Kittymomma anniversary

October 18, 2009 at 11:08 pm (Cats, Uncategorized)

October 6 marked my seventh anniversary as a kittymomma. (As for the reason it has taken me two weeks to finish this post, well, that’s another story.) I can’t believe it has been seven years since I brought my little Siamese kitten home. I remember feeling terrified to hold her the first time. I had never held an animal of any kind. However, by the time she lay stretched out on my lap later that evening as I watched 7th Heaven with a cute little kitty smile on her face, my terror was long gone. I remember thinking, “This is going to be pretty cool.”

And it definitely has been. On this blog, she has been known as Cookies and Cream (or CC), but her real name is Belle. I named her after the heroine in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I had been working on finding a name for her for two weeks and couldn’t come up with anything that seemed to fit her. However, I saw a commercial for the initial DVD release of the movie and it suddenly occurred to me that Belle might work. I looked at her, tried it out, and that was it. Unfortunately, since it had taken me so long to name her, she still thinks her name is “Baby.” Oh, well. They’re both “B” sounds, right?

Regardless of her name, she has been a good friend to me for seven years. She is the sweetest, best-behaved cat ever. She is responsible for awakening a love for animals that I never knew I possessed. She is also responsible for at least six other cats being adopted in to my family. (Two of which are my two boys.)

I was a 23-year-old grad student when I brought her home and now I’m a thirty-year-old wife and mom to three cats and a baby boy. Belle came to me during the most difficult period of my entire life and I give her a lot of credit for bringing me out of it and helping me to get where I am today. Thanks so much, little Belle-cat. I love you.

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Sort of like a fuzzy navel …

October 12, 2009 at 8:43 pm (Babies, Etiquette, Family, Motherhood)

I was changing my son’s diaper today when I noticed he had some fuzz on his body. On the tip of his penis, to be exact. Now, this raises an interesting issue for me as a mother or maybe it’s for all of us as a society. I’m not sure. Maybe we have all gotten over-sensitive if a mother cannot handle (I wish I could think of a better word.) matters pertaining to her son’s penis without feeling awkward. He’s only two months old. It’s tiny. (No offense, kid.) However, it took about ten tries for me to get that fuzz off of his penis. I felt so awkward that I kept trying to remove the fuzz without actually touching his genitalia, which worked about as well as it sounds like it would. (The fuzz removal, not his genitals. I have no idea how well they function, except that he seems to have no trouble peeing, preferably with his diaper off. ) I even called my husband right before I managed to finally, successfully, remove it.

Max (That is my son’s name. I am in the process of rendering this blog un-anonymous, but haven’t had time to update my “About” page.) was seemingly oblivious to all of this. However, I veered between feelings of awkwardness over having to touch him when not changing his diaper or bathing him (even for fuzz removal purposes) and fears that I would accidentally hurt him. During one of my desperate, spastic attempts to remove the fuzz, I felt like I accidentally tugged too sharply on his poor little penis. I decided he would have let me know if I had, though. As for any awkwardness, I’ve discussed this with other parents and it seems to be something we all feel. Especially with a child of the opposite sex. Just comes with the territory. I wonder, though, if it ever stops being awkward? Or becomes less awkward?

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When it rains, it pours

October 7, 2009 at 11:37 pm (Babies, Flu)

All of this coughing has not helped the post-baby incontinence problem. It really sucks to not be able to hold your pee. Since Max was born, I have not been able to laugh, cough, or sneeze without peeing myself (some of the time). As if having the flu wasn’t bad enough, they tell you to drink lots of fluids when you’ve just had a baby, can’t stop coughing, and can’t always go to the bathroom when you want or need to, thanks to the aforementioned baby. Not to mention that I can’t laugh without coughing right now, which just compounds the problem. Is there no end to the universe’s ability to f*** with new mothers??

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We’ve been bit

October 4, 2009 at 11:36 pm (Babies, Family, Flu, Illness, Life, Motherhood)

by the flu bug. My son and I both have the flu. His is probably H1N1. However, that one is apparently not as dangerous as the regular flu, despite the hype. We were at Dell Children’s Hospital from midnight to 6 a.m. trying to find out what was wrong. Despite the horrible wait, the doctors and nurses were wonderful once we finally got some help. Their cheerful attitudes at 4 a.m., despite an ER packed with cranky patients, are an inspiration.

I hope some of that cheer rubs off on me, because I am feeling pretty pessimistic about the coming week right now. I am really not looking forward to being alone and sick with a sick baby. I know I will do what I have to do, but it will be hard. I already got a taste of it last week. Even though my husband works at home, he still has to actually work most of the time and lately that has included evenings and weekends. Please send good thoughts and prayers our way.

