A busy day

Mom is taking Griffin on this rainy Saturday.

It will be me and Roger's first solo day and evening in 2 months.

Too bad I am all knocked up and cranky.

Plans for the day include
*clear out my trashed office to be transformed into a clean nursery.
*Drive into Snellville to order nursery furniture with Father-in-law.
*Go out to dinner.
*Try to stay up past 9 pm to go to a movie.

Isn't my life just SO exciting?

Indulgent mommy confession

Okay...here it goes.

I confess to you that I

still spoon feed Griffin his yogurt in the morning. I can't justify this overly indulgent behavior. I will say however, that we both seem to find joy in it.

I am animalistic...

Nesting instinct refers to an instinct or urge in pregnant animals to prepare a home for the upcoming newborn(s). It is found in a variety of animals (both mammals and birds) and can occur in human mothers as well.

Oh yeah...it's happening. I can barely see straight because my mind is cluttered for preparations for the arrival of Cohen. So much to do...in the meantime, I've packed my bag for the hospital, washed all the newborn baby clothes (smells so sweet), and I am listening to my birthing affirmations like my life depends on it.

Early morning musing

This morning at 6:30 am I was awakened by little fingers peeling open my eyelids by my eyelashes. It was Griffin, he had something to say.

"Mom, if a mermaid tried to wear pants, they would fall off."

This is what a child thinks about before sunrise.

I've decided to quit my bitchin!

I know that I've been feeling sorry for myself, for all the reasons that I listed the other day but I know in my heart that my life is really not that bad. I just like to bitch and moan, I guess.

I was talking to a dear friend on the phone the other day. Her husband has been working out of town for the last 6 weeks. Leaving her alone at home during the weeknights, lonely and bored. I was about to feel sorry for her and commiserate when she said something brilliant.

"It could be worse, like on Little House on The prairie when the crops died and Charles had to leave to find work, leaving Caroline with the children. All the women had to go out in the field and save the crops and one woman got real depressed and started freaking out and Caroline had to slap her. Remember that?"

I promptly congratulated her on having the uncanny ability to relate everything in life to an episode of Little House on the Prairie.

When I got off the phone though, that comment stayed with me. She's right, I have nothing to complain about. I don't live on the prairie with no electricity and I don't have to milk a cow for my family to have nourishment. I have running water and heat. I don't have to hop onto a rickety old covered wagon to go to town and deal with Mrs. Olsen's snobby attitude if I need something from the store.

NO, I just hop into my huge inherited Lincoln Towncar and hightail it to Kroger while me and Griffin listen to bad hip hop on the radio until we get there.

So, thanks Christine...for being so wise and bestowing the wisdom of Caroline Ingles on me. I love ya!

My camera has been kidnapped

Roger stole the camera for a project at work.
I feel blind.
That is why there have been no personal photos here.
He's almost done...

Then I will give you a peek into our world again.

My very own Groundhog Day

I'll be the first to admit that I am spoiled rotten because my parents live so close and are so involved in helping me with my life. Apparently it takes more than one person to live my life because I've been doing it solo and everyday has felt the same lately. It seems like all I do is load the flippin' dishwasher and fight through some sort of ailment.

Life has been coming at me pretty slowly these past 6 weeks. Each week has presented a new challenge as I set to the task of keeping up with my household duties, growing a child, wiping Griffin's nose for the 1000th time, throwing up, falling down, groaning as bend over to pick up toys, tossing in loads of laundry, folding clothes, cooking, etc. If it's a domestic chore or some sort of illness, then it's been on my list over the past few weeks.

I suppose that I should find comfort in my little routine. These past 6 weeks have not been normal at all with my mom out of town. It's been good for me though, to fly solo and take charge of the homestead. Even if every day feels the same, it's my simple little life.

