My son, the male fashionista.

That is what I call my son... He has such a hard time in the mornings (heck, any of the 4-5 times per day that he changes clothes) figuring out what he wants to wear. And I swear, he's never satisfied with the way his clothes look, and therefore, that's why he changes so much. This morning, as I was trying to help him get dressed, he was getting upset because he didn't have a clean shirt that matched his red basketball shorts. "How about a grey shirt?" I ask him. "Nooooo, Mommy, that doesn't MATCH!" I take a deep breath. "How about this really cool Cars one with red in it?" I respond. "No, Mom. I don't like that shirt today." ::I start screaming inside my head:: Oh, I love this little boy to pieces, but my goodness.... There's got to be a way to get him to calm down about his clothes. This is driving me batty!
I mentioned his clothing obsession to his preschool teacher at his parent teacher conference, and she giggled and said "isn't that normally a girl thing?" Exactly what I think. Is this normal for a 4 1/2 year old boy to be so obsessed with clothing and matching? (more so with matching people than anything. ie: he gets upset if I tell him to wear different shoes than his Toy Story shoes to school because he won't match his BFF Jacob.) Also, alot of the size 4 t-shirts a wee bit too small, so I bought him some 5's. Well, he's unhappy with how long the sleeves are. And if the shirt in general is too long, he says he feels like he's wearing a dress, so he tucks it in and usually ends up looking like a Grandpa with his pants hiked way up. I should remind myself that at least he doesn't want to wear enormous clothing like some of the "thug-like" teens these days. And, to some extent, he should care about his appearance - that way he's more likely to take care of himself as he gets older. But, I don't want him to obsess so much about how he dresses. Really, its about WHO he is and not what he LOOKS like. But how do you teach that to a 4 year old? Whenever he gets upset because he won't match Jacob at school, I tell him "But you're not Jacob. You're Matthew. You are your own special person."
Let it be known that I have no problem letting him dress up in his Packers or Badger (or, eeekk, Minnesota Gophers) football uniforms. Or sometimes he wants to dress up in his Buzz Lightyear and Woody costumes so he can act out the movie. As long as it's part of imaginative play, it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the constant changing of clothes, and the always needing to match people (ahem, every important male) around him. I want him to be his own person... independent, with his OWN sense of style. He shouldn't feel the need to change his clothes all the time in order to feel good about himself. We give him plenty of hugs, kisses, "good jobs" and "I loves you". As a matter of fact, there may not be another child on the planet that is loved more. (Although, most of you moms out there would probably beg to differ).
Drew and I have talked about doing a clothing chart... where Matthew is allowed to change his outfit 2-3 times per day. Once he's got the 2nd or 3rd check mark, that's it. No more changing. (Unless, he gets wet, or muddy... you get the picture though.) This way, he can tangibly see how many more outfits he can change into before he's cut off. Once he can do this without problems for a month, we will reward him. This kid has always responded really well to charts, so I'm thinking this could be a good option for him. Once we get started, I'll update you all on his progress.... for now, thanks for letting me vent. Back to tending to my (sweet) male fashionista....

Hellllooooo hormones...

Seriously, I felt like I was able to really keep my hormones in check up until now. The first trimester, I didn't have any outrageous outbursts of tears or anger.... Nor did I feel like I was holding anything back. During the whole craziness of Matthew's biological Dad's issues, my family kept telling me (and they still do) that I'm the one holding myself together the best out of all of us. Ok, so fast forward to now... Hubbs left for Boston, Matthew was throwing up sick, and I'm left to hold down the fort for 3 1/2 days. I did it, and the house is in one piece, but I am feeling SO irritable, SO annoyed, SO crabby... What's wrong with me?! Oh yes, pregnancy hormones. When everything is magnified by about 100 times. Perhaps when Drew is around his presence just makes me feel better.... whole. I like the feeling of our family being together. I think his little business trip might have just thrown me for a loop, as it is a bit out of the ordinary (he doesn't travel for work that much.) Although, watching my little Matthew fall asleep in my bed the last 3 nights has been pure joy. He's so sweet when he sleeps... especially when he drapes his little 4-year-old arm around me in the middle of the night. ::begins to tear up:: Ah, let's hope that my hormones veer back to their semi-normal state soon....

