Such a fool!

Okay, I did it and what an idiot I am. I broke my own rule! I thought I was doing it right, that I was justified. I thought my voice was calm and my point valid.

But I was wrong. There is never a good time to enlighten your husband to a habit he has that concerns you. It doesn't matter. It makes no difference that I thought I was being helpful or that changing this could improve the well being of our child. Who cares that other people seek out and pay handsomely for my advice and counsel? I will now pay the price for stating the obvious!

I couldn't leave it alone. I couldn't smile and think of the cortisol that is building up in his body causing him to retain fat. I couldn't turn a deaf ear or a blind eye. So now I will suffer.

So, note to self -- Let it go and leave it alone. No good deed goes unpunished. As the great one, Dumbledore, says, people are much more apt to forgive you for being wrong than for being right!

A Week of Firsts....

This week marks a week of firsts for me. I have gone back to the gym for the first time since this time last year. Moo and I went to our first Mommy and Me class (which had me breaking out into a sweat!). I saw the first color explosion in the trees in my neighborhood (talk about a riot of color! Whew wee!!) Tomorrow will be my first day of >8 hours of office work since the arrival of the Moo! Sure I have had several practice runs without him, but to be away from him that many hours in one day is a bummer. I will work from 8 to noon, take a 2 hour break with my sweetie, then head back to the salt mines til my class ends and I can haul butt back from Madisonville from my class. I have a sneaking suspicion that class may be cut short!

But with Spring coming, so does promise! The promise of warmer weather, longer days, pretty flowers, greener grass (and for me, greener bank account), and better still, summer! It is that time of renewal that I have been missing as I recuperate and settle in to this new phase of my life. I can't wait to see what other exciting firsts are to come!

My Favorite Things

I have heard a lot of sad things today... sick babies, sick friends, people passing away...really crummy stuff. It has been bringing me down, I must say! So in the spirit of cognitive restructuring, I have decided to take the advice of the Sound of Music and remember a few of my favorite things, cause then I won't feel so bad!

Holding Moo
Moo Smiling
Petting a Clean Wechsler
Bear Hugs from Randy
Banana Popsicles
Cotton Candy Perfume
Bare Escentuals
Scrapbooking Day on QVC
Long Hot Showers
Freshly Shaven Legs
Finishing a Scrapbook Page
Bojangles Chicken
Boat Rides on Barkley Lake
Harry Potter Books
Sunny Days over 75 degrees
Capri Pants
Funky Shoes
Flannel Pajamas
Driving a Convertible
Trips to Scrapbooking Stores
Grilled Chicken Salad from Rafferty's
Ferrell's Double Cheese Burgers
Sleeping In
Acing a Tennis Serve
Gilmore Girls
Elmo
Rice Krispy Treats
Ice Cream where you Mix the Stuff in
Manicures and Pedicures
Black V-neck T-shirts
Philosophy 3-in one body wash and Purity Made Simple
Max Factor Lip Finity
Ham and Pineapple Pizza
Sunscreen that smells like coconut
Long Walks
Zebra Cheesecake
A funny, clean joke
Hearing a great song on the radio

Hope you will share a few of your favorites too!

Nesting again?

What is this strange compulsion I am having to get my house clean and organized? Usually I try to tidy up before the housekeeper comes on Tuesdays, but this feels different. I want things arranged, put away, together. I am filling trash bags and putting them in the outside bin. I am trying to get my new scrapspace in usable condition. I am even making some projects. I am decorating. I (with help from Randy) got "Mattie Moo" hung in the nursery, mounted a display in the scrapbook room, and reshelived all of the baby books. I have even taken a wild fling at writing in Moo's baby book. I was thinking that tomorrow I might go through his closet and get all of the clothes he can't wear anymore and put them away. Am I going insane? Or does my body know that I am heading back to work soon and will not have the time to pursue such projects? Or maybe it is Spring Fever finally kicking in. That would be nice. I would love some warm fresh air to blow the cobwebs out of my brain and out of our house.

Of course, I know I should have started on all of these projects weeks ago, but alas, I too this poem to heart...

I hope that my child
looking back on today
remembers a mother who had time to play.
Children grow up while you are not looking.
There'll be years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So quiet now cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
~ author unknown

Hey, at least (unlike when I was pregnant) I have not gone out with the desparate need to purchase FIVE jumbo packages of toilet paper!

Can I Get Workers Comp for This????

I thought I was having a heart attack today. My right arm was in a great deal of pain. Then I realized, I have strained it from carrying around the darn carrier! This is beginning to make me wonder -- am I on the go too much?

