I know that I'm loved.

The other man in my life, Simon, will be two on March 1st, just one week before my current due date. He is by far the sweetest soul on the planet and I am trying to savor these last weeks of it just being him and me home during the day. We pick Noelle up from school at 3 - it is a LONG day for a preschooler and she is usually pretty grumpy... at least until she has a snack in her. She is learning so much, though.

The program is full French immersion, allowing the language to be learned "naturally," just as an infant learns his mother tongue. How amazing to hear her singing to herself in French at bath time or to have Leo ask her a question in French and hear her answer without skipping a beat. Her vocabulary may still be very limited, but the words she knows she can pronounce flawlessly, without a trace of the ugly "American" accent.

Thank God Leo and I both speak French. It is amazing to me how many parents have their children enrolled in French School without speaking the language at all themselves. I understand wanting to give a child that gift, but can't imagine not being able to help them with their homework as they get older. Or worse, having them all plotting against you right there at the dinner table as you look on with pride, not having a clue as to what they are saying. Ok, maybe that's being a bit paranoid, but that's just me.