... and Baby kicks Daddy (finally!)

Yep! Daddy finally felt Baby Will's first kick last night. I think Drew was pretty darn excited about it too. I knew it was going to happen soon because Will's kicks have gotten so much stronger the last few days. I've been down and out with bronchitis and sinus infection that my Doctor diagnosed me with on Monday. I was put on 2 antibiotics and sent home to rest. Thankfully Drew stayed home from work on Monday to care for Matthew, so I could sleep and recooperate. I don't know what I would have done had he not been here! Even though I was taking Tylenol every 4 hours, along with cough medicine and my antibiotics, Will gave me no reason to worry how he was doing.... he was kicking me NON-STOP all day on Monday. Perhaps I just noticed it more since I was pretty immobile lying in bed, but even when I was sleeping, I was subconciously feeling his little kicks in my belly. So I told Drew yesterday at dinnertime that he's been kicking pretty hard, and that I was pretty certain that he'd be able to feel a kick or two VERY soon. And low and behold, as we were sitting on the couch later that evening, I felt a big kick, and told Drew to stick his hand on my belly... and there it was again! I think Drew was a bit shocked, as his daily attempts to feel those kicks were disappointing him the last 2 weeks. But finally... Baby kicks his Daddy. Now lets hope I can get big brother Matthew to hold his hand on my tummy long enough to feel a kick....

Dr. Moyer, how I miss you!

Well, I had my 20 week prenatal appointment yesterday... and my new OBGYN here in Milwaukee said that I'm up 18 pounds at the half way mark, which makes me on the road to gaining 40 pounds. I thought to myself "Ok, good! Better than my last pregnancy with Matthew!" Then she went on to say that she thinks that it's on the high end... Eeek. Her little lecture about how to "watch my weight going forward, but that some women do and still gain the weight regardless" still made me want to start crying. I then explained to her that with Matthew, I had gained 50 pounds while pregnant, and that my OBGYN (Dr. Moyer in Green Bay) never mentioned that he had a problem with it, and always told me that it wasn't something to worry about. I KNOW that I eat fairly decent, and that I get exercise with my Fit Mama Salsa Dance workout DVD (and also walks with Matthew).... so what the hell? Why can't all OBGYN's be like Dr. Moyer? Oh, how I miss him! He was such a wonderful Dr.

After my appointment, Matthew and I headed to the park for a picnic and some playtime with my lovely friends, Shannon and Brittny, and their kids. As I started complaining to them about my appoinment, I thought I was going to start crying - Thankfully, I didn't, but that's probably because Shannon's hubby, Naif, was there, and that'd probably make me feel even more ridiculous. So, naturally, what do real friends do? They comfort me by telling me that they too, had gained 40-50 pounds in each of their pregnancies, and also shared their stories of their Doctors "scolding" them about their weight. And again, this morning, my good (& pregnant)friend Sarah gave me a high five when I told her, because she had gained the same amount by her 20 week point a few weeks ago... AND that her Dr. had also said something to her about watching her weight. So, is it just the norm for most OBGYN's to say something to make us feel guilty? And did I just get lucky to have such a laidback Doctor the first time around? I don't know... After this vent, I'm going to stop worrying about it. The most important thing is that Will is healthy. And I know that I do eat fairly well, and am active on most days. However, I am going to make a regular schedule of my Salsa Dance and Prenatal Yoga... I think Matthew gets a kick out of watching me do it anyways...

Anyways, here's the first picure of my pregnant belly that I'm posting on my blog... Yeah, with all that extra 18 pounds too.

I almost forgot! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Have a margarita for me this year!