A Love Letter to MOPS

Dear MOPS,
First of all, I would like to thank you for the slightly confusing name you have. Because while I love a good clean floor, I don't particularly care for your cleaning namesake. Mothers of Pre-Schoolers is a lot to say, and let's face it, I hardly have time to go to the bathroom by myself, let alone say Mother's of Pre-Schoolers every time I want to talk to some one about you. The abbreviation is also a good conversation starter.

Secondly, and most importantly, I think you saved my life last year. It's been about a year since I attended my first meeting of MOPS. I was invited by another mom, who, little did I know, was extending an offer of sanity and friendship at a time when I needed it most. I met her while I was dropping off my son at Mother's Day Out (another small life saver since it met one of my needs...a break from my newborn).

So, how did you save me? Well, I think Gage was about 10 weeks old, and I was approaching the edge of depression with alarming alacrity. (dictionary.com if you need to, people. I don't offer definitions for my big words. my mother never did either) I think that I was just so pleased to have someone to talk to, who knew what the hell I was going through. And, you brought me into a room full of women whom had ALL done it before, some more than once. Adult conversation was lacking in general in my life as well.

I have shared about my post partum issues in a previous post
and I still maintain that MOPS was a huge factor in helping me survive that dark time. I don't know if I will have the same experience with baby #2 since I will already have this support system with even better friendships established.

MOPS, I love you. You mean so much to me. And, that reminds me that I'm a total slacker and haven't paid my dues for the semester. And I should know better. I'm on the steering committee. LOL

Thank you for being there for me when I was full of defeat. Thank you for letting me know it's ok to resent the blessing of being a MOP sometimes. And, thank you for allowing me to make new friends in a city where I had very few even before I was a mom.

Anyone who is NOT a mother will probably never understand how truly important you are, but don't let that get you down. There's too many moms who "get" you to be sad about those people who don't.

Love,
Jodie

Gage's molars pushed through...and then I cried

So, there's been a lot of debate since we first got pregnant with Gage about when we wanted to follow up with baby #2. No, I am NOT pregnant, yet. But, we talked about after his first birthday, that we would probably start trying.

After more debate on the insanity I would succumb to if we had ANOTHER baby in December - we already have Gage's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary - we decided after tax season, we would probably be ready to start trying. You may wonder what tax season has to do with anything, and the real answer is "not much". But, it does have to do with tax return money and paying off some stuff and having some extra money in savings.

So, Lord willing, we will be pregnant by the summer. Am I going to get into trouble for announcing this on here, Curtis? There's only been one thing Curtis specifically requested I don't put on Facebook or my blog and it had to do with him not taking out the trash.

When I noticed Gage has a top molar coming in on each side, I was slightly devastated. It was another milestone that proves he's...sob...growing up! He's been climbing onto tables, and from the chair in his room, he can dump himself over into his crib if the side is down. he hasn't figured out how to climb out, thankfully! He says words and laughs at things, and you can just see the wheels turning in his head as he explores and discovers life. He's a big boy now...

So, after he went to sleep last night, I was talking to Curtis about Gage growing up and looking at his newborn pictures. Curtis went to bed, and about 5 minutes later, I followed him into our room crying. I sat down on our bed when he asked what was wrong and said "Gage isn't a baby any more!!! He's got big boy teeth! I can just close my eyes and picture them in his mouth and it makes me so sad."
He said "If he was 16 and moving out, it would be sad. He's still a baby. He's only a year old. You can't say he's not a baby."
"What about when he goes to kindergarten!? I'm going to stay in bed all day and cry when he goes to kindergarten!!" I sobbed. "I need a baby. One without teeth!"

So, I know I am for certain ready to have another baby. As ready as I will ever be. And a hell of a lot more prepared than when we had Gage. Curtis is ready. I distinctly remember him asking my OB how long we should wait to have baby #2 when I was only 5 months pregnant with Gage.

I love that my husband loves kids so much...now. I don't think he would've sought out a babysitting job before he became a father. But, he's such a great dad. And, when I have the Craft kids over at our house, he's playing with them and sharing his cookies with Hannah. It's the first time I've seen him interact with children he's not related to. And, he's just as awesome with them as he is with Gage. He might be a little hands off when it comes to poop, but he claims he would do what he had to if he was on his own. I can only laugh because it IS slightly annoying to know he'd do it if I wasn't there to do it. But, isn't that pretty much how all men are? Of course he can get his own food and wash his own clothes, but since I'm his wife, I take care of those things for him. I know, I just set the feminist movement back 25 years.

So, Gage has turned into a toddler now and I am ready for a sweet little bundle of cuddly baby. I love our family so much and I can't wait to add to it. I also know that if we don't have another one, that Gage will turn into a big brat because he'll be spoiled rotten. He needs a playmate, a partner in crime.

Hopefully he'll have one around spring of next year.

Gage: Twelve/Thirteen Month Letter

Dear Little Ball of Endless Energy,

You're finally a year old. And, I gotta be honest with you, I am writing this a whole month after your first birthday. Turns out I had no idea how busy we would truly be celebrating birthdays and Christmas and mine and your dad's anniversary last month.

We threw you a huge party at The Little Gym, and although I am positive you won't remember it for yourself when you grow up, it was a great memory for the rest of us. You had a lot of friends and family that came to help you celebrate. You face planted into your cake like the champion that you are and it reminded me of when you use to breastfeed with your face buried in my boob for your meals. I had to make sure your nostrils were free for airflow. And, I loved how at one year, you could remind me of you being a newborn.

You are gigantic. I mean that in a nice way. Your legs extend well beyond my lap when I hold you, and you weigh close to 25lbs now. You have 6 teeth and an insatiable appetite to learn about everything going on around you. You have a decent vocabulary even though you're not putting sentences together yet. You say mama, dada, jinx, ball, bath, done, cracker, car, battery, pretty, no, bye bye, nana (for Hannah), please (although you rarely say it b/c you're stubborn), guck (for yuck, in reference to the trash) baba (for bottle), and the other day you said bacon 3 times while we were eating breakfast.

You got soo much stuff for your birthday and Christmas. I am glad your dad and I didn't go overboard purchasing gifts beforehand. But, that just shows how much people love you. And, I am taking this moment to say that I have good intentions about sending thank you cards to the gift givers, but am terrible on follow through (i.e. actually addressing them and putting them in the mailbox) with those things. I get that from your grandma. :)

You are extremely unafraid. You climb everywhere, play in the dark, giggle when the dogs growl for you putting your whole weight on them. You also are a little beligerent. I can certainly figure where you got that from...You will be told "no" and then look at us, smile and touch whatever we said "no" to.

And, finally, you have started being intentionally affectionate!!! You give kissies (sometimes with a little too much tongue - i.e. ANY tongue) and you will lay across us or our laps and roll around in an effort to cuddle. Hannah does NOT appreciate this gesture. You love to sit on her and Noah. And, I know you're trying to be sweet, but you're like the jolly green giant on those petite kids! Noah doesn't mind, and he will occasionally push you away, which I totally understand. You have to outweigh him by a few pounds. You also run to give hugs if I crouch down and open my arms.

Gosh, I'm sure there's so much more...you popped another tooth through the gums on the bottom yesterday. So, you're technically at 6 1/2 teeth now. You STILL love people and you get a lot of attention where ever we go.

I can't believe it's been a year. It feels like it flew by. But, on the bright side, it wasn't so horrible that we won't be giving you a baby brother or sister sometime in the next year or so.

Love, Mommy