Story. Of. My. Life.

The Little Red Hen
Sara Cone Bryant (Retold from Joseph Jacobs)

One day as the Little Red Hen was scratching in a field, she found a grain of wheat.
"This wheat should be planted," she said. "Who will plant this grain of wheat?"
"Not I," said the Duck.
"Not I," said the Cat.
"Not I," said the Dog.
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did.
Soon the wheat grew to be tall and yellow.
"The wheat is ripe," said the Little Red Hen. "Who will cut the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Duck.
"Not I," said the Cat.
"Not I," said the Dog.
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did.
When the wheat was cut, the Little Red Hen said, "Who will thresh the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Duck.
"Not I," said the Cat.
"Not I," said the Dog.
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did.
When the wheat was threshed, the Little Red Hen said, "Who will take this wheat to the mill?"
"Not I," said the Duck.
"Not I," said the Cat.
"Not I," said the Dog.
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did.
She took the wheat to the mill and had it ground into flour. Then she said, "Who will make this flour into bread?"
"Not I," said the Duck.
"Not I," said the Cat.
"Not I," said the Dog.
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did.
She made and baked the bread. Then she said, "Who will eat this bread?"
"Oh! I will," said the Duck.
"And I will," said the Cat.
"And I will," said the Dog.
"No, No!" said the Little Red Hen. "I will do that." And she did.

From The Gingerbread Guide: Using Folktales with Young Children. Copyright 1987 Scott, Foresman and Company

I wish I had the balls to be the Little Red Hen, though. Because I will be sharing my awesome Thanksgiving dinner with a lot of ducks, cats and dogs this afternoon. (I would like to point out that I do have a good Rooster, though.)

Mad Skillz

I have been feeling a little negative about my parenting skills lately. For me, the most challenging aspect is devoting all of my focus and energy on stimulating Sophie. I don't know why I find it so hard to sit on the floor and play with her continuously for hours. It's not physically tolling, and hasn't been ever since she stopped asking to be carried (THANK G-D). It's just mentally exhausting for me. As I've mentioned before, the mornings are easy. We have so many scheduled "outings" that we are rarely home. And I feel awesome about that, because I could easily sit around in my pj's all morning and early afternoon. It's that cursed window between nap time and bedtime when it is still just the two of us because Shimmy works late and I am spent. This is when I usually let her watch videos (hanging head in shame). She loves her Sesame Street, and it is pretty educational, but still.... I mean, she doesn't watch continuously, she just seems to like it on in the background as she plays or colors. I know it's not the worst thing in the world, but it does make me feel like a crappy parent. Yesterday, however, we miraculously watched nothing. We had school together in the morning, and then we went to the library where I got two books (The Time Traveler's Wife and The Favoured Child, both of which I have wanted to read for some time) and Sophie and I played in the children's section for a while. Then we came home and had lunch, read books, and put Sophie down for a nap. After her nap (which went later than usual because it took her an hour to fall asleep), she asked me to sit in her crib and read books to her. She often does this, and I happily comply. We may sit it there for half an hour or more, just reading and hanging out. Kind of like a sleepover party :) After that, we listened to her Baby Einstein CD's in her room and played. At some point we ate dinner, but then we returned down to the playroom where we played for hours. I have no idea where I got my energy (maybe from my guilt of not doing this enough?). By the time I put her to bed I was feeling pretty proud of myself and my mad parenting skillz. Oh yea, and I am 5 months pregnant with achey joints, a seemingly detatched tailbone, occasional sciatica, and the past two days a HORRIBLE cold that will not respond to any of the allowed medications. So, as I said, MAD SKILLZ!

Nesting! (Or just being a more extreme version of my usual self)

(I'm the mama bird! Sophie is helping me get the nest ready for the baby! side note- we read this book, "Are You My Mother?" all the time.)