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Chick-Fil-A is not A-OK (at least today)

September 30, 2009 at 11:01 pm (Chick-Fil-A, Food)

So, I decided to do something nice for my husband and myself. I stopped by Chick-Fil-A after yoga. I decided to splurge and get an original with fries. (I almost always get the grilled club with fruit on the side.) I pulled up and they had people standing outside to take drive-thru orders as they always do during lunch. I distinctly told the man “Two combo #1s with Diet Coke”. I instantly thought that I should have said “Diet Coke with each,” but it was too late by then.

Sure enough, I pulled up to the window and they only handed me one Diet Coke. I told them there should be another one. They duly handed me another Coke and I handed my card back to be charged again.

I should have known. I really should have known. I got home and I had two Diet Cokes, but only one sandwich and box of fries. WTF???? How stupid are they? First, they thought I only wanted one Diet Coke when a combo automatically comes with a drink (and I did say I wanted two combos). Then, they thought I wanted two Diet Cokes with one meal??? What kind of idiots are working at that Chick-Fil-A these days? (I know, I know. It was lunch, everyone makes mistakes. I’m still not happy. Can you blame me?)

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Lucky little boy

September 27, 2009 at 5:49 pm (Babies, Family, Fathers, Husbands, Life, Motherhood, Parenting)

I am so, so grateful that my son has a wonderful father who will be there for him his whole life. My father left when I was 13 and was never really around after that. In fact, he was never really around before he left. He was usually on business trips and when he was home, he was either asleep or locked in the bathroom. Or we wished he was asleep or locked in the bathroom.

Due to those experiences, one of my goals in life was to make sure my children had a father they could depend on. I know children can do fine without a father. My mother is one of the best women on earth, maybe THE best, and I marvel more and more everyday (especially since I’ve had my own child) at the bravery and sheer guts she displayed in striking out on her own and taking care of us. Luckily, she was only on her own a few years before my stepdad showed up, but she sacrificed a great deal for us before and after her remarriage and I will be forever grateful. Due to that example, I knew children could be great with a single parent and I might have gone that route if I had had to wait much longer for my husband.

Fortunately, my Prince Charming came along and now I have my beautiful baby boy. I finally have everything I really wanted (except possibly more kids, but we’ll wait a couple of years at least before we do anything about that). My baby boy has a terrific daddy AND he gets to have my mom for a grandmother. And those two are not the only wonderful family members he has. I think my son is set. (No pun intended.)

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Random quote for the day

September 27, 2009 at 5:42 pm (Babies, Clothes, Life)

“Baby clothes keep falling out of my clothes.”

– Spoken to my husband as I attempted to get ready for postnatal yoga this morning

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Super-Husband

September 26, 2009 at 11:35 pm (Husbands, Relationships)

I swear my husband can do everything. Everything. The only things I have discovered that I can do that he can’t are give birth and breast-feed. I am also better at planning meals and shopping. That’s it. I swear. He either knows how to do everything or he figures it out, seemingly effortlessly. He removes a poo stain from a onesie as effortlessly as he mows a lawn or installs a new garbage disposal. He is Super-Husband.

You’re thinking, “This is wonderful, right? This can’t possibly bother her, right?” Well, it doesn’t exactly. I just start to feel a little superfluous sometimes. I mean, there are ways to have babies without a wife. There are ways to feed a child without a wife. What it boils down to is – what the heck am I bringing to this relationship? Especially when I am so difficult to deal with sometimes??? I am so grateful for him and everything he does and I love him so much, but is that enough? Does a super-husband need a super-wife? What is my superpower?

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Baby mine

September 23, 2009 at 12:03 am (Babies, Family, Motherhood, Parenting, Relationships)

I’ve decided I don’t appreciate this biological hooey where the baby looks like the dad the first few months, so that the father can be sure the baby’s his. Not only is it insulting to the mother, but it’s also just plain not fair. I carried my son for forty-one and a half weeks and spent 12 hours giving birth to him. (Drug-free, thankyouverymuch.) I’ve been breast-feeding him round-the-clock for almost two months now. Also, he has all of my facial features. My eyes, my nose, my mouth, even my forehead. Yet, he looks like my husband! Only one person has said he looks like me! I know it shouldn’t matter, but come on. I’ve already put a year of my life in to this kid. He’s half mine. By rights, it should be more, considering all of the extra effort I put in. 😉 He’s already got my husband’s last name! Where’s the MOM’S evidence that the baby is hers?? Believe it or not, we need some reassurance on that point, too.

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Three clumsiest things I’ve done this week (so far!)

September 22, 2009 at 11:52 pm (Babies, Breastfeeding, Cats, Food, Life, Motherhood)

1. Tried to eat some Smart Ones fettucine alfredo too fast (in order to finish before the baby’s next feeding) and flipped the fork out of my hand, hitting CC in the leg.

2. Knocked over a bottle of breast milk and spilled it all over the floor and a tote bag.

3. Stepped on Earl Grey’s paw.

What will happen next? More specifically, what will happen to Fudgie? He’s the only cat I haven’t managed to inadvertently injure this week. (Actually, they’re fine, thank goodness.)

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