Things I Will Miss... or Not

Tomorrow we will close on our house and Friday is moving day. Yay!!! I'm really excited to finally get into our house, but I have to admit that there are a few things about the apartment that I will actually miss:

1. Being in walking distance to the grocery store (and a few other stores). I love being able to just put the boys in the stroller and do some grocery shopping (if I don't have too much to get) or mail off a package or get some lunch. I get some stares because people don't really tend to do their errands on foot here, but I feel like it's a little remnant of city-like living for me. I will definitely miss this.

2. The swimming pool/kids splash pool. Noah loves this so much and it's right in our complex. Now that the weather is getting hotter I will miss this a lot. There is a really fun pool and splash pool in the development we're moving to but the one in the apartment is directly across the street and open year-round (a plus in Texas, for sure).

3. Not being responsible for repairs that need to be done. This is very nice and will be missed a lot (remember my kitchen flood incident?). Our apartment even changes light bulbs for us.

Of course, there are a whole bunch of things that I won't miss too! Here are just a few:

1. Our upstairs neighbors. Nice people and a cute family, but they are so loud! And the kids are really rambunctious so we constantly hear them jumping off furniture and running around above our heads. Noah's always looking around with a confused look on his face saying, "What's that?" trying to find the source of all the constant commotion. Living on the first floor still beats having to climb stairs but still. I won't miss this.

2. Our next-door neighbors. They seem to really like each other a lot (wink, wink) but I'd really rather not hear it...

3. No yard, no garage

4. Not having a bedroom for Sam. My poor baby hasn't had a place to call his own since he was born. Since he wakes up at night I don't want him and Noah sharing a room. So Sam sleeps in the Pack 'n' Play in Ben's and my bedroom... until we're ready to go to bed and then we wheel him into the office for the rest of the night. Naps occur in one of those two rooms, depending on what I need to be doing during naptime. The poor kid never knows exactly where he'll be when he wakes up! He'll actually have his own bedroom in the house and we'll finally get to move him into an actual crib since we already ordered a big-boy bed for Noah to transition to. Who knows, maybe that will help him start sleeping longer stretches (fingers crossed)!

5. Paying rent (that's a given)

Migraines

Does anyone else ever get migraines? I get them sometimes and they really suck. I had one today, which started up while I was at the bank getting a cashier's check for our title company (we close on our house tomorrow). I'm sure the ordeal at the bank is what escalated my dull headache into a full-blown migraine. I went in to do a wire from our bank to our credit union but they said it wouldn't be guaranteed by the morning so then I wanted to do a check but didn't know the exact amount yet. So I'm sitting at the bank desk making phone calls to Ben, to our loan processor and to the title company while rocking Sam's stroller and bribing Noah (who was, very conveniently, acting as two-years-old as possible) with suckers and milk. I finally got out of the bank and by the time I got home (skipping all other errands) my head was killing me and I felt like I could puke. I was in rough shape - thank goodness for DVDs and naptime in these situations! Several hours later I still have the headache, but I am at least functional again, thank goodness.

Rough Go

This morning Noah got in trouble. Lately he has been teasing Sam (I can't believe this is starting... I guess teasing is in a boy's blood or something). He'll hold one of his toy cars out to him and then yank it away when Sam reaches out for it. Poor Sam gets so sad (just so you know though, Noah also has many moments of giving toys to Sam - overall he's a sweet big brother). Anyway, after gentle reminders to be nice to his brother and then stern warnings to stop teasing, I finally had to pull out the big guns. I took Noah's cars away and had Noah spend a few minutes in his crib. This did not make him happy at all. A few minutes after his release from time-out Noah layed down on my bed sulking and then said to me, "I'm having a rough go." We talked and hugged it out and then he sat up and said, "I'm okay now."

He's also lately been having fun playing in the walk-in closet. He likes to run inside, shut the door and wait for us to ponder, "Where's Noah?" Then he'll burst through the door exclaiming, "I came out of the closet!!!" :)

The Feminine Mistake

(Be warned, some serious ranting follows...)

