thanks, hormones.

Alright, we have about 6 friends who are pregnant with or about to have/just have had their third child, and that's getting me thinking. There's definitely a conspiracy out there. It's a mom-spiracy, actually, and it begins with pregnancy and, I'm convinced, continues well on throughout the rest of a woman's life. During pregnancy, as you may have heard me say before, there are about a million moms that you pass, all giving you the "awww, so sweet" smile as they remember (you imagine) how wonderful it was to be pregnant and expecting. And (you also imagine) how wonderful it was to have a little, tiny, new baby, and how they miss that time.

They are actually all thinking "Thank GOD I'm over THAT phase!"

Okay, that's not true. They probably ARE thinking "awww, so sweet, I wish that was me." But it's only because this conspiracy is not external, it's not known. It's INTERNAL. I think it's hormones. And it scares me.

I'm pretty sure that the hormones that cause me, as a woman, to never be satisfied with my life as it is (I'm graduated from College! I need to move far away to establish myself. ...I'm dating! We need to become engaged. ...I'm engaged! It's time to get married. ...I'm married! Let's get off of birth control and never sleep again!"). I'm also sure that it's these vary hormones who are supposed to be shouting to me, as they are to all other women with a 2-year-old, "Hey! This is great! What a funny, adorable kid! Boy is this easy! I think I'll have another!" When, in reality, we all know...when you have two children and two parents, it's even. Who knows who makes the rules anymore? And 3 children? Oh, you're outnumbered, there.

I really think that women could rule the world if we weren't so busy, and that men are like, "well, then, move over and I'll do it, I don't care..." and that's what we're left with. Wars ensue. (No offense, guys.)

The funny thing about children is not that we actually have them, but that we keep having them. For most women, pregnancy isn't easy. (For me, it consists of 10 months of throwing up and then a c-section.) And if you've given birth before, labor isn't a picnic either. (If you haven't given birth, it's "actually not that bad" and "everyone has been born, so it can't be that bad, right?" Ahem.) So why do we keep doing it? I have a theory--I might have mentioned it before--that if men were to have the babies, there would be mandatory early c-sections and absolutely no question of "natural" or "epidural"--there would always, always be drugs. Call them wusses, or call them brilliant--I'm not always sure. But we women want to keep doing it, and keep trying, with our birth plans in hand, for that perfect delivery.

There are three points in post-pregnancy that your body will try to trick you into getting pregnant again, and I'm in one of them right now. (Ben, Honey, I hope you're reading this. BE CAREFUL!) The first (and these are all hormone-related and have nothing at all to do with rationality) is riiight after you've given birth, when the baby's a few weeks old or maybe even right upon having the baby, when you think "Oh, honey, it wasn't that bad, I really think we could do this again." The second point is when they're about 9 months old, and getting an a great schedule and having their own personality, and maybe crawling or trying to walk, and you think, "Oh, honey, s/he's so amazing and precious, we could do this again!" The third is when they're about 2, and they're actually getting quite "independent" for a little person, maybe starting potty-training but definitely talking and walking, and not needing you as much, and as much as you long for that day at first, you suddenly realize that the child is growing up a bit and, -sniffle- "Honey, I really think we should do this again," for this and that reason. And we can rationalize left and right: "They shouldn't be too far apart"/"I don't want to keep getting out the baby stuff over and over"/"We're not 'trying,' but we're not 'not trying'...." It's all hormones! Don't listen! But we do, and the human race continues.

And really, it's good that it does. Thanks, hormones. It's just too bad the hormones don't change diapers.

What a wonderful world

Hi there! What's new? I can't say I've been busy, since Pittsburgh got about 29 inches of snow this last week. Just to give you a picture in your head about what that means, take wherever it is that you live, add 29 inches of snow, and then tilt various streets at different angles, 30-degrees and up to about 70-degrees, and then replace half the concrete with "pavers" (I would have called this "cobblestone" in Michigan), and then make sure that there's no parking (i.e. driveways) in 3/4 of the areas around the main city, so that people have to park on the street, and then have snow plows try to come clear the place out. Oh, and add constant snow and light wind, and also temps that go from freezing to juuuust above, and then back to 15-degrees or so. I'm not exaggerating.

About the streets, Pittsburgh is the only place I've ever lived (the only place I've ever known) where you actually couldhave walked to school uphill both ways. Someday I hope to live somewhere else (somewhere WARM) where I can say that to my children, when I went to school/work, etc. (I can't really say school, since I've only been here 9 years) I had to walk uphill both ways. And they'll say, "Yeah right, mom, come ON," [mandatory eye roll], and then I'll take them here. And they'll be amazed.

You should come visit.

Anyway, It's been exciting. I kid you not, Friday night it began to snow, and snow, and about an hour later I could have made a heck of a snowman, and then by Saturday morning there was at least 20 inches, and it was heavy, wet snow, and Ben spent 1-2 hours snowblowing a path to our neighbors down the (brick) street (did I mention that our power went out, it was 4 degrees, and both kids had a fever? of course.).... We bundled up, went to the neighbors, and hung out there from 10am until 5pm. We lost power and so did they, but the difference was that they have a gas stove and a wood-burning fireplace. (Thank you Buckners!!) Ahhh, funny how warm a house feels at 60 degrees inside when your house is 50. And how cold it seems when your house was 70.

So let's see. Bad things: snow. Power out. Fevers, sniffles, no way to make warm foods and not really wanting to open the fridge since the power was out. Too much snow to play in (DID I JUST WRITE THAT??! It really was for a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old). Really too cold too (0 degrees Sat. morning, and then maybe 15 that early afternoon). Ben spent from 10am to 5pm snowblowing 2 ruts down the street for us to get our truck out, so that we could make it to his mom's house to sleep, since his parent's had power. So not like "Snow daaaay!" that you might be thinking, especially if you're 12.

Great things (leave it to me, right?): Neighbors everywhere, as soon as they figured out how to push open their doors with 2 feet of snow blocking the way. Big kids SUPER HAPPY and off school for a week (!). Just an amazing white blanket everywhere, in what is mostly at this time of year sort-of a dingy, gray canvass. People helping, people sharing, people digging out your car or your kids or your path. And, of course, lots of amazing stories about "the snow of 2010." I know, it's a little gross, but people were (mostly) just absolute wonderful troopers who you'd actually want to hang out (and dig out) with. Oh, also, we live across from the Post Office so we got power first, and we could invite everyone over here for warmth and showers. Nothing so great as a hot shower after a couple of days in the cold without power.

And I thought to myself, "what a wonderful world."

Also, "let's move to Aruba."