Dizzy Spells = Scary Moments

This week my family and I had a bit of a scare. Monday morning I got ready for work like always, packed Liam into the car and took him to my mom's house as usual, and sat down to relax just as I always do before heading to work. I should back-up just a bit. I woke up that morning refreshed, feeling better than I have in weeks, ready for my last week of work before our holiday break. But while sitting on my mom's couch, talking to her about the week, or holiday plans, etc. I started to feel dizzy, light headed, and a bit nauseous. I thought that maybe I was just thirsty ( I knew that being hungry was not the issue, since I had a larger than normal breakfast before heading out for the day), so I walked to the kitchen to get some water.
Once there, I started to see spots, my ears felt plugged, and I had to lean on the counter just to stay upright. After drinking some water and taking a bit more of a break, I started to feel better. Since I was supposed to have students a half and hour later, I decided that I would go ahead and try going to work. As most of you can probably guess, this was not the brightest idea. I got about a quarter of the way to work and started to feel dizzy and weak all over again. Thankfully, I made it to the parking lot before the symptoms got worse.
I immediately called my doctor and explained what was happening. She told me that I was crazy for thinking I should go to work, and told me to go home and stay in bed. Luckily, we had already scheduled our next appointment for the next day, so she said we would check everything then. My husband and I spent the next two days being stressed and worried that something horrible was happening. My little gummy bear is healthy, but if he came this early, I would be very worried about him. I was born 5 weeks early and had many complications. He would have been 5 weeks early on Wednesday. I know that medicine/health care is far better now than when I was born, but still I was scared.
At the appointment we learned that my blood pressure is normal, they ran several tests that also came back normal, the baby is active, his heartbeat is perfect, and everything seems to be great. My doctor did say that if I have another episode like this one, I would be on bed-rest for the remainder of this pregnancy and that this baby seems to be on the fast track, so we should plan for a December baby rather than a January one.
No matter what, if this baby is healthy, then I am the happiest mommy in the world! I can't wait to meet him (although I would like him to bake a bit longer), so our family can be complete.
Happy Holidays to all! I hope that everyone has a safe, happy, healthy time with family and friends. We really do have a lot to be thankful for.

Showered with Love

This is the time of year where everyone is thinking about what they have to be thankful for. It's amazing how wonderful your life can seem when you focus on these parts rather than the parts you wish to change. I have so many people and things to be appreciative of. Never has that been more apparent than the last few months, and in particular, this past weekend. On Saturday, my mom, two of my sisters, my grandma, and two of my closest friends worked together to throw me the best baby shower imaginable.
Since we are being blessed with another baby boy, we really don't need a lot of things to prepare for his arrival. But that didn't stop the hoards of family, friends, and co-workers from celebrating the upcoming arrival of our gummy bear with us. Everyone was so generous and genuinely excited to meet baby Brooks #2, that our house was filled with people and love for hours. Even the folks who couldn't make it to the shower, sent their love and gifts for our little guy without hesitation. When I came home today, I was reminded once again how lucky we are, by the package sitting by our front door with my baby boy's name on it (figuratively).
One of the best parts of welcoming another family member, is the constant reminder of just how many people care about us and want us to be happy and healthy. As we head into our last weeks as parents of one, Joe and I feel as though we are not making this transition alone. We know that we have family to support us and friends to share our stories and experiences with. I know that this is about the time in a pregnancy where the nerves tend to kick in, but amazingly I feel more ready to welcome our bundle now than I did even a week ago.
Now that I have begun my wonderful five-day-holiday-weekend, am heading to a check-up for my gummy bear, and get to share lots of time with the people who mean the most to me, I can relax a bit and enjoy this amazing time of my life.

.........it also helps that we finally picked a name for the baby in my belly. We can finally take that off our list!

