1. Do yourself a favor, go out to Starbucks and get yourself a peppermint mocha. TODAY!! Grab a cranberry scone while you’re at it….they’re delicious!
2. Today is one of those days. You know the kind. Where I just want to scream “WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!!!” at everyone.
3. This was somewhat remedied by a lunchtime trip to Target—They finally had boots in the kid’s sizes. FINALLY. I also bought 5 picture frames. I think I could live at Target. There is a Starbucks inside.
4. Did I mention Ed and I have been cataloguing all of our photos? There’s some funny fricken stuff in there! I have many things in my “to scan” pile.
5. Speaking of fricken, I need to stop saying fricken. Eddie keeps calling people fricken crybabies. He also says “son of a project!!” and I have no idea where that came from.
6. And speaking of Eddie saying funny things…. On our way to my cousins the other night, after Eddie and Caitlyn played with their baby cousin on Thanksgiving, Eddie said to me “so when you have 2 more babies mommy, how many of us will there be?” We probed him on it. “When you have 2 more boy babies. Caitlyn wants to be a big sister.” Oy Vey!
7. Eddie, Caitlyn and I pretended that we were camping last night and told stories in my bed and all went to sleep together. Sounds perfect, right? It was miserable. There were children bouncing off of the walls, screaming and not much sleeping. At one point, Eddie got up out of bed and said he was sleeping in his own bed and was walking around the whole house in the dark. Finally, after much wrangling and a bit of hollering, everyone was asleep before 9:30.
8. I have no idea what we are having for dinner tonight. I meant to put some chicken in the crock pot this morning and never did.
9. My hair is so long right now. I think I like it.
10. Still sipping my mocha. Hopefully today will be smooth sailing from here.
Category Archives: eddie
Today like totally sucks man….
Giving Thanks, Sarcasm, and Potty Mouth
I feel like I should do a “what I am thankful for” entry……but it would be sappy and somewhere along the lines of “I love my kids so much!!” and all like “blah blah blah”. So I’m going to give you a random and somewhat superficial list of items that I would like to give thanks for.
1. I am thankful for the 2 new pair of pants I bought at Old Navy last night, one of which is a comfy pair of straight legged cords that remind me of what a hippie I used to be.
2. Also for the over-the-range microwave we bought last night—what a space saver!
3. I’m thankful that I had the chicken pox when I was 9 as opposed to my youngest brother who has them now at age 18
4. I’m thankful that the kid’s daycare photos finally came in
5. And that they actually turned out really well
6. and that I get to spend $130 to keep them all!!
7. I’m thankful for Nestle’s Peppermint Mocha Creamer
8. I’m especially thankful for my 4 day weekend, even though I will only have Sunday to rest
9. I’m thankful that we rented Ocean’s 13 to watch on Friday after dinner—Pitt and Clooney….mmmmmm—happy thanksgiving to me
10. I’m thankful for the bulk sized jar of green olives I bought for turkey sandwiches last night
I could come up with more I’m sure. I’m still feeling a bit out of it. Nothing is particularly wrong; I just feel a bit off. I can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps gorging myself this weekend will assist. Oh, there are other things I wanted to say too!
Eddie has apparently inherited my sarcastic gene! This morning, while waiting for what seemed like hours in the car, while Ed finished a phone call, Eddie goes “What is taking Daddy so long? My friends are already eating lunch….” And a few minutes later “When is daddy getting in the car? My friends are already taking their naps….” Both were said with an eye roll and a hint of a grin. My kid.
I also heard a good potty mouth story this weekend, and it wasn’t my kids! (because they’re too busy singing “Old McDonald had a butt! Poopy Poopy Oh!”)
