5/17/13

Mommy needs to get out of the house before she loses her....

Shit. (We all know I already lost my mind when Oliver ate it while incubating in my belly.)

Over the last two weeks FTD and I have had so much going on between having his family in town, my birthday and a few city wide events.  This busy schedule has breathed new life into us, actually Oliver too.  It's like we have been hibernating in a cave all winter long and forgotten the importance of a adult interaction.

A few days ago a girlfriend took me out for drinks to celebrate my birthday. While we were out I ran into an old girlfriend who I kind of fell out of touch with when I got pregnant. You know, she was still single and going to happy hours, I was knocked up and going to the bathroom to pee or puke every five minutes... So she says to me, "Oh my gosh APRIL!  I have not seen you in forever!"  I started to say, oh it has not been forever... and then I realized IT DAMN NEAR HAS!  Twenty-five months to be exact. Ten months of pregnancy and 15 of being a mom, that makes 25 freaking months of lame-ass-mom-ness! FYI that is 750 days.
My girlfriend took this photo to
"prove that I actually did leave the house without Ollie and FTD"

That night I had the best time.  We drank too much, danced a little, gossiped... Awesomeness.  I woke up the next morning renewed, and truth be told a little hung. I could not wait to go back out again!

So when another girlfriend called to take me out for lunch and a bottle of wine, I was stoked! We ended up having TWO bottles of wine and closing down the lunch service on the patio of one of my favorite places.  BLISS!! But what was not bliss, was the horrible dose of in your face reality my friend dealt me once we were one bottle down...

She told me that I have become too hard to get a hold of.  Too wrapped up in this blog and being a mom, and all together not the same easy going person I was before I got pregnant.  I wanted to hate her, but she was right!  I have become so high strung and crazed about Ollie's schedule and general well-being, that I have completely forgotten about my needs, and more importantly my friendships.  By the time she was finished explaining that since Oliver's birth she has waited (on multiple occasions) nearly a week for me to get back to her, and when I do all I talk about is my blog and Ollie, I felt horrible. She said that she and two other girlfriends were considering a blog and baby intervention.

She was right, I need to get out, and not just for lunch with my girlfriends once a week --Even though that is important. It's time for FTD, Ollie and I to regularly get together with our friends.  Just because we have a child does not mean we have to be social life-less.

I don't know why I had it in my head that now that we have a baby, FTD and I cannot go out and do the things we love, with the friends that we love.  We can. And it's OK for Ollie to come too. Of course it would be easier without Ollie, but 1. We don't have a babysitter we trust yet. and 2. It will be nice to create some fun memories with our family and friends.

Of course over the past 15-months we have gone out as a family, but mostly to parties at a friends or family member's house or children's events.  The last super fun thing we did was go to the local St. Patrick's day parade. All three of us had a blast.  The only issue was that Ollie wanted to walk everywhere, and at times he wanted to walk into the parade.  Still, we had a wonderful time, and need to do more things like it.

We really did have such a great time, even if we spent the better part of the parade
keeping Ollie from joining it. 
I have made the decision that for the entire month of June I will actively seek out fun events for our family to go to.  I will also not only seek out children's events.  Ollie loves to get out and loves the attention he gets from people.  Plus, he is easy now, no constant feedings or diaper changes like last summer.  It is time for FTD and I to get our social lives back.  It is time to go out as a family and have a great time.

I may be crazy for deciding to do this, but I am REALLY excited about it.  I am excited to let Ollie experience more things. Truthfully, I am for the first time in a long time, excited about something!  Don't get me wrong, watching Ollie learn to crawl and walk has been exciting, but I am ready to be excited about some non-baby related stuff too.



Please Please Please vote for us!
Just click the image below and your vote will be cast!
THANKYOU!!


April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com

15 comments:

Kristy J said...

First off, LOVE the photos of you. You look beautiful!!
Second I think it's wonderful that you're going to do this. I feel like husband and I have kind of lost touch with reality. We spend all of our time at home or with the boy. I get to go out and have a girl's night every two or three weeks(and truth be told I didn't have a lot of friends here to begin with) But I think once we make this move to San Diego it will be a new Family Order to not spend 24-7 at home but to go out make friends and memories. We'll be a few months behind you so I'll be following your lead. Hope it works out and you guys have the most awesome June ever!!
Oh and P.S. I'm SO SUPER glad that you get kind of obsessed with this blog, I'd be lost without it.

Unknown said...

It's so easy to get in a rut isn't and not get out - and it just takes so much organisation!

I would love to see you at this week's Baby Shower link up, Alice x

Amanda Brueckner said...

Getting out of the house without the kid is a major accomplishment, one I fail at lol.

Scarlett and The Waltz said...

“But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.”
Barbara Kingsolver

April McCormick said...

Thank you as always!

I canot wait for you all to be back stateside. I have no doubt it will be wonderful for your family!

April McCormick said...

it really is hard to get the steam up to get out. But it has got to be done!

I'll be by for the link up!

April McCormick said...

That's our thing. We don't have a babysitter. FTD and I have not been out alone since Ollie was born. 15 bloody months ago! If we want to go out, he comes.

April McCormick said...

I LOVE Barbara Kingsolver. Thank you SO much for this quote and commenting!

that suburban momma said...

Oh Darling, you look amazing!!

I know what you mean.. many of us fall into that rut, but you are doing great! It took me at least 3 years to get a social life back!! Glad you figured it out earlier than I did! Wish we lived close by!! I would love to go out and drink 2 bottles of wine with you, hehe!

Kristy J said...

We are so excited!! I can't wait. It's been a wonderful experience in Europe but I'm definitely ready to be back in US. :-)

Unknown said...

I love that photo of you too! You're a movie star!

I can relate to this. Every single word. I think one of the reasons we don't go out more is it's so hard. You have to bring so much stuff. I get tired before we even leave the house! It's getting easier. We are doing the same thing with making time to have a life. We are also struggling with finding a babysitter and my daughter is three! We have trouble getting people to even show up, never mind developing any trust. It's hard when you don't have a mega support system in place. I envy the parents that do. We get out alone maybe 3 or 4 times a year when my mom takes some time off from work to hang out with my daughter.

Unknown said...

Damn, damn, Damn! How did I miss this post? And ahhhh... how I wish we were at least in the same state- because damn if I'm not in the same boat. Did I mention, As of Mother's Day, Chase is officially cut off! Which means, selfish mommy gets to go out and not worry about intoxicating my child should I indulge in more than one glass of wine... which means, maybe, just maybe, I'll rediscover "fun Jess" again...

:)

PJ Greetings said...

Enjoy your night out - every mommy deserves it every now and again!

PJ Greetings.com

Mrs. Loquacious said...

Get a part-time nanny, or a friend who Ollie sees a LOT, to come and baby-sit. You need your date nights back, hon! We hired a P/T nanny just so that Little L has a familiar face to hang out with when we date without her. We have now been on 2 glorious, baby-free blissful dates and it is so worth it! I actually wore a bra and not my nursing uniform, and I even did full make-up. It was really nice to feel "normal" again. :)

Quirky Chrissy said...

You're so darn adorable. Also, I am happy for you that you got to go out and enjoy life! Keep it up!

AND...

I'm learning that we have to go out and live life to have anything to blog about.