Cheerleading

My 7-year old stepdaughter, Gracie, is now in 2nd grade. Who knew they had cheerleading at this age? Who knew they had pee-wee football? I am learning quite a bit about "extracurricular" activies...they are MUCH different than when I was in school. It used to be that little league was one practice a week with games on the weekend during summer. Now, it's practices 4-5 times a week during the summer and games every weekend during the school year. In June, Grace begged her father to join cheerleading. Unfortunately, Scott has very little control over what sports his kids do and don't play. So he wasn't able to tell her "yes". In the end, we found out that Grace had asked her mother to join and her mother said No. But then Grace asked her dad and followed that up, for good measure, by asking her grandparents. It worked. Grace's mother realized how badly she wanted to join and signed her up. An expensive venture...at least I was surprised by the price to play. I think it totalled up to almost $350 for 8 weeks worth of games and 12 weeks worth of practices. At first, this whole cheerleading adventure proved frustrating. Scott and I had to cancel our family vacation because Grace's cheerleading coach told us that she absolutely could NOT miss practices during the first 2 weeks of August or she would fall behind. Then, we had to sell candy door-to-door because we have NO family in the area to appeal to such generosity. And lastly, we had to lose out on family time because our wednesday night dinners turned into Scott racing from work to pick up Grace and bring her to practice and sit on the sidelines for 2 hours watching her with his oldest son by his side. Scott would get home at 8:30 pm having skipped dinner and I would have baby duty at home alone, missing out on time with Grace and Austin. It was a huge bummer. But once school started for them, Grace's practices moved to Tues/Thurs. and our regular wednesday night dinners resumed. And what changed our attitude most was watching Grace cheer at her first game. Total pride beamed on our faces as we clapped enthusiastically for 2 hours in humidity so extreme, our clothes were soaked by the end of the game. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful day. Grace needed this. A lot of her life is spent being shuffled around to Austin's Judo and Karate tournaments and practices, so much so, she has begun to compete in Judo as well. But there's not a lot of push for individualism in her life. So, for once, Grace had something to call her own, and she blossomed. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Grace didn't go to her second game because she had a fever and was lethargic that morning. Grace didn't go to her third game because the day before she fractured her elbow falling off the school playground at recess. We won't mention the bull-oney that occured thereafter. Because Scott is not seen as the "primary" parent, even though he has JOINT custody, the school never called him. His ex-wife didn't call either...not until FOUR days later when she was put into a removeable cast and sling. Grace's cheerleading has come to an upbrupt hault this season to my utter dismay!

7 months

YEAH! My baby actually sleeps! It's been such a difficult 2 months. Jameson has had 3 double ear fections in 7 weeks, diagnosed with Asthma, and is now on daily nebulizer treatments. When he turned 6 months, I was determined to "sleep train" Jameson. We let him cry it out for 10 days, thinking we could "convince" Jameson that sleeping through the night is a GOOD thing. It really didn't work. Every night, he woke up between 1 and 2 am and cried for an hour. It was heartbreaking. I gave up. A few nights later, my brilliant husband said, "I'm going to put Jameson down in his crib while he's still awake". I laughed. My son, though cute and funny, is stubborn and VERY strong-willed. I would classify him as slightly high maintenance as he enjoys being held, entertained, and rocked to sleep. But it worked! Only 10 minutes of crying and then Jameson was fast asleep. The next night we only heard a few wimpers and then nothing but the glorious sound of his baby snoring. It's been 1 week and the outcome is always the same...we put Baby J in the crib, he lifts and turns his head, he smirks at us, and then he burries his head into his tiny arms and falls asleep. So wonderful it almost seems like a dream. And with that...he sleeps through the night. From 7 pm until 5 am. I almost didn't want to say it outloud for fear of jinxing myself. It's too good to be true!

5 months

Four weeks have passed and here I am at 4:40 am. Jameson is sound asleep after waking up 2 hours ago, but I am not. After changing him, my Mom, who is here visiting (and in 5 short hours, she'll be taking the bus back home..boo hoo!) took over to let me get back to bed and get some sleep. But guess what? I couldn't fall asleep...of course! For some reason, I have trouble getting back to sleep some nights. It's most frustrating tonight because my stepkids are with us the entire week and the week is going to be utterly exhausting on its own without the sleep deprevation. Two nights ago, Jameson slept 9 straight hours. It was glorious. And unfortunately I got too excited about this. Tonight, we put him down to sleep at 8:30 and he woke up at 10:00 and then again at 2:30 am. There aren't enough swear words to explain how frustrating this is. Fun stuff this parenthood thing. And what gets me the most...no matter how angry I am at the situation, I look at him and have to laugh. He's the cutest baby ever. And he wakes up and giggles and he's grabbing his toes now and I can't stay mad. He's just too funny and too precious. But it sure wouuld be nice if he could sleep all night long on a regular basis!