Mom comes home day after tomorrow and with her arrival will come some much needed support. A woman here to celebrate the last days before Cohen gets here with some good old fashioned nurturing for a pregnant mama. She'll hug me and love on me. She'll tell me to put my feet up, she'll watch Griffin so I can get a root canal, go to see my midwife, and get a haircut without having to worry about what to do with Griffin.

Yes...with her arrival my very own version of a 6 week Groundhog day will be come to an end.

A new day will dawn before me!

My heart is full of gratitude

My heart is full of gratitude for this woman...
the lovely Scarlet Buckley.

Who calls me almost every morning without fail to see if I want to exercise with her. We've both been pregnant for 31 weeks and not once have I gone to the Y with her. Yet still...she calls.

I love Scarlet because we can call each other and ramble on about pregnancy symptoms and hormonal fears and we both take turns talking each other down from some form of panic.

I love Scarlet because she has a 4 year old son named Oliver who is Griffin's friend and we get together in the afternoons and let the boys play while we put our feet up and eat cookies together.

I know that after we have the babies in April that we will be there for each other. That we will call in the morning to see how that baby slept or to discuss breast feeding positions and latching on.

Yes...I am lucky to know the lovely Scarlet Buckley!

I'm about to turn

This morning I was so cranky when I woke up that I could barely function as a human. Roger compared me to someone who had been bitten by a zombie.

"It's like your about to turn at any moment and there is nothing I can do to help you, I'm just watching it happen, helpless."

Luckily I saw the humor in that comment. I could have very easily taken it the wrong way.

He is here to help me. He threw me in the shower and while I was in there, he and Griffin cleaned up the living room. Then I demanded that he get me a Zaxby's Zalad with Honey Mustard dressing. So off he and the child went to fetch me lunch. He told me before he left that after lunch I am going to take a nap.

Pregnancy is crazy...I feel like I've been eating crazy pills all day. I cry at the drop of a hat. I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world in my belly.

All I need is a good salad and a long nap.

Hopefully, I won't wake up a zombie.

I could use a little sexy...

My sexy is gone. There is not one part of me that feels frisky. Yeah...I feel round and with child and all fertile but sexy I am not.

So I am surrounding myself with sexy things. Like these two drawings by my second favorite artist Kirtsin Ulve. Oh to squeeze myself into a lacy black outfit sounds like complete hell and we all know that I will never look that good holding my swaddled newborn. It's fun to daydream though...to look ahead to a time when I'll get my frisky back. I know that it will eventually come back.

I just have to be patient with my pregnant self and not get too hormonal about the fact that when I gaze down, I can't even see my non-pedicured feet anymore.

I had to post this picture!

Here is a picture from the horrible fires in Australia.
Look at the sweet little paw on the fireman's hand!
You can feel the love and thankfulness.
I just want to bring him home
and snuggle with him all night.
Do koalas snuggle nicely with humans
or would I wake up with my face scratched off?

give in

I love this image by Nikki Mcclure. It is a reminder to me. Lately I have been fighting with myself a bit. I don't know why...survival, I suppose.

There has been so much for me to fight.

My mom is gone, nestled away in Colorado, set to the task of helping my sweet brother rebuild a life for himself. Everyday presents a new challenge for them

So, I fought feeling sorry for myself that my security left with her. She is such a huge support to me.

I fought back tears every time we talked on the phone. I wanted to cry all over her and say "What about me? I'm 29 weeks pregnant and came down with flu and I fell and my septic tank broke and I miss you and I want you here with me to hug me and tell me that everything is going to be ok.

I fought it...because we are all just trying to survive and the last thing she needs to deal with is a crying pregnant woman. She carries so much every single day out of love for her son. He trumped me...fall and all, he needs her more. She is selfless and gives and gives and gives. So, I fought back my own needs.

Until yesterday, I gave in and cried all over her. It felt good and she loved me through it. After the last tear fell and we said our goodbyes, I felt instant relief.

So I am spending this week giving in to the things I have been fighting.

