I realized, shortly after posting it, that many of the readers of this site might not have a New York Times account with which to view the article about mommy blogs.
Here's a username and password you can use to read what I think is a great article. It comes courtesy of Bug Me Not, which is a site that provides logins to "free registration" sites so you don't have to share your own info.
username: blarglefish
password: blargle
Now click here for the article.
So Bill and I were sitting on the couch the other night with Maddie. She recently got a little cold and was fussy. Her nose was stuffed up and she kept trying to clear it herself. Finally, as Bill and I watched, her little finger found the opening to her nostril and dove in. In, in went her little finger. We stared in amazement.
Then, well, then...
Then, my darling sweet daughter flipped her finger out of her nose, flinging possibly the biggest booger I've ever seen right onto my leg.
Bill and I stared at the booger on my leg, and then at each other, and then both fell on the floor laughing. Maddie smiled. We're not sure if it was out of satisfaction for what she had just done, or the fact that both Mommy and Daddy were giggling like middle school kids.
The kid's nothing if not talented.
My parents made it to Atlanta today, despite the horrible driving conditions caused by the southeastern ice storm. Regina and Mic will be joining us in the next day or two, and it'll soon be time for our Tuesday morning delivery.
With family in town, I doubt Alecia or I will get to post much over the next few days, at least not until the baby comes. So if you're on pins and needles waiting for updates, I suggest checking out some of the other baby-related blogs on the web.
The New York Times just ran an article about "baby-blogging" that mentioned a handful of blogs that Alecia and I follow. We both read Dooce. Alecia also reads Mimi Smartypants (and is currently reading the novel "Little Earthquakes" by blogger Jennifer Weiner), while I read Fussy and Finslippy on a daily basis. It's all great stuff. The theme common to each of them is that parenting is much harder, messier, and funnier than you'd ever guess. A lesson we learned the day Maddie was delivered, but one that it never hurts to be reminded of.
Anyway, if you get a baby story jones, check out the Times article or one of the links above. Or if you want a slightly more demented baby fix, check out the scariest sonogram I've ever seen. (Click on the picture that pops up to see what the kid looks like outside the womb.)
We officially have 6 days left until Jelly Bean arrives on the scene! Less than a week and our new daughter will be here!
I had my final doctor's appointment this morning where we confirmed all the arrangements for the c-section next Tuesday. Assuming all goes as planned, we'll all arrive at the hospital at 7am, I'll go in for the surgery at 9am, and Jelly Bean will arrive into this world around 9:15am. And despite worries about it being flu season, Maddie will get to meet her new little sister in the hospital later on that morning.
Talk about surreal. Even more so is the fact that we came home to find the nursery bedding (on "backorder" now for about 6 weeks) finally here on our doorstep. So now the nursery is all ready for Jelly Bean as well. (I know that means nothing to Bill and some of you other guys out there, but it means alot to this nesting mama.)
We're so excited too that both of our families will not only get to be here for her birth, but also that we'll all get to spend some time together. Bill and I realized that our parents have gotten together only twice in the 6+ years we've been together. It will be nice to have the whole family together. Good times will be had by all!
Good job on the comments!
Here's the next set of pics. If you thought the spaghetti was messy, wait until you see the horror of THE CHOCOLATE PUDDING!! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!
I uploaded some pictures of Maddie from last week. We've been trying to take more random shots of her. We don't want to miss out on capturing these precious moments because we're so eagerly awaiting the next big event.
Anyway, click here to see the new pics.
You should also know that I have about thirty MORE pictures uploaded at the moment. But I'm not going to link them right now. After all, we can't be sure anyone's even coming to the site. I mean, we put up about a dozen posts in the last week, including pictures, video and news--and only got one or two comments. If you're reading this stuff or looking at the pics, and want us to post more, let us know you're out there!
I'll link the new pictures after I get five new comments. Sounds like a fair deal to me. :)
Coming soon, to a delivery room near us...
If you're on a broadband connection, you can stream it live (translation: choose "open"). If you're on a slower connection, you may want to save it to your desktop and watch it from there (translation: click "save").
Movie size: 4.7 megs
A very Happy Birthday to Poppa (Ralph) today. We love you and can't wait to see you soon!
The above ad was created off of this image.
Here are a couple of very cute videos if you feel like watching something.
This one is really cool, but a little strange and may freak out the kids: Click Here
This one is very kid friendly, and much cuter than the first one. Turn up the sound and Click Here
Both videos launch within their own page, and may take a minute or two to load. And don't worry, this isn't one of those scary surprise thingies. They're real animations.
