BC and AD for parents...

my life has significantly changed since i've had clay. there was the stuff i did b.c. (before children) and the stuff i do now - a.d. (after delivery). here are a few more amusing changes. i suppose you have to be a parent yourself to even remotely appreciate this

travel:
b.c. - spur of the moment trips, jump in car and go, stay out as long as you want, listening to the radio on your road trip and singing along
a.d. - plan trip for weeks (then have to cancel due to baby developing some kind of illness)
- packing the diaper bag with enough snacks, drinks, change of clothes, wipes, and diapers (you'll always be one diaper short)
- listening to baby cry and singing silly songs to make him happy again.

privacy:
b.c. - a luxury that you take for granted
a.d. - showering and going to the bathroom in private become a thing of the past as your two year old barges in on you and says, "hi mommy!", as you hope fervently that no one comes to the door before you can get dressed.

nursing:
b.c. - you (rather immaturely) laughed when you heard stories of other moms who had major milk leakage in public.
a.d. - you're not laughing so hard when you look at your own shirt (at the mall) and realize you're the one who can't contain her bounty now...

body:
b.c. - you hate buying swimsuits that make your butt look big
- you panic and eat salad for a week if your size 6 jeans get too tight.
a.d. - you realize your butt looks big. period.
- you look at your size 6 jeans and finally come to the acceptance that your hips have morphed into something that will have difficulty squeezing into a 10, let alone a 6.


eating:
b.c. - you actually enjoy going out to eat. you take your time with your food and savor every bite.
- your food is actually hot when you eat it.
a.d. - you think going out to eat is a good idea, until you get there and your child decides he's unhappy. no matter what you order, he'll want something else, and your food gets cold as you try and coax him to eat his food and ignore the other patrons' glares.
- hot meals are a thing of the past.


planes:
b.c. - you would get irritated when kids wouldn't stop crying and think, "why can't they get him/her to calm down"
a.d. - your own kid won't calm down, and you get irritated when people on the plane actually are stupid enough to ask you that question.

shopping:
b.c. - a fun way to spend extra cash that's burning a hole in your pocket.
- kids throwing tantrums in the store would cause you to think smugly, "my kid will never do that."
a.d. - a race to get everything on your list before a.) your toddler has a meltdown, or b.) your toddler sees something he has to have, or c.) your kids knocks something off the shelf with the cart he's "helping" you push.
- there is no such thing as extra cash. period.
- the "my kid will never do that" arrogance of old comes back to haunt you.


television
b.c. - settling down to watch that movie you've been dying to see as soon as you can rent it.
- enjoying a show in relative quiet.
- doing things you needed to do at commercials
a.d. - renting the movie, and then not getting to see it because you're too tired to watch it after your toddler has gone to bed.
- wondering what the show was about anyway, because you couldn't hear over your toddler.
- hearing, "potty! quick!!!" right at the best part of the show, and by the time the "quick" potty has been taken care of, the moment is over and you don't know what happened.


girl's night out
b.c. - your friends call you to ask if you want to do girl's night out at 8pm, and you think its a great idea. and you go.
a.d. - your (childless) friends still call you at 8 pm to go out, but you're too tired to get off the couch to answer the phone. furthermore, it does not sound like a good idea at all. it sounds crazy.

housework:
b.c. - your house is immaculate and you wonder why your friends with kids are such slobs.
a.d. - you clean your house only to have it turn messy again in less than 10 seconds.


but all in all, life with kids is great. you wonder what you ever did before you had kids and where your time went. despite the (sometimes) unglamorous changes, you love your kid(s) more than anything and wouldn't trade them for the world.

clay is introduced to the star wars world

the minnesota museum of science had a star wars exhibit, and i met with my friend molly and her son jack and i took clay, and we introduced them to the force. nick told clay he would save him from being a nerd (nick is not a star wars fan). clay was most impressed with a kind of hover car that glided on air. we got to ride on it -- it was fun, but hard to describe. he wasn't impressed with much else, but he did like the big white hairy wampa from the planet hoth. so did jack -- although clay called it a bear. leave it to boys to be drawn to the scariest predator on that particular planet. clay threw a tantrum halfway through the exhibit (due to his refusal to take a nap on the drive up there), and nick had to (or used this as his excuse) to take him out and wait for us in the main museum area, where he snacked happily on his chicken strips (which he'd refused to eat earlier). after molly and i had toured the star wars realm, we went out and met nick in the main museum area. i was a bit disappointed; i'd wanted to have my picture taken with chewbacca, but apparently, the characters only were there on week-ends. i don't know what my parents would think of chewie being one of my favorite characters ... if i brought home a tall, massively hairy dude who had a bad temper and didn't speak a word of english, i think they might be slightly alarmed at my choice of friends.

