Gammaa ba-ba Yalalal - In essence - Babble

I've spent alot of time reflecting, pondering, and dreaming over the last few weeks. I've had some inspiration from a blogger mom that continues to fascinate me with every post that she writes. She's a mother with a phd in something (does it really matter what? The lady has a PhD!), who teaches university classes, and has an 18 month old little girl. Her stories, rants, sagas, and posts revolve around motherhood and her experiences as they relate to it. I found her by accident when I was frantically searching for ways to end our nightmare entitled "Addiction to the Swaddle". Her daughter was addicted to the swaddle as well and her rants and posts made me laugh and nod my head even as I was sucking back my frustration. For those that want a good laugh or some good thoughts revolving around motherhood, check her out www.badladies.blogspot.com.

Everyone always comments on how quickly time flies. I can say that when I was pregnant, time pretty much stood still during those last few weeks of work. I was the size of a small house and was waddling around work thinking that my clothes aren't going to fit much longer and then I'd forced to come to work in my underwear. I never thought I'd fit into the maternity clothes I bought. I remember being excited that I couldn't fit into my favourite jeans anymore needing to by a bigger bra. I would walk around the maternity store and ogle over how HUGE everything was. In the end, I was the one that was huge and more than filled out the clothes. Now that 11 months have gone by since I've left work, and 10 and a half since Rowyn has entered our lives time has flown by. I can't believe it was a year ago that I was writing about our prenatal classes, just finishing her nursery and being excited to take one last trip up north before I was housebound to wait things out. Work was fading into the distant background instead of looming ahead of me like a thundercloud. Last night I had a dream that Kristine and I were in a storm and there was a tornado that hit and we hid in a neighbour's secret underground storm cellar. Not sure where that came from but I digress.....
I was chatting with Karen today (who was in our prenatal class) in the mall about last year this time. We were commenting on needing more clothes as we're not back to our pre-munchkin size . I still missing my fav pair of jeans. I haven't been reacquainted with them yet (damn 15 pounds. I'm sure it was the dairy queen trips the Brad just HAD to take after prenatal class).
As we gazed in store windows, our view was filled with shirts that have stupid empire wastes that are all the rage this year that make you still look like you're pregnant (which I'm NOT by the way and thank you very much to the person who had the nerve to ask if I was!)
The fact that I can just barely remember what it was like to fit into my skinny jeans was at the front on my mind today as I reached into the clothes pile to grab a size LARGE. Surely a LARGE would fit. Surprise surprise - it didn't. Unfortunately the boobs have gotten smaller since nursing has finished but nothing else seems to shrunk back to its original size! Karen and I decided that we needed to retire the store and only pre-pubescent girls that still wore training bras could shop there.
As we continued to peruse the stores in search of a regular pair of shorts and a regular old t-shirt, our girls were exercising their voices wherever we went. Cheerios became our best friends. Hansel and Grettle had nothing with their breadcrumbs compared to Grace and Rowyn with their cheerios. Every store we were in today we left a trail. I'm sure that's how Darren found us in the food court indulging in some sushi (the girls were onto bigger and better things by then - rice puffs). There was a time when shopping was a fun and rewarding experience. RW & Co, Aldo, Danier, Gap were the stores of choice. Now the fun shops are Toys R US and Children's Place. Rowyn's size won't be in the double digits and everything will zip up. I fully understand how so many women end up on "What not to Wear".

We've almost come full circle. Back to July 30th. The date is looming closer and closer. Our calendar has a big red circle around the 30th with plans for celebration in full swing. An Elmo cake it will be!

Some pics for those that would rather see Rowyn than listen to my babble....

PS - Rowyn has two top teeth now and the other incisor is straining to come through any day now. She'll have 4 top teeth soon!