A friend of mine was outside with his 2-year-old daughter, working in the yard and he saw her approach the front of their house where he had 3 scarecrows lined up for decoration. She got in front of the first one, looked it dead in the eye and slapped it across the face and yelled “BITCH!!”. She moved to the next scarecrow and did the same, and the third scarecrow after that. He could hardly scold her because he was laughing so hard. He was reluctant to even tell anyone the story for fear that they would think his daughter was mimicking him slapping his wife around. It gave me one of the best laughs I’ve had in a long time though.
Ok, I think I’m done now. There is much slacking to be done before I leave today.
What day is it?
I ended up having a busier day then I thought I would today. I could not get to sleep for the life of me last night and ended up passing out on the couch waiting for Jon ad Kate Plus 8 to come on. Of course, as soon as I heard Kate’s voice, I woke right up. She is one miserable woman. M I S E R A B L E . I ended up back asleep within minutes and before I knew it, it was 3AM and Eddie was sleeping on top of me. I put him to bed, and went to bed myself just as Ed came home so I ended up being awake until nearly 4.
When I dropped the kids off at school this morning I had every intention of coming home and sleeping for a while, but Ed suggested breakfast, and we went from there. I got the kids their winter coats. The sets with the snow pants at JC Penny were marked down from $70 to $31.99. Eddie’s is an army green and Cait’s is lime green. Both are adorable. Ed got some clothes as well, and we got underwear for Eddie and a rolling Dora back pack for Caitlyn.
From there, we went over to Best Buy to look at camcorders, since ours is ancient. We didn’t buy, but got some good ideas. We kind of want one that takes stills as well as videos, but we don’t necessarily want to pay $800 for it. So we’ll keep looking…
I dropped E off at home because he was worn out and then headed to Target to look for winter boots, hats and mittens for the kids. I got all but the boots which were mysteriously sold out in girls size 7 and boys size 12. Got Cait a few things on clearance too.
From there I went grocery shopping and spent $300. $303.93 to be exact. I do feed a family of 5 you know…plus there were a lot of great deals and I had really good coupons. I saved over $80. Ed doesn’t hear that though, he hears $300 on groceries.
I unloaded the car, threw dinner in the oven, picked up the kids and we all sat down to eat before Ed left for work. We’ve done amazingly well with this eating in the kitchen jazz. Oddly enough, it seems to help the kids clean their plates. It seems the television was distracting them. Who knew??
I finally got the kids in bed close to 9:00 because I was waiting for Caitlyn to poop, and here I am, pooped myself. (can I tell you how great it is to not worry about buying diapers any longer??? She even stays dry at night–for which it is difficult to praise her for since Eddie still does NOT stay dry trough the night) I need to do a few things to get read for work in the morning and then I’ll be off to bed. 4 day work weeks tend to suck for me, having to jam in 5 days worth of work in to 4….but then again I’m working this Saturday so maybe that will make up for it.
I’m a bit crazy tonight thanks to my after dinner coffee with the peppermint mocha creamer that Swistle recommended. It was so good, I could die. Now where am I going to budget in those extra 70 calories? So good.
Ok, I’m spell checking but not proof reading. For your viewing pleasure.
I will write something with substance tomorrow. I promise.
Halloween Photos—finally
Thought of the Day: I truly am the world’s biggest slacker.
But here they are, without further ado…. (I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat)
(it says “I left my princess costume at home.)
Mommy Daisy’s Cookies
Our pumpkins
Ed, and Jeff Gordon
Our Witchy Princess
Ok, I have like 14 loads of laundry to do so I’m out for now. Happy Saturday!
R A I N B O W
Like I mentioned yesterday, today was picture day at daycare. I’ve been apprehensive all day because 2 years ago, Eddie wouldn’t even go in to the room to have his picture taken (I was still on maternity leave with Cait, so she didn’t go at all) and last year both kids gave the people a really hard time—though Eddie eventually sat and smiled when they gave him one of their props to hold. Caitlyn though, was hysterical, and when they did get her to sit, she stared blankly at the camera, teas in her eyes, and snot dripping out of her nose. I have these photos displayed proudly on my desk though, because they do capture the kid’s true personalities. In any case, I hope it goes better today. They have a nice autumn background and I dressed the kids in jeans (Cait in a denim jumper) and Eddie in an orange striped shirt and Cait in a pinky/orangey and brown striped shirt. If it goes well, they will be adorable photos.
