Best things about being a mom

Blame the pregnancy hormones if you want, but I've been getting teary-eyed when I think of some of the best parts of being a mom.  Yes I actually will sit in the rocking chair and actually cry tears of joy when I think about how happy my wonderful son makes me.  Here's a list of the things that I love most.

1. Waking up to hear W yelling "Maaaa!  Maaaa!  Mum Mum Mum Mum!" I'm sure in twenty years the "Maaaa!" will be followed by "The meatloaf?!" (yes that is a Wedding Crashers reference)
2. This may sound cruel, but when I drop W off at daycare and he still wants me, not to go play with his friends (this doesn't happen often anymore, but it's good to know they miss you).
3. One of the coolest things to watch is when my little man discovers something new.  The wonder and sense of accomplishment in his eyes makes me so happy and proud of him.
4. W has taught me to slow down and enjoy things.  When I think back on my childhood, I think of all the fun things my mom did with us.  Before W, I quit enjoying things like carving pumpkins or dying Easter eggs.  Doing these things again with him makes me remember my childhood as well as build lasting memories for him.
5. My son's smile will brighten up my day any day of the week.  I know it sounds cheesy, but when my little guy smiles (and laughs) it makes my day so much better no matter how rough it may have been.  It is the best sight and sound EVER.
6. Random cuddles have to be one of the best parts about being W's mom.  I love when he randomly climbs up on my lap and just snuggles.  As much as he loves running around and getting into things slowing down with snuggles is one of my favorite perks of being a mom.
7. I LOVE bath time.  For us bath time is just an extension of play time.  W now thinks he can actually swim in the tub. He blows bubbles and kicks his feet and everything!  He also goes nuts when I turn the shower on.  I love watching him have fun and splash around.
8. Sneaking into my little man's room when he is peaceful and asleep to make sure he is all covered up and comfortable. This absolutely melts my heart.

Plus Size Pregnancy Clothing (and I don't mean XL Clothing)

I've got a bone to pick with retailers that claim to have Plus Size Maternity clothing.  I HATE when a retailer *cough* Target *cough* Old Navy* claims to carry plus size maternity wear when they only go up to XXL.  Hello?!  Bigger women have babies than a size 18-20!  I swear there are only a handful of places online that offer real plus size maternity clothing and I hate to say it, the clothing isn't all that attractive.

I know I'm a big girl and things aren't going to fit me the same way as they fit a pregnant woman who usually wears a size 12, but come on people.  I want to look good too and not like a tent! Oh and it would be nice to find a few nice business appropriate outfits I could wear too!

To help all the curvalicious pregnant ladies out there I want offer my suggestions on where to shop for plus size maternity wear. 


1.  Motherhood Maternity
Lets start with Motherhood Maternity.   While they do not have the best selection / variety (some of the tops I swear I bought with my first pregnancy nearly two years ago), they do offer a wide variety of casual clothing and business casual attire.  Some of their prints are hideous and they only have a handful of dresses (mostly in blacks and greys).  Motherhood is usually one of my first stops for maternity clothing.

2.  JcPenny
Again, like Motherhood Maternity, JcPenny focuses on casual and business casual clothing, but I tend to like their styles more than Motherhood, plus the prices are WAY better.  JcPenny's plus size maternity clothing actually goes on sale and you can easily get multiple outfits for under $100.

3.  Simply Be
I would say Simply Be has the most stylish of all the sites I've visited as far as maternity clothing goes.  However, some of the clothing borders on things a teen mom would wear.  They have the best selection of dresses out of all the sites I've listed so far.  However, even with a coupon you will still be spending over $30 for a tee shirt (a tee shirt you will only wear for about 5-6 months).  It is a bit pricier than the other retailers I have listed.

4.  Jessica London
I've bought a few things from Jessica London.  While it is not super cheap, you can find business suits there.  I'm not sure if she will continue her pregnancy line as I haven't seen new items added and a lot of them seem to be on sale right now.  Also there isn't a huge variety of clothing, but like I said, if you need a business suit this is probably one of your only options.  The other nice thing is she goes all the way up to a size 32!  If you wear Lane Bryant clothing her sizes (pants wise) run pretty similar.

5.  One Stop Plus
Not a great variety (and linked with Jessica London), but if you visit One Stop Plus and type "maternity" into the search bar you will be given a handful of maternity tops and bottoms.

6.  Kohl's
My first pregnancy Kohl's did not offer ANY plus size maternity clothing, so you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that they are now.  However, many of the outfits they offer are from Motherhood and they only have 23 pieces total.  The prices are also pretty high, but I would imagine if you hit a good sale and could earn Kohl's Cash it may be worth it.  Personally, I would think that they would have a better variety of clothing to keep up with JcPenny, but what do I know?

It really frustrates me that there is not a bigger variety of plus size maternity clothing.  I mean what are us bigger girls suppose to do? Not get pregnant?  Wear mumus for 9 months??  The only other advice I have for curvy mommas to be would be to not avoid the stores where you usually shop.  Sometimes you can find a cute dress or shirt that can double as maternity wear.  

If I overlooked any retailers that offer maternity clothing bigger than XXL please leave it in the comments section of this post.  Thanks!