So the nurse called on behalf of my doctor today and gave us the news: We're still going for the February 1st c-section date. She wants to be absolutely sure that Jelly Bean's lungs will be mature, and there will be no respiratory problems.
I'm surprised at myself, but I'm actually okay with the news. I guess all the doctor's talk up until now about an early delivery had me anxious about the whole thing, but I suddenly feel totally fine about waiting another 2 weeks. And of course, I want whatever's best for Jelly Bean's health and well-being. Yeah, the contractions are a pain (haha) but after a few months, what's another 2 weeks of them? This will work out best anyway, since we planned and hoped for both sets of parents to be there for her birth and share in the experience.
One thought did occur to me today, though, that has me a little verklempt. I realized that my hospital stay with Jelly Bean will be the first time I've EVER spent a night away from Maddie. It's hard to believe, but in all of her 15 months, we have never spent a night away from each other. I have absolutely no doubts about how the grandparents will do taking care of her, but it just seemed like such an odd thought that I'll be away from her for the first time since she was born. Heck, she even roomed in with me every night I was in the hospital with her.
In other non-baby related news, anyone a fan of the show "Lost"? Whaddya think so far?
Alecia got home earlier than expected and gave me a call. It turns out that she's still only dilated two centimeters, so it's not certain whether they'll move the date up for us or not. She only met with a midwife today, and the doctor's the one who needs to authorize a change in schedule. So we won't find out until tomorrow if it's going to happen.
Otherwise, Alecia has two more weeks of contractions and other symptoms, and we won't meet Jelly Bean until February 1, 2005. :(
Try sitting in your office, twelve inches from your phone, waiting for your wife call and tell you when the baby will be delivered. Her appointment was at 3:30pm, so she's probably just getting to see the OB/GYN right now.
I expect her to get home and call sometime between 4:30 and 4:45pm. If she keeps me waiting too long, I may pull my hair out.
We really haven't been taking enough stills lately, but those we took this weekend are now up.
First off, thanks to Todd and the lovely Amanda for watching Maddie last night, so Alecia and I could get out of the house. We didn't pay them for the babysitting gig (though the meal we got to eat in peace and quiet and the coffee talk at Borders was priceless), but Maddie did do a table dance for them, for whatever that's worth.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know we have NOT had the baby yet. I also wanted to say that I appreciate at least a couple of you honoring the request for no calls the other day. (The ones who did call claimed they didn't read the site...we actually believe a few of them.) When the baby does come, we'll definitely call. But today was not that day.
Since yesterday was a payday, we spent today grocery shopping and running errands. Alecia and I have decided to plan out our evening meals a little better, so we had a very specific list to stick to this time. The meal planning is intended to stop us from buying so much junk food and eating so much mac & cheese. We figure Maddie will never learn good nutritional habits if we keep eating like college kids. Plus, we want to work more "green" into our diet, and planning the meal before buying the veggies should help ensure that we have a plan for them besides letting them grow sprouts in the fridge.
The meal planning should also save us money in the future, since it should keep us from buying so many random non-foods. Of course, we didn't save any money today, since we stopped at Sam's Club first. Sure, we'll eventually eat the ten pounds of California Blend vegetables and the pillowcase-sized bag of frozen chicken breasts. But did we need them all this week? The girls seemed to enjoy the shopping, though. Maddie liked the free samples at Sam's (especially the Cinnabons), and Alecia liked the chance to get out of the house one last time before she goes on house arrest.
Maddie didn't only like the samples at Sam's, by the way. Because of the wide aisles, we let her walk around a little. As usual, a handful of people remarked on how cute she was and how well she walked for her age (though they really meant "for her size," since they all thought she was younger than she is). But the most notable moment was when Maddie walked up to a middle aged black woman and reached to be picked up. The woman was startled, but after seeing that we didn't mind, lifted her up. Maddie was totally comfortable in her arms, and wouldn't have noticed if Alecia and I had walked away (of course, I was never far enough away from the woman that I couldn't have snatched her by the dreads at a moment's notice). We know she doesn't have any separation anxiety, but could she at least not make us feel like she doesn't want to be with us in public?
