Bad Mommy Moments

Though I'm barely showing, I already am experiencing Bad Mommy Moments. Today, for example, my mother-in-law and I visited several day cares in Auburn. At one place the director was explaining that they have a long waiting list and asked me how soon I would need a spot (I had already told her my due date). My response was "well, how young do you take 'em?" I suddenly felt like a big neon sign was suspended over my head with an arrow pointing at me and flashing "mother who doesn't care!" Also, earlier I was comparing birthing classes offered by my OBGYN to those offered by the hospital. One is a three-week class and the other is a six-week class. Instead of considering which would be better on the basis of quality of services and information, I was doing the math to break down how much each class was by hour (multiply number of hours by number of sessions; divide this number into the total price). Is it okay to bargain shop when the health of my unborn child is on the line? Sigh. Being a parent is not easy as it is, why must I complicate things by worrying the world is judging my ability as one?

Battle for Eeyore

A coworker of Andy's gave Baby Dyer a gift recently - an adorable stuffed Eeyore. I was thrilled when I opened the package - Eeyore was always my favorite of the Pooh clan. Apparently, I wasn't the only one thrilled with the gift. So was Sullivan. The second he laid eyes on it, he was so excited and began to hop around. Now, I don't know if he thought it was an elephant (his favorite kind of stuffed animal to rip up) or if he just assumed all cute and fuzzy things belong to him (cats included). But, boy, was he dissapointed when I told him "No!" and put Eeyore back in the box. Then I realized we may have a problem here. Not only is Sullivan going to receive drastically less attention from Mommy and Daddy, but the toys we bring home will no longer be for him. How exactly are we going to teach him to distinguish between his toys and the baby's? I mean, if they duke it out over a stuffed animal, who do you think is going to win: the 100-pound ball of fur and claws or the squirmy sack of flesh that can't even roll over? We are actively soliciting advice from those who have experienced this or similar situations.

In unrelated news, I went to the doctor Monday. My uterus is slowly inching its way toward my belly button and the baby's heartbeat is at 155. Though I'm not gaining any weight, the doctor said it's ok because the baby is a parasite that will take what it needs. That was oddly comforting to hear. We go for the ultrasound on August 14. Sullivan has no idea what's going on, but he's been especially paranoid and protective lately for some reason. So maybe he's not so dumb and he really was staking his claim on Eeyore before the competition shows up ...

Baby's first plane ride

Tomorrow the baby will take his/her first plane ride. Janice heads to North Carolina to do research in county courthouses around the southeast portion of the state. While she's not thrilled about traveling (especially with an extra "passenger"), there was travel money to be spent in her grant budget and that's part of life as a researcher. Please keep both Mommy and Baby in your thoughts and prayers this week. They'll return to Auburn on Friday afternoon and hope to talk Daddy into taking them to see the new Harry Potter movie.

Signs of Progress

Ok, so things are slowly taking shape - literally. My belly is starting to develop the distinctive bump. I can still wear most my pants, if they're low-waisted, and you can't really see the bump unless you're really looking for it. It's still an exciting thing, though; physical evidence that there's another life in there. As for the nursery, we're slowly converting it from a storage room. As you can see from the picture, the mess has become a little more organized and mostly confined to boxes. We don't really have a design "theme" picked out for it or anything, but we have started to collect things to decorate the room with. Anyway, just thought y'all might like a quick update. Keep us in your thoughts!

Long Way to Go

Ok, so Mommy is into her second trimester and we've gotten absolutely nothing done. The nursery (pictured here) still serves as the room where we dump all the (non-baby) stuff we know needs to go somewhere, but have not figured out where quite yet. Suddenly the 500 lbs of stuff we donated to the thrift store when we moved doesn't seem like it was nearly enough. We also haven't signed up for birthing or parenting classes yet. And we have not made any decisions regarding day care. Instead of giving us recommendations, people keep giving us reasons why putting an infant in day care is a bad idea. But considering we have a car payment and a brand-spanking new mortgage, staying at home is not an option either. Of course, living out of a cardboard box on Highway 14 would give us PLENTY of free time with the baby! We'll get there eventually (getting everything in order, not Highway 14). Now that Mommy is finally getting over extreme fatigue, she expects to become more productive during the evenings and weekends. And now that Mommy is finally eating meat again (though in small portions), meal planning may get back to normal too. Though the nursery is not in order, the rest of the house is. We've had several overnight guests and would love some more. And, unlike Chuck, we won't put you to work in the yard to earn your keep!

Baby on Board

The major impetus for creating this blog was the exciting (and equally terrifying) discovery that we have a baby on the way. Of course our parents are thrilled to no end and eagerly await spending quality time with their new grandbaby. But they've still got a ways to go. The due date is January 3rd, but we're hoping the child is as frugal as we are and arrives a few days early, giving us a nice tax break. No, we don't know the sex of the child and no, we don't have names picked out. For now, Daddy and Uncle Rocky affectionately refer to the kid as "Meatwad" (for those of you who were as clueless as the Boston Police Department about those mysterious light boards/bombs, you won't get this reference either). Don't worry, though, Mommy will put an end to this whole "Meatwad" mess soon (though, if memory serves correctly, the same was said about the "Rocky" nickname as well ...). Well, we've got a lot to learn about being parents, but we're sure that friends and family will be super supportive in the coming months and years. Our hope is that this blog will serve as one way everyone can feel connected and be a part of our baby's life from day one.