4 months

It's been more than 2 months since my last post. I guess I'm not so good at this mom multi-tasking thing. I can barely keep my house clean, let alone remember to write in here. Life with a 4 month old is exhausting...especially one that doesn't sleep nights STILL. To be fair, he's had one great week of sleeping from 6 pm until midnight and then from 1 am until 5 or 6 am. Some days I think that this is awesome for a 4-month old...and then i have to hear from my friends with babies the same age as Jameson how well their babies sleep from 8 pm until 6 am with no issues and NO waking up. I read books about how babies should sleep through the night after 3 months and I want to scream. I've basically deducted that I'm doomed to waking up once in the middle of the night for the next 5 months. At least this way, I've set my expectations low and can be wonderfully estatic when Jameson sleeps 8 straight hours!

Juggling love

To those women out there who can juggle, I could use a lesson or two. I humbly admit that I find it very difficult to share my heart right now, in these first few months of Jameson’s life. All I can think about is him. He’s my center. And I have the best husband ever. He’s my soul mate. Days without Scott are sad. But so much of my energy goes to caring for and loving my son, that I feel I need to add some yeast to my heart so I can help it expand. There are moments when I feel so torn. All my energy went into loving my husband before Jameson arrived. I was never good at sharing. Ask my sister-in-law. Ask my husband where the girl scout cookies went. Trust me…I admit I struggle with sharing things I love. And I’m smart enough to recognize that I need to continue to water the seeds of my relationship with Scott because the better we are, the better parents we’ll be. Now that I’m back at work, I want nothing more than to hang out with Jameson when I get home at night. I need to make sure he hasn’t forgotten the sound of my voice or the feel of my skin, hasn’t forgotten to latch on or how to smile when I say his name. I hope I can learn how to juggle better soon.

The miracle of Jameson

There’s nothing more miraculous than holding your child. For me, it wasn’t the first minute I saw my son’s face or when I held him, all goopy, in my arms for the first time. It took me a few minutes to regain my sense of reality, having pushed for over 2 hours after more than 15 hours of labor. But as the days passed and Jameson became my new reality, as he grew accustomed to me and I to him, this feeling overwhelmed me. Maybe I’m odd. Maybe I’m a bad mom, but it took a few weeks for me to realize just how much my life had changed. Those first few weeks were a blur. I was so sleep deprived and so unaware of the time passing. One day bled into the next and I felt like a robot. Change diaper, secure a good latch, watch the clock to time his feeding, burp, rock to sleep, soothe his crying, put him down to sleep. It took me a full 4 weeks to find myself in all this. And once I did, I realized I could care less about me. My life’s focus is now all about the little boy whose fists clench when he’s hungry, whose lower lip pouts when he’s fighting through gas, whose cheeks shiver after his bath. He is the love of my life and I can’t imagine life without him. I never knew it would be like this for me. I guess I should have prepared myself better. I’m So sensitive. So of course it makes sense that I have such intensity with regards to my son. He’s pure and innocent. And each day he's more fun than the last. He coos and giggles and smiles when we say his name. He loves music and loves to be sung to. He likes his swing, but only when he's swayed side to side. And he LOVES to sleep on my chest which I probably allow him to do more often than I should. There's just nothing better than a sleeping child that feels safest on you.