After all the money was spent, we returned home to eat leftover pizza and watch the Falcons game. Well, one of us watched the game, at least. We put Maddie to bed around 8:30 (by which time the Falcons were already two touchdowns ahead), and Alecia took a bubble bath and went to bed soon after. (But not before frantically cleaning any tiny mess in the house, of course. You know, just in case the baby comes overnight, and we have houseguests by morning.) The game just ended a half hour ago, so now I'm goofing off online. Let's hope the Colts kill the Pats tomorrow and start the ball rolling for a Colts/Falcons Superbowl. If that happens, I'm driving to Jacksonville and going to the game. Jelly Bean will just have to come early or late to fit into the playoff schedule.
Anyway, Alecia's contractions have faded into the background again, so she's starting to believe the baby won't be coming over this holiday weekend. Despite the fact that the other pre-labor symptoms continue to occur (most of which are too gross to name), I actually heard Alecia tell her mom today that she thought we'd make it to her Wednesday doctor's appointment, and reschedule the c-section at that time. I think she's probably right (although I've probably just jinxed us).
Like we said before, we'll give you a ring when we know anything. And if you want to talk about non-baby stuff, the ban on incoming calls is lifted. But please don't greet me with "Have you had the baby yet?" or "Has her water broke?" or "You're not at the hospital?" everytime I answer the phone. Not only is it not that funny (hey, NOBODY is more anxious to have this baby than us), but it's also not very original. Try to show us a bit more creativity than that! :)
I'm using this site to extend a huge apology to my saint of a husband. I freely admit the fact that I have not been the most pleasant person to be around lately. In fact, I've been a huge grump.
Part of it is anxiety about this baby coming, part of it is physical uncomfortability (constant contractions!), and maybe part of it is even hormonal. Either way, I've been so careful to spare my grumpiness and impatience from Maddie... but that leaves Bill and the dogs and I'm afraid I'm so exhausted by the end of the day that they receive the brunt of it.
I'm sorry and I love you. You've been so patient with me and deserve someone who's a little more pleasant when you get home in the evenings. I'll try harder over these next couple of weeks.
Love,
Al
Maddie's Uncle Todd got a new digital camera for Christmas and sent us some pictures right after the holidays. I actually uploaded them a while ago, but forgot to link them.
Sorry, we have no new pics of Maddie for now. We've taken a lot of video lately, because she's become quite the comedienne. But we haven't taken many stills. We'll try to take some this weekend.
By the way, Alecia's contractions have spaced out slightly, as I hoped and expected, so we should be fine for today. :)
Okay, let me begin by asking that you do NOT call us today, unless you have news of your own to give us. We will let you all know, through our phone tree, if we have to go to the hospital to have this baby. So while we love talking to every one of you, please let Alecia and Maddie rest. Maddie was up until almost midnight, and needs to nap so that she doesn't drive Alecia nuts. And Alecia's feeling something herself, which I'll tell you about now that I've issued that warning.
Alecia had one of her OB/GYN appointments today, which are now weekly since we're only TWO AND A HALF WEEKS away from the delivery. Earlier, I mentioned that Alecia lost her mucus plug (barf!), which the doctor confirmed. She also told Alecia that she's now dilated to two centimeters, and that we'll most likely be moving the date up a little bit. (Again, DON'T CALL.)
At the beginning of the week, Alecia had a couple of days with barely any contractions and only fluttering from Jelly Bean. It was her most non-painful two-day stretch since getting pregnant. So, of course, she worried that it was the calm before the storm. By the time she went to her appointment today, her contractions had started up again, and they've been very close and very consistent since getting back from the doctor. This news should be taken with a grain of salt, however, since she spent her non-contraction days running errands, hanging out with friends, and shopping...thus, wearing herself out. When she's tired, her contractions seem to pick up. So the contractions she felt before the doctor's visit could just be her body reacting to her overexertion.
As for the increase in contractions since the visit, it's anyone's guess. It could be a little stress added to the aforementioned exhaustion. When Alecia was told that we're progressing nicely and might not make it to February, she had a panic moment. When I got home from work, she was super-cleaning the house (again, over-exerting), and was in the worst mood because she thought things weren't ready for the new baby. I'm not saying her contractions are self-inflicted (she'd kill me if I even implied that, which I wouldn't do), but her stress and fatigue always makes them worse. And Alecia also told me today that "examinations" from the OB/GYN can sometimes trigger labor. If an exam can serve as a trigger, I'm sure it can also act as an irritant.
