It’s no surprise that right when the Indian summer came to an end, I got sick.  It was unusually warm right up until the very beginning of November, and a few days after it suddenly got chilly I woke up with gross phlegm stuck in my throat, which has seen fit to go on ahead and keep manufacturing more and more and more.  I’ve also started coughing a little bit, which I hope doesn’t persist.

littleQ has caught whatever the hell it is I have, which I was hoping he wouldn’t, considering I haven’t been feeling 100% for a few days now, but my poor baby woke up at about 6AM this morning and vomited on the bed , so it’s off to the doctor for us both on Monday if we’re still feeling icky by then (or sooner if he starts feeling worse.. I hope not…).   I hope it’s not Strep =\  Right now littleQ is sleeping, so hopefully when he wakes up he’ll be his usual loud, rowdy and bubbly self.

Anyone else out there with a ridiculous immune system that decides to take a little break at the change of season, EVERY season?  Seriously!  I would move our little family to Florida if I wasn’t so in love with the fact that NYC so kicks ass (LOL) and doesn’t get crazy hurricanes (well not usually, at least).  But I guess the hurricane issue would only be a problem if we lived near the coast, right? 

Ah whatever it doesn’t matter I highly doubt we’ll ever move out of New York, and mrQ doesn’t even want to move out of the city.  He’s acknowledged that it could be an option, but it would have to be somewhere relatively close to the boundary.  I grew up on Long Island, so really, I don’t have that weird aversion I’ve noticed some people get about moving to the ‘burbs.  As far as our nabe, it’s actually somewhat suburban-ish… but that changes if you go about 5 blocks one way.  Really - there’s this main road somewhat near our house that acts as a boundary… and you can tell the difference right away.  Silly city.

Technorati Tags: sick, illness, autumn, fall, change of seasons

Was it just me, or did anyone else’s nose swell and balloon out to the size of decent sized tomato complete with a matching hue while you were pregnant?

I don’t know exactly when it started, if my nose even went through various stages of plumpness or if one day it simply decided to distend itself, but by the time the beginning of my 10th (and I say TENTH because it lasts 10 months! =P) month rolled around, my nose pretty much dominated my face.  If you attempted to look at my eyes, my lips or at pretty much anything else in that vicinity, your eyes would, without fail, be drawn to the swollen mass of redness that was my nose.

While girlishly applying foundation to my face one day, my eyes zoned into my nose.  I remember squinting at my compact mirror, muttering something to myself about there not being enough light in the bedroom, and hoisting myself up off my thirty-something week pregnant butt to the bathroom.  According to my mother, her nose had simply inflated while she was pregnant with me, and so while I had been expecting it, I didn’t think it would be as pronounced as she described.  Boy, was that wishful thinking.

Now, the bathroom mirror does not lie.  It can’t, the light in there is far, far too bright.  Photographs (usually)  don’t lie either, and that’s why you will not find a close up of my fair visage (lol) from anytime during my pregnancy.  In retrospect, it was beyond silly of me, but for the first half of my pregnancy with littleQ I did not want my face to be the focal point of any photograph because I thought that it would look too swollen, then when the second half of my pregnancy rolled around, my face (my nose especially) really was swollen.

I cringe when I look at photographs from my baby shower, because, well, my nose, it wudn’t too purdy.  But I’ll also smile, because  I kinda do miss those days.  The sense of anticipation and new purpose that pregnancy gave me was amazing.  Simply knowing that I was carrying an itty-bitty life inside my tummy was just awe-inspiring.

Post-labor photographs show that my nose actually started to go down almost immediately.  By the time littleQ was 2 months old, my nose was returned to it’s original size.  Let’s face it though, after giving birth, our bodies are just different from how they used to be.

*This post was inspired by the CHBM Collaboration #49 - “When I was Pregnant…”*

Technorati Tags: infant, baby, mom, mommy, mother, motherhood, pregnancy, swollen, swollen nose, When I was Pregnant, chbm

This morning I was angry and frustrated to the point of tears.

Remember I mentioned a work at home job that I was training for? Umm.. actually I don’t think I did.. I think it was included in one of the posts that I lost when I was updating and tweaking my blog.

Part of the training necessary for the position includes this telephone portion which basically includes going through a mock session. You also have to be in front of the computer. Two of these sessions are required, and I had both of them scheduled for today.

Now littleQ is not even two years old yet, so one can only imagine the amount of noise that this child is capable of. When he is awake, it is nonstop, whether it’s him babbling, laughing, whining or crying. For this reason, I specifically told mrQ that he would have to watch littleQ during so-and-so hours, and he would have to distract littleQ in another room and not the same room I was in, which of course is where the computer is.

