Today my sister, Jody, had to go to Jack's school to be a parent helper. I was asked if I would come by and sit with Izzy while she went. Well actually I just had to sit with myself since this was the time in which Izzy takes her afternoon nap. Before I took my nap as well, I started to think about the word "babysit". This word is defined as: to care for children usually during a short absence of the parents. So I guess it could be said I was babysitting Izzy since her parents, Scott and Jody, were not home. Then I started to think about dads who use that term. I have been raised to believe that a dad is a parent to a child. If I am wrong someone let me know. A dad should NEVER have to use that word when they are speaking of their own child or children. You never hear a mom say that she has to babysit. It is always dads. Or a mom may say that the dad is babysitting. I don't ever want to view my time with Lydia as babysitting. It is actually a term that has bothered me for a long time. Even before Sarah was pregnant. That is not what it ever will be. I have a good friend, Matt, who is a dad with three kids. He is the parent in charge when his wife is at work in the evenings or weekends. But don't forget he also works through out the week during the day. But I have never heard him use the phrase "I can't because I am babysitting". He has used the phrase " I can't because I have the kids" but he has never refered to babysitting his own children. I hope that I stay as disciplined as Matt and not to use that term or ever to think of my time being spent with my child as babysitting. I don't think that will be a problem since my goal is to petition Sarah to allow me to be a trophy husband/stay at home dad. Wish me luck.
Hello, Psycho Pregnancy Symptoms
I've read that pregnant women have a tendency to go psycho at times due to hormonal overload, but I'm proud to say I've been really good about keeping my raging urges at bay. There have been, however, a few select incidences where "Psycho Sarah" has surfaced.
Her first appearance, and probably the most scariest, was during my first trimester when Randy got me a chicken burrito from Chipolte instead of a steak one. A lot of my anger stemmed from the fact I told him what I wanted and he was like "I know what my baby wants." And mind you, we go to Chipolte a lot and I always get the same thing. My theory is that he was too worried about making sure he got the right meat-to-rice ratio on his burrito and failed to pay attention while my order was being made. I'm hoping Randy will share this incident with you because his take on the situation is pretty funny, even though I scared the bejesus out of him at the time, as well as poor Uncle Bryan who played witness.
The evil Honda in MY parking space.
Today, "Psycho Sarah" showed up again, only silently as there was no lashing out because it could have involved me getting fired for punching a new co-worker. A new employee joined our staff last week and he is a really nice guy. However, this week he started parking in MY parking space ... the spot I have been parking at for the past year and a half. Even my co-worker friend made the comment earlier in the week someone was in my spot. So see ... it is a known fact that this is MY spot.
Well, this morning I vowed to reclaim my spot by getting to work 20 minutes early, which is a difficult task in itself because mornings in general are tough for me, but even tougher being pregnant. However, I powered through my morning sickness and scraped the frost off my windows at warped speed just to get MY parking spot.
So, what did I see when I pulled into the parking lot this morning? Oh, yeah. He was already there and in MY spot when there were maybe three other cars in the entire parking lot. I literally exclaimed "Mother Fu@K" while pulling in. I immediately had to call Randy and tell him my early morning plan had failed, saying "Fu@k" at least three times in a 10-word sentence.
I walked into my office and went straight to my desk without saying any "good mornings" for fear I might get crazy on my poor new co-worker. I managed to calm down by sharing my frustration with a co-worker via email (making her laugh) and then writing this blog post. But don't you worry, I am not giving up. I plan to get to work even earlier tomorrow to mark MY territory.
I Voted
Wow what an important word that is, "Voted". I think up till today I have always taken this great duty or right for granted. I always have voted but I never really put much thought into it. Maybe it is because I don't put lots of thought into things I do for myself. Yes I am a selfish-less person, thank you. However my vote today will have an influence on my daughters future. She will not be able to vote until 2031. So for the next 18 years, she has to trust me and the decisions that I make. I know she will not always agree with my decisions when I vote just as Sarah does not. However, as Sarah watches what she does on a daily basis to protect the living organism in her belly, I will need to make sure the decisions I make on this day and every election till Lydia can vote are what's best for her. She is going to be an important part of this country's future. She is going to be an important part of our future!!!
