A pregnant pause

Last week, my girlfriend Christina and her husband Joe were visiting from London for the weekend to attend her brother's wedding. For the past few years, Joe has been moving around the world (literally) with his company, so I don't get to see much of her. They lived in Indonesia for a few years, and are now in the UK. They (and I) are hoping that after a few more years abroad, they'll be able to settle in to a permanent position in the states. I should point out, they don't have any kids (yet.)


Matthew & I went to see them at their hotel, which is right next to a cute little shopping center, so we figured we'd walk around a bit. Christina knows that I'm expecting a baby girl in the fall, so she gave me a Carter's gift card and figured we'd hit the store while I was there. So the four of us headed out, with Matthew in the stroller. No sooner did we enter the store than Matthew pointed to one of the speakers in the ceiling and declared "music up, dance!" (Meaning, the music is coming from up there, and I have to dance!") I resisted at first, but I had brought the umbrella stroller, which means he could break out pretty easily. And when you need to dance, well, you need to dance. So I let him out of the stroller and he did start dancing right away, which of course progressed into running around the store like a crazy person, redesigning the front windows, wreaking general havoc.

I was grateful for the two extra sets of eyes (and hands) on Matthew so I could go about my shopping. Buying girl clothes is just too easy!! As my pile grew, I could see that Christina and Joe grew more exhausted trying to keep up with Matthew. They were great with him - but you could just see the look on their faces of "thank goodness his mother is taking him home with her!" They never complained, never made the "wow, you have your hands full," comment that I HATE to get. But you could see it in their eyes... by the end of the day, they were pooped and so happy he was going home. He wasn't being bad - he was just being Matthew.

I remember those conversations between David and I after spending the day with one of our nieces. I remember saying "this is SO much work," or even one time, after a particularly challenging day (I will be kind and not mention whether it was my niece or his), "why do people do this?!?" We waited more than four years after getting married before we got pregnant, and I've always been glad that we did. I think it gave us a chance to really enjoy it being just the two of us for a while, and appreciate (and handle) the changes that having a baby brought to our lives.

So I don't think Matthew has caused them to run out and seek permanent birth control methods, but I don't think they're in any rush to have a baby any time soon. Or more specifically, no rush to have a toddler any time soon ;). I think if their biological clocks were ticking, Matthew did a great job of helping them press the "snooze" button.

Tiny little winner :)

Congrats to SHANDI, who won the onesie in my first-ever blog giveaway!

Laptop woes

I have been without a laptop for a few days and it's driving me crazy! I actually have things to say ;). I did order a new one that will be here tomorrow and will hopefully be up and running quickly, and David is working on fixing my old one. So hopefully I'll be back soon!

More Bambino Land...

Green Baby Bargains has Bambino Land muslin burp cloths and washcloths for sale right now - 3 per pack for $11 and $10, respectively. The burp cloths are fantastic. I'm a little disappointed because about 2 weeks ago I ordered both the blankets and burp cloths as a gift for a friend who's expecting - and of course, I paid retail! And now I can't make a GBB purchase from my phone and my laptop is six feet under. So if you're fortunate enough to be able to access Green Baby Bargains, give the burp or wash cloths a try - they're fantastic.

Glamour mom

I used to work for a woman who had someone come to her house at least once a week to blow out her hair and do her makeup, to the tune of about $300 per session.  I remember thinking to myself, "some day I'd like to have that kind of money, that I can have regular blowouts." 

Little did I know that regular blowouts would be available sooner rather than later.  My hairdresser?  None other than Matthew, of course, who has less interest in doing my hair than in holding the dryer when I'm attempting to make myself look quasi-decent.  You don't know what I would give for "wash and wear" hair - I'm so envious of those women who can hop out of the shower, towel dry and go.  I mean, I could  do that - but then I'd look even worse than I already do.  My hair is the trifecta of horrors when left to air-dry: fine, flat and somehow frizzy at the same time.

So back to my daily blowouts: I try to dry my hair while having distracted him with something else: a beloved toy, an episode of Curious George, a cup of chocolate milk (the syrup is sugar free, I promise!)  I'll quietly skulk away and wait a minute to make sure he's really engrossed in what he's doing before turning the dryer on.  And with the flick of the switch, he's at my side, demanding "hold it!  Matthew hold it!"  So my choices are: I can either give in and let him hold it, or I can keep wrestling with him as he tugs on the cord, trying to get it away from me.

