Cereal Offender

Justin loves cereal.  I buy lots of it.  Justin opens a box of cereal, eats it, leaves the cover open, cereal goes bad, he will not eat the rest of it.  This is a cycle that keeps repeating itself if my house.  We have talked about it, fought about it, laughed about it.  At the present time he has 2 boxes of Cheerios, 1 box of Corn Pops, 1 box of Total, 1 box of Shredded Wheat, 1 box of Pink Frosted Shredded Wheat, 1 box of Raisan Bran, and one box of Oatmeal Squares open.  I don't eat much cereal but when I do I usually eat Kashi.  So last week Kashi was on sale and I bought myself a box.  Justin tried to open it last week and I argued that he has 8 other boxes open and that he needs to eat them first.  Today he opened the Kashi cereal, took it out of the box and hid the box in the recycling so that I would not find it.  But I did.  We argued about it and I let him know because of my diabetes I need the box label to count carbs.  He agreed to get the box out of the recycling bin and put the label with the hidden cereal.  When I checked to be sure he did it I found a Wheat Thins nutrition label in with the Kashi Cereal.  When I confronted him about it he confessed that he just grabbed any box from the recycling.   Starting today I am not buying him cereal anymore.  Mark my word!!

Panera lunch is my new cocktail hour

Not sure how I never noticed this before but Panera is the hottest spot for new moms and their babies.  Everytime I have gone there the past few months all I see is groups of moms fawning over their babies while eating a salad.   It is crazy!  I find myself checking out woman and their babies and using language I would if I were out for drinks with my girlfriends.  "Check out how cute he is" I may say referring to an adorable male toddler sitting a few tables over.  Or "Look at her outfit" referring to the 9 month old in a pink and flowery get up. "That is a $600 dollar stroller!"   Rhea and I really need to step up our game because when I was there last week, I forgot a burp cloth so I had to use a napkin.  I know the other mom's were looking at me, judging me.  I know for a fact at least one mom was.  My mother.  She was horrified that I was using a napkin.  She was horrified I didn't have a Sofie the Giraffe.  She was horrified Rhea didn't have socks on.  To be fair she did have socks on when we left the house but she kicked them off when we got to lunch and refused to keep them on.  She told me I need to be more like other Panera moms.  She told me to get it together!  At this point I wished Panera sold booze as I would have ordered a drink!  

GrandMoes Observation

While out on a shopping adventure with my mother the other day, she was very quiet in the front seat.  When we got out of the car and I was loading Rhea into the stroller, coffee in hand, my mother asked me point blank "What is up with you and all the yuppie moms with their coffee and strollers?"  Appalled at being called a yuppie, I began to defend myself when I looked around the parking lot and there we all were.  Yuppie moms, at Target (which has a Starbucks in it by the way) with our coffees, pushing our babies.  I really didn't have an answer for her.   But I enjoyed every sip of that coffee while I browsed around Target. 

I Just Lost my Underwear...

I don't care, I'll go bare, Bye Bye Long Johns...Does anyone else remember that camp song?  The rest of the song goes: They were very close to me, Tickle me -Hee Hee Hee Bye Bye Long Johns. I have been singing that song the past few days because I have said good bye indefinitely to my Great Granny Panties.  How I hated purchasing them and having to wear them.  But oh how I grew to love the comfort of them, the softness, the way they didn't ride up and covered my ass.  But now that the baby is here, I have been looking at them differently.  There is no way my ass is or was that big (or was it?)   So I have decided to pack them away with all my other maternity clothes.  Who knows, one day we may meet again.  Until that day, I will just say Bye Bye.

The Nose has it

The Wnukowski family have very large noses. It is part of who they are. The noses get stuffed up, get in the way of kisses, they can hardly smell anything. And apparently that huge nose can feed a baby. Pictured below is Justin going hands free to feed Rhea and still play his iPad. If she is happy then I am happy!!!

How to say I told you so in a nice way

We purchased a media tower to house all our DVD players, cable box, Apple TV and so on. This was back in August. Justin was supposed to configure all the wires and set this all up before the baby arrived but this never happened. When we were shopping for this piece in August I stated to Justin that the shelves were not deep enough for all the boxes we had. He used his arm as a measuring tape and assured me everything would fit perfectly. Fast forward to January and he finally set everything up. Notice how something sticks way out. I told you so.

2012 Resolutions

My only true resolution this year is to just stop stressing and enjoy the baby.  The last 7 weeks of 2011 have been some of the most stressful times of my life.  Having a baby changes everything and anything you could have ever done to prepare for this moment is basically null and void.  It is scary as hell when they release you from the hospital and you are now in charge of that little life.  Looking back over the last 7 weeks, I should have stressed less and just went with my own instincts.  And I vow to do that this year.  I think parenthood is basically keeping your child safe, fed, warm, healthy, and you make the rest up as you go.  People mean well when they offer their two cents but I am tuning them out in 2012.  I have chosen to breastfeed my baby, but I also give her formula.  And I realize this is OK.  In 2012 I am doing what is best for me and Rhea.  And breast milk and formula are what is best for us.  All you lactation crazies can keep you opinion to yourself. (Like the lactation consultant who advised me today that I check out a low milk supply website for support since I was offering formula with my breast milk) Thanks but no thanks.  These moments go by so fast, I don't want to look back at the end of 2012 and think "I should have enjoyed her more".  2012 is the year of Rhea and I plan to savor every moment.  And maybe loose the baby weight too. 

"And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?"...

Well John Lennon, I had a baby.  And it has been the most exciting, scariest, wonderful, terrifying, exhausting, happiest, challenging time in my life.  As most of you know I have Type 1 Diabetes.  What most of you don't know is how challenging being pregnant with Type 1 diabetes was for me.  And I don't mean challenging because of complications or anything like that.  I mean I truly challenged myself over the past two years to get my A1C results down to a near perfect number.  I  restricted my diet and accounted for nearly every morsel of food that I put in my mouth.  I couldn't have done this without the support of my husband Justin.  At times I could have hurt him, like when he asked during my first trimester of severe blood sugar lows "Why are you doing this to yourself?' (side note- blood sugars run extremely low in 1st trimester for T1 diabetics)  Other times I could have hugged him when he would talk me down from the ledge when I was convinced an out of range sugar was killing the baby.  Or when he drove me in the middle of the night to Beth Israel because I was convinced I had a blood clot only to find out it was water retention.  I also could not have had this baby without the support of my parents especially my mother.  She drove me to countless appointments, held my hand at my EMG, and cried out of excitement the first time she saw Rhea on the ultrasound screen.  My parents let me stay with them when Justin was busy with work and could not make it to my appointments.  They cooked me food and took care of Duke when I was restricted from walking.  And now that she is here it has made all the sacrifice worth it.  They say it takes a village to raise a child and I truly understand that now.   I am so thankful for my family and feel truly blessed this holiday season