Successful Thanksgiving

This is the first full year in our new house and I decided to have everyone here for Thanksgiving so my mom and grandmother came to visit for a few days. My mom didn't have any horror stories about the first one where she did all the cooking, but m mother-in-law did. Her first time cooking the bird went like this...it was dry and tasted burnt. Mine, however, had a positive outcome. Thanks to Food Network and those great chefs, my bird was moist, tender and got rave reviews. I have to admit though, after everyone was gone, I cornered my mom and asked her what she really thought of it. I knew my in-laws and my grandmother would say nice things no matter what, but I've always been able to count on my mom to tell me the truth. Her response...it was great. So, thanks to Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Sandra Lee and Giada De Laurentis for your great recipes and helpful hints. It made cooking my first Thanksgiving meal less stressful and the food was great.

Blogging time for mommy

So it's been almost 2 months since I my last post. Why??? Because once again I can't find any time for mommy. I have difficulty even getting alone time in the bathroom. My son likes to be in the same room with me at all times. Don't get me wrong I LOVE that he wants to be with me, but it would be nice to at least be able to go to the bathroom by myself. I love my husband dearly, but he doesn't help matters, because when my baby comes looking for me instead of getting him and giving me time alone, he and our son then both join me.

Guess who's awake...my beautiful miracle baby..I"ll try to do better and get more time for myself to keep my blog going...

Yes, Yes, Yes

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I bet it does to a lot of you women out there. I LOVE and I mean I REALLY LOVE being able to solve a problem for someone even if it means putting aside something I enjoy. To this end, it also means I can't say no. Well, actually I did just a little while ago. I had to go to the doctor for a checkup and the nurse said I had to get on the scales. I DO NOT use the scales at the doctor's office. I know theirs are different from mine (heavier) and if I got on them I'd just get depressed. No matter that I weigh the same, it's the number that bothers me. Normally it doesn't, but I've gained about 10 lbs and an upset with myself because of it.

I keep saying I'm going to start going back to the gym, but I can't find the time. I know I have to make time for me, but I don't want to take time away from playing with my son. I have started walking in the evenings. We live in a neighborhood with a couple of miles worth of streets and I load my miracle baby into the stroller and off we go. He loves to go for a walk. So much so that he has started asking to go every night after dinner.

This of course leads me back to not being able to say no. If I could say no to more things, then maybe I would feel like I could go to the gym and still have plenty of time with my son.

One of multiples

So my last post was about the cost of having more than 1 child. My husband and I want more, but we're not sure we can afford it and at my age (I'm 38), we're not sure we can wait and try later either.

I'm torn. If we decide to stop at one, we can give Michael more, take him more places and do more things. On the other hand, my mom was an only child, and has wanted all her life to have a sibling. I have a sister and can't imagine being an only child. When our dad passed away suddenly, we depended on each other a lot. We constantly called and just cried together trying to get through it.

Earlier this year, our mom had some major health problems and spent almost 5 months in the hospital. One Friday night, my sister and I got a call from the doctors saying she wasn't doing well and we needed to come immediately (a lot easier said than done when you live 3 hours away). Once again, I don't know what I would have done without my sister. I love my husband dearly, but it's not the same. My sister and I have a bond that can never be broken. We may get upset with each other, fight, scream, whatever, but we'll always be sisters no matter what. I really want my son to have that.

My husband is one of three and just like me, he knows he can always count on his brother and sister no matter what happens.

That's about it for now. Our stove was one the fritz and so I had to take the day off to wait for the repair guy...now it's time to get my miracle baby and spend the rest of the day with him.

The Climb

Many of you may have been like me at one time. You had grandiose visions of sitting in the corner office overlooking the little people below while taking home your mammoth paycheck. Hordes would scramble to your office desparate for your answer to life-changing, world-defining questions.

Then, one day...YOU WOKE UP or like me you had a baby. Those dirty diapers and midnight wake-up calls changed it all. Now, your grandiose visions are of taking a day off to play with your little miracle baby. Then again, your vision may be a bit blurred by the flying food or toys being hurled past your head without warning.

My grandiose visions now are of promotions with enough pay increases to be able to have more kids - daycare isn't cheap, you know... I want at least 1 more. Then again, at my age, we might have trouble getting pregnant at all or at the other end of the spectrum, we could end up with multiples... then I better really get a big raise...

I was thinking about this just this morning as realized, 2 kids in daycare would run us $1000 a month. That's almost a mortgage payment...and my mother-in-law wonders why I'm not pregnant again yet. Of course, that doesn't count the formula, diapers, clothes, etc. We're saving all Michael's "stuff" just in case, but with the costs involved, we're not sure we can afford to have more kids.

Co-sleeping problems

My adorable 27 month old boy has taken to sleeping with my husband/his father and I. At first, I wrote it off to being in a new place (we bought a house last Dec), but 8 months later, I'm out of excuses and nothing we've tried works. Until we moved from the apt, we put Michael to bed every night by himself and he drifted off to sleep and was fine. Now, if we put him to bed still awake, he screams until we finally give in and hold him until he falls asleep. Then, we put him in his bed only to be awakened in the middle of the night when he wakes up and cries until we put him in the bed with us. At first, we tried letting him cry himself back to sleep, but my husband and I both work and have to get up at 5 am. It's a little hard to do our jobs if we're falling asleep at our desks.

My mom is coming to visit for a month and I'm hoping she has some suggestions, but I'm open to suggestions from anyone. My back would thank you as well since I now seem to wake up with a backache every day.

Grandma visiting

My mom is finally getting to come visit for about a month and I can't be more excited. She spent several months in the hospital after having a brain tumor removed and had a really hard time. We even almost lost her a couple of times. Now she's home and is doing much better and is even feeling up to traveling. My husband and I bought our house in Dec and so far she's only seen pics of it, but next month, after my niece's baptism, mom is coming home with us and staying.

The best part is our son getting to spend so much time with her. Every time we visit I feel bad, because it takes him several hours to get used to and comfortble with her and even then she doesn't get to see his real personality. I think this will be great for both of them. She'll get to see him in his usual environment and he'll get to spend plenty of time with her so even after she goes home, when we visit, he'll be comfortable.

The only drawback is that since she hasn't seen the house yet, I want everything to be perfect and that means quite a bit of work in the next few weeks to get everything done before she gets here. Get that hammer ready honey...