We’ve been having a really hard time with Eddie at drop off. He screams, and cries and carries on uncontrollably, saying “I want my Mommy…” or “I don’t like school!!” He’s been telling me that he misses the old school and wants to go back. I’ve asked him if the teacher is mean, or if someone is hurting him and he says no. I asked him if he gets in trouble, and he says no. Teacher says he is usually fine soon after we leave, but his anxiety really concerns me. He was doing a whole lot better until we went on vacation, and then he was sick for 4 days, so there was a good chunk of time where he was home. I don’t know if he feels like if he carries on enough, we’ll figure something out and take him home? Or if he really just hates it there? Or if he’s going through something that he can’t express? He hasn’t had any sort of separation anxiety since he was 18 months old, so I am at a complete loss as to what to do with him. I tend to make goodbyes quick, leaving him there crying. It kills me to do it, but I don’t feel like lingering will help anything. (not to mention having to be at work) Ed disagrees—wants to have him somewhat calmed down before we go and is actually horrified that I would just leave him there. In general, the whole situation sucks.
Caitlyn is easy though, like she always has been. She smiles, and goes off to play, or sits down to breakfast waving goodbye. Calling after us “BYE Mommy and Daddy!!!” She can’t get us out the door soon enough and generally doesn’t want to leave at the end of the day either.
Complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
Tuesday Randomness
1. We bought 2 snails for our fish tank. We now have a baby snail. From what I hear, they multiply more than rabbits. Maybe I’ll start a snail farm. You would think that the pet store would warn us about their spawning. They didn’t.
2. I went to Old Navy on my lunch break to spend the gift certificate I got from my mom and get some clothes for Cait. For some reason Eddie has tons of fall/winter clothes and she has none. Anyway, the store was super picked over so I ended up coming back and ordering some things online. You’re bored with me, right? This is what I got for Cait, and with the exception of the dress which I paid FULL PRICE for (because it is more than adorable), everything was less than $4. I can’t wait for the dress. (I got the black shirt in 3 colors and the pants in 3 colors too)
3. I started using Neutrogena’s complete skin care system and it is finally making a difference. I wrote a while back about how insanely horrible my skin was. I feel a whole lot better now.
4. I joined NaBloPoMo and have committed to posting every day in November. I decided that I am going to do a “Thought of the day” entry every day in addition to whatever regular entries I might write.
5. I saw my sweet niece Samantha for the fist time since July on Sunday. She is so fat and cute in her 6-month-oldness that I can’t stand it. I told my BIL to bring her over any time. What’s one more kid to watch? Eddie and Caitlyn loved her. When I told Caitlyn she was her baby cousin she looked at me with a huge grin and said “Mine Mommy? My baby??” It was adorable.
6. The kids also both had their hair cut on Sunday. Caitlyn now has a cute bob. Very cute.
Finally I just wanted to thank all of you wonderful ladies for your words yesterday. How amazing is it to have this cross country support network of people who know just how I feel? You all make me smile.
P.S. I did not go to the gym today on account of being super sore from yesterday. I always forget how hard the fist week or so is. I will be back tomorrow though. And I ate half a brownie last night. There, I’m being honest.
This week (so far) in review
-Monday–sent kids to daycare and overhauled my living room. BONUS.
-Tuesday– spent entire day at Toronto Zoo and had a great time…until Caitlyn threw up all over herself, her car seat and the car while we were on the QEW and still more than an hour away from home.
-Tuesday night/Early Wednesday morning–up three times with puking toddler, wondering if I would be working today.
-6:30 Wednesday morning–Wake up to Eddie crying hysterically–he has a 101 temp.
