I was settling in for a relaxing Saturday evening (as relaxing as an evening can be with two under two). Or so I thought.
Joe had just finished up our tax appointment – I’d been in earlier during the week – and we had good news.
I was making dinner – just some pasta, meat and sauce. I’d call it spaghetti, but Joe has informed me that I can only call it spaghetti if I use spaghetti noodles. So what do I call it when I use penne pasta? I don’t know, but that’s what I was making.
At 4:30 a call came in for a last minute rush audition in Hollywood. “Can you be there by 6:00?” I knew being an actor with two little ones would be challenging when it came to scheduling, but not THIS challenging. Luckily, I could go since Joe was now home.
Saturday night traffic and parking in Hollywood. Oh, joy.
While I was gone, Joe finished making dinner and got both kids fed. AND Sarah pooped so much during dinner in her high chair, it was oozing out of her diaper. So Joe had a fun time cleaning her up and disinfecting the chair.
When I got home it was time to get Max and Sarah ready for bed. I made their bedtime milks, started cleaning up and running a bath for Max. (We’ve come a long way with Max’s baths. He used to scream like we were torturing him and now he love, love, loves it.)
All was going smoothly until: Poop in the tub!
If you don’t have kids you might wondering what exactly “poop in the tub” means.
But for those of you who do, you know how this can derail the bedtime routine. And make the evening oh so much more… colorful.
The thought crossed my mind – I could just wipe him down with baby wipes and call it a night? No, I can’t. I won’t be able to sleep. I drained the tub. Cleaned the tub. Disinfected the tub. Disinfect all the toys that were in the tub…
Meanwhile Max is running around the bathroom naked. Opening cupboards. Climbing on the toilet. Playing with the garbage. And he peed in the cupboard and all over the floor. Yes.
We finally got bath number 2 underway and finished up as quickly as possible. A scrub down from head to toe all over again.
From the time that call came in at 4:30 until the kids went to bed and it was 8:30pm – it was non-stop. Ok, yes, all days are non-stop with two under the age of two, but those four hours were relentless.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, guess what? I have video. It just so happens, that after I’d given Max his bath and Joe was watching Max play in the tub while I got Sarah into her pajamas, Joe decided to do a little filming with his phone. You can hear Sarah and I in the background. If you aren’t too grossed out by a little poop, then this video is for you!
I know many people who are able to work from home either part-time or full-time. Without it, their cost for daycare and other expenses would be much more. Perhaps too much, making their living expenses more than their salary.
I don’t have a job in which I can work from home. Can you imagine? “Hi, can I just read my lines via skype?” Haha. But I LOVE that many companies have opened up, expanded and adapted to the changes in society. America is not currently the most “family friendly” of all countries, but hearing more and more about flex-time and working from home, I had my hopes up for a better future.
So, I think it goes without saying that when I read about Marissa Mayer’s horrible new plan to take working from home away from Yahoo employees, who already have that woven into their lives, I was very disappointed. Not only for the loss of moving forward as a society, but the loss of women knowing how to lead well. I have high expectations from women who are leaders to pave the way. She’s obviously lacking.
And then I read about how Marissa Mayer is always late and not respectful of other people’s time. It just sort of confirmed and summed her up. Don’t you think? Just because SHE doesn’t know how to manage her time well, or want to spend time with her family, or have a life outside of Yahoo! doesn’t mean Yahoo! employees should have to live that way too.
Clint can’t do wrong. He just can’t. He’s Clint.
He didn’t sway me to vote for Mitt. But maybe he didn’t want to.
I love all the controversy over his speech for Mitt. Or was it for Obama? I mean, when you have that much controversy, whose to say that speech wasn’t intentionally meant to hurt rather than help Mitt? Hmmm?
I give Clint an A+ for creativity and originality. And that’s what he knows best. It’s required in his line of work. What? Would you have preferred the same old speech delivery? Clint standing there, reading what someone else wrote, from a teleprompter?
Clint just got up there and went with it. Let’s see YOU try that. And at the same time be funny, creative, entertaining AND get your point across to a live audience on national television. Yeah, I thought so.
