Becoming a Mother Afterall

This Smiles-by-Wire thing is pretty nifty. I would have ordered it before when we got her pictures done, but I didn't even know it existed.

(*Pictures removed.) These were taken last weekend for her 9-month pictures. It was really hard to get her to stay in place, so of course we have a lot of funny ones of her crawling. I looked at the guy and said, "Could you please give her something?" He threw a teddy bear out there and she picked it up and looked at it like, "What the hell is this thing??" The flowers were more interesting and had more to study . . very intensely, apparently.

All is going okay here. I promise I will try to post something with a little more "meat" soon. Look for upcoming posts on our latest discussion on baby #2** (no, not pregnant, but starting to 'think' about the next one) and how our educational system is failing my students. Oh yeah, and one on my extended dysfunctional family drama. It just might make you feel like your own is . . . not so crazy.

**Might I add that I am being really positive about actually having another baby. There is a huge part of me that worries I may never have another because I will miscarry again and again, like before. So, all this talk is the optimist in me, I guess.

Wow! Isn't this crazy?

Not even sure what to think of it, but if these doctors can make this happen, I can imagine, despite the risks, it would make a lot of women very, very happy.

*Random thoughts on baby showers: I went to a fully-catered baby shower yesterday for another teacher that got more for her baby than I think all of the women on my blog roll have combined. I sat there for a good hour, patiently waiting for her to open my gift, and I realized something was building up inside of me. On the short drive home, I realized that I am obviously never fully going to be over the difficulties I encountered trying to have Ainsley because I was jealous. Isn't this horrifying? Not jealous of her shower or the gifts, persay, but envious that is was so easy for her. I don't fully understand this, but I have been craving another baby the past few days. I know, I know. Wacky. I told my husband my feelings last night and he said gently, "Sweetie, I will make sure we get up to feed Ainsley every two hours tonight. And drink lots of water before bed so you have to pee all night. And strap these bags of flour to your body. Oh yeah, and set the alarm for 4:30 am." Because we forget all of that, the beginning parts that are so hard.

In the end, it is all worth it. And while I don't think I am ready quite yet, we did talk about having another baby three times today and how great it would be to see Ainsley with a baby brother or sister.

All in due time, hopefully.

Ainsley has outgrown her carseat, so we ordered a Britax Marathon here. They have free shipping and a little more selection than our local stores.

I linked to this video a few months ago. I don't know why I feel like it is so important to get "it" out there, but in case any of you are looking for a great seat that you can still have in a rear-facing position in the car, check out the ones on the website. The one the Mom mentions in the video is also available on that site and goes all the way to 80 lbs.