in the main museum, clay was well impressed with the dinosaur bones, especially the stegosaurus, and the diplodocus. in fact he liked them so much, he tried climbing into the exhibit several times. he didn't like it much when i told him he couldn't do this. however, we did find a kid-friendly area and he soon was happy climbing all over that. regrettably, i forgot our camera, so i can't post any pics. then he went into a big tube that was about 4 feet or so in diameter, that was supposed to represent the size of a dinosaur's stomach. nice. he and jack had lots of fun climbing into the tube and running back and forth. clay later declared that he liked jack and that he was "a good friend" (he'd only met him that day).

we also went to como park zoo for a while and clay saw some animals and also went on some rides in como town. he went on the train, some cars, and a horse and cart ride. he especially liked the train and talked about it for hours afterwards.

as a bonus, i got some great baby gifts from molly. she gave me a cool smashing pumpkins lullabye cd (all instrumental). its really beautiful the way the music is done; i think its great. i also got a tie-dyed onesie for the baby, so he'll be really stylin when he's born. totally rad. then i got some cute placemats for baby and one for clay. clay promptly called his a "treasure map" and started telling me what all the animals were. i think that means he likes it. :)

speaking of clay, he's being too quiet right now, which no doubt means he's up to something he's not supposed to be doing, so adieu for now.

Big Mama goes to the fair...

So we had the annual fair in town this weekend, and so we took Clay to the fair. He decided he did not like the rides this year, and after one round of giggles and laughs, the tears came out and they had to stop the kiddie ride for him to get off. I ran to rescue him and carried him back, and asked him (now safe in my arms) if he had been scared. "No," he said bravely, without giving the ride a backward glance. But he didn't want to go on any more.

Two of my friends were in a demolition derby, so Nick took Clay home and I went to that. It was great fun. They both won in their heat, and then competed together in the final, and won 1st and 2nd place respectively. They were actually sister and brother, so after they had knocked every one else out of the running, they decided to take each other out. The brother won, and after it was over, he ran over to his sister's car to make sure she was okay. Their mother was in the stands, trying to tell some guy that those were her kids. When he finally realized (it was a bit loud) what she was telling him, he expressed his amazement quite colorfully --

"They're BOTH your kids?! Well.... blankety-blank!" Apparently, when you are at a loss for words, swearing works to fill in the gaps. It can mean anything.

I didn't do anything as exciting as win a derby, but I did manage to climb (or waddle, rather) the bleachers without them collapsing (or me falling) and that is a feat in and of itself when you are 7 months pregnant. The one good thing was that people parted like the red sea when they saw me coming, especially the guys. I didn't have to fight any crowds! It did get quite uncomfortable sitting there, trying to find a comfortable position. I got a stupid cramp in my side and thought, "Well here would be a great place to go into labor!" My city-slicker husband would have loved that legacy for his son (He thinks we're all a bunch of hicks). Fortunately, the cramps didn't amount to anything. When I finally stood up to stretch, I felt much better. Of course, the cramps could have been from the bucket of greasy cheese fries I was sharing with my friend Becky. Fair food is not exactly recommended on the "what to eat during pregnancy" list. It was probably better than a fried pickle I noticed on the menu. Hmmmmm.... I don't even want to really think about that. Yuck. However, despite all that, the baby must not have been bothered too much; he slept through the whole thing. Didn't start kicking 'til I wanted to sleep later that night.

I'll be glad when the weather cools down a bit and I don't feel like I'm in a furnace all the time. The extra poundage and weight is a big contributer to that, but there's not alot I can do about that -- at least not for a couple of months. I'll have to post some pics of my big belly. :) I look like I stuck a beach ball under my shirt.

Alas, Nick needs the computer, so I must go. Adeiu for now!