Thanksgiving 2009

So what started out to be a frustrating day ended up being a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving with my husband and little girl :) Frustrating because my mom left this guilt trip on her facebook about us not coming to spend Thanksgiving with her, and because we had totally forgotten about Thanksgiving and hadn't prepared any food. And by prepared I mean grocery shopping.

Let me start off by saying why I was so frustrated with my mom. Her status said:

There were alot of things my mom didnt have, but one thing she did have was tradition.Every holiday her kids would come to her home, even if it was the only time they saw her. So when you have kids of your own and want tradition in your familys, remember how important it was to me......Happy Thanksgiving Mike and Brooke

First let me say this is frustrating because my mom hasn't spent a holiday, let alone, Thanksgiving at her moms since I was 16 years old, so as guilty as I first felt about not spending the holiday with her, the guilt went right out the window when I read this status update. Way to have that plan backfire. Second, we have 3 OTHER sets of parents who don't get every holiday with us, in fact my mom has gotten more holidays than any of the other parents, so even though we didn't spend Thanksgiving with any of them, I don't feel she has the right to pout. Third, my mom wasn't even having Thanksgiving at her house. She was having it at her husbands parents house, who as much as I love, are not my family. Plus they live 2 hours away. And we have a 3 month old who I am nursing. So when my husband and I talked about what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving this year, the idea of staying home and having our own, first Thanksgiving as a little family truly appealed to us. There would be no getting up early to get things done around here, no pumping extra milk to give to Riley while we were out. (I'm not a public nurser, and definitely not a nurser in front of semi-family types, I think I'd rather nurse in front of tons of people I didn't know vs. a handful of people I did.) Which also meant no swollen boobs while we were out either. There was no driving in holiday traffic, none of it. It was very appealing, and so we went with it! (Sorry for being a selfish brat.)

And then we dropped the butterball..... we had no food here. So I became super frustrated. Not only was I dealing with Facebook guilt trips, now there was no food, so it really was like having a family Thanksgiving without the food. You know, all the guilt, none of the good stuff? I decided yesterday was going to be just another day at home, and set off to pout for the rest of the day. Thats where super Dan comes in. He decided he was going to save Thanksgiving!

Around 11 AM yesterday, he trekked out into the LA streets in search of a thaw turkey and some side dishes, and you know what, hell if he wasn't successful! He came home and cooked us our first real turkey (The one we had in stockton was like a turkey breast, so we'll say it doesn't count. This one had bones!) and we had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home! It was wonderful.

Not only that, but Dan got to see Riley roll over, which she has done a couple times before, but we weren't sure if they were accidental roll overs, but regardless Dan had never seen her do it. AND she laughed yesterday. She had also done this a couple times before, but it was like a one time thing when Maggie was here and I was starting to think she just really liked her Grandma Maggie, because she hadn't done it since. But yesterday, she laughed. Not once, not twice, but a full out gigglefest. Loved it and loved her.

Yesterday, was a good day. Happy, content sigh.

I'm sure there will be hell to pay later, but for now, happy, content sigh.

Thankful for Facebook

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for facebook. Even when you try to avoid it, the guilt trips and bull shit can still find you via the internet. Thanks Facebook!

Dear Parents,

Please send money so we can pay off bills that we ran up in college. Please? For Riley's sake?

Dear Government,

Can we have a do-over? Please?

Dear Credit Card Companies,

If you lose all record of my accounts I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Dear Student Loan Companies,

If you lose all record of my accounts I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Dear Parents,

No, seriously.

Riley is now a couple days shy of 3 months old, and I am still as crazy and paranoid as ever. Her eye gets a little pink, I call the doctor thinking its pink eye, she coughs, I think she has swine flu, we went to cancun and I cried for days before. This mom thing is truly driving me insane. And my poor husband, I know there must be some days where he looks at me and thinks, where is my wife, and will I ever get her back? I hope he gets her back soon, but between you and me, I think this crazy person who has taken over her body is here to stay. At least for a little while.

BTW, I'm pretty sure my husband doesn't like me much anymore. I'll have to figure out how to fix that. Maybe this crazy person thing has something to do with it. I can't fix that. He knocked me up and now he has to deal with it. But I love him, and want him to love me back in spite of the crazy person in my body.

Just a couple days shy of 2 months

Riley will be 2 months old on Monday. She is getting so big and she is so perfect! She is such a happy, alert baby and pretty easy for the most part. (Except for the random evenings she decides she is going to fuss until 2:30 AM, like last night!) hehe 

So being a mom is going to give me an ulcer! So apparently SIDS occurs mostly between 2-4 months, and we are quickly approaching 2 months which makes me a NERVOUS WRECK! I swear I'm going to need some pills to keep me awake and alert because I will NOT be sleeping the next two months. And then when 4 months hits there will be a whole new set of worries!

Having Riley is truly amazing. When she laughs, even at 2 AM, I melt. So in love with my little family! 

Finances

Riley Louise

Riley Louise Faill was born at 6:11 PM Monday, August 24th and weighed 7lbs and 7 oz. She was 20 inches long! Labor was.. a treat. :) It was labor, what else can you say, except that all in all it went pretty well. I am so grateful to have had Taz as my doctor, and feel it was by far the best decision I made during this pregnancy. It's odd now, not being pregnant. It was an amazing feeling, because it was literally one second being pregnant and pushing to all of a sudden not being pregnant anymore. It's a different feeling considering I have been pregnant for just about 10 months of my life! 

Riley has been home for about 3 weeks now, she is 23 days old. Dan has been AMAZING as a father and even more amazing as a husband. He has really come through for us, especially during our first couple weeks while Mommy battled the baby blues! Everything seems to be getting more routine now, and we are adapting to living life without sleep. Overall Riley has been a great baby, only fussy during the evenings, and even then it isn't bad. We've only had a couple of crying fits, which I will take a couple over a 23 day period with a newborn! 

It's amazing how life has changed. Everything from my social life to my wardrobe! My friends have been great in realizing that I am not that mom that wants it to be just my baby and me for the first couple of months, I need adult interaction, and having friends that realize that has made this transition into parenthood a bit easier. My wardrobe has been a little harder for me to adapt to.. I already look forward to the days when I can wear normal bras that don't unsnap and shirts that aren't "easily accessible." Needless to say breast feeding is not my favorite part of motherhood. While it has its conveniences (cost, readiness) it has its inconveniences (everything else!) And I am still debating as to whether or not I want to continue. It's pretty much consumed my life at this point. We went to the pediatrician yesterday and the doctor told us that on average babies should gain at least half an ounce to an ounce per day, and Riley has gained, on average 2 ounces per day... She likes to eat! She's a little chunker. ;)

So now, life becomes routine again, we continue to adapt, and wonder what new changes Riley will bring with her each day!