I Swear My Belly Button Moved!

Ok, so apparently it's like "mom code" that you don't tell first time mom's what to expect, really about anything. It's funny because as soon as you announce your pregnancy, you are bombarded with unwanted advice and horror stories about anything and everything pertaining to your baby and your body. Really though, none of that is helpful and doesn't mean much in the end. In my own (ridiculously insane) experience, the things that matter are never related to you until after it happens and then all of these experienced mom's are like "oh yeah, that happens...sucks doesn't it"...thanks a lot!

Well I have decided that there are just a few things that need to be broken wide open. The most important being...YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME EVER AGAIN! I mean this in every sense of your being. Your body, mind and soul will forever be mutated into something completely different. Of course, this does not pertain to everyone, there are those freak women out there that bounce right back to their pre-baby body and others who really have no emotional connection to their children and therefore are not effected by what happens to them and go on as if they didn't just bring a new life into this world, but those are not the women I speak of.

I knew that I would gain weight going through a pregnancy and of course I knew I could lose it again(I am blessed with a high metabolism), however I did not anticipate that the shape of my body would change, but it certainly did! I've got more hips than I know what to do with and somehow, as a result of my c-section, my BELLY BUTTON MOVED! It has got to be at least half an inch higher than it was originally! I thought I was just crazy until I mentioned it to Matt and he said he noticed that too. Someone want to explain to me how that even happens and why no one told me it could?! I feel like I look completely awkward now, I wonder if there are belly button plastic surgeons out there that can do a belly button relocation for me? But I digress...

Of course I also did not realize how much I would change as a person. It is amazing how fully a child of your own can affect your life. Everyone tells you about how you will learn to multitask and sacrifice for your children, but no one really mentions that this tiny little person is all consuming of your heart and soul and therefore your whole outlook on life changes. Petty things like friend/family drama, what to do with the spare room, or when you'll get around to cleaning out the garage, seem so insignificant. It is all about the baby and making sure that he/she is happy and safe and healthy. Everything else easily takes a backseat to your child. I, of course, am perfectly happy with this and it is a huge comfort to me to know that Matt is as well. I feel very fortunate to have such a loving, wonderful husband, who is an incredibly involved Dad. Yay Matthew!

So though there are changes and things that I was unaware of (some more pleasant than others), as mothers, we take it all in stride, pretty much because we have no choice, but also because it is amazing!

PS Layla is now 10 months old (more on her recent milestones later) and has started the ear piercing, screaming for fun phase...After doing some research on the best way to handle it, I have decided to invest in a good pair of earplugs, the neighbors are SOL!!! :)

Family Roadtrip, Sure! Wait, Are We Driving?

I had the brilliant idea that Matthew, Layla and I should take our first family vacation to upstate New York to meet up with the rest of my family at my Great Grandma's house. This was of course easier said than done and I should have realized that when I started looking for flights. First of all, we wanted to go around the Fourth of July and all of those flights proved to be very expensive with incredibly inconvenient layovers. The goal was to make the journey from one end of the country to the other as easy on our little pumpkin as possible, however, that was apparently not in the cards for us...

We ended up booking a flight to Chicago and then decided to drive from Chicago to New York with my sister. We were excited at the prospect of a roadtrip included in our vacation and since Layla is such an experienced traveler going back and forth from Seattle to Chicago all the time, we hoped it would not be too bad. The flight to Chicago was a breeze and Layla charmed everyone as she always does. We stayed at Matt's parent's house for two days before driving up to NY. We drove at night thinking she would sleep and it would be no big deal...again, we were very, very wrong! Layla would not go to sleep and when she did, she only slept for short periods. In between, she spent quite a bit of time crying. Matthew was exhausted and not used to the nighttime drive that I have been doing my whole life. All in all, the drive up was not what I would call "pleasant."

Once we arrived at the beautiful Great Sacandaga Lake, we had a blast! Layla went swimming for the first time and we enjoyed beautiful weather and time with family. Matthew and I even got to go out to dinner together for the first time since Layla was born. I was so thrilled to spend time with everyone and see family I haven't seen in a decade! We were also able to get five generations of women in my family together (my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mom, myself and Layla). I'm so happy we had the opportunity!

Of course once we were there, we knew we had to get back. After a week of fun in the sun it was time to hit the road again back to Chicago. This time, we decided it might be better for everyone if we did it in two days and stay overnight in Cleveland (about the halfway point). I will say that though Layla was not thrilled with being strapped in her car seat for hours at a time, she tolerated it a little better and we were all more rested. The stop in Cleveland was welcome and irritating at the same time. We booked a hotel suite with two rooms and a living area, so that Tara could have her own room and Matt, Layla and I could share. It was nice to get there and get settled in the room which involved getting toys out for Layla, eating dinner and setting up her pack n' play to sleep in. We took care of all of that before it got too late and were just about to give Layla a bath when Matt noticed a HUGE wasp on the ceiling. We all ducked for cover while he called the front desk. They sent someone up right away...WITH A CAN OF TOXIC WASP KILLING SPRAY! Yeah, spray that in the same room that my baby is playing on the floor, I'm sure that'll be good for her tiny lungs! IDIOTS! After some arguing and another call to the front desk, Matt and the guy they sent up were able to kill it with a shoe. Yay, crisis averted, right? Not! We took a walk around the room and found dead wasps near all of the windows...this clearly was not going to work for me. I called the front desk again and told them we needed a new room. Luckily they had no trouble with that and even gave us a discount. The unfortunate part was now it was about an hour after Layla's bed time and we had to repack EVERYTHING, move it and then unpack it all again. By this point, I was sooooo over Cleveland...

