SHUT UP ABOUT TOM CRUISE!!!

I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT HIM!!! I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIM!!! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO ONE THING HE HAS TO SAY!!!

MY TV WATCHING WHILE ON BED REST IS BEING LIMITED BECAUSE OF THIS JERK!!! I WILL NO LONGER WATCH ANYTHING WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT HIM. I HATE BEING A CHANNEL SURFER BUT UNFORTUNATELY UNTIL THIS IDIOT IS DONE PROMOTING HIS LIFE I WILL HAVE TO DO SO.

WHAT MAKES HIM SO IMPORTANT? WHY DO WE CARE???

One more week...

One more week to be a family of three.

One more week to suffer through this heat.

One more week to enjoy my time with my "only child" before she becomes the BIG sister.


One more week to get all those small things ready that you have to do before a baby comes.

One more week to get a breast pump.

One more week to get the carpets cleaned.

One more week to remember what you do with a newborn.

One more week to re read the book Baby Wise. (To all new mom’s I can’t recommend this book enough.)


One more week to decide if I am going to do the VIA Chord program.

One more week to make sure my husband knows that he is very important to me in case for a few weeks I forget to tell him.



One more week to get all the clothes washed.

One more week to decide if I need a double stroller.

One more week to give myself three injections a day of insulin.

One more week of not being able to ice cream.

One more week to feel bigger than a barn.

One more week of bed rest.

One more week worrying about the delivery.

One more week to remember my lamaze breathing.

One more week to watch any show I want on TV.

One more week to be pampered.

One more week… until my beautiful baby boy comes into this world!!!!

Tom Cruise is a FREAKING IDIOT!!!

Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Scientology the belief in writings of a science fiction writer? I just can't believe this idiot, Tom Cruise, whom I use to REALLY like, is out there telling women that they don't know the history of psychology, that Brooke Shields could control her postpartum if she believed in herself, that she is the only one who can control her emotions.

I have a few words for Mr. Cruise. When you have a degree that gives you the right to give advice to anyone about what they should do, think, or feel with regard to having a baby, then you can open your mouth. You don’t so shut the hell up!!! When you have a vagina and have had a child that lives in you for 10 months (yes people they lie to all of you… we are pregnant 40 weeks… in my book that’s 10 months) and does crazy things to your body and your hormones, then you can put your two cents worth into this conversation. Until then SHUT UP!!! I have no problem with someone believing that they need to focus on self and how to make themselves a better person, but you believe in a science fiction writer. I’m sorry you are NUTS. I use to love your films but I will NEVER buy, rent, or attend a movie that you are in ever again.

I wonder how many viewers NBC is losing from the Today Show because we don’t care nor do we wish to see or hear anything about Tom, Katie, War of the Worlds, or Scientology. I just want to scream every time I see him on TV. I can’t change the station fast enough. If I were Steven Spielberg I would be telling Cruise to stop talking, promote my movie and not your life. Katie… honey… don’t be a fool. I was someone who married a man several years older than herself… DON’T DO IT!!! Especially if he has the views he does about childbirth and postpartum. I was lucky enough to get out of that marriage and have a new husband who understands depression, that you often can’t control it when your hormones are going crazy. Katie, Katie. Katie, I’m soooo worried for you.

My baby Bo Bice

This year when American Idol began my mother was staying with us four nights a week helping to watch my baby daughter. One of her favorite shows is American Idol so this meant every Tuesday and Wednesday evening our TV time was made up of American Idol tryouts, top 20, all the way down to the finals. I had never watched this show. I do enjoy Reuben Studdard and Clay Aiken but I thought that Kelly and Fantasia were too "poppy" for me.

Anyway my husband, daughter, and myself joined Grandma in the living room every Tuesday and Wednesday night to see what would happen from week to week. I liked Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, and the other blonde girl from the start. I watched it as much as I could. I found myself racing home from a bargaining session to see who was singing what or who got kicked off that week. Our family decided with about six weeks left to go who the final three would be and we were right. I was so excited that Carrie won. I think she is really talented and I hope she goes places.

