im hungry and im pregnant. don't mess with me or my food.

I don't care who you are - you have a story that relates even some-what to the story I'm about to tell. I don't care what you say, you've been there! Whether you were PMS'ing, stressed out, sleep deprived, pregnant (that was my excuse) or just really really hungry (my other excuse), you can relate. We all have these irrational moments - at least once.


A couple weeks ago (let's say it was a Tuesday night) I was looking in the pantry for a snack. I spotted a lone coffee cake (yumm). I told myself right then and there that I would ask Kevin not to take that coffee cake the next morning because I already had dibs on it for my Wednesday morning breakfast. That night, I forgot to tell him. The next morning I was still in bed, but awake, while Kevin was showering. I told myself "when Kevin gets out of this shower I'm going to tell him that coffee cake is mine!". Of course I fell back asleep and forgot to mention it when he woke me up to say goodbye. A little while later, after I'm showered and dressed, I go to get my coffee cake (thinking maybe Kevin didn't want it anyway) but it was gone DUM DUM DUMMMMMMM.

I was now hungry, running late, and had "nothing else to eat" at the house. I'm half way to work when Kevin calls me just to lovingly see how my morning was going. This is about when I bit his head off. Our conversation went something like this:


me - how was that coffee cake this morning?


him - i didn't eat it yet, why?


me - because that was supposed to be my breakfast today. now I'm starving and have nothing to eat and have to wait until 12:00 to eat


him - you can stop by my work to get it?


me - *now with a raised voice* and be even later to work? I can't do that. I'm just going to STARVE!


him - but I didn't eat it yet. my work is on your way


me - it's not on my way! I don't have time for that.


him - stop and get something to eat then


me - i don't have any money



Tears were rolling down my face at this point. That's right - I'm crying over a coffee cake.

the conversation didn't last very much longer, but you get the gist. Once I got to work I walked over to Dunkin and get myself a muffin.


Of course I tried to apologize to Kevin a couple times throughout the day, but I had obviously annoyed him.

Later that day we're eating dinner and Kevin tells me "so, you know when you were yelling at me this morning about the coffee cake? Well, Danny was standing right there and heard every word. When we hung up he asked me why you were so upset. I had to tell him it was because you were pregnant and wanted a coffee cake. He couldn't believe any one person would get that worked up over a coffee cake". I'M MORTIFIED!!! I asked Kevin why he didn't tell me someone was standing right there, but I guess that's what I get.

It get's better. When Kevin finally ate the coffee cake at lunch time, Danny asked him if he wanted him to take a picture of Kevin eating it and send it to me via text message. Kevin graciously declined. Clearly Danny has never dealt with a hungry pregnant lady before - and Kevin has.



I'm lucky to have such a wonderful, understanding, and forgiving husband. He later stopped by the grocery store to get a few necessities and also picked up 2 boxes of coffee cakes.

his birthday, continued

Well, I finished my blog yesterday and Trent continued his nap. He napped for a good 2.5 hours. During his nap, Kevin came home from work and the two of us started to put together Trent's birthday present right away. We were 98% done when Trent woke up. Before I post a picture of him and his present, I want to give a little background info. Actually, there are 2 different background stories. First Story: I had this toy as a child and from my recollection, I loved it. I remember the day my mom "accidentally" sold it in a yard sale. And I even remember being too big to use the toy at the time it was sold (so who can blame her for selling it)- but I was still very upset about it. Every time I'd see this toy (on tv, at the store, in the neighborhood, whatever) I'd tell Kevin the whole story - "i had that toy and I loved it and my mom....". It got to the point where he'd see it and say to me (sarcastically) "did you ever have that?". ha ha. real funny Kevin. In the end, it really meant alot to me to be able to give Trent this gift.

Story #2: Our trip to OBX this year was our first family vacation as a family of 3. While in line at a souvenir shop Kevin spotted a rack of small novelty license plates. These plates are metal and say "outer banks" and are then personalized with peoples names. Surprisingly, they had "Trent" so of course we bought it. While putting together Trent's present last night Kevin had the genius idea to incorporate that souvenir license plate in place of a generic sticker. See below!

After we played with the car for a little bit, we had dinner and a little left over birthday cake (no, it was not even close to fresh or moist), then it was bath time and "hang out" time. We acknowledged his birth when the clock his 7:10pm and I recreated his first seconds in the world, complete with a fake push then a *pop* "it's a boy". Ok, that's a slight exaggeration (very slight, actually. I really am that gross). Then I had a sentimental moment where I seriously thought back over the last year and reminisced. I love my life!