My family and I just went out to dinner and then Ben and Noah needed to get haircuts. So while I was waiting for them at the haircut place I was flipping through magazines and I read an article in Glamour about "the feminine mistake" - which, apparantly, is quitting work to stay home with your kids. I probably don't have to tell how much articles like this bother me. Obviously, I'm annoyed on a personal level because I have done exactly that - quit my job to be a stay-at-home mom - so it's a direct offense to me and how I have chosen to live my life. But even more than that, I feel like these kinds of articles - along with "mommy wars" and working mom vs. stay-at-home mom debates - are so damaging to women in general.

I'm so tired of women being pit against each other all the time. In my opinion, it's hard enough to be a woman and a mother in our society. There is so much pressure to be everything and do everything and raise perfect kids. The last thing we need is to feel disrespected and devalued and to constantly have to justify ourselves. We should support each other and cheer each other on. And I feel like this on the flip side too - it also annoys me when working moms are judged and attacked. They shouldn't feel like they have to justify themselves any more than stay-at-home moms do. But I think both sides feel hostility from the other and so everyone is always on the defensive. Stay-at-home moms are portrayed as lazy and unambitious women with atrophying brains (the article I read today had a picture of a mom wearing slippers - like all we do is lounge around in our pjs all day) while working moms are portrayed as selfish and career-obsessed women who don't care about their kids. It's ridiculous! I'm sure there are lazy stay-at-home moms and I'm sure there are working moms who rarely see their kids. But this isn't the wide majority of either side. Most moms - working in the home or out - are fantastic moms who are doing the best they can, who love their kids and try to do right by them.

I just don't understand why women need to attack each other all the time. Why is it anyone else's business whether someone chooses to keep working after having a baby or not? We all make our own decisions and there are very compelling reasons, as well as advantages and disadvantages, on both sides. But why does anyone else care so much? If you think quitting your job is lame, then don't do it! If you think continuing to work is lame, then don't do it! But why the desire to tear the other side down? Shouldn't we all just be grateful that we live at a time where we have those choices to make in the first place?

Which leads me to another issue ("Oh boy," you must be thinking). I'm all about the feminist movement - for the most part. Our foremothers did a great job of demanding equal opportunities for women. But I think a HUGE oversight has been to devalue the (traditionally) feminine role in the process. Well, that wasn't an oversight so much as a deliberate tactic which I think has backfired big-time. It made the (traditionally) masculine role be the "better" one and totally demeaned the feminine. Rather, I wish that equal respect for the feminine had been demanded along with equal opportunity and freedom of choice. Now anyone choosing a more traditionally female role is somehow considered an enemy of the feminist movement.

So, to sum up. :) I hate mommy wars. Everyone needs to mind their own business.

And yes, I do realize that I need to stop taking these things so personally. I'm working on it.

Rant over.

Eight Months

Seriously, where has the time gone? Yesterday my little Sam turned 8 months. Here he is enjoying some quality time with his froggy.

I love this last picture - such a little ham!

So at 8 months, Sam:

• Still does not sleep through the night (which you are all well aware of from previous posts and probably sick of hearing about)
• Is finally starting to eat some solids - slowly (and very messily) but surely. So far he has tried rice cereal (which he will eat only when mixed with something else and warmed up), sweet potatos, squash, pears, peas, and veggie puffs. He's really not too keen on anything yet, but at least he's starting.
• Sits unassisted for about 3 seconds before flopping over (so I don't really think that counts as sitting unassisted).
• Rolls, flips, scoots, and army-crawls his way all over the place. Every time I look at him he is in a completely different place in the room. He is fast! It's very cute to see him army-crawl on his belly. He kind of grunts as he pushes himself along on his forearms.
• Is starting to get into proper crawling position. He'll push himself up on his hands and knees and rock a couple of times before lowering back to his belly.
• Gets mad when we take things from him that he shouldn't be playing with (or when Big Brother gets too territorial with his toys).
• Imitates sounds we make. One sound he likes to make is "ma-ma-ma," which of course I LOVE.
• Plays little games with us. For example, he likes to hold his hand up to our mouths cause he knows we'll kiss it and then pretend to gobble up his arm. When we stop he'll wait for a second and then hold his hand up for us to do it again. This is a favorite game for him to play with his Daddy.
• Is still just as smiley as ever. He loves people and will flash his biggest grin and do a little chuckle every time anyone looks his way.