-6:40 Caitlyn wakes up with 100 temp.
-6:45 I call in to work
-7:00 set up camp on the couch with both kids, we sleep until after 8
-8:15, 8:30, 8:45- Caitlyn throws up the little juice I could get her to drink and dry heaves quite a bit.
-8:50 I call daycare to say the kids won’t be in (goodbye $80)
-9:00 Eddie eats half a pop tart and decides he is up to going to the store with Grandpa.
-9:00-11:00 Caitlyn and I sleep on the couch—or Caitlyn sleeps and I watch A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby
-11:00- Caitlyn is sleeping deeply enough for me to lay her on the couch while I pee, make coffee, and toast. She wakes up to have a few bites and asks for her own. She eats half a piece with a tiny bit of juice. Lays on top of me for the next hour. 12:00- Eddie comes home pale and worn out….but Grandpa has bought him a belt and he’s excited. I convince both kids to lie down for naps.
2:00 Caitlyn wakes up hysterical but decides she likes being in her crib and goes back to sleep.
2:05 Eddie gets up…..with a 103 temp I wait a few minutes to see if he cools off as he wakes up, but his temp actually goes up. I pump him full of Motrin. He lays on top of me lethargic and listless, falling asleep and waking up for 2 hours.
4:00 We send Grandpa to the store for Cheese, Bread, Milk and of course, cookies. 4:00 Caitlyn wakes up and feels a bit better but will not drink
4:15 I pull out the big guns and offer her a juice box….an ELMO juice box and she takes me up on it.
4:30 Eddie asks for crackers and peanut butter and Cait wants some too. The each eat 2.
4:45 I finally load the dishwasher and Eddie eats a plain piece of bread. Then a cheese sandwich.
5:00 I’m passing out from hunger and I make myself grilled cheese and tomato soup. Caitlyn eats my whole sandwich and 2 crackers.
6:00 Both kids go outside with Grandpa and have now been out there for 50 minutes. 6:50 crossing my fingers….this just might be over.
Top 10 Hysterical (and sometimes inappropriate) Things Heard From My Kids Lately
10. Eddie “I’m a piss-pot!!! Right Mommy?” and when he’s told not to talk like that.. “But I WANT to be a piss-pot!”
9. Eddie ”Mommy why does Cait pee out her butt?”
8. Caitlyn, when asked her name “Caitlyn Mason Lastname, JR.” We tell her that her name is Caitlyn Renee, and she replies “NO I JUNIOR!!!” (she also pronounces Caitlyn Cake-Inn which is adorable.)
7. Eddie: “Do you love me, yes or no?” even though he says it 100 times a day
6. Caitlyn upon hearing someone else wished a happy birthday “NO! It my HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”
5. And also “ I two!” and she holds up 2 tiny fingers.
4. Caitlyn every time I leave the room “Don’t leeeeeeeeeeave me Mommy!!!”
3. Eddie “Pssssssss” as he grabs his crotch and pretends to pee everywhere
2. Eddie “This is my FAVORITE toy!!” as he stis down in front of the mirror at the play vanity in his new classroom.
1. Caitlyn, while lifting up her shirt and pressing on her nipples “I got 2 buttons, Mommy!! Just like you!!!!!!”
I love them muchly.
And Now the Rest of the Story-Eddie’s Birth
It was January 6th, 2004 and I was officially 2 days overdue. Other than having spent our entire dinner at Applebee’s the night before in the bathroom, I was feeling pretty good. I had a routine doctor’s appointment to discuss exactly how long they were going to let me be overdue before they induced. My appointment was around 11am so Ed and I had a quick breakfast at home and headed over there.
At my OBGYN office, anytime you are seeing the doctor over the midwife, there is a wait. We waited nearly two hours before we saw her. She asked a lot of questions about how I was feeling before she even checked me. When she did check me, she looked up in amazement and asked if I was sure that I wasn’t having contractions. I told her that I didn’t think so, and she said “well you’re 5cm!!” She decided to do an ultrasound to see what was going on with the baby, and again there was a wild and surprised look on her face.