Basically, I'm trying to say that the contractions may be reactions to something other than the baby being ready to come out. Even the doctor had to admit that the baby could still hang out until our date. There's no way of knowing. So, though signs are pointing to an early exit, it might not happen that way. For now, Alecia's trying to rest, and hoping that the contractions space themselves back out. If they're still so close and consistent (or worse) when she wakes up, it may be go time. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
So be warned that things could come early (maybe even today!), but don't worry about us for now. We're ready for this baby, no matter what Alecia thinks in her panic moments. And we promise to CALL, CALL, CALL when ANYTHING happens that is worth noting.
We'll talk to you soon.
All our love, Bill
I had a craving for some beef-flavored Ramen noodles this weekend, so I made myself some for lunch. As I walked to the sofa to eat them (no, we don't eat at tables) Bill remarked, "Nice soup." I didn't get it, so he went on to explain that I made them wrong. He said they're supposed to be made with less water, more like a pasta dish. I declared, no, it's more like soup where you eat the noodles and then drink the broth afterwards. Thus began our Ramen Debate.
I was happy to notice today that the packaging actually says "Ramen Noodle Soup".
So how do you eat YOUR Ramen Noodles?
Earlier this afternoon, I was getting some work done on the new baby's room while Alecia and Maddie were watching Blues Clues in the family room.
The show was apparently about hurting people's feelings. I could hear one of the friendly animals talking to Joe, the host. "Purple Kangaroo made me angry," the voice said. "What should I do?"
At this point, I could hear Alecia shout out, "Kick his ass, Duck!" Of course, Maddie--who doesn't know the meanings of words, but likes to repeat them--chimed in, "Kick ass! Kick ass!"
Man, do I love my girls. :)
What does it say about the future of our daughter when her favorite music to dance to is The Wiggles and/or Tone Loc?
It's been a while since we updated everyone on how Maddie is doing, so I thought I'd do so now.
Many of you got to see her at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but believe me when I tell you that she seems like a completely different little girl already since then. I've said all along that each age she's been has been my favorite, but this age is my favorite so far. Her personality just shines through and she is absolutely funny. She keeps Bill and I entertained in the evenings. Not only is she into imitating everything right now, but she'll also do just about anything to get a smile or laugh from someone. A class clown already.
She's quite the little jabbermouth, too. Her repertoire of words has expanded from "dog" and "cheese" to just about anything. She will attempt to say just about anything you say to her (which is hilarious in and of itself) but also comes up with phrases on her own. We taught her "please" and "thank you" a while back, and it's pretty funny to see where she'll pull them out in random situations. She's also taken a new interest in the dogs, petting them and giving them kisses (unfortunately for her, she likes to kiss open-mouthed and ends up with a tongue full of fur). She'll chase Mallory around the living room, saying "Mow-ry! Mow-ry!" She's not into saying Sindri's name just yet.
As Bill mentioned in his previous post, we've been preparing for Jelly Bean's arrival by working on moving Maddie to her Big Girl Room, complete with all her toys and a full-sized mattress and box spring on the floor. We decided to do this rather than a toddler bed since she was still too short to climb into the toddler beds at the store. She loves to jump on her mattress and be silly. Plus, the bonus is that we can use it for a guest bed, or for when Mommy is tired and wants to lie down with Maddie for a while. (not that that ever happens, no...) She loves her room, which is great and not-so-great. Getting her to actually fall asleep in the room has been a challenge. We introduced her to it just before Christmas and she had no problem taking naps in there during the day. She just grabbed her blanky and pacifier and climbed right into bed for a nap. Then Christmas came and her bed was given up for visiting relatives. Since then, she just wants to get up and play whenever we put her in her bed. So now, Bill and I have started the habit of putting her to bed in her crib and then moving her, half or still asleep, to her big girl bed where she sleeps the rest of the night. (We keep a safety gate at her doorway so she can't get out and roam the house at night.) Now, the struggle begins to try and get her to fall asleep in there. I've tried everything from lying down with her and reading at night, to watching one of her Princess videos in bed with her, etc. I'm still going to keep trying with her naps during the day, but I'd welcome any suggestions anyone has as to how to get her fall asleep in there. It's not a rush, by any means, as Jelly Bean will probably sleep in the pack n' play in our bedroom for the first few weeks, but it's still something we'd like to work on.
Other than that, we've had some great warm weather recently and Maddie has enjoyed playing outside in the afternoons, helping Mommy get the mail, and throwing the ball to the dogs. I felt so bad for her today when it rained all day and we couldn't go out. She stood at the door, pointing and giving me such a pained look while saying "Out?"
