What I Hope My Son Gets From His Parents

So, I was laying in bed this morning and I was thinking about the things that I want my son to get from me and from his daddy and the things I don't. So, here's my list...hope you enjoy:

Top 5 things I want him to get from me (in no particular order):
1 - Drive and motivation in school - I want my son to like school and want to go to college. I want him to work really hard, get good grades, and participate in lots of school activities...sports, drama club, speech team...whatever makes him happy. I love my husband, but he kinda was a boil on his teachers' butts in school. Smart, but totally unmotivated....until much later on in life :0)
2 - A love for movies, books and reading - Ok...so I don't want him to be obsessed and collect hundreds of picture books exactly like me, but I want him to enjoy reading and I want him to want to read a lot of different kinds of books. I think he already does b/c when I read to the kids at school, he sometimes will wiggle if he doesn't like the story and when he does, he stays perfectly still. I can't wait to read to him every night before bed. I want him to like to go to the movies with me....any kind, except for scary movies! No scary movies for this kid! We'll indulge on milk duds and popcorn and talk about what movies we want to see thanks to the previews.
3 - A sense of independence - I want him to want to care of himself and not have to rely on mom and dad at every turn. This is something that Justin and I are both pretty good about. I want him to want to live kinda far away from us and on his own, so he can learn those lessons that I learned and feel are so important. I want him to want to have a job and not feel like he is entitled to everything. He's got to learn to earn everything he gets and be grateful for the things he does get. I hope he learns to earn his way and pay for things on his own and be able to save money for things he wants. I hope he learns how to take care of himself, but to know that we're always there if he needs us.
4 - A desire to travel and see different things and places in the world - Justin and I both like to travel, but there are places I want to visit...that he definitely doesn't. I want our kid to want to experience different cultures from Italian to Australian to African to Texan to pretty much everywhere. I also want him to want to see the history of places and visit museums and go to plays and eat tons and tons of ethnic foods. I want him to see the world b/c I have so much of it left to see.
5 - A desire to want to see the good in others and to want to help people - Volunteer work is a huge part of my heart. I want him to volunteer at different places: shelters, food pantries, etc. I also want him to not rely on first impressions and to give people a chance no matter how different you are from them. Some of the coolest people I know are people that are extremely different from me. I'd love for him to have different friends and not TRY to fit in to just one crowd.


Top 6 things I do NOT want him to get from me (in no particular order):
1 - Constant worry - I want him to be more like his dad on this one and be more carefree. I want him to worry a little bit, but to not let that worry get in the way of his dreams and experiences.
2 - My height - Please God let him be tall or tallish.
3 - My dirty mouth - Since I've been pregnant, I've really tried to cut down on the amount of curse words I say and once you start it is really freakin' hard to stop! I don't cuss nearly as much anymore, but I still do and I don't know if I'll stop. It's really an unattractive habit!
4 - My patience level - Ok...this one is a little unfair b/c my patience level has gotten lowered since getting pregnant, but even before I wasn't always a very patient person. I've always wanted things done quickly and efficiently with little wait time. I hope he is much more patient with life and takes his time to enjoy things
5 - My tendency to procrastinate when there are things that need to be done (especially if the things we need to get done are things I don't like to do) - Cleaning is a biggie! Hate to clean, but I hope my son doesn't procrastinate on this one. I also hope he doesn't wait to the last minute to do homework and other projects at home. Hopefully, he'll be more motivated to get things done in a quick and efficient manner, so he can enjoy the rest of his day.
6 - My depression - I pray for this on a daily basis that this disease will not touch my son. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...the person I like least in the world. It's a horrible disease and I don't know if I can bare watching him go through it too. The only thing I want more for him than to be happy is for him to NOT have this disease.


Top 5 things I want him to get from his dad (in no particular order):
1 - His height- I hope all our kids get his height, even the girls. Being short is really not fun at all!
2 - His red hair and freckles - I love redheaded, freckley children and I hope our kidlets are just as cute as my hubby. I know that redheads can be trouble (or so they say), but a little doesn't hurt anymore!
3 - His mathematical and science abilities - I have never been that mathematically inclined and I had to work REALLY hard to understand the concepts. Same with science, but Justin...he doesn't have to work as hard. I hope our kidlet is talented in all areas...not just reading, spelling, writing, and history like me!
4 - A love for outdoorsy-ness and physical activity - My husband is a workout machine and is extremely physical. He loves sports...especially outdoor ones and I hope our son likes the same kind of things. I hope he loves to swim and be in the water like me, but I hope he also likes to go bike riding, play basketball, football, and every other crazy manly sport we can think of like Justin. I want him to stay active and fit and not be lazy about it like me! I can already tell he's going to be an active little booger b/c he kicks the crap out of me on a dialy basis.
5 - A great group of really close friends - I have been blessed with some amazing friends in my life, but I've never had a core group of 4 or 5 friends that all hang out with each other and have remained friends since the start of friendship. School friendships were hard for me b/c I had a horrible tendency of pushing people away, but Justin still to this day has his group of friends that all talk to each other and hang out. They are a great group of guys and I hope our little man has a core group to get into trouble with...but not too much trouble of course :0)