I have been nesting like crazy! I love organizing in general, so when I am pregnant, it is almost out of control. When I was pregnant with Sophie, the downstairs flooded, so when it was being restored and refinished, I got to choose all new carpet and paint colors, plus build Sophie's room. Score! Then, I also insisted we do something with the "crap room" (spare bedroom that was painted a nasty purple and basically just used as a dumping room for boxes and crap, hence the name.) We cleaned it out, painted it a very contemporary brown and made it into an awesome sitting room/overflow guest room. I'm sure I had a bunch of other projects too, but I can't remember now.

Back to the present. We are moving Sophie into a new room (the current office) for her birthday. This means that I get to combine the office and "brown room", and totally go crazy decorating Sophie's new room. WOOHOO. Step 1 was buying a shed for the back yard, which should be delivered in a few weeks. We will use the shed for all of the excess furniture in the office and brown room, our lawn stuff, and bigger things that are just taking up space in the laundry room. (I seriously just have a little path that allows me to get to the washer and drier and the refrigerator- and as my belly grows this path is getting narrower.) Step 2 was to buy and install (thank you, Shimmy!) shelves in the 2 closets in the brown room. This allowed me to fit soooo much more in those closets. Over the past couple of a years that room had become overrun with boxes, but no more! It is so clean and organized! Step 3 will be absorbing the office into the brown room (losing the office corner desk, losing the tv stand in the brown room, moving the bookcases into the brown room, and a bunch of other stuff that is hard for you to picture until it's done). Basically the brown room will still have the sleeper sofa, and will also have all of the bookcases and the printer/fax/scanner/copier from the office. We are chucking the desk top pc because we never use it and it's a dinosaur. We'll just plug our laptops into the printer/fax/scanner/copier as necessary.

Now, as for Sophie's room. When we were pregnant with her we had overbought furniture for her room with the intention of breaking it up later. Later has come! Her current room has a crib, large dresser (which we use as a changing table), small dresser, night stand, armoire, and dollhouse/bookcase. We bought her a new bed, and are moving the small dresser, night stand, and dollhouse/bookcase into her new room. I am so excited to get in there and decorate once the furniture is all moved in!

I'll keep you updated as more progress on the nesting front is made!

Frankie Say Relax

I am sitting here with my huge mug of tea having taken a shower and used my secret aromatherapy Bath and Body Works body wash and lotion. (I hide them from Shimmy so that he doesn't accidentally use them. I like to feel like they are my special me-only products.) I can finally relax. Well, at least until I hear "Mommeeeeee" repeatedly called out in the morning. I have had one hell of a week. Shimmy has been working late all this week- coming home about 11pm at night. I feel bad for him, but I feel bad for me too :( I just don't have the energy-
mental OR physical to keep Sophie happy for the entire day. Having sciatica, stretched/pulled muscles around my middle, and several contractions after even moderate walking have just made things harder. Everything until she wakes up from her nap is great. We have scheduled activities almost every morning. Wednesdays are music and Thursdays are Mommy and Me (which will soon be Tues and Thurs preschool for her without me!). The other days I make sure to schedule playdates or take her somewhere "fun" like the library, park, etc. Even after naptime is okay- if it isn't TOO cold we'll go for a walk or go to a friend's house. But between dinner and bedtime I just have no more steam left! And when Shimmy isn't home I really have a hard time. [side bar- I'm sorry, Heidi, most of this was copied and pasted from the email I just sent you. I am too exhausted to feel ashamed of my laziness.]

But everything's about to get better! Because.... My Dad is coming to spend the weekend with us! Which means after dinner tomorrow night Sophie will be happily entertained while I sit in my comfy chair and read. And all day the next day... and Saturday night he is babysitting while Shimmy and I go out. It is taking all of my strength to hold on until tomorrow afternoon.

FRAZZLE

Sophie and I have a new (old) favorite Sesame Street character. Frazzle is this awesome monster from the late 70's/early 80's that we discovered on a vintage video (yes, I still have an actual VCR for viewing such vintage videos). We LOVE Frazzle and LOVE rocking out to this song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY-dx48pR1I
(link's not working for me- cut and paste- you won't be disappointed!)

Bravo?

