unsolicited advice

This morning after I dropped L and Q off at school I took the little boys to Target to pick up a few things. Emmett, well, he's just "full of personality". We made our way over to the food section at the end of our trip to pick up a few things. One being a pound of ground beef. He took one look at it and dry heaved, gagging out loud and saying (LOUDLY), "Yuck! Blech! Gross Mommy!"

I was dying laughing. Like body shaking laughter. Probably because he learned that from me, champion queen of being revolted by the mere idea of raw meat.

I noticed a woman looking at us and we made eye contact.

Her: "YOU KNOW, if you LAUGH out loud it will only ENCOURAGE him to keep behaving that way!"

I'll bet her kids never come and visit. Never call, never write...

On No More Babies...

Kirk got a vasectomy. In all honesty, someone had to stop the madness. I could keep having babies forever. And I would. Clearly. But we both knew that it was time to stop. I can't handle any more children emotionally, spiritually, financially. I already feel stretched as it is. In more ways than one.

Having Nolan was hard on Lucy. The bigger the age gap I think the harder it is to add another. I thought she would be so excited when he was here and she was, don't get me wrong. BUT he has really "cramped her style". He needs a nap when she wants to stay at the pool for another hour. I need a nap because I've been up with him all night (horrible sleeper). One of her chores on her chore chart is "feed baby" while I cook dinner and Quin sets the table.

So I made the appointment back in October. And he went to his consult in November. And he went for his "procedure" in December. And I didn't back out. Because I'm sure. But you can bet your ass I was pacing that waiting room floor like an expectant father while he was back there.

As much as I dislike the physical parts of being pregnant, I love the rest. I feel like I'm in such a good place, focusing on a (relatively) short-term goal. Everything revolves around being pregnant. But a beautiful part of being a mother is growing with your children and enjoying each stage. And the more space between the children the harder that is to do, at least for me.

So today when we were running and we passed an extremely pregnant and smiley woman, my friend said, "DON'T LOOK!"