What I Grew on my Summer Vacation

Happiness is cheap groceries and a new baby

So I actually dared to take my THREE children to the grocery store Monday. We had to use the car cart, of course. E rode in the front, Spider was in her car seat which I (gasp) snapped into the child seat part (thus making loading groceries into the cart rather interesting), while Reenie insisted on walking and "helping" me by pushing the cart and picking out groceries to put in it.

And let me just tell you, I flipping ROCKED the Albertson's Store Monday. I spent $56 and saved... $89 . Yes, you read that right friends. But wait- there's more. I still haven't sent in my $10 rebate which means, I essentially spent $46 and saved $99. Who rocks? Yeah, that'd be me.

Grocery savings powers aside, I would like to post about how happy I am right now. I fell like I have the opposite of postpartum depression. Call it postpartum elation, even. Having a third child has been VOLUMES easier than I thought it would be. Of course, it helps that Spider is an awesome baby as far as sleeping goes, and we are only a week and a half into this parenting three kids thing. But seriously, I am adjusting incredibly well.

I feel so blessed to have this new baby. My family just feels more complete now, though we might not be done, I feel as if we were we'd be okay. I love having a baby again. I love the little noises she makes, I love smelling her and holding her, I even love changing her little tiny diapers. I am so in love with this itty bitty miracle.

I could not have asked for a better labor either. It was of course, labor, and therefore had the accompanying pains, but it was the first labor that I actually had time to mentally get in the game. My first labor was induced with pitocin and was 3 hours and 45 minutes of hard and fast contractions while I was stuck in a bed with no pain medication. The second labor was 75 minutes and was filled with the panic of "are we even going to get there in time?" This time my water was broken by my midwife and six hours later Spider was here. Still short. The labor itself was only about 2 or 3 hours, but the contractions came on slower and the hard part of labor--transition-- had a lot less mental anxiety for me, and I am sure this is because of my many prayers said before and during the event. (I of course offered many prayers of thanks afterwards as well.) I got one stitch and my body is loving being un-pregnant.

And to top it off, I have felt so much love and support from my church family. I just can't believe how many people visited me in the hospital and who have called and offered to do things since I've been home. And of course all the food that has been brought to us. It has all been so wonderful and I feel so happy and content.

Seriously, does life get any better than this?

She's HERE!

Baby Spider has arrived!

6lbs 2 oz, 17 1/2 inches long. Tiny, tiny, tiny.

But doing well. Best labor yet-- all natural.

And I am loving having a wee one again.

The Big Day Comes Soon

Monday.

Monday is the day that my nurse-midwife will break my water, because I have fast labor and want to make sure I am actually at the hopital for the birth. (Reenie's labor was 75 minutes, please don't be jealous).

Monday is the day that we will wait for Baby Spider to come.

Monday.

The Big Day.

I have more anxiety than I thought humanly possible.

Because I know what is coming. Excited as I am to meet this baby, I don't really want to experience the process. And it is scheduled. Which means that I know when it is going to happen and I am going voluntarily.

Is it too late to back out of this?

You'd Think I was a Robin or something...

The nesting has gotten seriously out of control....

How many crazy things have I done to my house in my very pregnant state? Let's Review:

In the past month and a half I:

*painted thewalls in the "eating nook"

*painted and stenciled the family room walls

*went crazy hanging up photos and mirrors that had been lying around for months

*did some creative work in the baby's room including painting a picture frame with a picture of a little girl praying in it and putting up vinyl lettering

*completed numerous baby preparation shopping tasks

In the past couple of weeks I:

*wiped down all the lightswitch plates to get the fingerprints off

*wiped down the walls for the same reason

*cleaned toilets when I thought I might be in labor (four hours of contractions 5 minutes apart)

2 days ago I:

*organized my closets

*went through all of Reenie and E's old clothes and separated and labeled them by size

*sewed burp cloths that I intended to make when E was a baby

*sewed a bib for Reenie out of tablecloth type vinyl that I intended to make for E when he was her age

Yesterday I:

*sewed more kites for E and Reenie's room

*had Charming help me rearrange our family room furniture (I LOVE it)

*decluttered my entire main floor

*vacuumed

*cleaned my bedroom

*wiped down my cabinets

*got on my hands and knees and cleaned under the cabinet in the place where the garbage can usually is

*wiped down the front of my fridge

*wiped out a drawer in my bathroom that's been bugging me for awhile

That's It.