I am sitting here in my ratty sweats that I have been wearing since 1:00 this afternoon (in my defense I was dressed, complete with contact lenses and makeup since 8:00 am). I just noticed that there is a sticker stuck to the bottom of the left pant leg. It is a green star with the word "bravo" on it. It was once part of a whole chain of identical stickers given to me by a Weight Watchers employee to commend me on achieving lifetime status. I am thrilled to say that halfway through this pregnancy, I am still BELOW my goal weight. BUT, I have been feeling crappy about myself anyways. I sent Shimmy on his first ice cream run last night. I did ask for the low fat/calorie kind. And it was goooood. I have no idea when the last time I had eaten ice cream was. Seriously. Don't get me wrong- I have been no saint. Anyone who has been pregnant will agree that it starts going downhill during the first few months when morning (ha- morning, that still gets me every time!) sickness reigns and you find yourself abandoning a cart full of groceries to throw up in the store's bathroom while your toddler looks on crying out of concern and fear. At that moment you begin to eat whatever will stay down, which is mostly carbs. Then, one day, you realize that you have miraculously not thrown up in a couple of weeks, so you start eating a little more. Then one day- BAM! Your appetite comes back with avengance, and you begin to eat about twice as much as you used to! And then the cravings come! I usually try to get rid of them by telling myself that if I still want whatever it is in a few hours, then I can have it. Never once has the craving subsided. There is just no avoiding it. So I'm getting a little nervous about how this is going to affect the weight gain this time around. Well, the eating habbits combined with the fact that I have not gotten on the treadmill since I was about 6 weeks pregnant. I have walked outside with Sophie quite a bit, but it's not the same as an actual workout. I can't believe I am halfway through this pregnancy and I am not back to exercising yet. Bravo? Hardly. I am going to let this serve as a stern lecture to myself and aim to get back on that treadmill next week.

Politics and Pregnant Bodies

I have completed phase one of finishing my belly cast and it looks good. I just need to let everything dry, and then assess what I want to do next. Since Sophie is still sleeping and blogging earlier was pretty therapeutic, I figured I'd blog some more. I am in a pretty irritated mood right now, and when that happens, the irritated floodgate opens and I start getting irritated at other things as well. What I am mostly irritated at is political discussion. I got burned out on election talk about a year ago. I educate myself on the issues, research policies that effect/interest me, and make my voting decisions accordingly. Some of my decisions are made painstakingly by weighing pros and cons and choosing a candidate that has more pros, even though some cons remain. I just hope for the best. I will discuss my views very reluctantly if repeatedly provoked. However, in general, I prefer not to discuss politics. I think I was raised that way. In the deep South, one never discusses "religion or politics." Seems smart to me. Maybe that's why people in the South are so much kinder and friendlier. They don't go around pissing people off by shoving their political opinions down their throats. So it's not surprising that I find it very stressful to deal with all of the political discussion and debates before the election. But now the election in over. OVER. One's opinion, and vote, no longer make a difference. So I really wish people would stop lamenting and complaining and flooding my Facebook Newsfeed with so much BS.

Okay, so that's what I'm REALLY irritated about. Now comes the meaning behind the title of this post. While decorating my belly cast I thought about how I am creating a piece of art. And, how, in actuality my body is already a piece of art. Everyone's is. But, in particular, I think there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman's body. It is full with life and promise and love. Everything is smooth and round and stunning. I have never had a better body image of myself or more self-esteem than when I was nearing the end of my pregnancy with Sophie. I felt radiant and gorgeous. I would stare at myself in the mirror and just smile. So it completely baffles and irritates me when I hear other pregnant women complaining about how "fat" or "ugly" or "gross" they feel. Something just isn't right there.

