He's Finally Here! by Liimu

Max Christian McGill was born on Monday, March 14 at 9:40 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 15 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches long. We were kept in the hospital until Friday, March 18, due to some jaundice issues, but now we are home and recovering nicely.


I know I probably was, but I honestly cannot remember ever being this in love. I can't stop kissing him all over his face, I love his cries, his coos, even his farty noises first thing in the morning. I'm having unbelievable troubles breastfeeding, but I'm struggling through because this is my last child (yep - I got my tubes tied) and I love the experience of breastfeeding. I don't want to miss my last opportunity. I'm seeing a lactation consultant, which is really helping a lot. Currently "pumping to heal" and seeing good results from that, so I'm very optimistic.

Overall, I am just beyond happy. My family is complete and healthy and happy and we are all in love with this baby, I'm back to eating healthy - not exercising yet, but excited to get started as soon as I get clearance from the midwife, on top of work and bills, just feeling really blessed and happy and so grateful for this unexpected blessing in our lives. To think, this time last year I had no idea he was even on the way. To this, this time last year we were struggling financially and I was all worried about how everything was going to turn out. It's a good thing I keep my mind open and my mindset positive. All things are possible and I believe that the best is yet to come.

I know this post is all over the place - sorry for that. I'll be sure to keep it more topical next time. I just wanted to let you guys know he was here and so am I!

Borgata or Bust? by Liimu

So, last week was all about me trying to reclaim my sass. I'm happy to report that I did exactly that during our anniversary weekend, no thanks to the lame BorNOTTa. (Tee hee - I just made that up. Like it? Me too.)

In lieu of telling you what went WRONG with what was supposed to be a luxurious weekend in a Borgata Suite enjoying the tastes of Borgata at their event, Savor Borgata, I'll share with you a little from my complaint e-mail to them, to which I have yet to receive a response:

"My husband and I chose the Borgata for a much-needed getaway (without our three children) to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary. As I am 6 months pregnant, the Savor Borgata event seemed like a perfect choice, as it boasted offering tastings of the finest Borgata chefs, including the world-famous Wolfgang Puck. The price tag to stay in a suite was high, but as it was a special occasion, we decided to splurge. Pregnant, I was looking forward to being treated like a “VIP.” We were more than slightly disappointed to discover that the extra $450 we spent on the room would not even entitle us to free Internet or use of the fitness facility, let alone the bathrobe, slippers and turn-down service we were used to at other hotels for which we are frequent-stay customers (e.g., the Hilton, the Marriott).

While we did enjoy the somewhat pricey buffet – we were encouraged by how good the food was and really looked even more forward to the Savor Borgata event. Upon checkin, we had not been told we would have to wait in line for entry so it was a good thing I thought to check with the concierge 20 minutes before our “reservation.” Of course, there was a line for the Box Office, where we had to go pick up tickets (again – how difficult would it have been to make us feel like special guests by delivering the tickets to our room or having them ready for us upon check in?), and then stand in line to wait for entry. When we entered the event was when things began to get really bad. To make a long story short, there was nowhere for me to sit, even after I complained to management that it would be painful for me to stand the entire two or three hours of the event. (When I got back to my room, my feet were swollen and sore.) It was impossible for us eat and have a drink in our hand at the same time, and we waited in lines that took us 30-40 minutes to get through, only to be rewarded with a tiny plate of appetizer-size food. Further, there was NOTHING for me to drink besides water – they only offered WINE, BEER and water! I was so unhappy and disappointed at what was supposed to be our big celebration, I was near tears by the time we got back to our room at close to 10 PM.

After the event, we tried to salvage our evening by finally getting the VIP treatment that was promised us if we went to one of the two nightclubs. Despite my aching feet, I was determined to feel like a VIP. We had spent close to $1500 on two nights’ stay! That is a lot for us, with three kids and one on the way. How disappointing to find that, yet again, if we didn’t order “bottle service,” we would again have nowhere to sit.

I know Atlantic City caters to gamblers and young people, but I have to say, I had counted on the Borgata, with its reputation for class and elegance, to know how to treat people who were willing to pay for VIP treatment. Instead, we were not only treated like every other clientele, we were constantly encountering folks who were being comped for meals or entertainment, and were given not even the most basic accommodations during a very expensive, supposedly world-class event."

Anyhoo...what I learned from that weekend was that my sass has nothing to do with hanging out in a smoky nightclub or luxuriating in a fancy suite in 4-inch heels and la Perla lingerie. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...) I felt absolutely beautiful, sexy and SASSY all weekend long, and it had more to do with the romantic moments I shared with my husband than anything the lame Borgata had to offer. The most fun moment of the weekend was when I woke up from a luxurious 2-hour nap and immediately broke the silence in the room by chattering about nothing, then had a sudden "aha" moment that I am responsible for the fact that my three girls rarely stop talking unless it's to breathe or eat. As soon as I realized it (and my amused husband confirmed it), I could not stop laughing, even as the tears streamed down my face.

