Thanksgiving 2011: The Hospital Edition

Two years ago, in November 2011, I spent Thanksgiving night in the hospital.  I had been having some pregnancy related blood pressure issues, so my Doctor wanted me to be checked out before the holiday weekend.  At this point, I was already on partial bed rest.

Long story short, they weren't seeing what they needed to see on the fetal non-stress test, so they called in an ultrasound tech (yes, on Thanksgiving...poor woman) to take a closer look.  There are 4 things that they look for on the ultrasound, but, of course, then-unnamed Moosey failed to cooperate in the "breathing on her own" category, so we were forced to stay overnight.

This is the point where I should have been scared as hell, not of the potentials medical outcome, but of the fact that my sweet Moose was already being stubborn and defiant.  I was naive though.  Sigh.

We didn't have any family in town because they were all coming in two weeks later for Myra's arrival, so we had planned on spending the day with our good friends and their family.  We were responsible for the frying of the turkey (I never claimed to be classy).

Josh left to fry the turkey for our friends and then came back to enjoy dinner with me (he brought the food from their house, so at least that was good).  Our friends then came to the hospital later that night to hang out with me.

Honestly, at the time this happened, I was really upset.  I was scared, frustrated, and, let's face it, no one wants to be confined to a hospital bed on Thanksgiving.

Looking back though, while it may not have been the best Thanksgiving I have spent, it was still pretty damn good.  I was so lucky to be surrounded by a loving husband and supportive friends and to have family and friends all over the country checking in on my constantly.  I was safe and warm in a wonderful hospital full of people who acted like there was no place they would rather be.  I had a healthy, albeit stubborn as hell, baby in my stomach who was only two weeks from making her appearance into the world.

Sitting in that hospital room, I had so much to be thankful for.  And today, at my brother's house, surrounded by family, friends, and delicious food, I have even more to be thankful for.

Beyond thankful for this sweet little face (Thanksgiving 2012).

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone reading this.  I hope that this day finds you surrounded by family and friends, no matter where you are.

Car Conversations: Baby Names & 90210

A few nights ago, like most Americans, we were stuck in the car driving 6 hours to our Thanksgiving destination.  Because we have a toddler, the DVD player was on the entire time, taking away our opportunity for music, and thus forcing us to talk about random things.  Like baby names.

This is the conversation that ensued.  I am laughing just recalling it.

Me: How about Dylan?

Josh: No.  I don't like that name.

Me: I really like that name and I would be willing to use it for a boy or a girl.

Josh: There are three reasons I don't like it.  1. Bob Dylan.  I hate him.  2. Dylan (which is actually Diller) and Fisher Realtors and I hate them too.  3. Dylan from 90210.

Silence.

Me: Bursting into laughter.  Did you really just mention 90210?  Did you watch that show?

Josh: Dylan was the total bad boy.  We can't use that name.

Me: In hysterics.  Is this real life?  Did you seriously just reference 90210?

Josh: I didn't actually watch the show.  I just had friends who talked about it.  Riiiight.

Me: Any other characters that stuck out in your mind?

Josh: Brenda.  Can't use that name either.

Apparently, at least according to Google, this is Dylan from Beverly Hills 90210.

Unlike my husband, I never actually watched the show.

I shit you not.  This was our conversation.  I am pretty sure that the Shell attendant drugged his Red Bull because it didn't end there.

The conversation somehow shifted to Homeland, which is our favorite show.  As a sidenote, if you are not watching that show, you are missing out.  Seriously.  Go buy / rent it now.

Back on point, here went conversation #2:

Me: Do you think that Claire Danes looks crazy in real life because she has those super animated facial expressions?

Josh: Without pause.  Oh yeah, she totally made those faces on My So-Called Life.

Still not joking.

Does it even matter what my response was here?  No, it doesn't because he referenced My So-Called Life within 30 minutes of discussing, with a straight face, the characters from 90210.

And this, my friends, is what riding in the car with a toddler does to you.  Even though it wasn't a super long ride, the endless Elmo and Grinch apparently got to Josh's head.  Either that or the ride and Red Bull actually brought his true feelings to the surface.  You be the judge.

One and Done or Two and Through?!

Before I had kids, I always knew that I wanted three of them.  After having one though, I thought, "hmmm...maybe having just 1 isn't a bad idea."

The idea of 1 was first born because of my utter disdain toward pregnancy.  My husband and I both agreed that I could not go through that again.  It was downright miserable and straining on our marriage and would only be worse when you add a rambunctious toddler to the equation.  Compounding on those factors is the fact that, if I were to be that sick again, I would literally miss out on 9 months of my sweet Moose's life, which is something that does not sit well with me.