He's HERE! Jameson Munro Girouard

3 weeks and 3 days ago, my water broke. Just in time for my mom's visit, my 20-hour labor began. I have to say, it was a long day without food, but the first 10 hours were fairly easy. My water broke and I leaked like a water main break for 4 hours straight. But for the first 10 hours, I didn't have any contractions. I did have a couple hours of lovely dry heaves. Gotta love the body's way of "preparing itself" for what was to come. I tried to get some sleep in the wee hours of the night, but that really didn't happen. After 4 hours, I finally headed to the hospital, Mom and Scott along for the ride at 3 am. I was put in a room and in a johnny in minutes and I spent the rest of the morning walking around the birthing unit, trying to get my contractions going. No such luck. At 6 am, I was given a pill to encourage my cervix to dilate. That pill worked for an hour, getting me from 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm but then I stalled out. At 8 am, i was put on Pitocin, which got me to 3.5 cm. By 10 am, my contractions were painful and had moved into my back. I tried every position imaginable to get my baby off my spine. Nothing worked. By 1 pm, I asked for an epidural. Still only 3.5 cm dilated, they had turned up the Pitocin which made the contractions even stronger, and lucky me...I was having double contractions. No breaks in between. So when Dr. Mylar came in with her bag-o-medicine, I was very grateful. And those who say getting an epidural doesn't hurt...I beg to differ. Although the relief that came soon after, I did not enjoy the poking and proding of my spine. At 2 pm, the warm and numbness of the epidural were a wonderful thing and I was able to get a couple of small naps in while the nurses cranked up my Pitocin and within an hour, I was dilated to 8 cm. By 4 pm, I was fully dilated and 100% effaced. I was ready to push. After a couple of "test" pushes, I was full speed ahead by 4:15 pm. Mom retreated to the waiting area...she didn't want to see me in this way. Scott was an amazing coach. I couldn't have done it without him. Rose, my nurse, was an angel. I'll never forget her. She was the light that led the way for me. I pushed for 2 hours. Not once did I scream out or curse my husband. I couldn't say a word. All my strength and energy went to rocking my baby's head in and out of the birth canal as he stretched his way through. I did manage to tell my nurse she was retarded for chosing this occupation. I also told her to reach in and take my baby out after 2 hours of constant pushing. Finally, the baby's head peaked through and Rose knew that my next contraction, the baby's head would come out entirely. She called for the doctor, and he got in my room just in time to catch the baby's head. Literally. Rose told me to "push lightly" but there was NO way in Hell I was going to push lightly after more than 2 hours. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and I was so spent at this point. I wanted him OUT. His head came out and then in one more push, his whole body spit out. That was the greatest moment ever. It took a few seconds for Jameson to cry, but once he did, there was no mistaking his strong lungs. Jameson Munro was born on February 19th at 6:31 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs and 10 oz. He was 20 inches long and came 2 weeks early. He has changed our lives entirely. We love him dearly!

I know I'm pregnant because...

1. I lug around a lead brick in my belly these last 6-8 weeks of my pregnancy.
2. I have to pee in a bucket for 24 hours a few times during my tenure.
3. I started having a noticeable waddle at 28 weeks. (just ask the Le Leche woman who approached me about breast feeding in a grocery store parking lot!)
4. My nipples were miserably tender the first 24-28 weeks of my pregnancy in addition to being super itchy. Try scratching something that physically causes you pain.
5. I have absolutely NO care in the world for ice cream.
6. I drink and retain more water than a camel.
7. I have a tiny person in my belly that has personal space issues and takes it out on my bladder.
8. I can cry on command, on a dime, in a wind storm, in the Sahara Desert .
9. I have a permanent stain 4 inches above my belly button on every maternity shirt I own.
10. I have taken a keen interest in the circumference of my husband’s head.
11. By 3:30 pm every afternoon, I would pay good money to be able to lie down on my left side for 10 minutes.
12. I could grow a fruit tree out of my uterus by now.

It's official...we're "nesting"

Now that the holidays are gone, we have begun the ratrace of setting up the nursery. The "nursery" is Austin's room, so from here on out, I'm going to refer to it as the "boys" room. Austin seems excited about having a new baby brother and seems willing to share his space. Luckily for Austin, sharing only occurs 4 days a month, so it's a smaller sacrifice. But we didn't decide JUST to share rooms, we decided LAST weekend to SWITCH rooms. No longer in need of an office, we decided there would be more space in Grace's room to put 2 boys. We took out the huge office desk and put part of it in the basement, where the computer for the kids will hang out. Then we started clearing out the junk, which is mainly my job considering the closet in Grace's room was storage space for my stuff. I'll be "cleaning" that closet for a while. We ordered and had installed new carpeting in the stairway because the old carpeting smelled like dog pee and the tack strip was coming through the old carpeting. Grace had punctured her toes two too many times, and it was just time to replace the carpeting. Then Scott went full force ahead: he painted Austin's old room a yellow for Grace. Once dry, he took all the furniture out of the boy's new room and put it into Grace's room. The upstairs looks like we just moved in. The beds are in pieces, boxes are stacked to the ceiling, and there are screws and parts of furniture everywhere. Last night Scott removed the old carpeting in the boys room. Luckily, the old flooring underneath: a lovely green/yellow 70's shade of vomit, is flat and ready for the new flooring. We purchased a laminate wood flooring that will hopefully ease the allergies and asthma of the kids. We figured it was time to get this done before we added to the room's furniture with a crib and changing table, etc. Once the floor is in, Scott will have to add moulding and then we can start to assemble the boys room. Bed for Austin, desk, dresser, crib, changing table, and toy bin. As for this weekend, I have no idea where Austin and Grace will sleep, but more likely than not, it won't be in their rooms. Kids are flexible and by the time the kids stay over again in 2 weeks, we'll have their rooms all fixed up. Oh, and we reorganized the basement and changed the layout of the playroom down there as well. The nesting continues!