There is a 12lb Breakdancer in my Womb

I went to see my doctor last week and after looking at my most recent u/s she said to me, "I hope you are ready for a 12lb baby!".   Ummm... WTF did she just say?  Did she say 12lbs?  I told her that I hoped she would induce me before this baby hits 12lbs (hopefully between 38-39 weeks).  To which she replied that I handled W's birth fine and he was 10lbs (yes I give birth to thoroughbreds).  Yeah, my doctor is not the one squeezing a 12lb baby out of her vagina.  My lady bits may never be the same again!   Not only that, but I'm pretty sure giving birth to a 10lb baby is A LOT different than a 12lb baby.

Not only does it look like I will be giving birth to a teenager, but this kid is already nuts.  I've had 4 ultrasounds at this point and on EVERY SINGLE ONE this kid is going nuts moving around.  He actually mooned the tech and shook his little booty on the last ultrasound.  My doctor made mention of how much trouble I will be in once this one arrives if the ultrasounds are any indication.  Lord help me!

We are pregnant!

I know it has been awhile since I posted, but it is for good reason.  We are pregnant!  Even more exciting news is that W is going to have a baby brother this fall!

It is crazy how quickly this pregnancy is flying by.  It is probably because W keeps me so busy these days.  I swear W goes non-stop and he was not like that when we got pregnant which has me wondering what the f#@! did I get myself into?! How will I handle two babies and remain sane?

Busy Week

This has been such a busy week.  I feel bad that this is my first and perhaps only post for the week and it is going to be so short.  The daycare transition went really well this week.  W no longer cries when I drop him off and is content when he is picked up.  He always brings a toy over to the gate to play with and to take home.  It is such a huge weight off my shoulders that he is happy where he is.  The other thing I LOVE is the teacher who is with him in the afternoons is ALWAYS on the floor playing with the kids and singing.  It's so cute.  I can hear her before I even open the door to the daycare wing!

This weekend W and I are leaving my hubby at home and going to visit family for the weekend, then I have to work on Sunday so we will not be back until Monday.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Daycare - Day 2 - The Snack Dilema

Today is W's second day in daycare.  Yesterday he did excellent until I went to play with him at lunch time.  Then he freaked out.  Then last night he woke up at 3am and was inconsolable until I moved him into bed with me.  I'm sure it didn't help that we had no 'together' time since I didn't see him until 7:30 when I picked him up from my friend's house. Then as soon as we got home it was bedtime.

When I dropped W off today he FREAKED out.  He was screaming and had these big tears in his eyes. I felt awful.  I wanted to run over and pick him up and hug him, but I knew that would just be delaying the inevitable. 

One of the things I'm finding tough with our daycare is that the snacks they provide.  They are prepackaged  processed crap like cheeseballs.  ICK!  Another issues we have is W eats breakfast at about 7:45am and snack time is between 8:30 and 8:45am so I need to pack something that is not too heavy but will help hold him over until lunch at 11:30.  His afternoon snack is between 3 and 3:30 so I need to pack something heavier or else he is ravenous when I pick him up. Here's a list of the foods I have come up  with:

Morning Snacks:
Edamame
Cucubmbers
Green / Red Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes


Afternoon Snacks (I choose two of the following)
Apples
Pears
Grapes
Banana
String Cheese
Organic Animal Cookies
Homemade Oatmeal Cookies
Wholewheat Goldfish
Cheerios
Chick Peas
Dried Fruit

And because every post is better with a picture, here are a few pictures what he takes to daycare:

AM Snack
Edamame

Lunch
Mesquite Steak
Cheesy Quinoa Broccoli Bite
Red Peppers
Grapes

PM Snack
String Cheese
Apples

Just to make it easy on everyone I labeled everything with a dry erase marker.

Daycare

For the last year we have been blessed to have a friend who has watched W in her home.  It was the best situation we could ask for.  I felt so comfortable leaving him there and she even worked around my crazy and long work schedule.

Last month she had a job offer and decided to take it and we enrolled him in daycare a few blocks from my office. They didn't have any immediate openings so a friend of my friend (a former preschool teacher) offered to watch W until we could transition him (see my last blog entry for all the details).  Long story short today was W's first day at the new daycare.  It broke my heart to leave him somewhere new and unfamiliar all alone.  I wanted to scoop him  up and take him with me.  When I left he was perfectly fine, but looked at me with these big puppy dog eyes as if he were to say "Wait mom!  Where are you going? You forgot me!", but he didn't cry. 

At lunch time I went over to visit him, snuggle, and play.  We had a good 20 minutes of playtime before I had to go back to work.  This time when I left him he started screaming.  He totally broke my heart.  My poor little guy.  I know all this is for the best and it is good that he is being socialized, but it still hurts to know that if he falls and gets a boo-boo I won't be there to kiss it better.  I hate knowing that they probably won't pick up on his baby signing that I taught him.  They will not know that when he pats his belly he is really saying "Please" and when he says "der" it means he doesn't know the name for something, but wants it.

I think the worst part is I work until 7:30 on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday I have to be at work by 7:30am and I have an appointment right after work so his former nanny will be picking him up those days.  I'm going to feel totally disconnected from my little guy those days.

Deep breathes!