Here is another random picture of Trent on his birthday.

We go to the doctor later today for his 12 month well visit! Stay tuned.

arrrgh....wipe me booty PART 2

Earlier this week I mentioned that I made a couple onesies for Trent. One was an iron-on transfer that had either a pirate ship or a skull and crossbones (i don't remember) and it said "arrrgh, wipe me booty". I thought it was the cutest thing, so come Monday I sent Trent to daycare wearing it. What does he do? He has a blow out. Poop everywhere. Linda (daycare) had to change his outfit. Of course he hasn't had a blow out in months, so I stopped sending spare clothes to daycare. Thankfully Linda has clothes in every size left over kids she has watched in the past. Unfortunately, however, all she had in his size was girls clothes. His options were purple pants and no shirt, or a floral onesie. She went with the onesie. White onesie. Pink flowers covering it. Pink lacy trim.



She warned me ahead of time that this happened but we purposely kept it from Kevin. When he picked Trent up at the end of the day, all he could say was, "what is he wearing???". This was especially funny because Kevin was complaining that Trent was playing with a purse at daycare just the week prior.



I'm not even at the best part yet! Ok, here it is: I arrived home an hour or two after Kevin got home and Trent was STILL IN THE PINK ONESIE!!!!!!!!! It was creepy to see him in girls clothes!!

Mother of the Year

I'm so honored! Check out my video clip

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=f2AckiUe96juu_WpaIiuxDE0OTUzMDAx&referred_by=17251836-NuUh2px

redheads attack

Kevin, Trent and I went to the mall on Saturday to get lunch (they have an awesome pizza place that, unfortunately, was closed. booo). We ended up getting pizza (from a place not nearly as good) and some Auntie Annes pretzels for dessert. While standing in line at AA I took Trent out of his stroller and was holding him, waiting for our pretzels, when all of a sudden I have this woman by my side telling me, "Red hair and blue eyes.....I have one of them too!! And don't worry, everyone asks me 'where does the red hair come from' too". She said the "where does the red hair come from" part in a whiny, mimicy voice. Let's face it, you can only be asked the same questions so many times, and i totally understood where she was coming from. Her husband, who took a minute before realizing his wife was no longer by his side, wheeled around and brought their baby girl up to meet Trent. Husband and wife were both brunettes.

After talking for a few more minutes we found out our babies share the same birth day! What are the chances? Lets face it, Newark is pretty small and redheads are sparse.

I have to admit though - I see redheads more now than ever before! It's like when you get a brand new car and suddenly you see that same make, model and color everywhere you go.

(leaving the mall Kevin says to me, "you're going to blog about this aren't you?" hahaha)

things that make ya say hmmmmm

Driving back from lunch today I saw an older man (60's maybe) waiting at a bus stop with no shirt on wearing a rooster hat.

oh, pardon me

sometimes when I'm pumping, the shield will lose suction and make a loud fart noise. I can only imagine what passersby think.

rainsin bran anyone?

As I've mentioned before, i pump my breast milk three times a day at work. After each pumping session I put the milk in a cooler, then put the cooler in our company refrigerator. Nobody other than myself ever sees the actually bottles of milk.



Some of my coworkers don't acknowledge that I pump at all, while other's will occasionally comment on it, "how long do you plan to breastfeed?" and "my wife...". There's one coworker in particular that has no problem cracking a joke or boldly asking a question about the whole process in general. I have to walk by his office to get to my pump room and sometimes he'll yell out, "good luck pumping" or "good pump day today?". It's funniest when someone else hears him say/ask stuff because you can tell they don't know how to take it. Is he allowed to ask that? is he being serious? is she going to get mad? is she going to file a sexual harassment suit?



So several weeks ago this guy (lets call him milk-boy) started bringing in milk so he could eat cereal at work every morning. Does he bring in a normal milk jug? Course not. He brings it in in a water bottle. You know when you go to the grocery store and buy a 24-pack of water? that size bottle. What is it, 12oz? I don't know. One day him and I were talking about it and I told him that someone was going to think that was my breast milk (even though I have been storing my milk for months at work and never once has it been on display....I just know the kinda guys i work with). Weeks go by and nobody has commented to either of us about it....until today! Apparently milk-boy was in the kitchen when another coworker was loading the fridge with soda saying something along the lines of, "I'm putting my milk up here next to Barbie's breast milk". Milk-boy could have let him continue thinking it was mine but fortunately he let it be known that the milk was actually his. He went on to make fun of the guy for thinking I would pump my milk into a water bottle, haha. To you average person who knows nothing about pumping, this might not sound strange (and I'm honestly surprised milk-boy realized it would be weird to pump into a water bottle) but for me, the image of me pumping my boobie juice into a water bottle makes me giggle.