I Never Fancied Myself a Kid Person
I think it came as a shock to a lot my friends and family when I announced I was pregnant. Heck, when I told my mom, she asked me at least five times "if I was lying." After all, I had been very blasé about having kids in the past and sometimes even shared a little negativity on the topic. Ok, I'll just admit it, I was not a huge fan of "jam hands" unless you were a kid of a close friend. And mind you, most of my close friends don't have kids.
Me holding Jack the first day he was born.
But my entire perception of kids changed on June 26, 2007 when little Jack Kennedy, my nephew, was born. Once I met him, I was done for. I never thought I could love a kid so much. To this day, I would do anything for him, and I hold grudges against any kid who does him wrong. Yes, I am still mad at Henry from daycare who pushed Jack down the stairs when he was three. And it is not much of an exaggeration when I say Randy and I have seen Jack almost everyday of his life. We took him to his first movie, watched his first play and sat their proudly as he graduated from preschool. The old Sarah would have been like ... a graduation for preschoolers, what a crock!
Today, that intense love has grown to include two nieces, Izzy Kennedy, 2, and Adelyn McClure, almost 10 months. I just feel bad that I can't spend as much time with Adelyn as she lives two hours away versus the 10 minutes I have to drive to see the Kennedy kids. In fact, Randy and I eat dinner with the Kennedys almost every night. And of those nights, there is always some form of kid entertainment ... sometimes good, sometimes bad. There was the time Jack cried so hard he gave himself hives for not wanting to try a tiny piece of pork, and then little Izzy made us laugh when she was standing on her chair and was told to "sit on her pockets," and the little stinker responded "I have no pockets" as she was wearing yoga-type pants.
But as much as I love these kids, the jury was still out on whether or not I wanted my own. My inspiration came when my friend, Amy Taylor, told me she was pregnant in December 2011. I figured if she can take the plunge, so can I.
Amy and I met in college and we share the same mentality on a lot of things, even motherhood. I distinctly remember the conversation we had on the subject in July 2011 while on a wine tour in Michigan. We talked about how if we were going to be mothers, we would have to get things moving along soon because of our age (we were both 35 at the time). Neither one of us wanted to be 40 years old having our first and only kid. I told her if she planned on trying, she would have to let me know because I did not want to go through pregnancy alone. Well she didn't tell me and went ahead and got herself knocked up. She said that she and her husband got pregnant almost instantly. She thought it would take up to a year.
After Amy's baby news, I started thinking I need to stop being afraid and just do it (pun intended). I convinced Randy, sort of, we should try. Well the same thing happened to me. I got pregnant fairly quickly and only after a few tries at that, one might consider it immaculate conception. And when I saw Amy's baby girl, Avery, for the first time this past July, I was able to share my baby news.
So, all I have to say is that if it weren't for Jack, Izzy, Adelyn and Avery, I just might not be blogging about Lydia today. These wonderful kids have changed my entire perception on motherhood and made me realize just how much "jam hands" can actually enrich your life.
(From left to right: Izzy, Jack, Adelyn and Avery)
The Garage
Today I went outside and into the garage to try and get a few things done. It is sunny and almost 50 degrees. I wanted to get the lights changed in the landscape lights, blow leaves back into the neighbor's yard, and clean up my landscape beds. As I started to work in the garage, I noticed that my area was starting to get smaller. As some of you may or may not know, I run my company out of my garage. For the past three years, Encore Landscape has been run from my house. Reminds me of when my dad worked on cars out of the garage at home. But know with Lydia on the way and stuff for her piling up in the garage, I am beginning to lose the area I had so that I could work or do things that was not related to Encore. My space....
Is this the beginning of me losing my space for good? I can't help but to think of my youth and our garage. It was my dad's home or work away from home or work. A big part of my dad's identity besides his family was the garage. The garage was never used to park the family cars, unless it was the Corvette or the Camaro. Our garage growing up was used for my dad to make money, fix things, make things, visit friends and family, eat meals or anything else you can think of--except for garage sales. My mom and sisters were never allowed to have a garage sale and actually use the garage. My dad didn't want strangers looking at his stuff. I can't help to think how when we were growing up all we wanted was a little spot for our bikes or toys. And that spot was always there. It may not have been during the day sometimes but when it came time to go in for the night, our stuff was always safe, even if that meant my dad had to work around it while he continued to work in the garage. So, as I was walking around boxes in the garage, I thought how soon these boxes will be replaced with Lydia's toys, or projects for her, and then her car and that will be all right!!
