The Little Things Count. . .

This is for new Mommies or soon to be Mommies.  When I was pregnant with Sprat I was so excited about having a baby and when we found out it was a boy I was thrilled.  I read all the books and was trying to prepare my house for this wonderful new addition.  I wrote out this long birth plan and gave it to my doctor, it detailed everything I wanted during my pregnancy and my labor and delivery.  The one thing I listed in it numerous times was that I did not want a C-section.  I was absolutely terrified of having a C-section.  I was very fortunate that my hubby had a working relationship with my OB and when it came down to it, he did everything he could to keep me from having a C-section.   It did not work out that way and I ended up having a C-section and I am very glad I did, poor Sprat was wedged in my pelvis and they had to use suction to get him out, even with the section.  I think I was terrified of the unknown.  My doctor was the BEST, he took such good care of me, Sprat, and the hubbs.  
The hubbs and I started a savings account for Sprat even before he was born.  We had a big jug and put all of our extra change in it for him and once he had a social security number we opened a savings account in his name.   I still put our change in his account and in Big T's.   I found this really cool time capsule in one of my baby gadget catalogs and I got one for Sprat.  On his second birthday I had requested that everyone bring something that meant something to them to put in his time capsule.  The hubbs and I added a few personal things from us and that were popular that year.  We sealed it and will open it on his eighteenth birthday.   The time capsule itself was a large tin can, sort of like a popcorn tin, it had directions of what to put in it.  It has been so long since we did it I do not remember what all we put in it, so I am pretty excited to what we will have.  I also did one for Big T, his was not a professional tin I just used an old popcorn tin and again we put things in it for him specific to when he was born.  
The other thing I do is write to my kids.  I write them notes about how I felt during different times of their lives.  Sometimes I write once a year and sometimes I write more than that, it depends on what is going on with our lives.  I write just on plain notebook paper and then I seal it in an envelope.  These I will give them when they graduate high school.  Each envelope is dated so they know when they were written and they also include a little money.  Some have a $20 some have a $10 but this will give them a little money for their graduation to do with as they please (with in reason).   Even if your kids are older you can still do the letter writing.  I hope it will mean something to my kids to have my thoughts and feelings and even prayers for them on paper.
These are just an example of some of the little things I have done and am doing for my kids.   If you have you would like to share please feel free to post a comment below.  I would love to hear from you.

Sprats' Birthday. . .

Sprats' birthday is fast approaching.  He went to his first concert last weekend to celebrate.  They went to see Carnival of Madness.  It rained, stormed and they had a delay, they got wet but they all had fun.  He got a new pair of tennis shoes, a size 12, heavens to Betsy he has BIG feet for a soon to be 14 year old.
Thinking about his birthday made me want to pull out his baby book and my pregnancy journal and revisit those days before his birth.
I had forgotten about the nick name dear hubby had given him before he was born.  Hubby went with me to one of my visits to hear the baby's heartbeat and he said it sounded like a diesel engine humming, so he called him "little diesel."  I had forgotten all about that one.  All of the boy names I had picked out and we did not use any of them for either son.  It is funny all the things you write down with the first child that get forgotten as time goes by.  I am so glad I wrote those things down.  I was telling Sprat about some of the crazy things that happened when I was pregnant with him.  
Hubby and I like to watch wrestling, yes I am a closet wrestling fan.  There was a particular duo that we liked that do not wrestle together anymore.  They were the Road Dog and BA Billy Gun.  Whenever their music came on Sprat would start bouncing around inside my tummy.  You could see my stomach ripple as he bounced and danced, he loved their music.  
Poor hubby could not eat any meat in the house in my first months of pregnancy.  The mere smell of meat would send me over the edge.  There were days I could be in the bed room down the hall and he would open the refrigerator and I knew it by smell.  I also craved watermelon while I was Great with child.  I remember going to the little fresh market down the road from our old house and buying them almost weekly. I got so big that the little man had to help me get them in the car later on in my pregnancy.  My belly was as big as the watermelons.