Never Will I Ever Drive a Mini-Van.

Last year I saw this book while shopping at Target and knew that one day, I'd be repeating that phrase - in horror - to myself. Working at a YMCA's after-school care and 4K room gave me much needed extra income during college and also provided me with insight into why some kids are consistently bratty while other kids were such a joy. What's the difference between "bratty kids" and "why-don't-we-have-a-room-full-of-Jack" kids? Today, I believe that parents make all of the difference.

I don't have kids yet and I'll probably be eating my words, but I can remember wanting to pull my hair out, as parents tried to explain, reason and make excuses for their kid's consistent rude behavior - while other parents would listen to the adult in the room, and then talk to their children about consequences and appropriate behavior. Magically, these kids would be a real charmers the next day while Ms. Bratty McBratterton was bratty as usual. 

Please note - I know nothing about babies. Babies freak me out. A four-year-old? A four-year-old I can somewhat handle and understand, but if you don't know how to talk or velcro your own shoes, we're in trouble. I know, I know, I'll figure it with my baby. But as I think about motherhood, I alway skip to toddler/almost school-aged years because that's what I somewhat know - for now. 

As I think about the kind of mother I'd like to become, I have some really harsh opinions (really, me? opinionated?), but overall when it comes to parenthood - I'd like to do my best to not to screw up this person's life, stay sane and happily married.

As for you, little nugget Atkinson, I promise to: 

• Parent as a team.
• Teach you to respect adults. 
• Invoke a healthy fear in you when you disrespect adults. 
• Feed you real food. 
• Let you be a kid. 
• Give you hand-me-downs.   
• Give you 100% of my attention. 
• Be myself - and not morph into what I think a mom should be. 
• Listen to you. 
• Spend quality time with our friends and family (you get four sets of grandparents!). 
• Never drive a mini-van.
• Help you understand that the world doesn't revolve around you. 
• Introduce you to the joys of camping, reading, puppies and cooking. 
• Teach you the value of a dollar.
• Not let TV be your primary source of entertainment. 
• Listen to kid music - as you listen to real music, Mom and Dad's music.  
• Teach you the value of education.
• Foster your interests and talents. 
• Never, ever, own a bag with "Owen/Ingrid's Mom" embroidered on the side. My name is Lindsay. 
• Give you the tools and information to form your own opinions but, if you choose to be a right-wing-Glenn-Beck-worshiping-Republican, I'll kindly explain that you're choosing wrong.    
• To think I'm a cool mom, but never be "the" cool mom (you can't drink in my basement when you're 15).  
• Be the best mother I can be.

29 Weeks - Three Oms for Stability

"I have a perverse attraction to not knowing what's going to happen next." Holly Morris

Well, we all can't be a Holly Morris, can we? After everything 2010 threw at me - I am craving stability, for the moment. Since July, I have been slacking in the "movement" department (weird, the same month I got pregnant...). Sure, I've been walking and lifting weights sporadically in a futile attempt to stay in shape and be fit for labor. For some reason (money and energy), I have neglected my long-lost friend yoga.

For months I felt like a yogi (wannabe) with nowhere to lay her mat. Before I started to show, I was still limited with certain postures - back-bends, inversions, twists - and had zero energy to do anything but lay on the couch and zone out to Top Chef reruns. Then, when I started to show, I was hesitant to throw down money for prenatal yoga. Apparently, if you use the terms "prenatal or maternity" you're allowed to double the price of anything. 

Last week I took the plunge and made the "investment" in a yoga package - and it is already so worth it. I was able to focus on the baby (and me) and not think about work, job prospects, day care - basically stop thinking "What am I going to do with my life and this baby..." for a few minutes. I felt in control of my growing body - and floated out of class feeling relaxed and yes, centered. Do you ever get that yoga-buzz? Maybe it's like a runner's high (no clue what that would feel like...) but with mats, Mexican blankets and bolsters.

It's a Good Thing.

She's the ultimate DIYer. From crafts to cooking to PetSmart, she created an empire around baked goods. Any guesses?

Of course, it's the only and only, Martha. One minute you're listening in admiration to her tips on purchasing hearty house plants and the next, you're ripping your hair out because she's pronouncing it "vaaaase" - it's a vase, ok Martha, it's a vase! Hair-ripping aside, she's just snooty enough for me.


While paging through the January issue of Martha Stewart Living, I stopped at this "looks-so-easy-it-has-to-be-easy" baby quilt. Seriously, can this little nugget get any cuter? I'll be attempting to create this for chickpea-Atkinson before March 1 ok...April 1.

Warning: all previous sewing adventures have resulted in a half-sewn-fabricy-mess. Impatient beginner sewer + pregnancy hormones = a hot mess or a fabulous baby blanket? Stay tuned for the results!

Little Nugget: happily unaware of effort and expense involved in blanket-making process. 

Hungry, Hungry Prego

Question #1 - How do you feel? Or, do you get morning sickness?

Answer - Great! Or, no. 

Question #2 - When are you due and what are you having? 

Answer - April 1, a big ol' surprise! 

Question #3 - Do you have any weird cravings? Are you really hungry? 

Old answer - I guess grilled cheese and tomato soup, but it's less of a craving and more of a liking toward grilled cheese and tomato soup. No, I'm not really that hungry. 

New answer - Are you going to finish that bagel? 

Last week, as I was happily eating my second breakfast - not second bowl of cereal - second full breakfast - I started thinking about sea creatures. What kind of sea creature I might start to resemble? A whale? Manatee? Perhaps a walrus!  

