Quiet Down Cobwebs, Dust Go To Sleep...I'm Rocking My Baby and Babies Don't Keep.

Do you remember this childhood poem that brings on sort of, what's the term?...warm fuzzies? This poem was cross stitched, framed and hung on the wall of my bedroom for the majority of my childhood...I actually think somehow it made it's way to this house and is stuffed somewhere in storage. I just could never bring myself to part with it. But, it wasn't until recently that I really started thinking about the relevance of that poem (which I will post in it's entirety below). Maybe it was my postpartum struggle after Josie was born or maybe it's the fact that somehow I woke up and Anna is a little girl and not a baby anymore, but I think about this poem often.

I think about it most evenings when i'm sitting upstairs in Josie's sweet nursery, rocking her in the rocker (which by the way, might be the most comfortable chair I have ever sat on and was worth every ridiculous penny...another reason to keep on rocking!) Some nights I find myself rocking Josie long after she has fallen asleep...I know soon enough she'll be too old to cradle. So ladies, rock your babies and take the advise of this very wise adage:

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth, empty the dustpan, poison the moth, hang out the washing and butter the bread, sew on a button and make up a bed. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). Dishes are waiting and bills are past due(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo. Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Sarah's Baby Shower...

I'm back to normal now, but I think I spiraled into a temporary mini state of depression at the close of the baby shower weekend ;-). We do not live close enough and I just had to give myself a day or so to snap out of it and deal. I just have to start planning our next girls' weekend....come on ladies, SOMEONE GET PREGNANT...anyone. ha...ok, all kidding aside... I hadn't seen Sarah since December and she recently disclosed to me that she was feeling hugely preggers. I told her that I'm sure she looked adorable and of course I was right!! She is the cutest pregnant person ever with just a little round bump resembling a small little basketball. Thanks for another awesome weekend!!! Check out the highlights:

Mommy Freak-outs!!

I'm assuming that most mommies have had what I call mommy freak-outs once or twice over the course of their child's life. If you are a new mommy and have yet to experience one, I'm sure there will be one in your very near future. They are inevitable.

A mommy freak-out is a very brief, very irrational period of time when, in that moment, you are convinced that something is seriously wrong with your precious child, therefore your maternal instincts kick into overdrive. These mommy freak-outs typically occur after an injury or accident and are usually short lived while you attempt to regain your brain's rationality. I can only think of a couple times I've had a mommy freak-out and last night was one of them.

On Monday afternoon, Josie started not feeling well...she was clingy, running a temperature and just overall sensitive. After a rough night I took her to the pediatrician just as a safety precaution, but by the time we got there, Josie was happy, laughing and her temp was down to 99. They swabbed her for a rapid flu test which came back negative...yes, thank you God! The doctor told me it was probably just a virus, to go home, keep her comfortable, but that there was a good chance her fever may come back. Nah, I thought, she seems so much better...I'm sure she's on the mend and in fact, I'm sure she'll be at daycare tomorrow and I'll be back to work! Yea right!

She went to bed a little early, but I knew she had to be exhausted---I didn't think I'd hear from her again till morning. Around 9:30 I heard her fussing and knowing that she hasn't been feeling well, I went right up to check on her. I picked her up out of her crib and she was totally limp and scorching hot. I'm still not in freak-out mode though. So I bring her downstairs, strip off her clothing and grab a cold rag for her head...i better take her temp. Well, I could tell by the heat radiating off of her that her temperature was high, but I was thinking 102ish. As soon as I inserted the thermometer...and I mean like within 3 seconds, the digital reading spiked to over 105. Here...comes....the...MOMMY FREAK-OUT!!!!! It was like I had dipped the thermometer into a pot of boiling water. And this was a cheapo Walgreens digital thermometer which usually takes a good 3-4 minutes as it slowly climbs before it beeps with the correct reading. I didn't even wait for the correct reading, maybe I didn't want to know....if it hit 105 in 3 seconds, what was her temperature really??

So the mommy freak-out came on full force....like an adrenaline jolt to my system. Again, these freak-outs don't last long...maybe less than one minute. But it's a physical reaction that occurs while you get your thoughts together and rationalize what you should do next. I immediately pulled the thermometer out and my heart started pounding. I looked down at her for a good 5 seconds somewhat paralyzed...her eyes were like slits and she didn't even have the strength to cry...just moans. OMG, my baby is going to have a seizure, she's got meningits...her temp must really be over 106, ...do i go to the ER?, omg...i've got to go get Anna ready to go to the ER and call D.J. to tell him to get in the car and come home ASAP. I can't do this alone....Wait, or do I even have time, should I just call 911? ok, I've got to call someone....anyone!!!! I picked her up and did a quick pace in the bedroom from one side to the next and back again before my freak-out started to subside.

Wait, hold the phone. Here comes my rationalizing brain...which, but the way does not take long to take over. Surprisingly, after the initial shock of a stressful situation, I handle them pretty calmly. And thank God my niece and nephew have both had temperatures this high because Anna never has---so I began rationalizing....this high temperature is OK for a small child, Ellie and Cole have had them several times...also she saw the doctor this morning who warned us that her temperature may spike again...she was neg for the flu and no indication of anything bacterial...she's 10 months already and healthy. So, now I'm feeling much better and I'm totally clear on what I need to do....I pick up the phone and page the pediatrician. In the meantime, while waiting to hear back, I called my sister who assured me that all would be ok.