July 4th 2009 in the garage because it was raining. But as you can see my dad is watching his garage.
I have good and bad memories of the garage growing up. Ok, maybe just one bad memory but I will get back to that. I remember working with my dad in the garage late into the night on a weekend. He would get home from working 3-11 at the steel mill and we would go into the garage to work on a car that he had to get done. We would order a pizza and work on the car, the furnace would keep us warm. Or we would be in the garage working on my 69 Camaro trying to get the molding put back on or getting some last minute cleaning done so I could get it looking good for a car show the next day. There was never a dull moment in the garage. It was as much a part of my dad as Encore is for me. When my dad's friends came to visit in the summer that is where they expected to find him. That may have been because the cooler and beer was in the garage. Heck, if the garage was not open, they would not even stop thinking that he must not be home.
I go to my mom's house now and walk into the garage it's like all those memories come rushing back to me. It's as if the garage is a spot where time has stopped and everything good and that one bad thing comes back to me like it was yesterday. I can see my dad kneeling down working on a car, with his shirt up in the back showing a little too much ass or him sitting at the desk with grease all over his arms or fingers trying to get some things done on the phone. The smell of the garage has never changed in the 20+ years that my parents have lived in the house. The radio was on 94.7, Classic Rock or 97.1 The Drive all the time and still is.
The first garage in Highland. I'm probably about 6 in this picture which would make my dad only 26. He was 20 years older than me.
So the one bad memory....... It was July of 1995 and my dad asked me to put gas in his Corvette that was still "new" to him. Now remember I didn't ask to go put the gas in I was asked/told to go and do it. But anyways as I was leaving a car show across the street from where I got gas, I ended up running into a car, I t-boned her. Well needless to say it was not a good thing. I mean I was ok and the car had a little damage in the front nose. So as I pulled up to the house my dad was getting out of the pool and going into the garage. As he was going into the garage, I told him what happened. Well that garage was not so happy anymore. There were lots of curse words being said and not really at me but just being said out loud. The keys were thrown at a wall. I actually don't think those keys were ever found. He was so mad they might still be stuck in the wood. I am not sure who cried harder, my dad or me!
I can't wait to have a spot like this with Lydia. I am not sure if it will be the garage or maybe it will be our yard. I am not sure where it will be but I cannot wait for her to have that spot where time will stand still. So for now, it will be the garage in mind. And I know my dad would be so proud to know that I am going to have someone to share those same memories that he and I did.
By the way, I still have the Camaro and now I own the Corvette and there is no way Lydia is going to be allowed to drive them till she is in her 20s and done with college. It will just be better for everyone, I think.
Forced to Upgrade
Nikon 1 V1 with optional flash
Today I was enjoying my new project...www.LydiaPete.com and relaized that the pictures I posted of the nursery were not good at all. That was the quality I got from using my iPhone. I decided that Lydia deserves better quality. Someone who is born from my beautiful wife will need to have clear pictures so that her pure beauty will be seen. There will be no need to distort that beauty in any way. Lydia will have enough trouble as she grows up with people trying to slow her beauty down. Ok, enough about how beautiful OUR daughter is going to be.
So I decided to get a new camera today. Since I can not use the camera to take a picture of the new camera this will be my last picture I post that will be of sub par quality. I visited the local camera shop here in Carmel. We decided on this Nikon. Besides taking great pictures it also will be able to record HD quality movies. I felt that this camera for the price will be a great addition to all the baby gear we are accumilating.
So get ready this blog will be very photo heavy starting very soon.....
My Favorite Maternity Shirt
While I look forward to the day I can say sayonara to my maternity clothes, there is one shirt I plan to keep because I love it so much: the Halloween shirt from my sister-in-law, Jody.
I can't tell you how many people have complimented me when I have worn this shirt, which features a little skeleton baby on my tummy area waving and smiling.
When I went to Salem, Massachusetts on October 20 for the Halloween festivities with my friend Dani, I literally had a hundred people tell me how cute my shirt was and then the rest just pointed and smiled at me.
Because I love this shirt so much, Randy bought me the same one for Christmas time, only the baby is wearing a Santa hat and waiving a candy cane.