So, maybe the money was well spent after all. Because what I got from last weekend was realizing that the blessings I already have in my life are worth more than any amount of money could ever buy.

I Miss My Sass...by Liimu

I miss my sass. I know that this is a petty complaint, given the fact that this baby is beyond a blessing, especially now given the fact that we now know that it is a healthy boy (after giving birth to three girls) but I have to admit I MISS MY SASS.

We’re going to Atlantic City tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary. And we will be enjoying the Flavors of Borgata, including a beautiful luxury suite. (Hey – we were looking at Jamaica and couldn’t make it happen with the crazy flight times, so we’re basically spending our allotted budget for our last hurrah before baby #4 makes his appearance. Don’t hate the playa…hate the game.)

We were actually looking into staying at the Caesar’s Pocono Palace, but if you’ve ever looked at their website, they are pretty well geared toward hot, sexy twenty-somethings. We are clearly beyond that point, some four times over.

So, we decided to go with the elegance of the Borgata and we’re going to have a fabulous suite and enjoy Savor Borgata, which is a tasting series hosted by all their top chefs, including Wolfgang Puck himself. Also included in our package is VIP entrance to either one of their two white-hot nightclubs. Now, when I was a hot, sexy twenty-something, dancing was my THING. Even after I stopped drinking at age 25, I still would go to the club and get my little virgin drink and go to town till the place closed. I didn’t need a man to dance with (or even a gaggle of friends). As long as the music was good, I would be in my element, getting in hours of good cardio exercise, to boot. In fact, at one point during my college years, I used to joke that I was majoring in clubbing, because I spent more time at the clubs than I did in class. Not a fact of which I am particularly proud, but I digress.

I have a sexy little maternity top and sexy little boots (I even have four-inch heels, but I am nostalgic, not stupid), and cute little skinny jeans…the whole package. And yet, there’s a little part of me that … fears? …knows? …that my preggo behind will be asleep by nine o’clock. My only hope is that during one of my hourly trips to the bathroom, I might catch a second wind and get down to that club and dance the night away on my ample preggo legs.

Either way, we’ll have a fabulous time and after working so so so so so hard these past many weeks (average 70 hours per week – did I mention that recently?), staying on top of all these children’s activities – gymnastics, soccer, swimming, weekly birthday parties, Halloween – I am very much looking forward to a little downtime with my luscious hubby.

So, no matter what happens I will thoroughly enjoy the weekend, but I will absolutely, definitely report back here to you and let you know whether I actually made an appearance at the nightclubs or petered out at nine o’clock.

Adieu!

And Then There Was...The 2nd Trimester...by Liimu

Ahhh...the 2nd trimester! Cue Disney music...

After more than two months of feeling like I should be living in a dark cave, with my husband throwing food outside the entrance for me to slither out and devour every 90 minutes, I finally feel like a human being once more. I wish I could say that I am now running 4 miles 5 days a week, but let's not push our luck, shall we not?

I have to say that God sure does know what He is doing, because my resurgence of energy and feeling human times perfectly with my life getting INSANE. I won't even touch on the fact that work has ramped up to an unprecedented level of busy-ness. It's a good busy, so it feels almost blasphemous to complain about it. (Plus, it's going to pay for the bouquets of flowers I intend to send to myself in the hospital in advance of my scheduled c-section so that for this last baby, I have the experience of having a room full of flowers that I've sort of secretly always wanted.)

The other thing that's suddenly happening is that our family has gone from watching on the sidelines (pun intended) as our friends shuttled their kids here, there and everywhere all fall to having a ton of activities happening in what feels like 18 different directions. Devon begins winter swim on Monday - practice 5 days a week and weekend swim meets - and our not-quite-four year old is actually really good at and really enjoying soccer. We had always promised ourselves that we wouldn't push them into doing any activities, but that if they showed a true interest in something we would support them and strongly encourage them to pursue it. Autumn has been kicking the ball around all summer with dad and is settling into soccer like the game was invented for her. The funny thing is that I have friends who's kids are already on traveling teams, my sister's three kids have all been playing soccer for years, and it has seemed like a staple of suburban parenthood that our family was just not going to experience. Just goes to show that kids are different. My three kids have very different interests and what works for one definitely does not work for the others. Still trying to figure out what the middle one is into (other than singing and monologuing in the mirror).

A hectic pace, a frenetic schedule, but through it all I am somehow managing to stay in flow. Just this morning I got a meeting cancellation that freed me up to take care of some other work-related activities that I had been trying to figure out how I was going to complete. I swear, for the past three days I have felt like there was a mixed up Rubik's cube in my head and then today it's like someone just took a paintbrush to all the different sides and it is now miraculously solved. It's flowing like that.

Speaking of Being in Flow, someone asked me when I told her I was pregnant how I was going to manage a fourth kid - "It's so expensive and you complain now about the logistics of the kids you already have!"

I said to her, "In my experience, God doesn't come up with HALF a plan."

My thought for the week...there is a God and it ain't ME!!! Hope you'll tune in next week for all the Week 14 FUN!!!