“This baby is at least 9 lbs.”, she said. “You need to go to the hospital!!”
She then gave me a 15 minute lecture about how my worst fear might come true; I may have to have a c-section. I felt all of the color drain from my face and I felt like I was going to throw up. When you’ve been told since you were 15 years old that you have “the perfect hips for birthing”, the thought of a C-section never comes in to play. For my entire pregnancy, I never even considered that I would have a c-section. Much like the day that I was told I was going to have a baby, I was in shock. I walked out of the doctor’s office barely hearing her call after me “Make sure you don’t eat anything in case we do the c- section! Have them call me when you get to the hospital!”
As soon as we got in the car, I lost it. I sobbed hysterically. I couldn’t breath. I made Ed call Marisa at work to tell her everything, and then I got on the phone and blubbered to her. I know that I called my parents, but I can’t remember speaking to either of them. I was sure that I was having a nervous breakdown. I had just about calmed down when we got home, but as soon as we got in the house and started getting my stuff together, I was hysterical again. I went in the bathroom to compose myself, and Ed took this wonderful picture of me:
We left the house around 3:00PM and had to run a few errands, stop at the bank, etc. It was going on 6 hours since I had eaten and Ed was hungry too. He grabbed some food and we were at the hospital by about 5:30 PM.
As soon as we were checking in, they got me hooked up to the pitocin, which immediately gave me intense contractions. It was about 2 hours before I was in tears and needed the epidural, the greatest invention I know of. Marisa and George, my parents and Ed’s mother were in and out of the room. Marisa had to work the next day, so when things weren’t happening, they left around 10PM. Very soon after that it was time to push. I can’t remember anything that happened during the pushing phase other than telling Ed that if he put one more FUCKING ice chip in my mouth, I would strangle him. I pushed until about midnight before I overheard the doctor saying she wouldn’t let me push much longer. I had a renewed strength at that point because there was no way I was going through all of this crap just to be cut open, and started pushing like a crazy person after that. The problem: Eddie was posterior or sunny side up. After another 2 hours, his head was nearly out but we needed some help. (Apparently, all of the tearing didn’t help at all) Ed describes my episiotomy with great detail. “They both had a pair of scissors in each hand! They snipped you everywhere!” They ended up using the vacuum and finally, after 4 hours of pushing, I had my baby boy!
Edmund Mason, Jr. was born at 2:13 AM January 7, 2004. He weighed 10lbs 2oz and was 23 inches long. We couldn’t believe how much he looked exactly like his daddy.
I had never been happier. Ed held him while I was being stitched up and then the neonatal doctor took him to be checked out because of his size. His blood sugar was a bit low, so they took him upstairs and gave him some sugar water in a bottle. By the time I was in my room and slept for about 30 minutes, he was ok, and ready to nurse.
Now everything that I ever read said that babies are not hungry at birth; it takes them a few days to have that kick in. Eddie was ravenous when he was born. He nursed every 2 hours like clockwork the entire time we were in the hospital. So I would nurse for an hour, sleep for an hour nurse again…and so on. I couldn’t believe what I had signed on for.
Our second night in the hospital was the worst. First of all, I was more sore, and sore in the oddest places, than I had ever been in my entire life. Then I was more exhausted than I had ever been, and in the middle of the night, my 1-day-old baby forgot how to nurse. I couldn’t get him to latch on, he was screaming, and I was crying hysterically. I called the nursery and sobbed/screamed in to the phone that someone needed to come and help me. I think they thought I hurt the baby because they were down there so fast. And there I was, half naked on the bed, trying to get him to take a boob, just defeated. And you know what? The nurses acted like I was normal; like it was no big deal. They brought in some sugar water and helped me get him going. The whole nursing thing went reasonable well after that.