Err… to make a long story short, I had to cut short one appointment, and I canceled the other (each session was scheduled at a different time, but with only one hour in between) for this part of the training… which I’m pretty sure has killed any confidence that my prospective employer had in my ability to do this job and not flake out. Yeah I’m about 99% sure my chances have flown out the window.

OH was I angry. I have to admit, a few tears of frustration did make their way down my cheeks, but I just sucked it up. What are you supposed to do, you know? Fighting… well more often than not that just leads to more fighting.

While I do feel it was super annoying of him to just sit there giving me the evil eye while letting littleQ climb my leg (and keep in mind he was almost screaming at this point because he didn’t understand that I was not on the phone with Grandma, and no, he could not babble incoherently to the nice lady who was assigned to my training for this session), mrQ was very, very sleepy (he doesn’t work the conventional "9-5")…. so whatever… I understand….

If you’ve read up to this point you’re wondering to yourself, "Well where is the connection to Sliding Doors?"

Okay so do you know about that movie? You know, the one with Gwyneth Paltrow? The one where they show two different paths of her life… all depending on her missing/catching a train…?

Anyhow.. I ended up taking littleQ to the park. Since mrQ obviously can’t take care of him while he’s asleep, and I had to cancel my appointments, I said to myself, it’s so nice outside, why should littleQ and I stay inside while I sulk? If I’m going to sulk I might as well go to the park so that littleQ can have some fun…. I’ll just sulk there.

As is customary in the park, I struck up a conversation with another mom, and she told me about a mommy and me playgroup that meets at one of the churches (there are FOUR Catholic churches within walking distance of our house) in the neighborhood. I couldn’t have been happier to find out about this.

See, I was really quite despondent because I honestly didn’t think there was a mommy and me class or playgroup in this general vicinity… no where super close at least. I was actually about to sign littleQ up for a Gymboree class, and in essence obligating myself to drive 30 minutes each way, for a SINGLE 45 minute class, just to get to one that wouldn’t require crossing a bridge and paying a toll to get to.. OR I could have signed up for in Manhattan.. but nah. Now that’s really a non-issue as there’s one right here woohoo!

So…. if I had gone through with the training sessions, I would most definitely have that position.

But I didn’t, and I found out about this amazing opportunity for littleQ to make friends with babies and toddlers around his age and for me to meet and socialize with other moms. I really can’t fathom how I would have found out about it otherwise… It’s possible that I would have found out about it, but I don’t even go to that church, and I honestly am not friends with even one other mom in our neighborhood who has a toddler age child.. so chances would have been quite slim (near nonexistent, actually).

So, while it would have been a truly wonderful opportunity to have that job, I really didn’t need it, and I think that between these two, the latter is much more rewarding for littleQ.. and as far as our priorities are concerned in this case… well.. how do I feel now about how it’s all turned out? … it’s all good. So a big thanks to my husband for being annoying this morning =P

One door closes, and another one opens.. to quote the first person who ever said that.

Okay, okay, so this really doesn’t have much in common with Sliding Doors… but you get the point, right?

Technorati Tags: opportunity, sliding doors, fate, chance, life, path, mommy and me, playgroup, baby, babies, toddler

I was browsing MySpace today, and they have this rotation of ads from some online costume store going on all over the place.  Anyway, I was sitting here thinking to myself, oh, that’s early.  Then I got confused, because I realized, wait, Halloween’s in 2 weeks.

Yes, I totally forgot about Halloween.  Well.. actually I wouldn’t say that I forgot, it just slipped my mind!

I haven’t bought littleQ a costume yet :(  I haven’t even made la decision final about what he’s going to be, and watch, by the time I get to the costume stores this weekend, all the super frickin cute yet still-fairly-priced-considering-the-super-quality costumes will be out of stock, and all that will be left are craptastically undesirable cheap ones, or the awesomely kick ass but ridiculously overpriced ones.  (Just one of the trials of motherhood: stretching your dollars as far as they can go, while still getting your kid[s] the best.)

Last year(his first Halloween!) he was a lion, and too late I decided that I wanted to do a  Wizard of Oz theme , with me as Dorothy and mrQ as the Tin Man, but all the affordable Dorothy costumes  and all  the tin man costumes were our of stock at the store we went to by the time I came up with that brilliant plan.  See, I bought his costume like a month before Halloween, but I didn’t think of the whole family theme until like a week before Halloween, and then we didn’t head to the store to shop for the costumes till about 3 days before Halloween.

Hmmm.. I still don’t know what I want littleQ to dress up as, but I was thinking we could be a family of ninjas, because ninjas are super.

And then after Halloween everything shifts into fast-forward through Thanksgiving and past Christmas, and it doesn’t slow down until after the new year.  It’s funny, when you’re a kid time seems to go about 100 times slower.

Technorati Tags: Halloween, costume, ninja, holidays

In the midst of the turmoil of everyday life, we can sometimes forget exactly what it is we’re working so hard for. I have to admit, I do have my share of days when I say to myself, “WHY OH WHY isn’t everything going MY way?”