I hope everyone is doing well. I love the updates we've gotten so far on the message boards and look forward to seeing more about what's going on in everyone else's lives.
I think Def Leppard said it best:
Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on
Livin' like a lover with a radar phone.
I'm not sure what the crap about the radar phone means (was that before cellular?), but I get the part about love being like a bomb. When you live with a woman who's been pregnant for roughly two years, love is SO like a bomb...and I'm not even talking about the explosive mood swings.
"Hey sweetie, I'm pregnant again!" BOOM! "It's another girl!" BOOM! "Let's remodel the whole house to prepare for it!" BOOM! "How does one more mouth to feed, one less salary sound?" BOOM! "Just three weeks until the baby comes!" BOOM! "Ouch, my contractions are really close together!" BOOM! And then, last night, "I lost my mucus plug today!" BOOM! BOOM!
(By the way, isn't "mucus plug" the ugliest phrase in the English language? Actually, I may know some that are worse, but this is a family site.)
I don't know if I was supposed to share the mucus plug part, but if you still had the idea that childbirth is a beautiful thing, I hope that shattered it. It's amazing, but incredibly gross. And it's looking like we might get grossed out a little sooner than expected this time.
Our delivery date is February first, but I'm starting to freak out about the possibility of an early arrival. Alecia assures me that the loss of "the plug" can sometimes happen several weeks before the arrival of a second or third child. But all I can think of is how it happened the morning that we went to the hospital last time. We're both looking forward to baby number two, and I KNOW Alecia's ready to be done with all the pregnancy stuff. But it would be so much better if Jelly Bean could just wait until her scheduled date. That way, we'd have a few more weeks to get Maddie adjusted to her new room, for me to catch up and then get ahead at work, and for us to pick a freaking name. Not to mention the fact that an early arrival would mean that much of our family wouldn't be here for the birth.
So, Jelly Bean, if you can hear me, STAY IN THE WOMB. Just for a few more weeks. Heck, you'll only be wasting your time if you try to come out now. Mommy's got this little thing called "pelvis disproportion," and that means that you can't come out the normal way. So if you have it in your head to come early, I'm just going to lose the car keys.
I just added a new feature to this site: message boards!
For those of you not familiar with the concept, message boards are places you can post messages and have conversations. Not immediate, back-and-forth kind of conversations like you'd find in chat rooms, but the "leave me a message and I'll get back to you" kind.
I thought these would be useful, since our comments are a woefully inadequate way for our friends and families to communicate about anything other than what we post on this site. If you have exciting news, you can now post it on the message boards so everyone can see it. That way, you don't feel like you're adding your news to the end of a random post.
Alecia and I will both check the message boards daily, so feel free to post away. You'll have to register to post, but it's painless. And your info goes to me, not to some company, so it's safe. Once you register with your email address, you can check a box when you make a post so that you're emailed when someone replies. That way, you don't need to check the message boards to see if someone replied.
Anyway, use these boards however you want. Play around with them, and let me know if you have any questions. I created a few categories, but tell me if you want me to create more. And feel free to make polls or post pictures. If you can't figure out how, ask me!
The link to the message boards will always be to the right of this main area. If your mouse is lazy, though, you can also click here, for now. :)
I just finished Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. (one of the gifts from Bill's parents - thank you!) It was just as good as I'd hoped. The novel follows the intersecting lives of 4 new moms and how they handle new motherhood while balancing their other relationships. I could definitely relate, but on another level, it really opened my eyes in other ways as well.
You see, I realized I've been pretty Pollyanna-ish about this whole Jelly Bean thing. Maybe it was the drugs during Maddie's birth, but I seem to have completely wiped from my memory the long, sleepless nights that a newborn brings. And the chaos. And the "oh my gosh, what have we gotten ourselves into?" feeling. Maddie sleeps great now, in comparison to when she was first born. We are actually pretty spoiled. But it's all starting to come back to me now. I think it's starting to hit Bill too, even though he didn't read the book. Maybe that's why we've spent all week so far alternating between taking as many naps during the day as we possibly can. Too bad you can't store up sleep like you can other things.
Other than Little Earthquakes I've also been reading Happiest Toddler on the Block and The Non-Designer's Design Book (gift from Rob and Marcia) and, of course, What to Expect When You're Expecting (again). The last fiction I read were Dan Brown's The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons. Both excellent enough that I lent or gave away both copies of my books to others to read.
What are you reading or have you recently read that you thought was really good?
