oh baby, it's another baby?

no, sillies.  you must be effing crazy.  i am not having another baby right now, or anytime soon.  so, don't get your hopes up, and stop asking...

also, this isn't directed to anyone, or meant to insult anyone.  when people want to have babies is their business.  this is my disclaimer!

i did want to write on this because it seems a hot topic now- ian and all of his friends are nearing 1, and siblings are already on the way or in the works!  i on the other hand feel sometimes as if i am being looked at like i have 2 heads because i'm not in the process of making a sibling for my child...

my niece was born 3 weeks ago, and if you've been following my blog for quite some time, you'll remember that my other niece was also born the week of thanksgiving the previous year...  they are 1 year and 5 days apart.  and as much as this thrills some people to no end the thought of another cute cuddly baby in the house, all i can think about is my terrified sister-in-law who has a 1 year old that needs her, and she has a 3 week old that needs 100% of her attention.  she can't even pick up her 1 year old b\c she just had her 2nd c-section in as many years- and she lives 225 miles away from here, and her husband works all day, and their other daughter is in school.  she's tired, she's experiencing the baby blues, and she's trying to figure out this new baby, and she's trying to figure out nursing, and my niece doesn't get why mommy won't pick her up- and it's hard.  i know she'll figure it out, because she's awesome, but i think she would rather have spaced them out further.  and that's reason enough for me...

reasons for me to have another baby:
1.  they are cute and cuddly, and smell like babies, and tiny, and they have tiny cries, and clothes and yawns
2.  the actual experience of having a baby is awesome
3.  i love being pregnant, most people actually give a crap about you- plus it's fun to eat.
4.  my biological clock is ticking (i am under 35, so this does not apply to me)
5.  i have a lady condition that requires me to rapid fire babies (this does not apply to me- luckily b\c sadly i have many girlfriends with this issue- and it's just not fair)

reasons not to have another baby
1.  i would love to be pregnant again, but i must constantly remind myself that the experience of being pregnant is temporary
2.  babies grow up too fast- when i first had ian, i kept thinking about how he was going to grow so fast, and i wanted him to stay a baby forever.  yes, he has grown fast, and i wish he would stay a baby forever, but guess what, they all grow.
3.  i am not michelle duggar
4.  having a baby is a financial burden (yes, burden b\c you have no money- the baby itself is NOT a burden).  dave and i do not use credit cards (unless they say "ann taylor loft"...), so debt is not an option for us- however, after  not having credit card debt for 3 years, we have found ourselves having to use our 1 card b\c sometimes the money runs out before the month does, and another baby would be 2x the struggle.
5.  we are still paying for having ian after the insurance shenanigans
6.  i'm just enjoying ian.  i'm enjoying the hell out of him.  just.  him.


i had a friend who told me shortly after ian was born (she had just had her own baby as well) that if she never had another baby besides the one she had just had, that she would be content.  i thought she was crazy.  now, i can understand where she was coming from.  although i would love a little girl, i am perfectly content with ian- i even told dave that i would be happy if i didn't have another boy because i wanted ian to be our only boy- he's just that special.  first born babies are lucky:  they get mommy & daddy all to themselves- no sharing with siblings or competing for time.  i want ian to get as much one-on-one time before he has to share me with someone else.  i also don't want 2 babies in diapers, but that's another story.  so don't plan on me seeing yes or 2 pink lines or a plus sign or whatever your test reads for at least another year- or more.

and that's my take.

she's here!

my newest niece, madison eloise "ellie" roberts was born @ 8:30 this morning weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz & 21" long.  proud parents willie & shannon roberts and big sisters grace & annabella

Welcome Annabella! Stay! Baby McFadden!

After a couple weeks of will they or won't they induce her- my sister-in-law's water broke Tuesday morning. They headed to the hospital, and we anxiously awaited word, so we could go up and meet baby Annabella (well, we hoped she'd be baby Annabella, they never knew for sure). Of course, we soon found out that only parents and grandparents were allowed to visit, so that bummed us out a bit. I had been feeling icky all day. Every time I stood up, my stomach was tightening up- Braxton-Hicks contractions- I didn't really think much of it until I got in the shower though- my stomach refused to soften back up. I thought it was a little weird, but I got ready for work, and headed that way. Work was miserable. It was my first day back after our Atlanta trip, and I knew i'd be a little worn out, but we were super-busy and since I of course have to stand all the time, I was having the same thing I had earlier- the constant Braxton-Hicks contractions. My stomach was so tight I was having trouble moving around. I finally got a break, so I decided to call my mother-in-law and ask her what she thought about it, and she suggested I call my Dr. Of course, I called the Dr. and instead of an answering service I could page the Dr. on call for an emergency. I didn't really feel like I was having an emergency, so I waited. I went back inside and asked a girl I worked with who had just had a baby not too long ago- she also suggested I call- no matter what- and then another girl from work was coming in- and she also suggested I call. I went ahead & had the Dr. paged- I was glad it was Tuesday b\c I knew my Dr. was on call on Tuesday's and I'd get to speak with her. She called me back pretty quickly, got me to somewhat calm down, and told me I should go to the emergency room to have things checked out. I couldn't reach Dave, but I knew he was at my in-laws doing homework, so I pulled myself together and drove there to pick him up. We got to the emergency room, and they put me in a wheelchair and got me checked in. Labor & Delivery were waiting on me- and they put me in a triage room. There it was the usual- put on this gown, pee in this cup, etc. My nurse, Liza, came in, and she was pregnant too! She got me hooked to the fetal monitor, and asked me a million questions. Then came the fun part- the pelvic exam. Luckily, it revealed that my cervix was closed. After all this fun, I was allowed to just chill out a bit. Dave & I watched the last 5 minutes of The Biggest Loser, and then we watched old episodes of The Office. Liza came back in after a while, and told me I was having some contractions, but my tests came back negative, and I was ok to go home. She said more than likely I was just dehydrated, which can cause the contractions, so she brought back 2 ginormous cups of ice water for me to chug. After I finished chugging my water, I was allowed to dress and check out with instructions to take it easy and to keep drinking plenty of water! Hopefully baby has learned his lesson about trying to arrive early. I told him, "only 1 grandchild per month." I worked a really long day on Wednesday- which I shouldn't have, but work seems to not really care, and then I had a shorter shift last night. I have today off, but I work the next 5 days, up until Thanksgiving, and then we start the holiday rush.

My sister in law was released from the hospital today, and her and her husband brought Annabella by so they could gather up their things before heading back to Indiana. I was the only one who was lucky enough to have time off to meet her. She is precious! I was able to hold her a while, and she just slept and made cute little noises and faces. Can't wait to see her again at Thanksgiving! Here is a preview photo of her, but I have many more pictures on my camera that will probably be uploaded onto fb.