Customer with Child Parking

You will soon learn that my blog topics will be as random as the thoughts scattered about in my head. I even have notes on my phone with future blog topics or things I plan to discuss. Seeing as I'm still suffering from the forgetful baby brain (that I was oh so hoping would be better by now), I must write everything down the moment it crosses my mind for fear that it disappear into the black hole inside my head! So at our HEB, there are several designated parking spots labeled "customer with child parking." Now, pre-baby (and even when I was pregnant) I swore I wouldn't need to use those parking spots. There was no reason I couldn't walk from the back of the parking lot as I always had before, with baby in tow. My mind soon changed after I learned how much work it is to get a baby in and out of the car, and safely in and out of the store (especially when he's asleep and I am determined to keep him that way). First of all, the bigger he got, the heavier he got in his carseat. I didn't brave the grocery store for a good six weeks, but even then I was still very sore. Finding a parking spot close to the door then began to excite me. Lately I've been using the Baby Bjorn sling and wearing him out and about, as being strapped down in a carseat doesn't suit my little nosy rosie boy (excuse the rosie connotation for lack of a more masculine name). Whichever mode of transport I choose, there is still the sunny walk from the car to the store that partially blinds my poor baby. So I justified another reason to utilize the convenient parking option. That all being said, I realized today that some people have no patience or consideration for those with babies and/or small children. You can expect, as a parent with child(ren) at the store, that things just take longer than the average Joe. I get all riled up when someone gets impatient with me while I'm trying to get Ty in or out of his carseat. Since he no longer likes to be stuck in his seat for the whole shopping trip, I have to buckle him back in every time as well. As luck would have it, the person parked next to me will show up as I'm in the middle of wrestling his carseat, so naturally I feel compelled to hurry. I am not purposely trying to waste their time. What gets under my skin is when the other car starts backing out or another attempts to pull in while I'm clearly trying to get my baby in or out of the car. I've had to quickly climb in the backseat before, to avoid having my door hit. Its amazing how inconsiderate the world can be at times. I've been honked at for being in the way (yes, honked at because my passenger door was open and I was removing my baby from the car). Then yesterday, as I'm loading groceries into the car (and wearing Ty in the sling), the woman next to me arrives and proceeds to load her groceries through the passenger side of her car. So Ty and I wait for her to finish because I need to put him in the same side. As soon as she pulls out I start loading him in. I'm in a hurry because, after all, I am in the "Customer with Child Parking" which means the open spot next to me is a prime spot for any other driver. As I expected, someone was already waiting on her spot and I hadn't even completely unstrapped the sling. The next car pulls halfway in and revs up their engine as if to speed me up?!? It is the middle of the day on a Monday so there are hundreds of other spots, but I get annoyed and easily anxious these days. So I pull the carseat out, and carry a dangling Ty around to the other side with the sling still attached to my body so these impatient people can get such a great parking spot with not so much as a thank you wave or nod in my direction. I load Ty and go to the drivers side to get in and find that the car next to me is still running and they are eating hamburgers. Really?!? Rush me and my baby because you need a great parking spot to eat your lunch?!? Oh and I couldn't even hardly open my door because in their mad dash for prime parking, they didn't have time to park between the lines! So I slither in and drive out. Rant over. Just wish it was easier to find a little patience and hospitality from total strangers. Sheesh!

the lost months...

Blogger MIA... Finding personal computer time with an infant demanding full-time care is far harder than I expected. He's just going to sleep all the time, right?!? Wrong! Or when he does, as do you! Hmmm...to blog or to sleep?!? Oh being a naive first time mom! I already feel so much more "mommy wise" since my initiaton 15 weeks ago, yet I've only just begun. I have dearly missed writing. I've said it before, but writing is my time in the zone...it's so refreshing to take thoughts and feelings out of your head and put them to paper (yeah, yeah it's 2011...put my thoughts on the computer, via blogging!). I seriously thought I'd come home from the hospital with this sleepy little baby, and spend hours staring at him while I blogged my every move to family and friends. I completely over estimated, not only the amount of time caring for a newborn takes, and most importantly the toll it took on my body! I didnt realize what nursing every 2-3hrs would do to me, or what it felt like to never get more than three consecutive hours of sleep at a time. I also had no idea what recovery would truly feel like. I pushed my limits all the time, and constantly had to be reminded by Cooter and my doctor that I had major abdominal surgery. I remember choosing to stay awake all night at the hospital, just so I could hold my baby and study his every feature, while Cooter slept, visitors halted, nurse visits slowed down, and time stood still. If I'd only understood the value of sleep! Or somehow bottled up that natural high I was on. Bottom line...I have missed blogging and vow to be better at keeping in touch! I need it for my own sanity... That being said..my family news updates are going to take a bit of a turn. Instead of my traditional journal entry of a significant event, with pictures and witty commentary, it's going to be more of a set of tales in the day in the life of me...mommy memoirs if you will. It takes a lot of time to upload the pics I want, and of course imbed them in the perfect places amongst my babble. Plus I'd say most of my readers are also on facebook, where my pictures are shared with the world (or world of people I deemed good enough to be my friend lol). Blame it on the fact that I chose to buy a desktop instead of a laptop...requires dedicated sit-down office time to blog. That's how the "lost months" were created. I wanted my first post-partum blog to be Tyler's birth story (nothing gross or inappropriately detailed, but I did plan to tug the heartstrings a bit). Way too time consuming. It will happen eventually, but for now daily (or maybe somewhat daily) me-isms will have to do! What little office time I do manage, during Ty's incredibly short catnaps (whole other blog topic in itself) or while he sits happily in his bouncy chair, barely leaves me enough time to take care of my Pampered Chef business (which I am so blessed to have kept afloat during this time) and constant downloading of the hundreds of pictures already in existence of our baby. Much of my time online is spent on my iPhone or iPad (thank you, Apple!) and most of it is done while I am nursing! So be forewarned, typos may run amuck as I am most likely typing one handed! Also, thanks to the phone, I no longer have the ability to separate my thoughts with proper paragraphs...drives me crazy! Hope you enjoy the return of the blog!