Little did I notice however is how much my daughter was watching this show and paying attention to the "Rock and Roll" man... BO Bice. It seems that she was paying attention far more than I realized. As you can see by the picture she enjoys taking our toilet paper holder and using it as a microphone much the way Bo does when he sings. I don't know anywhere else that she would have picked this up from other than Bo on American Idol. Every night after her tubby she likes to grab her microphone and pretend that she is singing. Although we have no idea what she is singing about I think that I have my own little idol on my hands.

Who knew that American Idol could bring out the best in your baby... I think my girl is a born performer. Look out Idol 2020 my girl's getting ready NOW!!!

I think that I'm getting really OLD!!!

Do you remember when you thought your parents were nuts because they listened to Country Music? Well I have found myself over the last week of bed rest watching CMT and really liking the music.

Maybe the music has changed?! I keep trying to tell myself that Country Music today is more like the Southern Rock music I use to like to listen to when I was in High School. As a product of the 80's we had what I thought was good music... Styx , Journey, REO, Loverboy, Ozzy, ACDC and many many more. We also had those interesting bands, The Tubes, 'Til Tuesday, The Motels, and the many different types of "new wave" music. I didn't much like the new wave... Being a musician I thought it was a crime that a person could make it famous as long as they had a synthesizer. They didn't even have to have a good voice. They could just mix and make themselves sound good. It amazed me, it still amazes me.

In the late 90's I started to DJ for a local club and the kids who would come in loved all types of music. I would play anything from John Denver "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" to Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline" to Nine Inch Nails " I Want to F--- U like an Animal" plus the Dance songs and slow songs that were necessary to keep everyone happy. I thought I was really hip. I knew all the songs. I was early 30's, taught school by day, ran a bar by night... and knew 98% of all music out there.

Now, I'm 40... 40 years old!!!! I am a Mom of a 21 month old, with another to be born ANY DAY, I have a high pressure job, and I can't find anything to watch on TV except the Top 20 Countdown on CMT!!!! UGH. I think I'm getting OLD!!!

I wonder if when my little ones are a few years older will I be into their music? Or will they be writing a Blog saying..."Do you remember when your parents listened to Country Music and you thought they were square????"

Did you know there is a difference...

between labor and labor that should send you to the hospital?

I knew that there was a difference between Braxton Hicks, false labor, but I really had no idea that there was a difference in labors until you get to hard labor and then it's time to push.

Well I'll tell you, I'm really tired of this "light" labor. Friday it lasted all day. Yesterday, I maybe had 5 labor pains... today it's back. I'm trying to decide if it is because I'm tired or if the boy really wants to come out.

It amazes me daily the difference between pregnancies. With my first I was on bed rest forever, I had pre-eclampsia and I was not allowed to do anything for almost 7 weeks. This one, my love for ice cream and M&M’s got the better of me and I got, gestational diabetes. After trying to fix that with diet, which did not work and I was very faithful to the diet, they put me on insulin. The insulin has made me feel good and I have been able to work until this last Friday.

With the first one, I never went in to labor. Well I did have Braxton Hicks for 6 hours, we went to the hospital and they sent us home. Then four days later I went in for a non-stress test and they asked if I was over due which I was, they took me to have an ultrasound and with in an hour I was in a birthing room because I was almost out of amniotic fluid. I was poked with all kinds of needles to induce the labor and that is the first time I felt any real labor.

This one, he wants out, He wants out early, and I’m about ready to tell them GET HIM OUT OF ME NOW!!!!

I was going to try to have the last one natural… I got dilated to 6 centimeters when I said to my husband and I quote, “IF YOU WANT ME TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN, I NEED THE DRUGS AND I NEED THEM NOW!!!” We had a code word that I had to say, believe it or not today I can’t even remember what it was, but I could not have the epidural until I said the word.

There is a bit of concern with this one that I’m going to get to the hospital and be too far dilated and they won’t let me have the shot. I absolutely, under only conditions of saving the life of the baby, do I want a C-Section… BUT I DO WANT THE DRUGS.