Bath Time = Bonding Time

Before getting pregnant with baby #2, I was worried about how having more than one child would effect our family. I have always known that I want more than one, but after having Liam it seemed so scary to have to share my time with him with another baby as well. This was a driving factor when it came to waiting. I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of Liam not being the only person that I cared about that much. Ever since the day he was born, all I have wanted to do is be with him. It was very hard to imagine him not getting 100% of my time and effort.
It wasn't until the other night, that I realized that it isn't Liam that I have to worry about. The baby boy in my tummy is so far, getting the shaft! When I was pregnant with Liam, it was a common, nightly ritual to take a long bath. I thought of this as my time with my unborn baby. I talked to him, was able to really focus on his movements, and was finally able to relieve some of the pressure of carrying a baby. I felt so connected to him before he was even here. Although we still didn't have a name to call him, I KNEW him.
A couple of nights ago, I was actually lucky enough to find the time to take a quick bath. I realized that this was one of just a handful that I have taken since becoming pregnant. While laying in the tub, talking to this baby, it occurred to me that I don't "know" this baby like I did Liam. I don't talk to him as often as I did with Liam and I feel less connected some how.
Maybe this is why the middle child tends to be nuts. He is already getting the shorter end of the stick. This is just one example of the inequalities this baby has in store. Liam came into this world with his own room, decorated and filled with things, just for him. He has experienced two and a half years of being the only thing that we worry about. Unfortunately for the baby in my belly, this will not be the case for him. He will share space, clothes, toys, and attention with his big brother.
I should have never worried about how hard it would be to take attention away from Liam, I should have been worrying about how I would find the time, effort, and energy to give attention to my gummy bear. I know that when this little guy enters the world, things will be different and the connection, love, time, and attention will just come. But the idea that this baby is already being deprived of something that Liam received without hesitation makes me sad.
I love you gummy bear, and I will be sure to take more baths between now and when you arrive......I promise!

Dessert Hoarders

Joe and I recently realized that we are dessert hoarders. Although we have been this way for years, we just noticed that we don't even share with our son! We have gotten into the habit of waiting until Liam is tucked, safely into bed and the house is quiet before pulling out whatever yummy treat we have any given evening. It was a bit of a shock the other day, when I made pumpkin cheesecake bars, gave Liam one before he went to bed, and thought about how excited he was. My thoughts, "We have dessert all the time. Why is this such a big deal?!" Then it dawned on us......WE eat dessert all the time, LIAM does not.

The dessert that cause the epiphany 

At first, I tried to rationalize what we have been doing. Saying things like, "Well, it's not good for him to have so much sugar." and "We are just making sure he fills up on healthy, nutritious foods. We're the ones who are really missing out." Then I realized that we are full of crap! We wait until he goes to bed because #1- we don't want to share and #2- we see that as our quiet, kid-free meal of the day.
This realization brought back memories of a terrible feeling I had about a year ago. I discussed my horrible habit in a post titled Stealing Candy from My Baby. It's so funny how I am more willing to share everything about my life (my bed, my tv, my free time, my potty breaks, etc) with my two foot tall monster, but I unknowingly and selfishly have kept this one amazingly yummy piece of my life for myself. Oh well, I guess I'm not the perfect mom (as if I ever thought that it was a possibility).

News Station or Rumor Patrol?

Teenagers can be so mean, cruel, and gossipy. Adults scold them for this behavior, but then they call it newsworthy. A local news station has been running a "story" about a teen that may or may not wear a mask in the hallways, dresses strangely, and acts abnormal. Have none of these people ever entered a middle school?! Well, I have! I teach in one, and these things are not abnormal, nor are they newsworthy.

This teen possibly has a "hit-list" and (once again) may or may not making stabbing motions when walking through the halls. Even the students that the news station interviewed said, "I heard that he....." and "....but it may be just rumors." It even says these words in the story that is posted on the website. Even the school is not admitting to any wrong doing by the student, in fact they said that they "asked the student to stay home from school today." If there is any evidence of a real threat, schools don't ask the student to stay home! They  would have suspended or expelled the student immediately.

