Snow Day #5

Seriously. 

#5. 

Don't be jealous…unless you have children you could be spending time with. 

I'm boooooored.

I've made bowties for my friends' babies (and 1 dog). There are lots of baby boys in my circles.

aaaand for Max-

I've had some amazing meals. Breakfast every morning was freshly made egg sandwiches with spinach and also peanut butter toast (except today, I ran out of eggs, so I had a Greek spinach salad with grilled chicken. Again- this. is. not. normal.) This was lunch. LUNCH people. 

I've looked through old scrapbooks (searching for a picture for school- they are posting teacher's winter dance pictures to get the kids excited about theirs) and found these:

Oh 2001…check out how LONG those tendrils in front are. Look how TINY we both were. 

Here is a picture from our 1 year Anniversary (October 7th…yes I still remember).   

He woke me up by knocking on my window. Then I followed a trail of rose petals down to the back of my house where he had set up a "picnic breakfast".  I should have known then that his love language is McDonald's breakfast. Later that day we went to the pumpkin patch together for the first time…of many many many times to come.

When I showed Rico this picture his comment was, "Whoa, look at me springing for the big waters! Nothing but the best for you!"

The BEST part about this picture? He was wearing that shirt yesterday- well over a decade later. 

That's right, Rico was home with me for 2 of the 5 snow days. JUST long enough to do all his laundry…and then leave it in the living room for the next 2 days. 

Thankfully, our dog is OBSESSED with laying on Rico's clothes. 

Oh, I'm sorry, did you imagine that with all this free time the house was clean? 

No. It is a sty.

Between his laundry, my cooking, my sewing (in the living room), the paperwork loose ends we've been working on (that are strewn all over our counters), and my general un-showeredness (it seems silly to shower when no one is here)- our home is gross. 

We DID have a hot date outside the house…TWICE. I know, be jealous. 

Once we went to the grocery store to get ice melt- and walk around because it was nice to see the world. 

The other time we went to our birthing class. We practiced birthing positions in a "labor rehearsal".

Very helpful- but also entertaining. 

She said, "Dad's, I know some of you might be uncomfortable, but you can certainly go ahead and practice giving those affirmations to your wife now if you want."

I immediately looked up at him and said, "If you do that- I will make fun of you"

The last thing in the world I want is to think that my husband is insincere when he compliments me. ESPECIALLY during labor. If he starts going on and on about what a great job I am doing and how proud he is of me when I am just sitting in certain positions in zero pain….I'm going to laugh at him. 

…and maybe ridicule him for the rest of the night.

…and maybe tell him how proud I am of him in my sweetest and most gentle voice as he cleans a dish, or brushes his teeth. 

Thankfully, Rico was on the same page. 

I will say, we have a go-getter couple in class. I mean they get an A+ AND a golden star. They take notes. They take pictures of diagrams. They ask questions. They follow directions VERY literally. AND….they practice affirmations during labor rehearsal. 

They are everything Rico thought I would be in class.

God bless 'em. 

We knew it was going to happen. Rico and I exchanged a look that said, "Oh, this is going to be good"

There was one point that I actually had to stifle a giggle though- I mean he was REALLY into it. "You're doing amazing, you can do anything" …which, to be fair, is true. She was doing a really good job (of laying still in one position while having zero contractions) AND she can do anything…and she WILL here in a few weeks. 

Just not our style. Different strokes, right?

Good for them. I mean, you play like you practice, right? 

Seriously- gold star. 

I DO have to praise Rico in another area though. The poor guy has had to do ALL our snow removal including the back deck so Max could get to the yard AND the driveway, AND the gutters that got so heavy with ice they started to pull away from the house, AND throwing rock salt on a spot on our roof that has had issues in the past. I may be stuck inside, but it seems that he is perpetually stuck OUTSIDE taking care of the house. 

In my rubber houndstooth rain boots. 

No pictures were allowed…which is a shame.

What else does one do with hours of free time that they can't really use to plan school because the odds are it is going to get canceled again and make you re-do all the work you just did? 

Belly mapping. (http://spinningbabies.com/baby-positions/belly-mapping)

Basically, it is an idiot's guide to figuring out how your baby is positioned in you based on where you feel kicks, where you hear the heartbeat, and where you feel hard spots in your belly. It's all pretty logical.

Here's what I determined:

Yes, that's right, I'm having a t-rex.

Actually, he's moved since then. I think the birthing ball did some nice little tricks to move him from transverse to a little more head down- at least that's what my ribs are currently telling me- unless he is practicing his own version of pelvic rocking exercises in there.  

On this, what I can only ASSUME to be the final day of snow days, I am left doing what I shouldn't be doing. 

Calculating. 

We did a great job planning to have the baby in early April so I could use all 6 weeks paid maternity leave and then have summer. There was even a little buffer for some snow days. 

SOME snow days.

So, at this point, if Eli comes on his due date (obviously a HUGE if since we've heard MULTIPLE times that the actual average gestation is usually 41 weeks and 1 day), I would have to come back to school for 3 days.  

As in, 

"Oh, hi long term sub who has been teaching all my crazy lesson plans and working so hard- please let me come and take over now that it is officially the easiest part of the year."

Not a bad time to come back- especially since I was thinking I would be coming back after school hours to do my inventory and check-out procedure stuff anyway. 

I can take the guilt. 

But seriously, I am done with snow days. No more. Please. 

I feel gross.

I'm out of routine. 

I don't drink enough water.

I don't exercise enough.

I'm sloppy- and nothing makes you feel grosser than being sloppy for DAYS on end.