So my husband just left to get me a BIG BEEF sandwich and ice tea. Grandma is here to help watch the girl. And I’m sitting in the red rocker, thinking about having a baby tomorrow if the doctor will let me, reminiscing to myself and you about how different these two pregnancies have been.

I'm grumpy... just deal with it

You know at 36 weeks pregnant I think that I deserve a few days of being grumpy.

Friday was one of those days. I had very little sleep. The girl did not want to sleep the night before and so I was up with her until 3am and then I woke up at 6:30 with terrible pains in my pregnant belly. I knew those pains... CONTRACTIONS. The problem is... it is too early to feel this way. I then look over at my husband, who is sleeping like a baby, and I start to get angry. This is when my grumpiness started. I have been up with the girl, he did help a little bit but he just cannot function in the middle of the night so I generally don't ask for help... (My trade off is that I make him change ALOT of diapers!!!) I am very envious of the fact that he can sleep and I can't.

So around 8:30 the girl and her dad wake up and we start to get ready to go to the doctor. I was really hoping that we could leave at just the right time so that she would sleep the hour up to Evanston and be in a good mood the whole day. Why would I think that would actually happen? We were late getting in the car so she was overtired from the start and did not sleep the whole way up there. Then we made her walk and walk and walk so that she would sleep between appointments. I could only be that lucky. She chose to sleep once and it could not have been more than 20 minutes!!!

We get to my Non-stress test and sure enough, I'm having contractions and they are about 8 minutes apart. No one seems to be too worried about it. EXCEPT ME!!! I have four more days to work... I need to work and I'm worried about what I am going to do. I'm also worried that Don starts his new volleyball job on Monday and what is going to happen if I have this baby early? How do I get hold of my Mom and get her to our house as soon as possible? I don't have a suitcase, not just that but I'm not even packed. We haven't gotten anything ready for this baby, and I'm starting feeling guilty. Why am I so laid back about getting things ready for this one? He's just as important as Grace. Am I just that much busier? UGH.. calgon take me away!!!

We get to my doctor's appointment and my blood pressure is sky high. He does an exam and tells me that I'm starting to get ready to have this baby... dilated one centimeter and he could feel the head. Well I'm thinking... what does that mean? Do I go to the hospital? Am I sending my husband and child home to pack for me??? What are we doing? Thank goodness my doctor and Don are so laid back because... I'M NOT AT THIS POINT!!! He has the nurse check my blood pressure one more time and then informs me that I am not going back to work. I am to go home and rest. Not do anything just rest. Call if I have a head ache. Call if I have blurred vision. Otherwise just rest, hopefully the contractions will go away and we will get our 3 weeks in. He then informs me I have to do this HORRIBLE test, that I won't go into but it involves 24 hours and finding out if I am expelling protein. I HATE THIS TEST!!! And then he tells me I have to come back on Monday. So next week I have to go to the doctor Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday... unless I have the baby first. But I can't have the baby for the next two weeks because Don has volleyball camp at his new job. (DO YOU SEE THE CRAZY THINGS THAT RUN THROUGH A PREGNANT MOTHER'S MIND???!!!!!)

So then we decide that we should go get something to eat to avoid the rush hour traffic. Well our girl, who is use to eating out, and is generally really good at a restaurant, decides to through a FIT! She was soooo tired, because she never had more that a 20-minute nap all day. I'm so embarrassed. People are looking at us. At that point I told Don I was not going make these people around us suffer for our sake... so we got up and left.

You know it was one of those days. It has been one of those weekends. I tried to explain it to Don yesterday. Everything just goes along fine... I'm fine... I'm fine... I'm fine... all of a sudden... I PANIC... I have to do this I have to do that... I need his help... I can't keep up with the girl... we don't have a name... we have nothing done... I BITE DON'S HEAD OFF... I CRY... I'm fine... I'm fine ... I'm fine...

So I finally just told him and my family, I'm grumpy and they are going to have to just deal with it. Right now... they are all sleeping and I'm up because I'm not feeling the greatest, but this is a great time. No one to bother me. Nothing to think about really. I think that I will go make me some breakfast. Maybe send them to church and I can relax for a while longer. Then it will be back to a day of I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine... I PANIC.

