I don't like babies...

Yesterday I was on the phone with my best friend and we were talking about our kids - as usual. I could hear her little guy making all kinds of baby racket in the back groun - so much better than the usual screaming and crying I hear.

We got to talking about the problems I've been having in my pregnancy and about babies and we both came to the same conclusion.

We don't like the 'baby stage'.

Arianna's reflux, failure to thrive, failure to breastfeed, developmental delays and constant illness for her first 16 months were very draining on me. I dreaded having to stay home with her when she was sick because I knew what the day was going to consist of - her throwing up and screaming the majority of the day. It was very stressful and I hated that I had no control - I couldn't make it better.

Kathy's little guy had severe food allergies and reflux and was colicky for 12 months. What was worse for her is that she was a stay at home mom with no car during the day the entire time.

I want nothing more than a perfectly boring pregnancy but I'm not getting it. I want nothing more than a kid that doesn't require NICU time and will actually breastfeed... and I want nothing more than to be able to keep this one out of daycare. We're working on the last one but the other 2 are out of my control - and I hate that.

When you have something special...

Today I went to a scrapbooking crop - the last one I have scheduled for the year due to my pregnancy. I sat with my friends Becca, Jean and Melissa and we had a lot of fun chatting and enjoying each others company.

I'm home now, working on cleaning up my scraproom and taking pictures off my camera and I feel compelled to make this post about friends.

I am very lucky that I'm at a point in my life where I feel pretty content in my friendships - I know which ones are keepers and which ones are worth my time. My friend Becca will help out in a moments notice - I can call her just to talk and we meet up for coffee after work a lot. I feel lucky to have found her through scrapbooking.

My friend Karen recently got married and moved to Boston yet we make it a point to get together at least once a month for a girls afternoon. We email and talk often and it makes me feel really loved to know that she, despite working as a busy attorney and living in Boston, makes time for all her friendships (she has tons of friends too, so this is quite an achievement!). Heck, she's even babysit for me for an entire day once! I don't think she knew what she was walking into! haha

My friend Brenda and I email constantly throughout the day and get together every few weeks - I was just at her house last weekend. My friend Kathy and I got together with her to catch a movie and do lunch. Her husband just got into photography so I went over with my 'bag of tricks' to show him what I had and we played. I've known Brenda for a few years and its refreshing to STILL keep in contact and still have that friendship.

The friendship that means the most to me is my friend Kathy though. I've known Kathy for 21 years now - I can't believe how fast time has gone by. She's moved back to our home town and is a stay home mom to her adorable 13 month old little boy. They only have one car so getting together with her isn't easy but we still manage to get together often and talk a lot. Today I'm downloading pictures off my camera that I took at her little boys first birthday party last month - Kathy will come by the house tomorrow to pick up the CD. I just finished making her a birthday card - a belated birthday card because I was a tool and forgot her birthday was this last Friday. We both chuckled about that on the phone today - we prefer to start forgetting them now that we're approaching 30. But I still felt bad because she's my best friend - I should know better, especially when I have a stack of ready-made birthday cards right here at my desk.

I saw Kathy last weekend and next weekend we're getting together again. I am so lucky that I have the opportunity to do this with her because I know its not easy, being new moms, to do that - especially when she has only 1 car and lives 20 minutes away (in the northeast that's a pretty good distance) - but we both realize that we need to keep in contact so each other knows we can count on each other.

I feel very lucky that I have these friends to count on. What's even better is knowing how supportive they are of me and everything I do. I hope in the coming weeks I won't have to ask for their help because I'm on bed rest, but I know they'll do it if I ask. I'm lucky in that aspect and I hope I do enough to tell all of them how much I appreciate them.

Fire tips for children

This is an alarming video and important for parents to watch.



I'm hoping Arianna proves true to a previous smoke alarm 'test'(mommy has alot to learn about cooking) and wakes up for us...

I've been productive!

You'll remember from this post that I had my weekend retreat this past weekend.

I had an OB appointment to get my first 17P shot in the morning but then I drove home and my friend Becca picked me up and we started our trek up to Madison, NH to Purity Springs Resort.

Its not surprising to me how much stuff I had to bring but it would be surprising to some people to see that the two of us packed Becca's Civic to the hilt - she could barely see out her back windows with all our bags!

We stopped somewhere off the highway for lunch and arrived at the resort for 2 PM. We checked in and immediately drove over to the hall where we would do our cropping. I was really amazed at the number of people you can cram into a hall this size. There were at least 80 people in our room and there were another 2 halls of smaller size with another 45 people - amazing!

We each had 12 sq. ft. of space to work on at brand new solid wood tables - I hope they get better chairs for next year. There were also several local vendors there selling stuff to those of us that can't resist new papers or stickers (like me...).

The retreat was all inclusive and the food was awesome - I really have to stop stuffing my face. Vacation is OVER! Yikes. I was good, at least, and enjoyed lots of salad (in addition to the yummy blueberry pie :( ).

Our room was nice but sleeping was a little rough. I opted for the bed closest to the bathroom but it was a bunk bed and I've started getting bad leg cramps at night so I was jumping out of bed real quick to get out the cramp and I hit my head on the top bunk twice... ouch!

Otherwise I was very productive - I completed 50 pages! I have enough pictures, however, for an additional 200 pages! I hope to have them done before the end of the summer - I think this is very wishful thinking though.

On the bright side Becca and I both put down deposits for next April's retreat - I'll need it when I'm home with 2 kids!

She likes vacations...

We met with Arianna's nutritionist last week and found that, since the day before we left on the cruise, Arianna had put on 14 oz.! Wow!

She's back on the chart for her adjusted age - 5%! WOo HoO! She's not on the chart for her actual age but she looks good, so I won't complain.

She has another cold this week but seems to be eating ok so I hope this weight gain trend continues!