After many sessions of wrestling, I decided to give the alternative a shot.  "Fine," I told him, "You can hold it for Mommy."  Thus my new hairdresser was born.  Usually I end up sitting on the floor, moving my head all around in a pathetic attempt to get my hair somewhere near the stream of air.  It's less blowout than it is chasing, and I have to wonder if my hair is just drying from the air created by my head movements and not the dryer itself.  But eventually, it gets done.  Don't get me wrong - it looks awful, but it makes him happy.  And it's still better than truly air-drying.

So for now, I still don't have someone showing up at my house and pampering me on a regular basis.  But, I'm not dropping $300 a pop, and my blowouts are done with much more love than some random stylist would give me.  Not to mention, if the stylist ever dropped his pants in the middle of a blowout as mine is prone to do, that would just be completely inappropriate ;).

Noise pollution

When we bought this house, we were coming from an apartment that was directly across from the Long Island Railroad.  So at the time, even on our busy street, our house seemed like a quiet paradise in the suburbs.  We even laughed as the previous owners showed us that he'd had soundproof windows installed to dull the street noise... talk about overkill, we thought.  On our first night sleeping in the house, I remember that we had a tough time falling asleep because it was too quiet.

Cue real life.  Our house was built in 1924, so pretty much every move you make creates some sort of creak or groan.  The floors whine in protest of my ever-increasing weight.  The doors seem to want to squeak, no matter how much WD-40 I spray on the hinges.  "But they don't build houses like they used to," David tells me when I complain about living in what feels to me to be our own rendition of a PBS show.  I didn't sign up for "1920's house," yet here I am.  

Those of you who don't live in an old house probably have no idea what the problem is.  But have you tried putting your child to bed, voices of the sleep experts resounding in your head: always put your child down drowsy but awake.  So you try your best to do that, and start sneaking out when his eyes are too heavy to stay open and he's just moments away from dreamland.  And then, cccrrrrreeeeaaaakkkkk!  You step on the wrong spot on the floor and he springs up from the bed, yelling "Mommy stay!  Mommy lay down!" and all you can think is "f**king 1920's house!"  Sure, it's not the floor's fault.  Instead, right before I leave, I could start screaming, "Matthew, are you asleep yet?  Matthew, Mommy is going to leave now!  Can you hear me?  Matthew?" and then it wouldn't make any difference whether the floor creaks or not!

So out of desperation and necessity, I have learned a precise pattern of foot movements that will cause the least amount of noise when leaving the room.  I carried out the routine this morning and 3:15 a.m., after taking more than an hour to get Matthew back to bed.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I made it to the hallway without event, and then I pulled the door closed and sssqqqquuueeeaaakk... followed by "Mommy stay..." and me cursing under my breath.

I finally did get him back to bed - only to get into my own bed to find that my pillow had been stolen, the sheets had been "slept" off the bed (a phenomenon in which David manages to take the fitted sheet off the bed every night and leave it bunched in the middle of the mattress) and both man and dog snoring away like a matching set of giant and miniature chain saws.   As I wearily climbed into bed, I heard noises over head... the house settling, I presume.  Freaking 1920's house.

Tiny little giveaway

For my first giveaway, I thought I'd start small :).   I went a little crazy and bought too many of these, so I'd like to give one away!  This Carter's onesie will be perfect for your own little girl or to give away as a gift.  

 

Rules - really simple:

1. You must be a follower

2. Leave me a comment and let me know you'd like it!

3. Winner will be chosen at random on Sunday evening, July 19.

Size newborn - description below the photo!

She may be little, but she's got a lot of love to give. This girls' Carter's bodysuit is a must-have. Short sleeves. In brown/pink.

• "Little Sister" appliqué offers adorable appeal.
• Heart embroidery adds a lovable touch.
• Expandable neckline and inseam snaps make dressing a breeze.
• Soft cotton construction and tag-free neckline promise lasting comfort.
• Details:
• Inseam snaps
• Cotton
• Machine wash
• Playwear not intended as sleepwear
• Imported

I have some more exciting stuff planned, so stay tuned!