Shameless Plug...

For about 4 years now I have been a personal use consultant with Mary Kay. I have a few costomers but I have changed jobs since then and now married with a family and I have put that business on hold. I don't really know why. You know you can make money selling the stuff!!! In fact you know one of the finalist for the Apprentice, Tana, is/was a Mark Kay lady. She was my favorite and I really liked what she did to find out who would buy what and marketing her product. I however amd not that creative, but I woke up this morning thinking... HMMMM as I begin my maternity leave why not give a shamelss plug for my business on my blog.

Well here it is... if you would like to check out that new Mary Kay products and/or interested in purchasing something please go to my web site...

My MaryKay website

As I'm sitting home with my new baby and my little girl it would be wonderful to get a few new customers. You know one day it would be nice to be independently wealthy as a Mary Kay consultant, I could work less hours and be home with my kids. I'd also really like one of those red jackets, he he he... But for now I'll continue to work the job I love, but maybe I can use the money from to take vacations....

Any suggestions for a name???

As I sit here wondering if I am either in labor (which would make me a month early) or just experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions I thought that I would write to see if those of you who might read this blog have some good suggestions for a name for my baby boy.

Don and I have "narrowed" our list to 8 options. None of which I am totally excited about except for the names Charles or Patrick. Neither are favorites of Don's. As I have written before naming my children is a major issue for me. The child has to live with this name the rest of their life. Being a former teacher, there are kids with names that I remember saying to myself what was that parent thinking??? I even had a mother with a crazy name... "Hi," she said, "I'm Early May". Yes you are reading that correctly... Early May. Guess when she was born??? I was playing in an orchestra back in high school and the guest vocalist singing with us was Merry Belz. But the kicker was that her maiden name was Christmas... so her name was Merry Christmas Belz. WHAT WERE THESE PARENTS THINKING???? Wasn't the only daughter of former govenor Hogg of Texas named Ima. So her name was IMA HOGG!!! Names are issues with me can you tell...

So listed below are names we have thought of. In most cases they have something to do with family... I'm open to other options I just don't know that Don is. Any suggestions would be helpful... MAYBE.

Names

1. Donald Lee, the 3rd
2. Donald MacIntyre (he would be called Mac, this name comes from Don and then his uncle's last name)
3. Patrick MacIntyre (we would call him Pat)
4. Donald Christopher (Don's mom likes this but would prefer Christopher as the first name... I don't care to have my child named after me. It reminds me of Young and the Restless where Victor and Nikki named their children Victoria and Nicholas)
5. Bernham MacIntyre (My mom's uncle's name and Don's uncles last name... I can only think about him being Bernie Mac)
6. Charles Lee (Don's uncle's first name and Don's middle name... one of my favorites)
7. Charles Leroy (we would call him Charlie and the middle name would be after my grandfather... this is my favorite.)
8. Donald Jude (after Don and my mother, Judy, and we would call him DJ)

So there they are... the other family names are for the most part worse than any I have listed here... Albert, Arnold, Gustf, Frank, William (which I would gladly use but Don won't let me have a Will and Grace), I know there are others but I can't remember them at this time.

Well now that my pains have gone away and it is 5:30am... I have been up since 3. I better try to get another hour of sleep because I have a busy day of bargaining. Hope to hear from you about suggestions for names...

Three weeks to go!!!

I have absolutely nothing ready for this baby. I don't know if this is the way it is for other mothers but it is amazing to me that I virtually have nothing done other than today I went and bought diapers. I remember with Grace I wanted everything just right, but then you sort of realize that it might be just right for one day and then it is WING IT!!!

We have terrible water, when I say terrible I mean terrible sulfur smelling yellow water, where I live and so I have to go to the laundry mat to wash all the baby clothes. I do want to do that because I would like to them to be soft and smell good. BUT WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE LAUNDRY MAT?!!! The only nice thing about the laundry mat I go to is they have a wireless network so I can play on the computer while I sit and wait.