I love Obama’s response: “I’m a huge Clint Eastwood fan.” Spoken like a true pro.
And if there’s one thing Clint knows best from being in Entertainment. ANY publicity, is GOOD publicity.
I’m mostly pain free! Just a few aches and pains as my uterus contracts its way back to original size.
Whew. Last time, when I had Max, I WAS pain. Everything hurt. For quite awhile.
The month before I gave birth to Max, I puffed up in the face, hands and feet. So much so that my Dr. had me go to the hospital to be checked. THAT was fun.
I also started feeling like I had arthritis in my hands. Which lasted for a couple months after the pregnancy too.
Recovering from the c-section the first time around seemed like it took forever. I had sooo much pain in my abdomen area and I was on pain meds for what seemed like forever. A whole month after surgery I still did NOT want to give them up, but I knew I had to do it.
My abdomen hurt not only when had to use those muscles for things like standing (amazing how often we use those abdominal muscles), but breastfeeding Max made it hurt the most. Just the pressure of his body leaning on me.
Then I also had the wrist/thumb thing going on. I couldn’t use my left hand most of the time. It hurt so bad it had me cussing all day long and made simple things like holding a baby quite difficult.
Then there was that needle through my nipple thing! I think that was the worst pain of all. I cried through breastfeeding for at least a week until I was advised to use a little olive oil. Olive oil! That’s all it took was a little olive oil on my nipple to stop the pain. Joe’s mom was visiting that week and she must have thought I was crazy because I just kept muttering two words: nipple and pain.
I didn’t feel like myself for a good TWO months after the first c-section.
For anyone who has never had a c-section, it’s hard to understand. I recently met a woman who had 5 children. The first four were born vaginally. And the last one by c-section. She said it took months to recover from it and couldn’t believe it because with the other four she felt great the NEXT DAY!
But repeat c-sections are easier. My Dr. says it seems that way for just about everyone. And THIS time I felt normal again after only a couple weeks. But what is normal to me right now? Probably still not NORMAL normal. Just normal for what my body has been through these past three years:
First pregnancy with Max started in July 2010, then my two months of pain, then finally DONE being pregnant AGAIN in May 2012.
So my “normal” is perhaps a bit askew right now.
Talk to me in six months and I may finally feel again like I did in 2009. Just a little more tired.
And I had better NOT be pregnant six months from now! If I am, please take me to the nearest Dr. and make sure they tie my tubes. And my legs. And check my psychological status.
Chivalry is… omigod. Did he really just do that?
I was in line at Ikea yesterday to buy a yogurt cone. Look, you thought I could go to Ikea while pregnant and NOT buy one? I was next to be served when I dropped my wallet (pregnancy makes you clumsy. and a little ditzy. all the blood in the belly. none left for the brain.) and a couple pieces of paper and some cards fell out.
I bent down to pick them up (not an easy task when 36 weeks pregnant) and you KNOW WHAT THE DUDE DUD BEHIND ME DID? He stepped forward in line as if HE was now going to be the next person to be served.
He had the audacity to get all opportunistic (nicest word I can come up with) about my wallet drop and hoped he could be served next! He was just hoping I’d stay down on the floor picking up my wallet long enough for him to be served before me. Can you believe this guy? A woman from the line behind us came up and asked if I wanted some help. “In your condition I thought I should ask”, she said. We giggled. I guess I look my 36 weeks.
Can you believe that guy? I should have pretended like some of my things dropped near his feet and when I stood up, accidently elbow him in the balls! But I didn’t think of that until just now while writing this. D’oh!
Thankfully today I was at Target making a return and encountered a very thoughtful dude. I was returning a fairly heavy box so I left it on the ground at my feet as I waited in line. When it was my turn, some guy in the line behind me quickly walked up, picked up my box and said “I’ll get that for you.” And he carried it up to the counter for me. Isn’t that sweet?
The guy at Ikea would have seen me reach down for my box, knocked me over and then kicked my box on his way to the counter.