As Myra grew through infant hood, we grew comfortable with the idea of "one and done."  Amongst many other reasons, she started sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks and was an overall really easy kid and we figured that would never happen to us again.  Why tempt fate?

Last spring though, when Moosey was around 16 months, we started to reconsider.  While Josh and I were still fine with the idea of one, we started to feel guilty about the notion of not giving her a sibling.  He and I are both very close to our brothers and couldn't imagine denying her that unique sibling relationship.  The thought of her having to just hang out with us on vacations made me sad for her.

What sealed the deal for me was reading a blog post about a woman who had chosen to only have one child (for really great reasons).  She wrote about the rude things that people say to her (because people can't keep their damn mouths shut) and one of them was "don't you feel bad that your child could end up spending Thanksgiving alone once you are gone?"

Stupid, right?  Well, it totally got to me.  I turned to Josh and said, "that's it, we are having another child.  I never want Myra to be alone in this world."

I know, you can shoot a million holes in this argument.  I don't need you to though because I have already shot them myself.  She will have other family.  She will have friends.  There is no guarantee that she will get along with her siblings.  There is no guarantee that they will live close enough to get together.  Etc, etc, etc.  Stupid stupid stupid.

None of it matters though.  I just can't bear the thought of her being "alone in the world."  So, then, it was decided.  We would have another child.

Once it was decided that we would have another child, we decided to just go for it next year.  If we are going to do it anyway, we may as well just do it.  Plus, I am sick of hoarding baby stuff and the sooner a baby is here, the sooner I can get rid of swings, bottles, breast pumps, and exersaucers.

But, alas, I am now second guessing our decision again.  Here is why: I absolutely adore my sweet little family.  It feels complete.  I never feel like something is missing.

In fact, the thought of adding another child to the equation makes me a little bit sad.  I love my life with Myra.  I am lucky enough to work part-time, so she and I have settled into our routine, especially on our days off.  I love sitting with her in her room and playing "good morning" with her animals.  I love reading books to her while she sits on my lap.  I love cooking dinner while she sits on the floor behind me and cooks her "deep-a (pizza)."  I love going to Kroger with her and watching her "drive" the cart while simultaneously making her Lara Bars dance (yes, true story).  I watching her naked butt run to the bathroom every night to go "swimming in the bath."

Our family of 4 last Christmas. 

I love this little life that we have created and I worry what adding another baby will do to it.  I know that I would love my next child as much as I love Myra.  That isn't the issue.  What I struggle with is the fact that having another baby will significantly change our lives and, quite frankly, I don't want to change anything about our lives.  I feel like my life is perfect right now.

So, there it is, folks.  Talk about a first world problem, right?  Hell, not even a first world problem.  I know people who would kill to have just one child.  Trust me, I don't ever lose sight of that.  For me though, this is a huge decision.

What is your input?  Were you one and done?  Do you have multiple kids?  What was your motivation?

Boobies & Storytime

Today, I was a bit overenthusiastic.  I have no idea why.  Totally out of character.  It must have been the extra 15 minutes of sleep that I got before my morning work out.  For whatever reason though, I decided to stray from my normal, "let's to to Target and Kroger today, Moosey!" and go to storytime at the library instead.

We have done storytime exactly one other time and it was because we accidentally stumbled upon it when we went to the library to play with the toys and get a book.  I felt guilted into going into the story time room so that she could experience it.  I didn't love it.  It is just a bit too too cheerful for me.  Every single adult in the room, including myself has these stupid fake smiles plastered on their face while they sit there acting out the itsy bistro spider and the kids spin in circles and ignore them.

That being said, Myra liked it, so I felt obligated to go again today.  Good Mommy, right?!  Ha...read on.

So, here were are, sitting in this room with all of the other Moms and toddlers, and the librarian is reading Jamberry.  Myra is standing up half paying attention to it while I try to draw her into the story by taking about berries.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Myra lifts up her shirt, and yells, as loud as she can, "BOOBIES!"

No f'in joke.

Because someone in the next county may not have heard her, she then pointed at her boobies and said, with a very proud smile, "MYRA BOOBIES."

Keep in mind, this was at the library.

I seriously wanted to the floor to open up and swallow me whole.  Of course everyone stared, but no one laughed.  I am not sure if it is because they were disgusted with us or if it was because I was not laughing and they didn't want to make me feel bad.  I am going to choose to believe the latter.