I loved staying in the hospital. We had tons of visitors, and Eddie was a hit. I had my fill of hospital food (which I love because I’m a F R E A K) and also my gourmet dinner. The nurses in the nursery loved him, and my favorite one, an older Indian woman, showed him off to all of the girl babies and thought about which one would be his girlfriend. (She kissed him on the head on her last shift before we left and whispered “I will see you back in a year or so with a baby sister” which is just way too weird) Nurses and doctors from all over the hospital came to meet me because I was the girl that pushed out the 10 lb posterior baby. In fact, on our way out to go home, our delivery room nurse introduced me to the patient she was walking out as “the girl I told you about, with the 10 lb baby.”
And home we went to start our life as a family. Having a baby was the best thing I ever did, and I had never felt more fulfilled as a person than when I became a mother. All of the misery of pregnancy and the horrendous delivery were worth it; worth it enough to do it again……and maybe even again some day.
Eddie’s Birth Story- My Pregnancy
My pregnancy, at the beginning anyway, was horrendous.
First there was the constant nausea. I never once threw up, I just always felt like I was going to. I kept food on my night stand and just did the best I could. I couldn’t stand to drink or smell coffee which was a feeling so foreign that I can’t even describe it.
After the nausea came the bleeding. Incessant bleeding. Nothing was ever wrong, it just turned out that I had “a very vascular cervix” but to be safe, relations were suspended by my doctor until after the 1st trimester.
And after those two things came the worry; the ever-present worry. I had read so much about things going wrong for someone with my particular thyroid condition. I was so nervous about losing the baby, so nervous that it would be gone forever, I just counted the days until my 1st trimester was over.
The most defining moment in my pregnancy was having a cautious ultra-sound when I was 7 weeks along, during the bleeding. There was the baby, a teeny tiny bean in there with a heartbeat. A HEARTBEAT!! When I was 7 weeks…which is really only 3 weeks after my missed period-I was in complete wonder at the evidence of life in me so early on. 7 weeks.
When the 2nd trimester began, so did the cravings. I did not crave a single thing that was good for me. I was on a Twinkie binge for nearly a month (to the point where my boss was smuggling in Twinkies to work because Ed forbade me to eat them), and with the exception of having to have orange juice with my breakfast, I drank root beer, Mug Root Beer to be exact, morning, noon and night. I could not eat tomatoes in any form and thinking about baked macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs on it made me sick. I craved favorite foods from my childhood: creamed cucumbers, peanut butter cookies, and my aunt’s deviled potato salad. Later on, it was breaded pork chops. We ate them for a week straight before Ed said anything.
I was huge and in full maternity clothes by the time I was 4 months pregnant.
At my 20 week appointment I was ecstatic to find out that we were having a boy. I sobbed in the ultrasound room and Ed was sure it was because I wanted to have a girl, but really, it just made it so much more real. A boy, and he would be Edmund Mason Jr.
Of course, we registered immediately and my mother and aunt began planning my baby shower. I had never been so excited in my life. All the clothes and toys and blankets. Who knew that there was even so much out there for babies? I felt like an idiot, let me tell you.
Here is me at 7 months:
And here is me at my baby shower, with my mother.
I had planned on working right up until my due date because I had just been promoted, but just before Thanksgiving I started having contractions. Ed and I went to the hospital, and I was in labor, 6 weeks early. I was re-hydrated and given something to stop the contractions and sent home. I worked for just about another week before I was pulled indefinitely. This was actually pretty cool because I got Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years off. I felt fine, other than the heartburn that had me sleeping upright in our recliner, and we took the time to put things together and set up Eddie’s room.
Christmas came and everyone marveled at my huge belly and we all laughed at how I balanced my dinner plate and pop can on it for the duration of our meal.
It was perfectly relaxing, and a wonderful experience to have no obligations, and just be able to enjoy the last weeks of my pregnancy at home, just getting ready for this life changing event.
Incubation Nation 