Chicago Mama Spot

School Woes & the Catholic Church

Like a lot of bigger cities, getting into preschool is kind of a competitive sport.  I thought I'd found a decent option - I really like the Montessori approach, especially for younger kids.  Most of the Montessori schools here have long wait lists.  At the school I really love, we are currently 16th on the girl waitlist for the parent/toddler program.  Getting into the parent/toddler program at many schools guarantees you a spot in preschool.  Obviously, we're not getting in this year.

I ran across another Montessori school in my research that goes through 3rd grade.  The only catch is that the school is Catholic.  I'd sort of decided it was no big deal since Daddy-O was raised Catholic (kind of).  His mom is Catholic.  Even though I'm sometimes skeptical of organized religion, I figured if the school was good and the teachers cared about Sweet Pea, it wouldn't be that different from any other school.

Then, I heard about this teacher.  That made me do a little research.  That scared me.

Since I'm not Catholic, I hadn't really thought about the church's position on IVF.  Since I believe I'm a good mother and a good person, I hadn't really thought about how the Catholic school system might feel about my child.  My child, the love of my life.  My child, the life I wanted to bring into this world more than anything.  My child, a person, not a personification of evil. 

I read how the church feels about IVF:

In summary, the Catholic Church condemns as gravely evil acts, both IVF in and of itself, and stem cell research performed on IVF embryos.

Sweet Pea won't be going to Catholic school.  Daddy-O sort of rolled his eyes when I told him about this.  I think he feels, like many Catholics friends of ours probably do, that what the Vatican says isn't necessarily the feeling that we'd get from the parents and faculty of a particular Catholic school.  We have a lot of Catholic friends who I know don't think we're evil or that Sweet Pea is evil.

I don't care.  Like most parents, I have no interest in putting my daughter into a situation where she feels inferior. 

The Catholic church says that she was born of an evil act.  That's a strong enough statement that I just can't get over it.

We didn't destroy any embryos.  We didn't have a lot of other options.  We had a beautiful daughter who we love with everything we have.  We are good parents trying to raise a good person.  Isn't that the important part?

It is so hard for me to understand the hate that goes into a statement like the one from the Church. 

I imagine someday I'll tell Sweet Pea how she was conceived. Hopefully, by then people will be more accepting and less judgmental.

Girls Night Out and Belly Holes

It must seem like all I ever do is go out because it seems I have a lot of posts about drinking champagne.  I really don't go out very much, I swear!

But, I did have a great meal out at a top Chicago restaurant, X/O

I admit to having a delicious pomegranite margarita - really only to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  I also did have a flight, plus one of champagne.  Very enjoyable evening with a few women I don't know that well and one I know and love.  Unfortunately, sometimes with two pregnant women, the slight slurring becomes a little more noticeable than it would if everyone had a few cocktails.  I had so few that I will even be fine tomorrow morning, but you know when you're around completely sober, pregnant people, you can feel a little self-concious.

Here's what I have for tonight's post:

Sweet Pea calls her belly button her "Belly Hole."  I'm not sure where she learned this, but she says it a lot while trying to peer over her big baby belly to see it.  It's one of the first things she's said where I just have no idea where she got it. 

I Heart Sweet Pea

A few weeks ago, a friend had the bookclub ladies over for Friday Happy Hour.  Knowing the crowd, I took a cab to her house even though it's pretty close.  I knew I might have one champagne flute too many.  I'd been out all day for Cubs Opening Day, so I already had a little head start.  Luckily for me, there are lots of pregnant woman in my bookclub right now and I had my choice of designated drivers. 

My poor friend who's due in July with her first baby drove me home and was forced to listen to me discuss how frazzled I was feeling.  We'd only been in our new house a little while, so things were still pretty disorganized.  Sweet Pea was going through a MAJOR whiny/clingy/don't put me down even for a second stage.  This would have been hard enough to deal with, but I had so much unpacking and organizing, plus a giant To Do list. 

Let's just say I wasn't really Mommy of the Year that particular week - Dora was subbing for me a good part of the time.

I so distinctly remember saying "This is just a really hard age." as I got out of the car.  I'm sure my voice had that slightly hysterical, high-pitched edge to it that I get when I'm feeling close to the breaking point.  Just what a pregnant woman wants to hear.

Anyway, the point of this way-too-long story is how quickly things change in mama land. 

Just a week ago, she was so clingy and whiny.  Suddenly, she is so much fun, I hate to put her down for her nap.  The clinginess has slowed way down.  But beyond that, she is just turning into such a little person.  She is such a happy, little thing.  She thinks everything is so funny and she's talking so much.  It's so fun now that she can really tell me what she wants. 

That's one of the things I love so much about being a mom.  Every week is different.  Hard times turn into your favorite days before you know it.

It's amazing how often I think I can't possibly love her any more than I do.  Then, somehow I love her even more. 

As much as I love Sweet Pea's little baby-self, I can't wait to see how much fun she'll be as she gets older. 

For my pregnant friends out there, don't listen to me when I'm whining.  Being a mom is one of the best things that will ever happen to you.

