A Tribute

Well, here I am in my 24th week of pregnancy…already! I am still feeling pretty good. I’m not at the stage yet where my belly is gigantic, so day-to-day life is still manageable.

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going by. Compared to last time, this one is whipping by at mach-10 speed. I have a feeling it’s because I have a very active 18 month old girl to contend with. My little Gracie is keeping me busy enough that I seriously forget that I’m pregnant sometimes. However, I can always count on her to graciously remind me by poking my now very noticeable huge boobs and saying “boobie” (the newest addition to her vocabulary) or giving my growing belly a nice hard “love tap” and saying “baby”. Here is a picture of my little rascal along with the belly and myself.

So I have a new symptom to report: Charley horses…..they started a couple of weeks ago. I wake up in the night to find that one of my calf muscles is completely locked up in searing pain. They are so bad that I cannot move my foot at all while they are happening. They are so painful! I remember I had them with Grace near the end of my pregnancy, but don’t recall them being this bad. These are not regular Charley horses; rather, they are like Charley bucking broncos or something! I find it so odd that these are an actual symptom of pregnancy. But really….there are so many odd things that happen to your body during pregnancy that I’m starting to get used to these strange happenings.

So I’ll be taking a year off to be home and look after my new little man and then will be welcoming going back to work next year. From experience, I can surely tell you that going to work is far easier than being at home with a baby (not as rewarding though!). It’s really like being on vacation. During this maternity leave, my little Gracie will continue going to her fantastic babysitters….for her sake and mine. I can’t imagine how bored she would be if she suddenly found herself at home with me and a newborn baby everyday rather than playing with her friends and going to her classes at the YMCA. Also – I can’t imagine how busy I would be with a toddler running around and a newborn wanting to be fed every couple of hours. In other words – I would surely lose my mind and likely have to be committed.

Knowing this makes me think of my mom and my mother-in-law. It makes me want to pay them a little tribute…so here I go:

They have super powers. I am sure of it. Both women stayed home and raised three and four kids respectively (all of which were approximately 18 months apart) without the help of nannies…..and they are both still sane….AND all of their children are sane (at least I think)! But wait for this one……they both used cloth diapers! Not the kind that we throw in a Diaper Genie and never see again….oh no…they scrubbed and washed them! Gross!

They surely did not get the credit they deserve. They took it upon themselves (with a little help from our Dads of course) to raise their children with minimal help everyday…all day! They created happy childhood memories and shaped their children into who they are today….and they did this all while keeping their house clean and cooking healthy meals for their family….while hardly ever getting a “Thanks” and never getting paid for what they do. That is incredible.

You are both amazing women. I am sure that neither of you have heard this enough in your life.

So Mom – Thank you for being so great at what you do. Thank you also for raising me to become the person I am today and being such a great role model. I only hope I will be as great a mother as you are.

To my Mother-in Law, Pam – Thank you for raising Chris to be the man he is today. He is such a great father and husband and you played a big part in this. You did a phenomenal job.

Ok – I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones or what, but I am sitting here tearing up as I write this…so I must stop here. Perhaps in my next blog entry, I can talk about how sappy and emotional this pregnancy is making me.

On that note, I will leave you with this quote I came across that is true beyond words:

“It is when I had my first child that I understood how much my mother loved me.” – Author Unknown