Right after the boobie incident

I literally just sat there in shock.  I mean, what the hell does one do in a situation like that?!

Thankfully after that, she started to enjoy herself because they sang songs and played with instruments. That distracted her from her boobies.  By that time, I had gotten over the shock and was trying not to start laughing out loud because, let's face it, it's pretty damn funny.

And all of this happened before I had my coffee.  Sigh.  I guess that is what I get for being overenthusiastic.  I think I am going to stick to Target and Kroger next week...

How have your kids humiliated you in public?!

Motivational Monday #2: Unplugging (with link-up)

My name is Becky and I am addicted to technology.

There, I said it.  I am a victim of the "always plugged in" society.  The thought of an entire day without the Internet gives me the shakes.  

It wasn't always this way though.  Like all of you, I remember where I was on 09/11/01.  I was sitting in class at the beginning of my sophomore year of college.  The class was from 9:10 - 11:00 and I therefore did not hear about the events of 9/11 until around 11:15 that morning.  No joke.

I know, it's insane, right?!  When I think of it now, I can't even remember that of society,  I had a cell phone, as did probably most the students in the room, but apparently no one, not one of the 20+ kids in the room, kept theirs on.  Get that...we turned off our cell phones!  Gasp!

Now, I can't even imagine going somewhere without my cell phone.  My cell phone that, as of 3 years ago, has full Internet access.  Even more than that, I cannot fathom turning off my phone at any time, not even to sleep.  How would I wake up without my phone alarm?!

While I love technology and the Internet, I don't like some of the things that it has done to me.  For instance, I can no longer have down time.  It is like I have technology ADD.

And it is not just me.  Look around.  People can no longer just "do nothing" while waiting in line or sitting in a waiting room.  They are surfing the Internet on their phones.  People can no longer drive without talking on the phone.  As soon as we ("we" being the collective "we") wake up the morning, we immediately grab our phones.  God Forbid we missed something in the 7 hours that we were sleeping.  

It is crazy.  

This morning, I looked at the monitor and saw my sweet, sweet Moose laying there, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, and contentedly twirling her hair.  I was instantaneously both envious and in awe.  In that moment, it struck me that technology has taken that peacefulness away from all of us.  

Think about it, kids can just sit around and play for hours.  They can lay in bed and be happy doing nothing.  We, the victims of the "plugged in society," have lost that ability.  It is sad.

Baby Myra helping Mommy type an email.  

So, last spring, I made the choice to "unplug."  Before you either admire me, pity me, or both, hear me out.  I am not actually "unplugging."  I'm not trying to go into withdrawal here, people.  For the past 6 months or so, since Myra has started being more aware of her surroundings, I have unplugged while she is awake.  

What was my motivation for that?  Well, last spring, I was doing something on the computer and she wanted to sit with me.  I said, "one minute, Mommy is finishing something on the computer."  She looked at me and said, "no computer."  It was then that I realized, "wow, she gets it now and I don't EVER want her to feel like whatever is on my computer or phone is more important than she is."

That, being said, there are obviously calls, texts, and emails that I have to take.  And waiting for those things is a good life lesson for her.  Having to wait, however, for me to scan Facebook or read the news, is not the message that I want to send.  She needs to know that she is more important than anything that Mommy could be looking at on the Internet.

Today though, I realized that my motivation actually goes beyond that.  It is also about what I wrote above.  I don't want her to end up like me, being so addicted to the Internet that she can no longer brush her teeth without her cell phone nearby.  I don't want to see her lose that sweet childhood peacefulness.

Deep down, I know that she will eventually grow up and become like the rest of us, perhaps even worse because she will have technology that we never even dreamed of, but I want to shield her sweet innocence for as long as I possible can.

So, that, my friends, is my motivation for "unplugging."  Do any of you have an addition to technology (don't we all)?  Have any of you chosen to "unplug" while your kids are awake?

And now...check out this awesome blog hop!

The Motivational Monday Link-Up is a way to share inspirational posts with other blogger friends. Monday can sometimes be a day of the week that we dread, especially after a great weekend, so let's inspire and motivate each other every Monday! So let's go, let's share those posts!

1. Follow your hosts.

2. Link up as many Motivational posts as you want.

3. Share this hop so others can join in.

4. Visit at least 3 other blogs and give them some encouragement.

5. Leave a comment with blog url so we can follow back!

                        Courtney                                  Shannon                                            Becky

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