For baby number one my husband made a cradle. This time he isn't going to. Or at least at this point he hasn't gotten around to it. I am assuming with only 3 weeks to go it is not going to get done. He thinks that the baby can use Grace’s and my feeling is that they should each have its own. He said that since this is a boy, the boy won't care if he had a cradle of his own, Don says that it is a girl thing and that Grace will get the cradle handed down to her and she can decide if she wants to let her bother use it if he ever has children. I think that I will ask one more time and then just deal with the fact that a new cradle is not getting made.

Thank goodness for my mom being here taking care of Grace because she found the baby bottles that I need to use for a newborn.
Yet I do plan on breastfeeding once again for 6 months and my pump is broken. You might think that I would want to get that ready or at least know who I could rent one from before the baby gets here. Why rush it? What's the hurry?

I never realized how dirty carpets get with little ones. We have carpet in our dining room!! ICK!!! I'm big on not wearing shoes in the house but that is not a priority of Don's and so I just hate it when I get the carpets cleaned and people wear shoes in my house. I probably should have done this a few weeks ago because when Don's Mom and Dad return home from their mission trip... they won't take their shoes off either when they come over. I can handle the shoes a few weeks after the carpets are done but not the same or next day. At this point knowing that I am moving soon... do I clean my carpets? Once again what's the rush?

With my Grace I didn't really nest. I was on bed rest for 6 weeks before and well this time... it doesn't look like bed rest is going to happen and so I have been working. Because I'm working I think that that increases my adrenaline and I get home and I just want this done or that done... I want the cradle, I want clothes washed, I want my breast pump fixed, and I want my carpets cleaned!!!! We spent all morning cleaning today... I told my husband that every Saturday we are getting up and cleaning so that at any point that we might have to go to the hospital early the house will be good to go. My mom keeps it pretty clean through out the week, we just need to keep it that way when she leaves.

So, three weeks to go and so much to do and very little time to get everything ready for baby number two. I am working a lot to try to get some loose ends tied up before I go and then I am planning on not being gone more that eight weeks. I stayed home a bit longer with the first one but since Grandma will be here to watch the kids I think that I can go back to work and not worry. Well you always worry as a Mom but that would be the topic of another blog. Wish me luck that the laundry gets done, the carpets get cleaned, the breast pump gets fixed... and maybe just maybe a cradle will get made.

Three of the most stressful things in life...

are changing jobs, having a child and worrying about their future, and moving. My family happens to be going through all three of those items at the moment.

Don has decided to leave little ol' (hole in the ground) Beecher and move on to Rich Township High Schools to teach Chemistry. He is still waiting to hear about the head volleyball position but we are pretty sure he is going to be getting that position also. I know that he is a bit nervous. He has been in Beecher for 15 years, he has a great volleyball team with potential to go on to state, but he is greatly unappreciated as the
Technology director and as a coach so he has decided to make a move now when there are both a teaching and a coaching position available at a school close to our home. I know that he will do great, and if he doesn't like it, well he can move on at a later date. One of Don’s goals is to coach Grace if he wants to do this someday he needed to get out of a small school and get into a bigger conference and class. We would like to send our children to the LincolnWay High Schools in Frankfort or New Lenox, Home of James Augustine of FIGHTING ILLINI fame,
so hopefully someday he will have the opportunity to get into that school district so he will be able to do what he prays of... he really wants to coach his girl. (They are building a new school so hopefully that will be his chance!!) I worry that he will not like the change since he won't be doing technology and I hope that he won't ever be upset with me in encouraging him to leave Beecher. He just dislikes it there so much I hated seeing him miserable. The grass isn't always greener but he will be making more money and getting closer to his goal of coaching his girl by moving to a larger school district.