Swinging Babies

This morning we met some other moms and kids at the park. Sam had his second swing experience (I forgot my camera last time) and loved it again. He was much more receptive to the idea of having fun on a swing than Noah was as a baby. Sam took right to it, but Noah definitely needed some convincing. He came around eventually though.

Here's Sam on the swing:

(swinging with my friend's baby Drew)

And here's Noah when he first tried the swing (at exactly the same age that Sam is now, within a week):

Noah's Perfect Day

Yesterday was a real banner day for my little Noah. Here's a run-down of the highlights:

1. When we left the apartment for our morning walk, we saw that the garbageman was here. We stopped and watched as he dumped the trash from the dumpster into the garbage truck (Noah was wide-eyed).

2. Midway through our walk we stopped at our normal stop so he could ride the horse and zebra toys on the side of the trail.

3. When we left the county building where I was getting our Texas car title/registration/license plates we saw a huge fire engine. Noah excitedly pointed it out so the two firemen inside asked if he wanted to see inside. Of course he did, so they lifted him into the truck, showed him around and let him pretend to drive. I SO wish I had had my camera. Noah was a little shy with the firemen, but couldn't hide his excitement. So cute.

4. While out driving we saw several school buses, vans, pickup trucks (this is Texas), dump trucks, giant excavators, and concrete mixer trucks. Heaven for a little boy obsessed with his trucks. Of course, after the fire engine experience, Noah wanted to see the inside of all the trucks.

5. Went to Barnes and Noble to pick up a new copy of My Big Truck Book, which has been read so much that our copy literally fell apart. Not only did Noah get the new book, he also got to play with the trains for awhile (with no drama this time, thank goodness).

As you can tell, almost the entire day revolved around trucks. That's just how it is around here lately. Noah knows all 40 trucks (I counted) in his book and reads it constantly. When we're in the car he'll recite it from memory in the backseat, taking breaks only to point out the various trucks he sees on the road.

So there you go - a 2 year old boy's idea of heaven.

A Little Much, I'd Say

So I was just reading an article on pampers.com about potty training. Here's an excerpt:

Life Is Unfair

As he sees it, your child is being required to give up part of himself when he goes to the bathroom in the toilet; it's something he has made, and he has to put it in an arbitrary and often inconvenient place... Then your child has to deal with the indignity — and even terror — of having his precious production flushed away, never to be seen again. The other things he makes are proudly displayed on the refrigerator. Why does this one have such a different destiny?

Is it just me, or does this seem like a little much to you? You'd think they were joking with this article, but they're not. Lest you think I'm making this up, (or if this beautifully-written excerpt has piqued your interest), here is the full article.

Just thought you'd all enjoy a little laugh! Or maybe now you can all go ponder the destiny of your poop.

Tickets and Shoes

This morning I got pulled over for speeding. UGH! It's completely my own fault obviously - I was speeding, with no good excuse whatsoever. And of course the policeman didn't simply give me a warning, I got the actual citation. I don't think I've ever gotten out of a ticket. I know there are women out there who do but I guess I'm just not charming enough. Anyway, so now I have to pay the stupid ticket or pay for the privilege of attending driver's safety school.

After I got back on the road I drove immediately to Nordstrom and bought some denim capris and these cute shoes (note: I used a gift card my parents got me for my birthday - thanks Mom and Dad! - and not money that will have to now be used for my ticket):

Nothing like a pair of green summer shoes to make you feel better! (That is, until you realize that two additional pairs of cute shoes could have been purchased with the ticket money, but I'll try not to focus on that).

Something's Gotta Give

This baby WILL NOT STOP WAKING UP AT NIGHT. Several times. Every night.

I'm tired.

I feel like it's fairly pointless to do any sort of sleep training so close to moving but come April, BIG changes are going to be made. Get prepared, Sammy - Mama's got plans.