Life Updates of a Larger Magnitude

I've decided to create a blog for baby. A few of the reasons this seems like a good idea: - You may not care to hear about my latest Boston adventure, but want to know immediately when I go into labor, take a new baby picture, etc... - You may ONLY care about my Boston adventures and don't want to hear about baby's heart-rate, eye color, drool, etc... - (Probably the real reason) It can be strictly PG, without links to anything more incriminating. So, without further ado, I give you............ http://bebeshea.blogspot.com/

Life is becoming more and more focused around baby these days... perhaps because my belly is finally so big I can't ignore it (although I have to say, I think I'm still pretty spry for a pregnant lady! :)) or maybe it's just the realization that with only 7 weeks left to go, the big event could potentially happen at any moment. Last night Matt and I had our first pre-natal class, and it was a good experience. They gave us a tour of the hospital rooms, and that really alleviates some of the fear of the unknown. It was also nice to talk to other mommies-to-be about the best/worst aspects of pregnancy and our fears... On another note entirely, our landlord raised our rent $200/mo, which has led to a flurry of considerations... Should we try to buy a multi-family? Should we move to another place? Should we just suck it up or try to talk him down? In response to his initial letter, I asked if he would do some updates to the apartment if we agreed to the new price. We have...

I'm happy that it's Spring and the sunshine is reclaiming this frigid land, but still seriously shocked that it's May already! Normally this would mean lots of organized sports and planning away all my Summer weekends. Now it just means one day closer in the countdown to B-day. (And of course, maternal bliss, right?? :)) This weekend I did a little bit of Facebook catch-up. The surprise "Friend" request would have gone to someone only 4 years removed, but was trumped by a crazy message from one of my best friends from high school - who I haven't talked to in about 9 years - and who happens to have moved up to Boston. Small world! Still, even though I'm terrible about keeping up to date on the Facebook/Myspace cosmos, I really do love the fact that I can use it to drop in on friends near and far and keep tabs on their happenings. Just please forgive me if it takes me a month to respond!

Only 9 hours till my first Red Sox game of the year. Shakes, Monica, Matt, Erica, and... some other people... are heading out to hopefully see the Sox beat the Blue Jays. Hooray! I've got my hat and everything. This week it occurred to me that I am 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy thing. I've been having a lot of moments of disbelief. Like, I see the belly, and even see the kicking, but it still feels like a slightly out-of-body experience. Like this is happening to someone else. This past weekend I went home to PA to meet Julie's baby, Michael. Since it was her last weekend in the States, it was a very full weekend of visiting and hanging out, especially with other friends who have recently had babies. (It's weird how these events seem to happen in waves.) I thought I would be overwhelmed and scared by all the mommies and babies. In my mind, I think I was prepared for them all to be perfect cooing women, utterly blissful in their motherhood membership (s...

I just read this article on CNN that gives perspectives from 64 people on their current finances/lifestyle. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0803/gallery.real_stories/23.html It's sad. Some of the stories are truly rough through no fault of the person. But a lot of them make me realize that we have come to have really high expectations - giant houses, a car for everyone, driving/flying wherever we want whenever we want, multiple vacations. I know, I expect these things too. I can't help but wondering if the current economic situation is perhaps forcing a shift from our current hedonistic lifestyles to a return to family oriented, saner (perhaps) life? Think about it: You can't afford childcare - you're forced to move closer to family in order to get that help. Gas costs are rising - you can't afford to shuttle your kid to 8,000 activities and they have to be home more often and focus instead on fewer things. Or if you're single, you think twice as h...

"Drivers feel squeeze of gas prices" Yes, it sucks. But I don't think that $4/gal is the end of the world, or even close. It just means that we will need to be more conscious of how often and where we drive. Perhaps a blessing in disguise... "Citizen tickets cop for $540 violation" Awesome. I have great respect for all people serving this nation. But abuse of power drives me nuts. I saw it in the Navy all the time, and it only takes a few douchebags to make the lives of the good leaders that much harder because people are constantly questioning your motives. They are not only supposed to be enforcing our laws, but setting the example as well. I actually read an article in the local paper on a similar topic about Boston public workers parking illegally downtown on sidewalks and whatnot, and the Mayor actually condoned it because there isn't enough parking. Wrong answer. That means anyone in Boston can make that excuse. Get more parking, or find mor...

28 weeks down, 12 to go. This is starting to get a little bit more REAL. Aside from the basketball under my shirt and the random tummy pains... Up to this point I think I have been doing an exceptional job of acting as not pregnant as possible (without actually causing any lasting damage I hope). I think I'm a little freaked out that even though theoretically I have 12 weeks (3 months) left, in reality it could be much less, and I am totally not prepared. I haven't taken any baby classes, I don't have a single baby thing in my house except for a hand-me-down crib that's in pieces, and all in all I just feel a little bit like time is running out. I know that there's no way to prepare for sleepless nights and constant neediness of a newborn - I figure I'll deal with that like every new mother does -- trial by fire. But perhaps there's something else I should be doing to prepare instead? This weekend Matt's mom is coming into town and we're going...