Then as you may have read the purpose of this blog is to keep stories for my kids.
Number 2 is on his way. We still do not have a name and have narrowed our choices but aren't really talking about them. I don't think Don is necessarily as stressed about having another child as I am. Being an only child I have learned in the last few years, it's not all about me. I want it to be but it's not. BUMMER. I try to remember that Don needs to come first, our marriage first, then the kids. Sometimes I'm not that great at remembering that but I try to. If mom and dad are happy then so will the kids. I have three weeks left for the baby to get here and we have done nothing. I'm currently sitting here watching Don file papers so that I know it gets done and then we are going to be out for the day, We are trying to spend as much quality time with Grace that we can prior to the baby getting here. Her world, as she knows it, is going to be knocked off it's axis. I want her to always know how special she is to me and us but you know when the next one comes along everything multiplies. Right now we are struggling because she is allergic to the grass and she sooooo loves to play outside so we are trying to find things to do with her that do not require contact with grass. Maybe we should move to Arizona...

Which leads me to our main stressful situation in our household these days... MOVING.
We have known for at least 3 months that we are going to have to move. The city that borders our land wishes to purchase the property to build a shopping area. That is fine and great. This is a fabulous opportunity to get rid of all bills, have no mortgage, and live comfortably with our two kids. The problem is too many people trying to tell us what we should or should not do, where we should or should not live, what we should or should not spend. I finally had to tell my husband that I am not going to listen to any one and if it is a place that I want to live that is all I need. He, on the other hand, wants to listen to what everyone has to say and procrastinate about making the decision. When I started my draft of this blog... we were in the middle of trying to bid on a house... I felt that family got WAY too involved. I don't mind suggestions but I do mind interference. Unfortunately, the house we placed the bid on was not meant to be ours... the owner did not want to accept our bid because we have to wait for the closing of our house. In the meantime we have continued our search and have actually found a piece of property that is on foreclosure and if it goes to sale it is almost as nice as the property I really wanted. We will do what is best for our family and hopefully our family will be there to support us, give advice, but remember that it is our home.

Needles, Blood Tests and Shots... OH MY

You know growing up I had to have blood test once a week for almost a year because I had the symptoms of Rheumatic fever. One time, at the age of 5, I went to sit in the seat and a beginning phlebotomist was given the job of sticking me with the needle to take my blood. I have horrible veins, did then and they are worse now… this phlebotomist couldn’t find the vein and decided to just stick the needle in my arm and then find the vein. I still remember the scream I let out, I remember my mother running into the testing room and being very upset with the doctor who put this girl in charge. To this day every time I go to have a blood test I cringe.

You know when you have a baby, maybe you don’t know, but when you have a baby you have to get stuck with more times, with more kinds of needles then you care to count. A few weeks ago I went to get another blood test, this time to see if I had gestational diabetes. I sat in the chair and waited for the phlebotomists to take my blood. A week before I had been in the same office and the tech that day listened to me when I told her I had bad veins, listened when I told her what arm to use, and wham bam she found a vein and I was in and out of the office. This week however… I GOT THE NEW GIRL!!!! She didn’t listen to me. She took that rubber band and put it on one arm poked and poked and poked. Then she put it on the other arm and poked and poked and poked. FINALLY she found a vein. Instead of leaving her finger on the vein, leaving the rubber band on my arm, BEING READY TO JUST TAKE THE DAMN BLOOD… she takes the band off and then gets ready. After putting the band back on she can’t find the vein. Go figure idiot. So what does she do??? You guessed it… she sticks the needle in my arm and then searches for the vein. I could have kicked her. I was sooooooo mad! A blood test that should take only a few minutes, I had been in this room about 10 minutes.

She finally gets the blood and begins to write on the label, while she is doing this I am waiting for the stinking band-aid so that I can leave the room. As I’m waiting I hear her say, “hmmmmm”, she takes the vial and leaves the room. I hear her talking to one of the other phlebotomists... SHE USED THE WRONG VIAL!!! What the heck is that all about??? What are they going to do now?

As I sat there I thought… do I ask for a new tech? Do I want to make this girl feel bad? Everyone needs to learn sometime? But it’s MY ARM!!!! So they come back in the room tell me what happened, and I say just get it done. So I’m thinking that she will find the vein in the other arm, yes it takes a minute but it’s there… NO she gets out the dreaded butterfly needle and say, “If you don’t mind I’m going to stick you in you hand.” What am I to say… YES I MIND!!!! I did ask her to look for the vein in the arm, but I could tell she was having trouble. In the mean time I hear my husband in my daughter in the waiting room. Grace is a good girl but 15 minutes in a little waiting room with a water dispenser… she was pretty wet by the time I got out to them again… Anyway I digress. The girl cannot find my vein, so I just say, “Do the hand.” She could tell that I was getting frustrated and did as I asked.