Within an hour, after disrobing, cold washcloths and a dose of baby ibuprofen her temp had come down to 102.5 and she was happy and smiling again. She may have a couple more days of misery ahead of her, but hopefully they'll be free of any more mommy freak-outs.

So, yes, mommies I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!! A mommy freak-out, no fun, but inevitable. :-)

Paul Otten...Church St...Bagel & Deli...Boardwalk...Need I Say More?

4 more days until I see my girls!!! I strapped on my tennis shoes and hit the pavement this morning for a stress relieving run....as I was jogging along, the original Outfield recording of this song came on my ipod and all I could think of was you guys!!....you know who you are!! If you can't hear it, turn up your speakers!!! Prepare yourself....cause look what I then came home and dug out...

Boardwalk--the front porch!!! sniffle...

OMG, this is my favorite...really? Talawanda Prom King/Queen and Proud Mama

I'm ending with a tear and sniffle! The countdown continues...

Hi, my name is Kara and I'm a senior at Libertyville High School!

Maybe my ridiculously overpriced wrinkle cream is magically working! Could I really pass as a teenager...if only for a second?? So what could possibly be worse than getting a flat tire???..oh, me, me, I know the answer!....getting a flat tire on a day like today when it's cold, damp and rainy!! I thought they had fixed all the post holes by now, but apparently not. Thank God I drive a company fleet car and seem to have numerous helpful individuals at my fingertips. Anyway, while my shredded tire was being replaced with a shiny new one at the local Firestone, I had some time to browse on foot around Libertyville.

After a leisurely snack and a quick trip around the cute children's book store, I wandered into a store called All Sports. I walked into this place and was immediately bombarded with tons of local high school paraphenalia. I mean, t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, jackets, key chains, mugs, you name it...all of it emblazed with either Vernon Hills Cougars or Libertyville Wildcats. I thought immediately of my all time favorite high school mascot garment...my navy blue sweatpants with the words "Grove City" in white and red down the side of one leg. Some of you that have known me for awhile may remember me lounging around in these comfy pants endlessly...I wore them to death...until the words on the side had faded so much you could barely make out what it said. Well today I re-incarnated these sweats in the form of black with an orange "Cats" down the side! And what a delight it was to check-out!! Behind the counter was a middle aged gentleman, looking a big aged, but actually in pretty good physical condition...definitely an ex-high school athlete himself. As he was ringing me up, he repeatedly kept looking up at me and staring strangely into my eyes....after about 4 different rounds of this odd staring, I finally said "what?????" and this is roughly how the conversation followed...

Him--"How old are you?"
Me--"How old do you think I am?"
Him--"No seriously, just tell me how old you are?"
Me--"No, seriously, you have to tell me what you think first"
Him--"Well at first I thought you were one of the high school kids...but i just wasn't sure and thought, hmmm...she looks a little too old to be one of the kids"
Me-- "Well I'm definitely not a teegager...so, how old do you think I really am"
Him--"Ummm, probably around 24"

Totally made the flat tire worth all the hassle. Maybe he was just being nice, but I'll take it!!

SugarBoo & Matilda Jane...

sound like nicknames!...Have you ever walked by the mirror, glanced and then did a double take because you didn't see yourself, but instead saw a family member???...mom? dad? maybe even great Aunt Mae? For me, this seems to become more of an issue as the years tick away. Sometimes it makes me smile, other times I cringe...wow, i'm getting old. On the other hand, sometimes I look at my little girls and at certain times can see myself. When Anna has her hair a particular way she reminds me of old photographs of me at the same age....and when Josie is sleeping, she looks just like I did as a baby. But, other times when I look at Josie, all I see is her daddy!! My quote for March is so true!! Family faces are exactly like mirrors (just much more fun to stare at). This quote is so creatively hand painted on a piece of wall art we were given for Christmas from my mom. In the center is a small place for a photo--one that I suppose should capture the meaning of the quote. I have to give a quick plug for this because what a great gift...for yourself OR for a loved one. Check out SugarBoo Designs: (click on photobox collection for all the options)
http://www.sugarboodesigns.com/smoothPro/Products.html

Also, lately I've found myself loving to dress my girls in Matilda Jane clothing. Every garment is unique & whimsical ....just defining little girl. I'm am especially fond of the knot dress...you will probably see my little ones running around in quite a bit of Matilda Jane this summer. Hard to find...great gift for that lucky little diva.
http://matildajane.typepad.com/

The countdown has officially started...2 weeks from today we will celebrate little ms. Sarah Roman Jackson and her baby-to-be!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! This will probs be the cutest baby ever born (next to mine, of course) :-). But, not only are we throwing her the cutest, yet chicest (is that a word?) baby shower EVER...we will be having a throw back to our days at Miami....front steps of Boardwalk anyone?? So strap on your seat belts cause it might be a wild ride.