The next day we got back on the road, much to Layla's dismay, but got back to Chicago in one piece with most of our sanity. The following day we were to get on a plane back to Seattle. By this time, I just wanted to be home. Of course our flight was delayed two and a half hours (because apparently I angered the travel gods at some point and was now going to pay dearly), so by the time we were in the air Layla was running a fever and not well at all. Mid-flight she got sick. All. over. me. I, being the prepared Mommy I am, packed extra clothes for both of us in my carry-on. I got us all changed and she went to sleep. When she woke up about a half hour later I figured she would be feeling better. No such luck. She projectile vomited all over herself and me, again. Then she passed out. I was so done, I just lost it. I was sobbing, covered in puke, holding my sleeping baby while the drunk chick in our row insisted on touching her. I remained that way for the last two hours of the flight. Awesome experience.

We made it home and I survived, thanks to my wonderful husband. Though the vacation itself was lovely, I have vowed never to travel, ever again. Obviously, that is a lot of big talk because we are already talking about our family vacation next year, but for now I take comfort in the fact that I don't have to roam any further than the back yard for at least the next six months if I so choose :)

So Many Milestones, So Little Time to Blog About It

The summer is flying by and I have yet to accomplish even half of what I set out to do. Layla on the other hand, has been very busy knocking things off of her developmental milestone list. In the last couple of months she has started crawling and eating table food, cut her first tooth, pulling up and walking with help and she said her first word. All of these things seem to happen in spurts but they are coming closer together. It has been quite an adventure for Matthew and I as each new milestone means changes for us...some more welcome than others.

Once Layla became mobile we ran right out to buy baby-proofing supplies to outfit our hazard filled house so that she would be safe. Lesson learned: there is NO SUCH THING as "safe" when it comes to a crawling baby. Gone are the days when we put Layla down and she stayed in one place or even the same general area. If I turn away for a second, she is across the room. Matt and I are vigilant parents and make it a point to be very present when dealing with our child so she never gets far and has not suffered anything more than typical bumps you would expect from a newly mobile baby. However, I will say that we did have one major scare and unfortunately, it was ALL MY FAULT! Long story short, while on vacation in NY (more on that in a future post) I was extremely overtired and distracted and while changing Layla on a bed, I completely lost my head and stepped away from her to answer a ringing phone. Now, I have to stop right here and say that I have ALWAYS said that I cannot understand how stupid parents can be when they leave their children, at any age, unattended. It sickens me when accidents happen that were easily prevented if the parents would just pay attention.

I of course, was forced to eat my words and officially felt like the ABSOLUTE worst parent in the entire world! Layla did take a tumble off the bed and landed on the floor. God must have been watching out for her (since clearly my mind was gone), because thankfully, she went feet down and was not hurt in any way. Not a bump or bruise, nothing! She was scared but that was about it. I, on the other hand, was so far from OK, it took me days to recover and even now, writing about it is giving me anxiety. I ran as fast as my feet have ever carried me, back to her and scooped her up. I checked her out and then could not bring myself to let her go. I cried and sobbed and was pretty much inconsolable. I could not believe I had done that and I felt like the worst parent ever. Luckily, I was surrounded by my wonderful husband and family who all told me that it was just an accident and that Layla was fine. Then, all of the moms in my family told me their own stories of distracted parenting that resulted in a traumatic moment, from accidentally letting their child fall off the couch, to searching the house in vain for the child that they were carrying on their hip, to falling asleep while rocking their baby and waking up to find her hanging an inch from the floor. Apparently, it happens to all of us at some point or another and it just reminds us of just how vigilant we need to be at all times. For the record, I do not even allow the ringers to be on in my house, so leave a message....

In other (and less traumatizing) milestone news, Layla has begun eating table food, though she will not feed herself. If I put it in her mouth she will eat cheese, bread, crackers, cheerios, beans, pasta and potatoes. It has been interesting to watch her explore new foods but at the same time, it makes it that much more difficult for us to eat in front of her. She wants absolutely everything that we have and she does not understand that there are some things her little gums are not ready for, like raw veggies. I only hope that she is still interested when she has the teeth to chew them up :)

Speaking of teeth, the first one has made it's appearance and it's SHARP! Our little chewing angel baby is now a vicious beast with a weapon in her mouth. I would imagine that it does not feel very good and that there are more on the way which is causing all of this ferocious biting but either way...it hurts! She is chewing on anything and everything but apparently Mommy and Daddy taste better. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this phase being over.

Watching Layla go through all of these changes is exciting but also sad for me. She is growing up so fast and I know that little baby will soon be too busy to let Mommy hold her for hours. I am assuming she senses my sadness and therefore gave me a wonderful memory to treasure forever...her first word, "mama." She has been babbling a lot lately saying "babababaaa" so I assumed that "mama" or "dada" would be soon to follow, I just wasn't sure which would come first. While we were on vacation during bathtime (so luckily Daddy was in the room) she held out her arms to me and said "mama." I was overjoyed and have felt the same way every time she has said it since. She does not say it often yet but I'm sure it will come with time. I am now working on "dada" with her so that Matthew will know that amazing feeling as well!

The good, the bad, the scary and upsetting, the heartwarming and amazing...raising our daughter continues to be an adventure and I wouldn't trade it for the world!