Becoming a Big Sister

Watching how Sophia adapts to my growing belly, her brother-to-be, has been quite interesting. She’s become super clingy. It’s understandable. I’m tired, grumpy, and bitchy. I’m not the same mom she knew before I got knocked up. Right?

By super clingy, I mean obsessed. She’s obsessed with my belly. As in touching it every time she thinks about my belly. She has to rub it, love it, and snuggle it. It has to be my bare belly. We’ve had quite a few talks about pulling my shirt up in public. She’s also obsessed with my boobs. How do they make milk? How will her baby brother drink the milk? (I nursed Sophia for 2 years).

When I tuck her in bed, she actually says goodnight separately to my belly, my boobs, and me. All 3 of us. As if I don’t feel like a cow already, now there’s 3 of me.

The other day, she dialed my belly (bare belly, of course)—like a telephone—to talk to her brother. My black hole of an innie navel was the receiver AND the earpiece. Apparently the baby is ready to come out, according to Sophia. I’m sure as I grow more rotund, she’ll be calling him more often. Hopefully there won’t be any roaming charges.

I’m glad she’s warming up to having a baby brother. I know that she has no idea what she’s in for once he’s born. Even though I get tired of Sophia rubbing my belly all day, I’m glad that she’s excited and interested in the baby.

This post was inspired by DC Metro Moms’ August book club selection, Birth Day by Dr. Mark Sloan. Sloan shares how the medical aspects of giving birth has evolved over the years, from pain relief, to a father’s role, to what the baby tastes and sees.

Simmering

I'm still here. Just simmering. This second round of baby growing has me napping a lot. I'd sleep all day if I didn't have a bouncy 3 1/2 year old to take care of!

Tonight I'm craving chocolate milk in my favorite over sized mug. It's good old fashioned milk with Hershey's syrup. It does stir up moments of childhood.

Hubby worked all day today in an incredibly long shift--it's 11pm and he's still not home. I let Sophia take a late nap and just got her asleep.

Just finished Katherine Center's Everyone is Beautiful. It's a beautiful book. For some reason, I love reading novels about grown women who find themselves. Sometimes they are too sappy or outrageous (not in an entertaining way). This wasn't one of them. The main character was very real and believable to me. I could picture myself in her shoes.

I loved Elena's discovery that she could do something that was just her--no kids, no husband. Just her. It's a hard concept for many moms. Even harder to put into action. Plus I love that Elena's son believes that plump is beautiful--because that softness makes hugs so much better!

I'll leave you with that. Make yourself a cup of chocolate milk. I forgot how good chocolate milk is.

Sleeping Beauty with an Attitude

We have the best library system ever in on Montgomery County. Amazon recommended Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox on my front page a few days ago. Lo and behold, I spotted it at my local branch! This is a non-traditional princess book that adults and children will enjoy.

It's written in rhyme and has fun illustrations. I'm a sucker for a well illustrated book. The princess discovers Sleeping Beauty because her snoring has bothered the kingdom for many years. The fairies try hard to tell how to wake her up, but of course he doesn't listen. He tries many hilarious ways of waking her up. My favorite part is what Sleeping Beauty does after he gives her the wake-up kiss.

It definitely wins the Sophia seal of approval. Leah Wilcox has another one, Falling For Rapunzel, not available at the library yet. But I'm sure I'll see it there soon.

Currently the book we're reading every day isn't a princess book (thank god!), but David Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes & Pinkalicious by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann. Something about kids changing colors amuses Sophia to no end. I have to admit, even though I don't like pink, Pinkalicious is pretty funny. Both of these have great messages too: Be true to yourself because you are beautiful.

Hibernating & Hot Chocolate with a kick!

My self-imposed break was just what the doctor ordered. I wasn't sure what I was going to do during my break. Turns out it's a lot of reading! I'm a pretty fast reader. I can devour a book a day. I forget how much I love reading!

I finished The Lace Reader last week (in 2 days). It was a rather intriguing novel. I'll share my thoughts with you in another post. Now I'm working on Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl. I just received 2 of my 3 books for the Elle Reader review program. My reviews for those are due January 14th. I better get reading!

Christmas was great. It was very relaxing. DH, in his true dramatic flair, is sending me on a secret mission this Monday as my gift. (Don't forget he works at the International Spy Museum) He even made up a video and everything, detailing my mission. Kinda like Mission Impossible. So Monday, I'm off to a 2 hour spa treatment: manicure, pedicure, facial, and massage! Wheeee! After that I'm supposed to wear something cute. I have no idea where he's taking me, but you bet I'll be so relaxed, I won't care.

I know I said I'm on a break, but I'm still working here and there. Answering emails and getting ready for our Valentine's Season. I need to change my website over (don't look, it's still on Christmas theme), get my new brochures labeled and all that stuff. I'm even going to do an end of year sale.

Giving myself permission to relax is doing wonders for my stress level. I don't feel like I need to do anything. But I can if I want to. What have you given yourself permission to do this holiday season?

Hunker down with my version of Mexican hot cocoa:

In a saucepan, add 2 Tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar (less or more to taste), a shake of cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg (optional), and about 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat it up, whisking occasionally. When it gets hot and everything is dissolved, ladle into your favorite mug.

The Mexican part is this: sprinkle a bit of chili powder or cayenne pepper into your mug. Stir it in. Then top it off with whipped cream if you're feeling decadent.

photo by DeathByBokeh

If You Can't Beat'em, Join Them (aka Princess Books)

It too me a while to embrace Sophia's love of princesses. I know she loves Disney's Cinderella, but I've been on the look out for non-traditional princess stories. I want her to know that there are princesses who don't need a Prince in Shining Armor to rescue them. Thankfully, my friend Bluefrog, who's a children's librarian, recommended some great ones.

However, I've been unable to find them at my local library. Yesterday, while I at the checkout counter, I spied The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch on the return cart of my library. I had no idea what it was about, but it was a princess book. I was willing to give it a try!

Guess what? It's such a great story. Princess Paulina's father has given up the life of a king to become a wood carver. She's looking for a way to become a princess again. Her chance arrives when Queen Zelda of Blom holds a competition to find a bride for her Prince Drupert. (Gotta love the names!). Thus Princess Paulina enters 3 rounds of competition.

Princess Paulina, is funny and assertive. She doesn't sit around and wait for things to happen. And she's not afraid to speak her mind. She's my kind of princess! Sophia likes it too. I've already read it twice in 6 hours. I think the hubby will probably do another reading tonight at bedtime. I'm going to give it another week and see if I should purchase a copy (or get it from Paperbackswap).

I'm so happy that we found this book! Who doesn't love a funny heroine that takes control of her destiny?

I'm going to try to make this a regular feature as I find non-traditional books. Some classics that we've read (but got a lukewarm recession from our resident princess) are The Paper Bag Princess , Princess Smartypants, and The Princess Knight . I have bunch of others in my shopping cart at Amazon, but just haven't bit the bullet to buy them.