I can only imagine what other people here (at work) might be thinking.....

milestones

We had a feeling Trent has been teething for a little while now but being new to the whole baby thing, we really didn't know what teething *looked* like. We heard stories of excessive drooling, chewing on things, and waking up in the middle of the night howling in pain. The pediatrician informed us that Trent is in an "oral phase" right now, which is another reason why Trent would be putting everything in his mouth and drooling. And boy has he been drooling lately!! I felt Trent's gums last week and noticed they felt flatter and harder so I continued to check them daily just in case something was happening. I even told Kevin I thought teeth were going to pop thru any day now. So tonight we were at a BBQ and I put my finger in his mouth and TA DA! I felt teeny tiny rigid spikes poking thru his gums. When I looked (which wasn't easy, as he's really into sticking his tongue out right now) i saw the beginnings of a tooth popping through. I was/am very excited!

Another milestone (or maybe not?)- sleeping on tummy. With all the rolling around Trent has been doing he learned that he actually likes sleeping on his belly. I guess it started last week soemtime. Kevin or I check on Trent and 75% of the time he's on his belly with his butt in the air and his ankles crossed. It's adorable.

This next bit isn't exactly a milestone, but it's funny/gross. Yesterday we were at a friends house for a BBQ. They had a couple kiddie pools set up for the kids in attendance so we decided to put Trent in his swimsuit and see if he liked the water. He didn't like it at first but warmed up to it in no time. He was just sitting then when "pttttttt" (or however you spell the sound of poop) there was baby poop spreading from Trent. Yup, the only little boy at the party managed to gross all the girls out and make them have to get out of the pool. Kevin emptied the pool and then we tag-teamed the task of changing our very very very poopy baby. It was......well, funny.

He certainly isn't afraid of dogs...no matter how big or small

what's her name

The other day I was hanging out on my front porch with Trent, just minding my own business, when I saw my neighbor walking over towards me. We chatted for only a few minutes about my son and his grandson. He asked me the usual questions: "how old?" "where's the red hair come from?"....then he asks, "what's her name?". REALLY??!!!?!? He went on to say the outfit Trent was wearing confused him (a green sleeper) and then he referenced the androgynous character It's Pat from SNL. All I could do was apologize to Trent when the neighbor left.

want to know how to make Kevin feel awkward?

Whip your boob out in front of him.

As i mentioned before, when Trent was about a week old my friend Joy and her mom came for a visit. Kevin had run out to Pathmark before they got there so he wasn't around for the initial greetings and warning that there'd be breastfeeding happening in the living room. Joy's baby was hungry after the long car ride so she fed him as soon as they got to our house. She sat on the couch and whipped her boob out and did her thing. I warned her that Kevin would feel very uncomfortable seeing her like that when he got home, so being respectful of that, she said she'd cover herself when he walked in. Well, Kevin came home and basically paused at the door for a split second then bee-lined it straight up the stairs into our bedroom - GROCERY BAGS AND ALL.

I couldn't tell ya if Joy covered herself in time or not. And I don't know if Kevin saw breast or not. But either way, he definitely knew what was happening on that couch and he had not prepared himself for it. Us ladies all got a good laugh out of it but poor Kevin.... he wouldn't come down until right before they left and I had assured him that all breasts were put away. It's a good thing he didn't buy any perishables.

6 months later Kevin and I take Trent to visit Alicia and her newborn. Kevin walks in and looks to his left only to see Alicia nursing her baby!! Granted, Alicia had a pillow barricade up so she wasn't exposed at all, but Kevin knew exactly what was happening over there and felt very awkward. He basically just turned and left the room.

Once again everyone got a good laugh at Kevin's expense.

You'd think he'd be used to it by now.

Oscar, is that you?