She apologized a million times, but you know when you have been traumatized over the years from blood tests any amount of apologizing does not help. I said, “Well we all have to learn.” I took a sticker to give to Grace and was out the door.

I just hate needles. I hate shots. But you know when you have to do things for your child you will do what every you have to do. As a result of that last blood test I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and three times a day I have to give myself a shot in the stomach. I remember telling my husband on the way to the doctor, “If I have to do shots you are going to have to do them for me. I just won’t be able to do it.” To this day Don has not given me a shot. I have done every shot, dealt with the few bruises I have given myself because I didn’t do it quite right, and will continue to count the days until this baby gets here so that I can quit with the needles, blood tests, and shots… OH MY.

Am I Wrong...

I just returned from lunch at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and there was a mother there with her two children and a girlfriend. She was sitting at the table breastfeeding her baby, while drinking Margaritas. I think there is something wrong with that. Yes it takes about 12 to 24 hours for the alcohol to metabolize in the breast milk... but honestly... Why not just give the kid a Margarita drip? Maybe I'm becoming a prude in my old age and having kids but I just think this is wrong. If it had been only one Margarita it might not have made me feel this way. I might have looked at her funny but after they ordered their third drink I really wanted to call someone. Who was going to drive those children home? Man have I changed in the last four years. I can't tell you the amount of times that I got behind the wheel when I had no right doing so. I could have killed someone else's child when I think about it... But this mom is drinking with one child attached to her breast and the other sitting there eating chips. Then they are going to get in a car together and drive somewhere... It worries me... Am I wrong to feel this way???

When will I learn...

Not to watch FINDING NEMO!!! You know when you are pregnant it is just not a good idea.

The first time I saw this movie I was 8 months pregnant (with Grace) when Don and I decided to go to a movie. We thought we'd see Nemo, it looked like it would be cute and happy. Little did I know? In the first 10 minutes of the film the mother fish lays her many eggs, her and Nemo's dad are discussing names and being all happy... and in one fleeting minute a Barracuda comes along sees the eggs and the clown fish. Nemo's mom does what every mom would do, goes to protect her children!! Next thing you know the father is looking for the mother and the eggs... the only thing he finds is one lone egg. Nemo.

If you have never been around a pregnant woman you might not know that hormones and subjects of this nature will make her cry at a moments notice. We are sitting in this theater, FULL of young kids and their parents, and my husband turns to me and says, "You're crying aren't you?" I must say this was one of those embarrassing moments you wish had never happened!!! As he says this to me, I try to squelch back the sob, but NO it comes out loud and clear. Yes everyone the pregnant lady in the middle row is crying at the cartoon on the screen. Little kids turned and looked, adults turned to look. You would have thought I had just lost my best friend the way I was crying. In my mind I'm thinking of the conversation I had just had with Don regarding if I were in an accident during my commute to work just keep me alive long enough to get the baby, do whatever he had to do to make sure the baby lived.

I could not get over the beginning of this movie and sat there the whole time thinking... I am not going to let my child(ren) watch this film. I wanted to get up and walk out!!! I thought I am never going to watch this film. I was outraged thinking this film had been falsely advertised. It was suppose to be a feel good movie. What part of losing your children and/or your parent is feel good? I hated this movie and I told the world.

So it's almost two years later and Grace owns FINDING NEMO. It is her favorite movie to watch when we are in the car going to and from my doctor's appointments. Today as we were driving to the doctor I was listening to the dialog. I was getting choked up just listening to different parts and remembering the scenes. I never thought that I could feel the way that this father feels. I never knew there was this instant bond that makes you so neurotic you would kill if anyone hurt your child. I am a worrywart to no end and I admit it. I waited far too long for these children and I want nothing to happen to them.