As a parent and a teacher, I believe that we should all be made aware of real threats, but to put hearsay and speculation on the news for all to hear is not right. All I know about this story is what the news station is reporting, but I for one don't think that they have enough to report on to ruin this student's reputation. If they are wrong or are blowing this out of proportion, think of the life this poor kid has in front of him. Not only are his peers going to harass him (probably more than before), but now parents, and KATU viewers as well.

There has been a huge focus on anti-bullying campaigns both in schools and out, but this sure seems like people jumping to conclusions about a boy because he is different. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems a lot like bullying. As I said, I don't know the specifics of this situation, and maybe this boy is a threat. But I just think that there should be a line between facts and guesses, and that what airs on the news should only fall under the first category.

If you would like to read what little information KATU has on this story, here is the link:

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Student-who-was-causing-concern-at-school-told-to-stay-home-171209131.html

Pretty Toes

Not too long ago, there was a big uproar about an advertisement where a mom was painting her son's toe nails. So many people felt that this was an issue important enough to publicly complain about it and even demand that the ad be removed. What is the world coming to, when you can;t just not look at the ad if you don't like it?! Why is it such a big deal to people if a little boy wants to wear nail polish? I thought the hoopla surrounding the advertisement was nuts.
The other day, Liam saw my blue painted toes and asked if I would paint his for him. I said, "Sure." To which his daddy admittedly disagreed. He made a comment like, "Boy's don't wear nail polish, that's for girls!" This was infuriating to me. Maybe it's because of all of the family/child/gender studies classes that I took in college, but I could see that my husband was imposing a horrible stereotype on my son right in front of me, and I was having none of it.
When Liam went to bed, we talked about it. Soon Joe agreed that it really isn't an issue if he wants his nails painted, but he said that he still just had this inner voice telling him it was not ok. It was then that I realized how ingrained these gender stereotypes are. He was firmly against it earlier in the night without really knowing why. It was just the "feeling" that he had when it was brought up.
I think that it is so strange that when girls like "boy things" (trucks, climbing trees, playing sports) it's not "proper", but it's ok. She's just a Tom Boy, but when a boy likes "girl things" there is something wrong that needs to be fixed. Liam's favorite toy from his first birthday on, was a pink shopping cart that he picked out with his birthday money from his Great Grandma D. Even then, Joe was unsure of this being an acceptable purchase.

It will take a lot of time, but I hope that we learn to reprogram ourselves, so this isn't as much of an issue as it has been. Liam is a boy, who plays with "boy things", but I believe it is perfectly normal for him to want to play with any toy. We are the ones putting the gender label on it, to him it's just a toy. To end this post, I will share that Liam got his painted toe nails. They are red (the color of his choosing), and he is quite proud of them. Telling everyone he sees that he has "pretty toes!"

An Involuntary Vegetarian

My whole life I have been what I can, a half-way vegetarian. I love pork, turkey, and chicken, but have never been too interested in beef, seafood, or any other meat for that matter. I refuse to eat things like deer, elk, lamb, etc. for personal reasons, but have never gone 100% meatless. Although I have very few choices, meat is almost always on our home menu in some way or another. Until this month that is.....

My blue gummy bear has made it quite clear that he is a vegetarian and that he strongly believes that I should follow suit. I have tried all of my favorites and they have taken turns making me feel nauseous. First it was just chicken. I have always been a bit of texture snob when it comes to my food, but the stringy, chewy texture of chicken made me sick for days. Then I made jambalaya for the first time. I was so excited about the sausage and shrimp (the only kind of seafood I have ever been able to swallow). But the ended even worse! I had a whole crock pot full of, what I'm sure was a delicious meal, but all I could taste and smell was the shrimp and my baby boy was not happy. Next it was ground turkey in our pasta, then turkey burgers from the BBQ, who know what's next!

All that's left are sausages (which even at this very moment sounds disgusting) and bacon. Otherwise, I have become a full blown vegetarian thanks to the little guy who now rules my body. My diet is dwindling, my husband is having a difficult time w/o meat, and my son misses his chicken nuggets. : ( 

Even as I add this picture, my stomach churns!