A little back story about me. I work for a consulting engineering firm. We do electrical, mechanical (HVAC) & plumbing design for local commercial buildings. We do alot of schools, MBNA, Gore, office buildings - you get the picture. I work under an electrical engineer doing computer drafting & some design. I can layout receptacles, lights, size conduits and equipment, etc. The more complicated stuff is left to the engineer to figure out. Anyway, I draw these things on the computer and we print them out for the contractors. Back in the day these prints were called Blue Prints. When we get a new job, one of the first things we do is go out to the job site and document the existing conditions - we call this Surveying. I actually helped design the electrical work for our new local YMCA and Kevin ended up being the electrician on the job.

a side note: I pump my breastmilk 3 times a day at work, everyday. This milk is sent to daycare the following day for Trent to eat. It's ok to miss a pump here and there, just so long as you aren't too consistent about it - as your body will start to produce less milk.

Ok, here's the story. A few weeks ago my boss asked if I would go on a survey with him up in NJ. He informed me we would be gone all day. I knew my supply (milk supply) would be ok if I went 8 hours without pumping, but I also knew my breasts would become very full by the end of the day, and in turn I would become very uncomfortable - so I brought my pump with me. Everyone I work with knows I pump (I don't know who thought my pumping would make for good gossip, but it got around quickly), and as you've probably figured out by now, i have no shame! So there I was with my tape measure, floor plans & pump. We were wrapping things up (around noon) when my boss said he needed to check out one more thing and that I should just wait for him. I took this opportunity to find the bathroom and pump. I looked on our floor plans and saw that there was a ladies room on the second floor. When I got upstairs I saw only 1 person on the entire floor. It was mostly just abandoned cubicle walls everywhere. So I finally track down what was supposed to be the ladies room, only to find that its actually a unisex bathroom. Inside I found one stall, one urinal, and one sink. No lock on the door. No outlet to plug the pump into. Do you see where this is going?? Fortunately, I thought ahead and brought 8 AA batteries. That's what it takes to power up the pump when you don't have an outlet to plug into. So I enter the stall, lock the stall door, crouch down on the dirty floor, get the batteries in place, etc etc...i start pumping - then creeeeeek. In walks the ONLY GUY on the entire second floor. And wouldn't you know it, he's on his cell phone talking away. I'm sitting there in a panic. What should I do?! Should I wait it out and hopes he leaves without noticing I'm there. Do I quick try to make a break for it and leave before he notices me? I thought he HAD to know I was there - my pump is kinda loud "eeeee rrrrrrrr eeeeee rrrrrr" - but maybe he didn't notice it since he was talking away on the phone. Well, I didn't know what to do so I started to pack everything up. I finally decided to flush the toilet just so he knew he wasn't alone (i didn't want him to do anything too embarrassing thinking he was alone [as if talking about the how drunk he got last night and the crack he did wasn't embarrassing enough]). I got no reaction out of him after I flushed the toilet but at least he knew someone was in there. I decided I was just going to wait for him to leave the bathroom then wait a minute and leave myself (hopefully unnoticed), when

"Hey Oscar, Is that you?"

He was now off the phone and talking me.

My heart skipped a beat. "umm, no. but Ill be out of here in a minute".

At this point I'm not sure who panicked more. He kept apologizing as he finished up at the urinal (eek) and washed his hands. Then he told me it was "safe to come out now". We both had a good laugh about the whole thing and made witty little remarks to try to lighten the mood.

Once out of the bathroom we parted ways in a hurry. I went back downstairs to wait for my boss for another 5 minutes or so - and he went who-knows-where. My boss finally came around and we headed out to the car. But guess who was also outside near the car. Yup - Urinal Guy. To make things even more awkward he puts his arm around me and told me I was a good sport. We made a few more jokes about the whole thing then said goodbye and left. In the car my boss asked me how I knew whats-his-name. I just said we ran into each other upstairs. Luckily I dont go to Jersey much.

play date

My girlfriend, Joy, had her baby boy only 4 days before I had Trent. Since the boys are so close in age its been fun to talk to her about everything they are doing and the milestones they are reaching. Not only are the boys close in age, but their weight & length have stayed very close to the same - give or take about 6oz. When Trent was about a week old Joy and her mom brought Baby J up to visit but we haven't seen them since! We tried to get together a few times over last few weeks but it just didn't happen....until yesterday. We sat around with the boys, talked, had lunch, shared stories, etc. Later we hopped in our cars and headed up to the Birth Center in Wilmington for a mommy support group. It's basically a group of woman and their babies sitting around talking about anything and everything. Coincidentally there was a CPR class going on at the same time so we got to learn some stuff in addition to meeting new people.

