You Gotta See the Baby...

Yesterday we made a trip south to see Isaac, the new grandson. He’s seven weeks old now and while Tom made the trip soon after he was born, this was the first time the girls and I got down there to see him.

The girls and I hadn’t seen Tom’s older sons and their families since we moved into our new house back in fall of 2010. But to be fair, even when we lived just a few miles away, we didn’t see them all that often. Easter, Christmas, birthdays…that was pretty much it.

So I refuse to feel guilty about moving 75 miles away since Tom actually still sees the boys just about as often as he did before.

Anyway!!!

The baby is adorable. He looks just like his big brother and sister. And they look just like their mom, so yeah, cute kids.

But…wow was he fussy. Poor baby. Poor Momma too. She was tired from a rough night the night before and with the baby fussing and fussing and then fussing some more for the fun of it, I could tell she wasn’t really into having company.

I get that. I do. See, hearing that poor baby fuss took me back to O’s first few months and wow, can I say I’m so freaking glad we’ll never face another infant stage again? Does that make me a bad step-grandma?

So be it.

I felt for K, my step-son’s wife. She’s got three kids under five years old. Her first two kids were good sleepers from the beginning and it looks like the littlest doesn’t plan to follow in his big sibs’ foot steps.

And see, this young woman, bless her, wants to put on a brave face. She wants to show the world that they are the perfect family, that life is wonderful and grand and there are never any rough patches.

I get that need. I do. And yet…I often feel like we moms need to stick together and sometimes admit that it can suck. That doesn’t mean it always sucks but it can suck. Admitting that doesn’t mean we don’t adore our children but it does mean that sometimes, we’re at the end of our rope.

It was a nice day for a bit of a road trip. Tom was gracious enough to drive. Okay, fine, I plunked my butt down in the passenger seat and refused to move. Whatever, the end result was the same. He drove, I dealt with the girls, who are seasoned travelers, so all went well.

On the drive home, my mom called me and asked if seeing that baby gave me any ideas on the baby-front. Dear heaven no! It made me grateful that my ovaries are old and my IUD is new and that Tom is on the same page as far as us being done having babies. Whew!