In retrospect, the first thing that comes to mind is: What a whiney baby I am!

During those times when littleQ is napping or down for the night, and I’m finally done folding the never ending pile of laundry, etc etc, I just look at him and everything becomes clear.

God, fate, some spiritual all knowing otherworldly being, karma, me. I’m not sure if anyone or anything else has any say in what happens in my life besides me, but I do know this:

If anything that has happened up to this day was changed, even slightly, I might not have my littleQ (and mrQ of course ::grumbles:: lol).

I took this semester off after a whopping one year @ ** University. mrQ and I were unable to really get our schedules to coordinate in a way that would be most financially, economically and emotionally feasible for our little family. I am going back to school in the spring, just not to the same one.

Oh, and I’m changing my major to something that I feel will be more ably coordinated with my life: nursing. Plus, I’m looking forward to really helping people. I’m sick of those sorry snot nosed excuses for RN’s that I sometimes come across, and I’m always eternally grateful when I come across a wonderful, caring, sincerely helpful and knowledgeable nurse. I want to be like one of those nurses whom I admire so.

I hope, throughout this crazy career we call motherhood, to be the best mother that I can possibly be to my son. I want him to be all grown up and say to himself, “You know what, my mother wasn’t perfect, but she was definitely as close to it as anyone possibly could be. I love her so much!” A woman can hope, can’t she? hehe

So I went off on a slight tangent…

My point is basically this: I love my family and I would do anything for them. Sometimes I get cranky and whine about this and that… but in the end I wouldn’t trade all the dirty laundry, bottles, diapers, and crying, whining, spills and stains, sleepless nights, or anything else I’ve had to go through in the past three years for anything in the world, because then I wouldn’t be me, and I wouldn’t have my family.

littleQ is only “little” for a few more years. I can hardly believe he’s twenty months old already! Soon I’ll be missing the times when his grubby sticky hands are constantly all over my face and hair. I’m going to miss his random, quite convoluted string of of babbles when he’s playing with a toy and talking to himself (I’m sure he can comprehend what he’s saying to himself, though I can’t quite understand what he says.) I’m going to miss his slobbery baby kisses, and his innocent toothy toddler smiles and giggles, so full of pure joy it makes my heart hurt with happiness.

For littleQ, I’d endure anything… especially anything that motherhood sees fit to hurl at me.

And when everything is still, and I’m alone with my thoughts, that is what I realize, time and again.

____

This post was prompted by Collaboration #48: Sitting Still over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas.

Technorati Tags: CHBM, crazy hip blog mamas, collaboration, motherhood, quiet

What do you do, when, like me, you like to buy things for your son that, he invariably outgrows a mere 3-6 months later?  What do you do when you’ve got piles of baby clothes just itching (hmm not so sure if that’s the right term..) to be worn by some little snuggly baby body?  Many of them still with tags on them…

Some of those one piece romper thingamajigs cost a pretty penny…  Oh the joys of clothes shopping, not only for (or rather, no longer for) yourself, but for your cute little baby boy who just needs to look like a miniature of his Daddy.

Gahhh I should have sorted all of littleQ’s clothes out back in November.  Now that I think about it, I would have been able to auction off a lot of his clothes on eBay for an okay amount of money.  Ehh… After Christmas.  Yeah.  I’ll do it then =)  And lookie:  free auction templates for ebay auctions!  Yay!  Perfect for me, because well, when I sell stuff on eBay, I usually just throw together a quick and detailed but aesthetically bare description of whatever it is I’m selling.  They only have like two so far, but they promise more in the future… soo they’re worth a click.

Technorati Tags: ebay, baby clothes, auction

Have you ever been responsible for clogging up an emergency room bathroom toilet with runny diarrhea and paper towels (in a moment of panic and “holy shit wtf do i do next?” you understand)?

Last friday, my poor littleQ just couldn’t keep anything down, and I mean nothing.  It was really… pretty bad so mrQ and I frantically rushed him to the emergency room.  By the time we got there, littleQ seemed to be feeling a whole lot better, and was even “talking” (babbling, actually) and flashing his toothy little happy baby grin at the nurses in triage.

However, as we were to find out a few minutes later, his nausea had subsided somewhat most due to the fact that whatever virus that had gotten to my littleQ was running it’s course, and would invariably lead to diarrhea… soon.  We did not anticipate just how soon it would come, and well.. let’s just say there was a mess on the floor inside and outside of the ER restroom that we, armed with only paper towels (as by this time we had completely gone through what we had thought was a sufficient supply of wipes) and tap water, were totally unable to clean up.

I’m telling you it was all over the place.  Shit.  Should.  Not.  Be.  Allowed. To.  Do.  That.