On the other hand this father wants his child to do nothing. He constantly tells him Nemo he can't do things because he has a small handicap, a small fin. I hope that if either of my children have a handicap of any sort I don't keep them from doing things they love. If they could hurt themselves I might want to be close so that I could help if something were to go wrong, but this father DRIVES ME NUTS.

I'm amazed that Disney puts out movies where someone is killed or dies, generally a mother or a father, and then something bad always happens to the child. I guess in their own way they are trying to teach children that they can over come any obstacle... I just don't get I suppose. I didn't get the concept when I was a kid and watching Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. I just saw the cute little fairies in Sleeping Beauty wishing that I could have a dress of pink magically appear. As for Cinderella I wanted my own prince to come along someday.

Do these movies teach us that is how life should be? I don't know, but I let Grace watch them, I will worry about her and her baby brother forever, as all parents do and I hope that I remember to allow them to be independent, and growup not being afraid to take chances.

What's in a name?

Did you know that for many men it is REALLY important for them to name their first born after themselves? I am currently dealing with this situation.

With my first born, although we did not find out, I just had a feeling I was going to have a girl so I did not discuss a boy's name much with my husband. This time, however, I wanted to know what I was having because I felt there was going to be a problem with naming this child if it was a boy. Well in my belly is a large baby boy, weeks from delivery, and well... I just don't like the names we have "chosen".

My husband loves the fact that he was named after his father. He loves his father so much, looks up to him the such respect, in today's society it really is a wonderful thing to see. Because of this, Don feels that we should name our boy Donald Lee H. The third. Don't you think that is a bit much? We aren't regal, we don't live in an area where that is popular, I just don't know that I can have a Donald Lee the third.

We have discussed that if he wants to keep the first name as a family tradition I think that I could do that as long as we had a middle name that I liked and then we could call the boy by his middle name. My cousin's family has done this. My uncle's father was John, my uncle is John B. (they call him John), my cousin is John Anthony (Tony), and then his son is John William. I can deal with this. HOWEVER... My husband wants the middle name to be MacIntyre. Another family name on his side. His mother was a MacIntyre and once his mother's family has gone there will no longer be any MacIntyre's, as his uncle has never had children. How do I call my little bundle of joy Donald MacIntyre? Is it horrible... No! But I just can't see calling my baby "Mac".

Crazy things cross my mind when thinking of this name... My husband and I are not small people. I'm 6'1 and once this baby is born I could afford to still lose a few pounds. My husband is 6'7 and use to be super skinny but has put on the sympathy 25 during this pregnancy. I'm worried that I am lending to name calling long before it is necessary. I can see it now... "Hey Big Mac"... "Here comes the Mac Truck". The possibility of this child having red hair is greater then not and if you invert the name he could end up Mac Donald, I foresee more teasing. How dare I do that to my child? You know as a parent I just want to protect my child from any undue stress and sadness. I don't want my child to come to me at the age of 9 asking me, "What were you thinking when you named me?"

On the other hand, could this be a good thing? What if he should end up being 7'2, play basketball, (hopefully for the Illini and can play under the basket unlike the 7'2 player they had this year who thought he was a guard and shot 3 pointers... But I digress) and McDonald's would hear about my child's name? How could they pass that up? Should I pass that up.

I don't know... I never thought naming a child could be so hard. The good thing to know is in 7 weeks I won't have to worry about this anymore and I will have a name for this big baby boy. In the meantime, does anyone know where I might find a painter to create this mural on the baby's room?

Trying to figure this all out!!!

I heard of blogging like many others I'm sure... on tv... but it wasn't until my friend Kelly started posting her own blogs and sending me her wonderful stories that I thought to myself this was something I should do. I am not the best writter on earth but I thought it would be a great way to start keeping records of my beautiful girl Grace and her soon to be here baby brother. Kelly is who cam up with Baby Chonicles... I thought it would be appropriate to at the "of a Middle Aged New Mom". I'm going to keep this first blog short and sweet as I want to try to post this, with a picture and see if I can get this to work out. I always thought that I was quite good with computers and figuring all this "stuff" out... this however is showing me some challenges. Hopefully I will get this posted and begin my stories tomorrow.