Mama Spud: November 2008

Thursday, November 27, 2008

30+5 Weeks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just back from a two week stay with my mother in Pennsylvania. Had a baby shower and took home a mountain of stuff, two garbage bags full of hand-me-downs, another full of household items my mother was giving away, a box of my grandmother's china and a box of Christmas decorations.

All in my little Saturn Ion.

Meanwhile, the tater tot is getting very big and very active as she runs out of room in there! My tummy grew a LOT in the two weeks I was gone and it surprised Spud when I returned!

This week's complaint: Stabbing muscle pain in my tummy!

This week's development: The belly is growing! People are saying to me, "Hi, how are you, when are you due?" instead of just guessing if I was pregnant.

Baby's size: Size of a thick, folded sweater or weight of a head of cabbage.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

27+4 Weeks

Yesterday was election day. My unborn daughter went along with me to vote, even though she didn't know it yet. I feel so lucky that she will be born at or around the time that a new president will be inaugurated into the White House. So lucky that she can grow up with a president the same color as her aunt and cousin and able to realize how diverse this country is.

When my sister was growing up with me, our school was 99% white and there was hardly any way for her to be able to see any local African-American or biracial role models. And now, in 2008, my niece and my child can look to the leader of our country to help provide this role (other than their mommies and daddies, of course!).

Special props to my grandmother who went to the polls in N.C. yesterday. The oldest of the Ware family (83) down to the youngest of the Ware family (unborn) were out casting their vote for Obama!

Another note; my birthday is January 20th (inauguration day). I had a dream when I was about 12 weeks along, that my baby was born on my birthday. It also depicted her as a girl (which came true) and that she had strawberry blond hair (which is a great possibility!). How amazing would that be if she was born at the same time we were getting a new president in this country? And also to be born on her mothers birthday... that would be pretty great too!

Now... a 9 hour drive to visit my family in Pennsylvania for two weeks. Wish me luck!

This week's complaint: Backaches! Auuugghh!

This week's development: Very visible kicks that make my stomach actually jump!

Baby's size: Weight of a head of cauliflower, or the length of a small sock monkey.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

27+1 Weeks

I babysat a young girl a couple weeks ago who was curious about my growing belly. She kept asking if the baby was kicking, how big she was, etc. until one day when we got into a conversation about what the baby will look like once she's born. The first question was simple enough, "Will she be blond?"

"Probably," I answered, "Spud and I are both blond, so she has a good chance of being blond."

"What if she comes out Canadian?" she asked, completely serious.

I laughed, "Canadian?! Well, what's the difference between Americans and Canadians? I.. I don't even know what that means!!"

She laughed too and said in that great "kid-voice", "I don't know! Ok, well what if she comes out black?"

That one really got me going and I couldn't even speak, so she filled in the rest of the story for herself.

A Potato Story

Spud and Mama Spud met when she was a freshman in high school, and he was a sophomore. They met during a Thespian Troupe spring production of "School House Rock! Live!" Mama was in the chorus and Spud worked behind the scenes. Although neither of them could remember the exact moment they met, they soon became fast friends and stayed that way for the rest of high school.

During Mama's sophomore year, they even went on a date to Italian Oven. As Spud remembers, they had a Pizza Rustica for dinner, drove to visit some friends, and he scared her by taking a turn a little too fast.

After the date, though, they remained friends and hung out often at parties, during plays, and with other theatre friends. They even dated each others close friends.

During Mama's senior year of high school, Spud went an hour away to college. They chatted via Instant Messanger and spent weekends and summers working on plays. Then, the summer before Mama went to college, they both found themselves unattached. After a brief courtship with a "rebound guy," she realized that the person she really should have been with was Spud.

Mama came to visit Spud at college and during their first visit, they had their first kiss. During the second visit, they discussed seeing each other on a regular basis, what it would do to their friendship, and how they really felt about each other. They decided to "give it a shot" on September 29th, 2001, the date written on a bottle of Parrot Bay Rum to remind them.

Two summers later, they moved into an apartment together and got engaged on September 29th, 2003 - their 2nd anniversary. They were married two years later on a North Carolina beach on August 6th, 2005 with the sand in their toes and surrounded by close friends and family.

The Spudly's moved from the apartment to a small apartment in a residence hall so Spud could start his Graduate Assistant-ship in Residence Life. They stayed two years in an apartment the size of three dorm rooms and finally moved to Ohio for a Director position that included a house with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and a back yard.

They also acquired an ill fated black lab puppy with anger management issues named Riley, and a orange and white striped cat, named Lily.

Just after the school year ended, Mama Spud found out she was 4.5 weeks pregnant with Tater Tot. She actually thought she had a bladder infection! Within 4 weeks, Spud put out resumes, found a higher paying job, packed the house, fostered out the dog, loaded the truck and moved the growing family to Kentucky, where they reside now.

They also confiscated a kitten from the residence halls and when she was abandoned by the owners, they adopted her and named her Luci - short for Lucifer because she was (and is!) a hellion!

Tater Tot was born on January 21st, 2009 at 12:56pm after 17 hours of labor. She weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 18 inches long. Story of Tot's Birth Spud and Mama will celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary in August and will have been together for 9 years at the end of September.

On Tater Tot's first birthday (and Mama's 27th!) we found out that we're expecting another baby! Baby girl "Small Fry"came into the world three weeks early Story of Fry's Birth while Big Sister Tot was only 19.5 months old! Small Fry weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. She was born on September 2nd at 2:58am after 12 hours (and 3 days) of labor.

And when Small Fry was just a month shy of her first birthday, we found out we were expecting again! Baby Boy Sprout was born March 8, 2012 at 7:30am, was 8 lbs, 7 oz and 22 inches long. The harrowing story of his birth by crash c-section can be found in the Story of Baby Sprout's Birth