But oh,  my poor baby :(   Of course as my husband and I ran around the tiny cubicle of a bathroom like chickens sans heads, littleQ was giggling and clapping at us, grinning, even.  No doubt he thought Mommy was being funny just to make him feel better!  lol

In the end, they sent us home with some pedialyte and instructions to keep him as hydrated as possible, but with a warning that he’d be pooping up a storm for at least the next full day.  And oh, were they right.

Yesterday, he was finally 100% better.  Thank God!  Aghhh I was getting so scared this weekend, because I was afraid he would get too dehydrated.  But he’s better now, and back to his babbling, crawling all over the place touching stuff and walking along the coffee table knockin’ down whatever he can :)  (and no more crap bombs)

But to everyone, be careful!  I know people say stuff like this all  the time, but apparently it’s the season for nasty stomach virus annoyances that will keep you glued to the toilet for (at the very least), twenty four hours.  And for the love of God, make sure you wash your damn hands often (without getting OCD about it) or use purell or something.. to aid in NOT spreading any of these unsavory viruses and bugs this season.  Nobody wants to be sick for Christmas

Technorati Tags: sick, Christmas

MamaDivas.com is my new little project.

I’m a dork.

Anyhow. here’s the deal:

MamaDivas.com is a new site dedicated to bringing together all the blogging mama divas from all around the world together. Whether you’re a stay at home mama, a work at home mama, a full time career mama, a GRANDmama, a doggy mama, or anything in between, MamaDivas was made just for you!

There’s a webring… and there’s a blogroll.

Mission?  Find other MamaDiva blogs.  Join the blogroll and webring — help increase eachother’s backlinks while increasing your own! (this was my initial goal).  Become a featured MamaDiva (a writeup on you, your blog, etc).

Mamas, even if you’re just a future mama, or a possible future mama… join?  Pretty please?

Technorati Tags: blogroll, webring, mamadivas.com, mamadivas, mama, mommy, mother, mom, motherhood

I think littleQ is going to be a big computer geek, just like Mommy!  If happen to be on my laptop (and only when I’m on my laptop) he always go for the other computer’s wireless keyboard.  He likes to press and slap the keyboard, and in between hitting it, he looks at the lcd monitor, I guess to see if he’s actually doing anything, lol.

There’s such a thing as those baby activity keyboards that plug into the CPU and use special software.. isn’t there?  I’ve been meaning to research it, but just haven’t..

Technorati Tags: genes, computer geek

Even though it’s still the middle of November, I’ve been thinking about the new year coming up, and I do have plans for 2007.

I’m looking at getting into direct sales, but I won’t tell which product/product lines I’m looking into.  I’m still just really gathering information, but my research is leading me to seriously consider it.

littleQ is turning 1 in February, so I have to start planning his birthday party.  Ahhh I’m such a mess though when it comes to planning social events!  My mind gets all muddled and pooped out so quickly.  Hmm… I had wanted to have his party at a petting zoo I worked at as a childrens’ party hostess when I was a sophomore in high school, but then I realized that he might not yet be old enough to actually appreciate it, so it would be better to wait until he’s about 5 or 6 to have his birthday party there.

As I was thinking about it though, I just had to laugh at myself.  When I worked at that petting zoo, the other party hostesses and I always though it was so unnecessary to have a child’s first birthday party there for the following reasons: 1) More often than not, the baby does not care that he/she is riding on a pony and may not even be awake during the 1 1/2 hour party, and 2) Usually, parents of children this age who had the parties there would have no one else to invite but the baby’s 10 year old cousins who are “too cool” for baby llamas and piglets, seeing as the birthday baby will most likely not yet have had the chance to form any friendships with the other babies at the playground and all.

I don’t know.  Maybe I’ll still have his birthday party at the petting zoo.  Unlike some silly parents who pay for a 12-child party and invite five ten year olds to their one year old’s birthday, I actually do have relatives and family friends with preschool age children (and a little younger, and a little older), who would definitely appreciate the venue.

Well that was a long ramble…

I also plan on really starting on a path to a healthier me.  I’m starting… now… kinda… Well anyway, that’s definitely on my list of resolutions.

2007… it’s coming up soon…

Technorati Tags: new year, 2007, first birthday party, direct sales

Is it just me, or does it seem that the Christmas season begins earlier and earlier each year?

Or has it always been that stores such as Target get decked out in all their holiday season glory beginning the day after Halloween?  Hmm.

Last year at this time, I was still pregnant.  Now, my little boy is nine months old!  Time goes by so fast.. it really does seem like just a few weeks ago, I had tears flowing down my cheeks as I looked into my littleQ’s face for the first time.

It’s his first Christmas (well, obviously, lol) this year, so I’m going to find him a little baby Santa suit, hehe.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Christmas season, holiday season