Like the fact that I have a cavity and it gives me a constant headache and I have fought taking Tylenol because I am knocked up. I talked to my midwife today about it and she said "You need to take that Tylenol, take it until you get that cavity filled. The baby will be fine."

I give in...2 Tylenol every 4-6 hours until next Tuesday when I see the dentist.

Even more relief.

This morning at 6:15 am, Griffin rolled on top of me and said "Let's get up!" Why fight it? Just give in and get out of bed and don't be surly about it, I thought to myself. We had a nice long relaxing morning together-no groggy surliness from me.

I give in.

Lamenting bed time

We are indulgent about bedtime at our house. I'm sure that Griffin will need to talk many hours on a therapist's couch about our decadent bedtime.

Why not snuggle? Why not lay down in bed with him and rub his arm gently until he drifts off to sleep? I love telling Griffin this little story that I made up called "The Magic Pillow", it's a simple sweet story about a little boy that stumbles upon a pillow that tells him a magical story that helps him drift off to sleep. It's really a guided meditation where the pillow says goodnight to his body from his head to his toes and each body part gets heavy and falls asleep. I love laying next to him as he plays with my hair and I watch him fall peacefully asleep. Indulgence in it's finest form. Why not take the time for a decadent moment together? I mean, your only 4 once, right?

I am a big ball of emotion these days due to the fact that I am growing this baby we have coming soon at a rapid rate. The tears are easy to fall. I am slowly lamenting tender moments between Griffin and I that will soon need to change. Because Cohen will deserve a wonderful sleepy time with mommy too.
I hope that I will have the energy to give them both magical sleep.

Roger is going to take over Griffin's bedtime after Cohen is born because I will be nursing.
Although Roger enjoys that time with Griffin I can hear him attempting to tell him The Magic Pillow story over the monitor and Griffin will correct him at parts and say "Mommy doesn't tell it that way!"

We will find our way as a family, I know we will.

We will love each other through all the new changes that are coming our way.
Maybe I'll do bedtime with Griffin while Cohen is attached to my boob.
I'll just be a big a life giving, story telling, over-indulgent mommy
who can love both of her boys equally at once.

Our first sunny day...

Today it is Saturday and it's 71 degrees outside.

WE ARE OUT OF HIBERNATION! THIS MEANS SO MANY WONDERFUL THINGS...

freckles running free on my face...

A big round belly enjoying the sun...

First flower peeking out in the yard...

Warm feet, almost ready to be barefoot...

A happy kitty...

A lovely bike ride with daddy...

What I am doing these days

Growing this...
Reading this...

Leigh vs vacuuming

So about a month ago, my nasty old vacuum broke. It was a vacuum that needed to be put out of it's misery. Roger had purchased it in college and taken it apart numerous times to extend it's sad long life. It had lost it's will to suck junk off of the carpet. It made my vacuum experience a very negative one. I could go on and on about it but I'm sure that you're already bored of reading about my vacuum woes.

So, it broke down as Roger and I were doing a spring cleaning in the middle of December...mid-project. I put a call into my parents and asked if we could borrow their vacuum for a few days. My father lovingly delivered it to us and said he's pick it up after we were done with our uh-spring cleaning.

A few days went by and it was domestic bliss. The Dirt Devil Reaction has Advanced Design for Exceptional Performance and Quality.

Well, when the time came to return that bad boy, my dad announced that we could have it. he and my mom took pity on us and went out and bought themselves a new one.

SCORE!!! My life is so much better because of that Dirt Devil.
Selling points are

Patented D2™ Technology means excellent performance at the nozzle

Easy-To-Empty Filterless Dirt Cup - no messy interaction with the filter

HEPA™ filter - traps nearly 100% of common allergens and dust

I'll admit that I just cut and pasted that info from the Dirt Devil website.

This vacuum is RIPE!!!

So...the carpet can kiss my ass.

Leigh:1
Vacuuming:0

The battle rages on.