Meal Planning Gone Bad

One of my favorite bloggers CitySlickerMom has posted about meal planning a few times.  The funny thing is that when I read her last post about it, I was in the process of doing a little meal planning on my own.  I am also gung-ho about it for a while and then it all falls apart. 

So, I finally got it together and had my meals planned for this week. 

Day 1 - Not an especially great outcome - I tried a new slow cooker recipe for Lemonade Chicken.  It tasted, well, too lemonade-y.  That shouldn't surprise me, I guess, given the name.  I guess I was expecting more of a lemon chicken taste.  Anyway, we ate it. 

Or, at least Daddy-O and I did, Sweet Pea tried it and then spit it out of her mouth.  Her spitting is a little more like pushing it out onto her lips and then letting it dribble down to her plate. 

It's as appetizing as it sounds.

Day 2 - Leftovers of the bad chicken

Day 3 - Pasta recipe with steamed carrots - Sweet Pea again with the spitting out.  My doctor says all you can do is just put it in front of them and if she doesn't eat it, it's her choice.  But, I can't let my little girl lose her chubby cheeks.  So, as she is spitting it out she starts chanting

"Pickle, pickle, pickle . . .  pickle, pickle, pickle . . . more pickle, more pickle"

"Peas, Mommy . . . Peas! (I can already picture her as a teenager with this impassioned please thing she's doing - Peas let me go to the party, everyone else is going, Peas.  Okay, she'll probably have the "l" down by then, but it's so cute to imagine her still saying it that way.)

What I haven't mentioned is that she wasn't so interested in the sandwich we shared for lunch, she just wanted the pickle that came with it.  She ate that and wanted more.  So, I gave her half of one from the refrigerator.  She slurped that down with her cup of water mixed with a little of the turkey from the sandwich, some bread, some blueberries and a few potatoes from the potato salad.  She loves her water mixed with all the food she's eating.   

So, I gave in tonight for more pickles.  But, I couldn't have her basically eat pickles for both lunch and dinner.  So, I told her she had to at least eat some non-sweetened applesauce too. 

You guessed it, the perfect dipping sauce for a pickle is . . . applesauce, of course.  She ate the two of them together like she'd just discovered the recipe for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  She could call it Sweet Pea's Pickle Sauce. 

We got some video of her doing the pickle dipping and on video, Daddy-O looked into the camera

"How do you like Mommy's meal planning, Sweet Pea?" 

"What do you think she has planned for tomorrow?"

Then, they both started laughing into the camera.  She didn't get it, but Daddy-O thought it was so funny that she joined right in with the laughing.  Ha, ha, ha.  See how fast we go back to cereal and popcorn for dinner, Mister Funny.

Here she is in all her glory with pickle juice and applesauce smeared down the front of her shirt.  I'm thinking maybe we go for ketchup and mustard again as a dinner option tomorrow.

High School Fashion

(Forgive the mis-aligned pictures and text.  I don't know what my problem is, but I can't get it aligned right.)

At least I know I'm not alone.  The warm weather is making my brain stop working. 

This is just the best I can do right now:

They say that your core fashion likes and dislikes are based on what was in style when you grew up - I assume "they" meant high school.  I can't remember where I read about this, but I think it holds true for me. 

Preppy was in when I started high school and I embraced it with my whole little fourteen year-old self.  For a while my dad insisted on calling me Kiki.

Check out my preppy self.  Don't I look happy?  How about that posture?  I'm not sure if you can clearly see the lovely bows all over my head.  After spending what looks like hours with the curling iron, I braided back one side and then just pulled back the other.  So cute, huh?

Again, with the great posture.  I loved the striped polos.  The hair is looking lovely with a french braid down the back.  How chic!

So what's the point of flashing my humiliating pictures for all to see?  I think I'm projecting my high school fashion sense on to my poor Sweet Pea.  Here are a few pictures I took of her this week.  I noticed the similarity in fashion when I was going through some old pictures during my intensive, get organized campaign yesterday.

Hey, plaid just like me.  If only I could get that fine hair into a french braid.

Here's Sweet Pea decked out in whales.  You can't really see them in the picture, but she's covered.  She's checking out her boo-boo and her cool Dora band-aid.  I loved the whole whale theme in high school.  My favorite store was actually called "The Whale."  (It was actually the scene of my one and only shoplifting experience - purple Ralph Lauren crew socks - very embarrassing.)

Later on in high school, I started dating someone who was very into the punk scene.  I hope I don't start dyeing Sweet Pea's hair burgandy and dressing her in black (yes, I went from preppy to burgandy, spiky hair).

It does seem like Sweet Pea is coming up with her own twist on my past.  Last week, she insisted on this look:

Looks like she loves the bows just like her mama did!

I have to say I still lean toward the preppy.  I'm glad it's made a comeback the last few years. There are some big things going on here this summer.  (Is there a topic that isn't blogged about?)

Espadrilles, I've missed you!  I'm so happy you're back in style.

Hurt, hurt, hurt

It is just the worst feeling not to be able to fix something for your baby.  Sweet Pea scraped all the skin off of the top of her hand.  I'm not exactly sure how it happened.  Papa was here on Monday and it happened then, but he may not have noticed.  Poor thing woke up once already tonight and as soon as I walked in she said "hurt, hurt, hurt" and held out her little hand.  It's too big for a band-aid and I want it to get some air so it will heal. 

