Confessions from my toddler mom pregnant life

Right now, I'm 18 weeks pregnant with a 14 month old. It can be tiring.

1. I gave my kid animal crackers to keep him quiet so I could get seconds of dinner. He was done, I wasn't.

2. I tell my husband to clean the kitchen while I sit on my ass and do nothing. Nothing, but build a human, that is.

3. I am desperate for screen time before two. Not because I don't allow it, because my baby is too little to be interested, and I wish I could just put on a video and lie down for a minute. I tried to get him to watch Elmo on my phone for 30 seconds to cut his nails. NOPE.

4. I count down till bedtime. I used to dread bedtime because it came so quickly after daycare pickup and then I missed Dalton. It's not that I get sick of him now, it's just that his bedtime is my bedtime, and it would probably be earlier if this was my first pregnancy. I'm just so tired. 

5. With Dalton, I took weekly bump pictures to remember this special journey. With Baby #2, we occasionally take belly pictures when I remember. 

Last one we took. I'm 18 weeks and huge now. 

6. I have choked down coffee. Last time, as soon as I developed an aversion, I gave it up. This time, sometimes it disgusted me but I NEEDED IT. 

7. My kitchen is filled with packages of random foods that I HAD to have in the grocery store, ate 1-2 servings of, and then never wanted to see again. Examples: pumpkin spice oreos, pumpkin ice cream, salt and vinegar chips. Not directly related to a toddler, but I never experienced this last pregnancy.

8. I want a minivan. Almost the first thing Eric said when I told him I was pregnant again was "so do we need to get a minivan?". The answer is yes. I'm well aware they are associated with being a lame soccer mom. Which matters to me because...I have such a cool image to maintain? I've never been cool. Not in elementary school, not in high school, not now. But you know what I have been? Someone who doesn't like to do extra work when I don't have to. So why would I open a car door while trying to juggle two kids and groceries when I could push a button and have it SLIDE OPEN? Even if it did make people think I was less cool for driving a van (not possible), the circle of people who I actually care about their opinion of me is an ever dwindling list. If you're not my relative or an extremely close friend, you probably aren't on it. Sorry not sorry. 

For now, my civic will fit two babies just fine (ok, a baby and a toddler, if I must admit my baby isn't a baby), but it's already ten years old. Eventually, it will need to be replaced, those babies will get bigger, and that's when the minivan will enter my life. Have a car payment again will be lame, but driving in silence while two kids watch DVDs with tons of room will be beautiful. 

Someone this post became an ode to a minivan. I haven't even driven one since I learned to drive my mom's when I was 16, so literally half my lifetime ago. 

9. Nursery preparation is pretty much the last thing on my to do list, down there under dentist and oil change. First of all, it cracks me up when people ask if we're going to move Dalton to the other room (currently the guest room, so come visit now before that's gone) and move the baby into the nursery. Um, he'll be 19 months when his brother or sister arrives. We will just have two nurseries, at least if the definition of a nursery is a room that contains a crib and diapers. 

Sure, pinning cute nursery ideas is fun. But you know what's even more fun? SLEEPING. On the weekends, I really need my nap during Dalton's nap time, at least one weekend day. Babies don't care what the nursery looks like, it's for the parents. And this parent would rather take a nap. We have a crib in there, my sister gave me some newborn diapers that were leftover from my niece. I'll get the box of newborn clothes that we keep passing back and forth from her when we visit for Christmas and probably put them in the dresser that's in there, which is left over from Eric's old bachelor apartment. It will be ugly, mismatched, and perfectly functional for a baby. Once people see the minivan outside, they won't have high expectations anyway. 

It would be nice to round this post out with a tenth item, but Dalton is napping, so it's time for my weekend nap.