I know my husband thinks I am, but I have Cabin fever big time! I can't sit in this house much longer. I do try to avoid crowds and keep him away from sick people, but on the other hand, I figure the more we get used to public places, the better he will behave when he gets older. I have a mom friend who always comments about how she cannot take her child to restaurants, and I always wonder if it is not because the child hasn't practiced.

No I am not going to let my child give you indigestion while you eat or ruin the movie you paid 1/2 a week's salary to see, but don't be surprised if you don't see us out and about, although, next time I think I will take the stroller!

Baby Sittin' Blues

I have had three glorious months at home with my son! They have been pretty great. I never would have thought that I could enjoy hanging out so much with someone who doesn't talk! But once again, I have turned into one of those women. The same thing happened when I got married. I was never going to be one of those people who asked unmarrieds why they didn't have a fella, but put a ring on my finger and watch me be the national spokesperson for wedded bliss! I still can't believe that I ever questioned whether I wanted to live la vida married. And now here I am -- weeping freely at the prospect of leaving my child with a babysitter four days a week. There is a part of me that would love to just stay home full time or take a few odd jobs every now and then, but short of hitting the powerball or winning one of those Food Network contests, that is out of the question.

So now I am on the hunt for the perfect babysitter. I didn't think my requests were too unusual or demanding, but apparently I was wrong. I have had people tell me there is no way they can be here by 7:30 or would rather me come to their house (yeah like I can get in my car with a baby, drive to there house, get my baby situated, get back in my car, and drive back to work before 8:00!). Or the want twice the going rate or they want to leave by 2pm! Ugh this is a nightmare. But I keep my fingers crossed and my prayers said that God will send us someone very special for our special little guy! I know these experiences will make me cherish those days off I take to be with the Moo. My mother always recounted with fondness my experience with the babysitter. Wonder why she didn't tell me it was so hard for her?

Goodnight Telephone???

So what is the problem? As a mother I have been trying to instill the classics in my child, so we began reading Goodnight Moon. But now I am concerned. Why you ask? I am wondering why we do not say good night to the telephone. If you are at all familiar with this important piece of children's literature, then you know the first page reads: "In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of a cow jumping over the moon...." In the course of this bedtime story, you point out all of the things in the room and say good night to them, but not to the telephone. Worse still, you say good night to 'nobody,' but not to the telephone. I feel bad for the telephone. I have posed this concern to several friends, some of whom are librarians, others whom I consider very astute individuals, and no one can tell me. In fact, they contend they have never even noticed this sin of omission! Of course, I wonder why a kids really needs a telephone in his or her room, especially at a young age, but if it is there, should be not say good night? So today, I rise in defense of telephones! Say good night to yours!

Am I really a mother?

I have officially been a mom for 11 and a half weeks! There are times I cannot BELIEVE that the good folks at the hospital really let me bring this child home. (Quite frankly, I am still in awe that the people at the pet store so blithely allowed us to bring home Wechsler the wonder dog all those years ago!) But Mattie Moo is wonderful! He is so loving and sweet, even at this young age. I can't believe Randy and I got so lucky! Maybe the people at the hospital knew what they were doing after all.

I am amazed at the changes that have happened in our little man in such a short time. He has already grown from 8lbs 1 oz to over 14 lbs! I still get a little misty each time he out grows an outfit. He is already smiling regularly (and not just when he has gas!), and the doctor says that anyday we can expect him to roll over. He has almost even got this how sleeping through the night thing down.

I have to say, I am having to eat a lot of my words! (The same thing happened when I got married!) I never believed the stories about losing your memory once you had a kid, but sure enough, I have shown up in stores TWICE with a baby in tow, but NO purse. I also never thought I would be one of THOSE WOMEN who just wants to hang out with her kid and watch Sesame Street all day, and I darn sure wasn't going to get sucked into buying theme toys, but I have to say it has taken every ounce of self restraint I have not to buy the Go to the Doctor Elmo! (The only reason I haven't is that it is rated for 18 month olds, and Mattie, while advanced, is not even 3 months!)

In any event, I think I am going to like this whole mom thing! I know I can get better with some practice. I am trying to savor every moment and NOT get caught up in wishing and longing for the time when he can [insert an advanced developmental milestone here]. I do love this little guy and want to do right by him, no matter what. (I guess that is why I make sure he has a steady supply of breast milk even though he has no interest in being breast fed!) Hey, maybe that is what being a mom is all about!