witty title

Okay, so I am just going to freestyle for a few minutes here before I have to get back to my (desperate) housewife duties. Yesterday, while voting (for OBAMA, so suck it- I am sick of racists, bigots, backwards people, and regular well-meaning conservatives trying to talk politics with me) I ran into someone I have not seen in years. When she asked what I was up to, I said something about taking care of kids and making kids. I think I meant for it to be funny, but it does kind of make me a little sad. I love my life. I love my husband and his fast-paced, ambitious career that must always come before mine because that's what keeps food on the table and me in my luxury rich-mommy SUV. I love my kids- the one who I chase around and laugh with all day, and the one who is snuggled in my belly throwing me sweet little kicks throughout the day (and night). I love waking up at 8 am and leisurely drinking a big cup of coffee in my pj's before heading out for a fun day of crafts or music or playdates with Sophie. BUT I also used to love earning a paycheck, helping my clients, going out for drinks with awesome coworker friends, feeling like I made a difference in this world, feeling like I was SOMEBODY.............. Choices are tough. I would make the same choice to stay home with my kids again. I know one day I will go back to work and I will treasure the days I'm living now. I am so so very happy to be the one to teach Sophie new things and play with her and read to her and snuggle with her before nap time. Never in a million years would I want to pay someone else to do this for me. At the same time, I am human, and I have yearning for my own time and interests as well. The only time I am ever in a car by myself is when I go to my monthly doctor's appointments (it used to be when I drove myself to the mikvah). Sad indeed. This is the only time I can listen to the music of my choice and eat without passing bits of my snack into the backseat. I have a doctor's appointment on Friday, so woohoo- I can have the 5 min there and 5 min back to myself in just 2 days!

It took Sophie an hour to fall asleep this afternoon, and that was an hour ago. So I'm hoping she'll sleep for another hour, giving me some time to work on a couple of projects, which are (embarrassingly):
1. Israel scrapbook- this trip was 5 months ago and I have barely started.
2. FINISH MY BELLY CAST- before Sophie was born, Shimmy plastered my belly so that I could have a keepsake from my pregnancy. I still have not done anything with this plaster except re-plaster over it sometime in the summer to make it smoother. I better finish this cast before Baby #2 gets here. And no, I am not making another. I have learned better than that.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

On Sunday, after NOT getting the extra hour of back to standard time sleep (can't wait until the kids are old enough to teach them about that!) we went to North Run Farm. We had so much fun picking our own pumpkins directly from the patch- they give you one for free after Halloween- yay! Sophie loved seeing the animals, climbing on the hay stacks, and playing in the big tires. Here are some pics- sorry there are so many, there were just too many good ones to choose from:


Family pic in the patch:


My belly doesn't look very big in this pic (maybe because of what I was wearing), but you get the effect:


Mommy and Sophie:


Daddy and Sophie:


Sophie:


Being "corny":


Our family:

Giant Shout-Out

I have to give props to Giant. Grocery shopping with an almost 2 year old is a challenge. Firstly, from the minute we turn into the parking lot, Sophie starts asking for APPLES APPLES APPLES! And what is the first thing we see when we walk into the store? The produce section. Now, unlike crackers or cookies or a box of raisins, which you can open in the store, enjoy whilst shopping, and pay for later, produce is something which must be weighed by the cashier before buying. So those apples taunt Sophie the entire time we are in the store. Second, expecting Sophie to sit in a shopping cart for ANY amount of time is futile. I usually let her walk between me and the cart, "pushing" the cart with me. Thankfully she is a pretty good kid, so she will do this happily. For a while. But expecting her to do this for 30 minutes or more can be unrealistic. Even if she does, by the time we get to the (usually long) check out line she has had it.

Today's shopping experience, however, was almost a pleasure. I decided to let Sophie sit in one of those carts that has the cars attached in front. She loved it. She really thought she was "driving" us around the store, and only tried to get out a couple of times. We made it to the check out line, which was really long. I let Sophie get out and stand in front of the cart with me, preparing for a long wait. Just then, a Giant employee pushed my cart for me to a new line and proceeded to place my groceries on the belt. I looked up and noticed that this check out line had a sign that said "family friendly aisle." After I got over my shock, I thanked her profusely. The cashier then gave Sophie a bunch of stickers and Dora and SpongeBob activity sheets to play with. Sophie got back into the car part of the cart and happily played with the stickers and activity sheets.

So, THANK YOU, GIANT! I am almost looking forward to grocery shopping again next week!