Here's a little background, right before I found out I was pregnant, I lost about 25 pounds. I distinctly remember how hard it was to lose the weight and - although I'll gladly honor my baby and body and gain the needed weight - I do not want to go overboard and eat "whatever! Because I'm pregnant!"

Also, I don't want to be an asshole and eat junk to predispose the baby to junk. That means, blowing the grocery budget on an obscene amount of fruit (today: strawberries, two apples, two containers of blackberries) and justifying baking a late-night batch of sweet potato fries (and skinny-girl cookies...). 

Normal food-voice: "I could go for a sandwich, in a while." 

Pregnant food-voice: "I thought about a burrito. Let's get a burrito."

I feel like a pregnant food robot. Must. Eat. Now. Anything. Now. 

I've heard that toward "the end" - the baby takes up so much space, the hunger goes away and the uncomfortable I-have-a-baby-foot-on-my-ribs-feeling sets in. So, for now, I'll have seconds and say "whatever, I'm pregnant!"  

28 Weeks - Babies 101

Last week was a preview to work-at-home life - if I ever have the chance. Due to flight cancellations, ortho appointments, OB appointments, floor varnish and car breakdowns - I was in the Brookfield office for a total of two hours and scrambled to get anything and everything accomplished from the comfort of our new shared office space. It was nice working in jammies, but Dan and I definitely prefer our own space from 9 to 5. I was constantly on the phone in my "work voice" and he was trying to "show me clips" while I was in the middle of work. Needless to say, he happily shoved me out of the apartment this morning. 

We also started our Childbirth and Parenting class last week and took a one-day breastfeeding class. I envisioned sitting at a weird uncomfortable desk and watching outdated videos with unreal couples. I was pleasantly surprised with the plush rocking chairs and giggled through outdated videos features couples in overalls with tacky manicures. For now, it's nice to actually see other pregnant woman and focus on the baby, together, for two hours a week.

Breastfeeding class was well worth our time and $15. I would like to commit to at least six months of exclusive breastfeeding. From talking with other women, it sounds like a pretty daunting task and that you're basically glued to the couch and your baby for the first eight weeks. The class gave some good "reality checks" and some "you don't say" tidbits as well. Did you know when babies are born they have a stomach the size of a marble? You don't say.

According to TheBump.com, baby Atkinson is now the size of an eggplant! His/her lungs are mature enough that, if born right now, he/she has a pretty good chance of surviving (with help from medical technology).You don't say.

Real Simple

After weeks of fact-checking (Real Simple knows there stuff!), I was thrilled to see "my words" in the Your Words section of the February issue of Real Simple. It's a really little deal, but who doesn't love to see their name in print?

Readers were asked, "What healthy ingredient do you cook with most often?" Here's what I said (sort of...):

Honeycrisps are my favorite kind of apple, hands down. They are a bit more expensive than other varieties at the market, but the crunchy, sweet taste is worth the extra cost per pound. I add apple slices to peanut butter toast in the morning, and I puree them to sweeten a dairy-free butternut-squash soup that I serve for dinner. Although apples have always been my fruit of choice, now that I'm pregnant, I crave them constantly. Not surprisingly, my doctor approves.  


You know what my doctor would not approve of? Consuming three servings (aka a row) of these delicious organic (better than Oreos) faux-Oreos, then talking myself out of going to prenatal yoga - whoopsie.

I'm in love.

Leadership Experience

"When nothing is sure, everything is possible." Margaret Drabble

Last week, I traveled to Birmingham for our company's annual incentive trip. Although working for eleven hours a day, pregnant, presented it's challenges - and left me with sausage fingers and toes - it was one of the oddest and most satisfying business trips.

With the news of the Milwaukee office closure, my coworkers and sales Consultants offered mounds of support, kind words and tips and tricks for getting hired in today's environment. I did have one embarrassing breakdown when thinking of actually leaving this job that I've grown to love. Let's blame it on the hormones and move on.

Of course, we were snowed in on Sunday night - and I was happy to spend another night in Birmingham vs. stuck in the Memphis airport. From running out of hotel rooms to the valet seeing me in a towel - the theme of extended trip was, "You're kidding, right?" It was nice to spend a few extra hours with Consultants and ease myself out of, what might be, my last incentive trip (sigh). Speaking with so many mothers for days on end also put my office closure into perspective. I left Alabama in a haze - my head spinning with potential opportunities.

Although the pictures tell another story, I did in fact interact with people and I do know how to rotate images. Painful. 

New Spring Products. I want you, and you, and you in the baby's room.

Goodie boxes for the welcome night dinner.

Bags stuffed with catalogs and more goodies

Love this!

More spring products

Centerpiece for the welcome night dinner - yep, I cut that pine.

Mini Aveda products - everyday I was welcomed by at least three of everything!

 

27 Weeks

I was thrilled to have the week between Christmas and New Years off of work - and man, did I need this time! Dan and I visited the art museum, I went on a much-needed trip to the outlet mall and simply enjoyed this time sleeping in, reading, cooking, exercising and relaxing. 

For New Years, after demolishing crab legs and steak at my in-laws, Dan and I headed over to our friend's house for a ridiculous celebration where I ate my baby's weight in baked brie and laughed at drunk idiots.

Happy 2011!

Grapes for good luck in the new year (the picture is sideways for EXTRA good luck).