A semi-funny story: Joy is my breastfeeding buddy. She is the only person I hang out with that does/has breastfeed. Her mom is a lactation consultant so I find myself going to her and her mom for advice, support, and answers to my questions. I have absolutely no problem breastfeeding in front of her, or other breastfeeding mothers for that matter. I guess it's because we are like-minded on the topic and we all feel its one of the most natural things a mother can do. On the contrary, i am extremely uncomfortable doing it in front of other people, including my own mother. I feel that society isn't as accepting of breastfeeding as perhaps they should. I wish i were braver and cared less about what others thought and hopefully with time that will change for me. One of these days I will be out in public with Trent and have no choice but to breastfeed - that'll be an interesting day! Ok, here's the funny part: I went to this mother-baby meeting yesterday assuming Trent would get hungry and I was prepared to breastfeed in front of these women I didnt know. I figured, "no big deal, these women will be breastfeeding too"....Well, we walk in the room, sit in the only spot available, I look to my left, and who is next to me? 2 guys! Not something I was prepared for. they came with their wives for the CPR portion of the class! go figure. I will whip 'em out in front of my husband but there is no way I'm ready to whip 'em out in front of strange men (or men I know), even if they are with their breastfeeding wives and almost every other woman in the room did it with no problem. I'm just not there yet. I simply laughed about it and when it came time to feed Trent I took out the breastfeeding blanket I had in my bag and covered myself! Trent was happy. I was happy. The world didn't end.

Overall I had a REALLY good time and hope to do it again soon! I'd love for my friends and I to start our own baby group and rotate between houses. My friend Michele was induced this morning. Her little one should be here any minute if she isn't here already! Alicia is due in 3 short months. Megan has her cutie-pie. Michelle has 2 little ones. Liz has 1. Chrissy has her two beautiful boys. And there are others. Maybe This Spring Ill invite everyone to my house for a little mommy & baby play date kinda thing. mommies of youngins, let me know if you're interested.

she she she

I forgot to mention - this past Saturday we took Trent to the bank to open up a savings account in his name. The girl who helped us was a complete idiot. I'm not referring to the fact that she had no idea how to open a savings account, I'm actually referring to the fact that she repeatedly referred to Trent as "she" and "her" even though he was dressed up in a blue furry thing and even after we told her that his name is Trent. She commented, "oh I like that name. What's her birth date". Kevin and I kept looking at each other out of the corner of our eyes and smirking. It got to the point where it was hard to keep from laughing. Eventually Kevin told her that Trent was actually a boy.

metamorphosis

Back in April of 2006 (I cant believe it was so long ago) a group of us (myself, Kevin, Mike, Amy, Elisa & Susie) went up to Philly to this rock roll climbing gym, and then we all headed down the street to Dave & Busters for some lunch & fun. As I'm sure you know, Dave & Busters is all about the arcade games, etc. Well, they had/have this one machine they call The Gene Machine. This machine required a male and a female to enter separately and have their picture taken. It then morphs the two people together to form what they believe the couple's child will look like. Don't ask me why but Kevin and I decided to do this. Afterwards we all had a good laugh and gave the picture to Kev's mom to cherish forever (haha). Fast forward to last night - two and a half years later - we all went out to dinner and guess what Mrs. Woodland hands me!? You got it:

Now you see why i said "we all had a good laugh". Not the most attractive little guy is he? I surely hope our baby doesn't come out with that massive double chin....or the off centered head.

The anticipation is killing me

Its coooool to pee your pants

pee. we all do it. multiple times a day in fact. but oh how we take it for granted. Maybe its not so much the act of urinating that we take for granted as much as its the ability to hold and control our bladders. Well, im loosing control. Im not lossing complete control - my body just likes to randomly surprise me from time to time. Maybe it'll happen when i sneeze. Maybe it wont. Maybe ill laugh a little too hard. Maybe it takes more, maybe it takes less. Has it happened in public yet? no. Did i pack a duffle bag with spare pants and put it in my car this morning just in case i pee myself while at work in the next 5 weeks? yes, yes i did. Having an "accident" at home is one thing (Kevin already knows how gross and disgusting i am) but having to take a half day at work is something else entirely. Im sure some of you mothers can relate to what im saying....dont deny it! And to my pregnant friends: the only advice i can give you is that if you think you have to pee, go to the bathroom. Thinking "oh i can wait 5 more minutes" might be a mistake.

All peeing aside, our weekend was very nice and relaxing. We had the neighborhood block party on saturday which was very nice. Got to meet a lot of our neighbors and ate some good food. Friday and Sunday we just relaxed and ran a few errands. The baby moved nonstop.