4 days until the big event. What else needs to get done?

Young= Bad?

Not to unnecessarily revisit this topic, but today there were 3, yes 3, cups in the cubby when I went to put mine in. Gross-osity.

Okay, on to today's topic.

Does it bother anyone else when older celebrity moms talk about how they're SOOO much better of a parent now than they would have been if they'd had kids in their 20's?

It sort of offends me.

Not because I have a problem with older moms... I just happen to be a mom in her 20's who doesn't think that I am a crappy mom because I am in my 20's.

Fair enough?

The thing is, how do they really know that about themselves? How can they really say they are a better parent now than they would have been then? Less selfish now? More mature now? I don't know. Personally, I feel like at whatever age you are, having a baby changes you. Becoming a parent forces you to be less selfish, forces you to grow up because all of a sudden your life isn't just about you anymore. Someone very small depends on you entirely, for everything, and that really makes you have to step up and be an adult.

And you can make comments like, "what about Britney Spears?" and that kind of thing, but really, do we think she would be that much more mature in 20 years? I think for the most part the non-mature parents are the people lacking education, who quite frankly would probably be the same type of parent at 20, 30, 40 or 50. And all parents do make mistakes, even Britney.

Am I way off?

I hope I haven't started any controversy here, but I just don't like being made to feel bad about being a young mom.

Monday Morning Confessions: Things I have gotten used to, but will not miss when they are gone

Another pregnancy post. (Stick with me, I've only got a week left!)

1. The drool

I have grown accustomed to this little "habit" of mine that occurs everytime I sleep. I will not miss my wet pillow when this pregnancy is over.

2. The neck sweat

I don't know what it is, but whenever I sleep, I sweat profusely between my chin and neck.

3. The pains

Not really used to them yet. Yesterday I had sharp pains in my left leg and ahem... buttocks every time I walked around. Won't miss them.

4. Waking up multiple times a night

Oh wait, this one isn't going to go away. At least it won't be because I have to pee. At least there will be an actual little person who will be happy to see me, instead of just cold, heartless porcelain.

Your turn. Any unpleasantries in your life, that you've gotten used to that could go away and you'd be glad to see them go? Fill me in.

Burning Question

Does anyone else have one random light in the house that is always on? For no logical reason? Mine is the laundry room light. Why it's on, no one knows.

And, FYI- the last few weeks of pregnancy are torture.

The Urine Sample

Yeah, I am not going to be pregnant for much longer, so I figure I better talk about all the pregnancy topics before it's too late...

But before, I get going on this one, many of you commented on the last post about loving the increased bust size during pregnancy. I wanted to mention that I liked this as well, but did not care for the stretch marks on the associated appendages. In other words, as exotic as it sounds, "Tiger Boobs" are not that great.

Okay, so the urine sample. At my current nurse-midwive's office, you pee in the cup and put it in that cubby thing in the wall. Am I the only one that secretly fears that just as I am putting the cup up there, that the nurse will open the other side at the same time? Not that it's that big of a deal, I mean whoopdy-doo, she saw me and identified me with my own pee, but still. That'd be a little weird.

And is anyone else grossed out, when they put their own cup up there and someone else's cup is there too? Last week, I faced near crisis when there was not only one cup up there, but two. Two cups of other people's pee, and to make matters worse, they were placed in such a manner that in order for me to put my cup up there I would have to move one of them. In other words, I would have to touch the cup of someone else's pee. I think I finally just used my cup to kind of shunt the other one over, praying that no spillage would ensue.

Of course, the pee sample at the doctor's office is not near as bad as the dreaded 24 HOUR URINE SAMPLE. If you have never had to do this, pray you never will. I had to with my first pregnancy because I had pre-eclampsia. Oh my word. Every time you pee, you must collect it, and pour it into a big orange jug. This big orange jug must be kept... dunh, dunh, dunh... in your refrigerator! Aahhhhh! So gross. I remember being so relieved after I had done it, glad I would never have to do it again. Yeah, I think I did about 3 more of those that pregnancy. Sick.

So yeah, any thoughts? Yes, I know I have just asked you to comment about pee. But c'mon, we've all had to do it at one point, pregnancy related or not.