Top 5 things I do NOT want him to get from his daddy (in no particular order):
1 - His incessant need to have everything clean and organized at all times - A little dirt and a little mess never hurt anyone. I want him to know to leave his mommy's small piles of stuff alone and to worry about his own piles of stuff! Cleaning is a good thing, but having to clean once a week...seems a little too much.
2 - The fact that he can't sit still to save his life - From the moment I met him, I was afraid he had adult ADHD b/c he just couldn't sit still. I want him to be able to relax and spend a day just doing nothing at all if he can. His daddy has trouble with that!
3 - Weight issues - Both mommy and daddy have this one, but I think daddy worries about it a little too much sometimes b/c he eats a little too healthy for me and works out a little too much for my taste. I think he worries too much about getting what he calls chubby again. He looks amazing and no matter how much weight he gains or keeps off he's one hot poppa!
4 - School "issues" - I am SOOOO proud of Justin for going back to school and finding something he really enjoys doing, but I hope our son wants to get through school just a little bit quicker. 10 years is a lot of years to go to college and I pray that it doesn't take that long to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Now, there is nothing wrong with taking your time at all, but I just hope he's a little bit more motivated in school like me.
5 - His incessant need to use a semi-colon about 100 times when writing a paper of any kind - I don't know why, but Justin insists on throwing in about 20 semi-colons in his college papers, which is actually markedly down in number since I started working on him. I hope our son learns how to properly use grammar, so as not to drive his mom nuts. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;...yes the misuse of a semi-colon drives me nuts. I'm starting to think that Justin just does it now to make me roll my eyes and get on him about it!

So, there it is. These are just a few things I want my son to learn and get from us, but there are a lot more! I think our little man will get a lot of different perspectives in his house b/c Justin and I are very different people. I hope he turns out to be a very well-rounded individual in part b/c his parents are who we are. This blog was a fun one to write b/c it puts into perspective the kind of a parent I want to be.

My Baby Daddy and Other Tales of Romance

Well, we're coming up on week 25 and the excitement to meet our little man is about to boil over, eventhough we have a long way to go. He's growing really fast and has some very strong legs. He's the most active at night and early morning. He still doesn't like to get up early and while I would love to say that I'm feeling 100%...that would be a lie. I'm nauseous all the time and still have to take my meds, but I'm able to stay awake more and I don't get as tired as I used to be. Yes...I have fully reached planet-sized status. I'm throwing around a few new names for my ginormous and ever-expanding belly, but nothing is stuck in stone yet. As for names for the bean, I think (I say this loosely) that Justin and I have agreed on Jackson. It's the middle name we're having trouble with. We like Jackson Felix (after his grandpa) and Jackson August (after my papa), but we have lots of time and nothiing has been decided on yet. Who knows...Justin will probably change his mind about Jackson :0) The boy's name is kinda all on him b/c if we have a girl someday, I've already picked out a name for her after my great-grandma (we've gotta have at least one little lady!). The baby's room is coming along. It's painted and we bought the crib and dresser set. Justin and my dad are going to put it together when my dad visits in early March. I can't wait to start piecing together the rest!

Right now, my greatest worry is maternity leave. I just found out I do NOT get 6 weeks paid as I thought I did and I have to use my sick days. Unfortunately due to my lovely early pregnancy yucky feelings, I only have 7 days left! I'm hoping that I'll be able to beg and plead for people to donate their own sick days to me. I'm willing to do just about anything to get 'em. We can't really afford for me not to get paid for 6 weeks b/c I'm the bread winner right now. I really wish someone would've told me that we could only use our sick days b/c I would've been there the other 8 days I missed, no matter how sick I was. I would've just puked up and down the highway even more than I already did just to make sure I would've been there to keep my sick days. Pray that we'll get some sick days donated to us.