We may try to get her first hair cut tomorrow.  She is all about the mullet right now.  It was absolutely freezing today and rainy, so I pulled out a few hand-me-downs from her cousin that probably won't fit by the time it gets cold again.  She wore the cutest little plaid skirt and red sweater to our Bubbles class today.  Her hair was in little pigtails. If I do say so myself, she looked so cute.  Until she pulled the pigtails out.  The mullet with pigtail marks is not such a great look.  I mean, I still think she's adorable, but she won't be on the cover of Cookie sporting hair like that.

Sweet Pea - Not a baby anymore!

It's been a while since I've posted pictures of little Miss Sweet Pea. I finally edited them for the web. 

She looks so sweet and innocent here.  You'd never guess she's about to try to rip my printer to pieces.

Sweet Pea loves our new swingset.  That snack cup is permanently attached to her hand.  Even though it was freezing outside the day I took this, I just had to get some new pictures. The next day, she had her first fever.  How guilty did I feel? 

Here's a view of the front part of the yard.  Notice the snack cup still attached to her hand.  You can just see Charlie's head on the left.  She's probably hunting down some small, helpless bird or trying to find a place to poop where I'll be sure to step in it.

Sorry Charlie

Sweet Pea has been spending a large portion of her days lately loudly saying "Sorry Charlie" and then laughing like nothing has ever been funnier. 

Am I getting a taste of the next few years?  The repetition, repetition, repetition.  Why did I teach her to say it?

It's so cute, until you really want her to stop.  Like in our class today or the grocery store or while I'm shopping for bath mats. 

Lame Easter Mama

My slight Neighbor obsession has diminished now that Daddy-O is back from his golf trip.  It seems like he's been gone for so long, but I think that's just because I haven't really been sleeping much since he's been gone.  I did get so much accomplished.  There aren't too many boxes left.  Just one storage closet full and that has to stay that way until we get the basement finished.  I am so happy it's almost done! 

It's so nice to have Daddy-O back home.  We missed him.  Sweet Pea said "I love you" for the first time on the phone with him Thursday.  She kind of slurred the words together and she was just repeating me, but my heart melted. 

On to the important stuff . . . I don't want anyone to think that I've forgotten about Neighbor.  I'm still interested in becoming FF (Friends Forever if you didn't use this one in grade school).  But, I think I just stop worrying and try just be normal. 

However, there is the blind dilemma.  We have windows looking directly onto their deck.  Do we leave the blinds open in the evening?  We have up to this point, but if they're on the deck and someone is on our sectional, you're almost part of their conversation.  I  brought this question up to my mom and sister last night, and a few minutes later out Neighbor and her husband came with another couple.  Well, obviously I couldn't close the blinds after they came out.  That would have been rude.  Oh hi, I see you and now I'm shutting my blinds on you.  I think when it gets warm, maybe we'll just shut them at night.  I really am trying not to obsess about weird stuff, but sometimes the ADD kicks in pretty strong!

We're having Daddy-O's parents over for Easter brunch.  I could get enough blog content on them to last me a long time, but I'm staying quiet on the in-law front because it just best for all.  They love Sweet Pea beyond belief and that's all that matters to me.  They just got back from Paris.  I don't think either of them have ever been abroad or traveled too much, so it should be interesting (or maybe really, really boring) hearing how it went.  I'm crossing my fingers that the pictures have been somewhat edited down. 

Besides making a delicious Easter brunch, I am a lame mama.  Sweet Pea doesn't really get holidays yet and we're not too religious.  So, I'm really just dressing her up for the grandparents and because it's so fun to see her in a new spring dress.  I bought the whole Paaz egg thing.  We've just been too busy to do it.  I have a really cute felt Easter basket for her, but all I really have to go in it is paper Easter grass and some empty plastic Easter eggs.  I'm dreading Grandma asking me what we did for Easter for Sweet Pea. 

This mommy guilt thing is really all-consuming.  The weather is really working a thing on me.  It has been so nice.  I just feel like I should be outside all the time with her.  If I'm not, mommy guilt comes to get me.  I'm almost glad tomorrow is supposed to be rainy. 

How is it 1:30 in the morning already?  I've got to get to bed, so I can wake up early to get brunch ready.  Since Sweet Pea started sleeping in so late, I have no reason to get to bed early.  It's really hurting our productivity during the day.  I have so many errands backed up.  She is sleeping almost 16 hours a day.  It has to be a growth spurt or something.  The two of us are little sloths sleeping in until 9:30.  Not tomorrow, I'm going to have to be a tornado of activity to get things ready by 10:30. 

Au revoir.

Picky eater or a dog wannabe?

Sweet Pea is such a picky eater that I have a hard time getting her to eat anything except for hummus right now.

Why, then, does she have no problem picking up a piece of Charlie's dog food and popping it into her mouth like it's candy?

Yuck.  She would not open her mouth to let me have it.  She just sat there chewing it with a huge smile and her face.