Everything else is going really well though. I'm so glad that we're past the halfway mark and I'm so anxious to meet our little bean. It's amazingly cute to see how attached Justin already is to the little man. The look in his eyes when we talk about him just makes me fall in love with Justin all over again. He rubs my belly and my feet (don't tell anyone). He makes sure I'm eating right and getting enough sleep. Sometimes, he'll put his head on my belly and listen to the sounds going on in there. I'm so glad that he was finally able to feel him kick a few weeks ago...I was worried it would never happen). I can tell he's already really proud of our son! I was really scared at first about telling Justin about the pregnancy, but I think that he's extremely excited and that he can't wait to be a dad. I love that the bean has made us 10 times closer than we already were. I've never been more in love with him...however cheesy and school girl squealy that makes me sound. He truly is the best thing that's ever happened to me (at least for another few months :0). Love you baby daddy!

PS - Here are some ultrasound pictures I promised you thousand of years ago (sorry my pea-sized brain forgot and then got too busy to do it)!

A Very Happy Holidays and It's Raining Baby Stuff

It occurred to me that I haven't blogged for quite awhile, so I need to catch up on the bean adventures... Justin and I got to go home for Christmas this year and I was so glad that I did. I had a really great time with my family and I can tell that everyone, including us, is getting really excited about our upcoming arrival. Before we left, Justin spent 2 days painting our baby room green. It looks really great and now we're just waiting to see what other kinda goodies we get from our next showers. We've decided on a monkey theme, instead of the jungle theme I blogged about before. We like the monkeys! After finishing school, we flew up to Chicago to spend time with the family. I got to: -bake cookies at my aunt's (a Christmas tradition) -have breakfast with an old friend I hadn't seen in almost 5 years (Miss you Lorelli) -hang with my mom and go shopping (mostly for baby stuff) -go to the outlet mall and fulfill my obsession of all things Coach (I just bought a wallet this time...another purse seems silly b/c in a few months I won't be carrying one!) -spend Christmas with my mom and dad and then the extended family (only 2 things I regretted doing there, but can't take 'em back now, so why worry!) -see snow (I may hate to be in snow and be cold, but I can't imagine having a Christmas without a little snow...fortunately there was a lot of snow) -go to Cinci for a baby shower for me, friend's birthday party, engagement party, and got to spend time with the niece (see my facebook account for pictures of the 2nd two) -see my bestest friend and my son's future bestest friend -hang out and party with my friends from high school (so glad we're still a clan!) -AND we got stuck at the airport for like 18 hours (what a nightmare!) So, needless to say...our bean had a very eventful trip. Got to do a lot and see a lot! We kinda made out like bandits at Christmas time. All we were expecting was a camcorder from my parents and we wanted nothing more, but my mom went Christmas crazy this year and got us a Wii (which we love and have wanted for awhile) and got me a ton of maternity clothes (which I needed b/c I can't fit in much anymore :0) Out our baby shower in Cinci that my 2 very very good friends, Dorothy and Erica, threw us we got a lot of stuff we needed (shopping cart carriers, clothes, washclothes, blankets, baby bath stuff, and A WHOLE LOT MORE!). We feel so very blessed to have such a great set of family and friends. They went above and beyond for us and I'm very grateful for each and every one of them. The trip was amazing and I didn't want our time there to end, but we made it home last weekend, which was good b/c I needed a few days to rest before I got back to work.

As for baby news, I need to post the newest ultrasound pictures, which I hope to do this weekend. Our little man is kicking and moving around like crazy. It's an amazing feeling! Unfortunately for Justin, he's only been able to see the movements and never been able to feel them. Every time he puts his hand on my tummy, the bean stops! I guess he likes his mommy just a little more :0) I'm finally feeling normal (kinda), but I'm still taking my medicine. Some days are better than others, but I've been sick once in the last 3 weeks...YAY! I'm getting bigger by the second I feel like and I'll post pictures of my expanding tummy. I got a little sad the other day when I realized my belly button is starting to disappear...I like my belly button and I'm going to miss it! My belly is getting bigger, which means my back has been experiencing some pain. It makes sleep a little uncomfortable, so I'm just not sleeping as much anymore. Uncomfortability combined with having to pee every few hours at night is just frustrating. It's manageable, but it's not fun and I'm not even that far along...that worries me! Also, at 5 1/2 months, my wedding rings are starting not to fit as well. My feet are also getting a little water weight...it's a little scary to be honest. I think it'll make me sad when I won't be able to fit in my little shoes anymore or wear my rings. And then there's my chest...I was hoping to not have to buy a bigger sized bra, but I don't think my girls are going to tolerate being squished into my old ones much longer. Pregnancy really is a weird change!

To get your mind off the above comments, check out these pictures from my shower...it was a lot fun!: